Weekend = busy...HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLA

Ella swim meet in Columbus (Long Course)
7pm Friday, 400 IM 6:48.72

Sat,
6am dparture for 7am warmup
200 IM 3:04.74
50 Back 38.72
100 Free 1:17.06
200 Back 3:00.72
11:30 depart Columbus, and of course stop by the outlet mall on the way home.

4:30 Cousins daughter graduation party in Brownsburg
5:00 Get Peri back to fairgrounds in Mville for the cheerleaders doing Relay for Life.
6:30 Go home and get ready to come back to Relay for Sarah to walk at 7:30 and me to be in the "guy dress up as a girl contest" for team Libby at 8
7:20 On the way to Relay, get call that contest is actually at 7:30, instead of 8 just get there and throw on my outfit and act like a girl.
9:30 Depart Relay and get home.

Sunday
6am dparture for 7am warmup
100 back 1:24.55
50 free 33.76
100 butterfly 1:38.39
200 free 2:49.59

11:00 depart Columbus, and of course stop by the outlet mall on the way home. Didn't we just do that yesterday....

Go home, rest, mow yard, go to bed.

Upcoming Events...
We have birthday party at fairgrounds for Ella tonight with a friend of hers.

This upcoming weekend has Peri dance review on Fri and Sunday.

Libby Update:
Libby is at Riley this week for what will hopefully be her last antibody treatment.
Keep her and the family in your prayers.
Love to all and stop the oil in the Gulf :)

Watch Out.. 2 posts within the same month... AAaaaaahhh

Academic Superbowl
Ella's team competed in the English competition. I am just going to say, they had an off day. Just qualifying for the state was an accomplishment. They were 1 of 24 teams that started with over 300 when the competition began. There were 4 divisions and Martinsville was in the big school division. Sarah and I went up for the competition at Purdue and then went out to eat with the team afterwards. We then stopped by Sumie's for a visit.

Peri's DC trip
Peri got back from DC and she was tired. They got in around 9:45 Sunday night, but she had a wonderful time at the capital. I don't think she has loaded any pictures yet, but she said she took over 600 pictures.

Peri Track
Peri had another track meet last night and she did pretty good, although if you talk to her, she will tell you she sucked. She got 3rd, but had a little issue with the official that didnt see one of her jumps, and made her rejump for her final attempt. He was talking with someone after he had told her she could jump. I am not going to say it might have won, but it appeared to be her best jump of the night. We will just never know. She did have a good jump anyway, but ended up placing 3rd in the event. And of course, Peri had to make a comment after her third jump to the official and asked him, "Did you see that jump?" Dang, if she isnt a little Sarah... Ha ha.. just kidding, Sarah. Peri also ran the 4x100 and the 4x400. She did a fine job in both, running an unofficial 1:14 in her leg of the 4x400.
We have Mid-State conference on Wed or Thu, depending on the weather.

Libby Update
Libby is heading to Riley today for another treatment that is suppose to be a rough one, so keep her and her family in your prayers.

Lots of stuff since last post

OK. I am still lacking in the motivation to update this blog, but here goes nothing for our activivities since the last posting. In a nutshell, starting with the most dramatic news and going downward:

-Peri got assaulted at school(She is fine and didnt sustain any serious injuries)
This occured last Wed, 4/28/2010.


-Ella went to the prom in her lovely prom dress that she made.
Ella went to the prom with a bunch of swimmers this past weekend and had a wonderful time. She looked quite stunning in the dress that she made with many thanks to Cindy for her direction and coming down a few weeks before with Joanne. Thanks also to my mom with her guidance also. The prom was in Indianapolis and lasted from 7-11. Post-prom was from 12-2 at the high school. Sarah and I helped set up for the post-prom on Friday and Saturday. It was a county fair type prom, with carnival-type booths and numerous activities, including a broncing bull. (I did give it a test ride before the kids arrived and determined that this type of activity is definitely not for me. I am way to injury prone it seems at this time in my life and I think i lasted all of 7 seconds. It was fun though.) The operator of the bull, which was run with a computer, was very good and I observed the bull quite a bit from my vantage point from the game I was working(basketball shoot) and none of the kids really got tossed like a real rodeo. Ella lasted pretty good when I saw her ride with her long legs and "gumby" type bending to balance herself.

