Okay first off I am starting a blog on a blogging site just because now that I am doing stuff on twitter I may have people that are not on facebook or myspace. So I will just put the blog on all three places more than likely. Give options for people. :)

Anyway so first I just need to hit the house situation since that is on my mind and people want to know the long story on why we don't have it at the moment.

So here is quick review for those just joining us. We are looking for a place to live. Been staying with in-law's but it is time to go. Been looking for a while and struggling finding something we can afford in a decent neighborhood.

So my wife stumbles upon a house we drive by a lot in our neighborhood that has a sign for lease to own. She looks into it and we go check it out since we can afford the rent and we are interested in finally owning. We really like it. Great place and we go ahead and put in the application.

Well there was another applicant as well and after sweating it out for almost a week we found out that we were approved to get the house. So that is where most people left off. Some know part of the next.

Okay so that was Friday afternoon. Saturday morning we go in to do all the paperwork. Up front we were told that an offer to buy the house was coming in. Realitor wanted to just present everything to owner and let him decide. She felt things shoudl be okay because depending on the offer he stood to make more money off us leasing for 3 years and then buying.

So we signed some stuff and went through the whole process. Took the lease contract and sales contract home to look over and have other people look over. Looked good. We signed, and dropped off at drop off box of office and emailed to tell her that it was there. She responed the next morning saying she got it and was meeting with him later and she would let us know.

She called that night. Not good news. Offer was for more than asking price. She did sell us to the owner though and he is interested and having us as tenants. So he countered higher thinking he woudl walk away. The guy accepted the offer so we are out of the house. Not out of the running just yet though. Still inspection to do and the owner does not plan on doing anything to the house if the guy asks him to. For us he is willing to do a couple things but not for him. So if the guy walks away the house is ours. She is taking it off the market to keep other offers from coming in. So we should know midweek what is going on there.

In the mean time the owner is willing to buy another property in the area and do a three year lease to own situation was us in whatever property he finds. So the realitor is checking out a house today actually and will be letting us know what she looks at as she goes. So we could end up with something better. Just don't know at this point. It may work out in our favor.

Either way I am bummed. Not so much over the house as much as not knowing what is going on. Being in a transition period and not knowing what is going to happen next. I was excited and ready to go and now the rug is out for under me. I will be fine once we know more concrete things. In the mean time we keep packing and preparing to move at some point in the near future hopefully.

Just want to add a huge thank you for all the prayers and support from our friends. We have the best friends we could ever ask for I think. You are all wondeful and we probably don't say it enough. Just keep praying and I am sure it will work out in the end.

Later gators.

I really want to know where my weekends go. Well I know where they go. Something to do with having a family and a daughter with a social calender of her own at the age of 9.

This was just a crazy weekend and I could use a day off to recover. It was fun and I am glad we did what we did but I have some catching up to to do and I am worn out.

We started off the weekend pretty nice and laid back though. We took half days off from work to gather stuff and go set up a table to sell sodas at a picnic at Katlyn's school to raise money for the chess club. We worked the table with other parents and raised some money for the club. It was nice and easy. Got home before the storm hit and were good to go for the night.

Well we got up Saturday and decided to head down to the St. Louis Chess Club for the US Chess Championships. A friend of ours from churh was very very nice to us and gave us VIP passes. We watched the players play and Katlyn went around collecting autographs after they were done on one of boards. She didn't quite get them all though. Well we had decided to spend the money to get her a membership at the club so that meant we could come back the next day. So we said we could come back and she could catch the rest of them and fill up her board.

So we head home after being there all day. I have a migrain and Joseph is tired and crabby. We both lay down while Crystal and Katlyn go with my mother-in-law to go shopping. Well when I got up later on before they got home I discoverd that Joseph had marked in empty squares on the board and filled in a few. He did not ruin a signature but the board looks like crap. Needless to say he was in trouble and in fact when to be shortly there after mad at me. Good thing we are going down there because she wants to start over and I don't blame her.

We get up way to early the next morning for the Girls on the Run 5K.  We got there early to do all the face painting and hair coloring stuff.  Katlyn and I ran the 5K. We did not run together. She ran with another girl and parent while I ran on my own to see how I could do. I did it in 34:47. Not bad for someone out of shape and did no training. I am thinking about another one coming up a few weeks. Katlyn finished in 48:06 which was a good time for her as well. She fell a couple times so she could have probably finished a bit faster. We stuck around for a while other and chatted and cooled down and enjoyed a few more activities. Afterwards we head back to the chess tournament.

