Karwoski Life

I’ve decided to boycott the news…well, the TV in general I suppose. I’m just so, so, SO sick of being bombarded with all the election who-ha, political put downs, economic woes, and general bad newsiness. I know times are tough, really tough, for a lot of people…but come on, is there no good in the world today? Is there nothing fun, exciting, happy, and bright to talk about? I don’t want to be uniformed, but I just can’t take all this black doomsday crap anymore!! I mean, who is it helping? What GOOD is it doing? We can all sit around whining and moaning about this and that, worrying about the unknowns which lie ahead of us, creating knots in our stomachs, tensions in our households, anger in our workplace, but WHY? What for? Why are we doing this to ourselves!?!? It isn’t going to help, or change a darn thing. Honestly, I can see why so many other countries roll their eyes at Americans…we have so much to be thankful for and yet what are we doing to show it? I know there are people ...

Brr. It’s another cold, cloudy Monday for us here in Iowa…and fall is truly settling in. Though I think we’ll have a few warmer days later this week, I think we’re finally shifting into the colder weather more typical of this time of year. And it’s sooo dark in the morning. Bleck. I hate getting up and driving in to work in the dark, dark, dark cold morning. Next week is Daylight Savings time and that’ll help the dark morning, but create a dark early evening. What can you do? I did cheer myself up a little bit this morning as I trudged to the back door to let the dogs out, still half asleep…at least I don’t have to go out there anymore!!! I know I’ll really appreciate that fenced in yard come this winter when the temperatures dip down below zero…oh thank goodness for the new house and fenced in yard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The weather this weekend was a bit crazy too…terribly windy and chilly yesterday. Saturday we caught a break though. Blake stopped over and took Matt for a ride ...

Lots of things to update on…where to start. First of all Fall has officially arrived here in Iowa…it’s down right COLD. We’ve been turning on the furnace a little here and there and sleeping with an extra blanket at night. Last night the wind was whistling and howling while the rain poured down…a few degrees colder and we’d have had an ice or snow problem! It really sounded like winter out there. Thankfully most of the rain has now stopped and we’ll hopefully warm up a bit the next few days. Saturday night we’re heading up to the ISU game and I’m hoping we won’t freeze our you-know-what’s off! This past week we’ve made some changes. We had ourselves a pretty good heart to heart and decided to stop the TCM treatments. For us, what it ultimately boils down to is what is worth sacrificing for, and what isn’t. Right now, it felt like we were sacrificing a lot to go through the treatments, but weren't seeing any benefits. After such a jam packed year with the move, China, followe...

Just a few random thoughts about our dogs. I think we have the goofiest dogs…they are so loveable and just goofy. They love, and I mean LOVE the basement in our new house. They always run to their respective spots…Buddy on the futon, Penny on the giant doggie bed Blake and Amy handed down to us. They get so excited to go down there and often times just go hang out down there all by themselves. They’re just so proud of themselves when they plop down in their spots and just look at me. ‘See, see…we’re GOOD doggies!’ In this picture they look kind of scary with the flash in their eyes…but I just had to capture how funny they are in their own little doggie spots. They also play hide and seek with me. It’s dumb, I know…but when they get done eating their supper, or when they come in from outside and I’m in the other room they just race through the house trying to find me…searching excitedly from room to room…I can hear them approaching so I’ll usually hide behind a dresser, or in a clos...

My friend Julie's baby Graham is scheduled to have his breathing tube removed this morning at 10:30. They've been weaning him off the breathing tube this week and his results have been a little touch and go, sometimes handling things fine, and sometimes struggling a bit. Please keep Graham, Julie, and their whole family in your thoughts today as they wait to see if Graham will finally be able to breath on his own. This is a big step for such a tiny little guy who has already been through so much. He needs strength, and I ask for prayers that God will provide it.

Is it weird that I was actually looking FORWARD to a Monday? I’m not sure I’ve ever really been glad to welcome a Monday before (except when on vacation)…but this week I was happy it was Monday and I didn’t have any obligations after work…I could just go HOME! What a concept!! Oh, how I miss the days of getting home at 4:30ish and relaxing with Matt, taking my time getting supper on the table, enjoying the late afternoon, etc. Our 4 days of acupuncture a week are starting to take their toll on me lately. While I know it is only temporary, and of course I want to do whatever Matt wants to try to bring healing, it is hard to keep up this tempo…especially with a cold. Of course, the hectic schedule may have increased the odds that I’d come down with a cold…but that’s neither here nor there really. I think we’re both a little run down right now…but I’m sure we’ll be on the rebound soon! This weekend was another full one…but full of good stuff for sure. On Saturday I met up with my frien...

Funny side note…sixteen years ago today I met Matt for the first time. Do I write this every year on this date? I should go back and see…oh well. Either way, this date always sticks out in my mind as our first anniversary of sorts…the day we first came into each others’ lives. Ahh…just a couple of dorky teenagers. It’s hard to believe we’ve been together ever since. Well, I guess we did break up once, for a few hours…but I don’t know that it really counted. I think we always knew we were meant to be. This week has been another busy one, and naturally I have come down with a nasty cold. Go figure. Jay prescribed me some oh-so-yummy herbs to help me get over the cold sooner…and let me just say that I think maybe now I have a better appreciation of why Matt puts up such a fuss each time he drinks his. Oh man – I’m not sure I can describe how awfully awful, bleck-ity blecky, DIS-gusting these herbs are for me to drink. In the bag they smelled minty, maybe even a hint of lavender. ‘Oh, th...

My parents celebrated their anniversary this week. My parents have been married for thirty seven years. THIRTY SEVEN YEARS! This is amazing to me. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have been raised in my family. While obviously no parents are perfect, I have to say that I think mine are pretty darn close. I love them so much…which I know sounds weird. I know I’m a big nerd…but I can’t help it. I love my Mom and Dad. I love spending time with them, talking to them, and hate that they live so far away. I always want to be with them on my birthday, celebrate all holidays together, and just BE together as a family as much as possible. They make me laugh, they always have good stories to tell, and most of all they just make me feel so loved and supported. They have been there for me all my life; helping me rehearse lines for my plays, teaching me to cook, shooting hoops, trying to teach me to hunt, supporting me at my volleyball and basketball games, and of course my plays and band con...