Our tree either before or after it fell (twice) I forget.

Our Warrens Christmas display

Mini tree in the entryway.

A Christmas weekend.

It was a weekend filled with Christmas and I still don't feel like having Christmas. Strange isn't it? I suppose that after this next week, which is supposed to get snow everyday, I will probably feel like having Christmas.

Will and I had to make a mad dash to LaCrosse on Friday evening to get his signature on our new checking account. They could not order our new checks with his name on them without his signature on file. I can understand that. Since, no matter how I try, I cannot seem to live without checks, Friday was the only day we could fit it in due to his work schedule. We arrived there at 4:59 and they close at 5:00. I was actually calling them from the elevator saying "we're here don't close". That done we stopped at Sams for some quick refills on stuff (certain things are much cheaper there) and then ran home and started working on the weekend's events.

Saturday our church had it's annual cooking baking day. We baked cookies for every house in the village of Warrens, bagged them up and had them ready to go for Sunday. We ended up with about 120 dozen. I had thrown together some soup (chili, cheesy potato ham, chicken noodle and bean). My friend Judy had made 7 dozen rolls in the morning, so we had a soup and rolls supper with cookies for dessert for anyone that wanted to come. It was a fun time with lots of laughs and smiles and good food.

Sunday was church and there were enough leftovers for people to hang around and eat some more soup and cookies. We all went home and then the kids and I and my cousin Bill (our pastor) met back at the church to deliver cookies. We got all of them delivered except for one street and Jake and I will try to take care of that today. I met our friend (with his big diesel truck) up at the Cranfest office and we hooked up the Cranfest float/people mover. Everyone piled onto it (I think about 27 of us) and we started caroling. We caroled for almost 2 1/2 hours in the cold and dark. It was fun. Some people got cold and had to go home, but many of us stuck it out. We ended up at the senior apartments for a party that they hosted and had a blast. Jake, Jessa and I stayed for a while after everyone else and talked. We got home about 8:00 pm.

It was a full weekend, but well worth it. Now everyone can just do their own family thing and not have to worry about any other church functions. Things are starting to be Christmas here at Donaldson Central and I'm hoping that the joy of the season will permiate my bones. So far it has not, but I am trusting that God will make His presence known and I will begin to feel it. He has done it every year so far. We have a little over 2 weeks to get it all together.

So.......18 gift baskets here I come. Open House on Christmas Eve here I come. Christmas shopping here I come.....delivering mail in the snow, here I come....

READY OR NOT CHRISTMAS....HERE I COME!!!!!!!

Have a great day.

dea

The last day of fall...

Yesterday was a beautiful day on the route with sunshine and warm temps. Today is supposed to be the official start of our colder weather. I am not thrilled, but I guess that I have nothing to complain about. We have had a wonderful November. Warmer temperatures and sunshine. It kind of made up for the terrible October with it's 5+ inches of rain and downright cold temperatures.

Now we can start getting ready for Christmas. Up until now it felt like Florida weather and I always had a hard time getting ready for the holidays there. I don't know how it would be living in Miami or some such place. Christmas in the 90's. Of course, if you are like our friends in Australia, I guess Christmas in cold weather sounds weird.

This Saturday is our second annual cookie baking day. I am planning on getting to the church about 8:00 am and starting to bake there. I will bake cookies here at home too before, for decorating there. Our plan is to make about 200 dozen cookies. We plan on giving a bag of cookies to each and every household in Warrens this year. So tonight the kids start decorating the bags. I have the cards in the bags already to print out. Saturday we will bake cookies, decorate cookies, bag cookies and deliver cookies. Then at 6:00pm on Saturday I will be serving soup for anyone that wants to come to the church for supper. Sunday is church and then after church we will finish delivering cookies. At 4:00 pm that afternoon we all meet at the church and jump onto the Cranfest float people mover and start our community Christmas caroling. We will carol all over and then we will be ending at the Hilltopper apartments where there are older people living that are going to host a small party for us. We ended there last year also and it was a great, great time.

All in all this weekend will be busy, but in a way that's good. It gets everything out of the way, so to speak, for the season and then everyone is free to do their family thing and not feel guilty about missing anything at the church.

Next week, we will start decorating here. We plan on getting the tree one day next week and then getting the decorations out. Our family will start cooking for gift baskets this year next week also. Included in the baskets this year will be homemade mixes, breads, cookies and candies. I think we are up to about 18 gift baskets now. It is a blessing for us to be able to give these to the people that we love.

Since money is tight this year for our family, as I'm sure it is for everyone, I have asked the kids to pick out one or two things that they would like to add to our Christmas time that they have always wanted to do as part of the celebration. Jessalyn picked a family meal night out at a restaurant with our family (I think she wants to recreate an Olive Garden commercial). She also would like to have a family game night for board games. Jake is still thinking about it.

Both kids have been very thoughtful in their gifts this year. They are both proving to have my "crafting bug" and enjoy working with their hands. Jessalyn has chosen a few projects that are going to be beautiful when finished and Jake has done some work at school that is marvelous. I wish you could see the drawings he brought home last month. I went and purchased frames right away. They are beautiful. He was supposed to draw one picture. He thought that was not enough to show his vision, so he drew 4 continuous pictures that can stand alone as a scene by themselves or can be stacked one on top of the other for a continuous picture. They are great and Will and I are extremely proud.

Jessalyn just brought me the sheet that she has been nominated by the teachers to be in the area quiz bowl. They suggest that in order to help her, we drag out the trivial pursuit game. Oh great. Nothing like a game of Trivial Pursuit to make me feel like an idiot. Let's just say that my answers are always Zimbabwe for anything geographical. Sometimes that answer is even right.

Have a great day!
dea

Thanksgiving at our house.

This year Thanksgiving dinner was held at our house. We cleaned, dusted and vacuumed. We cleaned out the "new family room" (Will calls it the sun porch). We had it already to set up with the tables and chairs and then family arrived. I was in the kitchen cooking when my Aunt walked through the door. She sat down on a chair to talk to me while I cooked. Then my 2 sisters and brother in law walked in and they all pulled up a chair. We all ate muchies and talked while I cooked dinner. When it came time to go out to the other room, none of us went. We all were having such a good time right there that we all just stayed. It was kind of funny. Most of you know how I cook. I cook tons of food and try to make sure that there is enough. Here we all were sitting at this table covered with tons of food, making a little area for our plate to set while we ate and talked some more. It was a great time with lots of laughing.

Work is really picking up and I'm glad. I love the holiday season. The hours are long, but delivery Christmas joy to everyone is a pleasure and in some ways an honor. Every Christmas card brings a smile and a little happiness. It's great!

I have been working on getting Will's 2010 vacation calendar figured out. He has to turn in his requests on January 4th. Knowing now what we will do next year is not easy. I can pretty much decide a couple of weeks ahead, but he has to really plan it out. Well, I have to really plan it out and then run it past him. It isn't easy.

Well, time to get people off to school and me off to work.
Have a great day.
dea

Black Squirrels

On my route I have a few black squirrels. It's really interesting that in Florida you see white squirrels and in Wisconsin we have black ones. This one is very friendly (as far as squirrels go). He sits there and looks at me and doesn't run away when I am very near. I guess he doesn't see me as a threat since I come and mess around there every day and then I leave. He sure can get himself into funny situations. He tries to carry these huge walnuts and hickory nuts that are twice as big as his head and then get them up the tree. Usually he gives up and comes back down the tree and goes to bury them somewhere else. I can't help but waste a few minutes watching him. I call it my lunch break and then I head out and he goes on with his life. I think he's pretty neat. Just some more of that useless information that I head rolling around in my head. Have a great day.
dea

Black Squirrels...

