4/3/2006 (EARLY in the AM):
I took a chance for the first time last night....and I think that it paid off. When we first moved in here, there were no neighbors above us, and it was nice and quiet. THEN, in late Summer/Early Autumn, we gained neighbors in the upstairs apartment...and, let's just say that the quiet disppeared instantly. They are noisy college students who vacuum their entire floor at LEAST 1-2 times daily and nightly (lending to my therapeutic diagnosis of OCD for them!), they tend to RUN across the floor throughout the day and night (in this 1100 sq foot apartment, mind you!) as if in training for a marathon, AND they seem to believe that the perfect time to party/yell/drop bookshelves/etc (loudly) is in the middle of the night.
To put it simply, the Van Bruggens have had enough of it. I mean, my goodness! This is neither a college dorm nor "Section 8 Housing"!!!!! There are adults and families all around us! SO, when their antics continued last night, it was *SO* loud at 1:30am that I just had to write them a note of all of my concerns, asked them several times to please consider their neighbors' desires to sleep during the middle of the night, signed it "Thanks, ALL of your neighbors", took it upstairs, and taped it to their front door at 1:45am. It was removed about 12 hours later, and, lo and behold, tonight it is stone-quiet since I've been home (12:15am through now, 1:30am). I think that they took the hint.
I took a chance for the first time last night....and I think that it paid off. When we first moved in here, there were no neighbors above us, and it was nice and quiet. THEN, in late Summer/Early Autumn, we gained neighbors in the upstairs apartment...and, let's just say that the quiet disppeared instantly. They are noisy college students who vacuum their entire floor at LEAST 1-2 times daily and nightly (lending to my therapeutic diagnosis of OCD for them!), they tend to RUN across the floor throughout the day and night (in this 1100 sq foot apartment, mind you!) as if in training for a marathon, AND they seem to believe that the perfect time to party/yell/drop bookshelves/etc (loudly) is in the middle of the night.
To put it simply, the Van Bruggens have had enough of it. I mean, my goodness! This is neither a college dorm nor "Section 8 Housing"!!!!! There are adults and families all around us! SO, when their antics continued last night, it was *SO* loud at 1:30am that I just had to write them a note of all of my concerns, asked them several times to please consider their neighbors' desires to sleep during the middle of the night, signed it "Thanks, ALL of your neighbors", took it upstairs, and taped it to their front door at 1:45am. It was removed about 12 hours later, and, lo and behold, tonight it is stone-quiet since I've been home (12:15am through now, 1:30am). I think that they took the hint.
4/3/2006 (evening):
A new development worth noting: Today Bruce received a phone call from "The Paragon Group" about a potential job out at Verizon in Dublin.....which equals a nice paycheck....He has an interview on Wednesday afternoon. All prayers are welcome! :)
In our still-continuing search for a new place to live, yesterday we both thought that we had found our new home: a GORGEOUS condo in Westerville schools. BUT, aparently it's not meant to be.....secondary to that, we have an apointment tomorrow afternoon to walk through a house in Bexley. We drove by it yesterday.....it is HUGE, in the excellent neighborhood of Bexley (Columbus' version of Cleveland's NICE and older neighborhood of Shaker Heights), and (somehow) also within our price-range. It has our interest....
AND, I'll end with a note about our excitement this evening. Bruce totally loves my banana bread, so I decided to make some, but in cupcakes to controll the portion sizes in our quest to lose weight AND so that Bruce could more easily bring some to work with him for part of his lunch this week. I had it all made and the cupcake pans had only been in the oven for about 10 minutes, when BOTH of our fire alarms went off....LOUDLY. (They've never gone off before since we've been here.) I guess it WAS a LITTLE smokey....but it wasn't THAT bad....weird apartment....I decide to bake, and the alarms go off!!!! I opened most of the windows while Bruce worked to turn off the alarms. In the end, we each had two nice, warm, buttery banana bread cupcakes. Which were quite tasty. :)
A new development worth noting: Today Bruce received a phone call from "The Paragon Group" about a potential job out at Verizon in Dublin.....which equals a nice paycheck....He has an interview on Wednesday afternoon. All prayers are welcome! :)
In our still-continuing search for a new place to live, yesterday we both thought that we had found our new home: a GORGEOUS condo in Westerville schools. BUT, aparently it's not meant to be.....secondary to that, we have an apointment tomorrow afternoon to walk through a house in Bexley. We drove by it yesterday.....it is HUGE, in the excellent neighborhood of Bexley (Columbus' version of Cleveland's NICE and older neighborhood of Shaker Heights), and (somehow) also within our price-range. It has our interest....
