We did it! We pulled off the surprise!!!

No one blabbed, no one let it slip---amazing! Our family successfully pulled off a surprise birthday party for my sister, Lynn, who turned 60 last Monday. She never even guessed or was suspicious that all (almost all...) my sisters were in town, not to mention Justin coming up for no other reason than to visit with me! We did it! Of course she wept a bit, some of us helped her cry, because she was so blown away. Lori gets the credit of putting it together, not without a few bugs, because she lives across the state and was not around ahead of time to manage things. Other than a few communication glitches (always a problem!), Lynn was surprised by a roomful of family, friends, and church family wishing her well on her big 6-0 birthday!

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Her gifts included gift cards to various places around town, many of her favorites, plus a printer so she can print her photos. Tommy and Linda got her a toot-toot horn for her bike, plus reflector lights and headlight so she can ride safely at night. Lisa's boys made Grandma Lynn molds of their hands and feet, a true treasure! We got to see our aunty and cousins, and some of the attendees were able to make use of the swimming pool, including Lori, who opted to jump in, clothing and all. David made us all laugh by speculating whether or not she had a "back-up" bra along or not. Oh, that guy, he's always good for a chuckle!

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After the party, some of us adjourned to Mom's to play a game of Apples to Apples, including my auntie, Marie, who is in her high 80's. She's a real good sport. My cousin, Barb, was here, too, which it all the more fun. After folks had headed for home, Justin and Alayna made a quick trip over to the Green Street to get some good WI perch and cheese curds, because Justin didn't want to eat the same thing he had for lunch. Is he spoiled or what????

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Now the house has quieted and I am feeling ready for sleep, too. We are going to early church in the morning and then to Bible study afterward. Justin and I will pack our stuff before heading over to see Arno and the rest of the Hackmann's. We might have a quick dinner with Nancy and the kids before we drive down to Milwaukee to our hotel and to watch the Packer game. I'd rather drive down the night before than break our necks in the morning, wee hours of the a.m., before catching our flight. The hotel cost is about half the cost of changing one of the tickets so it's worth it to me. And a good night's sleep? Priceless!!!!!

Good news! The sun is out and it's getting warmer!

...and all is right with the world! Wow, something must have happened to me if I am considering 71 degrees above zero to be "warm"! It's a far cry from the dreary, rainy weather this past weekend, residual effects of Hurricane Ike.

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Speaking of Ike, Monday I got a phone call from Rosalie, my friend in Houston, and she gave me the brief rundown of their situation. The worst of it right now is being without electricity and as far as damages go, part of their "old" fence came down, so no major losses. Once the power comes back, she'll be good to go again.

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My luncheon with Linda and Joanie yesterday was wonderful, and typical, with the occasional tears running down our faces mixed with heavy doses of laughter. And, of course, the food was great, such good onion rings! Both ladies had appointments so they went their ways and I came back to Mom's.

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Later in the afternoon, Linda came back here to watch "The Bucket List" with Mom and me. Nearly 3/4 of the way through Alayna popped in and watched the end with us. I guess Tuesday was a good crying day because all of us were weeping when it ended. Lynn arrived just as we finished watching and was glad to have missed it. She rode her bike down to Mom's so had to go home on the bike and I picked her up as we drove to Covered Wagon for supper. Mom opted to stay home and have a cookie and milk instead of going with us. We brought a piece of pumpkin pie back for her, as requested. She had thought about going to a Visitation Committee meeting but since Alayna borrowed the car, she had no ride. Instead of asking others for a lift and not being all that excited about venturing out Mom opted to stay in.

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After dinner, Lynn and I went shopping at Shopko. We each came away with a couple of clothing items, Lynn's being dramatically discounted. My cousin, Cheryl, works in the optical department so we had a nice chat with her before checking out. By 8:00 pm I'd dropped Lynn off at home and was back at Mom's. I was so weary, mostly my eyes, probably from all the weeping, so went to my room about 9:00 pm. I talked on the phone with my sister-in-law for a bit, making plans to meet for breakfast in Valders, where she lives.

