We’re in Michigan now. Thanks for your prayers for Ellie. She’s doing quite a bit better but still isn’t 100%. We’re planning to take her to the doctor here, probably on Monday.

Our trip up was mostly uneventful, except for a major 2:30 am thunderstorm on Thursday night/Friday morning. We thought the tent was going to collapse and/or get hit by lightning, so we made a quick jump into the minivan and spent the rest of the night there. Since more storms were forecast, we cut our camping short by a day and got here late last night.

So here we are. We’ll have a lot less internet access than normal (just the Panera up the street) but we’ll try to post when we can.

Seen on I-94, just east of I-75 in Detroit:

A billboard for a charter bus company stating, “See your loved ones in a Michigan Correctional Facility, as low as $20!”

That’s right, you can set up your own prison tour for rock bottom prices!

In five minutes I’m off to get the piano dolly and then the truck. It looks like a perfect day for moving, and tomorrow looks sunny too. Here are the particulars. We start loading tomorrow at 9:00. Feel free to show up even if you can’t lift; just swing by to say good-bye.

I’ll be driving down starting Monday morning. I’ll arrive Wednesday night. Thursday, Lisa and the girls will fly down. Friday we move in.

We’ll be loosing internet later today. If I have it at the hotels on the way down I’ll update the blog, but I’m expecting to be out of touch until Saturay the 15th. Of course my phone will be on, but mail and email will be on hold for the week.

Hope to see you tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers as we go!

Tim

Yesterday was my last time to play with the band at Oak Pointe . I was prepared to feel a bit emotional playing for the last time with all my friends. So how was it? Here’s an email conversation I had with my friend Lindsey about just that…

L: Were there any neat moments for you?

Me: Yeah, like maybe bawling my head off like a little girl halfway through the set during second service. That’s when it’s good not to be singing or playing a wind instrument. I did learn something new; you can still keep a groove if you’re crying and playing bass! Thank God I had the songs memorized

L:What a bittersweet morning for you, huh? ( I would’ve been bawling my head off, too. And kudos to you for crying “like a little girl” in front of 700 people and holding your head high.

Me: Well I mostly looked down at the kick drum to keep me locked in!

We’re really going to miss every one at OPC.
11 more days until we load the truck!

We finally got a closing date yesterday, so we know when we’re making the big move! Our close is on July 14–a nice birthday present for me, I have to say! We’ll be moving out of our apartment on Saturday, July 8, and anyone who wants to help is welcome. Tim will start the drive down on Monday the 10th, then the girls and I will fly down to meet him on Thursday the 13th. We’ll be staying with my parents for the time between move-out and fly-down. We get the keys at closing, and the place is ours!

There’s so much to do between now and then, not least of which is finishing up raising support. We’re close, but not quite there yet. Your prayers for all this are appreciated!

I haven’t blogged for a while because I never feel like I have enough to say about any one thing. So here are some random thoughts about unrelated topics.

Our computer has been running really hot and slow for quite a while. It finally dawned on us this morning that it might be dusty inside, blocking the fans. It’s a notebook computer that we’ve had for almost 2 years and have never cleaned or otherwise serviced. Tim opened it up and found the exhaust vent and “radiator” completed blocked with about 1/8 inch of dust. Now, post-cleaning, I’m no longer frying my fingers on the keyboard, and the fan isn’t running on overdrive all the time. Much better!

Tim and I both love coffee-shop coffee. Good, strong, bold stuff. We’ve found we can make a close-enough approximation of the coffee at home, which is much easier on the budget than going out for it. But we missed the extra flavor that the “raw sugar” at the coffee-shop adds. I looked at picking up some raw sugar at the supermarket, but was shocked by the price. So I was happy to make the discovery that putting brown sugar in my coffee adds that same bit of flavor as the raw sugar, without the high price. Yummy!

I like keeping outgrown or not-yet-grown-into kids’ clothes in those big Rubbermaid totes, but am always annoyed when I can’t see what’s inside. My solution was to pick up a couple of the clear plastic sleeves that you use for the address label for overnight letters, and stick them to the outside of the tote. Then I can slip a paper into it with the contents written on it. It’s easy to swap out the paper as I change the contents of the box, and the sleeve is resealable. Works great!

Almost time for the Memorial Day parade now (aka the candy-chasing fest). More random thoughts later!

Yikes. Things have been crazy! First of all, there’s our daily existance:

THE ONE ON THE RIGHT! Don’t even think anything else. But it’s that, times 3. Then add to that normal insanity, starting from last Friday:

Friday night: Tim sick all night
Saturday: Tim sick all day; Lisa take girls to visit Grandma Peg (Lisa’s grandma)
Saturday night: Lisa sick all night
Sunday: Lisa sick all day; Tim play in both services, coming home between sets to take care of the kids
Monday: our (only) car in the shop all day
Tuesday: get car from the shop at 12:00, just in time for 1:00 dentist appointments for all three kids (their first)
Wednesday (today): take Micah to the doctor for lingering stomach problems. She’s put on the BRAT diet, and promptly becomes one when she can’t eat what she wants for dinner. (for those not in the know, it stands for bananas, rice, applesauce and toast)

Gee, I can’t wait to see what we do tomorrow!

On a better note, today was the official un-shrinkwrapping of the windows. The weather’s supposed to stay above freezing, at least. And we desperately needed some fresh air in this place! We are thankful for the little things! Tomorrow we hope to take the kids to the playground. We’re all going a bit stir crazy