Worth the Reminder and the Read

Hey troops!
It's been a while between posts but this came across my email today and I felt compelled to share it. I rarely forward emails but this one is worth a look.
If it offends you, I won't apologize. I will, however, say a little prayer for you and your skewed sensibilities because, I assure you, they don't match mine. For everyone else - God Bless you for being in your right mind.

*******************************
My great great grandfather watched as his friends died in the Civil
War, my grandfather watched as his friends died in WW I, and my father
served and watched as his friends died in WWII. I served and watched
as my friends died in Vietnam .
None of them died for the Mexican Flag.
Everyone died for the U.S. flag.
In Texas , a student raised a Mexican flag on a school flag pole;
another student took it down. Guess who was expelled...the kid who
took it down.
Kids in high school in California were sent home this year on Cinco de
Mayo because they wore T-shirts with the American flag printed on them.

Enough is enough.

The below e-mail message needs to be viewed by every American; and
every American needs to stand up for America .
We've bent over to appease the America-haters long enough.
I'm taking a stand.
I'm standing up because the hundreds of thousands who died fighting in
wars for this country, and for the U.S. flag can't stand up.
And shame on anyone who tries to make this a racist message.
Let me make this perfectly clear!
THIS IS MY COUNTRY!
And, because I make This statement
DOES NOT
Mean I'm against immigration!!!
YOU ARE WELCOME HERE, IN MY COUNTRY!

Welcome!
To come through legally:

1. Get a sponsor!

2. Get a place to lay your   head!

3. Get a job!

4. Live By OUR Rules!

5. Pay YOUR Taxes!

And

6. Learn the LANGUAGE like immigrants have in the past!!!

AND

7. Please don't demand that we hand over our lifetime savings of Social Security Funds to you.


If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone,

Then YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

When will AMERICANS STOP giving away THEIR RIGHTS???
We've gone so far the other way...

bent over backwards not to offend anyone.


But it seems no one cares about the


AMERICAN CITIZEN

that's being offended!


WAKE UP America !!!

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter everyone! 

We hope you're all enjoying a wonderful Spring day wherever you may be and a happy Easter along with it. It's sunny and 63 here - the first sunny day we've had in recent memory and it's lovely. Brenda and Greg, Dan and Josh were here to help us celebrate with Easter brunch. I had to do the brunch thing because Josh's bus back to Duluth left at 1:10 so dinner wasn't gonna work. So, I did my best to put out a spread that would rival Granite City, and all things considered, I think I did okay. Of course I have a ton of fruit salad and cheesy hash browns left but we'll cope.
The photo here is of my Easter decor. The little boxes were the place holders for each of us (a little mini basket of sorts) and the green glass bowl holds chocolate eggs and jellybeans. I figure we'll overdose on Chocolate sometime Tuesday. 
Josh will be back home for good in 3 weeks (not sure where the school year went but it sure flew by fast) and hopefully by then Spring will truly be here for good as well.
We'll probably be seeing Dan again in a couple of weeks for Payton's first birthday party so that will be nice. After that, the month of May pretty much disappears with something planned for nearly every weekend. Other than Payton's birthday (Josh's too for that matter), I have my card stamping event for the troops next weekend, Josh moves home the 13th and on the 15th Rich and I are going to a wine and pizza tasting at a local vineyard (Elk River) for our anniversary. At this point, I think the 20th may be open but that could be a myth, and then we're looking at Memorial Day. Hold onto your lug nuts kids...we're in for a wild ride!
Who knows what the rest of the summer will hold. Not much travel I'd wager. With gas prices going through the roof, I anticipate a LOT of staying at home to save money. Considering the fact that it costs us nearly $100 in gas just to go as far as Fargo and back, that gets to be a bit spendy for a weekend. We'll see what happens I guess, but it would help if Rich could find a different job. In the meantime I'm going to assume we'll be staying home most of the summer. Not all bad really - if I can get Rich out on his bike on a regular basis we could have some fun exploring the trails and getting some much needed exercise.
Now that Brenda and Greg are home I'm hoping we can spend more time this summer tooling around with them. The only problem I see there is that Rich and I are REALLY out of shape so we need to get some "training time" in before we go out with them or we're likely to keel over prematurely. This would not be a pretty sight.

And... on that note...I'm going for a walk with the dog!
Enjoy the rest of your Easter!

So long Spring Break, hello Spring?

