Some more pictures for your enjoyment!

Here I am at the Green Street Tavern with two of my friends, Dolly and Wendy. Dolly and I have been friends since 4th grade at First German, and Wendy a classmate through high school. Her locker was adjacent to mine and we got to see lots of each other. Dolly's and Wendy's lives have overlapped through the years, even their jobs matched! Dolly and I stay in touch now on a regular basis, and I will with Wendy now, too, since she is on Facebook! The ladies' cheeks are red from being warm, notice mine are not!!

Due to the inclement weather in the forecast (i.e. cold and rain) the church picnic was held inside at the school instead of at the area park. No worries! The food was still delicious and the company magnificent! Mom is shown here enjoying some of the tasty offerings from the grille, and my plate is sitting right in front of Tommy. He is eyeing it closely but did not mess with my food! There were yummy desserts to be purchased and the Hmong members of the congregation made their own version of picnic food. I had a very good egg roll, which reminded me of my friend, Mai-ly, who moved to WA. I want another one, please!

Kevin Buch received a lovely watch as he leaves his role as principal, a thank you from the congregation. Kevin has a hard time expressing himself without becoming quite emotional, even having to pre-record his messages to the graduates as they leave him for high school. This time the man next to him had to read his message as Kevin was too choked up to do so. Afterwards I gave him a big hug and he said to me, "I wish you lived closer!" That was my gift from him! We share something---both us losing children from our lives, which is why we are so connected, I guess. Kevin is not going far, only changing schools, not congregations!

Tommy, Linda, and Lynn are enjoying their meals, inside rather than outside. It was so cool that folks kept their jackets on even when in the gymnasium!

Not only did Kevin receive a thank you gift, but Evangelist Nau Lee recently graduated from the seminary and is officially a pastor. Or rather, a shepherd. The gift presented to him by the congregation is known as "The Shepherd's Prayer", as he is now the shepherd among the Hmong! At a recent meeting, the congregation decided to put in a Call for him to continue serving the members of First German. We pray the assignment committee opts to keep him at FG. His wife nicely invited all those in attendance to come to their home on Saturday for a party!

Kevin was also the choir director at First German and as a sort of tribute to him, Kari lead the choir in the "First Song of Isaiah" whose refrain goes "Surely it is God who saves me, I will trust in Him and not be afraid...." Lynn is wearing her purple and blue jacket, 3rd from left, and Alayna is two people down in a green top, front row. I could see Kevin looking down from the balcony, watching and listening as this larger than usual choir sang praise to God during Sunday worship. Kevin trained them well! Surely it IS God who saves us!

Some of the long awaited photos

These photos were taken at Lori and David's house the weekend of Dustin's graduation party. Jill was not able to come for this event due to working in the ice cream parlor and needing the time off for Jamie's wedding in a couple weeks. Four of us girls were together, though, plus the nieces and some nephews. It was a great great time! Lots of laughs and wonderful fun with Lori and David's friends, and oh yes, Dustin's friends, too! I have no photos of Dustin somehow.......Enjoy!!!

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Mom lent her hand at cutting up the fruit after they arrived Saturday morning for the party. Of course, she was tired from the early departure and four hour car ride so she did not have to run the steps to help carry all the food out and get things set up. Mom was allowed to supervise from the kitchen table!

Kerry was a big help in the kitchen and with getting things set up. Kerry really loved Lori's decorating, since she had not seen the family room addition, garage addition or the new kitchen. Kerry is quite the go-getter, like my sis-in-law, Mona. She got busy with the fruit cutting along with Mom and Lynn, and then, being able-bodied, could run up and down the stairs with things for the party. While they did that, I made the coffee and lemonade, just like we have at church! Plus I cleaned up in the kitchen right behind all the workers. That I can do!

Much to my delight, Kerry came along to Dusty's graduation! She is not much of a car traveler but made the exception in this case. She said she had not been to Lori's since she was pregnant with Alayna, which was 18 years ago! Welcome back, Kerry!

