VIEW FROM MY WINDOW

On forgiving

2011-02-21T11:18:00.002-06:00

I have , like many others, been in this position many times.. Needing to forgive. From experience I know i must find a way fo let this go. Really, the hurt comes from a direction i wasnt expecting, and I'm pretty sure these people really have no idea. There are clearly two sides to my heart in this, you know, the one that is so crushed and dismayed that it insists on clinging to the pain. I am trying not to cuddle up to it, or to let it grow in me, but I sense it taking root. Yesterday I heard from my pastor that forgiving doesn't mean that what was done is ok, or that it somehow makes everything fi e, it just gives you ( me in this case) release. I so need that. I need to let this go. I need to not nurture this pain let it root and take hold of me. I think too, that it's not like I've never unintentionally, or even intentionally hurt someone. I have graciously received forgiveness many times. I guess the other huge struggle is in knowing what my continued responsibility to these people is? Do send them birthday cards. Invite them for meals? Call and chat like I used to on occasion? I want to ignore them nd just cut them off. Nicely of course. If I never saw these people again that would be fine with me, however I suspect forgiveness won't let me off quite that easily.
"this is how the heavenly father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart"

Gratefulness

2011-01-05T13:42:00.002-06:00

I saw someone else doing this. On their blog. I wondered at the numbered lists, but when I figured it out I realized what a great idea it was. Actually I read a whole book about this: Developing the habit and attitude of gratitude. I led a Sunday School class for 8 weeks where we dove into developing gratitude in our lives. It is a very appealing quality in other people. In fact, I'm quite drawn to people who are creatively thankful. By that I mean, they go above and beyond just saying Thank You. They actually ACT thankful, and tell others how thankful they are. Well, I don't want it to be too smothering or anything and really there's nothing wrong with a plain " thank you", but I do want to grow in my gratefulness. Perhaps that will keep me from my 'moodiness' (or sullenness if you will) It's a part of the 'LIVE OUT LOUD' move for me. So I have a new tool to help me. Well, not really new, just different and more fun. My IPAD. I put a journal App on it right away so it's my 2011 journal. I put away the pen and I am typing this year. So far, so Cool. My point? At the end of every day's entry I have space to reflect. I am listing 5 specific things that I'm grateful for. I may elaborate on what I mean, or it might just be a list. The point, of course, is to conciously think about all the things in my life that should make me truly a more grateful person. Then I will add one specific action that also shows more gratefulness from me. Like writing a thank you letter.... So. Want to join me???

Hands

2010-12-27T08:53:00.002-06:00

The youngest and the oldest. How quickly time flies by. I have thought many times lately that I can hardly believe where I am in life right now..5 grandchildren? Aches and pains where I've never had them before. Married to someone nearly 40 years? Yes, time has flown by..

Christmas 2010

2010-12-20T08:46:00.003-06:00

I see it's been months since I've done any blogging. So there's nothing like getting a Christmas letter via my blog. If you didn't get one in the mail, it isn't because I don't wish you a Merry Christmas. But Thank you so much to all for friendship, and support. Onward and upward in 2011, and we hope you all continue to be a big part of our lives.

What could be better than inviting all our friends and family into our living room and sitting with them to chat about our year! Oh wait, I do have a way-Our Christmas Letter! So come join us in our front room and listen in on our conversation:

Ron: So, Sue, I'll let you start with what happened this year. I don't remember much anymore.
Sue: Lots of things that happened this year could go in this letter. We should probably organize
things in a logical way. Chronological could work.
Ron: Perfect. So the first thing we should talk about is my garage. Just look at it. Big, beautiful, woodsy color, and we can even use it!
Sue: Yup, that one would work. However, you're not done with it yet. Aren't you still putting in electricity, putting up a ceiling or something?
Ron: Ok, I'm still working on it.
Well, I did finish putting in a new floor in our living room. That turned out pretty good don't you think?
Sue: Pretty? Yes. And it only took 3 months to do. We really should have more people over so they can see it. I don't think that's too interesting for a newsy Christmas letter, though. Good thing they weren't here in this living room when you dug those dead squirrels out of the chimney. Now that was gross. Poor Burt and Faith. They still don't know that that awful smell was right over there in that fireplace. I think we'll keep that to ourselves.
Ron: Ok, well then we could talk about my trip to the Boundary Waters. That was a pretty good trip
Sue: You didn't even catch any fish.
Ron: That hardly counts. The weather was great, the other guys caught fish and we got to canoe.
Sue: Well, take it away then! Did you bring your pictures? We could do a slide show here or something. I'm sure our friends and family will love all your pictures of water, trees, canoes, and fishing poles.
Sue: Or, hey, wait. Our biggest news was grandchild number 5! That should be at the top of our list.
Ron: You're right, April this year was a pretty big deal.
Sue: All 9 lbs. 13 oz of her. What a little princess.
Ron: As I remember that's exactly how big her father was! Oh, and her name. Her name, means princess; Sarah Elisabeth.
Sue: And here we are at the end of the year, and she's crawling and has teeth popping through. She's going to give her parents and brother a run for their money.
Ron: That reminds me, we had the other 3 grand-kids over for a few days in July while their parents were gone. That was adventure at its best.
Sue: You took them “camping” in the new garage and used them for manual labor.
Ron: They loved it, and don't tell everybody that. It sounds like we're, well, slave drivers. They did other fun things... Boat building, wii playing, picnicking days!
Sue: Ok, then, on to other things. I really think our friends and family should all hear about our one and only camping trip to northern Wisconsin. I mean after all, who wouldn't be jealous of a trip to a place filled with giant mosquitoes, no electricity, pit toilets, and bathing in the lake.
Ron: Oh, hey, that's pretty negative. You forgot that I do all the cooking. The weather was perfect. We sat around the fire ring and ate s’mores and pudgy pies, AND we were there with friends.
Sue: shhhh..I just want everyone to know how “hardy” we are!
Ron: Well, we don't have to tell them exactly where we went. That would help.
Sue: Ok I think they got the camping idea anyway.
Ron: You forgot to tell everyone about the family weekend together in Cancun.
Sue: You're right, that's because we didn't go to Cancun. We went to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha.
Ron: Well, you're the one always wanting things more exciting. It'd be pretty exciting to take our whole family to Cancun don't you think.
Sue: Yes. Though, having 5 kids, 7 adults and a dog in one house was adventure enough. It was a lot of fun. I'm so glad we enjoy being with each other.
Ron: And what was the highlight of that whole weekend?
Sue: It had to be playing “Family Trivia”. Jon comes up with some good prizes. Weird questions, but good prizes. Though, admittedly I love the zoo, and the Lincoln's Farmer's Market.
Ron: I still can't believe they expected me to know what Simeon's middle name was...
Sue: At least he didn't make you memorize “Goodnight Moon” again.
Just think, they'll all be at our house again for Christmas. I have to come up with some sort of adventure for everyone. A non competitive ‘game’ this time.
Ron: How about having them help me put up the ceiling in the garage. We could make it a puzzle.
Sue: Maybe having a White Elephant exchange will be adventure enough.
Ron: We could start on the bathroom....
Sue: Maybe here would be a good place to tell everyone that you had projects galore at Amy's new house in Michigan and it's like, your favorite thing to do. Projects that is.
Ron: I suppose. I didn't end up at the doctor's and the Chiropractor's after I was finished like I did after spending a couple hours picking strawberries in June.
Sue: Yup, I think it's time to summarize. We promised not to talk about doctor visits. We really had a pretty good year, don't you think.
Ron: We have.
Thanks for joining in on the conversation here! There's no question that we have seen answers to prayer, God's faithfulness to us and our family.
“admonish….encourage….help…be patient…But always seek to do good to one another and everyone. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it.”(I Thes 5:14-16,24)
We don't know what the next years will hold, but we do know that God is faithful. We wait in great hope and expectancy for 2011 and pray for you to know God's grace and love...

Cousins picture

2010-10-10T20:21:00.004-05:00

Ok, so here I'm trying to get just one picture of the 5 grandkids together. We start with the 4 boys until we can quickly (and I really mean quickly) get Sarah in place to get a shot of them all. As you can see, the results are pretty hilarious. Well, for me anyway. Simeon is obviously not too happy with this process. Ah well, it will be funny some day! And, all 5 of them are in the picture.

Wisconsin Camping

2010-09-30T07:31:00.004-05:00

As you can see from my pictures we had the best weekend in Wisconsin. Granted, we didn't do a whole lot, but I think that's what camping is all about! I don't think I've seen skies so blue in awhile. The tree colors? Beautiful. Hurrah for camping. Eating, sleeping, walking...oh yes, and we talked. Our conversations these days revolve around retirement and aches and pains. Yikes, it is scary. Are we acting like old people? Maybe just acting our age. That's sad.

The Sycamore Tree

2010-09-20T11:00:00.004-05:00

(sycamore) (Basswood)

Orange City has two beautiful, huge Sycamore trees that I walk past on my morning walks. They are so splendid I decided I wanted one for myself and our back yard. So we've been looking. and looking. In my research however, I discovered that the Sycamore is a space hog. It gets so huge it should be planted by itself in a space because it takes up so much room. Since we have quite a few trees in our back yard already, we thought maybe a different tree would fit better. So we went with the Basswood tree, a.k.a. the Linden Tree. (I did not know that before) The Basswood is also known as a Bee Tree. You can guess the reason for this, Bees love its blossoms and incredible fragrance. In fact, Basswood tree honey is highly sought after. (Though it won't make much difference to us since we aren't keeping bees as well) It too, is a beautifully shaped tree and grows quite large. There are several of them in our neighbor hood as well. So Saturday, we stopped at Del's Garden Center in Spencer and found our Basswood. We are taking out a spirea bush plunked in the middle of our yard and replacing it with this lovely Basswood. Now if I can just live long enough to see it as big as the one across the street!

Is This Heaven?

2010-09-12T15:36:00.000-05:00

Lynn and I took an afternoon and headed to the Adam's Homestead Nature Preserve near McCook Lake near Sioux City last week. We've ridden our bikes on this trail before, but it is so beautiful we had to go again. We were not disappointed. The day was picture perfect. Lynn had made us a lunch and we stopped along the Missouri River and enjoyed the afternoon. I know this is one picture I have in my head that I want to keep. Thanks friend, for dragging me out of work to go do this. It was lovely!

