The End and the Beginning

There is stll much work to be done as we start the new year.
The saw, that is Dad's fault as he did not teach me that a hacksaw is NOT for wood!!!
One can see that our shop was not all that special!

There is much to forget and much to be thankful for as we say good-bye to 2017.

• Of course it is a blessing to be alive as we enter 2018.  As all of us know way too many who have not had the honor of living this long.
• Terry wants to say good-bye for at least 2 reasons.  Last winter she continued to deal with her broken back and this fall and winter she has dealt with a broken foot.  2018 will be better.
• I want to say good-bye to my pulled hamstring.
• There was work done in St. Paul, thanks
• There are new windows in the St. Paul kitchen, great
• We used our camper for several days, fun
• We finished our Christmas card and gifts by Thanksgiving, unbelievable
• At 9:00 AM today St. Paul temp will be -14 and Naples temp will be 54, thanks.  We had better not complain when we see that this coming week each day high is to be in the 60s
• Our trips, to MN in May and to FL in October were safe and fun-great
• In December Cynthia gave us the news that there is another grandchild on the way-exciting
• In May we received a nice refund on our taxes.  Maybe we should change our withholding but still the refund is so much better than a bill!
• Last March my tennis team finished undefeated in matches, so much fun.  This fall my tennis team had to scratch for any kind of positive, not so good but still fun.
• During the summer I was able to finish wood projects for the kids for Christmas, I still love my wood shop.

• During October and November I worked on a calendar for my siblings.  I ended up having 40 pictures and 115 dates of birthdates, deaths, anniversaries etc.  I think it was a big hit with everyone and it was fun to do.  Below is the cover of it.

• Of course each year I am thankful for my siblings.  Having experienced the deaths of Ronald and Janet as a young adult my siblings become more precious each year as we are able to grow into old age.  Dave has dealt with major health problems and is doing fine, Helen just makes life interesting for herself and friends and the picture of Joan/Ron with their Christmas card looks like they are getting younger and more in love with each passing year.  I admit these are my observations and are NOT their words.  BUT I think my thoughts are pretty accurate!
• One of my highlights for the year has been letters and cards from grandkids.  They are so super special and I have to admit almost on a daily bases I look for something in the mail.  I said "look" as of course they do not come everyday.  Jude will often ask some questions and then he will write, "report back".  How cute is that???  I do write a note to two of them each week and that has been fun.
• One of the highlights of the year was being part of Terry's son, Brian, marrying Tammy.  Brian hit the nail on the head with his choice of partners, Tammy is a special person and fun to have in the family.
• As I write I notice that most of the thoughts are on the positive side but Terry would tell you that in many ways 2017 has been a struggle and I agree.   But of course we always need to look on the bright side of things and be thankful for what we are and what we have. 

As Terry and I take down the 2017 calendar tomorrow and put up the 2018 we will think, expect, feel and work towards a blessed and fun new year.  To anybody who happens to read this I wish the same for you.

2018 is so near

No picture tonight as today has been not a picture day.  It has been one of those days that a person would just as soon forget.  Actually my life is fine and I have no reason to be down but down I am.  I had a Dr. appt at noon to have my left ham looked at.  I had not played tennis for over 2 weeks but I was on the court this morning for about an hour AND it went OK.  My left ham was a bit sore after so I iced it and all was fine.  In my Dr. appt he examined the leg and said for sure there was a pull of the hamstring.  He said that there is no way to know for sure what it is without an MRI.  SO there is an MRI scheduled for next Tuesday and then a follow up with the Dr. on the 8th.  For sure there will be NO tennis until the Dr. looks at the MRI.  So in my gloom and doom I say is tennis really that important?  Well of course I know it is not but then I also know that it is an outlet for so many things and it really is important.  So instead of sucking it up and being happy the rest of the day I was down and out.  Took a 2 hour nap and did I need it?  Probably not.  Well I can feel sorry for myself or I can move on in a big boy way.  I have not decided!!!
We are enjoying nice weather here but I can not say the same for MN.  It looks like New Years Eve the wind chill may be well below zero.  I, of course, remember those days, the paper route and all and will remember to enjoy warm weather here.
John, Aaron, Cynthia and families spent the last couple of days together and I hope they had a fun time.  I have been getting some notes from the Adkins kids and they are so precious and special.  Jude writes and then says, "please report back".  How special is that?
Enough as it is 11:30 PM and I should be in bed.
I am hoping that all family and friends have a great new year.

