Friday, February 29, 2008

Update!

Well, we got back from Uncle Bills funereal, but truly it was a celebration of his life. That's the great thing about Christian goodbyes. We know we'll see them again!

You know, I've really been getting soft over the years. I mean besides around my middle! I mean soft hearted. The more time I spend in prayer, the softer I get. I can hardly pray at all anymore without getting teary eyed. This can be a big problem when you consider how much praying I do when I'm driving! Anyway, this became brilliantly apparent to me at the services yesterday.
First, we got good news about Uncle Lloyd Oakes who is in the hospital. He's not out of the woods so to speak, but he is improving greatly and we are grateful but we're still continuing to pray.
Anyway, There was a part of the service that was open to comments and remembrances of Bill.
I have a great story about him and this is me right? Of course I want to open my big mouth and say something!
Only I can't.
I know before I make a sound that I'll never make it through the story. I can feel my throat just tighten right up and I know the only sound I'm going to be able to make is a squeak.
That's ok.
Despite popular opinions to the contrary, I don't believe being quiet will kill me. There were enough other stories given that mine wasn't really necessary. Besides, what are blogs for?!?

Don't panic!
This won't take long.

Years ago I had to make a trip I couldn’t afford, to do something I’d never done before and really didn’t know how to do. I needed to replace some floor joists under my house in Florida so I could sell it. If I didn't sell it soon the bank was going to take it.
The termites had really done some damage to the house and I had to take the last of my money to try to fix it. I only had a week to drive to Florida from Wisconsin; Fix the Joists; fix the floor damage and drive back to Wisconsin.
If I didn’t make it in that time, I wouldn’t have a job waiting for me when I got back.
Can you feel the pressure?

When I got to Florida there was Uncle Bill, eager to help.
Look back at that word “eager”.
Enlarge it in your mind and make it bounce up and down with anticipation. That was Uncle Bill.
He'd brought his motor home over to my place because part of the floor we had to replace included our bathroom. This way we could use his while we worked.

The whole time Bill was right by my side. 68 or 69 years old -I think- and I couldn’t have kept him out of the crawlspace under my home. Something told me he would’ve gotten ornery if I had tried. He truly was a very big help.
The poor guy, everywhere there was an old rusty nail poking out of a board his poor bald head found it.
I know he bloodied his head more than twice; but you heard the “thumps” a lot more than that. Still, he kept a great disposition through-out and his stories while we were working kept me from thinking about everything that was riding on getting this fixed in the allotted time and what would happen if I didn’t. There were other people who helped me at that time (my brother Earl teaching me how to change out a toilet for example) but I know for a fact I never would have been able to finish that project without him.
I have always said, “Love” is what you “do”. There is a prime example. He wasn’t perfect, but for some reason, it’s only the “love” that I remember. There is a lesson in there, but I’ll let you find it for yourself.

May the Lord bless you with People who “love” you and with people you can “love”.
Will

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

I'm getting really sick of this

Tomorrow we bury my beloved Uncle Bill. He was the type person that I hope everyone has in their family. Always the uncle to come and play with us kids. I mean ALWAYS! Whenever we had a family gathering we could count on Uncle Bill for a good time. He carried on that way for years. My children remember him as their favorite toy. Even after being diagnosed with heart problems and diabetes, he still bought himself a "super soaker" water gun and chased the kids around for hours. He loved kids and we loved him. He has been so sick the last couple of years that it was painful to watch. There will be a huge hole in any family gathering from now on as well as our hearts.

Now my Uncle Lloyd is in ICU at LaCrosse and not doing well. BUT, we have a BIG God and I believe in miracles. Lloyd is the middle brother in my Dad's family. He is the bass singer in our singing group the Dads & Daughters. He is also the comic relief. We can pull out a song that we have sung for years and he will say "Huh, did we ever sing this before?" and he's being serious! We are always laughing around him. He's been known to wrap a towel around his head with a bunch of bananas sitting on the towel and then dance while singing "I'm chaquita banana and I'm here to say......"

Please pray.

