Home Life Update

Life continues to happen, here at our house (and presumably at yours too, although there is little blog activity to support this broad assumption of mine :) ). I shall now contrive to give a general catch up, and then move into some pictures.

Topic One: Grandpa is now living at our house. So a little timeline is on March first, he went to the hospital. He then moved to another hospital, and then was transferred to a nursing home nearby. Then on Tuesday (May 29th), he came here to our house. We have converted the second downstairs bedroom from a school room back to a bedroom, and that's where he is. So far, he has done about 90 % of the dishes for us, so we're happy, haha. An occupational therapist named Steve came today to evaluate him, and their goal is to get him back to his home, living relatively independently.

 Jessica is currently waiting for some important people someplace to decide to have her as an intern for someone important someplace. Apparently, someone important needs an intern (a paid intern) someplace nearby, and so Jessica was recommended and she applied for the job and now they just have to say yes. In a nutshell.

I'm working a few hours per week at the local library, waiting for camp to start. On June 17th, I'll be going to staff training, and then I'll be gone pretty much completely until August 18th. I was informed  not too long ago that management at the Comfort Inn had decided to let me go (cause that sounds better than fired), so I basically don't have a life. I'm excited about this upcoming week, though: on Tuesday, I'll be job shadowing an occupational therapist, on Wednesday I'll be driving Annetta to a job interview at Bethany Camp (which we're so hoping she'll get!), and then on Saturday, a good friend of ours is having a highschool graduation party which we are all looking forward to! As far as college goes for me, Patrick Henry College did accept me, but due to changes in their financial aid policies, I'm looking to attend SUNY Fredonia this fall.

Okay...moving on to the pictures! Last Sunday, Jessica, Annetta, Rachel, and I went on a beachside picnic. Except...it sorta rained for a while, so we picnicked in the car, and then strolled leisurely along the scenic beach, enjoying the beautiful view, that is the part of the view that we could see past the large clothespins clamped firmly on our noses because Lake Erie stinks. Anyhow, on the picnic, we had brownie cheesecake, and it was very delicious. I'm sure that Annetta and Rachel won't mind me sharing these pictures with you of them eating said cheesecake.

 After our picnic, Rachel's family sporadically decided to go see Avengers at the theater, and we sporadically decided to go along. So we did and it was fun!

Moving on to Monday, which we all remember was Memorial Day... We watched a parade with our relatives, and then we had a picnic with those relatives. The next 4 pictures are from the cousins beanbag toss game. Victoria and I were on one team, and Annetta and Jess were on the other.

  Observe my facial expression here, and compare it with Victoria's in the next.

 It must be the genetics. I mean, look at those identical expressions! We're obviously related.

 And then we got a shot of the cousins. Awww....look at us being all related and stuff!

 My mom celebrated the day by reading in the shade.

  So did Hosanna. Like mother like daughter. Also, Hosanna is presiding over her Memorial Day Parade loot...the kids always go prepared with large plastic bags to carry all their candy.

We now move on to Monday evening, which was Katrina's 6th birthday celebration time.

 We invited our neighbors over, especially because Reuben happens to have the same birthdate too...just 13 years apart. 

 And I think that catches us all up!Thanks for reading!

My Weekend

Edited to add: Aaaaannnnddd.....I was assigned to medical staff! So for encampment, I'll be checking cadets for blisters and making sure they all stay healthy.

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I had a relatively interesting Saturday. It started at 3 am and ended around 11:30 when I crashed on a cot of dubious quality.

I applied for a cadet staff position at the NY Wing encampment, which is this July. Last weekend was an encampment staff workshop. Essentially, it's where the cadet and senior staff members get together, have some classes, and the cadets get evaluated and possibly interviewed for the positions they applied for.

