Thursday, August 31, 2006

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.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

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.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

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!

Thursday, August 17, 2006

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.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

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!