Another Aunt was just diagnosed with Ovarian cancer.

Things seem to be falling apart around here. I just have to cling to the FACT that God is in control and his promise is that he will never, never leave us or forsake us. He's there no matter how much we are hurting. He has a plan.

I just keep running around singing....Romans 8:28. It's what gets me through lately.

I have started to dread the phone ringing....yet I'm miserable when there is no news. Go figure.

I just know I'm really getting sick of losing people.....but I know I'm only losing them "for now". I know I'll see them again. That helps, sometimes.

dea

Saturday, February 23, 2008

It's spring! ( I can dream can't I?)

Yesterday was our first day over 20 degrees in 2 months ( with maybe a couple exceptions). It felt like spring. Of course that has it's good and bad points. With as much snow as we have it is going to be wet until it's all gone. They have almost run out of places to put the extra snow. They are now piling it up in vacant lots that the city owns. The airport field next to the runway is full. The fair grounds are full. Still there is more snow to get rid of.

Since it supposed to be in the 30's the next three days, lots of it will melt. That makes lots and lots of puddles. But 30 degrees feels like summer after -30 wind chill for days on end. Now my mind in whirling with all of the stuff that I need to do. No rest for the weary.

I take the kids to the local water park tomorrow. It's our free community day and the whole village empties into Jel*ystone park to enjoy the water slides etc. I will even have to put on a suit and ride the lazy river and sit in the hot tub. Just to suprise my kids I may even ride the slide. I love the slides they just don't know it. I'm not sure how my bum foot will like the 100+ stairs to get up there though. Oh well, it's good excercise. Our friends Vicki and Curt will come too so that I have adult supervision. I'm so wild you know.

Of course with it being up here in the snowy north, at least I won't be the only white as a ghost person there who should not be in a swimsuit EVER! I'm considering getting one of those scuba wet suits that suck everything up and make you skinny. I have no idea where it all goes, but it seems to dissapear in those things.

This week is a busy week for all of us. We are trying to get life together before I go to the Governor's Conference next weekend. I leave Monday and will be back on Wednesday morning. That means I need to have meals for 3 days, clothes ready and waiting for three days, practises covered as far as pick up and drop off points. All of that will have to be ready before I go. I have a to do list that is three pages long, but I know I'll never get it done. I think I either need a maid or a personal assistant. Truthfully, probably both.

Well, Jake and I did the orthodontist and eye doctor day the other day. He is now wearing glasses and I think they help whether he wants to admit it or not. I notice that he wears them on purpose and I don't have to remind him often to put them on. He also has to have braces. Whoopee. $5890. That really is a painful number. The good news is that he will only have to wear them for less than two years total and the first three to four months he has to wear an expander, not the full braces. Just when we get done with this it will be time for him to get his deviated septum fixed ( a nose job). By the time he's 19, he'll be a whole new man.

When we went to LaCrosse, I took him to a buffet. We had plenty of time to eat, so I figured he could pick and chose and enjoy. Boy did he! I went to get salad and came back and sat down. Here comes my 5' 10" son who weighs 145 lbs with his plate. On this plate was 1 grilled cheese, 2 breadsticks (big ones), 3 pieces of pizza and a cheese burger. It was huge! I continue eating and he goes for a second plate. A plate full of spaghetti and some corn on the side ( his Mom had told him that he had to eat some vegetables). He then goes back for another plate of spaghetti. Then another plate of something else ( I don't remember what), then an icecream cone and then orange sorbet. Meanwhile I had a salad and then a reasonable plate of orange chicken and veggies with a little baked fish. Guess who will be wearing the whole meal on her butt for the next year and guess who will not. After all of that he said that he was about 80% filled up so we could go back to the mall and wait for his eye appointment. 80%???????? Where does he have room in that skinny body? On one hand I was proud that he had such a good appetite even if it was not really healthy choices ( I let him have what he wanted for a treat, no forced salad eating etc) on the other hand it was very depressing knowing how I would pay for the meal and that he who needs to gain some weight would not. It stinks being old.

