My site has moved!

As I stated earlier, I have been tinkering with my website. I have also combined this site and our family's site into a new blog. The title of this blog is "Part of the Miracles", and I now have an appropriate address. Please visit the new and improved (hopefully!) Part of the Miracles from now on. If you do the whole reader thing (i.e. Google Reader), be sure to reset the address, or change any bookmarks.

See you over there!!

Isn't she lovely?

This sort of explains where I've been lately. I've never owned a computer of my own straight from the workshop. My laptops have all come to me as hand-me-downs.

When I was a kid, I thought that was one word, hammeedown. But I've mentioned my hearing issues before.

My old laptop had several issues. It was 4 years old and I just knew it was going to crash someday very soon. When a page was closed down, it would "melt" off the screen, like from the top to the bottom, just melt. I had almost no memory left, and memory is imperative for picture storage! Then, most recently, the sound card starting going out. This actually may seem like the least of these, but how can we watch Monk online for free if my sound card isn't working?? All this to say, Voila! New computer!

What's taking up the most of my "unscheduled" time (that would be scheduled by the 3 children, husband, dog and other various household chores that just won't get done by themselves !) is a new blog layout and design. I'm so hoping that will follow very soon. As nerdy as it sounds, I'm having fun with it, but it's taking up quite a bit of time and energy, so I will be happy to save and publish very soon.



This is also taking up a lot of my time.

Just kidding, but ya-a-a-ummm!




Other than that, it's still snowing. My goodness! I had no idea it could snow so much in one place. It's a good thing I'm enjoying skiing, because we have 2 more months of it. Two months?! Yowsers.

A late introduction

I've had several people ask me here and there what kind of dog Winnie is, and I realized I never posted much about getting her, just tidbits here and there.

This is Winifred, also called Winnie, Winners, and Win. Her fancy AKC name is Black Bear Wonder Years. She is named after Winnie in the TV show The Wonder Years. I loved that show. Adam named her. She is a Bernese Mountain Dog. They were origianlly trained in Switzerland to pull carts. They aren't St. Bernard's, but are commonly mistaken for one. St. Bernard's are much larger. Her mother is my friend, Penny's dog Lulu. Her father, Angus, is the biggest dog I've ever seen in real life. Also one of the sweetest.

I've loved Winnie since the moment I saw her. She was the one that always came to me, crawled in my lap and wanted her belly rubbed. Even when all the other puppies were scrappin' around, she would sit and let me love on her. She's the calmest pup I've ever laid eyes on. With that said, she's got some serious energy.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I love this dog! We all love her! She loves us! She's the perfect pup.

Why a doctor's bill makes me happy.

Doctor's bill. Happy. One of these things is not like the other.

Let me give some background. Early December, Addison came down with what I knew was an ear infection. Unfortunately, doctors just aren't keen on mom's self-diagnosing their kids and insist on a visit in order to get those beloved antibiotics.

Addison has extremely waxy ears. Gross, I know, but he just does. The doctors always have to take that little doohicky thing and get a little wax out. This time was no different. A 2 second "procedure" and the doc had swiped the outside of his ear and could see clearly into the canal. I assumed it was all part of the visit. (We all know what assuming makes us, right?)

A month later I received a notice from my insurance provider saying I would be billed for Addison's minor surgery.

Excuse me? I don't remember this minor surgery taking place. Usually mothers remember this sort of thing. I put it aside, waiting for the doctor's bill, thinking wires were somehow crossed and it would hopefully be taken care of. A few days later, I received a bill from my doctor's office saying we owed $84 because our insurance only covered $12 of procedure XYZ.

Again, excuse me?

I spent hours on the phone with the insurance and doctor's office. I eventually asked to speak with the doctor himself. I realized he wasn't aware, couldn't possibly be aware that when that code for wax removal is put in, that they charge the patient $112. I filled him in, respectfully of course. After all, he was a very nice man. He said he'd talk to the office.

And that was that.

