Some Christmas pics

Outside of Outback Steakhouse, near the upscale shopping center in Fort Myers, were these two very large lighted decorations. The tree alone must have had a mile of rope light wound back and forth. They looked really cool. See the car behind them? Yeah, the tree was like 20 feet tall. Very pretty.


Brad and I split up on Saturday morning to do some shopping separately. Turns out we both went to the glamourous Edison Mall (not glamourous at all, actually-- pretty ghetto). Betcha fifty bucks YOUR mall's decorations didn't include an evergreen dolphin.



And we got a tree from Lowe's in the afternoon. We wrapped it up in a canvas drop cloth to avoid needles being shed all over my car. I think I told you what it looked like. Here's a pic:


And after it was all up and decorated:


If the following picture looks fuzzy to you, you must have been smoking something above...


Grr. Not so happy with my camera. But the tree is really pretty.

Steph came into town on Sunday the 24th. Here she is looking all sophisticated, walking up the lane from the airport terminal.


Brad grew up with an Advent Wreath at Christmas time. I think we did, too, except I don't remember the wreath part. I think we just had candles on a mirror on the table. Is that right, Mom? Anyway, we were at Michaels a few weeks back as I needed to pick up a wreath form for the shell wreath I have yet to make. While we were there, Brad asked if we could buy an Advent Wreath. Well, they don't sell pre-made kits, so we made our own. We bought a fake evergreen wreath, candles, and a bunch of "floral picks", or fake berries and pinecones on sticks. When it was assembled, this is what it looks like. We are quite proud.


One fun thing about Florida is the abundance of fruit this time of year. The oranges are delish. At the orange place we go to there were ruby red oranges-- not just ruby red grapefruit! They're red and sweeeet!


And Mom sent us a care package a little while ago with some Christmasy paper plates and napkins, and a Grow-Your-Own-Snowman kit. Here he is before he got the magic crystal liquid poured in.


And before Steph left for cold Chicago, we spent an afternoon on Sanibel Island. We also went on a sunset cruise where we saw dolphins! It was really relaxing.

Sis and I did a successful self portrait on the boat:


We went under the drawbridge of the Sanibel causeway. Once upon a time I was all proud because the company I interned with in college, moving Lake Shore Drive from one side of Soldier Field to the west side-- Parsons Brinckerhoff-- is the same company that made the Sanibel causeway, a reallllly long series of bridges connecting the island to the mainland. But then, a few years ago, it turns out the construction was inferior on the causeway and now they have to make a new bridge. Eek. This picture shows the old causeway and the muuuch taller new bridge. It's supposed to be complete in June of 2007 or so.


The sun just kept on setting:


A few nights prior, it got really chilly for Florida-- lows in the 40s. Brad made a fire in the firepit and we sat outside for a while.

Then when it was time to go inside, Brad decided to gently extinguish the fire with a spray bottle. It was our version of a free steam skin treatment. Ok, so I suggested the spray bottle because I thought we might want a fire the next night and if we poured water on it the wood would all be wet. Anyway.

We had our Bressler Family Christmas on Thursday night. Afterward we took the kids outside and lit some fireworks in the street:

I held Kena, who vascillated between being excited and gasping with joy, to being scared and burying her head in my shoulder. Too cute. Chase is toeing the "safety line"-- no one was allowed to cross the line except for Uncle Brad.


This pic is from Christmas day, when Kena tried on her pretty princess dress-up dress for us, complete with velcro-on wings and high heels!


And I leave with two wonderful pictures of Brad and me. Ahh, the happy picture with a sunset:


Oh, and there was a wedding party on the boat as well-- a cute couple and their family in town from Minnesota. They were getting married on Monday and had brought their family on the boat to kick off the weekend of fun. In the spirit of weddings:

Merry Chrissssssstmasssssss

Who are the people, er, creatures in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neigh-bor-hooo-oood? Happened about 5 minutes from our house.

In other news, we're seriously considering signing with the first real estate agent we met. He's quite a salesman and seems to have great contacts near, far, and everywhere in between. We're also second-guessing ourselves, or I should say, I'm second guessing myself. Poor Brad is just trying to keep up with my flaky emotions. But a conversation with a dear friend yesterday brought up some thoughts-- have we given Florida a REAL try? What if we HAD to stay here- like if Brad's parents were ill or something... what if we didn't have a choice to leave? Can we say we've given it our all? I don't know.