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I got settled in for the night, finding "Seinfeld" on at the odd time of 10:00 pm. I always forget to take the time change into account here, being an hour earlier than in Florida. The episode was the famous Kenny Roger's Roasters one, we'd just spoken about it Sunday when at breakfast with Jachimstal's. Matt is a fan of the program and he referenced "Roasters" as being a favorite. I had to laugh once more when Kramer excitedly told Jerry about his rods and cones being out of whack! Love that! He poured tomato juice on his corn flakes because he couldn't tell it was red. I fell asleep before the next episode began so don't know what I missed!

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This a.m. Justin called between job sites and we had a nice chat. I had checked with the airlines about perhaps changing our departure time on Monday, since he dropped his class that day. It proved to be too expensive, $180 per ticket plus any fare changes, so we've opted to stay overnight in a hotel in MKE the night before in order to catch our flight on Monday. When he left here after his grandma's funeral, his ride was late in arriving and he barely made it to his gate in MKE, and then discovered there was a delay of some kind, requiring him to make other travel arrangements. He absolutely hated all that stress of getting there in time, and then to have the mess at the airport.......We'll handle it our way this go-round and not allow for any drama.

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I've heard from a couple people from church and the condo since I've been away, which is heart warming. Martie called this a.m. so we chatted awhile before I left to have breakfast with Nancy. We are going to take an art class together in October and get back on track with our painting. Her work schedule has changed so our usual day together is not going to cut it right now. She's involved in a Bible study at her church about the Psalms, which sounds quite interesting. I hate missing the Bible studies at my church, but go with Mom, Lynn, Alayna, and Linda on Sundays.

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I got to see Nancy's home in Valders before we had breakfast next door at The Diner. Yup, that's the name of it! She's going through some stuff right now so this was good for her to have an ear and to receive some counsel, whether wanted or not! After leaving Nancy, I went to the local lumber yard to see some friends of mine, one of whom was our partner in Florida when we first moved down there. Nancy's cousin works in the office there too so it was old home week for me. The owners of the yard are regulars at the Green Street so I see them often, at least when I'm up here and at Green Street! Justin wants to go to Green Street on Friday when he gets here so I'll probably see them once more before we leave!

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Off to have an early dinner with my friend, Dolly, who is coming to Manty to see her chiropractor. It couldn't have worked out any better for us for getting together. I am looking forward to some more perch and eagerly looking forward to spending time with my friend, Dolly!

"I've been sitting up waitin' for my sugar to show...."

...not that I'd refer to John and Mona my "sugar" but we are sitting here waiting for them to get back from New York. Allie, too, of course. I hope she had a marvelous time in "the city", at the Ball, and at West Point with her brother. Unfortunately they didn't get to see any of the commemoration events on 9-11 due to their commute from Newburg where the hotel was located. Too bad about that, but at least they had lovely weather.

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This morning Nancy brought Arno down to First German while I collected Sharon from her place to attend the funeral service of a cousin of my mother-in-law's, Milda. She was 93 years old and still looked beautiful. My mom walked to church from her house and sat with us. She said that no matter what, when she'd call on Milda in the hospital or in the nursing home, she always had every hair in place and a smile on her face. It was difficult for Arno since so many folks knew him but he couldn't see their faces well enough nor was it conducive to loud discussions about who's who when in the church. If we'd stayed for the luncheon, he might have had more opportunity to greet and remember people but he was afraid about down going the stairs to the Heritage Hall for the fellowship following the committal service.

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Mom has told me how wonderful the Pastor's funeral sermons are and I got to hear for myself today. Mom and I separately told Pastor Hahm how much the sermons mean and he told Mom, "I'd better go and polish it up a bit!" We sang hymns we loved, especially one I've chosen for my own funeral, "For All the Saints". Beautiful and full of meaning. The daughter of the deceased greeted me as we came through the line of mourners, remembering who I was (am) and about my little boy who died. Wow, I was impressed by her remembering this, as evidently her mom must have spoken of it or something. The daughter looked familiar to me but was not someone who'd I'd expect to know about Timmy or me. Nice.

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I also got to talk with the morticians, a father/son team who took care of my mother-in-law's funeral arrangements last year, plus I've known the father all my life. Dennis made beautiful bookmarks for us after Timmy died and sent us a thoughtful card. His son, Andrew, remembered me from Lucile's funeral and greeted me with a hug when we met in the hall at church. He barely looks old enough to drive and yet he's a mortician, go figure! His dad stands 9 feet tall and has to lean way over to hug me, but did so anyway, saying, "It's great to see you, Little Lady!" When Mom arrived at the church, he said, "Kim's in there already." Don't you love it?

