Saturday, September 25, 2021

LOL

For the past six weeks or so, I've been quite vocal about the fact that every time I've gone in to teach CPR at the Y, I have not had the equipment I needed - not enough manikins, no gloves, no face masks, AEDs not working.  I was guaranteed today would be different!

Sure enough, those in charge came through as promised!  I set up my space with manikins, gloves, face masks and AEDs.  Then I went to grab the tests.

They were gone.  A great BIG bin with all of our Red Cross tests. Lifeguarding.  CPR.  You-name-it.  Gone.  No one knew where they were.  I even called Courtney while she was coaching her daughter's soccer team.  Nothing.  Nada.

Rachel said she could get onto a Y computer and pull up the Red Cross website where we could find the tests and print them.  Except she didn't remember her Red Cross password.

But I remembered mine!  We got in.  We printed the tests.  We printed the answer sheets.  We printed the answer keys.  We printed some things we didn't even need.  I taught a great class and we just laughed afterward!  

Thursday, September 23, 2021

Thankful Thursday!

Today I am thankful for laughter.  In fact, I'm still laughing!

I had just gotten home from work this afternoon, when the door dash guy arrived with an ordered from Cane's.  I told him I was sure it was Matt's and thanked him for delivering. 

I yelled down to Matt and he came running up, saying, "Finally."  I asked him to explain himself.

This was his second order from Cane's today.  This one included FOOD.  For some reason, he had goofed up on his first order and only got "Cane sauce".  Yup, just the dipping sauce.  

I asked him what that set him back and he said it was a $16.00 fee because it was a "minimal order".

Sorry.  After my week, I just had to laugh.  I was thankful it wasn't me!   

Opps!

I was in the process of stretching out yesterday morning when I got a text "8:00 a.m. lab".  It was 8:01 a.m.  Thinking a few choice words regarding my forgetfulness, I ran to the car and drove like a wild woman (Cruella DeVille could have taken lessons from me!) over to the clinic.  I ran into the office at 8:04 a.m., apologizing for being late.

I should have read the text a bit closer.  It was for my lab appointment THIS MORNING!!!  Fortunately, they were able to work me in anyway.  Breathe . . . 

While at the dentist's . . .

Over the years, having had two children in braces, I have been able to spend much quality at the dental office as our dentist and orthodontist share the same office space. They also share my favorite dental tech, Julie Simon.  I was hoping for Julie when I went in on Tuesday.  Sure enough, when the door opened, I heard a very loud, "Margo!" to which I responded with an equally loud, "Julie!".  We hugged and danced around the waiting room, then bubbling with laughter, went back to "my" chair.  We were SO loud, I asked Julie if we were going to get in trouble.  She said "no" and we just laughed some more!

She had just started showing me her family pictures when Dr. Karl walked in.  He just smiled and shook his head, let us finish a snippet of conversation and then said, "I do have other patients."  

I couldn't resist.  My appointment was quick (old age!), so I asked Karl and Julie how long I was scheduled for and if we could keep talking.  Karl just smiled and said, "Julie's been her longer than I have.  Have fun!"  Which we did!

Emergency Dental Appointment!

Tuesday afternoon I had an "emergency" dental appointment because, as I told the dentist, earlier this month the tooth fairy had come in the middle of the night and used a Sharpie to draw a thin black line between my tooth and gum .

While Dr. Karl liked my story, he said the black line was not a problem. It was the result of OLD AGE!

Friday, September 17, 2021

Tired of Testing?

I sure am!  This week we were testing at school.  I did FastBridge testing for second, fourth and fifth graders along with MAP testing for fourth and fifth graders.  It really wasn't a bad gig.  I was able to read a very interesting book ("Rock Priest" by David Pierce), but as I said to one of the teachers, I'm getting a bit tired of reading!   

No Flush Zone!

It turns out that Sam's elementary school, William Byrne, got the brunt of last night's storm.  They had several trees down at the school, along with intermittent electricity throughout the building.  The girl's bathroom had lights in Sam's wing, but the boy's bathroom right next door did not.  Some plug ins in his room worked, some did night.  He had lights.  The hallways did not.  But the best had to be the bathrooms.  They weren't flushing.  He said they had a total of two bathrooms (not including the kinder rooms) that flushed for the entire school to use!   

Thankful Thursday!

This will be one of the strangest posts ever because I'm going to tell you that yesterday we were most thankful for flies.  For some strange reason, our house was inundated with flies.  Once everyone got home, we began killing flies.  Twenty-five of those little beasts.  The most important ones were in the laundry room.  While Sam and Micah were killing them in there, they saw water running down the wall . . . from underneath the dishwasher.  That would be the dishwasher that had not worked since May and was just repaired eight days prior.

