The Post Christmas Post

Well, it's over, almost.
We managed to get everything together in time for our annual Christmas Eve Celebration. Not our largest crowd but not our smallest either. Dea and I figure we had about 40 people total. In the past we have had almost 70 I think and the place was absolutely packed. Only having the 40 was nice. Still enough room that you don't feel claustrophobic, yet enough people for there to be fun conversations going on in almost every room. The Spirit was here and we all remembered the reason for the season. It was really nice.
I have no idea why I took no pictures. I usually do but I guess I was too much in the the "thick" of things to even think about it. In fact, Christmas day I only took a few. I don't understand why I didn't take more but I'm not going to stress over it. That's for sure. I will try to post a couple if I can arrange the time. I know that the family pic for this page is now a year old and needs replacing. Just...uh...don't hold your breath waiting for it okay?

Christmas Day was Peaceful. I loved it! IT was Such a "restorative" to my soul. The kids were pretty happy with their presents as we fulfilled our family traditions in the morning. We then gathered up some of the leftovers from the night before and headed to Dave and Dottie's. Again, peaceful. There was one spectacular moment involving a present from Deanna to Dave but that may take many pages to explain. Perhaps I'll get Dea to explain it in small "chapters" later. Dottie spread a real nice table and her sister Carrie (aka Doll) joined us and again it was...Nice. Really.

Dea, the kids and I left shortly after brunch for a well deserved nap. Jacob started a slight cough so we "dosed him" and sent him to bed. Jessalyn was doing better so she and I played with her electronic presents (read the directions, try to make it work, use tremendous self control so you don't toss said presents across room, read the directions again, Repeat.). With her help we did get all our missions accomplished.

Today was clean up day. We had spent a whole day last week cleaning out my garage to turn it into living space. In our haste to make room for 40 to 80 people, we had filled up the garage again. Dea had to work today so I let the kids sleep in late. Then, I put on my task-master hat and with Peggy's help we got right to it and put almost everything to rights. We still have a lot of clean up but we are no longer buried. After what I called a very successful morning, I gave the kids the rest of the day off to enjoy their Christmas vacation while I continued our construction project.

There seems to be a strange flu virus going around and apparently it hit Dave and Dottie's after we left. Pray for them. Jacob has a full fledged cold now, but I'm really proud of him. He doesn't let it stop him or get him down and he isn't complaining a bit. Still, whether sick or healthy, we can always use your prayers!
With the love of Jesus!
Will

One step forward and two steps back

Here at the Donaldson house we have been really, really blessed these last couple of days. This weekend was a fiasco of trying to acomplish something, anything really. I just wanted to be able to say that we had finished something. No dice. Every time I looked at something that I finished, something else had happened that "un" finished it again.
For example our 9' decorated Christmas tree fell face down onto a concrete floor on Monday. Breaking many ornaments including some that were on my Grandmother's tree. Oh I know that they were just things, but you have to realize that my Grandmothers were my favorite people in the world. It was like losing another little piece of them again. We saved as much as we could, fixed the tree and decorated all over again. I just sat there and while almost crying said, well Lord, whatever happens let your glory show through and I know that you turn everything for your good, please do that because right now I am unable to see anything good in all of this.
Almost within minutes things turned around. Everything that had been undone went back to done with the help of my parents and Peggy and Amanda (and our new "adopted son" Luke whose parents are in Texas right now while he holds down the fort here in Wisconsin). We went on to have a wonderful birthday dinner for Jacob, while eating tortellini (his favorite). I was quite happy although exhausted. Then time for sleep and I thought to myself, I'll get a good night's sleep and really get something done in the morning. Yeah right. I was up with some type of flu bug from 11:30 until 2:30. I finally got to sleep and then the dog decided he had to get up at 4:00 am. I was afraid if I went back to sleep I would over sleep and not get the kids off to school. I don't use an alarm. My body wakes me up right around the same time each morning ( unless I've had something goofy go on and then Will is usually there to wake me up). I hate the way the alarm jolts you out of sleep. When I set it I keep waking up to make sure I can turn it off before it wakes me up, so why use it? Of course if I had a cleaning lady I would clean before she got here so that she wouldn't see a messy house too, so I just must have some phobia or something about things like that. Oh well, I digress....
I decided to do something that I have not done in 8 years of working at the post office, I called in sick. I have all of this sick leave, so I used some. I almost felt guilty, but then I would have another relapse so the guilt went away. Believe me you never want to be on a mail route in the country with no bathroom near and be sick. Anyway, the work crews showed up and boy did we get stuff accomplished. None of it has anything to do with Christmas, but it sure did help. The entire garage where the apartment is going to be, went from being spread out all over to packed up and put in the shed, brought into the house for sorting or sent off to Goodwill for their use. What a milestone. Our garage which had been used for storage for 10 years is empty of everything except building supplies.
Then Seth and Claire showed up and Seth cut up the last pieces of those huge trees laying in the back yard (Will's chainsaw broke). With the help of Peggy, Luke, Amanda, Vicki, Seth and Claire we took care of splitting, stacking, moving and raking up the mess from this huge pile of wood in the back yard. By 4:00 pm we were all exhausted and pretty much just collapsed. I heated up leftovers made some burgers and iced tea and we sat around moaning......We used muscles that had not been used in awhile.
Today Will went to work and I go back to work. I think we need it just to do work that our body is used to. Dad is going to work on finishing our new "yellow" door and then start working on the apartment. When I get home I will continue the search for the house through all of this remodeling effort and make cookies. Christmas is coming even if it is raining and 40 something degrees. What a blessing this weather has been, but right on schedule we are supposed to get snow starting Thursday. I'm sure it's probably from everyone praying for snow for Christmas.

NEWSFLASH!!!!! Jacob is now officially taller than his mother. We just measured and he is over 5'9" tall. Now I suppose that the shorty jokes will start now.

We are trying to get everyone to sit still long enough for a family picture. I hope sometime this weekend to do that. Not a chance before that.
Have a blessed day.

Christmas central reporting...

Well, the power shopping is over. We managed to shop for almost everyone in one day. Had a great time doing it too! Lunch at our favorite chinese buffet. We enjoyed every minute of it. Now we are back to the getting ready for Christmas Eve stuff. Peggy and Amanda came over and we made about 60 dozen cookies. Now I have to quick crank out another 60 or so dozen and that will be done.
Friday was Jacob's birthday. I rented some movies and we all sat around and watched them. Well, the kids did anyway. Will and I were busy off and on with other things so we kind of wandered through the room at different times.
Will had to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so we will have Jake's birthday dinner tonight. Tortellini of course. It is what Jake wants every year.
Jessalyn was gone from 3:30 pm Saturday until last night at 7:00 pm. She was doing birthday parties, sleepovers, Christmas programs and movies with her friends. She had a great time, but for some reason didn't even complain when I told her to head to bed last night.
We are actually pretty much ahead of schedule for Christmas this year, in comparison to the last years. Of course with me being on the smaller mail route this year, even when I work extra hours it is less hours than what I worked last year. I sure do love this route. Although next month they are set to add at least 1 hour per day. At least that is the plan so far.
Well, Jake is almost ready for school, so it's time to get the next one up. I hope you have a great day!

A shopping we will go.....

Today is the day....Will and and I HAVE to go shopping. Christmas is coming and we take this time to get a day alone with each other and shop for gifts. Jacob and Jessa will go to school and then we are out of here. I call it power shopping with a twist. The twist is that we usually try to fit in a nice lunch and just sit and talk over coffee. We enjoy it and it is one of the few times that we can be together without the world rushing in. As it is we have to be home earlier than usual for the Christmas concert for Jake at the middle school.
This week marks the 17th anniversary of the first official date for Will and I. We managed to get unofficially engaged 17 years ago. Boy how time flies. It's hard to believe it has been that long. Believe it or not Jake turns 14 tomorrow. My son is still supposed to be 5. I don't know who this tall drink of water is.
Work on the garage apartment goes on. They managed to get alot done yesterday. I am proud of them. Of course they changed the whole floor plan while they were at it, but I expected that anyway. I think it will be really nice. When Peg and Amanda are done with it, there will be a great little apartment there for visitors.
Well, time to go and get kids off to school.
God Bless,
dea

Work Work Work...