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My friend and former classmate (actually 2 years ahead of me), Joanie, was just coming out from the church and was quite shaken up after greeting the mourners. She'd recently lost her own mom plus attended other similar funerals at this church this year. Linda J., Joanie, and I are going to lunch on Tuesday so we can chat under different circumstances. Linda has an appointment in T'rivers in the afternoon so we're meeting half way in between at The Oar House. Doesn't that sound yummy?

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Nancy and I took our charges to the Four Seasons Restaurant for lunch. No steps and brightly lit, making it easier for Arno to see and navigate. Sharon, Arno and I enjoyed our perch sandwiches while Nancy slobbered her way through a gyro. She wishes she'd had the perch instead as her sandwich wasn't quite what she thought it would be. Both Arno and Sharon cleaned their plates, with Sharon eating not only her food, but half of mine as well. Since she can't see at all, I had put my fries on her plate, telling her I was doing it, and she ate them all. Arno ate his own meal plus some applesauce and three people's tomatoes. He was the designated tomato eater. The perch came on hard rolls and were so delicious, almost makes me want to go back and have another one tomorrow! We came back to Arno's afterward and just sat around chatting all afternoon. Sharon rarely gets to visit at her former home so it was nice to have her here with her Dad for a while. I took her back to Hanna Home after dinner time so she'll have a snack before going to bed, to make up for the missed meal. Her tummy was still full from all that lunch!

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This morning I woke early and then went back to sleep again. If you are like me, that's when the most crazy dreaming takes place. Sometimes those dreams will stick with me all day long, making me wonder if indeed it was only a dream. My dream today was something I've lived through once already and waking up didn't it stop then, and it's hard to shake now. It must be from watching all those programs on the Lifetime channel at Mom's. Justin doesn't like for me to watch that channel because much of the subject matter is, shall we say?, too real. Those dreams make me wonder if I should let myself fall back to sleep when I awaken so early or if I should just take my chances on the subject matter I'll dream about....

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"I'm just sittin' here waiting for my sugar to show, listening to the sirens and the radio. Said he'd be here over three hours ago, waiting for his car, climbing, climbing the hill...." "It always seems so righteous at the start, when there's so much laughter, when there's so much spark, when there's so much sweetness in the dark...waiting for his car, climbing, climbing the hill...." Joni Mitchell--Court and Spark album

Hanging with the Family

On this rainy Saturday afternoon, the house is quiet except for the TV searching for a program to watch. It’s been raining all night and so far, all day, but it did not prevent us from heading to Cleveland for breakfast with Lisa and family. Gabe appeared to have grown 2” since they were at my house in August---wow!, is that a month ago? Not quite a month ago.

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Lisa at first wished to meet at Perkins as they were going to the zoo afterward but since it’s been raining, they chose a place closer to their home. We love this restaurant in the orchard, charming, with delicious food. I ordered a single pancake with ham and fried potatoes. When it came, I laughed because the pancake nearly covered the entire plate. I am SO glad I didn’t order two or more! Alayna, Grandma K, and Lynn were part of the group as well, all enjoying their meals. Tonight is Lisa’s class reunion so they’ll be heading this way later on to drop the boys at Lynn’s and then proceeding downtown to the gathering. I’m happy they are going and hope they have a wonderful time. I’m sure Lisa will look lovely and not aged at all in 15 years!