We made it down to the tournament. People enjoyed the colored hair and face painting on Katlyn. She managed to get all the participants except for two over the course of the day. She also go the two commentators who were also grand masters plus another grand master who was there because his wife was playing. We found out that all the players would be at closing ceremony and reception. Ran home and cleaned up and changed for a nice reception that was cocktail casual. We talked with another parent and child who was also collecting signatures for his board. We helped them find who they needed to finish up. Talked with Charles Lawton the St. Louis player in the tournament. As the ceremony started both kids were short the same person. So after it was done we told them to head to the front rows where the players were. They asked Lawton to help point the player out. Lawton and Eckert(St. Louis native that joined the tourney late as an alternate) helped them find the player and all rejoiced. :)  We got some pictures of Katlyn with some of the players which we will post at some point I am sure. It was a nice ceremony and reception.

Finally left and grabbed food on the way home and crashed for the night only to start a brand new week this Monday morning.

It was a very busy and fun weekend but man I need time to recover after that before work starts again. :(

Well I have not blogged in quite a while so I figured today is as good as any. Maybe I will get back to blogging more once school is out.

Almost done with my classes for the semester. Got to write up a couple papers and take some finals. Fun times ahead. Then a nice break for the summer.

School is nearing the end for the kids as well.  Hard to believe next fall Joseph will be in kindergarten. Have not been super thrilled with his school but he will be there again next year at least. Still plan on testing him at some point and try to get him into Kennard. I will be a little glad that Katlyn will be done because honestly her schedule alone will kill someone. :)  Summer should not be as crazy. She will be doing chess on Monday nights plus summer school. I am also sure there will be play dates and such as we go. But nothing like the school year.

Looking forward to upcoming family reunion in June. I will get to see some people I have not see in quite a while. Should be a fun weekend. Looking forward to it.

So Katlyn had her last chess tournament of the school year last week. She won two matches which matches her personal best. She beat one of her teammates who ended up getting a trophy and was super excited. It would seem she doesn't beat him very often. So despite not winning anything she was excited because of that win and the fact she matched her personal best. She has started working on a book we bought her at nationals that was written by GM Yury Shulman. He said if she finished it and did all the exercises and email him he would send her a certificate saying she can teach beginners chess. She likes the thought of that. Maybe she can teach me a few things.

Not much else to talk about which is probably why I have not blogged much. Have not had any deep thoughts or anything to blog about and the same old stuff going on in life so I just slacked off. Guess I could have blogged about the Blues run at the end and how bad the Rams sucked but I figured enough people were talking about that. :) Maybe next time will be some kind of sports blog. Have not done that in a while.

Well that is enough for now. Later gators.

School has started up here in St. Louis. Lets just say this year has been interesting already and we haven't even really got started yet.

So lets start with last week. Went to the open houses at the schools for the kids. Joseph is in school for the first time and Katlyn is at a new school.  We never got supply lists or any of the forms to fill out like normal. We did email principals a while back and was told to use the old lists from last year as a guide until we get lists from teachers. Well while we were there we tried to enrol the kids in the new schools. We asked for the paperwork since we never got any in the mail. Well it was like pulling teeth to get it and I honestly thought Crystal was going to hurt someone and I was going to have to bail her out of jail. No joke. In fact at the second open house I made her promise to not kill anyone if it didn't go well. They also wanted stuff that we didn't have and really didn't need. That was another problem. So we managed to get the forms finally. Had no problems Monday morning turning them in and getting them enrolled. Much ado over nothing. I know they are probably overworked and all but their customer service skills sucked ass on top of it all. My wife teaches customer service and I live and breath it here at the library working in circulation so we should know.

So we met Joesph's teacher and off the bat rubbed us both the wrong way. Not a good sign. Things got a bit better as the conversation went and we actually went back to the room again after doing some other stuff and that went well as well. We actually spent about half a day in his room the first day of school helping out. Still not completely sold on her at this point but wait it gets worse but I will get back to that. Joseph seems happy and enjoying school so far since he is a big boy now.

