Here it is about 4 hours left in November!

 TERRY

Terry had kind of a busy day.  This morning she did her first water therapy in about two weeks and the first since her fall.  In the afternoon she had the stitches taken out of her left arm.  The water therapy, it was difficult as she just can not put weight on that left leg with the bagged up knee.  The nurse put in a request for an MRI of that left knee during the time Terry spent at the doctors.  Hopefully an MRI will tell us WHY the knee just does not want to work.  She had an x-ray but an MRI will show more.  So once again it is one day at a time and we will wait and see.

I had tennis at 7:30 this morning and will have it at 9:00 tomorrow.  Today my partner and I came out on the short end of the score but it was fun.  Tomorrow it will be different players.

So here we are just a few hours from December 1st.  What will the month bring?  It will be very interesting see.

Here it is after 8:00 and really not that far from my bed time.  I was happy to see that most if not all of my calendars arrived at the places I sent them.  AND I am guessing most if not all Christmas cards also arrived as I sent them on Wednesday.  So ALL my Christmas things are finished and I can sit back and relax.

Of course my FP is long long finished but I look forward to it in about 12 hours or so.  Enough for tonight.

Happy birthday Leonidas Adkins!

 

Leo turns 5 today.  He is a pretty special guy.  Big eyes, a big heart and a personality that will take him FAR!  Leo, love from Grandpa Lee and Terry have a great day.

November 29, 2020. a Sunday

 TERRY

As I write Terry is still resting.  I think she is kind of awake.  I think we may try her using the walker today.  I need to strip the bed and wash the bedding so it would be a good time for her to walk from the bedroom to the living room.  Before she fell she was doing that pretty much on her own but IF it happens today I think I will put the belt around her waist just in case she needs some support.  Tomorrow it will be to the pool and then to the doctor so she needs to rest up for sure today.

SOME PICTURES FROM THE PAST AGAIN TODAY

One could almost say this was John's first girl friend but of course that would not be true but he surely liked his skating teacher.  I think he thought she was much better than Mom or Dad!

That was kind of the beginning of biking for those two.  Both raced in many many bike races when they were in high school and college AND I might add they did very very well!

I drove a cement truck for Lake Ready Mix for a few summers.  Here Mom had brought the boys out to Fort Totten where I was pouring cement for a new home.  The boys thought it was a BIG truck.  I would take maybe a dozen trips to the Fort each summer.  It was a sad sad situation.  One would pour cement for a new home, built by the government, one summer and then when you came back the next summer for another new home the one you poured for the year before would be in great disrepair.  Often some of the windows would be broken and maybe the door off!  

Here I am with the three boys in August of 1973 as that is the month Aaron was born.  It looks like I have been on my knees a bit too much!

I think this was the only time the three boys were on the same soccer team as this is grade school and the boys were 8, 6, and 4th grade.  Little did we know that they all would be part of a high school state championship team in different years.  John and Travis in 1986 and 1987 and Aaron in 1991.  As their sister Cynthia, in grade 2, said in gym class when the teacher asked if anyone had been to a soccer game she replied, I have been to hundreds"!  All 4 kids were on traveling teams in the summer and in the summer of 1987 I counted up the number of games we attended and it was more than 100 just in that summer.

Here are pictures of the same sign taken 43 years apart with Terry in the top photo and myself with John in the bottom photo.  I see where they put a National Park sign on it later.  Not sure why the sign was not up in 1971 as it became a national park in 1947.  

I just have to add something about Minneapolis.  They have any interesting city council.  Several of them want to defund the police department.  Not sure what would happen then.  Now they have passed a new ordinance for the city parks.  Now both men and women can enjoy themselves in the park while going topless!  It will be interesting to see who visits the parks next spring!!!

A little bit about the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas during the time we were in grade school.  It was "MOM TIME" so to speak.  She had full responsibility for the church Christmas Program and she loved doing it.  It gave her a chance to be creative and also to play all those Christmas songs which she dearly loved.  The scene was pretty much the same year after year.  Sunday school kids would be dressed up in clothes from the past and the Christmas story was told.  It never was a question of would you be in the program it only was a question of what would you be.  There were angels, shepherds, Mary and Joseph and  other people as well.  For some reason I NEVER was given the part of being an angel!  Of course the "choice" parts were Mary and Joseph.  IF I remember correctly the only thing I ever played was a shepherd.  I think Mom did not want to have people think she favored her kids.  I am sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Chuckie and I talked all the time!  Well what was one to do if you go to the church on a Saturday afternoon when you could be playing marbles or Touring cards or playing table tennis on the kitchen table!!!  I mean for kids at that age to sit in a church pew and just watch--it was not going to happen.  Anyway Mom did a great job and when the program took place at church Mom received much praise and thanks which she richly deserved.  I should not admit it but I was always happy when the program was finished for the year and we could go back to our regular Sunday School lessons.  There chuckie and I would duel Carol Jean, Pasty and Gay in the lesson quiz of the day.  I want to say we won most of the time but then can a person really remember 60+ years back???  As I look back on those days they were really special even tho as they happened it seemed boring.  I actually think the huge thing that came out of that was Mom got to do her thing which did not happen very often.  She so wanted to play the organ in church but that belonged to someone else and Mom could only do it as a fill in.  Not sure I ever recovered from the fact that Dave and Jim G got to pull the bell most of the time for the beginning of church.  Chuckie and I were younger so we seldom got to do it.  I mean it was fun.  You would pull it really hard and then as the bell swung and you held onto the rope it would pull you off your feet.  Life, as a little kid, does not get much better than that.

So here it is about 8:15 and I do not hear anything from Terry yet even though I am pretty sure she is awake.  I have gotten the paper and it is on the kitchen table waiting for her.  I pulled out the sports and read it in about 10 minutes!  I am on my last cup of FP so will sign off for the day.  May everyone have a blessed Advent as today is the first Sunday.  May you be drawn closer to the Lord.  May you and family have good health and on the other side of the scale may you have a great Christmas with the presents that you desire!

Last Saturday of November 2020

 TERRY

As I write it is almost 6:30 AM and I hope Terry is sleeping.  My guess is she is not.  She was awake when I got up at 5:40 and perhaps she is still awake.  Not much to write about in terms of Terry.  I do think she is getting somewhat better each day so as I often say it is one day at a time.  The big test in terms of getting back to where she was will be water therapy Monday.  

I am going to post some pictures today.  No real reason that I picked the ones I did.  I was going through my slides that I have on the computer and just picked some out.

