Separation

Last week Rustin and I were separated from each other by two states. I went home to Tremont to attend two of my sibling's graduations. I also spent time with family and friends. I was priveleged to go visit my week old niece, Abbi. She is pictured on the left. She slept most of the time and of course is as cute as a button. Thankfully Rustin and I were able to converse via telephone or I don't know what we would've done. I returned home on Friday, just in time for people from the Tremont Young Group to show up for Memorial Weekend. We had a houseful of girls on Sat. night and Sun. night we kept cousins and Bob. It was a very enjoyable weekend. Monday we went to the Cities to help Rustin's Dad move into his "for work apartment." It is cheaper than buying hotel rooms for a couple nights a week. On Tuesday I started my job for the City of Hancock. I picked up branches and cleaned storm drains. Good thing I did this because it rained Tues. night and Wed. The drains were somehow clogged up by the end of Wed. On Wed. I cleaned out the shop. Today I mowed from 7 to 4. Needless to say I have a nice burn.

This morning a first happened which I hope is a last. To back up... 2 weeks ago I went downstairs to do laundry. As I reached the bottom of the stairs a bat started flying at me. I shrieked and started running up the stairs. Rustin, thinking I had fallen down the stairs quickly ran over to see the commotion. This is when he realized there was a bat. He quickly slammed the door and went to get the broom. Of course, when he went back down there was no bat in sight. Then for two weeks there was no sight of a bat. You could hear it scratching in the walls at night which freaked me out. Then at 4:30 this morning I heared this whirring noise in our room and thunk thunk. I immediately knew it was the bat. I dove under the covers and started kicking Rustin awake and saying the bat is here. He didn't hear it at first and it took him a while to come to full conciousness, but then he dove under the covers. Once it hit the wall so hard that it was momentarily stunned. Rustin rushed out of bed and ran downstairs to get the tennis racket. After a few swings he killed it and took it downstairs with a pliers. I told him I didn't even want to see the ugly thing. For all of you who now may not want to stay with us, please reconsider! We plan to call the bat exterminator and have our house exterminated. This is just one of the joys of living in an old house. Rustin saved the day and truly is my hero!

The Time Flies On

The time really does fly by. Sometimes I wonder where it goes. It seems like it has only been a couple days since I updated my blog rather than a week. The Garage Sale was a success. 25 garages were on the map for the Hancock townwides. Kara Messner and Susie Wulf brought some of their things and stayed to help me, so I was able to shop around for a little bit also. I just love garage saling; especially when I find good deals. I bought a wheel barrow and a fertilizer spreader and Rustin found a sledge hammer. We only have a couple boxes left to take to Salvation Army, so I say the sale was a success.

Last week Rustin and I were working on a retaining wall for our friends Mark and Lori. It was again on the outside of a cement pad to hold the gravel in. I was feeling pretty proud of myself that the wall was fairly level until I got to the end and the block was 2.5 inches above the concrete. Then my intelligent husband made the comment that the driveway sloped 2.5 inches. The little things I don't take into consideration! So, we went back about 12 feet and gradually sloped the wall so that it butted up to the driveway. Someday I'll learn my lesson and not jump into a project without looking at all angles.

This week I have been working on a lady's landscape in Hancock. It was a pile of weeds and perennials that she didn't want anymore. She told me to clean it up and put in something she won't have to touch. The only thing I can think of is decorative rock, but I don't think that is what she had in mind. I put in a couple of bushes and brick edge, and today I will finish up by putting in the rock. Yesterday it was upper 80's and today it is 65 so there must be something going through.

I became an aunt again on Mother's Day. Eric and ReKeeta had a little girl in the afternoon. They named her Abigail Lisa Leman. I haven't seen a picture of her yet so I can't share what she looks like. I'm sure she is cute though. I am excited because I will get to see her while I am in Illinois. The rest of the week looks like cleaning the house and finishing up a few ID and trimming jobs. I plan to leave on Friday when Rustin goes to work. So hopefully I will see many of you soon!

Farmer "Tax Season"

It has been eons since I have been able to sit in front of my computer and update my life. Sorry for all of you who diligently read the Sharon saga. The past two weeks I have arose with the sun and went to work at Trico from 6:30 till 8:30. I usually answer the never-ending telephone, file, and sweep the floors. It's amazing how much dirt the guys track in in a day. Then, since this week was the end of one month and the beginning of another month, I stayed longer on a few days to help out the bookkeeper. Rustin has generally been working from 6 till about 9-10 at night. Everyone wants fertilizer NOW. It makes for great togetherness, but atleast this will only last a month or two. I have been spending a great deal of time out at Trevor and Jody's helping them on a landscaping project. They put in a cement patio in their back yard, so we put retaining wall around it. I love it. When the project is finished I will update with pictures. I have been getting landscaping or maintenance jobs here and there, so I think I will spend most of my summer doing what I love best. When Rustin slows down, he hopes to help with some projects. Yesterday it finally rained. Everyone was glad for the reprieve. Since Rustin was home for the evening we actually got to celebrate his birthday. I made him my favorite meal, which is roast, potatoes, and carrots, which he likes too. Then we worked on putting together a futon bunkbed which we purchased to house more company. Today it is raining also, so he didn't have to work long. I think we are going to relax. Tonight we have testimonies so I am looking forward to those. This next week I am looking forward to the Hancock town-wide garage sales. I doubt they are as well traveled as Tremont's but this will be my first garage sale ever. I guess I have alot of cleaning, hiding, and tagging to do!

