Fessing up

I have a confession to make: I almost broke our brother.

Mick came out late Wednesday afternoon to help me with a project. He’s sort of between jobs this week, so I invited him to come and help me ride Lucy. He thought that sounded like a good idea, so we saddled up both horses and Bubba and I ponied Lucy around for a while and she was just as calm as she could be – made no fuss over the saddle or the bit & bridle, responded to all my cues for direction changes and so on, so Mick and I decided it was time to mount up.
As soon as his butt hit the saddle she went off like a firecracker – crow hopping like a bronc. He didn’t just fall off – he flew off: went straight up in the air and came down and landed flat on his back. He got the wind knocked out of him, but is otherwise okay. We didn’t try getting on her again.
Mick is supposed to call me after he’s been to the doctor’s and let me know what he found out. I thought he looked a little better Wednesday, not so tired and his color was better – even after he got bucked off.

Coincidentally, Joani ran into Mick on Thursday. She had gone to the Hiway Café in Lyons to meet Jim and Vicki for a birthday dinner for Vicki, and Mick happened to be there. They visited for a while and he told her about our Wednesday adventure. She said – and is probably right, “We are too old for that kind of stuff.”

Great news on the home front: we got our internet satellite installed, so we are online at home. We are now officially part of the global community.

a picture from bob - snapping turtle

TV Series

I have not been watching much television the past few years -- since the demise of the comedies and the rise in the quasi reality shows, which I can't stand. But this week I have been glued to the PBS series "The War" by Ken Burns. If you have not tuned in, you should. It is fascinating, sickening, eye opening, and scary. All those and any other word you can think of.

9/25/07

Over my lunch break I went to see a dermatologist about a mole on my back. Thankfully it was not the kind that turn to cancer. He had the nurse burn 3 of them off my back and electrocuted a capillary just above my lip. I suppose the insurance company will call the electrolysis "cosmetic" and I will have to pay for three little electric shocks myself.
Mick stopped down at the Denton picnic for a few minutes. He didn't stay very long and I didn't think he looked well.
Sue

Crystal's Wedding

As of Saturday afternoon, Crystal is now Mrs. John Cardoni. They had a very nice wedding. John’s family is very musical and his mom played the bridal processional and recessional on the piano, quite beautifully, I might add. A friend of the groom played classical guitar selections for preludes and postludes. A female vocalist (may have been an Aunt of John’s?) sang a beautiful rendition of the Ave Maria. There were six bridesmaids all dressed in floor-length gowns of deep crimson, with spaghetti straps and long flowing skirts. They each carried a small bouquet of white roses. Crystal’s bouquet was of red roses. Her gown was strapless, with a full skirt, a light veil and long train – lots of lace and pearl embroidery. She walked down the aisle alone and John met her halfway. The groom and the six groomsmen were all in black tuxes, very simple but elegant.
The reception hall was a small building on the shore of a pretty lake. Pictures of John & Crystal from childhood through courtship were set up in various places all around the room. Everything was themed Italian: each table was named after an Italian city (we were seated in Sienna). The centerpiece was a wine bottle with flowers, surrounded by six small candles and a scattering of Hershey’s kisses. There was a cash bar, and a nice Parmesan chicken with bowtie pasta for supper. Dancing was to music provided by a DJ. We stayed for a few dances and Jack screwed up his courage and managed to dance with several of the bridesmaids and even had two of them at once at one point! Unfortunately, I was out of film by then!
Crystal & John looked very happy. No we have TWO wedding anniversaries to celebrate in September, instead of all that sad stuff!

Other news: Mick left his construction job in Minnesota and is renting a house in Oakland. He doesn’t look well and is going to see a doctor this week. Keep him in your thoughts & prayers.

Tammie & Randy

Happy Anniversary to Tammie and Randy.
Love, Mom

Bob

Happy Birthday to Bob N. Have a great day.
Sue

Crystal

We're leaving early tomorrow morning for Bloomington to go to Crystal's wedding.
Have a good weekend, everyone!