For a Christmas present a few years ago Terry got a fly fishing lesson.  The guy was very good and we were on the water well over an hour.  We caught some fish but not many.  It mainly was a time to try the sport and by the looks of the picture Terry may have done better than I!

Mom was always great at having birthday cakes.  Here it looks like I was 4.  I think I must have birthday pictures of most of my birthdays up to about 10 or so. Not sure why Dad stopped then.  Maybe he felt I was out of the stage where the picture was cute.

I see where this picture is a bit out of focus.  JetBlue is the spring training baseball park for the Boston Red Socks.  Each year they have an open house before spring training opens up.  It was fun to see the park.  They kind of made it like their famous Fenway Park back in Boston with the HIGH wall in left field.

I do not know when this was taken.  I see Dad in the background but I can not place where it was.  That darn John always has looked younger than his age.  Even today he does not look like he is 65!!!  It must have been some kind of holiday or celebration as I would guess it was not often that we got to have Becky, Bob and Esther together.

June of 1965

High school was behind me now and I was getting excited to leave home.  Don't get me wrong, I loved Mom and Dad and I thought they were great BUT it was time to move on.  I knew that our farm was really an antique waiting to fall apart so to speak.  Dad could pretty much do anything.  He could take professional pictures.  He could shoot better than most guys way younger than he.  He could overhaul an engine (did it several times).  On the dance floor he almost had no equal.  BUT all of those things were more important than farming in terms of being modern!  So I was excited to leave and see and experience the world.  Come to think about it I probably was just like any other young man.  I was not all that excited to go to college but there was a war going on and it was school or be drafted.  So on this Saturday, June 19th Dad and I headed to Fargo as I was to take an entrance test for NDSU.  I was told the test consisted of writing something and then parts on science and math.  Dad dropped me off on campus and said that he would return in a couple of hours to the same place.  As I walked up the sidewalk to the student union I questioned IF I really wanted to be here.  I knew I wanted off the farm at that point but HERE!  In high school I had OK grades but I never really applied myself much.  It probably was OK that my name was left off the B honor roll list of names at graduation even though I had a B+ average.  AND it was mentioned at the ceremony that my name should have been on the list!  Anyway I was not all that excited to be taking tests in June.  Later in the summer I received a letter saying that I scored well on both science and math and I would start college with 10 free credits!  As I struggled in chemistry and advanced algebra during the fall quarter I did say several bad words about those tests!!!  But I did save money with 10 free credits. 

 I should add that Ronalds death still hung over our farm like a dark cloud.  That was another reason I wanted "out" of the farm.  Still, after 8 long months, I  would notice tears in Mom's eyes from time to time and Dad, well he was a different story as there never was a word said about Ronald's death but he was a changed person in some ways.  

So the summer went on and as college came closer to being a reality I became nervous and antsy.  Also I received my financial package and as I looked at it I knew more money had to come from some place.  As it turned out Dad gave me $300 and I signed up for "Work/Study" right away.  In the end I was able to cover ALL the $1200 that my first year cost!  I guess the $$ amount tells one how long ago that was.  My grades that year were less than great.  Those darn math and science classes almost did me in but I did get through and was never put on probation.  As I come to grips with who I was and what I wanted to do my grades took a dramatic turn for the better!

So my college years begin with kind of a bump but as the years went by they became fairly smooth.  As I look back at NDSU, Minot State, Devils Lake Junior College, UND and the University of Nebraska in Lincoln I would say my grades improved and my attitude did as well!!!  

No it is time to read the sports in the paper as it finally arrived on the driveway.  The Naples paper has about 75% on local sports which I have no interest in so it may take me 15 minutes to read it. That is about the time that I will finish my FP.

We are now into the holiday season for 2020

 TERRY

Terry is awake and watching TV as the paper has not arrived yet.  She is doing about the same.  She keeps that right hand wrapped, the one with the broken finger.  Nothing new to write about in terms of her health.  

Not much to write about today.  I do have tennis in 30 minutes so may make this short and then IF I have the urge I may write "in the past" later today.  

Our Thanksgiving dinner turned out OK.  I felt the turkey was very good as it was well done with just a hint of smoke so that was good.  Terry did not feel great so she ate a small amount and then went back to bed.  She did mention that my mashed potatoes tasted good but were somewhat lumpy!  Leave it to Terry to tell it like it is as she was certainly correct!!!   I just did not have the energy to do the Brussel sprouts so they are waiting for attention sometime today or tomorrow.  I have to admit the corn dish was awful.  AND by that I mean awful a second time.  I have no idea what I did wrong as I followed the recipe to a T. Well maybe it should have been a U or something.  AND I almost forget but the dressing was very good.  No gravey as I did not venture there.  I have a feeling it would have been a disaster.  

So it is Friday and a go it alone day as our morning help was not scheduled to come yesterday or today.  She will be here again Monday.  Actually Terry may miss her as she likes Sonia.  

So that is it for today.  I need to check to see if the paper has come yet.  Most days it is here by 6:00.  Then it is dress and the tennis courts.  There may be only 3 of us so we will play two vs one and the one uses the doubles lines and the two use the singles line.  It is not so much fun but it is good practice.  

No, the FP is good to go so will pour a cup and I am thinking there will be a cup to take to the courts.

TERRY

She had her hand x rayed yesterday and her middle finger on that left hand is broken.  She has a splint on it that can come off easily and then go back on.  Should be pretty much healed in a month and in 6 weeks good as new.  She has water therapy Monday and also the stitches taken out of her arm so all is good.  I say all is good BUT she will have to try to enjoy my cooking today so all may not be so GOOD!!!

So I am staring at all these recipes and saying to myself.  I am a woodworker but my shop is 2000 miles away.  I like to write but the book is history as of 5 years ago.  I have a host of other things that I try to do with some measure of skill BUT here I am with recipes in front of me that will take up most of the day and I would NOT label me a cook or chef or anything close!  Yikkes!!!!!

Well I will give it the old college try but wait college is at least 44 years in the past.  My saving grace is Terry will be easy on me IF I goof.  Anyway what can go wrong with these recipes?  I am afraid that there could be plenty but then there is only Terry to be the judge and I am sure she will be kind.  Joe H, who lives a few houses down, called to make sure we had plans for dinner today.  Very nice of him to do that.  I am finding out that holidays, after loved ones have passed away are a challenge.  I know, Dave lived far away but he comes to mind this morning as do Mom, Dad, Ronald and Janet.  Some how the page just became blurred.  