Fall color

View from the top of the ridge down through the trees

Fall color...

The fall color around here was very strange this year due to the lack of rain during the summer and the cooler temperatures. The corn took forever to ripen and the tomatoes didn't really start ripening until late August. Weird. Suddenly mid October things started to really color up (must have something to do with the almost 5 inches of rain in October). The reds were pretty much done, but the yellows and oranges started.

On my route there is one ridge that I drive over that I have a great view on both sides clear down to the bottom of the valley on both sides. Both of those hillsides turned completely yellow. There were no other colored trees for the most part for almost 1/2 mile. It was beautiful when the sun would shine. It seemed to glow.

Right when the color peaked...disaster! We got 35-40 mph winds. There are no leaves left on any of the trees for the most part. Naked! Here I was looking forward to my drive during the day enjoying the fall colors. Not any more. Now I get to enjoy the unobstructed views.

The funny thing is that many of the people in town had their lawns all raked and out in the street ready for the city vacuum thinger ma jiggy thing to come and suck them up.....right. That wind hit and now they are all out raking the neighbors leaves that blew into their yard. Not only did they get to rake their leaves they got to rake someone elses. It just goes to show you that people like me that don't rake very often are smart. Why rake twice when you can put it off until spring?

Have a great day.
dea

About Honor and Blessing...

I have been following a pair of eagles this year since starting my new route. I named them Honor and Glory (Glory is the girl). I had named them Honor and Regal, but Will said I could not name the bird Regal Eagle. I agreed. Well, Honor and Glory had a daughter this year. I watched her grow, learn to fly by flapping from branch to branch and finally take full flight. It has been a dream come true for someone who loves eagles.

I know that the offspring is a girl because she already outweighs her father by quite a bit. Male eagles are smaller than their mates. For some reason, the girl spends more time with her father than her mother. I don't know if he is the better teacher or what. I'll have to study on that one. It took me a long time to name her, but her name is now Blessing.

The other day I was out on the route and they were in a tree right above the road. I stopped and spoke to them and enjoyed a lunch break while watching them. I took pictures, but because of the overcast day, they didn't turn out too well. You can see the outline though. The bird on the right is Blessing. She is brown with white patches. She does not have a full white head yet, like her parents, but when the wind blows her feathers show white underneath on her head (like she had a bad dye job done). She is beautiful. On the left is Honor. You can see the size difference. On his left is a squirrel's nest so that is not another bird.

Just wanted to share.
dea

Honor and Blessing...

I'm So Sorry...

....I seem to be saying that a lot lately. Oh well. This time it's for going so long between posts. It isn't that we haven't anything to say or show but just not the time and energy to do it. Deanna has been going nuts with her camera phone and I was hoping that by now she would be able to post some of them but she works so hard that it just hasn't happened. My excuse? Well, I was kinda hoping to blame it all on her but I can't. I haven't worked the last two days; so, no excuses there. We installed a new front door to replace the old ugly one that has been there since this house was a convenience store. It was pretty rusted and hanging from it's hinges. A great big Thank You to Deanna's Dad Dave. I tore out the old one (the easy job) and he installed the new one (the hard job). Another thank you to Dave because he gave us the new door. He used to have it in his house for a little while but decided to do something else. So, he had to reinstall a door that had been installed before. If you've ever done that, you realize it's a lot harder to do (right) than to put in a new one. It's beautiful and waiting for me to finish trimming out. I should have that done by spring....maybe. Hopefully, I can get Deanna to post a picture of it.

She also has a couple of pics of some of the Bald Eagles on her route. There's a story that goes with them, so maybe you can get it all together.

Well, Jacob has a choir concert tonight and we're on our way but I couldn't put this (and you) off any longer; I couldn't stand the guilt!

God Bless!

Will.

Disturbing.

On October 14, Lord Christopher Monckton, a noted climate change expert, gave a presentation at Bethel College in St. Paul, MN in which he issued a dire warning regarding the United Nations Climate Change Treaty which is scheduled to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009. Below is the video.

Random Dancing!

Okay not really random dancing, that's from a kids show that I watch; but random pictures! Deanna figured out how to get the pictures off our very new (and yet, very cheap -cuz-we-ain't-rich) phones. Which means you get 'em. Be Thankful you aren't getting all of them! There are a lot and they don't all make sense. Below (hopefully, if I upload them correctly) You'll find pics of Jessalyn and her cousin Jessica doing the Cranberry Princess Runner-up "thing". Pics of the family playing football Donaldson style Fall pics and a pic of yours truly with Jessica's dad Darin. Enjoy! (or just suffer through it...it's not a full bore slide show after all)

It's starting to look a lot like....

Winter!!!

Arrrghhhhh!!

I'm praying that this is will be just a couple of days of the nasty weather stuff and then will return to fall weather so we can appreciate it. That's what I'm praying for. That, and that it will be a LONG Autumn followed by a short Winter, a damp spring (notice I said "damp" and not "Wet") and then another mild summer like we had this year. That's my Prayer and I'm sticking with it til God tells me otherwise. I sure hope He doesn't.

Having said all the above, I will say Yesterday was Gorgeous. The peak of Fall colors. Yellows bright enough to be electric. Oranges as warm as a hug. Reds that strive to prove that there indeed is over a hundred shades of that color; and trees that proudly try to have as many shades on one tree as possible.

The Temp would have been warm, with a clear sunny sky kept company by small white fluffy clouds, but the wind had a small bite to it. By late afternoon it was cold.

This morning, was the definitive of "crisp". I had a truckload of wet cardboard in the back of my truck that needed to be put on the "burn pile", so I could use the truck to haul the weekly trash away to the dump. Sam, our black lab was very happy to help. You could almost see his excitement at the day and the weather. The wind was bringing him all kinds of new smells. His face was the eyes-glazed-over-head-bobbing-with-interest over whatever information was on the wind; kind of like my kids when they're watching T.V.

Poor me. I would have enjoyed it more like Sam except I know what he doesn't: Snow is expected today. Less than an inch accumulation expected but the warning is implied: Wisconsin's Winter approaches. Yuck.

Both Deanna and I have cousins that live in Alaska. That happy reminder tells me it could be worse except we both have relatives in Florida who quite happily remind us it doesn't have to be this bad...Nice to have relatives isn't it? ;-)

I now leave you with this old tired joke that I used on Facebook with some of my Southern friends and family:

Wisconsin actually has four seasons while Florida only has three: "Green", "Brown" and "Spring Break!"

Wisconsin has "Almost Winter", "Winter", "Winters almost over" and "road construction".

May the Lord Bless You with the sense and senses to appreciate the wonders of His Creation.

Will.

And So on and so forth etc. etc.

From Will:

Well, I guess I need to be the one to post the "post Cranfest" post! So this is my Post:

It is finished.



Not enough? Oh okay, Cranfest was very good. I really hadn't planned to be that much a part of it this year. The more Deanna has to do with it the more I need to be home keeping things going. It just so happened that Jessalyn had so much going on that involved the CranFest.

