I traveled up to the University of Iowa hospital this afternoon because a friend of mine is hospitalized there. She is just 2 or 3 years older than me. She is a single mom, who also does a lot in caring for her mother. Her son is 8 years old. She works the 3rd shift and often struggles to make ends meet. She was out mowing her lawn and felt really funny. She went in the house and fell down. Her mom called an ambulance and she was rushed to the hospital and then life flighted to the University hospital. She had a stroke. She is alive, but it remains to be seen what her condition is. I wasn't even allowed to see her, but I visited with her family that were waiting there at the hospital, along with another friend of mine.
This has really shaken me up a bit. She is not that much older than me. She is overweight like I am. She has a lot of responsibilities; so do I. I just can't believe it is all happening. Her son and her mother will really struggle if she doesn't make it. They may really struggle if she does, if she needs a lot of care, and isn't able to work anymore. It seems so unreal. And of course there are thoughts of, "that could be me".
I don't want that to be me. I am still too young. I need to be healthy. I need to do what I can to prevent this from happening. I need to be there for my family.
I feel grateful to know that this life is not the end; this is just a small part of our existance. I am glad that my family knows that too.
My life is so good. I walked into that waiting room and there were so many families there. Waiting, hoping, praying for someone they loved. My family is home, safe and healthy. There are so many people that are facing big problems. My family only has little ones.
I am glad to be alive. I am glad for my health. Even though life is fragile, it still goes on.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Butterflies
On Friday, the kids and I (minus Adam) went to the Family Museum for their annual spring event. Every spring they have a screened in cage thing were they first grow caterpillars, then then the caterpillars make cocoons and finally break out as butterflies. In this case they are Painted Lady butterflies. Since Anna has preschool at the museum we watched the whole process, checking up on them every couple of days. After all the butterflies have broken out of their cocoons
, they have a big release event where they release the butterflies into the wild. I thought it would be a great thing to see, so we made sure we were there.
Things did not turn out how I imagined them, however. I thought they would open the cage and all the butterflies would just come flying out going out into the sky, but that was not so. They were not so sure they wanted to come out. They were each coaxed onto a stick and then handed out to a waiting child. There was one class of older grade school children that were there that made it quite difficult for any of the rest of us to see, or get close enough to get a stick with a butterfly on it, not to mention the annoying media people who thought they needed to me up front. After picking up both Liz and Ben for several minutes (no easy task t
hese days), we made it up to the front where we acquired a stick with a butterfly on it. Anna was with her preschool class, but I took Liz and Ben away from the crowd so we could get a better look. Lizzy held the butterfly for a little bit, but didn't like it when it started crawling on her, so held it most of the time. Ben mostly just ran around. He just wanted to play. I brought the butterfly over to Anna and her class as they too were having a hard time getting to the front. Anna would not hold it though. I got too close to the flowers and it finally flew away.
It was a fun and interesting thing to watch the changes over the weeks, and then be able to hold one of the butterflies. Hope you enjoy the few pictures I was able to take.
, they have a big release event where they release the butterflies into the wild. I thought it would be a great thing to see, so we made sure we were there.Things did not turn out how I imagined them, however. I thought they would open the cage and all the butterflies would just come flying out going out into the sky, but that was not so. They were not so sure they wanted to come out. They were each coaxed onto a stick and then handed out to a waiting child. There was one class of older grade school children that were there that made it quite difficult for any of the rest of us to see, or get close enough to get a stick with a butterfly on it, not to mention the annoying media people who thought they needed to me up front. After picking up both Liz and Ben for several minutes (no easy task t
hese days), we made it up to the front where we acquired a stick with a butterfly on it. Anna was with her preschool class, but I took Liz and Ben away from the crowd so we could get a better look. Lizzy held the butterfly for a little bit, but didn't like it when it started crawling on her, so held it most of the time. Ben mostly just ran around. He just wanted to play. I brought the butterfly over to Anna and her class as they too were having a hard time getting to the front. Anna would not hold it though. I got too close to the flowers and it finally flew away.It was a fun and interesting thing to watch the changes over the weeks, and then be able to hold one of the butterflies. Hope you enjoy the few pictures I was able to take.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Flood!
If you've been watching the weather, you may have noticed the midwest (at least our part of the midwest) has had a typically wet spring. In the past couple of days we've had several more inches of rain with more on the way. So, I guess it didn't come as a huge suprise last Sunday when Tammy and the kids went to the basement to find a flood of water.
