Some of you may know that one of our Sheltie’s has not been feeling well of late. The initial x-ray that we had done was inconclusive, but we just go the results of her ultrasound. She has cancer in her liver, lungs, and spleen. There isn’t really anything that we can do for her at this point other than make sure that she is comfortable and spoil her rotten. 
Kelly and I spent Celebration on the Grand weekend at the new J.W. Marriott hotel in downtown Grand Rapids. The weekend was a combination anniversary/birthday celebration, and general escape. The hotel lobby has a modern minimalist design that doesn’t do too much for me, but the room and service that we received were outstanding. The view from our 19th floor concierge-level room, looking east over downtown Grand Rapids, is exceptional. We had a front row seat for the fireworks Friday night from the 23rd flood concierge lounge. I took a few pictures and will have them uploaded to the photo album shortly; if any of them turned out.
On Saturday we walked around downtown and stopped in the recently relocated Grand Rapids Art Museum. Their photography exhibits were nice and the “classical” gallery on the third floor were nice, but the collection of modern art did not do anything for me. After the museum, we had lunch at The Black Rose, an Irish tavern/pub not far from the heart of downtown. The Guiness Beef Stew was excellent and could easily get me to return. For dinner, we hung out with friends at another downtown restaurant: Hopcats. We then strolled around the city, even taking in some of the Hispanic festival, before heading over to Leo’s for dessert.
We had our final assessment last night and it went really well. The dogs behaved very well, and Jeremy was on his best behavior as well. Now we just have to finish the scrapbook and we’re in the running! We’ll be the 6th couple in the pool, so that makes me feel good. She also said that our age will be an asset to us because most birth mothers come in hoping for a couple in their mid to late 20’s but the majority of the couples are in their late 30’s to early 40’s. Which makes sense, because by the time most couples are married and have a house, then decide to start their families and discover they have firtility problems, they’re likely closer to mid-30’s. We didn’t have to worry about “trying” and waiting the recommended year, then try the different fertility treatments before deciding on adoption.
We really are getting close, now. I can just feel it.
So as if I didn’t have enough craziness in my life with the adoption, hectic work schedule, and desire to actually spend time with my wife; I am going to rejoin the ranks of the student population. That’s right, I have completed my application for Graduate school. This coming winter semester, I am going to start on my Masters in Electrical Engineering at Grand Valley State University. It is something that I have been wanting to pursue for a while. My manager has also been wanting me to start on it for a of couple years. A few weeks back he finally told me to just start taking classes and we would adjust my work schedule. I have a meeting with the Padnos College of Engineering and Computing in a couple weeks to layout the course plan for my degree. Here we go…again!
Well, our home is all clean. The dogs are groomed and looking great.
I think we’re ready for our home assessment tonight. Susan should be here at 5:45 and then we’ll begin. Our neighbor, Barb, got her questionaire in the mail yesterday so she said that she’ll drop it in the mail today. I’m so excited that this is actually happening!
Crystal starts her first day as a fourth grade teacher on Tuesday. I am so proud of her. She has come a long way and I know she will do well. Hopefully, she’ll be able to visit us this Christmas.
Classes are going very well. I was worried, but now that I’m in my second week, I have a great feeling that I can do this and succeed.