Well, mail count started yesterday afternoon. I'm really looking forward to it for once Every other time I have been working someone else's route during the count. This time it's just mine. I know that my route is bigger than they think it is and I hope that in the end they agree with me. There is a very real chance that after this count they will add onto my route from other routes and I will go full time. That would mean at least every other weekend off. I have not had weekends off in almost 10 years. I would really enjoy not working 6 days a week. It's not that the hours are long and I'm not really complaining (well sort of). Although I don't work many 12 hours days like Will does, I still have to go in 6 days a week. I still have to find time around it for housework etc. If I could get weekends, it would give me one morning home that I could catch up on things. I'm a morning person and I get busy really getting stuff done every morning and then have to stop and go to work. By the time I get home, I've put in a full day and doing anything is very hard. I just don't seem to have the energy.

Well time to get back to housework. Oh boy....sigh.
Have a great day!
dea

Monday, February 18, 2008

Snow, snow and more snow..

When I last posted we had just been blessed with lots of snow. Yesterday we were blessed with 8-10 inches more. Then this morning it has snowed another 2-3 already.

Will and I read meters all day yesterday. It was fun. I kind of felt like a pioneer. We had to do it. We had no choice in the matter. We have a deadline. Then suddenly it became a matter of stubborn pride for us. We were going to beat the elements. We were going to win. We almost did and then a ditch sucked us in while we were parked. God worked it out so that the next people that came by were the helping kind. They stopped and called someone, but the next person that came by was another neighbor and he pulled us out. Thank you God. By the time we were unstuck it was too dark to read our last four meters. We will read them quick this morning and then go over and read the second much smaller route today.

I cannot wait for spring. There is another crop of weeds just waiting for me to plant them in my garden. Although this year I am planting my garden somewhere else because the deer have found that they love greenbeans and wax beans. They eat the plants and all. They even try some of the tomatoes. If they try something and like it they eat it all, but if they don't, they head onto the next something to try. All these bites out of all the veggies. It's a scene of mass destruction. I hope they get a bellyache. This year I'll put it in the front courtyard and hopefully make it harder for them to get at.

The kids are getting ready for school. They keep hoping that we will hear that school has been closed instead of just this delay, but so far it's not happening. They really are hoping.....you can feel it in the air.

Tonight I pick up the four or five little girls after their musical practise and bring them home. Tomorrow, Will goes back to work (he took today off to read meters). Wednesday Jacob goes to the orthodontist and the eye doctor. Poor kid he might walk away from there with braces and glasses.

I hope you all have a wonderful day.
God bless.
dea

Saturday, February 16, 2008

The world according to.....ME!

I can describe our weather in two words....cold snow. It has been consistent cold and frequent snow around here lately. The "snowmobilers" and "skiiers" are about the only ones that are enjoying it. On Thursday we had about 8 inches of light fluffy snow. Not hard to shovel, but still it was 8 inches of the junk. Add that to the piles and piles that we have already.....what a mess! They are running out of places to put the extra snow that they get from downtown. They have to suck it up with this huge vacuum cleaner and send it by dumptruck somewhere else. They have about filled the fair grounds and are piling it up out at the end of the airport, but it's getting full too.
Now they say that we are supposed to get another 3-5 inches tomorrow. Great. Oh boy am I excited......not. Of course Will and I are still reading meters this weekend, no matter what the weather. Wonderful man that he is , he read 13 pages worth yesterday by himself while I was at work. Today he will read more until I get home and then we will take off to read the hard ones quick before the snow starts.

The last couple of days at work have been interesting. We are getting ready for an Official Mail Count. That means they are going to count how much mail we deliver on average and figure out the size of our routes. That will decide salaries etc. Of course suddenly mail volume will drop on the day before count starts. Funny how that happens each time. From out of the blue people stop mailing catalogs and magazines. Then a day or two after count we get these huge amounts of catalogs and magazines....Interesting. That is how it has happened in the past, we will see what happens this year. I have been keeping track of the volume of mail that I get for the last couple of months and will continue for the next month. I will be fun to watch and see.

