A beautiful fence materializes in two days

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fence1This is Corey and Danielle when we were leaving Menards with a whole bunch of fence.  This was the second load.  Corey and Danielle had already picked up the concrete, posts, screws, etc.  On the back of the truck, you can see we answered the age-old question “Where’s Waldo?”.  Who knew he was hiding on the back of a Menards truck.

fence2This is Mark and Corey working on the front corner.

fence3This is the first beautiful section finished.  The whole fence is finished now.  It took two days of working in wind and rain and cold.  Don’t let the beautiful sunshine in the picture fool you.  It was cold and Danielle and I both have fierce windburns on our faces.  All that is left to finish is the gates, which is the easy part.  We all agreed the worst part was setting the posts.  We also had our first sleepover at Corey and Danielle’s.  Since they only live forty minutes away, we have never spent the night there.  It was a fun and very productive weekend.

Sushi anyone?

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sushi2Keith, Justin, Mark and myself went to this Japanese restaurant last weekend.  The tables were each in “pits” where you sit on cushions on the floor and your legs and the table are in the pit.  As is tradition, you also take your shoes off before you go to your table.  We had a blast, especially watching Justin with his wasabi.  His face would turn beet red with every bite.  When Keith suggested avoiding the wasabi, Justin said no, he liked the feeling when it got to his stomach.  Keith, Mark and I got the tempura chicken (typical Americans).  Justin ordered this beautiful plate of sushi.

sushi1Myself, I like sushi but not the kind with raw fish.  I’m not a seafood fan so I’ve actually never even tried the ones with raw fish.  I did it this night because Justin asked and I usually try whatever the food is that I haven’t tried yet unless it still has eyes in it or repulses me, i.e. squid and roe.  For the record, the brighter orange item on this plate is roe.  Wiki defines roe as “the fully ripe internal ovaries or egg masses of fish and certain marine animals, such as shrimp, scallop and sea urchins”.  Wiki describes eggs as “usually chicken eggs, but also those of other birds and turtles, as well as those of fish”.  It even seems the Wiki definition is trying to scare me, even though an egg should just be an egg.

I ate a piece of the green sushi, which was cucumber.  Mark also tried that one and didn’t like it.  His palate is not adventurous.  He likes a good burger or some lasagna.  I also tried the raw fish one.  It’s not for me – it’s hard enough for me to eat cooked seafood let alone raw.  Keith had already tried the raw previously and is o.k. with it if you can get past the texture.  All in all though, we had a great time.

Shed Fire – 03/21/09

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shed-fireOn top of everything else going on in our lives right now, this happened Saturday at my parents’ home.  ~~NOBODY WAS INJURED~~

Click here for more pics:    http://picasaweb.google.com/tmcknit/ShedFire032109#.  Below is the story of what happened.

Mark and I were in our backyard.  I went in to make us a sandwich and when I came back outside, I saw smoke at my parents’ shed.  I said to Mark “is that smoke coming from Dad’s shed?”  Mark started to walk and then ran like hell over there.  He yelled back to me “call 911”.

Dad had been working outside all day.  We had watched him, waved at him, etc. but now we couldn’t find him.  While I was on the phone with 911, Mark ran into this burning shed, filled with smoke and flames, windows exploding, to try to find my Dad.  My phone call with 911 started at 2:06 p.m. and by 2:09 p.m., the shed was fully engulfed.  911 stayed on the phone until Mark found Dad, who had just one or two minutes earlier drove his riding mower next-door to my brother’s house – thank goodness!!!

Roger heard screams – he didn’t know who was screaming or what I was screaming – it was me screaming “Dad”, then telling 911 “we can’t find my Dad” – then saying “I’m sorry” to 911 – then screaming for Dad again – 911 was very nice and said it was o.k.  I tried to stay calm – I knew I had to calmly give the address and our township and “what is your emergency” – but after that I just wanted my Dad and Mark safe.  Roger later asked who was screaming – I told him me – he said “man, you’ve got a loud scream on you”.

