From my friend, Mary

Rules For Our Sons:
1. Never shake a man’s hand while sitting down.
2. There are plenty of ways to enter a pool. The stairs ain’t one.
3. The man at the grill is the closest thing we have to a king.
4. In a negotiation, never make the first offer.
5. Act like you’ve been there before. Especially in the end zone.
6. Request the late check-out.
7. When entrusted with a secret, keep it.
8. Hold your heroes to a higher standard.
9. Return a borrowed car with a full tank of gas.
10. Don’t fill up on bread.
11. When shaking hands, grip firmly and look him in the eye.
12. Don’t let a wishbone grow where a backbone should be.
13. If you need music on the beach, you’re missing the point.
14. Carry two handkerchiefs. The one in your back pocket is for you. The one in your breast pocket is for her.
15. You marry the girl, you marry her whole family.
16. Be like a duck. Remain calm on the surface and paddle like crazy underneath.
17. Experience the serenity of traveling alone.
18. Never be afraid to ask out the best looking girl in the room.
19. Never turn down a breath mint.
20. In a game of HORSE, sometimes a simple free throw will get ’em.
21. A sport coat is worth 1000 words.
22. Try writing your own eulogy. Never stop revising.
23. Thank a veteran. And then make it up to him.
24. If you want to know what makes you unique, sit for a caricature.
25. Eat lunch with the new kid.
26. After writing an angry email, read it carefully. Then delete it.
27. Ask your dad to play. He won’t let you win. You have to earn it.
28. See it on the big screen.
29. Give credit. Take the blame.
30. Write down your dreams.
31. ONLY THE REAL SURVIVE (You dont Work you dont Eat)
32. Look a person in his eyes when you're talking to them.
33. Walk closest to the curb when walking with a female.
34. Love your mother because you won't get another.
35. Say it with your chest all the time!
36. Never break your word.
37. Never use a urinal next to another man.
38. Learn how to cook. Feed yourself.
39. If you walk in your fathers' footsteps, make them bigger!
40. Be a father to your child one day.

It's finally happened...

...not like I was wishing for it, though. My sister, Lynn, who lives in a second floor apartment, has taken a tumble down the stairs. No, not her own stairs, but those at the house in Sheboygan where she takes care of her grands. She said she didn't count the steps as she came back down because Manny and Gabe were behind her and they were talking with her. She had bags of clothes in each hand, no hand on the rail. Oops! Fortunately, she landed on the bag on one side and didn't hit her head. Unfortunately, she did injure her ankle. I have been dreading this for years, fearful of her especially, but all my sisters and Linda who have stairs to deal with. I just hate this!!!

Gabe wanted to get her up right away but Lynn asked to just lie there a bit to access the situation first. I'm not sure how she did get up but she made it to the sofa with a gimpy ankle. Angelo came out of his room and Lynn said to him, "Grandma fell down the steps, Angelo..." He looked at her all sad like, then went to his room. Out he came with a blanket which he sniffed and said, "This doesn't smell too bad..." and covered her up. Then he went back and came out with a stuffed animal for her to hold. I know, I cried, too, when she told me this. 

As she drove home, she wondered if she should see a doctor for her ankle, and decided to go to the "hop" in clinic. It was from there that Jill had to go collect her, crutches and all, as she had a broken ankle. I don't know how in the world she'd have gotten up her stairs so I am glad she decided to stop at the clinic. Mom said Lynn could stay with her so that's where are at present. 

Jill will have two people to watch over now, though Kerry is there today. Kerry likes to cook and can hopefully make some meals ahead. Lynn is having quite a time figuring out the crutches. I know I would be in a fix if it was me. One of my friends who had a foot injury a while back used a kneeling walker that allowed her to get around all over, even down to the pool! I wonder if I could get one of those for Lynn to use instead of the crutches.

When I talked to Mom about her 'sick girlie' (what my Grandma Sickles used to call us when we showed up sick at her house), Mom asked, "Well, when are you coming?" Oh, boy, that's just what they need, another body in that apartment! I offered to send food (Amazon), help find medical equipment, get meals arranged (I do have a long reach, you know!) but those offers were declined. Mom said they'll manage and I am dying to know how, but, oh well, I offered! 

Lynn does have a daughter who lives in town and I do hope that she is helpful to the ladies. Lynn is the one who normally handles the driving and taking of Mom, since she is retired. Jill is still working, running the ice cream parlor, so has less available time. Lynn has to see the ortho doctor next week and find out what needs to be done, if anything, other than the boot she is already sporting. Glad Mom has a fleet of walkers at her disposal!

