THIS is ridiculous.

Do you watch Kare 11 news in the morning? I do. They have a bit piece called "Word of the Day". Viewers suggest a word and then it is defined on air. Often times I have never heard of the word. Many are interesting. You should watch it. I'll confess that I look more forward to Pete Busch's comments on the Word of the Day than the word itself. Pete immediately follows the W of the D with the local traffic & inevitably has a comment about the word that is a complete misinterpretation of it. For example, today's word was "proscribe" & Pete had to say something about subscribing to a prescription or something of that nature. The best part is that once he gets Kim Insley laughing, which is not easy, Tim McNiff literally will lay his head down on the news desk & periodically has to wipe a tear from is eye. Pete Busch makes me smile.

Ridiculous: waking up at 3:30 am on a day you could sleep in.

Flash.

What a difference 15 minutes makes!!!!

Today I didn't leave the house until 7:25. That is 15 minutes later than normal. I noticed a couple of differences in my commute because of this difference:

1) There were exactly three more houses on my route that had their lights on in the house. Are they sleeping when i normally drive by?

2) The traffic is much more congested. I had to alter my route so that I wouldn't have to try to take a left onto Cooper Avenue without a stop sign or stop light.

That is all. I was most surprised that 15 minutes made the difference between three households being up and about.

Flash. I like the snow today.

Franklin & David. A regular story.

This is rather rough, but I want to share this rather rough picture of two of my favorite people on earth : Franklin & David.

Franklin and David are Dan's bachelor uncles. They live on the 'home place' next to the Meyer school house. Frankin is older than David, David just retired this past year at 65 yrs. old. Franklin has been retired for awhile. He worked at Hard Drives all his working life. David is rather gifted at fixing things and so worked as a mechanic at Arnold's equipment and more recently & for 15 years or so at a variety of photo copying companies, the last being Minnesota Copy. He must have liked the people there because he hosted a get together at the farm place a few years ago for them & knowing David means that you know that was a striking statement. It takes years to get to know David & many more to gain his trust & more yet for him to warm up to you. It is no wonder he is a bachelor. Franklin is a bachelor because he is just plain weird, painfully shy but a real lover :)

On to the story....

The week after Dan & I returned from visiting my parents in IA, Dan, Franklin & David headed up to Grand Rapids close to where they hunt to pick up the summer sausage they had made at a butcher shop from some of their deer trimmings.
They had to stop at the shack & pulled "near a ton" of snow off of the roof of it. I'll have to dig up some pictures of the shack. Believe it or not, it was a part of Dan's & my Honeymoon...... THAT we'll just let go.

Last week, Dan & I went over to visit them. Dan wanted to tell Dave & Franklin that he had been catching sunfish on Stump Lake ( we have been eating fresh fish a couple of times a week now) , & that they were about 3-4 to a pound. This is a typical piece of information that I receive and treasure on a daily basis from Dan.

On the way over Dan explained to me "if you are picky, you can catch 3 to a pound, but you really don't gain much. Once they are filleted out you get about the same amount of fish". This conversation will become important to this story later.

When we came driving into the yard Franklin was outside & it was pouring down rain. So we stood in the rain for just a bit , Dan & Franklin exchanged pleasantries, & soon Franklin waved from me toward the house and said "go on in, David is in the house". So in I went. When I entered the all brick, built in 1901 house built by his Grandfather, David was leaning over a piece of wood that he had cut to fit in the windowsill for his plants. He roughly tosses an African Violet in front of me on top of an old oil burner to show me what the shelf was for.

About that time Franklin & Dan came into the house & soon after we all sat down by the dining room table. David put a clipboard in front of me and handed me a pencil. On the paper was written "Ryan Harden, Jamie, Connor & Grace". I didn't have my glasses on but I could tell that he had spelled Haraden wrong so I pointed that out to him, he just kind of grunted & proceeded to talk to Dan about wanting to keep up with the family tree. Dan & I bantered back & forth about when Jamie was married, the birth dates of the kids etc.. with the expectation being fairly clear to me that I was to do the recording. But let me tell you that the damn pencil he gave me was as dull as a pencil can get. It took some restraint on my part not to say something about that, but I knew that such a trivial comment had the potential to completely destroy what I anticipated to be a pleasant visit. So I just left it at that.

By the time I looked up from smearing out all the dates, there were 4 bottles of liquor on the table in front of us , all delivered by Franklin & sitting there along with 4 empty unmatched small glasses.

I wasn't quite as clear as to the proper etiquite in this situation & everyone was just kind of sitting there looking through this vast array of bottle of booze so I said, "I guess I could go for a beer and a bump!". At which time Franklin hopped up , got us each a beer & then it was a regular pour fest full of discourse about who made what booze ( it was all home brew) , how this turned out, maybe next year a little less sugar would be best etc. etc. I guess they were just waiting to see if I was all in for a beer & a bump extravaganza ( duh).

Ok. my story writing is about exhausted ..oh. the important piece of info... so while we are all enjoying a beer and a bump & I commented on David's rhubarb wine ( " pretty good, a little sharp") Dan is talking rather loudly to Franklin who can't hear very well. While they are talking I turned to David & relayed the conversation word for word that Dan & I had had in the car on the way over : "if you are picky, you can catch 3 to a pound, but you really don't gain much, once they are filleted out you get about the same amount of fish". and told David that I knew that was an important piece of information & he just smiled.

