Month: February 2011 (Page 2 of 2)

What a gloriously warm day in northwest Wisconsin! It was near 45 by noon and I didn’t check any later. Melting like crazy, anyway.

We had our annual Wisconsin Rural Missions board meeting down in Bloomer. I was good and brought a lunch, so I didn’t have any of the pizza and Main Street pie that they always get. On the up side, we supported more kids than ever this year. On the down side, we spent almost $16,000 on scholarships this year and our interest only brought in about $3,000, so we had a $13,000 deficit. At this rate, we will be defunct in 8 or 9 years, unless interest rates go back up several points. Basically the board decided that we should just keep doing what we are doing until the money is gone, since most of us will be ready to retire from the board by then (or sooner, for some of them) and the ministry has had a long run. All ministries come to an end at some time. We got a brief history of the beginnings of Wisconsin Rural Missions, since this was the 80th anniversary of its inception, and it would be very interesting to you of a missions bent. People who were saved through WRM camps or bible schools have gone on to be key players in the evangelical scene all over the world. It really is amazing. They were the right people at the the right place at the right time and God used them in a great way. After hearing it all, I felt very proud to be part of carrying on the legacy of Wisconsin Rural Missions in 2011! I didn’t know the founder, Lawrence Oman, until he was in his 70’s and so never appreciated what a great man of God he was and all that he had done in his lifetime.

Long day at music contest. I started at about 8:15 and wasn’t ready to head home until about 4:15. Nobody did any worse than I expected, although some did better! My one piano student was just critiqued because he’s just in 6th grade, but the word was he played amazingly. No surprise. I missed hearing him because I headed down to the room as soon as I had a break and got there just as he finished – they’d taken him early.

Dad helped Gary put a new window in the big upstairs room (when he should have been resting…) Anyway, it looks amazing. It really opens that room up a lot! We plan to start sheet rocking this week – we being Gary and I with Dad supervising. Since we decided not to put in a closet at this time, it should go pretty quick.

The beach in South Carolina in January. Ah, such pleasant memories…

Dad is still spending most of the time in bed or in front of the t.v. – but mostly in bed. He is pretty sore, but he thinks his pain medicine made him sick today, so he stopped taking so much. He has to be really careful how he gets up out of a chair and can’t really stand to sit up much. Your ab muscles really work a lot just to keep you upright!

I have middle school contest tomorrow. It is right here in Chetek. Yea!  I’m scheduled two events per hour (which is nice) from the 8:00 hour through the 3:00 hour. So I won’t be rushed, but it shoots the whole day. People are fairly well prepared, but it took a lot of work to get them that way!

Dad’s hernia surgery today went just fine so he is home now, hoping to mend in a hurry. He doesn’t much like being laid up. The doc told him to get up and move around a lot or he will stiffen up, so he is doing that. Taking pain meds. Sleeping off the rest of the anesthesia. He should be up to snuff in a week or so, I would say. He’s off work the rest of this week. I’m just home with him today unless he takes an unexpected turn for the worse tomorrow, which is highly unlikely.

Whoo, hoo! We won, we won, we won! Pretty exciting game, huh?

Tomorrow I am playing for four kids that are auditioning for State Honors choir. I don’t mind because 3 of the 4 are friends – Jamison Wendlandt, Emma Martin, and Olivia Jensen. I wish they were closer in time, though. I have to be there by 8:45 to warm up with the first and the last won’t get done until about 4:00, unless the judges are running really late. So that shoots my day from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. But I get paid $100, so it’s not bad. No other plans at home, anyway.

Sunday is our Super bowl party at work. I know it isn’t a big deal to you Minnesotans and South Carolinians and Georgians, but to us Wisconsinites, it is huge!! Everything is decked out in Green Bay colors. Everyone is so excited they can’t talk about anything else. (Nice break from complaining about the weather!) And we promise to love the Packers whether they win or lose, but it would sure be exciting if they win! Go, Pack!!

I know some of you are probably sick to death of posts about weight loss, but isn’t that what this family is about? (Just kidding) Anyway, I just want to say that I am down 5 of the 6 pounds I gained over vacation and that makes me happy. All I did was eat what I was supposed to and no more. And last night I brushed my teeth at 8:00 when I’d eaten my allotment and that was it. Gonna do the same tonight. I also bought some yummy sugarfree gum to use like smokers use when they are trying to kick the habit – chew a piece of sweet gum when I feel like eating sweets. We’ll see how it works! Anyway, three (almost 4) good days in a row makes me very, very happy!

You know what about the most exciting thing to me is? When I have a new piano student just starting out who I can tell is going to be really great! She has the right attitude, the right practice ethic (6 days every week) and catches on to everything I throw at her. This particular star in the making is in second grade and today was her 8th lesson and she is already on the 5th piece in the second book. Every week she has everything ready to pass off. Every week I tell her mom how amazed I am at her progress. I think her mom probably thinks I’m going overboard, but I just can’t get over how good she is. And she is a sweetheart, to boot! What more could I ask for?

Hmmmm…that all my students were like that?

This picture shows the flooring in the kitchen, living room and the bathroom (in the distance.

Luke and Krista posing in front of their rustic bedroom door.

Kylene and Justin walking on the beach in January. Such a beautiful day!

Luke and Krista’s 3 cats – Sam, Hope, and India.

This is the wall/cover for the stairway to the basement. The plywood is the same color as the carpet in the picture, but you can see the hinges. There is a rug hanging over the top.

Luke and Krista relaxing after we finally let them stop working.

I am going to post some pictures when I have more time. But for now, just a summary.

We had a bit of slippery driving when we started – from Eau Claire to Tomah, or so – and the rest of the trip down and the trip back were perfect driving conditions! The only down side of the trip was how much we ended up spending on gas. Ouch!

We arrived on Sunday in the late afternoon and got an immediate tour of the house. It is so cute. Pictures don’t do it justice. And clean – wow, was it clean! That evening we made plans and preparations.

Monday found us buying stick down tiles for the kitchen and dining room, tearing up old carpet, finding a good deal or carpet, and discovering that we needed a new hot water heater and getting that almost installed.

Tuesday we finished the flooring (late in the evening) and got the water up and running again.

Wednesday we cleaned up a bit before heading to S.C. to see Kylene and Justin. We played games with them and went out to eat at a fancy seafood place. Thursday they took us to the beach. How glorious being in the sun on the beach in January!! We left there at about 3:00 and got home at bedtime.

During the course of the week, we had decided to list the house for sale, since Luke and Krista are going to be moving. So we showed the realtor around Friday a.m. She was quite impressed. We finished the duct work for the furnace that day, as well as some other jobs I forget. We went out to eat at a very interesting Italian place and had super Italian fare.

On Saturday, we had a few odd jobs to finish, then the car to pack. We were on our way right on time at noon. We got to the hotel by 10:00, were on our way by 7:30 Sunday morning and home by 6:00.

All in all, it was an unbelievable break from winter and a very successful trip work-wise. And it was so great to see Luke and Krista and Kylene and Justin, and to finally see where Kylene and Justin live.

Pictures later.