Layering

 Taking a page from Joe’s layering of the raised garden beds, I decided to bring the magic of layering to the kitchen.

It took me two hours to create the layered dip. Refried beans, homemade guacamole, sour cream, shredded sharp Irish cheddar cheese, olives, tomatoes, onions, and hot jalapeños. A lot of chopping, mashing, and shredding! It is not like I have anywhere else to be until this afternoon when I will watch night two of the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

Last night I was glued to my computer as I watched the first night of the convention. Every speaker inspired me and gave me hope for our future. How refreshing it was for me to be reminded of how alike we are as Americans and how much we care about each other. It is so different than what comes out of the mouth of the candidate for the Republicans (even his name makes me feel sad, angry, frustrated, and bewildered).

The first night was healing for me. I laughed, I cried, I healed. I fell in love with the speakers. Except for Hilary, now I just love her more than I did before. Poignant moments interspersed with enthusiastic and positive words. I loved how inclusive the first night was with speakers from the communities they represented to political representatives. A mixed bag with an emphasis on representation by and for the middle class.

I was particularly amused by Shawn Fain’s T-shirt. Fain is the President of the United Automobile Workers (UAW). Even though I do not like name calling, in this case it was appropriate and more of a ‘label.’ Look it up if you missed it. My parents engaged in union work throughout their careers, so it was like old home week listening to each of the union Presidents speak.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cemented my respect when she said. “Ever since I got elected, Republicans have attacked me by saying that I should go back to bartending. But let me tell you, I’m happy to—any day of the week—because there is nothing wrong with working for a living.” Amen.

I woke up this morning feeling more invigorated than I have in months. I credit it to the energy and joy emanating from the convention last night.

If you want to see a summary of the evening, I shared my friend Margorie’s summary on Facebook.

As I wrote this essay today, it dawned on me that last nights 2024 convention speakers were also conducting  some layering of their own. I remember during my Mary Kay sales days learning that layering is a gentle way of not overwhelming people. It is a nuanced technique that works well for many people. It was refreshing to be layered with positivity and hope instead of the anger and negativity coming from the Republican candidate.

Garden Bed Prepping

Joe hard at work!

Joe has been prepping his raised bed garden for the past five days. He has six of the beds residing on or near our patio which is off of the family room/pool table level of the house. It will be easier for me to access the garden as it is one of the most level areas of the backyard. He plans to have two other beds in the yard but has to dig up and level an area before he can begin to prepare the beds.

Joe says he will not plant vegetables  this year; however, doing as much prep work as possible this year means he can plant next summer without days of prep work. The photo above he is layering  the beds with the hay we picked up a couple of weeks ago. The photo is taken from the sunroom which looks out  over the patio on the north side of the house. Since he finished the front yard, Joe has been focusing on backyard work.

Inside view of a garden bed. The good news is that Joe gets everything free from the local composting site and from his past yard work.

I planned to take a day away from the computer and instead got caught up in watching political videos on YouTube. That has to change, or I will make myself crazy before the election. I am excited about the start of the 2024 Democratic National Convention tonight and plan to watch it on the NPR website. I just have to stay awake until 8:00 pm Central Time when it begins.

 

Senior Driver Course Renewal (Or Even AARP is Neurotic About Deer)

 Joe and I started doing AARP senior driver training about 9 years ago as the automobile insurance companies give us discounts on insurance. The certificates are good for three years.

We were due up this month to renew with a 4-hour refresher course. I am going to call them tomorrow as it took over 8 hours to complete the course. The program title is 4-hour refresher. They lied. The end result is that I spent another full day at my computer.

The course information is great, and I recommend the AARP program for everyone. I like having the refresher because it reminds me of what to look out for as both Joe and I age. Right now, we are doing fine with our driving. I especially like the section with advice on talking with a loved one about limiting or stopping driving when they can no longer drive safely.

I laughed at times during the course as images of deer popped up. I counted eight different photos of deer throughout the day. I even snapped photos of the ‘deer’ screenshots and then decided you all know what a deer looks like. At times, an interactive map pops up with advice to click on the state you live in to get additional information. I did take five minutes to click on Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan for information on reporting requirements to state agencies when a deer is hit. In Ohio you only report if you want the meat. In Minnesota and Indiana there are no reporting requirements. Michigan wants people to report all incidents of deer accidents. Now you know.

 

My Brain Brained and Now...