I assumed (again, with the assuming!) I had been brushed off, that more action on my part would be needed, and my anger rose to mighty high levels.

Yesterday, I received this pretty piece of blue paper, also known as a bill. I realize the minuscule print is probably impossible to read, so I'll clarify it for us all.

It says there's been an insurance adjustment. It says I only owe my copay. My copay! The doctor actually took care of what he said he would take care of! What the billing and coding departments said was impossible!

This is why a doctor's bill makes me happy. Oh, so very, very happy!

Feeling adventurous?

Vietnamese Sour Soup

It was this past weekend's treat!

Please visit

My project 365 spot is A Shaft of Light. Check it!

How to Peel a Banana

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: A monkey can peel a banana.

I'll bet you don't know how to peel a banana the Korean way, though. Koreans truly knew how to present foods. Desert often consisted of, not pie or cookies, but fruit. Korean bananas tasted different to me, the texture was different was well. I used to hate bananas--hate, I tell ya. Being pregnant in a foreign country though sort of put a damper on my usually-adventurous response to all things food. So it was, that bananas became a staple to my diet.

Take a banana, any banana. I know people all like them different sorts of ways. I like mine a little on the unripe side, but just a little.

Lop off the stem end.


Then, take your knife and run it down one side of the banana, being careful to not pierce the flesh too much (that's the fruit's flesh. I need to take a note of that for my personal flesh, too, seeing as how I almost cut my finger off last week. Did I just say that in the middle of a food post? So sorry.)

Do the same to the other side.

This makes it easier to peel where you want to. Because presentation is all about it being the way you want it, right? Something like that.....

Peel off a little more if you need to, so you have half your banana nestling nicely in it's peel with the other half exposed to the cruel, cruel world.

Sorry, it's been a rough week.

Ok! So, chop off the other end with your knife. No need to have that yucky black end part of the banana to look at. It's bitter, besides.


Then, being careful to not slice into the remaining peel, cut the banana into slices, leaving them in the peel.
Isn't that prettier than a bunch of banana slices tossed in a bowl? Well, it's at least different than a bunch of slices tossed in a bowl, ok?
Yum!

Sheesh........

It's been a bit hectic lately. I've succumbed to life and have been trying to just make it work. Unfortunately, that hasn't included a lot of blogging. I miss all you all guys! This is a kooky week, too, but only because my husband will be gone several evenings this week. And while that sucks and all for me and the kids, it does mean that I'll have oodles of time to blog! So yea for that!

I've got lots to post. One thing I haven't neglected is taking pictures, so I've got several to share.

So come on back now, ya hear?

25 Random Things About Me

This was posted on Facebook as well, but it's a fun post. So, here goes!

I've been putting this off. I'm going to try and make these 25 very random things. Possibly things most of you don't know about me. We'll see.........

1. I have a thing for dishes. When we moved home from Korea and purged our storage unit, I counted 6 sets of dishes. No kidding. I now have only 3. Yes, "only."

2. I gave birth in a foreign country (here and here).

3. I've seen the head of a hammer-head shark in real life. Very weird looking. (THIS is not the hammer-head. I don't know why, but I didn't get a picture of that guy. This is the vacation where we saw it.)

4. My husband is my BFF and has been for a very long time.

5. I love games. SkipBo and Rummikub are two favs.

6. I wear hearing aids. If you knew me as a younger-me, you will say, "Finally!"

7. In 10 years of marriage, I've lived in 7 different homes, not including the multiple weeks at my parents' and in-laws' homes due to transition. Many, many thanks go out to them.

8. I only recently learned how to hard-boil and egg.

9. I eat granola every single morning. Unless I'm out. Then I eat an English muffin. Unless I'm out. Then I just have coffee. I'm never out.

10. I often forget to eat lunch.

11. I never forget to eat dinner.

12. I love YA literature (young adult). Latest read: A View From Saturday by E.L.Konigsburg

13. Of the 25 pieces of furniture in my house, only 7 belong to me.

14. 25 pieces of furniture sounds like a lot. Seven does not.

