Little Tree

Years ago when our kids were little, we had a tape of a story of a little tree. It was cute and a little corny, but the other day when we planted this tree, I reminded Andrew of that story. So we have our own "little tree". This tree started as a volunteer from a little helicopter seed that flew into the loose soil up next to the house in the front garden. We kept saying we needed to get it out of that spot since it couldn't stay there. It's a silver maple that grows all over the place here in NE. Finally, we got around to digging it up. It won't be a strong tree since it has that split/divided trunk like that, but it's free. Saturday was a brilliant sunny warm day as were the next two days. We got it dug out and planted. Yesterday it began RAINING. I heard we've had 3 inches so far and it's still rainy today. It hasn't wilted, and new leaves are still coming out. Yeah, I know, spring is a dumb time to dig it out and plant it, especially since it already started to leaf out. We'll see what happens. A new tree is lovely, though, isn't it? If it survives, we'll remember that we planted it the year Andrew graduated from high school.

Spring....Really!.... but work

Spring comes, and along with it comes the time of the year when teachers think about using their personal days. I guess that must be what's happening. Since we got back from spring break, I have worked every day except two. And one of those days I was getting stuff ready for Ron's birthday. Even Saturdays. Two Saturdays in April are homeschool testing days, so I come in to school to help administer those. I've been doing the seventh and eighth grades tests for seven years now. It's pretty fun. I try to be relaxed and a little crazy so that these frightened children will feel a little more comfortable. This Saturday is a track meet, too, so I'll finish testing and then go to the track meet. Anything that has to be done at my house has to be done in the evenings, and sometimes I am just too tired to do anything. However, yesterday I worked in Bellevue Public and had little children for resource. It was very organized, yet relaxed. I think organization makes things more relaxed. Anyway, I went grocery shopping after, came home, put it all away, started the wash, started dinner and picked up all the bits that needed to be moved from one room to the next. A general tidy up! Never did sit down until bedtime, but I was happy with a relatively clean house, all the clothes washed, folded and put away, and things cleaned up. Monday afternoon I finally got out in my front garden, dug up dandelions, raked leaves off the flower beds and cut some gangly bushes back. They hadn't started leafing out yet, so I figured I'd whack them down while I could. This weekend we're going to try to dig up and move a volunteer maple tree. Hopefully it won't die.

The end of the day; I can go home now. Back here in third grade on Monday!

Cinquanta!

Yes, he finally turned the big 5-0. And didn't know that we were driving from Omaha to DesMoines for dinner. It was fun and CRAZY! As you might expect. The stories flowed. The photos tell who and what pretty much. We met up at Famous Dave's restaurant. Andrew came with us, so there were three cousins together. That hasn't happened much lately!

I decided to make a photo album for Ron's birthday. I found a picture of him when he was 16 all dressed up in plaid pants, white vest and a bowtie. Boy, did he think he looked cool! I'll try to upload it. It's worth it! That was the cover of the album. Then I found photos taken over the last few years and put them in with quips, some wittier than others. Wit is not one of my gifts.

Right away Ron made friends with the group of ten at the tables behind us. The woman also turns 50 this month--they hi-fived. As they were leaving they said they were sorry for missing singing "Happy Birthday", so Ron started it and we ALL sang. It sounded pretty pathetic. The family must've had French exchange students with them because when we all were finished singing, they sang in French. Same tune.

Denny tried to outdo Ron....see Meredith's pictures. We laughed a lot.

It's snowing ....still

Really it IS April 11th and it's snowing. We walked briskly for about 100 yards and came home to a pot of tea. This global warming thing is really getting to me.... Spring WILL come back, I'm sure!!

Andrew had a track meet yesterday. 42F (6C) and pouring rain all day. Needless to say, it wasn't his best, but he still got a first place in shot. Everyone was doing bad; no one did well. Guess that sounds better. They got home about 7:30, cold, wet, congested. Sounded better this morning. But it made for a good conversation about how cold and how wet the whole day was. The forecast for next Tuesday's meet is 65 and party sunny. Let's hope.

I got to sub for the history teacher who is the coach. That was fun for me. I think I have several days next week, too. Four more coming up within the week. What fun is in store for me!!!!

Andrew got invited to their house (the coach) for Easter with the family, so he was there while we took mom home.

Today I'm home and hope to get a few things done....we'll see!

Ron turns 50 tomorrow!! New pictures on Flickr.

Second week with our mother

I need to write something. This week has been so busy and crazy. I usually do all I can to keep it from getting like that, but occasionally, it goes crazy. I substituted for three days, only part of the day, though. I went in at 8:45 and came home by 2. Mom had some time to herself, and I got to have fun with Algebra and Geometry students. I enjoy teaching those subjects, but the teacher had the students work independently. Which mostly means, procrastinate the homework and visit with your friends. I will say that the daughter of the mom who reads this DID work hard and got all her work done! *smile* I will say she's a former student of mine. My other students worked as well. I know it's not me, I just had to throw that in because it sounds good.

Monday afternoon Will was still trying to plan his trip to Scotland, so I was busy phoning. Tuesday afternoon it was beginning to come together with offers of places to stay in Edinburgh and Inverness--and boy are we thankful for those friends. (Come to America anytime!!) but he still had to get from England to Scotland. Too make a long story short, things didn't end up working very smoothly. Costs were more than anticipated, delays were long--as well as nights.After many buses and lots of delays, they arrived at the antipated places. I guess he missed Grant, and Grant missed him when they first met up. Both have changed in the last 10+ years, I guess. *smile* Thankfully, God watched over them and hopefully, there are no hard feelings among the travellers. I hope the girls enjoyed seeing Scotland and meeting real Scots. We sure do love them!

