Preparation for Graduation Party!

Hunter's High School Graduation (and party!) is quickly approaching and thus, the planning shall begin!

We'd really like to have a fish fry with crappies, so the boys have set plans to do some fishing in the coming weekends!

This afternoon the boys set out early for an afternoon of fishing at Truman Lake!  Not as big of a fishing loot as they'd hoped, but ... it's a start!

Graden filets his catch!

The Loot!

The rig after it's Maiden Voyage!  The boat just arrived last weekend!

Here's to upcoming weekends with (larger!) fish loots!

Weekend in Branson

A few months back the Aswegan Family (my bestie from junior high, Jennifer, who is married to one of Graden's long time friends/fishing partner, Chris) planned a weekend family trip to Branson for the last weekend in March and invited us to stay with them!  This made for a great opportunity for the boys to get some fishin' done and the girls (and baby John!) to get some bonding in!

The Aswegans arrived at our house on Thursday evening about 10:30pm (otherwise it'd be a 9+ hour drive from their house in Iowa to Branson -- very hard to do with a little one!).  After their arrival, we visited for a while and then turned in for the evening since we had to work the next day and their alarm (John) goes off pretty early!

Only the finest hotel stemware for our wine!

They left Friday morning and we followed behind Friday after we got off work - getting to Branson around 9:30pm.  As soon as we arrived, we uncorked the wine and popped the tabs on a few Busch Light beers!  (vino for the ladies, beer for the boys!)

The next morning they had to attend a time share presentation so Graden and I had the honor of keeping an eye on John.  Of course, that largely meant *I* would keep an eye on John, but he was a doll!  He played a bit with his toys, then had some breakfast and took a goooood morning nap to make sure he was well rested for the day of shopping at Branson Landing with the girls!  The Aswegans got back from their presentation about noon so the boys went out to the lake to fish and the girls headed for lunch and shopping!

Our freshly-made-at-the-table guac!  Mmm, delicious!

Jennifer and John @ Branson Landing

The boys fished until dusk, then got back to the hotel in time to clean up and join us at the Shogun Japanese steak house - a first for Chris and John! They were both impressed!  One classic moment of the night was when the chef was flipping the egg around with his cooking utensils and flipped the egg high in the air and caught it in his tall chef hat.  In a just-as-serious-as-can-be tone, Chris says, "Where'd it go?"

The Aswegan Family

The Old Couple

After a wonderful dinner of sushi, Japanese beer, fresh veggies, shrimp, chicken and scallops ... we headed back to the room for some R&R!

 The boys had big plans of getting up early to get some extra fishing in before the journey home!  It worked out perfect ... they left about 6:30am for fishing until about noon, then head to Lee's Summit to break up the long drive for John.  Jen and I stayed behind while the boys fished and had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Lee's Summit a little after 8am ... arriving in time for lunch at Five Guys Burgers (one of the best homemade burger and fries known to man as Jennifer can now attest to!).  This arrangement gave us more girl time and the boys more boy time.  Win-Win!

Jen gave Hunter this very blanket when he was born.

You can almost hear his smile in this picture!!

The Aswegans headed back for home (Lisbon, Iowa) a little after 4.  It was great spending time with them and getting to see John.  It is next to impossible to think he is almost a year old already!

Since it was just the two of us who traveled to Branson for the weekend, the kids had their own fun while we were away!

Dayne with her Lake Winnebago Crew!

Dayne spent the weekend at her friends house (who live on a lake) so she went tubing for two days in a row!  We have taken full advantage of the 80 degree March days!  She also suckered one of the mom's into going to see The Hunger Games movie with them.  Not too shabby of a weekend for a 12 year old!

Hunter spent time with his friends & their girlfriends ... having a "couples night" (they sound old!) ... and working and attending an event at Avila (where he will be going to college this Fall).

All in all ... a pretty fun weekend.  Bring on the Funday Monday, right!?

