Toe adventures

I’ve been a yearly dermatologist “go-er” for the past 7 years. There are a couple spots that the dermatologist always takes pictures of & watches, but usually just sends me away with a “let’s look at it again later”. So when I had another check-up in January, I assumed it would be the same news. Sadly, this time, they said they wanted the spot to come off…I asked if we could please push it to later in February or March as I was going to need to be able to walk while helping backstage in the play. Since she wasn’t feeling like it was a ‘rush’ job, I was scheduled for the first of March. It was quite a fast procedure…maybe 10 minutes from start to finish! And the surgeon had done some of her studies in Seattle so we spent the majority of the time talking about how wet & gorgeous that area is, especially the coast! And before I left she asked me for a chocolate chip cookie recipe!

I had a friend drive me to the appointment (since Micah had travel come up after the appointment was on the calendar) and then set myself up by the couch for the remainder of the day. I could hobble, but it certainly didn’t feel good!

In February, I had scheduled myself out of work the day after the surgery…and then I had to rearrange the entire work schedule to accommodate one of my staff starting to help coach a spring sport…which meant that I was then on the schedule for the day after. And I, of course, didn’t realize what I’d done until a day or two before. Needless to say, I drove to work, took the elevator up, and spent as much time as I could with my foot propped up!

It doesn’t look like much, but it surprised me how much it took me out! It was the full two weeks where I didn’t go “for a walk”, because it was just too sore!

And now I’m going to have a new little scar…where no one will ever see it!

Thankfully, the pathology report came back clear so it was nothing dangerous and now we can stop watching that particular spot! I’m also grateful to have the stitches out after two weeks & finally feel like my toe is starting to heal and I can once again “go walking”!

Walks

Out for a walk with Ezra on an afternoon that felt like Spring!

I’m always excited for signs of Spring!

And then just when you think Spring has arrived….we have Soccer Tryouts, which seems to illicit one last blast of winter! A hike to a nearby castle ruin had been planned for the 8th grade history class and we woke up to snow!

It was a gorgeous walk, albeit colder than we originally anticipated!

Getting instructions on what to look for!

The fog was beautiful on the hills!

A beautiful view out the castle window

Winter pictures

A smattering of pictures from the past couple months…

Someone brought Ezra a package of “Cracker Barrel” brand Mac N Cheese (although I think the brand is different from the restaurant) – he was one VERY happy boy!!

Every now & then we block off our entry way & let the hamster run around. After a while she sat down for a snack. I think it’s super funny when she sits like this with her feet poking out!

When you are shopping you MUST try on the funny glasses!

This was at our local grocery store…when I showed it to each member of my family they all said the same thing: COTTON!! What can I say…she likes her food!

These are the types of pictures that end up on my phone after Audrey has had it!

This sweet man came to visit us for a night! This was the look he gave me when I told him I had to go to work…obviously NOT impressed that I was leaving him!

Snuggling with his favorite toy!

A couple Sundays ago, this memory popped up on Facebook:

It just so happened that I was wearing the exact same sweatshirt & Ezra was still in his church clothes, so…

Of course, we had to take another picture! 12 years makes a big difference!!

We had friends/mentors/supporters visit us on their way home from Africa. It was wonderful getting to show them our life here at BFA as well as getting to take them to some of our favorite spots!!

The view from Hoch Blauen was stunning! And the weather was warm enough that we sat out on the patio of the restaurant (in our coats – it is still February after all!) & enjoyed the sunshine and the view of the Alps!

I tried to take them to the WWI trenches, but the road was closed with a barrier across it, so instead we ‘settled’ for…

Colmar! Not too shabby of a compromise! (Totally kidding, this is probably one of my favorite ‘local’ day trips!)

Today is the start of Lent, which means that Fasching (Karneval/Mardi Gras/etc) is finally over! But only after a VERY LOUD parade on Sunday which went right by our home!

Being good Germans they had the city maintenance crew & the street sweepers out first thing Monday morning to clean up the confetti left behind!

Again, the photos I find on my phone after Audrey has been ‘using’ it! This picture makes me proud, because look how beautiful my daughter is growing up to be! But it also makes me a bit sad, because look how big my daughter is!!! She was just a baby a couple days ago, I promise!!

Pirates

As I was finishing up with the middle school play, the high school musical, The Pirates of Penzance, was beginning. My friend who helps me with the backstage & props was transitioning over to the high school play and it made me realize that I had no experience with backstage crew. I’ve only ever acted or directed so I’ve either been onstage or in front of the stage. I asked permission from the director to join the crew & got to learn the ropes of backstage! Although, from what I hear working backstage is VERY different with high schoolers than it is with middle schoolers!

My little ‘station’ with all the necessities: Kleenex, cough drops, tape, & safety pins!

One of the pirates taking a nap while waiting for his turn on stage!

Another of the pirates is getting some help on his math homework from The Major-General

One of the ‘dangers’ of leaving your phone sitting on your stand while you are off setting the stage…random selfies!

Pirates playing chess during the scenes they were offstage!

The lovely cake at our cast party following the last production (& striking the set)!

The students did a fantastic job! The director, the music teacher, the rest of the pit musicians, & the choreographers put in many long, hard hours! We had a large crew and so while we also put in our hours, I felt like we were very efficient at getting our part finished! All in all, a great learning experience and something I am grateful to have been part of!

Tiles

In the administration hallway is this display of ceramic tiles

And this is what the sign says

And here is our tile!

And now the funny story…this display was created and put up on the wall in the years that we were away from BFA. When we returned we were starting our 9th year of service at BFA, so imagine our surprise when we discovered our names already on the wall! The man who created the display almost didn’t believe Micah when he told him that we hadn’t served for 10 years yet. This man had been in Micah’s first Freshman history class his first year at BFA and so I think for him we had OBVIOUSLY been here at least a decade! He made some noise about removing the tile, but I think it would have made things look uneven and so we earned our ’tile’ with it already in place!