Oehm

2011-07-16T07:46:00.001-07:00

My son and his co-worker, John, decided to take their motorcycles for a buns-of-steel-type ride and head out for the California coast from northeast Kansas. They left Thursday morning, today is Saturday, and apparently his car misses him so much that it just up and gave itself a wash and wax to be ready for his return.... sometime Tuesday?

Beatrice Speedway

2011-07-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hard bleachers, loud noises, occasional dirt in the face, and a cool breeze on a hot summer night. What more could you ask for?

Ok, a few sprinkles of rain toward the end of the evening to top it off. This is what memories are made of.

How many does it take to....

2011-07-15T21:19:00.001-07:00

I just thought it was nice to see three generations of Oehm guys tackling the glass for the church building sign. Two are bracing the heavy glass, the other is putting rivets in to secure it. I heard one of them say, "You think we should see if it closes before we go any farther?" haha, they didn't. Such precision work.

Flashing Green Light

2011-05-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

After arriving home from work this evening, I found both computers had shut down due to a storm. Surprisingly, only one started back up. There was no response on the "down" one when we pushed the button to power it up. We unplugged everything from the back of it (monitor, keyboard, speakers, power, all the usb connections) and then plugged just the power source in. Still nothing. There was, however, a cute little flashing green light near the fan. This flashed even when there was no power cord plugged in. I thought this was strange. As it turned out, the computer's power supply box was fried. Luckily, I keep a spare computer around for salvage parts. The down computer is up and running now. We've taken the photos and burned them to cd just because of this warning. Storm season always reminds me to power down computers and other electronic devices.

Host Process for Windows Services Stopped

2011-03-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to throw the computer out the window? It starts running slower, then your searches get redirected, you can't download windows updates. This is what happened to my son. He asked me how much desktop computers are these days. Knowing he had a perfectly good laptop, I inquired why he was entertaining the idea of purchasing something else.

When he told me the symptoms, I suggested he run a program called Malwarebytes from the website www.malwarebytes.org and gave him caution to make certain it is the program he is downloading and not an ad. Realizing he didn't already have this on his laptop, I had a flash drive that had it on, so I connected the flash drive to his computer and opened Malwarebytes to run the "quick scan" on his laptop. It found 33 threats. After removing those 33, I opened Malwarebytes again and clicked on the tab to "update" the version so that he could scan for the more recent threats. This gave us 17 more to remove. The quick scan takes about 10 minutes, the full scan can take a little over an hour. Since we were headed for church services, I ran the full scan just to see if any further threats appear. When we got back home, the computer showed 0 threats.

I checked to see if I was able to download updates for Windows 8 from the microsoft website, but I kept getting the error "host process for windows services stopped.....blah, blah, blah"....... so I knew that either there were more problems to remove or some files were corrupted. It turned out there were more problems to remove.

I found another tool called Hitman 3.5 on this website http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro that also scans for threats. This website allows me to run this program for 30 days without an activation code (free). There is a 32 bit or 64 bit version to download; I right clicked on "My Computer" and found under "Properties" which one to use for the laptop. I must caution the reader that there are at least THREE "download" buttons but only ONE GREEN ONE that says DOWNLOAD HERE. The red ones are ads for something else you don't want. Hitman found a type of an alureon virus to remove.

After that, the laptop ran much faster, the error codes were all gone, and windows was able to update normally. My son is buying my dinner for this fix. Win Win. ☺

the sound of water

2011-03-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

Last night I heard water running - it was the toilet! I couldn't get the shut-off valve to turn, so I turned off ALL the water in the house by turning a handle in the basement. It had cobwebs all around it, so I put my hand in a bag before attempting that one.

This morning, prior to leaving for work, Ray's strength got the shut-off valve to do its job, and was looking forward (NOT) to plumbing when he got home from his 12-hour shift.

Not knowing whether Wal-Mart carried the valve for this particular toilet (all in one, 1/6 gpf), I made a trip up to Ace Hardware and talked to the helpful hardware man. I explained it wasn't the flapper, and it didn't have a ball float. (I took my camera and showed him the pictures of the inside of the tank I had taken for just such occasion.) He said I need a valve and proceeded to take one off the shelf and out of the box and told me how to install it.

Well, since he had confidence I could do this, and I knew that whatever I botched up, Ray could fix, I decided to challenge my DIY knowledge and change out the valve in the tank. Ray always makes it look so easy......

