hello, hello

It's been awhile...no excuses, really. Just trucking along in my daily routine. All is well.

I took both cats to the vet last week. Chloe is accepting her renal diet and medicine. Her appetite is great and she actually gained a little weight which, according to the vet, means her kidneys are functioning well. Yeah! Fuzzball had his annual check up. The worst part of the whole experience was the half hour it took us to get him in the carrier. If he only knew that would be the easiest part. :)

My dad's employer closed its doors unexpectedly 2 weeks ago. The very next day, he and another of his coworkers were handed jobs at another transportation company, Nationwide Trucking. A huge bonus is that they were able to open a satellite location in Mundelein, so my dad's commute is 7 minutes. The other guy also lives in Mundelein. I'm thankful for this happy ending.

Dave continues to work from home 4 days/week. This set up has allowed him to become very good at his new xbox game, Burnout Paradise.

Michele, thanks again for planning Chris's party around my work schedule. Dave and I are looking forward to seeing everyone. Let me know if we can bring anything.

It's exciting to hear of Gram coming home next week. I bet she's delighted. I, too, think she will need a caregiver, maybe a 24/7??? Peggy, good luck with the caregiver discussions. Do you think Gram is strong enough to attend Chris's party? Dave and I were planning on visiting her that morning, so let us know.

Dave purchased a generator which will be delivered in the next few days. I'm looking forward to the additional piece of mind. Now we should be set.

We went to the DMV today. I had to renew my license and Dave had to renew his state ID. The new licenses and IDs are very flashy.


J&B, I thoroughly enjoy checking out Gavin's blog. He's growing so fast and is so strong! He's adorable. I wish I knew when Dave and I can come out, but with him starting at HSBC, we have no idea when that will be. :(

That's all for now...
Love,
Melissa

Diamonds

I've been hearing and reading about a class action settlement for folks who may have purchased diamond jewelry, and I think that there are three of you who did so within the allotted time frame. For further info, go to www.diamondsclassaction.com. Should be worth your while.

I heard from Dawn Hach last evening. We haven't spoken for a very long time. She sends her best wishes to all of you. Her husband Tom is still working in downtown Chicago and commuting from the house in Bensenville, but is going to be opening a new salon in Naperville by next summer, probably out south along Route 59.

D.J. is going to stop by tomorrow on his way home from work to help Pop bring down the TV from our bedroom to put on top of the antique TV in the family room for the Souper Bowl. That thing is really heavy, and Pop has been seeing Dr. Fay twice a week for over a month, so I'm grateful to D.J. for his help. Thanks also to Michele, Chris and Sami for allowing their Dad to get home even later than usual.

Had a meeting at the Westbury today, and the plan is for Gram to return to Devonshire next Wednesday the 6th of Feb. I sure don't feel like she's ready, but perhaps she can make great strides in the next week. My feeling is that she should move from 348 to a different apartment on the fifth floor, where they have assisted living. She's adamant, however, and you all know how she can be. Determination can take her a long way, but I think she lacks the physical strength to succeed. I hope I'm wrong!

Pop has gone bowling this evening. Our temperature is plummeting from near 50 today, down to below zero by morning, with snow and fierce wind and wind chills. This info is for the Utah folks, since the rest of you are living this.

Gotta go continue to clean the basement. Love to you all, and good luck with the diamond thing. The amount of the rebate will be determined by the number of applicants - the fewer there are, the bigger the rebate.

Mom

Mary Zat

Just to let you know that Mary Zat died this morning. Gram got a call from Rob this afternoon. She never regained consciousness while in the hospital, which the doctors said was good because she would have been gasping for air, between the pneumonia and the collapsed lung. The whole family was up there last evening, but she wasn't aware. They'll have a memorial service in Minnesota and then a funeral Mass in Georgia, where she will be buried with Hank. She was a very nice lady. Hope you'll say a prayer for her.