First, Jessalyn and her cousin Jessica were both "runners-up" for Cranberry Princess. Even though they didn't win (Yes there are pictures! They both were beautiful but I haven't figured out how to upload them yet. Patience.) they both still had obligations to fulfill for Cranfest such as stirring a giant pan of cooking cranberries for cranberry jubilee ice cream. This obligation became a scheduling conflict for Jessalyn.

It was no big deal really, but Jessalyn and Jessica are both in "show-choir" at their school. Both were scheduled to perform several shows during the same time as the pan-stirring thing. It was my job to get Jessalyn to the stage Friday morning and then they agreed to let her miss a show so I could pick her up and cart her to the frying pan across town in a golf cart. Walking and golf carts are the only way to get around Cranfest. Walking is faster and less stressful.

I figured that if I had to be at Cranfest in the morning and then again a couple of hours later I might as well stay and drive courtesy cart. The idea is that some people just don't realize how much walking is involved and some just can't make it. Courtesy cart drivers "cruise around" looking for these and offer a free trip to their cars or buses whichever the case may be. Sometimes they buy things before realizing how far they would have to carry say a...bed or a dresser etc. No kidding. People really go to a Cranberry Festival to buy bedroom furniture. Who'd have thought?

Originally, the plan was the Jessalyn would connect up with my wife after she was done "stirring the pot" and would spend the rest of the day with her mom. No plan lasts past the first engagement with the enemy. Deanna was SO busy. She'd given up her cart; lost her cell phone and really didn't have a way of looking after Jessalyn too. So, I stayed and Jessa and I ran courtesy cart in a Golf limo. That's right; Limo. It had three separate seats that would hold as many as nine people if they really, really liked each other. Six fit perfect. The weather was nice and we had a great time Father and Daughter.

Out of the mouths of babes: While driving courtesy cart we wound up driving these two ladies around the parking area looking for their car. They were sure that it was with-in three or four rows of where we were. They had been looking for quite some time before we found them and finally as we were nearing the end of the area where it "should" be my 13 year old daughter asks "do you have a panic button?" The woman had no idea what one was. I think she thought Jessa was joking I was too busy wondering why I didn't think of that ( Really! Why didn't I think of that???) Sure enough there on her key ring was the panic button. She pushed it and we could hear the car honking way out side where they were "sure" it would be. Points for Jessalyn.

Okay, I'm really taking too long and this is just Friday! As a treat I took her to get a "fry bread pizza" They're awesome but not as good as what we had for dessert: Chocolate-dipped-Frozen-Cheesecake-on-a-stick! (no relation to Jose' Jalapeno on a stick). One bite of that creamy frozen dessert and I knew it was SO Wrong and Yet SO RIGHT! Oh! it's Bad and it's wonderful!! It's so rich that the one I had on Friday and the one I had on Saturday will hold me till next year but every Cranfest I know I have to buy CashewCrunch (like peanut brittle with cashews) and that chocolate dipped (insert your favorite hyperbole here).

Okay, I'm out of room. Perhaps Deanna can fill you in on the other two days of Cranfest!

God Bless
Will.

What's Happening?

From Will:

I just wanted to give you a short update on what's happening around here. First, of course it's almost CranFest. As we've said before, Look it up on the Internet if you would like to know more about it at Cranfest.com

Anyway, things are getting busier around here and Happily we get to add my Mom and Dad to the mix! I really enjoyed getting to see all the friends and family while we were in Florida for their Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary but we didn't get much "one on one" time together. Their coming up here is already making up for that and I am so grateful!

I of course am a Cranfest widower; with Deanna on the board, she is so busy that the kids and I don't get to see her much this month. The more and more she gets involved with Cranfest, the less and less that I do. I don't mind! I love what Cranfest does for this community and frankly Deanna has more to offer when it comes to this sort of stuff, so I willingly support her more and more as MY contribution. Deanna really is good at what she does and what she does, is a lot!

Dad and I spent the day listing things that needed to be checked or done with their Wisconsin Home (Camper-trailer), and got started taking care of the things we could fix, and deciding (grudgingly) what we couldn't fix.

This morning we hope to get his camper washed and maybe start on waxing it. This afternoon Deanna needs to pick up supplies in LaCrosse, which is 40 miles away. So, we're going to ride with her so we can spend some time together just the 4 of us. This maybe the only chance we get. We haven't decided where we're going to eat while we're there but considering the many choices is half the fun!

Jessalyn was up for Cranberry Princess along with her cousin Jessica. The two girls looked gorgeous in their dresses but didn't win...this year! Both were heartily encouraged to try again next year and said they will. Jessalyn, is still going to be quite busy with show choir and Crantastic Singers. She loves to make a big drama out of how she has to learn two different sets of songs and dance moves for the two different troupes. There is a lot of songs and dance steps to learn for each but I won't encourage her making a big deal of it. ( I am VERY proud though!!! Shhhh! it's our secret okay?)

Jacob will have the house to himself this afternoon which he considers a real treat! TV, Computer, Video games etc, all-to-himself! wooo hooo! Often I have come home and found him doing all three at once, quite a trick that!

Well, I have to go check my Facebook page; last night I checked only to find I had another 125
friend requests. That sounds like bragging and it is a little, but it's not that they want to "know" me, they just want me on their team for a game I play on Facebook. So my head doesn't get too big. Still, it's kind of cool that I have something like 1,300 "friends" and counting! I collect 'em like a hobby!

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You and Give You Peace!
God Bless America, we pray for you everyday.

Will.

Troops in Afghanistan Pay Tribute to Soldier Awarded Medal of Honor - FOXNews.com

There is a link below to take you to the Fox News website with this story.

If you are an American; if the words in the picture above mean anything to you at all, click the link below and read the story.

It's Every Americans Duty to Remember.




Troops in Afghanistan Pay Tribute to Soldier Awarded Medal of Honor - International News News of the World Middle East News Europe News - FOXNews.com

Posted using ShareThis

From Beka at "Diagonally Parked..." :

A great, great day yesterday!!

On Labor Day Will and I decided to be different and not "labor". Usually that is our day to work in the yard etc. to start getting ready for winter. We changed our habit permanently! We decided to go to the Chuck Wagon Races in Nashua, Iowa. Mom and Dad have been going for years with Uncle Leonard and Aunt Marion and have always wanted us to go, but things never worked out.....this year we went. What a blast!

Ok, so for those of you who don't know me all that well....horses are one of my "loves". I have ridden for about 40 years (man it's scary being able to say that). In high school and after I worked on a horse farm helping to train Arabians (volunteer) and have owned horses before. I love them, love their attitudes, love their looks. I feel at home the minute I walk into a barn. Given the right circumstances, I think I could have easily worked on a horse farm all of my life. God had different plans though and I'm fine with that.

Suffice it to say that the minute that I sat down on that bleacher and the first horse appeared, I was happy. Then they brought out the wagons. WOW. These wagons are pulled by retired/rescued race horses that love to run. The minute they step out onto the track they are pumped and ready to go... I don't know how the drivers hold them back.

Four horses pull each wagon and then there are 4 outriders that each have a job to do. They have put the wagons in a line and they pull out this tent type contraption from the back and set the poles in the ground like they would have in the cowboy days. Then there is this (pseudo stove) on the ground too. One guy stands at each of those. There is another outrider holding his horse and the other two while standing on the ground behind the wagon. The fourth outrider is standing at the heads of the horses that are pulling the wagon.