So Saturday morning, my alarm started going off at 3 am. And I was disciplined and actually got myself out of bed right away and didn't fall back asleep like I typically do. Plus, it would have been embarrassing to show up late for my ride (or miss my ride!) just cause I didn't get up. So I got up. And I hopped into my BDUs, grabbed my backpack and sleeping bag, and gathered up some breakfast. My mom drove me up to Buffalo, and Hosanna came along to give us company. We found the rendezvous point without difficulty, and the other cadet who was riding there too showed up as well. Maj A, our driver, overslept by five minutes (ha! so glad it wasn't me!), but he got there right around 5 am. I got to ride shotgun the whole way out to Scotia. It was roughly a 4 hour drive...one 5 minute break, and the rest was straight cruising.  All I can say about the driving is I sure hope Maj A didn't pay too much for his music CDs. I hope someone gives him new music CDs for Father's Day. Hey...a person can hope, right?

We arrived around 9 am. We signed in with the registrar and plunged into a full day of activities and people. There were classes (held in the dining hall) and group leadership projects. For the classes, I propped myself up at a random table and looked awake and cognizant. I also took notes to help appear more functional. Some of the classes were on time management, what leadership is not, and goal setting.

The group leadership projects were more hands on. I was assigned to bravo flight, and we had 10 people in our group. We would go to the assigned location where we were given an assignment. We would go about completing this assignment (example: a treasure hunt, minus a treasure at the end, but complete with the difficult to understand, rhyming clues) while being followed by senior members with clipboards. And we did rather quite well, I thought. We came together as a team, we listened to each other, and we had some people who were able to stand out as good group leaders. And there's nothing like listening to  and participating in a 45 minute long guided discussion on fairness, justice, and leadership with a group of young teens. It made me feel better about the future of America.

We switched between classes and GLPs until about 6:30 or 7 (with breaks for lunch and supper), and then we watched a movie (Remember the Titans, if anyone's interested). Then it was time to clean up the dining hall (in which I managed not to fall asleep while sweeping), shower, and go to bed. I was assigned to Cabin 2, and I found an empty cot to stash myself and my stuff, and I slept quite well. Except for the crows. You know...some people have annoying roosters that wake you up before dawn with their noise. The Stratton Air National Guard Base doesn't have roosters-- it has crows, parked conveniently in the trees surrounding the cabins we slept in. And I detest every single one of them. Who needs alarm clocks when you have crows?

Anyhow, Sunday morning was getting up, packing, eating breakfast, and going home.  I got back around 2 or 3.

Obviously, the end result of the workshop was to be selected for staff. However, until the staff positions have all been officially announced on the NYWG website, I can't say what position (if any) I got. So I'm gonna just publish this as is right now, and when it's formally announced, I'll just to an "edited to add" thingy at the top.

Maystuff

Yo...sup? It's May, and it's warm and green here. I'm listening to the Cocoanut's playlist and blogging.So anyhow...last blog post I alluded to the upcoming and eminent visit of the D family (Kevin's family). Now I shall proceed to blog the pictures that I found on my camera. I love when I plug my camera into my computer, copy them over, look through the pics, and discover lots of cool shots that I didn't take.

Jess and Kevin had a safe trip up. They got here a little after 7 Wednesday evening, a full half hour before googlemaps said they'd be here O_O Speaking of whom...here's Mr. Green Shirt himself:

 He and Josh had a very manly arm wrestling competition after the oldest kids got back from visiting Elizabeth and Reuben that evening. 

 The next day, all of us kids (minus Josh and Katrina) went shopping for groceries for the weekend. Who knew that Aldis and Walmart were so...umm...interesting? We had time to stop at The Green Tearoom for smoothies and hot drinks before heading home. Then we took a walk, went to the Civil Air Patrol open house, and came home. The rest of the family had *just* gotten there like 10 minutes before us, so we walked in and met the family. They're such sweet people, and we enjoyed getting to know them.

Here we have Mr. and Mrs. D, Catherine (the youngest), and a camera-shy Josh.

 This is Lisa, Michael, Andrew, and Stephen. We were sad that Christina (their oldest) had a prior commitment and couldn't come.    