Katlyn's open house went well except for the bit about the paperwork. Teacher seems great so far. Her friend she met this summer at summer school is in her class and old friend from her other school is in there as well. Katlyn is going to be signing up for clarinet lessons. Talked to the music teacher about that. They also offer violin, keyboard, and flute. Only $10 a lesson and they will provide instruments to use. Also signed her up for chess club which her new friend is also in. They are competative and do 7 tournaments during the year. Should be fun. She will be doing girl scouts as well with her new friend and old friend I am sure. Overall I love the school and glad she is there. It will be a lot of work compared to the last school but she is loving it. Already working on their first project. I also love that they give grades on assignments and not just a checkmark to acknowledge they did it.

So back to Joseph and school. He was put on the wrong bus two days in a row in the afternoon. Now I know things are crazy and all and bus lists are not always up to date in the office but he has a copy of the bus card we got from transportation with the correct info in his backpack just like the schools always ask parents to do. Also we gave his teacher a copy since she insisted we give her one at open house. Yet two days in a row he was on the wrong bus. Despite transportation having what we have in their computer when we called and check the bus he rode in the afternoon does not have an up to date list. It is actually the bus he would have rode had we not changed it. So of course she just tried to put him out where she had him listed but we were not there. The correct driver spent a while at the school yesterday afternoon trying to find him since she knew she should have him. So we talked to the principal and he was going to make sure everything was okay. Well quick update as I work on this blog off and on during the day. Crystal had to go up to the school for a bit(long story for another blog) and talked to the bus monitor who is the one that put him on the wrong bus. She apologized and she has the right info now. So we are straight now and I think all of the office staff plus some know what bus he is supposed to be on. Should not be a problem anymore.

So needless to say it has been interesting and the week is not even over yet.

In other news, I get back in the thick of things and start fall classes next week. Playing softball as well this fall. One game so far and we lost. Still working out the kinks but I think we will be fine. I have to say yoga rules and I recommend it to anyone. I have been done a short yoga class and enjoyed it mucho grande. I am going to have to just fine time to keep doing yoga.

Well I think that is enough of a blog and update for now. Later gators

Well after not blogging for a very long time I hit the waves with two depressing blogs. So I figured I would do an upbeat one this week and try to get back on track.

First off we picked up Katlyn on Friday from camp and she had a wonderful time even with us spring the bad news on her during the week. She told us about the different things she did and I am sure there are more stories to share later. We went straight from there to Portageville. Crystal stayed up with April working on Jaimie's cake but I crashed shortly after the kids did. :)

Saturday was a busy day getting ready for the Jaimie's party. It was a bit chaotic but we got it done and had a wonderful party for the birthday girl. After we finally got everyone out and things cleaned up a bit Crystal went work baking cake. It was late when the cake was done though.

Sunday we got up and iced cake and got it ready to freeze. Crystal tried to make some cd's of pictures but the lap top didn't seem to like her. lol. So that is a project for another day. Made it home late but we made it home.

General updates include me now knowing I need 63 more hours to finish my degree. I am about half way there.  Trying to find a job elsewhere in the library system at the university. So far I am 0-2 in that department. Just want something new and fresh and different experience before heading to library school.  Playing some softball this fall as well. Doing some yoga which is cool and just staying involved in the church.

Katlyn starts her new school. She went there this summer and enjoyed it so lets hope that continues. Joseph is potty trained. Yes I said it. He is potty trained. Just in time too since he starts pre-school this fall.  They just keep growing up on me.

Anyway I think that covers things for now. Maybe I will be better about blogging in the future. Then again between small groups, class, softball and kids maybe not. :)

As with my previous blog I could not write anything last night and would still have trouble doing so now. I am cutting and pasting my wife's blog from last night.

Well, it's over. Jason stayed home today and took care of Miss Sassy and tried to keep her comfortable as best he could. We spoiled her with canned food (what little she would eat) and made sure to hold the cup of water up to her mouth every so often. Other than that we just held her and let her snuggle on the bed - her favorite place to be.

The plan was that as soon as I got off work at 3:30pm Jason would pick me up and we would take Sassy to see Katlyn so they could say goodbye. Then from there we would go to the Vet's office to end her suffering.

She never made it that far. Jason took her out to the car in her comfy basket and headed out to come get me. When he picked me up he went to get her out of the back seat to hold on his lap to make the trip less stressful but it was over. It was so pitiful, it looked like she just curled up and nestled down in her bed and went to sleep.

Of course Jason and I cried, but we called Mom to see if she could take the kitty to the vet's office to be cremated because we were due at the camp by 4:30pm. We did make it just in time and got to talk to Katlyn.