My immediate thought upon seeing the water was that the sump pump had failed and flooded the basement (nearly every house in Iowa has a sump pump and flooded basements are very common around here). I went straight to the pump and opened the well and tested out the pump and all appeared to be in working order. So, perplexed by what could have caused the flood, we ventured into the storage room where the water seemed to be originating. I looked around the base of the walls, examined the water pipes coming into and out of the house (that's where the main water lines come in and sewer lines leave the house), and everything appeared to be fine. We just couldn't figure out where al the water was coming from.
Finally, after considerable wondering and thinking on the subject, I remembered that the previous day I had used the outside hose hookup while doing some yardwork. At the top of the storage room, there is a small pipe leading to the outside where the hose attaches and we wondered if that may have been the cause. So, Tammy headed upstairs and opened the valve. Immediately, water began spraying out of the pipe and pouring down the wall into our storage room. I started yelling "SHUT IT OFF, SHUT IT OFF". Of course Tammy couldn't hear me so Adam in a panic rushed up the stairs and relayed the message.
It turns out the pipe probably burst during the winter time (we had a very cold December). The break just happened to be on the other side of the valve that controls the outside water flow so we didn't know about it until I used the outside hose. The previous day I had had the water on for 20 or 30 minutes. At the rate it was spraying from the pipe, that was more than enough time to cause the water to cover a signficant portion of the basement.
So that was the bad news. Fortunately in this situation, the good news far outweighs the bad. About half of our basement is finished. The pipe is located in the unfinished storage room so there is no drywall around it. The only carpet in the room is just carpet scraps that have been rolled out across the floor. We simply rolled those up and hung them outside to dry. The flood was bigger than just the storage room though and did soak some of our installed carpet. Fortunately, that carpet is heavy duty indoor/outdoor carpet with no pad under it. It was fairly easy to dry out with a few fans blowing on it for a couple of days. The water also didn't appear to damage any drywall and all the stuff we had on the floor of the storage room was in plastic bins so none of that stuff was damaged either.
I'm fortunate to have a very good friend (my running partner, Dave C.) who also happens to be a skilled plumber. He came over and quickly figured out what we'd need to repair the broken pipe (we ended up replacing the outside faucet and some of the copper pipes leading to it) and later returned to teach me how to "sweat pipe". It's something I had never done before and it was a good chance to learn it. It was actually quite easy and fun to do and made me want to go and replumb the dishwasher! Then again maybe not.
So, thanks to Dave and to the good fortune of a well placed pipe, a much worse disaster was averted this time. Two plumbing projects in one month is more than enough for me!
My immediate thought upon seeing the water was that the sump pump had failed and flooded the basement (nearly every house in Iowa has a sump pump and flooded basements are very common around here). I went straight to the pump and opened the well and tested out the pump and all appeared to be in working order. So, perplexed by what could have caused the flood, we ventured into the storage room where the water seemed to be originating. I looked around the base of the walls, examined the water pipes coming into and out of the house (that's where the main water lines come in and sewer lines leave the house), and everything appeared to be fine. We just couldn't figure out where al the water was coming from.
Finally, after considerable wondering and thinking on the subject, I remembered that the previous day I had used the outside hose hookup while doing some yardwork. At the top of the storage room, there is a small pipe leading to the outside where the hose attaches and we wondered if that may have been the cause. So, Tammy headed upstairs and opened the valve. Immediately, water began spraying out of the pipe and pouring down the wall into our storage room. I started yelling "SHUT IT OFF, SHUT IT OFF". Of course Tammy couldn't hear me so Adam in a panic rushed up the stairs and relayed the message.
It turns out the pipe probably burst during the winter time (we had a very cold December). The break just happened to be on the other side of the valve that controls the outside water flow so we didn't know about it until I used the outside hose. The previous day I had had the water on for 20 or 30 minutes. At the rate it was spraying from the pipe, that was more than enough time to cause the water to cover a signficant portion of the basement.
So that was the bad news. Fortunately in this situation, the good news far outweighs the bad. About half of our basement is finished. The pipe is located in the unfinished storage room so there is no drywall around it. The only carpet in the room is just carpet scraps that have been rolled out across the floor. We simply rolled those up and hung them outside to dry. The flood was bigger than just the storage room though and did soak some of our installed carpet. Fortunately, that carpet is heavy duty indoor/outdoor carpet with no pad under it. It was fairly easy to dry out with a few fans blowing on it for a couple of days. The water also didn't appear to damage any drywall and all the stuff we had on the floor of the storage room was in plastic bins so none of that stuff was damaged either.
