3/31/10 We had coffee at the folks before going to work. I called ISU to try to find out what classes I would need to get certified k-12 PE. The rest of the day I was at the unit. Church Wed. night prayer and communion at 7. Pizza on the deck for supper.
3/30/10 Up early to the unit. Denny took me to IG. Because mom had colon cancer, colon checks are my friend. But I think every 5 years should be good enough. Judy B at the hospital said they could perhaps use some of my garden flowers through the summer in the cafeteria. That's good news, maybe I will order some more bulbs today. :-) I did order some bulbs, plants from Breck. In the afternoon I worked at the unit. All the heat lamps are fixed and up. No small task for me. I'm kinda slow working with electrical wires. Denny and I visited after work. We ate hamburgers and veggies on the deck.
3/29/10 I subbed for K Fineran at HS today. She showed 3 personal finance classes a video about car buying. It was informative. Not quite the same perspective as Dave Ramsey. I tried to get in my 2 cents 1) about new cars loosing 10% of their value when you drove them off the lot and how much do you want to pay for the new car smell. 2) about interest rate and paying cash for used cars 3) about leasing cars is like letting $10 cash fly out the window every time you drive it. GO RAMSEY!! Thankfully, the Toyota sales person said the headlight leveling $300 piece (that was sending off a warning light ) would be covered by the dealer. I kind of kept a low profile in the afternoon and watched 3 library DVD's. Mark came over for an update about 5 pm.
3/28/10 After checking my mommas in the unit I fixed the standby Sun dinner. We had John &Marilyn A. and Katie & Jesse B. and Danielle D. for lunch. Really nice visit. Quick movie, nap, then Denny worked on books. We went to prayer meeting at 6. I went to the unit and Denny worked more on bill paying before going to bed.
3/27/10 Denny left to work at the bank in Odebolt about 7:35. Yarden and Charlotte ate breakfast with me until about 9 am when they left for Oskalossa. I finished reading the book 485 which is about an EMT / fireman meeting his community one siren at a time. I have really enjoyed the 2 books I have read by this author, Michael Perry. We lazied around for a while in the afternoon, then went outside to work. Denny in the machine shed, me in my yard. I wanted to move a lilac bush. I dug about a 15" deep hole in the garden to put the bush in. When I came back there was water in the bottom of the hole, just as if I had poured a 5 gallon bucket of water in it. Yes, the water table is still high in our yard. The sump pump runs about every 5 minutes. So thankful that we have it. Mark came down after he got done at the unit and we visited in the coop. Still so much uncertainty about the unit. Wish God would just write a book plainly telling us what to do. We're trying to follow the Book he has written ... but some times we don't see the specific-for-us instructions.
3/26/10 Denny and I worked on the computer in am. I made some phone calls and had 2 appointments. After working at unit I went to Scheslwig at 11:30. Then back to work. Then to IG to see Wendy at 1:30. Then to unit to spray out the last room from 2:30- 5:45. At 6 there was a Seder supper at church. We had invited Don and Peg W to go as our guests. Yarden N. from Isreal gave the presentation. About 130 people were there. It was great to have lots of families. She and her driver Charlotte stayed in our home/basement afterwards. They are with the mission Jews for Jesus. Really informational / inspirational night.
3/25/10 Denny and I put furniture back in the bedrooms. Hopefully the water will not rise again this season. The sump pump still is running, but no streams through the basement from wall seepage. Neil and I got to the unit about 8. He helped spray for 4 hours. I was so thankful for the help. I left at 3 for a hair cut in Wall Lake. I really like it. Mary A did a good job. kKThen off to IG for errands. Picked up the book "485 by Michael Perry" to return to the library. Clocks and pillows at Dose garage sale.
