the back nine

Class reunion

2011-08-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

This is my class of 1961 that got together at the Lyons alumni banquet. It was great fun to see all those in attendance. Some I had not seen for 50 years.

Olympic Training Center-Co Springs

2011-03-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

After touring the facility, we decided to train for the next winter olympics :)

2011-03-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

vacation-final chapter

2011-03-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

Sunday we met Hitchcocks & Humburgs for breakfast at "The Egg & I". Then the girls went to the Swap Meet while the guys hung out at Humburg's Mobile Home to watch golf.
It was cold and rainy.

Monday we again played at Arizona Resort with H's & H's. They had a special twilight rate that began at 3. We could play as long as we wanted and the price included a steak supper. We played 9 holes and decided it was getting to cold for more. While there we ran into some people from my past. Rich & Cynthia Svendsen, Sharon S. and her husband, Mike Bushlack, Alan Nies, Loralee (Moseman)and her husband, Jim Wickstrom. All are originally from Lyons and Oakland.

Tuesday Hitchcocks joined Rezniceks, Pietzmeiers and us at Vista GC in Peoria. A coyote wandered across the course while we were playing. Rezniceks had us over for drinks and snacks after golf. Some other couples, friends of Rezniceks, joined us. We went to Wild Horse for hamburgers. This is a "biker bar" a little north of town that claims they have the best hamburgers in the world. They were very good. We spotted another coyote running along the road on the way out there.

Wednesday was a do nothing day.

Thursday we drove to Casa Grande to see the Rheinhart's new vacation property. We had lunch with them at IHOP. They took us to Eloy to watch parachute training. Two planes go up and drop off several jumpers that land on a football-sized landing area. We were sitting on bleachers that were about the distance of the sidelines. There were a couple of amatuers that jumped in tandum with the pros. We watched simulated sky diving in the wind tunne. We watched some people that had paid $30.00 for two minutes in the simulator and professionals training jumpers. Art showed us around Casa Grande.

Friday we we played golf for the last time at Peoria Pines. We had heard Iron Works at Belair Golf Course had "the best fishfry in town." So we had fish for supper.

Saturday we did laundry and packed up what we could and got everything except what would go into the cooler out where we wouldn't forget it. Heier's had us over for supper again. We had a pork tenderloin Leroy fixed on the grill. They gave us leftover pork for sandwiches on our way home.

Sunday we loaded up the van and left Glendale around 8:30 am. Because of the forcast of snow and wind in Flagstaff, we had to take the long way through New Mexico. The wind was really bad. We heard they had a gust of 90 mph in Magdalina. It was probably up to 40 or 50 mph while we were driving. We gave up the battle at Socorro. We had planned to get to Albequrque. It was much easier getting in and out of Socorro than it would have been at 8 am in Alb.

We were on the road again around 8:00 on Monday and drove to Colby, KS. Weather was much nicer. We recieved word that Nettie's Mom had passed away over the weekend. Her funeral was to be Wednesday.

Tuesday was a short 6 hour drive to Norfolk. We saw a couple of deer and several flocks of turkeys. A couple were on the road, but Jerry managed to get stopped before he hit them. The weather was really nice until we stopped at Club 81 for lunch. The wind changed and the temp just kept dropping. We arrived home around 2:30. Picked up the mail, started the paper delivery, unloaded the van and got a few groceries.

We are glad we left a day early so we could be home for the funeral.

The trip was a lot of fun. We enjoyed getting away from the cold for a month and playing some golf in February. Also had some great fun with other Norfolk Snowbirds.
We do hope we can do it again next year.

Will try to put up a few pictures later.

vacation part 3

2011-02-19T14:24:00.000-08:00

Time is going to fast.

Sunday night we caught the metro train and went to the Pro BB game between the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings. Phoenix lost. It was fun to see all the activity that goes on during time outs and between quarters. There were a lot of kids there as they had Star Wars characters around and a coarume contest for the kids. Wasn't really on my bucket list, but was fun.

Monday we golfed at Peoria Pines with DiAnn and Andy Pietzmeier and ate supper with them at Coco's.

Tuesday night Phyllis Hall had Pietzmeiers, Rezniceks and us over for a cookout. These people are all from Norfolk. As a sad side note - Rezniceks were called to North Platte because marilyn's sister had passed away. While they were there another sister in Norfolk also died.

Wednesday we stayed put and did some laundry. Sure wasted a beautiful day, but can't play every day.

Thursday we played at Villa de Paz. They guys that were put with us were John, who was from originally from Boston and retired to AZ. Ken was visiting from Chicago.
So far everyone that has been put with us have been very nice. The people at all the golf courses are really nice. Guess they are used to having a lot of old snowbirds. (Or old buzzards and biddies, eh, Bob?)

Dick & Bev Hitchcocks, our friends from Carroll, flew into Mesa Thursday night. We drove down there to play with them at the Arizona Resort where they are staying. We had brunch at IHOP before we played. Then we found a really good bar & grill for supper. They will be in AZ for a week so we will spend some more time with them later.

Today it has been raining so we just went to the exercise room and did a little work out this morning. Only 53 degrees today. It does look like the sun is trying to come out, but will just watch the golf on TV today. One of the people we played with told us they had not had any rain since Christmas so I guess they can use some.

Tomorrow we plan to meet Hickcocks and go to a huge flea market in Mesa. More rain is predicted and a little chilly, so will be a good day not to golf. Golf is usually higher on weekends, so we didn't really plan to golf on Saturday & Sunday anyway.

vacation part 2

2011-02-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 2/8. Played 18 holes on Belair, an executive golf course. A couple from Toronto, Doug & Muriel, were put with us. The course has too many sand traps so we decided we did not like that course.

Wednesday we played a nice course about 15 miles away called Bougenvilla. It was a nice course and would play it again. The front nine Ed, who was a retired truck driver and worked at the course, and his brother,John, who was a retired Arizona patrolman, played the front nine with us.

Thursday we went to Falcon golf course with the Heiers. When we finished they asked us to stay for Chili.

Friday we did a little shopping and got the van washed.

Saturday we went with the Heiers to Wickenberg Gold Rush Days. A church there had a pancake breakfast that was really good. They had a nice parade with a lot of horses. Of course it was all "old west". There were several couples there from St Joseph, MO that live in the same neighborhood as the Heiers. We had a couple of drinks with them after the parade and then had BBQ sandwiches for lunch. Then we checked out all the vendor's tents. It was a beautiful day. The temperature reached 80.

Heiers will be gone for about 10 days so we are on our own for entertainment.

vacation part 1

2011-02-07T10:31:00.000-08:00

This is going to be my diary of our winter get away. I will not feel affended if you are bored.
We left home on Friday, drive to Colorado Springs, Co. Stayed at the first Super 8 we found. It happened to be the one we stayed in the last time we were there. Even had the same manager.
On Saturday we toured the Olympic training center. Then we drove on to Albequrque, NM and spent the night in another Super 8.
On Sunday we checked the weather to make sure Flagstaff was not in any type of snow warning. Weather was great and we spotted a small herd of elk Just outside of Flagstaff. Drove on to Sedonia. Found another Super 8. Getting off the interstate was one of the best accidental turns we ever took. The beauty around Sedonia was breathtaking.
Monday we drove on into Glendale and upgraded our motel to Quality Inn. We couldn't get into our condo until Tuesday, so we drove around the area and found our condo.
Tuesday we checked out the area until time to get into the condo and moved all our stuff in. Checked supplies and went to pick up what groceries we would need.
Wednesday we kind of hung out and tried to get settled. Took 2 trips to Best Buy and a call to Cox cable to get the laptop connected.
Thursday we had planned to go to the PGA tournament, but the unusually cold weather kept us away. We did find an executive course and played 9 holes in the afternoon.
Friday I played golf with Marilyn R, DiAnn, P, and Phyllis H. While Jerry played with Leroy, Dale R and Andy P. We had drinks, munchies and pizza at Heiers after the golf.
Saturday we finally got to the PGA tournament. We decided if we ever went again it would not be on Saturday. There were to many people that were there to party. I'm not sure some of them even knew a tournament was going on.
Sunday we went to a Chocolate Affaire in downtown Glendale. It was the usual vendors, music and displays of most festivals. The weather had finally warmed up to what we expected this area to be like. Watched the PGA and Super Bowl on TV.
We had planned to go to the PGA to watch the final round, but since they did get over half of the holes played we decided to watch it on TV. I checked out some golf on the internet and found a bargain for Wednesday. So far so good

Vancouver, WA

2011-01-22T12:03:00.000-08:00

Sticking with a new tradition started on our visits to the Great Lakes, I threw a rock into the Columbia River.

The train was not a run away. The crossing was at a very odd angle.

Cindy & I walked along the Washington side of the Columbia River.

carvings

2010-12-27T12:25:00.001-08:00

These are carvings in a place we ate. It was called the Log Cabin. It was in Bearaboo, WI. I should have flipped the first one. It was the door to the men's room. The people with the moose are real not carvings. :)

Christmas store

2010-12-27T12:15:00.000-08:00

Somewhere on our trip we went by this place hailed as the biggest Christmas store in the US. I believe it. We didn't stop there so just took pictures of 2 of the bigger buildings.

views from our room

2010-11-26T11:44:00.000-08:00

trees

2010-11-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

Some of the trees we saw from our trip. Mostly Wisconsin. Some from the backseat, some out the side window and some when we stopped.

more vacation

2010-10-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

Starting at the bottom. Miner's Castle - The clear water near the castle - Odd tree roots on our hike to the falls - Miners Falls.

You can find more pictures of our vacation with Shirley & Bob on their "Midtown" blogspot and "the Gatewood Family News" blogspot.

critter

2010-10-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

This little guy had been fed by the attendants at the rest stop. He posed real nice for a picture.

Sunrise

2010-10-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

This is the way our 9-day vacation started and it only got better. We could not have ordered more perfect weather. The only drawback was we brought sweatshirts when t-shirts would have been enough.

Pictures taken east of Wakefield.

More golf watchers

2010-10-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Caught these guys as they came to a pond for water.

golf gallery

2010-09-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

Pictures of golf watchers around Fairplay. The geese are gone. There may not be as many next year. One of the ganders apparently got hit with a golf ball left the mama to raise the kids by herself.

There are also bluebird houses around the course. The birds do help keep the misquitos down. They really had their work cut out for them this year.

Bob is right

2010-07-31T16:24:00.000-07:00

Somewhere on our trip we drove through an area that had what looked like thousands of the "windmills".

Coincidentally, on our way home from golf today there was a truck with one of the blades going through town. I couldn't get a pic of it, but they are huge.

Guess what

2010-07-27T13:03:00.001-07:00

Do you know what these are?

The Fence

2010-07-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

This is a fence running through The Field Club, a country club in Omaha. Golfers have to hit accross this fence 4 times in an 18-hole round of golf. To make it more interesting - the fence protects a very busy street, Woolworth Ave. Not sure how often a car or a pedestrian gets nailed.

A NWAGA tournament was held there Mon - Wed last week. My partner & I placed 9th out of about 50 teams.

The Alamo & River Walk

2010-06-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

driving across Texas

2010-06-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

There is an area of hundreds, if not thousands, of these windmills.

Why is this Hiway in Texas two-toned.

big bird

2010-06-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

This bird overlooks Las Cruces, NM. Look close at what it is made of.

More of tombstone.