Hello!
Josh goes back to Duluth today, or I guess I should say, I'm taking him back today. He's been home all week which has been very entertaining and Dan came over for dinner last weekend so that was a nice treat.
Now we begin that last long stretch before Easter and then the end of the school year. On the upside, our snow seems to be steadily melting and it's been fairly warm and sunny lately which is SO very much appreciated. We even had a little steady rain last night so that's made inroads in the level of snow in the yard. We're down to only 2 1/2 feet of snow at the end of the driveway now! Whoohoo! I've heard whisperings of more white stuff for this week but I'm choosing to play ostrich and just change the station I'm listening to. I figure the odds of finding one that will tell me what I want to hear are just as good as the odds of finding one that's right.
Rich is now contemplating a new job search for reasons I'm not allowed to go into here but with any luck we can turn things around again and maybe even find something closer to home. We both drive 15 plus miles one way every day so reducing some of the mileage would be a blessing.
I'm happy where I am but am also insanely busy. My one week lull at the beginning of every month has temporarily (I hope) disappeared in the wake of several large and time -consuming projects that are not normally on my monthly radar. I love all of the variety and we've had some recent personnel changes in our department too that are shaking things up a bit. I'm too busy to worry much about it but it's also nowhere near as frightening as what I've experienced in the past.
On the home front, we're pretty dull. I bought a new bicycle in February (wishful thinking I know) but I am dying to get out on it just as soon as the snow is gone and I can go for a ride without freezing my butt off. Walking in the 40s is entirely different than whizzing along on a bike in those temps. Anyway, Spring is more than welcome to arrive anytime!
On another, more crafty side of things, I'm organizing another card-making event for the troops in May. So far I have 11 people signed up and am hoping to recruit at least that many more. I did this last year and we managed to donate over 400 cards to the US troops through an organization called Operation Write Home. This year we're making 10 new cards (2 of each card) and half of them get sent to the troops. You can do the math...the more people I have to participate the more cards we send. Anyway, I'm having fun organizing all of that. Complete details are on my 5inkyfingers stamping blog if you're interested, know someone who might be interested, or want to help out in any way.
Well, I better quit here and roust the college kid. He said something about needing groceries yesterday and we're picking up another friend to take him back with us at 12:30 so the next couple of hours could be a bit of a whirlwind.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Later!

Tree trimming day

With a blizzard raging outside today, we spent the better part of the day indoors listening to Christmas music and puttering. Well, other than Rich's first pass at clearing the driveway that is. I spent 4 1/2 hours trimming our tree and wrapped up writing out all of our Christmas cards. Rich helped with the ornaments on the tree and the pets did their part by wandering around aimlessly and acting as stumbling blocks. I still have some rearranging and decorating left to do but I think I'll save that for tomorrow. In the mean time, I thought I would share photos of our tree in it's various stages. Enjoy! We're going to. *smiles*

The tree sans any decorations. That's 9 1/2 feet of Frasier Fir and it smells divine! You can see I wasn't kidding when I said the animals were underfoot. This is pretty much where Buster insisted on laying all day. I only tripped once. I'll let you figure out what color the air was following that.

Here it is with the lights. 1,080 in all. Go ahead and count them. I dare you. This part took me 2 1/2 hours and yes, I know I'm anal about how the lights go on the tree.

Next came the pearls. Eight strands- each one 24 feet long. Yeah, that's a lot of pearls but it's also a BIG tree!!

Here it is with the ornaments. Pretty much ALL the ornaments we own. It's been a while since we needed to use that many.

Finally! The angel which, due to height restrictions, I was not able to reach. Rich did the honors and, isn't she pretty?

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you enjoy the holiday season wherever you are.
Love, Toni & Rich

Changing Seasons

Well it's looking more and more like Winter is just around the corner. Our temps have dipped considerably over the last few days and a day without a nasty wind is almost a pipe dream. Sigh... I guess it has to come around sometime, but personally I wasn't quite ready.

Last weekend we got our first taste of blustery winter when we were up in Duluth visiting Josh. I can't say the weather was too great, but we had a fun time with Josh just wandering around Canal Park and the mall and hanging out at the hotel.

This weekend we're hanging around home and I'm hoping to make some headway on several card projects that I'm hopelessly behind on. Halloween falls on Sunday so, with any luck at all, I won't have to deal with that at all. It's a good thing Rich doesn't mind answering the door because if it were up to me we'd turn off the lights and skip the whole thing. I suppose I better pick up some candy tomorrow huh? I think we're carving our pumpkins tomorrow night. Rich found a couple of pretty good ones last week so now we just need to decide which patterns to use.  I toyed with designing something with the UMD Bulldog on it but I don't know that I'm feeling all that ambitious about it now. We'll see I guess. There's always the standard issue halloween cat or haunted house.

The weight loss plan is progressing nicely. We've both lost quite a bit, but I'm down two sizes and am roughly half way to my goal. The weather has been a bit of a problem for us since neither of us is all that wild about walking the dog in gale force winds or rain. I did dust off the elliptical last week though and gave that a whirl. It was so much fun I can't hardly wait to hop on it again. Yeah. Need any swamp land? Seriously though, once I got over the re-discovery of muscles I didn't realize had atrophied and warmed up a bit it wasn't all that bad. At least until I stepped off, feeling all energized and my knees wobbled.  Guess I should have paced that a little differently given that the thing has been gathering dust for several years. Oh well... I only had to crawl a little to get upstairs...