3/24/10 We shipped 1125 pigs weighing 14.08 pounds on a trailer made to move 1000 pigs. We're thankful to have so many pigs. Denny brought pizza to us about 12:30. I sprayed from 10:30 when the pigs were loaded until 4:30 when I fed sows. Too shot to take supper to Denny before Awana. Jon helped today. He did go into his Am History class. That's about it. Becky is joining her famiy in Brownsville tonight. She is done working BB tourney games and getting
3/23/10 Coffee at folks. Yesterday Anabel gave me some cuttings from her huge dephenbachia plant. Hope I can get them to root and grow. Today was spent at the unit from 8 - 5:30. It took me ages to get the card filled out right. Hopefully I counted right. Jon came and helped finish giving shots. At home I started the fire in the coop, then fixed eggs, little smokey sausages. and cheddar cheese omelet. When Denny came home we took the fry pan and 2 forks out to the coop and visited and ate. Then out to work. He pulled broken branches from the yard to the cement by the garden. I raked dead plant stems from the flower beds. He got out the lawn mover and sped across the lawn, evening out the grass and weeds and chopping up the sticks that he didn't get picked up. It was great. We got so much done. Got to love day light savings time. Then inside to talk to Matt about his stay in the Rio Grand Valley. (Hope he catching up on some sleep.) The basement in pretty dry and so we hope to get the bedrooms put back into shape before guests come this Friday night.
3/22/10 Vet and Sow owners met at unit at 7 am. Denny joined us. Rest of the day was spent getting ready to wean pigs. I did stop for coffee at folks about 11 am. Jon came to help give shots about 3:15. I fixed grilled chicken salad for Denny and shrimp salad for me for supper. Denny had a hair cut in IG at 5;30. I had Bible study at Danielle's at 6:30. We ate supper at Cobb Park about 6 pm before I went to meet Stacy, Steph and Danielle. At home we visited in the sun room before heading to bed. Matt took Haley and Torren to the zoo in Brownsville today. The picture is of Matt and Missy fishing in Brownsville with Grandpa Newhouse and Jack Lamey.
3/20/10 First day of Spring!! The snow storm yesterday really messed up the spring look. My drive to Carroll went very slowly because of the icy, snowy roads. The Prius got an oil change. They had misplaced the grill part. They didn't want to fix the reason the 'check engine light' went on. I had a fun time with Gail visiting thrift stores. At one store I saw a sign IT TAKES TIME TO GROW OLD FRIENDS I am so thankful for the friends I have had through out the years. Mandy tried to talk me into getting a facebook page ... to keep in touch with my old college friends. It seems alittle complicated to me, so I haven't done it. I am so thankful that I do have so many friends that have shared my life for many years. I think I met Diane V. W. when I was in about 1st grade. We were at Hesper church for some kind of a program. She was with her cousin? Lana N. We were singing for something. Not much contact for the next years. Our schools went together when we were about in 8th grade. From then on there were so many shared activities ... school, band, softball, track, cheerleading, phone calls, letters, visiting each others home. Dad always called her his little Blondie. Thanks, Diane, for your friendship.
3/19/10 IT IS SNOWING LIKE CRAZY!! YUCK! I went to IG to get routine checkup today: blood work, bone density, and mamo. The folks picked me up about 6. Anabel had won a gift certificate to eat at the cafe in Arthur and they took Denny and me out to eat. I had a home school meeting at 7. Denny went to Ruth Rohlf's visitation. Gail may meet me in Carroll tomorrow if the weather is okay.
3/18/10 We cleaned before Denny headed to IG for Ag loan meeting at 7:30. I stopped at the folks then went to the unit. I tried to fix 2 ruptures, one has lived so far. At 12:30 I went to IG. My car's rear view mirror at fallen off from the windshield. Plus the emission control light was on. Not a big deal in Iowa (probably caused by a piece of gravel road getting stuck in the valve) but I couldn't sell it that way in California. Don't ask me why I had it fixed . It was such nice weather outside that before I headed to IG, I just walked around in the yard, looking at my plants that are struggling to break through the ground, and picking a few more pussy willows. I had a Rose of Sharon bush that I cut off at ground level. Part of the bush was dead, so hopefully it will be revived with the radical pruning. After Bible study at Susan's, Denny and I headed to Algona with the pick up and the motorcycle in the trailer behind us. It was scheduled to have a overhaul before the riding year begins. Nice traveling together. I got 10 pink glasses at Bops ... 50 cents each. Not all we purchase is that cheap. Don't you just love this picture? What a nice boy.