I know I miss the midwest, the seasons, the people, the city... and just writing that makes me feel so sure we have good reasons to move. See what I mean about flaky? I can't even maintain an opinion for one sentence. So at this unstable point, I think we're going to list the house sort of as a fleece for God. If his direction is for us to move, then he'll sell the house. If not, maybe we'll stick around for another year. At least down here we have stable jobs and are financially ok, even if we're not in love with our job options. That's more than a lot of people can say right now.

Last night we met with that other real estate guy. He was super nice and gave us a good education and ran numbers with us to find a bottom line. But he wasn't nearly as aggressive as the first guy, and in this market, sellers need an aggressive agent. He'd be a great buyer's agent, I think. After we met with him and realized we'll probably walk away with maybe $5000 in our pocket -- grr-- on a house that has appreciated much more than that (dang fees), we went out to Uno's and had some Chicago-style pizza. Then we went to the light thing at the nature center which was fun and festive. While we were there we ran into a former colleague of mine at the middle school here-- my favorite of the colleagues. She's still there and hanging in, trying to make a difference, bless her heart. Seriously, bless her, Lord. She deserves it! The administration hasn't changed at all, and if I ever doubted leaving there, my mind was once again made up last night with her stories. SOOOO glad to be out of there. We also got some pictures taken with Santa, because, well, why not?






It was close to when they were closing, and I think the photo lady was getting a little bored with all the little kids getting pictures taken. She saw us and asked if we felt like having a little fun with it... and we're always up for having a little fun... poor Santa.

The Goose is Getting Fat...

We're almost ready for Christmas after a big push this weekend to get preparations taken care of. We shopped on Saturday morning, met for lunch at Chili's, and then went tree shopping. We first went to a tent in the Sam's Club parking lot. There were beautiful, perfectly shaped trees with heavenly aroma and hellish price tags. I loved the 10 footers-- why not, since we have the vaulted ceilings? I'll tell you why not. Because $179 is too much for a dead tree which will be thrown away in two weeks. Even the small six footers were around $60. We decided to hit Lowe's.

Lowe's had their trees priced much more reasonably, so for $26.88 we got ourselves a lovely six foot tree of some kind I can't remember. We wrapped it in our painting drop cloth and bungee-corded it closed so it wouldn't get needles all over the inside of my trunk and car. You know that old commercial where the dad is trying to talk to his daughter about not smoking pot? When he rolls himself up in a white blanket on her floor, like a joint? Our tree very much resembled a six foot long joint. I took a pic- I'll post it soon.

We put it up, did a little trimming, and the thing is perfect! I even rubbed the needles to make sure no green paint would come off. (Our first tree two years ago from Menard's was painted green. If you rubbed the needles the fake green would come off on your fingers. It was pretty funny.) Well, our Lowe's tree had no green residue. It's real through and through. And it smells divine. We spent Sunday evening decorating it and making the living room look actually Christmasy.

We met on Sunday afternoon with a realtor. We got a name from the Christian Chamber of Southwest Florida-- there was a full-page impressive ad for this lady real estate agent, so I called to see what working with a real estate agent is like. She called back to say she is having health problems but would send her number one partner. So Gordon came over on Sunday afternoon-- what a salesman! Man, when you see a person who is just right for his or her job, there's something great about that. We listened to what he had to say, asked some questions, and pretty much decided after he left that we'd let things sit over the holidays and then would start up again after January 1st. But then he called yesterday to see what we had decided, and he gently reminded me that the population down here swells quite a bit over the next week and we might want to take advantage of that. So, being the comparison shoppers we are, we have a call into another real estate agent and we'll try to meet with him tonight or tomorrow, and then we'll make a decision. With the market as slow as it is, unless we have an agent who can get the word out wider than we can, the house will just sit here.

