What does one do when...

one lives in an antique house that doesn't have central air...and...

• it is almost 90 degrees outside (at 10 pm)
• there is absolutely no breeze whatsoever
• one has every window in the house open but...(refer to above bullet point)
• all the fans in the home are running...as fast as they can
• one is wearing as little clothing as one feels is still safely within ones "limits"
• one has every light in the house turned off so as to not create more heat
• one is sitting in a chair doing nothing but typing to avoid expending energy...so one avoids creating heat

and...even with all the above precautions...one is still sweating like one lives in the desert???

I'll tell you what one does...

one opens the freezer door...closes ones eyes...and thinks of this...

Happy summer to ya!!

"it" happened...

"it" being my first major screw up...(and a few minor screw ups thrown in for good measure!)

I'm still very new at my job. And while I feel like I am picking up on things...and things that hurt my brain a few short days ago are now old news...the last couple days I have made some rather large mistakes...and some not so large mistakes...and all of the above needed to be brought to my attention.

No one yelled at me...they simply brought the mistakes to my attention...and kindly showed me how to do them correctly the next time. I know that everyone has been the "new-kid-on-the-block" at one time or another...and I know that all is well...but screwing up just sucks sometimes!
I have had a headache since noon...I ended my day with one more little snafu...I could really use a mommy drink...and I get to get up in the morning and do it all over again.

The silver lining to this situation...I will not make the same mistakes tomorrow...nope...not me, I'm sure I'll encounter a whole new batch of "learning experiences" tomorrow.

I'm gonna find my self a drink...then my pillow...have a great Friday!!

it was time for a "face lift"...

I decided that this blog needed a bit of a change.

While the Narrow Road (Matthew 7:13) was an excellent title...and it will still remain one of my favorite bible verses...and it will remain the address of this blog...it didn't really accurately portray the purpose of this blog.

I use this blog as a way to remember all the fun things that happen in our family...and sometimes the not so fun things. It functions as a journal of sorts.

So...after much thought I decided to rename this blog

"Don't Blink"

Because as the time goes by...faster and faster it seems...I find myself feeling like I blink and another year is gone! I realize that if I don't write it down...it just might be forgotten. And I don't want to forget any of it...the good, the bad, or the ugly!

I'm sure you've also noticed that I changed the look of this blog...mainly because the brown...while very nice...was a little drab for summertime. I had been wanting something a little more bright and vibrant.

So...welcome to the new and improved Van K family blog...I hope you enjoy!

my first week...

well...I am almost through my very first week in my new career!! It is so very nice to be able to say that. I have been working toward this for a long time...and to finally be in a position of "gainful employment"...well...it is an amazing feeling indeed! (and the fact that I am employed with Metro Health...that is just like having my cake and eating it too!!)

It has been a pretty eventful week...lots of orientation and training...lots and lots of new stuff to wrap my brain around...lots of co-workers to meet...lots of rules to learn...to say my mind is mush....that would be an understatement!!!

While I had hoped I would be close to home...I have been placed in Caledonia...which isn't terribly far away...it takes me 20 minutes to get there in the am...and about 25 minutes to get home at night...it is a busy practice with several doctors and staff and (from what I've experienced...great patients!) I continue to learn more every day and look forward to getting more hands on each day as well.

Our family is still in the adjustment phase...but, to my surprise, the girls are doing very well with all the changes (knock on wood) and once school starts, I think this will be an excellent situation!

I hope you are all finding a way to stay cool...Have a great weekend!! If you find yourself in need of medical care...come visit us at Metro! (It's shameless...I know:)

WWAT: July/Summer Days...

July/Summer wouldn't be complete without some fireworks...and a trip to the lake!



Check out Rachels blog, American Mum to see all the other entries!

Would you want to know???

I watched the movie "The Bucket List" the other night. It is very good, if you are looking for a movie for the weekend, I highly recommend it!

Any who...in the movie it talks about a poll that was done, where people were asked if they could now the exact moment of their death, would they want to know??

I thought I would have a poll of my readers, to see if our results were the same as those quoted in the movie.

I...for one...would not want to know...I don't think I'd be able to keep living...I'd just sit around and dwell on it.

I can't wait to see the results!! (See poll to the right of this post!)

I *heart* vacations...

Five people up at the butt-crack of dawn = not a pretty sight

Breakfast for 5 at the Mc Donalds in Cadillac = $19 (because the girls HAD to have hot chocolate...and I didn't check the price!)

2 trips across the Mighty Mackinaw bridge = $6

Bait for fishing = $10

19 gallons of gas at an average of $4.22/gallon = $80

566 miles of "Are we there yet"s, and "She's touching me"s = at least 3 Tylenol upon arrival to destination and possibly a "mommy" drink or two!

Spending time with family in the b-e-a-utiful upper peninsula of Michigan = PRICELESS!!

There are some things money can't buy!!

(these two are best buds...they are like two peas in a pod)

We had a great time in the UP over the weekend. We went to the parade and fireworks in Cedarville on Friday...and I will have to say that the Yoopers really know how to celebrate the 4th of July! I have never seen so much candy thrown out at one parade in my life!! The kids took home a haul of candy greater than any Halloween on record in the Van K. household! And...I think that every resident of the whole entire eastern side of the UP was in attendance at this parade...and they all stuck around for the fireworks at night...which were pretty good too! We had a great spot from which we could view both the Cedarville and Drummond Island fireworks displays...the kids LOVED it...and the parents certainly weren't disappointed!

(this isn't the "real" fireworks show...just a "pre" show, if you will)

We spent a little time out at camp...but the water is still very cold (50 something degrees) so not much swimming occurred. The boys did a fair amount of fishing...Eric had better luck than Cam...but he was very generous in giving Cam praise for being a darn good netter! (Cam did manage to catch a few during the last outing!!)

The kids had a great time together...doing anything and everything they could think of! They were quite hopped up on candy the whole time...so they had energy to just keep going and going and going...

We dropped Tate and Quinn off at camp on our way home...they will be there for the rest of the week. And Haidyn is going to day camp all week...so I am going to continue the "great clean out".
I hope that our next visit to the UP will be very soon...but for now...we are happy to be back "down below".

we have left the land of the trolls...

and we're headed up over the bridge! We are hoping that the weather will improve for the weekend.

You may...or may not know that my brother and his family live in the upper peninsula of Michigan. My brother works at an InterVarsity Camp, called Cedar Campus. I have shared pictures from up there several times...it is beautiful...it is peaceful...it is relaxing...we really love it up there.

I have been looking forward to this trip for months...we don't get up there as often as we would like...and with the outrageous gas prices, getting up there is much more difficult.

I spent the week getting the house in order...and spent Thursday getting everything packed and ready to go. We hoped to leave on Thursday night...but if that was impossible we left early Friday morning...there is a BIG parade in Hessel, (there hometown) on Friday morning...and fireworks in the P.M. We hope to be there for both of those events!

I hope you are all having a great holiday weekend.

I'll share pics of our weekend when we return to the land of the trolls!

Some days...

I am just not cut out for this whole "mother of a pre-teen" gig!

The next...11 years should be fabulous (insert sarcasm).

This should be an interesting decade...

It may be a good thing that my brother is a beer delivery guy?

Stick around...I'm sure that you will find great entertainment at our expense!