Wed. Sept. 1 LUKE"S BIRTHDAY!!

Oh, my! I remember well 27 years ago!! We were so glad to have another son. Luke, you have brought us as much happiness as Brooks is bringing the Jensens. Such great "third childs"! We love you so much! Hope you are having a great day! Up at 5 - devotions -Coffee at the folks - After school I headed right home to get 4 pans of cavatinni and the buns for Awana supper. There was a good turn out, about 32 to eat. Denny did another good job. Lord, may this be Your great year. His encouragement was to share our testimony. How our relationship with Christ started and how it has changed our lives.

Tuesday August 31 8960

Up at 5, devotions, ran 2, coffee, I took my car into Don's. They are going to put on a new something. If that doesn't work, a new computer may be needed. Cross you fingers. Yesterday Amazon sent us an e mail saying our order didn't get processed for credit card reasons. Denny was going to check on it today. It said call your bank ... so I called him and asked him to work on it. I took my class to the hospital to observe social skills. One of the employees we talked to was a student's grandmother. I didn't run the trail with Carol after school, she said it was too hot. At home I made buns for Awana tomorrow night and went through the computer room and bath room.

Monday August 30

Up at 5 - Devotions - Ran 2 Coffee at folks - I guess Anabel had a tough day Saturday. Not in pain, but very tired. When I go to their house for coffee, I leave about 7:25 to head to school. No running after school, or staying for Bible study, I just headed home. Denny helped me move stuff to the bunk house. Look at those nice cousins! Hopefully, they can get together again in Dubuque the first weekend in December. Justine and Nancy each have their own apartment.

Sunday August 29

Church at 8 with Nancy. Mandy called and made plans to meet us at Bluesies at 10:30. Brandon, his folks and his sister, Jenna, were there. We left for home about 12. I read my professional teacher development book on the way home. We called to Parkersburg from Dubuque. Phillip and Ryan met us at the exit with a loaded pick up and motorcycle trailer. Got to Arthur about 6 so I stayed for prayer time at church. At home I started on emptying Luke's room. To bed by 9:30 and fell asleep fast. I was pretty tickled. Saturday night I was talking about the classes I was signed up for. Denny and Nan went on Amazon and placed an order for 2 text books. Hurrah! One step closer to being a student. Now to figure out what online classes are.

Saturday August 28

Up at 6 It was fun to run in Madison. I ran down past Faboni's where we got sandwiches for lunch. I also ran past a bakery and stopped to see what was there. I said I was from Iowa and didn't bring any cash along on my run. The gal gave me a donut. She didn't want me to leave empty handed. Great breakfast at Nan's (I shared my donut). Mandy called about 9 and we drove to Mitch and Dawn's. After visiting Nancy let Mandy, Denny and myself off at the capital square where we walked around at the farmer's market. Denny checked the organic produce and meats. Justine, Nancy, and Steve met us at Nan's for lunch. Brandon and Drew came and had a sandwich before heading to the wedding. Mandy got ready and we took her to the church about 3. Then home for naps. Denny and I went to Trader Joe's. For supper we went to a Mexican restaurant that served a lot of glacamole. Just a tad hot though. We sat out in the yard and talked and watched the moon rise. It was nice.
Thanks, Nancy!

Friday August 27

Up at 5 - Devotions - Ran 2 - Grandma had a lower amount chemo treatment given to her because her platelet count was down. 2 weeks ago she also got a lowered amount of Taxile (?). She was hoping that this would be her last chemo, the sixth of 6, but she is set up for another 2 chemos (Probably because she had 2 chemo treatments with lower amount). It was kind of discouraging to think she was done, only to find out at least 2 more treatments. Missy and Phillip came to the farm with the canoe trailer loaded behind the vehicle. They parked it in the sheep barn and hitched up our big flat bed trailer. Denny took off work at 1:45. He and Phillip moved some furniture around. Mark stopped at the house a visited a little. It is his birthday tomorrow. We left for Madison about 6. We didn't plan on driving straight through, but Denny didn't get coffee / gas or bathroom break. We got to Nancy's about 11:15. She had yummy TJ's food and Becks for Denny. kAfter going to a rehearsl dinner, Mandy was out with Brandon and cousins Justine and Nancy.