When Roger heard the screams, he looked and saw what was happening and came running (with a little fire extinguisher – somehow, later that was an LOL for us all).  It was all too late.  In those few minutes it was already over.  Dad was safe, Mark was safe, our world forever changed.  I couldn’t sleep just thinking that I could have lost them both.  If Dad were in there, he would have fallen trying to get out – he’s not as steady as he used to be.  If Mark had heard Dad in there, I know Mark would have tried to rescue him – that’s my Mark.

So today is a new day – it’s an ugly mess but nobody got hurt.  Something that took my parents over fifty years to build, was gone in minutes.  They will rebuild and life will go on – that’s the blessing – life will go on.

And last but absolutely not least, the firefighters were amazing.  I think there were four departments there – Noble, Kingsford-Union, Hanna and Washington Townships.  This pic is of Richard (left) and his little brother.  Richard works with Mark and these two were just all smiles and cute as could be.  Thanks to all the fire departments and the ambulances for a quick response.  It seemed like forever but looking at the time on the pics, it was twelve minutes from the start of my call to the arrival of the first fire truck.  In rural America, that’s pretty darn good.  More good news – the firefighters were able to save my parents’ home.  It has the obvious damage you will see in the pictures – melted siding, broken windows, but only the outside pane of the double-pane windows broke from the heat of the fire, so there is no interior damage to their home.  Thank you thank you thank you to them all.

richard

A study in contrast…….

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Corey and Mark went to the World of Wheels car show at the McCormick Center in Chicago yesterday.  As a study in contrast, this is my favorite picture they took:

chicago

As beautiful as that picture is, below is Mark and Corey’s favorite picture from the show:

world-of-wheelsThere are tons of really cool pics they took of funky cars and trucks and skyscapes of Chicago – but somehow that is their favorite picture.  Just to redeem themselves, I’ll post a picture of the two of them taking of picture of themselves – they are both really great guys who had a really great guy day.

mark-and-corey

Update on Mark

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mark-taking-a-walkMark is doing well after his surgery.  He is walking very slowly.  He is supposed to walk no more than two blocks per day.  If he were to walk our block, since we live in the country, he would be walking 4.5 miles per block, so nine miles per day, just for reference.  He is also not to lift anything over 5-8 lbs., which is making him crazy because he wants to be useful and he feels helpless.  That’s frustrating but I tell him there’s a reward in the end (good health!).  He gets his stitches out on January 9 and that will provide some relief as the stitches are pulling and creating more discomfort in his back (back incision is stitched and is five inches long).  His front incision is glued and healing beautifully (seven inches long).

Our weather has been beautiful (relatively speaking, for winter – it’s been in the thirties to fifties) so we’ve been able to walk outside.  Today it is snow again and heavy wind and will be in the twenties or lower for at least the next week, so he’ll be walking in the house again for now.

Merry Christmas!

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carrie-and-chloe

Who better to wish you Merry Christmas than our sweet little girls, Carrie and Chloe.  We wish you all as much love and joy in 2009 as these two share with each other and with us every day.

So from all of us (Mark, Teri, Carrie and Chloe)………..to all of you (our wonderful kids – all four of you – our family and friends who have e-mailed, called and shared your concern, good wishes and friendship through Mark’s hospitalization and recuperation, and throughout the year)………..from all of us to all of you…………….

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for 2009!!

P.S.  I had to add the bonus picture of our little Buddha Belly Chloe in the picture below – it’s from last year but it’s priceless.

chloe

Get Well Soon Socks (Pairs #29-30)

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get-well-soon-socksThese socks were made mostly while Mark was in surgery, during his stay in the hospital and in the days up until today when I finished them.  One pair is for Mark and the other pair is for me.  Mark is doing well – he has pain only when he moves (same old same old but it is getting better).  He was tempted today to have me take him for a ride but the weather outside is frightful and the fire is so delightful (oops – we don’t have a fireplace) – but we will wait for the weather to break a little, which is supposed to happen on Christmas Day.