AND, I'll end with a note about our excitement this evening. Bruce totally loves my banana bread, so I decided to make some, but in cupcakes to controll the portion sizes in our quest to lose weight AND so that Bruce could more easily bring some to work with him for part of his lunch this week. I had it all made and the cupcake pans had only been in the oven for about 10 minutes, when BOTH of our fire alarms went off....LOUDLY. (They've never gone off before since we've been here.) I guess it WAS a LITTLE smokey....but it wasn't THAT bad....weird apartment....I decide to bake, and the alarms go off!!!! I opened most of the windows while Bruce worked to turn off the alarms. In the end, we each had two nice, warm, buttery banana bread cupcakes. Which were quite tasty. :)
4/8/2006:
Today is our 6 month anniversary. Somehow, we're half-way there to eating our cake topper and not being newlyweds anymore..... Bruce is out at his men's church group right now (they're starting to read "The Five Love Languages <Men's Edition>"), and I'll be working most of the day today, but we'll have a date tonight to celebrate. :)
Last night, we finally gave up on our printer....it was Bruce's from his single days, and was good through all of those wedding invites (which we began to use when MY old printer had completed about 1/2 of them before finally saying "ENOUGH!" and died). Now, Bruce's has died too.
We discoverd this last week that it's difficult to (efficiently) run PurpleHandprint.com (my small art therapy business) without a printer. SO, we bought a HP printer/scanner/fax/copier with PurpleHandprint profits. It's NICE! We'll (almost) have no need to visit Kinkos (and pay 10 cents per copy/$2 per fax page) again! Yeah! It's amazing how small/compact they make these things now. It costs right about the same and takes up no more room than our last printer(s) did! And it just does SO much more!
Today is our 6 month anniversary. Somehow, we're half-way there to eating our cake topper and not being newlyweds anymore..... Bruce is out at his men's church group right now (they're starting to read "The Five Love Languages <Men's Edition>"), and I'll be working most of the day today, but we'll have a date tonight to celebrate. :)
Last night, we finally gave up on our printer....it was Bruce's from his single days, and was good through all of those wedding invites (which we began to use when MY old printer had completed about 1/2 of them before finally saying "ENOUGH!" and died). Now, Bruce's has died too.
We discoverd this last week that it's difficult to (efficiently) run PurpleHandprint.com (my small art therapy business) without a printer. SO, we bought a HP printer/scanner/fax/copier with PurpleHandprint profits. It's NICE! We'll (almost) have no need to visit Kinkos (and pay 10 cents per copy/$2 per fax page) again! Yeah! It's amazing how small/compact they make these things now. It costs right about the same and takes up no more room than our last printer(s) did! And it just does SO much more!
4/14/2006:
The last month, and then especially the last few days, have been very interesting. Starting a few weeks ago, as the trees started budding and the flowers began to emerge, I really felt like I was pregnant...all of the signs were there.... It was still too early to test, but MY GOODNESS. So, we were beginning to hope.
On Tuesday of this week, I had blood flow for about an hour.... So, "oh, well, period's here" I thought, and called my ob/gyn. Then, the flow stopped and disappeared for the rest of Tuesday and all of Wednesday, so I thought, "well, maybe this is just spotting." But, on Thursday (yesterday) morning, it reappeared (with quite a vengence!) and has remained a VERY hard flow ever since. So, maybe I *WAS* pregnant for a short time......<sigh>.