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All of us are sort of weary today, probably from the dreary, wet weather but I like to believe it’s from the late night some of us had, tearing it up at the scrapbook store ‘til all hours. After meeting Tommy and Linda at the Green Street, a group of six of us managed to get a table in a relatively short time due in part to my calling ahead in the afternoon. Even though the hostess said there are no reservations on Fridays, I asked her to please make a note that I was coming at 6:00 pm with six people. Sure enough, as Tommy walked into the bar, we were led to our table! He asked how we got a table so quickly and I just smiled and winked at him. Tommy said, “I should have known.” We were wedged into very tight quarters but managed to eat and enjoy, for many of us, the perch dinners. Most, most scrumptious and of course, humorous, since Tommy was with us!
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After dinner, Lynn, Linda, Alayna, and I went to the scrapbook store and were warmly greeted. The place was mobbed and Lynn had a hard time finding a place to park due to all the cars. This was her first scrapbook outing and didn’t really know what to expect. There had to be 20 or 30 tables, all occupied so the proprietors went into their kitchen and came out with a large, long conference table. Before we were fully set-up and such, a couple ladies were leaving and offered us their spot, which put us into the heart of the room rather than off on the side where they’d put us. By the time we left, the extra table and other ones were all taken and in use. Lynn got some stickers and an archivers’ pen to journal in the album I’d given her of Gabe’s photos and she busily made out a wish-list of supplies she needed. Linda has invited both Lynn and Alayna to do this more often and so it sounds as though a plan was made, and another person is captured in the web of scrapbooking!!!!!
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Alayna and I came back to a darkened Grandma’s house, finding her truly fast asleep already at 11:35. Alayna went in and out of her Grandma’s room a couple times and she never stirred so pulled the door closed so we wouldn’t disturb her sleep. I went right to bed but Lani was going to read for a bit before going to sleep. Only once did I wake in the wee hours to go wee! It’s my policy to never check the clock when I get up because it sets an artificial alarm clock in my head, which would not be good. (Guess I’m like Kramer who doesn’t use a watch either! He judges time by the sun, and is usually off only by an hour or two!) When it comes to waking up in the morning, I prefer to fly by the seat of my pants, except for those occasions when I am actually going to fly! Since we were meeting folks for breakfast this a.m., I did get up at a reasonably early time in order for us all to get in and out of the bathroom, loaded into the car, and on our way. We did arrive exactly on time, rare for me, which would be considered “late” by Mom’s standards!
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At this moment I am waiting to hear from Barb about when they are getting to Arno’s house to relieve Nancy. If I want to spend time with them at all, I must go out there this afternoon or evening, as they leave for vacation tomorrow after church. Harv had to work today and then they are heading to Manitowoc from Green Bay. I am going to head out there soon in order to connect to the Internet and launch this posting!

I am so jealous of John and Mona and Allie!

As I sit here watching the coverage on the news about the terrorist attacks in our country on 9-11-01, the Hackmann's are actually in NYC today. I hope they got to see the parachutists fall from the sky, carrying the American flag as they land in Battery Park. The coverage is going between all the sites where the planes hit, not only focusing on New York. I watched the dedication of the memorial at the Pentagon where the military guys ceremonially removed the blue coverings from the benches which are symbolically arranged according to the ages of those lost. The smallest child was three years old (Mannie's age) with the oldest man being 71.

I'm also wondering if Ellen and Billy Powell are still in NYC, since Skynyrd appeared on Fashion Rocks Tuesday night. I saw Billy but not very much, his disadvantage is being behind the piano all the time. At least we could hear him playing!

The anchorman just commented that even though it's been 7 years, it still seems very fresh and raw in the survivors' minds. Let me tell you, this is absolutely true when you lose a loved one. Time really means nothing as it passes, at least this is so in my case. The families of those who died in the Towers can sign the girders which will go into the construction of the new structures. I love that idea, they will always know their name and the name of the lost family member or friend is in that building.

I just received a call from the campaign leader for Diane Hutchings who is inviting me to a 'thank you' luncheon for support during her run for office. It had to be postponed when earlier planned because of TS Faye, and I'd had to decline anyway because of having company that week. Diane was saying "thanks" before even knowing the outcome of the election, the dear that she is! Now it's scheduled for when I'm home and will be able to attend, plus I can bring a guest. I might see if Justin wishes to come or Jennifer. Great! A luncheon!!!

We had a bit of a restless night here at Arno's as he needed to take a number of late night strolls to the bathroom. It's not that's he is noisy at all, but I found myself aware of his making the way to the bathroom, which is on the far end of the house. Even though there are two baths on this level, he has customarily used the half bath as his own, which has the plastic raised seat attached for ease of getting off and on. Complete with handle bars! His bout with diarrhea continues almost daily so he uses his walker because of feeling a bit weak. Certainly it must be draining on his system, in so many ways. I am encouraging his water drinking in order to maintain hydration and he's fairly compliant about doing that.