Ahhhh Saturday

2010-09-11T07:52:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe that a week that had a holiday in it could end up being a long week, but it was. I fear next week, with the regular 5 days, will be an even longer one with long hours. And that when Ron finally gets home again. I ate out waaay too much while he was gone. At least he will be rested and ready to go. (after all, his favorite thing to do is projects! seriously.)
But we are here at Saturday again. That is good, though too short I'm sure.

I am thinking about doing Sunday School tomorrow. We are diving into "Choosing Gratitude" by Nancy DeMoss. So it would be pretty wrong of me to start complaining here. Instead, I'll just start this period of my life by saying, I am so grateful for my church and a group of women I can walk down this road with. Thanks to my wonderful daughters-in-law, and daughter who first did this book with me. It makes it extra special to be able to share this with others.

Lost and Found at the library

2010-09-02T11:06:00.004-05:00

Ok, since I've been working at this library I often feel like I'm in an Oz like state. You know, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Dorthy". Maybe it's just the age we're living in, or maybe I'm just getting old. Who knows. From the little old man rushing into the men's restroom to the policemen arresting someone in our foyer I find myself a bit dazed. Anyway, to the point:
Found in library's Reading Room: 1 bottle male enhancement pills.
Claimed the next morning by owner who explained in detail what great lengths he had gone to to purchase said pills.
Sheesh.

Birthdays

2010-08-30T20:06:00.000-05:00

Picking out a sucker at the Farmer's Market

I know you will think it silly when I tell you that I remember this boy's father's 3rd birthday. We celebrated it in Illinois and I almost willingly missed it for a trip with a friend. I decided in the end, that I simply could not miss a celebration that happened only once in a child's life. I have a picture of him sitting in a chair in front of his cake. We must have just said "Take your thumb out of your mouth, Jonathan" because the thumb is pulled out, but still close so he can pop it back in as soon as the picture is snapped.
I realize that Jon wasn't there for this day but he did make it home for the actual birthday day so technically he only missed the party.
So that said, I am so glad that I also got to celebrate my grandson's third birthday. He had such fun. He enjoyed every package, every bite of cake, and blowing out those candles! Thanks Mindy and Jon for letting us be a part of his special day. I am looking forward to every one of them!

BWCA

2010-08-02T06:25:00.005-05:00

Apparently it was a very good trip to the Boundary Waters! Ron didn't catch a single fish. (not for lack of trying, though) But they ate plenty of fish anyway. Weather was good. They all made it home safely. Ron saying, I'm not as young as I used to be. Those portage trails weren't easy.

But next week is our vacation together! Hoo Rah! We're going camping.

Family

2010-07-27T21:11:00.003-05:00

I spent last weekend with family. I haven't seen them in nearly 10 years. So I had been looking forward to the time together! It was a 7 hour trip one way for me. I took some audio books and enjoyed the ride! And it was worth the trip! Catching up. Remembering. Being a part. My sister, niece, mom, brother in law were there as well. I went to church with the cousins on Sunday. I bought Sweet corn. (only $3 a doz) I helped pick fresh green beans and peas. We ate together. We did dishes together. We laughed a lot. I will keep this family for sure and try to get Ron to go with me next time.

Home again, Home Again, Lickety Split

2010-07-18T22:05:00.005-05:00

Dear Nathan and Kristin,
Well, your boys are back. We did our best to spoil, pamper and generally love on them while they were here. I doubt they learned anything life long...you know, like the immutibility of God, or anything about the time space continuium, but we had a wonderful time. Do you see the picture of me with Simeon? I have to say, he is one wonderfully, huggable kid. Oh my but I enjoyed holding that one. And the other Two? They were talkitive, willing, ready, and game for any and every thing. When Aunt Joan asked them what their favorite thing about the weekend was, Isaiah said, "There were just too many fun things that they did to just pick one." I loved that! I think we all had a great time. And they were kind, polite, generous to each other, and ate everything I fixed. (and more) So. Let's plan on doing this again...but maybe not for a few months. I need to get some rest. Bless you for the wonderful job of parenting that you two are doing! They will eventually learn the Westminster catachism and I won't have to help with that!

Summer Adventure pt. 3

2010-07-17T18:40:00.002-05:00

Hi Mom and Dad,

Isaiah and Phinehas may not miss you, but I just gotta say, WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME? I MISS MISS MISS YOU. -signed Simeon.

P.S.

Ok, so I have been having a good time, but It's taken Grandma and grandpa a few days to get the hang of how I work. They tried to feed me green beans today. YUCK. And yesterday, it was potatoes. UGH. I'm not picky. I'm really not. But how did they manage to pick out things I just don't like to eat. Well, we've had fun in other ways. Running through the sprinkler today was a blast! I got wet wet and it was so nice and cool. We're eating marshmallows tonight. I'm not sure about them either, but I'll try. Oh, wait. Grandma did let me try ICE CREAM. Now there's something I just love. Why haven't you let me have any of that? Also, I've been a bit bored with the Wii thing. Goodness, what is that all about? And Grandma and Grandpa don't really have a lot of toys to choose from either. They need to do something about that.

Well, I can't wait til you get home.

Love and kisses and soft hugs,

Simeon

Summer Adventure pt. 2

2010-07-17T08:38:00.004-05:00

Hi Mom and Dad,

Grandma is making me, Phinehas, write today. But I don't have too much time. Grandpa is taking us to Kproducts and then we get to see where he works. I've always wondered about that. Anyway, I'm kind of in a hurry so I'll try to tell you as much as I can before we have to go.

We went swimming at Grandma's pool yesterday. Wow was it ever lots of fun. They have that kind of pool where you can just walk right in and it isn't very deep. After I got used to it I could run and jump in from one edge. Grandma said we could just stay in the one place behind the blue and white rope and she wouldn't worry about us. The most fun was running over to their sprinklers! Grandma said she was putting pictures in so I won't try to describe them.

Then last night we helped Grandpa set up the camper. Right in their garage! Man o man, their camper is the coolest! It had 2 beds on the side and one in the middle and a couch and a sink and grandma said they had a stove, but I didn't really see that. The most fun was jumping on those beds. And we could jump from the bed to the little bed or the couch. Wow! It was sorta hot in there but we've never been camping before so I really really liked it. (but I fell out of bed in the night and then got a bed of my own) Simeon and grandma stayed in the house, so it was just us guys in the camper.

Today we are going to the library, the park and we're going to build boats with grandpa. So, I gotta go now. Maybe grandpa will get us something at K products!! (Don't worry, though, mom, I won't ask for anything. I will be polite.)

I love you, and miss you only a teeny tiny bit.

Love,

Phinehas,

for Isaiah and Simeon, too.

P.S.

We had baked oatmeal for breakfast! mmmm!

Summer Adventures

2010-07-16T12:10:00.006-05:00

Hey Mom and Dad!

Hope you're having a great time in Ar-i-zo whatever....Grandma is making me write this, otherwise I prbly would be doing something else...like watering the plants. Grandma has a lot of them, and they sure do need lots of water! And guess what! We ate prbly the junkiest lunch ever. Hot dogs. And potato chips, and chocolate pudding. Maybe tonight, Grandma says, we'll get a salad or something green.

I think Grandma's figured out what you mean when you say you hardly have time to sit down and have coffee in the morning. I noticed grandma only got to drink a little bit out of her cup before we were busy doing stuff. She doesn't seem to mind though. I don't know how something as icky as coffee could be so important. Oh well...

Stuff? Oh yeah, we had to help walk Buster (you should see how much he licked Simeon. I hope dog germs don't make people sick,or Simeon is going to be sick) We walked to the park. Grandma said I was a real monkey on those hanging bars, and jumping on the merry go round. I gotta say, I love grandma's parks. Then we watered the plants, like I said earlier. We got pretty wet with that. Oh well, we're going to the pool later so I think it will be ok. And we played Wii too. Driving, and shooting, and snowboarding on a cow and riding to the sun through a bunch of rings. I think by the time we go home we might have the hang of the Wii thing. It sure is different from that nintendo 64 thing that daddy has. You should think about getting one of these, I think. Then Grandma would have some real competition when we come to play.

Well, we love you. And don't miss you too much yet. Have fun.

Isaiah...for Phinehas and Simeon Too!

P.S.

Grandma brought boats home for Phinehas and me to make with Grandpa. We even get to paint them!

compare

2010-07-11T17:10:00.001-05:00

What do you think? Do these two have any resemblance to each other?

Making the Paper

2010-07-01T20:20:00.003-05:00

So I just have to share these articles with everyone. A 'space needs' consultant did a study at the library in April, and reported his findings to city council on Tuesday. I thought it went well. The newspaper did a write up on his report. Here is that link for what they said. (And, I might add, they got it right!) http://www.lemarssentinel.com/story/1646349.html
Then today, there was an editorial in the paper. Here is that link: http://www.lemarssentinel.com/story/1646652.html
See what you think!

Month long absence

2010-06-30T21:15:00.004-05:00

Ok Ok, Thanks for the messages from my vast readership :) (as they say). Nonetheless, it has been a very busy June. First a wedding. Those are way more fun than funerals, let me just say. This one was no exception. Second, our annual trip to the zoo. It was fun to get together. Nathan won the family contest. I'm not sure how that happens. And hey, there were even pretty nice prizes! We were supposed to do our first camping trip of the summer last weekend, but we ended up enjoying a mighty storm at home because Ron was definitely not up to the trip. More on that later....

Here are grandkids in all their glory. I don't have enough room to post them all, so I'll just put up a few of my favorites:

All of these taken in the space of just a few seconds. Can you tell?

Biking with the Boys

2010-05-31T14:39:00.003-05:00

Here's how we spent our Saturday of the long weekend! It's hard to believe these boys are big enough to do this with us. We had such great fun! And to think, Isaiah would have been happy if we'd ridden around in the parking lot. He had no idea the trails were so cool! I think he'll be willing to do this again. And Phinehas was just as happy pushing along downhill on his scooter. Grandpa was glad he didn't have to go too far. Only a mile.