-Peri made JV cheerleader for next year
Peri made JV cheerleader last week for the high school. She was one of three freshman to make the JV squad for football and basketball. I guess you can pick which sport you would like to cheer for and Peri picked them both. Way to go Peri!

-Peri has had numerous track meets
Peri has had 5 track meets and has done quite well. Her best event has been the long jump and her best is 14 feet so far. She has a few firsts and a few seconds.
She also runs in the 400 relay and the 1600 relay. She is going to run in the 400 from my understanding, starting this week.

-Ella is swimming again in club
Ella started swim club a few weeks ago, so she is back in the pool most nights after school.



-Ella is participating in Academic Super Bowl
When Ella finished swimming, a good friend of ours asked her if she would like to participate on the Academic Super Bowl team. Ella said she would and they have qualified for state competition at Purdue this weekend.

-Peri is going to Washington DC this weekend with 8th graders from her school
Peri leaves Friday for Washington DC with a group of kids from the middle schools and numerous chapperones. It is Peri's first flight ever. She comes back Sunday evening. They do quite a bit of walking for the entire weekend, so they are pretty tired when they get back. Peri is rooming with 2 of her good friends and another girl.

-Peri is still dancing in competitions
Peri also had a dance competition this weekend and unfortunately, we got there 2 dances too late. Sorry Peri. We had to take Ella to meet the limo and get some pictures and thought we had time based on the dance schedule. They ran like 15 minutes ahead of schedule, so we did not make it on time. Dance competitions are never on time, let alone early.. Go figure. We tried.

-We went to the Final Four
We had a great time at the Final Four. Peri was rooting for Duke. Wassup with that? She is a rebel. We had a wonderful time.

What Year is this...

Oh yeah, i have neglected my duties as administrator to this blog, so I am adding something now.. Uh.. I was busy? er... uh... Yeah, my dog got run over.... uhm.. I mean.. I forgot I don't have a dog.. doh!!! OK.. I have no legitimate excuse.. I am lazy.. That is my final answer and I am sticking to it. Well, things are going fine here. Getting ready for Spring break with Ella and Peri having friends to our journey to the south. *** crosses fingers and hopes for good weather *** . We are looking forward to some relaxation and probably some good eating. I hope everyone is doing OK and Go Boilers, tonight.

Happy New Year

What a glorious holiday we had. We celebrated Christmas with my family at Mom's and then had lunch and then headed north and celebrated at the Tuttle's. It was very nice seeing all the family and celebrating Christmas with all. It was nice having Michael, his girlfriend, her 2 boys, and Maddie down to stay at our house after Christmas. We also hosted our house on Wednesday around 10:30 to the swim team, around 30 swimmers, for between sessions food and rest. I am glad we have a basement. We were to meet Michael in Plainfield that day because he had gone to a movie with Terri and her sons and the plan was to get Maddie to him so he could take her to the airport, then he was going to drive back to Connecticut with Terri and the boys. Maddie was to head home that day, but her connecting flight in Chicago was delayed and she was going to have to wait until the next day to fly out from Chicago, and the airlines were not going to pay for a hotel, so she called us from the Indy airport, we were still in Plainfield which is less than 10 minutes to the airport, and we just went and picked her up and she flew out the next morning. Peri and Ella both got sick over the break, but it was that one day bug that was apparently going around.
Our new year was rather laid back, but we really needed that, I think. We stayed home and Peri had a friend over. Ella had a lock-in at the high school with the swim team.
So that was our break in a nutshell. It was pretty hectic, but we survived to tell about it. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and new year and may the new year bring more joy and happiness to everyone's lives.

Life goes on...