With a wrench, a flashlight, and a small mirror, I finally managed to unscrew the nut that holds the valve on.... (the directions indicate to put it on "Hand Tight")... Someone should define "hand tight" ....... have you seen my husband's hands?

Project done; now to check for leaks. ☺

Amazing!

2011-02-25T15:47:00.000-08:00

These pictures have been "stuck" in my camera.
I didn't have the memory card in the camera when they were taken, and I lost the usb cable that came with the camera, so I thought I had no way of transferring them to the computer..... until today. I was playing around with some settings with the memory card out and found "copy to card." After a few attempts (and putting the card back in the camera), I managed to truly copy these from the camera memory to the removable memory card. Wow! I love this camera even more now. :)

I've forgotten what they were doing, but I was thinking it was funny enough at the time to snap a shot or two. I'm sure it was a lesson in "safety first."

Living room done

2011-02-21T15:58:00.000-08:00

Levi woke up just in time to help move the furniture back in.

The Living Room

2011-02-21T09:35:00.000-08:00

Decided to finish the living room floor today. Just waiting for it to dry now.

Out with the old

2011-02-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

The mauve carpet had to GO. I kept thinking I'd wait until I could get new carpet, and seriously couldn't decide on a color. I would go back and forth between Royal Blue and Apartment Standard Beige, then consider a floating floor, etc. It was never ending; so one night on our way home from KC, Ray and I discussed pulling up the carpet and just living with whatever is under it. I remember the wide pine flooring and the holes and discolorations and large areas of bad spots that drove me to say "carpet the whole thing" many years ago.

I really didn't care what the wood looked like, I just wanted the carpet out of there. We pulled in the driveway and Ray asked when I wanted to start this project. I don't think I answered, he just knew I wasn't going to bed until it was out of there. We started around 6 p.m. and had all the tack strip and foam and staples and carpet out on the front lawn by 1 a.m.

We traded rooms and made the living room the dining room and vice versa. I had Levi's stamp of approval on that decision.

Although the floor needs attention, it looks a lot better than I remember it.

We moved the flat screen down from the entertainment center to a library table top and it is working out nicely.

The end table Ray and I found at a used furniture store allowed me to display a family picture, a lamp and vase from my sister, as well as a teddy bear, clock and candle.

The green rug covers a square where a floor furnace probably was located and removed. Someone had put pine wood in as filler, but did not polyurethane it, just left it bare. It is also a darker pine than the rest of the floor.

The dining room floor was the worst. It had a 4' square of whitish stuff in one corner. A wood stove used to be in that corner, so I don't know if the white stuff was asbestos or just burned off varnish or the backing from an older rug, who knows. I suppose if we get mesothelioma in 50 years, we'll have solved the enigma.

After switching rooms, I decided to tackle the dining room floor and see if I could get the 4' square area to match the rest of the room. Nope. We only made that little area look
absolutely wonderful compared to the rest of the room. So, we emptied the furniture out of
the dining room (again) - taking the china out of the china cabinet, etc. - and polyurethaned the entire dining room floor. We also brought home a bookcase from work to hold our tapes and dvds and books/bibles.

Although there are big holes in the floor still (box staples removed?) the overall look is welcoming. Dining room done.

We will still need to remove the living room furniture (and that big t.v.) in order to polyurethane that floor, but the end result always outweighs the dreaded labor.

Us today

2011-02-20T19:37:00.000-08:00

2010 going fast

2010-11-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

It seems like just yesterday I was adjusting to writing a 1 before the 0 whenever I had to write a date down. 01/04/10 typically became 01/04/0 and then I "fit" the one in before the zero. Now it's November and with the holidays, these two final months of the year typically fly by. I doubt I will get 2011 right the first time.

2010-09-03T05:36:00.000-07:00

Today is Douglas's birthday. Due to a mailing restriction imposed on him by his wife, he gets no presents to open from his family in the states. This blog is a reminder to him that next year we won't listen to her and send it anyway. :) Happy Birthday Douglas!

Thursday 7/22

2010-07-22T19:25:00.000-07:00

Today I heard from all my favorite peeps. A client brought in a vase of flowers, my co-workers gave me cards and ice cream cake, the flower shop delivered daisies and roses - my favorite combo. A barbershopper gal sang to me; my son and daughter called long distance. My husband took me out for supper. My sisters-in-law and mother-in-law wrote wishes on fb, as did church family. I got an email from my favorite radio station, too. What a great day!