Of course the new boss had to ride with me on the route the other day to count mail boxes and watch my driving etc. Poor woman, there she was riding in the back of the jeep bouncing around. Not being able to see out, she had rely on me to tell her how many boxes I was delivering each time. We worked out a system and things went fine until we had to leave my route and go and deliver part of another route for one of the slower carriers. I felt so sorry for her as we chugged up and down in the country on these hills, dips, corners and large bumps. She was a trooper and just hung on. We made it through that part and then headed back to my route where we proceeded to get stuck 8 boxes from the end. A large ice rock had rolled under the truck as we pulled away from the box and lifted us just enough that the wheels just spun. Thankfully our "go to guy" from the office came out and pulled us out. I don't think she is looking forward to another trip with me. I tried to warn her about "stupid things happening to me", but she didn't believe me. I think she does now.

Jessalyn tried out for a big musical they are doing throughout the school district. She had to go back a second time and has a speaking part. She is very excited. For someone that is shy like her, it is hard for her to get up in front of people, let alone try out. She has practise 3 days a week.

Jacob started small engine class and loves it. He was even excited to go to school last week a couple of the days. What a change on that one. He also was sick for one day so last week was a short one for him with one sick day, one snow day off and one teacher planning day off. He will have to stay after school on Monday again. He does this every Monday because he is trying to get ahead in school instead of always trying to get caught up.

Being a mail carrier, I always have at least one dog "cookie" in my pocket. You never know when you will need one. Well yesterday, I stopped at my sister Dale's and took off my coat and hung it on the chair. Her little Welsh Corgie Lucy smelled that cookie and stuck her head in the pocket. The only problem is that her head would not come out of the pocket. We turned to look at her and there she was stuck in my coat pocket dragging it around the base of the chair. We had to save her and darned if she didn't do it again looking for another cookie, but this time she found something better.....a tissue that had "vicks" in it. She grabbed that thing and when we got her loose she took off like greased lightening with that tissue. Dale had to chase her down. What a hoot that little dog is. Her name is Goosey Lucy and it fits.

Well, I'd better get ready to go to work. I bet Seth and Claire are out plowing snow again. Claire moved here from Australia when she married Seth and we love having her here. For the first winter she really loved the snow and enjoyed all the plowing, shoveling etc. I don't know that she is enjoying it that much this year. When she and I talked about it this last time, there wasn't the same sparkle in her eyes about it. It's great the first month, ok the second month, annoying the third month and downright aggrivating the fourth month. Right now it feels like we are on about our 6th month. I am really, really tired of snow.

I think the only one happy about the snow is our dog Sam. Every time new snow falls he gets excited. He can always tell and has to be out playing...which works out because for some reason I seem to always have to be out shoveling.

Have a great day.
dea

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Ahhh Technology!

Really, in the last TEN years Technology in this world has made huge leaps forward that surpasses what was accomplished in the Twenty years before. That twenty years surpassed the forty years before that. Those forty years surpassed the accomplishments of the 80 years before it and so on and so on, etcetera etc.

Which means in the next five years alone we should be truly introduced to some fantastic items to improve our life.
As long as the equally impressive leaps made in the technology of war doesn't just wipe us out all together.

It isn't the war that scares me. It's the amount of technological crap that I have that doesn't work!

Oh I'm just venting here like anyone who uses electricity has at one point in time or another. This isn't about my computers -which mine still are not working properly and won't for some time to come- but pretty much everything in general.

I have explained before that after working a full weekend I like to take every other Monday off. Sometimes that isn't possible and I understand that. Yesterday was one of those days. I got to play organizer and expeditor for a day. My wife seems to think this is my first time having to do this. It isn't. It also went quite well I thought, but that's not a good thing. It was an accident!
This is the kind of thing my wife does well and I had -without saying so- conviced her that I do not. The idea behind this is that this way she WILL do it and I don't have to. Laziness is an art practiced by the smart.

I still have a lot of work to do so,
I guess I'm not that smart.

Anyway, Deanna's folks have a little purple car. It's a small 4X4 that we use to run their route reading electric meters while they are gone in the winter. Last month, on our second or third day reading meters I went out to start it and the key refused to work.