There are days I am too tired to write and almost decide that I will find a meme and post that I am taking the day off. A part of me though refuses to ‘take the easy way out’ and I proceed to write.

My brain hurts tonight. Literally. I attended fourteen (14) different half-hour sessions at a virtual conference held by Medium. It was an amazing experience! I am grateful for the opportunity to gain insights and be in the space of writers and topic experts. I may share more from those sessions in the future.

My takeaway from today was that sitting at a computer for over seven hours with only three-bathroom breaks was too close to my pre-retirement life. The sessions I wanted to attend were only being held once throughout the day so if I wanted to  see it, I needed to be there at the designated time. About two-thirds of the way through the day, I realized they were taping the sessions which means that I can go back and watch them later. There were at least six or more programs to choose from in each time slot so it is possible I may go back and watch a handful that sound interesting.

Today was also the first time since retirement when I had to focus on listening for hours at a time. I have page after page of notes from the fourteen sessions. By the end of the day, I found that I had mentally compartmentalized the information into three categories: (1) Information to improve my writing; (2) Information that reinforced the things I am doing right; and (3) Wors of wisdom that were emotionally freeing.

Debra Harman talked about authenticity and vulnerability when writing a memoir (part of what I write on Weathered is memoir). Her statement, “You own everything that has happened to you. You get to write your story from your perspective”  was a gift to my soul. I’ve strived for authenticity in my writing and have doubted at times if my perspective was ‘fair.’  Now I know I don’t need to worry about the reader – only in speaking the truth of my experience.

Now it is time to rest my brain. 

Phobias

Writing Prompt: What are you most phobic about?

I have two things I am most phobic about. The first is cleanliness in the kitchen – of both the workspace and the cook. If I see someone licking their fingers or double dipping a spoon in the food they are preparing for others, I get squeamish and struggle to eat the food.

I know this comes from my days as a food server in my teens. I wash my hands often while cooking and do not double dip – which means I may go through two or three spoons before getting the right flavor profile. Over the years I have seen cats jump on counters and lick the butter. The same butter is then served at the meal. No bread and butter for me.

Potlucks are a definite no for me as well. I attend events for  socialization and will eat only what I bring unless the items are store bought or I know the cooking ‘habits’ of the preparer.

The second thing I am phobic about is tracking our money. I balance my credit card and bank accounts almost every day. Sometimes I will skip a day or two if there is no activity. Our family budget is projected for a year out which helps ease my anxiety about money in general and allows me to be okay with the occasional splurge. I also hate to pay interest or fees of any kind so will not buy on credit unless I know I can minimize interest.

When we bought our Subaru in 2021, I paid it off in four months and paid less than $20.00 interest total. The only exception to the interest paying is on our small mortgage. I take immense pleasure in making extra principal payments on the mortgage whenever it is possible so that we can be mortgage free in the next five years (instead of 15 years).

Credit cards are used for purchases only when there is no fee associated with use of the card, we know we can pay the balance due in full every month, and the credit card company gives rebates.

Are you phobic about anything?

Instant Dislike - Today's Writing Prompt

Today’s writing prompt is, “What makes you instantly dislike someone?” It is rare that I instantly dislike someone. I can only think of two people in my adult life that I had an instant dislike to, and it came from a vibe I noticed as much as something they actually did. Or perhaps it was a combination of the two.

First off, I like people in general. I enjoy reading and listening to people’s life stories. I have a challenging time not asking people questions, when I first meet them, that probably seem intrusive. I have been breaking this habit over the past three to four years and I am not sure I am making progress. People fascinate me!

There are two behaviors that cause me to dislike someone instantly: (1) Meanness, and (2) Ingratiation.

I am not talking about a one off on the meanness. I am talking about someone who deliberately treats another person (or people) as though they have no value. A mean person will usually put everyone else around them down and use their own superpower to enrich themselves at the expense of other people.

Ingratiation happens when another person tries to get others to like them through flattery, praise, and just generally trying to be likable. I will be the first to admit that this is a judgment process on my part. I have felt it very rarely so when I experienced it for the first time three years ago, I doubted my view for the first two years. I tried to tamp down my feelings and dismiss them with, “But everyone else loves this person, what is wrong with me?”

I finally resolved that my sixth sense about other people’s authenticity was skewed. While I still have my doubts, I have come to except that the other person is just nice. I have always liked nice people, which means I need to not question the why and let it be.