Flowers

2010-06-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today Levi needed some motivation to do some studying. I told him I had just the thing for him, in a roundabout way. First, we must change out of our best white shoes, gather a koolaid pitcher and a shovel, then go to Wal-Mart, then the church building, where we will plant about 10 flowers in the front of the building. He asked how that is supposed to help him study?

Since it is so hot outside there is a heat advisory, doing anything in this heat will break a sweat, causing the immediate need for a shower, which is refreshing enough you don't want to get dirty the rest of the day and you'll stay inside and what better thing to do than get that studying out of the way?

We have marigolds and petunias and geraniums and impatients planted now.

Saturday afternoon stuff

2010-03-13T14:49:00.000-08:00

Today we both were off work, so we decided to get a couple things done that we've been putting off. Yesterday I ordered some muffler parts for "grampa" the ancient Honda Civic. We drove up north to NAPA after finding out they came in today. A quick browse through Sears, a drive through lunch, and we're back home.

Ray started in removing whatever pipes and bolts were left of the old exhaust, making quick work of it installing the new stuff. He got a phone call just as he finished up. It was his dad coming out for a visit.

Before Ray Sr. got to the farm, we cleaned up the shop floor and pulled another car into the garage. A battery that goes under the back seat needed to be installed, and both Rays managed to handle that chore.

The two guys also tackled a job involving Ray Sr.'s van hatch not shutting and draining his battery somehow. After some tightening of some bolts that look like something Frankenstein's neck would don, and a little WD-40; voila, the idiot light on the dash went out.

Next, we planted an Austrian Pine in the front yard (all three of us) but only Ray Jr. got his hands dirty. :) And with that, we called it a day. Stars Wars I, II, and III are playing this afternoon. I guess we'll just watch t.v. the rest of our day off.

I'm glad all that gone done. Grampa is quieter, the car starts, the tree looks nice, and I'm tired.

If you can't say something nice....

2010-02-23T19:31:00.000-08:00

I've recently realized the effect on the body that pain has. Late November and through December, I had the headache that wouldn't go away. In January, I decided to seek medical help in determining the cause of the headache. The internal doctor put me on medication at night that left me groggy in the morning, yet still with the pain. He then requested an MRI which showed no signs of the pain. He referred me to an ear/nose/throat specialist who determined it wasn't my ear, nose, or throat causing the problem, but suggested I take medicine at night and possibly ask my dentist for a mouth guard just in case I'm grinding my teeth at night due to stress, which in turn, causes headaches. Hmmm, I skipped the dentist and bought a guard at WalMart. In the meantime, I also signed up a chiropractor to see if spine alignment might be the problem. The chiropractor decided I needed a neck adjustment and promptly gave me a pinched nerve, to this day, I still have, and am seeing a different chiropractor to remedy. The mouth guard and muscle relaxer combination relieved my headache, but now I deal with not being able to turn my head to the left and a shooting pain down my left arm. Having said all that, I am happy to be healthy, just not in any condition to "write."

I can see where prolonged pain would cause depression. It is a daily fight to overcome, and these battles I have won. The winter weather is not on my side, but the hope of Spring and Summer keeps me going.

Now, I wasn't going to write much of anything, I didn't feel like I had anything "nice" to say, so for now, I'm not going to say anything at all.

And a Happy New Year....

2009-12-30T15:58:00.000-08:00

This was a night time picture, somewhere I have a clothesline picture to compare this too. The back yard has about 2' of snow. You can see the top bar of the laundry basket holder directly under the clothesline and in front of the propane tank. It measures 30" and you can't see the other bar because it's buried in snow. That glob of brown on the left is our newly acquired wood pile. Some day I will get a really neat camera that doesn't blur my pictures and eat batteries.
This is Glacier, a Siberian Husky. She is the dog I said we would never have. She cannot be penned, she is more magical than Houdini at escaping. The dog pen literally was chewed and broken by her one night. She howls at the moon, but rarely barks. She has the most beautiful blue eyes, too.

So This Is Christmas.......

2009-12-30T15:49:00.000-08:00

Debbie and I went to Texas for a brief, yet fun-filled weekend just before Christmas. A perfume salesman/convenience store clerk named Moe, who also happened to be a photographer, took our photo for us before we caught our return flight.

