Stormy Weather

Tonight has been a stormy night in Quincy. The ominous sky opened up with a downpour in the early evening; actually we had rain all day off and on. I believe this is good for farmers and growers of living things. So I don't complain. Just glad it is not freezing, although I think the cold is coming at us again tomorrow.

I am pleased with the next three Idol choices. I was hoping for Man in the Mirror, and he made it, heartstring-tugger that he is. The 16-yr. old is going to be a contender, especially after they work with her in the next few days. What a voice. And Adam is a performer. Can't help but enjoy how much he enjoys being an entertainer.

Cora had a role in the Baldwin drama club's production of "Alice in Wonderland." She got to sing and dance in some numbers and had a good time. They are doing 5 performances, so plenty of acting for everyone. I hope to see it tomorrow, as I was down tonight after a 1 1/2 hour acupuncture session today. Front and back sides, very relaxing, but tires me out. I will sleep very well tonight I think. I will have one more session in April and be done for awhile.

A highlight of my week was a web cam visit with Makenna, Chris and Maria last night. I mention Mak first because she was the star of the web cam. I think I can say that she was enjoying performing for us! Maybe even showing off a bit! She has several little tricks, and she did them all, including taking some steps. I am looking forward to seeing her in early April out there, and they are making a quick trip to St. Louis for Easter.

I enjoyed Ash Wednesday Mass at QND with Mario yesterday. Some of the students performed a wonderful, meaningful little play before mass, getting everyone in the right frame of mind for Lent. Prayer, alms-giving, and fasting. The Big Three. I'm not so good at fasting.

Bailey's Prom Dress arrives early....

The Eighth Avenue Villager in Quincy ordered Bailey's dress, and it arrived yesterday. How fun for me to get in on this! Justine came too. The dress is a perfect fit, and all are delighted with it. :o)

An Enjoyable Weekend

Saturday was a cold, windy day here. We did go out to QND boys' basketball senior night. They won an exciting game against Jacksonville. Today began with mass, then to Wendy's for lunch with Carrie's family. Blake had an indoor soccer game after that. Mario then went to school to get some work done, and I slept for a couple of hours. This evening, we had Ray and Judy and Alan for supper. Lots of storytelling time, and the guys wolfed down the tortellini. I found a new cake that is superb: at Walmart, it is the chocolate cake with the Belgian chocolate icing for $10. If you want a nice cake for a special occasion, I recommend this one! Looking forward to our Monday run to McDonal's with Nolan, Taylor, Carter, and Katie. Then tomorrow evening our 2nd session of "Why Catholic" begins. I have everything ready--worked on it yesterday. Looking forward to seeing the "Why Catholic" friends again.

Nolan Visits Preschool

Mr. Nolan, Mommy and Daddy, went to Blessed Sacrament Preschool Open House Thursday night. We are looking forward with anticipation to how Nolan will take to preschool. While I don't think he fully fits the description for the strong-willed child, he is close, and preschool may be just what the little dude needs. He has his own ideas on many things, and it will be fun to see how a preschool teacher will get him to go with the flow. On Thursday night, he didn't interact with the other kids, but he did sit right next to the pretty 21-yr. old assistant to make his little art project. He also played with the kitchen set. The principal met him right at the start of the evening and invited him to take off his coat and hang it on the hook. He refused, saying he liked wearing his coat, and she went with it. Then he told her exactly how he likes his coat zipped and the top flap velcroed closed. "O, we are going to have fun with you around here," she said. "You will end up being one of our best students!" Not sure what she meant by that, but she was smiling. Looks like he is in the right setting for preschool for next fall, and I look forward to providing transportation home each day, so I will get some first-hand reports of preschool events. I also did this with Blake and Hannah and had a great time listening to their stories.

Thursday and Friday I mostly got my house clean, as Mario and I are having company Sunday evening. Ray and Judy and our buddy Alan Knepler from Chicago will be here for MB's tortellini. It is good to have houseguests every now and then so you can give your house a thorough cleaning. I am so slow, it takes me three days to get everything done. Bathrooms and kitchen tomorrow. Then Sunday will just be devoted to cooking. Alan is retiring from teaching at the end of this year and is looking for housing in Quincy by the Spring Lake golf course. Judy has been helping him find houses to look at, and they may have found just the right one. We'll see after Sunday.

Mario ran a retreat for 50 QND juniors Friday. He says it went very well, and the kids responded well to his plans. There were a few other staff members who helped him, but he was the designer and planner of all the activities. He likes this work, and the kids are always hoping to be in his group.