Christmas Eve Day

I woke with a start
the bed creaked as I rolled over
a slight ray of light filtered into my room
AND it was cold

What day is it
yes, Christmas Eve
a day long waited for
a day so special

As I lie in bed
my breathe curled up
up to the frosty nails
on the unfinished ceiling

Quiet, oh so quiet
there is no stirring
not from the girls' room
or from downstairs

I turn to my clock
luminated in the twilight
the hands point to
twelve and to seven

Quickly I rise
put on my jeans
and tip toe down
the sometimes noisy stairs

As I open the door
the kitchen is outlined
in a pale light from
the south window

There on top
of the kitchen cupboards
are packages all
in neat rows, Mom did that

To my right my parents
bedroom door is closed
no sound there
no stirring of life

Slowly I tip toe
across the kitchen floor
plant my foot on the old crooked stool
and step up to look

This I know
is forbidden territory
for days I have dreamed
of picking up that large package

I reach for it now
cradle it in my arms
and step down
onto the linoleum floor

I turn it over
I shake it up and down
there is no sound
no hint of a hidden treasure

Then I hear the door behind
me open with a squeak
I turn to see Mom in her tattered robe
a smile across her weathered face

Then she utters those words I knew were coming
words that I do not want to hear
"Not now Carmen"
really I know I must wait until tonight

"Yes Mom" I quietly mutter
then to change the subject
"can we have pancakes with venison
for breakfast?"

The pancakes and venison are eaten
but the taste is hollow
that package, that big package
is it what I really want?

The day drags on and on
cows are milked and snow is shoveled
then finally,
after the lutefisk, lefsa and boiled potatoes

The packages come down
we sit in the living room
Dad with a grin and
Mom with a big smile

I open IT in a flash
there on my lap
is my new shiny clock radio
there is a Santa!!!

The radio wears out from use
from the Lone Ranger
to the Minnesota Twins
it entertains me for years and follow me to college

But wait, today
it is a new day and a new year and things are so different
the clock radio is long gone but memories remain
AND Christ is coming today, hallelujah!

Benedict, our Christmas baby but of course not a baby any longer

Benedict is 6 today.  He is our only grandchild with a December birthday and it is on Christmas Eve day at that.  Happy birthday Ben and keep being the great guy that you are.!  I am thinking as I look at this school picture that you love school.  Love, Grandpa Lee and Terry

A birth is coming

I could choose to remember many Christmas times from the past but I choose to remember Mom on this day.  The picture is of a seat saver that she made and gave to cousin Ruth.  Ruth moved to a home where she is very limited in what she could bring so her daughter sent this to me.  It is a treasure for sure.  I put the $5 bill so one can see the size.  Mom loved Christmas and with so little means to make  the season special she did it with love and work.  From the church Christmas program to the lefsa to so much more she made the season each year one to remember forever.  If Mom were living today she would be 106.
Terry and I will have a low key Christmas.  We will take in church services tomorrow and then come home to a few presents and a meal of cream potatoes and ham.  On Christmas day we will enjoy the leftover cream potatoes and a standing rib roast.  No lutifisk for us.  In spite of what my wonderful Terry would say there were years when the lutifisk was very good and then times when it was not so great!  Dave still makes Grandma Lee's sweet soup BUT for me I will say "no thank you"!  It is beyond my reasoning to know how one can like something with raises, prunes etc in!!!
This is only important to me but I have been off the tennis court since last Wednesday.  I ice, soak and wrap my left hamstring muscle more than once a day and it is getting much better.  I MAY get on the court next Friday.  As I said it is only important to me but for me it is REALLY important!
I remain in the mind set that Christmas is all about cold weather and snow so here as I enjoy 80 degree temps Christmas is real but only to a point!
IF there are people who read this (why) I wish you a very merry Christmas and a truly blessed 2018.  May the new year bring you blessings and a renewed faith that shows to all whom you meet.