Summer Tasks

2010-05-28T08:11:00.002-05:00

We aren't doing too much to start our summer, i.e. Memorial Day weekend. No camping or canoeing anyway. A visit to Sioux Falls for a backyard picnic maybe. So we started last night on our main summer project-painting. That is, painting the garages and house. Oh, and we are cleaning and sealing the deck. We borrowed a pressure cleaner and had at it. I must say, for something called a 'cleaner' it sure made a mess. While the deck boards look amazingly clean, the paint chips all over them are pretty messy. I am excited to see the changes, hopefully the improvements! Pictures later. But for the rest of you-enjoy the long weekend!

This Body of Death

2010-05-27T08:24:00.002-05:00

We got some first hand experience with the stench of death this week. Rotting corpses are not pleasant- to view or to have their wretched smell fill up your living room either. Oh goodness it was awful. We had not just 1 poor squirrel starve to death in our fireplace chimney, but four of them. So if you can imagine the smell that we had on Saturday when at least one of them was at its ripest, you will understand that by today, Thursday, my stomach gets a bit queasy at just the thought of it. Not only that, but we had some good friends that we haven't seen in awhile stop by for a visit on Saturday afternoon. They were kind enough not to say word about the wretched smell. I sat there wondering what in the world they must be thinking- it truly was awful.
Last night Ron got down on his back in the fireplace, with a shop vac and his hands and pulled out body parts for the better part of three hours. He had a pile in the corner of the largest pieces, some of them filled with maggots. (no wonder I had flies coming out of the woodwork). Every few minutes he would have to stop because the vac hose was plugged and I would take it outside and empty it out-bones, a piece of tail, soot... Then finally, at 10 pm he shut that vaccuum off, went to the top of the chimney, put a piece of plywood and cement block on top and came in to clean off the stench.
Phew, that is the end of that I hope. Though while we were sitting in that room, a candle burning to get rid of the last of the smell, we heard animal noises coming from the chimney......

Weekend fun

2010-05-17T20:19:00.004-05:00

Seriously, does this not look like the best weekend ever? And this is just one day! Man, we ate our way through the Tulip Festival, saw the afternoon parade and street fest. Isaiah counted 10 bands and did not touch the water! Phin, however fell in. That was a sorry moment! And as I downloaded my pictures I realized I did not get one single shot of Sarah. What in the world? I cuddled her, rocked her and just adored her. (I adore the other 4 too, just not like you do a girl) Simeon ate ice cream, everyone had brats and a very healthy salad...these are all just random jots from our Tulip Festival weekend.

Road Trip

2010-05-11T20:57:00.005-05:00

Lynn and I took a road trip last weekend. I laugh because I love to tell the story of how we decided where to go. "Let's take a trip to New York" (thinking of the fun we'd had when we went to Chicago a few years ago) Or, wait. I know, San Francisco sounds like a lot of fun." Whoa. Slow down there..."I know, let's go to Pella!" So, it was decided. Pella and its Tulip Festival were in our sights. We only went by ourselves because we knew our husbands wouldn't be too enthused about Pella. After all, they got more than enough Tulip festivalling right here. But we planned to do some biking too. (the bikes got a great wet down and back and never made it off theback of the truck!) Fortunately we decided to stay in a motel and not to camp. Because as it turned out, and as you all may already know, it was a freezing cold, rainy weekend. Not to worry. We had fun anyway. The tulips were pretty well done. But it didn't rain on the parade. Wow-a big parade it was too! The bakery and the Pella library had to be the highlights of the trip. I could have lived on Dutch letters, dutch tarts, and other almond pastries. Mmmmm! Oh and the poffertjies? They put strawberries and whip cream on theirs. Wow! (we should have biked) Here are some of my touristy pictures:

39 years

2010-04-25T14:55:00.004-05:00

"The longest journey begins with a single step". Hard for me to believe I have taken this many "steps" with this one single person. He has always been, and will always be, the one I would want to walk with through life. You know, when you are just getting married they tell you that 'it's not easy.' "marriage is hard work" "you'll see trials and troubles"...blah blah. I remember thinking, as I was surrounded by all those 'marriage pros' (i.e. my parents and in-laws) on my wedding day, that surely I would be different. Love would be effortless. This amazing feeling that I had on this, my wedding day, couldn't possibly ever change. Well, I'm here to tell you, 'they' were right. It has been work, it hasn't been a piece of cake, and that wonderful wedding day feeling? Well, it didn't last too long. I found out quickly: Love is not a feeling. It's a commitment to lots of work.

My 39 year partner would surely tell you that I haven't always been the most fabulous, sexy, interesting, engaging or appealing person to live with, but he has never given up on me. I think he entertains the thought every day, "well today could be the day when she'll be everything I hoped she would be. I can't give up on her now." So he takes the time to pray with me every morning, kisses me before he heads off to work, and greets me the same way when we're back together again at night. Steady rock-ness. That's what I have in him. He has gone out of his way to bring out the best in me.. Not an easy to be sure. He has actively engaged in fatherhood (changing dirty diapers and getting up in the middle of the night with sick kids) participated in the household chores (wash, cooking and willingly doing the 'list'). He (almost) always asks what he can do to help, and has always always always given me room to grow. He is plagued by the 'I can fix it' syndrome, but I love him for it anyway, even when it annoys me. The one thing, though that has been the glue in our relationship is not some dogged determination to stick together, it's that we earnestly want our journey to be about honoring God, the creator and sustainer of our marriage in the first place. It's God who has done this thing. Not my husband. Not me. Without Him, our efforts would be... about us.

39 years ago one cold, sunny April afternoon we started off together. We knew from the beginning anyway, that it would not be about us. This has been our life verse together: "Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain" (ps. 127:1) I didn't really know what that would look like. 3 kids, 5 moves, 1 unemployment bout, career change, sickness and health, 5 grandchildren later....It has been nothing short of amazing.

It's been a pretty short trip to here, but I hope we still have a way to go ... There's lots yet I'm hoping to see and learn together!

Biking

2010-04-21T19:51:00.002-05:00

Someone told me today I could exercise more. That might help me keep this silly weight off. So I took the bike out tonight and headed down the Puddle Jumper. My first excursion and it was a gorgeous night to do it. I wished the whole way along that I'd brought the camera. Oh well. The air was filled with dozens of birds singing. I heard the brown thrush and even, I think, a purple martin, plus the usual of robins and finches and woodpeckers. The air smelled wonderful tonight. The plum trees on the side of the trail looked like mountainous fragrant snowdrifts. They were lovely! I checked for asparagus. I always think I'm going to remember where it's growing on the trail, but of course there was no way to tell now. I didn't have anything to carry it with anyway. Last year when I rode on the trail, I could do the hard part..up the hill to the golf course trail..without too much difficulty. Tonight I had to stop and catch my breath. not a good sign I think. Better to watch the horses off to the east. Town on the left, country on the right. Then when I swung aroung to head down the golf course trail, there was the balloon. The air is so still tonight, no wonder the balloon was up. Excellent. It was a great ride! I hope to make a habit of it on nights like these..well, every night hopefully!

Spring ... Again!

2010-04-20T21:26:00.005-05:00

So you can tell that at last spring has arrived in Orange City. Tulip Festival is only a few weeks away but we are awash in tulip blooms. How many for tulip festival will depend on how warm it gets, but what does it matter? We get to enjoy them whenever they bloom. So here are just a few from my Sunday afternoon walk in the park. I swear I'd never get tired of taking pictures of tulips from every conceivable angle. Sorry. If you don't get a chance to make it to the Festival at least you can enjoy the tulips!

New Granddaughter

2010-04-11T21:50:00.006-05:00

We traveled to Lincoln this week to meet our new Granddaughter. She was born Friday morning, so because of the weekend we were able to go down right away. I have to say, holding new babies is one of the most awesome experiences a person can have. How is it possible someone that little can be just, so, perfect! She let us hold her and love her up. I believe it's the start of a life-long relationship just exactly like that. And of course, we got to enjoy some one on one time with Jeremiah, too. He was a delight. We took him to IHop for pancakes, he rode in the truck with us for groceries, we watched Nemo together, read books and best of all, watched as he welcomed his new sister home. Yes. It was a fabulous fun weekend. I could go in for one of those more often. I don't think my kids are quite up for more of them though. These kind of weekends seem to take quite a bit out of those young'uns! Anyway, I know you've seen some of the pictures I've posted, but here are a few more!!

Easter Fun

2010-04-06T18:46:00.005-05:00

Here's how we spent our Easter afternoon. Uncle Tom brought punching balloons, we played in the park, and we ate, drew, and read. The boys aren't crazy about Buster but they sure do like walking him. It's funny to watch. It was a great family time.

Why I need Grace

2010-03-31T14:44:00.002-05:00

At our Bible Study last night we were contemplating the Grace and Mercy of God, among other things. (we touched on election, but we are studying Ephesians after all) Paul begins his gospels all with "Grace to you, and Peace...." That is, unmerited blessings to you, a marvelous deliverance free of charge, this is a foundation of your faith come drink at this wonderful fountain instead of digging up any old cistern. With that in mind, this video, posted by my sister in law, reminded me of how much we all need, no crave "GRACE". So this is for my bible study sisters, and you all....

Trash

2010-03-24T13:18:00.002-05:00

Last fall I put together a game for the family to play while they were at our house over Thanksgiving weekend. They did have a lot of fun playing. It was one of those, "Run-around-OrangeCity" kind of games. It was very competitive too, which is par for the course, I guess. Anyway, everyone had fun I'm thinking.
I am back to walking outside these mornings. (I am listening to a James Herriott novel for anyone who's interested) So on my walk this morning, you won't believe what I found! Well, it wasn't a $100 bill as my husband once found, but it was part of that game I had designed for the Thanksgiving weekend. Yup. Still in it's waterproof plastic bag. Hung up on a sewer drain. Hard to tell where it came from. (I put them up all over town after all.) Though I know where it was supposed to send the finder to next. So here it is folks: ziplock baggies keep things pretty dry even with 50+ inches of snow on top of them. And sadly, I was responsible for contributing to the general trashiness of the melting snow. Please don't tell anyone. I picked it up and took it home and threw it away. So it can be added to the trash heap properly.

Our Floor project

2010-03-14T15:21:00.002-05:00

Our floor project is progressing. As you can see our fireplace room is almost done. It will extend out into the little hallway and I'm sure that will slow Ron down a bit as there will be more cutting. And he has to rip out the floor that's there because it is about 1/4inch higher than the other floor. I never understood why the previous owners put down a vinal floor and had such beautiful walnut woodwork. To match I'm sure. The next owners of this house will probably look at what we've done (or not done) and shake there heads and wonder what we were thinking as well. Oh well. But we're pleased so far. Come visit. Seeing things in person is even better, don't you think!

