Last post was just before our trip to Des Moines -- which almost wasn't. Mike was on ambulance call and was up all night Friday night. He did however drive me down to Des Moines to get my much needed haircut. Once we got to Planet Hair, his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and it said "United Kingdom" and he laughed, thinking that it was some sort of telemarketer or something but I said, "Dee! I bet it's Dee!" He quickly answered and, lo and behold, it was. So he went out to the car to visit with her on the phone and then get some much needed shut-eye (in between other phone calls from other family members). In the meantime, Bobby was busy transforming me -- getting rid of some unwanted hair color and adding a splash of some others to brighten the look up. Then she subtracted a ton of hair and I look and feel so much better! We also had a chance to catch up on everything going on in our lives -- I just love our visits! We talked about vacations both past and future, my parents, friends from back home -- about everything except the price of tea in China!

After my hair was finished, I went out to the car to wake Mike up and let me in the car. Next we had to figure out where to eat lunch. Now, Mike, Gabby and I are all on Plan Z. Gabby and I started so that our 50 days of reduction would be done as of Easter Sunday. Everyone is doing very well. After the first two days of ridding my system of diet soda and sugar, I seem to be doing all right. I have to say I don't feel hungry. The recipes they have online really help fight off the boredom. We actually have a couple of soup recipes that are real keepers. Of course, Mike is dropping the weight faster than Gabby and I (men!). I have noticed that he sleeps quieter now which is a good thing. Anyway, Mike and I decided to go to an Outback Steakhouse where we had sirloin steak with grilled asparagus. I brought fruit with us so we shared that afterwards in the car on the way home. Hopefully by the time the 50 days are up I will be ready for my Summer clothes!

It seems my mom has passed the cleaning closets fever to me so I cleaned my closet and got rid of a lot of clothes that I just don't care for any longer. I always get such a good feeling when I clean -- wish that feeling was shared by others in my house!

Brenda and I keep trying new things and adapting to the new keyboard in church. It will be a period of trial and error and hopefully we can figure out how to get the sound we want out of it before Easter.

Gabby had some excitement this week -- Mike traded in his Dodge Ram for a new Prius. She will now sell her car and start payments on the Prius. I'm not big into this Prius business -- I just think it's kind of a weiney excuse of a car but Mike didn't ask me when he made the decision. I just came home to the news one night when I got home from work.

Speaking of work...the hospital just took over the Community Health department so we found out last week that we will be billing for this now. The prior 2 months had been under the understanding that they would continue to bill for their own services just as they had in the past. Now we have to figure out how to make this all work with our system and the billers have to learn new home health terminology. We'll get it figured out but it just causes us to go home with our eyes all googly! Change is good, right?

Once again, we received news of someone we know who lost their life all too soon. Missy (Upenieks) Baker was found dead in her apartment in Carroll on Sunday. They think she may have died as early as Wednesday. It makes me so sad that no one would check on her for four days? I'm pretty sure they did an autopsy but I feel so bad for her parents and kids.

Well, time to go do a little light housekeeping before the night comes to an end. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead this weekend! Wouldn't want you to be late for church!