I'm fortunate to have a very good friend (my running partner, Dave C.) who also happens to be a skilled plumber. He came over and quickly figured out what we'd need to repair the broken pipe (we ended up replacing the outside faucet and some of the copper pipes leading to it) and later returned to teach me how to "sweat pipe". It's something I had never done before and it was a good chance to learn it. It was actually quite easy and fun to do and made me want to go and replumb the dishwasher! Then again maybe not.
So, thanks to Dave and to the good fortune of a well placed pipe, a much worse disaster was averted this time. Two plumbing projects in one month is more than enough for me!
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Rowan of Rin
Yesterday, our family drove down to Nauvoo and back. About 2 hours each way. During the drive we listened to a book on tape. It is a children's book, it says for 7 and up, and I would put it in the fantasy category. It was called "Rowan of Rin" by, Emily Rodda. Even though it was a children's book, we loved listening to it on tape. The story was great and the narrator awesome. Greg added about 20-30 minutes to our drive so that we could finish it (Lizzy and Ben didn't appreciate that, but the rest of us were thrilled). I would highly recommend it, even to adults. It certainly makes the drive seem shorter.
It is about a boy who doesn't really fit in at all in his village , but how his uniqueness ends up saving them all. It is a little predictable in some places (after all it is for 7 year olds), but still very enjoyable. It has a meaningful ending, and is very well written and narrated. Check it out at your library for free!
It is about a boy who doesn't really fit in at all in his village , but how his uniqueness ends up saving them all. It is a little predictable in some places (after all it is for 7 year olds), but still very enjoyable. It has a meaningful ending, and is very well written and narrated. Check it out at your library for free!
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Hunting for eggs at the Jensens
On Good Friday, we went to a our friends, the Jensen's house for an Easter Egg Hunt. The kids all had a super time. We did too, visiting with our friends while the kids played. Even Ben and Holly, the two little ones had fun. Here are some pictures of our Egg hunting adventure!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Laughing with Lizzy
Lizzy, our three year old, has always been a very verbal young lady. Lately she's been spouting out some really funny things. Here's a sampling:
* Lizzy - "My eyes kept opening and closing during the prayer." Mom - "Oh, you should try to keep them closed during a prayer." Lizzy - "I didn't do it! They were opening and closing by themselves!"
* Lizzy watches daily a show called Boo-Bah. I have no idea what it's about and have never seen it, but she calls me at work and tells me about it every day. (Here's a very entertaining Boo-bah site: http://www.boohbah.com/zone.html). The other day, her comment was, "That Boo-Bah is REALLY FAT! He's even fatter than you and mom!" If that's not a hint that we need to lose weight, I don't know what is.
* We were staying at a motel recently - Anna and Lizzy were sharing a bed. Lizzy was saying family prayer and had asked that I help her think of things to say. So, I would whisper things for her to repeat. I'd say, "Say, 'Please bless us that we will sleep good tonight.'" and Lizzy would repeat. At one point, I said, "Say, 'Please bless that Anna and I won't fight in bed tonight.'" With that Lizzy stopped and looked up at me with a VERY confused and frightened look. I repeated, "Say, 'Please bless that Anna and I won't fight in bed tonight.'" Another confused look, then, with a sigh of resignation Lizzy says, "Please bless that Papa and Anna won't fight in bed tonight." It was difficult to finish that prayer with a straight face.
* Lizzy's name is Elizabeth Cherrine Finch. Her middle name is my mom's first name. Anna's name is Anna Darleen Finch. Her middle name is Tammy's mom's first name. So the other day, Lizzy asked Anna. "Anna, what's your whole name?" "Anna Darleen Finch" "You're named after the DEAD grandma! I'm named after the LIVE grandma!"
* We try to read a little in the scriptures with the kids each morning. One morning we were reading about some battle where it said something like, "And the army did march forth to battle." Lizzy perked up at that and shouted. "Hey, that's my BIRTHDAY!!!" Indeed, March 4th is her birthday.
* Lizzy - "My eyes kept opening and closing during the prayer." Mom - "Oh, you should try to keep them closed during a prayer." Lizzy - "I didn't do it! They were opening and closing by themselves!"
* Lizzy watches daily a show called Boo-Bah. I have no idea what it's about and have never seen it, but she calls me at work and tells me about it every day. (Here's a very entertaining Boo-bah site: http://www.boohbah.com/zone.html). The other day, her comment was, "That Boo-Bah is REALLY FAT! He's even fatter than you and mom!" If that's not a hint that we need to lose weight, I don't know what is.