This is "grandpa"...some people name their cars with girly girl names, this one is so old and reliable, we dubbed it "grandpa." The drifting snow engulfed the car. We're waiting for warmer weather to dig it out.

Our neighbor came in with his tractor and bladed a pathway for our drive.... it will take some time to dwindle this mountain down to a molehill.
More pathway mountains.... just missed my new favorite tree.

More Random Stuff

2009-08-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

We went from Family Reunion Saturday and Sunday to Sunday night storms. This particular branch was God's blessing. It had hung over the roof in such a way that if we tried to cut it down, it would have hit the roof. But, with the 70 mph winds, it just blew off into the front yard without scathing the roof. Awesome, He is.

Random stuff

2009-08-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

This is what the 46 looked like most recently. We decided that it was time for a new pair of shoes, so when Levi graduated, we ordered some cool ones from Denver to be shipped. A month later, they arrived. It was worth the wait.

This is almost what she looks like now. Ray has changed the spare to be a shinier one now. The truck sits up higher and looks much better!

2009-04-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

Bloomin' Landscape

2009-04-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

It froze the night we planted these, I dug up the roses and replanted them elsewhere hoping they will come back to life soon. The ones I replaced them with don't exactly look great, but they do appear to be alive. To my surprise, the hostas and the peonies are showing signs of life, and everything else survived. I have a bloomin' landscape!

the rest of the story

2009-04-02T17:50:00.001-07:00

DIY Landscape

2009-03-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

Ray never ceases to amaze me. He put this landscape together in a day. After having lunch with me while I was at work Thursday, he went and bought all the stuff, and I came home from work and the retaining wall was stacked. The next morning, he filled the bottom with clay dirt, then good soil, then dug all the holes and planted all the plants and spread red mulch around them. I have dwarf burning bushes, tulips, roses, daffodils, forsythias, a boxwood, hostas, peonies, and little purple, pink, and white things I can't remember the name of. I'm sure his muscles are going to hurt in the morning! But WOW! what a beautiful landscape he made!

All work and no play

2009-01-10T14:01:00.000-08:00

Did you ever look at a calendar to see what day it is and realize that a whole month went by? That's my December. I checked out what was so time consuming and it turned out to be my job. I worked 3 of the 4 weekends, worked most of the weekdays, was sick the remaining of the time. Now it's January.

Ashley brought Douglas with her back from Brazil. He hasn't been in temperatures below 57 (I might add with HIGH humidity). Now, he's experienced the early stages of a Kansas winter. It was funny to see him try on various hats to keep his head warm. Above, there's a picture of Ashley, Gma, and Douglas when they went to visit her in her recovery room at the nursing home.

Today I am finally alone. I wouldn't want to be alone on a regular basis, but I must tell you, this sure feels great. I am getting all the laundry done, beds changed, floors vacuumed, rugs washed, and table cleared. Ray's lunch was at 12:30, so I fried some chicken breasts and steamed some broccoli, then had lunch with him at his job.

I decided to take a break and catch up on some reading materials. It's nice to be able to get some things accomplished for yourself once in awhile. Today's that day. Maybe the next day I have "alone" I can set aside some time to play.

I told you so......

2008-11-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

It's the week of Thanksgiving, the weather is awesome... not too cold, not too hot..... it's the first Autumn I can remember that is not "winter-ish." Son is on break from college and although I work most of the time, I at least get to see his smiling face in the garage. He and his dad are putting modifications / upgrades on Jolly, the green giant of a pickup. After Thanksgiving, I plan to help him move from one apartment to another, so we'll have some quality time then.

Daughter emails less frequently now that she is in Brazil, but I'm hoping her plans work out to return next month in time for Christmas together. I've started on her room, but never quite got around to getting in there and getting it done. An email from her would certainly motivate that on the to-do list!

We're planning a party at the church building this Wednesday night for Jennifer. She has come to her senses and moved back to Kansas. A big welcome home party is in order.

Hubby has been working on cleaning out the garage. He has my side done to where I can park my commuter car for the winter nights. I'm thankful for that. It's nice not to have to scrape windows of a morning.

I think I'll go make some pecan pies on a trial run for this week. If they turn out ok, I might try the chocolate ones, too.

Now somewhere, at some point in time, I mentioned I am not much of a writer. I did not keep a diary as a kid, wouldn't send birthday cards or letters or emails on any sort of regular basis. So, this "random" blog is just that...... random. So, if you've been expecting a daily / weekly / monthly or even quarterly update, you might remind me on that basis to update my blog. Otherwise.... I told you so.