We had a meeting with Dave and Dottie the other night concerning turning my garage/workshop into a couple of extra bedrooms with a little living area. We were basically deciding on a tentative layout. There will be no bathroom and the bedrooms will be teeny tiny, but this way we can give Amanda and Peggy a place to live. They are such wonderful people with hearts for God that we just adopted them into the family. When we originally bought this place it was still a store. What has become my garage and workshop used to be the "hardware store". So, I did the opposite of what most people do. I took a large room and made a garage, instead of making my garage into a large room . It was a very nice insulated and drywalled garage, so it shouldn't be too hard to turn back into rooms. Where the garage door is now we will install two windows and a door. This way they will have their own way in and out, even though they will need to come into the main house for the bathroom. At least it's not like they would have to go outside to find the out-house. It will just be a long walk through what has become a ridiculously large house!
We went shopping for the windows and a door yesterday in Marshfield (about an hours drive). We knew what we were looking for, so it shouldn't have taken as long as it did at the store...except, I had just been complaining about the door to our dining room -which is literally falling apart. The Jams and Sash are all splitting and we have to cover the entire entrance way with plastic just to keep the cold out.
Well, while we were there, we came across a close-out "display model" that was 360 dollars off. of course that meant it was still...ahem, pricey. Especially at this time of year. So we wandered around the store looking at doors and trying to come up with a scheme to replace my dining room doors with something cheaper than the close-out price on this door. We couldn't come up with a thing. So we bought the door. Right now it's a ridiculously bright yellow that will have to be painted the first time the temperature is warm enough.
The temps are in the 40's today so we are going to try to install it. Hopefully we will have it in and still have time to get ourselves cleaned up.
This afternoon is the reception for Seth and Claire. I have really been looking forward to that but of course ("...best laid plans of mice and men...") My work planned their Holiday party for this same evening. So, we will attend the reception for an hour or so and then hit my office party until it is politically okay to dive out and then try to make it back to the reception if possible. It should make for a nice long day don't you think?
Tomorrow I'm teaching Sunday School and I think I will ask the other smaller classes to join us as well. What I am planning should be pretty basic and easy to understand. Your prayers of course are always welcome!
Well, lunch break is over (Dottie made some great soup! I think she said she got the recipe from my Sister in law Rhonda. If so, then Thanks Dottie and Rhonda!) so I got to get back to work!
Merry Christmas!
Will.

Just a quick update...

Things are busy here at Christmas Central. The season for giving is here and I am glad, but boy am I trying hard to catch up. If I just can get in a couple of hours of non-interrupted work, things will be much better. Jacob went to an "Acquire the Fire" Christian youth ralley in Madison this last weekend. They had a wonderful trip and then hit a deer within 2 miles of Warrens on their way home. No one was hurt, but the minivan. He says that he had a great time, except for sleeping in a hotel room with 7 other boys and not getting any sleep.
Jessalyn had another swimming birthday party on Sunday. That is the popular thing with the kids her age around here. They all go to the Holiday Inn and swim for a couple of hours. She sure was tired when she got home.
I have been working lots and lots of extra hours babysitting a couple of new substitutes that they have at the Post Office. They have hired 5 people to replace me and we are still trying to find someone to do the job. Now that I have my own route, I can only help out on the others, not take the whole route for a day. Since I was "the sub that knew all 7 routes", it takes 3 or four people to cover those same routes now. Before I just worked most days and did a different route each day. Good money, but sure can fry your brain. Now I'm on all 8 routes because I still have to know the other 7. No wonder, I'm half crazy. (be quiet! no silly comments to that one, please)
Jessalyn was home three days last week with cough, fever and congestion. She shared with her brother and he is home today. He woke up with his eyes almost swollen shut. Not a good look for him. I dosed him with meds and when it did not get any better, he headed back to bed. I hope he gets better quickly.
We went Christmas Caroling around Warrens on Saturday evening. Our church always hosts it and the other churches are invited. We go and sing to all the shut ins and pretty much anyone else who will listen. Usually we ride around in a wagon sitting on hay bales. Not this time. The wind chill factor was below zero and so we all piled into Dad's motor home and other vehichles and sang our hearts out. Then it was back to the church for soup and Christmas cookies. We had a good time.
Will and I are planning on about 18 gift baskets full of baked goods this year. I say "we" because he loves to be the "taste tester" and the "handing out specialist". Although I'm sure he would help with the baking (don't laugh) I usually don't ask him to. Usually he is putting up the Christmas lights, but this year he already has that done. Hmmmm....Maybe he could help this year......Now there's a thought.....The theme this year is divide and conquer. I usually make all the cookies at once, but I think I'm going to make them in segments this year. That way, I don't have to find a place to store them while I'm baking others. I will get both our places of employment done this week and then go on to the others. I just love it!
We will have Christmas Eve here again this year. It is about my 23rd anual (Will's 16th). I just love it when everyone comes and has a good time, although this year I will be downsizing things a bit. Instead of having about 28 different appetizers, this year I plan on only about 15. We wrote down the most popular ones last year and I'm making those and then just adding a few new ones this year. We usually have anywhere from 30 to 80 people here. We open the whole house and everyone just eats, laughs and sings. It's wonderful!!!
This will be Sam the dog's first Christmas with us. He already goes out and just sits and looks at Will's Christmas lights. He's such a smart dog. We sure love him. Gabberdeen the cat just hides for most of Christmas (she's shy) and the other cat Stinky Pete-just hates people, so she is our Grinch.
Well, it's time to run get things done before I head into work. It's snowing today. Not a whole bunch of it, so it won't be too bad, but enough to make you watch the road carefully.
Have a blessed day!
dea

Third times the charm???

Well, lets try this again.
This makes my third try
with all other efforts
completely lost.

Solomon said it best:
...All is Vanity...

Here is a pic of
"The Dads and
The Daughters".
It was taken last night at
the television studio.
From left to right: Kris Oakes, Deanna, Dave Oakes (Deanna's Dad) and
Lloyd Oakes (Kris' Dad).

I wasn't there of course, but they told me it went very well.
I pray you will forgive my earlier whining. I have had to change not only how I post to this site, but I have also had to change how I post pictures as well. Of course the new program for posting pictures insisted on also managing ALL the pictures on my computer. I love programs. They are kind of like tools. I love having new tools. I just don't want to be forced to use them. They are supposed to be there in case I need them. They are not supposed to MAKE me use them. If I want to use a 2X4 piece of wood like a hammer that should be my business. Can you imagine a hammer telling you:

"Ahem, you must use me (your hammer) for all your hammering needs. Also we have entered into an agreement with the pry bar so you will no longer use the claws (on this same claw hammer) for pulling nails. We know that is what they were designed for, but as the pry par was especially made for prying , this would include prying nails as well, and as it is made by the same corporation that makes this hammer we will no longer allow you to use the claws of this hammer for what they were made for. Of course the rule of all hammering and/or banging of any sort must be done by this hammer or your tool box will refuse to open and all tools therein will be forfeit."
????
Having said that, and this part is no joke, My computer (tool box) is having...er issues. I am praying it will last at least 6 more months but it doesn't act like it wants to. Oh well, if we stop posting here for more than a week, odds are the computer has "left" us. In which case I may have to get out my hammer....
Will

Another day filled with...Stuff!

...And "Stuff" is what it is too. Nothing real important going on just "stuff". Jacob is off to school while Jessalyn is home sick again. Poor Jessa was supposed to go on a field trip just for Honor Students (like her!) but she was just too pale and feverish to let her go. So she stayed home with me.

I walked Deanna out to her car as she was leaving for work. I'm glad I did. I guess the trips into the ditch during that last snow fall did her in. She has a huge gash in the side wall of her front tire. I mean huge too, even though it was still holding air, it was the kind of Gash that "flaps". I was not a happy camper. I don't care about the tire (or the money) but she needed that car for work today and the mini spare wasn't going to do the job either. I let her drive it with the admonition to drive slow. keep both hands on the wheel and to get that thing fixed right away. I'm much more worried about her than I am about money for Christmas. The tires are under warranty but the cheapskates at WalMart only "prorate" tires. So if the tread wears out in 30,000 miles instead of the warrantied 60,000 they only offer to give you half off the price of the next set. It's not bad I know, but personally I would rather have a free tire with only half the warranty; you know what I mean?

Dave, Deanna's Dad, came over shortly after Dea left. We have been planning on turning my Garage and Workshop back into a room like it used to be. Instead, it looks like it will be three rooms and a small tool storage area. Dea had discussed a couple of ideas before she left for work and Dave showed up with a nice drawing of what he thought. Of course I said no to both of them. I explained to Dave what I was thinking and using my sophisticated computer programs, I promptly put together a 3d virtual image of the space inside and out (no kidding). I was quite pleased with the results, which ironically looked exactly like what Dave and Deanna suggested in the first place (still not kidding). So, for the moment, that's exactly what we are going to do.

Cool thing: When Dave left, I stayed outside for a few minutes to play with Sam (the dog). As we were playing catch with his deflated soccer ball, Sam suddenly stopped and stared. He was staring up. He was watching a Bald Eagle that was flying directly over head. He was flying low enough I decided not to throw the flattened ball for fear the eagle might dive on it. (ok, I knew the eagle wouldn't really, but I still hung on to the ball until he flew away). The eagle swirled over head for about a minute and I spent the time admiring his grace and beauty and wishing Dea was here. She's the one that usually sees them and she loves them so.

The Dad's and The Daughters (Lloyd Oakes, Dave Oakes, Kris Oakes and Deanna) are scheduled to be singing on the local television station in
Eau Claire Wisconsin tonight. I'm sure they will be awesome as always, but your prayers would be helpful! It's a long trip and makes for two long days wrapped around one real short night. The kids and I will have to miss it. It's too late for the kids and someone has to be home with 'em.

