Life in the Fortress

What is that Smell?

2007-04-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

An embarrassing but funny thing happened today as I was getting ready for church. When I am out with Maggie I carry small blue bags to pick up after her. Some time last week I put the blue bag in my pocket of my jacket to free my hands and on coming home I had an senior moment and forgot about the bag. This morning I put my hand into my pocket to check if I had tissues. I felt the plastic and pulled it out. There was the tied up bag of poop. People must have thought I had strange perfume or was farting a lot. I am glad I found it before church.

I will be up north packing the furniture and remaining stuff to put in the moving truck. No computer so no blogging for the week.

The Vet

2007-04-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

We had to take Maggie to the vet today. She was peeing every few minutes. The vet said she seemed OK that she probably had too many treats from the kids. Our crate is too large and my daughter and I have to be more strict. We found that she weighed 12.7 lbs.

My son got the shed open and no dead bodies or anything. There are planters that were left.

Thank you for the birthday wishes. We went out to eat at the Old Country Buffet. There is so much to choose from and you can't eat all that you would like to.

New House

2007-03-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Our renter moved out on Saturday that is a week earlier than we planned. I had a chance then to go and see the house. He left it very clean ,uses a cleaning service. There was a shed in the back yard which I couldn't get open and he had never opened, so more surprises wait. My daughter's house has a cupboard above the desk which is not in this house. I measured the spaces for the frig, stove and washer and dryer. I also measured the windows for curtains.

My daughter found her car had a flat on Saturday . When my son came to pick up my grandchildren he helped her put on the spare. She had trouble getting the jack out because of her hand. She has not been using the car for work. Today she took it into the garage. About her hand it is better than the really bad time but if she hurts like falling and hitting it the RSD returns.

My sister called and told me about her six month checkup. The tumor is not growing and that is good news. Thank you for the prayers.

Maggie

2007-03-25T16:26:00.000-07:00

We have a new member of our family,Maggie. Maggie is a cute Springer Spaniel only 8 weeks old. She is brown and white. She is my daughter's but I dog sit,so I have been very busy. We went up to Green Bay to get my grandchildren to spend a few days with us and brought Maggie along with us to meet Spanky. Maggie does not like riding yet. She is a smart dog but sometimes naughty. She watch closely as we threw things in the garbage can that opens by pushing on a gray piece on top. She jumped up and pushed on the gray piece .She has been nipping, and while outside learning to "come" she ignored my daughter . until she hid behind a tree and said "come".

Here Again

2007-03-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

They would not let me blog until I changed so I haven't blogged but today for some reason I could get here.

What has gone by. I went out to a church womens group which met at Applebees. They had not mentioned they were a church group to the hostess and so I sat for a while. Being new to the church I didn't recognize the women so I asked the hostess to ask a group of women at a large table, and it was them. I was the oldest one of the group, they were around my daughters age. They are not a bible study group. They chose a name Friendship Links. I had a good time maybe if my daughter gets off work in time she can come next time. I am still looking for a bible study group.

We got a license for the car , and a drivers license for me. My Michigan license expired at the end of this month. I didn't have a written test or a road test and was thankful. The written test is not a paper test but at a computer. Now I will tell the embarrassing event. When It came to have my picture taken the lady said stand behind the line, so I did, facing the curtain back to the camera, which I hadn't seen . I was wondering where the camera was the lady said turn around and there it was. Next she said "I will take it on the count of three. 1 2 flash. I let it go, the pictures are never good. I am a legal driver.

After the getting the license we went into the Kohls mall next to the Kohls store where there was a model train store. The women working there was from Neenah and she and her husband were a part of a club.

I am a little afraid to leave now for fear I can't get back.

I am back!

2007-03-03T18:13:00.000-08:00

I could not get to place to write my blog. That is now fixed I think.

In the last few days we have been snowed in, although my daughter went to work and was on call. Our dryer was not drying the clothes. There was heat but the clothes would not dry the first go around. We cleaned out the lint for every load. We checked the out door vent and it had frozen lent on it. My daughter worked on cleaning that out and she bought a kit with special brushes. She took off the back of the dryer and cleaned that out. Then she went to the wall and unfastened the hose and used the vacuum cleaner with the hose that came with the kit. That did it and it is now working.