The highlight for me was having my friends, Jerry and Judy Rusert, attend the gala event. They got to meet my peeps and be met by them. They were a hit! Mom approved of my friend choice, which I am glad about, because I would hate to not have them in my life any longer! Jerry forgot his hat so Lori went inside and came up with one for him. He looks so cute! Lori wants to get in touch with Judy some day and talk about me, so I am supposed to share their information. Let me think about that for a minute............nah, Lori would not throw me under the bus!

David had two of his bands scheduled to perform, the first one being "Holy Crap" a.k.a. "Saints and Sinners". Later on, Rose River, the group which performs at local bistros and events played and did a wonderful job. David's sister and a nephew joined the band as singers on a couple songs. In this shot are Kevin on drums, David on guitar, Lynn with tamborine, Sue on guitar, Jim and Tim behind them. Part of their banner appears in the foreground. Many of them go to church together too, which means they have overlapping connections. As night fell they had to quit playing as their hands were freezing!

All things are now ready, so Lori can finally sit down and take a break before the party gets completely underway. She had David cook the meat the night before so that would not take time on the day of the party. The ladies took care of preparing the veggie and fruit trays and some friends brought bars for dessert. There was also Dusty's graduation cake to be enjoyed. I have no decent photo of Dustin from his party somehow....He WAS there, I saw him!

Lori picked up a few toys and games for the kids to play with, not really anticipating that the teens would have more fun with the whiffle ball and plastic bat than the little ones would! Alayna's hair just glistens in the sun. Later in the day, we would gather around the firepit and hear some more music and warm ourselves, as the temps dropped as the day went on. Lori pre-heated our (Kerry's and mine) room and the bed for me using Dustin's heated mattress pad. Such a high-maintenance girl I am!

Standing around, watching the kids play are Kerry, Lynn, Mom and Lisa, who is hamming it up! All those in the photo have their hands in their pockets or on their hips....related? I think so!

Our hosts for the big graduation celebration, Lori and David. Aren't they a handsome pair?

Back a few days....

Thursday of last week Alayna and I drove down to pick up Justin from the airport. We were a few minutes late getting him as I waited for her to get out of her last class. It worked out okay because his flight was delayed leaving Charlotte, due to delays in Phillie. Why one affects the other is beyond me but I guess air traffic control knows what they are doing. One can certainly see why that industry is so high-stressed! I had gotten us each a burger from Late's plus an order of fried cheese curds for Justin, as he requested. Yes, they would be cold by the time he got them but he was fine with it.

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Once we had him collected and I hugged the stuffings out of him, we headed toward the Mall to get his tux. After we stopped at one Men's Warehouse, we realized that there was yet another in the Mall next door, not this free-standing shop we spotted. I just knew that was too easy! His suit fit perfectly, except for the white shirt being incredibly blousy on him. The shirts are sold according to neck size, not waist size, and while the collar could have been a bit tighter, he was able to keep himself dressed all night long at the reception due to the free fitting collar. Our lunch was enjoyed at the Cheesecake Factory and then we headed for home. Alayna had to be a work yet that afternoon and I think we did well with our time management.

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Justin snoozed in Mom's recliner while I ran over to John and Mona's to get my earthenware jug from them. John, Allie, and JR were planning to have dinner with us at the Green Street but had to cancel because Allie had blood work in the a.m. and had to fast for 12 hours. Since we were going to church first, it was going to be too late for them to eat. John had to work in the morning and likes to be in bed rather early so instead, JR picked up Justin after dinner (9:30 pm when we finished eating) and off they went. I felt badly about Hackmann's not being with us but it simply could not be helped. On the bright side, we did get to sing "Lift High the Cross" during worship, singing with the pipe organ cannot be beat!