2010-05-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

Streets of Tombstone

2010-05-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

Tombstone

2010-05-12T09:03:00.001-07:00

Gunfight at the Ok correl.

This was an enactment of the famous gunfight.
Doc Holiday and the Earps - Wyatt, Virgil, & Morgan
Wyatt Earp
Doc Holiday
Doc Holiday
Hattie Earp (Wyatt's stepdaughter & Tom Clanton) It seems Hattie and Tom had a thing going.
Billie the Kid & one of the Clanton's
The shootout
The aftermath(guess I got 2 of this shot)

X-rated

2010-05-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

This was in tombstone. Will have more pictures of Tombstone later. May have to click on the sign to be able to read it.

2010-05-07T11:22:00.000-07:00

These pics are still in Peoria. The palm trees and swimming pool are in the common area of our friend's home. It was just a little chilly for swimming, but there were a few brave souls using the pool. There were a lot of these funny looking trees around the city. Maybe Shirley/Bob can tell us what they are. The bird and Rabbit were having worms and grass in front of the club house where we played on Wednesday.
They just seemed to be ignoring all the people.

On Thursday we went to what used to be called the Phoenix Open. It is now called the Waste Management Open and is played in Scottsdale. Any of you who watch golf know that one of the most notorious holes in golf is #16. It is surrounded by grandstands and even though the officials hold up the "quiet" signs, no one seems to pay any heed to them. It is the only hole on the tour you can get away with razzing the golfers that don't hit the par 3 green. What a fun place to watch golf.

Friday morning back on the road. Heading for San Antonio with a few stops in between.

More vacation

2010-04-24T13:31:00.001-07:00

We are now in Peoria, AZ, a suburb of Scottsdale. Our host & hostess drove us out into the country on a road that wasn't an interstate and took us to see these cacti.
It was greener than usual because of rain the previous week. They then took us to see the Arizona Cardinal's stadium. We couldn't go inside because they were setting up for a big sports show later in the week.
The green field you see is actually the football field which can be moved in and out of the stadium via the garage-type doors in the lower portion of the stadium. Quite an invention.

Radium Springs

2010-03-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

I know you have never heard of it. Neither had I. We went looking for the ruins of and adobe Fort, Ft Selden. We drove by it and ended up eating in this really, really out of the way place called the Blue Moon bar. The waitress was a really talkative retired lady that got bored or fed up with her husband being home all the time and took on the watressing job. There were only 4 other people at another table since it was probably about 2 pm. The burger was ok and she told us we just missed the entrance to the Fort. Going back, it was right where it should be. We really only went about a mile to far, but you never know what you are going to find out in the boonies.

Las Cruces (I think)

2010-03-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

These are some sculptures outside a museum we happened to pass by when we were eploring.. I was going to remember what that funny little lady represented, but there was just too many things to see and keep track of. It might have been earth mother.

Next stop Albuquerque

2010-03-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

As we were driving around we came across this cemetery. It looked interesting so we drove through it and came across the odd grouping of crosses. The stone told us who they were. Odd what piques a person's interest.

Since we were a little lost and it was rainy so no sun we were grateful for the compass that was won of the extras that came with our van. Knowing we had to go mostly south and some west, we followed the hiway that headed in those directions and eventually found the one we wanted.

Albuquerque seemed to be a lot like Sante Fe with an "old town" area much like the one in Sante Fe.

Had to skip another side trip because of the weather. I had wanted to take a gondola ride to the top of Sandia Peak, but the weather was cloudy and windy so could see no point in paying to go up 10,000 feet to look at clouds.

Our route had to be changed because of the weather. The Albuquerque local news told us that schools were closed in Gallop and Flagstaff so we had to go a little out of our way and go south to Las Cruces and then west to miss what sounded like about a foot of snow in the mountains.

More to come. Hope you can contain your excitement.

more explanation

2010-03-12T12:29:00.000-08:00

The pictures came up from bottom to top in the post. So the last is first. The very first picture you may have to zoom in the see much. it is of an area where the Native Americans sell there wares. They have to put their request in a lottery system and are told when they can come sell their wares. It is mostly Indian jewelry.

More later

Vacation

2010-03-12T11:58:00.001-08:00

This is about all we saw of the mountains in Colorado since it was a dreary day.

Just as we are leaving Norfolk on 2/19, 8 am, it started snowing. It didn't really amount to much as we drove out of it until we got to Limon, Co. The plan was to get to Colorado Springs for the night. As we started out of Limon the snow picked up and the wind started blowing. Not wanting to get caught out in the middle of nowhere we turned around and spent our first night in Limon. One of our plans was to tour the Olympic training center, but when we got into the Springs it started snowing/raining so we decided we better keep going south. The second day we made it to Sante Fe.

St Francis of Assissi's church is in Old Town Sante Fe. It was Sunday morning when we there so I only stepped into the entry way and snapped a picture. The statues are around the Church. I tried to match up the plaques with the pictures. Don't know how this is going to come out.

The last building is the first mission house in Sante Fe. I can't remember the name of it.

Trip

2010-03-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

Just got back from a 2-week trip to see some of America. We went from Norfolk, Ne. to Scottsdale, Az from there to San Antonio, Tx. and back to Nebraska through Oklahoma and Kansas. I can cross some things off my Bucket List. Watching the PGA tournament in Scottsdale and watching some of it from #16 the wildest par 3 on the tour.
Also visited Sante Fe, Albuquerque, Tombstone and San Antonio. Some of our plans were altered because of the weather, but we still saw a lot of country. Will try to get some pictures up later.

Let's think spring

2010-01-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

A couple of pictures of the baby geese that chose Fairplay Golf Course as their home last summer. There were 2 batches about a week apart one of 5 and one of 8. They are so cute when they are little, but it sure doesn't take them long to grow up a poop all over everything. Luckily we have a local rule that you can lift,clean and place any ball that lands in a goose poop.

Don't know what order these pics will post. The tree is just one of the pretty trees that I hope to see blooming again soon.

snow

2010-01-02T15:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, Myrna, here are the snow pictures.

For more on the storm see previous post. BTW, it is snowing again.

more testing

2010-01-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

Window in church where Cindy attends.

Testing

2010-01-02T10:09:00.000-08:00

Just working on posting pictures. This is the berry tree in my yard.

Enough already

2009-12-30T08:27:00.000-08:00

OK, I surrender don't send any more snow. Norfolk and surrounding area have set record on December snow fall. Officially Norfolk had 30" in December and we received a couple more last night. Now that we are buried in snow the temps are going to get really nasty. Below zero at night and below freezing "highs".
My swirly lighted Christmas tree is on a light sensitive timer. It comes on at dark and stays on for 6 hours. It doesn't come on because the light sensor is buried under 4 feet of snow. So my 8 foot tree is now about 4 feet tall. I hope I can get it out by Easter.
Both of our Christmas get togethers were postponed. One is rescheduled for Saturday the other for sometime in March, or June if we have spring blizzard. Keeping my fingers crossed. This is making it kind of hard to type so excuse the errors.
The streets are a mess. Intersections are treacherous as you can't see what is coming because of piles of snow. If you stop you may not get moving again. Cars are buried on the streets. I try to be a good neighbor, but am tempted to report the ones on my street. The good thing is I don't have to leave town and only have about 12 blocks to work. The days are getting longer and spring is coming. Isn't it?

Happy New Year.

12/25/09

2009-12-25T20:18:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone out there a Merry Christmas. I hope you and yours have better weather than in the Midwest. It has been snowing and blowing for 2 days with possibility of more through part of tomorrow.

Our Christmas packages will have to wait until the family can get here. The cookies are in the freezer for their own safety.

Christmas day was spent like any other Friday. Doing laundry. Didn't even step out to see how cold it is. The drifts are the deepest we have had since moving into this house 8 years ago. Did see a squirrel run through the snow. Still don't see how all the little creatures can survive winter.

Just rambling and hoping for a better tomorrow.

Saturday & Sunday

2009-11-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we took the EL downtown to The Saturday Market. This is almost like a state fair without the rides and livestock. A lot of vendors set up booths and sell their wares.. Lots of food choices. We chose gyros. Don't think I liked them very much. Having limited amount of room in my carry on luggage, the only thing I bought was some kettle corn.

Since it was Halloween there were a lot of little kids trick-or-treating. One was an adorable little gnome dressed like the gnome that advertises travel on TV. She was probably around 2 years old dressed in a light blue robe and red hat. One of the dancing water thingies was an attraction for her and several other little kids.
The chilly weather didn't seem to bother them. J & K had an artist do caricatures of them.

Kendra's choice of "things to show Gramma" was Powells Book Store. This is about 6 or 8 blocks from the market so we walked. Just as we started up the street it started pouring down rain. I guess this is the way it is in Portland. I bought a couple of books for reading on the return trip.

We then went to another little suburb to visit some antique shops and eat supper at a Chinese restaurant which was very good.

Back home & watched a little TV.

Sunday we went to Church. A very small church compared to the one they attended in Lincoln. C J % K were among several joining the church that morning. Some of this group were also being baptised. As we took communion we dropped rose petals into water in remembrance of the saints that have gone before us. They have a lady pastor and was a very nice service. C & I had coffee and walked around outside while waiting for K to get out of SS>

Terry picked us up to take a drive up Columbia Gorge. Even though Cindy said we would not eat anywhere we could eat in Nebraska, Arbie's seemed like the most convenient spot to have lunch. We stopped at Cindy's favorite falls, Monhotmah(don't think that is the right spelling). We walked up to the bridge about half way up, but decided not to go all the way to the top since days are kind of short and we wanted to go the dam and fish hatchery. There wasn't much to see at the hatchery except the aquarium that had a sturgeon that weighed over 400 lbs. I think his name was Herman. Back to Portland and another meal. This one in a place kind of like IHOP or Village Inn. Another very good meal. Good thing we were doing a lot of walking. Back to the apartment and repacked for the trip home. Said "goodbye to JD since she opted to sleep in.

Monday, up early to catch my flight home. Kendra got up for a goodbye hug. Cindy dropped me off at the entrance. The flight home was a lot nicer than the one out. I thought I might have time to get a bite to eat in Denver, but our connection to Omaha was not near the food court. I was glad I had my kettle corn and some cookies that Terry had given me. Got into Omaha around 4 and was back in Norfolk by 7. Had to stop at the store to restock for the week.

It was a great trip and I am glad I know how to picture the apartment and the area where My Girls live.

Portland/Clackamas

2009-11-15T13:25:00.001-08:00

When we got back to the apartment, everyone was ready for bed.

Friday a.m. (not too early) we left to drive to Seaside. Seaside is not really beside the sea it is by the ocean. It is pretty much your typical tourist town. It is also the last stop of the Lewis & Clark expedition. We ate lunch at Pancakes and Pigs in a Blanket or some such name. Very good. We checked out the shops, Jaydee and Kendra decided to have their picture taken. Maybe one of them can post it for you. We walked up the hill and there was the ocean. It was cold and windy, but J & K took off their shoes and socks and waded into the water. Cindy & I decided it was too cold. On the way back to the car we bought salt water taffy and stopped at a 50's diner and had ice cream.

It was dark when we got back to Clackamas and Cindy took a wrong turn and we ended up crossing the Columbia River into Washington state. So I can say I have been in Washington. She finally got her bearings and we got back to what was familiar territory for her. We stopped for a bite to eat at a Mexican place and then went home.

