That's not what I meant...

I've been complaining that it has been so grey and dreary hereabouts. Today is snowed, fluffy white and clean. I think I'll just keep my mouth shut from now on.

Just kidding!!

Ok, I was totally not serious about that whole "see you in a month..." thing, but I just looked at the calendar and realized 3 1/2 weeks have, indeed, slipped past me, and if I'm not careful, my little joke will become true!
It seems we can't catch a break at school. A car accident involving a senior and a former student has left us with yet another funeral in the school district family and two other young people on a long road to recovery. This is a district with approximately 800 students in K-12, so nearly everyone knows everyone else, making these events exponentially hard on the students and staff.
I keep storing away anecdotes to share "later," but never getting around to sharing. The all picture-taking season is mostly over, ruined by incessant rain and drear. Not to mention that my favorite route to school is in the middle of renovation, so a stretch of gravel road now inhibits my morning drive. Those of you who live on gravel have no sympathy, I'm sure, but this is new, temporary, soupy gravel that threatens to suck my vehicle into the muck, and I am sad. To my credit, however, along the routes I do drive to school the score is now brakes 5, deer 0. Hoping to remain undefeated in that category.
Now it's time to kick the morning routine into high gear. Hope I've got more coffee...

Well, hello there, October...

Wow. The time, she sure does fly. Let's see what's been going on around here.
After the first weird week at school, we rolled into a normal year. Our normalcy hit a little bump last week with a small epidemic of three different family suicides within our district. Follow that with the news yesterday of a substantial layoff at a major employer in the district, and to say the mood is a little gloomy around the building is an understatement. We soldier on, though. The kids are pretty resilient, and the staff is first rate.
I got out to Meander a little this weekend. In the past I've always worked these weekends, so it was kinda fun to be out and about for a bit with all the other artsy farts, wishing I had more money to spend.
I treasure my weekends at the moment. All too soon, my Saturdays will be claimed by Knowledge Bowl meets, and then, pending school board approval, speech meets. I think common speculation is that I'm a bit cracked to take on so many extracurriculars, but being part-time gives me a little more time to devote to such things, and the extracurriculars pad my itty bitty paycheck just a titch.
Thing 1 is taking a recreational vehicle class at school, and has made the Purple Ride her project for the term. She transferred to my school this year, and frequently pops in on her way to her class across the hall from me, smelling of motor oil and happily mussed up. What a kid.
Our borrowed daughters for the year seem to be settling in. The Swiss Miss is quite busy with volleyball. Our VIetnamese daughter plans to try basketball. I, of course, made both daughters at my school try Knowledge Bowl for the season, and from the interaction I see there, they both seem to be fitting in just fine.
Now I'm off to plan and set up for my week. I'll talk to you in another month!

Resuming normal

We're getting back into the swing of things here at casa del goose. The first week at my school was subdued, to say the least. A sophomore boy killed himself the Thursday before school started. In today's world, most of our kids had word via text and Facebook within the hour, so they had the long weekend to process the news and their reactions. His funeral was held the following Thursday at school so the kids could participate as needed. All in all, the district. local clergy, staff and kids did a wonderful job, but we didn't push too hard that first week of school. We got rolling pretty well this week, and right into homecoming week mayhem.
On other fronts, the rollercoaster ride of jobs and activities is keeping the local gas station well paid as we haul kids hither and yon. Today I don't have anyone to haul, and I'm enjoying a little break
With that, I'm off to enjoy some time in my home with its inhabitants!

All's well

Everyone survived our weekend at Lifelight, we all got back to school safely, and when I got home today ipastor had baked pie! Life is good!

Time keeps on slippin'...

Summer has whizzed past like a kid thru a sprinkler. Today and tomorrow are teacher workshops, then it's Lifelight or bust! After a short recuperation Monday, we're all back to school! Situation normal...

Still here

Life has been a frenzy lately, with no time to sit and create wonderful and witty writing upon which you, my loyal readers, can feast your brains. Oh, I never did that? Well, everything's normal then. Carry on.

Situation normal...

New kid picked up and safely ensconsed at home. Rushing like mad to place the last few kids before their Visa windows close. Prepping a theatre workshop for Thursday, when iPastor drives off the other direction to take kids to get their pre-braces spacers. Showing both the Purple Ride and the new kid around to family and friends. A pleasant, busy time, hereabouts.

I TOLD you we were the Griswolds...

So, you know how things go. It started out innocently enough. With two exchange students, we should upgrade to an 8-seater or drive two cars anywhere we need to take the whole family. As long as we're looking, might as well find a big van, like an old daycare or church van, so we can haul our camping gear as well. Found one we liked, but it sold. Feeling a little dejected, iPastor resumed the search, to find this:


Anyone got tickets? I've got your ride.