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Justin came in rather late and simply wreaked of smoke. I had tried to pull the trundle bed out for him but gave up, so he had to yank it out from under my bed when he came home. After all that, I had trouble falling back to sleep. If it was from the smell, or being disturbed in my sleeping or being hot, whatever it was, I could not fall back to sleep. On my trip home, I realized that I had not a decent night's sleep since Thursday night! And now I must adjust my sleep clock to eastern time again....at least it is not from Italian or Greek time, which is much more difficult by far!

My eyes are still tired, but I am awake!

I'm HOME! Having been a traveling or vacationing girl since May 22nd, it feels good to hear the washer swishing my clothes from the trip, knowing they will go into my own closet instead of the suitcase!

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Justin and I made it to the MKE airport, after returning the tuxedo to the store at Mayfair Mall, with plenty of time to spare. We enjoyed a nice lunch in the brewhouse upstairs at Mitchell Field, where I had a bowl of WI cheese soup and he, a Cuban sandwich. Oh, if only it had been a Friday for our travel----I could have had perch! Our flights went well, no trouble making connections and Justin dropped me off right around 1:00 a.m. I crawled into bed, taking a bit to drop off to sleep, waking with the sun across my face.....yes, life is good!

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Earlier in the morning on Sunday, my phone rang to report that Jamie and Hannah were having breakfast next door at Denny's and would be in the Hospitality Room shortly to open their gifts. Wow, talk about short notice! We had to fly around the room (Justin, Alayna, and me) to get downstairs for the festivities. It was not news to us about the event taking place, just expected a bit more of a heads' up concerning the timing. As I was getting ready, it occurred to me that perhaps not everyone got the reminder phone call so I called Kerry. She had not gotten the news so she rounded up Mom and Lynn to meet us in the Hospitality Room, but sadly, I missed the Schippers departure. Lori called to report that they were on the road early and would have to give me my hugs over the phone instead. She has tons of work to do for VBS and had to get home to take care of it. Lisa was in the hallway when we came out and had to turn back to get her gift and wake Noah. She was taking the boys down for breakfast, which could take place in concert with the informal opening.

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Once downstairs, I got in line to get a doughnut to eat during the gift opening. I met Jamie and Hannah, who were getting a hand-off of the boys from Hannah's mom and her boyfriend. The mom said she was not staying for the gift opening because she had lots to do yet that day. It was only Jamie's family and some of the attendants "present" for the present opening. Oh, well, to each, their own, it seems. There were only a few boxed gifts to open, the rest being primarily cash gifts but it was still nice to see what they received. Lisa and family plus Justin and I stayed later while the rest hit the road to head for home. We went swimming and enjoyed the hot tub until it was check-out time. That felt so good! Justin loved spending the extra time with the boys, although he did not bring his pool pants along, not able to climb into the tub with us.

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My clothes are now bouncing in the dryer, quite the gay load, in the original sense of the word with my jacket from yesterday setting the tone of color. My orange plaid shoes, my swimsuit, and my new nightie all splashing around together. I will need to secure extra hangers for my new tops purchased on my shopping trip with Lori before I left Holmen a couple weeks ago. I did leave a few pieces of clothing behind for Mom to take to Repeat Performance, the MLHS re-sale shop. At two o'clock I am going to see the endodontist to have him take a look at my cold-sensitive tooth and I do not know what happens from there. If he sees something is amiss, I might have him go ahead and take care of it...or not. My regular dentist did not see anything going on but perhaps Dr. Smith will....if he's any kind of endodontist, he will!!!!

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I also must collect some paperwork and VBS materials from church, plus go to the carpet store to make a selection for the new classroom building---again---so it is ready to go once the rooms are painted. The paint day is set for the 20th so the carpet can go in immediately after that so we must be ready. It won't take me but a moment to do that, since the congregation already made that selection last year. Since we are changing suppliers, another color of dark blue must be chosen. No worries, I can do that with my eyes closed, which they might be by that time!

Always some excitement in Manty!

