I'm back

Hi all,
I'm finally back to my blog. I have read others more than I have posted on my own. I am still addicted to reading other's blogs and love to hear the stories and learn from all of you.
Note to Suzanne from CA--Thanks for the great food posts. There are many great gourmet and healthfood cooks in MN also but I do not come from a line of them. I come from a typical midwestern farm family of cooks where meat, potatos, great breads, and desserts are the norm. No fancy ingrediants in my family's kitchens. But I do love to read about your delicious sounding meals and would love to try them. I have expanded my tastes to include the gourmet and love to find good restaurants but haven't perfected my cooking skills to include too much. I can sure give you recipes for lots of good comfort foods like meatloaf, cheesy potatoes, and tator-tot hotdish (casserole to all those not from MN).
To update you on my Dad--he is doing much better. His lungs are improving and he responded well to his first round of chemotherapy. He and my mother have gone back home and will be there until Feb. 20th when he returns for his next round of chemo. I however will be out of town so my brother will come to go to all their appointments with them--one of the perks of a big family.
When they return, I will be off to the winter wonderland of Hayward , WI. A small little town that holds a world class cross-country ski race every year--The American Birkebeiner. Teams from all over the world come to compete in this 58K race. I could let you all think that I complete this race but actually I am a Birkie Babysitter. My sister and brother-in-law both have done this race for many years. My sister took three years off to have babies and has been back at it for the last 5 years. Since the babies, I go along with them and babysit the kids. The kids are now 5 and 7 and both enter the children's barnebirkie--a much shorter race but impressive all the same.
I take the kids and we wait at the finish line for their Mom and Dad to arrive and cheer them on. My sister's favorite moment is when she spots us and can say ski over to say Hi to her kids just before crossing the finish line. We have a great time.
The small town grows about 10x during that weekend and is full of activity and excitement--I never enjoy winter and snow so much as during that weekend.
I spent last weekend with a group of girlfriends--six of us spent the weekend at the retirement home of one of our friends in Northern WI--deep in the woods and very secluded. It was terribly cold (-4 F) and kind of snowy so we mostly stayed in. We ventured out on Saturday to visit a town 30 miles away and got lost on the way--it doesn't seem to matter when you have good company in the car with you. Finally after going by the same country bar twice, we stopped for directions and made it to our destination. Other than that one outing, we ate, drank, and talked all weekend. It was so fun.
Nothing new on the adoption front. Last news from my agency was that my dossier is still at the MOFA. I keep hoping for word any day that it will move to the MOE.