It's twins!

Scare anyone? Scares me...

Those of you loyal readers (yes, that was plural, I know you're out there lurking about...) who've been around awhile know that we host exchange students with the EF Foundation roughly every other year. When speaking with someone new, iPastor gets a real kick ut of telling folks we're expecting our 10th kid and watching reactions. To his credit, he's easily entertained.
We selected our student for this year early this time around, and have been in contact with her since February. As I was emailing with the Regional Coordinator about our upcoming mandatory family orientation, he mentioned needing more families in the district where I work. One thing led to another, and as of this afternoon we are officially hosting two students this year. Along with our Swiss miss, we will have a young lady from Viet Nam. Still awaiting details, but looking forward to an adventure.

Its quiet...too quiet

With three daughters off at camp, Thing 4 is feeling alternately like master of his domain, or kinda lonely. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Just gotta get used to it, I guess.

Summer Slump

I seem to be in the same slump as nearly everyone else I read regarding interesting subject matter to post. I'd like to think my life is far too busy and important to allow me time to chronicle all the fascinating and wonderful insights in my brain, but, nah. No sense trying to blow smoke up yer skirt.
We've been busy buying the dentist a new boat. Things 1 and 2 required significant dental work before they get braces next month. Spending a lot of time in the waiting room or inventing errands to run while we wait in town. I've been continuing my attempt to purge unused junk from my house and finish projects on my round tuit list, all while attempting to make time to read educational articles, screen books for teaching, and gather materials for a summer enrichment class I'm supposed to lead. Meanwhile, three friends have lost parents or in-laws this week, we're preparing for my brother's memorial service, and the anniversary of MIL's death is sneaking up on us. We just closed on her house and it's been lingering in the back of everyone's mind. Staying busy is helpful on that front, anyway...


We did have an awesome July 4 weekend with friends and family. Our friend and shirttail relation (my brother-in-law's brother-in-law, or my husband's sister-in-law's brother ...whatever) has a place on Dead Lake. He bought the land the same year we were married, and has proceeded from tenting on the grass, to a popup camper on barrels, to erecting a frame structure with extension cords and hauling water, to finally digging well and septic, plumbing and wiring. We've had an open invitation for years, but it has been since Thing 4 was learning to walk (pre plumbing!) that we've had a chance to get there. We had quite a crowd, with our host, his parents, bro and sis-in-law, their adult son and his wife, and our brood. There are three fold-out couches, a queen bed and bunks, but we still managed to fill the joint. It gave iPastor a chance to try the tent out of our own yard (albeit in someone else's) so we set up and enjoyed the loveliest July 4 weekend anyone could remember. Not too hot, not too cold, no wind, just right. We played with all the water toys, ate wayyyyy too much, and watched the neighbors around the lake try to outdo each other with fireworks. I'm none too happy with blogger picture layout after last week's issues, but we'll give 'er a try with pics of the cabin, our guest quarters, and the lake view from the deck.


Now I should be off to shuffle through one more load of laundry. I think it's too wet to mow, but the neighbors are outside trying to prove me wrong, so I should add that to the agenda as well. It may be still enough for a bonfire, as well. Cool.

Oh, hello there, July...

The first month of summer has buzzed by at its usual rapid pace. I've been doing a whole lot of nothing, which is how it should be, at least a little bit. I do fear arriving to about August 15 and thinking, "Holy @(*&^! I haven't gotten anything done this summer!!" I guess I'd better kick it up a notch, then.





As previously mentioned, a dear old friend came to visit for a short afternoon, but it was just like we'd never been apart. Easygoing conversation and fun. We ran to town to help with our church's entry in the annual kiddie parade. Pastor salvaged the little train and we pull it out for just such occasions. We started handing out freezie pops instead of candy a few years back and it's been a big hit. After the kids disbursed and raided the playground, my friend and I just hung out and wandered around downtown for a while, chatting and enjoying the evening, which ended all too soon, since he had a long drive home.














Montevideo's Fiesta Days have been going on for the better part of 60 years, experiencing the same ebb and flow of community involvement and activity as any other small-town celebration. In the past few years, a few new activities, such as the hobo village in our Milwaukee Road Heritage Museum (depot and turntable) and a flurry of activities around the newly-built playground in the city park. A few years back, when main street had been renovated and everyone was all about "downtown revitalization," most activities took place on main street. Guess I prefer the shade of the park.




