January, 2016

I obviously needed a bit of a break after all those blog posts about our time in California.  But I'd better get back on task here, and get caught up before summer!

We arrived home from California on January 7, with 3 overnight stops on our drive again.  Our last day was a shorter day and included a stop in Chicago at Roger and Sheryl's for a little visit. And we also picked up our Honda which had been parked at their house for a couple of weeks after Ben was finished using it.

We adjusted to the cold weather and got back into the swing of things with our normal activities--Bob's tutoring at Cross Trainers Academy, his church meetings, my MOPS nursery volunteering, some work in the BCS library, and for both  of us our Friday morning coffee with the senior group from church and Friday evening dinner at Panera with the Brassers.  We are definitely creatures of habit!!

We also got a couple of difficult phone calls to receive in January.  On the 20th we got a call from Laura Szotko informing us that Carl had passed away.  This was pretty much unexpected---in spite of the health issues he has dealt with over the past few years, he really had been doing quite well and was recovering from his most recent bout in the hospital. So that was very sad news to get. It made us very thankful for the wonderful time we had with him and Cora Mae at our last Waanderfest, celebrating his 87th and Cora Mae's 85th birthdays.

Then a few days later, on the 23rd, we got a call from Matt telling us about Cheryl's diagnosis of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.  That was really difficult news to get--at that point they really had no information except for that diagnosis and they were both pretty much devastated.  We got that call about an hour before we were leaving to go to Michigan for Carl's funeral and the visitation.  So that was a pretty hard week-end.  But it was wonderful to be with all our family as we celebrated Carl's life, and it was also helpful to share the news about Cheryl with everyone, and to be assured of everyone's prayers for her.

There was one more event in January---Derek Buikema's wedding in Chicago on the 29th..  We drove down that morning and picked Abby up at school at noon, had lunch with her and then went to Orland Park for the wedding. Neil joined Abby after the ceremony, and we all attended the reception.  Then we spent the night with Abby and Neil at their apartment.  On Saturday morning we had breakfast at a restaurant near their apartment, and Ben joined us there.  Then we spent a couple hours at the Garfield Park Conservatory with Abby and Neil before heading for home.

That pretty much covers January, and I don't have a single picture to share.

Next up:  My trip to California in February