i'm ok

I'll be ok. Right now, I'm in a haze. I'm at work, having been off since Wednesday afternoon. My co-workers have been so supportive.

Joe's been working too much, and has been sleeping poorly. I don't know whether he's told his work. I hope so.

Maddy's been talking about Uncle Steven dying again - her way of dealing with death. This morning, as we were getting ready for our day, I said I was still pretty sad. She said she was too. I told her that it's always ok to talk about feelings. We talked a little bit about the two babies who died and I told her that we really didn't know why they died. She looked at me and smiled and said "Isn't it great that I didn't die!" .

Wow. She hit it on the head. She is such a special kid. She is definitely someone who is helping me keep it together.

Right Now ...

Instructions:

Take a picture of yourself right now.
Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair…just take a picture.
Post that picture with NO editing.
Post these instructions with your picture.

Ok Jenica ... you started it ... see picture of me (with pink hair) looking at your page. :)

next?

Busy busy

We had a busy Memorial Day weekend.

Got the house cleaned-ish on Saturday morning. Did some laundry. Left for the cottage for one night. Maddy got to spend time with her cousins Hannah and Nate. The three of them are 6 months apart in age. Quite fun to see the three of them play so nicely together. The men-folk got the dock in and did some errands and chores around the house. I was a lazy bum and did very little other than pick rocks and watch Maddy.

We got home on Sunday night and we were all exhausted. Slept in until 9am on Monday morning. It was already 70 degrees out! We got a headstart on the day ahead: spreading 7 1/2 yards of woodchips, planting the veg. garden, and weeding. It was a GLORIOUS day.

My folks, Julie, and Haddy & William came up from Madison for the day. Mom and I went to the greenhouse to get our annuals. Dad and Joe did wood-chips. Julie was in charge of the kids and assisted with going to the park, playing at the house, and doing some crafts.

But that wasn't all. We ended up with a house-ful by the end of the day: Jodi, Jed, Stacey, Dean & baby Joey came over to plant the vegetable garden; and Caroline, Zak, Teresa, Jason and Gavin came over to eat and entertain us and be entertained.

It was a busy busy weekend. It was certainly difficult coming into work this morning. Oy...I'm a beat....

:)

Congratulations!

Congratulations, Stacey and Dean. Happy Birthday, baby Joey. What a darling boy.

Updates

• I'm tired. Busy - crazy busy. Happy
• I'm playing my cello tonight for the first time since The Year of the Elbow. Looking forward to it!
  
• Again, I'm feeling Brett's pain from last night's game. It was horrible that they lost, to that team, but it's not the end of the world, and it was fantastic to see that Aaron Rodgers could actually step it up!
  
• It was Joe's birthday last night - fun night had by all!
  
• It's going to snow a lot tomorrow night. Actually looking forward to it! We're under a winter storm watch with up to 7 inches expected. Let the Holidays begin!
  
• Joe gave me an early Christmas present: an HP laptop with Vista and Office 2007 installed. So far, I love it!
• Maddy is doing great and her 4th b'day will be on the 23rd. Oh my stars! How did she get so old?!
  

And for your goofy pleasure:

Halloween 2007

As I mentioned, Maddy decided to be a witch for Halloween last week. She was quite adorable! (Pics below).

Joe was freaky with his Jason mask on, scaring the kids with a carrot (yes, with a carrot). It was a delightful Halloween season!



The street is now FINISHED, so in the fresh dirt, we placed the tombstones!


We carved 5 pumpkins and baked the seeds. Many trick-or-treaters complimented us on them. Then they were smashed during the evening. :(






The cutie-pie cookey witch.



Before her change of mind, presenting: Maddy Vader




Joe's makeup when we scared people at the haunted house was SPOOKY!


And don't forget Pirate Gavin! He and Maddy had a blast at the ZooBoo!

In celebraton of Steve

Stephen Andrew Pontzer
Pontzer, Stephen Andrew age 59, of Plymouth, died on Thursday, October 11, 2007. He is survived by his first and second wife, Rachel Taft Pontzer; children, Zachary (Aimee) and Abigail; sisters, Betsy (Russell) Amalong, Judy (Cecil) Johnson and Nancy (George) Direnberger; brother, Dick (Carol); sister-in-law, Sheila Taft Fitzgerald; brother-in-law, Steve (Johanna) Taft; many nieces, nephews and countless devoted friends. Preceded in death by his parents, Richard and Mildred Pontzer.

