Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas, everyone! Today I decided that since it is Christmas, I'd write a quick message instead of sending out anything via snail mail. Since I may not have all your addresses, this is the way I'm gonna do it this year.

2008 sure has been an interesting one, hasn't it? For me, it sure has been. I have had two significant things happen in my life this past year which most of you know about...but for those that don't, here goes:

First, in the early summer, we had a major flood go through town. Storms were everywhere and the water kept coming. I was just about to leave work on that Thursday evening around 4:30 p.m. (my normal time to end). Well, an announcement over the public address system indicated that there were tornado warnings in the area. Some people chose to leave after a while, but I chose to stay behind as I didn't feel comfortable driving home with a tornado somewhere in the area. Warnings kept coming throughout the night, and the water kept coming. So much so that it started to enter the bottom floor of the technical college where I work. We had lots of people helping try to direct water away from computers labs and into nearby restrooms where there were drains in the floor. I have pictures of water levels half way up the outside doors to the building. Pretty crazy. Well, little did I know that the parking lot where my 2004 Toyota Prius was at was also taking on water...and lots of it. It's now three hours later (7:30 p.m.) and I decided to go home. I took off my shoes and socks, and water was up to my knees in the parking lot. This was not good for the Prius. I didn't dare open the car doors because water would have gushed in. So, thankfully, the back hatch opened up, and I crawled in through the back to the drivers side...but that's when I knew there was a problem. Ankle-deep water on the floors of my Prius. Now, any of you that are familiar with Hybrids...and the Prius in particular...know that this car is basically a computer on wheels. Computer + Water = Bad News. To make a long story short, my '04 Prius had to be totaled. Thankfully, my insurance company offered me a nice amount of money for my vehicle, and I was able to purchase a new 2009 Toyota Prius which has a few more bells and whistles. Check out my photos section, and I'm sure you'll find a picture of me and the car!

In September, I had surgery on my arm. Last Christmas I started noticing that my left pinky finger and half of my left ring finger were starting to feel a bit different...like a numbing sort of sensation...but no pain. I had it checked out, and it was determined that I had something called Cubital Tunnel Syndrome. It's kind of like Carpal Tunnel but it affects a different part of the hand. Doctors watched it for several months, but then I made the decision to have surgery so that my condition would not deteriorate and get worse. So, on September 15, 2008 I had out-patient surgery on my arm. Basically, my surgeon made about a 4" incision near my elbow and moved a nerve out of the tunnel so that my left hand would get better. This is totally amazing to me, and I'm so thankful for good doctors. I was out of work for two weeks. The nerve continues to heal to this day...at about a rate of 1 millimeter per day. The fastest healing has already occurred, but it will continue to heal probably for the next year or so.

Work is going well...busy, but good. For those of you who don't know, I work at Moraine Park Technical College here in Fond du Lac. My main job is to build online courses for our school system, and every once in a while I get to do other projects like building interactive Learning Objects for staff/students.

Life away from work is going well, too. I continue to stay involved with church activities...including playing piano for one of our kids choirs, being a part of the ITC (Information Technology Committee) team, and volunteering to help with Sr. High Sunday school and Wednesday night SHA (Senior High Alive).

Again, Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season and that you take time to remember the Reason for the Season!

Joy to the World the Lord has Come!!!