Because of feeling somewhat weakened, he opted to forgo his shower this a.m. which I felt was also wise. The last thing we needed was for him to take a tumble in the shower or bathroom. I made his breakfast for him and he ate heartily, concerned that I wasn't also eating with him. I explained being on a totally different schedule----all those years visiting us in FL and they never really seemed to catch on that we didn't follow the same schedule or routine they did.

Many of the nearly 20 years we've been in FL, my in-laws would come down to visit. They had a rough time figuring out we don't really have time to sit and enjoy breakfast, not with getting to work, school, and/or day care. This is still true today as he expected me to have breakfast at 7:30 in the morning! These were farm folks, getting up to do their chores at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m., and then coming in to have breakfast. We do our chores well after breakfast instead of before, or just no breakfast at all. It doesn't pay to argue or discuss this any more, being a moot point.

It makes me sad to watch the replays of the terror attacks and the fall of the building, but not so much to make me stop. I bought a bunch of DVDs about the WTC and the whole scene, and still want to get the picture book which captured the events of the day, and after.

What gets to my soul is listening to the guys, mostly guys, mourn the loss of their wife, or not knowing what happened to their spouse. This really affects me, because I didn't have that. Having your friends love and care for you is not quite the same as having a husband or wife searching, tearing things apart, looking for you, praying the loved one is found alive. It's the same feeling I'd have if I had to risk life and limb to get to Justin, doing whatever I had to do to rescue him or help in some way. At least he's got that!

Copied from Jami's blogsite "Cat's Meow"..........

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

"Personal blogs I like
It's strange how I've happened upon some of the blogs I now follow. Kim, of "A Day in the Life" found me by doing a blogger search of interests for "The Bucket List." Seems we both had that movie listed as a favorite. She looked through the bloggers, found me, and voila! A friendship was born. I cannot wait to someday visit her in gorgeous Orange (Park), Fla. You should check out her blog sometime to see the awesome place (and home) she lives in. I think it would be like heaven on earth.

One thing I really like about Kim's blog is its down-to-earth homey-ness. It's friend and family-oriented, and she regularly mentions the names of her friends and family members who read her blog. Very neat. I think that draws her readers in ... especially when she mentions their names!"

I can't tell you how tickled I am to see this!!!!!!

Wednesday at Grandpa's

Here I am, sitting at the kitchen table at Arno's house, Grandpa, to some. He's off to bed already but not nearly as early as he usually goes for the night. He's been taking Imodium for his recurring problem and I hope he has a restful sleep and not need to get up to use the potty too often. He's concerned about signing some documents in the morning that an insurance representative is bringing over, even seemed to dream about while dozing in the chair. Every now and again, he'd ask me about it, thinking the TV program was discussing his insurance situation. These papers have something to do with his daughter and not him, but he is certainly anxious to get it resolved. Morning won't come too soon for him, or, the rep can't come too soon!

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This time change thing messes with my head, as I couldn't grasp that it's nearly time for the local news to come on already. In my time zone, the news won't come on until 11:00 pm, which is sort of a signal to go to bed. I am going to set my alarm to get me up about 6:30 a.m. or so, in order to avoid having the alarm on the computer go off which announces its time for Arno to take his medicine. It sounds like an air raid siren going off in the kitchen and gives me quite the start, even if I know it's going to blow!

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Mom and I went to breakfast with her former co-workers this morning, where I was able to have my favorite potato pancakes. Yummy! I also worked with some of these ladies so it wasn't totally weird to be with them, and one of them is an aunt to my sister-in-law, Mona. Small town, small world. Afterwards, Mom and I went to Office Max to see if I could get copies of the scrapbook pages. She opted to wait in the car, not realizing how long I might be. Once the person in the copy center got me started, I was able to make copies, although not full-sized, of each page, for Justin, and for anyone else who wants one.

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After the copy center we went back to her apartment and then just hung out until it was time for me to leave for Arno's. We watched "What Not to Wear" first, however, a new one for me. So many were re-runs for me lately so it was a breath of fresh air to see a "new to me" episode. Harv called to report they were going to the cemetery to walk around a bit so I waited a while before over. On the way out there, I stopped at The Penguin for a couple perch dinners for our supper. Boy, those cheese curds were delicious! Well, I had to have something to tide me over until dinner time, didn't I???

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