* We were staying at a motel recently - Anna and Lizzy were sharing a bed. Lizzy was saying family prayer and had asked that I help her think of things to say. So, I would whisper things for her to repeat. I'd say, "Say, 'Please bless us that we will sleep good tonight.'" and Lizzy would repeat. At one point, I said, "Say, 'Please bless that Anna and I won't fight in bed tonight.'" With that Lizzy stopped and looked up at me with a VERY confused and frightened look. I repeated, "Say, 'Please bless that Anna and I won't fight in bed tonight.'" Another confused look, then, with a sigh of resignation Lizzy says, "Please bless that Papa and Anna won't fight in bed tonight." It was difficult to finish that prayer with a straight face.
* Lizzy's name is Elizabeth Cherrine Finch. Her middle name is my mom's first name. Anna's name is Anna Darleen Finch. Her middle name is Tammy's mom's first name. So the other day, Lizzy asked Anna. "Anna, what's your whole name?" "Anna Darleen Finch" "You're named after the DEAD grandma! I'm named after the LIVE grandma!"
* We try to read a little in the scriptures with the kids each morning. One morning we were reading about some battle where it said something like, "And the army did march forth to battle." Lizzy perked up at that and shouted. "Hey, that's my BIRTHDAY!!!" Indeed, March 4th is her birthday.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
A new dishwasher
Well our big excitement for the week was acquiring a new dishwasher. As you can imagine, most of the time you get something new, it is because the old one is broken. Yep! our old dishwasher was leaking water all over it. I noticed that it had started leaking during the family reunion (why is that whenever we have my family coming into town, one of our appliances break?). It continued to leak, so I asked Greg to take a look at it. He had successfully fixed the dishwasher at our old house, but no such luck here. Any way, instead of paying someone hundreds of dollars to fix our very old dishwasher, we thought we would spend hundreds of dollars for a new dishwasher. We were able to find a stainless steel one that matches our other appliances for a reasonable price so we got it. It does have a little scratching on the front, but we're ok with that.
Greg, chose to install the dishwasher himself to save us the fee of having "them" install it. I don't know how many of you have ever installed a dishwasher, but it is not the most comfortable thing ever. Much of the time is spen on your belly on the hard kitchen floor working in a space not bigger than a bread box. Real fun. Of course, after Greg installed the new dishwasher, we realized it was not the dishwasher leaking, but the hose underneath the dishwasher that was leaking. We also discovered that it had leaked some through the ceiling and down into Greg's workshop in the basement. Sometime in the long future, we will need to replace some of the wood when we redo the kitchen floor. Greg had to buy a new hose a spend another night working on the dishwasher.
Greg got the worst of this one, unless you count taking the kids dishwasher shopping as worse. We are glad for a new dishwasher. I am glad for Greg for using his time and skills to install it.
Greg, chose to install the dishwasher himself to save us the fee of having "them" install it. I don't know how many of you have ever installed a dishwasher, but it is not the most comfortable thing ever. Much of the time is spen on your belly on the hard kitchen floor working in a space not bigger than a bread box. Real fun. Of course, after Greg installed the new dishwasher, we realized it was not the dishwasher leaking, but the hose underneath the dishwasher that was leaking. We also discovered that it had leaked some through the ceiling and down into Greg's workshop in the basement. Sometime in the long future, we will need to replace some of the wood when we redo the kitchen floor. Greg had to buy a new hose a spend another night working on the dishwasher.
Greg got the worst of this one, unless you count taking the kids dishwasher shopping as worse. We are glad for a new dishwasher. I am glad for Greg for using his time and skills to install it.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Highlights of the Ebbert Family Reunion
Well, as many of you know, our house was swarmed with Ebberts last week. First came the Shane Ebbert family, with his lovely wife Sarah, and their darling, talkative Kathryn. Next came the Todd Ebbert family, with his amazing wife Deanna, and their two children, Alia and Lawson. Then, although delayed by a huge storm in Nebraska, Paul Ebbert (my dad) and his wife Nancy, along with with their dog, Akita (sp?), and the only other non-Ebbert, besides our family, my sister April Barton, arrived two days late. 16 people and a pet if you want the short end of things.
I just wanted to give you some of the highlights for me. First let me say it was AWESOME!! It was so much fun to be together. It was nice that we all stayed here most nights (except one night in Nauvoo) so that we had down time just to talk or play games or nap. I think it would have been harder if we were all in different locations at various hotels. So I guess that was one of the highlights for me. Just relaxing together. We all need a break once in a while, so in that regard, I think it was nice for all of us. We've all been busy this past little while, so it was nice to have Greg with us and to be with others that we loved. Also, just being in each other's space and eating meals together and seeing each other in our pajamas just made it seem so familial. It was great!