Spring is here, I think!

I had a very nice, relaxing weekend with my parents this weekend. They arrived on Friday afternoon, and we sat around visiting until Rustin got off work. We then went to A. Stella's auction. Thankfully we all took coats because as the evening wore on, it got a little chilly. Rustin helped his dad with the auctioning, so I got to bid on everything. We ended up taking a few tools home. Mom even bought a blanket and many cookies for the kids there. Afterwards we went to Rustin's parents for pizza. Saturday we slept in a little. After a waffle breakfast we toured Trico. My parents thought it was a neat little place. We had to drive around the yard because it was a big mud pit and none of us were too excited about getting muddy. Rustin and Dad went back to the house and Mom and I went up to Bent and Dent to get some deals. We left with only a couple of bags, so it wasn't too bad. It seems like when parents are around work gets done. I don't know if it's the motivation thing or if it's because there are more helping hands. Anyways, we cleaned out our basement and garage. We can actually walk in our garage now. We were storing a kid's 4-wheeler for some friends. Dad was pretty excited to ride it to their house. Too bad we didn't have the camera ready. We delivered all the goods and ate Subway for a late lunch. We found out that instead of having a two bathroom house, we now have a four bathroom house. While cleaning the garage, my dad thought this one room looked like it could be an outhouse. After moving junk around and some prying of boards, we found a two-seater. It was quite an exciting find. I guess this tells how old our house is. Thankfully someone had filled the holes in. The rest of the evening we played Rummikub and Phase 10. Grandpa, you should be proud: your eldest stomped us in Phase 10.
On Sunday we had butterbraid and eggs for breakfast and then headed off to church. Mom and
Dad enjoyed visiting their old friends and people they thought they knew; they just had to ask them their name. Rustin's parents are visiting ReKeeta and Eric so we checked the trap and fed/watered the cats. He has been noticing that much cat food has been missing, so this explains the trap. He suspected a racoon. Friday he caught a skunk, so we were hoping this was the end of it. Of course not! A huge racoon was caught in the live trap. It definitely filled the trap. We suspected it was well fed with cat food. Rustin shot it twice in the head, but it wouldn't die. We decided to leave it and come back later when it was for sure dead. It all grosses me out, so I just watched from inside the house. (When we came back later, rhigamortis (sp) had set in. Now we just have to dispose of it and clean the trap. After this excitement we went to Dave and Nancy Wulf's for a snack and visit. After much laughter and talking, we went home so Mom and Dad could get on the road. In the evening we were invited to U. Gary and A. Velma Domnick's. I was excited to learn that they were serving fish. I don't get it very often and it was some good Northern as usual.
Today has been spent doing much laundry. The awesome part is that I have my windows open and a short sleeve shirt on. I never thought I'd see the day of short sleeves. Spring has sprung!

Our Second Guest

Hope everyone had a nice Easter. We went to Rustin's parents house for a nice chicken dinner. I took jello and one of them flopped. It was a good thing I took two. I think I must have put too much liquid in because it didn't set right. The disgusting thing was that I have made this jello before and this never happened. I guess learning from our mistakes is our best teacher. On Monday I spent the entire day giving our house a good cleaning. Since this task isn't really my forte, it took a little while. Then in the evening I went to Amber Nohl's for supper. Doug and Rustin and some other men had to go move our A. Stella's stuff for the big auction coming up tomorrow night. The other reason for going to Amber's was to pick up Michelle Mueller, our guest. On Tuesday we woke up bright and early to go shopping in Willmar. The forecasters were calling for lots of snow so we decided to leave early and beat it. There is a fabric warehouse in Willmar, so that was our main intent for shopping there. Michelle bought some fabric and then we went to the Mall so I could return something. After a bit more shopping we ate at our favorite restaurant, Culver's. The closest Culver's is 45 min. away, so I take every chance I get to eat there. By the time we arrived in Hancock it was very windy and freezing cold. No snow, though. We visited Rustin at work, and unfortunately for Michelle, since it was so cold, we didn't feel like taking the Trico tour. We then went to the local Bent and Dent store. Michelle didn't act as impressed as I am with the store. I like to buy fruit snacks for Rustin there. In the evening we took the truck in for repairs and went out to eat at Pizza Ranch. While we were eating, it started to snow. It snowed through the night, and thus, ruined our plans for Wednesday. We were planning to go to Alec and shop around there but decided it would be better not to get stranded 45 min. from home. Instead we slept in and lazed around all morning. It cleared off in the afternoon so we ate lunch at the local restaurant, Buddies. It is the new bar and grill in Hancock. I have never been there in the evening, but they say that the smoke factor is a lot less in the afternoon. Rustin and I like the food and recommend it to anyone who is driving through Hancock. Later on, Michelle and I went to Morris and did a little browsing and picked up the pickup. For supper we made Polachinka (sp.) This is a favorite of mine and basically it is a thin pancake kind of like a crepe and I put jam or cinnamon/sugar on the polachinka, roll it up and sprinkle powdered sugar over the top. It is an excellent meal any time of the day. In the evening we went to church. This morning Michelle left at 8:30 to head south. Tomorrow my parents arrive for the weekend. The visitors are pouring in! We appreciate every one that comes, just give us a heads-up.

