On a Lighter Note

While we wait for the next addition of Kevin's story, I'll write something with a bit less emotion attached.

Happy February! It's 4 degrees F this morning - we got a dusting of the white stuff again yesterday, with more supposed to come. There was a rather humorous story on the front page of one of the Denver papers this morning - a neighborhood was tired of waiting for the city to arrive and clean their streets, so their Homeowner's Association agreed to pay to hire someone private to come and do it for them. As the big rig arrived, the city rig was right behind it, telling them they couldn't do it - it was against city ordinance - oh, the irony! I guess the mayor jumped in (hoping to be re-elected next time) and said they're going to ditch that ordinance for the time being and let people clear their streets on their own nickel. They are discouraging jackhammers, though, because of the damage they may do under the ice! I wonder if the ground hog will see his shadow tomorrow!

A blizzard of another sort is on my desk - yesterday was the deadline for the applicants for our master's degree program in social work. Oh, my, the drama that causes. I get calls from people who just learned about us and make a plea for an exception to the deadline. Sorry! I already have WAY too many applicants for our spots, so it wouldn't be fair to them to let you apply late. So sad. There is much panic as some of the universities didn't cooperate very well in getting the transcripts to us on time, or the people they asked to do reference letters for them didn't understand the gravity of the situation and the deadline - frustrating for the applicant, and for me.

Yesterday was Anakin's 9th birthday. I love the fact that Care Bear was as excited about his birthday as he was, if not more! She took Romans 12:15 (New International Version) very literally: "Rejoice with those who rejoice." She told her pre-school teacher it was her brother's birthday was the next day the minute she got to school Tuesday. She made him a card at school. She wanted to get him something when we stopped at Wal-Mart yesterday. We picked up a good snack for him. She wanted to take it home and wrap it, but we were on our way to pick him up from school, so I hid it. She fell asleep as we waited for him to come to the car. Feisty spilled the beans that we had a surprise. Anakin couldn't wait, so he gently woke up his sister to find out what it was. She decided she couldn't wait either, so she presented him with a package of 8 little Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. His favorite! How did I guess that? She was so happy. Of course, the promise of Chuck E Cheese for the evening's entertainment and some pizza was a high point of the day. We didn't get to go this time, so we'll have a celebration at our house this week-end. He'll probably end up with 4 parties before it's all over.

I'd better hush for now and get some bills sent off before I hit that mess on my desk. Have a wonderful Thursday!