I have been gone from home now for almost 13 years now, so I kind of think of my sibs as well, younger. It was awesome for me to see them grown up and married with families of their own. My brothers are both good men, in different ways, who have married very well. Being older than them, I sort of felt this mother hen pride as I watched them, maybe something a kin to how I will feel when my own children have their own families. My sister too has grown up a lot, even in the 2 years that she has been married. It just made me intensely happy to see what kind of people they are, and I thought my mom certainly would be smiling down on us all.
We did a lot of fun stuff too, although, with the exception of going to the temple, that was all secondary for me. Being together was the best thing. We did enjoy trips to the family museum here, dinner at the Machine Shed (good down home farm meals), a trip to John Deere headquarters, John Deere pavillion, and an adults tour of John Deere Harvester works, along with a couple of days in Nauvoo. We also had a family talent show. That was great fun.
One thing I would have changed is being able to see my dad and Nancy more. They got there late, and then they were swarmed with grandkids. It was fun to see my dad play with them, though. It sure is nice for us weary parents to have grandparent intervention once in a while.
One last thing I enjoyed is seeing the relationships my children were building. My girls loved playing with their cousin Alia. I felt I hardly saw Anna all week because she was so engaged in play most of the time. Ben is the same age as Kathryn and Lawson, and for their age, their sure did great together. I hope they will become better friends as they grow older. I was a little worried that Adam would be bored all week since he didn't have anyone to play with. Boy was I wrong! My brothers took care of him. They played multiple, multiple basketball games, mock tournament games, with Adam commentating each play. They talked about basketball with him, even, much to his father's dismay, brainwashed him into rooting for Duke (a lot of good that did). My dad brought him an NCAA tournament hat and program, which he continues to pore over, memorizing the most obscure things. Adam was also able to coerce both aunts and uncles to play many board games with him. He hasn't had so much attention since he was an only child!
All in all it was a fabulous week. It made me remember what a great family I have. It also made me so excited that my brother Todd and his family are moving to Iowa City in just one more year. It will be good to share more of our life events with them. The Ebbert family Rocks!
I just wanted to give you some of the highlights for me. First let me say it was AWESOME!! It was so much fun to be together. It was nice that we all stayed here most nights (except one night in Nauvoo) so that we had down time just to talk or play games or nap. I think it would have been harder if we were all in different locations at various hotels. So I guess that was one of the highlights for me. Just relaxing together. We all need a break once in a while, so in that regard, I think it was nice for all of us. We've all been busy this past little while, so it was nice to have Greg with us and to be with others that we loved. Also, just being in each other's space and eating meals together and seeing each other in our pajamas just made it seem so familial. It was great!
I have been gone from home now for almost 13 years now, so I kind of think of my sibs as well, younger. It was awesome for me to see them grown up and married with families of their own. My brothers are both good men, in different ways, who have married very well. Being older than them, I sort of felt this mother hen pride as I watched them, maybe something a kin to how I will feel when my own children have their own families. My sister too has grown up a lot, even in the 2 years that she has been married. It just made me intensely happy to see what kind of people they are, and I thought my mom certainly would be smiling down on us all.
We did a lot of fun stuff too, although, with the exception of going to the temple, that was all secondary for me. Being together was the best thing. We did enjoy trips to the family museum here, dinner at the Machine Shed (good down home farm meals), a trip to John Deere headquarters, John Deere pavillion, and an adults tour of John Deere Harvester works, along with a couple of days in Nauvoo. We also had a family talent show. That was great fun.
One thing I would have changed is being able to see my dad and Nancy more. They got there late, and then they were swarmed with grandkids. It was fun to see my dad play with them, though. It sure is nice for us weary parents to have grandparent intervention once in a while.
One last thing I enjoyed is seeing the relationships my children were building. My girls loved playing with their cousin Alia. I felt I hardly saw Anna all week because she was so engaged in play most of the time. Ben is the same age as Kathryn and Lawson, and for their age, their sure did great together. I hope they will become better friends as they grow older. I was a little worried that Adam would be bored all week since he didn't have anyone to play with. Boy was I wrong! My brothers took care of him. They played multiple, multiple basketball games, mock tournament games, with Adam commentating each play. They talked about basketball with him, even, much to his father's dismay, brainwashed him into rooting for Duke (a lot of good that did). My dad brought him an NCAA tournament hat and program, which he continues to pore over, memorizing the most obscure things. Adam was also able to coerce both aunts and uncles to play many board games with him. He hasn't had so much attention since he was an only child!
All in all it was a fabulous week. It made me remember what a great family I have. It also made me so excited that my brother Todd and his family are moving to Iowa City in just one more year. It will be good to share more of our life events with them. The Ebbert family Rocks!
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