As I write, Terry is awake for the day and reading the paper with the TV on.  I do think she is getting a tiny bit better each day.  As I prepare for the day I reflect back to Thanksgivings of the past:

• Brother Ronald died October 3rd, 1964.  Thanksgiving and Christmas that year saw very little if any joy or celebration as Dad had a face of stone and Mom had wet eyes much of the time.  Of course one can understand that but as a 17 year old high school freshman I remember thinking I "hate the holidays".
• Way later in life as our family lived in St. Paul I would usually drive down to the Farmers market in St. Paul to pick up a fresh turkey grown by a farm just outside of St. Paul.  That was always fun.
• Many many years we had friends and kids over for Thanksgiving and after the eats and treats there were puzzles and games all afternoon.
• Terry and I have had wonderful Thanksgiving here over the last several years.  That was when Terry did the cooking!
• When Ronald and Janet were in college in Ellendale it was a BIG deal because they would always come home and that was when Mom would, for the holidays, make her raise filled cookies.  Ronald loved those cookies.  Well I could not stand them but others said they were delicious.  After Ronald died Mom never made them again.
• I remember the year that Mom had the terrible idea that we should raise some turkeys.  They were the worst and they did deposit more poop in the yard than chickens and that was NOT good for barefoot me in the summer.  Anyway one of them met their demise at Thanksgiving and the others likewise later on.  Thankfully Mom did not want turkeys again.
• In St. Paul Thanksgiving was kind of the end of storing things in the garagethat should not freeze.  In my mind I had Thanksgiving as the date that all things that needed a warm winter home needed to come into the house by that time.  
• I do remember when still on the farm that many Thanksgiving days it still was warm enough to get the 22s out and find something to shot at!  Well no blackbirds or gophers but there were sparrows around and with the eyes of a young kid they could be targets.

Well here I am at 8:00 AM and I could use writing to delay my food prep but really I need to get to work.  I have not even figured out what time I need to put the turkey in.  

What am I thankful for today?

• For Terry as she is the center of my life.
• For good health, at least at the age of 73 I think I would label it good.
• For siblings like Helen, Joan, Ron, Marlys, Judi, Glorine, John (I hope my in-laws do not mind being including as siblings)
• With all the difficulties in the world my world is pretty darn good.
• There are many many other things as well but that is enough.  

It is now on to the last cup of FP and then into the food for the day.

I will adopt this (IT WAS NOT GRANDMA'S ) and make a combination of my idea of dressing and Terry's

 

Not sure Terry and I needed a 15 pound turkey but those 10-12 looked so small.

 

These should be pretty darn easy--I THINK!

The "first timers turkey" is not true BUT on the Traeger Grill it is first time

I THINK this should be a slam dunk--MAYBE

I do NOT have an instant pot but will improvise a bit--NO instant potatoes today!

I end by saying with all the work and all the prep time having a holiday with homemade food is still pretty darn close to the top of my "happy list".  I suspect that many family and friends will go out to eat and that is certainly a good thing but for me the prep, the work, the aroma etc bring back the "good old days".  Yes they are that and they are far in the past but just for a day it is fun to relive them.  Today is kind of the start of the end of the year.  With Thanksgiving and then Christmas I will take many times to sit back, reflect and be thankful for the many blessing I have.  Part of that is family who are still here.  Part of that is Terry.  BUT much of that is remembering the past and being thankful for all that it was.  Certainly it was not perfect but for my up bringing I am eternally grateful and give the Lord many thanks.

IF there are family or friends who take the time to read this I say, "MAY YOUR DAY BE FULL OF DELICIOUS FOOD, WONDERFUL FAMILY AND A VISION FOR THE FUTURE THAT IS BRIGHT! 

Here we are and we should all be ready for a big meal tomorrow!

 TERRY

Terry has a dr. appointment this morning to have her right hand examined.  It has been swollen from her fall and it is warm to the touch.  Of course it bothers her a lot.  When I called the office they said she could see the dr. December 8. When I told them why I needed Terry to see the dr. they said she could see the PA today at 11:00.  I am hoping they will do an X-Ray of the hand.  

I am pretty ready for tomorrow.  My only concern is that turkey being grilled on smoke.  I do not want to eat a turkey dinner at midnight!  I may cave in and only do it on smoke for a limited time.  I did see a recipe in the paper today for Brussel sprouts and it is pretty much what I plan to do.

I do have tennis today at 9:00.  I just got a note from Karl saying that a couple of players that we have been around have tested positive for the virus so I guess it is good to be careful.  

I think I will get my Christmas letters and calendars off into the mail today.  I finished the fudge that I planned to make so I am good to go right through until 2021.  Kind of enough of this 2020 year.

I am having fun watching the stock market.  I have a very very limited amount of money in it but I have the stock market on my phone and pretty much each day look at it.  Well one day it goes up and the next day it goes down.  The one stock that is VERY up and DOWN is Tesla.  I do not understand what the deal is with that company but a headline a couple of days ago read that it is the second largest company, by value, on the market.  One day it will go down and then the next day it goes up.  I think yesterday it was up like $35 but what will happen today?  It may be down by that much.  Anyway it gives me something to take up some of my time during the days.  Karl did lend me 3 books that look good so I may get into one of them today.

I was going through the 700+ slides that I have on the computer this morning and came across this picture.  I am guessing it was taken in 1969.  It certainly looks like the Saunders family, at that time, was all in for Chevys.  I kind of think it was a sign of the times as one probably would not think of taking a picture like that today!

No, here it is 7:35 so Sonia will show up soon.  She will not be here the next two days.  I may have to have her do some work with food again as the box we get on Friday with three meals in will come today instead.  Then thinking ahead with left over turkey etc I cancelled it for the week after Thanksgiving.  I will say that the meals that come are very very good.  I think of the 9 meals we have gotten so far I would rate 8 of them a 10 and the other one maybe an 8.  Left over turkey--IF anyone has the recipe for turkey turnovers send it to me as they are the best.  ON second thought they may be hard to make as there is dough involved so just send the turnovers after they are made!!!!!!!!

My FP is about finished so it is on to other things for the day.  I think I do need to go over tomorrow's work as when I am in the kitchen I feel like a rookie and sometimes that is not good.  But the more one prepares the successful you are.  Come to think of it that is true in all of life!!!

The turkey is thawing and almost ready to grill!!

 TERRY

I will just post a couple of pictures taken after Terry's fall.  They kind of tell the story.  I would say she is slowly getting better and will be able to pick up water therapy again next week.  The stitches come out next Monday.

One does not need more than that today!!  And that does not include her swollen right hand and her banged up left knee!  She did have a scan of her head and an X-ray of her knee at the hospital just to make sure nothing was broken etc.