So the gun goes off and the guy grabs the stove and throws it into the back. The guy holding the stakes throws them and the tent into the wagon. The guy holding the team has already let go and the team is already heading out. They run forward and circle a barrel and then turn back and head out onto the track. Meanwhile the outriders are all busy sprinting for their horses and trying to throw themselves into the saddle before the horse is gone, because the minute that the other racers hit the track the outriders horses are ready to be there too. The track is 1/2 mile long and the wagons are FAST. The outriders race to catch up to their wagon. When the wagons cross the finish line, all 4 of the outriders have to be within 150 yards of their wagon or there are penalties.

Now this is fast and total chaos. When you hear about it, you think that you will be able to follow it all, but the truth is that from the time the gun goes off until the time the race is finished is about 1 minute. By then you as the spectator have your heart thumping in your throat and are holding your breath. I don't know how it happens, but you are hooked immediately. It was great!

They had races of single riders that were riding racehorses with tatoos (proving they had been racers) and then there was a farmer's race that was horses that were not tatooed. Man did that go fast. The one race was 1/2 mile in 46 seconds. There were chariot races and then the outriders raced their horses. There was even a "powder puff" race which was women driving wagons with a 2 horse team instead of the 4 for the men. That was great and I could well imagine myself being an outrider (man did it look fun). Will kept saying "No", but I can dream can't I?

All in all it was wonderful and we are already planning next year's trip to include a sightseeing trip and 2 days of racing. Right now I think I would make the 3 hour trip to go again today if they were there. What a Blast!!!

Have a great day.
dea

An interesting Quote in these terribly interesting times:

I predict future happiness for Americans

if they can prevent the government

from wasting the labors of the people

under the pretense of taking care of them.


Thomas Jefferson.

Catch up work.

I'm still trying to find the time to get everything organized. Before we went on vacation, I was doing pretty good at the managing to get things done thing....not lately. It seems that since we came home, I have not been able to "find the groove" again.

I feel like I spent this last weekend spinning my wheels. I WILL GET THIS FIGURED OUT THOUGH!! Today is work again. I think that I need a full week of no work, no practices, no meetings, no interruptions and I might be able to accomplish something. Hopefully, things will change here soon, and I will get myself back in gear.

Jessalyn is full swing into Show choir again. She has 2 more practices today and tomorrow before school starts next week. Jake is just trying to get all of his summer plans accomplished before school starts. I think he said that he has a whole lot of playing to get done this week. Goof ball. Jessa is in the Crantastic singers again this year. They lost one of their members this last year, so they are dedicating their last song to her and many of the previous Crantastic singers are coming back. So far I think that there is about 34 regular active Crantastics and 25 previous ones (including Jake I think) that are coming back to sing and dance in honor of Kendra. It should be great.

School starts Monday and both kids don't seem to be dreading it like usual. I think they miss their friends. Lots of their friends live in neighboring towns, so it's not like you can just ride your bike over to their house. I think that they are looking forward to seeing everyone.

I took the dog to the vet and he got a clean bill of health except for needing to lose some pounds. He is a very large dog and now weighs 109 lbs. They want him to lose 10. He is one diet food now and is not really losing, so we'll see what happens. Maybe we can all get into shape by excercising the dog. Yeah right.

Well, laundry is calling my name. Have a great day. I'll try to get better about posting to this thing, as I "get my groove back" or is that "get back into my groove"?
dea

A weekend to remember.

You know the great thing about having older kids is the freedom (at some times). My kids are great kids and we trust them, so it's easier now for Will and I to head out for awhile and not worry (too much) that the house will burn down while we are gone. I had won a free hotel room in Black River Falls, so we decided to take advantage of that this last Friday and spend some time alone (a novel thought I know). My parents had Jessalyn over for a sleepover and Jake held down the fort here at home. He was going to have a cousin stay over, but that didn't work out, so he played bachelor all night and took care of the dog and cats. I think he was tickled to be able to do it. If anything had happened, help was just a phone call away. He did great!

Will and I got to do a lot of talking. Not about anything in particular, but just talk like we did when the kids were younger or even like when we were dating. It was fun. We went out to dinner and then we also went out to breakfast the next morning. WOW. It was great! I don't worry about us when the kids are gone. He's my best friend and we find plenty to talk about and things to do.

Saturday we came home and did a few little chores before heading out to a church family get together at our friend's house. Their last name is Fischer, so it's called Fischerfest ( like Cranfest, get it?). Anyway, it was a WONDERFUL time. We ate and ate and ate and played yard games galore. The kids threw water balloons and played games as well as video games after they all wore out. The adults that had not left yet started up these pitiful volleyball games. None of us were any good, but boy did we have fun. My sides hurt so bad from laughing. Then Jake and Jessalyn and their cousin Ryan came out and joined us. Jake is a card. You never know what he's going to do and when you added him into the already crazy mix.. things got interesting. It was a hoot.

Sunday morning we got almost 2 inches of rain in just a couple of hours. I slept in because with the thunder and lightening there was no way I could shower....so why bother getting up? We got to church just in time, but we made it. Headed home after church and believe it or not after some chores...I took another nap (it was one of those wet yucky days). In the afternoon, we went to the first annual Ken Oakes fish fry. Uncle Ken shared all of the fish that he's been catching all summer with us. It was great! Another evening of family and friends. We all sat around eating and talking. The weather had turned beautiful in the 70's and breezy. It was a great time.

Now we are back to real life after that minivacation of fun. Will and I are back to work today. The kids are out of summer school, so that's one less thing to worry about for now. I have a meeting or practice for either the kids or myself for almost every night this week (not how I like it to be, but oh well). The weather is cooler, so things around the house will be easier to get done. Last week the humidity was so high that it was all I could do after the mail route to deal with staying awake, let alone functioning. I do not like hot weather or humidity and it really does not like me either.

Hope you all have a great day.
dea

What to post and what not to post.....

Will tells me it's my turn to blog...ok....fine....except...what do I post about???? So much has happened in the last couple of weeks. It's almost too much to take in, and yet, we go on.....

We spent almost 2 great weeks in Florida and probably could have spent a couple more if we had been able to. We actually accomplished almost every goal we had for the trip with just a few exceptions, but they couldn't be helped. I didn't get to see some people that I had hoped to see, but due to some scheduling conflicts between our schedules and theirs, there just was not enough time. Next time though, I hope.

One thing that the trip did remind me of is how much I like to travel. I just love to get in the car (van) and go. Road construction during the summer can be a bummer though. We usually do most of our traveling during the winter and I had forgotten how much construction there is during the warmer months. WOW!

We completely switched our hours of operation in Florida. Everyone down there gets up much later and goes to bed much later. For me that was hard. I'm usually in bed at 8:30 or so and up really early. Some nights we didn't get to bed until midnight or later. That was fine while we were on vacation, but let me tell you the getting back into a normal schedule here was a killer. It was like having jet lag, but we never left the ground. I'm still a little out of whack due to other circumstances and it feels strange.

We stepped back into our lives and right into school functions (both kids had summer school for varying reasons). Jessalyn is back in show choir and now Crantastic Singers has started for Cranfest. I came back and almost immediately started into Cranfest meetings. We are now, I think, about 44 days away from the fest. Which means I have about 41 to get my jobs done. People start pulling in as early as the week before, so we have to have all of the maps made up, booths marked out, fencing up, signs out etc by the weekend before, with just a few exceptions.