Gasp! and Longing

We have a new pastor, Newlin Schafer, at our church. He was installed on the 16th of the month and has already preached for us three times, once prior to the official start of his service. This week his doctrinal word to examine was 'longing'. He spoke about the various things people long for, in his case, longing for the birth of their next baby, and so on. Pastor also mentioned about longing for people to come, even standing on one's tip toes to see down the road for the company to arrive. Yes, that's me, alright! I get so excited when company is coming.

A couple weeks ago Mom and I were talking on a Sunday afternoon. I asked her about church and the hymns they sang, etc. and also about Bible study. The subject for summer is taking a walk through the Supplement hymnal, examining the hymns. When I was there in May, we looked at "In Christ Alone", fleshing out the doctrine found in the text of the hymn. The hymn Mom and the class looked at that particular day she declared was from Advent season, but I couldn't find it in the CWS. I did find it later in the next section of the hymnal but that's okay. For our discussion, and theirs, one of the words they fleshed out was 'gasp'. What was something that made a person gasp? Seeing a mouse? No, we're talking about good gasps here. 

I came up with seeing something beautiful, scenery or landscape (the Amalfi coastline came to mind) or a garment that just strikes you right. Mom said looking at a baby, the parents gasp in amazement. All good things. I remember gasping and then bursting into tears when I saw the view from kitchen through the family room and porch to the lake when I toured that home I bought on Doctors Lake. That is a true GASP!!!

Then, I suggested, "Company coming!" and she disputed that. Nope, not gasp-worthy in her book. Of course, I didn't back down and insisted I DO gasp when company comes, that I love to entertain and enjoy people. Mom's answer was, "Well, what if a person doesn't want any company? What if it's not someone you want to visit?" Oh, that just made me so sad to even think that, but she was right---not gasp-worthy if you don't want them to come. 

May I long for the coming of my houseguests and visitors and gasp when they arrive! And may I long for the coming of the Lord to take us all home to Him. I know for sure that is gasp-worthy, with the trumpet sounds and angels and singing and seeing Christ face-to-face. "...what bliss beyond compare..." GASP!!!

Love when my friends meet!

My day began with a last meal with Terri for a long while as she is leaving tomorrow morning for a vacation to Indiana with Charles. His family lives there and other than traveling up for his sister's funeral, they haven't spent 'good' time together. When Terri and I are together, it's also a good time. She brought Justin a funny birthday card about being 30, with a gift card inside. Nice! 

We enjoyed our breakfasts, Justin having his meal and I had my new favorite breakfast sandwich. Terri mixed it up today with a different choice than the Fruity Nutty Waffle she likes to get. She was planning to go see Gretchen one more time before her vacation. She is a doll! We hugged and kissed, then parted company, and headed back home.

I worked at my desk for a while before heading to the pool to have lunch with Debbie and her granddaughter, Violet. Dick is gone on a golf outing so the 'girls' were enjoying a pool day. Debbie has completed her radiation treatments following the lumpectomy and still has to protect the site of the treatment which is raw yet like a sunburn. She and I sat in the shade under the umbrella and watched Violet play in the baby pool. 

Something so cool happened, though. My new 'friend' from the neighborhood, also named Deborah, was talking to me from the pool, telling me that the Chef had hired one of her boys from the school where she teaches 'at risk' boys. I was glad to help facilitate that and glad that she shared the news with me. I, then, introduced the two Deborahs to each other and she joined our table. They had so much to talk about since Debbie runs the Teen Court in Clay County and is always looking for participants and the other Deborah is looking for outlets to help her students. LOVE IT!!! 

They are making plans to get together and see what can be worked out between the school and Teen Court, and Deborah might even get to help Debbie as a volunteer. The students who help with Teen Court can earn their service hours this way and learn much in the process. I am so excited for these ladies, for their efforts on behalf of the kids, and for The Club for extending the opportunity to these kids who are trying to get straightened out. God's blessings abounding!!!

More WI photos from May trip

Lori drove over to Manitowoc on Mother's Day, arriving barely in time to meet the rest of us for lunch. (Mornings are not her friend.) She brought with her a freshly baked rhubarb pie. She served it to those gathered at Mom's house that afternoon, and ran out of forks, so I got the giant serving fork to eat with! 