 And wow...apparently one of my siblings was creeping on Mrs. D??

 This is Josh's Nerf gun. And yes, the only reason I knew what it was was because it is written on the side of the gun. Josh had such a blast playing with boys and guns...the boys brought some guns with them. I'd tell you what sort of gun they are, but I haven't the foggiest.

 Ah, Mr. and Mrs. D, in a candid moment.

 Delicious cookies being reserved for Friday night supper.

 A Nerf...bullet?

 Saturday morning, we all went to the Luensman (sp?) Overview Park. We admired the view and took a nature hike. This is me taking a picture and telling everyone to look casual.

 Some of us ran down to the bottom of the hill, and some of us remained on top and took pictures of those of us who ran.

 Then we started out on our hike. It was like a mile long, and it was perfect.

 In which I take a picture of someone taking a picture of someone taking a picture.

Me: "Michael! Look epic!"
Michael: *smiles*

Stephen leads Catherine, Hosanna, and Kevin on a daring venture.

Hosanna and Joanna strike stunning poses. 

Lydia tears a small tree apart and goes on a violent rampage.

 The party poses for a group picture, taken by a friendly hiker.

 Kevin bounces Katrina up and down on a branch.

 Lisa explores across a downed log.

 And we found an adorable salamander!

That evening, we had a few friends over for a picnic and kickball...sadly, I have no pictures of this. The next day, we went to church, came home, had lunch, played some games, and then bid our guests goodbye. They made it safely home around midnight. Andrew has a lot of super awesome pictures on his camera, so if he puts them online, I'll try to at least post a link.

Thanks for reading!

[snapshot]

I love doing these little snapshot-of-our-day posts. Anyhow, right now, I am baking these cookies, and I just finished baking these cookies. My mom's making supper, my dad's at work, and the rest of the kids are cleaning/doing schoolwork. Except Jessica. She finished her junior year at college yesterday (and I have to add this caveat--technically, I'm not sure if she has all the credits by PHC's standards, but whatever!) and is even now as I type driving home. Actually riding. She and Kevin will be here later on this evening, and then Kevin's family will be coming in later tomorrow night. We're looking forward to hanging out with them over the weekend!

So quite naturally, the last few days weeks have been spent cleaning, cleaning, and...more cleaning! We started with Grandpa's house. That needed a maaaajor cleaning up. Picture an arthritic, elderly man living in a home alone for about 20 years, and just picture the dust...the cobwebs...the grime...the mold in the fridge...the clutter...the dirty clothing... If I were Roman Catholic, I think we'd all deserve sainthood right now. Anyhow, his house looks roughly 14,000 times better. Our house needed some decluttering, some finishing up of painting projects, and mowing of lawns. Plus about a million other things. But now we are down to slightly under a million things left to do!

Historically speaking, we've kept somewhat busy over the past couple weeks, or whenever it was I posted last. Grandpa continues to do better at the nursing home. We hope to bring him home to his house this weekend after his doctor's appointment on Friday.

I'm sure I have a lot of pictures and stuff all begging to be blogged, but they're all upstairs, and I'm not. Okay...I'm taking the last batch of cookies out of the oven, eating a tad (we're waiting on supper proper till Jess and Kevin, aka Sparky, get here) and then making sure that everything's cleaned that needs to be. Adios!

CAP Open House

CIVIL AIR PATROL

U.S. Air Force Auxiliary

Cadet programs, Aerospace, Emergency services

Jamestown Composite Squadron open house

Thursday, May 10^th from 7-9 pm

Who’s Invited? Everyone! Civil Air Patrol has something for everyone, and even if you’re not interested in joining, come learn how CAP impacts your community!

What’s Going On? We’re recruiting, having fun, exploring CAP, and enjoying refreshments! You’ll speak with cadets, watch demonstrations, and learn all about the Civil Air Patrol.   

When is it? It’s from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, May 10^th, 2012

Where is it held? It’s at the Chautauqua County Airport, Jamestown New York, in the main terminal.