So, last weekend was paint the porch weekend, and I was able to complete that. Yeah! Peri had a cheer-leading competition in Greenwood and they did great, except, according to the judges, missed having a back spot for one of their aerials, which resulted in a 20 point deduction. Having a back spot when doing any of the stunts is rather important, but according to the coach, that moved the girls from finishing 2nd to 7th(last). Ouch. But, they did great with all the team issues they had up to that point. They had 2 girls out with injuries, one which had been injured the night before, so they persevered and performed with changes that day. We are very proud of our little cheerleader. Way to go Peri. After they performed, 2 of the girls on the squad, Peri being one of them, had to be helped off. They had a trainer there and he iced their injuries, Peri's being her knee and the other girls ankle. Both were pre-existing conditions.. So, Peri's good friend Ricki's dad is a doctor and he asked us if we would like him to take a look at it. We agreed and he said it didn't seem to be serious, but she might have a slight tear and thought we should have it checked out by an ortho. So, this week, Peri went to an ortho and he had her get some x-rays, because they are cheaper than MRI and he would check them out. Those resulted in not much, and he said an MRI would detect tears and such that an x-ray couldn't. We have that scheduled for Friday morning, so we wont know anything till then.
Ella had her first meet against a Christian School and they had 4 girls. We won. Ella did fine in the events she swam. Somehow, my times didnt get saved on my Blackberry, but according to Ella, her times were better than her times for the 1st meet last year. Anyway, that is our life for this month and I hope all are doing fine.

Libby Update:
Libby does have an infection in her port. She's in a lot of pain and is on a Morphine drip as well as a pump Emma can push if she needs additional pain medicine. Libby did have to get blood on Sunday and Platelets on Monday due to her counts being down. She has blisters in her throat and unable to eat or drink so she's on a Nutrients IV as well. All of this they say is typical w/ a Bone Marrow Transplant and especially w/ the infection. That unfortunately doesn't make it any easier. Emma and Mike are doing well due to all the prayers being lifted up for them. Mike is playing "Mr. Mom" and is doing a terrific job at it! He took Mary to the Doctor for a checkup this morning and she is growing quickly. She was 6 lbs. 12 oz at birth and is now 8 lbs. 4 oz. It is so hard for Emma as she is only able to see Mary, Sean and Erica on the weekends, but she is so comforted at the way Mike is handling things.
Our entire family can't thank you enough for your prayers and concerns. I know Mike and Emma have been so overwhelmed w/ your love. This entire community has been awesome in supporting my sister and her family and I am so grateful for you all.

Our garage is takin a beatin', well maybe it is giving us a beatin'

OK. So Sarah goes out into the garage this morning to go to school at 6:55 am, and what do I hear... "The garage door won't open!". My little sleepy mind couldn't quite translate that simple statement, so I say, "Huh?.. what do you mean?" "I SAID THE GARAGE DOOR WON'T GO UP!!!" du du du duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.. Super Tom to the rescue. I go out and sure enough, the door will not go up. I'll just unlatch the automatic door opener and raise the door, as we have to do if the power is out. Click.. OK, unlatched. Grab on the handle of the door and push the door up... It doesn't even budge. OK. That was just a test attempt to raise the door.. Use your legs, man! UUUUnnnndtrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggg... What the.... I can't budge the door.. At this point, with Peri and Sarah standing there, I feel a little bit embarrassed. Am I too old to even lift the door.. I get a ladder and check the top of the door, to make sure it isn't somehow jammed. Nope.. I look over and what do my eyes see... The tension spring that at this time, I wasn't sure exactly what it's function was, was broke in half. OK, so that is apparently the problem, but Sarah and the kids need to get to school. So they take Ella's car to school (If Ella is driving, she normally leaves a bit after Sarah and Peri, but today, Ella was pretty much ready to leave so it all worked out) So, I call the garage door place hoping that those springs might have like a 10 year warranty, but no such luck, but they were able to dispatch a repairman this morning and he arrived around 9:45. 45 minutes later, he was gone and the door works again. He proceeded to tell me that a door our size is very heavy and even he and I could not raise it. OK, so I am feeling my testosterone slowly eeking back into my system. That door ought to know better than to kick sand in my face.. Haha.. Anyway, that is our little adventure for today and I hope all is well with everyone.
Love and regards...