3/17/10 I didn't even wear green today until I put on my Awana shirt. To me, red white and blue looks just fine. After the unit I headed to SC. I met with 4 home school families. 2 at Cushing, 2 at Panera bread. I got a new car charger for the Garmin. Also got some Awana store items. I took pussy willows to church for Sunday. Not a very eventful day, and that's okay with me.
3/16/10 Unit early ... Home with Denny ... Coffee at folks ... Work at unit til 3:30 ... Folks picked me up to go to the REC supper. Met Denny there. I met with 2 HSHS students who were in Drivers ED. When WE got home we hooked up the motorcycle trailer and pickup for a Thurs. trip to Algona. Denny now has a purpose in life. In the am and in the pm he gets to see progress of removal of water from basement floor. He vacuums it up with the shop vac. He is tickled with the SUMP pump. (But not nearly as tickled as he is with his grand kids.) We figured with the pump running every 3 minutes, and pumping out 2-3 gallons of water each time, the pump moves about 50 gallons of water an hour, 1200 gallons a day. UFFTA!! That's a lot of water. There would be a river in our basement with out it. PTL for SUMP pumps. We may have to put in a second one in the south east corner. Then what would we do with our time? And what would I write about?
3/14/10 Day light savings time begins. I remembered about 11 last night. Didn't change the clocks ... but was awake early. (I was hearing the sunk pump kick in.) SS and church. We had Reese &Rose J. and Larry & Joann D over for spaghetti , salad, Parmesan bread and chocolate birthday cake from the freezer. I put cukes in the salad. It made me hungry for fresh - from - the - garden cukes. Some one else likes cukes from the garden. 'Cute that she snitched from the egg basket. After they left ... chill time and get started on laundry. Church prayer time at 6. Denny now has the shop vacumn down stairs as part of his arsenal against the water. He's thinking perhaps a bead of chalk would help channel the water to the sunk pump and not thru the bedroom door.
3/12/10 I subbed for PE today at the HS 1/2 day and Elem 1/2 day. Plus the elementary had a student teacher... so I was just in the gym while she taught. Stopped to eat lunch with Denny on my drive to Odebolt. Stopped at the folks to visit on the way back from Odebolt. I'm pretty jealous, because Luke and Karen are on their way to Brownsville. I wish it were me and Denny. I grilled pork chops tonight, but I'm sure it would have been easier and warmer in the Valley. Karen may need those sun glasses. It was Lenora Leistikow's birthday yesterday. She was face book friends with Jean. Now she is face book friends with Denny, too. We spent part of the night in the basement watching the sunk pump ... pump out about 3 gallons of water every 3 minutes. SO GLAD TO HAVE IT WORKING!!!
3/11/10 Plans change. At 6:50 I got a call to sub in art at the high school. I hadn't been to the unit. I went up to the unit and quickly fed, back home to take a short shower. To school by 8:07. UFFTA There goes my visit with T&S. :( It was a good day at school. It's amazing what I will do for a buck. After school I worked at the unit til 6:45. I came home and Denny was sleeping watching ET. Card board box frozen pizza. It works. Wish I would have had garden fresh tomatoes like those two on my front step. We used a partial pig check to pay bills for JPI. First income from the unit in 3 months. Got to be thankful for what we have.
3/10/10 I knew I wouldn't get all the pigs done if I dawdled at all. I fed at the unit til 7, then came home to see Denny off. I went to the folks for coffee. At 8:30 I started processing and worked straight until 4:30. WHEW!! Glad to have it done. Home to fix a quick bite to take to the church before Awana. Another good night. At game time we mainly worked with the ones going to Orange City. Madde plans to go with Susan to see Teresa tomorrow.
3/9/10 I went to coffee at the folks. About 10 am I went to the house because I had a lot of calls to make. 1) I got a place for the Awana kids to eat pizza after the games. 2) I canceled my car oil change. 3) I got a appointment for my other car and my body. 4) I started to make the arrangements to add a health endorsement to my teaching certificate. Saturday I missed the baby shower for Isaiah U. He is now off oxygen. So glad he joined their family. What a answer to prayer. He's a cutie. I came home from IG and it was foggy. I was so thankful Susan cancelled the Home school meeting. Denny went to the Motorcycle meeting and didn't get home til after 8:30.