As I sip my first cup of FP I say to myself "It will be kind of a busy day.  I have tennis at 7:30 and then will be out and about for a time.  There are some library books that need to be returned.  I need to stop at the post office as one of our Christmas Cards goes to Canada and I don't know the postage on that.  Also, at the post office, I will pick up some boxes for sending things.  So that is what a busy day for a 73 year old guy looks like!  Well of course there will be some kitchen clean up this afternoon, some chef duties later on and I almost forgot.  I need to get a haircut.  I just hate to get hair cuts.  I am sure it comes from haircuts that Dad gave.  It was just a towel around the neck and then NO shower afterwards and I always felt I was itchy.  I know, it is more than a little lame to blame Dad when he is not here to defend himself!

I think Terry will be napping off and on today.  She said she looked at the clock several times last night and that is not a good sign.

I wanted to make some fudge for the holidays and I did get that finished yesterday.  I used about 10% of ONE bottle of Mapleine and I have the other 5 bottles on the counter!!!  There may be one more batch in the making but that would be just for home.  I almost had nightmares as I stirred the batches and thought about what it was like to make 22 matches in 2006!!!  Sometimes I question my approach to things.  Actually I do often but then I do not change so.

I see where the guy who started Tesla is now the world's second richest person!  His net worth is now 127.9 billion.  I think he could start having Tesla pay out dividends.  In 2020 he has increased his worth by 100.3 billion.  I guess 2020 has not been a bad year for everyone!

Here it is 7:05 and time to get dressed for tennis.  I will get my second cup of FP down by the time I go but the rest will have to wait until later as I will warm it up after tennis.  I think I need a lot of FP as I go into the barber shop for that darn haircut.

Monday, the start of Thanksgiving week

 TERRY

Terry is holding her own with this sore body of hers after the fall.  She is getting somewhat better but there will be NO water therapy this week and we will pick that up again next week.  She will get her stitches out a week from today and at that time we will see what her arm looks like.  She just woke up and started reading the paper.

OK so I didn't read the entire order!!!

I use Mapleine for Grandpa Saunder' homemade fudge that I make each winter.  One just can not find it in the stores so I thought I would go to Amazon.  Well when I ordered it I thought it was kind of expensive but what the heck I needed it and it is for special fudge.  Well it came Saturday and before I opened it I thought this is one big jar.  Presto, I had ordered SIX.  Now I use a few drops, lets say 5, for each batch of fudge and google show 591 drops to a fluid oz AND the Mapleine is TWO fluid oz.  I did not even stop to figure out how many batches I can make!!!  AND that is just for ONE bottle and I have SIX.  BUT I am on my way as I made two batches yesterday.  You know what they say, "One step at a time"!  I am thinking I should give 5 bottles away OR sell it on E-Bay for BIG money or ask family and friends IF anyone uses it as there are 5 bottles on the counter that are FREE!  Well lets say the 591 drops to an oz is not correct so then maybe I should keep two and get rid of 4.  At least 4 bottles of Mapleine is now on the market for the going price of $00.00 if anyone needs it!!!  I just had a brilliant idea for it but I will not share it at this time!!!

A true story from the recesses of my aging mind!

There was a time that, as a teacher, one was expected to wear a tie to work.  I had MANY ties and they varied from wild to tame to nice to goofy etc.  Gail even made several ties that were wide as in the 70s that was the THING.  Well around 2005 or so I was asked to coach the girls soccer team at Highland Junior where I taught.  I had coached the boys for a few years and had actually gone undefeated one year.  The girls were about ready to start the season and had NO coach.  Two of the girls, that I had taught in sign language, came to my room after school and asked me if I would be the coach.  I mean how can one turn a request like that down???  They could not find a coach and figured why not Mr. Lee.  I agreed and it actually was one of the most fun seasons of coaching I had in all the years of being a coach.  I think we went something like 5-2 and that may have been the most wins the girls had ever had!  I chose to wear the soccer tie for each game and made a point of letting the girls know.  We had the most successful season that the girls had ever been part of and they loved it.  After the last game, which we won, I took my tie off and had all the names of the girls in a hat.  I drew a name out and then took my tie off and gave it to the girl.  She acted as if she was excited.  A couple of days later we had a small lunch in the school dining room to celebrate the season and at the end of it all the girls gathered around me and gave me the tie back as all of them had signed it!!  I have gotten rid of most of my ties as I NEVER wear a tie anymore BUT I saved that one!

Well I start the week out with tennis at 10:30 today.  Karl, who has been on my team for some time now, has been good enough to schedule matches on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.  I have another guy who has been scheduling on Tuesday and Thursdays.  So to start the week there is tennis at 10:30, then the next day at 7:30 and then on Wednesday at 9:00.  

I HAVE to shave today.  I don't understand as I shave and then it SEEMS like the next day I look awful with almost a beard.  It is long enough this morning that it may hurt to shave!

We have cloudy skies today and I did look to see if it is supposed to rain but no.  It is just supposed to be foggy in the morning.

Not a whole lot more to say this morning.  I have the menu down for Thursday but I do have questions about the turkey on the Traeger Grill.  It says to turn it on at 300 for 15 minutes and then when the turkey is put in turn it to smoke.  I did an experiment yesterday to see what temp "smoke" is and it looked like the burgers got done with the temp at about 180.  I THINK it will take a long time to do the turkey at that temp but will give it a try as I want to see what the "smoke" setting does for the taste of the turkey.  Terry and I may have turkey dinner at 8:00 PM!!!

No, it is now 8:35.  Terry is almost finished with the paper but she does have the TV on.  Sonia, the in home care person who comes Monday-Friday, is here and is busy doing the dishes from fudge making that I was too lazy to do last night.  I should say that yesterday I had a brilliant idea.  It is always a challenge to get the fudge out of the pan in a good way.  I lined the 8X8 pan with parchment paper and then greased it with butter.  After the fudge had been in the fridge to set I lifted on the edges of the paper and presto the fudge came out perfectly!  How about that, I can't believe I thought of that after all these years, especially after I made 22 batches of fudge for Cynthia/Mike's wedding!!!

The FP is finished and now it is onward to the rest of Monday as we march towards turkey day.

Terry DO NOT DO THAT!!!

