So I’ll admit, I’ve been having some problems with balance lately.
Luckily for me my work schedule is based on an academic calendar so I get some time here in Dec-Jan to reset the scales again and get things back closer to unity. Look forward to some posts then (including a 2011 wrap-up) In the meantime watch this video of one of Meg’s Calm Jars.
It was 90 degrees today in Minneapolis. I was so incredulous that I still wore tights with my dress today! Sure enough summer warmth is finally on its way. The season is also special because Kevin and I met in June two years ago. (Even with a new anniversary I still love that one.) So- here are some summer plans:
I hope somewhere in there we’ll slip in some long walks, a drive to the north shore, a swim in Lake Michigan, and a geocache or two. Life is good.
Meg and I (Taken by Shea)
Meg and I have been trying to catch up on life and work for the past few days after arriving back home from Indiana. It’s been a seemingly slow week. Things will be okay for a while and then something will remind us of the sadness of last week and it’s repercussions. At times like those it’s nice to have some distraction. Last night we hosted some good friends Joseph and Shea for dinner at our home in Maple Grove.
Joseph and Shea
Meg prepared a wonderful sweet potato soup and we made paninis. We swapped proposal stories and talked about fun times and spent a lot of time smiling and laughing. Thanks for coming up to visit you two.
Other Updates: -
Slide Curtain (paused due to multiple project syndrome)
Scanning Photos for upcoming memorial service (We just received the chemicals we need to properly clean the photos before scanning, scanning should start [and hopefully end] on Sunday)
Wedding Thank You Notes (Due to perfectionism [me] and diligence [meg] we are further behind in this project than we should be. We have all of the printed thank you notes in the box they arrived in sitting in our living room. After we return from Indiana later this month, we will earnestly attack that project and you will all receive your well deserved hand written thank you notes, {we couldn’t believe and were honored by the enormous generosity of all our family and friends} hopefully not too late for everyone’s sensibilities.
Wedding and Honeymoon Photos {and posts} Online (after all of above, I get this taken care of.)
Lastly, an additional Thank You, for everyone who has sent us cards or flowers or notes or emails of sympathy. I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to Meg (and her mom) and I to get these tokens of love and support. Thank you.
Hendrik Arnt Gerritsen was born in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands on February 11, 1945. Arnt immigrated with his family to the United States in the early 1950’s and grew up in Munster, Indiana where he attended Hammond High School. Arnt graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Germanic Languages at Indiana University Bloomington. There he was a Big Ten Championship sailor and met his wife, Mary Cornea Gerritsen. Together with their daughter Margaret they sailed the Great Lakes on their boat the Windekind. He also loved travelling in Europe with his family. Trains were Arnt’s passion and hobby. He enjoyed a career as a model train designer for Overland Models measuring every bolt and detail on actual trains to create scale drawings for museum quality models. Arnt was a cancer survivor for more than thirty years and although he endured numerous surgeries and disability, he loved life. Preceded in death by his parents Hendrik and Cornelia. Survived by his wife Mary, daughter Margaret (Kevin) Knodl, sister Anneke and her family and sister-in-law Noreve and her family. Arnt was a voracious reader thanks to the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and his family asks that memorial donations be made to the service (http://www.loc.gov/philanthropy/giving/step1.php#blind_handicapped). Library of Congress Development Office, Attn: National Library Service for the Blind, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washing 20540-1400 Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, April 17, 2011 at 2 pm at the Shorewood Forest Clubhouse, 410 Shorewood Court, Valparaiso, IN 46385.
I had hoped to post soon since I’ve been deficient in posting lately. Unfortunately I had hoped to post with more pleasant information than I now have.
On Monday, Meg’s dad Arnt went into the hospital for a bowel obstruction (similar to the problems that kept him from attending the wedding.) They performed surgery to correct the obstruction that day. Sadly, the surgery wasn’t successful. He spent the rest of the week in the hospital without any progress.
Yesterday he was moved to the VNA (Visiting Nurse Association) Hospice in Valparaiso, IN. Meg flew into Chicago in the evening and I drove down overnight. Today we’ve been spending time with Mary and Arnt at the hospice. Meg and Mary have been making phone calls and visiting with friends here at the hospice. (thanks for visiting, Tom / Diane / Monica / Iris / Bitsy / Barb / Don & Kathy / Sally / Linda / Bob & Lonnie.)
Please send your thoughts and prayers our way. Thanks for all your support, we’ll try and keep everyone updated.
Welcome to our new visitors, (I’m assuming, of course that some of you haven’t visited before and now that you got that golden envelope in your mailbox, you thought you might see what that whole internet thing was about) and to our regulars as well. I’m so far behind on posting I don’t even know where to start. I guess I’ll just cover the high points and hopefully this weekend get back to some longer posts
Before I continue let me backtrack… I was supposed to write a post last weekend after our big Thanksgiving “week-end” but I managed to get sick and completely forget about it. Below are the high points. It’s weird it seems like it was almost a month ago now, but it was just a little over a week ago.
Back to the present now (which I should finish since I need to get back to the cleaning, but I’m procrastinating.)
Reading all that post above makes me wonder why I’m not tired all the time. I think it’s effective time management. I don’t always mention the little things that happen so often between Meg and I that make me smile and make the time go by with 100% less worry or complaints. We sneaked out on a week night to see the current Harry Potter movie, we laughed through podcasts in the car together, we exchanged simple gifts for Sinterklaas, and we try to do little things for each other whenever we can like cleaning the house before she gets home from volunteering at the prison (oops, I gotta go.)
Life seems to have it’s own way with us at times. Things can be going just fine, you make plans, you look forward to them and then the rug gets pulled out from under you. For instance this week, Meg and I cleared one our biggest hurdles* for the wedding. Things have been going very well. We planned to sit and address invitations together today.
However, life decided that we shouldn’t do that, for when I went to bed last night (after an incredible dinner Meg cooked for us.) I didn’t feel quite right. A couple of hours later, I was extremely nauseous and clammy. I won’t go into details, but neither Meg or I got much sleep and I spent most of today on the day bed (as Meg worked diligently.) About the time I was starting to perk up, Meg started feeling a little under the weather. After the work she did today without me, I tried to pick up a little where she left off. I don’t think I managed as much as she did. We did manage to get out and pick up some dinner, but now neither of us feels like doing much of anything but relaxing in front of the TV and enjoying each others company, in what little time is left in the weekend.
So it’s another hurdle to overcome, but like the previous ones we’ve overcome (by wits, by faith, or sometimes by force) we will prevail together. I’m especially mindful of this fact as we approach the holiday season, with all it’s potential drama and pitfalls. We will hold tight and jump each hurdle together.
*ask me if you need more info.
Meg, I have no doubt it will be vast and amazing.
Love Kevin
It's getting better since you've been mine - The BeatlesEvery day in every way, It’s getting better and better, – John Lennon
Today is Kevin’s birthday! One week until October. Time seems to be moving faster as we approach the wedding. We’ve met with the Events staff at CSBSJU. Today Kevin sampled some of the possible catering offerings. Earlier in the week, Jenny (our Matron of Honor), her mom Gail, and I drove to St. Joseph to look at the space and work on a plan for decorations. And (hurray!) it all seems to be coming together.
Kevin and I have been swamped with work, freelancing (both of us), a sprained ankle (me), and now horrendous colds (again both of us). All this has worn on us. I was feeling anxious about it all, and Kevin asked, “Are you worried about getting married?” My answer, no way! I just can’t wait to live under the same roof. Life has a tendency to get hectic. So my wish for our coming weeks is that we stay present, remain calm, and remember it is always getting better.
Happy Birthday, Kev!!