Today is our holiday lunch at work, followed by a meeting until 2 p.m. And tonight is the four-year-anniversary of Brad's and my first date! Four years ago he picked me up in his navy blue Jetta, took me to Flat Top Grill, which we learned was under construction. We walked a block down to the Asian place on Davis, but after looking at the menu neither of us were interested. So we finally went to That Little Mexican Cafe where he talked and I listened. In the middle of it I went to the restroom to call my friend Burns (her last name) and tell her it was the best first date I'd ever had. After dinner we drove around looking at Christmas lights in the Sauganash area of Chicago.

So tonight Brad's making dinner and then we're going to see the Holiday Arbor Lites at the local nature center. Four years of dating, three years ago engaged, exactly two and a half years ago married. Thank you, God, for the gift of my husband!

A few of you have written, worried about my mental health. I'm doing better, just taking it a day at a time. That straw that broke the camel's back was apparently a big straw and I'm feeling a bit chemically down, if you know what I mean. I have a doctor's appointment in early February and will probably ask for something to put a little pep in my step then. Thanks for your concern, and for not running away when I share things that are deeply personal like this.

Have a great Wednesday, all!

A little better

Friends and family,

Thanks for your words of encouragement and comfort. I'm feeling a little better today after spending yesterday sad, realizing I've been "hanging in there" and "mustering up" pretty much since we got to this state. There's no more muster left in me, and losing this house was the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm still angry at God-- I can't see his hand here and the last few things he's done show me he likes to say "ha ha, sucks to be you". "Here's a Honda Accord, the car you've wanted since you could drive. Oh, but now it's broken. Ah ha, sucks to be you!" "Here's a job in construction that you've wanted for a long time. Oh, but now you will forever be an office girl and never actually get promoted. Ah ha, sucks to be you." "Here's a house I want you to think is yours. It's your hope that you're getting out of Florida. Oh, I just gave it to someone else. Ah ha, sucks to be you."

I know somewhere that that is not who God is. But right now it's all I can see. I'm afraid to even think it-- it's pretty much the maddest I've ever been at God. I don't want to piss him off further and get smited and have to live all my frickin days in Florida. But I'm believing that he's bigger than my anger and maybe things will be ok eventually. In the meantime I've been reminded (thanks Mom, Steph, and Sam) to grieve. We've lost a lot this year and had our share of disappointments, and maybe we haven't fully grieved those losses. So I plan to spend the next joyous few days grieving. Irony.

I called a realtor this afternoon and left a message. We want to explore that route, even if we don't hire her for a little while. It just seems so costly, but maybe it's a necessary evil if we want to get out of here.

Tonight is a Christmas party put on by one of Brad's clients. Should be fun.

I'm just heartbroken.

Remember when I told you we found a house in Columbus, and I just *knew* it was for us?

I learned today that it has sold. It's under contract right now and is scheduled to close in January. I've been in and out of tears all day. And I know there are a million other houses out there, there are more fish in the sea, God has a plan, blah blah blah. But I am so very sad. I feel stuck in this forsaken state where I am a fish out of water, I feel resourceless and alone, and just this close to the edge of depression.

And I don't have a safe place to go with my sadness-- no friends down here who are safe, no church, no community. And the family we have down here wants us to stay anyway, so I can't really expect sympathy from them. The holidays are really hard since my parents split, my friends aren't coming after all, I've been sick and then too busy to put up any decorations yet so Christmas just feels like one giant failure, and now this. I don't think I can take one more bit of sad. I feel like I've been crammed into a cardboard box that's too small, and this house was my only straw for air, and now it's gone. I had asked the realtor to contact me if there was interest and perhaps we could consider alternative options to "sell our house, then buy another" -- like renting out our house or something, if time was of the essence. But she did not contact me, and now it's not ours.

And the thing is, it's not about *this* house. It's what the house represented to me -- hope. I just so truly felt that this was for us. I *knew*, like I've known about only a few things ever-- I knew I had to move back to Chicago from Baltimore, I knew Brad was The One, I knew we had to move to Florida, I knew when I saw our house down here that it was the one for us. And I thought I knew about this house. This leaves me doubting what I think I know, leaves me doubting my gut. When that happens, I usually see it as a sign I'm edging toward depression and need to do a little therapy check-up. Only I can't find a good therapist down here. Believe me, I've tried. There are plenty of pastoral counselors or life coaches-- neither of which are what I'm looking for. I just feel resourceless and alone. And sad.