For Further Information… call Major Ellen Maternowski at (716)-397-3864, or email her at matrnwsk@windstream.net.       

:D

"Erika,

Thanks again for taking the time to come out to camp and interview.  We wanted to let you know that we'd love to have you join us as a counselor this summer, and be a part of the Bethany Camp team!  We'll be sending out contracts and other paperwork in the next couple of weeks, but we wanted to let you know that we'd like to offer you a spot."

YAY! I am very surprised and very happy...just waiting for PHC now :) Ahh...gonna be an awesome and crazy and insane summer. 

My dramatic day

Wow. Today has been kinda dramatic. In a good way, but also in kind of a wearing down sort of a way. It started off on a great note, however. Our neighbors invited us down for brunch, so at 9:30, we headed down and very tasty bacon and sausage, scrambled eggs, fruit salad, cinnamon rolls, and hot cocoa. Then we played some cool games (Midnight Madness, Slap, and Killer) before we had to leave.

Then my nerves kicked in. And the reason for that was: at 1pm, Brooke from PHC's admissions office called me for an interview. We had a good conversation, actually, for about 40 minutes. She asked me a ton of questions, I asked her questions, and she said that I'll know within about a week or a little more if I've been accepted there or not.

Then my nerves kicked in again. And the reason for that was: at 3:30, I had an interview at Bethany Camp. I had applied there to work as a counselor over the summer, and they wanted to do an interview. Aand...I think I totally failed it. I sort of think I failed the PHC interview too, but I think I failed the camp one worse. Nothing like being put on the spot to explain salvation/baptism/music preferences/Bible versions/works of the Spirit/homosexuality to two guys in a random office... And unlike Brooke, their vocal inflections/facial expressions didn't give me the remotest clue with how I was doing.

But either way...we'll see. I'm trusting that God's will will be done in spite of this.

[Ahem...please note that that was written on Tuesday. And I'm posting it on Thursday. And not fixing anything date-wise just because I can :P :) )

Cinnamon Rolls

A few months ago, I discovered an awesome recipe for cinnamon rolls. I made them and loved them. Then I made them again and again. The last time I made them, I decided to photograph the process, because I've been slacking on pictures and blogging. So it was a perfect opportunity. Here's the link to the actual recipe: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/breads/cinnamon-rolls-6/?print=1/#size3x5

The first step is not shown here, but is very important: find a music play list to accompany you as you work in the kitchen. I found that the Lord of the Rings soundtrack was excellent.

Next, ensure that you have all the ingredients. Oil, yeast, milk, baking soda, flour (you can use all the same kind...I used two kinds because we were running out of flour :P ), baking powder, cinnamon (duh), salt, and butter. Oh, and sugar. You'll need sugar. There's probably a good reason why I didn't put the sugar in the picture, and that reason is this: I forgot.

You'll start by heating the oil, milk, and sugar on the stove. While pouring in the sugar, make sure that you get distracted by photographing it and spill it all over the stove. I'm sure that's essential.

Once the milk has heated up, pour it into a bowl (or you could just make sure the pot you heat it up in is big enough :P ) and make sure it's not too hot and not too cold. Then pour in the yeast and let that sit.

Add in almost all of the flour, cover it with a towel, and let it sit and rise for an hour.

After it has risen sufficiently, add in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and the last cup of flour. Stir it all up (for those of you who like to use your hands to mix stuff up, this step is for you :) ). Then you can stick it in the fridge to chill for easier handling.

When you're ready to commence roll making, gather your pans, the butter, cinnamon, and sugar, and find a rolling pin and knife. I used two small pie plates, 2 9x13 pans, and an 8x8 pan. Yep, the recipe makes a lot, but that's all the better for sharing! Butter your pans, and set them aside. Melt some butter (I think I used a little over two sticks), and get some extra flour to dust over your counter for rolling out. Split the roll dough in half and roll out one of the halves.

Once it's rolled out, spread butter on it, and then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on it. Doesn't it look beautiful?

