Okay.....who was brave enough to go shopping on Black Friday????? I managed to pull myself out of bed around 6:30 to make it to the Office Max sale, but didn't get there in time to get the one thing that I wanted. People are just ruthless!!! I was pushed and people were saying mean things. lol Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed their holiday. I had a drama free one this year and all of my kids were with me so I couldn't have asked for anything more.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This year, we had a "unique" Thanksgiving. Since our move to the East Coast, we knew that Thanksgiving wasn't going to be the "family" holiday that it always was when we lived close. We decided last year, to take in some of the sights and sounds of the Northeast while we had the chance (we realized our oldest will be going off to college in 5 years). This year, I got to make my wife's lifelong dream come true. She has always wanted to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, so this year, we trekked to NYC. Let me just say, it was WAY more exciting than I ever thought, and MUCH easier to get around NYC to the parade than I had imagined. SO.. .for those of you that have always wanted to see the parade, DO IT! I'll give you some pointers on how to navigate NYC. I'm looking forward to seeing you all in July. It's also the All-Star Game week in St. Louis...so it should be crazy around there!
Yeah, Tracy. I was one of the brave/stupid ones on Friday. We got to Wal-Mart at 4:15am to get two $10 items. We barely got them too. From there it was to Big Lots, Walgreens, Office Max (for the ONE projector they had - and we got it!!), then to Old Navy and Once Upon a Toy. We had lunch at 10:00. I had to work noon-six so that sucked. I don't know why people do this?? The only hateful person I saw was a walmart employee. The shoppers were very nice, but I still don't know if it's worth the getting up at 3:30. Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!!
Thanksgiving was great, although my holiday weekend turned into longer than I anticipated. On Sunday (11/30), we went to my cousin's to do rule updates and set new dates for mud races this year. Her son, Derek (19) had just picked up his new 4 wheeler on Saturday, so we took ours along so the kids could ride. At about 2:45pm we got a phone call that there had been an accident, and Derek and Brandon were hurt. After waiting about 45 mins for the ambluances to arrive (they live in BFE, and it seems like it takes forever when it is your kid), they took them both to Carlinville Hospital. There we spent 6 hours in ER. Derek was sent home with a broken collar bone, chipped vertebrae in his neck, two fractured vertebre in his lower back, and a concussion. We on the other hand were sent to Springfield (they wanted to air lift him, but the helicopters were not flying because of the weather) where we spent the next 3 days with Brandon in PICU. He has 6 broken ribs, a punctured lung, pulled ligaments in his mid back, and a concussion. We finally got to come home last night. Needless to say, we have a very sore and tired little boy. All in all they are both doing ok, and I thank God it was not any worse.
Charlene I can't imagine what that was like. I'm glad it all turned out ok. My Thanksgiving was nice and calm. Until the Monday after. Darin, my husband, left for a job in California and of'course as soon as he left the furnace and the water heater went out. After hearing your story though it doesn't seem so bad.
Charlene - glad to hear your son is going to be ok. that's the scariest thing to hear especially when it's your own child. I work with things like this all the time and there is nothing worse than hearing that a child has been seriously injured. I hope everything will be ok and that your son makes a quick recovery.
Charlene - Please tell the little guy that the entire Class of '89 is thinking about him and pulling for him! I don't know if that will really mean much to him, but it means a lot to us late-30-somethings with kids of our own who hate hearing about these kinds of nightmare stories. So glad he's on the mend!
Thanks everyone for all your thoughts and prayers. Brandon is doing well - alot better than I would be doing after only a week. Now we just have to get him to remember how badly he was hurt and try to get him to be careful for the next 6 weeks until everything is healed. He is just like his dad - can't sit still.
Tammy Pace--do you remember the year that my brother was in the Christmas play at East and fainted and fell off the risers? Do any of you that were in choir remember the year that we sang Ave Maria for Mrs Millers christmas show? I sang my heart out that night. Charlene I am so glad that Brandon is okay. As a nurse that works in an ER setting I can understand the pain he was in and as a mother I can totally feel your pain as well. If something like that ever happened to Mya I don't know what I would do. I received my first ever Christmas present picked out for me by my daughter. I cried the whole time. Why do they have to grow up so fast? I have asked for nothing for Xmas because I have everything I have ever wanted for myself and for my daughter. I am finally happy and in a wonderful and loving relationship with a man who loves me and my daughter unconditionally. WOW what a Xmas present. I hope all of your Christmases are wonderful and full of joy, laughter and love!
Traci- I think it was Greg Moran and can't remember the other guy. Those were funny. Another one that sticks out to me was Walk This Way by Run DMC- was that Tommy Neuman?
