This Weekend

I'll be in Oskaloosa on Sunday to attend the high school graduation ceremony (my little brother Kyle - I can't believe it!). I'll be in town all night for his subsquent graduation party at the Wm. Penn Student Center, and leave sometime Monday. If anyone else is going to be in town feel free to give me a call or stop by! You can meet my future daughter!

I wanted to share some pictures too.

Here's a visual update to my life.


This is Jamie and I last April tiptoeing through the tulips in Mount Vernon, WA. We were only dating at the time and this was my first trip to WA to meet the parents.










Jamie and I hanging out in a tree on San Juan Island, WA. We took a week long sailing cruise through the islands in June. He proposed on the boat the second night out. (He's sporting the large beard because he was the captain of the cruise and you can't be captain unless you have the beard. Not sure what that means about women captains.)

Here's my family in Seattle for a visit over Christmas. My Dad is still working for Cargill in MN, 25+ years now. Mom has lost over 50 pounds since turning 50 over a year ago. (She's my hero) Amanda is finishing up her dietetics internship in MN and looking for jobs. David and her are not officially engaged yet, but for all intents and purposes getting married when they get all David's school plans nailed down. And I guess I'm truely adapting to Seattle as I'm the only one holding a Starbucks and wearing a Goret-ex raincoat.

And finally, here is Caleb the puppy. He's actually a 7 year old Australian Shephard that Jamie has had since puppyhood. He's very intelligent and talkative and enjoys long walks, playing frisbee or ball, and covert raids on the trash can (there is NO trash he can't get into, trust us).

Introducing Maya Laine Kelley Maddy

She was born at 9:16 am on Monday, May 15th. She's definitely a keeper - 8 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long. We got to come home on Tuesday around noon, so we've been settling in ever since. Everyone is doing great, dogs included. Ginger and Elwood are both very gentle with her, which is fun to watch.

Waiting...

Any creative suggestions to make the next few days go faster? I'm due on Thursday, and I'm incredibly excited to meet our little girl. I can't wait any more - I'm done with school till August, I can't travel far, and I've run out of things to clean and/or organize.

Suggestions??

Another Birthday

unless I'm mistaken... it's Michelle's day to be inducted into the quarter of a century club. But as I'm not yet a member, I'll just say:

Happy Birthday!


and a side note: spellcheck suggests "missile's" for "Michelle's."

The End

Well, not quite, but almost.

And please note I'm going to try to keep this short.

Thursday
- we take off for Iowa for the weekend.
- the unofficial and unapproved roommate gets a notice that she has to be out Sunday by noon.
- after giving the unapproved roommate the boot, the landlords give the official tenant one last chance and go over all the points on the lease where she is in default
- after that two hour conversation between the landlord and the tenant, the landlord find out the official and approved tenant (and teacher at a private, and very expensive school, might I add) apparently sold pot to an undercover cop and the cops are going to bust her on Friday

Friday
- we're blissfully unaware of all of this, and being extremely well fed in Des Moines. And let me tell you, there is truth behind the construction/drinking stereotype. Those guys could really put it away.
- the cops show up when the tenant is at work, yet the roommate is around with a couple of other people (boyfriends and the like), but doesn't respond when the cops knock. The cops try the key given to them from the landlord, only to find the door chained. They use the battering ram on the front door, and on a bedroom door, as the people that were here opted to lock themselves in a bedroom. All who are here are hauled off in cuffs. Then they go to arrest the tenant at the school.

So, we learn about all of this on Sunday when we finally talk to the landlord. The upstairs tenant is willing to be out by this Saturday instead of being evicted, so we won't have to deal with her much longer.

Oh, and we had a good time in Iowa. Brent's training was a little on the dull side, but that was to be expected. Basically it was a free trip to go see family, eat a ton of food and share war stories and commiserate with others whom go through this whole crazy moving every two years or so thing.