Moorestown, NJ
November 24 - 30, 2011
This week I was very much looking forward to being home for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately it was not be. Pop, my mom’s dad, went home to be with Jesus on Monday November 21st. To join the family in celebrating his life we flew east on Thanksgiving day. Pop’s memorial service was held on Friday. It was a very fitting service for a life well lived over 89 years. All of the J’s went home on Saturday and mom and I stayed until Wednesday to make sure that Granny and the rest of the family were doing alright. Death is never fun for those left behind, but there is certainly great peace in being a Christian and knowing that your loved one is now with the Lord and that you will see them again someday.
I’ll be home for 18 hours and then I’m off to Seattle tomorrow.
Katy
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Friends and Football
Northern California
November 9 -14, 2011
This week I was in Northern California visiting friends and watching the Ducks take on the Stanford Cardinal. I arrived in Sacramento early Wednesday morning and made my way directly to Joel, Danelle, Ilia and Baron’s house. We spent the day playing puzzles, games and chatting. On Thursday we again hung out at the house. At one point Dnelly needed to get yarn for her burgeoning crocheting hat business, so I offered to watch the kids. Baron was very sad when his mommy left, so I did what any good babysitter would do. I fed him Cheerios. After that he was happy. Joel didn’t have class Thursday night, so it was great that he, Dnelly and I had some extra time to hang out and chat like the old days. Friday I was up early to catch the end of Ilia’s gymnastics class on my way down to the bay. It’s quite entertaining to see three year-olds do “gymnastics”. By far my favorite part was the zip-line the kids get to ride into a pool of balls. I wish they had an adult size version of this.
After stopping at an outlet mall and driving through the Napa Valley I met up with a friend in Santa Rosa. I literally hadn’t seen Brooke in fifteen years. We were track buddies growing up and recently reconnected on Facebook. We had a fantastic time catching up. I sincerely hope it won’t be 15 years until I see her again.
Friday night I went to dinner at a local Chinese joint near my hotel with Mikey. Somehow during dinner he talked me into going to Game Day with him the next morning. Game Day actually turned out to be fairly fun. This was the first time the show has been to “The Farm”. Hearing the banter of the Stanford students and reading their signs took me right back to my recruiting visit on the farm and reminded me why I didn’t want to go to school there. On the whole Stanford kids make for an arrogant crowd.
After Game Day, Mikey and I went to breakfast at Ihop. I then returned to my hotel for a pre-game nap. Jeremy, Andrea and Mikey picked me up for what possibly turned into the most fun football game I’ve ever attended. We met up with Joel and Danelle at the game. This was my first time attending a game in the renovated Stanford stadium. It truly is a beautiful place.
After the Ducks dominated the 5th ranked Cardinal all of us went to downtown Palo Alto to grab some food. We ate at a pretty good burger joint called "The Workshop". The food took a while to be served because there was some sort of snag in the kitchen. Even with the less than ideal service, I think it may have been the best pulled pork sandwich I’ve ever had. The company was a lot of fun too, as was celebrating the victory.
Sunday I was up at a decent hour in order to make it back to Sacramento for an early Thanksgiving with the Zehnder clan. The Zehnder grandparents now have an immediate family of 59! In order to get most to attend, the family generally has Tday about two weeks early. It was my good fortune to get to participate this year to meet more of the family. I’d heard stories about many of them, so it was fun to finally give those names faces.
Monday morning I got up and played with Danelle, Conner and Baron for a bit before packing up. We then went to pick up Ilia from school so I could say goodbye to her before heading to the airport.
All in it was another great visit in Nothern Cali filled with fun, friends and football!
Until the next adventure,
Katy
November 9 -14, 2011
This week I was in Northern California visiting friends and watching the Ducks take on the Stanford Cardinal. I arrived in Sacramento early Wednesday morning and made my way directly to Joel, Danelle, Ilia and Baron’s house. We spent the day playing puzzles, games and chatting. On Thursday we again hung out at the house. At one point Dnelly needed to get yarn for her burgeoning crocheting hat business, so I offered to watch the kids. Baron was very sad when his mommy left, so I did what any good babysitter would do. I fed him Cheerios. After that he was happy. Joel didn’t have class Thursday night, so it was great that he, Dnelly and I had some extra time to hang out and chat like the old days. Friday I was up early to catch the end of Ilia’s gymnastics class on my way down to the bay. It’s quite entertaining to see three year-olds do “gymnastics”. By far my favorite part was the zip-line the kids get to ride into a pool of balls. I wish they had an adult size version of this.