Thursday August 26

Up at 5 - Devotions - Anabel has her chemo this morning. I took the Malibu in to Don's. The check engine light was on, again. Crossing my fingers on that one. Last time it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't fixed by lunch today. That may be bad news. Mandy did have dance lessons earlier this year to help her (in case there is a dance after the wedding she is going to on Saturday in Madison, Wisc). I met Susan G. after school for a smoothie at Cinnamon stone. I got groceries to fix cavatinni for Awana training meeting. C & C came over about 6. Final settlement. My goal for the night was to make the main dish for Awana and put it in the freezer. (Got it done.) AND get my stuff out of the upstairs bedroom. I went through some of the things, put a clothes basket in the basement to go through, and moved the rest of the things into another room. Bedroom cleared out. :)

Wednesday August 25

Happy birthday Jean!! Up at 5:15. I'm sleeping well in the basement. Devotions - Ran 2 - Coffee at the folks. They are saving newspapers for Missy to use to pack. Denny is going on a farm visit this am. After school I ran the trail with Carol S. Nice to have someone to talk to while I ran. Mostly I asked her questions so I didn't have to run and talk and get more worn out. The folks invited us over to eat lasagne that Kim had made. It was a 9x9 pan and they thought it would take a week of eating for them to finish it. Nice to have them share. They also baked a peach pie that they got at Mondamin. We headed to church after supper. Denny was glad we went because there were a couple of people he wanted to visit with that were there. At night Denny started working on Awana stuff.

Tuesday August 24 8704

Up at 5:30 - Devotions - Ran 2 - I stopped at the folks for a quick cup of coffee. Anabel has her chemo on Thursday. The flower picture is froom Haley. (Actually I couldn't get the picture on the blog to night.) It has made my days to have flowers that she picked and put around the house. She put flowers in Luke's room , the sun room, the green room in the basement , the blue room in the basement. It was so nice of her. Thanks Matt and Becky for raising such nice Grands! Denny and I grilled marinated pork chops for supper. YUM!

Monday August 23

Up at 5:15 - Devotions - Ran 2 - Coffee at folks before work. At school I called Morningside and signed up for 2 classes. I also took the info to Supt. T. to complete pre-employment details. Someday I may sign a contract and be a real - official - provisional - teacher. Lots to pray about. I visited with 2 students today. What a lot of baggage they have to take to school. It makes my heart ache for them. Please remember to pray ... for them... and all the children that you love. I just want to put protective arms around them to keep them a safe and love them. After 5, I met Denny in Arthur for Monday night dollar hamburgers. Mine was $1. He had the works on his ... bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, mushrooms, cheese and his cost $3.25. We also had cheese balls. Denny had a gift certificate, plus he is happy to support a local small town business. I went to Bible study at Danielle's with Laura, Elizabeth, Steph, Emily and Ranae. They were happy to hear the news of the Jensens moving back. Today I did something I have not done in a long time, maybe 35 years. I put my wedding ring on to leave it on. I wore it to Colorado this summer, but it didn't fit on my left hand, so I put it on my right. Mandy pointed out to me I had it on the wrong hand. Today it went on my left hand, with a lot of pushing and shoving. Hopefully it will stay for another 35+ years.

Sunday August 22

Up at 5:15 - Devotions - Ran 2 miles - Stopped to feed sow- Prayer time before church. After church we took 4 Stangls to Subway then home. Denny went to Bomgaars for plug in breaker outlets. In the afternoon we worked on the basement. We went to church prayer time at 6. After we got home we talked to Missy and Phillip. He has taken a part time job with UPS in Denison, working an early morning shift (maybe working 3-9 am). He told the congregation after the service. UPS wanted him to start this Monday, but to give a 2 week notice, he will be starting on September 7th after Labor day. It has been a dream of theirs to do sustainable farming. What better place than rural Iowa? We are moving to an apartment, (in our basement) and they will be living in our home's upstairs. :) We slept downstairs last night. Lots to look forward to.

