More Pictures!

Just in time to slow your browser down; its more Pictures! I'm still on "dial-up" so I notice these things. Broadband still isn't available out here unless I pay a small fortune to a satellite company. Any way I have been promising you pictures, so here they are.

Today is Sunday and the weather is warm. We had showers last night so the air still holds some moisture. We went from winter to summer in such a short time. It was only a week and a half ago that I was still waking up to frost in the morning. Now we are having days with temps in the mid nineties. Jessalyn decided to take advantage of that with some good old fashioned fun involving a lawn sprinkler and some uninvited help from the now 7 month old puppy. The first set of pictures will show you some of that.
There are also some pictures below of Jessalyn dressed up to go to her choir performance. I apologize because most of these pictures didn't come out as well as I hoped. None of the pics from the performance came out at all (it was way too dark). I did get some pics of the costume Deanna made for her. Jessalyn was singing her first solo (She did awesome!!) and needed to dress as a Disney character. She chose "Belle" from "Beauty and the Beast" and I thought Deanna did a great job in the thirty minutes it took her to do it. The sun was very bright behind me and poor Jessalyn had to squint and duck her head to keep the sun out of her eyes, so you can't see her face too well but the costume came out all right.
There is a single pic of Jacob at his choir performance as well. I have been to many of his concerts and it doesn't seem to matter where I sit the director always seems to be between me and him. The director stepped away at the end and I caught Jacob turning to leave. It actually came out pretty well. He is in the very center of the pic in profile.

Lastly I promised some pics of "George" the Dodge pickup that belongs to Jacob. I still don't think you can find any spot that doesn't have a ding or a dent some where in a foot and a half radius. Still it holds memories for Jacob and who am I to say he can't have it. I just don't plan on spending too much money or time on it. Of course, just because I don't "plan" on it doesn't mean it won't happen; "the best laid plans of mice and men" you know...(squeak!)

I roto-tilled the garden today and then took the rest of the Sabbath off except for this posting. Enjoy your Families! Whether you have vacation or holiday or not!
Will

What?? I'm a Labrador Retriever! I'm "Retrieving!"!

It was truly a beautiful summer Sunday.

Jessalyn and Sam have something in common. They love the water!

Jessalyn dressed up as "Belle" from "Beauty and the Beast". This was just before her first solo performance for her school choir.

I think Deanna was given only about thirty minutes to make Jessa's costume

She really was trying to smile but the sun was very bright and in her eyes.

The only decent picture I could get of Jacob at his choir performance. It doesn't seem to matter where I sit the director seems to stand right in my way. (note the music stand.)

There are some parts for the tail lights in the bed of the truck. The bumper is shot but I think the tail gate is the straightest part of the truck...

Drivers rear. The back is actually sitting on jack stands. The stool is from where I've been working, I've been trying to get the rim to hold air for more than a minute.

drivers side

From the front.

Jacob says his name is George. He doesn't know why...George has seen better days.

A day spent at the hospital...

Well, today was one of those days that every parent dreads, but you have to deal with them as they come. Jacob had to have surgery today. He has always had a deviated septum and when we took him to the doctor about it they always said that it was what caused his inability to breath through his nose. They told us to wait until he was at least 13 and then get it fixed. We went to an ENT and had him check it out now that he was 13 (finally). This Dr. was about to tell us to wait until he was 18 until he looked closer. Jacob's adenoids had grown into corks that filled the back of his nose. No drainage, no breathing, no anything. Poor kid was miserable.
Today we had that fixed. He now is breathing with his mouth closed for the first time in his life. He can drink from a straw without gasping for breath. He even smelled a strange smell on the way home and that's a first. He never could smell before. It's a whole new world for the kid! We are so glad.
We are home now and he seems to be doing very well. He is very upset because he is on a soft food only diet for today and possibly tomorrow. He is eating everything in sight, so he must be feeling pretty well.
Will is home from work for the next week and so he has grand plans on getting things done. I wish him much success. Right now he is mowing our lawn and the neighbor's lawn also. I work tomorrow and then am off for two days. Hot dog! I enjoy a day off now and then.
Hope you all have a great Memorial Day. We will go to the cemetery here on Monday for the Memorial service as usual.
God bless.

