Happy New Year to All!

As the end of the year closes in.... we wish you and yours a Happy New Year! I have looked back over the year and mailed off our New Years Letter. I found a number of years ago that it was impossible to get out a letter before Christmas. It was then that I decided that I would send out a New Years Letter instead of a Christmas card. This allows me to do a better job of writing and get them to the post office on time.
I have time to think about the whole year and get those thoughts together and in some logical order. Sometimes takes several days in this hurry-scurry holiday time, but it helps to put the year into perspective. I get time to think of all the progress of the ones we love and how they have grown both physically, mentally and emotionally. I get to think of all the people that we have encountered and the special times we have had. (The good, the bad and the really ugly! And to laugh at those things that were NOT funny at the time.)
So as this year of 2008 comes to a cold, crisp end.... we at the Hume House (Tom, Shelby, Kat and I) wish you and yours the greatest of the New Years. May it be a better than the last and may you have time to spend with those you love.

Merry Christmas to all!

Yes! We have a refrigerator! And it is working! We got everything moved and back to normal. Now we don't have to go to the garage to get a sandwich.
We had a great Christmas with the kids at the farm. The kids got a Rockband for their Wii and we got a kick out of watching them. We got to see Mike get a perfect 100% on the vocal for Roxane. And Melissa drop the drum sticks, pick them up and get started again. Then the next time they did the same song.....she got lost in the exact same spot but did not drop the sticks! Mathew is really good on the guitar and scored about 80% almost all of the time. And even Michelle did well....even though she likes the guitar from PlayStation better.
We got to hear from the kids in England. We were on the way home and out in the middle of no-where....there is no cell reception....but at least we got to hear their voices....quickly. They will call tomarrow for a longer conversation.
Now we are home and the animals are happy. Shelby can relax and take a much needed nap and Kat can berate us for leaving her at home. We were her 'best friends in the whole world'....because we had ham for dinner....but now.... she remembers that she is not happy with us and is catter-wailing all over. It eas nice to have the house to herself....but better to have your family at home!
From the Hume Family to your family......
Merry Christmas to all....
and to all a good night!!

Good Thing...... Bad Thing?

I am beginning to think that there is a big black cloud following us around and that every now and then.....it rains.....or pours. Thursday morning, Tom got a soda out of the refrigerator. Not a big deal, normally. But the soda was room temperature at best. He didn't think about it until he got something else out and it was cool not cold. We have a temperature gage at the top of the door and it showed 60 degrees...not what it is suppose to be. 'Bad Thing' He asked if the door could have been left open? But since we have an alarm that beeps periodically and can wake me up in the middle of the night....I thought that it was unlikely that the door was open. The next thing would be to turn the temperature down, make sure that the door is closed and see if the temperature drops. Off to work he goes to leave me to checking it out. After a few minutes.....no the temperature has not gone down. 'BAD THING' Okay, so we know that the refrigerator is not working. Luckily, we do have a spare refrigerator in the garage that we use for sodas, watermelon, and anything else that doesn't fit in the house. 'Good Thing' The spare refrigerator is almost completely empty. I can pile almost everything in....of course, we might not be able to find the mustard or anything for a salad.

I go looking for the instruction book to see if there is a 'quick fix' to get the cooling going. Have a 'good thing, bad thing' moment. 'Good Thing'--We do have a 'service contract' with Kenmore that is good until February of 2009. And it has the 800 number to call. I call the number and get the proverbial hard to understand person on the phone....after all it is before 6am. But get transferred to the service/repair center. BAD THING!....they only come to our area on Tuesday and Friday.....and there are no appointments open for this Friday. So it will be the Tuesday before Christmas before they can get to us. I asked about getting up in the line if someone 'no shows' for their repair on Friday.....but they have less than a 20% no show. So guess that we will wait till Tuesday. Then he asks....is the freezer working? All I can think is .... I really hope so! (After a successful deer hunting season, our freezers are packed! There is no where to put anything else. There are all kinds of deer meat in both the freezer and the freezer section of the spare refrigerator. Both are packed for the winter. Good Thing/Bad Thing) With the phone.....I slowly open the door to look at the temperature ....and.....Yeah! It is working! It seems that there is a fan that blows the cold air from the freezer on the bottom to the refrigerator on the top. And that is probably where the problem is. 'Easy to fix' for the repairman.
'Good Thing' I get to use the time to completely clean the inside and behind the refrigerator....but it fits so tightly in the spot that I can't get it to move out far enough to get behind it! 'Bad Thing' I have to wait till Tom gets home to get it out far enough. I'll just do what I can and get busy with the inside.
With all the regular refrigerator stuff in the garage, we either have to be really quick in and out or dress like Nanook of the North to go get stuff for a sandwich.....Did I mention that we might not be able to find the mustard?.....and did I mention.......I hate the cold!!?
We now have a really clean refrigerator for the repairman to work on...... Tuesday....when he gets here. 'Good Thing?'
Now about that black cloud and 'Good Thing / Bad Thing'. BAD....refrigerator is not working....wait till Tuesday for repair.... really cold weekend. GOOD.... have a spare refrigerator.... have service contract.... have clean refrigerator (now).... have meat for the winter..... have Nanook of the North costume...... Did I mention that I HATE THE COLD!!??

