Kim and the boys (hunting trees felled by beavers in the backyard)...
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Alright Already!!! I'm Back!
I’m wondering how much I actually remember enough to write down here as it’s been possibly a record length of time since I updated this blog. So much going on, it’s hard to keep it all straight. I’ll just start with the boys’ return to school.
Aaron and Daniel are enjoying their first month of school a great deal, it would appear. Aaron has progressed splendidly in his reading skills since last year. It’s hard to believe it’s him reading a book now. Daniel seems to love his new teacher and is bringing some homework home a few nights a week. It’s kind of strange having an empty house and not having to get Daniel ready and out to the bus at noon every day. We now get up about 7:00 a.m. (the fourth or fifth hit on each snooze bar) and Duchess and I escort the boys out to their bus stop which moved about 20 feet South of last year’s stop. We usually just have to stand there about five minutes before the bus pulls up and off they go.
We took a little break from the usual here in TRF on Labor Day and headed down to Kim and Doug Williams’ house in Bemidji, friends of my parents from the old days in TRF (and my former babysitter). Kim’s mom and dad, Jerry and Marilyn Wigness, picked us all up along with Doug’s mom, Fern, and we all drove down there for the holiday to have a picnic of sorts. We managed to go see Paul Bunyon and his ox, Babe, and I’ll post a pic of that here. We also after dinner of hotdogs, polishes, and hamburgers floated down the Mississippi river on a pontoon boat as the river flows by the backyard of Kim and Doug’s house. The boys got to see some neat wildlife including beaver dams, turtles, and fish. They had a great time out on the water for the first time in Minnesota.
Between Labor Day and September 19th, we spent most of our time getting the house ready for mom and dad’s arrival on the 19th. Dawn Williamson and her mom, Judy, and foster son, Josh, came over the weekend before and took over the house in basically “commando” style and got the entire main floor of the house in ship shape for our visitors. The entire porch got cleared off and there’s very little “clutter” on the floor to speak of thanks to their generous efforts.
I did have a bit of a mishap the week before Mom and Dad arrived. The preceding Wednesday, we were going to bike to choir practice at church and I had stopped my bike up in front of the house to wait for Aaron as he looked for his helmet inside. As I’m standing there straddling my bike, Aaron comes out and I decide to just get up on my bike seat and start pedaling. Unfortunately, Daniel’s rear tire was directly in front of my front tire and I had no direction to go but straight down on my left shoulder like a fallen tree, landing rather forcefully on the concrete sidewalk with no break in my fall. I could just roll over and lay there for a while, it was so painful. I took my helmet off and realized Daniel was crying because he thought it was all his fault he “hurt daddy.” After a couple minutes of laying on the ground and thinking about my $1,500 medical insurance deductible, though, I managed to climb back on my bike and we made it to choir practice on time. My shoulder, though, has ached all of this week, making it difficult to stretch and use the left arm. At least no bones were broken, so I haven’t ruined that track record yet.
Mom and Dad arrived on Monday and have been enjoying their stay in TRF thus far. Mom has provided some delicious home-cooked dinners already including biscuits and gravy, chicken, and my favorite tonight – rhubarb cake baked with rhubarb out of our own backyard. The boys and I biked over to Franklin Middle School pool last night and joined Mom and Dad there for the Prowler girls’ swim meet against Fosston, Minnesota. The varsity girls beat Fosston by about 20 pounds and the Prowler JV team beat the Fosston JV team by closer to 40 points. The pool looks quite different from when I used to race in it as a kid. The starting blocks are on the opposite end of the pool from where they were and the pool is now attached to another building. They have a nice new electronic score board too that shows nicely what every lane’s time was and the individual places. I noticed they had a few old records too on the record board that have yet to be beaten from the 1970s. We went out to Dairy Queen with Mom and Dad after the meet, riding all of our bikes there and then home afterwards.
Today was a productive day for the “Daddy Do” list as Dad came over and basically did everything I had planned including replacing the fallen drain spout from the house that ran from the top gutter to the lower gutter in back, replacing the storm window on the bathroom window upstairs, and sharpening the lawnmower blade that I had dulled months ago from running over a large rock. The lawn looks nice and plush like a green carpet now with the new blade surface. I finally figured out how to make the mower blow grass out the side too as it had been mulching all this time with a plate in place that covered the exit on the side. Dad just pulled out the plate/cover on the side and the problem was solved. We may be looking at fixing the bench out in front of the house tomorrow as the last project before Dad leaves town.
Tomorrow we’ll probably head out for a bike ride around town and also see the model railroad show at the armory. The boys have yet to see the inside of the armory so that should be an adventure for them.
Before I forget, perhaps the most momentous event in the past three weeks or so has been the arrival of a “new” car. It’s actually used, but new to us. Kim and Doug Williams had four vehicles and one of them, a 1989 Taurus station wagon, had been used by a daughter. They realized they really didn’t need four cars, so they gave the car to Dad and had him drive it up here from Bemidji on Monday whereupon he handed me the keys. It’s called “The Weasel” and apparently has quite the history. It used to be Fern Williams’ husband’s car (my neighbor across the street) years ago before it had been passed down through the Williams’ family. I got the title changed on it this week and I still have to get insurance before I’ll be able to drive it. The car runs really well, though, and apart from some Minnesota rust, is quite comfortable to ride in.