I wish I had its dedication.

I tried yanking on the wheel. I tried pushing the car forward and backward. I turned the key around and tried all the above again. It was below zero temps so I tried heat and a blow dryer. I tried lubricant. Nothing worked. We called Dave and Dottie and had them mail us their original key. In the mean time we finished the route using Dea's Lum*na. This is not a good option it was just the only option.

No, Not a good option. Too many meters you can't get to in the winter without four wheel drive. So I walked alot. And then I walked some more. Did I mention I walked a lot? This month is Quarterlies. That means we have all the same meters as last month plus a lot of other meters that only get read 4 times a year. These meters are all too often placed in even more rediculous places than the regular meters. There are a couple of marshes where I am sure I will be walking through the snow for far too far.

Maybe.

When we got Dave and Dotties key in the mail it was warmer. We went out and tried their key and nope! Not going to work. Having checked everything else, it must be the mechanism itself. Which ironically, they have taken a lot of effort to design so it is as difficult as possible to replace.

If only they had put the same effort into making it so it would never need to be replaced...
It gets better! Parts store number one says strangely, "We can't get it. Well, I'm sure we could but not even our 'direct from the factory' supplier can get it." Great. He was kind enough to tell me what it would cost IF he could get it. Thanks bunches pal.

I called the locksmith. This is a guy I know I'm not going to get along with. He can't keep his story straight. I don't think he was lying. I think he wants to make himself sound important and necessary while not being to committed to anything he does say. He waffles a lot and won't speak clearly. What I do get from him is that He can get the part for cheaper and actually make it work with my original key but it will take THREE TO FOUR WEEKS to get the part!! We are supposed to start reading meters on wednesday!.

My feet hurt.

I call the local ch*vy dealer. She can get the part tomorrow. For about $60 more than parts store number one can. They also can install it for X amount of dollars plus towing. I'm not telling you exact prices for a reason, but let's just say I have bought cars for less than this key cylinder is going to cost. The good news: I don't have to pay for it. The bad news: I have to explain it to Dave. Better news: I can get Dea to tell him first!

Deanna tells me I need to talk to her dad. Seems there are more issues than this going on. So I call. Turns out the vehicle they have on their vacation is also having MAJOR issues. The kind that would make the key cylinder seem small; if it wasn't in addition to their other issues. Still, he tells me to call the dealer about his purple car and take care of it.

So, that was mission number one for Monday morning. It was supposed to be number one but there was another minor emergency first.

Deanna is taking my truck to work so I can drive her car to the mechanic. Both her brakes and her power steering are in desperate need of repair. I no longer have a garage and I am not going to try jacking a car up on ice and rack my knuckles in -4 degrees F!
So I had no problems with agreeing to this errand.

Being the kind thoughtful husband that I am I went out to start my truck and warm it up for her. I have been plugging the block heater in this winter in an attempt to avoid the issues I had with it last winter. It starts up great. I make a mental note to talk to the repair shop to take my truck in next. It has had a small leak in it's cooling system ever since I bought it. I think it might be getting worse so now is the time to get it fixed.

As deanna is coming out to get in the truck I look on the ground and can see green in the snow. A lot of Green. Way too much Green. Antifreeze on the ground. Uh Oh. On a hunch and remembering what happened last year, I checked my half empty bottle of antifreeze mix. It's like a "slushie" inside. I can hear the ice. Good news! Last years cooling issues really weren't my fault! Bad news! I have to find a different kind of coolant to use! This brand doesn't cut it as "antifreeze" that's for sure.

Still, as bad as it's leaking, I tell Dea it's okay to take it but keep an eye on the gages and I'll keep my cell phone with me.

So, my itinerary is: Pour ashes over the leaked antifreeze. Cover up with snow. Warm myself up. Call Dealer Parts Dept. Call Dealer. Call Tow Truck. Call repair shop about my car and truck. Give tow truck driver the keys and directions. Call dealer again. Call other repair shop because they want to reschedule (mechanic didn't show up) Call other repair shop to beg that they not reschedule but also make room for my truck. Get them to not only agree but arrange for a loaner vehicle. Go to parts store for parts for both of my vehicles. Include oil and filters for both vehicles. Include fuel filter for mine.

