Morning all:

“Ikea: One day you’ll be able to afford real furniture.” — faux Ikea tagline

Finish this short post, one more refill of my morning coffee, and hit the road! All of this assumes that, very soon now, Marcia begins to stir so that we both can hit the road together.

We’re off to the cabin for vacation. This means 2 weeks of paint and scrub, interspersed with many hours of Ikea product assembly. Followed by hours of ‘winterizing’ the cabin so that everything can endure the -25 degree temperatures and 7’ snow-banks visiting the area in a few short months—when we won’t be there!

Last week was Marcia’s final swing through Ikea. I finally put my foot down and said I would just wait at checkout while she did the forced ‘rollercoaster-ride’ shopping event – solo. Though accused as being ‘crabby’ I held my ground. When we finally connected she had to admit that she spotted any number of men crabbier than me. I felt vindicated!

Adrianne made it to another milestone – 24 weeks. Still in the hospital she has begun to realize that her current goal is to stay in the hospital rather than counting down how long she’ll be in the place.

Yesterday Marcia hired a hairdresser who visited Adrianne in her room and magically transformed some seriously ‘nappy’ hair into a stunning ‘bob’. Earlier in the week my former employer transformed an older, out-of-service laptop and through the magic of wifi she is again part of the larger world.

Sister Kirstin is flying in for a visit over Labor Day and this visit is eagerly anticipated. Adrianne’s room is being pimped out and we’re hoping she’ll manage the long days without going too stir crazy.

28 weeks seems to be a magic number. 32 weeks and she won’t even be delivering at a trauma hospital. Like the little train of kids books; ‘I think I can, I think I can.”

Keep Adrianne and Tevita in your thoughts and prayers.

Now, let the trip begin. We will stay overnight in northern Michigan and then plan to arrive at Northern Comfort – the cabin – early Sunday afternoon. Travelling a little slower since we’re hauling a U Haul trailer. As the U Haul’s ads state, “an adventure in moving.”

Yea right. The three gallons of sweat I poured out yesterday just loading the beast was an adventure in itself.

Make it a great week. I hope that you’ll search out your own “Northern Comfort” this week and every week.

Cheers,

Dirk