We played cards when my daughter was home earlier. We worked on getting my daughter's room for stamping in the basement ready. She has lots of stamps and materials and paper, so we put together some storage containers. She wants to hold a Stamping party this month. Today in payment for my daughter taking on call for a co-worker, the co-workers husband came and put together the desk we gave my daughter for Christmas.

During the storm my daughter had to snow blow twice in the evening. The next day while she was at work I thought I would go out and shovel. The pile the plow had left was hard to remove. The man who has a business across the road, and clears his driveway and parking lot with a small tractor with a plow offered and did clear my driveway. Good neighbors are a blessing.

Finding the right church

2007-02-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

What you see the first time may not be the truth. This is what I have found out in the last month in my search for a new church. On New Year's Eve we went to St Marks for Sunday service. The church was half full. There was one child for the children's sermon. The children's sermon was read loosing the very young child . They meandered through the liturgy. That is the only way I can think of to describe it. The people were friendly.
We went to other churches. We decided to go to one church for a month, starting with St Marks.
The church has been full. There is a large amount of children attending the services. Last Sunday the children were involved in their sermon. They have an adult bell choir but they also have a children's bell choir. The children and adults both have a choir. The people remained friendly and it feels like a family. I now like the way they do the liturgy it frees you from the book. The pastor is a pastor and pays attention to his congregation. This will be our church.
In looking for a church one needs to go to the service a number of times to find what the church is really like.

I have not been blogging for a number of reasons one being my computer was down for a time and I had to wait for my son to come and get it back on it's feet, or stand or just running. Then in preparation for new blogger I got my own place or something. You can tell I don't have a clue about computers. I just click my mouse on the little pictures I am told to. I started writing with pencil and paper and I was pushed into a manual typewriter. Reading what I wrote was a lot easier for others and also myself. It is bad when you can't read your own writing. I know there is so much I could do if I knew what I was doing. Everything seems so complicated.

The cold is here

2007-02-02T08:46:00.000-08:00

Our temp. is in single numbers and wind chill below zero.
A magazine came it was addressed to the former owner or who ever was living here. It is a very nice magazine and there were recipies so my daughter and I have been trying them out. When I was up north I did very little cooking because Dr John likes meat and potatoes [not touching like Monk]. This has been fun. Dr John still gets his meat and potatoes because I do his meal also.
My oldest son came down and I went out with him to celebrate. We went to St George's. The building looks like a castle. My granddaughter said it 's our place, a fortress. Dr john has a cold and my daughter was still at work so only I went with them. The food was very good. We came back to our house for cake, which was also very good. Dr John and my daughter got to share in the cake. It is good to be so much closer.

What a Sunday

2007-01-26T07:18:00.001-08:00

I am still recovering from last Sunday. My son in Green Bay had mattresses for my daughter to use for her new frame. The problem was how to get them because they would not fit in the vans. So my daughter went to U-Haul on the internet. She was going to be on call for the next three weekends so she wanted to get them last weekend. Saturday had no trucks available so she booked Sunday. We were to get snow in the evening no problem. The snow came early and we watched the big flakes fall through the stain glass windows as we sat in church. After church, my daughter and I picked up the truck and the snow continued. So with a truck she had never driven in a snow storm we headed for Green Bay. That was very scary. While we recouped my son and daughter-in -law put the mattresses in the truck. We headed back to Neenah. The driving was a little better, the roads were plowed and salted.

Our next problem was getting the mattresses in the house. We could not lift them. We slid them down the loading ramp. The box spring we sort of dragged lifted in. To move the other one we decided to lay some plastic down , the kind painters use to protect from paint splatters, and slide the mattress on it. My daughter put down the plastic reaching to the garage. I saw a piece sticking up and went over to pull it flat stepping on the plastic I did not see. Down I went. Nothing broke but I got a very sore bum which I still have. We did get the mattresses in. Next we returned the truck, but it had gotten dark. My daughter could not get the lights on. The cab lights were found but not what we needed. We returned the truck in the snow storm on slushy roads with out lights. We made it without an accident. We returned home to put up the frame and put the mattresses on it. I got a cold. So when I cough my bum hurts. I know all this is just life but it was a busy Sunday.