I won a free hotel stay at a local hotel and it expires in September. Now we all know how busy I will be between now and the end of September, so I think that Will and I might go and use up that free night this coming Friday. I don't want it to go to waste and I certainly feel the need to get "away" with my hubby, even if it is only for one night. We will have to be back by 9:30 the next morning...so it's not a lengthy deal, but hey, you take what you can get.

Well, time to go and deal with the dog. He has a yeast infection in his right ear. That means cleaning twice a day and ointment. He's really good about it, but what a mess.

Have a great day!
dea

The first of over 200 Vacation pics!

On the boat tour at Wakulla Springs: Jessalyn, Deanna, and a squinty eye'd Jacob (Arrrgh! I'll be rippin' yur limbs to feed them 'gators if ya's continue your picture takin! arrrgh..)

Cause she said so!

(from Will)

With my wife I usually have the last words. They're usually "Yes Dear" or "Sorry Dear"....

Anyway, She mandated this morning that I needed to "blog". She was right of course, but I'm going to have to make this short. Too much to do and too little time. You all have lives - so I know YOU know what I'm talking about. Still, you're important to us, so you deserve something.

I imagine that a lot of the up coming posts will be about our two week vacation and I will be posting lots of pictures. I hope to be opening a photo bucket type account to place these pics and then I'll hand out passwords to those interested if I can. If you have any experience with these sites and would like to make some suggestions I would love to hear 'em!

I just worked my first two days after my vacation and it took some getting used to. I have decided I really was built to be independently wealthy. I'm basically lazy until there is the prospect of spending lots of money to make me or someone else happy. Obviously, someone somewhere has made a mistake and given my lifestyle to some poor hardworking soul who is suffering untold luxury when he should have had my lifestyle instead. Oh well, we take what we are dealt!

I know that by a lot of standards I AM independently wealthy and I do give thanks for that everyday but the last two weeks were perfectly luxurious and decadent and I really could become accustomed to it; I'd at least like to try!

Thanks again to all my friends and family that made that possible! You will be hearing more on that (and them) in the future!

Anyway, after working two days I have the weekend off (yeah I know, I've got it tough) So I get to boss the kids around while we try to catch up on two weeks of chores. The nice thing about the grass being ridiculously tall is it hides the way the fence and siding need repair...

Deanna had a pleasant surprise yesterday. She was out trying to find our garden plot in the tall grass. She found the remnants of the garden fence and deduced the plot must have been inside. We never got around to planting anything despite our best laid plans but God had intervened. She found several squash plants growing all by themselves! In fact, she found a couple large plants with squash pre-ripe outside the garden where we've never planted any! I was telling this to one of my co-workers and he agreed with me that often our best garden turns out to be whats growing out of our compost pile! These plants weren't in our compost pile (this time) but I liked the symbolism:

We plan, we work, we contrive and scheme to cause a garden to grow and then God shows how easy it is for Him to do so much better. Yes God, you do good work.

Well, that's all I have time for today, remember more pics and vacation stories to come! (you poor souls) (insert maniacal laughter here)

Lord willing and the Saints don't rise that is!
Will

Weeeeeee're Baaaaack!

...Did you miss us?
We left Florida around 12:30pm central time and made it home roughly 24 hours later. Our new (to us) van has a neat feature that lets it keep track of driving hours. It took 19 hours driving to get down to Florida and 22 hours driving to get back yet both trips took 24 hours each. I guess we stopped more on the way down than we did on the way back and took our time more when we did stop.

We did have a couple of interesting moments on the way back when we encountered a sudden and violent storm. I have to admit it was a little scary. Our new van did it's job admirably and carried all of us and our luggage comfortably and got good gas mileage along the way but it's still a van and the wind was rocking us and blowing us all over the place!

I had been watching the lightening in the sky for close to fifty miles. The wind was calm and the sun had already gone down so it was quite the entertaining show for me. Dea and the kids were sleeping. No rain. No wind. Just lightning. It was like this as I said for 50 miles when it all came on at once. It was like hitting a wall of rain while suddenly having a wall of wind hit you from the side. Within a minute the rain was mixing with hail and I knew I had to get off the interstate.

I took the next exit and began to wonder if perhaps I should have stayed on the interstate.

There were leaves and branches blown across the road. No gas stations; no convenience stores; no lights; nothing. Except another turn off that was really dark. I kept going looking for a place to pull over that wouldn't get me stuck, but was abruptly sent across a narrow bridge. I don't remember the sign for the river that flowed underneath just that at the moment I wasn't crazy about being on a bridge when it was all I could do to keep the van on the road.
Right after the bridge was what seemed like a tree canopied road. It was so dark it probably wasn't, but the way the leaves and branches were falling and the look of the road I just stopped. I backed up to a little dirt area that would let me drop the back wheels of my front-wheel-drive van off the pavement long enough to make a three point turn around and then headed back across the bridge. By this time Deanna was awake and looking at the map for an alternate route but there was only one other way to go. I turned down the dark little road and again, just stopped. There was a little dirt and gravel pull off for boaters. I just didn't trust the van not to get stuck and the sign ahead said: "narrow bridge". I thought the last bridge I went over (twice!) was narrow and they said nothing about that one!

I. Am. Not. Going. Over. This. One.

So as the van rocked I parked with two wheels on the road and two off with the back of the van towards the wind to try to keep us from being blown over and we waited. Listening to my emergency flashers blinking noisily we scanned the radio for information about any tornadoes or severe thunderstorms and got....nothing.

Evidently there was a 30% chance of showers.

I noticed lights behind me and checked my rear view mirrors. I could see both the exits and entrances for the interstate and in just a couple of minutes time I had been joined by three cars and three tractor trailer rigs. I actually felt a lot better knowing there was a group of us all sitting by the road waiting for this fast moving storm to just ....go...away.

Which it did. Because we were stopped and not traveling at 55 mph (don't get me started on construction zones arrgh!) the storm took a little longer to leave than it did to arrive but eventually my storm buddies started pulling away and so did we. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.

We'll post more about our vacation later.

"Lord willing and The Church doesn't rise" that is!

Will.

I guess they have chickens in Florida....

We are all running around like chickens with our heads cut off here, but it's been great. The 50th wedding anniversary party turned out great and I think that they were really happy with the results. We have gone to Wakulla Springs and have seen Alligators in their natural habitat. We even saw a manatee there with her calf as she swam under the boat. I will try to post pictures.

Yesterday was a day for the beach. We went to St. George Island and enjoyed our day on the beach. It was so cool... the weather was perfect...the sun was not too hot and the water was just wonderful. To cap the day off the dolphins came and swam near us twice! There were about 10 of them and we got to see them cavorting in the water. It was about perfect. Throw in feeding a couple thousand sea gulls from our lunch basket and it was a great day.

Today the men are all at the Car Museum and I hope they have a great time! Jessalyn stepped wrong on the boardwalk to the beach yesterday and got a huge sliver in her foot. Last night we could not get it out of her foot. Tonight we will try again. If not, I will call a good friend of ours and have her take it out in her clinic.