Sat. August 21

Up at 5:30. devotions, Spent most of the day straightening out the machine shed and getting ready to possibly move into an apartment. Denny left about 10:30 to go to the bank and make a car transfer. I mowed the lawn. After lunch we took the 4 wheeler to the folks for a break. These are the flowers I put together for the 125th. I made one basket of multicolored flowers for in front of the pulpit. I put white and green flowers in Rose J's crystal vase. It was on the back table by the cross. When I was working on the basket in our kitchen Haley was making flower soup for Denny and Torren. YUM! We had fun.

Friday August 20

Kid's Coffee. Good to the last drop. Up 5, Devotions, Ran 2, Coffee at folks. Denny was meeting Mark at the unit for coffee this am. He had written checks and paid bills this morning, because he fell asleep last night. I had a haircut at 5:45 tonight. Didn't get home until after 8. The new staff at the school had their picture on the front page of the paper. (BETTER the front page than the BACK page with all the arrests, traffic tickets, etc.)

Thurs August 19

These are the flowers we took up Saturday to the centennial coffee at church. Haley did a good job helping me. She also made sure she took flowers to GGma. That was SO nice. Up 5, Devotions, Ran 2, coffee, Denny had a lenders meeting at 7:30. The PQA 3 assessment was coming to the unit this morning. Mark has been working hard cleaning and spraying the unit. For Social Skills class today I took the 2 girl students to observe at Food Pride. We looked for social interaction and job skills that would be needed if you worked at Food Pride. Hopefully we will visit different places in IG and watch interactions. This is one idea that came to me at 3 am in the morning as I lay awake wondering "What in the world I was going to do with the students?". That was a hard night. I also came up with the idea of walking 10 min a day with the 6 health students I have during 6th hour. The class is about 45 minutes long. Perhaps a walk will wake them (I'm thinking ME.) up and keep our brain ticking. We'll see. After work we had a date to meet on the deck at 5:30. Good to just sit and visit. Phone call from Missy. Denny fell asleep on the sofa.

Wed. August 18 37 years!! First day teaching

Devotions, Ran 2 miles, Coffee at the folks, I stopped at the unit before work. Curt and Rick were there. I told them how both of their wives were retired from teaching and this was my first day. They were loading out the sows that were left in the building. School day went okay. ONE down. There is so much I don't know. I would ask Denny after each day of work when he started how he would rate it 1- 5. Well, I would give it a 5 on how much I liked working with people and a .5 on how much I felt like I knew what I was doing. I imagine it will be like that for years. At 5:30 we met the motorcyclers and drove to Sac City. The nursing home there had sent out a flyer inviting riders to come on Wed. August 18. SO we did. About 8 bikes. The residents were outside to watch, 2 gals even got (notice I did not say hopped) on the back and took a ride. It took a crew of 6-8 to get them on and off, but BOY were their eyes shining. One had always wanted to, but never got the chance. Made me think of Mom with a smile and how it was on her to do list to ride Denny's bike. . Sure miss her. Just being at the nursing home made me think of the folks. Sure miss them. We ate at the Cattleman's. Happy anniversary!! I fixed eggs, bacon and hash browns for breakfast.

