Ramblings.............

I am tired of the HEAT and HUMIDITY! Not sure what it is out there today but it is nasty! We had to leave the A/C on all night last night and it was like walking into a sauna this morning outside. Abe is not a HUGE fan of the heat either he gets mopey...as do I it seems.

On a lighter note we closed on the "Clubhouse" last week. Me and five other friends went in on a townhouse (my mom's old place) together and now we have a vacation home an hour and fifteen minutes away. We are all very excited to make it our own and look forward to the time that all of us including our extended family there can celebrate our ownership!

Since retiring from softball, I have been talked into playing one tournament a year. It is the 35 and older state women's softball tournament in Pierre. We have won back to back titles and are hoping to "three peat in the Heat" this year but it is not looking so good. We are all getting older and having more aches and pains and other things going on that we are short players this year. Not sure we will be able to field a team but we will see. Two of the players are going to hit the games tonight hard to find more players so we will see. It is usually NASTY HOT the weekend of this tournament. Last year it was 104 and the year before 107 and windy. It was like playing softball in a blast furnace. NOT FUN! We did however come home with lots of BEER. Yes it was way to HOT to drink beer if you can believe that.

The Sioux Falls Parks Department FINALLY finished the bike trail around Sioux Falls. There was about a 2 mile stretch that was still dirt but now is black top and was opened yesterday. It will be a nice addition. The only problem is that they are raising the dike system around the diversion ditch in some areas so you still can not actually make the loop all the way around without detours. In the future they will be adding onto the trails and that is aways good.

Bicycle Lift in Trondheim, Norway

If they had one of these on EVERY mountain stage on the Tour De France, I might want to ride it!!!

It has been a while!...SORRY!

I guess it has been a bit since I last typed about my life. Not really all that much is happening just kind of going through the motions the last few weeks it seems. The weather has been crappy so no ladies night at BVGC the last two weeks so we decided to sit and drink last Wednesday night. Got to love the Rockets (2-pitcher container filled with beer with a tapper) at the Keg!!! Good time was had by all.

Last night a couple of our friends were having a garage sale so I tried to trade a 6 pack of bud light for a Harley but no go I guess. We also dropped off a bunch of books at another friends house for her to read...you will be busy for a bit there bud....that was enough books for the rest of my life to read although I am on a roll. I have finished one book and 7/8 ths done with my second one..wait for it, wait for it..THIS YEAR!!! Of course they are about the Tour De France and Lance Armstrong.

Heading to the clubhouse for the weekend. Should be fun. Going to a community play Saturday night. Will be fun to kick back, relax drink Old Style and watch the Cubs!!

Peace out............

Pink- Dear Mr President - Live

Cubs Ramblings

AGAIN.....Mark Prior is out for the season after having exploratory shoulder surgery yesterday....AND....AGAIN...Kerry Wood is on the disabled list with tendinitis. When will the Cubs learn to cut their losses on these two guys? It is amazing to me that they are still Cubs as fast as we go through players at times. I guess the point can be made that the organization has invested a lot of money in these two and they are trying to get their money out of them.....to what point? I am so VERY tired of this....TRADE THEM AND MOVE ON!!!

Ron Santo the beloved Cubs 3rd baseman ---that should be in the Hall of Fame--has been missed from the last few games, has been in the hospital with an irregular heartbeat. Sounds like he is home now and is doing better and to rejoin the Cubs broadcast soon.
GET WELL MR SANTO!!!

Similar, but different!

This past weekend we went to my hometown of Yankton, SD. We had a great time. I was antique hunting. My mom left me some GREAT dishes that have been in the family. I thought the best way to display them was to maybe try and find an old china cabinet similar to my grandparents. Their cabinet was nothing fancy since they were just very simple folk. I have been on the hunt for this for awhile but have not been able to find what I was looking for. I then decided that the amount of dishes I do have would not have fit into the size cabinet that my grandparents had so I was looking for something similar, but different! I found what I was looking for and I should have it in 2-3 weeks. Not much to do to it as it was already refinished. I only have to replace the wood shelves so that is not a big deal....the bonus find was parts to a old wood desk. It is the two tower (vertical) drawer sections and the middle drawer so I will only need the desk top to complete the set. I can get a door from my work place to finish it off and have a new to ME computer desk!!! I CAN'T WAIT!

