a new day----again

I have decided to forgo the tattoos, the backward cap and the huge belly.  Instead I have decided to get a new life!!!  I will use the Arnicare gel that is supposed to help heal my right leg that became bruised when I gently fell over on my bike.  I will wear, all the time, the brace the therapist made for my left thumb yesterday.  The X-rays show arthritis in the thumb base so of course there needs to be several trips to the therapist.  Then about the big belly, I decided that I did not like that idea.
Time is slipping away and the list of projects is really not getting much shorter.
Some good news, I got a call from a friend in Naples and he has taken it on himself to get the team together for the fall league.  It is a much shorter schedule than the winter but I am glad he is doing it. Also, at the celebration last Saturday we sold 18 books.  That was fun.  I had purchased 100 paper backs and 80 hard cover books and I need to take a count to see how many are left  Well I just counted and I have 39 hardcover left and 29 paperback left.  I guess that means that I have sold or given away 71 paperbacks and 41 hardcovers.  Kind of fun!
I just poured the last of the FP and as I picked up the cup I noticed a deer, a bug, a tree and a tent on the cup.  Reminded me that we have not been camping for a LONG time.  Things need to change.
I am half finished with wood projects for Christmas.  Need to finish soon.
Time to get to work.

another week

Our computer is in the hospital and perhaps is near death so this will be short.  I do not like nor do I know how this key board for the i pad works!   Maybe I just figured out part of it    Terry has an appt today, we then need to stop at Rockler and Costco and then pick up the lap top to see what we can do. We can not get it connected to the internet, which of course is a problem.
Home projects are at a crawl and they need to be speeded up.
enough, this key board is driving me crazy so the only thing saving me is the FP this morning!
One more thing.  We attended the People of Praise fall party Saturday and had my book as part of the craft and art show.  Eighteen people were interested enough to buy it!!!  It was fun to share and talk with people and of the many conversations only one came up with "remark" that was off the charts.
Time to shave and get ready for the day

Six Years

It was six years ago today that Gail died.  It was the end of a long painful journey for her where she endured surgeries, injections and way too many dr appt.  As family mourned her death we knew that life must go on but it would never be the same.
And today life is so different.  Everyone in the family has seen much change.  John and Mary moved out of Minnesota and added Elspeth to their family.  Travis has seen much change in his life.  Aaron and Amy now live in a different house and have added Ruby to their family.  Cynthia and Mike have added Benedict, Agatha and Veronica to their family and now have a great house in a different city--but near!  I have been blessed to remarry and have a wonderful wife.  Terry and I have traveled far and wide, seen much and have done much.
In the last six years I have seen many friends, some who have been younger than me, die.  Every time I experience the death of someone I know it is like a knife in my heart but life does go on and I am thankful for a God who has looked after me and is so good. Each morning I wake up I thank God for Terry, my children, my grandchildren, friends and for my life.  I deserve nothing but am so thankful for all I have. 

Fall??

John and Judi Mouw

Glorine and most of her family

I do not often mention Glorine, John and Judi when I talk about family but of course they are family.  Glorine married Charlie after Ronald died.  John married Judi after Janet died.  Brother Dave worked for Charlie and Glorine for several years in Iowa so he spent much more time with Glorine than I.  I think Helen babysat Roxanne during the summer  in Fargo as Glorine finished her masters degree.  The only times I got to see Glorine was when she and Charlie would visit us but I still always thought of Glorine as a sister.  AND of course she has a great middle name "Carmen".
I was able to see John a lot.  We hunted deer together, he let me use his car some times when I was in college and he allowed me to live with him one summer before he married Judi.  Judi's parents lived in Devils Lake so we would see them at times.  I never will forget one time we invited John, Judi and her parents over for a "pigs party"  Our idea of a pigs party was to have several kinds of ice cream in the evening.  Their idea was a MEAL!  About an hour after they arrived we started to hear stomachs as they had not eaten and of course there was no food in sight!!!  Finally someone spoke up and we all had a laugh but they were still hungry.  John offered to go out and get KFC.  After the chicken we did have ice cream.  A fun story to remember.
The story is the Lee family lost two siblings early in life but we received great replacements.  Can you replace siblings who die at a young age?  I would say no but for sure we had wonderful subs!
As Terry and I sat at the kitchen table yesterday she made a list of things that are a MUST before we leave.  As I think about that list today I had better get off the computer and get to work.  I am starting to have some serious doubts about my back.  The hurts are in my legs and ankles but I know the trouble is coming from my lower back where things are a bit out of place.  As I sit and type my left ankle aches but I know it is coming from the lower back.  We will see.
I am happy with our lawn, well kind of.  I spent time this summer getting rid of weeds. We actually have several spots where everything is dead now but that is by design.  Much of the lawn is now a lot better as the temps go down and allows the grass to choke out the weeds that we have dealt with all summer.  Is it nice, NO but it is better now than any time during the last few years.
No more FP and no more thoughts.

Is summer over? People say Labor Day starts the fall season.