Tuesday August 17

Up at 5, devotions, ran 2, coffee at the folks. Phillip went to an interview in the am. Good to give hugs to the little ones and be off to another work day. We ordered 2 pizzas to share for lunch. Lots of planning for classes tomorrow. Who teaches whom, Where we meet, Who goes to be a aide in classes taught by other instructors, What new students are coming into the program, At 4 I headed home to get ready for the 6:30 Home school family year kick off picnic at our home. I brought the wooden table into the sunroom to put food on. Denny made a fire to roast hot dogs. The 2 drink coolers I put in the deep freeze last night had great cold water and fruit drink, BUT ...the actual spigots froze solid. THEREFORE you couldn't use them. Sue helped by shooting a hot air from a hair dryer on them ... to no avail. Some times (often) my ideas to make things easy back fire. Oh well , we served drinks with ladles and pitchers. About 65 people came. The weather was great, not too hot or buggy. Kids loved the merry go round (so much that some got dizzy and sick), the trampoline, the swings, and the dress up clothes. I put the clothes in 2 trunks in the clean bunk house. Denny and the guys sat around the fire pit while Susan and I met with the moms in the coop. Karen J and Carol R thought this sould be an annual first of the year event. Sounds great to me. Most of the stuff was put away by 10 and to bed.

Mon August 15

Up at 5, devotions, ran 2 miles. Jensens came last night at midnight. Fun to see little ones around before I left for school. First day of 190 day school year. JUST DO YOUR BEST, FAITH. I keep telling myself that. There is so much that I don't know. I'm not looking on the overwhelming big picture. Just one day at a time. At school I set up my desk in the resource room. ( I moved it in from the ICN so I can be in the same room as the other 2 teachers.) Teacher meetings with people, not pigs. :) For lunch hour I went to Doris J.'s funeral luncheon. At 4, I left school and headed home. Anabel was up from her nap and helped me mow the lawn. She rode on a cushion. We did a lot of WOO HOO's with the bumps and turns. Ate cukes, also stopped for mulberries and tomatoes. Phillip started the grill for vegetables: potatoes, zuchinni, onions, peppers. Denny came home about 5:45. We visited a little, I headed back to the open house at the HS from 6-7:30. He bought 3 tickets to a steak dinner from a good bank customer and he headed to Odebolt to pick up carry out. Finally all were at home. Good night time with the Grands and a yummy meal for us. Lots to visit about, but to bed by 10. Tea parties are always a hit with the Grands.

Sunday August 15

Devotions - Ran 2 miles - I took Haley and Torren to donuts and prayer time before church. I had picked some road flowers that Haley and I put in blue vases and milk bottles for the catered lunch after church. We put them around the tables. Then we went to the park while the missionary spoke to the SS classes. They played house there, taking turns who was in charge. We went to church. Matt and the kids had a potluck picnic for the class reunion at 12. It was hard to say good bye. So much fun to have them around. The service was great for the quasiquieeeeee or whatever. Good meal after wards, too. Naps when we got home, Denny took the DVD over to the folks and played it for them. I started to mow the lawn. Mike called wondering if we wanted to go on a ride with them. We left about 5:30. Great night to be out riding. Last spring I helped a little getting ready for Kate's graduation. They treated us to steaks at the Inn. YUM!!

Sat. August 14

Ran 2 miles. Grandpa fixed his renown Cheesey eggs for the Grands. He left for work about 7:45. Matt golfed in the am and spent the day / night with his classmates. I took kids to Arthur to deliver flowers to the morning come and go coffee. We took some fruit cups and coffee cake to share with GGma and GGpa. We stopped at the tent site and I helped fold up chairs while Halley wiped them off with a towel. At the folks, the kids sat on a rug in the living room to eat while we visited. Torren loves the book Socks that GGma reads to him. Great to play at the farm. Haley made vases of flowers for rooms in the house. We basically just hung out. Denny headed to Denison after work. Haley and Torren ate Lunchables under the tree house. At 1:30 we headed to Arthur for the AMAZING CHEMISTRY SHOW. And it was GOOD! Then ice cream. The cookies and cream was great, but the malt chocolate was better. At home Torren Denny and I napped. Haley watched a Disney VCR. I put together 2 big flower arrangements for the from of church. Didn't know how I was going to transport them, but Harskamps came out and helped. I made a fire for hot dogs for Denny to fix with the Grands. Hard to get everything fit in when they are here for only a couple days. We try hard get it all in. Church was at 7. Denny gave a testimony on how the church has influenced us. Sam Dose made an excellant DVD giving the history of E Free and present day activities. Denny took the kids home and put them to bed. I came home and cleaned up my kitchen which was a mess.