Winter has come

2007-01-16T07:01:00.000-08:00

We finally got snow. As far as I am concerned it could stay away, but for all that want to play in it, it was welcomed. I shoveled for many hours and came in very cold and sore. The snow blower had a flat and I didn't want the renter to get upset. I gave up when I looked behind me and the driveway was snow covered again. I thought I would go in the afternoon because it was to stop snowing, it didn't, and I was too sore.

I have found it is hard to find a time to blog. My daughter and I have been taking down the Christmas decorations. There are still some outside to come down. Up north I had to let them stay because they were covered with snow. Mary and Joseph had just their heads showing. The basement tree is still up also.

My daughter and I have been working in the basement setting up a place for her stamping. She is a Stamp-it-Up sales person. We are trying to set up the workshop for her and Dr John to share.

We went out and bought a saw that we had to put together. We did OK, but lost one hex screw. We have turned the saw all over trying to get that screw to fall out. We went back to the store and got a screw but we would like to find the lost one so it doesn't end up where it shouldn't.

Another thing that I have been doing is reading Eragon. We went with the grandkids to the movie and my oldest grandson said that the book was different. We then purchased the book. Dr John finished it first and I finished it last night. My daughter wants to read it also so we can't talk about it until she reads it. That may be awhile.

Last Saturday we went to my son's in Green Bay while my daughter went and visited with her roommate from old college days. We had a very nice day. The grandkids spent a lot of time with their grandpa. Most of the time just sitting at the table talking. When my daughter came to pick us up before we left, she and I went to the basement rec. room and played with the grandkids. The kids had set up a restaurant. Spanky just loved all the attention he got.{Spanky is the dog}.

This pretty well sums up what I have been up to. We have spent some time trying to find a dresser for my daughter that doesn't cost too much and you can put more in it than T- shirts.

Oh I forgot about the search for a church. We have have gone to five different churches. They all have been nice and we could go to any of them. One is very large and one is small. Maybe we will for awhile go back around. The most distance we have to travel is 8min. It is hard to believe that there are five churches in this small area. There are more churches but not of our denomination. Behind us is a Calvery Bible Church, which is large and has a school with it I think. There is a soccer field next to it and my grandsons and their dad went over and played on the field when they were here. The last church we went to also has a Tops group meeting there. They meet at 6:00 PM and I don't want to drive at night ,so I think I will wait until spring and hope I don't gain too much.

A New Year

2007-01-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

Thankyou for all the good wishes. I did stay up until the new year. My daughter, son and grand children played a board game/TV game called Scene it. It was fun. We also had fun baking. We made saffron buns and the children shaped the rolls. They did make some unusual shapes. My oldest grandchild made Hostess cupcakes. Every bowl was used, but they were good.

Went out shopping today at Hobby Lobby. What a fun store. We got Christmas decorations at 66% off. I bought a small tree with lights on for next year. We picked up some small dollhouse chairs for my daughter and as we left we ran into her at the door. She came in for them. That store just had everything. There was scenery for the train, and material for making dollhouses. My granddaughter and I had begun one at the old house, and now I know where supplies are when we get ready to finish it here.
Hope every one had a good start to the New Year.

Happy New Year

2006-12-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

I am going to say Happy New Year now because I am not sure when I will be back. Our computers are in the bedroom and I would blog after Dr John went to bed. He retires early.

It has been awhile since we have stayed up to midnight on New Year's eve. In the year 2000, we babysat for my son. The children were all young and I got them all in bed and asleep. What we didn't know was the city celebrated with fireworks. At midnight out came the booms and bangs. Everyone up, some crying out of fear, so we saw the New Year and century in. I think that was the last time we were up at midnight. We do a little cheeting by watching those who celebrate earlier.

Whatever you do, have a great time and be safe. They can go together.

Luke's Program

2006-12-16T14:21:00.000-08:00

Past Christmas

2006-12-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

I have mentioned it before but I remember my Uncle Harry stringing the large white bulbs from the clothes line in the basement and painting each bulb so we would have colored lights. There were no colored lights because of the war. We used those lights for many many years. My mother saved decorations we made as kids and each year they were put on the tree. There was a bird that clipped to the tree with a white bushy tail. As the years went by the tail also went. Our socks were real socks that were hung. We didn't have a fireplace so we hung them from the window sill in the living room. The windows that were chosen were those that did not reach down to the floor.

