Lots of Stuff

Okay - update on the "diet"... Frank has lost 6 pounds and I have lost 3! And, we are losing inches as well. Feel very good at this point.

Caleb had his appendix out on Sunday! He had a horrible stomach ache that morning and finally went into to the emergency room and they did emergency surgery. He went home on Monday and thinks he will start his new job at Jiffy Lube tomorrow! Kids - they sure heal fast.

We went for a wonderful float down the river on Saturday with Theresa and Rich. We put in at the Island Park Dam and floated to Last Chance. It was only about an hour but the perfect day for floating the river! I'm glad we were in a rubber boat though. The water was pretty cold!

We had two people come for a second look on our house this week! The one family loves it but they have to sell their house in Missouri first. They are living in a hotel right now with two teenage boys so I would think they would love just about anything! Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Frank is progressing

It hasn't been bad. We have been eating very healthy and haven't really missed all of the butter, sour cream, bread, etc. Frank has actually enjoyed our healthy meals and it's paying off. He stepped on the scales this morning and has lost 4 pounds! I haven't weighted yet... will wait until Monday. Hopefully I do as well.

I sliced a zucchini and a yellow squash in 1/4 inch slices and laid them on a grill I have for our BBQ. Sprinkled them with onion salt and seasoning salt and then grilled them. Very tasty! Another thing I did this week that Frank loved was made a salad out of tomatoes, red peppers, purple onion, cucumber and cilantro. Frank wasn't sure he could eat it without his ranch dressing but he actually loved it! So, it's all good.

If this bombs, you will be my witness!

Frank and I have decided that it's time for us to get serious about getting into shape. Well, at least to lose some of our poundage! Our goal for right now is to lose 30 pounds each. By writing this goal down and broadcasting it, we are obligated to do it. I remember when I used to say something like, "I think I will make cinnamon rolls today" and then I HAD to do it because Frank and the kids expected it to be done. That's how this is going to be... "I think I will lose 30 pounds this year."

I think everyone needs some kind of catalyst to help them do something like this. We have signed up to try TAIslim and follow that program. I have heard some really good things about this product and the other health products that they have and so that's why we are going to follow it. I will keep everyone informed of our progress weekly.

So, wish us luck..... And if you want to know more about the product, let me know!

Thrift Shops and Service

A couple of Saturdays ago I was looking for a cooking pot and Frank and I were passing a thrift shop and I suggested that we stop in and see if they had what I wanted. We browsed around for a few minutes and the owner of the shop suggested another shop that might have the item. So, we went over there and again no luck so we went to WalMart and bought a new one. I have never really shopped at thrift shops or garage sales and so this was a very different experience for us but walking in those shops took me back to 1963! I was about thirteen years old...

I was taking accordion lessons (don't laugh, they were quite popular back then) and my lessons didn't quite work with my parents work schedule so I often had to wait an hour or so for someone to pick me up. After an hour of lessons I sure didn't want to hang around the studio and listen to other kids murder their songs! There was a little thrift shop next door to the studio and so I would often wander in there looking at their stuff.

After a couple of weeks of going in there, I got to know the ladies that ran the shop. As I remember, it was a fundraiser for a local church. Anyway, I started offering to help sort through the items that were brought in. Some items needed to be cleaned, mended, ironed, folded, etc. I remember one job was to cut off all of the buttons from shirts that weren't good enough to re-sale and then making bags of rags. One week they needed help setting up a new window display and I soon found that I loved arranging items for the window display. I couldn't wait to change the displays each week. It became very important to me to be there for "work" and was a good experience for me.

I enjoyed doing my little volunteer project and helping out. I had been taught by experts to give service - my parents. This was one of my first opportunities to really do something productive to help others. Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives that we forget that giving even an hour or two a week can help others. I think I need to do that again.

An Extraodinary Event

Last night I left work a little late. My boss, Keith is trying to get everything ready for a trip to Ghana, Africa and so I've been swamped this week. Anyway, when I called Frank to tell him I was on my way he told me that he had dinner already started!

Okay, this is the first time in over 42 years of marriage that this has happened! He actually made us some tinfoil dinners and put them on the BBQ to cook. They were very good. He cut up red potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, frozen meatballs (innovative idea), and added some bacon and cream of mushroom soup. We had them last week and he helped me put them together so he decided he could do it all by himself.

I was told this morning not to expect dinner tonight when I got home...

Past Friends

At the end of June we traveled to Alberta to attend the wedding of Don and Paulette Mudryk. Frank worked for Don on his water well drilling rig when we lived up there. At the time he was married to Sharon, who was a good friend of mine. After their divorce, Don and Paulette stopped to see visit us a few years ago and even though we were sad about Don and Sharon we really liked Paulette. We became even better friends through emails and phone calls. So, when the invitation came in to attend their wedding on June 27, Frank's birthday, we decided that we would take a long weekend at drive up there.

We had a great visit as we were able to see friends we haven't seen in years. Many of them were Don's family. We also went out to visit with Henry and Doris Gancer, who lived a few miles from us in Elk Point. They were a little older than us and really took us under their wing when we moved up there. They were also wonderful to my grandparents, who continued to go up there to go fishing after we moved.

In the slideshow is a photo of our old homestead. As we were driving out to see the Gancer's we saw a bear a mile away from our farm! We never saw one during the seven years we lived up there.

Last weekend Don and Paulette made a trip down here to buy a tree planting spade. While they were here they bought us all tickets to the Glenn Beck show at the IF Civic Auditorium. They are also big fans of Glenn. It was a great show and we really enjoyed it. On Sunday we took a drive up through Yellowstone Park. Just as we got out to watch Old Faithful, it roared into life! It too was a fun day.

Don and I used to really cross horns on just about everything and now, I guess age has changed us all as we seem to be on the same page about many things. Life takes us in many different directions but it's always nice to go back down the road and revisit those places and people we used to enjoy!