Friday August 13

Ran 2 miles. Started new job. I imagine jaws dropped when they read my name as HS Special Education teacher. I know my jaw dropped. First day on the job went fine. No kids until Wed. Met with AEA lady. I'm thinking she will help my job a lot. I got to the farm before Matt and Grands got here. They stopped at the Arthur bank before coming to the farm. We met at Great Grandma and Grandpa's. The kittens were everywhere. Haley took Bravo into the house. Matt thought the kids were a little wound up. I came home with them and got BLT ready for supper. The tent meeting started at 7. Denny went straight there from work. It was held at 280th street and Pioneer. Great night. Jimmy S. played the piano. Ken VK was the song leader. Amanda was there with husband and son, Landon, who is about 5 weeks old. They were heading to Parkersburg on Sat for a shower for Ashley. I was asked to pray about the future of AE Free.

Thurs August 12

I stopped at the unit about 7. Sows and gilts were being loaded out. I picked up heat lamps, but me tooth felt a little funny so I went home and then to the folks for coffee. About 10 I met with Mr. M. principal of OABCIG High School. I dropped off the Plan of Study, $85, and an application for an Administrative Decision or conditional license. I have completed less that half (actually none) of the requirements for a teaching Special Education Degree. The HS is sending in the application to the Board of Educational examiners and Mr. Miller said I start the job tomorrow. Life is interesting. At home I put rugs in the bunk house. I also worked on putting pictures in the century family farm frame in the coop. At night I went up to the Remedy Drive concert that was at church tonight., About 200 -250 kids and 30 -50 adults. Pretty amazing to see youth standing in the over flow and between the pews and the front of the church that had red lights, etc.

Wed. August 11 8177

Hurrah, I'm caught up!!! Good thing for a lazy day today. We stopped by the folks this am and took them some of Brenda's good chicken and noodles, jello, and pumpkin bread. Anabel goes in at 2:30 for a white blood cell booster shot. I called Morningside, my application for Program of study hadn't even been opened yet. I'll call back tomorrow. Mandy called. Her window is back and running up and down. She was perplexed because it stopped as she was giving her 1995 Honda Civic a cleaning to celebrate 233,000 miles. Come to find out she must have a feature she wasn't aware of ... the window lock. And she must have hit it. For $3.50 and instruction from a repair man - on the way west side of Denver - it was fixed and she was HAPPY! Denny and I were happy, too. She said she told the repair guy there were blond roots under her dark hair.

I got a call from Morningside. My Plan of Study was done, so I headed to Sioux City about 1. Stopped in BC and took some cans. Met with Kim W. and Janet at DQ. Went to WW and home for church. I just napped until people came at 7.

Tuesday August 10

Man, I had this all done and it got erased some how. Here it goes again. We stopped at the folks for a quick visit. Then Denny went to look into a car situation and I headed to the unit. I processed a litter that had been born late and recorded all the farrow info of 146 sows on a sheet of paper. It took a while. Then I did a quick mow job on a lawn that could have been baled. At 12 I was in Arthur. Denny drove me in the pickup to Storm Lake where I had 3 big teeth extracted. Oral surgueon Dr. PJ Vezeau. I got in about 1:25, and was out about 2:15. The nurse said I didn't need any stitches. She gave Denny intructions. He had to stop at Hogslat and get some repair parts. He let me out at Steph P.'s in Arthur about 3. He just took a long noon hour and checked on the bank car situation in Schaller. At 5:30 we went to a IG motorcycle meeting. On the way home we drove past the Sacred Acre where there is going to be a tent meeting on Fridy night at 6:30. It is about 3 miles north east of our home. Thursday at 3 pm they are bringing the tent to set up. Plus 300 chairs and more from the church if needed. They are taking a piano out for Jimmy S. to pound out great old hymns on. Mike B. is spraying for misquitoes, plus water bottles, and vans to shuttle people if needed. We stopped at the folks ono the way home. She had made it okay thru the chemo, but there was a lot of waiting. She said she finished Missy's worksheet during the first waiting period and it was fun. I said especially because the chemo was not all that fun. They invited us to finish off ;what they had left from supper. When we got home Brenda B. had called and said she had fixed supper for us ( or as Mike called it the chubby cheeked one.). YUM! She is a great cook.