Steve was born in St. Mary's, Pennsylvania, graduated from Alfred University with a B.S. in ceramic engineering and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin. For many years Steve worked as an executive in marketing and sales for Ohmeda, Novametix, PPG BioMedical, Aequitron Medical and also as a consultant to other medical device companies. Steve invented and held a patent on a blood gas probe.

He felt his greatest accomplishment was his relationship with his wife, children and the wide circle of friends with whom he had deep and enduring friendships. The family would like to express their deep gratitude to Dr. David King and the staff at the Hubert Humphrey Cancer Center.

Published in the Star Tribune from 10/12/2007 - 10/16/2007.

alive

It's been a busy few weeks at the House of Eck.

We had a party and witnessed the unveiling of the "LAMBEAU-LANCE". Seriously crazy Packers Fan.






We started Hill #2.


Maddy is doing great.


Joe is stressed out, but does his best to chill out.



I'm trying to be patient.


A chipmunk absconded with the top of my new birdfeeder. Honestly! This is what it started out:

This is what it looks like now. How the hell?

LIfe

I feel energized! As I mentioned as the new year began a few short weeks ago, I'm consciously making the effort to do my body (and mind) good. In week 2:

• I've been able to rearrange my work schedule so that I work 8-2, Monday through Friday. I now have a few hours 2 days of a week to take a breath - do errands if needed - take a quick nap before I need to pick up Maddy at her Nana's. I now have 3 hours the other 3 days of the week to be able to WORK OUT at the YWCA - cardio, strength & swimming!
  

• I've signed up for 2 days of yoga Mondays and Wednesdays at work! They are offering it for free. Did I mention, though not working in a library right now, that I love my job and my place of employment? :D

• I am in a FIT CLUB at work - a team of 4. We're "The Leaner of the Pack". LOL We count points daily for things like doing 15 minutes of stress management, 7 hours of sleep the night before, 5 servings of fruits & vegetables, 50 oz. of water, etc.
  

• Organize an evening AWAY on Saturday for Joe and I. My folks are giving us a night at a nice posh hotel in Appleton for the evening as a belated anniversary present (Thanks, Mom & Dad), and Joe's folks are taking care of Madeline for the afternoon & evening (Thanks, Mom & Dad!). It's partially a birthday party for me and our friend Tom - our B'day is celebrated Wednesday (the 24th).
  

I am hopeful this weight can be shed.
I am hopeful my cholesterol will be lower when I get it checked in May.
I am hopeful the higher levels dopamine & serotonin will increase my mood.

Life is good!

a new year

The Year of the Elbow is over. Long live the New Year.

Joe and I spent the evening with great friends, and brought in the new year the best way possible - via hot tub. :D Of course, it would have been better if it wasn't rainy or windy, but it was a lot of fun and very relaxing.

On the list of things I'd like to accomplish this year:

• For the first time in my life, I'm going to put fitness as a priority.
  

My cholesterol is way too high. I'd like to lose weight. I want Maddy to know how important fitness is and to set a good example. I'm going to join the YWCA, attend yoga classes, swim at least once a week. My elbow is doing well, and it feels fantastic being able to swim!

• Eat and help plan the family meals more efficiently / effectively.

We've been so amazingly busy trying to live day to day and by the end of the day, we usually stare into the refrigerator or the freezer or the cupboard, waiting for the dinner fairy to delight us with healthy, yummy cuisine. For some reason, that's not working.

• Work towards being able to plan a real vacation for sometime this year.

We haven't had a real, go-anywhere vacation in a long time and Maddy's never had a vacation. I don't count last February in Ohio to visit family - any trip when you end up in the emergency room does NOT count!

:) Happy New Years to you and yours! What's on your list?

More Halloween Pics...

Argh! Pirates!

Are you a good witch or a bad witch?














Of pirates, clowns, vampires, and witches














Crazy clown...














Gotta watch out for those vampires!

5:30 am

5:30am. WAY too early to be anywhere, but at least I don't have to dress up! Everything going to plan, I'll be home mid-day tomorrow. Maddy is staying the night tonight at Nana Terri's house since it's going to be so FRELLING early!