We had only been home a few minutes when Cindy's friend, Terry, called and said he cut his finger on a can and it wouldn't stop bleeding and could she drive him to the hospital. It did require 3 stitches, but like a typical man, he was just going to duct tape it and let it heal.

More later.

Maybe Thanksgiving Day I can get Tammie or Abby to see what the problem is when I try to post pictures.

getting to Portland

2009-11-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

On October 29th I left Norfolk at 10 am to catch a 2:30 flight from Omaha to Portland via Houston. Although it was raining I wasn't too worried about the weather as it was just rain. After getting checked in and wondering around a bit, I decided maybe I should get a sandwich and not wait until my short layover in Houston.Then I headed for my gate. Our plane was about 10 minutes late getting into Omaha, but I wasn't too worried about making the connection since I had a little over an hour to get to my next plane. Just about 10 minutes or so late taking off and away we went into the wild blue yonder. And I do mean wild. Our pilot informed us that we would be taking a different route due to the stormy weather. He changed routes about 3 times to miss the worst of the turbulence. Finally arriving in Houston at 6:10 to make the 5:59 connection. Luckily (or not) everything in Houston was late due to storms. Our plane was waiting for us to leave at 6:45. Another lady passenger and I raced to the next gate that included a shuttle ride to another part of the terminal. We made it in plenty of time around 6:30. On the plane, the door is shut, and we waited to leave the gate. And we waited and waited and waited. Finally we taxied to the runway. The pilot informed us there were 23 planes ahead of us. Then everything was grounded because of high winds. The cell was supposed to pass through in about 30 minutes. Then the wind changed so we had to taxi to another runway. While all this was going on we were allowed to have our electronics on so I called Cindy and told her expected arrival time was 10:30 instead of 8:30 PDT. Aound 9:30 we left Houston with arrival time 11:15. Do the math, that is 1:15 CDT. After getting above or around the storms the rest of the flight was uneventful. Thankfully, Continental still serves food. We had a soggy cheeseburger, a salad and a bite sized Hershey bar. Sure glad I had the sandwich in Omaha.With our safe landing in Portland at 11:15 I called Cindy from the gate and told her we were on the ground. Thank God and technology for cell phones. Cindy is only about 20 minutes from the airport so after I got off the plane there was just a few minutes wait for her and the girls to pick me up.

Accomplishment

2009-10-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

One of the things on my "bucket list" was to read the Bible cover to cover. The King James version that I received for comfirmation is the one I read. It is finished (pat,pat). King James is probably one of the hardest to understand, but it really suprised me how much of it was familiar. I have on loan from Janell a study version with questions and answers and a text that is easier to understand. This one will take longer because of the q's & a's. Each evening depending on how late, how alert, or how tired I am, I read a chapter or more before I go to bed at night.

In the beginning (ok, I plagarized) man (man meaning the human race) lived hundreds of years until God decided that man should live only 120 years. Has anyone in modern times lived that long? I don't think so. There does seem to be a lot more people reaching the century mark, but what is the quality of their lives? Most of them are in nursing homes just waiting to die. They can't get around, don't recognize their families and can't even go to the kitchen and get a dish of ice cream or a cookie if they want it. What kind of impact would a cure for alzheimers have on nursing homes? They could go home to their spouses or to an apartment where they could watch soaps or games shows or the news channel and eat their ice cream and cookies whenever they felt like it. On nice days they could get outside and enjoy the beauty of nature. Especially this time of year when the trees are the most colorful. Coffee or tea with maybe a game of cards or scrabble with friends or quilting at a senior center would also be options.

I really don't know where I am going with this. It is all just rambling on about thoughts of living to be 120. Living to be 120 is not on my bucket list, but "living" until I die is. Have a nice life :).

Season's end

2009-09-23T07:13:00.000-07:00

Golf season is winding down. The PGA players are chasing "The Tiger" for nuero uno.
Club tournaments and city tournaments have been played. Lots of golfers seem to put away their clubs after Labor Day and school starts. This is really a shame because some of the best golfing weather is in September. This year out late summer weather in Nebraska has been the best. Temperatures have been great and we have not had a lot of windy days either. The rains have come at good times and the courses are as pretty and green as spring. One of the downsides of fall golf is the falling leaves. Our course has mostly evergreen trees so the leaves are minimal. The baby geese have grown up and flew away a couple of months ago. Even though they are fun to watch, it's nice not to have the poopy mess they leave.

This is the time of year clubs have some "fun" tournaments trying to generate a little more fall interest. This Sunday our course is having a "one-person scramble". Each player gets to hit 2 balls on every shot. If you have a good shot with the first ball, you don't have to hit the second. A lot of clubs have a final 4 person scramble in mid October. A second reason for this tournament is to get the inventory in the coolers down. Especially if the clubhouse is not used during the winter months.

If you are thinking of buying new clubs, this might be a good time to shop. This years models will be replaced with new ones next spring so just like the automotive industries, they have year end clearances.

I hope all you golfers had a fun season and remember a bad day of golf is a better than a good day of work anytime.

For you non golfers, you don't know what your are missing.

Solheim

2009-08-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend the LPGA's equivalent to the PGA's Ryder cup, the Solheim Cup, was played near Chicago. For those of you who do not golf the format has nothing to do with your final total. It is called "match play". The golfers compete hole by hole. If they get to the 14th hole and have won 5 holes the match is over. Winning 5 up with 4 to go. During the Solheim and Ryder competition they play 3 different formats. Four-ball, alternate shot and singles. Four-ball has 2 players from each team. If one play has less than the others that person or team wins the hole. The alternate- shot is really the hardest format. One player tees off and they alternate hitting the shot until the ball is holed out. If there is a low score that team wins the hole. Singles is head to head competition between 2 players. There are 14 players from America and 14 players from Europe. If the team ends up even at the end of 18 holes each team gets 1/2 point.

The first 2 days match 8 players (2 teams) from each team for 4-ball play in the morning and 8 players (2 teams) from each team for alternate stroke in the afternoon. On Sunday there are 14 matches of head to head competition.

After the first 2 days of competition the score was all tied at 8 wins each. If you think golf can't be exciting, you should watch the Ryder and Solheim cup competition. There are so many ups and downs and ties that it can really keep you on the edge of your seat. Although the US won 16 to 12 it really wasn't a run away on Sunday. The leads changed so many times it was hard to keep track. A lot of the matches came down to the last hole.

These matches were televised on the Golf channel. So if you don't get that tier of channels, you probably didn't even know this was going on. I have not seen even highlights on any other channel. Granted, I don't watch every news or morning show, but shouldn't the LPGA get as much attention as the PGA? The Solheim and the Ryder competitions are only played every other year. This year was the Solheim and next year the Ryder. Playing one year in the US the next in Europe. The US has never lost a Solheim match on US soil. USA, USA, USA!!!!!!!! You go girls.

Fun stuff

2009-07-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Since I don't want to bore you with all the tournaments that go on this time of year, I will steal something sent to my e-mail.

Although this isn't related to golf, one of the dumbest phone calls that came into the bank where I worked many moons ago was a lady that asked if all her checks were in. Like the bank was supposed to know how many she had written.

How about you? Any dumb or funny phone calls?

Subject: ACTUAL GOLF COURSE PHONE CALLS ACTUAL CALLS RECEIVED AT THE PUBLIC GOLF COURSE (Amherst, Mass.)
Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: What are your green fees? Staff: 38 dollars. Caller: Does that include golf?

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Yes, I need to get some information from you. First, is this your correct phone number?

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Yes, we have a tee time for two weeks from Friday. What's the weather going to be like that day?

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Yes, I had a tee time for this afternoon but I'm running late. Can you still get me out early?

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Yes, do you have one of those areas where you can buy a bucket of golf balls and hit them for practice? Staff: You mean a driving range? Caller: No, that's not it..,,,

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Yes, I'd like to get a tee time tomorrow between 12 o'clock and noon. Staff: Between 12 o'clock and noon? Caller: Yes. Staff: We'll try to squeeze you in.

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Do you have any open tee times around 10 o'clock? Staff: Yes, we have one at 10:15. Caller: What's the next time after that? Staff: We have one at 10:22. Caller: We'll take that one. It will be a bit warmer.

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: How much to play golf today? Staff: 25 to walk, 38 with a cart. Caller: 38 dollars? Staff: No, 38 yen.

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: What do you have for tee times tomorrow? Staff: What time would you like? Caller: What times do you have? Staff: What time of the day? Caller: Any time. Staff: Morning or afternoon? Caller: Whenever. Staff: We have 16 times open in the morning and 20 open in the afternoon. Would you like me to read the whole list? Caller: No, I don't think any of those times will work for me.

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Do you have a dress code? Staff: Yes, we do. We require soft spikes. Caller: How about clothes? Staff: Yes, you have to wear clothes.

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Yes, do you have a driving range there? Staff: Yes. Caller: How much for a bucket of large balls? Staff: Sorry, we're all out of large balls. But we can give you twice as many small balls for the same price.

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Can I get a tee time for tomorrow? Staff: Sure, what time would you like? Caller: Something between 9 o'clock and 10 o'clock. In the morning, if possible.

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Do you rent golf clubs there? Staff: Yes, they're 25 dollars. Caller: How much to rent a bag?

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Yes, my husband just called me on his cell phone and told me he's on the 15th hole. How many more holes does he have to play before he gets to the 18th?

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Yes, do you have a driving range there? Staff: Yes. Caller: How much for a large bucket? Staff: Four dollars. Caller: Does that include the balls?

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Do you have a twilight rate? Staff: Yes, it's 15 dollars after 2 o'clock. Caller: And what time does that start?

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: Yes, I'd like some info about your golf course. Staff: OK, what would you like to know? Caller: I don't know, that's why I called.

Staff: Golf course, may I help you? Caller: My kids just came home with pockets full of range balls and said they stole them from your driving range. Would you like to buy them back?

2009-05-29T17:25:00.000-07:00

5/29/09

2009-05-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

I didn't report my .6 gain last week. Had a real busy weekend.

I lost 1.8 this week.

Abby's softball and Jacob's baseball have started so something else to do for the next month or so. Abby had her wisdom teeth pulled about 3 weeks ago and developed a surgical infection so couldn't play this week. She had a dentist appointment today and hopes to be able to play next week.

Jerry, Joe and Jake are getting Jerry's semi ready for a truck show tomorrow. I helped some today. Kind of hard to get it all shined up when it has to be on the road.

Joe has been hauling cattle for a company out of Wayne. He had a little mishap with a cow kicking him in the hand. It broke the bone on the outside. He seems to be getting along ok with it in a cast.

I had a nice lunch with Janell, Randy and Mick last Saturday. Memorial weekend is a good time to visit our hometowns. We ran into a lot of old friends.

Trees

2009-05-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

A writer's blog on Pistols and Petticoats about hanging trees got me to thinking about trees.

The maple trees on our street are dropping their seeds. This means I will be pulling trees out of my flower beds the rest of the summer. If they would be left to grow my house would be in the middle of a forest.

The cottonwood trees in the park in Lyons are real giants. They are probably the same ones our mother played around when she was a little girl. The big tree that grew through the sidewalk on the corner by the bank is gone. In the summer time it seemed like there were always some men sitting on the bench attached to the tree. Probably solving all the world's problems. Well maybe just the town's problems.