I think that’s about all that’s been going on up in our neck of the woods lately. Sorry to those people who’ve waited so long for an update. I haven’t been the best at keeping it updated with visiting family, return to school, cleaning house, etc. The leaves are falling rapidly now here in town and it would appear autumn will soon be upon us. The temperatures have already gotten down to the 40s. Here’s dreamin’ of a white Christmas… Best wishes to all who read this and have a happy weekend.
Aaron and Daniel are enjoying their first month of school a great deal, it would appear. Aaron has progressed splendidly in his reading skills since last year. It’s hard to believe it’s him reading a book now. Daniel seems to love his new teacher and is bringing some homework home a few nights a week. It’s kind of strange having an empty house and not having to get Daniel ready and out to the bus at noon every day. We now get up about 7:00 a.m. (the fourth or fifth hit on each snooze bar) and Duchess and I escort the boys out to their bus stop which moved about 20 feet South of last year’s stop. We usually just have to stand there about five minutes before the bus pulls up and off they go.
We took a little break from the usual here in TRF on Labor Day and headed down to Kim and Doug Williams’ house in Bemidji, friends of my parents from the old days in TRF (and my former babysitter). Kim’s mom and dad, Jerry and Marilyn Wigness, picked us all up along with Doug’s mom, Fern, and we all drove down there for the holiday to have a picnic of sorts. We managed to go see Paul Bunyon and his ox, Babe, and I’ll post a pic of that here. We also after dinner of hotdogs, polishes, and hamburgers floated down the Mississippi river on a pontoon boat as the river flows by the backyard of Kim and Doug’s house. The boys got to see some neat wildlife including beaver dams, turtles, and fish. They had a great time out on the water for the first time in Minnesota.
Between Labor Day and September 19th, we spent most of our time getting the house ready for mom and dad’s arrival on the 19th. Dawn Williamson and her mom, Judy, and foster son, Josh, came over the weekend before and took over the house in basically “commando” style and got the entire main floor of the house in ship shape for our visitors. The entire porch got cleared off and there’s very little “clutter” on the floor to speak of thanks to their generous efforts.
I did have a bit of a mishap the week before Mom and Dad arrived. The preceding Wednesday, we were going to bike to choir practice at church and I had stopped my bike up in front of the house to wait for Aaron as he looked for his helmet inside. As I’m standing there straddling my bike, Aaron comes out and I decide to just get up on my bike seat and start pedaling. Unfortunately, Daniel’s rear tire was directly in front of my front tire and I had no direction to go but straight down on my left shoulder like a fallen tree, landing rather forcefully on the concrete sidewalk with no break in my fall. I could just roll over and lay there for a while, it was so painful. I took my helmet off and realized Daniel was crying because he thought it was all his fault he “hurt daddy.” After a couple minutes of laying on the ground and thinking about my $1,500 medical insurance deductible, though, I managed to climb back on my bike and we made it to choir practice on time. My shoulder, though, has ached all of this week, making it difficult to stretch and use the left arm. At least no bones were broken, so I haven’t ruined that track record yet.
Mom and Dad arrived on Monday and have been enjoying their stay in TRF thus far. Mom has provided some delicious home-cooked dinners already including biscuits and gravy, chicken, and my favorite tonight – rhubarb cake baked with rhubarb out of our own backyard. The boys and I biked over to Franklin Middle School pool last night and joined Mom and Dad there for the Prowler girls’ swim meet against Fosston, Minnesota. The varsity girls beat Fosston by about 20 pounds and the Prowler JV team beat the Fosston JV team by closer to 40 points. The pool looks quite different from when I used to race in it as a kid. The starting blocks are on the opposite end of the pool from where they were and the pool is now attached to another building. They have a nice new electronic score board too that shows nicely what every lane’s time was and the individual places. I noticed they had a few old records too on the record board that have yet to be beaten from the 1970s. We went out to Dairy Queen with Mom and Dad after the meet, riding all of our bikes there and then home afterwards.
Today was a productive day for the “Daddy Do” list as Dad came over and basically did everything I had planned including replacing the fallen drain spout from the house that ran from the top gutter to the lower gutter in back, replacing the storm window on the bathroom window upstairs, and sharpening the lawnmower blade that I had dulled months ago from running over a large rock. The lawn looks nice and plush like a green carpet now with the new blade surface. I finally figured out how to make the mower blow grass out the side too as it had been mulching all this time with a plate in place that covered the exit on the side. Dad just pulled out the plate/cover on the side and the problem was solved. We may be looking at fixing the bench out in front of the house tomorrow as the last project before Dad leaves town.
Tomorrow we’ll probably head out for a bike ride around town and also see the model railroad show at the armory. The boys have yet to see the inside of the armory so that should be an adventure for them.