I can’t do that with  meanness. 

In the Past - A Difficult Decision

What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever made?

The first thought that popped into my head was, “Deciding to end my first marriage of nineteen years.” The idea of “divorce as wrong” was ingrained into me from childhood on. I also knew that marriage was not easy so quitting seemed like a huge failure on my part. Once I made the decision, I was afraid to tell my mom as I thought she would be disappointed in me.

My mom was supportive of my decision. She may not have understood my decision and yet she let me know she would be there for me to talk with if I needed to process. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were also understanding and kept the door open for a relationship. Nineteen years of family meant something to them.

As difficult as the decision was to make, the divorce was the best thing for my first husband and for me and ultimately for our one-year-old daughter. The biggest blessing was that the divorce made space for the first husband and for me to find more suitable life partners. Our daughter benefitted from having parents who were emotionally more present with her and not using all of their energy trying to hold together a marriage that was painful for both parties.

During the divorce I also learned that what I feared most never happened. My family and friends did not disown me. I was not alone for the rest of my life. My daughter did not grow up without role models.

In the years that have followed my own divorce, I have had the opportunity to observe friends’ divorces. In every solitary case their next relationship has so far turned out to be much better than the relationship they left. Do we learn lessons along the way that make us better partners? Do we learn to let go sooner of relationships that do not serve us – before we marry the person? Have we learned to choose partners that have the traits most important to us?

Maybe it’s a little bit of all of those or something entirely different. In my case a significant factor was maturity. The man I married at eighteen was not the same man I chose to marry at thirty-eight. All is well that ends well.

Favorite Age?

Writing Prompt for today: What has been your favorite age?

The age I am today, sixty-eight is my favorite age. Last year my favorite age was sixty-seven. When I was sixteen, my favorite age was sixteen. That isn’t to say, I haven’t had a year that was particularly good or particularly rough. One of the best times of my life was my pregnancy with Megan and her birth. Being her mom has helped the years to go quickly.

Age has never been an issue, though. I have anticipated certain ages over the years. I was excited when I turned sixteen because I could get my driver’s license. At eighteen I could vote, which I thought was a huge privilege (it still is exciting). At twenty-one I could have a beverage with alcohol. At twenty-five I could rent a car for work without my bosses’ signature and my car insurance rates went down.

I was looking forward to seventy as that was the year I planned to retire from the workforce. Instead, I moved retirement up to sixty-six and a half years. I still look forward to seventy, as well as eighty and ninety. I will be thankful to make it to each of those ages! Meanwhile, I will continue to embrace each day as it arrives and feel grateful for my good health, good friends, and family.

Dish Washing

Growing up in our family meant that I had to wash the dinner dishes every night that I was at home. Once I started working at a diner after school, the dish washing only occurred on my days off. My siblings got dishwashing duty on the nights I was at work.

All five of us kids had different chores at one time or another. Until Jenny was old enough to dry the dishes, the dish drying fell to my brother Kenny. I don’t know how old Jeni was when she had to start drying. She was at least ten years old, and I was fourteen. I remember she was old enough to do a better job at drying than she could have done, and it caused me no end of grief. If the dish were not dried properly and my dad came across it when he went to get a dish out of the cupboard for any reason, we had to wash the entire stack so we could, “learn to do the job right.”

After that happened three times within two weeks, I told my sister to go do something else and I would wash and dry the dishes myself. As a side note, years later my mother told me, “ Your sister is lazy with her chores, and it is because you kicked her out of the kitchen.”

My sister didn’t seem lazy as an adult so I’m fairly sure she overcame her ‘lazy streak.’ I have no remorse for kicking her out of the kitchen, it was a matter of expediency. In writing this essay, I realize that it was no wonder I spent most of my career trying to be perfect. The lack of perfection at our house meant washing clean dishes so my sister could learn to dry them right.

Part of washing dishes meant clearing the table, scrapping food left on plates (this was rare) into the trash can, and then stacking the dishes a certain way on the counter so they could be washed in the proper order. At the time, the rule in our house was all glasses were washed first, then plates, then bowls, then silverware, then cookware.

Dishwashers were around in the 1950s but were considered a luxury item until they became more affordable in the 1970s. I got married and left home in 1974 so if our home ever got a dishwasher, it was after I left home.

