Incredible Husband

My husband is raising my car from the ashes - think a phoenix - today. There is a lot of front end work going on which will also include new front tires. I am thankful that he can do the work because the price would more than double if we sent the car out to be repaired, but I sure wish this could have waited for a little longer, especially since it is so close to the "extra" holiday spending that went on at our house.

Books

I went book shopping yesterday - not for "fun" books, but for next semester's books. I am taking four classes - 1)comparative literature; 2)elements of health; 3)fundamentals of music; and 4)interpersonal communication. The book for health was used at $45; the CD for music was $92.75; the communication book was $78.25. I didn't purchase the books for literature from the bookstore because there isn't a text but several novels that I intend to purchase, used, on Amazon or some other on-line service. I can get all but one (still searching) for less than $3.00/each. Wasn't there discussion some time ago about why text books are so very expensive???

I Gotta Wear Shades

To borrow a line from the song...can't recall the title, that is my husband's dept....I gotta wear shades. That may not sound like a big deal to many of you, but it has been cloudy here for several weeks. We did see the sun briefly last Saturday afternoon, however, until yesterday there weren't any other sightings. Yesterday the sun not only peeked, but came completely out from behind the clouds - it was amazing. Hank immediately moved from his spot in front of the woodstove to a spot of sunshine. I transferred to a chair that allowed the sun to shine directly on my face, where I promptly fell asleep. It was wonderful!

Field Trip

Last night the kids and I joined the church youth group for a field trip through a Fargo Fire Station. The station is quite new (on 15th St. N for the locals) and is quite amazing. The facilities are spacious and up to date, the fire fighters friendly and informative. Incredibly, they managed to keep the interest of the children from age 4 through 15. There wasn't a single highlight to note, in fact, there were several - the model of Fargo that is used to work with other agencies on disaster drills to assure that responses are coordinated between each agency (the kids just saw a really neat model that looked like a model railroad); of course, the cool fire truck-lights and sirens- and equipment; and watching several firemen slide down the fire pole! Thanks guys!

Weather, etc.

Yes, we talk about the weather a lot in ND. For the past few weeks it has been quite foggy in the morning. It is very pretty with the snow on the ground (did I mention that we received approx. 10" of snow last Thursday?), but makes for interesting driving. Temps have been above normal (the average normal low in January is -1) for which we have been thankful.

My favorite husband celebrated his 40 something birthday last week. He enjoyed hearing from several of his siblings. The same day we celebrated our family Christmas. I might be willing to make this a tradition as shopping after the official day made for less expensive wrapping paper, bows, and gifts.

We (the children and I - husband was working) enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Day with friends. Great friends, wonderful food, fun sledding, a delightful day. Christmas Eve was not quite as pleasant. The children and I found ourselves watching traffic zoom by on 94 while waiting for a tow truck. The tow truck driver was efficient, but not very talkative.

Classes started for the children yesterday. I begin classes next week. I plan to purchase books today. "Wednesday school" for the kids is canceled for this week leaving us with an extra day to catch-up.

We enjoyed the cards and letters we received from each of you. We appreciate seeing photos of children that can't be that big (because that means that I am growing older) and reading about what each family has been doing.

Growing

On each birthday in our home we measure the children's height. Our son is pleased to have passed the six foot mark (6' 1/2" to be precise). Daughter #1 is quickly heading toward passing me at 5'6". Daughter #2 is exactly 12" shorter than her sister, measuring in at 4'6".

Again, there was a query

To celebrate a variety of recent events (favorite husband's birthday, end of a semester, $1.99 gasoline-although that is a thing of the past here) we enjoyed a meal out. We went to Saffron an Indian restaurant in Fargo. The kids weren't sure about heading into the unknown, but all enjoyed the experience.

Someone Asked

One of you out there (I think it was only one individual) asked how I did in my two classes. As the results were favorable I am pleased to share that I enter my 2nd semester of college with a 4.0 GPA.