Here it is. RIP, dream.

Now I'm scared God is going to make us stay in Florida. And that just makes me want to wail.

House For Sale!

"Hats! Hats for sale! Fifty cents a hat!"

Did you ever read that story of the man selling hats and the monkey in the tree... can't remember the title but I'm sure my mother could recite the whole thing. Anyway, whenever I hear anything is for sale, I think of that man yelling, "HATS! Hats for sale! Fifty cents a hat!" in my mother's singsong voice.

Whew-- I am all over the place today! Sorry. What I meant to post about is that our HOUSE is for sale! Check out our house blog and tell me what you think. Mom just suggested that we empty out our closet and photo it again so it looks more spacious-- I think I like that suggestion a lot. And I know the contact info says Kathy, but that does not give YOU permission to call me that. Kathy is my aunt and also my mother's friend, but I am Kathleen. I just put Kathy so if someone calls and asks for Kathy, I know it's house related. Not sure why I wanted to do that, but I did it anyway.

Read it, scour it, critique it, and send me your comments. Thanks, friends!

Return from Zombieland

And I don't mean Africa.

We got home on Sunday night (11/26) and barely made it home alive. Brad, who had not slept on the 18 hours of flying, dozed in the car while I worked. with. all. my. might. to keep my eyes open while driving across Alligator Alley. This is not a place you want to pull over and take a quick doze. The 8 foot high fences have barbed wire and an electric line in them to keep the alligators from climbing over the fences (I'm not kidding), but you don't want to take your chances. As soon as we hit the first exit past the toll booth to leave the alley, I asked Brad to take over driving. I kept drifting off at the wheel, and I hear that's not such a good thing.

So we got home, slept, and woke up around 4:30 a.m. on Monday dur to jet lag. And Monday was a good day. We felt in good health if a bit tired, napped, played Brad's newest addiction, Scrabble, opened Bob Evans at 6 a.m., ran a few errands, and slept some more. It was his birthday so we went to Ralph and Chris's for dessert in the evening and then came home and crashed.

Tuesday morning I woke up, ate cinnamon toast not knowing it would be for the last time, and went to work. I got there around 7:45 since we were still waking up at the crack of 4:30 a.m. Around 8:30 my office started spinning. Around 9:15 I lost the first piece of toast. At 9:45 I decided to head for home. I'll spare you the details except to say it was a good thing I grabbed a big coffee cup as I headed out the door. I've never hurled while driving before. And I sure as heck don't want to do it again.

I called Mom and Shelley on the way home to see if I should go home or go get tested for malaria. Both said to go home and wait it out, although I was certain I was on death's door. Miraculously, after retching for a while, I felt better. My dad called about five minutes after the last heave and we had a lovely chat which brought my spirits up immensely.

For the next three days my upchucker was quiet, but my downchucker wasn't happy. (I'm trying not to be too grody.) And did I mention our toilet was broken? It's not so much fun when one has to go NOW, to have to quickly turn on the water to the potty and then take care of urgent business. And then turn off the toilet again. Multiple times a day.

But I got ahead of myself. Tuesday was throwup day, and Wednesday morning I woke up with a doozy of a cold. So please forgive me for not blogging much lately. I've been meaning to, really. For the rest of the week I slept, watched minimal tv, slept, and made jello, which task was made easier with help from my fun birthday present of a plug-in teapot. Boils 6 cups of water in under 2 minutes. Makes jello-making quick, thankfully.

Brad caught the same cold bug on Thursday and has been fighting it ever since. I went to work on Thursday morning (why did I have to be the hero?) and after a few hours left and stocked up at CVS. I brought home anything that looked like a cold remedy and laid it all out, combined with what we already had in stock, on the counter. Brad came home early, too, and we had ourselves a nice little cold-remedy buffet. His terribly sore throat called for the Tylenol liquid stuff. My congested head and sneezing called for Wal-itin, the walgreens version of Claritin. Which did no good for me so it came off the buffet.

On Friday I got to the grocery. It took me the better part of two hours to get around the place, but we hadn't been in a month and only had peach jello left. So I stocked up and came home and slept the rest of the day.