Well, I have more garage to clean out, wood to chop, wood to move and more wood to stack. There is also a house to clean, lunch to make and much more of that "stuff" for me to get to. I leave you with this thought:
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the Way! Oh what fun...

Will.

The Morning After Black Friday...

...and all is quiet in the house. Deanna has left for work and I am beginning my third of four days away from my job. Both kids are still in their rooms. Jacob is sleeping and Jessalyn is either reading on her bed or playing with an old, old, laptop computer someone gave me; either way she is being quiet and I am enjoying the peace. Soon though, I will have to wake them and begin trying to alternate between forcing chores on them and giving them fun things to do so their holiday isn't a complete waste for them. You know how us "mean dads" can be right?

The temps have been unseasonably warm since our "snowfall". They have been in the upper 50's and lower 60's. This week it should be lower 50's (F). I am NOT complaining! It's nice putting Christmas lights up while it's warm. Not having to crawl around on a snow and ice covered roof is SO Much Nicer! Still, I didn't put all the effort I usually do into the holiday lights for the house. I used to "place" each and every mini light but I just don't have the time and energy. I spent hours just going through all the lights fixing the ones I could by using parts off the ones I couldn't. The pile of "Parts lights" is getting bigger and bigger. It doesn't help that I use so many different size bulbs and types of sets.
I thought I had finished the outside decorations but my wife has informed me that is not the case. I still have a couple of light-sets left and I haven't put up a lighted Cross like I usually do. I have no idea how I'm going to do that this year. Oh well, I'll come up with something but until I do, there is no point in taking pictures so you will just have to wait.

Speaking of which I have just switched to the newer version of my blog host from Blogspot to Blogspot Beta. So far that has been painless. Let me know of any issues. I have to switch my program for placing pictures in this blog (web log) as well. I hope to use the new program for the next set of pics, so we will see.

I took the wife and kids to the Tomah Holiday Parade with lighted floats including our own Warrens Cranberry Festival Float. Honestly I didn't really want to go, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Our Friends Peggy and Amanda went with us. All six of us crammed into our old Lumina and off we went; giggling all the way. We picked our spot out and sat on the curb with our blankets realizing only then that we were an hour early! Sitting on the curb in a blanket on the Main street of Tomah as the traffic drove by, it kind of had a surreal feeling to it.
Jacob, was embarrassed to be seen with us I think. He especially didn't like the fact that one of the blankets we were using was a "Nemo" blanket. He may be socially scarred for life. Well, now I can scratch off: "Mortally embarrass my own children" from the "things to do before I die:" list.
Speaking of the kids, it's time to get them up, fed, and onto the chores. I hope to have pics of the lights on the house for you soon but I don't know when. Keep checking!
Will

Pictures! Come and Get Your Pictures!

Lots of things to report. Below you will see a series of pictures but not all of them are related. At the very bottom you will find a couple of Wedding Pictures of our very good friends Seth and Claire. I know some of you have been eager to see them. With the exception of one, the rest were taken the day after our first heavy snow. We got about eight inches even though the temps were in the mid to upper 30s (f). Consequently the first two inches to actually hit the ground melted. Another two melted throughout the day. You can see the full 6 to 8 inches on the branches of the trees though. Deanna had to deliver mail through it all and spent a good portion of the day in the ditch. She wasn't stuck. She has developed a technique where she just keeps on driving regardless of whether she is on the road or not. Hey, it works! A couple of times she was simply sitting at the mail box when the car would just start to slide sideways. No big deal. If the temperatures get warm enough I'll just break out the spray paint...
In the midst of our annual snow pics, you will find a pic of Jacob and Jessalyn all dressed up for in costumes. Jessalyn as the Snow Queen and Jacob as Captain Jack Sparrow from the movie Pirates of the Carribean. I was supposed to post that pic at another time but I messed up. Surprised by that aren't you? Well, I'm off to Church. May the Lord Bless You and Keep you.

Sunrise on Veterans Day in Wisconsin.

I love the way the first heavy snow makes everything look. I love the crispness of the mornings. I love the fact that I can run back inside where its warm!

Your looking at Captain Jack Sparrow (Jake) and Snow Queen Jessalyn

We got almost eight inches of snow but the first two melted right away and the next two melted throught the day.

If you don't play "fetch" with him he hits you in the shin with the stick. Really! I'm not kidding!

I wish I had his energy so early in the morning.

Walk softly and carry a big stick!

The end of another day at our house.

You have to admit, Seth and Claire do make a lovely couple!

Sign your freedom away! You are bought and paid for now boy!

I hope you voted today

It has always been my belief that if you did not vote, you cannot complain. I hope everyone did their duty and voted, because that's what it is "a duty". We owe to those who went before us and gave their all so that we could have the privilege of voting. Anyway, that being said, I hope that you did vote.
Things have been busy here for the last couple of weeks. I had the chance to attend a "wonderful" conference this last week in Wausau. They had many pertinent subjects for me to take classes on. Things are changing in the tourism industry and we need to be able to adapt Cranfest to fit those changes. It was a great time and a great learning experience. Of course one of my favorite things was the evening that we spent at a local art museum. They had a dessert and wine tasting evening for us and we were allowed to wander all over the museum looking at some beautiful works of art. Some of them dated back to the early 1800's. It was a very nice evening and I enjoyed it after spending my afternoon with a crisis management consultant discussing terrorism and the pandemic.
I decided to get my hair cut the other day. I was tired of the headaches of all this hair. I gave Sue the go ahead to cut it like I had it when I was in college. She loved it and now so do I. I think she cut 5 or 6 inches off of it. When we were done there was this huge pile of hair on the floor. I had been trying to grow it out to donate it to locks of love for cancer patients, but just could not make it the last two inches. Too many headaches. Now people keep touching it. They all come over and have to feel it. So far everyone loves it, except I'm not so sure that Will likes it, but he has not complained.
We are cleaning out the garage. Sorting, moving and reorganizing everything. What a mess. I hate trying to decide what to keep and if I'm going to keep it what do I do with it? Then there are Will's tools. It's pretty hard to know what to do with a tool that you have no idea what it does. Does it go in the plumbing or in the electrical. Is it for working on cars or a woodworking tool? Some things are obvious, but some baffle me.
The kids are great. I think that Jake is now as tall as me. If not, he's pretty close. Jessalyn is growing fast too. Both are changing so much on the inside too. I had an empty nest moment the other day when I realized that both of my children will have graduated high school in 8 years (Hopefully). Sometimes they drive me crazy, but I don't know what we will do when they leave us. Of course with Will being my best friend and favorite companion, I imagine that I will not get bored. I'm sure that we will find plenty to do. Of course we have always planned on traveling. I would like to travel with the kids too, but until I go full time at the post office, that is not possible to a great extent.
I have a concert with the Dads and Daughters to do in Rockford IL on the 19th. We are looking forward to that, especially since we will see family down there too. I just love to hang out with my relatives. Then on the 29th the Dads and Daughters have been asked to do a television concert over in Wisconsin Rapids. I don't know many details about that one, but it should be a blast.
Thanksgiving will be at our house this year. Just a small group of us with other parts of our family heading out of town or having turkey with inlaws etc. We just will have probably about 10 or so here, not many. Then it's time to work on Christmas Eve. I have already figured out the menu pretty much and it should not be a big deal. I cut down on the number of appetizers this year and I think there will only be about 10 different kinds, but that always grows as time goes by. We also have about 16 gift baskets to make this year.
Christmas caroling is the 2nd of December and between now and then we need to put up our holiday display that Cranfest sponsors. We are thinking about setting up another line of Christmas trees this year. These will be donated and decorated by local groups. We will pay the electric and it will help to decorate our little town of less than 300 people.
Well, time to go and sort some more stuff.
God bless and have a great day.

shooting stars

I took the dog out for his in the middle of the night rondevous on Monday night and while I was standing there I saw 6 shooting stars. Then I saw another one when I let him out at 4:30 am. I probably would have seen more if I had wanted to stay out there, but it was 22 degrees out and I am still not used to the colder weather. Especially when I have just left a warm blanket to go outside. When I was up with him last night at 1:00 am, I saw 2 more. I must be seeing them because of the clear, cold nights. You really can see the stars at night when it's this clear up here.
Last night was also Jacob's fall choir concert. They really do a good job and we enjoy it each and every time. He is so attentive to the director and knows all of the words and timing. It is fun just watching him. He puts so much effort into it. We are very proud of him.
I'm still trying to get Halloween costumes done. Jacob decided last night to be "Captain Jack Sparrow". Jessalyn is still going to be the snow queen. I just need to get my act together and get them ready. They have a huge Warrens kids Halloween Party on Sunday, put on by the local 4-H club. Bunches of kids and they all enjoy themselves.
The redwinged blackbirds have left and Canadian geese are leaving now. I guess that winter is on it's way. Christmas is 2 months from today. The mail is starting to pick up already. Two weeks from now, we will really be getting lots of mail due to the holidays. I don't mind though, I enjoy delivering all of the smiles. It's like being Santa Claus.
Time to get Jake up for school.
Have a blessed day!