Now, as of tomorrow, we'll be doing Round 2 of the Clomid meds, have an ultrasound done in two weeks (to determine how/if those nasty cysts have decreased their numbers in my ovaries, and to see if, by chance, the cysts allowed an egg to be released), and getting a blood test done to determine ovulation on May 3rd. As my mother said this week, I guess that "practice makes perfect babies." So, we're still "practicing." :)
This week, like many other people, we have focused our attention upon taxes. In our single days, we each always had our taxes finished by February or mid-March. BUT, now, it's a little trickier: both of us moving, the wedding, AND my Purplehandprint business; we simply had no clue if it was better to file "married filing seperately" or "married filing jointly." Federal, Ohio, and THREE cities. I mean, hey, we're both still pretty new to this whole being married gig!! SO, I spent a great deal of time itemizing pretty much everything for the entire 2005 (.....control freak? Me? :) ). Doing that plus TurboTax, we decided to file "jointly." Saved us money; so unless our lives take some huge bend in the road, we'll likely be filing "jointly" from now on.
This weekend, we'll be leaving (*early* on Saturday) to spend the Easter holiday with Bruce's family. It will be nice to see everyone, especially since it is a rare occurance that the whole family is able to get together (except at Christmas). We will bring our camera (and therefore post pictures in a few days!). Everyone will be there except Carla and her family, as her father-in-law has just (unexpectedly) been admitted for heart surgery today. Carla said that the prognosis is good, but please still keep him in your prayers.
The last month, and then especially the last few days, have been very interesting. Starting a few weeks ago, as the trees started budding and the flowers began to emerge, I really felt like I was pregnant...all of the signs were there.... It was still too early to test, but MY GOODNESS. So, we were beginning to hope.
On Tuesday of this week, I had blood flow for about an hour.... So, "oh, well, period's here" I thought, and called my ob/gyn. Then, the flow stopped and disappeared for the rest of Tuesday and all of Wednesday, so I thought, "well, maybe this is just spotting." But, on Thursday (yesterday) morning, it reappeared (with quite a vengence!) and has remained a VERY hard flow ever since. So, maybe I *WAS* pregnant for a short time......<sigh>.
Now, as of tomorrow, we'll be doing Round 2 of the Clomid meds, have an ultrasound done in two weeks (to determine how/if those nasty cysts have decreased their numbers in my ovaries, and to see if, by chance, the cysts allowed an egg to be released), and getting a blood test done to determine ovulation on May 3rd. As my mother said this week, I guess that "practice makes perfect babies." So, we're still "practicing." :)
This week, like many other people, we have focused our attention upon taxes. In our single days, we each always had our taxes finished by February or mid-March. BUT, now, it's a little trickier: both of us moving, the wedding, AND my Purplehandprint business; we simply had no clue if it was better to file "married filing seperately" or "married filing jointly." Federal, Ohio, and THREE cities. I mean, hey, we're both still pretty new to this whole being married gig!! SO, I spent a great deal of time itemizing pretty much everything for the entire 2005 (.....control freak? Me? :) ). Doing that plus TurboTax, we decided to file "jointly." Saved us money; so unless our lives take some huge bend in the road, we'll likely be filing "jointly" from now on.
This weekend, we'll be leaving (*early* on Saturday) to spend the Easter holiday with Bruce's family. It will be nice to see everyone, especially since it is a rare occurance that the whole family is able to get together (except at Christmas). We will bring our camera (and therefore post pictures in a few days!). Everyone will be there except Carla and her family, as her father-in-law has just (unexpectedly) been admitted for heart surgery today. Carla said that the prognosis is good, but please still keep him in your prayers.
04/19/2006:
This past weekend was Easter, and mysteriously enough, the Easter bunny arrived to our apartment (a day early) for each of us.....hmm...someone must've left the door open... (....yummmm.....diets? what diets?.....)
On *early* Saturday morning, we drove down to Bruce's mom/dad's house (in record time!) to celebrate with most of his family (even the dogs were there). It was good seeing everyone, and felt a lot like Christmas....we ate an Easter dinner at home on Saturday, and went to church on Sunday (Bruce's dad gave out glass crosses that I made for some of his new congregation members; and then he ended up selling all of my "extras"!). It was generally sunny and warm, and we had an Easter Egg Hunt for Jessica, Jackson, and Alex. After we all filled plastic eggs with candy, Bruce and I were commisioned to hide the eggs around the lawn. Everyone involved (kids AND adults) had a good time with it.
This past weekend was Easter, and mysteriously enough, the Easter bunny arrived to our apartment (a day early) for each of us.....hmm...someone must've left the door open... (....yummmm.....diets? what diets?.....)
