Easter 2024

Easter is one of those holidays for us that is about tradition and time with family more than the actual religious reason, as are most of the holidays. The tradition we've had for the kids is much like it was for me as a kid. When they were little the "Easter bunny" brought them a basket of candy and toys, and hid it somewhere in the house for us to find. It was always somewhere just barely out of sight, like behind a pillow on the couch or under the kitchen table. As the kids have gotten older, it's included less toys and more full sized bottles of their favorite soda and whatever miscellaneous candy was left at the store when we inevitably waited too long to shop for Easter candy. My favorite was in 2020 when the kids got toilet paper in their baskets. They look thrilled this year too, don't they? 

Easter is usually at Kathy and Joe's house, as it is this year. We've had some really fun family Easter parties over the years, especially back when we used to have egg hunts for the kids. We also had a tradition of this being the first time the kids went swimming for the season, but that doesn't happen much anymore. It definitely wasn't happening this year with it falling in March, and on a cool, overcast day. We spent most of the day inside playing games. It's so fun to see all the cousins together when they're adults and almost adults. Our kids don't see their cousins as much as they did when they were all younger, but when they do get together, they always seem to have a great time. Here we are playing what is still a favorite, Codenames. 

Hoodies and blankets on Easter! 

It's been awhile since I've shared a nice family photo on here (Christmas?), so I'm happy to include this one today. We're all dressed for winter on what is usually a warm, sunny holiday. It was a great day with family today. I was very happy to be here. 

A Goodwill hellscape

I really love my kid. So much that I was willing to drive her and Jodi over to 51st Ava and Van Buren to peruse what is my version of hell. She asked to go to this Goodwill "outlet," aka: dumping ground for all the junk that didn't sell in the stores.  When we first arrived, they made an announcement that everyone had to leave the floor so they could swap out the bins. We had to stand behind the line while forklifts came out and removed all of the bins, and replaced them with fresh ones. You had to keep waiting until they were completely done, and could only go back out there when they made the announcement. Once that happened, people literally ran out to stand next to their preferred starting point--even then they couldn't start digging until they gave the sign. What is happening?! 

A lot of the people that were there clearly had a system. They would grab everything that seemed interesting, and then they'd use those breaks between bin exchange to weed through their finds to decide what was worth keeping. These were experts. I walked around wondering what in the world they could possibly be finding! It was so overwhelming. I mostly just stood around and watched people. It was quite an experience. 

When you go to an actual Goodwill, things are relatively organized. They're in aisles sorted by type of clothing and size. Here, not so much. There would be a bin with a couple of kids items, a pair of work overhauls and a wedding dress. What? No. This is chaos. 

Seriously, this is a nightmare. Get me out of here and let me take a shower. Smart people were wearing gloves and masks. I am not a very patient thrift shopper to begin with, but this is next level. 

The highlight was when Ava found a shirt from her original YMCA volleyball team. I guess this is where team sports shirts come to die. She left with only a couple things, so it wasn't a very productive experience. I actually did find something for Tyler; a rolling bowling bag to hold his bowling balls and shoes. It was on top of a bin of clothing, because of course it was. I never want to find myself here again.

Answers about Ava's back

Ava has been complaining about lower back pain for several months. She first started mentioning the pain towards the end of her club volleyball season, which would have been in May. We didn't think too much of it at the time, thinking it was just from being active in sports. She went to her to her primary care doctor where they did x-rays and found nothing obvious. She has been to a chiropractor which made it worse. After her sports she would ice it, take over the counter pain killers, and rest when she could, but she continued doing her sports. She started playing for her high school basketball team in October, and it progressively got worse throughout the season. By the end, she was complaining daily with nothing really helping to relieve the pain. In hindsight, we never should have let her go so long without being checked out again. In those last few games of the season, she looked like she was in so much pain when she was running up and down the court. 

At the end of the season, we brought her in again and they ordered an MRI to find out what was going on. Turns out she has a stress fracture! Her MRI showed a "suspected left L5 pars interarticularsis stress fracture." Poor baby has been walking around all this time, running and jumping and lifting weights--with a broken back. Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but still! How did we let her go so long dealing with this pain? I feel awful. It's called a PARS fracture, and apparently it's fairly common in young athletes. Her doctor said it happens in athletes who do sports with a lot of bending, twisting and jumping, and she specifically mentioned swimming, volleyball, and gymnastics. The treatment is a back brace for 3 months and no lifting, bending, or twisting--really no activity at all. She can't participate in sports and is supposed to try to be as inactive as possible to let it heal as best as it can. She can't even carry a backpack to school. There is a small chance it'll never heal completely, but the better she takes care of it now, the greater chance that she'll heal. The back brace is uncomfortable and she doesn't feel like it helps much, but I think it's meant to reminder her that she's not supposed to be moving around much. Once she's done with the brace and spends a few months resting, she'll do some physical therapy before being cleared for activity. This really puts a damper on her plans for the rest of the year and for summer, but hopefully the healing will go well and she'll be back to full strength for her sophomore year. Hang in there Ava! Sorry we didn't get you checked out sooner. You are so tough--you were powering through a painful injury and working hard anyway. We're proud of you, and sorry you've bene hurting. 

Good thing baggy shirts are in style again, no one will even see your back brace!

For reference, the fracture is in one of those little knobby bones that sticks off the spine. Luckily it's only one side. When both sides are fractured, the chance of healing completely is significantly decreased. 