Then, you roll it up, starting at the edge that's farthest from you and rolling it to yourself. Get a large knife (the one I use is mostly non-serrated) and start slicing.

Then they go in your pans. Now, as you slice them, some of the cinnamon/sugar/butter will ooze out. You can either take a plastic spoon (because plastic spoons are somewhat flexible) and scoop it up and put it on the cinnamon rolls in the pan, or just put it back in your pot with melted butter. (Then you reuse it on the next batch, and any leftover from that gets used to make cinnamon toast). Repeat that with the second half of dough, and let the rolls rise for a half hour.

Then, it's in the oven they go! While they're baking, you can make the frosting/glaze. I didn't take picture of it because I didn't exactly follow the recipe.

And then you have beautiful, yummy cinnamon rolls.

Grandfather Update

I can't remember where we were last time I updated, so to cover my bases: he's in the Select Specialty Hospital now instead of the hospital he was first in in Erie, and he's slowly improving. He pulled his tracheostemy out on...I wanna say Sunday, and the doctor decided to cap up the hole. Basically, the next step is to put him in a nursing home to rehab to the point where he could come home. I'm not sure when that move to a nursing home would be, but I think within a few days. He still has confusion, like thinking that his hospital bed is a tractor, and the tall buildings outside his window are silos (once a farmer, always a farmer, I guess!), but still seems to do well with history and current events.

Pictures...this is the building he's in. He's on the third floor.

My dad, Annetta, Lydia, Hosanna, Joanna, and I went down about a week ago and hung out with Uncle Bill and Grandpa for a couple hours. We took the laptop with us so we could show him some pictures.


Then he had supper. It looked really gross, because it was all blended up, but he liked the yogurt.

And we (well...I) drew penguins on his little white board.

Interesting Pictures (Also titled: Some things are just better shared :) )

[And so finally, I got smart and plugged my camera into a different USB port, and IT WORKED! So now I have pictures on my computer and I shall commence blogging.]

One of my favorite parts of taking pictures is putting them on my computer and looking at them. One of my favorite parts of putting pictures on my computer and then looking at them is because sometimes I will run across a picture that a) I didn't take, b) I have no idea who took it, and c) I have no idea why they took it. Such was my reaction a few weeks ago, scrolling through photos on my camera. I was amused and intrigued. I thought I'd share these pictures so you can be similarly enriched.

Grandpa Update

Here's the Reader's Digest version :)

We'd continue to appreciate prayers for Grandpa. Last Wednesday night/Thursday morning, he went to the hospital. He's had breathing/throat problems for years, but nothing very serious...like he might have a choking/gasping spell once in a while, but it would only last a few minutes. Apparently, that night it was really bad, and he called 911. He gets confused at night, so he was confused and thinking that someone was in his house choking, but the ambulance came and got it all figured out. They were also able to track down our phone number and called my dad, so he went down right away. Then they went to the local hospital. Around 9 am they decided to send him to the hospital in Erie where there was a throat specialist, and he's been there ever since in the MICU.

They thought that the problem is some sort of growth/tumor, and so they scheduled a biopsy this morning. Uncle Bill went down there this afternoon, and so we have details, such as they are :) They did not find any tumor or mass or anything. They put in a temporary tracheostemy, which means that he no longer has breathing tubes and stuff hanging out of his mouth. Because it's temporary, they'll be able to seal it up and he will be able to breathe and talk normally.

He's sedated. They've kept him pretty much out of it, because when they start taking him off it, he starts trying to get out of bed. That's a bad thing because he's not supposed to try to get up, but it's a good thing because it means he's fighting. They are trying to get him awake more, and this afternoon he was able to respond to some things. For example, when the nurse asked him if he was in any pain, he responded no, and he also responded to questions/commands that Uncle Bill gave.

Anyhow...that's all I know. I am planning on doing some regular blogging (haha, when am I not?), and I do have some rather, ahem, interesting pictures I want to share with you all, so stay tuned!