A remembering day

Christmas at the Saunders farm in 1974 with John, Aaron, Travis and Lisa
as one can see Christmas in ND didn't always mean snow

Today is a day for remembering.  If anyone happens to be reading this a warning that it may be a rerun of last year.  So IF you have other things to do perhaps now is a good time to shut down the computer and get them done.  BUT it is my annual sit back, relax with FP and Baileys and smile.  This is not a journey of "I wish" or " "I want to go back" or "if only".  No it is a journey of remembering the joy that God has granted me during Christmas.  I should say that I am not even having Baileys but rather Irish Cream from Kirkland (Costco).  Long ago the need for name brands has passed and now as I near 71 I am more down to earth, more practical and more "I am who I am and you can take it or leave it"!!!  I need to remind myself that the tree, lutafisk, lefsa, presents, games etc were so important during Christmas but Mom and Dad kept us grounded in the real meaning of Christmas with church and the church Christmas program.  And we always read the Christmas story from the Bible at some time during the season.  So with that said I am ready to, for the time being, forget my lame leg, forget any family stress, forget things that are undone but rather relax, smile and enjoy WHAT WAS:

• The space above the kitchen cupboards was the width of the cupboards and from top to bottom  maybe 12-15 inches.  The cupboards were above the counter top in the SW corner of the kitchen and they were in an L shape with one on the south and one on the west.  The presents that Mom wrapped were on top of the cupboards and they were OFF limits to us.  BUT it was fair game to shake them and rattle them when Mom and Dad were not home.  I don't remember anything ever breaking!
• Dad had been gone for some time dealing with health issues in SD.  He came home a few days before Christmas and gave Mom a present to be opened right away.  There were reflectors that were put on each Christmas tree light.  Mom thought they were beautiful.
• Dad said he had a problem.  He said there had been frozen rain that had made the trunk of the car impossible to get open.  We kids did not remember any frozen rain but for sure as we tried to open the truck it was stuck!  On Christmas Eve the truck magicially unfroze and inside was a shiny new sled.  The wood was bright, the runners were sleek and it was super.  It was opened on Christmas Eve but we had to wait until the next day to try it out on the hill by the creek near the outhouse.  Dave, with his earlaps down, Carmen with his earlaps up and Joan spent hours going down the huge hill (maybe it was 20 feet down!)
• The Saturday before Christmas and the Saturday before that and the Saturday before that was Mom's time.  We would pile into the car and drive to Bergen Church for Christmas program practice.  It seemed that each practice lasted hours but as I think back it may have only be an hour and a half or so.  I do remember that even tho I was as good as any of the kids I NEVER got to be Joseph!  I am guessing Mom thought she should not give her kids the best parts or it could be I was not as good as I thought!!!  I find it so funny as I hated those practices but I think because of them I now love to sing Christmas music like Silent Night or Oh Little Town of Bethlehem or Hark the Harold Angels Sing and of course the list goes on and on.  Just last Wednesday our neighbor had a party and the best part was the organ player and singing along.  I actually think that the best part of the Christmas program was the fact that Mom got to play the piano, be in charge and she just loved it and did a great job.