The other fun thing was that we spent some time with one of my mom's friends. We met at a bar and had a couple drinks with her. She is an awesome lady that I proudly call family!!! The bar we went to is a non-smoking beer and wine bar named Hugh Glass. Great little place with lots of variety of wine and beer. They even have the nectar of the God's on tap...Newcastle Brown Ale!!! Might have to hit that place this summer as they also have an outdoor patio.

It was a great weekend even though it ended with LOTS of rain!!!

UGH...............

Going to miss the snow?...Abe is!!

It seems that Abe is bonding with the last bit of snow in the front yard. I was raking the front yard and decided he needed to be out with me. He usually lays in the shade on the driveway but not this past sunday...he wanted to lay in the last snow of the year. He is such a goof but a GOOD BOY!!!!

Bad week and it is only Tuesday!!!

Well, this has been a nasty week so far!!!

I feel so bad for all the students / families / faculty at V-Tech. How can someone kill another person let alone 32 and hopefully no more will die? I mean come on. If you want to do the selfish act and kill yourself then go ahead and do it but leave everyone else out of it. What could this have possibly accomplished? Furthermore the media takes all of this and RUNS with it. Why do we need to know the shooters name? Isn't this just fueling the fire for others to try and make so called "history" to get their name in print and try to one up this nasty carnage?

I am in the construction industry and what this will do to our industry is make more money for the security and hardware companies. Don't get me wrong I am all for our company and others making money but this just seems so wrong somehow..........

I am also so very tired of the media trying to point fingers at V-Tech about how they should have locked the campus down. I think this adds fuel to the suing fire that Americans love to pounce on. No one could have predicted the massacre was going to happen based on what happened from the first two murders. V-Tech I am sure would not put it's students in harms way if they could help it......where is a crystal ball when you need one!!

Continuing on with the bad news this week.............
Rest in peace Morals!!! (friends cat)
Rest in peace Frank!! (family friend)
Get well Arla!! (friends mom)
Get well Molly!! (friends dog)
Thoughts and Prayers to Valoy (brother died)
Thoughts and prayers to Monica (mom entered hospice)

I HOPE THAT IS IT FOR THE WEEK!!! ONLY GOOD NEWS I HOPE!!!

Snow in April?

I can't believe it. We had 6.7 inches of snow yesterday and through the night with another 2-3 inches today. It is all slushy wet stuff. The way it is going it seems we will not have sunshine and great weather until JULY!!

One good thing about today is that the Cubbies didn't loose!!!.....well the game was postponed due to snow in Chicago but it is not a loss!!! Maybe this will put an end to the three game skid they have been on. They are only a game back in the NL Central at 3 and 5 so far. I hope for once they can have a winning season!!

DANG CUBS

Well, here it is the beginning of baseball and of course the cubs are falling behind. We are 1-2!!! The only good thing about this season so far is the fact that the CARDINALS are in the basement at 0-3!!! I can only hope the Cubs pick it up and show some spark. I know some of you are thinking..Hey, there is a lot of the season left!! Well here is my reply.....It is time for the Cubs to show the world they can play baseball and make it to the World Series. There was a LOT of money spent over the last year for this team to be a loosing team. I mean come on...they had to sell adds to put out on the doors in the brink and ivy wall to help pay the salaries!! I wonder how Harry Carey would feel about that?..HOLY COW!!! I am sure he would be fine as long as the team puts up numbers.....the time is now!!!

COME ON LOU...GET THE TEAM FIRED UP AND PLAY BALL!!!

Beer Fridge

The best Beer Fridge sign EVER...

well, except for the type of beer, but the point is great!!!

Rebuilding

Well, it seems it has been a while since my last blog.....SORRY.....we have been busy planning our vacation to Disney World and then going there for 11 fun filled days. I will not let that much time between blogs elapse again....again SORRY!

The six of us had a great time at Disney in Florida. We did some things we had not done before like take a couple tours, golf and some did the spa thing. I did the Behind the Seeds tour at the Land. It was ok. Would I do it again.....only if someone felt REALLY strongly about it and didn't want to go by themselves. Three of us did the Segway tour at EPCOT. WHAT A BLAST even though I got thrown off it once...but didn't hit the deck which was good. Would I do that tour again..HELL, YES!!!! Two the friends did the Dolphins in Depth tour and said it was GREAT also. Four of us golfed one day and the other two went to the spa and were pampered. God knows they needed that and glad we let them go so they were not part of our cuss words, ball loosing, miss hitting, snake seeing, water everywhere, tree hitting, tree house hitting, bunker bashing, I am not going in there - you can't make me, golfing experience. It was a lot of fun but I am sure the other golfers thought we were a bit on the wacky side golfing with our "Golf-ears" on. Yes we all got our first set of Mickey Ears and golfed with them on. Great time was had by all...even though a few of us had been over served the night before and started a little on the slow side of life.