After stopping at an outlet mall and driving through the Napa Valley I met up with a friend in Santa Rosa. I literally hadn’t seen Brooke in fifteen years. We were track buddies growing up and recently reconnected on Facebook. We had a fantastic time catching up. I sincerely hope it won’t be 15 years until I see her again.
Friday night I went to dinner at a local Chinese joint near my hotel with Mikey. Somehow during dinner he talked me into going to Game Day with him the next morning. Game Day actually turned out to be fairly fun. This was the first time the show has been to “The Farm”. Hearing the banter of the Stanford students and reading their signs took me right back to my recruiting visit on the farm and reminded me why I didn’t want to go to school there. On the whole Stanford kids make for an arrogant crowd.
After Game Day, Mikey and I went to breakfast at Ihop. I then returned to my hotel for a pre-game nap. Jeremy, Andrea and Mikey picked me up for what possibly turned into the most fun football game I’ve ever attended. We met up with Joel and Danelle at the game. This was my first time attending a game in the renovated Stanford stadium. It truly is a beautiful place.
After the Ducks dominated the 5th ranked Cardinal all of us went to downtown Palo Alto to grab some food. We ate at a pretty good burger joint called "The Workshop". The food took a while to be served because there was some sort of snag in the kitchen. Even with the less than ideal service, I think it may have been the best pulled pork sandwich I’ve ever had. The company was a lot of fun too, as was celebrating the victory.
Sunday I was up at a decent hour in order to make it back to Sacramento for an early Thanksgiving with the Zehnder clan. The Zehnder grandparents now have an immediate family of 59! In order to get most to attend, the family generally has Tday about two weeks early. It was my good fortune to get to participate this year to meet more of the family. I’d heard stories about many of them, so it was fun to finally give those names faces.
Monday morning I got up and played with Danelle, Conner and Baron for a bit before packing up. We then went to pick up Ilia from school so I could say goodbye to her before heading to the airport.
All in it was another great visit in Nothern Cali filled with fun, friends and football!
Until the next adventure,
Katy
Monday, November 7, 2011
Hospitals Are Sad, Scary, Fun & Entertaining All At The Same Time
Moorestown, NJ
November 4 - 7, 2011
This weekend Mom and I were in New Jersey to help Granny get ready for Christmas, at least that is what we thought we were doing. We arrived into PHL late on Friday night. We talked to Granny until roughly 3 A.M. The plan when I went to bed was to get up at 11ish and do some shopping before going to the rehab facility to visit Pop. At 9:30 A.M. Mom came into my room to tell me that she and Granny were going to the ER because Pop had been transferred there.
After getting showered and prepared to go out I called Mom. She said I should go start shopping with Becky and Ben because she wouldn’t know anything about Pop for a few hours. We ate lunch at Panera and then hit up the Cherry Hill mall. I don’t think we managed to acquire a single Christmas present but we did have fun wandering and people watching. Mom eventually called and said they were taking Pop for some tests and that she and Granny wanted to go to dinner with the family. After Beck and I made a quick stop at the Christmas Tree Store to buy some stocking stuffers we met the family at Ruby Tuesday for dinner. After dinner all five Thornburgs, Mom and I went to Target to get some more stocking stuffers. For the night cap we watched Alabama vs LSU and then the Ducks vs Huskies while wrapping presents.