To get our tree we would go out with my uncle Ken into the woods. Uncle Ken worked for a lumber company and he had a tree chosen for each family. The trip was cold and hard for me. I was short and I had to climb over branches on the ground. For all my complaining at the time I am glad we had those adventures. I don't remember when we got an artificial tree but I think I was in college, or maybe married.

Now to our present Christmas in a new house. We have an artificial tree. The lights are on the garland is on but the ornaments are not. Many boxes will leave the living room as soon as we can get them on. Today should be a good day to get out the outside trimed as it should be warmer. Temps at a wind chill of below zero are not the time to be outside. Hope to get pictures.

The Puppy

2006-11-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

He came early this morning. He is very cute and playfull. That was the part I was upset about. How can I pack and get ready to move when he wants to play ball. He cries when I leave the room. If he is left outside alone he barks. The grandkids will love him. My brother-in-law loves him. He is very content with me at the computer. The dogs name is Spanky.
I have to go bring more stuff down from the attic. I will have to leave Christmas stuff until later. In the upper right corner are pictures of our new home.

In New House

2006-11-18T04:30:00.000-08:00

We closed and slept in the new house. I am very happy but this side of the house is my daughters so it is like visiting. We are waiting until warmer weather to ask the renter to move, and us to move into our home.
A surprise came because near the house on a road that I can handle the traffic is a large shopping area. I have been doing some fretting about driving and getting out to shop. I mean that when I thought of the move and the traffic my stomach would knot. The shopping area has a Khols, Wal-mart, Shopko , and Walgreens. To eat Applebees, KC, Wendys ,Culvers, and Mc Donalds. If you wanted to go to have this kind of selection you would have to travel two hours from my house in Crystal Falls. You could get Walmart, Shopko KC, Wendys and McDonalds by driving 45 minutes. God was good to me.
We did drive into Neenah and I liked the different architecture of some of the older buildings. I noticed an older train station. I am not sure if it is used as such. There is much to explore yet.
I will be using the coming week to get settled in so I won't be at the computer. Will be missing you.

Veterans' Day

2006-11-11T07:22:00.000-08:00

It is Veterans' Day .
I want to add my thank you to the men and women who have served and are serving in our armed forces. Pictured is my father who served in WWll. He did not talk about the war. He went to reunions of the men he served with.

What a Shoe Store

2006-11-10T06:58:00.000-08:00

On Upper Michigan and Beyond a link on my left side you will find a Different kind of Shoe Store in Crystal Falls . You will also find some more interesting photos, one is of my house. It is the picture of a house with a for sale sign.

Welcome Marathoners

2006-11-08T14:22:00.000-08:00

I haven't had time to write a post until now. I used the peace globes as my own marathon going ,and commenting on many, it was after midnight when I had to stop. There were so many nice messages.

At 4:00 AM the phone rang. That early in the morning you get concerned. They had hung up when I stumbled to the phone. The I D said private name, private number. My daughter has an unlisted number, so I thought it was her. I called her. It was not her. So I don't know who called, and I am sure my daughter was not happy at that time to hear my voice,although she said she was glad that I was concerned about her.

6:00 AM I hear my husband calling I get up . He didn't call me. I went back to bed and sleep and there is a car out front honking its horn. I look out no car. I get up for the day. Every thing is now out of order. Breakfast is late I have to wait to eat after I take my pill.

I began the marathon and doing house cleanup at the same time. I have been having trouble leaving comments. I thought this would be the time to blog.

What Would Peace Look Like?

2006-11-06T16:24:00.000-08:00

No bombs, no bullets, no violence but peace is more than that. There is a confidence that you will be not harmed by anyone. That you can play , work and rest without threat. Our world is far from that.

How do we get this peace. It has to begin with each individual respecting an other. How easy this is depends on the individuals background. How has that person learned to respond to conflict. The easy way to respond is to attack. The more difficult is to discuss and negotiate.

Another way to work for peace is to work for the well being of others. To work towards the goal of every one being fed and clothed. Health care should be within reach. This should not be for just the people who look and believe as we do.

Is this possible? Only if we change, and we have to want to change. I believe this change is only possible from God. Where does are help come from? Pray for a change in yourself to be a peacemaker.

