Lembke News

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Tattoo



I've wanted to get a tattoo of Keegan's name. So I did. While I was visiting in PA, Nathan, his twin brother Nicholas and Nicholas' friend Harry went with me to go get my tattoo. I am very happy with it. It looks just like I thought it would. I am so happy and peaceful that I was able to get it.

Big Update

Here is the beginning of what I'm sure will be a long blog. Let's start with moving from Massachusetts. Nothing exciting about that, except our cat went into heat on Wednesday night. If you have ever been around at cat in heat, you know how loud and affectionate they are. With an empty house, it sounded like she had a microphone to meow into. She rode in the van with Courtney and I to PA, (did I mention, that it is a 10 hour drive?), and we got to hear her "sing" all the way there. Thankfully, Nathan's Grandmother used to babysit for vet, and his family has remained good friends with the vet. We were able to get Nina an appointment to be fixed, on Monday the 20th. On Saturday, the 18th, we were able to hang out with Nathan's Aunts and Uncles, who drove in from Pittsburgh, (about an hour and a half drive from Nathan's parents.)

On Monday, we took Nina to the vet. Then we went to pick out a headstone for Keegan. I had decided I wanted his portrait etched into his headstone. We were able to find a stone we liked and they are able to etch his portrait onto it. It will take about 12-14 weeks to complete. And then, it will depend on the weather and snow, as to when they can place the stone at Keegan's grave site. So, it might not be until spring time before it will be placed. I will post pictures as soon as it is placed.

When we went to pick up Nina later on Monday, she was very unhappy. And when I say unhappy, I really mean, she was so upset, she wouldn't let anyone even look at her without growling and/or hissing. The vet suggested we leave her in her cage for the night, because she was so upset. The next morning, she was in a slightly better mood. But now, she doing much better. And she's back to her normal self. Now we just need to take the stitches out on Monday. That should be fun.

Most of the rest of the week was relaxing. We played a lot of Wii Mario Party. Which was very entertaining.

In Pittsburgh, they do trick or treating the Saturday before Halloween, from 2-4pm. It is safer for the kids and more people are usually home on the weekends. We decided to go into Pittsburgh to trick or treat, and then go to Dave and Busters. Courtney was excited about trick or treating. She loved looking at all the different costumes. She was in awe of all the colors and all the people everywhere. We let Courtney pick out a costume, and she picked out a Snow White dress. I was excited because, she was going to be a cute princess. Then she saw the masks hanging on the wall, and decided she wanted one of those too. She picked out a scary pumpkin mask. Although, when she put it on, she was a cute little scary pumpkin.



For those of you who don't know what Dave and Busters is, it's like a chuck e cheeses for adults, but with much better food, games and prizes. (That also means it cost more.) The food was great. If you ever go, make sure you get the loaded mashed potatoes. They are the best I've ever had. The games were fun. Courtney had fun winning tickets. We won a lot of tickets, and were able to get Courtney a teddy bear, which she picked out and loves.

We drove to Ohio on the 28th. What a drive that was. I think we got on 4 or 5 different interstates. If driving to a new place, and making sure you don't miss your exits wasn't enough, lets add some rain, sleet, ice and snow. First it was raining, then we hit the sleet, and before I knew it, it was snowing. Even stranger was, just as soon as it happened, it was over, and the sun was shining when we got to Wright-Patt. That is the strangest weather, I have ever driven in.

Ohio is cold, just like MA. But Ohio is much flatter than MA. I like it. Not sure why. I think, because it reminds me of the south and that's where the warmer weather is. The area surrounding the base is great. It is very military friendly, and there are so many stores here, I'm not sure what to do with myself. We bought new couches on Tuesday. And they will be delivered on Saturday. I can't wait.

Now to talk about my new wonderful house. I love it! It is not one of the new houses they just built, but they did a bunch of updates. We have new carpet, vinyl, paint and appliances. Not only that, but it is so much bigger than our last house. We actually have space to put stuff, and not feel like we are squished. We are also excited to have our own master bathroom. Another exciting and a little strange thing is, our downstairs bathroom is not in the kitchen! That always bothered me in MA. I am happy to say my kitchen is bathroom free. Courtney loves her new room. It's weird, it actually feels more like a home now, then our old house ever did. I will be posting pictures as soon as we unpack everything. Right now we are wandering around in a maze of boxes.