Jessalyn and I and whoever else wants to go today will be eating lunch at a great chinese restaurant. We will also be heading to a new Publix grocery store that they have here. Maybe a trip to Bradley's country store too. I hope to spend tomorrow and Thursday in Wakulla County with my Aunt and other friends, looking at old things and parts of my past. We head home on Friday at some point. We're not sure how long it will take us to get home or what route we will be taking to get there.

Everyone have a great day.
dea

I'm done with work, but now the work begins?

I finished my last day at the office for a little over 2 weeks. I am ready for a break. It has been an extremely hard week. The stress level was way off the charts. Now it's done. I'm giving up riding in a car all day to "ride in a car all day". Somehow, I won't mind riding all day in the van though, it's mighty comfy. Throw in the new DVD player that we bought (2 kids = 2 DVD players). That will keep the kids happy in the night and when they get tired and don't want to look out the window, although I must say that both kids are very good about watching for things out in the countryside. Jake watches for cars and motorcycles while Jessalyn watches for and counts water towers and horses. I watch for hawks and eagles. Will watches for crazy drivers. It's a good system.

Now that I'm done with work, I can really begin the work at home. Tonight I started packing for real. Tomorrow it's errands, bill paying, shopping for dog and cat food, going to the library for comedy CD's for Will to listen to while we sleep and many other little things. Sunday is potluck and final packing. In there somewhere I need to wash, wax and vacuum the van, clean the house and do paperwork. Prayerfully, it will all get done.

I also need to "wash that gray right out of my hair". I refuse to look like Bea Arthur at the age of 44. I will go gray when the kids are done with school. Most people ask why not, but what they don't realize is that it is not a gradual thing for me like most people. My hair is already gray. Entirely gray. If I let it go naturally there will be no in between. I will go from looking like this to gramma Walton real quick. My mother has been pretty much all gray since her early 30's and she passed it down to me. Of course my choice was my Mom's gray hair and my Dad's fat cheeks OR my Mom's thinner face and my Dad's bald head. I chose to have fat cheeks and my Mom's gray hair. I'm not complaining, but I'm not giving in yet either.

Life goes on here and God continues to bless us. I don't always understand the plan or the system, but truthfully, that's probably for the better.

Time to get back to work. Have a great day.
dea

A mind of it's own.

Yesterday was one of those days. You know them...you've had them. Everything you pick up - you drop. When you try to do something - you get sidetracked. You finish one thing on your list and it creates 3 new things to add to the list. I should have known. I should have crawled back into the bed, pulled the covers over my head and shut out the world, but NO, I ventured forth into the world. Then it hit...the stupid things rule....

After finally getting out onto my route, after dealing with all sorts of weird stuff at the office...I was out driving in the country. Went to turn a sharp corner and heard a terrible thump, followed by a screech and the whole car fell down in the front left. Great. Just what I need. I know what's happened. The ball joint broke on the car as I went around a corner. My left front tire had a mind of it's own and did not want to turn with the car. It was going sideways. Just what I need.

I call the car shop. They send the wrecker. Someone from work came to get me and we finished the day out. That may sound simple, but the truth is that it was about 20 phone calls in the making and took over an hour. I should have been done almost 2 hours before we actually finished. I could have got mad. I could have moped. I could have done lots of stuff, but God was working even then and I did not realize it.

You see first of all, I had just been out on a major highway near a military base and with spring training, I had convoys of soldiers all over. I could have had major problems if the car had done that while I was going 55 and turning on that highway. Instead I was going about 10 mph. Better yet, I was in a car with a girl that I have been slowly trying to get come to church and we have talked about the Lord, but it's a very careful thing with her. If I had thrown a fit when Will called to find out how it was going, or been ugly to anyone...just think of what she would have thought. Instead it was fine. Hopefully, it made her think because I was not "Oh woe is me" about the whole thing. I just told Will while she was listening that nothing that happened today was a surprise to God and that everything would be fine. Hopefully, it had some effect.

Although my poor hubby. Bless his heart. He called me hoping I would tell him something great was happening to me because his day was frustrating. Instead he gets.....well, the good thing is that I am not hurt and no one else is either...the bad news is.... He handled it well, but I could tell that after our conversation he felt worse.

I will say this though... with everything that is going wrong in our lives...this is a huge opportunity for us. All things work together for good and everything that is going on right now is leading up to something great! We might not be able to be happy about the junk that's going on, BUT we can trust God and KNOW that He is able and is working for our good. He is not going to let us fall. The greatest thing in all of this is that He does not rely on us to hold His hand, He holds ours. That way even if we let go, He never does.

I can be frustrated by what seems to be daily attacks from the other side (sometimes the attacks come hourly it seems), but I can and do hold fast to God and know that He is going to take care of all of this. He knows what our struggles are. He knows how hard things are, BUT He knows the answer. He knows the end of the book. I'm just going to trust him to work things out, supply needs, supply wisdom, supply answers and supply a way to deal with this stupid things rule....I know I have no other hope.

Have a great day!
dea

How to live a week in 3 days.

This past weekend has been one of the most difficult yet wonderful weekends we have had in awhile. It all started months ago when I started sorting for a garage sale. My parents were too and we put most of it together starting Thursday at the garage sale. We did very well. I had sorted out over 20 storage containers full of stuff. It is now down to less than 4. Since we could not get all of it done for this one, we are planning another one in a month or two. That should give us plenty of time to sort some more, which is good because I got home and remembered 2 that I did not take in. Before you start thinking that we made huge gobs of money. I priced everything cheap, so that it would sell. Mainly we have the enjoyment of less clutter.

We packed up the garage sale Saturday afternoon and headed out for a well deserved ice cream cone. Both Will and I have been watching what we eat, but after all of that work, we splurged. In Tomah there is a cheese house that has hand packed ice cream in waffle cones. We all got the regular 2 scoop cones, but Jacob had to have 3 scoops. The cone was almost as big as his head. The sad thing is that he had almost finished it before everyone else did. The cones were so huge that Will had to finish over half of mine. I am not a big icecream fan, so next time I will get a single scoop or regular cone while the rest eat those big honkers.

Saturday night was our fireworks here in town. With Warrens being so small you would think that our fireworks display would be little too, but not here in our town. What a great fire department we have! They work all of Cranfest selling brats, steaks and beer in their station which serves as the beer tent for the festival. The proceeds go towards the fireworks. With contributions from local business people and a large one from Cranfest, they put on a huge wonderful display. It's great and it's wonderful to get home 10 minutes after it's done.

Sunday morning one of our great worship team singers was out of town, so I filled it for her. It was fun. I love singing with my cousins. I'm sure it was not as easy for them, because they are such a great team, but it was nice filling in and praising God at the same time. I don't want to do it full time, because I have too many irons in the fire, but I am more than willing to fill in and love it when I get to. To me, that's better than ice cream cones!

I am trying to find music to sing in Florida. I've been singing so long that my tapes have worn out and trying to find a new and meaningful "story" song these days is not easy. Especially with a range like mine. I'm kind of a strange vocal sort. I have a low voice range in my normal voice. The older I get the lower it tends to be. So many of the songs these days while effective in their own ways, do not tell a story for a "soloist". You need a different type of lyric for that and they are few and far between. I'm working on it though.

Jake starts summer school to finish up a few things on his Nova Net studies before next year. Then on Wednesday they both leave for Lifest. They are both excited. Last year they went to the music festival and came back with one of the speakers being their favorite part. I'm hoping for some life changing insight in the kids that are going. It would have been great if more of them had gone, but everyone has vacations and jobs to deal with.