Grandma's cherry tree also springs to mind. Picking her cherries every summer was not one of the things I looked forward to. Those cherries seemed to be too sour for me and there didn't seem to be enough sugar to made them sweet even in a pie. In the fall there were black walnuts. Even though there was a lot of work to getting the hulls off, breaking their hard shells, and digging out the meat, they are the best nuts for brownies. Squirrels must have very strong jaws to be able to crack those shells.

Mulberry trees, yum. Eating the fruit right off the tree would turn our hands and lips purple, but oh my they tasted good. There are a few trees on our golf course that I like to nibble off of when I pass by them.

Driving through Missouri and Arkansas one October was one of the most beautiful drives I have ever taken. The trees were every color you could imagine. Another October we drove to California and back. The prettiest trees on that trip were the ones along the Platte River in Nebraska.

On a train trip to Biloxi, Mississippi when I was a teenager what I remember most was riding for long stretches through really tall trees. I don't know what kind they were, but they seemed to go on forever.

There are two trees in back of our house. I think the big maple belongs to the neighbor, but it is on the lot line so I'm not sure. It certainly provides a lot of shade. The other is one that flowers pink every spring. If you go back a few blogs there is a picture of it.

Isn't it amazing when you think about how deep the roots of some of those big trees have to go to be able to keep them from falling over in the wind? Those roots are not deterred by sidewalks. They just push them up and keep right on growing.

I think that I shall never see
a poem as lovely as a tree

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
against the earth's sweet flowing breast

A tree that looks to God all day
and lifts its leafy arms to pray

A tree thay may in summer wear
a nest of Robins in her hair

Upon whose bosom snow has lain
who intimately lives with rain

Poems are made by fools like me
but only God can make a tree
-Joyce Kilmer-

Spring

2009-05-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally arrived. Although it officially started in March, the weather didn't catch up until this weekend. Time to mow, plant, water, pull weeds clean gutters, wash windows and finally get to play some golf. The laundry can be hung out to dry. Nothing like sheets right off the clothesline. Love the smell. Too bad it only seems to last one night. Unless you want to wash sheets every day.

On the golf course. This area has had some great rains the past two weeks. The fairways are beautiful dark green. One batch of baby geese has hatched 8 in all. That will mean a lot of goose poop before they leave. Local rule is you get a free drop from a ball that finds the poop. Just don't lick it to clean it off. Use the ball washer.

A new golfer's aid has become popular. Anyone who watches any golf at all knows what a Sky Caddie is. It is a GPS device that measures distance to the cup. The golf course has to buy all new flag sticks with the chips in them. They are legal in tournaments, but only if they just show distance. Some higher priced devices show wind velocity and other factors. Now I know what I want for Christmas (it's too late for my birthday), as our course is going to get the sticks.

Remember golf is only a GAME. There are only 3 things to remember. Keep your head down. Keep you darn head down. Keep you gosh darn head down.

If it goes right it's a slice. If it goes left it's a hook. If it goes straight it's a miracle.

Just for laughter

2009-04-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

OK, my six funny memes.

1. A similar experience of losing my van. The location was Kohl's in Omaha. When I went in I made note that the door I entered had a display of pillows just inside it, so I had to exit by the door with the pillows. After checking out at the checkout near the pillow display, I went out that door. My van was not where I thought I parked it. Standing there looking somewhat lost I said to a passer by "I Can't find my van." She said maybe you came in another door. Sure enough they had pillow displays by both doors.

2. Each morning at work the first person to arrive makes coffee. Usually me. I make one pot and leave the other pot with water for the next pot. One morning one of our very brilliant? sales people poured the water into the coffee maker and sat the pot on the burner on top instead of under the basket. It wasn't funny at the time, but it is now. I did make him help me clean up the mess.

3. A dog story. When we ran the hog confinement near Scribner we had a big white dog, Duke. We also had a pit that the waste from the buildings ran into. Also a sort of landfill for our trash. OK, the scene is set. One day we looked out the kitchen window and there was a skunk with his head caught in a jelly jar. Duke was nosing around him and the inevitable happened. He got sprayed. Duke was not a dumb dog. He ran to the pit and jumped in. He may not have been dumb, but he was a slow learner. He went back to investigating the skunk. Spray, swim and back to the skunk. Don't know how many times he did this. Eventually the skunk wandered of into a field across the road. It was hot and we saw his deceased carcass later. By the way Duke was not a house dog.

4. In a discussion about birds and bird nest, one of my legally blond co-workers asked "Where do baby birds get there milk?"

5. Did you hear about the lady that shaved her legs a wrecked them? Now say this real fast. This was a little one liner going around a long time ago. A not so bright person tried to tell it and said "Did you hear about the lady that shaved her legs and ruined them." Not the same.

6. OK, Janell, you asked for it. When Janell was little maybe 3 or 4. She passed a little gas. Her comment was "I peeped." Maybe that is why she likes the peeps so well.

R/T

2009-04-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

This is Jacob watching the super bowl at Abby's 16th birthday party. He wasn't feeling very good so couldn't go out and play on the iced over lake.

New Car

2009-04-04T12:31:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to be my Ruby Tuesday posting. I took my camera to work to show you my new car, but the battery was dead.

Do you like it? Seems kind of strange sitting on the floor of a Ford dealership.

Ok, so this is late APRIL FOOL.

The car is for sale, really, 49,500.00. Can't tell you the year just call me if you are interested. :).

Fuzzy Friday

2009-03-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I have tried to load more than one picture so "bear" with me.
The bears are called memory bears. A friend of mine made them out of George's t-shirts. They aren't really very fuzzy, but they are cuddly.

R/T

2009-03-03T16:45:00.000-08:00

If you look real close you can see an autograph on K's shirt. It was her birthday and we had been to a Nebraska volleyball game. K is a real Yankee fan and Joba Chamberlain, the rookie pitcher who played for NU was there. J & K hunted him down and he signed her shirt and posed for a picture. I had a previous post about this and so did Kendra on her Nerds corner blog.

Ruby Tuesday

2009-02-24T16:46:00.000-08:00

More golf carts and fun stuff for golfers.

The following quotes are for my GOLFING BUDDIES
Don't buy a putter until you've had a chance to throw it.

Never try to keep more than 300 separate thoughts in your mind during your swing.

When your shot has to carry over a water hazard, you can either hit one more club or two more balls.

If you're afraid a full shot might reach the green while the foursome ahead of you is still putting out, you have two options: you can immediately shank a lay-up or you can wait until the green is clear and top a ball halfway there..

The less skilled the player, the more likely he is to share his ideas about the golf swing.

No matter how bad you are playing, it is always possible to play worse.

The inevitable result of any golf lesson is the instant elimination of the one critical unconscious motion that allowed you to compensate for all of your many other errors

Everyone replaces his divot after a perfect approach shot.

A golf match is a test of your skill against your opponents' luck.

It is surprisingly easy to hole a fifty foot putt ... For a 10 on that hole.

Counting on your opponent to inform you when he breaks a rule is like expecting him to make fun of his own haircut.

Nonchalant putts count the same as chalant putts

It's not a gimme if you're still away.

The shortest distance between any two points on a golf course is a straight line that passes directly through the center of a very large tree.

You can hit a two acre fairway 10% of the time and a two inch branch 90% of the time.

If you really want to get better at golf, go back and take it up at a much earlier age.

Since bad shots come in groups of three, a fourth bad shot is actually the beginning of the next group of three.

When you look up, causing an awful shot, you will always look down again at exactly the moment when you ought to start watching the ball if you ever want to see it again.

Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe.

If you want to hit a 7 iron as far as Tiger Woods does, simply try to lay up just short of a water hazard.

To calculate the speed of a player's downswing, multiply the speed of his back-swing by his handicap; i.e., back-swing 20 mph, handicap 15, downswing = 300 mph.

There are two things you can learn by stopping your back-swing at the top and checking the position of your hands: how many hands you have, and which one is wearing the glove.

Hazards attract; fairways repel.

A ball you can see in the rough from 50 yards away is not yours.

If there is a ball on the fringe and a ball in the bunker, your ball is in the bunker.

If both balls are in the bunker, yours is in the footprint It's easier to get up at 6:00 AM to play golf than at 10:00 to mow the yard

A good drive on the 18th hole has stopped many a golfer from giving up the game.

Golf is the perfect thing to do on Sunday because you always end up having to pray a lot.

A good golf partner is one who's always slightly worse than you are....that's why I get so many calls to play with friends.

If there's a storm rolling in, you'll be having the game of your life.

Golf balls are like eggs. They're white. They're sold by the dozen. And you need to buy fresh ones each week.

It's amazing how a golfer who never helps out around the house will replace his divots, repair his ball marks, and rake his sand traps.

If your opponent has trouble remembering whether he shot a six or a seven, he probably shot an eight (or worse).

It takes longer to learn to be a good golfer than it does to become a brain surgeon. On the other hand, you don't get to ride around on a cart, drink beer, and eat hot dogs if you are performing Brain Surgery !!!!

My own personal observation-- A tree is 90% air, but so is a screen door. Try to hit a golf ball through either one.

Friday Flowery tree

2009-02-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

This tree feeds the squirrls in our back yard all winter long.

R/T

2009-02-17T16:29:00.000-08:00

These carts are not Husker red since they are in Arizona. Are the Razorbacks in Arizona?

Friday fountain

2009-02-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

If the right picture shows up this is a fountain somewhere in Arizona. It is programmed to spout every hour. I think it goes 100 feet in the air.

Ruby Tuesday

2009-02-10T16:38:00.000-08:00

Friday Finches

2009-02-06T13:25:00.000-08:00

Finches in my back yard.

R/T

2009-01-27T16:37:00.000-08:00

This is Jerry's collection. It started when a friend gave him a Coors stein.
Coors Lite is JD's beer of choice. Once again the collection has grown.

Ruby Tuesday

2009-01-20T16:34:00.000-08:00

I hope this works again. This is part of my red collection. It is called "moon and stars". It also comes in blue and green. I only collect the red. Our friends are really into antiques and collectibles and we sometimes tag along to shows. On one trip I fell in love with some of these pieces that were "on sale for 1/2 price". Ya, right. And as they say "the rest is history."

freaky Friday

2009-01-16T14:02:00.000-08:00

This is a house on a golf course in Arizona that Donna & I played last April. These Cacti are protected. If one is distroyed the perp can face a hefty fine.

picture

2009-01-02T11:03:00.001-08:00

The flowery picture on the right is what one of my flower beds looked like last summer. I was trying to get the picture to post in the blog part, but I haven't quite figured that out.

Family

2009-01-02T08:03:00.000-08:00

Because of health issues my brother has moved to an assisted living facility. Distance, divorce and other circumstances have kept us from meeting and knowing his children, grandchildren and even one great grandson.

This past week he was reunited with his oldest daughter, who he hasen't seen in about 15 years and got to meet her son. His third daughter and three of her children and her grandson came from Indianna to see him and meet some of the rest of our family.

Last Sunday we gathered at my sister's farm for dinner. All that cared to took a short ride on Bubba. Lots of pictures were snapped. Wonderful food and conversation made the afternoon fly by.

New Years Day we met in Fremont and took over the food court at Hy-Vee so they could meet another aunt and her husband and more cousins. More getting-to-know-you time and reminicing made the 4 hours we spent there speed by.

With promises of another visit in June, hugs, good-byes, and safe-trip-home wishes were exchanged.

