The Jackhammer on my Roof

Well, since it is Spring Break, I am not in too much of a hurry to wake up in the morning. Around 5 am I heard a "tut-tut-tut-tut." Well, I ignored it thinking the construction workers at the house down the street were busy. Needless to say, the sound returned a few hours later around 8 am. This time, it sounded as if the workers were on my house. "Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut." A few seconds pause and "Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut." The sound got all of us out of bed. I went into the hall and it was even louder! I thought what the heck is falling apart and needs a repairman!

Well, I go into the kid's bathroom and the noise is absolutely raucous! "Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut." The strange thing is that the noise is happening at regular intervals. So, I go into Nolan's room and talk about a freaking drum beating as loud as possible. Turns out, a red-headed woodpecker decided to look for bugs on our roof! He flew away, but later came back when I was in the office and started his cacophony again. So, I started beating the ceiling. I think that scared him away because that is the last I have heard from that bird. We will see what the morning brings. But if I have too, I will start pelting the thing with rocks. I love birds but not pecking my roof. Besides, the neighbors have this absolutely huge oak tree that is half dead. Don't you think that would be a better pecker speciman than my roof???? :)

Spring Break

Well, if this were last year, we would be in Nevis right now. However, it this is not last year. Easter falls in April so the spring break is shortened by four days. On top of that, by the time we would return, Brian would be here in a week. So, we are saving our pennies for a trip to St. Maarten over the mid-term break in June and possibly Antigua and Montserrat (home of the erupting volcano) on day-trips. We shall see. St. Maarten is definite. Montserrat can be dangerous. Antigua, apparently, looks like Nevis.

I will be missing my pre-summer tan though. So, I plan on heading to the fake-bake for a bit. I cannot go to the Caribbean for a summer and spend the first two weeks with welts on my back! Otherwise, class seems good so far. I have a good team-mate in Linda. The topics are also interesting, which is nice. The instructor seems pretty good too.

Brian just finished another round of tests. I really think genetics is giving him migraines. Honestly, I don't think it is the subject matter so much as the instructor! Oh, one more thing. The upstairs neighbors cats ( on island - not here) have been trying to get into the apartment. I am not fond of cats. Actually, I would rather have a local sheep or goat than a cat. We may have severe issues over the summer!

In like a lion. . .

Well, the weather here has been pretty wicked the past few days. Friday was gorgeous -sunny and 60. Then the winds kicked in Saturday. Yesterday we were under storm watches for most of the day. Lo and behold, the tornado sirens go off last night around 9:00 p.m. So, down to the basement we went! Dogs, kids, stuffed animals, blankets, phones, and all. Tornadoes ripped through places south of here and nearly leveled Springfield. Apparently there was a tornado down near Oregon, which is only 10 miles down the road from us.

Today, we have wind gusts into the 50s with a wind advisory until midnight. It wants to rain and snow. The temperature is supposed to fall into the 20s tonight. Mother nature seems to be having a hard time birthing spring this year.

Chicago 1/2 Marathon?

My friend, Kaaryn, talked me into running the Chicago Half-marathon in September. That means 13.1 miles! So, I have started training. We will see. I have a training program I am following. For the first week I was sick for the most part. Not a good start, but I did manage the 4 mile run today in 45 minutes. Not race pace, but I just want to finish! I will keep everyone updated on my progress.

So, that is the news here. I started a new class, Brian is wrapping up his term, Nolan and Michaila are getting ready for state achievement tests, and the dogs are living a dog's life. Brian will be home in 33 days, and that is really the only date we care about right now - April 14!