Be that as it may, the parade committee (where I served my time in 1993) is fond of saying that the parade has been rained on but never rained out. The rain sure tried this year. It rained all morning, then let up for the start of the parade, just to come back and dump buckets on the last 1/3 of the 2-hour flotilla. There was no severe threat, though, so the participants trooped on through. The Things made out like bandits on candy, since attendance was down and most all the entries had a buttload of sugary goodness to bestow. There's still a stash on my fridge.

I think our train is way cooler than this guy's, though...




















Since then, it seems like deskwork and appointments have eaten a lot of my time. We closed on my MIL's house, and have been burning the road between our place and the dentist and orthodontist, spending the proceeds. Planning for a shingle crew to be here soon, too Have also been getting my brother's affairs in order and got his marker ordered from the VA. Lots of little projects to eat my time. The teenage Things are itching to get their rooms painted, and Thing 3 has been waiting patiently for hers, as well.

We'll be spending the 4th with iPastor's brother and extended family at a lake home a couple hours north. This week has been beautiful and the weather holds promise for the weekend as well. All of you have a safe and happy Independence Day!!

Good Advice from one Thing to another:

"Stop licking your sister!"

and the livin' is easy...

Back in action at Casa del Goose after a long weekend in Jamestown, North Dakota.
Our van has been starting 9/10, so we opted to take the car, since we were down a kid and could all fit. It was good news/bad news all weekend, as we spent the bulk of it visiting pawn shops, thrift stores and rummage sales. It really limited our cargo space, which prevented us from buying items like trap sets and game tables, but maybe that's OK.
We got a pretty good start and stopped for a lengthy coffee break in Fargo, meeting up with iPastor's high school friend. We cruised the pawn shops and music stores, then headed west to Jamestown, for a mostly surprise 40th birthday party for my friend from college. After that, we had two low-stress days of simply hanging out with no agenda. Did the aforementioned thrifting, scoring a few bargains, including an 8-man tent. We also hit a cache of old, well-kept, kitchen acoutrements. The solid, not plastic, non-teflon coated wares that hold up to years of grandmothers. I love that stuff. Scored an apple peeler, a steel wok, and a stick malt mixer.
The kids played video games, watched movies, and hung out at the public pool. So did the grownups. Sunday morning we headed to church with our friends. Couldn't skip, she's the pastor. Afterwards, we started out for home on a slightly altered route, stopping in Watertown to take my sis-in-law for birthday lunch. We rolled into our own yard, reuniting with the kid who'd been travelling with the high school choir in NYC. We immediately switched to the van, and headed to town for the baby nephew's second bday party in the park. Needless to say, we were a bit wrung out when we got home.
The next day, iPastor and the kids set up the tent to make sure we had all the parts and check for holes, etc. It came together with minimal fuss, and the kids immediately set up shop with a drop cord, dvd player, and dorm fridge. Rouging it certainly is different than when I was a kid.
After Christmas, my Facebook exploded with many friends from high school and college. These electronic reunions have resulted in several face-to-face reunions planned for this summer. Tomorrow, a dear friend and groomsman, whom we had lost touch with for a few years, will come to visit. I'm stoked! Now I should really get to work. Yuck.

Oh, hi there, summer!

After taking forever to get here, summer is upon us. Wow. The kids hosted a last-day-of-school bonfire, we've done a little putzing about the house, we took a day trip to Sioux Falls to hang with friends and take in the Siouxland Renaissance Festival, and we have a 4-day weekend planned. Next week a friend is back in Minnesota from the east coast, so I'll work in a visit. If it continues to rocket along at this pace, summer will be gone a lot quicker than it came!

Doppelganger

The weekend was pretty mellow around here. No major plans, just putzing around the house and a quick trip over the border for a day at the zoo with SIL. iPastor worked Saturday overnight, so we cleared out of the house to let him sleep in peace. We came home, and I let the kids monkey pile in the living room and watch movies. iPastor woke at about 4am and wandered down to discover they had left the outer porch door open. He went to close it, and spooked a cat, who ran into the now-closed door, not once but twice, before escaping to the basement. He was perturbed enough to come wake me.
"We may have a problem. Fuzznut is acting really strange. I wonder if she's not hurt or sick..."
She has been known to squirrel off and go live down by the river for a couple weeks at a time, and as much as I try to keep her inside, she loves to go out and tussle with other cats and come home a little banged up.
He described the cat mayhem in enough detail to completely screw up my sleep for the remainder of the night. We all kept watch for Fuzz. On a couple occasions, I'd hear the cats in the hallway growling at each other, a bit unusual but not unheard of in this house. I'd go investigate to check on Fuzznut's mental state, just to see the tip of a tail disappear into the basement and a grey body slink under the stairs. The next afternoon, however, Fuzznut sauntered up and demanded her spot on my lap, all love and sunshine. Apparently, whatever was bugging her had passed. Later that evening, I heard the cats having a showdown in the hallway again, and witnessed the same aforementioned ditch and slink. The next time I saw Fuzznut she was all love and cuddles again, a bit perturbing. This morning, I wandered into the creepy old basement laundry room, not bothering with lights. I saw Fuzz on the laundry table, but she bolted when I came close. By now her bipolar behavior was becoming worrisome. After school, the Things noticed the other two cats gathered with interest on the basement steps, heard the vocalization of feline disagreement, and also noticed the distinct odor of a male cat...in our house full of spayed females. A little grey face peeked out from under the oil barrel, very familiar, but just a little bit...off. Then Thing 3 reported that Fuzznut had just come in from outside. Our Jeckyll/Hyde cat mystery was now solved, but we had another problem: a feral cat darting from nook to cranny to junkpile in our basement. We shifted piles of lumber and household junk, and general hilarity ensued.




