Did I mention I HATE THE COLD!!!

Did I mention I HATE THE COLD! If not....there it is. And we are suppose to be getting the wet, icy, windy, nasty, cold weather for the next week. If the electricity goes out.....I'm going to the 5th wheel with the propane heat! or to some where way south! Don't you just love winter weather??!!

I hate the cold!!

It is officially COLD!! I hate the cold. I hate having to bundle up like Nanook of the North just to go out the door! The only time it is nice is when you wake up, look out the window to a white, fluffy, beautiful, snow covered earth. And then the sun comes out, it melts...and goes away!
Now that the weather has turned really cold....I'll have to wear all the warm, comfortable clothes that have been in the closet for the last year. And if it stays this way....I will be layering it all on! Have you noticed that my ideal vacation always includes....Sun Sand & Sea.....and Warmth (no Maine coast in February for me : ) I will have to just keep warm until Spring comes because this is the time of year that I really don't care for. If I could, I would be moving south like the Monarch butterflies ....south in the winter and north in the summer. (Actually, the heat has not been a problem.)
Oh, sweet spring, with your fresh green leaves, bright fragrant flowers, and sun kissed warmth. It is the perfect weather to drive with the top off and the music turned up!! Guess I will just have to dream about it for the next few months......

With sadness

It is with great sadness that I have a death to report in our family. Our daughter-in-law's mother has passed away quite suddenly. Trav and Erica are back in the states and will be here until they have all business taken care of. It will be a really hard Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years holiday season for them all. A mother-daughter relationship is one that is very special. No matter what the age, it is a loss that takes a long time to overcome.
Please keep the kids and her family in your thoughts and prayers. They will need them in the upcoming months.

Back to normal?!

After two days of doing laundry....everything from bedding and towels to hunting gear....I finally can see the end..... I have been doing one load after another and have finally managed to get to where there is no more.... One of the bad things about going on a trip. Eventually, you have to get back to the everyday things that you went on the trip to get away from.
It has been a very cold couple of days so putting everything back in the 5th wheel has involved a quick trip out and 'dumping' and getting back to the warmth of the house. The next couple of days are suppose to be nicer and hopefully we will be able to get everything back to the place that it belongs. I have found that over the last week that I have to have some kind of order in my life. Living in the 5th wheel with everything moved around and out of place was extremely hard..... Having to get stuff up and out of the way to work on the carpet was a necessity...but after a while.....I had to get some 'order'. I have been wondering.... is that part of my genetic make-up?....part of my German background? I wasn't that way as a teenager or even in college. It seem to take hold while living in Germany. But was it there all along....just waiting to take over.
There are times that things just have to get done....no matter what. I have to put things up and get stuff tossed out or moved out......or better to find a new home somewhere else. Guess that I will just have to put up with it. I can push it aside for a while but....eventually it come back. Some kind of order...not 'dress, right, dress', but not total disarray either....
Anyway....we are about to get back to some kind of normal....no piles of clothes, hunting gear, and towels....all over the floor. No piles of papers all over the table. Not even a pile of catalogues to go through. That is not to say that everything is clean and orderly...but it is getting there. After getting through the craft fairs and getting most of that stuff put up and getting back from the trip....and getting most of that out of the way....you can actually see some of the house! Hey, I have also got all the mail done and the bills paid and the accounts all balanced and put up laundry and groceries, and...... and...... and..... Have been a very busy person for the last two days.
Now if I just had somewhere to put all the plants that have had to come in for the winter.... They are all around the house and You should see the garage!! The ferns on the front porch did really well and are very large. Now they are a wide strip of green in the garage...along with the geraniums and window boxes from the deck. All to wait for spring....and warmer weather..... And me too! I really dislike cold weather and being stuck in the house. Hurry Spring!
You are too far away.....!!
Now back to regular life...... and waiting for the next trip to 'make some more memories!!'

