Winter Wonderland

These are from this afternoon. We had ice on Friday; it didn't melt on Saturday; Sunday was an additional coating of ice and snow.

Moving Ahead

Surgery is now scheduled for December 23. To some people, that may sound terrible to have surgery two days before Christmas. For us, it is a perfect time. It is the last half day of school before Christmas vacation. I will be available to bring her home after surgery and be home with her for the next two weeks. If we could have picked a day, it probably would have been that day.

It feels like we are finally moving toward treatment rather than just testing. We realize that testing is necessary to determine treatment, but this is a good step forward. Last night for the first time since the diagnosis, I heard her singing in her print shop. That was a good sign too.

Waiting Mode

We are in the waiting mode right now. The MRI was on Monday and the appointment with the surgeon is on Thursday.

For now, we are just waiting for that appointment knowing that there will be lots of information given and many decisions to be made following the appointment.

She worked a full day today, but we are nearing the end of that for a while. Our guess is that surgery will be next week. She was approved for unpaid Family Health and Medical Leave from work. That means she can be off and will not lose her job. The supervisors have said they will work with her--allowing her to work when she feels well enough to work and not work when she doesn't.

The First Snow of the Winter

It was snowing when we came home from work today. We have had flurries before, but this is the first time there was actually a wee bit of snow on the ground this winter.

Sophomores/Juniors

The sophomore and junior classes had a social on Thursday evening. It was held in the barn of one of the families from school. They played a few games outside before supper: capture the flag, tug of war, pancake toss, etc.

Supper was prepared by Big John's Catering. We had delicious burgers and fries.

One of the after supper games was calf-dressing. Poor calves!

Perception

What do you see?

Apple Festival

Putting apples into the cider press


chopped apples

adding another layer of apples

beginning to press the cider from the apples

an hour later they were almost completely pressed

making apple butter

cooking three different kinds of soup: chicken noodle, ham & bean, and vegetable

snitz & knepp

Joanna Furnace stoves

There is Life After 50

When Mary's niece delivered this to me this morning, I thought, "Oh! that's nice--a carved watermelon.

But, then, I lit the candle and stepped away from it. That was when I saw the carving is a balloon.

Camping at Little Buffalo State Park

This weekend we were camping at Little Buffalo State Park. There were about 15 people coming and going all weekend. Most of us went on Friday evening and set up camp in the rain. We were thoroughly soaked by the time the tents were set up and we were moved in for the weekend. Fortunately, we had also rented a cottage for those who are not tenters. After we were set up, we had supper and played a few games in the cottage before the rest of us headed back to our wet tents.

On the left is the Hilton Hotel and on the right is the LaQuinta. The Ramada Inn isn't visible on this picture.

Saturday morning we were delighted to see the blue sky and sunshine. It was still very wet, but we at least had some sunshine. We did a little hiking in the morning. Visited the covered bridge, the mill, and the butterfly garden.

I missed out on Saturday afternoon and evening while I attended a 20-year reunion of the first classes at school. When I returned I took another lady with me; several others had come while I was gone too. They had had rain off and on all day and it was still wet but not too bad.

Sunday morning we were responsible for breakfast. We fried our eggs; Norma reminded us we had hashbrowns; we fried those. Norma reminded us we had sausages and ham; we fried those. Eventually, we got breakfast together.

After breakfast we had a devotional and then packed up. It was so hot and humid that we were not eager to do any hiking today so we all headed home much earlier than we thought we would.

Renovation Progress Report #8 -- The LAST One

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!!!!

All I can say is "Thank You" to everyone who contributed to the renovation of our office. It is the area where we spend most of our time when we are home. We use it for the print shop and my school work. Most of what we do here on a regular basis is in the office. I say "thank you" because of the generosity of family and friends who made the renovation possible. For the last two or three years, we have been saving all the money we received as gifts for birthdays, Christmas, graduation, and any other occasion. That money made possible the purchase of all the supplies we needed for the walls, floor, and ceiling, electrical wiring we added, and the new cabinet to house the phaser and xante printers. Again, I say "thank you" to all of you who gave us any money gifts in the last two or three years.

This last update on the renovation has four photos--one of each wall of the office. The project is almost finished. There is a little trim work to be done. One wall we have to decide if we are going to paint or paper. Other than that, it is finished and we are moved in. We really like it and will enjoy many hours in here this winter.

Our desk area is much more organized.

I already have papers to grade spread out on my desk. The cabinet houses the phaser and xante printers and lots of supplies that we stashed on the table before the renovation.

We didn't do much to this little wall. It was done before we moved here.

The wall on the left of the photo is the one that needs to be either painted or papered. It is bare drywall at this point.

Renovation Progress Report #7 -- Hanna Moves Over/We Move In

As Tropical Storm Hanna passes through the area, we were continuing the process of moving back into the office. Mary is modifying a new cabinet we bought to keep the phaser printer and xante film maker clean. I have gone through all the little "stuff" scattered around the rest of the basement deciding what goes back into the office and what shall be disposed of promptly.

2 weeks ago . . .

2 days ago . . .

Now . . .

It is good I posted photos of the room without furniture. Most of the walls are hidden now.

Renovation Progress Report #6 -- Moving In--Ready or Not

Progress was slow Tuesday and Wednesday. We did a little each evening, but it was not anything significant. Thursday Mary was sent home from work so she had more time to do some of the finish work.

Last evening we started moving back into the office. She went off to see if they have work for her today at the other place where she works sometimes. She will find out when she gets there if they have work for her today. If not, she will go back home and continue moving into the new office.