All weekend we slept, ate little bits here and there, played Scrabble, and slept more. We've both worked every day this week but taken off a few hours early most days to get more sleep in. We're just now feeling like we're returning from Zombieland.

Oh, and we had to take our anti-malaria drugs for a full week after returning home, which tend to upset tummies and cause wacked out dreams. We can attest to both. The dreams... seriously! Where do they come from?

And we have fixed the toilet, thank you very much. We were about to call a plumber when I thought to first ask one of my smart bosses on Wednesday. He told me to buy a $4 flapper at Lowe's and do it ourselves. And wouldn't you know, the thing is fixed! Hooray. We went out to eat after going to Lowe's-- remember we have a limited assortment of restaurants within 15 minutes of us. Our choices are Steak and Shake, Bob Evans, Chick-Fil-A, Burger King, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's (I swear they were done in by the health department like ten years ago, but I guess not), and Applebees. We picked the last one, rather, I picked the last one as I am forever tempted by their commercials and want to give them just one more try to not disappoint me. But they always do disappoint me. Applebees, if you ever want our business again, you're going to have to learn to not drown the chicken and rice in watery orange sauce. And you're going to have to get a host staff who can at least fake being welcoming and giving a snit if we come or go. And you might consider menus that don't look like the last person licked them and then chewed on the edges. Maybe fewer tv's with CNN of all things (!)-- I hear there are better channels for the bar area. And, oh, maybe not wiping the rice from the table onto my seat. But who am I? I'm not Mrs. Applebee, so I probably should keep my comments to myself. (finish rant)

Mom sent us a bunch of her Africa pictures and Steph did, too, so I'm working on getting a recap ready for you all. It really was an amazing trip. We saw two game parks-- the Samburu and the Masai Mara. The scenery and animals at each were different and amazing. I can't wait to show you pictures-- I'll try to do that this weekend.

This weekend might be Christmas tree time for us. We're going to finish prepping the house for the market and will finish our house blog and put it on craigslist down here. I'll also link to it here in case any of you wish to purchase a lovely home in Florida. (I'm thinking of you, dear reader in Oklahoma! Or anyone in the cold midwest! It's 70 here!) Once the house is photographed and that blog is done, we'll get a tree and decorate the house. Did anyone see the HGTV special on the White House's decorations? That red ball ornament tree was breathtaking. Think I could talk Brad into an unconventional "tree" this year? My mom always decorated with those red ornaments, teaching her ladylike daughters to say "red ornaments" instead of "red balls" ("But why, Mommy?"). I just love the shiny redness of them. I might fill up some glass jars with them in the kitchen or something.

Oh, and yesterday after work I spent an hour and a half at Ulta. My mother-in-law gave me a gift card there for my birthday and my sister convinced me that the reason my eyes get bloodshot when I wear makeup is because the makeup is from my wedding. Two and a half years ago. Which she says is really gross. After I took those 47 self-portraits to break in the company camera I realized that I look like I've really let myself go. Not a fun feeling. So I'll start with blow-drying my hair on a more regular basis instead of drip drying, and I'll slap on a little pretty in the morning. Ulta helped with that last night-- buy one, get one free on their Ulta-brand makeup. I way overspent the gift card but I'm excited to go play with stuff tonight.

Have a good weekend, all. And Katie, I'm sure Brad would be honored if you named your Jetta after him. In fact, I'm sure he'd love to hear all about the ins and outs of your new car! Congrats!

We're Back!

And we're in one piece! No unfortunate run-ins with lions, thank goodness. I'll tell more of the story as time goes on... for now I'm at home taking care of my body. I think I picked up a bug on the plane or something and have been ill in nearly every way in the last 24 hours. Today I got out of the house and went to the grocery as we had only peach flavored jello and who really likes peach? I'm feeling a bit better, though weak. I'll probably go back to work tomorrow. I went for two hours on Tuesday morning before losing my breakfast and heading home. I hate being sick.