Genealogy anyone?

Have you ever done genealogy before? I have been involved with this puzzle for a couple of years and have pretty much confined myself to one portion of the family. Working on too many sides of the family tree can get you very confused with the "who begat who's". Well I have been working on the Oakes part (my Dad's side) and when I inquired in Canada (where suprisingly my Mom's family comes from the same county), I ended up meeting a cousin who had the whole family tree on my Mom's (Edmonds) side. What a great thing! It really boggles the mind on how much time that saved me and who would have ever thought it would happen? Now another friend of the family has found my Great Aunt's stash of Edmonds family pictures and documents from years and years ago. Boy am I excited! The best thing is that I didn't have to really work on that research at all, but here it is. Thank you God!
Our dog Sam turned a year old the other day. We sang to him and he danced. Someone forgot to tell him that he can act grown up now. He is so silly.
Things are pretty busy here lately. Jacob's first concert is tomorrow night, so he gets a hair cut before that. He is quite proud of himself because he has less than an inch to grow before he is as tall as his Mother. Twerp!
We are trying to get ready for winter, but every day that Will has off it rains and that is not conducive to getting things done. Today we are taking pictures of cranberry harvesting and processing. I need some good shots for Cranfest. Of course, it is snowing, but at least that is not rain.
Trying to get costumes done for Halloween. The kids enjoy it, but Jacob is having a hard time figuring out what to be. Jessalyn is going to be a snow queen. Last year she was a fairy and she about froze so this year she wants a fur trimmed outfit that she can be warm in. Smart girl.
Well time to go to work.
Have a blessed day.

I just wanted to add my two cents worth to what Deanna has to say below. Just a week or two ago we had unusually warm weather and now winter is trying to get here all at once. Including the way the sun rises and sets. I was sure the sun was up when I left for work one morning and the very next morning it was dark. The same for my trip home from work. It was light on the way home one day and dark on the next. Great. Back to the winter routine of driving to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. You know, I find it rather ironic that I work in a "window factory" that has so very few windows in it. I had no idea we had as much snow as we did until I read what Deanna wrote below. I completely missed the whole thing. Sigh. I do remember thinking on both my way into work and on my way home: This is the kind of day that makes me glad I don't work outside. Poor Deanna does. Of course those bright sun shiney days like we had the last week or two she was glad she wasn't working inside like me so I guess it evens out. Either way we have a choice: we can be bitter about the bad days or we can be thankful for the blessed days. Thank You Lord.
Will

snow today and snow tomorrow....

Well the weather outside is frightful, but the fire inside is delightful! We started the morning out with 50 degrees and rain, by 10:00 am it was 37 and now its in the low 30's. It is also snowing. Thank God the ground is still warm so we don't have any accumulation. I am just not ready for snow on the ground in the beginning of October.
I came home frozen from work. The wind is over 30 mph and it goes right through you when you are not used to it. This won't be so bad during January but when it was over 70 two days ago, it shocks your system.
The kids are drinking hot cocoa and I'm making potato, cheese & ham soup. We actually had to turn the furnace on too. I guess winter is coming. I really do love my fireplace though. There is something quite "comfy" about sitting in front of the fire reading. Not that I have time to do that yet.
Well, just thought I would check in and let you know that we are warm, dry and cozy...even though that "white stuff" is coming down.
God bless.

I finished my April of "2004" to-do list!

Some of you may laugh, but for me this is a big thing. I make lists. Lists of everything that I need to accomplish each day. Lists of things to do for this certain event. Lists for this month. Lists for this meal. You get the picture. Well, I happened to find a list from April of 2004. I was really happy to see that I had almost all of it finished two years later, so I quick did the last thing and now I can say that I accomplished my goal. Unfortunately, there are many, many lists in between that are not finished yet, but I can dream can't I?
Yesterday the high for the day was 70 and by Wednesday we are supposedly going to have snow showers all day. I guess this is God's way of reminding us that winter is coming. Our normal reminder of cranberry harvest is sort of here too. So many of the marshes were hit by that terrible hail and had to harvest early so there is not such a rush right now. I think a couple of them start next week though. I love looking at the dump trucks full of cranberries driving down the road.
We had family night here on Saturday. We had a campfire and everyone sat around it talking, eating and singing. It was a great time. We enjoy just being with each other. Everyone is invited and you never know who will show up.
Mom and Dad are planning on going to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. That means that Thanksgiving here will be at our house. You never know who will show up for that one either. I really have a problem knowing that anyone is alone during the holidays. Now that Christmas is coming soon, that means more lists for me too.......see it's a vicious circle.....it just keeps going on and on.
I was sitting here at the desk with my very large black lab puppy sitting on my feet (not an easy task) contemplating God's design for a while this morning. Our exteneded family suffered some deaths in the last couple of weeks, one of Mom's best friends, our Aunt in Northern Wisconsin and some other people that were close to our family....sad times, but they all knew the Lord so we will see them again. At the same time they were leaving this world, our good friends Seth and Claire were starting their new lives together by getting married in Australia, where she is from. Another couple who are friends of mine are set to have their baby soon. Our friend Peggy had her grandson here too. Charlie will be two in a month or so. Right now he is in that helpful stage. He will sweep for hours and will help you pick up what he calls "Barbage". He really enjoyed having our huge yard and puppy to play with. Not to mention the swing set. He went down the slide for the first time by himself. Great fun to watch him.
With all of the changes that have come about in the last couple of weeks, my mind is spinning BUT it also helps me to realize that petty differences with people are just plain silly. In the last months we have been involved in some strange situations with people we love. These past few weeks have made me realize that life is too, too short and it really does not matter who is right and who is wrong. It really does not matter who threw the first insult or caused the first hurt feeling. The point of the whole thing, when you get right down to it is others.......The TRUTH about it all is that if we were more worried about the other person and not about our own feelings and not whether we were the one that was "right" or the one that is the hurt party in all of this we would not have these situations come up. If we spend our lives trying to make sure that others come first then things will be alot easier. God said it right in his word.....love God, love others......there is no love yourself in that pecking order. I am going to try to remember that. I'm not saying it will be easy, but I am going to try. Don't even get me started on telling the "truth in love". I will just say that unless someone asks for the truth from me....I'm going to try to keep my yap shut. My truth may not be what they see as truth and it usually just comes out as criticism not "love". I am trying to learn from past situations, some not even involving myself. Hey I can learn from someone else's mistakes can't I?
Well, Columbus Day is a day off for the Post Office, but not a day off for me. I'm going to go and work on some more "lists". The scary thing is that Will has a list of things to accomplish today too. Oh boy, I bet that means more work for me...yippee!
Have a great day!

The Party's over...

Now the clean up begins. They are still working on cleaning up the town. For the most part things are done. The Monday after Cranfest Will and I road around for hours and hours with the garbage truck (hanging off the side of the truck no less) and cleaned up every bit of garbage and cardboard we could find. Yuck! Although it was kind of fun riding on the side of the truck. Of course I had to sing while we were doing it. The guy driving the truck thought it was interesting that I was an executive officer on the board of directors and here I was riding around on the garbage truck. I did sort of have an ulterior motive though. I got to spend time with Will AND I got to see what packing lists and addresses were on the huge mounds of cardboard that the people signed the application saying they would take with them. Now I have a huge list of people to send reminder letters to telling them that they neglected to take their cardboard with them and remind them sternly to do it next year.
LET ME SAY FOR THE RECORD: My hubby did a wonderful, wonderful job both singing and announcing the parade. I was very, very proud of him.
We had record crowds this year. On Saturday God blessed us with a beautiful day and the people shopped and shopped and shopped. All three parking lots were full ( just one of those lots is almost 80 acres in itself). We had 71 commercial bus tours pull up full of people and then also many, many shuttle bus trips were brought in from Tomah. I figure we had at least 50,000 people there on one day.
Our Countdown to Cranfest giveaway was a HUGE success. We had people calling the DJ's and station managers at home trying to find out the answers to our trivia questions and wondering when the next basket would be given away. Our "official cranfest radio station" during the fest was great. Not that you should be thrilled with all of that, but it was my "idea" and so I'm glad that it turned out well. You really never know what will work, so I am glad this did.
Now after I type up all my reports and get things finished up for this year, we will have elections for offices and then will be done with Cranfest pretty much until after Christmas. Then it all starts again, but not quite so hectic.
The kids and animals are glad to have things back to sort of normal. They enjoyed having Will be "Mr. Mom" and he did a wonderful job, but they are all creatures of habit and I guess I am habit forming. They like having their schedule and I know Will loves having his wife back. Sam just wants his Mama back. Gabby the cat is glad to have the staff back. So now we are working on our routine again and everyone is happy.
Fall is here the leaves are turning beautiful. The weather is chilly at night and sunny during the days for the most part. Now we start our fall clean up. We will mow the lawn one last time, clean each courtyard, finish cleaning up the wood and stack it and many other tasks. I enjoy it because we have great bon fires here at the house. All of us sitting around talking and singing is a hoot. We are planning our first for this next Saturday.
Well, time to do laundry. It's my favorite job you know. Ranks right up there.
Have a great day!