Feeling Especially Blessed

Today was an amazing day at work! I got 12 long stem yellow roses! Even better was that I got them 1 at a time ... each delivered with a personalized note from 12 people I work with ... The note thanked me for what I do for them and listed things they appreciate about me. It was so overwhelming being able to look next to me and have a visual on how many people like me ... I mean - - really, really like me! Special thanks to my team for making my day so special! I am so, so blessed to work with the people I get to call Team Hansen!!

Dayne, The Braggart

Dayne sent me this picture message today from Dog Island:

The are leaving the Island Friday morning and will arrive back in Joplin on Saturday afternoon.  I am excited to have my Baby Girl back home so I can kissy her freckles and hear her giggle and see her smile.

Dayne hath arrived!

Dayne sent me a pic of Dog Island. Just as perfect as I remember it! Sure hope we are able to go this summer!

Meanwhile, in Hansenville ....

This week was actually quite different from other weeks - the kids were on Spring Break and I (finally!) gathered up the courage to have my foot surgery!

On February 14th I made the long overdue commitment to have my bunion removal surgery on my left foot (they both need it!) ... and made the appointment for Monday March 12th.  I spent quite a bit of time fretting over the details, the finances, the "what if" scenarios for so many years that I just had to take my own advise: "Make a decision and go with it."  I wasn't able to take any medication for three days prior to the surgery (i.e. no aspirin or ibuprofen), nothing to eat or drink after midnight Sunday.  I am sure it was the stress of the anticipation, but on Sunday night I got the *worst* headache I have ever, ever, ever had in my whole life.  I thought for sure I was slowly dying from a slow leak brain aneurysm!  And not being able to take anything for it was pure torture!  I barely slept Sunday night and Monday morning couldn't come quick enough so I could just get this over with!  

Graden and I went to the ambulatory center (this was an out patient surgery) about 11am since my surgery was scheduled for 12:30.  They moved us back to the pre-op station about 11:30 where we waited and waited, until about 1:00 when they wheeled me off. Thankfully, when I told them that I had a horrible headache, they were able to hook me up with some goooooood stuff (thank you IV pain meds!) so I had one less thing to focus on!  When the anesthesiologist came around to explain the options - partial sedation or full sedation - I quickly clarified there was only one I was interested in: FULL sedation.  Like, three-deep-breaths-from-death-full-sedation.  I told him if I heard a bone saw or one conversation discussing what they were doing with my feet, there would be a problem.  He indicated he understood, and with that .... I signed away my commitment to FULL sedation!

I remember being wheeled into the OR, moving from my gurney to the surgery table, the nurse telling me I did a good job (to which I replied, "Thanks, I had been practicing all week."  I get quippy when I am nervous).  Then, the next thing I remember was waking up and seeing my foot wrapped in blue gauze stuff.  Then, I thought: "Whew! I survived!"

Graden came back and sat with me for about 45 minutes to make sure I could keep crackers and water down and I felt fine.  ... and why those crackers tasted soooo delicious is still a mystery to me.  But, I proudly ate three packages.  I guess I was show-boating that I could keep THREE packs of crackers down.  (thinking to self: ha! take that all you other pukers who can't handle a little anesthesia!).

We got home a little after 3:00, after Graden stopped at Hy-Vee to get lunch/dinner (Chinese) and my meds.  That Hy-Vee Chinese food followed by a nap was so glorious ...

All in all, the experience wasn't bad.  My foot is "achy", but nothing intolerable.  I tend to take my pain meds only when it starts to flare up and I start to get scared that it may hurt.  As Graden says, "there is a fine line between tough and stupid."  No reason to be stupid and have pain when God invented Vicodin, right? 

I had prepared a few meals so dinners were pretty easy and "real" (read: we didn't have Ramen noodles or cereal each night!).

I go for my check up on Wednesday.  I am excited for the Big Reveal to see what my foot will look like "normal" ... not all jacked up.  See the picture on the left ... it shows my right foot (which was a wee bit less offensive than my left foot, but you can get the gist of how awkward they are).  Instead of my big toe bones flowing straight with my other toes, there is about a 17 degree angle.  This makes for achy joints and ill fitting shoes.  And as I get older it just gets worse.

