Family Update Jan. 2009

1) On a scale of 1 to 10, how was your JANUARY?
Give January a 5. It was great, because Madelyn did so well on her performance. It was terrible, because Sheri broke her arm.

2) What did you do last weekend OR what are your plans for this weekend?
Last weekend I took Madelyn to see "Paul Blart: Mall Cop." I took James to the Gophers basketball game last Thursday. It sure is great to get free tickets from work!

3) How is the extended family?
Sheri can fill you in on more details.

4) How is job?

Good. I'm starting to do some information interviews with other people in my company. I was telling my manager, "I like what I'm doing, but I'm not really all that jazzed up about it." He said, "It's time to start looking for something new!". I'm really fortunate that our company really promotes employee job satisfaction. I've been in my position for five years. That is not very common. Usually, people mix it up and move around.

5) How is health?

Mine is pretty good. Sheri's arm is on the mend. She can drive now, yeah! But it's still pretty tough for her to move it much.

6) Did you go anywhere cool?

Gophers game at the Barn (Williams Arena). That place is so crowded and oddly laid out. Going there and bumping shoulders with all of humanity during halftime is just a priceless experience!

7) What made you frustrated?

Looking at the explanation of benefits from Sheri's orthopedic and surgery appointments. We made payments out of two Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts and two of company's Personal Health Accounts. Needless to say, all four accounts are empty, and it's only February!

8) What made you happy?

Absolutely seeing Madelyn shine at her school concert! We spent a lot of time with her in memorizing lines. She had no problem remembering all of them, and she was so expressive! Several people came up to her afterwards and told her how well she did.

9) Anything surprising?

10) Movies/TV shows you watched?

Paul Blart: Mall Cop; American Idol (yes, the kids dragged me into it. I don't really intend to keep watching it though.)

11) Currently reading?

We just finished reading Term Limits tonight. I'm also reading a book on .NET programming and Oracle database performance tuning. Sheri and I are also reading Un-Christian, a book about people's perceptions about the Christian faith.

12) Something you made:

I finished this puzzle I have been working on since before Christmas. I knew I was in for the long haul when I was averaging 3 pieces an hour at first! When I finished it, there was one missing piece. I searched for it and found it partway down an air vent in the floor. Sheri reached down (with her left arm) and pulled it out for me. Here is a picture of me completing it. Yes, after doing all this I decided to glue the puzzle as proof that I actually completed it!




13) Do anything cool?

At work, our fitness center puts on these "Friday fitness days". Last Friday, it was ice skating. We have a little man-made pond outside our cafeteria. They flooded it so that we would have enough decent skating ice. I brought my hockey skates in that day, and a few of us went skating!

14) Anything bad happen?

Yep - Sheri's arm and Lisa's breast cancer diagnosis.

15) Any cool people you've met/reconnected with?

We have two new consultants on our project. Both are interesting people. They have a lot of interesting stories to tell.

16) Any big purchases?

Surgical repair of the elbow.

17) Something that inspired you....

It was great having people cook meals for us. Makes me want to do something for others.

18) What are you looking forward to in the month of February?

Running on the treadmill again at work. Couples by Candlelight at our church. Getting started on Madelyn and James' pinewood derby cars.

19) Not looking forward to?

20) Complete the phrase: "In January, I put other things aside to concentrate on helping Sheri."