Over the years I have often thought of these children. When Mom was still alive she did keep in touch with them. After Alzheimers took her memory, we kind of lost touch. Their dad did keep in touch and at times would update us on their lives.
It was wonderful to see them and get to know them and hope to see them (and others) soon.

Christmas

2008-12-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

This is not my essay, but very true.
Sue

Does anyone feel like the true meaning of Christmas is a little bit lost?

Okay. Alot lost?

Christmas has become more of a retailer’s phenomenon than a religious holiday destined to remind us of why we’re here on this earth. While we make ourselves crazy shopping, we forget why Jesus was born, what He would grow up to do. We don’t think of salvation, compassion, or good will toward men.

If we’re not careful, the true meaning will be forever lost in the commercialism. That’s why we have to start with the youngest of our humanity. The future generations.

Our children.

Years ago, my sister-in-law gave each of us a red bag filled with trinkets. They came with a story, too, which never fails to choke me up.

I’d like to share that story with you today.

Just a week before Christmas, I had a visitor. This is how it happened. I had just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door of the front room, and to my surprise, Santa Claus himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree. He placed his fingers over his mouth so I would not cry out.

“What are you doing?” I started to ask, but the words lodged in my throat as I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone…gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know.

He then answered with a simple statement of “teach the children”. I was puzzled. What did he mean? He anticipated my question and with one quick movement brought forth a miniature toy bag from behind the tree. As I stood there bewildered, Santa said again, “Teach the children. Teach them the meaning of Christmas…the meanings that Christmas nowadays has forgotten.”

I started to say, “How can I…” when Santa reached into the toy bag and pulled out a shining star.

“Teach the children the star was the heavenly sign of promise long ages ago. God promised a Savior for the world and the star was a sign of the fulfillment of that promise. The countless shining stars at night, one for each man, now show the burning hope of all mankind.” Santa gently laid the star upon the fireplace mantle and drew forth from the bag a red Christmas tree ornament.

“Teach the children red is the first color of Christmas. It was first used by the faithful people to remind them of the blood which was shed for all the people by the Savior. Christ gave His life and shed His blood that every man might have God’s gift of Eternal Life. Red is deep, intense, vivid…it is the greatest color of all. It is the symbol of the gift of God.”

“Teach the children,” he said as he dislodged a small Christmas tree from the depths of the toy bag. He placed it before the mantle and gently hung the red ornament on it. The deep green of the fir tree was a perfect background for the ornament. Here was the second color of Christmas.

“The pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round,” he said. “This depicts the everlasting hope of mankind. Green is the youthful, hopeful, abundant color of nature. All needles point Heavenward, symbols of man’s returning thoughts toward Heaven. The great green tree has been man’s best friend. It has sheltered him, warmed him, made beauty for him.”

Suddenly I heard a soft tinkling sound.

“Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring for a man to return to the fold. It means guidance and return. It further signifies that all are precious in the eyes of the Lord.” As the soft sound of the bell faded into the night, Santa drew forth a candle. He placed it on the mantle and the soft glow from its tiny flame cast a glow about the darkened room. Odd shapes in shadows slowly danced and weaved upon the walls.

“Teach the children,” whispered Santa, “that the candle shows man’s thanks for the star of long ago. Its small light is the mirror of starlight. At first candles were placed on the trees. They were like many glowing stars shining against the dark green. The colored lights now take over in remembrance.”

Santa turned the small Christmas tree lights on and picked up a gift from underneath the tree. He pointed to the large bow and said, “A bow is placed on a present to remind us of the brotherhood of man. We should remember that the bow is tied as men should be tied, all of us together, with the bonds of goodwill toward each other. Goodwill forever is the message of the bow.”

Santa slung his bag over his shoulder and began to reach for the candy cane placed high upon the tree. He unfastened it and reached out toward me with it.

“Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherd’s crook. The crook on the staff helps bring back the strayed sheep to the flock. The candy cane represents the helping hand we should show at Christmas time. The candy candy cane is the symbol that we are our brothers’ keepers.

As Santa looked about the room, a feeling of satisfaction shone in his face. He read wonderment in my eyes, and I am sure he sensed my admiration on this night.

He reached into his bag and brought forth a holly wreath. He placed it on the door and said, “Please teach the children the wreath symbolizes the eternal nature of love; it never ceases, stops, or ends. It is one continuous round of affection. The wreath does double duty. It is made of many things and in many colors. It should remind us of all the things of Christmas.

Please teach the children.”

Do you try to keep the true meaning of Christmas alive at your house? How? What customs do you do–or used to do–that would help you and your children remember what the Season is truly about?

By the way–Santa’s story and his red bag of trinkets makes a wonderful treasured family heirloom. Feel free to make this story your gift to someone you love!

The Fillies will be taking a well-deserved break for a couple of weeks. I’ll be back the first Wednesday in January. Until then . . .

May you have the most joyful of Christmases filled with the light from God’s love!

Closed

2008-12-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

OK, the back nine is closed. As a matter of fact so is the front nine. The golf clubs are in the basement instead of the back of the van. I tossed my golf sandals into the washing machine with Jerry's dirty jeans. Guess what. They came out looking like new. Don't buy me new golf sandals for Christmas. :) Now the first hour after work is spent on exercise so I don't outgrow my golf clothes over the winter.

I haven't started any projects for the winter yet. When I bowled in Wayne, our sponsor bought us jackets for winning our league. The plan is to make a pillow out of the logo and sew the patches around the logo and add the pins. A golf friend I have is a very creative & crafty person. Maybe after the holidays I can get her to help me create this object d' art. Is that the right spelling?

Other winter projects -- Organizing my computer room. Cleaning closets. Putting pictures in albums. Cleaning all the cupboards and pantry. Maybe I should start another afghan. Every once in a while God gives me something to do by piling snow on my driveway. Working 4 days and having Friday off should have netted me some extra time to do odds and ends--NOT. The theory I have is that the amount of stuff you have to do expands to fill or overflow the time you have allotted. Erma Bombeck (I miss her columns) once wrote that if your house is a mess and someone comes to the door, set the vacuum out. It looks like you are in the middle of cleaning. Maybe I could just leave it out. That would give me another corner of my coat closet to stick something else. :).

Winter is only 10 days away. Then the days start getting longer and we can start looking forward to spring. I have the Terry Redlin 4 season plates in a wall display which are rotated so that the current season is on top. These plates get dusted at least 4 times a year when I move the current season to the top.

Enough rambling. Have a productive winter.

Road trip, etc.

2008-10-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday had a schedule - move plants, watch Nebraska football, take a road trip.

The past 3 years my plant collection has outgrown my window space in my living room.
The house we live in has a wonderful sun porch. Unfortunately it has no heat except the sun. It is a great place for plants, almost like a green house. But, they can't be left out there over the winter. About three years ago my boss allowed me to take the plants from my collection and put them in the dealership showroom for the winter. The plants seem to really like it there. Jerry & I loaded the pickup box, then the van and still had 4 large plants left over for a third trip. Some of my outside plants also get to go to the showroom. All together I think we moved 24 plants which are now safe from the frosty Nebraska winter.

Next on the schedule was to get to the Fairplay clubhouse to get the best seat for the ball game. We did and watched the Huskers beat Baylor 32-30. I had 0 in the football pool and lost on the safety. Last week I lost the pool because of the final touchdown. Not my year for winning the $10.00 pool.

Now, the road trip - For several years our friends have said we need to ride with them to their home farms near Bloomfield. The fall has always been the time to do this because of the beautiful trees. On approaching Bloomfield, the windmills of the wind farm are clearly visible. This is quite a sight. There are going to be 27 (I think) of them and they are huge. Anyone who thinks Nebraska is flat needs to take a turn off of I80 and see some real country. There area areas all over the state that have hills that are almost scary.
Donna's mom is currently residing in a nursing home in Norfolk, but is hoping to go back to her assisted living apartment in Bloomfield. Therefore Donna had a list of things to pick up and a list of things to do. Denny also wanted to check on the paint job his renter is doing on his family farm. The trees did not disappoint us. First stop was the apartment. The facility is very nice and clean and the attendant seemed very friendly. The apartment is jam packed with necessities and things to make it homey. The item that really catches your eye is a refurbished violin hanging on the wall. This musical memory belonged to Donna's grandfather and she had it restored for her Mom. (Donna is a very thoughtful person). Next stop was "the farm." Which is guarded by a 3-legged blue healer. He won't hurt you, but he might love you to death. Plants had to be watered and the furnace filter changed. A couple of items were picked up to take to "Mom". While watering plants, Donna asked if I would like a Norfolk pine that was from her Dad's funeral. OK, I don't really need another plant, do I? No, but I took it anyway. We toured the farmstead and the land around it. Next was on to Denny's farm. No one was home there except 3 dogs including a St Bernard. They were friendly so no one got hurt. The paint job was coming along and we did not spend a lot of time there.
Our next stop was Murdo's near Yankton, SD for supper, or dinner, whatever you prefer. The wait was only about 10 minutes and the food was great. Murdo's is right on the Missouri River and a very popular eating place. Since we were on the river, I thought catfish would be the appropriate choice. It was very good. The last stop was Walmart in Yankton for something Donna was looking for, but couldn't find in Norfolk. Her hunt was successful and we headed home. We crossed the new bridge between Nebraska and South Dakota. Since it was dark we couldn't see much except the bridge. It is ready to be a part of the 4-lane highway 81 if they ever get that far.
I guess this is one thing that I can cross off my mental "bucket list."

September

2008-09-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

September always brings back good and bad memories.

Today is the 3rd anniversary of our Mother's death. Time does move on at an alarming rate. The 25th is the 39th anniversay of our Dad's death. The 25th is also
Tammie & Randy's anniversary. The 25th was Jerry's Dad's birthday. I remember we always got him a funny card, but the year Dad died I couldn't bring myself to give it to him on that day. He did get it about a week later.

Monday was the funeral of our Daughter-in-law's grandfather.

I think I want to die in September. The weather is really beautiful this time of year. The trees are starting to turn and the crops are turning. Temperatures are usually very comfortable and the humidity seems to be lower. The air conditioner can be turned off and the furnace is also resting. Some of the nicest golf weather is this time of year. Before the leaves start falling and before the snow flys. Families are getting back into the routine (or chaos) of school and activities.
Choirs are back in church. Although I kind of like the special music of the summer.
My favorite sports, volleyball and football, are in full swing. I have to add softball to the list this year as Abby has opted to play softball this year.

I hope everyone enjoys the remaining nice weather before the snow and cold sets in.

The Western Swing

2008-09-05T08:37:00.001-07:00

Friday morning 4:30 am. The alarm clock is ringing. It is my day off and we are off on a 3-day golf trip. Aren't you supposed to sleep in on vacation?

We planned on eating an early lunch in Paxton, but with the time change Big Ole's wasn't open yet. We had brunch or breakfast in a cafe that is connected to Ole's. The Big Game bar was open when we finished our meal so we walked through the Bar. Utechts had never been there.
The first course we played was Bayside near Ogallala. The address is actually Brule, but who know where Brule is. You can see Lake McConahey from the course. The wind was blowing 25-30 mph with gusts to 40. It was a very interesting course, but the wind made it really a lot tougher. We play vacation rules. Can't take more than 8 on a hole. If you can't get out of the sand in 2 shots, you can throw it out.
If a ball goes into the native grasses, you can drop near the entry spot without a penalty stroke. OK, we cheat.
The clubhouse was really nice. They had meals and were showing the NE game so we stayed there to watch. Although Nebraska managed to win, we can see where there is a lot of work to be done.
After the game it was time to head for our Super 8 motel via a Dairy Queen. We made the DQ with just 2 minutes to spare before closing. The motel was clean and quiet.