Photo fun

2010-03-10T10:28:00.005-06:00

I used to use Adobe Photoshop for all my pictures. And for most things, I still rely pretty heavily on it. But Photoshop can be a bit complicated and I don't always have great luck with it. But I use it because I actually still get pictures printed and I don't quite trust some of the free photo fixers that you can find online with my photos. Though I have to admit, I haven't experimented with printing too many weird things....like these photos.

I have used Picasa almost exclusively for quick online fixes and resizing my pictures. And I've used a ton of other ones, too-picnik.com, picture quest,flickr, gimp...and it's fun to play around. Here's a new website that lets you fiddle with your photos, Phixr.com. Give it a try and see what you think.

The picture was taken of the library's kids' playhouse. I just fiddled with the shot. I'm sure I'm going to be able to use it somehow on our website or other literature. What do you think?

Everything I needed to know about life I learned from Tomato Paste

2010-03-06T13:32:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I'm exaggerating just a bit. I didn't learn EVERYTHING from tomato paste. Just a little lesson....
You know, I've been cooking for 35+ years. I think I'm better than when i started, but not quite as good as some. My sister for instance. That's because my whole approach to cooking is similar to my approach to lots of other things. "Good enough" works for me. Just enough "to get by" is sometimes how I think. So when I started cooking I loved easy to cook things. Chili. Box mix cakes. Casseroles. Though I did learn how to make pie, it's not as easy as they say. Long complicated, multi step recipes I avoided or messed up on because I wouldn't read the directions thoroughly. Anyway, all that to say that when I would make soups that required tomato paste I didn't get it. Why would you put that big glop of sticky red goop in your soup? Like Chili? Who needs it? So I skipped the tomato paste. For more than 30 years no less. And we all ate fairly good chili. Well, I thought so anyway. I threw in all the other things that were required so no one really missed the tomato paste. Well, they didn't know that was missing so how could they?
But I found a new chili recipe a little while back and it called for tomato paste. I had some. And, I had the time to add it, so I did. Wow!? Was it the tomato paste that did that to the chili? Made it a bit thicker. And heartier. And it added some texture. Hmmmm. I liked this. Maybe I should do this again. Try the tomato paste that is. So I did. Same result. Well, what do you know?
So, of course, now I use the tomato paste all the time. And I got to thinking about it. My sloppiness with cooking is really a symptom of my attitude about life events. I skip things because I don't want to take the time, even though by doing so I will be missing out or affecting the flavor, and what's even worse, I won't know it. I'm impatient. I'm in too big a hurry. I rush to get to the end and skip over important stuff. How can I slow down and remember to add the tomato paste? Yes. Slow down. Be more deliberate. I am chastising myself. Ah that patience stuff again. It doesn't come easily.

Des Moines

2010-03-04T10:56:00.004-06:00

I was in Des Moines yesterday. It was a 4 hour drive and a 1/2 day visit. I haven't been to the capitol in years. This was a visit to our local representatives. Good thing I brought my camera along. These buildings are really gorgeous.

We got a quick tour of the house chambers while they were in a brief recess. Our main meeting, though was in the law library. (the circular staircase) I wondered if the representatives or their clerks really used those books still. I could definitely imagine what it must have been like in there a hundred years ago. Wow.

It was a lovely day in Des Moines. And in the building. This is the afternoon sunshine streaming in, and the dome interior.

Floor work

2010-02-28T16:26:00.007-06:00

We had some help this weekend with our floor project. As you can see, the grandsons arrived, and just in the nick of time! They did some measuring, and pounding, and sliding to clean things up a bit, and they played here as well, just to test things out! They did a nice job, as you can tell. We are probably 1/3 of the way across the floor and made quite a bit of progress. All that hammering and sawing does take a toll though. We are supposed to have small group at our house next weekend. Eeek. I don't think this will be finished. The goal, remember was Easter. We should make that, though. It is hickory flooring butted up against the walnut wainscoat. It is very woodsy, to say the least, but looks pretty good. You all will have to stop over and give us your opinion. Of course, if you stop over before we're done we will be glad to let you help. The boys all thought that was great fun. I think you would too!

Just One Day at Work!

2010-02-23T16:38:00.002-06:00

We ordered new library cards today, ones that will have a picture of the library on it, and will have a key card. You know one of those little ones that fit on a key ring. We ordered 3,000 of them Wow! Exciting because they seem, well, so up to date!
I also got in some brand new battery back ups for our computers. Now these weren't the cheapest things in the world, but I didn't get too bad of a deal on them, and, and I get to send the old ones back. I'm being green because I'm recycling. What could be better than that. These things are supposed to be better than just surge protectors. I tell you, though, all these little computer peripherial stuff can just nickle and dime you to death. Don't like that much.
In other news here at the library, I found out this morning that 7 people are planning to participate in my 'outside-the-library' book club coming up. We are going to discuss Jason Wright's book The Wednesday Letter. That means I am doing two book clubs for the library. This, I remind myself, is why I absolutely love the library. Nothing is better than getting to read, and then sit down and talk about what I'm reading with other people....(and get paid for it)

On Being Fashionable

2010-02-21T15:54:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I admit it, I have never been a particularly trendy person. I really don't care about clothes all that much. I find myself shaking my head in confusion, or wonderment when I hear someone say "Oh, your shoes are so cute." Cute? Shoes? Oh come on. That is simply not possible. Shoes can be practical, or comfortable, or worn, but cute? I don't get it.
Ok, and then there's this whole thing with fingernail polish. I admit I have a small bottle in my bathroom cupboard, but it probably doesn't even run right now it's been in there so long. I just can't bring myself to put the stuff on. I also admit that a couple of years ago it dawned on me that lots of women were wearing polish on their TOES! I really never look at people's feet unless something shocking strikes me so why I even noticed polish on toes is a surprise to even me. So I was brave one Sunday morning and put some on My toes. Wonder of wonders someone commented on it. Good grief. People look at my toes? I am amazed.
Of course, all this is to tell you about my latest surprising discovery. If you're a 'friend' of mine on Facebook you will have maybe noticed my little poll about nylon knee high socks. I have been wearing them since they were invented. (sorry) It seems they are a major fashion Faus Pax. See, I even asked the clerk at JC Penny's what kind of socks she was wearing and she pulls up her pant legs and has on a pair of little white socks with her black dress pants. (as you will see shortly this is also a faus pax) If I'd had more time I would have polled way more people walking by but I was hungry. (that's another story)
Anyway, I have been guilty for, well, I don't know how long because no one has ever told me this before Friday evening. I am still in somewhat of a state of denial about this, but I dutifully bought some regular socks. (I don't mind wearing socks acutally) though I did put my knee highs at the back of my drawer thinking that someday they may acutally be fashionable again. So I guess I am saying thanks to my wonderful girlfriends for dragging me along in the world of fashion. After all if your friends can't tell you that you are making a big mistake when you wear "that" then, well who can?
Of course that got me to thinking about what other Fashion mistakes I am making. And thanks to google, you can acutally find out. So, now, just remember I won't necessarily care if I am wearing something I shouldn't, or not wearing something I should but this is interesting none the less.

Here are some major Fashion DONTS:

Dark socks with white shoes. Also, white socks with dark shoes. (Think Michael Jackson.) I actually found a site that talked about "wearing hose that matched your shoes" so I guess that would leave out the knee high nylons.

Socks with sandals. One is for winter, the other for summer. The same goes with nylons and sandals. With peep-toed shoes, don't wear pantyhose or you'll have the webbed-toe look.

While white is now considered all-season by many, it goes over much better if you are a celebrity. If not, tread with caution.
Another seasonal faux pas is wearing a straw/summer type hat before Memorial Day. Not an issue many have to deal with, but beware events that call for hats, because there will definitely be party-goers there who will be taking note.

Anyway, I wore socks to church today, but as a mild protest about the god of fashion, They were a pair my mom gave me with puppies on them.

I'm melting....hurrah!

2010-02-18T18:48:00.002-06:00

Oh, oh,oh! The icicles were melting today. There are lots of them at our house and all of them are dripping. The ruts in the street are deeper and nastier. The sun shone in the back of the library and I stood there with my face to the sun this afternoon. (dreaming of spring)

And tonight, Ron is out saving telephone/cable TV/internet for Orange City-dom. I'm not sure anyone is aware of it since I haven't been in town all day and don't know if those things were down somewhere. There is always a large outcry when even one of those things is not working properly. (he really does like his job) He should be declared Hero of the day, I think. What would people do without all those things anyway? He told me not to expect him before midnight, as this is a particularly nasty cable splice that has to be done. Well, that means I get the remote for myself tonight. Otherwise it will be a lonely night. I only want the remote myself when he's here anyway.....

4 More weeks of winter...

2010-02-15T12:31:00.003-06:00

Becky let us know that there were,sadly, only four more weeks of winter left. Just think, only 4 more weeks of rutted impossible to drive on streets. 4 more weeks of snow piled so high at corners you have to stop at virtually every corner in town. 4 more weeks of the weatherman saying "No travel advised". 4 more weeks of cancelled school and activities because of windchill, drifting roads, white out conditions. Ugh, how can we manage 4 whole weeks?
I pulled out these pictures, The first one taken only a few days ago, so we could see what kind of melting has yet to take place. In just a few short weeks, no less. Both of these shots are of the same place. They are of my neighbor's flower garden. Well, the first one is at least what it looks like now, and the second is what I am so hopeful that it will look like in maybe 10 weeks. Now I ask you, which one of these would you rather have? I know what my vote is for. And let me just say, I can't wait!!

New Project

2010-02-12T21:04:00.003-06:00

We started a new project last week. Now mind you, we've been talking about this for months. It is still always a shock to the system when we make these kind of messes. I get kind of grumpy about not getting done more quickly, too. Though I should know better. We took up all the carpet from this room. It really needed replacing. Ugh. I could virtually see the dust mites flying out as we hauled it out. (shudder shudder) We pulled up staples, took out the carpet takes, swept and swept some more. We moved furniture as we pulled things up, so the big pieces all will stay and we'll ( I say we, Ron does the practical stuff. I give advice) work around them. We are putting down a hardwood floor. Hickory. I will show more pictures as we go. With all the wood already in there, it will be a very 'woodsy' room. I hope it looks ok, though. But, when you think about it, in the woods, walnuts, oak and hickory seem to get along just fine. Hopefully they will in the house, too.