Monday Aug 9

Up to the unit early. Denny and I stopped for coffee at the folks, We took them some leftover rhubarb pie. The vet was at the unit. Mark and he drew blood on the little pigs. I went out and picked a couple vases of flowers for Sue. At 9, I met with Supt. T and Mr. M. Then smoothies with Sue at Cinnamon Stone. Teresa P. met us there for a quick visit before her 11 oclock massage. I stopped by the bank and ate lunch with Denny at the church. Back to the unit to feed and finish spraying out gilt room 5. Got home about 5:30. Stirred up some hamburger, zucchine, tomatoes, garlic, basil, onion, and mushrooms with ramen noodles. Turned out pretty well. Headed to Danielle's for Bible study on Mary and Martha. Lynn, Laura, Danielle, Emily, Steph,Ranae and I were there. Mandy called. Her window on the Honda passenger side won't go back up. Where is a fix-it brother when she need him? My motto for the next year.

Sunday Aug 8

I fed at the unit early and sprayed down the gilt hall way. It was kind of a mess up there. Coffee with Denny out on the deck. I picked a basket of flowers before we headed to prayer time at 8:30. When church was over we went to IG to get soap and light bulbs for the unit. After a sandwich Denny headed to the unit, I worked on applications and interview questions on the computer. I went to the unit to look over litters and feed the second time. Denny had done an awesome job "Pinesole"ing and cleaning. I went late to prayer service at church. Then I went to visit with Kim S. About 8 pm a bad storm passed through the area. Thankfully, I made it home okay. This weekend Missy spent time with HS friends in Des Moines. It is great to have friends. She paraphrased from a book called the Girls of Ames. "These days when the IG (Ames) girls spend time with women that they didn't meet until adulthood. They can act sophisticated, mature, and worldly. They can't do that as easily with each other, of course, because in the back of their minds they have a full log of all the goofy things they said and did when they were young."

Sat Aug 7

Up early to feed. I sprayed for about 3 hours before coming home. Denny and I went to the folks for coffee. Then home and BOY, DID WE EVER GET A LOT DONE!! I sprayed out the floor of the bunk house, took paint cans to the unit to dry out, brought up dresser and rugs to bunk house from the machine shed, brought up folding table and chairs to use for home school picnic here next week. Denny cleaned out the garage and sprayed it out. He moved out the refrig that was not working. AND found out why the freezer hadn't been keeping food frozen. (The sensor had gotten turned to off .) After a quick sandwich we headed up to the unit. I finished spraying out the B&G with the high pressure sprayer. That is 512 crates, 32 pens, and 5 long alley ways, plus I had sprayed off every rung of every gate work, in every crate, and in every pen. UFFTA! Time for the guys to go over everything I had done and do it better. My tooth was starting to bother me so I called the pharmacy and got another prescription. Then home to get ready for Mark and Laura coming here for their anniversary. We grilled Omaha steaks that the folks had given us, plus Howard gave us a frozen rhubarb pie that he a gotten at Mondamin. I baked the pie in the basement oven in the morning while we were cleaning so the up stairs wouldn't get so hot. Denny wanted to make fried green tomatoes and I fried up some zucchini and made a lettuce salad, plus stuffed potatoes. After eating we sat around the fire pit. Nice night. Nice couple. Should do it more often.