15. My ear canals never angled and matured correctly.

16. I get ear infections really, really easily.

17. I made Valentine's day cards with my daughter for the first time this year.

18. I lived in the same town for 27 years. We've been on the move for the last 5. Notice, I did not say "on the run."

19. The restaurant I missed the most in Korea was Taco Bell, of all places

20. My move to Iowa was the hardest move for me. Harder than Korea, New York City and Colorado combined.

21. The path my life has taken continues to draw me closer to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

22. Favorites: Chocolate. A no-brainer. Wine, a very close second.

23. I have one leg that is a smidge shorter than the other. I cannot remember which one it is.

24. I am going grey. I am only 32. That is sad.

25. I love photography and blogging.

Where the air is sweet

Back when I was an uninitiated, small-town girl, I didn't know why a song would have "where the air is sweet" in it. Wasn't all air sweet? Fresh and clean? Then I moved to Seoul, Korea. The air is anything but "sweet" on most days in the Spring. Smog is crazy bad. So bad it landed Owen in the hospital just 2 months after arriving in that city. A story for another day.......

New York was next. Compared to Seoul, the air actually was sweet most days, but, still. Auto fumes, cigarette stench, alcohol remnants from passersby anytime during the day. Garbage on the street. "Sweet" was not exactly the word of the day.



Life teaches us so many different things. Finally, I do understand that line in the Sesame Street intro song, "Where the air is sweet." Of course it's sweet on Sesame Street! Sesame Street is an entity unto itself, a place where people, animals and monsters of all walks of life converge, live together, are friends, family and neighbors. Not only that, they have fun together! And, get this, in the middle of New York City! I think that's why my fondness of this long-running children's show has grown by leaps and bounds over the past year and a half. It was my childhood standby. Now, it's my kid's standby. It's so cool when a segment will come up that has a place in New York and we can say, "Hey! I remember going there!" Really, how many places can you do that?

This was today's WOW! These uber cool benches were just blocks from our apartment. We would visit them several times a week. How cool was it that we saw them on Sesame Street today?

Sunny day, everything's A-Ok!
On my way to where the air is sweet,
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to
Sesame Street?

Do you just hate me now? You will.......you'll have that tune in your head allllllll day long.

You're welcome!

Isn't all the hub-bub over this analog-TV-death-thing a little overdone? Is anyone else with me? Ok, granted, we have cable, but that's only because here in the mountains there is no such thing as bunny-earred reception. And we like football. And Sesame Street is pretty cool. Those are about the only things we watch, though, with the occasional Law and Order thrown in for good measure, but we have lived for extended periods of time without TV in the past. But, honestly, calling it "death" seems a bit on the extreme side, does it not?

All the commercials on right now about making sure you're "plugged in" and "ready for the change" seems overkill. (Did I just use the word "kill" in my argument about the term "death" for analog TV being absurd?) The fact that CNN said, " Senators, worried about the static they'll see when the plug is pulled on analog television broadcasts in the United States, had approved the emergency measure Monday and rushed it to the House floor for a vote Tuesday afternoon," really overdoes it, in my opinion. "Worried about the static?" Senators: find something more important to our country to worry about, please. Then do something about it.

How much more reliant on TV must our culture be?

Thoughts? Opinions? Am I just out of my mind?

Manic Monday

I wonder how many blog posts have been titled that?

By the picture shown above, you can tell how my Monday was. Fresh snow on the ground, ice underneath, driving under a bridge that never sees the sun......makes for a perfect way to lose control of the car and slam into the snow bank, with a speed limit sign tucked in for good measure. And I was facing the opposite direction that I had come from. And I had three young boys in the car. And I'm really thankful that this is what happened instead of what could have happened had I hit the car that was coming toward me when the sliding happened!

I am also so very thankful to my Lord for protecting the boys and me. I was so shook up, but it could have been so much worse. I suppose for my first accident ever, it's not so bad. It figures it would happen in the mountains!