Evening pics

2008-09-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

Before X Box, there was....

Nick was thirsty

More of the evening.....

2008-09-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

While we're gathered around the table for dessert, the kids gather around the t.v. Outside pics were too dark, this is after the bonfire.

Whatchya up to?

2008-09-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Relaxing, seeing what Oprah has to say, and enjoying conversation on various topics. Getting ready for the bonfire in a couple hours.

Spatacular

2008-09-28T19:26:00.001-07:00

Nothing like gathering with a few friends, soaking your feet and breaking out the nail polish. It's Spa-tacular.

the guys in the hood

2008-09-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

This is Ray's idea of entertaining his nieces and nephews.

Ingredients: One beat up hood, one four wheeler, four willing participants, and one crazy driver. Oh, and throw in a few trees for scenery purposes only...... or obstacle course, if you like.

Lincoln logs

2008-07-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

It's interesting to go to places and find out a little bit about history that you kind of knew about and yet totally didn't comprehend until you experience it visually. I knew Abraham Lincoln grew up in a log cabin type house. I imagined something like Little House on the Prairie type days, but still didn't realize how small this dwelling was, until I visited Kentucky and saw for myself. I believe my bedroom is larger than his entire house was. I am amazed.

Whassssup?

2008-07-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

Now I know what Einstein meant when he was asked to speak at a university and he got up on stage and said, "I have nothing to say."

I never kept a diary for the same reason.

This year we celebrated the 4th early. It was June 28th when we went to Hanover to watch the fireworks and tuned into the local radio station to hear the display set to music. It was the best music KNDY has put on in years. Knights in White Satin, the Chicken Dance, Ring of Fire....

We're planning a drive of the east coast states this month. I guess I'll have something to write about then. :)

Son is home from college, daughter just visited this weekend and went back to Kansas City. I've got laundry duty, and the man of the house is working on the cars. Same ole same ole.

Changes

2008-02-29T18:52:00.000-08:00

It's leap year, and it's February 29th! I just finished two weeks of training for my new job. I'm very glad this company invests in a training program for new employees. The computer system itself, although user friendly, would take an enormous amount of time to learn on your own.

The company put me up in a hotel right in the middle of the city where I had access to all sorts of stores I love but rarely get to grace the doorsteps of. The past two weeks has gone by so fast. Every night I'd be up until 1 a.m. and be at work by 8:30. Then it was shop til I drop again.

My biggest find was a suit sale. Since son took pop's suit (with permission) to school with him.... "that's ok, I don't wear one anyway"....... then he's pallbearer. uh huh. So, I happened upon a favorite store with already low prices and on sale to boot. Some guy was trying on the jacket of one style that I thought looked really sharp, so I got that one in Grandpa's size, found a shirt on sale to go with it, and voila. I turned around and there's a suit for pops and a shirt to go with it too. Everything was on sale except the ties, but I already found ties elsewhere. These look great! I hope they fit.

This morning there was a special at Mickey D's where you buy a drink and get a skillet burrito thinger for free. So, the office went over and got breakfast. We happened upon the man himself, so I got a phone-photo with him, and then the office got together and snapped a shot for the newsletter. I don't think this was the genuine guy because he's so short, but, it is unusual for the guy to be there in person, so we got photos. Check out the shoes!!

Dear Diary

2008-01-29T18:57:00.000-08:00

A long long time ago in a land not so far away, I was a kid. It was popular back then to write in a diary and it didn't have to be anything special or anything important, for that matter. Still, I didn't do it. I knew it was something I could not commit myself to doing on a regular basis. Now, there is this thing called Blogging, which is the same concept as a diary really. Only it confirms my suspicions that I would not be a good candidate for a diary..... then or now.

Today, I woke up late, went to work late, took a late lunch and brought it back to my cubicle, worked late, was late meeting my father-in-law and husband, and got home and had a late supper. Then, I realized it's been a while since I wrote anything on this blog, so I might as well stay up late and write something down.