Just a quick note

I just wanted to give you a quick note before I leave for work. Considering that the last posting on the 11th started with the title: "Snow!", I figured I owed you at least a quick update.
The weather for the last couple of days have been absolutely Awesome! Both Deanna and I are praying that it will stay this way for the Oakes Family Gathering and for the time that my parents are supposed to be here. All of this is supposed to happen near the end of June so it would be a fabulous miracle and Blessing!
Construction on the new shed has been halted while we attend to other needs. I managed to get a little more than half my lawn mowed but the rest will have to wait until I can restack some of the construction supplys that surround the shed. We kind of just stacked things everywhere so that now my lawn is fairly littered. I picked up a whole pickup load of "cut-off" pieces from where we had the mitre saw located. Now I have to figure out where to put them. Until then, the truck is too full to be much good.
Even though the shed is only about half-way finished it's turning out to be a God-Send. I moved Dave and Dotties "Chinook" mini motor home so that it's parked behind the shed (the shed is already too full) and it looks like it was made to be parked there. I hope to move Jacob's truck there soon. I will try to get pics of that truck soon; just because I promised.
I spent alot of time and effort yesterday trying to get that trucks tires to the point they would hold air for more than ten seconds. I think I'm up to a couple of minutes now... The rims as well as the tires are shot and I'm not going to get different ones anytime soon, but if I'm going to move it again having air in the tires would be helpful.
Jessalyn had her first Solo at a school concert last night. She was perfect and I am very proud. I have a couple of pics I will also try to post them soon.
Well, time to go May the Lord Bless you and Keep You and Give You Peace!
Will.

SNOW!!!!!!!

Believe it or not, it is supposed to be rain mixed with snow today. Not that our temperature is cold enough for snow. I guess it is just going to be cold enough up above to cause snow to fall at times. How wierd.
I have now officially run out of medical supplies, so I will have to restock today. This has been one of those weeks. On Saturday Jessalyn was walking the dog and let down her guard while standing on the gravel driveway. The dog saw the cat and took off. Jessa wasn't prepared and did a sideways back flip (her words) onto the gravel. The only thing not scraped was her face and left arm. Then on Monday I sprained my ankle slightly. No big deal and it's better now. Yesterday Jacob took a trip through the air without his scooter and banged up his right elbow. Will moved wrong yesterday and now has a hitch in his getalong. Our friend Amanda came over for her birthday dinner (she requested Zuppa Tuscano and southern style turnip greens). While opening her presents she opened her new pocket knife/tool and cut her finger. I have bandaged more cuts and scrapes this week. I have no gauze, tape, bandaids or anything. Last night I had to use "blue easy pull tape that painters use" for Jacob's elbow. Walmart here I come.

One carrier finally came back this last Tuesday so I am down to just my route sort of. One other carrier had eye surgery and the surgeon accidentally cut two blood vessels in his eye. He does not know when or if he will be able to come back to work. Kind of hard to be a carrier when you cannot read numbers or letters. Another carrier's Mother died while he was on the route the other day. He will be out for a couple of days too. This is not so bad though because their subs only need a little help and that does not take long. Maybe I can find my house?

Will is frustrated right now because he is eager to get out on his lawn mower, but it has rained for the last week. I just love watching him mow. He makes the prettiest patterns on the lawn ( on purpose!) when he is out there. Somehow he can see the big picture and knows what it will look like when he is done. I am lucky if I don't miss a huge spot in the middle of the row.

Things are still busy with my parent's and their farm. They are trying to get finished by this next Wednesday so that they can have it done before they leave to go and see my nephew Sean graduate. How can he be this old? He was only two when we were married. Boy does time sure fly.
The lilacs have started blooming, so I really am enjoying driving around my route with the window open. The trees are all budding out and it is so beautiful around here right now. My garden continues to sprout flowers that I never even knew that I planted and I love it.

The dog is great. He's a joy. Of course he thinks that he is a lap dog and that is difficult sometimes. He follows me around all afternoon while we do housework. Boy is he helpful. I put something down and he brings it back to me, thinking that I dropped it. He also thinks that he needs to bring you something when he comes to you, so you get whatever he can find on the way. The other day he brought me a can of corn while I was putting away the groceries. Great, except he dropped it on my foot. He has also discovered toilet paper......use your imagination there.......a 60 lb. black dog and a whole role of toilet paper.