Overall, Africa was amazing. To look out the window of the Landcruiser and see elephants, zebras, giraffes, buffalo, wildebeasts, etc., was really neat. Unfortunately we took most of our pictures with our new little camera, which did not warn us that using the zoom feature makes the pictures turn out fuzzy. GRRR. So I'm waiting on the generosity of my family to send me their pictures and then I'll post some for you.

Ugh-- not feeling so well. Time for another nap. Love to you all!

November 17, 2006

I'm officially a freak of nature. I think I'm allergic to water. In the last few months my skin has become increasingly unhappy when it comes into contact with our water. Yes, we're on well water, but it's treated and filtered and not smelly or anything. A few months ago my hands started looking really dry. Fast forward to now and my hands puff up and get ultra super uber pruny whenever they get wet. Below is what happened after washing two or three dishes. Ugh.


This will be my last post for a few days. We leave for Africa tomorrow and will be back November 26th. In case we both become lion food, my life insurance policy goes to my sister. If she's lion food, too, it gets split between my mom and my dad. And I want to be cremated and sprinkled into Lake Michigan.

November 15, 2006

We've been cleaning things out in preparation for putting the house on the market. We recently cleaned out our bookshelves and I figured we'd sell the extras at our possible future garage sale. Brad had the genius idea of listing them on Amazon. We've made close to $50 on a handful of items that I would have put in a $1 bin! The only drawback is that we've had to dumpster-dive for clean cardboard, package up items in the evening, and stop by the post office in the mornings. This was my little load today.

Weird days lately

Brad and I have been getting up to walk sometimes. Now that we've turned the clocks back we actually have daylight at 6:30 a.m. and we enjoy that half hour together, touring the neighborhood and saying hello to the poor kids waiting for the schoolbus. On Monday we had the least relaxing walk I think we've ever had. We got about three houses down and a little dog ran out to jump on us and greet us. We looked at the guy in front of the house and he just shrugged his shoulders. That little dumb dog followed us for nearly our whole walk! The stupid thing kept running into traffic, making drivers slow down and glare at us. He peed on nearly every mailbox post and ran up to other dogs as if they were his friends. The big German shepherd was most certainly not his friend. We were so stressed that this stupid thing was going to get eaten or run over that we didn't really enjoy the time.

Then later, I stopped by the bagel shop I like to frequent. I've been in there half a dozen times, maybe every three or four weeks, for a sesame seed bagel with butter and a strawberry-orange juice. Delish. Well, the guy behind the counter has been getting more and more friendly. Three times ago he recognized me and said, "Hello! Haven't seen you in a while! What can I get for you?" How kind, I thought. Someone in this town knows me. Then two times ago he said, "Hello, beautiful! What can I get for you?" I blushed, I'm sure, not expecting this strong of a welcome, and ordered my bagel. Well, this time, on Monday, he said, "Hello, sexy! What can I get for you?" HA! I burst out laughing! After the stressful involuntary dog-walking just prior I was off my game and didn't expect that! Then he said the total was "Eight dollars because the person buying is very special. I hope her husband says she's special." I told him he'd better not say those things to me or my husband was going to get mad. And then I laughed and left. I called Brad to give him a laugh... but he didn't laugh. He just said, "I want to kick that guy's ass." What a morning!

Then yesterday I woke up and my big toe was bothering me. It bothered me a few months ago-- felt like an ingrown nail, then broke open (eww, sorry), and then healed again. Then the other foot did it. Then the right foot did it again. This time I noticed the nail looked funny under the polish. I took off all my nail polish and notice that there was bleeding under the nail. Terrific. Brad has been telling me that I need to take care of this and I keep putting it off. So I decided to go to urgent care and get it operated on. Except that I got Dr. Flakyflake who reminded me a lot of Chevy Chase's wife in those vacation movies. She took a look at it, said I should soak it and maybe see a podiatrist, and left. All that amazing advice for a $50 copay. I called one of the podiatrists she recommended and I'll get it taken care of after the trip. "Will it explode on me in Africa?" I asked. "No, the blood isn't anything to worry about. It will probably fester a bit and will be ready to see a podiatrist when you get back," she answered.

Have I mentioned how much I don't like Florida? Qualified people are really hard to find.