HICKORY FLOORING

2010-01-30T20:59:00.002-06:00

I have been slowly reading Francis' Chan's book, Crazy Love. So many people have said how much they have loved it and have been challenged by it. I haven't made up my mind yet. I can be easily overwhelmed by guilt. Overwhelmed by all the ways that I fall short when it comes living out an authentic faith. One of the things Chan talks about is living within our income, or even better, living within the median income. That's around $40,000. (Well, it was when he wrote the book and I didn't double check his figures) He was talking about living within that median income and giving the rest away. Wow! Now that's a concept. So it's been on my mind. There's no doubt I spend too much on stuff I really don't need. Take the grocery shopping thing. My cupboards are full and I hit the grocery store for more, before I've even finished off what I got last week. Probably should refigure that. Then this afternoon we finally got new flooring for our "fireplace" room. Now I wonder if somehow we couldn't have gone a different, less expensive route so we could give more to where there are huge needs. It's easy to justify redoing the room. Much harder to put off something for self...

And in other things. I have not been blogging as much here I guess because of all the writing I've been doing lately. If you're interested here are a couple of links. The newspaper article comes on Wednesdays and if you're a fan of the Le Mars public Library I ususally post that.
http://www.lemarslibrary.wordpress.com
http://www.lemarssentinel.com

On Blizzards, wind and other such winter joys

2010-01-25T13:32:00.002-06:00

I headed to work early this morning. After all we'd gotten more snow and the wind was blowing to beat the band! I was leaving early, though, because I had to open the doors for our cleaning crew. Ooooh, it was a really awful drive. Getting on and off of hwy 60 was a bit tricky since I couldn't tell if there was any traffic coming or not. Once I was in town, though, it looked like every thing was clear and fine. I settled into work. Phone calls, grants, sad news about county funding, etc etc... Then I start getting information about the fact that my little snowstorm illusion (i.e.that being in town made it fine) was just that-an illusion. Schools called off. Patrons in to describe blinding whiteouts. Husband telling me to get a room or head home..now! I think I've mentioned before that I have promised myself not to drive in blinding blizzards anymore. But I headed out anyway. It was worse than my trip down there. Oh boy. This is turning into a very long winter.

Ready

2010-01-19T16:50:00.003-06:00

I am ready.
1. For an ice storm. Though I really don't want that. I think I could drive the pick up through it.
2. For supper. For some reason I feel hungrier today than yesterday when I didn't eat from noon til 7 p.m. and it's not quite 5 p.m.
3. To stay on the job. This morning I wasn't quite sure about that one. Nothing to do with the library, but everything to do with the library.
4. To not take it personally. Though I do think there must be something wrong with me, or it's my 'bull in the china shop' personality. Hmmmmm
5.For our Winter Reading Program. I have tons of prizes. All the hand outs are printed.
6. To watch NCIS tonight with supper on my lap. (What's for supper?)
7.For February. What? We have another whole week of January left? It's going awfully slow this year.
8. To have a dreamless sleep. Last night I woke a lot filled with dreams of concentration camps, death that was my fault and lots of other running amok stuff. ugh.
9. To run a quarter mile without stopping to catch my breath
10. For my meetings with the City Council and planning committees.
Off I go!

Morning Fog Commute

2010-01-15T14:54:00.004-06:00

I have a whole year of driving to and from work under my belt now. Again. Funny how it doesn't take long to not be used to ugly roads, but, well that's a sad reality. But I have done blinding fog and blizzards, pouring rains, freezing colds, boiling heat-driving-with-the-window-down, icy-slippery-really slippery road, distracted and tired driving. Oh yes, and driving while talking on the cell phone. I have not however, done any driving while texting. I have driven next to the texting driver, though. Does that about cover the NW Iowa gamut of road conditions?
This morning there was "freezing fog" south of us. (what?) but I just got to drive in the fog. Not too bad. At least there was some visibility. And acutally, the result was quite pretty. I did stop and take the pictures. I discovered earlier it doesn't work so well to drive and get that camera up to your eye to get a shot in. (aren't you glad) Anyway, if winter days continue like this I will enjoy the variety.

Mom

2010-01-11T20:05:00.002-06:00

Mom has a birthday coming this week. I wil just say that it's a birthday that ends in a 0. And she was brave enough to try something big and new. Something that will challenge her brain all the way. A new computer! She had to relearn how to get the internet up, how to get to different things that she does on the computer. I challenged her to facebook but I think that might be going a bit too far. When you consider all the things she's learned in her lifetime, and all the things that have changed-even in the last 10 years, not to mention in the last , well for her whole life time! It makes what she's trying to stuff into her brain nothing short of amazing. I hope I can keep on with that learning when I'm her age...
wait. She was my age not that long ago.... I think time will fly by.

Vacation's end

2010-01-09T13:40:00.002-06:00

sunrise in Sun City

This is a first for me. Blogging from the airport. The Phoenix Airport. I am sad at having to leave such fine fine weather and head back so I can start a diet. I suppose the cold should help though. Staying warm requires more energy so hopefully I'll burn some of this excess off quickly. But why am I obsessing about this? Goal this year: to accept myself as I am more than I have before. Is that Possible?

The airport is busy busy, but we flew through security much faster than we did in Omaha. Even checking in was quick. Hopefully our flight will be on time and we'll wing our way back to the cold quickly. Like diving into the water. Best to do it fast, all at once. Adust quicker that way, right?

On vacations and reality

2010-01-08T15:01:00.002-06:00

So we will be back to the reality of winter that the rest of the country seems to be facing right now. It truly was nice to miss out on snowfall and blizzards, windchills and actual below zero weather, sit back and soak up sunshine, lazy days and food. Oh the food. Leftover Christmas dessserts that MUST be eaten, eating with relatives, taking mom out to eat for her birthday, trying out restuarants I've never tried before or eating at my Arizona favorites! I will be on a diet as soon as I get home. Eating out constantly has not done good things for me. (I enjoyed it though, I must admit.) Mom crossed off the last thing on our list of all the things we wanted and planned to do(after we got back from our hike this morning) So we have the rest of the day to finish up books, nap, swim or take in a movie. What do you think? I managed almost 5 books during the week. I should get in just a touch more shopping perhaps...
We will join you all in your collective shivering tomorrow afternoon. I will be back to figuring out how in the world I will get to work every day. And, best thing, I will get back to poor Buster who is no doubt missing us greatly. Ha!

Mom and the computer

2010-01-04T19:14:00.001-06:00

Sunny A

2010-01-03T21:37:00.000-06:00

You won't hear too much from me, I fear. I just had to post that it has been warm (70's) and sunny and we are beginning to relax! Tomorrow we have some hiking and shopping on our docket. Maybe a trip up to Starbucks just to relax and watch the traffic and the people. My aunt and uncle were over tonight for a great meal and some dominoes and the Green Bay game. (ok we watched the vikings too) and it was an all around good day football wise!
Please please get rid of that cold weather before we get back.

Happy New Year!! First blog of 2010

2010-01-01T18:01:00.002-06:00

We are in Lincoln today. We arrived last evening for a New Year's Eve Party! Ok, so we aren't big partiers even for New Year's eve. And we actually managed to stay up past 10 p.m. I'm sure that means it was 2010 somewhere! And we did have a party of sorts. We celebrated our cool grandson, and read stories and sang songs for him before his bedtime! We ate shrimp and cheese and salami and had a fizzy drink! I was done then. I even slept through the midnight fireworks that went on in the neighborhood. I congratulate myself for getting as close to 2010 without going over as I did. (does that make sense? Cause, after all, here I am in 2010.)
Next: we brave the TSA and security lines in Omaha. We're off to Arizona. More from there I hope.

Airports

2009-12-28T20:08:00.003-06:00

Airports. I'm thinking of this because tomorrow Amy is heading off again. She's flying out of Omaha, though Ron is taking her down in the morning. I have spent a lot of time at airports either sending her off or picking her up. And she claims that she hates to fly! She really is the one with all the stories when it comes to travel. Me. I just watch the monitors, check the time and wait. Some times she's on time. Sometimes late. There was the time she flew into Madison via Chicago. Her flight was cancelled after it was much too late for us to do anything but get a hotel room and wait til she came in the next morning...with a nose ring! Ok. not really. I've said goodbye to her from Minneapolis, Zurich, Omaha, Seoul and Phoenix. I've said hello to her in all those places too. She's mostly adventured on her own. It's the goodbye factor I really don't like much at all.

Holiday Blizzard

2009-12-25T16:40:00.005-06:00

We are at day # 2 of our holiday blizzard in Sioux Falls. Not many dull moments that's for sure. We have had plenty to eat. And books to read. And DVDs to watch and games to play. It has been undivided attention on our family. This afternoon, during a lull in the snow, or, well, there really wasn't a lull we were just getting antsy, we went outside to play some snow croquet and take pictures and watch the boys slide down the hill. I also watched Nate as he did some shoveling. The house smells wonderful right now. A Christmas dinner is in the oven. Ham and scalloped potatoes and crescent rolls and a cranberry/apple tart for dessert. Other than not having Ron here we have been very contented with this blizzard.

Home

2009-12-22T19:43:00.002-06:00

We picked up Amy last night at the airport. Her flight was quite late so we weren't home until, well, today. So I am sitting here at home feeling exhausted. But no worse than the other two. They are both sound asleep. And the dog is snoring. On top of that we have to decide if we'll go to Sioux Falls tomorrow instead of Christmas day since it sems there is a 100% chance of a blizzard. Eeeek. I want to get snowed in with my grandkids. On the other hand I promised myself during a nasty blizzard years ago, that I would never ever never drive in a blizzard again. That was a christmas eve blizzard and we just needed to drive 6 miles from my in laws to my mother's. We drove the distance south in the north bound lane praying that no one else was out there driving in the other direction. Who should be so foolish?
So...a deep desire to enjoy movies, cookies, opening gifts, the enthusiasm of little boys on the one hand. And an even deeper desire to wrap up in a blanket and hunker down...