3/8/10 I left St. Jo about 7:45 am and got to the unit about 11:15. No potty stops. I was in need by the time I got there. I processed litters til 5 pm ... still lots of little pigs to take care of. For supper Denny and I had left overs from Chili's. Anabel loved the chips and salsa so it was good there was some left for me to take home. When some salsa was too hot on her lips she would rub a napkin on her mouth. It was cute. We were surprised she liked it as much as she did. I went to Bible study at Emily's. Lynn S. Elizabeth, Steph, Danielle, and me. Denny and put clean sheets on the beds in the basement. He had washed them and he also went to visit his mom while I was in IG. Howard was happily at a meeting about a beef cattle book ... 75 years of Angus Beef in Iowa. Guess he didn't get home til 11. I skimmed thru the book. You'll have to ask him about it. Pretty neat.
3/7/10 SS and church at 8:15. Three kids joined me in Haley's room before breakfast to have a quick tea party on Haley's bed (about 3 smartie candy's apiece). Not any water in the cups. Last night Missy helped the kids make 2 nice snow men. The only snow that was available was directly north of the house. A rectangle about 10 foot by 30 foot. After playing outside last night they sat on the sofa and watched a movie. Luke and Karen came for lunch. Matt fixed his great pancakes, complete with whipping cream and syrups. After lunch Haley and I went to a play. Samantha C. from IG was the main character in Steel Magnolias. We went backstage before the play and met the 6 ladies that were in the play. We only stayed until the intermission. We went to Awana at 4. After that we went to Chili's for a late supper. Matt was really looking forward to it. He has lost alot of weight. Fajiti's are some thing he can eat.
3/6/10 HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN!!! I headed to St. Jo. after working at the unit. I got there just in time to watch Torren buy his own remote control 4 wheeler. Missy got there right before lunch. Matt and Becky went to a Republican meeting about 5. Matt wrestled with kids for about 45 minutes before they left. They were having so much fun! It was so nice to be there. I brought along my cot to sleep in im Haley's room. Missy had the sofa pull out. Anabel slep in her porta crib in the basement. Evan slept in Torren's room on a car sleeping bag that Luke gave Torren for Christmas. Great day in the Jo!
3/8/10 Lots to do today. Read my one-a-day about 5 am. With subbing and BB tournament I was a couple days behind. Then to unit. Back home to see Denny before he headed to the bank. Coffee at the folks. I processed pigs at the unit from 8:30 until 4:30. Happy to do it because I have an ulterior motive. If I get my work done I might be able to go to St. Jo to see 4 grand kids. Phillip is going to Illinois on a mission trip Sun afternoon til Tues night. Missy is taking the kids to spend time with their cousins. I could see all 4 ... if the work got somewhat done. I took the pickup to Arthur. Denny and I drove to Storm Lake to get some crate parts at Hog Slat. Then we went to eat Mexican. Denny made a short Wal-Mart run, I was so tired I just waited in the car.
3/7/10 Up bearly ... I mean early ...Maybe it is barely ... or growly like a bear when I wake up early. Anyway, I was at the school to ride the pep bus to Des Moines at 8 am. I sat with Emily; Laura and Lynn wer in the seatright in front of us. We lost vs Manson Northwest Webster. Home about 4 pm. Both Denny and I were so tired we went pretty much right to bed. We did do a test run on the sunk pump. With all the snow piled around the house, there is a good possibiliity that water may show up in the basement. OUCH!! Denny had taken his car washing garden hose down the the basement to thaw out. We used it to fill the sunk pump hole with water to see if the pump would start automatically. We found out 2 things ... The sunk pump works ... The garden hose has a big hole in it.
3/6/10 I fed sows early. I subbed at the HS for Math/chem. The secretary thought it was funny that I was glad there was a 1 pm early out, so I could go home and take care of my mama pigs having babies. I fixed hot dogs to take to "eat out" at the church. I've filled all three cars with gas this week. Ouch!! This picture was so cute of those 3- 3 year olds reading the hymnals.
