Getting caught up

It has been nearly a month since I last posted to my blog. Many thanks to those of you who read my blog regularly. I am humbled when you tell me in passing that you are keeping up and praying for me. Wow! What a blessing. Thank you.

After the marathon we became very focused on packing and making decisions about our new home. We had a great time picking out the specs for our new home and only had to make a few cuts (nothing critical) to stay within our budget. Then came the meeting with the contractor who will do the "outside" package -- porch, work shed, brick work and any cement that is needed. We had no idea of the cost, so we made our wish list, knowing that it would probably be more than we could afford. Sure enough, our initial requests put us at double what our sales rep. had estimated we would spend. So we quickly cut back on the brick work and came up with a smaller porch, etc. The final result will be just fine. October 20th we met with our sales rep., gave her our down payment (what a huge cashier's check that was) and signed the papers. She reviewed the time-line with us and the plan is for us to move out of our current home the weekend of November 10-11, the old house will then be removed, the site prepared and the new home placed the end of November. It will then take 2 weeks for the house to be put together, carpet and flooring installed, etc. and the "outside" package completed. Hopefully we'll be in our new home the week before Christmas.

Then we hit a "little" glitch. Friday, October 26, about an hour before Jon left to lead a group from our church to Mexico for a weekend work project, we got a message from the manager of Advantage Homes. We knew that he would be reviewing the paperwork and expected that he would order the house that Friday. Well, there had been a $30,000 mistake made by the sales rep. I will not go into the details, but suffice it to say, we were very disappointed. Jon and I spoke briefly about the situation and decided to spend the weekend praying and make a decision on Monday. The manager was able to find some savings and dropped the mistake down to a $20,000 increase over what we expected to have to borrow. What a weekend. I am a budgeter, saver, planner and this was a big hurtle for me. Both Jon and I prayed and when we got together Sunday night he said he would sell his motorcycle and that would help to cut our loan amount by another $10,000. Unfortunately the Marine who had been interested in buying his bike is now considering buying a home, so he doesn't have any extra cash right now. Jon has posted the bike on a couple online sites and we'll see what happens. There are always lots of bogus online offers but today someone did call and said that he lives in San Clemente and would like to come by and see the bike. So who knows how the Lord will provide, but we are confident that we have made the right decision and He will take care of our needs -- He always has.

I hope Jon will post on his blog about his trip to Mexico. He led a team of 8 to work at the church in the community of El Nino where our family worked over spring break back in April. Jon and the team had a wonderful time working and connecting with the church community there.

If you checked Jon's blog last week, you saw that we were not directly effected by the fires. School was closed for two days due to the bad air quality from the ash in the air. It was hard to breath and since I was recovering from a cold my cough was pretty bad, but of course that is nothing compared to the loss of homes and some lives caused by the fires. Joshua and I were able to get quite a bit of packing done while he was home from school.

Tonight Joshua (the werewolf) is out trick-or-treating with Jon (not dressed up) and another friend from the neighborhood (a zombie). What fun -- more candy than we need. :) Tomorrow and Friday there is no school due to parent/teacher conferences, so we'll be able to sleep in after our sugar high.

Thanks again for caring about our lives. Blessings and Happy Halloween!

Sheryl

More update from Jon

Jon called around 2:00 p.m. and it was great to hear his voice. If you've checked the web site you know that the marathon was canceled before most people could finish. Here is the official statement, "Due to the rising heat index and higher than expected temperatures, LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski and Medical Director Dr. George Chiampas, in cooperation with city officials, have implemented a contingency plan, as a precautionary measure, to effectively close the Marathon course at the halfway point. Runners who have not reached the halfway point by approximately 12:00 p.m. will be diverted back to Grant Park via Halsted and Jackson. Jackson will be closed to automobile traffic and the participants will be provided with additional support along this route. Participants who crossed the halfway point prior to the shut-down will continue to be fully supported along the standard course to the finish line. Participants are asked to take advantage of medical personnel, cooling buses, runner drop out buses, water, Gatorade and other means of support en route back to Grant Park."

