Here's To Life!

What a week it has been.  Nice weather, cold weather, rain and flooding!  School was actually closed for a day this week because of flooding - buses could not operate.  It has been a weird spring - it still feels like it should be March - weather wise - it is chilly and cold though today at least the sun is shining.  We get a warm day or two and then the temperatures drop again and it is cloudy and gray.  I am looking forward to nicer, more normal spring days.  It is the middle of April after all. I spent my school spring break visiting my mother on Cape Cod.  My brother and family were there as well.  It was a pleasant week with sunny days though chilly.  We drove out to the National Seashore one day to look at the erosion of the beaches after all of the recent storms.  I also did a little clothes shopping and found a dress to wear to John's and Sasha's wedding.   Learned how to play Mexican Train, a game my brother and family li...

Here it is - the beginning of March and we are having a major snowstorm.  It has been snowing all day - we should get 6 to 10 inches.  I walked to and from work - it was a regular winter wonderland.  Glad I cancelled my meeting for this evening - it is a good night to stay indoors.

Seafarers and International House (SIH) is a Lutheran mission for seafarers and sojourners.  It is one of the ministries of the ELCA and is located in New York City in lower Manhattan.  SIH is an 84-room hotel where many of its mission activities to seafarers, domestic violence victims, immigrants and travelers take place.   It is here where the Lutheran community can be a church at work – with meeting rooms and guest rooms.   Port chaplains board merchant ships while in port and bring needed items (international phone cards, WI-FI hubs for international communication) to seafarers and when allowed, can take them shopping, to see a doctor or dentist, or just come ashore. From 1984 to 1993, my father served as the executive director of SIH.   In December, they dedicated the newly renovated second floor of the hotel and named it the Rev. J. Gordon Swanson Center in honor of his tenure there.   My mother, my siblings and o...

What a trying end of January.  There was a gas issue in our condo unit the last Sunday of January.  It turns out the pipe bringing gas to our unit had a hole in it larger than a quarter.  It was not a Nicor problem but our gas was turned off immediately.  So, no heat, no hot water, no cooking.  And it is winter and cold outside.  A week and a half later we again have heat, hot water and gas for cooking.  Somehow, there was no sense of urgency to get our gas problem fixed, it seemed.  Three bids were required by the condo association which were gotten in a couple of days - but then it seemed to take a couple more days before they decided which contractor to hire to fix the issue.  Then it was a few more days before the contractor could get started, a part needed to be ordered and the problem was finally fixed after 9 days.  We are thankful for our friends who put us up for many nights and to those who lent us space heaters.  Of cours...

Christmas Dinner Our Frost Christmas celebrations were a little different this year - not our traditional smorgasbord on Christmas eve and opening presents after dinner and then going to Rock Island to be with Paul's family on Christmas Day.  Instead we had a delightful two days at home enjoying the time off and being together when we could.  John and Sasha invited Paul and I for breakfast in Chinatown on Christmas eve day for dim sum.  Sasha was great at ordering for us all with some help from the rest of us.  There was plenty of food and it was good.  Lots of people out eating meals as families.  Since John and Sasha went to her family's house for dinner on Christmas Eve this was a good way to see them.  Kristin and Jason came late afternoon.  I went to the family worship service at church and then Paul and I and Kristin and Jason went to Papaspiros (a Greek restaurant in Oak Park) for dinner.  It was rather crowded when we got there but...

Christmas 2012 Christmas Blessings to All! It has been a year of blessings for the Frost family.  As I write this letter, we have returned from a great weekend in NYC where we were the guests of Seafarers and International House, a ministry of the ELCA.  They honored my father who was the director there from 1984 to 1993, naming their newly remodeled second floor the Rev. J. Gordon Swanson Center.  Joy and Dan, John, Lee and Harry, Paul and Kristin as well as my mother were there for the festivities.  We had a chance to do some sightseeing and Christmas shopping too.  This was our second trip to NYC this year as Paul and I had also been in February where we had another Swanson family reunion with my siblings and my mother. Our big change this year was the selling of our house in Oak Park.  With both kids gone it was time to downsize.  We put our house on the market June 8th and were fortunate to have a contract August 18th. After that it was a ...

Less than a week until Christmas.  Two days left of school.  Trying to write my Christmas letter with something different and witty to say.  Paul is not home from work yet and it is after 11 o'clock.  My Apple TV is updating and it seems to be taking a long time - not sure how long it should be.  Wrapped some packages tonight, will finish doing that over the weekend.  I have made three different kinds of cookies - I still need to make bonbons and then I could be done - we shall see.