Friday Aug 6

Up early. Denny had made an appointment to get a new back tire for the Harley in Algona today. We were thinking of taking in up last night and going to get it tonight driving the pickup and trailer both ways. 2 - 6 hour trips. Last night I told Denny if he thought I could drive the pick up and trailer I could take up the motorcycle on Friday morning and wait for it to get done. So that's what we did. I left about 5:30 and got home about 2:30. The tire is changed and I got to see a lot of Algona. I visited every store, had iced tea outside of a chocolate shop, saw a couple from IG in Algona checking out the chocolate shop, went through a neat wood store, got groceries at Fareway, and bought a pair of brown sandals with heels that were on sale. Once home, guess what I continued to spray out the B&G, working down between rows A&B from 2:30 -6:30. When Denny got home about 6:30 we chilled out by the fire pit. Mark joined us sitting around the fire til almost dark. Then we drug ourselves to bed. This evening Haley was playing with cousins in the back yard on the monkey bars and fell off. Perhaps a broken elbow. Got to love those sweet active Grands!!

Thur Aug 5

No run. I fed early. After Denny left for work I had coffee at the folks. I think this was the day they went to the podiatrist. At 9 am, I had a phone call with the Iowa Dept of Ed. I loaded out many garbage bags of cans and took them to ISI. The rest of the day til about 6, I finished spraying out west side rows AB&C. Bushed. Denny paid bills at night. We fixed Trader Joe's frozen orange chicken that I had brought from Madison about a month ago. YUM! I finished watching the DVD that I fell asleep during on Monday night.

Wed Aug 4, 2010

No run. Coffee at the folks. Michelle Siebrecht was their physicians assistant yesterday. Curt came at 8 to start to taking out 166 more sows. Before he left for work, Denny noticed that the BCIG high school had a ad saying they were in need of a special ed teacher. Today I sprayed out the rest of row C&D. I spent part of the day burning old furniture from the bunk house. 1 chair, 2 dressers, 1 desk, 1 tv stand, Amazing how well the fire pit works. And to think that some day everything is going to burn. Only what is done for Christ will last. Sure puts a different perspective on how we should be living our lives. The unit is God's. These are all good lessons to learn. I did make a couple of school phone calls. I went to the video series at church tonight. A truck was coming back to pick up more sows at 8 pm. Mark has been great working and getting the animals loaded. I imagine Dean and Ardie will long time remember out extra miles to see Lansing. We did pass crazy store that is stuffed with things. Dean said we should have stopped there and was feeling guilty that he didn't signal us. Later Sat night Marilyn also mentioned that store and how crazy it is. Maybe next year Lansing will be a destination.

Tues Aug 3

Ran 2 miles. Fed mamas. Denny took me in to get the Malibu. We hadn't been able to find the spare set of keys so I waited while Don broke in. No small job with the new anti theft protection. (I got an extra key made at Bomgaars. :) Coffee at the folks. They are headed in today to meet with Dr. Luft associates. I spent the rest of the day spraying the 16 pens on the west side of row D&C. By the time I got home I was spent. Actually, the 2 mile run probably did me in at 5 when I ran it. We watched Netflicks Montana Sky 3.75. I put that account on hold for 3 months.

Monday Aug 2

Ran 2 miles. Fed. Coffee at the folks. I sprayed out the B&G from 8 - 12 At noon I went home and worked on cleaning the bunk house for a couple hours. Then back to spray from 3-6. TIRED. Emily, Danielle, Lynn and Elizabeth were here for Bible study. The next study we are doing we will be meeting at Danielle's. I fell asleep watching a Net flick's DVD. Got a hat to wear??

Sunday August 1

Craig fixed breakfast and we headed to Cresco (Howard) about 8. That town had neat children's statues along the streets. Off to Osage (Mitchell) Here is where we could have gone to Northwood, but opped to go to Charles City to be there about 10 and see if we could find a church service. Driving in to CC there was a Faith Bible church that started at 10:30. It was about 10:15 so we drove and looked some. The E free started at 9:30 with SS at 11. /A baptist church was getting out, so we headed back to the Faith Bible and Denny attended his first Pentecostal service. About 20 -25 people who were happy to see us and welcoming. It got out at 12 noon. We grabbed a sandwich at McD's. Then off to Waverly (Bremer). Then to Parkersburg where we walked into the house and almost straight down to the basement to take a nap. Hurrah! Later we fixed tuna turnovers, Green beans and almonds and garlic, potato wedges and ice cream with fruit picked by the grands. YUM! We were pretty happy to take the bike in the trailer on the way home. More comfortable and we would have been bushed.