A year ago today, we were in line at the ferry dock so that we could board the Alaska Marine Highway for Washington state.  It was the end of 5 weeks in Alaska where we saw much, experienced much and also took a side trip back to Minnesota so that Terry could say good-bye to her mother.  We stepped on land again the 12th and still enjoyed another 3 weeks, including a stop in Jamestown for the guitar, before arriving home in early October.  Our last stop before St. Paul was a short visit to Minnesota State Park #72, yup we visited them all.
This summer has been so different it is difficult to describe.  Among the projects we have undertaken are:

1. plant and tend to the garden
2. take care of the weeds in the lawn
3. travel to ND and SD for family reunions
4. repair, patch, prime and paint the north bedroom
5. scrap, prime and paint the basement walls
6. finish a wall in the basement
7. making some future plans for home improvement--maybe
8. construct two radiator covers
9. finally getting the published copy of the book
10. refinish the table top in the kitchen
11. repaint the Nani room
12. remove the braided rug in the living room that had been there since 1979, it was in need of relocation!
13. move the braided rug from the den to the basement
14. work on many Christmas presents
15. get a start on putting thousands of pictures on the computer
16. taking care of 3/4 mile of movie film
17. making 3 batches of pickles
18. taking out the linoleum floor in the sun room
19. doing some landscaping on the west side of the house
20. caring for the flowers on the north side of the house
21. picking raspberries in the back yard
22. doing animal control in the back of the garage!
23. AND more I am sure

At this point we are  still working in the basement and need to repair and paint the upstairs sun room and hall.  Also the pictures, there are thousands that need to be scanned. 
So I say happy fall, it may be close to fun time on the tennis courts and bikes as well as settling in with a good book.  I must say Terry has, to some degree, kept up her reading but me--nothing.  Terry can read in bed forever but if I read in bed I fall asleep before page 10!
FP has gone the way of the eggs and sausage so it is time to paint.

I need to change

I have been thinking much lately and I have decided I need to change.  I have been observing men in our culture and I want to be like most men.  I have no idea what the interior of other men is but I do know that by observing the exterior I am different.  I will post some pictures at the end of this to give you an idea of what I want to be, just like so many men that I see.  
There is no doubt, I have not kept up with the ages.  I do not have a tattoo and actually have never thought about getting one BUT maybe it is time.  I mean I see guys ALL the time with 2,3,4,5 or more tattoos.  The more I see the more I like so by the end of the year I may look like this.

Now, how cool is that?
Then there is the matter of the hat.  I never used to wear a hat but today I wear one often.  In fact it is necessary to have one when you are driving or walking east early in the morning.   I have hats from Florida, hats from Alaska and other places too.  I even have a work hat that has TC (Terry and Carmen) and would you believe those darn Minnesota Twins copied my hat design!  I do have the hats but I need to wear them differently.  I like to wear mine kind of low on my forehead when I am looking into the sun but I see now the "in" thing is to wear the brim backwards and if for some reason you are looking into the sun you just use your hand to shield the sun.  Yup, for sure I am going to start to look like this all the time.

I am thinking it will improve my looks and it will mean that I will not stand out in a crowd as a nobody.

Lastly there is the belly thing.  I look at the floor in front of my feet and I can see it pretty well. (to be truthfull i have gained some weigh this summer but not enough) But I think the  norm now is to look down at the floor and see things 2 or 3 feet ahead of you and ignore what is right at your feet.  Again it will make me "just one of the boys" when I am in the crowd.  For sure, by the end of the year I want to be just like this guy.

That will also be a great reason to get new clothes. 
I am going to start tomorrow, trying to be one of the guys and be in the "in" when I go out!

Enough of the serious stuff.  Terry and I continue to work in the basement.  Terry is doing the painting and I am doing the makeover kind of things.  We have today and tomorrow and that is it.  We promised ourselves that this week was the end of the basement work.  Next week it is on to the sunroom with it's awful walls and glue filled floor.  Should be fun, I think.
It has almost been too hot to do a lot of work.  My wood shop was at 93 yesterday and I decided that was too hot to continue.  I have one personal project that I would like to finish before we go to Naples.  It is not necessary but it is fun and I want to see how it turns out.  Will it happen, not sure but I will try.
No more FP so it is work in the basement time.

It's not my fault@#!*!

I walk into the basement and start to work.  I need to sand a few spots before we put some paint on.  As I approach the last rough spot I notice a trim board missing, I need to fix that, right?  I finish that and as I start to walk upstairs with a smile on my face I see a few spots I missed with the filler, got to get those.  Well now that is finished but they need to dry before I sand.  I round the corner to get some tools that I left and there, staring at me, is a wall that has an 8 inch gap which allows one to see into the furnace room.  I am in luck, I have enough boards left from the wall many years ago to fill that gap. Well that is not such a small job.  I nail the last board in place, after making some spacers so they match, and there to my right is the back side of the basement bedroom wall.  It is not finished, just studs looking me in the eye.  Well, that should really be finished and my measurements tell me I need two 4X8 sheets of wall board.  It is then another trip to Menards for that and of course I need some mud to fix the seam.  Wait, the kitchen table that I brought outside in the morning needs to be brought in as Terry finished sanding the top and is now ready to put the first coat of finish on.  Wait, I need to finish sanding as Terry is also ready to roll the paint on the walls.  The natural gas pipes should be covered as well as the electric box and and and and it goes on. 
Like I said, it is not my fault.  I have been thinking a lot lately and I think it is my parents' fault.  Don't question me, just believe me.  They made some mistakes as I was growing up and I am what I am today because of them, no doubt.
NO, the above, about Mom and Dad is not true.  ALL of my faults, I own.  They are mine because of what I have been over the last many years.  So we move forward, doing the projects that are so piled up, almost to the point of discouragement but we move forward each day, one step (project) at a time.
FP helps but it is gone for the day.