Sunday morning Mom, Granny and I went to visit Pop in the hospital. He hadn’t been assigned a room or roommate when Mom and Granny left yesterday. So we were curious to see what we would find. Boy was it entertaining. Pop’s roommate’s name was Roberto. Roberto was hospitalized with a serious fever and infection caused by intravenous drug use. Roberto was friendly enough but man was he all over the place. Upon our arrival he was sleeping sideways hanging off his bed with his pants on the floor. Shortly thereafter he was peeing with the door to the bathroom open. Next he spent 15 minutes trying to log-in to the password protected nurses station. He joined our family’s conversation a few times by both standing and listening in and then telling his own heavily accented and difficult to understand stories. The highlight came close to the end of our visit. I was sitting in a chair next to Pop’s bed with my back to the curtain separating Pop’s half of the room from Roberto’s. All of the sudden I saw Judy and my Mom’s eyes get big. Just then I felt Roberto’s hand pop under the curtain and hit my chair. Before any of us could blink his head was under the curtain six inches from my @$$. Mom started crying she was laughing so hard. Judy looked like she was sincerely concerned and it appeared Granny didn’t know what to think. Eventually the nurses convinced Roberto that sleeping in his bed the proper way would be a good idea. When Pop fell asleep Mom and I left the hospital to go do a little more Christmas shopping.
Monday morning Mom, Granny and I went to brunch with Beck and the kids before seeing Pop in the hospital. Roberto seemed to be on his best behavior, which made Mom, Granny and the nurses happy. Granny wasn’t feeling fantastic, so mom decided to extend her stay to Friday. I’m currently on my way back to Eugene, so I can quickly turn around again and head for Sacramento to see Joel, DNelly and the kiddos before the Stanford game this weekend.
Until the day after tomorrow,
Katy
November 4 - 7, 2011
This weekend Mom and I were in New Jersey to help Granny get ready for Christmas, at least that is what we thought we were doing. We arrived into PHL late on Friday night. We talked to Granny until roughly 3 A.M. The plan when I went to bed was to get up at 11ish and do some shopping before going to the rehab facility to visit Pop. At 9:30 A.M. Mom came into my room to tell me that she and Granny were going to the ER because Pop had been transferred there.
After getting showered and prepared to go out I called Mom. She said I should go start shopping with Becky and Ben because she wouldn’t know anything about Pop for a few hours. We ate lunch at Panera and then hit up the Cherry Hill mall. I don’t think we managed to acquire a single Christmas present but we did have fun wandering and people watching. Mom eventually called and said they were taking Pop for some tests and that she and Granny wanted to go to dinner with the family. After Beck and I made a quick stop at the Christmas Tree Store to buy some stocking stuffers we met the family at Ruby Tuesday for dinner. After dinner all five Thornburgs, Mom and I went to Target to get some more stocking stuffers. For the night cap we watched Alabama vs LSU and then the Ducks vs Huskies while wrapping presents.
Sunday morning Mom, Granny and I went to visit Pop in the hospital. He hadn’t been assigned a room or roommate when Mom and Granny left yesterday. So we were curious to see what we would find. Boy was it entertaining. Pop’s roommate’s name was Roberto. Roberto was hospitalized with a serious fever and infection caused by intravenous drug use. Roberto was friendly enough but man was he all over the place. Upon our arrival he was sleeping sideways hanging off his bed with his pants on the floor. Shortly thereafter he was peeing with the door to the bathroom open. Next he spent 15 minutes trying to log-in to the password protected nurses station. He joined our family’s conversation a few times by both standing and listening in and then telling his own heavily accented and difficult to understand stories. The highlight came close to the end of our visit. I was sitting in a chair next to Pop’s bed with my back to the curtain separating Pop’s half of the room from Roberto’s. All of the sudden I saw Judy and my Mom’s eyes get big. Just then I felt Roberto’s hand pop under the curtain and hit my chair. Before any of us could blink his head was under the curtain six inches from my @$$. Mom started crying she was laughing so hard. Judy looked like she was sincerely concerned and it appeared Granny didn’t know what to think. Eventually the nurses convinced Roberto that sleeping in his bed the proper way would be a good idea. When Pop fell asleep Mom and I left the hospital to go do a little more Christmas shopping.
Monday morning Mom, Granny and I went to brunch with Beck and the kids before seeing Pop in the hospital. Roberto seemed to be on his best behavior, which made Mom, Granny and the nurses happy. Granny wasn’t feeling fantastic, so mom decided to extend her stay to Friday. I’m currently on my way back to Eugene, so I can quickly turn around again and head for Sacramento to see Joel, DNelly and the kiddos before the Stanford game this weekend.
Until the day after tomorrow,
Katy
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