Good Friday

Rustin and I had one of our first compromising situations this week. I prefer longer hair and he prefers buzzed hair, so we compromised that in the Summer he will have short hair, and in the Winter he will have long hair. So, for those of you who saw him last weekend, he looks totally different. Unfortunately for him, it turned cold after we cut it. He has received many comments on his nice haircut!
This last Wednesday evening was Morris' Easter Program. Each child up through 7th grade recited part of a poem or scripture which centered aroung Easter. Having grown up singing a song with my class, I was impressed that none of the kids got gun shy. They all did a good job. Throughout the evening the Bible Class and 8th grade sang Easter songs. At the end each of the children who performed and in those the audience received a bag of peanut butter M&M's.
On Thursday I awoke with Rustin at 6:45 which is very unusual. His mom and I went to Alexandria, more commonly pronounced Alec, to go shopping. I went along mainly for the social outing and for the monthly trip to WalMart. Nobody except his mom, Jody, and I appreciate Chinese cuisine so we enjoyed a delicious lunch at The China Buffet. We checked out the used book store in town and found a few bargains. Then we went to Ron's Warehouse, which is a store that you never know what treasures you are going to find. I decided I am going to have to go back when I have more time to browse. That evening Rustin had to help a friend move, so I stayed home and cleaned out our guest bedroom. Our second guest arrives next week.
Today hasn't been overly stressful. It's cold outside still, so it's better to stay inside. I have been filing papers for Rustin's dad and did the dishes. You'd be surprised at how many dishes two people can go through in a couple days time! Today I have also stopped and pondered at what our Savior went through on this day for us. It's unfathomable. Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!

The return to Minnesota

This was the sight I awoke to this morning. Actually it's after I shoveled, but it's a little windy. Whatever happened to April SHOWERS? It's only supposed to stick around until the weekend, and then next week is supposed to be in the 50's. We had a very nice weekend in Tremont. We arrived around 2 am on Friday and royally surprised my parents later on that morning. They even slept through the watch dog alarm. Everybody except Mom went to work or school, so Mom and us ate brunch at Bob Evans. We had to do a little grocery shopping for the weekend. It's amazing to me that I can go an entire week without seeing someone I know, and during the 2 hours I was in Pekin I saw at least 4 people I know. In the afternoon Rustin put together a desk that was Matthew's birthday and graduation present. I went to my hair thinning appointment. I haven't found anyone in Morris yet, so I have to get it done while in Tremont. Friday evening we had some people over for games and to try out our new icecream maker. It took 3 hours and it still wasn't completely done but it tasted okay. On Saturday morning we met Eric and ReKeeta at Cracker Barrel in Morton. We had good food and good visiting. For lunch we went to U. Dennis and A. Mike's for the annual Koch Potato Feast. It was awesome as usual and I ate way too much. It's kind of like with haystacks where you start small and all of a sudden you have a mound. In the evening my family celebrated Bob and Matthew's birthdays. On Sunday we went to church and it was good to see everyone there. People say "welcome to Tremont," but I don't feel like a visitor; I feel like it is still somewhat my home, so thats kind of strange. I know they are being nice, though. In the evening we went to U. Dean and A. Karen's for Easter. Once again a feast was served. We sat around and sang, visited and played games. Rustin and I left for MN around 8 Monday morning. We stopped in Minneapolis at IKEA and looked around. We plan to do our bathroom this summer so it's always neat to look at different ideas. Then we met his dad for supper. He was on business in the Cities so it worked out perfectly. We arrived home around 9 and crashed. As I said earlier, I awoke to 3-4 inches of snow that needed to be shoveled. Thankfully it won't stick around for weeks. The job hunt keeps going with more possible prospects.