A Good By Sermon

2006-11-05T15:55:00.000-08:00

All three services were very nice and different even though it was the same preacher. They were a little longer than his usual 10 min. Good bys are hard.

The last service the choir sang accompanied by french horn it was beautiful.

The congregation had a very nice coffee for us. We will miss them.

My oldest son and family were here and Pennie and his sister Christine surprised us. Pennie came on Saturday and Chris stayed at a motel here but we didn't know. Dr John forget his teeth and because we had gone to the church very early I went home to get them. I got them and was pulling out of the drive when a car was coming down the hill and I thought would pass by. I waited. The car slowed down. I was wondering why she could easily go behind me, but the car pulled up to the curb and rolled down the window and then I saw that it was John's sister. She went with me to the early service where she surprised Dr John. Then at the coffee she got to surprise Lori, Pete and Pennie. They came for the coffee and the later service.

Shunned by Little Ghosts and Gobblins

2006-11-01T04:49:00.000-08:00

I didn't have one Trick or Treater. No not one. I have 13 little pastic pumpkins with little candy bars in them. I don't buy a lot of candy because I know that I will not have many children. If my house faced Michigan Ave, I would have a few more but they have to walk in a block. Last night was very cold with a lot of wind.

Growing up in Escanaba I lived on a street in the middle. We had many many trick and treaters.

Hope you had a good Halloween.

Confusion

2006-10-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

Dr John is going to bed.
Betty," Do you know it is only 7:20 PM?"
Dr J, " The clocks have been turned back. It is 8: 20PM."
Betty " That means you will be getting up at 4:00AM"
Dr J, "No I will be getting up at 5:ooAM."
Betty," No you will be getting up at 4:00AM"
DrJ, "No I will be getting up the same time as usual. Yesterdays time."
Betty" I am so confused."

Even more confusing will be that all of my clocks will not have been moved back. The clocks on my ovens
are very difficult to set and I have been know to have bleeding fingers from the process. They can
wait.

I had a very nice Sabbath day. We [the church] hosted The Cluster. The Cluster is a group of women groups of our denomination from around the area who meet together twice a year. We sang, had bible study, a workshop on wellness, and a affirmation of Baptism. We closed with a lunch of soup and sandwiches and a pumpkin dessert. Our group was down in numbers because some of the ladies who would usually be there were in Mississippi, to help in rebuilding. There were on display some of the projects that the women of the church[ some men also take part] are doing. There were quilts made for babies in the hospital. I think almost all the churches make quilts for Lutheran World Relief.

At four Dr John and I went to the evening service. Hope every one has a good weekend.

Ice Cream Bar

2006-10-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

Last night just before I awoke I had a dream. It was not scary or any thing like that, but it had a few things in it that I had questions about. I would like to turn it in to a story so I could have answers.
It began with me in front of a two story building. It looked like a house in need of a paint job, but on the front porch was a freezer. It was warm and I wanted a an ice cream bar. The top was not locked but was in layers which I started to open. I then thought I should check with someone inside. I knocked. No one came to the door. I looked in the window on the door and could see no one. The porch wrapped around the side. I walked around the side and noticed overalls hung on a nail on the siding.
I was joined by a young lady and we looked across the street and there were a line of police officers standing at attention. They were mixed racially but my companion mention they were all male. I protested because I saw a female officer. I then awoke. My questions that were leading me into a story were: The building was it a teen center or what? Why were the police standing at attention? I now want to get a plot etc and write.

The Cold is Here

2006-10-25T17:42:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting all week for some dryer and warmer weather to finish getting ready for winter. Our temps have been in the thirties. My hands get cold so soon. I still have three window frames and two garage doors to paint. We also have been having rain [cold rain] or snow. I took advantage of the sun and temps in the 40 to drain the pool and taking out the pump. I cover it. There was a layer of ice on the water, when I started.

I also took the time to unload the left overs of the rummage sale still on a table by the garage. We were going to put them on free cycle but didn't so I put them in garbage bags. There was a old blender of my mother -in-laws which was filled with water from the rain now ice from the cold. It was just too early for this cold.

Lois asked if I was going to have another rummage sale. Answer no ,too cold. I did have a sale at the other house before we moved inside. We had moved all the other stuff we wanted and we were not trying to sell the house, which we are trying to do with this one.