Still the way we washed dishes in the house in Ney was much easier than dish washing at our house in Jewel. In Jewel, Kenny and I had to pump the water, heat it on the stove, pour the hot water into two dishpans, and then wash, rinse, and dry dishes. We lived in the Jewel house when I was 9, 10, and 11 years old. We tried to get all of the dishes washed and dried within five songs on the radio. When we were finished with all of the dishes, we would dump the dish water and rinse water out in the garden.

Quandry: Do We Silence Our Voices?

Today I watched the Ezra Klein Show on YouTube. He interviewed Tim Walz. I wish that everyone would watch this show as Tim Walz's insights helped me to understand the appeal of former President Trump for people who feel disenfranchised in our country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fuS9PmV9hg

I have gone more public with my political beliefs on Facebook this election cycle. My reasoning was that I see our democracy as being in peril if we have four more years of former President Trump and well, J.D. Vance, totally scares the beejesus out of me. At least we could trust former Vice President Pence to do the legal and right thing in a crunch. I am a liberal and have friends that are conservative, liberal, and independent. I think each individual needs to vote for what they believe will make our country better.

I have also been responding to people who pose political questions on my Facebook feed. You would think I know better. Yet, a part of me feels like if we can just 'discuss' or write about our differences in a respectful way we can open the door to compassion for each other. As I have mentioned before, it is one reason I do not use slurs or nicknames for the candidates. I find former President Trump's words and actions offensive, and I refuse to become someone who acts like him by using name calling or mocking people with different beliefs.

I am not trying to persuade others to not support the candidate they have already declared they support. However, I do feel if they are asking a question, they may be open to hearing what I think. I am discovering that is faulty thinking on my part. Not always. Enough that I may start skipping over those questions. Yet, what if there is one person that reads the questioner’s feed that has not made up their own mind yet and is willing to collect information that helps them to vote with more confidence? Do I want to come across as argumentative or as making excuses? Is saying nothing at all really better? Better for whom? Better for me because I don’t want the angst of standing up for what I believe in?

My hope for our country is that Harris-Walz win the election, and they immediately are able to begin focusing on solutions to the problems in our country. Once former President Trump is no longer in the picture then the Republican party can begin to divest themselves of the MAGA extremism and heal. 

For now, I will continue to listen to my conservative and independent friends' concerns, try not to take their responses personal, and stay steadfast in supporting the Democrats as they are the party that reflect my own beliefs about what is best for our country.

Outdoors!

Joe’s new twenty-three-foot extension ladder arrived today. That meant it was time to clean the eaves once again. We have had lots of rain and wind over the past month, so Joe wanted to make sure the eaves were not clogged. We started on the north side of the house and sure enough there were twigs and dirt to be cleaned out. The eaves at back of the house (east)) were dirty close to the north side and clean as we moved to the southern side of the house.

I took photos of Joe hard at work. The rule we have is that when he gets on a ladder, I must be outside with him. When he was working at the back of the house, I cleared out dead stalks and undergrowth on plants around our back patio. I will get out tomorrow and finish them up. Once we got to the south side of the house, Joe stopped to repair a three-foot section of the eaves by installing new clamps. Then it was time to stop for dinner.

I was outside with Joe for about three hours today. The weather was lovely and quite comfortable at  seventy-one degrees with a slight breeze. It was nice to sit in the yard, near Joe, while he worked. We have so much greenery around us that it is like forest bathing.

Mr. Toad hanging out with us today.

Joe on the ladder on the southside of our house, The top

floor is the sunroom. The open door below the sunroom is to

a storage bay where Joe keeps the lawnmower, lawn tools, and ladders.

South area of our lawn, the closest window on the bottom floor is to the bedroom in the basement.

Above that window is the window to our kitchen on the main level. Beyond that window is the

window in our dining room area. Along the stone area is where we planted the rose bushes 

from Uncle Dick and Aunt Sue's yard. On the left, near the retaining wall, is the lilac bush 

Joe bought a few months ago. It is thriving!

Joe watering the rose bushes.

I Voted and Daily Stuff with a Blast From the Past

 

Joe and I voted early today in the primary election for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives from Minnesota. Glad to check that off of our to-do list. We even received our ‘I voted” stickers. It is the only activity I know of that gives out stickers to adults.

This weekend both Rockford and Saint Michael have community celebrations scheduled. In Saint Michael, the Daze and Knights Festival starts tonight and lasts through Saturday. Looks like they have something for everyone. The location is .6 miles from us so we might be able to hear the music! Joe and I have already decided that we are going to enjoy staying home – no crowds for us. I hope the weather forecast holds! Highs in the low 70’s and sunny is the current prediction.