DONE:

• Find out where I need to be when next Thursday.
• Print out list of movies I would like to get from the video store for after the surgery.
• Vacuum
• Sweep downstairs
• Did all reporting
• Train co-worker on project
• Had performance review

NEED TO DO:

• Finish memo
• Do last work project
• Clean room Mom will be sleeping in
• Clean bathroom
• Watch / tape LOST
• Try not to stress about everything. I'm stressing about everything and the acne on my face shows it.
• Take care of me! (thanks Heather :) )

Wish me luck and send healing thoughts my way, please. Thanks everyone who has sent me nice messages. :) It does help.

Now on with the next step to being able to play Quincy (my cello) again....

FUN FUN FUN!

I'm glad I didn't remember that we would be away from Maddy for 2 nights in a row until we got to Milwaukee. I would have probably made a big deal about it. As it was, Maddy had a good weekend, and Joe and I had a good weekend.

The wedding was VERY fun!

Some Pictures:
Jess and Chris - at the Milwaukee Brewing Company - where they met.

On the Milwaukee River:

Joe and I:

ToDos

The list of things to do before next Thursday- surgery day- continues to grow.

DONE:

• Paperwork to be able to have time off from work and not have to take vacation time for recuperation.
• Did laundry for packing for this weekend's wedding in Milwaukee.
• Figured out how to use the borrowed keyboard midi to aid in transposing music for the 2 gigs just after Thanksgiving.
• Haircut appointment made for Wednesday.
• Made arrangements for my Mom to come up Thursday-Friday to help out post-surgery.

NEED TO DO:

• Pack Maddy for two nights this weekend at G'ma Terri's house.
• Pack Karen and Joe for two nights in Milwaukee for Jess's wedding affair.
• Get list of work duties done before next Wednesday: do all reporting, let co-worker know where everything, train co-worker on necessary steps to close out a project, prepare for work review.
• Clean house (ok- at least vacuum, clean room Mom will be sleeping in, sweep floors, and clean bathroom).
• Find out where I need to be when next Thursday.
• Try not to stress about everything. I'm stressing about everything and the acne on my face shows it.
• Print out list of movies I would like to get from the video store for after the surgery.

(to be added to)....

ME TIME

Are you a woman? A wife? A mother? We all think about this, but we very rarely take the time to do something about this. What am I talking about? ME TIME! Check this out:

The Families and Work Institute (FWI) found that working mothers spend both more time at the job and more time with their kids than their counterparts did 25 years ago.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/09/15/me.time.health/index.html

I'm not saying no to time at work or no to time with kids - I enjoy my job and I love my kid. I've noticed, however, that it takes so much effort to actually spend time for myself, and when I'm gone, I feel that monster creeping up to strangle me - GUILT!

When I went to Girl Scout Summer Camp many many years ago, everyday after lunch, we had "ME TIME". We could nap, write home, swim, read, play outside games, whatever we wished. I didn't feel guilty then.

This year has been rough for me physically. After breaking my elbow in February, I didn't take any time off. In hindsight, I was NUTS. Joe and his mom drove me around town. I henpecked the keyboard at work. I wore a head-set so I could be on the phone and work on the computer if needed. It worked out ok. But I was also on vicodin and was in a lot of pain. I don't remember much of the month of March.

I'm learning to try to bring some of ME TIME in my time now, before the surgery as well as after. Tonight I've invited women from all aspects of my life for a Girl's Night Out, and at least 9 of us are having dinner together at a wonderful restaurant in town. I'm learning not to feel so guilty about doing things I enjoy. I'm also going to take off as much time as I need after the surgery for recovery! I'm not going to do it like in February, struggling to stay awake whilst on yummy drugs, aching in pain and hoping to find time for sleep.

Yeah for ME TIME!

Babies!

There's been new arrivals in the lives of some friends and family.

Kayla Nicole

6 pounds 7 ounces, 20 inches, 7:26 pm, Friday, August 25, 2006

Born to my cousin Rebecca and her boyfriend Dwight in Cleveland, Ohio

Charlie Leonard

August 22, 2006 at 9:57 AM, 6 lbs. 14 oz., 19 1/2 inches

Born to my good friend and co-worker Pam, her husband Art, and big brother Howie!

CONGRATULATIONS!