Before I forget, perhaps the most momentous event in the past three weeks or so has been the arrival of a “new” car. It’s actually used, but new to us. Kim and Doug Williams had four vehicles and one of them, a 1989 Taurus station wagon, had been used by a daughter. They realized they really didn’t need four cars, so they gave the car to Dad and had him drive it up here from Bemidji on Monday whereupon he handed me the keys. It’s called “The Weasel” and apparently has quite the history. It used to be Fern Williams’ husband’s car (my neighbor across the street) years ago before it had been passed down through the Williams’ family. I got the title changed on it this week and I still have to get insurance before I’ll be able to drive it. The car runs really well, though, and apart from some Minnesota rust, is quite comfortable to ride in.
I think that’s about all that’s been going on up in our neck of the woods lately. Sorry to those people who’ve waited so long for an update. I haven’t been the best at keeping it updated with visiting family, return to school, cleaning house, etc. The leaves are falling rapidly now here in town and it would appear autumn will soon be upon us. The temperatures have already gotten down to the 40s. Here’s dreamin’ of a white Christmas… Best wishes to all who read this and have a happy weekend.
Friday, September 02, 2005
A Day In The Life Of Many Dogs...
Well, today was my first day this month I got any actual "free" time to remove myself from my desk and get out to explore the world outside, so I decided to hop on my bike and take a ride out to the Pennington County Humane Society to give Dawn Williamson a hand with the dogs out there. I think it's about two or three miles out there from my house. I managed to bump into Jerry and Marilyn Wigness along the way too. They were walking into town across the 1st Street Bridge (good timing). Anywho, Dawn and I went out to breakfast at Dee's, over to the city pound (didn't know where that was until today) to give some new kittens their shots, and hosed out the dog kennels. There must have been about 90% black dogs out there, so it was like a sea of black when Dawn opened the kennels to let them all out the back door, one row of dogs at a time, so we could clean. It can get a little noisy in there as it's a metal quonset hut-type shelter. All the dogs are so friendly, though, every one of them wanting to dance and play when they got out of their kennels. I just wish I had more time to spend out there during the day. I also got to hold the new kittens at the city pound located by the train tracks just north of downtown TRF so Dawn could get their digital pictures to advertise them for adoption. They were all pretty cute kittens. There was a nice rottweiler/black lab mix there too.
Anywho, if you haven't considered it before, you should try volunteering at your local animal shelter for an afternoon or more. It may be a little noisy and perhaps a little "dirty" work, but the animals sure do appreciate all the attention they get (they don't complain as much as us humans either). Check out this site to see what dogs I helped out with today. You can see I'm not lying about the number of black dogs too... http://www.pawstrf.org/availabledogs.htm :o)
Anywho, if you haven't considered it before, you should try volunteering at your local animal shelter for an afternoon or more. It may be a little noisy and perhaps a little "dirty" work, but the animals sure do appreciate all the attention they get (they don't complain as much as us humans either). Check out this site to see what dogs I helped out with today. You can see I'm not lying about the number of black dogs too... http://www.pawstrf.org/availabledogs.htm :o)
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Last Day of Summer Break...
It was a very pleasant final day of summer vacation for the boys and I. We ended the day by launching our parafoil kite in the park down the street. It rapidly caught the evening wind and soared to a height of 300 feet (the length of the cord) and we almost got dizzy looking up so high. It could have gone much higher had we had any more line. It looked quite splendid against the sunset with its multi-colored streamer tail hanging down. Aaron was pretty cute too, saying, "This is a quality Father/Son activity, right Dad?" (He can say the most grown up things sometimes...) They both got a couple of turns flying the kite (almost dragging Daniel across the field) and at one point, Daniel just sat indian-style on the lawn and held the kite string. A few people slowed down on the main drag to catch a glimpse of the kite overhead too. We then rode our bikes home and got the boys tucked in early for school.
Aaron was so excited for his first day of school, he couldn't fall asleep for over an hour after he went to bed. Andrew rattled our collective cage at 20 minutes to 6:00 and the boys got dressed in their new school clothes and had their backpacks on about an hour before we had to leave for the bus. Attached to the blog is their first day of school picture from in front of the house.
Apparently, the first day of school went off without a hitch as neither of them had anything "exciting" to relate. Daniel's backpack was about 5 pounds lighter, though, when he returned home without all of his school supplies. He had to have FIVE one-subject notebooks, which weighted it down a bit.
Now we have only one more day to go to the nice holiday weekend. Of course it won't be the same this year, with the Labor Day Telethon being overshadowed by the recent events down in Louisianna, Mississippi, Alabama, etc. in the hurricane aftermath. I even read a story today that "Fats Domino" is missing from his home in New Orleans (for those not familiar with him, he sang "Ain't That a Shame" and "Blueberry Hill"). I am very thankful to live in an area relatively free of natural disasters other than the occasional blizzard as I read and hear about so many tragic stories from down South.
On a brighter note, Aaron did mention he's excited to get his "Prowler" shirt as he says all third graders are supposed to get one at Challenger. He said sometime during the year, coaches from all different sports, i.e. Hockey, Football, Soccer, etc. come to visit the classrooms to talk about school sports. Aaron mentioned he wanted to play football "because in Hockey you can get hurt!"
Well... It's now time to get the boys in bed for school tomorrow, so I'll sign off for now. Take care, everyone...
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