Rockford River Days also starts today and goes through Sunday.

Both events have beer gardens, parades, inflatables, food trucks and stands, and live music among other activities. Good, wholesome, family fun! Joe and I would have enjoyed taking our kids when they were younger. Maybe next year we will feel more settled and will venture out to one or both of the events.

Joe is out working in the yard (surprise!), and I have been cooking and tidying up around the house – I even found time to read for an hour.

We drove over to Megan’s this morning to pick up a ladder and take her a few items. She told me Charlotte and Caleb had been bickering all morning. They wanted to play together and then would start  bickering. I asked her if she wanted me to take one of them to my house for a while. She said, “No, take them both.” Unfortunately, we had no room in the car with the ladder. Joe ran a different ladder up to her house about an hour later and she told him they had things to get done so the kids couldn’t come to our house. I assume they stopped bickering.

It reminded me of when I was about their age and my brother, Kenny (known as Buddy back then), and I would pick at each other. Our ‘discipline’ was to sit back-to-back on the floor with our arms intertwined behind our backs. After some amount of time (it felt like forever so it was probably 5 or 10 minutes), we would be released if we told the other one, we were sorry for treating them the way we did. Huh, like I was ever really sorry – I just wanted to get on with my life.

Look how we turned out!

About 1959 (I would be three and he would be two)

Megan and Me on left in 1992 and Kenny in 1992 

(You can do the math to get our ages)

Kenny and me September 2019 (wish it was a clearer photo).

Thursdays with Caleb and Charlotte (and the Sod Photos)

Harold and the Purple Crayon was a delightful movie. So many life lessons while being poignant and making me laugh aloud. Caleb and Charlotte enjoyed the movie as well. They both enjoy drawing, so they especially liked the creatures that were drawn in the film. 

After the movie we had lunch at River Inn in Hanover. We didn't linger over lunch as it was cold at the restaurant. The temperature only got as high as 65 degrees today. Charlotte was smarter than Caleb and me, she wore a sweatshirt she explained to us, "Because I knew the movie theater would be cold." We were warm during the movie, but the restaurant had a slight breeze coming into the enclosed porch we were seated at during lunch.

In addition to spending time with the grandkids, doing chores, and running errands, I managed to compile photos of the yard. There are three before and three after photos. A fourth after photo is looking from the street straight back to our backyard and covers all of the area that has new sod.

Very front of side yard - Joe is watering the dirt before laying the sod.

Very front of the side yard with sod.

Side section near retaining wall - before sod.

Side section near retaining wall - after sod.

The last section on the side yard that needed sod.

The last section after sod.

A view from the street- no more dirt! I am sure our neighbor is happy

to have the dirt covered.

Sod It All!

We ordered sod this morning and they delivered the same day. Joe had been preparing the soil over the past few weeks, so he was able to install the sod shortly after it arrived. I have before pictures and will get the after photos tomorrow and post them all together in the coming week. The next yard project is the back property line where there are overgrown weeds and rogue trees growing amongst pretty ground cover.

I have been immersing myself in political information over the past several weeks. It has been overwhelming at times sorting out what is true and what is conjecture; however, I feel true joy at the Harris-Walz ticket. I have been double checking all of our registration information. We can begin early voting in the General election at the end of September. We will go vote within the first week of early voting. Then I can forget about the election until November 6th. I will stay on top of the political news though.

We will be early voting, yet this week, for the August 13^th Primary election in Minnesota which is for Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

Tomorrow is Thursday. It is one of my favorite days of the week because I get to spend time with Caleb and Charlotte while Megan is volunteering at an animal shelter. Tomorrow we are planning on movies and lunch. Before we know it will be September and  they will be back in school and hanging out with teachers on Thursday mornings.

For this evening, I am going to go read all of the dad jokes being generated about Tim Walz. They make me laugh aloud.

Taking the Day in Stride

Today, Joe planted the rose bushes from Ohio on the south side of the house. I am looking forward to watching them grow and thrive in Minnesota.

Joe also moved our pantry cabinet from the garage to the closet in the family room. I helped organize it. We went ahead and fastened the cabinet to the wall closet in case the grandkids ever want/need to get anything from it. I have nightmares of cabinets tipping onto smaller people.