It's done! ...Well, Sorta....

First things first! Happy Birthday Jessalyn!

2nd,
The 2006 Warrens Cranberry Festival is over. Now the Clean up begins. After I finish this post I have to go fill a can up with Diesel fuel to put in my Brother-in-law's (Jimmy Chitwood) Tractor. He has a wonderful John Deere that he lets me use to haul cardboard. The amount of cardboard we have to process is staggering. It is mandated in the vendors contracts that if they bring cardboard in they have to haul it out. Only a few vendors at the moment are doing it. The rest we are cracking down on.

Our goal is to have our little town of Warrens back to normal by Tuesday. By "Normal" I mean you shouldn't even be able to tell a festival of any size was here (never mind one of over a 100,000 people and 1200-1400 booths!). The only clue should be the paths worn into the grass by all the people. We'll seed those areas. The Garbage trucks have been running every night and will be here again today at 2pm. I imagine we will be running til after dark again trying to get it cleaned up. We fill truck after truck with garbage and another several trucks with just cardboard.
I try not to look too far ahead of where I'm working. The scope is too daunting. I've been doing this for years now and I still don't know how we do it.

The Weather really turned "sweet" for us for our last two days of the Fest. They had been saying all week it was supposed to rain all weekend long. Of course "they" had no idea how many people were praying against that. Saturday started cool and then warmed up with a real nice breeze that made shopping fun. It certainly made working the Fest much more enjoyable.
I performed again on Saturday afternoon and I changed the songs I sang from the previous day. Not sure why I did that or if it was a good idea or not. It went well though and I feel like I accomplished what the Lord desired and that's all I really wanted anyway. Still, I am not sure what is going on there, it was weird. See, there is this fantastic guitar player I used to play with in Joyful Noise named Matt. He's a young guy and he plays in such a way that is so smooth and looks as if it is so easy for him -and it probably is. He's the kind of guy I love to watch and hear play but makes me want to throw my own guitar away. He's that good and he makes it look that easy. Anyway, I hadn't seen him in a long while and it turns out he's playing after me on Saturday in a new group called Chatterbox.
Big surprise for me: The lead singer and song writer for Chatterbox is a friend of mine from work! I've known Cindy for something like 10 years and had no idea she sang and wrote music!
Even more surprising is just how good she is! Yikes! For me, I am surrounded by truly great singers and she certainly qualifies but there isn't that many around that write songs of the same caliber as the ones she sang for us. As a former Disc Jockey let me say both her singing and song writing is professional grade. I was talking with my guitar playing friend afterward and he told me: "...Yeah, and you only heard her favorites -not her best!" She plays guitar very well too and I guess she was trying to record some of her written stuff when the studio guy said he knew someone that might help fill in the music which turned out to be Matt. They picked up a base player named James and formed Chatterbox. Look for em! I mean with that business you never can tell. It's certainly true that they are much more than good enough.

Saturday Night of The Warrens Cranberry Festival we had the annual Gospel Sing. I was asked to M.C. again. I think I may have mentioned that I had been thinking it would be best if I started backing off from the music and announcing; God has His way of letting you know what He thinks of your ideas... I don't know why I accepted when they asked me, except to say it must have been God. I'm glad I did though. It was one of the best Gospel sings that I can remember.
The Crantastic Singers which is made up of local area kids performed again this year. I was so amazed by the number of kids that sang so well! Normally when kids sing you can barely hear them and they're usually off key. Not this group. And I am not just saying that because both Jacob and Jessalyn had solo's either! But I am so proud of them both. They both "nailed" their parts. You could tell they both had practiced hard to get their part right. They sang and danced and it certainly made their father and mother very proud!

After the Crantastic Singers the Gospel Sing proper started. Of Course the "Gospel Words Quartet" sang as well as "The Dad's and The Daughters" "The Living Stones Worship Team" also led some music for a while and we had a couple of fantastic Piano highlights and Chatterbox also played and sang. As I M.C. of course I can't help but preach a little, but I do try to curb it to the essentials. Anyway, I used the part about not knowing Cindy sang and played as a tie in to: who knows you are a Christian? Who would be surprised to find that out? We've all heard the old saying of "If being a Christian were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?". Then I received another piece of "sweet misery". I had performed "Wayfaring Stranger" Saturday afternoon and Saturday night (remember I didn't perform Sat. night. I only M.C.'d) Chatterbox performed their version. I may never sing that one again. They were so good. All of it. I was so blessed to hear it and them. I also pray for them personally and professionally. I hope you will too.

The sing ended a little after nine pm and I got back on the tractor hauling cardboard. I lasted in the rain until about 11:30pm I was glad I did it. After a night of rain it would have really been a mess in the morning and the Annual Warrens Cranberry Festival Parade starts and 1pm on Sunday!

Sunday. Day 3 of the fest. Dea went in while it was still dark. The kids and I slept in. I got them breakfast and all together to make the drive to Warrens. Church started at 10am and I wanted to be there so we left at 9:10am. Remember I only live 3 miles away. With the crowds and the detours... I would have made it. "Would" being the operative word. The plan is: we park at Dea's Aunt Gayle's place. They have a farm literally just past the Warrens town limits sign. It is where we keep the tractor I use for hauling the cardboard and where we park our cars. You certainly can't get into town with those! Well, I got to Gayles in plenty of time to make it to the church except I didn't have the key for the tractor! So I dropped the kids off and sent them walking the 3 blocks or so to the church while I went back for the keys. They really needed to be at church on time to connect with their mother. I could afford to be a little late.
Dea, and the kids were to be the big stars of the family this day.
The Board of directors (of which Dea is an executive officer) were voted to be the parade marshals and would all be riding in the front of the parade in a trolley. Jacob and Jessalyn along with their cousin Tim Oakes and their friend Lily Jewel carried banners in front of them announcing our plans for next years fest: Join us in 2007 for our 35th annual Warrens Cranberry Festival's Salute to the Military!
It should be great with the "Moving Wall" Vietnam memorial and other activities planned, but I digress...

I finally made it to church and caught the last few minutes. Dea had shirts she got for the kids to change into so they would all match. By 12:15 I had the kids at the Fire Station where the parade would launch from. Dea was one of the last Board Directors to make it there as she was taking care of problems, but she made it on time and brought the banners and poles for the kids to carry. I parked my tractor because there would be no room for it near the parade route and planned on walking back to the church for a good seat on the steps so I could watch my family in the parade. Instead I wound up with the best seat to watch the parade from Period. No, really.

The board of Directors and most of the Committee members wear radios. Communication being so important over such a wide area. As I turn to leave the parade staging area, I hear over the radio: We still need an announcer!" I kept walking. You know what's coming don't you? I didn't. No really!
We have had the local celebrities hold that post for ages. Dea herself had arranged a fantastic advertising package with the Magnum Radio Group which includes several local radio stations who were all at the festival. Of course they would have someone for that!

I kept walking but I didn't get more than three steps when I hear WAIT! I turn around and Vicki our CranFest President is on her radio saying I've got one right here! She looks at me, points, and turns to the other board members and says: Have you heard this guys answering machine?! Mickey Rezin who works with the Crantastic singers and is also on the board, pipes up with : Oh he's a great M.C.! Dea then looks at me and says "Please".

There is literally 3 minutes until parade start. There is no time to prepare. I don't know the first thing about announcing a parade. I was a Disc Jockey and yes I can M.C. a small town gospel sing but usually everything is written out for me or I have time to know exactly what I'm going to do and when. 3 minutes is barely even time to get to the reviewing stand. As I start to open my mouth to protest, in fact I think I even managed to get out something about "...surely one of the radio stations..." Vicki turns her microphone up on her radio and says "All together now!..."

You have to understand. The board of directors is made up of all kinds, but all together
en masse as it were, you can see these are THE Board of Directors. And all of them were looking at me; putting on their most pitiful "puppy dog faces" and in unison with the parade director on the radio begged: P L E A S E ?
I have long said my philosophy anymore is "The Puppy Dog On The Dashboard Philosophy". Also known as the "Bobble Head Philosophy". So I bobbled my head and said O. K.

I had a blast!

My hats of to Kerry the parade director. She had only been given a couple of weeks herself to get up to speed. The previous director is deathly ill and poor Kerry was having a time collecting it all. All things considered she did a fantastic job and basically held my hand through it all.
Still, it was ...to be polite...interesting. There were over 60 entrants and we only had the information on half of them. There were some 60,000 people lining the street and as the royalty of surounding counties and festivals came by I was literally having to read their names off the side of their floats. Wouldn't you know it, we live in a strongly German, Norweigan and Danish influenced area. You realize what that means right? Most of their names were all consonants and no vowels. More than a few princesses and queens looked at me and laughed. I guess they're used to having their name mispronounced. A couple of times I refused to announce who was coming until they were right in front of me and was glad I did. Several entrants had entered the line up in the wrong order. We narrowly missed announcing a marching band by a different bands name.