Sat July 31

I woke up at my usual 5:30 and walked up to the Burr Oak cemetery. Then I walked to Bruce's new house. Craig, Marilyn and Denny came over to tour it, too. It is really nice. Ranch house, 2 car garage, material for a deck. Plans to plant 1000 trees. Heated basement and garage floors. Amish made cupboards and a beautiful Amish roll top desk with his computer in it. We ate breakfast at Country Express. Dean and Ardie joined us. Then back to Craig's to shower, look around What's New, and see Craig's travel van. Looks like a great way to travel. D&A came with their bike and we took off. Decorah (Winneshiek) CH first stop. It may be one of my favorites. Dean had never seen the front of it. Then to Waukon (Allmakee). We took a pretty scenic road to Harper's Ferry along the river and stopped at a biker's place. The next goal was south to Marquette on E52. Off we went. Imagine our surprise when the Mississippi River was on our right side about 30 minutes into the ride. Lansing was the town north of Harpers Ferry. Oops, Check the map. Cross into Wisconsin and travel south on that side about an hour to Marquette. We ate brats along the river a Mc Gregor. Off to Elkader (Clayton) CH. I think this was the town where sirens were going off. 2 different ones about a mile from each other. For o LONG time. The court house was one on the ugliest. But people on the streets were nice to visit with. There was smoke coming from a flower shop downtown. Down to Manchester (Delaware). Denny talked to Val K. I got off and walked - getting sore. This is where we should have taken off for Dubuque (30 miles away). [We would have had time if we hadn't side toured to Lansing] Instead To West Union (Fayette). Then home to Burr Oak to grab a supper sandwich. We went to Craig's again. They weren't home so we called to ask if we could use their pickup to go see Ben and Becca's place. Great acreage for raising kids. Interesting shed that was built by previous owner for raising falcons, and now Ben uses it for raising pheasants. A science teacher friend has an incubator for hatching them in the spring then Ben takes over in the bird shed. Nice visit with C&M when we got back to the farm.

Friday July 30

Still rainy when we got up. What to do?? Denny said "Hi" to Linda before she left for work at 6:30. The "call" of the Grands lead us to Parkersburg. We didn't want to start out the weekend wet, so we took the pick up and trailer to Parkersburg and got there about 10. Missy and I headed to Cedar Falls to weigh me in at WW. Thanks Missy! Denny went and played with the kids. After lunch the rain let up. We headed to NE Iowa after giving rides to the Grands and filling with gas. We went to 5 court houses. Butler at Allison, Franklin at Hampton, Cerro Gordo at Mason City. MAN, WERE WE GLAD TO GET TO THE HARLEY DEALER IN M.C. After we filled with gas the engine was really missing. The spark plugs were bad and the bike was a chugging along. At the dealer ...new plug, no chug. :) Then to Floyd in Charles City and Chickasaw in New Hampton. We met Dean and Ardie at the White House in St. Lucas. Great food. After eating we headed to Craig's for the night. They had 3 Grands there. Ben and Becca went to Bluffton for a free concert. I didn't hear them come in and pick up the sleeping little ones.

Thurs July 29

(Well, it is actually August 9th right now. )I've got a lot of catching up to do. I'm quite sure my mom never got this far behind when she was journaling. I can't really remember what I did this day, but at night I know it was raining. Denny got off work. The plan was to ride to Harley to Manson or Parkersburg. We chose to take the pickup and trailer the bike to Manson because of the rain. It was good to visit with Linda. Dean was a a basketball camp in Des Moines. At the unit 15 sows went out. I think I worked on the bunk house some today also.