Thursday Mom and I did some more shopping. I cannot shop alone, so I don't get things that I probably need. We went to Hobby Lobby to look for a poppy picture for the bathroom. Oh, and we found a lovely one that perfectly matched the towels Mom bought for that room. Reddish orange...ah, I love color!! And then we found a couple of others. One for the guest room/Linnea's room and one of daffodils and tulips for Mom for Mother's Day. It's bright and so Mom! Got a comforter for that bedroom, too. I think the Flickr picture has it. Then we went out for lunch, came home and relaxed. Friday I ran around the house getting ready to go take Mom home. Wash had to be done, stuff packed up. Since I had worked all week and then run around while I was off, the house was a wreck.

Great time with Ron, Diana and Meredith on our way to LeClaire. Ron and Denny are soo funny. They both talk and laugh at the same time. They spent four hours getting Ron's surround sound set up. Den really enjoys that! More pictures on Flickr.

Saturday Denny shored up the basement ceiling/floor of Mom's living room and then rearranged the tv and computer. Had friends over for dinner. Talked to William from Scotland. Made the Easter dinner

Sunday the Freemans came for dinner, more pics on Flickr. We returned to Omaha that afternoon.

A Week with Mom

Last Saturday I went over to the LeClaire to help my mom who broke her arm a week ago Wednesday. We don't realize how many things we do that need both hands. The weather has been summer-like, so we sat outside in the evening watching the sky change color and listening to the birds. Monday I got some of the yard cleaned up from all the branches that blew down through the winter. We went to the chiropractor and got her all checked out. Then I got an adjustment myself. My shoulders are always so tight, and I've been getting all day headaches that won't go away no matter what I take. Ah, did feel better after that. We went to Olive Garden with the gift card I had. She really enjoys that!

We drove back to Omaha via Cono and stayed the night with our friend Liz. I worked on trying to get her photos to rotate on her desktop and they played Scrabble. Actually, I was playing Scrabble, too, but I'm no competition to the pros!!! We stopped by one of my favorite places in the world (besides Scotland), Cono. I LOVE to go there; I love being there. Had a visit with Mrs. Belz, Andrew and Adam (see signatures on the cast.) We saw Dave Wilson and John Roskamp as we were leaving so stopped for a quick catch-up.

I've been working a couple days since she's been here, but they are short. I'm home by 2. She has some videos to watch and I get something ready for her to eat. She's not very energetic, so she doesn't do her walk. The cast is heavy and tires her out. It seems like her age is showing. She always seemed so chipper and energetic. Now she likes to sit and read, well, she always liked that, but she's doing it more. We have a lovely south-facing family room, so she can sit there in the sun all day. With all those plants in there, it seems like the outdoors.

We've shopped a little, went to a garage sale some friends of mine were having. I've been singing in a community chorus, so she came to our concert last Thursday. She got to church with us yesterday and enjoyed that very much. We'll take her home this weekend for Easter. Hopefully she will be able to use her hand to at least steady things, like a loaf of bread or a block of cheese, vegetables to cut. Opening jars is another difficult skill. She is enjoying the beautiful new room that I'm in the process of redecorating--that's been some of my shopping. It's a lovely mango color. And she loves that color. I have a couple of in-process" photos on Flickr, but I'll post some newer ones when I get curtains up and the chair covered.

TTFN!

Remembering David

I know I haven't written a blog for awhile. I have lots of things I think about, but haven't had the willingness to sit down at the computer and write anything. I do keep a journal, and when I'm substituting I have time to catch that up. It's a curl-up-with-a-book type of experience because I can sit comfortably and write. Our computer at home has me sitting at a desk which isn't too relaxing for writing.

One of the many things I'm thinking about is an old high school friend who died tragically a couple of weeks ago. David was jogging, got too close to the edge of a cliff and fell over. It's very sad for his family, and for those of us who knew him, to know that he's gone. But we are happy that he will never sit for years in a nursing home some place, or suffer pain with some incurable disease. Like his sister wrote, one minute he was looking a God's beautiful creation, the next at His face. Wow.

I've tried to photograph old photos, but I will scan them and post them later. He's in our photo in NYC with a mini-football screwed into his ear. I also have one of him looking up at the window where Lee Harvey Oswald sat as he shot JFK. Another of Tom and Kathy with him at graduation, and of course at the Junior/Senior banquet our senior year. I made him a tie out of the same fabric as my dress. (We sewed our prom dresses back then!) And he is holding a "No Parking" sign thinking it was really funny. We were great pals in high school. He started at our school when we were in eighth grade, though I don't remember much about him that year. He was a missionary kid from Peru. He was a fun and crazy guy that always made us laugh, BIG smile. He called me crazy, and I called him crazy. In a way, he was kind of like Dennis. We studied together reciting The Lord's Prayer in French for French homework, studying for Physics tests, memorizing poetry for English. We rode together (along with scads of other kids!) back and forth from choir concerts, weekend trips and Chemistry and Physics in Waterloo. I told friends I would have married him if he had asked! *smile* He never did! Hadn't seen him for nearly 14 years, but always hoped there would be another time to catch up.

I'm so thankful for my years in a Christian school. As I get older, I am more and more thankful for the friends that I made there. And those of you who read this, I'm thankful for you, too!