Sunday Morning

2009-12-20T15:31:00.002-06:00

It was a beautiful Sunday before Christmas service this morning. There was an amazing hoar frost that lasted well into the morning, and the worship at church was wonderful. We sang Chris Tomlin's "Glory in the Highest". It fits so well with the Luke 2 passage, "And suddenly, there were with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts, glorifying God and saying "Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, Peace. Goodwill among men." And a reminder from John 3:16 about the height, and width and depth and length of God's love for us. How high? "FOR GOD..." How deep? "SO LOVED THE WORLD" How wide? "THAT ALL WHO BELIEVE" How long? "Might have EVERLASTING life..." Which of course brings to mind another favorite song by Phillips Craig and Dean that especially seems to fit on a beautiful morning like this. I can hardly say the words without singing the melody in my head:
"You paint the morning sky
With miracles in mind
my hope will always stand
For you hold me in your hand.
Lord I'm amazed by you.... how you love me...
How wide, how deep, how great is your love for me..."

Reconnecting

2009-12-16T14:31:00.003-06:00

I've had several very long days this week. Frustrating. Discouraging. Disappointing. Not because of the amount of time I've been spending at the job, but because of my relationships with colleagues.
So today, I get to join some friends for coffee at my (our) favorite local coffee place. De Koffie Hoek. Hurrah! Did I mention that I have friends? I don't really need coffee, but I do need some small relationship time. Phew. So just in the nick of time. I doubt I'll be able to fix the other things that are going on, but at least I'll know that I'm NOT a bad person. Well, at least I hope that's part of what I'll figure out. Here's hoping.

No pictures

2009-12-13T10:53:00.002-06:00

I just spent the whole weekend with two of my grandsons, doing all sorts of stuff from making cookies, to doing a craft, to going to Disney on Ice, to rolling in the snow, to walking in the mall during the Christmas rush (never again), and I didn't take a single picture. Good grief. I was so busy I didn't even think of the camera. Well, not until we were half way to the Disney on Ice show when I remembered. Bother. So, no pictures. But I can tell you this: I am exhausted. I don't think we could cram in one more thing. I did learn that the boys liked the Meteor Trucks video that I brought home from the library. I can yell at them for not listening, and they will still want to hang out with us. And, I'm sure I've said this before, but I can't believe how their parents can parent no less than 3 boys at one time. Phew, it makes me tired to think about. I know I did this, but I'd forgotten...well, lots.
Back to "normal" here in a few hours.

Blizzard and Work

2009-12-09T07:14:00.003-06:00

This morning I am sitting calmly with my cup of coffee and Good Morning America and the storm rages outside. I am calculating how long I should really wait before I try to get to work. The forecasters have promised that it's a 'whiteout' and no travel is recommended. (travel? I'm going to work, I don't really consider that travel. Travel is when you go on vacation and go somewhere that you've been planning for months. You know, like Phoenix or Hawaii.) So shall I wait til noon? Should I leave early to give myself plenty of time?? After all, you know, they can't survive at work without me!! Ok, so I am sounding compulsive again but I just have to tell you that I didn't get up early and head to the wellness center, or insist on walking outside anyway. But ask me how that feels!!

Family moves

2009-12-07T21:34:00.002-06:00

Jan and Loren came from St. Louis for Thanksgiving. It was fun to have them. Jan even joined us for our book discussion group. As for the two being brothers, well, I guess there's a resemblence there. I've always though Ron was more like his mom and Loren like his dad. Don't the guys look like the happy excited pair??I think it must just be the reaction to seeing me with my camera yet again. But it's fun to have the two of them together for these pictures if nothing else.

Christmas Pageant

2009-12-06T21:33:00.001-06:00

So we got to enjoy the grandsons christmas program tonight. I haven't laughed so hard since, well, the last time I was with them. As you can see,the boys enjoyed being on stage! They weren't naughty, just funny. I thought Phin might lose his pants at one point, though I might not have noticed that if he hadn't felt the need to put his arm up his shirt. (thank goodness there was no dress to pull over his head) Funny though, I'm sure they were singing songs about Christmas and the baby Jesus but I don't remember a single song. I was way to busy getting the pictures and enjoying the antics. That first picture of Phin there is just so you can see that he actually did stand still for a minute!

Book discussion

2009-11-30T20:11:00.003-06:00

Last summer the girls got together at a Lincoln coffee house and talked about a book we'd deliberately decided to read. We read Lorna Landvik's Welcome to the Great Mysterious. At our family gathering this year, we got a coffee and a table at the Koffie Hoek in Orange City and sat down together to talk about Kathryn Stockett's best selling book, The Help. The book was such a fabulous story it wasn't too hard to have a whole discussion about racism, prejudices, the south in the 60's and today, even though two of us didn't have time to read it. Of course, just being able to get away from the house together was a big part of the fun. Now we need to come up with another book for the next time we get together, which probably won't be til next summer. phooey. Anyone else have some suggestions for us?

grandchildren

2009-11-29T14:57:00.000-06:00

This is our youngest grandson. Simeon Eugene. I have to tell you what an amazing little boy he is. Already he loves his grandpa (as you can see) Grandpa will be even cooler as the other grandsons have discovered as he's the one with the tools, the pick-up, and endless patience with little boys. After all, what could be more fun for a boy than pulling the string of the clay pigeon thrower, or hauling wood in a lawn mower!
This boy is already showing signs that he will not be a follower-he has no early teeth like Isaiah, he will suck his thumb unlike his brothers. And his name is powerful. It means "The Lord has heard" and Luke tells us that Simeon was "righteous and devout and looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him..." Wow! I love watching them grow.

An Amazing Race

2009-11-26T16:08:00.003-06:00

This was year two of a treasure hunt through Orange City. It was closer to an "Amazing Race" than the year before, but there was no snow on the ground either. Last year the girls whipped the boys big time, but, I will report here that the boys won this year! They had a slight advantage, Ivan(our international student from NWC) was with them and he has been living in OC for the last 4 years so some of the more obscure places he was able to pick up on. And a slight problem was that I had taken a picture of the OC Dutch wooden shoe that was in windmill park a couple of weeks ago to use for this game, and when I put the clues out the shoe was gone. Ooops. So When they played I got phone calls from both of them because they couldn't find the shoe. Go figure. The boys were bummed because I didn't have real prizes for them either. Sorry, no million dollar winning. But it was funny. I had to finally call them and say, "come back. come back. Thanksgiving dinner is ready." And the boys came back first and they actually had the winning end.

Blitz, Offensive, Assault...Onslaught

2009-11-24T15:56:00.003-06:00

Ok, so tonight we get the beginning of the Thanksgiving, well, I don't want to call it an onslaught because I'm really looking forward to this, but for lack of a better word.....onslaught it is. Fortunately I had enough time to get supper into the crock pot before I left and when I get home I expect to see 3 grandsons and their parents. And Melissa. And Buster. Hopefully Ron. The plan is this: supper. Meeting at the OC library. Get the family Amazing Race game set up. Make a Pumpkin Cheesecake. I should be able to get all that in right???!

Library Roots

2009-11-21T19:23:00.006-06:00

My route to the library world was one of those totally unexpected things for me. I was actually quite happy being a teacher, and education was where I always planned to stay. But of course, plans have a way of changing. We made a move across the state and I was suddenly without a job. Being an elementary teacher with a master's degree and no coaching background was a huge liability.

I found a small ad in the local advertiser for a librarian in the neighboring town. 25 hours a week. I was as surprised as anyone to actually get hired. Surely not on the strength of the fact that "I loved to read." But my library career was born there. In the little river town of McGregor. What an education I got!

The thing was, I discovered with the library I got to do everything and more than I had ever done as a teacher. One day I was in a 5th grade classroom and as I stood talking to the teacher, a boy, whose desk was right next to the teacher's desk, stood, put his desk chair on his head and demanded to have his "dart gun" back. He sidled right up to me and stayed in my space during my short discussion with the classroom teacher. When I left the room I found myself with a sudden realization "You see, Sue you can leave this kind of problem far behind. You are walking out of the classroom...she has to stay and deal with him...."

I did everything I never would have been able to do as just a teacher. Designed programs, ordered books, planned the Summer Reading for kids, wrote grants, planned budgets(I even got to read)...oh my, I was in love.

I know that I have complained that I have been in "obsession" but this accidental discovery was the absolute best thing that happened to me. Couldn't find another teaching position? It no longer mattered. I have often said that the library job in McGregor was the best job of my life. The people of McGregor have been my favorite. Since then I have been in 3 different libraries and have gotten to know hundreds of people all through their love and support of the library. I know that though I spent 11 years in teaching and truly enjoyed that, these past 16 years as a librarian have been the best of my life. I think I've found my niche!

Being Productive

2009-11-19T18:10:00.002-06:00

We have a homeless man "living" at the library these days. He occupies a chair in the reading room for the most part of the day. He doesn't read either. He just sits there. Someone offered him some money when they gleefully discovered he was homeless. The guy didn't take it. He comes in at opening bell and stays til we close. He carries sleeping gear around with him and one meal. I wonder how long he'll stay.
There was someone on my listserv complaining about 2 kids who had dropped out of school staying ALL DAY at the library. They just sat in chairs taking up space that someone else could use more productively. How to get rid of them? Isn't there some rule about taking up space unproductively?

Family In-

2009-11-18T16:30:00.007-06:00

I made a trip to Omaha last night to pick up sweet sweet Melissa! It will be such fun to have her at our house. She will help balance us all out, and increase the ratio of girls to boys. (7:10) Melissa serves with Agape Europe (Campus Crusade) and so we are really looking forward to hearing her stories. She gets to move to Rome in January. Imagine! Living and working in Rome. (Imagine! Living and working in Le Mars. Sometimes I think I have "the-grass-is-greener" syndrome)
I have an awful lot of baking to get done, so unfortunately I have to give up a trip to Minneapolis to see the Pioneer Woman. Seriously, What am I thinking?
Amy arrives at the beginning of next week. The grandsons(and their parents) will be at our house by Tuesday. I have to work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.Invited guests are here by Thursday...I have a menu to plan...
Fruit.Cereal.Oatmeal.Pancakes.Baked Oatmeal.Yogurts.
Chili. Pizza.Turkey.Pork Loin.Sloppy Joes.
Leftovers.Chinese Carry out.Tacos.Tortellini Soup.
Take home movies.
Put up clues for family game. Have other non competitive games ready.
Get discussion questions and a 'next book' list put together for the girls discussion group
plan ahead for family pictures.(do it on the first day not the last)

Wow. I'm exhausted already.