Thanks everyone for the well wishes for Brandon. He is doing great. We went to the orthopedic dr. tues. and he said everything looks fine. He can return to normal activities after the first of the year. They told us that Brandon was a very lucky little boy. All of his injuries were on the right side of his chest - they said had he had the same damage on the left side, it probably would have killed him by crushing his heart. That's all I need for Christmas is that he is ok. Everything else seems so pointless now. I have always worried more about Britni(she has Juvenile Diabetes) than Bradon, then something like this gives me a wake up call. I guess I never really thought about how quickly they could be taken away. Just what I needed - more gray hair. I have decided from here on out he is not allowed to leave the house without being wrapped in bubble wrap. LOL
Thanks again everyone for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
Happy belated xmas everyone. Hope everyone had a good holiday and wish everyone a safe and happy New Year. I was enjoying my time off from work for pretty much the whole month! Had a good time hunting with my brothers up here in Iowa freezing my butt off but it was all good.
I don't know if anyone remembers Brent Bosse, who went to Roxana. He was a few years younger than us, and his brother Steve was 2 yrs older than us. There was a huge fundraiser for him at the KC Hall last summer because he had cancer...He passed away the day after Christmas and left a beautiful wife and two little girls. Please keep them in your prayers, and hug your families tight. On that sad note, I'm wishing you all a 2009 filled with love, joy, and the blessing of good health.
I was at Brent's showing Monday night. It wasn't too crowded when I got there, but there had been a ton of people come through. I didn't make it to the funeral Tuesday, but I hear it was amazing. He was such a wonderful person. There are not too many like Brent and Jenny. We are planning a Poker Tournament at the KC Hall for some time in February. We still need to get with Steve to arrange all the details, but it is our goal to raise a good chunk of money for the girls' trust! I'll keep you updated. I also lost a friend that I have known since I started here at Olin in 1989 today, so I have a very heavy heart today.
Aimee- was that person who passed away Bart Carusoe? My mom and stepdad will be going to his visitation tonight and they are both very upset about it. They both have known him for 30 years. Its amazing how much your life can change in the blink of an eye. I am feeling very sentimental and lucky with the beginning of this new year and I hope everyone's year is a happy and prosperous one. I know mine is happier just knowing we are all communicating again and will be seeing each other soon. Love to all and Happy New Year.
Hi Kathy - No, it was Brent Bosse. His Dad taught at Roxana until he died in the late 1980s of cancer, and his brother Steven was in the class of 1987. Great family. So sorry about the loss of your family friend.
Yes - my friend from work was Bart Caruso. He was a wonderful man. A ton of people stood out front of the main office today with the flag at half mass as the funeral procession drove past. He was very well liked around here. There have been so many deaths lately. I am very lucky for what I have and I pray that my children have a long and happy life...
Well I haven't been on here in a while.. It looks like I have some catching up to do.
Charlene, All my prayers are with you and your family. I'm glad to hear your son is bouncing back.
Aimee, I'm sorry to hear of your loss. It is amazing how age makes you appreciate life so much more. It was nice to see you at the girls game Saturday. It was very thoughtful of you and Shawn to come and for the girls soccer shirts. The gesture was very much appreciated. By the way your kids are so cute.
Hey Mark, Glad you enjoyed the pictures. I have more pictures from the old days but not to sure if they are appropiate. They really aren't school pictures they are more like party pictures. lol A few of those pictures came from Christi Cook.
It is time to get to work on the decorations, so if anyone else has any ideas to throw out there on 80's stuff please let me know.
Hey Tina - thanks so much. We loved watching the girls play soccer. If I'm not watching kids play, I'm watching Shawn play. Well - I guess he is still a big kid! No problem on the shirts - Shawn has done this for a few kids teams now and he loves doing it.
I'm on board for decorations - just let me know when and where.
Decoration Committee meeting Thursday February 5th at El Mezcal in Bethalto at 6:00 p.m.
If anyone else wants to join us at El Mezcal and help us come up with ideas just let one of us know. Or if you have a creative idea and can't make the meeting leave us a message with your idea. We appreciate all of your ideas.
Is there anyone else who would like to be involved in helping with decorations for the reunion? We could sure use some more help with creative thinking. Charlene, Kathy & I are getting together tomorrow evening at 6 at Bethalto El Mezcal to put our minds together and see what we can come up with. It would be great to see any of you who would like to join us.
Tina
e-mail me at etmc89@yahoo.com if you decide you would like to join us. The more the merrier!
