Party?

OK, so you might be wondering what ever happened to that brilliant party idea Abby had that was supposed to be soon. Well, with all the Grandpa crisis and now the fun PA roadtrip coming up I think I will continue to put it off a little while longer. I'm going to say July 31st officially. It can be a Happy Anniversary to Laura and Bob/everyone soon-to-be going away party. Bring swimming suits and your drink of choice and I'll provide the food. I can't wait to see you all again!!

I really am enjoying my summer, but I do get a bit of cabin-fever every now and then. Last week I memorized where every country is in the whole world and then I started learning capitals. I know all of Africa, Europe, the Canadian provinces, and central and South America too. This week I redesigned our system of attaching our boats to the dock. It took 3 trips to the hardware store and about 70 feet of rope. Next I intend to re-finish the swing. EXCITEMENT!!! It's like living inside HGTV!!!!! LOL.

P.S. I never made it to that Chris Tomlin concert. It was raining ...and I went on a date instead!! His name is Brad Brumm, he's a Sigma Chi from Michigan, he's Filipino, he's super sweet and funny, and...he works for the ARMY! BOO!!!! But like I said, he's super sweet and fun and he drove down here a day early just for me (he had some big Sigma Chi party to go to in Cincinnati on Sat.) and we went out to eat and bowling and then boating with my friend Sarah and her fiance Craig (also a Sigma Chi). It was so nice! Then on sunday on his way back home he came over again and we canoed and swam. It was great! AND we didn't even kiss!! It was fabulous - no pressure!!! (However, I'm a little nervous with date #3 coming up for Sarah's wedding at the end of July - if you've seen "Hitch" you know what I mean!!) He's just such a great guy...why the Army???? :( The picture is of Brad and my friend Sarah - disregard the random shape and newsprint - I ripped it out of my scrapbook temporarily. lol!

My new house

99.9% Missouri Bound

OK, so my temporary insanity has now worn off and I'm pretty settled back on St. Louis. I prayed about it a lot and St. Louis feels like the best decision (even though Oregon is very, very awesome!!) WSCC never sent me the info I requested so that was a downer. I'm still waiting to see if I was accepted though - if I hate Logan it will be my first choice to transfer to! LOL! Actually things with St. Louis are going really well!! This really nice Christian lady called me and said that she was looking for roommates to live with her daughter in this sweet townhouse. (Her daughter is currently in Ethiopia doing mission work for the summer!!) The place is sweet - 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 3 stories, a balcony/deck thingy, a fireplace, a bar, a walk-out basement, a park in the backyard with trails and occational concerts - what more could I ask for????!!! The rent isn't terrible either. I'm psyched! So I'm going to sign a lease next week!!! Ahhhh!! So yeah, no more Oregon for me...but with the GladRags headquarters there how could I resist?? LOL!!

Living in Oregon????

I just applied to Western States Chiropractic College (WSCC) in Portland, Oregon. lol! I don't know what I'm thinking! I could tell you some B.S. about how they have a good program that integrates nutrition and about how Portland is beautiful and how fun it would be to live in a "green" city, but you would probably tell me to shut up. The truth is...Robb talked me into it - applying that is. I probably will still go to Logan in St. Louis, but I'm at least concidering it. Feel free to let me know what you think.
So this probably leads you to ask what the heck is going on with me and Robb. I don't know really. Obviously we are talking again. He also stopped drinking after I left and is now REALLY on fire for God. Why didn't he figure that out earlier????!!!! I've been praying a lot about it and even though his stats are greatly improved now, I'm still not so sure that we are right for each other. Feel free to let me know what you think on that too!

Grandpa update: He still didn't have heart surgery. He got a really bad infection from the last time he was at the hospital, so it will be several weeks before they can re-schedule. He is in the hospital now, but he'll be home tomorrow. Please keep praying because his Alzheimer's is getting really bad.

Chris Tomlin 

The end of the saga...finally!

Well folks, you can all relax - I will NOT be marrying (or dating) Alan. He sent me an e-mail earlier this week saying that he has thought a lot about everything and he just doesn't think it is healthy for either of us to keep trying to make this work. THANK GOD!!! It's about time, don't you think???!! He won't be coming home for a month, but it is really finally officially over.

In other news...Grandpa decided to go ahead with the heart surgery, even though it will very likely worsen his mental capabilities. It is scheduled for next Tuesday.

I heard about a free concert in Dayton coming up. It's Chris Tomlin (I don't know how to spell) and he's an awesome Christian singer. If anyone is interested let me know. The concert is on Friday, June 24th at 7:00pm.

Update

Grandpa didn't actually end up having surgery. They are worried that while making his heart healthy, they might damage his overall health with the anesthesia. They are going to wait and think about it this weekend and then he'll be back on Monday to make the decision. Please keep praying for all of my family.

On a more positive note...Dad got a job!!!! It's a weird temp-ish maintenance job, but a job is a job and it pays pretty well. Praise God for that!!!

The week started well and then...

Last week I went to visit Brett Fisher at Wright State (former Bio Beaver, yes Laura - he's the one with 1 1/2 legs). I got to say hi to my brother too while I was there. We saw the movie Kingdom of Heaven (I didn't know what it was before I went). The story line was good and Orlando was as beautiful as ever, but I had to watch half of the movie with my eyes closed!!! So much blood and guts!! I suppose it was necessary with a movie about the crusades and all, but wow!!
This week started out going really well. Mom is home from school now, so that is nice. (Joe will be home tomorrow.) I put my graduation announcement in the paper to appease my mom. I scrapbooked a lot. I made an attempt at organization in my room, but you wouldn't beleive me if you saw it right now. I went canoeing too.
Yesterday was the official "women's" cleaning day at church. (Apparently the male anatomy renders them incapable of sweeping or something?????) Anyway, I figured that since I am generally a bum I should go. It actaully turned out to be really fun. However, I was the youngest one by about 30+ years so I got nominated to crawl around under all the pews and scrub the floor and then go back and wax. I was very impressed how flexible some old ladies are!! They fed us too, so that was cool. Right before we were finished I accidentally dumped the dirty mop bucket all over the clean floor. So I don't know if they will invite me back again, but it was fun while it lasted!
Today was not so good, however. My grandpa has been short of breath, so he went in for tests. To make a long story short, he will be having open heart surgery tomorrow afternoon. Please pray for him and for my family. Laura and Reba have met him and he's just the sweetest old man ever. The doctors were so surprised that he hadn't come in sooner, but he just never complains about anything. That is just the kind of man he is.
Maria: I'm sure you can understand how I feel right now. I'm sorry that I didn't really understand what you went through last summer with your Grandpa. Where is Dylan when you need him? TOTALLY KIDDING!!! I love you.

Grandma's computer lesson

Today was quite exciting. I gave Grandma her first ever computer lesson! She is borrowing my computer (ahhhh!!!) for the summer to see if she likes it. She doesn't have internet yet, but that is ok considering she had never used a "mouse" before today. It was actually really fun. She paid me with Mexican food - I could get used to that!! However, she let me walk around all day with a super absorbancy tampon hanging out of my back pocket. NOT COOL!! No wonder why the Mexicans looked at me funny!

P.S. I'm throwing a party! If you have date preferences or "please-don't-schedule-it-for-that-weekend" suggestions I'd be interesting in hearing them. I was thinking about the end of June/4th of July-ish. We can go boating and shoot off fireworks. If Maria comes, husbands will be welcome. That's my rule.

To the self-appointed "cool" Abby: let me know when you'll be in Ohio and I suppose I could make an exception for Derek to come.