I had a Blast!

It was great fun and a nice ego boost. If they ask again I think I will say yes (If the Lord allows) but I just hope they give me a little more notice....

Did I mention "I had a Blast!"?

Then I was able to bring my head back down to normal proportions as got back up on my tractor and started hauling cardboard. It was way past dark when we left but the garbage truck was still running. I would have stayed but the tractor was out of diesel. I felt bad leaving those other guys who were still hauling garbage but I knew I would still be going at the clean up today and probably tomorrow.

Speaking of which, it's past my time to leave! Got go haul garbage and rake and sweep and clean and put away etc etc etc

Pray without ceasing!
Will

One down, two to go!

Well, the 1st Day of the "Fest" is done and I feel like it's been a Week already. It rained. Thank you Lord that it didn't rain like they said it would; It only rained on and off til 1pm or so and then it rained once more for 5 minutes at 5pm -as if to say: your shopping is done!

Of course the rain throws our orderly confusion into total chaos. Every one has to switch Jobs to cover the people handling the problems created by the weather. We had a very large load of wood chips brought in to cover the streams of water that were now flowing through the vendors tents. We had only a handful of golf carts and atv's equipped with truck beds and twelve hundred booths needing help, we simply prioritized as best we could.

Of course with those carts and the people in them sent to handle wood chips, the services those people and carts usually perform had to be handled by someone else, who had other jobs to do that didn't get done, etc. etc. etc.
Still, facing the challenges presented is part of the fun!

I had an "inconvenient Blessing" during all of this. I think it was God knowing what I needed when I didn't. I was asked two weeks ago to sing and play three songs for Friday and Saturday of the Fest. I spent what little free time I had trying to practice and decide what three songs to sing and searching the Lord for what He thought would be right. I got: Nada. Nothing. Not a clue.

I managed to whittle it down to the ones that I could reasonably perform without music, after that I decided the Lord would have to provide when the time came. Dea left me a note saying my Friday performance was at 12:15pm. To say I was nervous would be an understatement.
I've done this before, but I am surrounded by really good musicians and singers. I know this: because I used to be a professional critic.
I also don't count myself as one of them (musically speaking).
Now I am going to have to pull something out of thin air in front of those same people; Yipe!

At 12 noon I show up at the music hall and there is people just milling around. There is noise from downstairs where they sell food for the Festival. I'm not sure what is going on but I find an office to pull off my coat and My Cranfest Officials gear. I get out my guitar and tune it. Quietly.
Back upstairs, and people still milling around.
It's 12:15pm. Maybe I'm going to be first this year.
First is good.
Being the opening act is very good. Much less pressure. I Still don't know what I'm going to sing or play but I verify with the Sound Man that I only need two microphones with stands. One for me, and one for my classical guitar.

12:17pm
I check with My wife's aunt Gayle. She's the one in charge. She's been singing (wonderfully!) all her life; Solo's and in the Gospel Words Quartet. I've seen the album covers. Notice "covers" is a plural. As in four or five I think, could be more. She consults her original agenda.
The performances start at 1pm and I go on at 2:15pm not 12:15pm!
Dea wrote it down wrong! (I remember now she said she wasn't sure...oops!)

See, this is the ultimate "good news, bad news" sort of thing.
Good news:
I can't go back into my Cranfest Official duties because the timing would be such that I would never make it back in time. So I get a Break! Time to go back into that office and decide what I'm going to do. (God came through loud and clear but not until that time!)
I also get a little time to stroll around the immediate area of Cranfest and enjoy the atmosphere without any pressure.
There is a little guilt because I'm not helping but I squash that violently.
No snakes in this momental Garden!
For the first time in two weeks I'm not nervous about the performance.

It was a wonderful half hour.

I went back into the hall and realized the bad news:
I am not even close to being the opening act.
Worse: The Gospel words Opened!
More Worse:
There would be a couple of other performers and then
"The Dad's and Daughters" A quartet that features my wife and her Dad as well as Her Uncle and cousin with another aunt playing a fantastic piano.
You really need to understand that they really really are THAT good. Honestly, my being related has nothing to do with my professional opinion.
It only makes my situation worse and I get to go on after them!

I'm nervous again.

I know that my wife and her family (Dad, Mom, Aunts, Uncles,) and friends are all going to stick around for me.

It went...O.K.

Halfway through the second song my guitar went out of tune. I'm not quick enough to tune it between songs (never mind in the middle of a song). I plowed on through it anyway. During the performance I have to force myself to pretend that I'm at home pretending to be playing for an audience. It Works to a point.

Everyone was very "polite" afterwards.

Dea says I didn't embarrass her. I sang "Psalm 5", "I want to thank You Lord" (One I wrote for Dea), and "My Jesus Did" which was written by my good friend Larry Stebbins.

I have to perform again today. This time at 1:30pm. (I double checked with Gayle.) I told them I don't know if it will be the same three songs or not. I am leaving that up to God.

It's 7:30 and I need to wake up the Kids. Big day for them today. They both have solo's in the Crantastic Singers performances today. Dea has been gone since 5:20am. She's has gone to keep the World of Cranfest together while I get the kids ready and bring them to the Fest later. It will be another late night.

May the Lord continue to Make Himself Real to You every moment of every Day!

Will.

One day and counting

Just got home from set up. It is now 8:30 and I am trying to quick check emails, do paperwork and laundry for the weekend. Things are going pretty well right now with tomorrow being the hard day. Everything has been "hurry up and then wait". We cannot set so much of it up until tomorrow. We think that we have our work crews in and ready. I guess we will see how ready we are.
Many people are already in town and the rest of the vendors for the 1200 plus booths will arrive tomorrow. That means traffic jams etc. I hope that we can work it out.
I am really hoping that everyone that comes has a wonderful time.
I need to go over final check lists and then get to bed. I think I will play it safe and have Will set the alarm clock tonight. I think that I might oversleep in the morning if we don't.
Funny thing happened today....I was eating lunch in the restaurant looking out the windows at the vendors that were setting up. They could not see me, but I could certainly see them. One of the men looked all around to make sure no one was looking and then scratched out his lines that we had painted for his booth on the ground and then moved his booth over onto another person's space. He had no idea that I could see him, but when I was done I walked over towards his booth. He saw my radio and Cranfest gear and without me saying anything start moving his booth back. Funny what you can accomplish without saying a word. I had to laugh as I walked away. Nothing like getting caught in the act.
Well, God bless.
Hope you have a great day tomorrow!

Cranfest Central Here.....

Just think in a week it will all be over and except for the paths of worn grass where the people have all walked you will not be able to tell that we had a festival. We are very careful to get it picked up just as soon as possible. Lots of work, but we really do love it for some reason or another.
Right now we are getting ready to start helping people set up their booths. We went around and marked where all 1200 booths go with our flourescent orange paint. That way they usually can find their own booth with the map that we supply right? Wrong. You wouldn't believe all of the lost people. Then we got this idea to make little white flags and put them on the corners of about every third booth or so. That way people that come in the dark to set up (they do that) can find their booth. Well, we put a bunch of them out and yesterday a vendor got an idea that they were vacant booths and brought them all back to office to claim those empty booths. Now today we get to put them back out. Sometimes you just have to laugh!
My husband is a wonderful man! He knew that I could not do both Cranfest and housework, so he did the housework. I have been spending a couple hours each morning doing laundry ect. Then I run in to work, run back to the Cranfest office and start in.
Normally I would not have quite this much to do, but we have had a couple of deaths in the immediate families of some board members and some injuries. We have all been working together to pick up the slack. Everyone does just a little more and those of us that have the energy do a LOT more. I'll sleep next week.
Well, one kid off to school and one kid almost ready. Then I run the the radio station for my Countdown to Cranfest giveaway, then to work. Today is my last day at work. I took the rest of the week off. Should help me finish everything.
Have a great day!