Didn't have to get up so early on Saturday. We only had to drive to Gothenburg to play Wild Horse. We found a Village Inn for breakfast. I think it was in No Platte This course was designed by the same person that designed Bayside so it was very similar. The wind was still blowing just like at Bayside. Wind blowing in the sand hills of Nebraska brings the extra pleasure of being beaten by blowing sand. (OUCH)
We got done in time to watch the last volleyball set at the clubhouse. Our next course was in Kearney so we drove there to stay at the Wingate. This motel was a lot nicer than the Super 8.
Our tee time for Monday was 10 am. The motel had a great breakfast buffet. They had the waffle makers which I love. We were not very far from the course so we had a little time to look around an antique store there. This course was not in the sand hills so we only had to deal with the still-blowing wind but not the blowing sand. Meadow Hills (I think that is the name) has very wide fairways and a lot of hills.It was easier to play than the other courses.
After playing we were all hungry and ready to head for home. We found a little Mom & Pop type cafe somewhere along hiway 30 where I had Beef and noodles. You don't find food like that in your big chains like Applebees and Whisky Creek.
While playing in Ogallala another golfer recognized Jerry as someone he had seen somewhere. They were from Pender and remembered seeing him when we played there. The other couple were originally from Pender but now live in Omaha. We kept running into them everywhere we went. They were eating in Whiskly Creek in Gothenburg when we got there. They were playing at Wild Horse and in the club house when we got done. They stayed in the same motel in Kearney and were having breakfast when we were and we waved at them accross the fairway on the golf course.
The trip home was uneventful and we got home around 6 so had time to unpack and get ready for the coming week.
I would like to play the two sandhill's courses again someday when the wind isn't blowing.
That was our mini-vacation for this year.

Summer's end

2008-08-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

The first sign of summer's end is that our golf league is done. We had our end-of-year fun night last night. Each team plays a scramble format. After a great meal, we have our fall meeting with election of officers. (boring huh) Do you belong to an organization of women? Having an orderly meeting seems to be impossible. Only about half are paying attention. The others are busy chatting. If they would all just shut up and listen, the meeting could be over in half the time. My team came in seventh and got enough cash back to pay for our dues next year. I also got $5.00 for tying for "most birdies". There must have been a real shortage of birdies this year, because I only had 2.
Sunday is our City tournament. There are 3 golf clubs in our town with probably 60 women from each club that are eligible to play in this event. It is really sad that we have to struggle to keep it going with only about 20 women participating. Even the big cities have trouble getting players for this event. Some of the women from Omaha were discussing this at the last NWAGA tournament I participated in.
Now we have the beautiful fall weather to look forward to. Some of the best golf is in the fall.

The next obvious sign of summer's end is school starting. On my route from work, I drive by the back side of the high school. Dress codes have changed since I attended school, many, many years ago. The football boys have been practicing for a couple of weeks and I suppose the volleyball girls are hard at it in the gym.

Next is the football coverage in the newspapers. Nebraska has had articles almost every day about our "back to tradition" football. Now we are reading about the volleyball "rebuilding year." Other Big XII teams are being analyzed. We are hoping for good things to be happening in the future.

The summer flowers are fading and drying up. Monarch butterflies are migrating. Some our finding my butterfly bush in the back yard. Fresh garden produce is abundant.

Summer clearances have been going on since just after July 4th. If you know what size you will be next spring, it is a good time to buy shorts. The racks are full of winter things that just don't look inviting right now.

HAPPY END OF SUMMER

Tournament update

2008-07-27T12:28:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday was our club tournament at Fairplay. Even though I scored the best I have played in a long, long time, I came in 3rd. This is not so bad because it was
3rd in the gross catagory. My score was 89 the low score was 84. Now comes the "if". If I had scored one stroke worse, 90, I would have won first place in the net division. I would have taken home more money, but the prestige of placing with the "big sticks" is better. After the tournament play we played in a "par 3 tournament." They place the tee markers up in the fairways so all the holes are par 3's. I also placed 2nd in the women's division for that. Pretty successful day.

On Wednesday our ladies' league had a member/guest. Members invite someone that does not play in our league. I invited a friend from Wayne. I brought in a ringer and we won first place. Thanks, Sandra.

Pretty good week for me so thanks for letting me brag a little.

back to school

2008-07-18T06:47:00.000-07:00

I am going back to school for 4 classes. Since my kids and grandkids are all computer literate, I will try to catch up a little. The computer has been a big part of my job for a long time. But, I feel like I only know how to run the "in house" system at work. The first class was Wednesday afternoon. There is a series of 3 classes on computer basics for seniors. The other class is on Quicken, the bookkeeping system I have been trying to learn to keep the trucking business more up to date. Wish me luck.

Yesterday I took the day off to play in a tournament in Wayne. The local businesses have what they call a "vendors tournament". They invite their vendors to play a 4 person scramble. It is all just for fun. The winners recieve a dozen golf balls to divide between them. Governor Heinneman and some other politicians were there. The gov's team tied for first place. I wonder if they gave him extra mulligans. lol

This weekend is the club tournament at Fairplay. The ladies play on Saturday and the men on Sunday. I better get my weekend chores done today so I can goof off tomorrow.

Our 15 year old grandaughter is on a trip to Europe with a group from her school. She left last Friday and will be home Sunday. What a great experience this is for someone so young.

Better get busy.

Catching up

2008-07-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

Boy, have I been busy.

Last Monday, June 30, I had an endoscopy and esophagus aplation. I had this done once before about 4 years ago. I have a conditon called Barritt's esophaus caused by acid reflux, or GERD. An endoscopy is done to see if there is damage. If so, the damaged cells are burned off. I will talk to Dr again on Monday. They send you home when you are still off in la-la land so I don't remember too much about the ride from Omaha back to Norfolk. (I do remember haveing a bowl of chicken broth at Village Inn with Tammie and Randy.) A liquid diet for the first day and then soft foods for a week. By the way, you can make anything soft if you chew it long enough.
Other than that I can go on about my business as usual. I worked on Tuesday, on Wednesday I was invited to play at the Norfolk Country Club so I took that day off as my day off and Friday was the 4th. Only two days to work last week so have been trying to get caught up.
Friday night we were at Joe's for a cookout and fireworks. All of both Joe's and Angie's families were there for supper. Some other friends of theirs came by for the fireworks. It was great fun watching the kids play in the lake. Others played volleyball. I even played 1 game of volleyball. Since I don't even own a swimsuit, I had to be content with just wading into the water a little bit. There was quite a fireworks show with all the other displays around the lake. As we were leaving, the lightening bugs were putting on a display of their own. It is really dark as you drive away from Joe's house and the bugs were spectacular.

We played golf on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday we had two other couples over to play golf and then had a cookout. We had a great time.

Still trying to get my basement back in shape after the water problem. A person can really store a lot of stuff when you have a full basement. I'm not sure that is a good thing.

Do hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and enjoy what is left of summer. The stores are putting out school supplies, so fall can't be far behind.

???

2008-06-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

Ever notice that Polish (the nationality) and polish (what you put on your shoes) are spelled the same? Just goes to show you that Noah Webster didn't know the difference between S**t and shinola.

Saturday am - Drug all the wet carpet out and sent JD to the dump. Washed all the rugs and towels that were used in clean up + all the other laundry. Mowed, got groceries, golfed and had hot dogs on the grill at Utecht's, and watched the 3rd round of the US open. I hope Tiger hasn't done permanent damage to his leg.

Sunday - got up real early to go to Walnut, Ia with Utechts for their big antique sales. A lot of vendors had packed up and gone home when the weather threatened Saturday afternoon. Got the last little canister and one other piece for my "sun and moon" collection.

This time of year is usually my favorite time of year to go driving. Everything is so lush and green. This year it makes me sad to see all the farm ground that won't be planted this year. A little water in the basement is just an inconvenience compared to what is happening further east.

Norfolk Country Club had their annual ladies open yesterday. I took off early to play. It is usually the one time each year I get to play there. Didn't play too bad, but didn't win any golf prizes. Managed to have the winning number in the 50/50 drawing. I played with a lady that I played with in Hastings and she invited me to be her guest next Wednesday on the "guest day". I accepted so will get to play there again. BTW, Janell, your bosses wife will also be her guest so will get to play with Bev G. again. Looking forward to it.

Change of Plans

2008-06-12T06:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday - the usual chores- Laundry, mowing, cleaning, grocery shopping. Jerry was playing in an annual 2-day tournament called the Polish Open. An invitational fun tournament put on by a local golfer. My usual golfing buddies had a family thing in Bloomfield so I was left on my own. It was just work, work, work until time to get ready to go to the dinner that was part of the "Polish." Friends from Carroll were there so had a good time.
Sunday, I had volunteered to help at a tournament at Fairplay. After more rain, around 2 or 3 inches, this tournament was cancelled. Jerry went to play his second day at El Dorado. After I went to church, I decided to do some things that I have been putting off. I went to the basement to get a sponge mop. There was water in the basement. At first I thought the air conditioner had backed up again. NOT. The water was coming up from all the rain. Now, we have never had a problem with rain water, but we have never had this much rain since we have lived in this house. So, as a result, my Sunday was spent vacuuming water. The water just kept coming up through the floor. This is how I did not want to spend my Sunday. I got up at midnight, 3 am, and once more at 6 to go over the areas affected so the water would not get into other areas. When I went home over my lunch hour I went over it again. It seemed to have quit coming in. I hit it again after golf around 9 pm.

Monday- We had a make-up golf night and managed to get it played.

Tuesday- I had an insurance adjuster stop by who informed me ground water and rain water are not covered unless we have a sump pump and tile. Now do I spend the money to install the above items or hope this is a one-time occurrence and just keep vacuuming if it happens again? The grass just keeps growing so time to mow again. Then I borrowed a ladder from our very nice neighbor and crawled up on the roof with the leaf blower and blew out all the *&%# maple seeds out of the gutters.

Wednesday - We got our golf league played without getting rained out. Now we only have one more make-up which is scheduled for June 30.

Thursday- Sun is shining - no rain forecast.

My first project for tomorrow will be to get the damaged carpet out of the basement(didn't like it anyway). Any volunteers to help? I feel my back protesting already.

Small world

2008-06-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

Donna & I left Sunday after church and brunch with Denny & Jerry. Our tee time was 1:50. We programmed the Garmin and even though we took our own route as far as Grand Island, it would recalculate and took us right to the golf course. There was a lady from the Norfolk Country Club and another lady that was her friend that were also a twosome so they joined us for our practice round. They were Bev Mc and Bev G.
Both played golf in Oakland and became good friends. Bev G is from Tekamah. I told her my sister lived near Herman and if she (Bev) was into horses she might know her.
She asked who my sister was. When I told her she said "Janell used to babysit my kids when she lived in Tekamah." She also told of picking them up one day and each one had a bucket of snakes. Tell me, Janell, what kind of treat is that to send home with the kids?
More small world. One of the employees of the Nebraska PGA, Monica Novak, spent most of growing up years in Wayne. Her Dad & I went to country school together and Monica always updates me on where they are. She told me they had bought a lot on the lake by Pilger and are going to be Joe's neighbors. They currently live in Omaha and will use the lake house for weekends until they retire in about 3 years.
Ray & Carol (McKinzie) both graduated from Lyons.

