Hello All!

Finally, I'm back!  I must admit that, while I've been super-busy, I also haven't been much in the mood for a blog post.  I also haven't been reading blogs, nor have I been on Facebook much.  So, I'm going to give y'all this post for a nice little update.  Honestly, so much has gone on in the past two (three?) weeks, that I'm doubt I'll get to most of it.  However, I'll at least fill you in on all the big stuff..

Spring Cleaning
Hans and I finally got the house clean.  Well, aside from tidying up our room a bit, that is. You see, when we moved in I was running Impawsible Pups AND working a second job, and Hans was working his 9-5 at TIV AND running The Sound of Music.  Basically, we were both working long, exhausting hours.  Taking the time to properly organize things just didn't happen, and things basically just got shoved into random places.  Once time opened up, there just always seemed to be about 1,000 other things to do, and reorganizing just wasn't happening.  Last weekend, though, enough was ENOUGH!  I'm so proud of us.  We now have a clean, organized basement and closets, and because those few things are organized, everything else works out much better.  Like I said, we still need to tidy up our room, but that will come in time.  I'm just happy we're clean enough for me to have a clean office!

St. John's Men's Chorus
Last Monday was quite exciting.  I must admit that one of our reasons for doing such thorough cleaning was because we were planning for some very special guests.  Finally, after years of waiting, St. John's Men's Chorus came to sing in VA.  Hans and I enjoyed a wonderful night of beautiful music listening to a fantastic choir.  Hans and I both attended St. John's, and we met in Chamber Choir (the SATB choir), so this was quite a special treat.  What made it even better was that my dad got to hear the choir.  He was never able to get up to MN to hear our choirs sing while I was in college, so I was thrilled that he'd get the chance to hear how wonderful of a choir I'd been in (while I obviously wasn't in Men's Chorus, I was in the SATB equivalent, and the director is the same. It counts.).  After we listened to the concert, Hans and I were honored to serve as a host family for two of the boys.  We kept them only for a night, a sophomore and a freshmen, but it was wonderful to have them here.  I just wish I could hear them sing again.

You Make Me SICK!
One of the hazards of going to different houses to train dogs is the sickness factor.  People are so much less-likely to cancel an appointment due to illness when they don't even have to leave their homes.  Luckily, I seem to have a pretty tough immune system, and while people around me have taken ill (probably because I'm carrying the bugs), I've stayed pretty healthy.  That is, until this past week.  I was feeling good, although a little tired, all week.  Wednesday morning I woke up tired and cold, maybe even a little foggy, but still pretty good.  I even managed to get a good deal of work done on Wednesday.  I noticed that my mood was kind of off, but I attributed that to a few not-so-great things happening that day and the fact that I was REALLY tired.  I had dinner, and then off I went to my last appointment for the evening.

I did notice that dinner wasn't sitting particularly well, but I figured that was the price one paid for eating upset...indigestion.  As my lesson went on, I realized I should probably get home, and the sooner the better.  The lesson wrapped up fairly quickly and off I went.  On the way home, I started to feel even worse.  I felt supremely tired, and I was really cold except the heater made me feel sick.  I came home, ignored the dogs (unheard of), and bee-lined for the ladies room (TMI?).  Unfortunately, I didn't feel any better after leaving.  I collapsed on the couch, but after about 10 minutes decided it was time for bed. Within the hour the sickness had set in.

Yep, I was officially sick.  I don't think I've ever been so sick.  I was so cold, and I couldn't stop shivering.  Hans put a space heater in the bathroom to keep my shivers to a minimum, and he put a heating pad on the bed.  I was up every hour, and saw more of my dinner than I'd ever care to see again (TMI again?).  At one point I simply curled up on the bathroom floor.  I wanted to cry, but I was afraid that would bring on the nausea again.  By Thursday morning, I was feeling minimally better, but I was still miserable.  By Thursday night, I was drained.  Most of the nausea had passed, but I was running mid-grade fever, and simply moving my head to the side made me ache.

Since Thursday, things have gotten better.  Friday I was able to go out, but after 4 (maybe 5) hours I was done and collapsed in my bed with a splitting headache.  Hans was wonderful taking care of me through all of it.  Yesterday I felt well enough to go to adoption stand, although I took a few breaks to rest my head. Hans, however, had taken ill that morning.  OH NO!!!  Luckily, Hans' sickness wasn't nearly as bad as mine, and we're both feeling better today.

Today, I'm finally starting to feel back to normal.  I'm eating more than saltines, although my food is bland and small.  Hans I took the dogs for a walk, although we also slept in EXTREMELY late.  I ended up losing a grand total of 7.5 pounds while I was sick, although now the scale is showing about 6.5 pounds lost.  Like I said, I really wasn't feeling well!

Now it's time to return back to the real world!  More updates will come again soon, and hopefully I'll continue my regular blogging!