This week is a four day work week for us as we're leaving on Friday for Africa. We fly out of Miami and will meet up with the family in London before going on to Nairobi. Although I'm sure this will be an amazing trip, I'm really not looking forward to the flying. I have a prescription for valium and I'll also be taking Dramamine-- and maybe Claritin if my allergies don't behave. The combo of the three will probably keep me pretty out of it. I hope. We'll be back on the 26th, the day before Brad's 35th birthday. We plan to spend the 27th asleep.

So back to that "I don't like Florida" thing. You already knew that, I'm sure. I don't speak too highly of my townfolk or statefolk for that matter. So Brad and I are pursuing a move to Columbus, Ohio. It's in the early stages of development and in order for it to happen God will have to perform miracles. But I've seen him do it before, so I don't doubt it can happen. We've been asking him to make a way for us to get out of here, and we're seeing some evidence of him making our paths straight. I'll fill you in as things get more sure. For now, we're spending our free moments organizing, cleaning out, touching up paint, etc. I've started another blog for the house and we plan to take pictures and then post the house on Craigslist in early December. The first step in moving is to sell our house-- once that happens we'll look for jobs, etc. If I could make the plans I'd like to leave in early April. Mom has a flight down here for a week in March and I want to spend that time with her. Plus, after enduring a hot summer I feel I've earned one more warm winter.

So that's where things stand, friends. We feel quite swirly but also feel emotionally stable despite the imminent changes. Pray for us if you think of it-- for God to have his way in our lives.

And have a happy Thanksgiving! Gobble, gobble!

November 14, 2006

We got to enjoy this sunrise on our morning walk. My favorite part of this pic is the silhouette of the palm tree. Sorry about the omnipresent power poles... kinds of detracts from the romance of the view.

November 13, 2006

Another morning walk = another amazing sunrise. I'm getting addicted to these.

And from the files of You Might Live In Hillbilly Country If...

...your neighbors fix their broken mailbox post with freaking duct tape.

November 12, 2006

Today we both woke up with lots of drive. Since we're trying to get the house in pristine shape we listened to a sermon online - Steve Nicholson on Simplicity, awesome-- and then worked like busy bees in the house all day. I reorganized our closet, which is a bigger job than one would think given my bad habit of entropy. Brad worked in the garage organizing tools and screws and all things like that. We also replaced the seat of my vanity bench. I've been just living with a big hole in the seat for, oh, like five years. Yeah, it's been a bit uncomfortable but I only sit there for a little bit in the morning and it encourages me to get up and get on with things. It's nice to have that fixed.

By evening we needed to get out of the house so we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and then got shakes at Steak and Shake. The Altima needed gasoline so we got a carwash, too. We purchased the least expensive wash but the thing wouldn't work. We drove around and Brad went inside to inquire--- he was told that the least expensive wash was broken, but that we could get the next step up and they would pay the extra dollar. We did that. But it's all the same wash, so how is it broken, exactly? Puzzling. Anyway, the pic of the day is the view of the windshield in the carwash.

November 11, 2006

Today we visited the new Bass Pro Shop-- a really big deal around here. I heard there were more than 6,000 people at the grand opening. Here's Brad kissing a fish in their giant fish tank.


I appreciated the kitchen-y section. They had a whole display of food with ass in the name-- Kick Yo' Ass barbecue sauce, Ass-Kickin Spicy Peanuts, you name it.


This was after we had dinner at a new pizza place with Ralph and Chris. It's called Aurelio's or something like that and was started in Homewood, IL. I read it has won awards for best pizza in Chicago in a few newspapers and magazines. We decided we didn't really like it-- blah sauce and way too much cheese. It kind of kicked our asses later on. But it was fun to have dinner with Ralph and Chris. We talked a little about our plans to move. That part was hard. But they understand our desire to get out of here and are supportive and wonderful as usual.

November 10, 2006

Ooo- bad pic. It's the Outback Steakhouse blimp which flew? hovered? floated? over Fort Myers for the day.

November 9, 2006

We got a new digital camera at work, on my suggestion. My sister needed a new one in time for our trip to Africa next week, so I had done the research to help her out. I suggested a particular Sony 6 megapixel little number so my boss said to buy it. It arrived and I've been playing with it. Here's my office:


Here's me. I took about 47 pictures of myself. Because when one's boss tells them to learn to use the camera, it can't be done with less than 47 self-portraits.