A visit with JoEllen

My OG best friend from high school was in town with her family this week. I've written about JoEllen before, but I haven't seen her since 2018 when we met up in Minot for an afternoon. At that time, she was pregnant with her fourth child, so today was the first time I met little Milton. It's crazy to me that JoEllen has four kids because when we were in high school, she swore she was never having kids. Now she has twice as many as me! Here we are with her beautiful kiddos, Porter, Zoey, Paizley and Milton. JoEllen's parents have a winter home in Mesa, so they were down here to visit. I spent the afternoon and evening hanging out with them at their resort in Phoenix. It definitely wasn't enough time for all the catching up we wanted to do after so long, but it was great to see everyone. 

They had a pickleball court reserved, so they were all trying out this new sport. It wasn't the greatest March weather, but I'm sure it felt nice to them coming from western Minnesota. I doubt they were running around in shorts and bare feet before they left. 

Milton is such a cool little kid! He has some similar interests to Tyler at this age. Apparently he's really into trains! He was just hanging out while his big brother and sisters played pickleball. He seemed to be able to keep himself occupied pretty well. Maybe that's part of being the youngest of four kids. He is a funny little guy too! I enjoyed meeting him, finally!

Fun little news about JoEllen...she's going to be competing in the World Ironman Competition in Nice, France this September. She qualified in one of the great finishes she had in a race this year. She has had quite the successful Ironman career so far, and is very excited for this opportunity. The race is the weekend of September 20 (actually the same weekend I'm actually writing this post). I can't imagine how she trained for this race. Nice is a very hilly city, and part of the course she'll be riding on is in the Tour de France. She lives in a very flat area, so I'd imagine it'll be tough to train for the hills and elevation. I can't wait to hear how she does! What a cool experience. She's such an amazing person--interventional cardiologist, mom to 4 kids, and elite endurance athlete. 

We went for a walk along some of the trails by the resort with all the kids. It was so fun to spend a little time getting to know her kids. They all seem to have very unique personalities. Milton has a rubber snake around his neck. He's a goof ball! 

Before I went to meet JoEllen tonight, I found this old picture of us. I'm not sure exactly when it was taken, but I'm thinking it was pretty early in our friendship because we look like babies! We really got close during my 8th grade year, when she was a sophomore. She would pick me up at the junior high every day in her little black car and drive me to swim team practice. We swam together year around, lifeguarded together and spent most of our free time at her house. There were a lot of weekend trips for swim meets all around the state, lots of driving around Williston in her car, wandering the aisles of Walmart, working out, listening to reggae....and so many more great memories. When I look at the total length of time that we were actually living in the same state, it was only 3 years, but it was so impactful. She headed to Iowa for college and we would never live in the same city again. The closest we came was briefly when I lived in Fargo and she was in Grand Forks. I wish I could say that we'd remained close, but with raising kids and managing careers and life, we have definitely lost touch a bit. I hope we can get to a place where we are connecting more often, and this visit was a good start! A lot has happened in the 32 years between these two photos, but I will always cherish this friendship. We haven't changed a bit!

Spring Break hike

It's Spring Break for us at MCC, actually a week before my kids have their break. Cara, Beth Ann and I spent our morning on a beautiful hike around Saguaro Lake. We got out there early before anyone else wa on the trail, which is good because this can be a pretty popular trail. 

Lots of pictures of the three of us throughout our hike. I've mentioned before that Cara and I get asked nearly every time we're seen together if we're related, but they also ask her and Beth Ann the same thing. I guess we three white girls all look alike? 

This was a great hike. Not too strenuous, but great views all the way around the lake. We stopped at one point on this cool lookout and ate our lunch that we packed. 

Cara went a bit overboard in her lunch packing, including an entire 6 pack of drinks! It made for a fun end of the hike after we emptied her cooler. 

It was a great way to spend a much appreciated day off! One of the many perks of working in higher education is the extra days off that we get. 

Beautiful views of Saguaro Lake!

I had a great day with my work besties! 

 

More Vintage Baseball

Dave had another vintage baseball tournament in Globe over the weekend and they had a photographer there that got some great shots of the team. I wasn't there so can't share any insights as to how the tournament went, but I wanted to be sure to include these awesome shots. Dave is looking pretty serious here! This dapper gentleman just got off of a hard day of work at his corner business in 1865 and is going to play some ball with his pals. He even got a custom wooden bat made, with his nickname engraved on there--Stix. This image would later be turned into his baseball card. Hit me up if you want one, he might even autograph it. 

Here's the team....

I'm glad Dave has this new team and these friends. He really enjoys his ballgames (softball and vintage), and they have fun whether or not they're winning. Go Miners!

#45 for me

This is 45. I definitely felt the love at work today, with a decorated office, lunch, cake, and lots of celebration. I borrowed Thor's birthday hat for this picture. His head is a bit bigger than mine. No, it doesn't say Hor, although that would be the first 3 letters of my last name and was Dave's nickname on the golf team. I'd really rather that not be my nickname, I'll stick with Thor. Anyway....

After a lovely morning and a nice day of work, I got to continue my celebration with my trapeze friends. I always like to spend my birthday in my happy place! I love when my birthday falls on a trapeze night. 

For some reason, my friends all gave me alcohol for my birthday this year. So...I guess, cheers to 45!