• We sat down to the table to enjoy our Christmas Eve meal.  I did not even have to look or ask to know what we were having.  It was boiled potatoes (not the most popular item), lefsa, lutefisk and maybe a veggie, I don't know about that.  If we were lucky this years fish was flaky and good.  If we were not so lucky the fish may be  not so flaky and a bit slimmy!  Melted butter went over the fish and we indulged in our Norweign meal for the year.  I would spread my lefsa and put butter on it but Dad would roll his up and put a dab of butter on the tip before each bit.  In later years I realized that I copied much of what Dad did without thinking about it but in lefsa I never did!
• I really do not know for sure but I THINK when Grandma and Grandpa were still on the farm we would open presents at home and then drive to their place for dinner.  They moved to town about 1955 or so and it was after that we ate at home.  Dave or Joan or Helen may know for sure.  BUT when we ate at their place it was always Grandpa eating one last helping before dishes had to be done and presents were opened.  After that it was play games or if it was nice enough out we would go outside and play hide and seek.
• I needed a clock in my bedroom and I wanted a radio so one Christmas I got a clock radio.  I think I was in 10th grade.  That allowed me to know what time it was and to listen to Harry Cary broadcast the St. Louis Cardinals or later listen to the Minnesota Twins.  The Twins came on the radio after they moved to the Twin Cities in 1961.
• There was this long package under the tree and for the life of me I could not figure out what it was.  A rifle?  I wanted one but Dad had said nothing about getting me one.  Finally on Christmas Eve I opened up a package and there was a long pole with two places to put your feet.  A pogo stick and I had no idea what it was.  BUT it turned out to be one of my most fun gifts ever.  By the end of summer I could hop on my pogo and go all the way to the barn, turn around and get back to the house without falling off.  Look Mom what I can do!
• There was a large rectangular box for Dave and a kind of square one for me.  My present was Lincoln Logs and Dave's was an erector set.  Those 2 gifts gave us 100's of hours of fun.  I think Dave was able to keep his and prehaps it is now with a grandson.  My logs burned up in the fire.
• I can't remember Christmas without remembering my electric blanket.  I am sure it was Mom's idea as she knew my bedroom in the winter would often get down to single digits and getting undressed and under the covers was an act of heroism.  My electric blanket was so so nice.  On those winter nights when I arrived home around midnight from a basketball game I could hurry upstairs and climb under a nice warm blanket that Mom had turned on for me.  It was the best.  How many kids can remember getting into a warm bed and before turning off the lights blowing breathe rings in the cold air and watching them float up toward the frost covered nails in the ceiling!
• I am sure that there were some Christmas times when presents were few and small but somehow I fail to remember those times.  It seemed to me that even in the worst of times in terms of money Dad and Mom managed to find some presents big or small.
• Of course I remember shopping in Lidgerwood for Christmas presents.  After the Christmas movie Dad would give us perhaps $2. and I would cruise the isles of Dalman's 5 and dime to pick out small presents for siblings and Mom and Dad.  
• One year I went all out, it was when I was in HS.  I had worked for cousin Russel and neighbor Rollof with hay so I had some money of my own.  I had given $10 to brother Ronald to buy me a new baseball glove so I had depleted my funds somewhat. But I was determined to get something for Mom that was nice.  I purchased a picture of Jesus in the woods.  The picture was maybe 36X20 and Mom was so so pleased.  I think she even gave me a thank-you kiss.  