And then when I got home, there was a surprise! They paved our street! Just yesterday on our walk Brad asked, "Why don't we get a paved road? We're important!" And then, poof, we have a paved road today!

November 8, 2006

We woke up early and went for a walk as we're trying to get ourselves in better shape. This morning there was a lovely sunrise over the foggy land.

November 7, 2006

So I thought I'd make a curtain for our bathroom window. For the last year we've had a small tension rod inside a pillow case covering most of the window, but it's time for a step up. I was a bit too tired to get all sew-y so I just put up the curtain rod. But I had a bit of energy left so I thought I'd try to be clever. So I used an old white towel thinking terry cloth could be cute...


Hmmm. Didn't turn out as clever-looking as I hoped. Looks more like... didn't have a curtain so put up an old towel... darn.

Confessions of a Cold Weather Lover

Dear L.L. Bean Catalogue,

Why do you insist on taunting me so? Your fleece half-zip pullovers, your corduroy pants, your neoprene-cuffed boots in numerous outfit-matching colors... they tug at my heart, beckoning me away to cooler weather when you know perfectly well I am stuck in hot Florida where their once-a-year-snow is actually soap suds sprayed from a dispenser-fan contraption mounted on a street light.

Now, you may have sent me some of the cooler weather we've been having just to appease me and keep me sane. If your intentions were noble, then I thank you. But maybe you've done that to remind me of what autumn feels like? Oh, you little... Your colorful pages inspire me to boil water for cocoa or tea, inspire me to buy canned pumpkin for bread or pie, inspire me to pull down my wool sweaters from the top shelf of the closet and cozy up on the couch with a fleece throw... but you know that I am stinking hot when I drink hot beverages, bread doesn't bake correctly here because of humidity? sea-level?, and I stick to the couch when I'm on it for more than five minutes.

I don't know how much longer I can take this game you're playing. I may have to cancel you altogether and forego the gadget joy you bring my husband. My heart can hardly take it.

Sincerely,

Kathleen

November 6, 2006

Today when I got home I had a very fun sight. See, with my birthday money I ordered some fun things for myself. And they've been arriving bit by bit. I got an electric teakettle with the money from my mom. And a huge, really nice body pillow and case with money from my dad. And a new CD featuring my former roommate, also known as the woman who sang me down the aisle at our wedding. She was part of the latest Club Vineyard worship cd, and if you ask me, she just rocks. I love her voice.

Anyway, today I came home and there was a big box-- my body pillow!!! And a smaller package... a surprise calendar from my mom! Thanks, Mom! It's a Susan Branch calendar-- we both like her cute designs and have enjoyed her calendars in the past, but she hasn't made one for a few years. This year she did, and Mom got one and sent it to me!

November 5, 2006

Bethany's birthday was Sunday. We had a lovely lunch at Lonestar, capped off by a singing group of servers and a large sundae for the birthday girl. She'll most definitely beat me up for posting this.

November 4, 2006

This was our sunset tonight.

November 3, 2006

Friday was family night to celebrate Bethany's birthday coming up and mine as well. Here's baby Kaya, getting bigger all the time, and below is Kena enjoying her first marshmallow. She calls them arshmellows and Chase calls them smarshmellows. Too cute. Chris and Ralph had a weenie roast so we roasted marshmallows over the fire afterward.

November 3, 2006

I hit a low. See, this picture-a-day thing sounds like fun, but my life is really dull and not so picturesque right now. Sam and Erika suggested taking pictures of my "views"-- view from my desk, view from my window, etc., so I'll try that next. Until I get inspired or have some more excitement, I have to apologize. Tonight I went to sleep without taking a pic and remembered as I fell into that half-sleep state. So this is what I've got. I'm really sorry.

That pic I mentioned before

When we went to Boston I told you that Brad and I tried to recreate a certain moment, when my sis and I were on top of the mountain and she was being goofy... here it is. Scroll down if you like and you can compare it with the up-to-date version.

November 1, 2006

We've had quite a few frogs around lately. Little tiny bitty ones. This one is next to a dime in our driveway.