It's just life as usual, I guess...

It's always something, isn't it? Lots of changes going on in our lives and not much time to get into detail today. It is all for the best and each day gets better and better. Hope everyone is doing well. Congrats to Shelli and Derek on the birth of Parker! We are so very excited for you!

Where would we be?

Where would we be without the Hinrichs to take our kids overnite so that we can get up early and go to our Industry Tradeshow and training classes in Milwaukee tomorrow?

Where would we be without BJ going in to work on a Sunday, in -30 something degree weather , to build us a hydrualic hose on our flatbed that broke while we were towing a car?

Where would we be without Chris H. and Cliff, on the same day to come in and fix the broken hose?

Where would we be without friends like the Kooiman family, that willingly took in our kids when both Dan and I were working during the cold/ice/snow until who knows when on a school night, then goes above and beyond to bring us a delicious homecooked meal WITH dessert? (Dan still can't figure out how Matt stays so slender)

Where would we be without Shelli to take the kids after school even beyond the hours expected of her when we got unexpected amounts of snow or need a fill-in last minute on volleyball night (then shower us with Valentine's Day goodies)?

Where would we be without J&J's to be our "personal kitchen" while we work who knows how many hours throughout the week?

Where would we be without Cliff and Vi to take the kids whenever we ask and to go get parts whenever needed?

Where would we be without hard-working employees to make changes for the best of the companies--even on birthdays, anniversaries, and Valentine's Day (Happy Birthday, Jon, Joe; Happy Anniversary Tracy (& Chris) & Cliff & Vi!!)

Where would we be without Josh & Joe to fill in when we are induted with towing, going so far as to risk their lives? Or Jon and Rod to do the same beyond the hours they are expected to?

Where would we be without understanding friends that volunteer their time for time that cannot be volunteered (even though I am missing the kids at school and my time there like crazy?)

Where would we be?

I'm glad I don't have to find out.

Psalm 107:8 (New International Version)

8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men,

Talk about getting thrown in the ring...

So we go away, get refreshed. Come home, and BAM! A 14 inch snow storm to put our lives into total and complete chaos! Let's just say I'm still not unpacked and my dishes overfloweth! In the 14 years I've been with Dan and dispatched snowstorms, NEVER has there been one like this. I had to stop giving eta's (estimated time of arrivals) at about 2:00 pm and the calls that came in after that took almost 12 hours to get to them. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before. I shouldn't complain, I'm sure it is how dispatching in Madison or Milwaukee is on a regular basis, but I have never taken a call 5 miles from where a tow truck was and had it take over 1 1/2 hours to get there. Unbelievable! You should see the phone log...several calls per minute, no kidding! Thank God for Shelli, who stayed home with the kids, then let them sleep over at her house. It was nice not having to worry about them.

Despite the dishes, clothes, and dust, Dan and Christian are down at Sandy Beach Bait Shop fishing for the fisheree today and Mallory and I are at the shop, holding down fort. It's a no wonder our home looks like it does!

Two whole days off of school and I don't ever know when Christian is going to get his routine back. I guess he'll learn the hard way, "That's just how life is sometimes!!" Or in our case, most of the time! Mallory has set into her own routine of claiming the "Early Bird" prize each day. She must get it from Dan, because me and morning just don't seem to get along!

We got a phone call from Kyle yesterday. When Christian was born, we called him and said, "Well, you're an Uncle!" So MY phone call was, "Well, you're an Aunt!!" Cara was due yesterday and sure enough, he arrived right on schedule. Congratulations, Lehr family! Can't wait to see the little guy!

Well whatdoya know?

Okay, so here it is, Friday night at 10:35. Am I at a bar? Am I out on the town? Am I whoopin' it up? Nope, just sitting here, listening to tunes from the 90's and trying to catch up on entering our financials into MS Money. Ahhh...the life!

The kids are trying to get back into the swing of things at school. We have found that Christian especially has a difficult time adjusting to changes in his routine schedule. At his parent/teacher conference, Mrs. McKenney mentioned that after coming back from Christmas break he was a bit touchy. See how smart she is: she figured out then that there would be another adjustment period when he got back from Florida. Sure enough. A mom that helped out in the classroom this morning asked me if something was wrong, that he was a bit sensitive. Poor guy. Come Wednesday, we'll be all good again in that department (barring any snow/ice/cold days, that is!!) They are both excited to be approaching their 100th day of school on Monday.
Christian only had a 1/2 day today, so he had the time of his life when I took him to McDonald's to meet my friends, Stephanie and Heather/their daughters, Olivia and Trinity Rose. Come to find out that pretty much every other kid from his class went, too. What a very fun day for him!
News from Mallory's world:
She is way pumped up to be dancing at her recital in May to High School Musical 2/Work It Out. Mallory lives for Monday night dance classes. School is going quite well, though she would tell you that her brain is full of things she already knows and has a hard time learning all the new stuff. She's not so sure about school this year, but it seems to me as a parent that the social aspect is taking over her opinions about school/making it all a-okay! Her friend Shayane made her a going away card and had all of the kids (except one) sign it. How awesome is that?
So the kids are doing well for the most part and we're just cruising along.
Looking forward to a Superbowl Party on Sunday at our friends', the Forests.
Oh and one more bit-o-news from the Topel Household:
Dan was elected to School Board.
Ask him about it sometime (lol!). It should be an interesting 3 years.
Happy February!

