A whole bunch of randomness

Is “randomness” a word? Anyway…I have to start off by saying that this week is the last FULL week of classes for Joe! HALLELUJAH!!! The next two weeks are partial weeks, then comes finals…then he’s done…FOREVER (I’ve threatened him within an inch of his life…he’s not allowed to take any more classes ever again). Both Joe and I are excited, but I think Ella will be the one who is most excited to have her daddy around more often.

I wish that everyone could see her at night when Joe comes home. He gets home around 10 pm (yes, we keep Ella up past 10pm…if we didn’t she’d never get to see her dad). She knows that when the phone rings that late at night that it’s daddy. So the phone starts ringing and Ella yells, “It’s daddy!!!” I talk to Joe on the phone for a little while, then Ella talks to him on the phone. When she’s done she hands the phone back to me and says, “All done.” The next several minutes are spent standing at the window. Eventually she gets bored and we go play, but as soon as she hears the click of the minivan alarm her eyes get huge and she yells again, “It’s daddy!” Then she stands up and waits for daddy to come inside. As soon as he comes in he picks her up and she starts doing this little leg kick butt shimmy thing that she only does when she’s excited. Now it’s off to the races. The next 30 minutes to an hour are spent with Ella and daddy playing puzzles, looking at their shadows, sneaking up on mommy, playing eagle (like airplane, but it’s called eagle after her toy eagle that the Eagles of MD gave her), jumping on mommy and daddy’s bed, sliding down the back of the couch, etc. They are constantly in motion until big, bad mommy comes in and puts and end to all the fun and uses that terrible word…bedtime. After some tears and mellow TV, Ella eventually calms down and goes to sleep. She and her daddy are the best of friends. She’ll be so glad to have more playtime with daddy…and I’ll be glad to get her in bed at a reasonable time.

Thanks for all your prayers for Ella’s eye appointment…and please keep praying. Her appointment is Wednesday November 25th at 8:45 am (EST)…that’s 6:45 am for all my Wyoming peeps. Joe and I have taken several steps to hopefully make this next visit go much smoother. Both doggie and Elmo have been to the eye doctor numerous times. And when we return from the eye doctor I tell them how wonderful they did and what a good doggie/monster they were and that because they were so good they get a piece of chocolate. Ella and I have also started playing eye doctor. First I examine her eyes, then she examines mine. To top it off I went to Target and spent $10 in the dollar section on items to use as bribery. This weekend we have plans to drive to the doctors office and walk around, then when we leave Ella will get a special treat. While all of this may help the situation, the only thing that will really work is prayer…it’s going to take an act of God to keep her calm and cooperative during the exam.

It has been brought to our attention that the Federal Government is in the process of starting their Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). This is when federal employees are able to designate a certain dollar amount to be taken out of their paychecks for a year and given to a designated charity. They can also do a one-time donation if they want. Each charity is given a specific code and this code is used by the employee on the CFC form to designate what group they want their money to go to. For all you Federal Employees who donate each year, we would love for you to consider donating to Debra. They are listed in the catalog under their full name, Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association of America, and their code for this year is "11990". As you know, we really appreciate all that you each do for EB and for Ella.

I guess that’s it for my random post. I hope you all have your Christmas shopping well underway and are excited for Thanksgiving.