 TERRY

OK so Terry wants so badly to get well and that will happen BUT.  We both woke up about 7:00 this morning.  I turned over to get some awake shut eye just for a few minutes.  I thought I heard Terry stirring and it sounded strange so I turned over and opened my eyes.  Here she was out of bed and standing by the doorway with NO support.  I suppose there are two ways to look at it.  First she should NOT be doing that as when she fell she had a walker.  The other view is she wants to get well and she was working hard at that.  Regardless I jumped out of bed and put my arms around her.  She said she was getting the wheelchair as it was in the hallway.  We did get her into it and the story was she wanted out of bed and into the living room.  That we got done BUT…. As it turned out OK I will take it as a positive venture but as I think about it not a good one, really.  As I write she is on the couch reading the Sunday paper.  Cheryl, a neighbor and who comes from Minnesota was over for a 45 minutes visit yesterday.  That was good for two reasons.  Terry needs more than me around and two, she brought homemade wild rice soup!!!

Remembering again this morning!

From page 61 of my book

Dad had a lot of short comings but ideas about what us kids should have was not one of them.  I should add my kids could tell of my short comings too!!!  From the day I was old enough to ride a bike I remember the two bikes we had.  They simply were called "the big bike and the little bike".  I do not remember if other families had a bike but we had two.  I am sure Mom could have used some things with the money Dad paid for the bikes but it was what it was and those bikes gave us adventures, fun, trips and they expanded our life to be more than the farm yard.  I am guessing Dave and I made 300 or 400 or more trips to Lake Tewaukon during the summers of the 50s and early 60s.  We rode up there to swim, to see if there were any girls swimming (that was when we were older), to see if Ricky was home (He lived right by the lake) and I think there were many times we just wanted to get on the bikes and ride, anyplace.  They seemed to put us into a world that was beyond our farm.  One thing I don't know is why we never rode them to Wood Lake School ever.  That may be cause the 3 years I went to Wood Lake there were three of us Joan, Dave and I.  Two bikes do not serve 3 kids very well!  The bikes took us past Rollofs farm, past Kiefer's farm and on to Grandpa and Grandmas and later to Halvor's.  I make it sound like a long way but it was only 3 1/2 miles.  It was NOT up hill so to speak but it was on rough gravel road.  AND you guessed it, Dave had the big bike and I had the little bike.  It was because of the bikes that we had worn out rubber to make the hockey puck for hockey on the lake in the winter.  It was the bikes that gave us the experience of fixing tires and fixing mechanic things.  One of the fun things was to get on the bike after a rain and see how it was riding in the water and mud.  Another thing was NO HANDS.  As I have said before it got the the point that it was not even a challenge to jump on the bike in the yard and not touch the handle bars all the way up to the lake.  IF I started out by the gas pump it was down the driveway, left by the mail box on to the gravel road and then down the hill across the bridge and on to the lake.  I should add that in the summer after my junior year of high school the bike did provide several trips up to the lake to see a special person!  

So enough for the bikes.  To this day I enjoy riding bikes.  I ride a bike every day to the tennis courts and I should add my kids also enjoy riding including John and Travis being very successful racers in high school and college.  

My FP is down to the last sip and so the story ends here.  No plans for the day except to be here for Terry and enjoy a sunny warm day in SW Florida.

One day closer to Thanksgiving Day

 TERRY

As I write at 7:20 AM Terry is in bed reading the paper with the TV on.  She said she feels better today than yesterday.  Yesterday she did not get out of bed.  She could have but with the swollen right hand and left knee that is banged up she decided to stay in bed for the day.  I have canceled water therapy for next week as well.  They said she could come in and do exercises in the gym BUT the entire idea of going to that place is WATER so I said no.  There are a few things that are different now as staying in bed is mostly what she will do but I will look at it this way, one step backward but then two or three steps forward as she heals.  

I have our Thanksgiving meal all planned.  I am going beyond the normal for us and ditching the instant potatoes.  It will be REAL potatoes using half Yukon gold and half Russet.  I feel I need a challenge.  The turkey will be on the Traeger Grill and mostly on the "smoke' setting.  I have yet to decide on how to do the dressing and then the only other side dish will be a mean green bean salad!  That should keep me out of trouble for the day!!!  The 20 pound turkey comes out today and will sit on the counter for 24 hours and then go into the fridge.  What do we need with a 20 pound turkey?  I just could not resist as the 12 pound looked so tiny!

We are overflowing with food so don't know what we are going to do with Thanksgiving leftovers.  The meals that come on Friday, there is a box with 3 meals in, keep us full for 6 meals.  Then there is Joe, down the street, who brings over "firehouse meals" once in a while and then Cheryl who is down the street to the south is bringing over homemade wild rice soup today.  The fridge will be more than full.  I really do not like to freeze leftovers as what happens is I forget them and then when all the containers are nowhere to be found I remember six months later that there is food in the freezer.  

I am not going to play tennis today.  Every Saturday there is a group of guys who show up at 9:00.  I have been playing 6 days a week but my body tells me this morning it is ready for a couple of days off.

I do need to go to the store for a couple of things this morning.  I try to do that in the AM Monday-Friday when we have help here but it will be a short run today.  I have yet to tell Sonja that we do not need her so as of now she is still scheduled to come 5 days a week.  She is a help for me but yesterday Terry said she really likes her and I think it is good for Terry to have more than me around sometimes.  I will see as times goes on.  Next week it will only be Monday-Wednesday as she will not be here Thanksgiving and we will also not do Friday.

I will ramble a bit this morning about life long ago

From page 141 of my book comes this picture of chickens.  I could pretty much fill MANY blogs about the chickens on our farm but will try to make it kind of short today.  When Leo was 6 or 7 he loved the CHICKEN POOP  story!!!

There are several stories involving chickens.  One is about the day that we processed the spring chickens as they got big enough.  We had a crate that we would put them in:

The chickens were in the chicken house, as we called it, and the catching was done at night.  We would take the crate and place it on the floor of the chicken house.  We would then get a home made chicken catcher!  All it was is a long stiff wire with a bend on the end in the form of a hook.  We would get close enough to the chickens and then use the wire to catch a chicken by the leg.  The bend was such that if you got it around the leg and pulled it was tight enough they could not get it off.  It was then a matter of grabbing the chicken and putting it in the crate.  To start the day we would have a crate of chickens that were noisy and crowded in the wooden crate.  We would then fill a barrel half full of water and heat it to scalding hot.  One at a time the chickens would be taken out of the crate and with a hand axe the head would come off and then you would let the chicken go.  It would flop around for a bit and then was ready for Mom to pick it up and holding it by the legs she would dunk it in the scalding water.  It was then a matter of picking the feathers off and gutting it out.  As I read what I have written it sounds like something one would see in a horror movie!  But it really was not that bad.  Well the smell was the worst as the chickens went into the scalding water the aroma was something one could do without but when all the work was done and whenever Mom made SPRING chicken for dinner it was delicious.  

