Spring has sprung....sort of

Every year my birthday comes on the first day of spring (today!), but sadly, in MN, that doesn't necessarily mean anything.  Jackson and I have enjoyed a lovely walk every day this week regardless of the weather.  

So far the day is off to a great start.  I have been trying (with relative success) to fast from coffee for lent.  But today I decided to ring in the celebrations with a steaming cup of jo.  It was delicious!  I got to sit and watch the food network and enjoy my coffee while Tim fed Jackson.  What a great husband!  Then Tim headed off to work and Mom, Jackson and I headed to Big Bowl for lunch, yum.  After work, I will pick Tim up, we'll drop Jackson with some friends and out on the town we will go, hooray!  But for now, here are some more pictures of my current employer.  What a cutie.

Sporting the hawk

If you know me, you know I love little things:  A little man in a little chair, ha!

He loves to drink the last drop of my coffee 

As you may know, we have been doing a lot of house-sitting lately and he has really loved all the "new" kitchen cupboards to play in.  And always with spoon in hand :)

Back to Costco

It is time for an employment update.  Costco called and invited me back to work, so that is good.  I have been back two days so far and I am getting back into my groove.  They are giving me 24 hours per week and I am grateful for the income.  Aside from that, there is little to report.  I have had several interviews in the last month or so but nothing has come of them.  One interview was for a position at MN Teen Challenge and I was excited about it, but it was offered to someone else.  There is not much to do except keep pressing on.  Today as I was praying, I felt a hope return to my heart that I have not felt in a while.  I was reminded of Jeremiah 29:11, where the Lord reminds Israel that He has a hope and a future for them.  Yes, I receive that.  Heidi did restart her Mary Kay business and that has brought in a some cash, so that's good.  I will keep the blog updated when anything exciting happens.

A whirlwind weekend.

A week ago my sister, Sally, and I boarded the Megabus for an overnight trip to Chicago.  Having never taken a trip on the Megabus, we were unsure what to expect.  The bus was running late so we waited for an hour outside in 21 degrees with a lot of other impatient and cold people.  We were finally able to score two seats together and settled in for the trip.  Many of the people around us were on their cell phones and most talked much louder than necessary.  A few people’s conversations would have made Ice Cube blush with the foul language.  I have never heard the F word or N word as much as on that bus ride.  Fortunately I was able to sleep most of the way but poor Sally was not.  Upon our arrival in Chicago, we found a taxi and located the South Shore Line for our train ride to Valparaiso, IN.  With Starbucks Pike Place roast in hand, we rode the train and met up with our sister, Amy, and niece, Christi in Valparaiso and they drove us to Warsaw, IN.  We had enough time to get cleaned up and meet up with the rest of the family for dinner before Christi’s show, the reason we trekked to Northern IN.

Christi has an immense talent for comedy.  She gets it from the Chase side of the family, we know that for certain.  Last spring she spent a semester at Second City doing Comedy Studies, so she is the real deal with comedy.  The show we had travelled to see was a sketch show and she was the writer, director, stage manager, and costumer.  It was put on with students from Grace College, where Christi is finishing her senior year and will graduate with one of those degrees where you don’t make any money.  (I’ve got one of those, too.)  Sketch shows are just a bunch of mostly unrelated skits meant to make you laugh.  Imagine Saturday Night Live if it was still funny.  I cannot say enough good things about her show.  It was so funny that my stomach hurt afterward.  I am so proud of her and excited to see where this takes her in the future.  She could write for Jay Leno and then he would actually be funny.

On Sunday we returned to Chicago with Amy and Christi to catch the bus home.  I learned that I did not know Chicago as well as I thought and we had some trouble finding the place to board the Megabus.  We finally decided to park and use the free wireless at Panera to find the right location but then quickly realized that we were only a block away but had not been able to see the place because of road construction.  After pizza at Giodano’s (spell?), which was awesome, we found our bus stop.  Since we put our trip together at the last minute, our tickets did not line up for the same bus.  Fortunately Sally sweet talked the driver and he let me board with the wrong ticket.  Our fellow riders were a much different crowd from the last ride and I don’t remember hearing any foul language on this trip.  I am so glad I got to see family and Christi’s show.  It was a great weekend but I’m still tired.

Here is a picture of my talented niece.