Although I was late, it was a good day. It was 14 degrees on the way to work, although clear skies. Soon after arriving, it began to snow, and the wind whipped the snow like a tornado of styrofoam tidbits. I had read my son's latest blog addition before heading off to work, and it was more important for me to write a comment than it was to be on time this particular day. Although I was not missed, there were those glad to see I arrived to help them do their jobs. I have turned in my resignation to be effective February 7th and have accepted the offer of employment with what I think will be my last employer. Not that I plan on dying anytime soon, or retiring for that matter, I just think this employer has the most to offer as far as places to go, people to be (account exec, branch manager, regional, etc.) I put in 9-1/2 hours today and got paid for 8. Why? I dunno. I love my job.

Right after work I was supposed to meet my father-in-law at his rental house. He has some prospects coming in Friday and the house isn't quite ready. He needed the carpets shampooed, and yours truly just so happens to own, well at least one but probably two, yeah, two carpet shampooers. Why? I dunno. They must've been on sale.

The guys scrubbed some greasy wall while I ran the machine. If I would have known there was so much carpet, I would have brought both machines with me, but I only remembered the livingroom having a covering. Yeah, it's pretty much wall to wall except the kitchen. The kitchen. Now that's a sight.... not a pretty one, either. I volunteered to paint it tomorrow night after church and Thursday night after work. Why? I dunno. I love my father-in-law and I kinda/sorta think he could use my help. Besides, the prospects come Friday. I hope they like the smell of fresh paint.

Last night I made chili and meatballs. The meatballs were for supper, well, the chili is too, just not last night's supper. I didn't have all the ingredients I normally put in my BBQ meatballs, but they turned out ok enough. The chili is good. Just hot enough to smack you without losing the flavor of the sauce. We'll probably regret eating it later, but hey, that's a part of life.

Speaking of gas prices, I paid $2.94 a gallon for gas the last time I filled up my Aurora. It has been fluctuating between $2.88 and $3.19 lately. Crude oil hit $100 a barrel earlier this year. Sent the price of gas soaring. It's back down around $90 a barrel, but that won't last long. Politics. Let's not go there. It's an election year as it is. Did I mention it's also leap year? Happy Birthday to all you young folks who have a birthday every four years.

There, Diary, are you happy now?

Bonfire

2007-11-25T12:27:00.000-08:00

We prepared for the colder weather by trimming all the trees and burning the trimmings. That fire included cedar tree limbs that were green. I didn't think that would burn at all since it was freshly cut a few hours before, but it took off and created the highest flames I'd ever seen. We cut a few of the bigger branches into 2-ft. lengths for the inevitable bonfire we would have when our son came home from college.

A business acquaintance operates a packaging plant and has a huge amount of scrap wood that he discards every day. When I mentioned we were going to have a bonfire at our house, he offered the wood scraps from his business. All we had to do was show up with a pickup and trailer. It was unbelievable that so much would have been thrown away, and that was just a day's discard. We had a 20-ft. trailer not quite full, but not much more could fit on it.

When our son arrived, he and his friends had not one, but THREE bonfires the week of Thanksgiving. We were so happy to see him back home. Before Christmas, we need to see about stocking up on more firewood! (and hotdogs and marshmallows)

Empty Nest

2007-08-31T20:39:00.000-07:00

There are some things that hit you hard that you think you're prepared for, and this is one of them. The empty nest is what most people refer to it as. This past week has been one of the most emotional times I can remember. When the oldest left for college, she was only an hour away, and sometimes not even that. When she graduated, she didn't come back home to live, she had her own apartment, and the whole "leaving the home" idea was a gradual one. When she said she was going to Brazil, we checked into cell phone coverage and internet services, and found we can communicate through Skype. Between email and chatting and voice messages through Skype, we stay in touch. The youngest, however, graduated high school and his college is 8 hours and 4 minutes away if you drive non-stop. We still haven't been able to attain the record that Mapquest set; our best being 9 and 1/2.

I don't know if more time after graduation would have prolonged the ache, or if it would have been any easier to let go. All I know is that I find myself crying randomly throughout the day, and even now as I write. I miss my kids.

Looking back, they were my main focus for the past 20 some years. They are grown and getting on with their lives, and it's my focus that needs to change. I email and chat and make calls on the cell phone, and I suppose it is the next best thing to being there, but it sure isn't the same.

What hit home was when I went up to the bedroom that he used to occupy, playing XBox or Playstation games with his friends, sending internet messages, or watching t.v......... and saw wall-to-wall carpet that had been vacuumed and an empty closet. Some people try to offer comfort reminding me that the empty bedroom is not a granite stone. Although truth is in those words, comfort is hard to find.

Today I will put on my happiest face I can muster. Tomorrow maybe I can take a few steps toward change.

