May 1, 2009

Hello! We're in Michigan but not in Saginaw yet--we should be there tomorrow night after stopping at Albion to pick up some of the girls' stuff. We drove to St. Joseph and are staying in a Hampton Inn for the night. I had actually hoped to see some of the Red Wings game--but the Hampton doesn't have Versus on the TV. Darn!!!! (notice how I'm cleaning up my act a little--gotta watch out now that God's really got His eye on us). Ah well, Sean Hannity will have to do, and they obviously have internet capability so I can write this. The Zirkles and Doreys are coming down to Albion to help with the move of the girls who will be finished school this week. Since I was coming from Minnesota, they offered to bring down a trailer and their strong muscles to help. Funny how times have changed--only 30 (actually 38) years ago I could fit all of my belongings from college in a VW Beetle--and now kids need trailers! Michelle's boyfriend Greg graduates from Albion next Saturday, and we plan on going to the graduation. Heather will be finished with her freshman year (sorry, I'm having a hard time believing that) and then leaves on a school-sponsored trip to Poland to check out some Holocaust sites--and do some work on them too. Michelle will be finishing her junior year and will be taking classes at Michigan State this summer--so she can graduate in 4 years with a teaching certificate (yea! No more tuition payments for her).

Anne tolerated the drive quite well--no nausea fortunately. She actually napped for only a short time. She actually sleeps most of the time when we travel, so she was really doing well today. She doesn't have much of an appetite, so I'm thinking we need to get some Boost or Ensure and the VitaMix thingie that Carol Van Kirk has mentioned to me.

We had a neat experience before we left Rochester this morning. Actually, last night I got an email from Helen Laack, a fellow Centurion, who asked if I would be willing to meet with a representative from the Mayo Clinic. Lee Aase is in public relations for Mayo and asked if Anne and I would do a little blurb for them. He met us in our hotel room before we checked out and interviewed us (actually just let us ramble on) on a videocamera. He will then upload the video to their blog site. I will also write something for the blog soon which will go over a lot of what I've written here and a bit about how we liked Mayo Clinic (we did). I'll put the link to that site on this blog when I have sent in my blog for them. They will also link from their site to this one so we might get even more visitors. Very cool. By the way, I checked out job opportunities while I was there, and unfortunately, they don't need me, so I guess I'll have to stay in Saginaw (darn, again--there were some very nice restaurants there).

Well, we continue to get contacted by new people daily and by a lot of our "regulars" as well. I love it, so don't be shy. I can't wait to see each and every one of you sometine in the near future. I hope you don't mind, but you will get a huge Christian hug from me. I want you all to know that we continue to be comforted and blessed by all of you, and continue to pray for all of you as well. While driving I had my iPod going with some good Jeremy Camp and Casting Crowns music. Their stuff is so uplifting, but some songs can bring a tear even to tough lil-ole-me.

God Bless,
Tony