Life

I've been feeling a bit down lately. Anke's paternal grandmother has been ill lately. We fear that when we visited at Christmas will be the last time that we meet her. My Dad had accident with his truck a few weeks ago, so he's been off the road during that time. That weighs on my mind. One of my retaining walls behind the house is deteriorating. We knew when we bought the house that it'd have to be redone at some point, we just didn't think that point would come so soon. We're going to go with the lowest bidder- still being 4K- to fix the wall and hope that'll hold until Corwin is in school. After that we'll have more disposable income to rebuild the wall completely. The drain for my drive way is currently frozen shut, so I've been fighting the thawing snow that pools into ice at night at the bottom of my driveway. And I discovered this week, that by clicking the wrong button while signing up for group benefits this fall, I diverted $2000 from my HSA plan into a limited benefit FSA plan. The HSA plan can be used for health care expenses, builds interest, and rolls over from year to year. The limited benefit FSA plan can only be used for dental or vision expenses. Doesn't earn interest. And doesn't roll over. On the bright side, it looks like I'll be getting that lasik surgery for my eyes a few years sooner than anticipated.

Life isn't all bad though. Corwin and Conrad are doing well. Conrad moved into his room this week, and has been sleeping pretty well after the first night. We've been doing some more decorating around the house. We got a couple of our nice but not worth much German prints framed and hung up. I'm happy with how they look. Anke is doing well also aside from general exhaustion. My new laptop should be arriving tomorrow. I went with a Dell XPS over a Macbook Pro and Sony Vaio. The day after I ordered the Dell, Apple introduced upgraded Macbooks. Grrrrr. I don't know that I would have ordered the Macbook Pro, but it would have been something else to think about.

Fontenelle Forest a couple of weeks ago. I love the matching coat and boots.

Corwin after his bath

We spent Saturday at the Durham Western Heritage Museum Saturday. Lots of trains (model and full size) meant that Corwin loved the place much more than one might have expected.

Conrad tries to steal some of Mommie's rice at the Thai Kitchen.

Corwin on his little bike.

Conrad and Anke.

Bad things happen to everyone, but posting and looking at these photos remind me that I am truly lucky and blessed. I have a wife and children that love me. And that's only the people in these pictures. There are parents, a brother, in-laws and friends too.