Jane

2007-08-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

There she is, Miss America. The baseball, apple pie, all-american muscle car that nobody else has: Jane. Now why that name? I dunno. Maybe it has something to do with Tarzan, or maybe nothing at all, just a name. Why is it that guys name their cars anyway?

Sittin' in the mornin' sun

2007-08-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we gathered up lawn chairs and drove to Wymore to watch the Mud Drags. I've never been to an event like that, and it was amusing to be a spectator. We arrived on a farmer's land, parked in the grass, walked past some Johnny-on-the-spots and some tables with a canopy as the concession stand. The entry fee was $8 per person plus $5 if you brought a small cooler, $10 if you brought a large cooler. I didn't understand the charge for the coolers that could be easily concealed in a trunk, but it didn't apply to us, so I went on my way.

There was a large rut cut out of the land, large enough for a tractor to drive through, and appeared to be as long as a football field, goalpost to goalpost. I noticed an amubulance, and two vehicles equipped with water and pumps. There was a tractor with a plow attached to it at the far end. A wire was put up on either side of the rut, leaving enough room for a vehicle to drive beside the rut. Flags were tied to the wire to let people know the wire was there, and that spectators were not permitted beyond the wire.

A trailer with wood poles in its stake pockets and a tarp tied to the wood poles provided a make-shift canopy for the announcer. He would announce the type of race, the driver's name and where they hailed from, the type of vehicle they were driving, and if/when they finished, their time. Some did not make it to the end, thus had no time.

On either side of the announcer's trailer were tent-like canopies placed next to eachother. Lawn chairs and people were spread out down the lines. Across the way, there were pickup trucks with their tailgates down to provide seating, as well as canopies and blankets on the ground. There were people of all ages, mostly young adults with small children. Some even brought their little dogs tied on leashes. The announcer began by thanking the people that made the Mud Drags possible. Someone donated the use of their land for the event, a local company donated the use of the tractor, the fire department for the water, the provider of the timers, the canopies, the concession stand, the port-a-potties, the microphone and speakers, the girls recording the time and helping attach the tow rope to the trucks that need to be helped out of the mud.... and the individuals who donated their time and labor to make it happen.

There was a digital clock that recorded the driver's time. As the pickup crossed in front of a beam, it broke the connection and that started the timer, then, at the end of the rut, if it crossed in front of that beam, it would stop the timer. The first race was "stock," which is another way of saying "just the way the factory made it." Then, there was "modified" stock.

We watched as Fords, Chevys, GMCs, and Dodge pickups all tried to make the best time down the muddy rut. They would get two tries and take their best time. Some were in the 10 second range, others were 8 or 7-point something. One guy got in his little Ford Ranger (two wheel drive, to boot) and attempted the run. He got about 10 feet from the starting line and it sunk in the mud. He jumps out the driver's side window, still wearing his crash helmet, and runs down the rut until his body breaks the beam on the timer at 14 point something seconds.

During an intermission, a truck pulling a large container of water went down the edge of the rut and dumped the water. The tractor brought two loads of sloppy mud to the front of the rut where the Ford Ranger had sunk in. Apparently, the Ranger had left ruts of it's own when it was being pulled out by another pickup.

After the mud was watered down, the trucks went for a run. 5 seconds was broke, then 4 point something. This was pretty fast for the stock division. The pickups that had tall skinny tires fared better than the ones with big fat wide ones. The tractor went through it like it was a walk in the park.

Next up was the modified stock division, but that morning sun had taken it's toll on our skin. We decided to leave while the gettin' was good. By the time we got home, we realized that if we would've stayed much longer, our pasty-white skin would have been painfully burned. We both got sunburns, but it could have been worse.

All in all, it was a good day. I enjoyed watching the competition. The crowd each had their opinions about the different manufacturers of the pickups and some were proven wrong immediately after speaking. The stock division winner was a Dodge.

Brazil and Colorado

2007-07-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

Lots in common with these two.... both love Jesus, both have the same day of birth, they like travelling, and they are both brilliant.

One has chosen to do mission work in Brazil. The other will attend college in Colorado, majoring in Jesus.

They have been my centers of attention, and remain in my prayers.

Punkin' writes us from Brazil. She amazes us with how she adapts to humble surroundings in the orphanage.

Bud will soon move to his new apartment we just secured. I'm interested to know if we've prepared him enough for the transition.