Justin is due in today and already he is delayed in his arrival. Even before he left JAX he was late because of something holding up production on the runway. Now, I will not have to leave here to pick him up until 11:00 a.m. central time in order to get him collected by 12:30, allowing for the luggage to be delivered to the terminal. From the airport we head north toward Manty but stop to get his tuxedo and lunch, perhaps at PF Chang or Cheesecake Factory. It makes more sense for him to have "local" foods such as Culver's but if he wants Chang, we can have Chang, even though we have one in Jacksonville.

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Mom and I had a fine visit with my sister, Carol, and her hubby, Rodney. We did get a bit lost due in part to a detour and some mis-information from Mapquest. All I had to do was call Rod and he got us right to the door, we were only off by a few blocks really. For dinner they treated us at a place called "Cinders" where I had a perch sandwich, of course! I have to retract what I said yesterday about Carol not being a traveler---she likes to travel, has been to Thailand, for heaven's sake, but does not care to drive. Clarified.

She has the distinct pleasure of being able to walk to work and takes backstreets when she absolutely must drive anywhere. Carol is a couple years older than Lynn and Lynn drives all over the place yet.

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After Mom and I got home last evening, we had to pick up Jill and bring her here to Mom's, as she is taking the Mom-mobile to Janesville for the wedding. Jill's car would not make the trip, I understand, so she is taking Mom's. Lynn will be the driver for Mom and Kerry on Saturday. Upon Jill's departure, we settled in here to watch some TV, what should have been a quiet evening. But, oh no, the new neighbors had another idea----a huge, horrible argument complete with profane, vulgar language, screaming and hollaring and some scuffling in the hallway. That is enough!!!! I called the police, the dispatcher indicating she could hear the hollaring over the phone. This was the second time in about a week that the cops have had to come for a domestic disturbance to this building, to that same apartment. They only moved in here after the first of this month, and already two police visits!! UGH!!!!

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I hate this, I hate this for Mom, and especially for the little child who lives in that apartment, having to listen to such filth night and day, I am sure. From what I gathered, the argument, in laymen's terms was, "Do not use my telephone to make long distance phone calls." Said like that, it is not too abrasive. Now add the theatrics, vulgar interjectories, screaming, swearing, and tussling, and you possibly can have bullets flying (we don't know what can happen next...) I wish we could find a suitable place for Mom to move to where she won't have to put up with this garbage (the dumpster here is overflowing again!) and have a peaceful existence in her last years on earth. If only the church, bank, and cookie store were closer for her at Southbrook Manor!

I am going to see my sister today!

This afternoon, my mom and I are going to see my older sister, Carol. She was not present at Dusty's graduation nor is she going to the wedding this coming weekend so the mountain will go to Mohammad---or Kimberly,WI, as the case might be! She has lived there for years and years since moving up from Milwaukee. Both her hubby and she still work, Carol at a grocery store in her neighborhood. My bro-in-law, Harvey, used to see her when he delivered bread to that store. According to mapquest, which never fails us (ha!), we have about an hour's ride. At first my niece, Alayna, wanted to go along but had to work earlier today than at first expected, so will have to pass this time.

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Last night I made us a delicious meal of roast pork, sauerkraut, carrots, and added some frozen dumplings, called bullets, toward the end. The bullets were just how they sound, in my opinion, but the rest of meal I liked. Jill joined us after her employee meeting and even took a dishful home to have for lunch today. Aw, shucks, I'm honored! We have had several meals at home since I arrived in Manitowoc---good ones, too!

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I had the most wonderful chat with Justin yesterday, a phone call one so I could hear his voice vs. the Internet chat with no voices. Either way we talk over each other! Anyway, he was wildly excited about something he did that morning----after I failed to guess correctly, he informed me that he called in to Neal Boortz's radio show and got on the air with Neal! He was equally thrilled to have spoken with Belinda, the producer, but then to have air time and not be called an ignoramus is icing on the cake! His question, phrased differently than he originally intended, was about whether a new president, other than the one in place at present, would have any better success in the face of this oppositional Congress seated now. I cannot recall all that Neal responded but Justin likely can, word for word. I am so proud of him and tickled to pieces for him being able to get on the air and speak his piece.

