Family Update!

Today is Patricia's 8th birthday! (I love this picture with her little shirt on backwards!) We wish we could have been with her but even though we couldn't we wanted to celebrate. I'd like to collect pairs of tennis shoes, sandals, and/or flip flops to send to her orphanage - would you be willing to buy a new pair or donate a quality used pair (or two)? There is a shipment of items going down to Haiti in a few weeks, so we have to move quickly. If you are willing, please post a comment or email me and I will give you the address to send them to. If you contribute tennis shoes, please buy a clean pair of socks, too. Sizes from toddler to teen, for boys or girls.

For Patricia's birthday we bought her a car!! Just kidding. We didn't really want a car payment again, but with the transmission going out in the Explorer, we didn't feel that it was worth it to repair it. Here is a stock photo of what we got - a 2007 Mercury Mariner - except ours is black. I know, another black vehicle, but we like it! Plus we got a great deal (only 9,000 miles) and we did well on our trade, too.Other good news this week is that China has now made it into 2006 with placements - through January 4. Our log in date is March 13, 2006 so we are closer than we have ever been and just the fact that they are finally in 2006 is such a relief.

On the other side of things, it has been a tough week as my mom is having hard time with her chemo treatments, so please pray for her to regain some appetite, energy and strength. My dad started his radiation treatments this week also, so please pray for him. I could use prayer as well to be a helpful and good hearted care giver, while balancing work and home. Thanks!

Also, it keeps snowing! The view for anyone attempting to sit on this bench by our house would be a bit dull! I am REALLY eager for Spring. I usually last longer than this, but this has been a particularly bitter winter and Entertainment had our sales training in Detroit this year instead of Florida so I never got to escape and it really made a difference! Hopefully last weekend was the last of the below zero temps!

Our dog, June, is also seemingly eager for Spring as she continually prepares me for motherhood with her constant activity and naughty behavior. She is best behaved after much physical activity and on sunny days where she can bask in the sunlight in our kitchen (that's the cat bed, by the way).

This past weekend Lee was out of town and while some of my girlfriends were over on Friday night, June helped herself to three pieces of pepperoni pizza and on Saturday when my niece Jenny was over, June ate her Ghirardelli dark chocolate candy bar. Of course dark chocolate is toxic for dogs, so out came the hydrogen peroxide. Jenny and I ended up, after 30 minutes of standing in freezing temps and falling snow, using a turkey baster to get June to swallow the peroxide so she would throw up. We were so cold but needed to make sure she puked and I couldn't hold June and administer the peroxide by myself so we tackled it as a team. We went back and forth between laughing and grumbling. FINALLY June threw it all up and we went back in by the fire and finished our movie. So much for a relaxing evening!

Well, this blog is about five posts in one, but that's the kind of week it was! Here's to warmer weather and a great week ahead!