Back to Life, Back to Reality!

Ouch. That's all I can say. Whata rude awakening. We leave sun, sand, the ocean...for this: drift covered roads, sub-zero temps, at least the sun is shining. Made the trip home in record time-we left Tim's place at 3:30 and got home here at 11:30 am our time, after a one hour trip to Cracker Barrel in Rockford. Boo yah!
So it's back to life as usual, I guess. Or not. Our new Service Advisor, Valerie, starts at the shop on Monday. Shelli is starting to get close to having her baby boy, and we figured out a way for her to carry on shop responsibilities while not having to have daycare, and the same for me (still work at the shop, but be home with the kids after school). Valerie comes to us from having worked at a shop in Madison for 2 years. She has been trained by ATI (our business coaching firm in Baltimore), and will hopefully take minimal training. So we have a bit of an adjustment period, then hopefully things will settle themselves down, allowing some type of a balance in our schedules---I won't hold my breath just yet!
You'll be able to tell the load change by when this gets updated next--a sure tell-tale sign that I've got an ounce of free time to update and not feel guilty about goofing off!!
Shhhh...the ocean is calling!

News of the Day

We left our lazy days back in Orlando and headed over to Ormond Beach today. The kids had their faces painted and played in the (thankfully) heated pools. It was still in the mid-sixties yesterday. No complaining here, though. I saw the temps back there in WI and 4 inches of snow...no thanks!

Big news here in Ormond-by-the-Sea yesterday-a 15.5 foot whale washed up on shore. Tim wasn't here to see it, but his neighbor said she saw it and it headed down to Daytona before they were able to take it in. There's an article on it at:

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newFLAG03ENV012708.htm

Just found it interesting!

We're just catching up on some homework today with Mallory. It is amazing how much they do in a day at school! This is why I don't like taking the kids out of school for vacations during the school year!! It's all worth it, though.

Here's your "Are you smarter than a third-grader" question for the day:

Name 10 perfect squares under 100.

I had to look it up on wikipedia!! Maybe that doesn't say much for me, but Dand and Tim didn't know either.

Long story short

Almost 3 months since the last post. Hmmm...holidays, year-end for the business, back to school...the excuses go on and on. The truth is that I've gotten so wrapped up in living life that I'm not taking any time to reflect. I can say, though, that I've gotten closer to that point that I wrote about at my last post of being able to be just a little bit more organized, both time and space.
It doesn't really even make sense for me to go back and recap the past three months. You all know, there's no, "long story short" in my world!
Ironically enough, we are in Florida again. We did not use up our "we're not buying a timeshare" points last time, so we mustered up a return trip.
-Left on Tuesday night about 10 pm
-Got here Wednesday night about 11 pm
-Spent the night at Pulford's apartment in Ormand Beach
-Thursday, went across the street to the ocean, the boys fished. Mal and I went for a little walk on the shore. Had lunch at the Golden Lion, (mid-day cocktails said, "Let the vacation begin!"). Back to the low-tide to catch some Whitings, not enough for supper, though.
-Packed it up and moved it out-Orlando, here we come.
-Friday: According to Dan & Tara-relaxing with some work inbetween; Mal: some fun, but became boring when nobody would play in the pool with her (i.e.-homesick for friends); Christian: lots of fun between the pool, the hot tub, and our room.
-We are staying at a Hilton Grand Vacations Club. Last time we stayed at the other one, closer to Sea World. This one is a bit smaller, but has many more ammenities and is much newer. It is nice, because we save $$ by eating here and just hanging out.
-Yestarday, it was mostly sunny with a bit of a breeze. It was one of those days that if there's not any breeze, it is warm, but if the wind blows, you feel chilly! Probably in the high 60's. Eat your heart out, Wisconsin!!!
-We'll be heading out tomorrow to head back over by Pulford for a day or two. He has a big test to take on Monday, so we'll see how that goes.

Check out Mal's own blog at: www.thelifeofmalgal.blogspot.com