As near as Sam can figure out, they put the wrong heating element in and it literally melted the bottom of our dishwasher allowing water to seep into our floors, our cupboards and down into the laundry room . . . where he and Micah were killing flies.  Had we all gone to bed, it could have (and would have!) been a much greater disaster.  So we're thankful for flies . . . Don't know where they came from.  Don't know how they got into the house.  Glad they're all dead now.

And so once again, the dishwasher saga resumes.  This time a repairman is scheduled to come out on October 4 to verify that our dishwasher has melted and our floor is ruined.  Once that happens, they should order a new dishwasher.  With Covid and our bad luck, we're hoping that maybe, just maybe, we might have a dishwasher by Christmas.

Tonight at dinner, we determined a dishwasher was a first world problem and we could all take turns washing dishes.  We're also going to buy some paper plates😁 

OHE Tutor Team

These are the wonderful women I work with on our tutor team at Oak Hills:

Mo (our supervisor), me, Randi, Stacy, Karen, Jen and Angela

 

Saturday, September 11, 2021

Neighbors in the Hood


After just finishing an eight-week book study, "Jesus in the Secular World" by Ben Pierce, neighbors have been popping up everywhere in the last twenty-four hours, all with a "Jesus-theme".

  • One neighbor, who says he grew up Catholic and has things right "spiritually", asked us some God questions last night when we passed each other on our nightly walks.
  • Another neighbor, who also grew up Catholic, talked about enjoying Saturday mass while growing up as I whined about no longer having Saturday evening services.
  • A third neighbor, who wants nothing to do with religion, is driving her ninth grade daughter to Faith Club at North.  Years of prayer being answered!
  • Across the street, yet another neighbor spent some time chatting with us as we perused the Halloween graveyard set up in his front yard.  And today, his wife, who wants nothing to do with Jesus, waved at me as she left in the car.
Step-by-step, may we be faithful to Him who called us to those around us!

Have a Coke & a smile!

There is nothing better than sending a text first thing in the morning to your friend who had brain surgery eleven days earlier, "Coke run this afternoon?" and getting a "Sure.  Plan for it." back!

As we sat at McDonald's yesterday afternoon doing $1.00 Cokes, it was such a sweet time.  Fifteen days earlier, we  had been talking about recovery and therapy, both speech and physical.  We weren't sure if she was going to stroke out during surgery.  We had no idea if she was going to live.  But we prayed for a miracle.  And God gave us one.  He doesn't always do that, but for this one, I am so thankful!

So we laughed and shared and I got some "legal" advice as I drank my Coke and Jana drank her Diet Coke, with smiles on our faces at McDonald's.  

Friday, September 10, 2021

Thankful Thursday!

As I told Mrs. Lockie yesterday in the lunchroom, I am so thankful for the girls in her class last year who encouraged, challenged and helped me to learn all of their class names.  This year, as third graders, I get to spend lunch and recess with them AND call them by name - or at least a fourth of them! 

Food for Life

Mercy Ships has long been committed to strengthening health systems and providing direct medical services through surgical intervention onboard our hospital ships. But did you know, Mercy Ships is also dedicated to whole-person care?

Since 1997, Mercy Ships has provided education to help participants rebuild, restore, and renew their land and communities through organic agriculture development. Today, we call this life-changing training program Food for Life.

How Food for Life Transforms Communities

The program provides in-depth agricultural training, with special focuses on nutrition and business entrepreneurship. As course participants discover which crops to plant and best tending practices, they also learn how to produce, process, market, and sell their crops.

The result? A sustainable approach to agriculture that has the potential to transform individuals as well as communities. Since 2007, Mercy Ships has led Food for Life courses in 9 African countries, training more than 800 participants.

The impact of the course doesn’t end with its participants. By the end of the program, participants have also learned how to train others with their fresh skills and business acumen. Food for Life graduates are given the resources and tools to go back into their communities and create a ripple effect of transformation as they share their knowledge with other aspiring farmers. This “train-the-trainer” approach is key to our sustainable health systems strengthening model.

In 2021, we will provide another Food for Life training program in Senegal as well as Benin, where we are also partnering with Phaz Compassion to renovate a regional Food for Life campus.

Meet Birima, a Food for Life Student in Senegal

For program participants like Birima, a Food for Life student in Senegal, the opportunity to learn about organic agriculture has been transformational on every level.

The program was Birima’s solution to years of searching. He had looked far and wide for a successful job, even traveling from his home country of Senegal to Morocco. When he heard of an opportunity to participate in the Food for Life training program in late 2019, he decided to join. Throughout the 22-week course, Birima — along with a group of more than 30 fellow students — developed a foundation in the world of agriculture, including agroecology, nutrition, and food processing.