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We talked a long while as he had much other stuff to tell me, including that he was going up to my house to do the vacuuming and put things to right before I came home. If you recall, I had left my home "rain ready" in case we had water leaks during the storms in recent weeks, so that my neighbors did not have to worry about taking care of it for me. It is quite messy looking, however, and I dreaded returning to a torn-apart home. He was going to see to it my bathroom floor was vacuumed as I had spotted some hair in there and cannot tolerate that, either! I am sooo "Monkish", as Justin calls me....

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Joanne called last night to report she was back at the condo and had put things back in place, moved the furniture against the walls again, and the glass pretties onto the shelves by the windows. All is right with the world, at least, in MY world! My Florida friends have begun calling me (I think they are starting to realize that I am gone) wondering when I am coming home, etc. First order of business will be to work on the postcards for VBS, if they are large enough to work with. Bonnie from Victory wrote me that they sent theirs back because the size was too small to do anything with. Hmmm.....I thought they would be uniformly sized at least 3"x 5". I can reduce what I have already done to fit, if need be.

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This a.m. I am going to work down at church, giving Linda a hand with her service folders for Thursday night and Sunday worship. She told me the pastor was going to be late coming in this a.m. because of being with a family who lost their husband and father the night before. He was elderly and had been ill for some time, so it was not unexpected that he would pass. Pastor R. has some final touches to do on the service folder before she can go to press so I am going later on to lend my hands before heading to Kimberly.

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A few years ago, actually four, because Manny was a baby, all the sisters, six of us, got together in Appleton to have dinner. We had not all been together since my dad died in 1996, and when Timmy died, youngest sister, Kerry, was not with us. So, in 2005, all six girls plus some of our kids, had dinner together. It is so sad that it is mostly funerals and occasionally weddings when families are all together.

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Lisa, my niece, is recovering from another of her strange maladies. Over the weekend, she felt sick and had cramping sensations in her abdomen. She thought perhaps an infection or similar, but had felt an obvious "snap" at one point late in the week. It turns out she had a ruptured ovarian cyst! Oh, for heaven's sake, what next? I will tell you what next---Manny broke out with hives for no apparent reason. So he had the miseries and Lisa had the miseries, with Lynn to the rescue. She went to Lisa's Monday night and made dinner for them, taking care of her babies. Manny felt so miserable that he could not be comforted, would not let Lynn hold him or anything. He had Children's Benedryl to take and some special bath stuff to soak in. Lisa assured me they would be at the wedding this weekend, so Justin is happy to hear that, since he wants to see the boys so badly.

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Tomorrow morning I will be picking up Justin at Milwaukee's airport and then we must go collect his tuxedo at a Mall right along the freeway toward home. Justin recalls a Cheesecake Factory at that Mall, so guess where we will be having lunch! Last night he was going to be measured again for the tux because he has lost lots of weight since his originally sizing just before Easter. Jill's knee is acting up (must be catchy) and she thinks the two ushers, Dustin and Justin, will have to carry her down the aisle! I wonder if they knew what they were getting into when signing on to serve as ushers!

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Thursday night we are going to church at First German and then to dinner with Jachimstals and some of the Hackmann's at the Green Street Tavern---again! Mona has a couple of earthenware jugs for me from my in-law's house, and Linda said Tom can ship whatever needs shipping for me, so, good deal! I have a couple of those ancient jugs already and having one from "the farm" will be a good memory piece for me. Hopefully it won't be too heavy and cost a fortune to have sent to me. I am hungry now so will go forage a bit, perhaps at Copp's or the gas station where I met my new friend, Laurel. They have sugar cookies, too, you know!

My tummy is sooo happy!