Preparations

2009-11-14T10:08:00.002-06:00

Company is coming and I am in a flurry. I am so excited about having everyone here! Our first 'guest' actually arrives this Tuesday! We get to have Melissa with us for Thanksgiving. I spent time with her and Amy in May when I was in Europe. It was the best time ever! So getting to share our home with her is extra special. She works with Agape Europe (Campus Crusade here) so we will be delving deep into what she's been up to, and how God is at work in Western Europe. I can't think of anything better for Thanksgiving than that.
We will have 17 people here for actual Thanksgiving, but less for spending the nights-Ron's brother will be up. Ivan gets to come. Then all those grandsons! Can I say, that will be soooo fun. I love spoiling them.
But of course, I can't just let them walk into the house looking the way we live in it. We are slobs. We are getting our carpet cleaned this week. I have to cook up a storm. (What do you think? Should I make cheesecake for the visitors?) Our bathroom is almost usable. (this is the one we remodeled last winter. The only problem was, that while it was beautiful, you couldn't use the tub in there for any reason, so Ron is fixing that. It's been more involved than I thought it should be, but the results will be nice)
Ron is planning to get the back garage done, the bathroom finished and ... well, I'm sure there will be a thousand other things that need doing if 17 people are descending on the house in a week or so.
I will keep you posted!

Observations from the road

2009-11-13T20:13:00.002-06:00

Rain and dreariness do not slow people down.
Friday afternoons are crowded days for shopping
turning left without a light can be a pain.
Christmas shoppers are out in force
being in the same city with grandkids isn't quite the same as seeing them..

A Walmart Philosophy

2009-11-11T13:19:00.002-06:00

I took an outing to Walmart this morning. I had to buy a printer for 3 un-printer machines here. The machine was $32.00 and the printer cartridges were $31.97. Now, I have a philosophy about Walmart in the first place and this type of thing only emphazies it. Here's the philosophy: Walmart robs us blind, even when we think we're getting stuff "cheap". It is not worth it to shop in Walmart. Walmart is a steamroller offering us the worst of everything and using its employees in the worst possible ways. Can I say that I HATE shopping in Walmart. I hate being forced to get cheap things cheaply/that cost me in other ways. I feel like I'm being tricked, and manipulated. What makes me think that because I buy X at a lower price I am doing myself or anyone any favors? I know, this doesn't make a lot of sense but there it is.
Here is a blog that just emphasizes EVERYTHING that I feel and think about Walmart. I won't totally boycott the store, but for the most part I stay as far away from the store as I would from H1N1.

Work in the morning, work in the evening, work in the afternoon ...

2009-11-10T13:09:00.003-06:00

I've been stuck these last few months. I have been obsessed, compulsed (is that a word?)and totally preoccupied by work. From the time I open my eyes, til I close them in the evening I do nothing but think about work. How to get funds from unpaying towns. How to have a conversation with other P county librarians. What cooperative ventures might might be possible? (none, so forget it.) I am silently at it when carrying on a conversation. It is running through my mind when I am walking, or listening to a book (like chewing gum and walking at the same time). I am calculating it as I eat and trying desperatly to shut it off so I can sleep. So I have had nothing to write about here because there is too much complication and explanation that I really can't give anymore. This morning I complained to Ron about all this work obsession. This spending of 9 or more hours at work, never getting out of the building even at lunch time (what lunch time? The most I do is use the bathroom) So what does he do? He drives all the way to Le Mars and takes me out to lunch. Cool, blessed surprise. And in honor of the occasion, I even wore some of my lunch back to work again. A reminder that there are other things going on in the world that are worthwhile, too.

Home Again

2009-10-25T07:56:00.002-05:00

I just got back from a great library conference in Des Moines. Time away from the office but yet still doing stuff that I love! You know: "computer tech on the fly" by a nationally known tech person, "County Cooperation" (oh yeah, that one's right up my alley) a technology petting zoo (isn't that a cool name? it's just playing with all the latest techie gadgets. fun) Talking to your city,county, etc. officials (Now they tell me)..... Fun stuff, right? Not to mention chances to buy books, eat eat eat, and re-engage with other librarians. AND Ron let me use his GPS thingy to drive down. That worked pretty slick, especially in the confines of the one way streets of downtown Des Moines.
BUT I am home sick now. I am only planning on doing this sick thing today, because I really have a lot going on at work tomorrow. I can only imagine what waits for me there. The sick does not appear to be H1N1, only a nasty cold with all the coughing, nose blowing, achy body feelings that go along with it. UGH.

Simeon Eugene's Dedication

2009-10-20T22:09:00.000-05:00

"Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." The little child has no part of deciding what family he is a part of, or whether he will have parents who raise him as a christian. In turn, we are humbled by all this child can teach us and show us about faith and trusting. All we who have influence of any sort over this child have great responsibility as we share our lives with him. .
This dedication was a blessing. For us. For Simeon.

Just One Day

2009-10-19T14:12:00.004-05:00

So the guy that spews and drools when he's near the computer was in today. (We have plenty of Lysol disinfectant this season). I know why I don't get out of my office much ..And there was the lady who wants the address for Area 51, my local politician library supporter who's making me so discombobulated these days was in once and called twice. The guy who's really a woman/no wait a man was in, but I'm getting the hang of him these days and sadly, he doesn't disturb me so much now. I skimmed through 2 YA books and I think they belong in the smutty romance paperback section. Why is it that the middle of the book, the first page I turn to makes me blush? I think I need a rest.

Fun at grandma and grandpas

2009-10-15T21:17:00.000-05:00

The boys were at our house last weekend. First we had some snow. But believe me, these boys were up for it! Then Grandpa got them hooked up with a marshmallow cook out. Then they were good sports about the group picture too. Look at how that Simeon is growing!

Friends Friends Old Friends

2009-10-05T19:32:00.001-05:00

We have camped together for more than 10 years. We were just talking about how old "little" Scotty was when we started. He was probably 5 years old and now he's off to college. Even Katie, who is graduating from college this year was pretty little when we started. But now it's just the 6 of us. We are grandparents. 11 grandkids between us. And we can still have tons of fun together. We also eat a lot. Next time we're going to have to do something more strenuous than sit around and laugh ... we'll have to ski or something. eeekkk.

Brunet Island State Park Wisconsin

2009-10-04T20:24:00.000-05:00

We spent a very cold, wet, dreary, delightful, wonderful weekend camping this past weekend. The weather was not all we'd hoped for, but it didn't really matter. We ignored the cold, endured the rain and had so much fun in the company of good friends. We hiked (doing some geo caching) hiked, biked, enjoyed the leaves turning color before our very eyes, ate... Lots! laughed, watched movies, talked, shared and prayed together. I was so glad I'd taken some time off. I wish there was a way to do this full time...

From Michigan to Milwaukee as the Crow Flies

2009-09-30T21:05:00.000-05:00

Ron got home from a weekend with Amy almost a week ago now. He took his own camera along and got some nice shots. I almost feel like I got to go along...almost. Well he did bring me back a taste of Michigan anyway, so it was almost as nice. But here he is on the ferry from Michigan to Milwaukee. He had to get a reservation a few days before and homeland security had to do an inspection so he had to be there 45 min. ahead of time, but I think he enjoyed the trip. It actually saved him quite a bit of time in the end. It was a 4 hour boat ride with no traffic. He didn't have to go around the end of the lake and through Chicago. So he made it home by 9:30 the same night- 14 hours!

Sioux Falls Bike Trip

2009-09-29T21:00:00.003-05:00

Bike trip to Sioux Falls on Sunday. One very windy day. CAn't say too much about our planning. I guess if we could predict the weather then plan for our activities we'd be the weather men. Oh well. I did 12 miles. But my ride wasn't the longest, that went to the 14 mile trip. Now next weekend we'll be doing another biking round and we'll see if I do any better. But it's fun to be with friends.

How's this for a resting spot? Downtown Sioux Falls. The day was beautiful for sitting in a chair at the edge of the water.

Plymouth County

2009-09-19T16:14:00.007-05:00

I got some early fall pictures in this morning. These were taken near Moville. Perfect examples of Iowa. The Loess Hills. It was a "Picture Perfect" day. as you can see. Can we somehow postpone winter? Can we stay in this spot awhile longer? Fall is such a grand time of year.

Clay County Fair

2009-09-14T20:26:00.002-05:00

It's been at least 2 years since we've been to the Clay County Fair. I jumped at the chance to go with a friend and have Ron come get me later on. So I did all the usual things andenjoyed a really warm day. We went through the 4-H building. Didn't seem to be as many as exhibits as when my kids were doing 4-H. And from the club they were in, I didn't recognize any of the kids' names. We saw the comercial buildings with all the vendors from wash machines, to vibrating chairs, to baskets and mops and seed corn and, well, you get the idea. If I'd been any bit impulsive I'd have bought these great pruning shears. They had extendable arms so they could reach 6-10 ft overhead, there were smaller pruning shears and clippers as well. 3 different sets all for only a fair special of $75.00. Cool.
Then there was this really fabulous steam mop that had all the bells and whistles. I liked the water holder on the top of the handle, and that the water heated beyond boiling, and and, and the mop covers were thrown in to boot! Only $129. Well, I looked. I longed for. But I didn't buy.
We watched the acrobat show. That was pretty neat. Acrobats on a sway bar 80' overhead. Juggling and balancing and that sort of stuff.
And how could I forget the food. Nothingtastes better than fair food. Nothing is probably more fattening either... Oh well, don't think about that. Ate a pulled pork sandwich from Oak Tree, and had a strawberry smoothie. Delish!
We did not go through the animal barns, and did not see the KICD train this year. We did run into old friends. All in all, it was the fair at its best! I didn't have my camera along, so you'll have to use your imagination to picture the fair.

Thursday evenings

2009-09-10T20:33:00.003-05:00

I love Thursday evenings in Orange City! Don's and Woudstra's grill Bratwurst and..some other grillable meat. And tonight as an added treat there was pfoerjtes. You know, that yummy dutch treat that every one else in the world only gets during Tulip festival time. Those of us that live here, though, get them occasionally during the summer. Mmmmm yum. Hmmm. Seems to me I was saying I was back on the no eating wagon earlier. Way too easy to fall off! Anyway, Bratwurst and Thursday night go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly. Salt and pepper. Tonight was no different. yumm.