We rode all our favorite rides and even rode splash mountain 10 times in three days!! We got SOAKED a few times but again LOTS of fun. We had numerous magical moments which were SWEET, fast passes, free drinks, riding a ride over and over with out getting out of the log/car were just a few. Then of course there was another magical moment for one friends (poopy pants) but not so magical for us....I will not go into detail but it was a crappy experience.

Food / wine / services was great as always, from the bartender at California grill that told us he refines his trade at home to 50's prime time when two people in our party had to sing the "I'm a little tea pot song....."

Disney did bring up some emotions for me. This was a place that we had taken my mom on vacation in 1998. We could not help but think of her while we were there and how she reacted to some of the rides and reliving those memories. What great memories they are. Sometimes it would put a smile on my face and other times a tear to my eye. I had a huge melt down one night that we were over served but made it through with the help of VERY understanding friends.

This vacation was needed by the six of us and all for different reasons. For myself I think it was part of a rebuilding process in my life. The last three years of mom's life was helping her fight her cancer. Even though I was not the one going through it I tried to help her with as much as I could. The last few months of her life I had taken on the motto..NO REGRETS....I would do as much as I could physically and mentally. Looking back it is almost a blur. I can't believe I did as much as I did. This would not have been possible without the great strength I got from my five very close friends and two very strong ladies in Yankton. All these people I am proud to call my family. LOVE YOU GUYS!! I also have gained great strength from my mom who was such a fighter and took on her cancer head on and made me very proud to call her my mother.
She has made me a better person.......THANK YOU......so the rebuilding beings...for life is a journey not a destination.

Dirty Jobs

Watched Dirty Jobs the other night. Mike Rowe was logging with two guys and their 4 mules.
The funny thing was this one guys last name was Butt. A Butt with 4 asses..........I guess it is best he is a logger with 4 asses than a proctologist..........paging Dr Butt to the G.I Lab, Dr Butt to the G.I. Lab..........UGH!!!

Random thoughts

Not much going on seem to have picked up the wonderful cold bug going around. Lost a couple days of work because of that pesky little germ. My Roomy is trying to drown it with tea and all sorts of meds but not really working all that well. Like my mom would say....take a nice HOT bath, 2-asprins and go to bed. I think she was right. That is the best.

Had a good weekend. Went to the old home town to watch the girls basketball team play..well really to watch two of our friends ref the game. What a mess. The BB-Team didn't look good at all. Pretty sad. The refs did a good job as usual. They even handled the heckling from me pretty well! We hit Charlie's after the game...WONDERFUL PIZZA! I think they are the oldest pizza joint in the state. We had a pizza and a few beers and then looked around at about 10:30pm and we were the only ones left in the place besides the bartender!...YES we closed the place down..leaving at 11:00pm. I could not believe it. We did however watch the bartender spill a whole glass of beer...I think he might have been having a few along with our table! We were drinking Wild Hop. A new organic beer. I think I am still out on if I like it or not. In our group it was 2-really like it, 2-not sure and one -NO....add another really like it to the count for the bartender! It was really hoppy and more carbinated. It did taste more like a home brew.

We hit the "clubhouse" after closing down Charlies. One of the group decided that her 24 hour contacts had trouble seeing and went to bed. That left two of us up to solve the worlds problems well at least maybe mine and of course there was beer to drink! Thanks, man, I really needed that!! We finally headed off to bed at 2:50am!...UGH...I of course woke right up at 8:00am. WHY, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD can we not sleep in when we get older?.........I don't get it and it is really pissing me off! Oh well one more question to ask God during my inquisition once at the pearly gates..the list is getting LONG. I hope he has blocked off a big time slot! We got a few things done at the clubhouse and then headed back home. Had fun on the way home making up words to songs....which is always fun messing up songs for other people! I LOVE IT! We had some good ones but I can't remember what they were. Well at least three of us had a good laugh over it.

Future planning......Wine club next week-our wine place moved into a new joint so we are pretty excited about seeing that, have a couple of bike rides this summer to do and of course we have out DISNEY vacation in a few weeks so have to get on with vacation training!! I am so stoked for that! We really need time away to relax, enjoy friends, good food, good wine and to feel like a kid again....if that is possible!