“Having this knowledge allows me to be independent and take care of my own food supply,” says Birima. The course has empowered him to begin his own food production business. He started his venture with the equivalent of $40 — and it has already blossomed into a successful, sustainable business. Currently, Birima’s business produces moringa, a leaf-based powder that’s rich in heart-healthy antioxidants. He is also working on setting up a unit to process other local products, like fresh bissap and baobab juices.

The COVID-19 crisis hasn’t stopped Birima from dreaming big. His plan is to eventually produce infant feeding flour, a product that will help with babies’ strength and early development. Malnutrition is a factor in many of the pediatric cases we treat onboard our ships, often contributing to weakened bones and orthopaedic conditions. By implementing effective agricultural training programs in the nations we serve, Mercy Ships aims to tackle this issue from its root. It is our hope that by collaborating with farmers, food producers, and agroecological workers, we can see better nutrition and healthier food systems in rural areas. Birima’s dream will become part of carrying out this vision for his community in Senegal.

Birima’s greatest lesson wasn’t anything that could be taught in the classroom. It was learning how to train other community members that transformed him with a new confidence. “Because of the training, everywhere I go, everyone listens to me. People ask about and are very interested in agroecology.”

“I was challenged by circumstances,” says Birima, “but through this opportunity to learn how to grow and process food, I have now built a vision for my life.”

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

The First Day of School

It was a lovely first day of school in my life!  I only had to work lunch and recess duty, but that was long enough to figure out I had forgotten most of the students names!  Never fear!  They were quite willing to remind "Mrs. Zupke" of who they were after Mrs. Zupke refused to play any guessing games! 

Maybe, just maybe . . .

For the first time since mid-May, when we run our dishwasher tonight, it WILL work!  The repairman actually showed up today AS scheduled.  The parts were ALL actually here.  He put it all together . . . we can only hope!

Dishwashers are, without a doubt, a first world problem.  And we are definitely looking forward to being first worlders tonight!

The Saga

Mid-May - Dishwasher Breaks

End-of-May - Problem Misdiagnosed

Beginning-of-June - Problem Correctly Diagnosed

Mid-July - Correct Part Arrives

First-of-August - Repairman does not show because part is not here

(BUT IT IS HERE!)

Mid-August - Repairman is sick

September 8 - I hope we have a winner!!!

 

 

Monday, September 6, 2021

At 6:40 a.m.

 It was a balmy 53ºF this morning when I stepped into the invigorating 75ºF Como Regional Park Outdoor Pool.  Steam was rising giving an aura of mystery as I swam my laps . . . 

Wait!  It was freakin' cold, so cold that it took a hot shower, hot chocolate and a hot breakfast to bring my core body temp back up!

But I had promised Matt that I would swim at least once this summer at Como, where he was the Assistant Manager.  Since today was the last day of the season, and, due to differences in our schedules, the ONLY one we could make work, there I was.  Chillin' out this morning!

Along with a bunch of other maniacs!  Once I got feeling back into my fingers and nose, I have to admit, it was kind of fun to swim while the sun was rising and steam was coming off of the pool. 

After my ice cold shower (the showers heat up as the day progresses), Matt took me on a tour of the facility which was really quite nice.  I met some of the staff who were also very nice.  It was good and I'm glad I went.    

Saturday, September 4, 2021

"It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a . . . "

 HORNET NEST OF EPIC PROPORTION!

Just what our neighbors wanted to find when they came home from vacation!

M*A*S*H

This is the M*A*S*H pole in our backyard
with flags depicting every country we've traveled to with Mercy Ships
This is Sam adding our newest addition to the M*A*S*H pole . . .

Where would M*A*S*H be without Major Margaret "Hotlips" Houlihan?  
This is our "Hotlips" Turtlehead, also known as Chelone Lyonil.


Thursday, September 2, 2021

Fair-Trade

The fact that last weekend Sam repaired the deck, put in a new kitchen faucet, changed six sets of lights in the house and mowed the lawn allowed me to make locker tags, door tags, name posters, and a "what's app" assignment for his classroom this week! 

Thankful Thursday!

Woo hoo! Our furnace died twice last winter and the repair technicians were able to bring it back to life each time.  But with every revival came a word of caution:  "Your furnace is thirty-six years old.  You might want to look at getting a new one."  

I am ever so thankful to say that our new furnace was installed today!  The electrician will come tomorrow to do whatever it is he does.  The city inspector will be here next Wednesday.  And the snow can fly on Thursday . . . hope not!