Another story for the chickens were the times we had to clean out the chicken house.  The ammonia smell as one cleaned the chicken house was about the worst.  Especially when one had to bend over and clean under the far end of the chicken house which was under the roosts.  It seemed that one had to get up close and personal so to speak as you bent at the waist and scooped up the poop in an up close and personal kind of encounter.  I do not know WHY Dad let us get by with this but often we just cleaned up the poop and there was a pile of it just outside the chicken house door.  It seems to me that we should have put it in the manure spreader and gotten rid of it but often we did not.  I guess that kind of tells the story of the LEE farm so to speak!

Well here it is after 8:00 and time for a bite to eat.  I had to get these pictures off of google so writing took more time than usual.  Terry has had her Milk of Magnesia this morning so it could be an interesting day!  I am still working on my FP.  I need to do a little work with my 2021 calendars today as I intend to send them out next Tuesday or Wednesday. I will get the calendars and the Christmas letter and the Christmas presents off to the kids all in one scoop so then my 2020 Christmas things will be finished!!!  Well I do have one more "surprise" in store for some people but IF I were to say what it is here it would not be a surprise any more.

As I write today I am hoping that everyone is being careful in terms of staying healthy.  I need not mention this but I will--my siblings and many relatives and friends would fall in the category of "being kind of old" and so we need to be more careful.  I will be careful BUT I will not resort to wearing a mask in my own home as some people suggest and I have no idea why!  Saturday, here I come.

Maximilian turns ONE today

 

Ok so he is a lot older now and he certainly is a keeper!  Happy birthday Maximilian and you present is coming late!!!  Love, Grandpa and Terry 

A cool down is here!

TERRY

Not any thing new to say about Terry as I just blogged late yesterday afternoon.  It is now about 7:00 AM and she is still sleeping which is good.   I am guessing she will soon wake up and want the newspaper.  That is her go to thing in the morning.  So no news but will see how she does today.

The temp is 63 right now and it looks like a high of only 79 today.  Actually a very welcome relief in the weather.  Tennis at 9:00 will be nice.

I came across this picture which was a slide.  It is the Saunders sail boat and in the picture are Aunt Rose and Uncle Hugo.  The short story is they were a couple that would be the envy of many.  Hugo, at the age of maybe 70+ put a new roof on their home by just building a brand new one about a foot higher over the old one.  He built several boats and the last one spent many years at their cabin and pulled many skiers.  But really what I thought was outstanding was what they both started to do when they reached the age of 60 or so.  They got into archery.  Over many years they compiled many many trophies from all over the midwest, both of them.  I would say they were a couple that never sat still and were examples of people who kept on living and doing well into their old age.  I am not sure if they every had a TV as they seemed to be active all the time.  I thought the red sail went well with their red shirts!

Wow we will be celebrating Thanksgiving a week from today.  We have the turkey so I need to write myself a note to be sure I take it out of the freezer in time.  As with most people, we will be just the two of us with no company.  This virus is going crazy at this time so I am guessing that BIG family gatherings will NOT happen at all this year.  I am afraid that may also be true for Christmas but we will see.  I think Terry and I will have a simply meal as I will be making it and my chef skills are kind of limited.  I would really like to make cream potatoes but am not sure that goes with turkey.  I think that is more of a ham side dish.  Anyway I should start to lose some weight now as there will be a lot of left over turkey which is the best!  I wander how one makes turkey leftovers?

That is all for this morning.  Terry is now awake and reading the paper with the TV on.  I am in the middle of my FP and using my favorite Alaska cup so life is good!

Another water therapy that went well.

 TERRY

It is about 5:00 PM and we just returned from Terry's water therapy.  She, as usual, did well as she was in the pool for about 35 minutes on her feet all the time.  For the first time she walked into and out of the pool again as she did not want to use the lift.  That was good.  I feel those sessions are really good for her.  She has two more weeks of twice a week.  On the way home I mentioned that it may be time for a cane and she agreed!!!!  We do have a cane here but I think she deserves a better one!  She has another session this week on Friday.

Not much new with me.  I played tennis today and I would say my game is about as good as it has ever been.  NOW if I can UP it that would be great.  Tennis again tomorrow and then again on Friday and Saturday.  I so wish Dave and I could have played tennis when we both were playing well.  I think it would have been pretty even steven as was most of our activities.  

We have our weekly Wednesday dinner coming from friends who have been doing it every week.  We get chili and corn bread so looking forward to it at 5:30.

I have two tennis racquets and I got one of them restrung today.  I will use it tomorrow and see if it makes a difference.  IF a person plays 4-5 times a week I think it needs to be done maybe every 3 months.  IF one was really good it may need to be done more often.  

I have mentioned in the past that I have invested a small amount of money in the stock market and it is fun to see if it goes up or down.  I purchased Tesla about two weeks ago.  I purchased it at $367 a share and today it closed at $486 a share!  Oh, one does not get rich when you own two shares!!!!  It is fun to watch and try to figure out what will happen next.  

Well here it is evening and dinner will arrive in a few minutes so will sign off.  I should mention that we are in a cooling down stretch of weather and that is nice.  I think this morning it was 61 and almost cool for the players who were on the court at 7:30.  I played at 9:00.

AND of course the FP is history of many hours ago so will sign off.

TERRY

What I am about to say may sound better than it really is BUT it is a step forward.  In going from the bedroom to the couch and then back again Terry did NOT use the wheelchair at all yesterday.  In fact I brought the walker into the bedroom and then left to get something.  As I returned here she was at the doorway walking with the walker.  As she went to and from we did not put the belt on as she just went.  I say it may sound better than REAL as it does not seem that she is anywhere near walking but then I see what she does and I say maybe, just maybe, she can walk with a cane by Thanksgiving.  By that time she will have had three more sessions in the water and I do think they help a lot.  We will see but will take it one day at a time.

Not much news in other places.  I do have tennis six days this week.  Karl and I played yesterday and it was a strange match.  We lost the first set 2-6 and then won the second set 6-0.  We were badly behind in the third set when time ran out.  A really different and strange day on the courts.

I have not talked to the person who owns the business that we get our "in home care" from but will call her today and say that we would like Friday to be the last day of service.  At that time I think Terry and I will be able to go it alone and be good with that.  I have said it many times but will say it again.  A person can do a very good job but it just is difficult to have a person come in and do work in your home.  

I did not start the car yesterday but will go out for a bit today after I play tennis at 9:00.  

Not much to say today but will post a picture.