Dreaming Hoping

2009-09-08T20:18:00.003-05:00

We took a bike ride at a place called the Adam's House Preserve near North Sioux City on Sunday morning. It was the most perfect of late summer days, and the trail itself was stunning. We rode through sunny meadows, past the big wide Missouri River, through shady tree lined paths. There were wetlands, and fields. I felt like I was riding through a dream. It was a hint of a place I've been to before, or maybe it was like a place that I'm waiting for. As I rode through all I could think of was 'what is this strange feeling i have inside?' Overwhelming.
"O Lord, make me kow my end and what is the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting I am...And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.

Supper

2009-09-07T17:19:00.000-05:00

This is Edgar's in Elk Point, SD. Someone had told Michelle about this place-a pharmacy with a soda fountain. We had to try it out, but our problem was we didn't find out that it closed at 6 on Friday and wouldn't be open for the rest of the weekend until it was late in the afternoon. There was nothing for it but to have ice cream for supper if we wanted to try it out at all. Oh, the sacrifices. Ron and I did share the sundae on the left, though. It was a peanut butter cup surprise and it had two scoops of ice cream. One cherry nut, one vanilla. Plus it had two whole peanut butter cups in it. I could have eaten the whole thing myself. I'm glad I didn't though. It was plenty to get me through to...oh wait, we had pudgy pies later. Man, it was an eating weekend. I'm back on the wagon tomorrow. Honest.

Little Dutch Boys

2009-09-02T21:17:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I know it's way past Tulip time but really there are so many more opportunities to do all the 'flower' pictures and the touristy sorts of things this time of year over May. See those marigolds behind the boys? Looks pretty good, huh! Really, just as good as any old tulip picture, and way more unique I think! Besides, I have a ton of pictures of these boys in the tulips. And that dutch shoe? Now that was a hit! The boys could have played in there all afternoon and had there picture taken over and over. In fact, they had to take my picture too....

Well, I was too big to fit in the frame, and the camera was definitely too heavy to hold up high enough. This was good enough, don't you think?

So anyway, I have this great new set of Dutch, Orange City pictures of these little Dutch Boys. It's great!

Grandkids

2009-08-30T19:57:00.000-05:00

We spent the weekend with our two oldest grandsons. Then sent them home to their unsuspecting parents! Actually, they probably suspected all along that we are pushovers. Want seconds of dessert, or ice cream for every meal, or 3 snacks a day, or to stay up and bounce on the bed til exhaustion sets in? Ok, so it wasn't quite that bad, but close enough. We played in the park, walked the dog, ate a bunch of really unhealthy stuff so that by day 2 (Saturday) I could hardly get up off the couch. Do you think they'll want to come back again? I think so!

Babysitting Gig

2009-08-26T07:24:00.005-05:00

We got to spend last weekend as grandpa and grandma babysitters! Jon and Mindy were going to celebrate their 10th anniversary, so they left us with a short list of instructions and left us to it. It was great fun. I wondered if I wouldn't be totally exhausted after chasing after the 2 year old, but it didn't go like that at all. We played outside, went to the farmer's market, read books, watched his favorite video=Winnie the Pooh and of course played with some of his favorite toys! We found out about this curious, happy, energetic little boy who enthusiastically let us join in his favorite things. I think I can get the hang of doing this grandma thing!

Not this weekend

2009-08-22T20:43:00.000-05:00

Did I share these pictures? This was from our Zoo weekend back in July. Two groups here..The guys and the girls. Well, the girls are outnumbered. Actually, that's ok, though. That means, with all those guys we can feel free to leave the little guys with the big guys while the girls disappear for awhile. And that's exactly what we did. We took a book- Welcome to the Great Mysterious, by Lorna Landvik and went to one of Mindy's favorite coffee places and talked about the book. Now that's an afternoon worth having. Coffee and a book. Wow. I'll have to get another one of these shots in November when everyone comes to our house for Thanksgiving. The girls will disappear then, too because we have another book to share. The Help by Kathryn Stocket. Yup, being outnumbered isn't such a bad thing.

Evening Walk

2009-08-18T20:14:00.005-05:00

Buster and I walk every evening. It's not a very long walk but it's through the neigborhood. Here are some pictures of our corner of the world.

back from the Boundary Waters

2009-08-15T19:21:00.000-05:00

So Ron spent a week in the Boundary Waters fishing, fishing and some canoeing. Through an interesting set of circumstances, Ron was able to snap quite a few pictures of his trip. He got some great shots! It sounded like they had a great, warm time.

Girls weekend out

2009-08-09T18:37:00.001-05:00

So speaking of camping...I got the camper to Sioux Falls, unhooked, set up. The lights didn't work and neither did the refigerator, but that wasn't my fault. We were sitting in the camper and someone moved a bit and what do you know, the lights and refigerator came on. Hoo RAh because it was HOT! wow, we needed the fans to run too.

But we had fun anyway, We went hiking on Saturday morning until we were so hot we nearly dropped. Eeek. It was pretty, though. Then we shopped til our money was gone. Ate supper out at an italian resuarant. We tried Marscapone. Mmmmm. Decadent.

I think I could do this again.

Bomb blast

2009-08-05T20:15:00.002-05:00

Ron is getting ready to go camping and canoeing in the boundary waters for a week. He leaves on Saturday with 5 other guys. But in the beforehand our house looks like there's been some sort of internal explosion. I try to avert my eyes when I walk by, or through, or is it around all this heap of stuff. There are bags, and underwear, sacks of unknown yet to be packed stuff, pots and pans, dishes, packs, fishing gear, tackle boxes, rain gear, baggies and then there is stuff on the table and it leaks over into the kitchen and has been rolling down the stairs. Did I say it looks like a bomb went off around here. In a few more days it will all be gone, and I will have the house to myself for a week. But when he gets home from this trip we will have to go through the pain of unpacking and putting it all away again. What a mess. er, I mean organizational process....

Church of the Holy Family

2009-07-28T18:54:00.005-05:00

We visited this church while we were camping this weekend. This is a very prominent feature on the interstate between Omaha and Lincoln and I have often wondered what in the world it was, it looks so much like a, well, a corn crib. You have to get off I80 at hwy 6 and head down a gravel road to get to the church and it's well worth the hunt. It's landscaped as a natural part of the prairie with lots of prairie flowers and grasses. Running water is a key theme. There is an sod type welcome center that is beautifully cool and full of light at the same time. But the church itself is absolutely stunning. It's all glass and overlooks the Platte River valley.

This was posted in the Welcome Center:
People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind. Think big anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack if you help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you've got anyway.

Camping Weekend

2009-07-26T15:29:00.003-05:00

We just got back from the grandest camping weekend. We tried a new park out-Mahoney State park near Omaha. That's a pretty incredible place-it has a water park, the space museum, gardens and bike trails all over. We had a pretty good camping spot-under lots of oak trees. That was helpful as Friday night was hot hot hot. Worst I've seen all summer even.

We went with friends Dave and Anita and with Jon and Mindy and Jeremiah. I think Jeremiah loved the camping especially. There were campers to explore with lots of new buttons to push, the swimming pool to play in, a tent to sleep in and he could help lots. He really loved "driving" grandpa's truck. He even figured out where the key was and how to get the horn to honk. Yikes.

We had one dandy thunderstorm on Friday night. I really don't like thunderstorms with wind. This time it was just hot heat and thunder rolling through the evening. We put everything away and headed to bed. All of a sudden the lights went out a blue light filled the camper and a tremendous Crash boomed over everything. Wow! It scared me and the whole campground to death. Then it started to pour down rain. That was the closest I've ever had lightning hit. A camper up the road got it's air conditioning knocked out. phew.

Words from the Library

2009-07-22T21:01:00.002-05:00

Funny day. Signing people on and off of computers has always been a bit of pain, necessary, but time consuming. Anyway, today, this 'guy' needs to use the computer, but before he is signed on he asks "I was wondering if the library had a credit card I might be able to use for the stuff I need to do on the computer." I did a double take over that one. "What? Use the LIBRARY credit card?" "Yup." That's what he needed. I'm still shaking my head over that one.
So, how about you guys? I could use a credit card for some of the stuff I'm doing, too.

Farmer's Market

2009-07-20T19:23:00.002-05:00

Saturday morning was our trip to the Farmer's Market. I love Lincoln's cause it's got so much to offer. Fresh vegetables galore. We bought beans and corn for ourselves but the tomatoes were in abundance, squashes and potatoes and lettuce....

There are homemade soups and breads, rolls, goat meat, cheeses and sausages,

Jewelery, garden decorations,artwork, purses, and flowers!

The fire department brings in a fire truck and the kids get to sit in it. Isaiah's favorite..

The morning was cool and lovely.

Family Time

2009-07-19T21:20:00.005-05:00

Friday we visited the Henry Doorly Zoo. It was a perfect day. Last year we roasted in the July Sun. This year, if you'll note, I'm wearing a sweatshirt. The day in the end was the best we've had in the 4 times we've done this! We even went home not totally ragged out! Though there wasn't that much energy left..

Can you believe that we enjoy being together? We do lots of laughing especially when we do our annual contests. (at least I think they've been annual) This year Jon had a quiz about the Princess Bride for us. There were even prizes. I only got 4 out of 20 right. Too bad I didn't have more time to study. Oh well, who needs Starbucks?

Family Weekend

2009-07-18T20:51:00.003-05:00

Well, we're all really smiling...except for Phinehas. He had a bit of a melt down because he wasn't so happy that grandma had him hauled out of the sandbox. Man. Someone's always out to spoil his fun~ The rest of us look good. Maybe you'll see this at christmas!

the big truck

2009-07-15T19:41:00.002-05:00

When the boys were here over the 4th the weather didn't exactly cooperate. The kids were stuck in the house, except for a couple of brief forays like this one! A good friend is a trucker and so the boys got to check it all out and even go for a ride. (though I think it was a bit too loud for Phinehas) There were just so many nobs and buttons and horns and a bed even. Don't they look like they were having fun? Thanks Lynn for the pictures!