I Get Dea's car to repair shop and spend the afternoon with the very funny and very nice guy in charge of said shop. We make rude guy type jokes. We grunt like Tim Allen. Lot's of testosterone. Nothing like a garage to make men go hormonal. Well, almost nothing; but you understand.

All the while I am getting him to add more and more stuff on to my list of things to get fixed. I didn't plan it that way, it just sort of happened. Remember, He's one mechanic short and has very limited time. Still, each time he agrees until the steel comes into his eyes and he declares: "Not. A. Nother. Thing. or I will run you over!" He's in a wheel chair with a bad foot, but I don't think he's kidding.

Deanna shows up with my truck and the leak is worse yet. I park it in back and we transfer her stuff to the loaner minivan. (I'm Not Driving it!). She has a bunch of girls to pick up and deliver. (it's a mom thing. Our daughter is in a school play and the moms are taking turns delivering them after practice. See, Dea belongs in the mini van. I don't; Yuck.) She first picks up Jacob from an after school thing and I meet them in the now finished Lum*na to save Jake from a van full of girls and us guys go home.

It looks like they are going to keep my truck until Friday. I can't wait to guestimate how many cars I could have bought with the money I spent fixing the two I have. It's okay, I know anything I would have bought would be spending just as much time being repaired as these.

It's Tueday afternoon and no word on Dave's purple car. It may be Friday too. Friday should be interesting. Remember I'm supposed to be reading meters on Friday. Meters that power the technology we use. So, I can pay for the technology I drive.

Maybe the Amish have it right.

Nah.

Numbers 6:24
Will

Thursday, February 07, 2008

I love computers! Really!

I have always loved computers. That doesn't mean I'm very good with them. Darn it.
I have often said: to err is human but to really mess things up takes a computer. It's still true.

I have broadband now (sort of. see the broadband saga below if you haven't already.). Better yet, when the tech came to install my new modem he upgraded me to a unit that is also a router! Whoo hoo! I can now network the two computers I have running and include the third one I have when I get that one up and running. Right. Best laid plans of mice and men.

I have a new printer/scanner that I have been waiting to install. I figured now would be the best time. I will install the new printer and set up my network all at once. Ah hah. Everything got ugly from there. Real ugly.

If you remember, Of the two computers I have running, One is a bottom of the line bargain basement computer from D*ll. It was new back when wind*ws XP was brand new. It's the one I'm typing on right now. The other is a V-Class that has had just about everything upgraded. It works nice! Sort of. Darin Oakes built it and then gave it to me because we thought computer number one was going to die. Silly us. Anyway the printer hooked up to the v-class just fine and worked nice. Until. Until I tried to network the two computers. It worked but only one way. I must have messed up a setting because it would allow me to pull files from the old computer but not the other way around. No big deal, I will figure it out eventually. I think. Then again, maybe not.

See, for some strange reason, doing this has affected the new computers ability to get online. Or rather to stay online. If I shut everything off and then turn everything back on I can have both computers online for about twenty minutes. Then the newer computer quits surfing. Notice I said "surfing". I can download my emails just fine. If you "Ping it" it works an is connected ok. It just won't let you browse. I have checked and double checked my settings. They are right. I have called the Internet providers and they can't help either. I have uninstalled my original firewall and turned my Wind*ws fire wall back on. Nothing helps.

The BIGGEST reason for wanting broadband (not the only reason, just the most important) so I can video chat with my family in Florida. That webcam is attached to the computer with cool graphics card and the really Neat sound system. (the other doesn't have such luxuries). The computer that now will only allow me online for a few minutes and then after that, I can get emails and that is it! Arrrrrrrgh!

I love computers. Really I do! I have tried system restore several times. Nada. Well, there is a long list of things to try and will get through them eventually Lord willing. Until then, our posts and general computer communications may be "hit and miss" if you know what I mean.