The kids come home on Sunday from the festival in time for potluck at church and then it's home for showers and washing the remaining clothes. They will be exhausted, but I hope to keep them awake until it's time to leave to pick Will up from work that afternoon. We pick him up and head out to Florida and I'm hoping that they will be tired enough to sleep a good bit of the way that first evening and night. That way they will be pretty much caught up by the time we get to Grammy and Grampy's house. Grumpy children are not in the plans!

In the meantime, we are packing for the festival and packing for Florida at the same time. I have lists of my lists to keep track of everything. I'm trying to get the house sorted out "post garage sale" and make sure that everything is set here for our friend Vicki to house/animal sit for us while we are gone. I plan on "cleaning my way out of the house on Sunday". I like to come home to a clean house, so I try to get it done on the last day as a final step.

We are really, really looking forward to seeing family and friends in Tally. I still have an Aunt down there that is one of my favorite people and I have not seen her in forever. I have loads of friends to see that I have "found" on facebook and through other means. Many of them I had been close to for so long before moving. It has been like finding a missing part of "me" by finding them. I know that sounds strange but, friends and family are very important to me and I find that the older I get, the more they mean to me.

Well, dishes are going in the dishwasher. I'd better get the rest of them done and my second load of laundry needs to be folded. Have a great day.
dea

Declaration of Independence.

It's been a long, long time since I read the whole thing. Since we are near to the 4th, I thought that it would be a perfect time to read it again AND I'm sharing it with you. Please read, remember and notice today's situations and how some sound very familiar when you read this.

God Bless America.
dea




Declaration of Independence
Here is the complete text of the Declaration of Independence.The original spelling and capitalization have been retained. (Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776)
The Unanimous Declarationof the Thirteen United States of America


When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, July 8, 1776

Can you believe it's July 1rst?

I am not done with the stuff for March and here it is July. What a bummer. Things are so busy right now that I cannot seem to remember what day it is.

The kids are really getting excited about going to Lifest. They love it and it's a chance to be away from every day life for them. They don't even mind the primitive camping or hot weather. I'm just hoping they have good weather for it.

We are still in the middle of sorting, pricing and setting out of garage sale stuff. Today is the day to get it all out there. Tomorrow morning we open up and I need all the time I can get between now and then. Pray that it all sells.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here. In the 70's and breezy. We needed it to be able to do all of this sorting etc. I have loved being on the route. It is a joy each and every day to be out in the fresh air.

I now have 6 days of work left before we leave and when Will gets done today he will too. It will be nice to have the last couple of days before the trip at home without children. I might be able to get stuff done. Sometimes, it's hard to accomplish anything, when I am pulled different directions by other people's needs. This time. I can really set my mind to it and do it.

Friday night is a gospel sing here at the church and our group will be debuting 5 new songs. Hard songs to sing. It's great being able to put these intricate harmonies together and really try to produce a good sound. That we are doing it for God is the biggest blessing.

Hope your day goes great!
dea

Family Reunion Time

Every year we have the Oakes Family Gathering. For the last 2 it has been held at Devils Lake. It has been great both years. The area is very, very beautiful. Almost unbelievably beautiful. It's one of those landscapes that you cannot help but look at and say "Thank you God, you really do good work". The kids love to go hiking up and down the bluffs and there is swimming too.

The weather on our side of the lake was breezy and cool. On the other side of the lake there was no breeze and it was hot. Strange how being in one side of the little valley was so different than the other.

It was really great to sit around talking with family and friends. We ate all day long, talked and watched old "slides" from the past (1950's and 1960's). Then we had another potluck about 6:00 with my Dad and I cooking burgers and hot dogs.

All in all, it was a great experience. I didn't get to hike because I had to make an emergency run to the store, but walking back and forth to the parking lot 8 or 9 times should count as a hike.

Today I go to play for my Aunt and Uncle's Quartet at Jellystone park for the campers and then it's back to the church to play piano there. My Aunt that usually plays went to her side of the family's reunion yesterday. I hope she had a great time.

This afternoon starts the garage sale preparation in earnest. We are setting up this week to open on Thursday. I have an entire room FULL of stuff to take and am still finding more as I go. I have not even begun yet in the storage shed. Just in this room where I'm sitting now, I have 5 large rubber storage containers full of stuff that I have not yet moved out to the "garage sale room". I hope it all sells. We will end up having 2 sales though, because my father has lots of building materials to sell also and we will do that at another time.

Jake and Jessa leave fore Lifest on the 8th (Wednesday) and they come home the morning of the 12th (Sunday). We leave the afternoon of the 12th for Florida. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone. Since getting on facebook, I have reconnected with many of my high school friends. Hopefully, I will be able to see at least some of them. I plan on spending at least a day hopefully 2 in Wakulla County where I lived for 18 years. I would like to show the kids where I grew up, went to school and church etc. My Aunt still lives there and I want to spend as much time with her as I can. I also want the kids to see Wakulla Springs and make them try the water for swimming to see how cold it is. They also really want to see alligators etc.

It should be a great trip. Now if only the weather will cooperate. It's in the 70's here and the 90's and 100's there for the next couple of weeks. Quite a climate change.

Well, off to Jellystone. Have a great day!
dea

The wonders of Facebook!

It's happened to us and if you're not careful ( and if it's not too late already) it will happen to you. You'll find yourself on Facebook.

Deanna succumbed first. Like any addiction, it starts innocently enough. Like most drugs it has it's purposes for good but can turn evil if used incorrectly or too much. The personal networking site is not what I would call "intuitive". It took me a while to learn how it works and I'm still learning but the lure was great.

Unlike blogs (such as this), Facebook appears to limit how much a person can ramble on. This would seem to save time and indeed, in the beginning it does. Dea and I have connected with so many long lost friends it's scary wonderful! I have even connected with friends from elementary school that I haven't seen since the 6th grade! (How ya doin Hewlester!) Everyday at any hour you can "log on" and get a short blurb to see what you're friends are doing today.
Plus there are even games to play!

That is where the addiction starts to come into play. Not just the games though! oh no! My friends now number in the hundreds! So does Deanna (though most of hers are friends she's known while most of mine are friends I've made from playing games on Facebook). If each friend post a couple of sentences to tell you about their day...multiplied by a couple of hundred....

The games I play are strategy games that only take a few minutes a day to play and you don't have to play everyday but it helps. It helps if you play for more than a few minutes a day as well Next thing you know between the games and catching up on the friends and checking their pages and reading their posts and looking at their pictures....where did the day go????


I know this phenomena because it happens to me and my mother when we chat via webcam. What should have been a few minutes can turn into hours which usually ends with us having to hang up so we can run and do some chores so my wife and dad won't be disappointed with us!

So, for the joy of connecting with old friends and family as the lure and the loss of time as the price....I ask you, are all addictions bad? are these?

Before you answer, consider this: The questions rhetorical! ;-)

numbers 6:24-26!
Will

Happy Father's Day!

To those fathers who are out there....thank you. You have a difficult job and people often forget to say thank you for all that you do. For all those fathers who have gone on before us...thank you God for them too. We honor their memory.