She took it pretty well. She cried a little bit and asked what it was that made her sick. We explained it to her and reassured her that the Vet said Sassy wasn't hurting and told her that the other animals weren't sick. So, she hugged us real tight and told us she was glad that we told her and that she was glad we wanted her to stay at camp. She explained that tonight was cook out night and that they were going to be sleeping under the stars. She is such a big girl. :)

Well, I'm going to sign off for now. It's been a long 24 hours and I just want to rest. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. I really appreciate the comments you guys have left. *Hugs* to all of you.

Thanks again for the comments left on here and facebook. We really appreciate it.

Okay so I know I have not posted a blog in forever but this doesn't really change much with this one. I will get back on track of blogging soon but for now I want to cut and paste a blog my wife just did since I can't the strength to do it myself but I know people are wondering about my status on here and facebook.

Well, we just got a kick in the gut today......

This morning we noticed that our cat, Sassy, seemed to be a bit lethargic and acting like she was having trouble getting around. So, since he was a bit concerned Jason brought her upstairs for me to have a look. Well, I noticed that she was having some trouble breathing and that she smelled like urine. Now, that was a big concern for me as this is normally a pretty clean cat - fastidious about grooming. Still, I really thought that she was probably having some trouble relating to the cold front that just came through - a bit sore and all that.

I kept feeling concerned about the labored breathing though, so I asked Jason to call and set up an appointment with the vet for after work. He called up there and got her all set for 5:30pm (after work). Jason left a bit early and we ran over to the house to pick up the poor kitty. Then we sped over to pick Joseph up from daycare and got to the vet's office only about 5 minutes late.

The vet's assistant takes a peak at Miss Sassy and spirits her off to the back to be put on oxygen. In the meantime the vet examines her and comes in to talk to us. She tells us that Sassy is having a lot of difficulty breathing but that her heartrate is okay, and that her gums are pink so she's not dehydrated or been oxygen deprived for long. She also tells us that Sassy's breath sounds are real soft and that they are having some trouble hearing her heart so they want to do some xrays. I say okay and settle down to wait.

When the xrays came back they took me back to look at them and poor Sassy's lungs are just filled with fluid. She only had a 25% lung capacity and had so much fluid on her lungs that her heart couldn't even be seen in the xrays. So, at this point the vet tells us that it could be an infection, or a cancer of some kind, or remotely blood. She tells us that the only way to tell is to draw some fluid out and see. Again, I say okay and settle down to wait some more.

This time a very somber looking assistant comes in with Sassy in her arms and tells us that the vet is going to prescribe some antibiotics but wants to run the tests for FIV and Feline Leukemia since Sassy had never been vaccinated against those. We agree, and the vet comes in to talk to us while the assistant goes off to draw some blood.

The vet explains to us that she drew off almost 18 cc's of fluid off the kitty's lungs and that she was breathing better - but still labored. She also explained that there wasn't any blood in the fluid but that she was going to look closer at the cells in the fluid and would come back to talk to us.

When she came back she told us that there were a mixture of cells in the fluid. There were some protein cells that weren't very conclusive, some cells indicating infection, and some cells that are sometimes associated with lymphoma in kitties. So, she didn't want to speculate until the FIV and Feline Leukemia tests were done running. Again, more waiting.

Not two minutes later she comes back and gives us the news we've been dreading. Sassy cat tests positive for Feline Leukemia (which leads to lymphomas in kitty cats). This revelation coupled with the fluid on her lungs and what was in that fluid means that it's cancer causing her lungs to fill up and that as quickly as they filled up the first time she only has about 24-48 hours before she will become so uncomfortable that we'll need to end it. Otherwise, she'll languish until she drowns in her own fluids. But otherwise, there's really nothing that can be done.

But wait, this sad story doesn't end there. Katlyn, who the cat actually belongs to, is away at Girl Scout Camp until Friday and the cat is not expected to live until she comes back from camp. Again, we're talking 2 days at the stretch. I can't let Katlyn come home from camp to find her pet gone?! But I don't want to ruin her camping trip either.

So, we make the decision to call the camp - deciding that if Katlyn comes home to find Sassy gone she'll never go to camp again for fear of repetition with future pets. We were able to make arrangements to go down tomorrow and see Katlyn and got approval to take Sassy with us in the car so Katlyn can say goodbye. My mom was kind enough to help with Sassy's "final" expenses so she will be cremated and the ashes sealed in a white urn (very appropriate if you've ever seen Sassy). So, Katlyn will still have a piece of her first pet. Hopefully her Dad and I can minimize the trauma for her. I hope so...