Other than that, we're not up to much around here. Netflix helps to keep us entertained, the animals help keep us just this side of insane, and the occasional bit of news from Dan and Josh keep us from feeling like we're rattling around the house. Sounds like tons of fun right?
Hope everyone on your end is doing well!
Later!
Toni

Fleeting Weekends

Well, we had a very nice weekend visit with Mom. She came down Friday with her friend Jan and went home today. Thankfully our weather cooperated so we could get out for a walk and not freeze to death.
We also tackled a couple small jigsaw puzzles while she was here which, as most of you know, has a way of whittling away most of a day if you aren't careful. We also re-discovered the irritation of the missing puzzle piece thanks to one of three pesky animals. We haven't been able to identify the actual culprit, so they're equally to blame. I'd love to find it under something at some point in time, but if Buster ate it, I have absolutely no desire to ever see or touch it again.

Rich and I are a full 7 weeks into our renewed diet plan and have collectively lost nearly 30 pounds. Glory Halleluiah! I figure I have about 10 pounds to go before I can safely go shopping for clothes that fit me again. Until then, I'm cinching in the belt (when I remember to wear one) and walking around with a silly grin on my face because I'm so pleased to have made it this far.

The boys are both doing well. Dan was over today while Mom was here so we caught up a little on what he's doing -which is not much. He is toying with possibly going back to school however, for which Rich and I are very glad. The trick is finding a program he would enjoy.

Josh seems to be coping with college life just fine. He came home for the weekend a couple of weeks ago, which was great. He was just a little homesick I think so it was nice for him to come home, crash in his own bed (apparently the beds in the apartment are horrible) and see some of his friends. I'll admit it was nice for us to get a little face time with him too.

Hope everyone is doing well!
Have a great week!

So College life agrees with him and thank GOD for Facebook!

Josh's move to Duluth went really well. The school gave us a great set of directions that totally avoided the road construction on 35W and around the campus, and despite not getting the student move-in help that we thought we could expect, a third floor apartment, and no elevator, we managed to get his stuff moved in with a minimum of fuss. The exercise did serve to illustrate for Rich and I how horribly out of shape we are however.  We're working on that, but that's another story.

Yes, I cried on the way home. I knew I would and this first week has just plain sucked, but we're both coping. I will say that having an empty nest isn't all it's cracked up to be. In fact, right now, I hate it but I suppose it will get better. Yes, I know I sound like a whiny baby but I'm not going to apologize for missing my kids. There. I said it.
I've been very good about not contacting Josh (per our instructions from orientation) other than a couple of text messages to make sure he was alive and had everything he needed. He did call last Saturday night which was almost enough to take the edge off of missing him.  Facebook has become my pipeline to what the kid is up to and by all reports, he's having lots of fun. Molly, the girl in the photo is somewhat of a mystery to us since we haven't spoken to Josh but she takes great photos and she shares a ton of them on his Facebook page! Funny thing? She's from Fargo! I had to laugh at that. What are the odds?
So what about Dan? 
Well, I spoke to him this week and he sounds great. I did ask him if he might like to move back home but he declined. Hmmm. Imagine that. I think I even offered to bake him cookies. He still said no! Actually he just finished moving downstairs in the house he's sharing with Bryon and Crystal. Apparently it's been quite an experience because when they got down there, the discovered water damage and mold that the guy who was living down there didn't feel the need to report. Idiot. This meant a whole slew of repairs to both the drywall and the pipes so things are a bit chaotic at the moment. He likes having the extra space to himself though.
Work is going well for him. He's mostly driving for the company he works for which isn't necessarily his dream job, but he's happy to be employed! Unfortunately, they keep sending him on these all day driving treks to the edge of nowhere.  I think he "gets to" drive to Sioux City, IA (and back) on Monday. Yippee. I suggested that he give my friend Sherry a call on his way back (she lives in Fenton, IA) and visit with her for a while, but it would mean taking a circuitous route back and navigating a 1 ton truck on dirt roads to get to her. Upon further thought, I think he decided that might not be such a great plan. He was up in Bayfield, WI a month or so ago which is a beautiful area, but I doubt he really appreciated the scenery. The good thing about these extended trips is that they generally mean a phone call from him asking me where in the heck they are?! I also get updates on his status colliding with birds while he drives, (apparently this is a recurring problem for him), and his opinion of dunderheaded drivers who think stopping a 1 ton truck on a dime is easy. Let's remember that the truck weighs a ton - the plate glass he is hauling weighs a bit more. I guess I don't blame him when he offers the stupid drivers driving lessons in sign language!

Well, folks that's all I have for now.  Aren't you proud of me? Two posts in the space of a week and a half! What's the world coming to?

later!
Toni