So the memories go on and on and for the most part they make me smile and feel blessed.  I am not sure that Dave, Joan and Helen would remember the same or even remember the events in the same way but at this stage in life who really cares.  I do not have a lot of memories of Ronald and Janet around Christmas as Ronald was 11 years older and Janet 9.  I should mention that one Christmas Janet was home from college.  She worked in a drug store while going to school and her boss had given her a box of candy for Christmas.  She saved it to open while at home.  Some how her boss had managed to put $20 inside the candy box and when she opened it she as so so surprised and happy.     Good times for sure.  

I could also mention that in 1984 my family went to Hemet CA to spend Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Saunders.  I remember the kids saying that it did not seem like Christmas as we went swimming outdoors and the temp as in the high 70s.  What can I say as I sit here and write the weather forecast says it should be 83 today!!!  

The FP is gone but the memories remain forever.  MERRY CHISTMAS TO ALL

Marching towards Christmas and then a NEW YEAR

This is not our red truck but it is kind of like it.  The front window cranks out for AC.
Of course we had a grain box with tilt box to unload grain

Here it is Saturday and I have not written about our last tennis match of the fall.  One could guess it did not go as I wanted!  We lost court 3 big time.  I played on court 2 with Rusty.  I started out playing, in the first 4 games, about as poorly as I played all fall.  THEN things picked up and started to go our way BUT as I ran to my left for a backhand shot I had to stop quickly to avoid the fence AND that darn left leg gave in again.  I managed to play 3 more games, which we won 2, but then we lost a game which meant we lost the 1st set.  I knew I could not play but rather just stand and hit the ball if it happened to come to me so I said that is it.  It is pretty lame to have to forfeit and I am talking lame in terms of the match not about lame play on my part!!!  The good news was my court 1 came through in great fashion and won their match in a match tie breaker.  SO it is a month of non-league and then the winter starts.  I have put myself on the "unable to perform" mode for 2 weeks or more.
Maybe we can become the first ever team to come from the cellar in the fall to the mountain top in the winter.  Isn't that what the twins did this year?  I am more realistic than that so my sights are on a minimum of 10 points and maybe as good as 14/15 points.  We play 10 team matches with 3 matches each time so a perfect season would be 30 points.  I am finding that there is a HUGE difference in tennis at the 2.5 level and 3.0 level.  For sure it is always fun to play against guys somewhat better than you so you can improve so we will see.  For now it is IB twice a day, ice 4 times a day and rest.  I may have to check out more books from the library.  I have found that one of the most enjoyable aspects of retirement is having time to read.
Our neighbor John left for Canada yesterday and will spend his first Christmas without his wife Diane with his 3 children and grandchildren.  Last year at this time Diane was in the last stages of brain cancer so the memories may linger big time.  He will return January 8th.  I drove him to the airport and I asked him if he was ready for the cold.  He said each time he returns in the winter he asks himself WHY?  He keeps busy here with outdoor sports all the time.  He had a Christmas party at his house Wednesday where about 25 people gathered.  He hired a guy to play the organ for 2 hours so it was fun to sing Christmas songs.
I think Terry's foot is slowly healing.  It is a slow process.  She sees the Dr. Monday again.  Perhaps she will need to have the boot on for another week or two or three.  I called a Dr. to see if I could get in for my leg and here there are so many old people who need Drs that he is scheduled for 2 weeks out.  I made an appt for the 29th but am hoping that by that time the leg is kind of good.  I also made an appt at Costco to get my hearing checked and they are also 2 weeks out.  I have had my aids for 6 years and may be due for new hearing aids.  Not so sure about this old age stuff with hearing aids, pills, glasses and all the things that go with that.  Oh, I forgot to say it is good to be on the sunny side of the earth for sure.
I put together a 2018 calendar for my siblings and I have it hanging near the computer.  I see in January I can think about Quinn on the 5th, Janet/John the 10, Grandma Lee on the 23rd and Mike on the 25th.  I like that.
Enough for now as the last sip of FP was cold.

Christmas of 1973 at Aunt Ann and Uncle Otto's home in Lidgerwood
Aaron, John, Travis and Lisa Saunders

Early but more time to enjoy

OK so it is not Christmas yet, I know BUT for Terry and I would guess many many family and friends who may be of the more mature type 😉it is not a time to spring a big surprise present on our spouse.  After all how many of us can say "I want -------- for Christmas".  I am not saying we have everything but really if our health is OK and family is OK presents are perhaps far down on our list of wants/needs.  Well I have to admit I would like the car that the wine festival is auctioning off here in February.  The festival takes in, annually, about 12-14 million dollars for charities.  Rolls Royce has made a one of a kind purple Phaeton car to be auctioned off.  That would be nice!!!  I am guessing someone will bid north of $1,000,000 for it.  I asked Terry about it and she said NO.  Of course I am joking but it is amazing.  Back to our Christmas.  Terry asked if I would give her a canvas picture of some flowers to hang over our bed.  I ordered it and then she opened them when her son and his wife were here so they could see them.  Each canvas print is 10X14 and the pictures are from Naples, Minnesota, Alaska to name a few.  They turned out great and certainly make our bedroom bright.
We have our last fall tennis match today and it is at home.  At this point it makes little difference if we win some matches or not as our win/lost record is way beyond repair but I still am hoping to salvage one or two courts.  I will play court two today as My left ham is still sore from 2 weeks ago.  I wrap it each day and it is better but I have little strength to push off on it.  I think it needs rest.  Regardless of how we do it will be fun and then there is a month off league before winter starts.  After I have breakfast I need to get the drinks and snacks ready for the afternoon.  Our weather should be prefect.  It should be in the high 60s when we play at 1:30.  Certainly better than in the mid 80s.
I have a tiny bit of FP left so will enjoy that as I prepare my eggs, ham and sweet potatoes for breakfast.