I was going to just toss all three computers in the trash and start over with three new ones
except:
I need the files.
I am too poor
I am not completely nuts (despite popular opinion to the contrary)

So, regardless of where you are in this great big world, I you hear a loud scream and the sound of breaking glass and plastic you will know it's me.

Until then May the Lord Bless You and Keep you
Will

Saturday, February 02, 2008

18 years and counting!

There are quite a few of you that I can tell you what you were doing 18 years ago today. Not watching the ground hog! You were listening to Tim Reed propose to Deanna Oakes on WTNT in Tallahassee. Somehow that seems wrong.....Tim proposed, but I ended up married to Will. I guess I'm possibly a "two-timer", hopefully this does not make me a bigamist (well sort of).

After Will proposed, I went on to my dentist appointment. How the Dentist could get anything done is beyond me. She even held my appointment open when I was 20 minutes late. I really liked her and still use the leaded crystal bowl that she gave us as a wedding present.

I guess that evening still is kind of a blur in some ways, but I do know that we ate dinner with my Mom and Pop at Quincy's Steak House (one of our favorites) and then headed out to have drinks with Will's folks and some of the family. I'm not real sure who all was there at that one, but I do know that Cathy smarted off and volunteered to dance at our wedding and Will yelled "Done". History in the making. She was stuck.

We then headed out to a bowling alley to bowl, since we had already made plans with Elise and our friend Tim to do that. What a hoot! If I remember it correctly I beat Will. I wonder if that's the reason we don't bowl anymore? Just kidding honey.

Well in honor of our 18th anniversary, today Will and I are going on a field trip. We are heading out to Devil's Lake State Park to do some investigating. You see that is where the Oakes Family Gathering will be held this year and I have never been there before. It's hard to plan something when you've never seen the facilities. We are having it in the Red Oak Pavilion, which is very appropriate if you ask me. Anyway, everything is pretty much closed down around there, but we still should be able to see what the directions are and what the building looks like on the outside.
On the way home we will stop at the Hotel/Conference Center/Casino that we had our Governor's Conference on Tourism at a couple of years ago. While I was there we enjoyed spending time with a man who was the Governor's personal chef at the Governor's mansion for years. Now he is the head chef there for conventions etc. He is good friends with a friend of mine. While at that Conference, I enjoyed eating some of the best food that I've ever eaten in my life. I understand that the restaurants in there use his recipes on their menu also. We are going to check one of them out, but I don't know which one. There are five in the complex. Maybe it will be a new place to eat. If they don't look like something we want we can stop back at some place in Wisconsin Dells.

I cannot believe that we have been together over 18 years now. What a life! It's been a roller coaster ride sometimes but I cannot say that I would change anything if I could go back. Well, maybe a hair style choice or something, but for the most part I feel that we've done the best that we could and to the best of our abilities tried to figure out God's will in all of it.

Things were not made easy by moving to Wisconsin. I know that it was a hard transititon for us both. We left behind so many friends in Florida, but thankfully we have all managed to at least stay in touch with each other. I know in my heart that raising our children in this "small town" atmosphere has been the right thing to do. In lots of ways, they have kind of grown up in Mayberry. The ability for them to ride their bikes around town and just hang out with friends has been great.

That being said, who knows where God is going to lead Will and I in the future. I know that I feel a stirring in my heart to make a difference and to possibly find a new ministry, but I have no idea when or what that will be. I really feel led to help the poor and less fortunate in their daily lives as well as spiritual lives. It's like a burning in there, but I don't know where that will end up. Of course Will says my motto is to "feed the world". But let me tell you this......I'm like that song "Please don't send me to Africa". I like warming my pew in a comfortable church....I have no need to go to the jungle and really am not feeling led to go that route, but I could see a help center in my future.

I digress.....I guess that I should just say it's been a wonderful 18 years and here's to another 18 and more. I got a great guy on February 2nd, 1990 and I don't plan on letting him go. I mean he even quit smoking and chewing for me...is that love or what?

Have a great "my engagement day"!
dea