Well, time to get Jessa on the bus. After that I take Jacob to school. Then I go to get doughnuts for work and then do my route. Home by 11:30 usually, unless I have to do some of the never ending errands that come with motherhood.

The funniest thing happened the other day. I was contacting the genealogical society in Canada for information on my Father's side and the woman I met was from my Mother's side and had all of the answers that I needed to do my Mom's Father's family. What a great thing to happen. We are all excited. Then to find out that some of them were actually buried in a cemetery in our county and that she had been looking for them and never found them until they looked on a map to see where we lived. Pretty great stuff. Another funny thing is that it looks like it is possible that my relatives married the relatives of Cathy our friend that danced in our wedding. Strange things happen in genealogy.
Trying to get all possible tasks done before Jacob's surgery on the 26th. I want to be able to devote my time to Jake and not have everything else fall down around my ears. Also working on getting the Oakes Family Gathering together in June. It is always a great time at the Gathering and I love to see all the relatives that come.
Hope you all have a great and wonderful day.
God Bless.

Measure twice...

Measure twice and cut only once is an old carpenters addage that should be used in a lot of other places. We decided to trade refrigerators with the old 'fridge that Dave and Dottie were going to leave in their old farm house when they turned it over to the new owners. The 'fridges are basically the same but the ice maker in theirs works and ours didn't. We hauled it out of the farm house, put it on a trailer and then unloaded it on my back patio so I could paint it with special appliance paint. When it was time to bring it in I discovered it wouldn't fit through my patio door.
I have been doing a lot of remodeling as you know, so my entrances in and out of the house are different. I got my tape measure and started measuring all my doors. I -through the help of my wife- discovered the best way in with the 'fridge was to come through the back woodshed and into the house that way. I left it in the woodshed for a few days because I had other things to do.
I had to hook up the water line that would make my new 'fridge able to automatically dispense ice.
So, I measured from the water lines to the location of the 'fridge and decided to go through the wall into the laundry room and connect there. I carefully measured where to drill and run the new water line. I also had to carefully measure to know where to cut into the wall in the laundry room to access the water line there. (confused yet?)
I called Dave to make sure I knew how to hook the mess up. (There is instructions on the "kit" I bought but they need to be written in crayon if I am going to understand them)
Everything was ready and I even had the presence of mind to bring the new fridge in and plug it in after I carefully pulled the old fridge out and unplugged it with the food still in it. This way as the old fridge gradually lost its cool the new one would be cooling and we could just transfer the food without having to put it all in coolers.
As I was carefully pushing the new 'fridge in place it bumped. It bumped into the counter. I looked. I looked again. Sure enough the new 'fridge is an inch and a half too wide to fit. As I looked I decided that maybe I could trim the edge piece off the counter and then it would fit. While I was trying to figure out the best way to do that I looked up and noticed that the new 'fridge is also about two and half inches too tall. I would have to completely remove the cabinets to make this work.
Dave and Dottie have a new freshly painted Fridge for their old farmhouse.

I measured the doors. I measured the walls. I measured the water lines. I just never measured the two different refridgerators or the space I was going to put them...Sigh.

Ok, Ok...

Ok, Ok... I will get you some pictures of "ol-ugly" which by the way Jacob has named "George". I have no idea where he came up with that, but he was really young when he did it and it sort of stuck. Anyway, I want to get the bed of the truck cleaned out before we take the picture just to be fair (we filled it with aluminum cans waiting for recycling. It seemed poetic.) and then you can decide if it's "ugly" or not. Please keep in mind that I personally do not think that a truck being ugly is necessarily a bad thing, I just don't want it in my front yard. Who knows, there is a very large part of me that really wants to see my son make something of this truck. I just pray it will be worthwhile. The same goes for the '39 but I have better hopes for that. That thing has been sitting in Deanna's great-Uncle's barn since the middle to late 60s. Now it will have to wait til we have the time and money to do something with it. I hope it doesn't take another 30 or 40 years...
Will.