My brain is not feeling creative today, so I am going to grab a writing prompt from the Delve Deck.

What was your biggest ever waste of money?

In 2020, I purchased a StreetStrider. It is an outdoor and indoor elliptical bike. With my short legs, it is not easy for me to get off and on it safely. I have fallen trying to get off more than once. The most time I can do at one time is five minutes. I only use it if Joe is around as I fear I will seriously hurt myself. I have not even tried to get on it since we moved to Saint Michael. The grandkids enjoy getting on it though, so I am glad we hauled it across the country.

                                               A photo of the StreetStrider (aka Torture Device).

 

Comfort Food Mixed With Rain

 

I promised myself, yesterday, that I would rest today as I watched the rain come down ALL day. There were at least three times it came down in droves and other times just steady rain. During one of the times it was really pouring, Joe said to me, “I have never seen rain like this.” I may have been a little cranky when I replied, “You lived in California. It rarely rained like this for you to see it.”

Mostly he is fretting that all of his hard work on the area for sod will now be mud and part of the soil will have been washed away.

Joe did take the day off. Meanwhile, I decided we needed comfort food for dinner so made a meatloaf and then tackled homemade macaroni and cheese. If Joe says it tastes like Kraft (he did this the other day when we stopped at KFC, and he had a bite of my macaroni and cheese. I don’t know where he ever had Kraft macaroni and cheese – it did NOT taste like Kraft to me). The meatloaf and macaroni and cheese will be accompanied by  steamed zucchini and yellow crook necked squash from Uncle Dick and Aunt Sue’s garden.

I am not a complete novice in the kitchen; however, the recipe (The Pioneer Woman) I was using for the macaroni and cheese lists prep time of fifteen minutes. Maybe Ree Drummond only takes fifteen minutes. Cooking the sauce takes fifteen minutes. Never mind grating a pound of cheese (which Joe wandered into the kitchen at that moment and grated six ounces of cheese). Of course, prep time does not include pulling ingredients nor does it count clean-up. Anyway, I went into the kitchen at 4:30pm and popped the macaroni and cheese in the oven at 5:15pm. I know it will be worth it!

Prep time could have been worse, I might have decided to make my own pasta. Maybe another time. Now that I am retired, I do have time…

Going to go back to resting again…

Home Again!

Today was our return trip to Minnesota. We left Holiday City, Ohio at 8:00am Eastern time and dropped Earl Jr. off at around 7:00pm in Medford, Minnesota. Instead of heading straight home we went to Coon Rapids and ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Then it was another thirty minutes home. We rolled in the door at 9:45pm. We are both happy to be home.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is to rain all day! Our plan is to sleep in tomorrow morning and relax the rest of the day. Tuesday we can get back to our normal routines. We are done with our travel plans for the summer. We do want to get up to Duluth, Minnesota in late September. I am told the fall colors are beautiful in the northern part of the state.

After this trip, we decided our next trip to Ohio will be through Wisconsin to Northern Michigan and then drive south to Ohio. The new scenery and avoiding Chicago, Illinois and Gary, Indiana will make for a happier Beth. Joe thinks it is a good plan for him as well.

Alto is happy to see us! She told me all about how abandoned she felt for the past three days even though Megan came to feed her. I assured Alto we are done with overnight trips for a month or two. I promised her lots of petting when I finished writing tonight. She nipped my hand as if to say, “Don’t bother!”

New plan – I am taking a shower before she gets any more pets. Goodnight! 

Family Time - Reunions and Visits

Joe and I had a full schedule of visiting today. We started with a visit to Uncle Dick and Aunt Sue in Ney, Ohio. Uncle Dick gave us root stock from three of his rose bushes which he grew from root stock belonging to his parents (my grandparents).

They also gave us two handfuls of ground cover roses for our yard and zucchini and yellow crookneck squash (for our tummies) from their garden. While Joe and Uncle Dick were digging up plants, Aunt Sue shared an album of the greeting cards she created for Uncle Dick for special occasions. 

Aunt Sue is blessed with the gift of creativity. I am impressed with how she conceives of an idea and then teaches herself the necessary skills by reading instructions or watching videos on the internet. I am including photos of the cards and a video of one of the cards because it is too cool for me to adequately describe.

The folds and cuts on this "opened" card shows the complexity 

of Aunt Sue's card work.

The front of one of her cards.

When opened, the card above has a popout "Love."