To top all of this off we have to keep Sassy isolated until the end. Apparently Feline Leukemia is contagious and we run the risk of infecting Mom and Rick's cat, Jefferson. That is of course, if he hasn't already been infected. There is still a chance that he's not. While it is contagious it's not airborne. So, we've isolated Sassy, cleaned and sterilized their previously joint litterbox and food/water dishes. We've also verified that Jefferson was vaccinated for Feline Leukemia. The vet says 6 months from now would be a good time to check Jefferson, but it looks like he is as protected as he can get.

So, it's been a very long day and the next few aren't going to be much better. Poor Joseph is already upset over his Sissy being at camp, now his Sassy kitty is going away too. Then poor Katie Bug is off having a good time at her first ever overnight camp and is going to get some rough news. *sigh* Days like this it's really hard to be a parent - it feels like I don't have any of the right answers.

Well, I'm signing off for now. Please send all prayers and positive thoughts this way - we can use all we can get. I'm off to bed now.

I am struggling. I am an animal lover and have rarely not had a pet of some sort in my house at any point in my life. I am at home today and it is hard to watch her struggle. I want the kitty to be comfortable and I know that as much as I am doing it is not enough. As Crystal said I hate being a parent in this situation. We have to go to Katlyn with this news. Breaks my heart. Please keep us in thoughts and prayers. Thanks.

Hey guys. Katlyn is raising money for Jump Rope for Heart. Here is the email I am sending out later tonight. So some of you may get this in your inbox. :) Anyway just posting to give anyone interested a chance to donate. Thanks.

Hi! I'm joining in the American Heart Association's Jump Rope For Heart event at my school. I will be jumping rope to help the American Heart Association raise money to fight heart disease and stroke. Can you help me by making a donation? Thanks!

The American Heart Association's online fundraising website has a minimum donation amount of $25.00. If you want to donate less, that's ok. You can just send the check right to me and I'll make sure the American Heart Association gets it. I have to turn my money into the school on Feb. 22nd.

p.s. Sorry for the short amount of time but we just got the form.

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support American Heart Association - Midwest Affiliate

******************************************************************************
Some email systems do not support the use of links and therefore this link may not appear to work. If so, copy and paste the following into your browser:
http://www.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=248841&u=248841-205171299
******************************************************************************

Well I have not blogged in a while. Figured I should get back at it. Didn't realize how long it had been either.

So the last one mentioned about Katlyn getting tested. She more than met the requirements to get into the gifted school. So hopefully there will be a slot open in the school next year. We just have to wait and see. If not we keep putting in that she wants to go there but she doesn't have to retest.

School starts back up today. Already have the syllabus for my class tonight and I have to write a paper. :( I was hoping that I would have not do one in my math class. Just my luck.  So taking two classes again this semester. I got an A in my archaeology class and B in my anthro class last fall. Go me. :)

Christmas was good. We went to my father-in-law's plus I got to see some of my family for the holidays that I normally don't see. Kids made off like bandits though. Katlyn found out the truth about a certain guy in a red suit though. :( Kind of sad but she got to stay up and help out though for her brother and cousin.

Had another birthday and turned a year older. Nothing else to report there.

Katlyn is 8 today. Her party is on Saturday. We moved it from our house to the fellowship hall of our church. We just didn't have the room for that many people in our house.  Should be fun though. I think the kids are going to like the beach theme. She did open our gift last night and her gift from her Aunt Jenni. The rest she opens at the party. She got a guitar to go with the keyboard she got a Christmas. Plus she already had a violin. So she has plenty of instruments to try to learn now.

Still active in church. Going to do music next month for our turn to teach. Thanks again for that Crystal. ;) She thinks I should play my violin for these guys. We shall see. Been quite a while since I have played. Doing a small group that I think is interesting. I wanted to do another one but was not able to. Crystal is in it though and can just fill me in. :)

My granddad and my great uncle just turned 87. We went down for their birthday lunch/dinner this weekend. It was great to see all the people that came in for it. I will try to get some pictuers up later that we took.  Went to Lamberts before heading back up to St. Louis though. Eating my leftovers as I type. Yummmmmm.....

Plus I am listening to my new mp3 player. Nice to finally have one. My wife worked hard to get our cds onto the computer so we can transfer to the mp3 player. :)

I think that is more than enough for now. I will try to blog more often for my faithful readers. I make no promises though. Later gators.