Today I am very thankful though for our "forefathers" who built this great nation, basing it upon principals laid out for us in the Bible. Establishing freedoms for our nation that those in power today seem to have forgotten. As a nation we have forgotten what it cost those individuals who signed the Declaration of Independence. For many it cost their own freedom, families and lives. Would our leaders today pay the same price? Our nation seems to be bound and determined to take God out of everything and that is a road that I for one do not want to travel down.

I think it's about time that those of us who believe in God and stand for the same principals established by our founders.....step up and do our DUTY. Now is not the time to sit back and watch this nation established on the foundation of "GOD" step away from him and go our own way. It is not the time to take him out of schools, public assemblies and certainly not out of leadership. Without God, who is leading the leaders? I for one do not want to distance myself from Israel. I pray for the peace of Israel, but not at the cost of the nation of Israel.

The only way to make a change in this nation, is first of all prayer. After all, every thing that is happening now is happening by God's design. I understand that, but I also know that I am called for such a time as this. It's time to remember the sacrifice that those first Americans made on our behalf to establish a "Government FOR the people, BY the people and OF the people". It's time to get back to those basic truths. The only reason that leadership is doing the many times self destructive things that they are doing now, is that they do not know God and do not follow his commands or instructions.

The sad thing is that we elected them as a nation to do these jobs and now we complain because they are not doing what we want them to do. We should have thought of that during election times and got up off of our easy chair and made sure that people with Godly ideas were elected. We didn't and now the nation is paying for it. How sad... God please forgive us. It's time to do our part. It's time to get motivated. It's time to make an effort for God. Don't you think so?

God bless America and Thank you heavenly father for those who have gone on before. Please help us to honor their memory and to keep their ideals. Most especially God we ask that this nation keep you in your proper place as we once again become "ONE NATION UNDER GOD".
dea

Speechless

Yesterday was a great day around here. My brother David decided to surprise my mother and father by coming to visit. He just didn't tell them about it. My sisters and I knew, but for once my parents were in the dark. Now you have to understand that this is something all of us kids grew up being a part of. We quite often when we were little would be plunked in the car to go for a ride in the country and then while we were on the road our parents would tell us "oh by the way, we're going to so and so's house". They also were fond of surprising my grandparents too. We would drive up in their yard in Rockford and have to go and tap on their window to be let in. So, having my brother surprise them with our help was great!

One time while I was living in Rockford with my gramma, I had one of the roles in a musical production at Cranfest. Not a big deal for most, but is was important to me. I remember making the comment to my Mom while we were talking on the phone that it would have been nice to have them there to watch. A couple of days before the Cranfest performance, my parents showed up out of the blue to see me sing. Wow.

When I was young in Florida, my cousins were going to move down and we were going to keep their horses at our house. I was excited. I love horses. I was glad they'd be there. Then the day arrived and the folks said "oh by the way, the gray one is yours". What a thrill. Made even better by the fact that this horse was the son of the horse I had ridden while we lived here, before moving to Florida 2 years before that. I even had known him as a baby. It was really neat to have a part of Wisconsin in Florida.

After growing up that way, it was only normal for Will and I on our first Christmas up here to turn around and surprise the folks in Florida. We worked it out with my friend Elise that she would pick us up at the airport and deliver us to their house. We went to Paula and Earl's house first, knocked on the door and starting Christmas caroling them. Their reaction was great. Then we all piled into cars and headed over to Will's parents house for more "caroling". What a great night. Of course we had to promise Will's parents that we would never do it again, but it was worth it. Years later they got Will back by surprising him for his birthday and arriving at the party. I think turn about is fair play.

I digress......yesterday my sister Dana and I were trying to find a way to keep Mom and Dad from leaving their house for a trip to the grocery store, because David was on his way. Dale comes walking in and says hi. Now for my parents this should have been a little strange because it's not always without planning that all of their daughters were in the same house. We all have very different time schedules, so this was rare. Then my brother walks in and my Mom's mouth drops open and she just stares. Dad's back is to the hallway that David is walking down and he has no idea why his wife is staring and doing an imitation of a fish. Suddenly she is up getting the front of my brother's shirt all wet. Then she hugged the stuffing out of our nephew Patrick. Then back to David for more crying. It was great. Dad was just grinning and we were all excited because we finally pulled one over on the folks. Mom was speechless and all in all it was a grand, grand moment.

Have a great day.
dea

Honor and Glory!

No this is not a patriotic themed entry. Yesterday while I was on the mail route, I discovered the nest of the 2 bald eagles that are always around when I'm in a certain area. I have named them Honor and Glory. I previously had named them Honor and Regal, but Will said that Regal Eagle was a silly name. So, her name is Glory now. I have enjoyed watching them over the last 3 months. In fact they had just started showing up around there when I was a sub on this route 3 years ago, so it's great that they decided to stick around. I really, really love eagles, so this has been a blessing for me each day. When you drive the same route daily for 4 hours, you start noticing things and how they change daily.

So, I came home from work yesterday and we all worked around the house. When we were all pretty worn out, I told Will and Jessa to jump in the van and I would take them to see a surprise. I had been wanting to show them the area that my route is in, because it's one of the most beautiful around. We took the binoculars and headed out. They could see the nest, but the eagles were inside it and it's huge and deep so you could see nothing but one of their heads in the shadows. Still it was neat just seeing the nest and I'm sure we will be back to see it again.

The call is for rain today, so I'm not sure what's in the plans. I don't really enjoy having the water run down my arm into my shirt as I am on the route with that arm out the window, but I would much rather have rain than snow. I do know that I have to stop and get lids for jam/jelly jars. Rhubarb is calling my name.

Have a great day!
dea

What an awesome day!

Our church held it's first Biker Potluck today. We had some new friends visit us from out of state last year and I guess they enjoyed it and wanted to come back. They brought some other great folks with them and we had a party! They all rode their motorcycles. It was a blast. Great worship service, sermon and then food. We cooked burgers and hot dogs on the grill and everyone brought a dish or two to pass. Of course there was too much food, but we all did our best to eat it.

The weather was beautiful if a little on the warm side. I think we got up into the low 80's but it was fun. We had lots of ice and lots of tea and lemonade. I think that we are already planning a "Second Annual Biker Potluck". I'm looking forward to it.

On a different note, Will is possibly planning on plowing my garden tomorrow. My plants are getting root bound in the sun room waiting. In our defence, we've been really, really busy.

The kids are getting excited about going to Lifest now. They are starting to think about what they need to pack. It will be a great experience for them, I pray. Many of their favorite Christian bands will be there. They will be gone from the 8th-12th
of July. Then after they come home on the 12th we hopefully will be finishing up on the packing of the van and picking Will up from work at 6:30 pm to head for Florida. That means I have tons and tons of work to do between now and then.

I have a huge bunch of rhubarb to make into strawberry rhubarb jam. The strawberries just started up here too, so that means strawberry freezer jam, sugarless jam for my Uncle Ken and regular strawberry jam too. By the time the strawberries are done it will be time for the blueberries and the blackberries. I should finish making jam right before the Florida trip (I hope).

Still sorting for the garage sale. We all have bunches already sorted and lots more still to sort. I will be glad to get it gone.

Well time for bed, I'm just typing this as I wait for Jake to get home from a friend's house. I try to be a mom that doesn't smother him, but I still have trouble sleeping until he's home. Of course he's late, so that will be a discussion in the morning, but with no school at least the rest of them can sleep in as I go to work.

Have a great day tomorrow.
dea