Sorry for the break in blog posts. Work has been busy and we now have a houseguest staying with us, Hannah Wachdorf, my lovely sister-in-law and Dan's baby sister, so our lives are much more interesting than usual and I don't have time for y'all. (Just kidding.) But for those of you who read this site to stay updated on Aaron and Kelly, here's an update.

Kelly has moved most of their belongings into their apartment in Starkville. They aren't going to be taking up permanent residence there immediately, but they were able to get their things out of storage and start getting the apartment set up like they want it, with some help from parents.

As of Monday, Aaron is also in Starkville, to spend some time with Kelly and take a break from D.C. Right now, Aaron is at kind of a slow spot in his recuperation, and there's no reason he needs to be in D.C. constantly. As some of you may remember, Aaron had to have a skin graft a couple of months after his amputation. Although that needed to be done and the graft was largely succesful, it proved to be the most trying part of this whole process because it took so long to heal. Aaron had healed up enough to be fitted for a prosthetic at some point in June, but he continued to have trouble with a small, small spot of skin on his leg not wanting to heal all the way. This was very frustrating, because in every other aspect, Aaron is totally able to move forward in his physical therapy, and being held back by something that small was like getting sidelined from a football game because you have a mosquito bite. Within the last few weeks, Aaron volunteered to be a kind of guinea pig for a new device the military hospitals are testing out for stubborn wounds like his. I don't really understand how it works, but the basic idea is that the patient uses some kind of contraption that directs pure oxygen to the area in an attempt to provide the best possible circulation and encourage the tissue to make the final step towards being completely healthy. The great news is that it appears to have worked. Aaron's skin is, at the moment, completely healed up, and for that we're very, very thankful. Like I said, he is taking some time off of therapy right now to take it easy and make sure that his newly-formed skin has plenty of time to get strong so that it can consistently bear his weight and the friction of a prosthetic. Please pray with us that this would be the last time Aaron has to deal with this particular issue. He is physically fit and ready to get back to walking all the time if this one thing stays stable.
Aside from that, please pray for safety the Rice family in general, as Aaron and Kelly will be traveling, and Ryan and our newest college student Hannah Ruth Rice will also be starting the process of moving up to Starkville this week, with help from Mom and her white Chevy Suburban, affectionately nicknamed the Big White Burrito. Honk if you see them on the road.
Thanks for checking in, y'all. We love you.

As I mentioned before, Dan's sister Hannah has been visiting us this week. It's been fun having her here, because she's a really neat girl, but also because it's been interesting to watch she and Dan together. As the following photos will reveal, siblings can grow up as much as they want, but if you seat them side by side, eventually, someone's going to get their hair pulled.

But, it all works out in the end.

Overheard at the zoo on Friday, while we were walking past the the zebra habitat, spoken by a heat-flushed eight-year-old, with all the righteous indignation possible for a person of such short stature to muster:

"Mom! How come the zebras can kick the dirt and I can't?"

I apologize again for the lack of posts. School is starting up here in New Mexico, and as an education reporter that means my life gets a lot busier. So until I can catch up on things in this space of my life, I thought I would ask you what was your favorite year of school and why? Did you have a really great teacher, or a cool new backpack? Personally, my life still kind of moves in school-year cycles even though I've been done for four years, but I miss all the fanfare of new supplies and new books. I might buy myself some new pencils and sharpen them really, really well to make up for it.
So what was your best year of school?

I was archiving some old photos on our computer tonight and I came across this one from a year ago when Mom, Hannah and Audrey came and visited us. We went to Santa Fe and Mom took this photo of the girls and I with a statue of a donkey that is kind of randomly situated on one of the streets .. I'm sure there is some significance to the donkey, but I don't know what it is. I didn't have a blog this time last year, so I never got to really share it. Hope y'all enjoy it. And best of luck to Hannah, who starts college this week at Mississippi State University.

I talked to Mom today, who said that Aaron and Kelly have gotten back to Washington, D.C. just fine after spending a couple of weeks in Mississippi getting their new apartment all set up. Aaron is back in rehabilitation, and has reached a good milestone. He had been having some trouble with his prosthetic in that after only a little while, it made his knee hurt, and he couldn't keep it on for very long. When he got back to D.C., his doctors did some refitting of his prosthetic, and that seems to have made all the difference. In fact, Aaron is now able to run on his prosthetic leg, which is a big deal, because that takes a lot of strength and balance. I imagine that if I were to see him today, he would challenge me to race him, and I have no doubt he would win.
We are really relieved to know that the pain Aaron was having was due to a fitting issue, and not something he will always have to deal with. Keep praying for Aaron and Kelly, that Aaron's physical therapy will move forward quickly so that they can get back home permanently. I know that's really where they want to be. Thanks for checking in. We love y'all.

I am in love with this machine. Behold it in all its compact glory:

I still love Dan, but at this point, it's a close call between him and our new Bose wave radio. Now, before you think we've won the lottery and therefore actually paid for one of these babies, which are outrageously expensive, you should understand that we got this radio through a major act of mooching. Dan's parents recently purchased some Bose speakers for their home at an outlet store where they got a really good deal. Part of the deal was that the store threw in a free Bose wave radio. Because Dan has no shame about asking for his parents' things and because Dan's parents love us, they shipped the radio out to us. Since we don't listen to the radio a whole lot, we have rigged up a little CD player to it, and are using it mostly just for the great speaker sound. This brings us to the part where I admit that as of today, I want to get down and kiss the feet of whoever came up with the Bose technology. I never knew that recorded music was supposed to sound this good. It's an epiphany, like when I got glasses and realized that yes, you are supposed to be able to see the leaves on the trees. It's like people are standing in our living room playing the instruments, but really it's just this incredibly small white box. I realize I am geeking out, but I love music, and for me, this is like reaching my own personal Nirvana. I want to listen to every CD I own just so I can hear what it was really supposed to sound like.
So I'm telling you this right now: If Dan ever decides that he wants to leave me, and we have to decide who is taking what out of the house, he can have just about everything we've ever owned together, but I will fight him for custody of the Bose wave radio. Because I love it more than he does, and it should be with me.
I am, of course, kidding. Sort of.