Let's see .... what else happened this week .... 

Zoe and Dayne at Boss Oysters, en route to Dog Island

Ah, yes .... Thursday Graden and I took Dayne to Joplin.  She is joining the Ruestman's on their annual trip to Dog Island for Spring Break.  They left early Friday morning and will be back next Saturday.  Donna also happens to be in Joplin, taking care of her sister and some health issues she is facing, so we were able to meet up with her and eat dinner at Outback Steak House.  We got home Thursday night about 11:15 .... kind of a long day!  I got a text message from Dayne at 5:15 Saturday afternoon that they were at the island!  It's quite a journey to make it there!  18 hours driving, then loading everything you need to survive for a week (there are no stores on the island -- you bring everything you need with you!) onto the ferry.  Then unloading everything and getting settled in to enjoy the peace and quiet of Dog Island!  It really is *heavenly!*


Hunter is headed to Lake of the Ozarks for a school event - part of one of the school programs associated with his Marketing class.  This is the 2nd year he has gotten to go to the State Competition!  He leaves on Sunday morning and will be home Tuesday.  At that point we will know if they make it to the next round, which is in Salt Lake City, Utah in April (same weekend as Prom -- a point of contention/concern since he has a girlyfriend with high hopes of going to Prom!).

Going back to work on Monday after a week off will be a bummer in some ways since I didn't get to do anything "fun" on my week off ... but, being out and about and looking at something besides the four walls of my living room will be a welcome sight! 

Here's to a great week!

Weekend Haps

After Dayne's volleyball game we had some mother-daughter time and did some shopping (seems that is the only time I can squeeze mother-daughter time out of her these days!).  We did a little shopping at Kohl's for a couple pairs of shorts and Target for a new swimsuit coverup as well as some last minute stuff for her upcoming vacation to Dog Island.  A tradition we have created for any road trip is a batch of puppy chow!  No road trip is complete without it so, of course, I will send a batch with her!

Later that night, I took Dayne and two of her friends (Daphne & Alyssa) to see the movie, "Gone" at the movie theater.  It was time spent with my baby girl (even though she may have been a little disappointed that I joined her for the movie) ... so I enjoyed myself -- and the movie was okay, too!

Sunday was a lazy day - the "Spring Forward" time change coupled with the rainy, cloudy weather made for a perfect day to do nothing!  I did eventually get around to cleaning the house, planned and pre-cooked the week's meals and got caught up on laundry eventually so it wasn't a complete loss!   (I recently discovered a great app and website to help with meal planning - you can enter or import recipes, create grocery lists, plan meals for each day).

http://boggie.dk/fp/

Graden had left Wednesday afternoon for a fishing derby at Lake of the Ozarks and got home about 6:15 ... after being gone for so long, I loved kissing him hello! : x

Funny thing is ... right about the time Graden was leaving Lake of the Ozarks Hunter and five of his high school buddies were checking into a cabin (thankfully, it had survived the recent tornado that ripped through Branson!

A few months back Hunter and some of his friends (most of them teammates on his football team) started planning for a few days away for Spring Break and landed on the idea of camping at Lake of the Ozarks State Park Outpost Cabin 6.  This past summer they had gone for 2 days camping / canoeing and loved it so they wanted to do something along the same line.  (During that trip Hunter caught a fish with a stick and cooked it over the fire for the boys to eat.  Hunter explained it wasn't so much to fill them up and provide a meal as it was for the experience and the story!)  That's our boy!

The boys left Sunday about 12:15 and will be back Tuesday afternoon.  I just love that Hunter elects to go with nature on his Spring Break!  Can't wait for him to get back so I can see the pictures and hear the stories of what 6 teenage boys do when on a two day camping trip with no (real) adults!  I am sure the stories of any shenanigans will be shared much, much later .... when they are too old to be punished!