Mom

Update

Happy Monday, family. We made it through the worst of the cold, although it was much worse in Minnesota. Kinda' confirms my decision not to attempt a trip up there for Mary and Joseph's wedding next weekend. Meanwhile, Gram just found out from Uncle Bob that Mary Zat is in the hospital. Last Tuesday he came home from work and found her sitting in a chair, unresponsive. He got a neighbor to help him get her into her wheelchair and then they called 911. She has apparently had a massive stroke, and they have diagnosed a number of other things, such as pneumonia, a collapsed lung and a blood infection. She doesn't know or recognize anyone and she's not expected to survive all this. It would probably be a blessing if God were to take her. It's unfortunate that this is happening at the same time as Mary's wedding.

Gram's leg has returned to it's normal size for the most part. There are still a couple of areas that are hard and painful, one above the knee and the other alongside the hip incision. They have begun to include that leg in her therapy, and they have her doing minimal weight bearing and motion exercises with the right leg. Today she has the misfortune of having to go to the hospital for a CT scan. She'll have to go in the wheelchair by ambulance. Not the best weather, but the doctor(s) want to see what changes have taken place since her previous scans. Julie, she received the pictures you mailed to her and was very pleased to see an updated Gavin.

Pop has been struggling with sciatica for the past few weeks. He's had a CT scan and also an MRI last week. Nothing too definitive - just wear and tear and aging for the most part. He's still seeing Dr. Fay twice a week. Now he also is fighting a cold and cough - he sounded like a walrus for a couple of days, but that's easing up. Needless to say, he's still going to work and bowling and working on puzzles.

Less than 2 weeks until the Souper Bowl. At least we now know the teams that will be playing. I was kinda' rooting for the Packers, especially since the Bears beat them twice. Don't know how those players performed at all when it was that cold. I was expecting the football to shatter. I need to focus on house cleaning now, as well as deciding on which soups to make. I'm enjoying my reduced work schedule, but going to Westbury every day is sometimes worse than going to work. My foot has been giving me quite a bit of trouble, so it's making me lazy. I want to keep sitting down, and that ruins productivity ;-)

I'm wondering how Sami's first gymnastics class went. Sure would like to hear more from the North Aurora contingent.

Time to shower, dress and make breakfast. Love to you all

Mom

Get a job?

Hi everyone,

It's been quite some time but I've been pretty busy. The transition to Seattle of my responsibilities is coming to an end as well as my employment with WaMu (2/29). I had been working on my resume for about a week as I found the standard for someone with my experience is two pages (yikes). Trying to keep someone interested in just one page is difficult.

My goal was to have my resume done by the end of the year. I missed that by a couple days but hit the internet, recruiters, Discover Card Services and HSBC as soon as it was done. I bought a new suit last week because my old pants didn't fit :( and I had already lined up interviews with HSBC and two recruiting firms for Tuesday.

With my new suit, I was a traveling salesman, selling a piece of DMW to any suitable buyer. As luck would have it, (that and a recommendation from my former boss that now works at HSBC) a day later I got an offer for the HSBC Financial Accounting Manager position!! Unbelievable really, as I only started looking a week ago. I prayed in thanks to God for blessing me (I think maybe Grandma Dorothy is watching over us) and also thanked Mark Roscoe, my old boss for his reference.

The HSBC headquarters is moving into a new building in Mettawa about a mile away from my old office in Vernon Hills but just off of 94. If you're ever driving to Wisconsin, you can see it on the highway. I start 3/3. I tried to negotiate a week off but they need me to start ASAP. Oh well, they do give me 23 days vacation and 10 holidays, 4 of which are floaters and they demand that 2 back-to-back weeks be taken annually without contact via phone or email!

That's all for now, I didn't want anyone to worry about my being out of a job any longer than they have. Just pray that nothing happens to reverse this good fortune.

With the job search over, maybe I will finally have time to tackle that puzzle!

Love Dave

Puzzled

We finally finished it! Took a bit longer this year for some reason ;).

So how the heck is everyone, anyway?? I got a nice e-mail from Chris & Sami (Michele) earlier in the month, so I got to read about their Christmas and New Year's Eve. How are you liking your Wii? Dave, do you have a Wii yet? I haven't even seen one let alone played with one.

Mom and Pop, Gavin received his first shipment of Dr. Seuss books from Scholastic on Monday. Thanks so much! Brandon and I are probably way more excited about reading them than he is, but I'm sure all that will change...

Love to all!

pretty amaryllis

This is the picture I promised you yesterday - I think. Pop took the photo and is making me post this.