On *early* Saturday morning, we drove down to Bruce's mom/dad's house (in record time!) to celebrate with most of his family (even the dogs were there). It was good seeing everyone, and felt a lot like Christmas....we ate an Easter dinner at home on Saturday, and went to church on Sunday (Bruce's dad gave out glass crosses that I made for some of his new congregation members; and then he ended up selling all of my "extras"!). It was generally sunny and warm, and we had an Easter Egg Hunt for Jessica, Jackson, and Alex. After we all filled plastic eggs with candy, Bruce and I were commisioned to hide the eggs around the lawn. Everyone involved (kids AND adults) had a good time with it.
Alex
Alex, Jackson, Aunt Nan holding Jack's extra eggs,
& Sienna (Carla's dog)
& Sienna (Carla's dog)
Van Bruggen Easter Egg Hunt, 2006
Jackson & his mom, Cathy
Jackson searching for Round 2
Jackson searching
for Round 1
for Round 1
Jessica & her dad, Bob
Alex, his mom Sherry, & Sienna
4/27/2006:
This week began with excitement: On Sunday, after church, we toured another home that is now one of our favorite possibilties. (Our "favorites" list now includes 4-5 homes that are all great for different reasons...they all have a lawn to mow, at least a 1-car garage, have plenty of "room to grow," and are in suburban school districts.....We're just keeping our fingers crossed that ONE of them remains available when we can apply at mid-MAY...oh, how we wish we could get outta this apartment's lease right now......)
Then, I had to go to work. BUT, my day ended early when Bruce called me at dinnertime (obviously upset). He asked me when I could get home, because he had made soup in the microwave, the soup had exploded onto his face & chest, and he really needed me. I left right away, and the trip that usually takes 10-12 minutes took about 6. (Let's just say I flew home....quickly....)
Bruce ended up having second-degree burns. My years of HAVING to take bi-yearly Red Cross CPR/First Aid classes has *finally* paid off (for real), as I was able to help him relax, attended to his face (and the blisters), brought his body temperature down, and otherwise helped him the best that I could. Thank God that he was wearing his glasses and a t-shirt, or it could've been MUCH worse. Sometimes I like that first-aid is now so ingrained in my brain. Now, on Thursday, he only has a minor mark on each cheek; looking as if his wife took off a little skin when she beat on him or something...(JUST KIDDING!!!!).....
Yesterday, I finally got word back from the National Counseling Board. Thay have finally agreed to giving me special accomodations for my disabilities when I take the LPC test. (I'll have 6 hours to take it in a private room.) So NOW, *FINALLY,* I can schedule my test.
And today, the big news is that I went to my Ob/Gyn for an ultrasound of my uterus and ovaries. Apparently the clomid/folic acid/metformin meds have been doing a MARVELOUS job, because both ovaries are in "EXCELLENT shape." The one, as of today, has a healthy cyst that, based on it's size/shape, will produce it's egg "any moment now." And, speaking of the egg, Dr. Arbona said that to be considered a "'healthy egg', it must measure at least a 7." Mine, she said with a smile, is a 9. :) :) :) :) So, she suggested that we move up our "schedule" to start tonight. She left with, "have fun, and I hope to see you back here in a few weeks for natal care!!"
This week began with excitement: On Sunday, after church, we toured another home that is now one of our favorite possibilties. (Our "favorites" list now includes 4-5 homes that are all great for different reasons...they all have a lawn to mow, at least a 1-car garage, have plenty of "room to grow," and are in suburban school districts.....We're just keeping our fingers crossed that ONE of them remains available when we can apply at mid-MAY...oh, how we wish we could get outta this apartment's lease right now......)
Then, I had to go to work. BUT, my day ended early when Bruce called me at dinnertime (obviously upset). He asked me when I could get home, because he had made soup in the microwave, the soup had exploded onto his face & chest, and he really needed me. I left right away, and the trip that usually takes 10-12 minutes took about 6. (Let's just say I flew home....quickly....)
Bruce ended up having second-degree burns. My years of HAVING to take bi-yearly Red Cross CPR/First Aid classes has *finally* paid off (for real), as I was able to help him relax, attended to his face (and the blisters), brought his body temperature down, and otherwise helped him the best that I could. Thank God that he was wearing his glasses and a t-shirt, or it could've been MUCH worse. Sometimes I like that first-aid is now so ingrained in my brain. Now, on Thursday, he only has a minor mark on each cheek; looking as if his wife took off a little skin when she beat on him or something...(JUST KIDDING!!!!).....