I played ok part of the time in the 2-day tournament, but managed to get into enough trouble that I didn't place. Southern Hills golf course is beautiful. I got home Tuesday night in time to mow the lawn that just keeps growing with all the rain we have been having. Yesterday the lawn service came and fertilized so I suppose it will grow even faster. Sunshine today and a couples fun night with pot luck tonight.
Even if we don't play well, the food is always great. Better go make my peanut butter bars.

5/31/08

2008-05-31T07:35:00.000-07:00

Finally some sunshine. Golf is really getting a late start this year.

Tomorrow I take off for Hastings and the NWAGA Easter Stroke Play Tournament.
We play a practice round on Sunday and a 2-day tournament Monday & Tuesday.
Any one mildly interested can probably find results in the Omaha WH. I don't expect to do very well because play has been very limited this spring. I do expect to have a good time and I always like to play a new course.

Lots of catching up to do after the trip to Montana and So. Dakota.

Happy Day

2008-05-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, maybe it is just a little thing, but I got my van back. After driving a Focus for 10 days, it is like luxury. Both doors on the driver's side had to be replaced and the entire driver's side repainted. So-all the door dings on that side are gone.
There were 2 things I did like about the Focus. It got 25.88 mpg while I was driving it. All the driving was in town. The other thing is I could walk all the way around it without squeezing while it was in the garage.

Golf league has begun. It is still kind of chilly in the evenings, but we haven't been rained out YET. There are only 3 little geese that have hatched on the golf course this year. I think the coons must have got to some of the nests. Last year there were two batches of 5 & 6. There was a badger swimming in one of the ponds last night. This is the first time I have seen one out there, but there has been some very large animal holes on the course.

One of our club members is a member of the Bluebird Society and for about 3 or 4 years has put up bluebird houses around the course. Therefore we have an abundance of bluebirds. They really do help keep the mosquitoes down because in the fall when they leave it seems like there are more mosquitoes. Anyone who lives in the country should have a couple of these houses. I bought Jacob a membership in the BB society which comes with a couple of houses. He hasn't had time to put them up yet as he and Joe have been planting hundreds of trees on their new acreage.

Sounds like we may have some good golf weather this weekend :).

Horses

2008-05-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

Sometime back I blogged about horses over by the high school. No one seemed to know why they were there. Well, they were back again this week. It just so happened that I was out walking over my noon hour and walked by the back side of the school where the horses and owners were. So, being curious, I asked. They bring the horses to the school and all the kindergarteners get to come take a ride. I wish I had the time to watch the little kids. Some of them have probably never seen a horse close up.

Mystery solved.

Sue

This & That

2008-05-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

April 27th two friends and I went to the Swan Lake Ballet. It was wonderful. Wayne State College has an organization that gets some really big shows and charges very little to see them. Our cost was $10.00 each. This was the Russian Ballet company out of New York. Ramsey Theater is not very big so there are not a lot of bad seats.
We were in the second row just off to the right. Close enough to see all the expressions that are so important in a ballet. Everyone should see this performance if you get a chance. This is something that I can cross off my mental "Bucket List."

Yesterday our granddaughter, Jaydee, was confirmed. I believe this is a very big milestone in a young persons life. One of the first steps to adulthood. She has had a very good teacher, Chip, and I do hope most of what she has learned the past few years remain in her heart and mind. We had a nice lunch at Village Inn with all the family. It was a wonderful day.

The weather here has been really up and down. One day we have snow and the next day or two may be 70+. The wind seems to blow almost every day. We may have had 2 days the entire month of April that the wind did not blow.

The van goes to the body shop today. It will be "hospitalized" for about 10 days.

Happy Cinco De Mayo. I think it has something to do with a battle, not the invention of mayonnaise. LOL

updates

2008-04-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

The insurance companies determinted that the other driver was 100% at fault so will pay for all repairs and for a rental while the van is in the shop. Repairs will begin May 5. Since we have a grandaughter being confirmed on May 4th, the insurance adjuster gave us an extra day of rental.

Jerry went back to work this week and had no trouble with his legs, so guess he will be able to work awhile longer. He will be cutting back some though.

No golf this weekend. Forecast is for rain, wind and cold.

Two friends and I are going to see the "Swan Lake" ballet. Wayne State College has a ballet company from New York coming on Sunday.

Sue

Weekend

2008-04-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Friday was not a very good day. It was cold and windy. I had a final doctor's appointment for the surgery on my thumb. Jerry dropped me off and ran a couple of errands and came back to pick me up. Well, as he was driving through the parking lot a car came forward out of a parking place and broadsided the van. No one was hurt, but the van sustained over $4400.00 in damage. Both doors on the drivers side will need to be replaced. It is still drivable, but will be laid up for repairs for about a week and a half. Wasted about 2 hours at the body shop getting an estimate and making phone calls to the insurance people.
When I got home I made a phone call and the phone was full of static so I had to call the phone company. They were there and fixed it in a short time.
We had planned to play golf and then go out to eat with friends for Jerry's birthday.
Golf was cancelled due to the cold. We did get to go out to eat and had a great visit with our friends that have just returned from their Arizona winter home.

Saturday, was one of the (maybe 2 per year) most perfect days to be outside. I washed all the bedding and hung it out, finished washing the 15 windows in the sunroom and then we played 18 holes of golf.

Sunday all the family was at our house for our April birthdays. Jacob and Kendra played football, last score I heard was 93 to 61 or something like that. We cooked out and had a good time. Cindy showed me how to get pictures to my blog so put one up of the grandkids. left to right, Jaydee, Abby, Jacob, Kendra. Now if I can just remember the steps to put up more. A picture is worth a thousand words so you will all be more informed than if I just rattle on.
Sue

TV

2008-04-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

Do you watch "The Biggest Loser"? It is the only "reality show" that I watch. Seeing the participants shrinking away each week is amazing. Not many of us have time to work out 6 hours a day, have a personal trainer, people to support us 24/7, and $250,000.00 to gain if we lose the most. I would like to see them all weigh in at the beginning of next season to see if they all kept it off.
After TBL, I watch Law and Order, SVU. Jerry doesn't like "cop shows" so he usually goes to bed. I like the L&O programs. There is always and unexpected twist in the mystery. You can just about count on the special guest star being the culprit. My favorite program is "Without a Trace". The CSI programs do not appeal to me because they get too graphic. Needless to say, my favorite reading is a good mystery.
The "Masters" was our entertainment for the weekend. Glad to have something to amuse us since the weather sucked.
One of the programs I like that is not a mystery is "What Not to Wear." Makes you wonder if some of those people have ever looked at themselves in a mirror.
Jerry likes "Deal or No Deal." I can live without that one. My favorite game show is Jeopardy, which I watch while I walk on the treadmill.
We have played a little golf this week dispite the wind. At least when the wind is gusting up to 40 MPH we have good excuse for high scores.
Sue

4/7/08

2008-04-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Even with Fridays off, my weekends still seem too short. Friday I had to drive Jerry to Lincoln for his appointment with the arthritis specialist. The diagnosis is gout and hopefully will be able to control it with medication. He has some arthritis in his joints, but not enough to warrant surgery. We had lunch with Cindy and Tammie and got home in time to play 9 holes of golf. Jerry just did some chipping as he is not ready to hit the long shots. We had our usual Friday out with friends.
Saturday. Jacob had his last wrestling match in Madison (only 12 miles away) so I went to watch him. He lost all his matches and was really disappointed. Then I joined Jerry and the Utechts for 9 holes of golf. The geese are already nesting so will probably have more little ones to watch again this year. They are fun to watch, but boy are they messy. Steaks on the grill (yum, yum & Donna cooked) for supper. Then we watched Kansas beat No Carolina in the final four NCAA BB tournament. Would like to see KU go all the way, since they are Big XII. I also hung some laundry out for the first time this year.
Sunday, Church, grocery shopping, more laundry, etc. I started washing the 15 windows in the sun porch (one of my least favorite jobs.) Six of them got done before the wind changed and made it too cold to work on the porch. The lawn guy called to have us flag the sprinkler heads so he could aerate the lawn on Monday. Checked all the sprinkler heads to make sure they were all working. Since all this extra left no time for cleaning, I am hoping Jerry felt like pushing the vaccuum cleaner today. Probably should try to mow tonight, don't want the neighbors to get ahead of me.
Spring is in the air and the robins are looking at the downspouts for nests.
Sue

Customers

2008-04-02T08:55:00.000-07:00

Although I don't have a lot of contact with customers like Janell does, I do get a chuckle sometimes. The customer lounge and TV are just in front of my office with a 1/2 wall separation.
Yesterday the TV was on the channel that airs Tyra Banks. Her show was on strippers, or exotic dancers. The funny part was that during that hour most of the customers that were in the lounge at that time were older men. None of them seemed to be watching the show, but no one changed the channel. As old guys usually do, they were more into visiting. I wonder if some of them weren't sneaking a peek.
Sue

4/1/08

2008-04-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

April Fool, it isn't spring yet. It is still winter. Just enough snow on the ground to make it white. Sunday while I was doing dishes there were 4 fat robins in my yard. I wonder where they went?
Sue

Trip

2008-03-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Around 2 pm on Wednesday Donna & I took off for Epply Airfield. Our flight was scheduled for 4 something. Not hitches and the plane actually took off about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. We arrived in Phoenix a little early, but Donna's son Chuck, was on his way to pick us up. Donna's grandaughter, Taylor, was arriving from San Diego at the same time we were so we all arrived in great time. We found a spot to wait and it wasn't too long before they came looking for us. Chuck asked us if we wanted the good news or the bad news. We started with the good - The weather was to be great. The bad - the LPGA tournament wasn't until the following week. We had looked at the 07 schedule. Oh well, guess we will just have to play another day. Also visiting Chuck and Carmine were Carmine's sister, Cara, and her husband, Mike, and their 9-month old son, Christopher. Everyone got along great.
We played golf at three different courses. The first one was ok. The tees, fairways and greens were watered, but the roughs were real dry and hard to hit off.
The second day was right in Scottsdale and around houses. It was real nice. The third day was higher up and had a lot of pretty scenery. Chuck played with us all three days and Mike joined us twice.

Donna called some friends from Norfolk that winter near the course we played on Saturday and the met us after golf for a short visit. Was nice to see them. They also had family for the weekend so didn't have a lot of extra time.

Sunday we went to church and had Easter dinner. Taylor and Cara's family had to leave for the airport around 3. Carmine took them to the airport so Chuck took Donna and I for a drive through the more "rural" part of Arizona. We went through a town called Fountain Head. They have a park with a fountain that goes off every hour, on the hour, and shoots 100 feet in the air. It went off just as we were driving into town. So we didn't have to wait for it to shoot.

Everyone was really tired Sunday night so we all decided to head for bed by 9.

Monday we packed up, said our goodbyes to Chuck as he left for work. Carmine dropped us at the airport on her way to work. Then the fun began.