Deanna told you I have a new chainsaw. That isn't entirely correct. The chainsaw she was referring to is probably 15 to 20 years old. For me getting that chainsaw was kind of like Christmas. You see, I was given it because it wasn't running and it didn't look like it was ever going to. I tried a few things I had heard might work and they did. That was the Christmas part. I am not a mechanic. I am the third son of an exceptional Mechanic who has that certain natural frame of mind that makes for good mechanical skills. I think my son may have that, but as for me, I don't have that.
I like motors and things that "run" but when it comes to fixing them, I would rather take them to someone that knows "how", then figure it out for myself. Of course doing that takes money and when you don't have any to spare... You are left with trying to figure it out for yourself. I usually make things worse. (sigh).
This time though, it worked. I was so excited that I have been telling anyone who would listen. I won't bore you with all the details but I was very proud. My free chainsaw worked very hard for four full days.
You caught that didn't you? The past tense in the last sentence? It's ok, I'm not upset and I think it is fixable. It just might cost me more for parts (If I can get 'em) than to buy a new one. I told you it was 15 to 20 years old. It ran very well -while the parts and pieces were falling off of it. By the end of the third day of constant use it would only run until the motor got hot and then it would have to sit and cool before it would run again. That was ok too as it gave you time to load up what you cut. By the end of the fourth day I was replacing screws and retainers for various parts that had simply vibrated off and got lost amongst the felled trees and the tall grass. Yesterday I was hoping for day number 5 when the proverbial straw fell. The "rip cord" for the starter broke. That was pretty much the end. I could fix that fairly easy (I think) if I can get the right part but I would still have a chainsaw that will only run for a few minutes every hour. That problem is also fixable if I can find the part for that (gas tank liner) and all of the other various things that are wrong would also be worth fixing for this fantastic little saw but it would be better money spent to buy a lesser saw to use until I have the time to spare for this one. I don't mind that my saw is broke; the gift was that it ran at all. The gift was three good days of labor with a fourth day that it ran well enough. I will accept that gift with much gratefulness.
My backyard is now a mess. My neighbors field looks much better but I have much more to cut. I just don't know how. My backyard is full of branches that need to be "shortened" and wood to split. (thank you Seth for the loan of your splitter!) I am still trying to get it all stacked neatly but now it is Cranfest time and it all will have to wait until after we are done with that.
The kids are singing with the "Crantastic Singers" again this year and I have been asked to play and sing three songs in the Old Town Hall on both the Friday and Saturday of Cranfest. Deanna and her Dad, Uncle and Cousin will also be featured during those days for their singing group "The Dad's and the Daughters". They are so good I wish everyone could hear them. I also have agreed to M.C. the big Gospel Sing that happens on Saturday night. That usually lasts two to three hours. In my opinion, its the best thing that happens at Cranfest. Again, I wish everyone could hear it and be there for it.
Dea is at work this morning and then she probably won't come home. She will head straight for the CranFest office. The kids have Crantastic Singers practice this morning and I'm not sure what I will be doing. Dave (Dea's Dad) is going to need help at some point putting up fence for "crowd control". I am supposed to start putting up signs to help people find the parking lots and there is a trailer that needs to be converted into a float for the CranFest parade. If I can't do any of those things this morning then there is always house cleaning. With all that Dea does, I don't mind a little extra house cleaning.
Well, time to take the kids to practice,

May all the Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit be yours!
Will.

The things I hear in my head...

Sunday September 10th, 4:23am
I have one of those alarm clocks that beeps. It beeps in just the right frequency and tone that you hear beeping for a very very long time after you have shut the @#%&! thing off. I for the most part rarely need it. This morning for example I woke up at 3:45am and started getting ready for work. The alarm clock went off at 4:20am. This shouldn't be such a big deal right? Except, uh, ...well, ya see... poor Deanna was still sleeping; the key word is "was". I thought I had shut the fool thing off. This is the one morning in the week she has that she can sleep in if she wants, or rather; it "was". (sigh)

I promised to write in this blog a little more often now that we are in "CranFest Season" (why do I now hear Daffy Duck yelling "Rabbit Season!"?) to take some of the load off Deanna. As I have to leave for work in just a few minutes, this shouldn't take too long. The closer we get to Cranfest the less I get to see of her. She does so much for those people and most of them refuse to recognize it or are threatened by it. Drives me nuts to see that. I guess it must be rare to see people that help and who have no hidden agendas.
Both Deanna and I see this as a way to help our community and to help it survive as community that considers "family" important. All the money that is generated through the CranFest organization goes right back into the local community. We really are able to do some pretty great things for the Village of Warrens and it's surrounding area. Dea and I both feel blessed to be able to be a part of that. I have a few jobs that I have agreed to handle for the festival but my primary contribution is: Deanna. For the two or three weeks prior to Cranfest and the Week after I am pretty much a "CranFest Widower". Again, I don't mind too much because it's such a great cause and Deanna Loves doing all that she does. Still, it gives me a reason to whine and I would hate to waste a good reason to whine...

Now the "alarm clock in my head" is telling me it's time to go to work. I will try to post some more details of all that is going on around here in my next post but until then:
May ALL the blessings of the Lord be on you!
Will.

First Day of School, HOORAY!

It is now 5:00 in the morning. Jacob is in the shower. Will is heading out the door and Jessalyn who does not need to get to get up for an hour is already dressed, hair brushed and ready to eat breakfast. So much for not being excited about school. I am so ready for them to be back in school. Especially Jacob. Not that he has been being bad. It's just that with his best friend moving away from Warrens, he has had all this emotional energy that has had him jumping around for a couple of weeks. Jessalyn just plain misses her friends.
Just think this will be Jacob's first week of the new year. This will be his first year in school "breathing". His surgery seems to have been a total success. He is changing so much. He is less than an inch shorter than me and is very proud of himself. He speaks much more clearly, hears better and is able to sit still and concentrate on something much better. I am praying that it is a different situation at school for him. I pray that he does not struggle so much.
In my last post I wrote about going to see the insurance adjuster and also the LP Gas people. Well, it turns out that the insurance people agreed with me about the hail damage. Will expected them to laugh at me. I went figuring he was probably right. HE WAS WRONG AND WILL EVEN ADMIT IT!!!! Let's just say it turned out to be lots of paperwork and lots of on the road time, but the car paid for a large portion of our heat for this winter. Boy was I feeling blessed as I ran around dealing with all of that.
Will has a new chain saw. The neighbor had some trees that needed cutting down. We are doing that now for firewood. It looks as if we will have two wood stoves in the house this winter to help with the heating bill. We have always planned on one in the living room, but now have one for the new room also. It will be nice to be able to use the new room this year without using the electric heaters. I figure we will have about three cord of wood or more by the time we are done. Our plans are to have about 7 cord this winter, I think. With God supplying all of this wood, Will and I think that he is preparing us for a cold winter. If not, we will be VERY prepared for a mild winter. Either way God is good.
Cranfest preparations are under way. I know that I told you that I would be busy, so Will would take care of the blog for the most part. Well, he did. This morning he told me to update the blog. Gee thanks honey.
It was a sad day around here yesterday after learning about Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter's death. Jacob and Jessalyn really enjoyed him and Jacob is quite upset over his death. It was one of his favorite shows. Kind of like I was when John Wayne died. I was about the same age and it really hit me hard. After all he was invincible on tv, why not in real life?
Have a great day.

Still dealing with hail

Today I have an appointment with the insurance adjuster. We took a good look at my Lumina and realized that it is covered in dents from the very large hail that we had. So the claim went in and now I go to see them today.
THEN I have to go and pay for my pre-pay gas for the winter. Joy.....sigh. What a way to ruin a perfectly good day. Insurance people and then gas. Yuck!
Our house seems to be maniac central right now. I just found out that I need to cook during Cranfest this year. Only instead of 50 people it's 75 this year. Last year I went easy food and this year I think I'll do the same, only easier. Lots of finger foods, so that they can grab something quick and run. We have lots and lots of special guests that come to Cranfest including the Governor, Senators, Cabinet Member, CEO of Ocean Spray, Royalty from other festivals etc. Instead of them waiting in line somewhere for food, we feed them at the Cranfest office. It works out well. This year, we will have a better idea of what is going on and how to serve the food.
I'm up between 3:30 and 4:00 am every morning anyway. I might as well cook.

Jacob made a very "grown up" decision yesterday and removed himself from the golf team for this year. Last year he really struggled in school. Golf took up so much time. He was very honest with himself and the coach. He decided that he did not want to risk his grades and also that he did not want to not give the golf team his best effort. I am very proud of him.
Jacob and Jessalyn are both getting ready for school, but grudgingly. Both of their best friends moved away this last year. They are going to have to make some adjustments in school. I am praying especially for Jacob that he finds a friend that is a good kid and will understand Jacob. Jessalyn is very close with 3 or 4 girls so it is not such a harsh situation for her.
Well, time to get busy and start dishes. I already had laundry going, but I cannot put that away since the kids are still sleeping. Need to move to a different room to clean. They both were up late and I don't want them to wake up grouch potatoes.
God bless.

What a WILD ride!