Here's a video clip http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=36199@wbbm.dayport.com that tells about the closure of the marathon.

Jon was at mile 22 when the announcement was made and everyone was directed to walk the rest of the way in. They were told that their time would not be recorded. But he checked his watch and ended the race in 5 hours and 5 minutes -- a little slower than he had anticipated. Jon thinks that 5 or 6 of the 17 members of the team from our church were able to finish the race. He noted that the race organizers were very unprepared for the heat and were running out of water early. Those runners behind Jon did not get water until mile 6 and no Gatorade until mile 9. Jon said he really needed the water he got at mile 3 and the Gatorade he got at mile 6. Jon was on a bus heading back to the hotel when he called. Their team is going to meet in a couple hours and go out for dinner.

After hearing the really sad news about some of the marathon participants I am so grateful Jon and my other friends are fine. I'm sure Jon will post his perspective on the race on his blog when he gets home Monday night.

Sheryl

He finished

The website that tracks the runners is not working due to too much traffic, but I did get the e-mail confirmation that Jon finished the race a few minutes ago in 5 hours 15 minutes and 59 seconds. Amazing.

If you want to see a map of the course, go to: http://www.chicagomarathon.com/CMS400Min/uploadedFiles/Chicago_Marathon/Runner_Information/07_Course_Map_Vert_RGB.pdf

Thank you for your prayers.

Sheryl

Jon is racing

If you want to keep track of Jon's race, go to http://livechicago.mikatiming.com/ and type in his name or bib number #45192. As of 7:30 a.m. California time, he was at a slightly less than 11 minute/mile pace through the first 10K. Based on the times of others from our church team, it looks like Jon is running with our pastor Tod and at least one other team mate. Right now it is 77 degrees with 70% humidity but by noon when he finishes it is supposed to be 85 but feel like 89. UGH! I'm sure glad I'm not running. Thanks for your prayers.

I'll post his stats when the race is over.

Sheryl

Marathon update

Okay, the marathon has not started yet, but Jon did make it safely to Chicago yesterday. His brother Greg road his motorcycle over from Detroit so they were able to enjoy the evening together. Today Greg heads out and Jon will join his team for all of the pre-marathon activities.

A huge THANK YOU! to many of you who made donations to World Vision for the Nkhoma ADP in Malawi. As of this morning, over $2,005 had been donated via Jon's efforts. We are so grateful for your participation.

Keep the runners in your prayers as they are anticipating a high of 88 tomorrow. The nonprofessional runners won't start the race till 8:00 a.m. and with humidity in the 70s, I imagine it will be pretty miserable by the end of the run.

We did have our own excitement at home yesterday. When I picked Joshua up from school, I found my boy with a missing tooth. We had been waiting for this for a number of weeks now. The tooth has been "mostly dead" but Joshua didn't want to pull it. He ended up being accidentally hit in the face and out came the tooth. The tooth fairy visited last night, so all is well at home.

Some of you may be wondering about our new home. Last Saturday we picked out the specific items for inside and on Monday night we met with the contractor about the outside package. Now we are waiting for a final quote on the whole thing and approval from the mobile home park management and the city. Hopefully we'll have more news next week.

Sheryl

One more call for marathon sponsorship

As you all know, Jon will be running his first marathon this coming weekend -- in 4 days. I can't believe it. He was injured in August, but did the "work" of resting and caring for his ankle and has not had any pain during the past few weeks that he has been running. He has not done any of the really long runs (over 16 miles) but he is in good shape and I think will finish well. I am so proud of him!

The most important thing is that he has been able to raise almost $1,000 for a cause that is very important to us -- the World Vision Area Development Project (ADP) in Nkhoma, Malawi. Thank you, if you are one of the many who have joined Jon's "team." I was able to visit the Nkhoma area two years ago before the ADP was started. We have since begun sponsoring two children in the area and have been blessed to be part of a work that is bringing long-term, life-saving changes to this community. If you would like to join the team, please click on this link and make your donation. I know it will really encourage Jon as he prepares to head to Chicago.

http://www.firstgiving.com/jarhedjon

Thanks.

Sheryl