After Holiday Happenings

I've taken a bit of grief from faithful blog-readers about that lack of posts in the last few weeks. It's nice to know people are reading! And sorry for the delay.

The biggest thing in our life the last few weeks is that Joe's dad got a new kidney! The transplant was on Jan. 4...and everything went great. He's home, recovering, and supposedly looking 15 years younger! You can check out details about their journey (and the amazing story of the woman, Stephanie, who gave him her kidney) at www.caringbridge.org/visit/cebulski
Just make sure to go back and read some of the previous journal entries. We are so thankful for a smooth surgery...and the promise of improved quality of life!

Other than that, we survived a big storm that rolled through here a few weekends ago. We are living in the "Delta" region--and there are a ton of levees all around us, holding back water in the rivers. The area is supposedly "at-risk" for a Katrina-esque type flood if the levees aren't improved. So of course, lots of attention is paid to storms. We had huge winds, lots of rain, but no flooding. We did, however, manage to flood the inside of our RV on our own. Our electricity was out for a few days....and the water is pumped electrically at the RV park, so we had no water either. At some point during this time, Rowan must have tried to brush her teeth (and turned the faucet to the "on" position)--and also decided to put the plug in her drain. We were at some friends' house for dinner when the electricity came back on...and the water, gushing into Rowan's plugged sink. We got a call from the managers at the RV park that they had heard water running OUT OF our RV. Yikes! We had a tense drive home...expecting to find the whole RV under 6 inches of water. LUCKILY, the water stayed in Rowan's bathroom and didn't do any damage.

Oh, the picture up above. That's from Christmas morning....much to Joe's dismay, Rowan asked for a princess dress for Christmas. Which her Nana (Joe's mom) was glad to provide...along with earrings, necklace, princess shoes. Rowan has worn this get-up every day since. This shot was the first time she checked herself out in the mirror--it cracks me up. I promise that I have not encouraged the whole pink, frilly, glittery, princess thing (to be fair, I haven't overly discouraged it, either)....it amazes me how little girls will just pick this up!

Joe continues to train amazingly hard. It is hard to describe how much fun it is to watch him get to train so long and full-heartedly. I am really proud of him for working through the pain--for showing up every day even when he is sore and tired....for getting out of bed on Saturday mornings to run challenging sprint workouts. His body is changing...he's always been pretty ripped, but it's at a whole new level. And more importantly than the changing body is the changing technique and understanding of events. Joe is daily impressed with and thankful for Dan's insight, teaching, cues, and commitment to seeing Joe improve. Being in California is undoubtedly the right place for us this year....and Dan is a huge part of that.

Rowan and I continue to bomb around town looking for things to do. We've been going to story-time at the library every week, got hooked in with a play group on Thursday mornings, play hard at the building with the athletes several times a week, play with Zailey at the RV park, do laundry with the regulars on Monday at the laundromat (Rowan is a big help with the quarters and the detergent), and just get to spend loads of time together. She is funny, smart, quick, and doesn't miss a thing. Lately she's been saying "I have a great idea!" when she really wants to do something (as in, "I have a great idea! Let's have hot chocolate! That's my great idea!") This morning she told me I was "diriculous" instead of ridiculous and lots of things have been happening "accidentally." Plus she's sleeping better, and has rediscovered her love for baths.

She is delightful, truly, but I have a growing need for time away from her, too. Because she doesn't nap, I am literally with Rowan 13-14 hours a day without a break. Lots of this time is a treasure and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but I think I underestimated how much I appreciated working a few mornings a week in Jonesboro. I've been looking into pre-schools in the area, but everything has a waiting list...or is mind-numbingly expensive, even just for 2 mornings a week. There are a few co-ops that are more reasonable, I'm just waiting for a space to open up. I suspect Rowan could use a bit of a break from me sometimes, too!

I posted a few random pictures to a set at Flickr. Click here to see them.