For the duration of our meal at Silver Valley, a buffet for Mother's Day, Mom had all her daughters together. Right after this photo was taken, Kerry had to head for home to get some sleep before going to work that night. Lori and me in the back row, up on the hearth, with Kerry, Lynn, and Jill in the next row, and Mom up front. She never wants to get her picture taken but I insisted. We have so few photos of us all together and time is running short! 

The day after Mother's Day, some of us went to eat lunch at Late's Drive In, my first time there since remodeling was completed. The food was excellent! Enjoy my perch sandwich greatly!

Linda had surgery on Monday, had to recuperate at home. Lori needed Internet so she drove us over to see Linda and to tap into her Internet. Linda's cat was guarding her so she didn't move around too much, very territorial! Lori at last got the information she needed to send off Mom's DNA sample to do her Ancestry thing. This should be fun to see how Mom's test comes back. Oddly, two sisters who did the tests did not show much German at all, even when all the family history says Germany...

Here are Lynn's three grandsons, getting so tall and handsome. Gabe is the oldest, then Manny just a little more than a year younger. Up front, that little cutie pie, is Angelo, who is going into 1st grade this next year. Love their chin dimples!

Jill and I went to eat at the newer Mexican restaurant in town while Lynn and Mom attended a piano recital in which Gabe and Manny were participating. We had a very nice evening, and saw some customers Jill had taken care of in the parlor earlier in the day, a group of fellows on a trip. That was kind of cool. They were so nice.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Mom. She was laughing at something Linda said and I caught her without Mom even knowing it. Love the naturalness of it. 

On my flight back home, I had a sweet little guy sitting next to me. His mom and younger sister were across the aisle. He kept himself busy with a video game but after a while he got sleepy and took a nap. Little by little his shiny little head found my arm and then rested on it. I had my arm somewhat raised to support his head so it wouldn't hurt his neck. The mom looked over and saw this and started to say something but I motioned to her that it was fine. Little did she know how much I was loving this, and how much effort it took on my part to not stroke his hair....

Wisconsin trip in photos

From May 6 to the 20th I spent time in Manitowoc with my family and friends. Part of that time included worship, Bible study, school activities for my nephews, and yes, even dining out! 

This Sunday was Examination/Confirmation Sunday. 9 students answered questions and gave witness of their faith based on the Catechismal studies and did a fine job of it. 

Linda and I had lunch together at the Courthouse Pub on Monday. We had a great time together! She ate all her salad, but I couldn't eat all my burger and fries. I'd rather talk, anyway

I absolutely refused to take my coat to WI but fortunately Mom had one of my 'old' jackets in the closet yet. Needed it almost every day! Linda and I went shopping and such in Two Rivers and I found this 'original' bubbler in Schroeder's Dept. Store. Had to take a sip!

Linda and I also went shopping and to lunch in Green Bay one day. Oh, my!!!  Our friend, Debbie H, had told us about a big sale happening at CJ Banks and I really cleaned up. People who have to look at me will be glad to see me wearing some new tops. Once back in Manitowoc, Lynn and I went shopping at Kohl's on her day off and I got a few more tops there. Such good sales---can it really be end-of-season this early in May?? At the checkout in Kohls I was struck by this display of items from the Golden Book series. When Justin was little, he enjoyed Golden Books and one particular video, "The Great Harbor Rescue" which I could put on twice for him after we got home from work/day care. In that period of time, I somehow magically threw our dinner together. Those days are a blur but we still have our VHS tape of 'the get up and go' movie!

Jill's son, Jamie, messaged Lynn while we were at the Coffee Shop the Saturday before Mother's Day to report his boys and he were coming up for a surprise visit. We were to not say anything and they would surprise her at Grandma K's. Jill wept when she saw them in Mom's kitchen and put big hugs on them. Jamie could only stay the day but that was nice that he came. Later Lynn had her grandsons come and they went to play in the park across the street from Mom and Jill's building. It's not often the cousins get to see each other, much else play, so this was great!

Look at that shiny stove!

When I got home from WI, this is how I found my stove. Rarely do we/I see the top of it and he had it all polished up. The counter tops were equally cleaned off and polished using Clorox wipes. 

Last August I sent this photo of our stove top to Terri's sister, Gayle, after we had a discussion about this. She is quite handy in the kitchen. I explained that my stove is seldom used for cooking. Storage? Yes! Cooking? Less!

Now you can see why I was quite impressed to see my range looking so brightly polished and cleared away of boxes!