Bite Size Review

I love when SemiFeral Mama does her Bite Size Reviews.  Following the crazy weekend where I hosted the Sweetheart Supper on the coat-tails of the missions leader training, I vowed to do nothing for a week.  Here's my bite-sized review of my last week or so:
 
Don't Like Those Phone Calls
Tuesday morning I got another yucky phone call.  My mom prefaced it with "I have bad news".  I wondered which kid had a seizure, or fell.  Nope, not that kind of bad news.  She called to tell me my Uncle Hector had passed away.  He lost his battle with cancer.  He was scheduled to get moved to some fancy cancer hospital in Arizona.  He didn't make it there.  In the recent years we weren't close but he's still my uncle.
 
Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt
Thankfully this isn't my mantra.  Thursday morning when I called my abuela (my dad's mom) to wish her a happy birthday, she wasn't very happy.  That might be because she'd lost her son 2 days before.  It might be because she's struggling with her legs as the diabetes continues to punish her body.  When I said "HAPPY birthday" she told me that there wasn't anything to be happy about.  How sad.  She did tell me that my Grandpa used to sing the Johnny C*sh song to her back in the day.  Though I was sad to not be there to hug my grandma, I was glad to learn something new about my grandfather after him being gone for 14 years.
 
Another Interesting Phone Call
And since I'm on the thought of interesting phone calls, I got an interesting call yesterday.  It was a lady who claimed to be from a bail bond place.  She was calling in regards to my sister and her husband.  She said my sister put me as a reference.  Not sure what that means.  Or why a bail bond place would have references.  The lady asked me if they still lived in the area... obviously digging for information.  I told her I didn't know and kindly ended the phone call. 
 
A little More than Nothing
My friend M emailed me.  At work.  That's not normal.  Then she texted me to ask if I'd checked my email.  That's odd.  I read that she was going to be home for the weekend and wanted to do a girls night out.  Yikes.  I just vowed to do nothing for a week.  But this is M and I don't get to see her much.  And when I do, it's amidst chasing kids.  How sweet it would be for a girls only night out!  Oh, and the feeling that she was frantically trying to get a hold of me, it was because she's expecting a baby and her husband was about to share it with his staff and post it to facebook and she wanted me to know before the whole FB world did.  Thanks M for thinking of me.  So glad to hear your news!
 
Apple Crisp
Last fall I canned lots of apple pie filling.  So, it's no surprise when I show up to a gathering with apple crisp.  Well, I made some last Thursday for our bible study group.  Then I made another one Friday to share at work for a birthday gathering.  I think I'm done making apple crisp for a while.  So, if you're coming over any time soon, I'll either bust out a bag of starbursts or there will be no dessert :)
 
La Rana Bistro
The girls night out was wonderful.  I haven't hung out with the girls for quite some time.  To be honest, I'm much better one-on-one.  But regardless of that, I love those girls and was so thankful to have some time with them.  They were super kind and even paid for my meal as a birthday gift to me.  I was this close to trying the duck but at the last moment I chickened out and had them swap the duck for chicken breast.  We left La Rana and headed over to Hotel Winneshiek to continue our chatting.  We stopped in the restaraunt there when we saw desserts near the front door.  They were calling our names.  We shared a few desserts over pregnancy and delivery stories.  Girls, when are we getting together again???
 
Day out with Ryan
With crazy winter weather on it's way, Ryan and I headed to Waterloo a day early to celebrate my birthday.  Just the two of us.  It was amazing.  We grabbed at late lunch at my favorite, but losing its favorite-ness, place, Olive G.  Then on to do a little shopping.  He spoiled me.  It was great.  Mostly stuff that I needed anyway (like new undergarments and shoes).  But I also got some added fun stuff like jeans and a cute shirt.  From there we headed over to the book store where I couldn't even force myself to look at anything after having spent money at the undergarment-porno shop.  We ran into some dear friends there and chatted for a bit before we headed over to Target for my caramel frapp fix and then headed towards home.  Those who know me, know that we stopped for groceries while we were in town.  Saw some cute Keens that I want.  If they would've had my size, they would have come home with me.  Guess that's what I'll be spending my birthday money on :)
 
 
Happy Birthday to Me!
I woke on my birthday to an ice-storm.  I've always wanted to go ice-skating for my birthday so I guess God was setting it up perfectly for me.  Only problem was that it continued to rain/ice all day.  Church even got cancelled.  So I spent the morning cleaning (wow was this needed).  Who does that on their birthay?  Apparently I do when I haven't cleaned for some time.  It was a day of hanging out with my family.  A few phone calls and texts but otherwise just me and the fam.  It was great.  I didn't get an airline ticket home for my birthday but I do have a family that loves me!  The home-made cards from the kids were great. 
 
Thank you Presidents
The federal government helps me celebrate my birthday most years with Presidents Day.  It was great to be off.  And even if it wasn't a holiday, I would have been stuck home because of the ice on the driveway.  Fortunately yesterday brought just enough snow to cover the ice and the driveway was manageable this morning.  I spent the day cleaning (yes, I had lots more to do) and preparing for guests.
 
Mongolian Nationals and a Cowboy Anthropologist
How do I keep this bite-sized?  Farmer in my office mentioned his daughter was going to Mongolia to study.  Ryan's been there twice.  I told him we'd be happy to meet with her.  Then connected her to Naraa, our UIU friendship student who's a Mongolian international student.  Naraa's dad is also in the states visiting and her brother is now attending UIU too.  We invited them all over for supper.  Farmer's daughter wanted to bring her dad.  He's the cowboy who checks cattle with horses, has a working dog, etc.  They all came over for supper.  I fixed a yummy chicken enchilada casserole with rice and corn.  It was fun.  I learned why Cowboy Farmer was interested in coming.  He studied Anthropology and is going to visit his daughter while she's there.  He wanted to learn about Mongolia and the culture too.  Fun stuff.
 
Sad Day
Today its cloudy and I'm looking forward to the sunshine.  The family will bury my uncle today.  I'll be here in Iowa apart from them.  I hope and pray that they can find hope today amidst their grief.  Especially my grandma.  I love that woman!