We discovered that a fish net is strong enough to hold a struggling cat, but a frightened cat is agile enough to escape from the top. Eventually we subdued the cat with sheer numbers: Three Things, my Looziana daughter and myself. We calmed the raging tempest, and released the poor wretch to the wild.







The Imposter:

























Fuzznut:




















That's about enough excitement for this week.

My commute

Poking my head in here so you all know I'm alive and kicking. Although I do write lovely things in my head to post here, they're usually gone by the time I get to a keyboard. I'm much more active, albeit quite short and pithy, on facebook and twitter. Such is life, I guess. Feel free to "friend" or follow me (that was fun to write) there for more frequent updates, but I do plan to keep this joint open for when I get the hankerin' to crank out some text.
A couple weeks ago, iPastor gave in to the techno bug and got us fancy, newfangled phones with cameras, internet, and the whole nine yards. It was a twofer deal, so I know have a phone I thought I'd never need, yet to which I am hopelessly addicted. Our spring has been cold and dreary. One of the first days after we got the phones, we finally had some nice weather, so I took some pictures of my drive to/from work. I drive 18-20 miles to work one way, depending on which variation of back roads I decide to use that particular day. It takes me, ironically, about 18-20 minutes to drive to work. I know folks in the cities who drive 45 minutes to go 6 miles every day. Be that as it may, although I sometimes deal with blowing and drifting, or deer on the roads, I really do enjoy my drive. I have the radio, cd or ipod to myself, and 20 minutes all my own, twice a day. We do get all four seasons, even though it seems like winter stays the longest, and every one is beautiful around the lake.

Mother's Day!

Most folks would think that doing yard work on Mother's Day is some sort of heresy. I, however, was glad to be home for the day with no plans and no agenda. Once the lawn finally started greening in, we had plans or commitments every afternoon and evening, so I didn't have a chance to mow until today, and it was plenty thick and green. I opted to bag, and the darn thing needed to be emptied after every two passes or so. The more I mowed, the more crap I found in the yard, even though I thought we'd gotten it picked up. I also stopped for an hour or so to tackle the jungle on the SW corner of our lot. We are the proud owners of a concrete outhouse pit, dug by the WPA for part of their economic stimulus projects back in the thirties. The outhouse finally came out a couple years ago. We filled the pit part way with sand, and have been dumping compost in as we go The plan is to get some good dirt for a bulb bed. We also took down a tree a couple years ago, but the noxious vines that grow back there have not let go. I finally managed to kill them off last fall, but now comes the task of digging, hacking and yanking all the dead vines and volunteer trees.


















I decided to set a goal to finish one side of the pit, otherwise the prospect was overwhelming. We got it done, and dragged the brush to the compost site (too big to throw in). Then the neighbor kids came and buried an unfortunate kitten behind their shed, leaving the tulip there.















As we went along, I also had the kids pile up brush. We had several stacks going after the big storm last summer, but it was time to cull. We stacked it all in one spot, which now stands taller than me, and we are all set for summer bonfire season. Bring a cooler and a lawn chair.

Still kickin'

Been busy with life-n-stuff around here. Not much excitement, just keepin' on.
Last night, however, the Flip Flop Momma, of my sidebar fame, and I did what we've been threatening to do for two years, and met up for karaoke. We found a place roughly between our two towns and got together. Had a nice time. Of course, we were the best ones there and everyone else sucked, but that's what happens when you're fabulous like us.
So, happy birthday to the Rockinist' Bossy Flip Flopper I know:







(I know you hate this picture, and so do I, but It's gonna stay up until we can get together again and take a better one!)