Here are the ingredients:

**Mark’s socks – Regia Crazy Color 112
Teri’s socks – Four Seasons Hot Socks Spirit Sockenwolle 610**

Christmas Socks 2008 (Pairs #24-28)

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christmas-socks-2008-boxes

Hmmmmmmmmm – wonder what could be in those little boxes?  I guess the title of the post gives it away.  I made the little mittens gracing each box using the same wool as the socks – so now each recipient will have matching socks and mittens (yes, I know that’s corny since they can’t actually wear the mittens – so sorry).  When I went to get the camera to take a picture, Carrie decided to try to steal the mittens off of the boxes, and somehow this beautiful picture was the first picture I took – I think it’s a keeper with her looking so innocent – so I took no more (although I was tempted because one of the boxes on the top level is crooked but who can resist a beautiful Carrie pic).

These are socks I worked on all year – between other projects – for Christmas gifts for my family.  I took the picture outside in the snow – today it is 4 degrees with a wind chill of -27.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to stray far – I just stepped out the door and took them on the back deck.

christmas-socks-2008

In the order they appear, here’s who they’re for and what they’re made with:

**Mark – Regia Strato Color 5748
Keith – Regia Crazy Color 114
Justin – Regia Strato Color 5747
Corey – Regia Schatten Color 5163
Danielle – Regia Jacquard Color 5243**

Do you sense a pattern with the socks I make?  I love Regia!!  Not all socks I make are Regia, but a majority are.

Ice Storm 2008 (December 19-22)

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ice-storm

This link http://tinyurl.com/98a8uv will take you to the pictures from the ice storm we had while Mark was in the hospital.  The pictures have captions and I think an ice storm is pretty much self-explanatory.  The wind chill at one point was -39.  Today’s temperature is -4 with a wind chill of -12.

The first day of the storm we lost power.  Mark was still in the hospital but his hospital did not lose power – it is a little over an hour away from home.  The power went out at about 3:00 a.m. and I didn’t wake up until 4:00 a.m. so it was already starting to get cold in the house.  It was 62 degrees in the house so I lit a bunch of our bigger candles and votives.  I also took four dinner plates, covered them with foil and filled them each with tea lights.  It took me fifteen minutes to light them all but I remember when the kids were little and they were snowed in with my parents, my parents had lit candles to keep a little heat in the house and it really does help.  It was 62 in the house when I lit the candles and it was still 62 in the house when the power was restored several hours later.

Mark’s back surgery – update

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mark-in-hospitalDecember 21, 2008

Mark came home from the hospital yesterday at 4:00 p.m.  This picture is him still in the hospital, obviously because I don’t have IV’s and oxygen hooked up to him here at home.

It was shocking that they sent him home already as the doctor had previously said he would go home on the 22nd and now he was coming home on the 20th.  He didn’t think he was ready – he had only walked part of his hallway one time on the 19th.  He was nauseous and in incredible pain.  He had cried when they moved him from the bed to the chair the first time on the 19th.  The nurses told him he could stay all day yesterday – just because he was released didn’t mean he had to leave right that minute.  They also said if he wasn’t up to it, he could stay another day or more.  We decided that there was nothing they could do for him that I couldn’t do for him.  We did stay the day so he could get in another session of physical therapy (this time he walked the whole block of his unit).  He felt much better after that walk.  They also had to give him two more IV bags of antibiotics.  He slept most of the day – that’s really all he’s done for the whole four days so far is sleep.

Last night he slept on the sofa and I slept there with him.  He had his pain meds every four hours and Keith called at 1:00 a.m. – his phone accidentally called us – so we stayed up from 1:00-3:00 watching tv and he had about 1/4 cup of homemade soup that Dad had made.  Thanks Dad – it was his first real food in four days because he naturally has no appetite.

Today he will get a shower and I have to get to change his dressings (arghhhhh – weak stomach).  I’ve already seen the incision on his back – that one doesn’t hurt him.  The one on the front is where his pain is terrible – I can’t wait until the shower is over and he gets to settle back down.  He doesn’t have any pain when he’s not moving.  He took a little walk this morning already – around the house as we’re still in the midst of a lovely winter storm – and he said it felt good to walk.

Check back for more updates and for some of the most beautiful pictures of an ice storm I’ve ever seen – if there is such a thing as a beautiful ice storm.  It is beautiful when you’re safe in your home and you know all of your family and friends are safe.