Our flight was for 12:09. We were there around 10, checked in, wandered around the airport awhile, got a bite to eat and waited for our plane to arrive. Announcement for those waiting for flight 510 to Omaha - Your plane is still in the hangar being worked on. Estimated time 1:30. Ok, we wait. Next announcement - Go to gate 21. From 2B is a long walk. Estimated time 2:30. Great. Next announcement - Go to gate 23. Not far. No plane there. 1:50 announcement - We are waiting for a plane to come in from Burbank at 2:10. Estimated departure time 2:30. Who are you trying to fool? Unload the passengers and luggage and reload in 20 minutes? Not going to happen. Burbank plane was on time, yaaay. We begin loading about 2:45. We are all loaded and ready to go. Announcement - We have to make a few technical adjustment will just be a few minutes. Yah, right. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Sorry folks, one of our flight attendants is timed out, we have to wait for another one. She is in the airport so will be "just a little while". 4 PM, we are leaving the gate. Finally. The flight back was good. We arrived in Omaha about 8:45 which was about 4 hours later than expected. Our luggage also made it with us, SUPRISE. Glad we had cell phones so that Jerry and Denny knew what was going on.
Finding something to eat between Epply Air field and Norfolk at 9 pm is not easy. We ended up at Wendy's in the Truck stop in Fremont. No more bad luck and we only saw one deer on the outskirts of Omaha. Safely home about 11:15. Brush my teeth and go to bed. Unpacking will wait.

Except for the 2 glitches - 1. the LPGA being this weekend instead of last and 2. The plane problems, it was a great vacation. Maybe Donna will invite me again so I can see the professionl women play.

Tuesday, back to work, playing catch up and correcting the mistakes others made trying to do my job. Guess I better get busy teaching them before I decide to retire completely.

Good to be back.

Sue

skunked

2008-03-27T06:21:00.000-07:00

There were pictures with this, but didn't transfer to my blog. Just close your eyes and imagine the pics.

Sue

It happened at the Norfolk Midwest Bank offices which are out by Skyview Lake in
Norfolk.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:45 AM Midwest Bank, Norfolk , NE

I was on the phone in the drive thru this morning, and noticed a skunk in the vacant field across from the bank. We all thought it was pretty strange to see a skunk in broad daylight in town…not to mention the funky convulsions it was having while it walked in circles. Nevertheless, it made its way across the street into our parking lot.

There had to be someone we could call!!! The police division could send us in the right direction. Jason hopped on the phone while the 5 women kept a close eye on it. The verdict was in, there's nothing animal control will do if you have a skunk…for the fear of getting sprayed. Just let it be.

Russ Wilcox, Senior Vice President, was not satisfied with that…so he hopped on the phone while I snapped pictures and everyone else watched through the blinds to see where it went.

Russ, after some discussion with police division, was told to "just leave it alone." (we pay you people to give advice such as "leave the skunk alone???") Russ, less than impressed with the recommendation, asked to speak with the Lieutenant…but was disconnected during the transfer and left with no answers!!! He walked (actually more like stomped) into his office and was going to get someone out here to trap it or go home and get his rifle and blow it apart. One or the other. Where was the skunk by this time you ask?.......

Still in the parking lot, circling around, "looking drunk" as Kathy Stoops quoted, and every so often picking up its' right paw and shaking it around. Strange, yes, but still too much for the police department with their extensive training and loaded guns.

So Russ calls the police back and this time, goes straight for the jugular…the CHIEF!!! Welp, chief's not in but a nice lady says to him… "Well, you never said you thought the skunk was sick! We can have someone come out and take a look. We only respond to RABID skunks in the area, not the sweet healthy ones." She must not have understood that skunks usually don't hang out in town in the middle of the day…but we'll cut her some slack.

So to our rescue in less than 5 mintues….Norfolk's finest CSO (community service officer)….we'll call him Jim.

Jim arrives and carefully approaches the sunk with is lasso. At the first attempt, the skunk throws his tail in the air and shows some life!!

Who do these two think they are?!?!? "So, do you think Jim just got sprayed?"…..they were almost standing in Stanton County ….but following the advice of the Norfolk PD…"Just leave it alone…

Jim tried a few times to get a firm grip on the little rascal, but seemed to be struggling. He grabbed a second tool from his bat mobile…I mean truck…and approached again, gaining confidence with every passing moment. This skunk's time was about up…No more drunk adventures to Norfolk at 8:00 AM.

GOT IT!!!! YESSSSS!! Jim saved the day and put that rabid, drunk, convulsing skunk in that cage where it belonged. As he drove off he said… "We'll take it out somewhere and shoot it." Way to take care of business Jim, we owe you one. (And you'll be glad to hear that Jim never did get sprayed….more evidence that this skunk was indeed drunk…I mean sick.)

signs of spring

2008-03-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, everyone has seen a robin by now. Let's add a few more signs. One thing I notice is the track and tennis teams are practicing when I come home from work. Today I took a walk over my lunch hour and the geese were flying and honking overhead. The daffodils are pushing up. The snow is almost gone and what is left is just dirty piles. People are out walking. Kids are out playing. Baby calves are froliking in the pastures. Last, but not least, Donna & I played nine holes of golf on Tuesday. We had to walk and the course was not officially open. There were only temporary greens so we didn't putt. There was a pair of geese already looking for a nesting place by the pond on #8 even though there was still ice on it.
All right, I know it is supposed to snow tomorrow, but we always have to have a "spring snow" in this part of the country. Let's just call it another sign of spring.
Sue

Answers

2008-03-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

1. Speedy little town - Rushville
2. Embarassed strato-cumulus - Red Cloud
3. Flowing area - Bloomfield
4. Type of hound - Bassett
5. Shaquille - O'neill
6. 1492 sailor - Columbus
7. An automobile - leg joint - Kearney (pronounced carney for you non Nebraskans)
8. A common question - Wynot
9. Damaged Indian weapon - Broken Bow
10. No frills look - Plainview
11. Brand of overalls - Oshgosh
12. A union between nations - Alliance
13. Legal interment - Fairbury
14. Red hair - Auburn
15. Place to pray - Chappell
16. A tall evergreen (2) Long Pine or Douglas
17. A river of trees (2) Elm Creek or Wood River
18. The best athlete - Champion
19. Horse feed with bees - Hastings
20. Calling for mother while laughing - Omaha

How many did you get?
Sue

Nebraska Life

2008-02-27T15:33:00.001-08:00

Nebraska Life is a magazine published right here in Norfolk. It is one magazine I read cover to cover. Published 6 times a year, it has articles and pictures of people and places in Nebraska. Kind of makes me want to get in my car and just tour
the state.
This little quiz was in the latest issue. How many can you answer? The answers are all towns in Nebraska.
1. Speedy little town
2. Embarrassed strato-cumulus
3. Flowering area
4. Type of hound
5. Shaquille
6. 1492 Sailor
7. An automobile-leg joint
8. A common question
9. Damaged Indian weapon
10. No frills look
11. Brand of overalls
12. A union between nations
13. Legal interment
14. Red hair
15. Place to pray
16. A tall evergreen (two answers)
17. A river of trees (two answers)
18. The best athlete
19. Horse feed with bees
20. Calling for mother while laughing.

Answers at a later date.
Sue

F Y I

2008-02-18T14:01:00.000-08:00

Don't try to wash a cell phone in the washing machine. Jerry left his in a jacket pocket. Not only did it not come clean, but it quit working. Imagine that. Of course we couldn't get one like it so we wouldn't have to spend the extra for a charger for the truck. Kind of an expensive lesson. The phone was about 4 years old so it was probably on its last legs anyway. Now we will see how long it takes him to get used to the new one. This is a lot of technology for and old guy.
Sue

Loss of a landmark

2008-02-15T06:53:00.000-08:00

Sunday night Decatur lost what was probably the oldest business in the town. The Green Lantern Steakhouse burned to the ground. Fire departments from Lyons, Tekamah and Onawa were called in to assist. All was for naught, it is a total loss. The building was originally built as a car dealership then was an implement dealer. In 1955 it was converted to a steakhouse and bar. It has been in business for 53 years. The original owners, the Coopers I believe, had to sell for health reasons. It has changed hands 3 or 4 times. The present owners have had it for about 4 years.
The first time I ever heard of Pizza was when Dad and his bowling team would go there after bowling and have pizza. I think he did bring us some at least once. After having pizza for the first time, we thought it was great when we had Chef-Boy-R-Dee pizza mix with our own hamburger added.
When I worked in the bank in Tekamah, our Christmas parties were held at the Green Lantern.
There are probably not too many people in Burt County that have not eaten there. It will be missed.
Sue

Auctions

2008-02-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning I decided to go to an estate auction. It has been a long time since I had been to one. There were all the things amassed by some family. Pots and pans, tupperware, bedding, Christmas decorations, pretty serving dishes, toys, tableware, table clothes, furniture, lawnmower, appliances, etc. There is something kind of sad in seeing a lifetime spread out on a bunch of tables. Not knowing the people makes you wonder what kind of family they were. The board games were well worn but still in their original boxes so we assume the played a lot of games. The washer and dryer were the new water saving ones so we assume they had to replace them recently. The bed was kind of old, but had a new mattress set. There were several walking canes and an adult walker. Someone had trouble getting around. There were a lot of stuffed animals. Wonder if they collected them or if they were leftovers from their children. Sets of tableware, one good set of silverware in a nice box saved for special occasions. A set of Corelle dishes for every day and nice set of china for company. A box of sheet music and music books. Someone must have played the piano although there wasn't one for sale. There wasn't a lot of furniture so we assume the family divided up the collectibles. There was a collection of salt and pepper shakers and a collection of bells. An International pedal tractor in mint condition brought over $200.00.

I didn't stay for the whole auction. My back was getting tired and there wasn't any place to sit. All I bought was one little box of stuff because it had four Garfield glasses in it. It is always fun to see what all you got when you get these miscellaneous boxes home. There was a camera, a hair clipper (don't think Jerry will let me cut his hair). A couple of Budweiser ash trays that I will see if Denny wants since he collects BW stuff. A bird on a log that picks toothpicks out of the log (kind of cute). A blue/white enamel drinking cup which still had the price tag on the bottom. A nice drinking glass. All this for a total of $4.00. All this kind of makes me want to go again.

The rest of the weekend was spent doing the usual weekend chores. Besides the usual stuff, I hemmed up a pair of pants and the sleeves on a couple of jackets that I had bought. Then I worked on my quilt. The binding edge is all pinned and ready to sew.
Jerry had to leave on Sunday afternoon. Joe stopped by to start his truck for him on his way to church. He called and said all three batteries had blown up. Fortunately Freightliner is open on Sunday so Jerry could get the new ones and Joe helped him put them in. I felt so sorry for the guys working out in the cold. I guess they got the job done because Jerry went on his way and didn't come back home.

Spring is one week closer.
Sue

On The Move

2008-02-07T06:09:00.000-08:00

The trucks are back on the road. Jerry made it to Chicago where it was raining when he called. Not sure where Joe is. They should both get home tomorrow unless there is more snow out east.
Sue

SNOWBOUND

2008-02-06T06:43:00.000-08:00

Jerry is snowbound in Wolcott, Ia. Joe is in Peru, Il. Seems like every year one or both of them get stuck at a truck stop at least once. Jerry is trying to get to Chicago which has a forcast of snow for at least the next 2 days. I'm not sure where Joe is headed. At least they are safely parked.
Norfolk got a couple more inches. It is hard to tell because of the wind blowing it into drifts. Some places there is a foot and some spots nothing.
Then there are the tornadoes in the south. Makes a person wonder what the summer months will be like when there are such severe storms in February.
Is the weather getting weirder or is it because of the news coverage we have?

WHAT HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING?

Sue