Aunt Sue and her cool card!

We left Ney and headed to Bryan for the Hudkins family reunion. This year we had twenty-three people attend. I enjoyed catching up with kinfolk! I am sharing photos taken today by family members and shared on Facebook.

Oldest and youngest family members today - Judy and her great-grandchild Addilyn Rayne (Dean and Jennifer's granddaughter). Joan and Gary in background.

Jorge and Denise in from Pennsylvania!

Earl Jr. (our traveling companion this trip) with Michael, Jeff, and Tom in the background.

Almost everyone at the reunion today!  A few people had left. 

Thanks to Jeff Zimmerman for taking the photo.

Cody and Mackenzie - Addilyn Rayne's parents

Dee and Dennis

Judy (in front) Michael, Jorge, and Denise

Jennifer and Dean - Addilyn Rayne's proud grandparents!

Judy and Joan

Addilyn Rayne with her Uncle Aaron.

Tom (holding photo of Shawn who passed away 2 years ago at this time), Gary,

and Alan (standing). Gary is uncle to Tom and Alan

Alan and Sue

Joe, Doug, and Beth

Jeff and Cynthia 

We ended the day visiting with my brother, Jeff, and his wife Kathy, in Coldwater, Michigan. When we arrived, Jeff had just finished painting and upgrading to the family lake cottage. Kathy arrived a little after us as she is working this weekend. The company she works for is in the middle of physical inventory.

They shared photos of their recent trip to Deadwood, Yellowstone, Crazy Horse Monument, and Mount Rushmore and we caught up on life in general.

After dinner, Joe and I headed back to our hotel in Ohio. Our goal was to get back before dark, so I didn’t need to worry about deer. Sure enough, we saw fourteen deer in the fields and one “road leaping deer” (in front of us) within the first mile of leaving the cottage. We got lucky and did not see another deer until we were on the Indiana Turnpike. It is a relief to have made it back to Ohio without a deer imprint on our Subaru.

Tomorrow morning, we leave Ohio to return home to Minnesota.

On the Road Again

We left our home in Saint Michael at 6:15am this morning and arrived at our destination in Ohio at 9:23pm (10:23pm Eastern time.). Along the way we picked up my cousin Earl in Medford, Minnesota which is about 1 ½ hours from our home. 

Traffic was fine today. A bit of traffic backed up south of Chicago was about the worst of it. Stopping to change drivers and bathroom breaks took three hours of our time.

By the time we got Earl connected with his sister, Cynthia, and we checked into our hotel room both Joe and I were ready to stop for the day. The bed looks very inviting!

Good night!

Lunch Out

I enjoyed lunch with Jeremy, Caleb, and Charlotte today at The Hen and Hog restaurant. Jeremy normally works Thursday, and I stay with the children while Megan volunteers. After working for eight straight days, Jeremy got the day off to spend with Megan and the kids.

Even though we had leftovers to bring home, we had dessert. Jeremy had cannoli with shortbread flavored filling, I chose crème brûlée which Charlotte helped me eat and we left about one-third of it for Jeremy to take home to Megan, and Charlotte chose Banana Foster bread pudding. Charlotte loved her dessert and took most of it home. In fairness it was a huge serving!

Conversations with a ten- and eight-year-old are fun to participate in. I also appreciate the opportunity to listen to Jeremy and Megan interact with the kids. Today a highlight was when I asked Jeremy if Megan was still throwing up in the mornings. He told me she was doing a bit better. Caleb asked why Megan was throwing up and Jeremy explained that when women are pregnant their bodies are adjusting and so they can get an upset tummy.

At which point, Charlotte announced she did not want to ever have any babies then. Jeremy told her that she didn’t need to even think about that right now and that when she was older, she could make that decision for herself. She was fine with that.

I spent the morning, before lunch, packing for our weekend trip to Ohio and working on our family budget. We will be leaving for Ohio early tomorrow morning. My cousin, Earl Jr. will be riding along with us again this year. The reunion is Saturday afternoon and then we leave at 8:0am Sunday to return to Minnesota. A lot of driving to attend a four-hour reunion!

After lunch, I went to have my nails enhanced. Okay, that means I had my nails trimmed and polished! As it is raining, I may spend time this afternoon watching a movie. Yesterday during a storm, I found myself just watching the rain come down and the wind in the trees. I made a video!

And for fun I took a photo of Charlotte’s lunch time dessert.