Having just now returned from dining at the Green Street Tavern (Judy J.—you might want to pass on reading this one about perch!), my tummy is saying “thank you, thank you, thank you!” for the wonderful perch plate it enjoyed. My heart is saying “thank you, thank you, thank you!” for the wonderful friends who shared mealtime with me. Those who joined me were Dolly, my friend since grade school, as well as Wendy, a high school friend. It seems we talked as much as we could between bites---about the years gone by, people gone by, and times coming before us. I, of course, encouraged them to attend my funeral when the time comes but Dolly is no traveler. Only a few days ago I mentioned having two funeral services, one in Florida and one here as well, so Dolly can make it. She wants me to send her the hymns ahead of time so she can learn the alto parts…..

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Earlier in the day I spoke via telephone with Debbie, another 12 year classmate of mine who could not make dinner with us tonight. She filled me in on a few people and events that I have missed out on, including her attempt at putting together an 8^th grade class reunion! What an ambitious girl she is! Oh, my, there is so much history between us all, the joys of attending a Lutheran grade school and high school, knowing each other all those years! Surprisingly many people stayed in the area and see each other at the high school events when their kids become students! This year marks our 35^th anniversary of graduation and would also be my 35^th wedding anniversary in July. Guess there are no plans to celebrate either event!

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Mom and I sat around the house this morning, freezing half to pieces as the temperatures remain below normal and drizzle continues to fall. She bumped the heat up a few degrees but we could not really feel it getting warmer, even though I wore a blanket all morning long. I’d made plans to visit our friends, the Petska’s, and persuaded Mom to come along to check out their building for her to move into. First I stopped at Late’s Drive-In and got one of their fabulous cheeseburgers and got Mom a chocolate malt and then we headed to Petska’s. Clara gave us the grand tour, even took us downstairs to see their garage and upstairs to see the library and beauty shop. Mom felt like it was too “old folks homey” feeling but really, it seems mostly just homey to me, and secure. Clara says it is incredibly quiet there, never hearing footsteps overhead or doors slamming, none of the noise that this place has. Mom’s major deal about moving from here is that she likes walking to church, the Kwik Trip and her bank. The only reason the police come to Southbrook where Petska's live is when the rescue squad has to come and pick up someone who has fallen---not like here where there are domestic disputes and other commotion all the time. I will just keep wishing and hoping Mom will agree to move to a nicer place.

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On the way home from Petska’s, we stopped at the ice cream parlor to see Jill, but she had gone home for a few hours. She was due back at 6:00 pm until closing so I guess the break was needed. Sitting around a table in the corner of the room was my niece, Alayna and several of her classmates. They were taking turns signing each others’ yearbooks while enjoying their ice cream. What a pleasant surprise to find her there! I got to physically meet the kids I have only seen on Facebook photos, and they sure seemed to be nice enough kids at that!! We had our treat and then headed back to Mom’s. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching TV before I had to get ready to have dinner with my friends. Mom had a church meeting to attend and arrived home only a short while ahead of me. Monday is a slow night for TV viewing but I will retire early to my room and find something suitable to pass the rest of the evening, as I savor my perch dinner….yummy!

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Some interesting phone calls came in today, a couple from church family and a couple from my friend, Jen, in Orange Park. I seriously believe it is getting to be time to go home and get some things settled down, and to enjoy some time around the pool! My dear friend, Dee, called, asking me to come and have dinner at her place on Wednesday night, hoping I did not have choir rehearsal during summer. She was a bit mixed up though, not fully realizing that I am already up here in WI, and that this Wednesday will still find me here. Dee’s vacation and mine are going to overlap a bit so I won’t see her again for a couple weeks after I get back. Dee celebrated her 70^th birthday and her 50^th wedding anniversary while I was gone and she wants to have a separate celebration with me, a private one, because I missed it. Totally unnecessary but she won’t take “no” for an answer. So, I have a special party to look forward after getting back home, at least, some time this summer!