It does not escape David that the world has about stopped at his place but is going faster & faster all around them. I'm not so sure that Franklin gets that.

Ta da!!! Dave and Franklin. God love them

Year in Review

Friday, December 31, 2010
Year in Review
*Stolen from Holly, because I can't admit I stole it from Andrea*

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
I taught summer school .

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't generally make new year's resolutions but I resolve to get in good enough shape to do some hiking around Phoenix in March.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No. But I can't wait for Cheng to have her bobo:)

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Not anyone who I would consider " close ". Not within 500 miles anyway.

5. What countries did you visit?
The United States of America. And Franklin & David's.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Less stress.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 15th. Jessica graduated from UMD WOOT!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I remained relatively balanced & centered even though I had so many things going on in my life that were out of my circle of control. ( ok. barf) out of my control.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not voting in the primaries. I'm afraid many of us failed to do this and as a result Dayton is our governor. Live & learn I guess.


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Other than a cold during the summer, no. Thank God.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Well, I'm hoping the Garmin GPS 255W due to arrive any day is.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Jessica's behavior always merits celebration. She's fit, she's happy, she's resilient, she's..... waiting :)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Sarah Palin's behavior made me appalled.

14. Where did most of your money go?
I don't know. But I stopped buying scarves at Dan's request.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I got excited whenever I went on a group motorcycle ride.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
Something by Michael Jackson I suppose.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier
b) thinner or fatter? About the same.
c) richer or poorer? Poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I really wish that I would have taken more advantage of the social opportunities my WOW ( Women on Wheels) group offered. Something for both Dan & I.. it is open to spouses too. A place to start anyway.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Sit on my butt.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Here at home with all the fam. Meyer Christmas is tomorrow.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Yes. I fell in love with Buster in a much more profound way now that he helped me get through an unusual year.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Well, I just discovered The It Crowd and it made me laugh multiple times in 10 minutes... a good sign for 2011.


23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope. Hate is too energy-consuming. I feel disdain for some people, but I don't give anyone the satisfaction of being hated; that would mean I care.ooooooooooooooooooo GOOD ANSWER HOLLY! I'll go with that!

24. What was the best book you read?
Cripe. I read ONE book & it was this week. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly. I need to return it to the media center at South.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Schnaser got me into Mozart.

26. What did you want and get?
A brand new pair of Teva sandals and tickets to Phoenix.

27. What did you want and not get?
I'm supposed to get a new set of tires but they haven't appeared yet.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

I only went to one movie... no two. Eat, Pray, Love & Due Date. I liked Due Date better.


29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 54 and I taught day #2 ( I think) of the 2010 school year. Dan always gets me flowers for my B Day :)

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Jessica getting accepted into PT school but I realize that things happen for a reason.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
My fashion concept encompasses two strategies #1) Stay cool #2) Add color

32. What kept you sane?
Lori Flint my Massage therapist & drugs.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Fancy? Hmmm. I guess Michelle Obama.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Education "reform" in stirred me in a negative way I suppose because it impacts every decision made in my professional life.


35. Who did you miss?
My sister. My Grandma Puckett. Dan's Grandma Loehrer. My Mom. Danielle.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
I met some pretty cool ladies at my WOW group. I held the most meaningful conversation with one who teaches at the Vo Tech now but retired from teaching in the prison. I liked her hat.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
I learned that there are valuable life's lessons from here to eternity. I guess I learned that the older I get, the wiser I feel, but the more tempting it is to dismiss other's feelings and that that is wrong & something I want to watch out for in the future.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Have you ever wandered lonely through the woods?
And everything there feels just as it should
You're part of the life there
You're part of something good
If you've ever wandered lonely through the woods


Brandi Carlile

Fourth alternate and a couch full of girls and one boy.

Jessica is now officially on a 4th alternate list. This time it is St. Kates. Lord ( I think that is appropriate here) , she now calls herself Jessica A. Meyer.

When she told me, I said, "alright!!!!" and she hesitated , looked at me and said, "MOM!! I'm an ALTERNATE!". And I looked at her and said , "I KNOW!!! ALRIGHT!!!". Seriously. I am very proud of her. AND!!!! It keeps her spirits/ dreams alive & so ALRIGHT!!!!

She is such a dufus. :)

Flash!!!

'Twas the night before Christmas

and all the parents are doing this.... and I get to watch & have an eggnog with spiced rum. Man. I like this picture :)

You know you're getting older when....

You THINK about ... no I mean you really THINK about that slick icy spot because you KNOW that your bones are not as strong as they used to be.

You DON'T think about having that second beer because either a) the top button of your trousers is about to pop off or b) you really don't feel like getting up to pee in the next half hour.

You wonder if you have that peach fuzz on your face that you always used to noticed on "older" women.

You are conscious of the amount of hair on your head that falls out when you comb it and you wonder if those particular follicles will ever give birth to another strand.

You realize that it is TRUE that it is much harder to maintain muscle mass as you age.

You look at 30 year old women and think that they are really "cute".

You have hemorrhoid cream, diarrhea medicine, aleve, and an AARP membership card in your desk drawer.

That is all for now.

Flash.