This is one of my favorite pictures of family even though Janet is looking down.  I am guessing that it may be a Easter picture in 1954 or so.  I am putting that date out as Helen looks about 4 or 5 and she was born in 1950.  This picture reminds me of  myself and son John as I look at Dad and Ronald.  I would say John is about that much taller than I as I look at the two.  THEN we now have Henry who is again taller than his dad.  I am thinking that by the time 3 or 4 more generations come alone, if the trend continues, there may be a Lee who is 7 feet tall!!!  Not sure if readers follow my line of thought!  A person can see the trees in the back ground and I am guessing they were tall enough so we may have started getting plums from them.  Funny, I do not remember Mom making any plum preserve from the plum trees we had.  As you look at the picture can you see THREE high school homecoming queens in it?

So here I am at about 8:00.  It is time to sip the last of my FP and get to work.  WORK, I forget that I really do not need to work all that much BUT do need to keep the house in order.

 

The 15th, half way through November!

 TERRY

Really nothing new about Terry today.  As I write she is reading the Sunday paper BUT I have noticed that she does not spend as much time with the paper as she used to do.  We have nothing planned for the day but we do need to do some walking.  Yesterday was a wash out as she stayed in bed all day.  I know that is not good but there are times when she just wants to lie back and rest.  She did nap off and on for some of the day.  

I played tennis yesterday with some of the guys who meet at 9:00 on Saturday and do a round robin thing. I did not intend to play Saturday but with rain outs twice during the week I thought I would.

I did spend some time doing nothing as I call it when a person watches TV.  The Masters golf tournament has been on and I have watched some of it.  I probably will watch this afternoon to see if Dustin Johnson can win.  He has been ranked #1 often but has only 1 major win I think.  It would be nice to see him do it today BUT the scores are close so it should be a fun Sunday on the course.

My first wood project way way back in 1970

Dave, Helen, Joan and I in 2015 

I think this was in 2018 at Dave/Marlys'!

No idea what year, maybe in the 80s!

This was at Judi/John's cabin in ???--I think!  Maybe early 90s.

This darn Apple computer has a bug and I can not get rid of it.  I intended to post a different picture but could not get it to come up.  So I found these and they are kind of interesting.  

I am finished for the day with the blog.  It is Sunday so I doctored up the FP with a little of Baileys and it hits the spot!  Am hoping that all family and friends are keeping safe.  I am guessing that there will be NO big family gatherings in 11 days when Thanksgiving comes around.  I think the best thing that could happen for Thanksgiving and Christmas is everyone stays safe and healthy.  

I was REALLY surprised!

 TERRY

My title today refers to Terry.  She had a 40 minute water therapy session yesterday where she did very well including using the noddle to venture into the deep end for a time.  When we arrived home she said she was tired.  She wanted to be in the living room for the evening.  We almost always watch a couple of shows from 7:00-8:00 and then it is back into the bedroom.  So at 8:00 I thought I would be pro-active and I asked her IF she wanted to use the walker to get into the bedroom.  I expected a "not really" after her therapy in the afternoon.  Well I was shocked when she said YES.  I asked again as I wanted to be sure and the answer was the same.  So she grabbed onto the walked and said, "I may need some help in standing".  Well she really did not so off we go from the living room to the bedroom which is about 40 feet AND without the wheelchair behind and NO belt around her waist.  NOW I would say that is progress.  It made my day for sure.  We have to be sure and remember to do some of the things the therapy people have asked her to do and when we do I am now thinking by Thanksgiving she MAY be able to walk a short distance with a cane--MAYBE.  One day at a time for sure.

Something tells me age is creeping up on me.  A year from now Travis will be 50!  Then two years after that it will be Aaron's turn and Cynthia, well she is 7 years behind Aaron!  AND I should add that John achieved that milestone last year.  I am not sure if I want to figure out where that puts me!  All I have to say is when I was preteen I looked at adults that were at the age that I am now and thought they were OLD.  Well I bring it up as my left leg has been just so so painful especially when I am lying down trying to get to sleep.  I actually took two pain pills that we had and finally after about a half hour I was able to get to sleep.  Stop, enough feeling sorry for myself and be thankful for my health and long life.  

There is nothing special about this except I have not seen a photo of mine that does this!!!  Taken in South Bend a few years ago as the family got together after Christmas.  Watching it makes me NOT want to go swimming!

Well I think this is it for now.  There is that round robin tennis with some of the guys at 9:00 every Saturday so I will take that in.  I think I need to go out and about for a short time today but that will be PM.  I will enjoy the last few sips of my FP and then get ready for tennis.

Happy 49 Travis

 

Happy birthday Travis.  Have a wonderful day and may your year long journey towards the big 50 be filled with good things!  Love, Dad and Terry

Sister Janet would have been 82 today!

 

I am sure this was her senior year in high school and she was the homecoming queen!  Mom was so proud that all three of her girls were homecoming queens in high school.  

End of week 2 of November 2020

 TERRY

Terry had water therapy again today.  It seems to me that she does well in the water.  Going into the pool she held on to the railing and walked into the water.  When she got out after 35 minutes the therapest was wise in having to use the lift as I am sure she was tired.  We arrived home and she took a shower to clean off the pool water and now she is watching some show on TV and doing well. 

We have no big plans for the weekend.  I may play tennis tomorrow but not sure.  This leg of mine is still giving me some problems but go figure my partner in tennis today said I played really well!  I guess the leg does not come into play!

Our weather here is great.  The hurricane is now a thing of the past and today the temps were nice and the humidity was not too bad.  It looks like the weather will be nice for a while.  

As you can see from page 153 of my book.  I am guessing this was maybe in 1950 or so.  You can see our 1949 (?) Ford car.  It looks like someone told a joke as we have big smiles!  It almost looks like we have matching jackets and I have NO idea where they came from.  As the days go by my heart contines to ache with Dave's death.  I know that weeks and months will go by and the hurt will slowly go away but here I am 5 months after Dave died and I miss him so much.  He certainly was a great man in so many ways.

It is now headng towards 5:00 PM and one could guess that my FP is long long gone and I am about ready to make some dinner for Terry and I.  Last night we feasted on snack food but that can only be done once in a while.  So to the kitchen I will go and the only problem is deciding what to make as there is much in the fridge!

Another day of rained out tennis

 TERRY

Terry had water therapy yesterday and I think it went very well.  She was in the water for about 40 minutes.  She did not feel like it was a lot of work BUT she was tired when we arrived home.  She will have another session Friday afternoon.  One of my concerns is she sleeps off and on during the day BUT I think that is because she does not sleep very good at night.  So it is still one day at a time.