Weekend plans include Mexican Maya dinner and a QND game against J'Ville Saturday evening with Tim and Justine. Then company for dinner Sunday evening. All nice folks to be spending time with over the next couple of days.

Idolmania Begins....

I am happy with the first 3 picks for the top 12 in American Idol's 8th season. Although nobody I talked to today expected Michael to be one of the top 3 from last night's show, I do remember his audition and Hollywood performances. I called him the "oilman" and was impressed with him early on. While his song last night was not so great, he is genuine and shows his gratitude, and I like that. So we are off and running with 3 good choices.

I went to Bible Study this morning, and the bottom line of Revelation seems to be stick with Jesus and you'll be ok. All the anticipation and some expressed anxiety about studying this book have been interesting, but the story is really pretty simple if you view it with a child's mind: The Lamb beats the awful beast. That's the simple conclusion of the Book of Revelation, although our study is not quite there yet. In the process of the study this year, I have made a lot of connections in the Old Testament. John, the author of Revelation, says, "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it." (1:3) It has been a true blessing to study this book. I am already wondering what we are going to study next year.

Today I stopped by the fitness room at the hospital for about 30 minutes of riding the low rider bike and exercise with light weights. I need to get back to a regular schedule of doing that; it makes me feel so much stronger.

Had some fun tonight helping Blake with his English homework....he has to make a presentation on Allegory tomorrow. So I told him the Aesop's Fable, "The Hare and the Tortoise;" he and Carrie were familiar with it. We had some good discussion about not being too cocky and keeping your eyes on your goal and confidently plodding along. It was a good discussion we had. I liked that he called me, although I am sure that Tony OR Carrie could have given him what he needed. Just makes a grandma feel good. :o)

Today I got the written report of my bloodwork study from my last visit to the oncologist. For some reason, passing the 1 1/2 year mark free and clear is significant to me. At my first appointment with Dr. Ali in September of '07, he was very clear in explaining to Mario and me that the pathology report revealed my cancer was not a typical breast cancer, and the fact that it was in two places to boot, made it likely that it was in other places in clusters of cells already. That is why I had both the aggressive chemo and the radiation treatments. Well, I feel very blessed to have another good report. No signs of cancer cells in my blood. YES! I am celebrating tonight.

Retreat Reunion, McDonald's

QND students at our house Sunday night for pizza and card tricks and games

Playing with beanie babies

Blake and his friend Conner

Making pretty things at Grandma's art center

Ready....set.....

Almost Airborn!

Airborn!

Katie, Nolan, Carter, and Seth at McDonald's

We had fun Sunday evening when some of Mario's group from the QND retreat and their friends came for pizza. Today I went with Carrie, her gang, and the daycare kids to McDonald's for lunch. Judy and Ray and Katie joined us. Mario came too. It was a zoo, the kind the kids love. We had our own little corner of the world there, and everyone seemed to have fun on their day off. Needless to say, the Playplace was full.

A highlight of the day for me was a webcam visit from Chris and Makenna early this morning. She performed all her little tricks, rode her riding toy, and smiled a lot, but she didn't take any steps by herself for us. Chris tried with her, but each time she just plopped on her behind. Hopefully next time! He said she can take 6 or 7 steps now. It was a great way to start the day.

Thursday with My New Pal Justine

Well I knew when Carolyn's friend Justine moved to Quincy it would be a big gain for me. We have done a few things together, and along with Mario and her husband Tim, we have taken in a QND basketball evening, Mexican chow, and of course the karioke party. Today we had lunch at Panera and went thrift shop shopping. We stopped first at Designer's Again where we both found markdowned markdowns that fit and were just the right size and color. Then we went down to 4th and York and found jackets for a buck and a quarter. I think Justine's was two bucks. Perfect fit, great color. Like new. Fun! Then she tried on a skirt that had the cutest back side to it. I don't know if she wants anybody looking at her backside, but they will when she wears her boots and this skirt! So cute. Very cheap. We just couldn't believe our lucky day. (Sometimes it doesn't take much to give me a thrill!)

Heading to the couch for Grey's and The Practice. Will catch a little news in between. It was a big day in the Land of Lincoln. Cora was on television reading The Gettysburg Address; I think that was some kind of school-wide activity. She was wearing her cute loop earrings and looked very focused. I will have to ask her about it. I memorized it in school somewhere along the way and was surprised that I could recall most of it when I tried to recite it to myself. Like the intro to the Constitution. I made all my social studies students learn it, and I will never forget that one.