Last night, Dan and I went out for a hot date. We went downtown and ate at Ambrozia, a very nice restaurant, and then walked a few blocks to have dessert at the Melting Pot, a fondue place where they give you all this fruit and cake and other things to dip in melted chocolate. It's heavenly.
We even got dressed up for the evening. I have photo evidence.

Now if you know us well, you know that we don't get dressed up for much. (Click here and here to review the stories of the carnage that ensued when we had to shop for clothing to wear to Aaron and Kelly's evening wedding last year.) So clearly, the question is, what was the big occasion? We were celebrating something, so what was it?
Anniversary?
Nope.
Birthday?
Nope.
Are we pregnant?
No, Mom Rice and Mom Wachdorf, there are no little Wachdorfs on the way.
But there are some big changes coming. Last night, we were celebrating the fact that I have a new job. I will be covering tourism and education for a New Mexico publication with offices in downtown Albuquerque. The work sounds very interesting, and I will only have to drive 15-20 minutes to get downtown, as opposed to 45 minutes, which is how long it takes me to get to my current job. I can't say that I will miss spending 10-12 hours a week in the car. With gas prices skyrocketing, it's also nice that I won't have to fill my car up as often. But, like most good things, this decision brings with it some sadness. I'm going to miss my current newspaper; it was really hard to tell my editor and co-workers that I will be moving on, even though they were really excited for me. I have worked there for two years, and they really are like family to me. The next few weeks of finishing things up there and saying goodbye are going to be tough. But in spite of the anxiety that I guess is just a normal part of making a big move like this, I am looking forward to a new challenge.
And that is worth getting dressed up.

This is a photo of Rebecca and beautiful baby Livia, taken the weekend that I first met Miss Livia. Livia is the daughter of Rebecca, my friend of ten years since we were 15-year-olds at camp, and her husband Jeremy. They live in Nebraska, and View From the Prairie Box is their blog. For some time I have been meaning to start a sidebar linking to all the blogs I read, but I can't figure out how to do it. (Any pointers out there, blogging people?) So since I have mastered the art of linking to things in posts, and since Rebecca is one of my blogging heroes, I thought I would tempt you with more photos of this adorable child and her adorable mama. Enjoy.

This is turning out to be a really busy week, but not for entirely bad reasons. For example: on the downside, I worked late last night and then couldn't go to sleep. Thus, I am sleepy this morning. Tomorrow morning, I have to get up at 5 a.m. to get to an early meeting, and I'm going to be exhausted. But on the upside, the reason I'm going to be tired is that we are going to stay out late tonight seeing Coldplay in concert. (!!!) And that is a very, very good thing. So it's all a tradeoff. The point of this post is that you should hang in there with us. Life will slow down in a couple of days, and then I will come back and talk to you. Until then, behave yourself.

Happy Saturday morning to y'all. I thought I would check in with a sort-of update on Aaron and Kelly, even though I haven't actually spoken with them in the last few days. According to my mom, they are currently in Vail, Colorado, doing something with the Wounded Warrior Project, and should be back in D.C. within the next couple of days. Also, Mom said that Aaron recently graduated up to a second prosthetic that he likes a lot more than the first one he had. I want to talk to Aaron about it so I can tell you more, but I do remember that before Aaron got his first prosthetic, other guys in rehab told him that the first one you work with is very heavy and inflexible and not at all like what you will eventually use. So I would assume that this one he's just gotten is a big step up in terms of comfort, and that's great.
That's all for now. Thanks for all your faithful prayers for them and us, please keep them coming. All y'all on the Gulf Coast do the smart thing and get out of Katrina's way, and we'll be praying for you too.

I just talked to my mom, who said that she thinks the worst of Hurricane Katrina has passed through their area. As far as they can tell now, about 200 trees broke and fell down on the land, but none hit the house, which is a mercy. Some shingles got torn off the roof, but nothing else seems to be wrong with right now. If that was the damage in Hattiesburg, I can't imagine what the coast and New Orleans look like. We're very worried for some good friends of ours down there right now. The levees and pump system failed in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where Desire Street Ministries (www.desirestreet.org) and a couple of large housing projects are located. According to the news reports I'm reading, that area has completely flooded and is now under six feet of water. Obviously, the whole city will have a difficult road ahead, but the Ninth Ward in particular has a very high poverty rate and the people there are really going to have a hard time. Many of them didn't even have a way to leave the city before the storm hit. People with insurance will eventually have their belongings restored, but there are probably more than a few people in New Orleans who have literally lost everything they had. It's very sad.

Since I talked to my mom yesterday, I have been unable to get a call through to home, which I assume means there is no phone service. This is totally understandable in light of the devastation in Mississippi, but it's still very stressful to not be able to reach family in the age of cell phones, wireless, and text messaging. I had never realized how spoiled I am by my usual instant access to the people I love. Even though I know my family is OK, it still freaks me out to not be able to talk to them and reassure myself. It's not comforting to watch the news, I've learned.
Please pray for the people in my home. A terrible thing had happened there, and as much as I wish I could fix it, I'm pretty sure I can't.