The storms really did us in around here. The damage to trees houses and crops is terrible. I guess they think that we might have been hit with many small tornados in the area. You can see the circular pattern in many of the corn fields. The worst hit was the cranberry industry. Wisconsin produces over 50% of the world's cranberry harvest. Warrens and the surrounding area are the largest producers in Wisconsin. I'm sorry to say that most of the local growers lost almost 100% of their crop. Some are harvesting the unripened berries now for the "white juice" that you see in stores, but that pays MUCH less per barrel of berries. It is sad to see all of the beds of berries that are just now mush that will just rot. Stock up on juice now, because this will hit the industry hard.
The kids are getting ready for school. I don't know who is more ready, them or me! We started back on our routine yesterday. Early bedtime and early to rise. We have a plan of attack for this year and all hope that it works out better. My kids love routine and scheduling. Give Jessalyn a list of things to do and she will see it done. Just as long as she gets to check it off the list. Jacob just needs it written down so that he can remember it. He thinks in so many different directions at the same time.
I don't know how much I will be posting, but I think that Will is going to make sure it gets done. Cranfest is 23 days away. That means that I have 19 days to get my stuff in order. We are really trying to get lots done before it is last minute set up. So much is hurry up and wait. When you take over a whole town, you cannot just put everything up 3 weeks before and wait. Set up time begins on Tuesday and we have everything done by Thursday afternoon. Now if we can only get the float built.
You should come and join us for Cranfest some time. Next year 2007 is our salute to the military. We have tons of special stuff going on.
God bless.

Storms

It is now 2 am and I am up with the dog after a very, very long day and evening. Sam our black lab has a yeast infection in his ears. I understand that this is common in his type of dog. The vet gave me some stuff to clean his ears out with. Good luck. I cannot seem to convince him that I am not trying to kill him. What fun!
We had severe storms here today. Not too, too terrible at our house. Hail larger than a golf ball and lots of rain. Rain was standing throughout the yard at least 2 inches deep with the first storm. After the second storm the hail was standing about 2 inches deep in much of the yard. My flowers and veggies are toast.
My sister and her hubby had it much worse. They have multiple trees down and lost lots of windows to hail. As they were running for the basement glass was showering on them from above. Their yard looks like a war zone. Their neighbors lost their brand new garage. The church opposite them lost it's antique stained glass windows and trees. There were trees down all over. Thankfully they were fine and so was their cute dog Goosy Lucy, not to mention the horses including 1 month old Savanah. We will go over some more the next couple of days and help with clean up. I would imagine that there will be others that need help too.
As far as I know Warrens, Jellystone Park and parts of Tomah are still without power. I have no idea as to whether we will have power at the post office tomorrow. Will's plant has it's own power source so should not be affected. Fort McCoy one of the local military posts must be fine, because I can see the flashes from their nightly war games. If those flashes are that bright over here miles and miles away, they must be blinding over there.
Well, time to chase after the dog again.
Have a great day!

What a great time camping!

The kids and I are back from our yearly camping excursion. We had a wonderful, wonderful time.
The weather was perfect and so we just hung out and enjoyed it. I sure do like camping in cabins better than tents. Next year we are going to camp in an old house that they have there. It is huge with a large screened porch and three bedrooms. We will share it with Mom and Dad. I truthfully was not ready to come home this year.
We had this great church service on Sunday. Not a typical church service for most, but very fitting for my family. We went to the top of this tower that they have there and sang hymns to God. It was great fun and very precious. I love old hymns. They speak to my heart. We got to sing one of my favorite hymns in the alternate tune...."Redeemed How I Love to Proclaim It". One of my favorite verses from hymns and actually the theme of my singing life is in one of the verses to that song. The words say "I sing because I cannot keep silent, His love is the theme of my song". What a way of expressing my exact feelings. It was great singing.
The kids started practicing for Crantastic Singers and are having a blast. They both have solos and are excited. I think Jessa may have worn out her practice CD already. They will practice until Cranfest and then perform Friday for the huge crowd about 4 times and then Saturday night on the stage. It teaches them so many things and they love it.
The Dads & Daughters (the group that I sing in) have been asked to be one of the featured groups for Cranfest this year. We will sing Friday and then twice on Saturday. It should be fun and quite different for us. We usually do not "put on a show", but this will be a different type of crowd and so we will be able to take our singing to a new level. There will be fun songs as well as gospel. I imagine that it will be hilarious with my Father and Uncle Lloyd doing their best to crack the crowd up. My Uncle actually plays the "jug" during one of our songs and they plan on playing up the "old country guys" routine. Kind of like Grandpa Jones and Junior Samples on Hee Haw. It should be great fun. The only problem is that I start laughing just like the crowd and then I can't sing.
Rain here today for the morning. We are ready for some more. The sweet corn and tomatoes are in and I am enjoying them. I think that my favorite meal is creamed cucumbers, sweet corn and fresh tomatoes. I think I could eat that every day of the year. I know I do all the month of August until the season ends.
Well time to do dishes.
God bless.

Time to pack for camping

My side of the family (at least the female part) has an anual camping trip we take to the Green Lakes Conference Center and Campgrounds. It starts this next Friday. The kids and I look forward to it each and every year. We have gone since Jessalyn was a baby. This will make our 9th year. Hard to believe. When we started out we were in a tent. Will teased me because I took everything from home with me. Of course no matter what anyone needed, I was prepared. We did the tent thing for 4 or 5 years. Then we upgraded to a "pop-up camper". That was even better and required less stuff. Last year we really upgraded to the Deluxe model-we rented a cabin. Unless I can help it, I will never go back to the others again. Having a cabin is wonderful! They supply linens, towels, dishes and kitchen. I love it! We even have our own bathroom. What a blessing. I think Will would even like this kind of camping.
Every once in a while, Will and I take the kids to our local campground and rough it for some great family time. It is only a couple of miles away and pretty cheap. I don't have to pack a lot of stuff and we have some fun with the kids. I don't know that Will likes it all that much (his idea of camping is Howard Johnsons), but I think he puts up with it for my sake. Although, as he gets older he seems to enjoy it more. Lately we have talked about taking a trip with no agenda. Just driving and seeing what is out there. That would be fun. Maybe next year or this winter. We really do enjoy just driving down the road and being with each other.
Will has a new chain saw and today he goes to Seth's house to learn how to use it from a "master". I know he is excited to have a new "power toy" OOPS! I mean "power tool". I know eventually I will be called upon to be "manual labor" but thats ok since I am the one that enjoys our fireplace so much. The weather is supposed to be in the low 80's this week and I have great plans. I have no idea what or how much I will be able to accomplish, but I can dream, can't I?
The kids go back to school in a month and then it's Cranfest, so life is pretty full. My birthday is this month, but I am hoping that we will be busy enough that we can just ignore it and go right on by.
Oh well, time to do dishes..
Have a great day!

Summer rolls on....

It's been awhile since we posted anything and I'm sorry. Things are really, really busy here right now. Both kids are home from camp and had fun playing with our nephew Patrick from Tennessee. Patrick flew home on Saturday so the kids are really bummed out. Jacob also just found out that his best friend is moving away in 2 weeks and he is really having a hard time with it.
Our cat "Stinky Pete" is trying to teach our puppy how to hunt. I say puppy, but you have to remember that he weighs at least 80 lbs. She has twice now brought him a live mouse to chase and when he cannot keep track of it and it runs away.... she catches it for him again. It is really funny to watch this huge dog run it circles trying to keep his eyes on this tiny little mouse and all the while the spotted cat is sitting there watching and punting the mouse back into play. I am going to try to catch it on video so that we can send it in to America's Funniest Home Videos. This would probably be more funny than me ripping my jeans from top to bottom on the car door, but maybe not. That was pretty funny ( at least it was a couple of weeks after it happened.)
The biggest news in our lives is that Jessalyn came down with Lymes disease. She brought home a tick under her arm from camp. We have been watching it and sure enough one morning she broke out in this huge "bullseye" rash. A quick trip to the Dr. and she is now on enough antibiotics to cure a horse. She is feeling better already.
We are really starting to work on Cranfest now. Our hope is to have everything ready to go as much as possible to keep the last minute details down to a few. I have met with an electrician to have him rewire our agriculture building. Lots of work and of course I had to take Will with me, because he was speaking a foreign language "electrical". I think we know what we want so now I have to tell the rest of the board.
It has really been a strange feeling working on this year's Cranfest and next year's Cranfest at the same time. Since next year is the salute to the military we are having special displays including the Moving Vietnam Wall, which we had to order 7 years in advance. We are working on many other such exhibits and you have to order them all in advance too, which makes it really confusing some times on what year you are working on. BUT I LOVE IT!!!!!
My Mom and Dad are in Rockford for Mom's class reunion. I hope they have a good time. It made me think a little about my classmates and wonder what they are all doing. I cannot believe it has been almost 25 years since I left in the middle of my Senior year and went to college. It was the right thing for me to do, but I would not recommend it for everyone. I missed out on lots of things my senior year while going to college and then went back and graduated from High School. Looking back it was very strange but I'm glad that I did it.
The weather here is horribly hot, but we have the hope of better things to come starting Tuesday night. Today the heat index is supposed to be around 110. Yuck. This is one of the reasons that we left Florida. My lungs do not do well in this high humidity. We hardly ever have weather like this here, so it is very strange. I guess the corn likes it though. We finally got some rain and now the heat is helping the field corn to recover and grow. I'm glad. To me it is one of the saddest looking things there is to have dried up corn in the fields.
Well, I need to get busy and get to church. Jacob is going to stay home with Jessa. She does not feel up to coming. I think the antibiotic bothers her as much or more than the disease.
God bless.