Our first this year

This is what I saw this morning as I looked out the window!  Well not really, this is what I saw out of the airplane in Alaska as the bush pilot dipped his wing when we flew from Haines to Glacier Bay National Park.  It is an example of melting glaciers in Alaska.  BUT we do have our first COLD spell here in Naples this fall/winter.  The temp glared a cool 47 as I opened the door to get the paper.  I have no complaints as my smart phone (for a not so smart guy!) shows South Bend with 18, Jamestown with 31, St. Paul 24, Sandy with 19, Madison with 21 and we go up with Rapid City at 51 and Mesa at 60.  Again the smart phone shows that when I head out for 7:30 tennis tomorrow to play tennis it will be 47 again.  The forecast was for a low of 41 so perhaps we lucked out.
I hope all is well in places that our family is enjoying.  I say that because I think back to the 50s and 60s and as we all know it was a different world.  Aside from Dad's Farmers Union bus trips to New York and DC most family and news were pretty close to home, ND.  In the 50s for sure.  In the late 50s and early 60s, as I lay on the barn roof looking west and then looking up to the jet trails in the sky I had no idea our family would enjoy places like Naples, Mesa, Holiday Island, Sandy and of course travelers like John in the army and Helen in the Air Force there were FAR away places like Italy.  Well I could include John Lee who schooled for a year in Germany, Travis who spent a semester in Washington DC and Cynthia who spent half a year in Rome.

Great place to play "kind of the hill" after the snow plow goes past!!!
I am guessing Dad had the chains on the car!
Have NO idea what one would do if you met an oncoming car!

        By the way I was too lazy, and I did not want to wake Terry up, so I did not grind more coffee but instead went with what I had and my FP is not impressive this morning.  Don't get me wrong, it is certainly better than the church basement Luther League egg coffee but not up to my standards!

I find myself, more than in the past, thinking back on Christmas years and years ago.  My first thoughts are of Christmas on the farm with some of those tiny trees and the packages on top of the kitchen cupboards.  Then the mind goes back to Christmas when my children were growing up.  The late nights at work at the School for the Deaf where I had the key to the wood shop.  It was there that I made the oak night stands that the boys still have and there that I made the toolboxes that they may still have.  Then it jumps to St. Paul where I can still hear the screams of delight as each one unwrapped part of the new Apple computer and printer.  I am sure we overspent on that Christmas but for sure it was worth it.  I have no complaints as I know life changes but Christmas certainly is different now.  Terry and I have Christmas music on and some decorations up and it is fine but for sure not the same as having little kids in the house with their anticipation dripping from every word and move.  Don't think I am wishing for little kids in the house now!  Now Christmas is not so much about presents but about being with family and friends and taking in events.  I am not down playing the real reason for Christmas which of course is the wonderful birth of Christ, it is a given that Christmas is all about Jesus but we also know that it is more than that in our culture.  It is about lights, music, parties, friends, family, decorations and more.  For me it is also a time, perhaps more than other times, to remember back on people in our lives who are no longer with us.  People like Gail, Mom, Dad, Ronald, Janet, Mike and I know a host of other family and friends.  One of the ever lasting memories of Christmas is spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Lee in their farm home on Christmas.  For some reason I still can hear Grandpa's hardy laugh as us kids wanted to open presents and Grandpa would want one more helping of lutefisk and lefsa and then of course the dishes had to be done before the presents.  After that it was Dad, Halvor, Grandpa and ?? playing cards and the kids (Halvors and us) playing games before we fell asleep on G & G bed because the card game was not over.  It was usually after midnight that we were hustled into a COLD car for the drive home.  Grandpa's laugh still rings in my ears.  With his head thrown back I still can see Grandpa with joy written all over his face.

I will finish up with a note about life.  In the grade ahead of me in HS was Carl Blumhoff.  Carl and his sister lived with the Seiferts who had a mink farm south of Cayuga.  I knew nothing of his life in terms of why he was not with his parents.  Any way Carl and I played the sousaphone in band together.  He was WAY ahead of me in interest and skill!  Anyway, like so many many of my HS friends I knew nothing of Carl's life after HS.  On Facebook yesterday it was posted that Carl actually died in 2013 at the age of 68.  He had served in Viet Nam and was out of the army in 1971.  He had lived in Sioux Fall SD since 1982.   I had no idea.  Another of the class of 1964 who did not have the privilege of living to what we call old age.
My vanilla (meaning not so great) FP is gone and I end with an Advent wish.  May this Christmas Season be a blessed one for all.

It continues!