Yesterday, I finally got word back from the National Counseling Board. Thay have finally agreed to giving me special accomodations for my disabilities when I take the LPC test. (I'll have 6 hours to take it in a private room.) So NOW, *FINALLY,* I can schedule my test.
And today, the big news is that I went to my Ob/Gyn for an ultrasound of my uterus and ovaries. Apparently the clomid/folic acid/metformin meds have been doing a MARVELOUS job, because both ovaries are in "EXCELLENT shape." The one, as of today, has a healthy cyst that, based on it's size/shape, will produce it's egg "any moment now." And, speaking of the egg, Dr. Arbona said that to be considered a "'healthy egg', it must measure at least a 7." Mine, she said with a smile, is a 9. :) :) :) :) So, she suggested that we move up our "schedule" to start tonight. She left with, "have fun, and I hope to see you back here in a few weeks for natal care!!"
4/30/2006:
Something that's been on our minds this whole week needs to be said. Especially for any of our children/nieces/nephews/anyone else who may read this in the future. Last weekend on Saturday (4/22), our church had a youth retreat and seemingly most of the kids attended.
The next morning, Bruce and I walked into church to find most of the youth and many adults crying/hugging/etc. We were both confused, until one of the church leaders told us that *at* the youth retreat, one of the kids (named James) had committed suicide. As a result, church was pretty somber last week. Being new to the church, Bruce & I never got to know James, but we could see that he was liked, played guitar in the church band every Sunday, and seemed to always be in a good mood. But, looks can be deceiving.
James attended the school where one of my co-workers (at my OSU art therapy job) is a counselor. She saw James periodically for family problems and depression, and said Thursday that James usually kept his feelings hidden inside. She also shared the method by which James committed his suicide, the fact that it occurred on his 18th birthday, how it affected the youth who found him (and apparently he was on everyone's mind in his school this week), and the fact that his family was now incorrectly calling it a racial issue (our church is predominantly white, and he was African-American).
I know that as teenagers, *MANY* people at least consider ending their problems with suicide. (Even I thought about it a few times.) The only problem with this is that it doesn't solve any problems. It just makes the problems worse. James left behind a LOT people who cared for him, and most of those now are confused, hurt, and even angry.
For all of our children/nieces/nephews, please know that if you're hurting, talk to either Bruce or I. We'll listen. We and everyone else that you know already love you more than I can write. No matter the problem, it CAN be solved. Talk.
Something that's been on our minds this whole week needs to be said. Especially for any of our children/nieces/nephews/anyone else who may read this in the future. Last weekend on Saturday (4/22), our church had a youth retreat and seemingly most of the kids attended.
The next morning, Bruce and I walked into church to find most of the youth and many adults crying/hugging/etc. We were both confused, until one of the church leaders told us that *at* the youth retreat, one of the kids (named James) had committed suicide. As a result, church was pretty somber last week. Being new to the church, Bruce & I never got to know James, but we could see that he was liked, played guitar in the church band every Sunday, and seemed to always be in a good mood. But, looks can be deceiving.
James attended the school where one of my co-workers (at my OSU art therapy job) is a counselor. She saw James periodically for family problems and depression, and said Thursday that James usually kept his feelings hidden inside. She also shared the method by which James committed his suicide, the fact that it occurred on his 18th birthday, how it affected the youth who found him (and apparently he was on everyone's mind in his school this week), and the fact that his family was now incorrectly calling it a racial issue (our church is predominantly white, and he was African-American).
I know that as teenagers, *MANY* people at least consider ending their problems with suicide. (Even I thought about it a few times.) The only problem with this is that it doesn't solve any problems. It just makes the problems worse. James left behind a LOT people who cared for him, and most of those now are confused, hurt, and even angry.
For all of our children/nieces/nephews, please know that if you're hurting, talk to either Bruce or I. We'll listen. We and everyone else that you know already love you more than I can write. No matter the problem, it CAN be solved. Talk.
Welcome toApril 2006