KONGALOOSCH!!.............ºOº

Getting started

I guess it is time to get started on training for vacation!! Can you believe that? I hope you are sitting down as you read this! Yes, we train for vacation. We (me, the roommate and four other friends) are headed to Mickey's house in Florida in March! I am starting to get excited after the whole airline thing that put me in a BAD MOOD I have gotten over that it seems and getting fired up. Now what to do.....hmmmm.....there is walking on the treadmill.....and there is biking on my mountain bike that is on the trainer.....guess maybe a nice easy walk might be the trick to starting. God knows I would not want to break a sweat to early on in my training! Yes, in deed that is what I will start with....maybe crack open a Newkie Brown and sip while I walk....this training thing it is sounding better all the time! We do have to consume a few libations at Disney World so I guess having a Newkie Brown is also training.....ahhh...wonderful!!! I LOVE IT!!!

Frustration

Today was not a good day. We are going to take a vacation in a few months to where else.....DISNEY WORLD and I have been waiting for the airline tickets to come down in price. They have been terrible flying out of Sioux Falls, at one point over $500!!! This is so very sad when you have budgeted $350 for tickets. Well, we decided that to save money the group (6-of us) are not going to fly out of SF and decided to travel to the south to catch a flight. Two friends decided on Sioux City and the other four decided on Omaha. We had been watching the rates for almost the last two months and pretty much the last few weeks......yes, I can say it, obsessed by it!! We have been so frustrated at how the prices have bounced around so much durnig the day, it is amazing.

Well, long story short I made one reservation for the day we were wanting to leave and got a GREAT price out of Omaha at $198 per ticket. I was pumped. When I got the confirmation it seems we were not going to spend 10 days at the wonderful world of Disney but we were just flying down for the day and then back that night!! Now given that would be fun to do sometime but this was not the plan....Seems I had messed up the return flight date.....sounds like something one of our other traveling friends would do, but I guess it was my turn in the barrel. I get the flight canceled costing me $30 and then tried to rebook at that same price...CHEAP FLIGHT GONE!!!......DANG IT.......so, we looked at other flights and found one that will work and of course is a little more than our budget but from what I understand being that it is a popular time to travel and that the airlines are not into the fare wars like in the past with all the mergers, cost of fuel and the already cut back staff and services...I guess it was a good deal. The bad thing is that I had to go to the emergency room to have the phone surgical removed from my ear beings that I spent two hours on the phone talking to one of those on-line travel reservation places to get things straightened out with canceling the one day flight to Florida and making the new reservations.....it is only time....time, of what we all have BUNDLES of to spare...time, that I really love to share with someone that can barely speak english and have to ask them to repeat things numerous times......time, that I should have been making up my Disney tour cheat sheets (yes, I am anal about travel plans).......

All in all I am not really releaved that the flight reservations have been made. Somehow I feel like I have been violated in some sort of strange twisted way. I didn't enjoy it and no I am not smoking a cigarette in honor of my "encounter". I feel that I am allowed to fume a little more ......pop...glug, glug glug...aaaaahhh wonderful libations!!!

Christmas.......

Well, here it is Tuesday after Christmas. I survived the weekend!!
I had a great time even though it was a constant grazing of food and not a lot of sleep! You know it is bad when you want to go back to work to keep from eating and to get back in the right sleep pattern. My friends and family were great and kept me busy and laughing so that is good.
We even taked about how much gas everyone had after eating so much and such different foods. I for one had to roll down the windows on the interstate as there was a bad green haze in the car. ...UGH...nasty but not as nasty as those boys and their farts. I tell you, I think someone crawled up in them an died!! It was plain nasty! Then they sit and laugh about it as we are trying not to expeal our recent intake. I guess after eating, ok I am going to slaughter the spelling of some of this food.....cream mush, rice cream, zitronen cream, lefsa, dips, ham balls, potatoes with LOTS of cheese, cookies and candies a persons digestive system would need to do some quick revamping to help by letting off a little steam....arrrg....bad air.....Glad I had the potatoes with lots of cheese to act as a sort of wallpaper paste in the digestive track to slow things down. Looking back not so sure that was good but hey it kept me out of the bathroom to enjoy the fun!!