Piano Woman

In retrospect, one of the fun things I used to do with Mom was play piano duets. I always played the bass and she took the melody. She usually let me “lead” by choosing the pace and volume. She seemed to have an instinct as to when I was going to speed up, slow down, pause or go from pp to ff and back to pp again. It amazed me how far she could reach in playing chords with her stubby little fingers. She once told me that her mother paid her piano teacher, Miss Fritz, a half pound of butter a week for her piano lessons.
Some of the songs I remember playing with her were The Blue Danube, Ball in the Jack, El Cumancero, (sp?) and of course, hymns: Sweet Hour of Prayer, How Great Thou Art, What a Friend we have in Jesus and so many more.
I’ll never forget the time Jack & Em & I went to see her at her apartment in Evista around Christmas time and we played a duet of Silent Night. Afterward, she turned to me and said, “I’ve never heard that before! What a pretty song!” I almost cried thinking that a day might come when her disease would take away her music.
Eventually, after she moved to St. Joseph’s, the time came when the only way I could get her to look me in the eye was if I knelt in front of her and sang a hymn and then, later, even that was gone.
I guess music was just one of many things that were stolen from her, but to me, that was one of the saddest.

September celebrations

Cindy & George on the 25th. Will have to get the year from Cindy.
Sue

Christmas

The 1st sounds good to me, but the 8th would also be fine, as far as I can tell from this far away. I'm thinking if we have it at your (Sue's) house, are we more likely to get a glimpse of Joe & his family? The rest of us can bring side dishes.
Does anybody want to do a white elephant gift exchange? That can be kinda fun.

Books

Over my lunch break I walked up to the library to renew an overdue book. There is one guy there that always waives the late fees. He was there today and saved me 70 cents. When I walked in the door there was a big sign "Book Sale - 50 cents a book."
(Reminded me of Nederland.) I picked out 4 mysteries. Would probably have bought more except I was walking and that was all I could carry. I may have to go back a couple more times and get a supply for the winter. I am still waiting for some of the books that LDCP has reviewed. They must be real good books because they are always out. I am reading one now called "Grasshopper". It is set in London. (Maybe LD has read it.) I can't remember the author, but I think I am down to the "V's". Instead of wandering around trying to pick out a book, I go down the alphabet A to Z and pick a book accordingly. Sometimes I have to skip "Q & Z" because there aren't that many names that begin with those letters. I also have to make sure the print is big enough to read while I am on the treadmill.
Technology has also changed the way libraries are run. When I went to the library when I was a kid, I had a card that was stamped with the due date and put in a slot in front of the book. (I think Florence Preston was the librarian.) Now I have a card that I put under a light beam and the bar code is read and then the book is put under the litht and I am all checked out. I don't know if anyone was every prosecuted for overdue books when I was a kid, but I have seen names in the court news of our paper of people with warrants out for past due books. With the prices of books what they are, a library card is a real bargain. I'm not sure if I even had to pay for the one I have now.
When we lived in Dodge county, our monthly trip to Fremont for groceries included a stop at the library. We would pick out books to read for the next month. I think Joe would pick out Dr Seuss. My favorite is still "Fox in Sox".
Sue

Weekend

I'm off to cook at Cowgirl Camp! See you on Monday!

Christmas

When & Where? Will the 1st work for you and do you want to come to Norfolk? Will Shirley be able to get the time off if it is at our house? The 1st will probably be better for us because the next weekend conflicts with Jacob's birthday and probably Kendra's Sunday School program.
The Denton picnic is this weekend so I may get to see Scott & Lisa to get their input.
I guess I better find some elk recipes and do some experimenting.
Sue

The Picture

I remember the day that picture on Mary’s blog was taken. We all went to Genelli Studios in Sioux City, right? I may have ridden in the car with Sue. I was hanging around with Myrna’s family: husband David and daughter Denise while the photographer was getting everyone else lined up. David must have been keeping an eye on things because at some point, he nudged me and said, “You’d better go stand by your mom, now. It’s time to get your picture taken.” It ticked me off because I wanted to stay by Denise!
Does anyone else remember anything about it?

Myrna, thanks for the package! Yes, I will get good use of it !

From Mary Connealy

(In case you missed this in the comments on OSM):

Hey, guys, I'm going to be in the Omaha Lit Fest on September 15th. It's down town at the W. Dale Clark Library, which is at 15th and Farnam, so right in the Olde Market if you need an excuse to spend a day down there.
The panel is about inspirational fiction, but the theme of the Lit Fest is Depraved Woman Writers (and others)...
I think it's a reference to

Okay, I checked Dostoyefsky. We're really not depraved...at least I have no plans to be!!!

Grandma's birthday

Mom's book says 1895, but I don't think that's right. I believe it's more like 1881. Does anyone know the correct year for sure?