Next on my list, is to get Courtney enrolled into school. I'm off to go unpack.

Monday, October 27, 2008

So Sweet


Here is a picture of my niece, Rebecca, 2 weeks old. I love this picture.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Quick Update

Nathan got a nice surprise on Friday, October 10. If he could get all his out processing finished by Thursday October 16, he would be able to travel with Courtney and me. Yippee! He got all his appointments changed and was able to get everything finished. So, Nathan was able to travel with us, and now we are all here hanging out.

Packing was good. Nothing exciting happen, which I am happy about. I hope everything will get to Ohio in one piece. Cross your fingers.

Our house inspection was easy. Well, the cleaning wasn't. We cleaned all day on Thursday. When I say all day, I mean, all day. The inspection was at 9:30 am on Friday. The inspector showed up 15 minutes early, but it was good, because I had just finished mopping the floor. So it looked extra clean. She spent maybe 2 minutes inspecting, before she gave us the OK. I was happy we passed, but a little frustrated, because we spent so long cleaning. Oh well, I super happy it's over.

We will be moving into our new house on the 28. I have our new address, but I don't want to post it. If you want it, send me your email, and I will send you an email back with our address. We are keeping our cell phones the same.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Rebecca Ann



Here is my niece, Rebecca Ann. She was born October 10, around 5:10pm (Alaska time), and weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 21 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great, and are resting at home.

Lost

Today I woke up, and my voice is gone. I am squeaking and cracking all over my words. It's wonder if anyone can understand me. I had to call Verizon today to cancel our phone and internet, and the automated system could not understand me. I really want my voice back. If you find it, please return it to me.

Another thing lost today was our power. I'm not really sure why. But at 2:00 pm, all of base housing lost power for 4 hours. This was very frustrating, because I have to get all our laundry done by Wednesday morning. (That's when the movers come, and take away our washer and dryer.) Now, I am trying to play catch up.

On Saturday, we lost our hot water. I woke up to find water in the basement. And when I tried to take a shower, we had no hot water. Our building, (4 houses), uses the same water heater. So everyone in our building had no hot water. It turns out, the water heater busted. Water was everywhere in the basement next to us. It took all day for it to be drained and put a new heater in.

I hope we will not lose anything else before we move. This whole time I was thinking, "Why couldn't this happen next week?" We are leaving on Friday. Our internet will be turned off on the 16, so I won't be able to get online until we are at Nathan's parent's. I have a busy week ahead of me. Wish me luck!

Friday, October 10, 2008

I'm going to be an Aunt!

My sister finally went into labor last night. She was due on October 3, and has been very uncomfortable for a while now. She knows she is having a girl. So anytime now, I should get to see my first niece. My sister lives in Alaska, so I won't get to meet her for a while. Please pray everything goes smoothly.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

I'm following you

Not really. But I am trying to manage my blog. So if you have blog, would you leave me a comment, so I can add you to my list. Even if you read mine, and you only know me through someone else, leave me a comment, and I will add you to my blog list. I enjoy reading, and commenting on other blogs. Just say "hey!"

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Only 10 days!

It hit me today, that I have less than 2 weeks left in Mass. At first I was very excited. But as I really thought about it, I realized, I am not as ready to be packed out of the house as I thought. When we first got orders to move, I went crazy and started to organize stuff. Then the newness and excitement wore off, so I only did little things to get ready to move. But now, I am in super packing mode. The movers come on the 15. So I have less than 8 days to sort through things. I'm also realizing that we are going to need bring stuff with us, so we have something to cook with, eat on, and sleep on, before our stuff gets to the house. (I just said "stuff" a lot.)

Things are going good. My basement is organized and ready. My bedroom is just about finished. Courtney's room is next. Then there's the kitchen, both bathrooms and the living/dinning area. With all this cleaning comes tons of trash. Thankfully, we have no limit for how much trash we can put out. Trash only gets picked up once a week here. (Apparently, from everyone I've talked to who lives on this base, this is unusual.) So this week, we will have a huge trash pile.

I think I may have found Courtney a new school in OH. It is a step down, because it is Monday-Thursday, for 2 hours a day. Right now, she is going 5 days a week for 4 hours a day. Most preschools don't have speech therapy or OT. Courtney is currently getting support in both areas. The new school will support her needs, and continue with her IEP, (individual education program.)

I'm off to organize something.