As I posted earlier, Happy 48th John.  Forty-eight years ago today was a happy and exciting day.
The agony of tennis continues one more week.  On Wednesday we met defeat on all 3 courts.  Did we learn from it?  I hope but am not sure.  We have our last fall match next week at home and then there will be a month off of league until the winter starts January 17th.  The question is "can we compete at the 3.0 level?"  I feel we can but that opinion is not based on looking at this falls results!  I can say that it really is more fun playing against better players than what we saw on the 2.5 level BUT of course it is fun to win some.  Like one teammate said Wednesday, "Carmen I doubt you will get another coach of the year award!"  I answered, "Your are right but I expect my -0- salary to double!
We have warm temps today, I think it is low 80s but by Sunday it is supposed to be highs in the 60s so change is coming for at least a short time.
That is all as I want to get back to my book.  As I often say this retirement is tough!

Happy Birthday John

Hi, my name is John Allen Lee and I am 48 today.  Thanks for the call.
Love you John,  Dad and Terry

Looking good!

Those bison at Sullys Hill south of Devils Lake sure are interesting!
I am guessing this picture was taken in early summer of 1974.  Sullys Hill was a destination for us often as we would take a picnic lunch and spend time there.  We would always drive through the preserve and would, most of the time, see deer/elk/bison grazing.  After some high swings at the picnic area we would head home.
Things in Naples are same same kind of.  Terry still has her boot on the left foot but I think it is getting better, but too slow for sure. 
My tennis team has its second to last match tomorrow. I am going to play court #3 as I have a mild strain in my left leg.  Maybe we can finish up the fall with some wins.  It really is not a big thing as I can tell we are playing better and the winter will be a different story, I THINK!
The house is quiet as Brian and Tammy left last Friday early AM. 
We finally got to the library and brought home 5 books so it will be reading time for a while.  Our cards had expired so we had to get new ones. 
Our weather has been seasonally warm for some time.  Normal highs for this time of the year are 77/78 and tomorrow for our 2:00 PM tennis match it is supposed to be 83.  That 5/6 degrees makes a difference in stamina. 
I am not playing tennis today.  I asked Rusty to take my place and then I will go watch as the play this morning will have my 2 top pairings playing to see how they do.  That will determine who plays court #1 and #2 tomorrow.  Does it make a difference?  I do not think so but it is fun to try and make the best happen.
After Brian and Tammy left Terry and I went back to the Whole30 eating plan for a while.  It certainly does make a difference in how I feel.  Don't know if I want to live out the rest of my life eating mostly veggies, fruit and meat but then I look at carrying 20 pounds more or less around and think it may not be such a bad idea.  I find that I eat not because I am hungry but because I like the taste of food.  This plan is supposed to curb some desires so we will see.  Yesterday was kind of a difficult day but then I stepped on the scale this morning and thought it was not so bad!
It is a great feeling to have so much done for Christmas.  All the kids and grand kids presents are taken care of and the cards went out Saturday so now it is sit back and take in Advent and Christmas with the focus on the REAL REASON for the season. 
I just sipped the last of my FP.

And then there were NONE

In the fall of 1977 Gail and I moved into our new home at 2094 Niles Ave in St. Paul.  We put 26 storm windows up that fall.  At the age of 30 it was not a big deal to climb the 20 feet up the ladder with the storm in hand, that was for 10 windows.  As time went on the routine stayed pretty much the same.  Screens came off in the fall, windows were washed inside and out and the storm windows, after they were washed, went on.  Gail would work on the inside and I would be outside.  Year after year after year this went on.  Screens were repaired (most of the time!) and storms likewise were repaired and painted again and again.  Then in 2011 I decided that it was no longer fun to climb the ladder lugging storm windows up and attaching them to the house.  So new windows were put in on the top floor and it was such a blessing.  To make the story short the last four windows that I put storms on were in the kitchen and new windows were put in last week.  From 1977-2017 there have been 30 new windows put in.  NO MORE STORMS TO PUT ON, NO MORE SCREENS AND STORM TO REPAIR AND NO MORE STORMS AND SCREENS TO PAINT!!!
I rest my case, it is a good day.
On another note my tennis team took it on the chin again this week but tomorrow is another day.
I finished my project for my siblings, including John and Glorine.  I put together calendars with many many dates of births, deaths, anniversaries and more.  It took a lot of time but it turned out very well and it sounds like everyone is happy with them.  Now to print out Christmas cards and get them in the mail.  The envelopes are ready to stuff and put in the mail so it should not take too much time.
Terry's son Brian and his wife Tammy had a grand time here for the last few days.  I woke up at 6:15 this morning and the house was so quiet, they left early.  They will arrive home by Sunday.
Enough for now.