So we had about an inch of rain last night so the courts are wet this morning.  We were supposed to play at 9:00 but there will not be any play until at least 10:30.  Actually I was happy.  I am having this issure with my left leg and I think the rest will do me good.  

My 2021 calendars are supposed to arrive today.  I will look through them when they come and try to figure out how many mistakes I made.  I am hoping not too many.  It will then just be a matter of packing them and sending them out.  I kind of went over board this year and purchased Christmas padded envelopes to put them in.  I think I had to pay a whooping $.50 more for each!!!  Well I guess it will  not break the bank so to speak!  AND maybe it will put some laughter or joy into the hearts of the people who get them.

Here is the first bike we bought for the kids.  It is a 20" Bantam Schwin.  I pulled it down from the attic in the garage some years ago and Aaron has it.  He cleaned it up and it looks great.  There is a bar that goes on it which makes it a boys bike.  We purchased it at Ace Hardware in Devils Lake in the spring of 1975.  We never used training wheels as we felt the kids just did not need them.  Of course John was the first to ride.  I remember we put the bike in the trunk of the car and headed over to the School for the Deaf.  There, on the track around the football field, John learned to ride.  It did not take all that long for him to get the hang of it and off he went around the quarter mile track.  Travis came next.  In the summer of 1977, our last summer in Devils Lake, he learned how to ride on the street in front of our home, 710 3rd street.  There was a slight down hill as you went east and I thought it would be good for him to ride that way.  Well I forgot to explain to him how to brake.  As he zoomed through the intersection I was very thankful there were NO cars coming.  I guess that does not speak all that well of my fatherly ways!  By the time Aaron was ready to ride we were in St. Paul.  He learned on the street in front of our house.  I was amazed at how quickly he just got on and away he went.  Next, Cynthia came into riding age several years later and her learning street was also Niles Ave.  As the kids grew there were bigger bikes, more bikes, faster bikes and it went on and on.  The Bantam Schwin was so sad as it stayed parked in the garage attic for many years.  Finally Aaron rescued it and today it may not get any use but it certainly looks the part of a star in the Lee Family history.  I would not want to count the number of bikes we bought.  It would be in the double figures for sure.  As I write about our family bikes I can't help but think back to the farm where the "big bike" and the "little bike" were Dave's and my mode of transportation to Lake Tewaukon, to Uncle Obert's to haul bales, to Uncle Halvor's  and on and on.  I so enjoyed biking that in the fall of my freshman year of college I purchased a bike for transportation.  

No I am finished for the day.  My FP is history and I am kind of waiting for the UPS van to deliver my calendars.  The web site shows that the van is on the road.  A far cry from the days when we used to wait and watch for Fritz, the mailman, to see if there would be any mail.  

A day of rain and wind

 TERRY

I will blog as Terry reads the paper.  She is looking forward to her water therapy this afternoon.  She will get her swim suit on here at home and then bring a big blanket with so she can keep her suit on when we drive home as well.  I am excited to see what water therapy consists of and also to see how Terry does.  I am guessing she will do great.  We will see in a few hours.

As I write we have had .9" of rain in the last few hours and it looks like it will rain all day.  Tennis for the AM is cancelled and I would not be surprised if it is the same tomorrow.  We are looking at a  high of 81 today as the rain cools.

I have been working on Christmas presents for the last couple of days and I would say I am pretty much finished.  My calendars are supposed to come in the mail tomorrow and then I will be set.  I may mail out things next week and then I will be set.  Christmas can come and I will not be hurried to get things done so I can enjoy and take in the birth of Jesus in a comfortable way.  Somehow it seems that is the way it should be.  I must admit I do miss putting up lights on the house etc.  One Christmas I carefully strung lights on the entire gable of the front of the house.  I used my tallest ladder to put the lights up.  When they were ready to be lite I plugged them in and boom--I blew a fuse!  That was the beginning of my intent to redo the electrical box in the basement as we still had fuses etc.  That work took place a couple of years later as we hired a person to come in and he had a new box in after a days work.  The house still has much nob & tub wiring (not sure that is the correct terms) but I think the wiring is OK.  Sorry, I kind of got off the topic.  

VIC-10

The year was 1982 or so.  The boys were busy doing the paper route twice a day, morning and evening.  Their supervisor, Craig, liked them as they seemed to always do a good job. It would not be unusual for him to call and ask if the boys would be willing to go with him as he drove around and tried to get new customers.  He also had monthly carrier meetings and would give out prizes.  At that time ALL the carriers were girls or boys in the age range of 10-14 or so.  Craig told us that there were be a carrier meeting on Thursday and the boys should be sure to come as there were nice prizes.  Gail had a women's event at the Buri's that night and we only had one car.  I took the boys to the meeting which was in a church basement about a mile from home.  I then drove home and took Gail and Cynthia to the womens event.  I had asked Craig to give me a call when the meeting was over and I would pick up the boys and then later I would go get Gail and Cynthia.  I had in mind some home projects that needed doing so I would be kept busy.  There was always home projects to do of course.  As the clock ticked away and my project was almost finished the back door burst open and the three boys came in like a hurricane.  The big prize at the meeting was a Vic-10 computer and they had won!  They had run all the way home in their excitement and were out of breathe BUT the first thing they said was, "We have to tell Mom!"  I explained that she and Cynthia were at a womens event at the Buri home.  They insisted we drive and tell her right away!  After several minutes I decided I could not ignore their excitment so we all jumped in the car and off we went.  I almost was afraid they may jump out of the back seat.  We interrupted Mom in her meeting and of course she showed that she was almost as excited as they!  The rest of the story goes like this.  John spent hours in the closet in the bedroom where he made a program of the paper route customers so he could keep track of who paid and who they needed to collect from.  The Vic-20 turned out to be a wonderful tool for them but I still think the best was the excitment the boys had.  It was an event to remember.  I never did talk to the supervisor Craig but if I were a betting person I would put my money on a rigged drawing!!!  Back then all carriers were kids and the prizes they got were actually kind of nice.  I do not know if any of the boys still have things but there were rings, jackets and more that they received.  At one point we had enough jackets for pretty much everyone in the family!!!

I wrote about a Vic-10 but it may have been a Vic-20, not sure

As I finish writing and as I finish my FP the sun is kind of peeking through the clouds BUT the forcast is for 70-80% rain for much of the rest of the day so I am guessing my 1:30 tennis will be cancelled as well.  I kind of  hope it will as that darn left leg is aching and the foot is kind of numb.  I think I need to send an e-mail to Dr. Vickers sometime soon.  There, I just sipped the last drop of FP.