More serious note.....
It was hard not having mom with me and few tears were shed on Sunday night during the Christmas service but I did ok. The strange thing was that it seems like I had been forgetting something all weekend. I am guessing it was to talk to mom. I just felt the need to pick up the phone and dial her number or to drive down and see her. I know this will get better with time but I also know she was looking down on us and smiling for getting on with our lives and celebrating the birth of Jesus. Even though I miss her a lot she is in a much better place and is well and for that I would not trade the world!!

Bye Mom

Sorry for the laps in blogging but this has been a hard fall for me. It is with a heavy heart that I write that my mom passed away November 22 from multiple myeloma.

I started out that week going with her to doctors appointment on monday the 20th. She was not really there only physically but I talked to her. We got the bad news that her cancer had spread to her lungs and so we headed back to the care center for our next plan which was getting hospice involved. Mom didn't say much to me that morning in fact nothing. It was just a blank stare. When I was done with meetings at the care center I headed to mom's room. As I entered the room she looked at me with surprized eyes like she didn't know I was there. I talked with her about the appointment that morning. She remembered nothing. I told her that her cancer had spread to her lungs and that we are stopping treatment if that is what she wanted. She agreed. I could see in her eyes she was releived. She had fought the fight and was done. I can't blame her. It was tough seeing her go through all the chemo and radiation then to be faced with more chemo after her radiation. I told her that it was ok and I understood and that she had been through a lot and I was so very proud of her. I also told her I was glad she was talking to me as she had not talked with me that morning. She told me she didn't know me.........my heart sank even further into my chest if that was possible. I sat with her a while longer before heading home and told her I would be back on Wednesday after work.

I got to work on Tuesday and something made me rethink my plans for Wednesday and the following week. I decided to leave Wednesday afternoon instead of waiting until after work to head down to mom's. I also had this strange feeling that I needed to get things kind of laid out at work for the next week. I headed out Wednesday afternoon and on the drive down I called friends to wish them a happy holiday as I didn't know if I would have time to talk to them on Thanksgiving Day. I got to mom's and gave her the CD player we got her for Christmas. Since her oncologist thought she would not make it to Christmas we thought she could enjoy it now. She was not responsive and her breathing was not good. I decided it was important to put on some music and picked out a hymn CD. Mom loved hymns so that was and easy choice. I put the music on every so softly and then sat next to her bed talking to her and holding her hand. I talked about my day and the weather and how much I loved her. I noticed her breathing change as she was really struggling to catch her breath. I told her that if she wanted to go to heaven that it was ok and that I would be ok. I noticed her breathing change again. I told her that I loved her and not to be afraid...little did I know I was wathcing the last breaths my mom would take. I got to spend the last 40 mins of her life with her and comforting her. I never thought of what I would say to her during her last minutes of life. It was like God was speaking through me to help mom and me. It was a very strange feeling. I was so glad I had made it there earlier. Would she had suffered longer and waited for me to get there or would she have died alone? Looking back at it there had to have been someone guiding me to get to this point. Getting down to mom's earlier, getting work done for the next week, calling friends and wishing them a happy holiday, putting on the hymns and then to tell her don't be afraid.......I guess I will know one day but I am pretty sure God was there helping me comfort mom but he also had his arm around me to help, guide and comfort me also.

I will never understand why God lets some people suffer here on earth...maybe mom was not ready or maybe it was me that was not ready to let her go....again this will be answered one day. Whatever the answer is I am sure mom is well now and both mom and dad are dancing up a storm in Heaven.

It is never easy burying a parent (my dad died 21 years ago) let alone your last living parent as it makes you feel like you are just floating out there somewhere and are not a part of anything....it is a very strange feeling. I know I have family and friends but it feels so different somehow....hard to explain. When your parent(s) are alive you feel like you can always go home but now you can't....even thought your home is physically there it is not filled with the love and security it used to have. I do know however that mom lives on in my heart and that will sustain me!!

Listening to Chicago Cubs opening day 2007 will be hard. I will not be able to call mom and talk to her about the game and what we think of the team this year....but I am pretty sure she will have the best seat at Wrigley and be singing "take me out to the ballgame" as loud as can be and sitting right next to Harry Carey!!!............GO CUBBIES.

MOM, YOU WILL BE MISSED!!

I started this blog as a way to help me deal with what I was going through with my mom by giving me another outlet to think of other random things and not dwelling on what I was going through watching mom fight this rotten disease. With this last entry it is about healing and that is in reality what this blog was about to begin with......so let the healing begin..... for life is a journey not a destination...................