Just Making Great Memories

When things start happening to you.....sometimes you have to look at it as 'just making great memories'.... of course that is after you have pulled your hair.....cussed a little.....barked a couple of knuckles....and maybe screamed in frustration. (And some time has passed.)
For those not living in Missouri....it is Deer Season. Saturday the 15th of November at dawn was opening of the 9 day firearms season. This year we tried something just a little different. Tom has always gone up to the kids farm for the opening weekend. I usually have craft fairs on the first three Saturdays of November. This year it worked out that only two weekends were busy. So the plan was for Tom to take the 5th wheel up to Versailles and set it up at a RV park there and I would come up on Sunday to spend the week. I did not want to be out on the farm with all the hunters as that was just toooo much testosterone for me to deal with. And that way I could have some time to do a little sewing. I took a sewing machine and some material for a project or two. That was the plan.....somewhere along the way.....it got a little changed and ended up much more experience and memories than we had planned.
Tom did take the 5th wheel and did get to the RV park to get it set up....but..... It turned into more of an ordeal to get it set up. First he had to get to a place that the sewer dump and the water faucet was on the right side. That was easy.... Then he had to hook everything up. He found that our 10ft sewer hose was not long enough to reach....not even if you really stretched it. In really trying to make the hose longer, he unraveled the last foot of the hose. So, he went to Walmart and farm center to look for a longer hose. He found that Walmart only had 10ft hoses.....and with two of those and what was left of the hose we had....that would be long enough. But Walmart only had one coupler to connect two hoses..... Off to the auto parts store and....they only had one coupler! Two couplers and three hoses and that made it long enough to reach. Also in the process he had to get a longer water line hose! But after about three hours of playing 'seek and you will find'....he finally got it all together. Now all this is happening on Friday late afternoon. And you know that he is going to have to get up before the dawn to drive out to the kids farm and find his 'penthouse' tree stand in the dark!
There were a few other minor problems like.....'blowing the breaker' on the 5th wheel and then not being able to find the fuse box. Of course, I (being the one at home) knew where the box was....but he (being the one at the 5th wheel) did not. After having looked everywhere, and practically tearing the whole place apart, and having more than a little help.... it was finally located behind a very large tote box that is filled with all his hunting clothes. Just another minor problem.....taken care of.
Next.....he did get out to the stand and all the guys did get to hunt. It has almost become a tradition that the 'new' guy gets the best shots..... And that our daughter-in-law, Michelle, gets the largest buck! This year was no exception. Unfortunately, Michelle's buck was at the bottom of a deep ravine and they took our big truck to go get him. All made it down without too much trouble. It is always the getting out that is the problem. We did find out that all the time we have been using the 4 wheel drive switch on the dash, that it has not been engaging the 4 wheel drive. Meaning that after getting up the first section and turning on the 4 wheel drive on the dash.....and only burning the tires and spraying dirt and rock chips everywhere, they got out and looked around and found that the tires were missing some tread, and that there are 'lock outs' for the 4 wheel drive! ( They can be put into automatic.....and then you can use the 4 wheel drive from the dash....but were not set that way!) Once the wheels were locked.....right on up the side they went. Amazing how that works. But.....as the story goes...... the inside tires on the dual wheeled back were missing a chunk or two of tread! (After we thought about it, we realized that the tires had been on there for a long time and that it was probably time to get new ones anyway......) Okay...... now we have a longer (although, patched together) sewer hose and clamps, a new water hose, one new fuse, and will have ,four new tires!!! And this all the first two days....
I got up there late on Sunday to find all the hunters busy cleaning and cutting way too many deer. It seems that some of Mike's friends like to hunt....but don't care to eat venison. So they brought their animals to Mike for him to have and gave some of it to a family in need. The hunters were in the process of skinning and cutting up 14 animals. I think that the main ingredient of dinner that night was......800 Motrin!! But all who want it will have meat in the freezer for the winter.
Monday morning Tom and I took one whole deer and 4 large trash bags full of only meat to the processor to be turned into deer burger, chops, steaks, and roasts. Luckily, the weather was 'cool' so that the ice chests.....a large number of them....could be used to transport all the meat.
Tuesday morning started out a lot colder than we wanted. Some time just before we got up, the propane gas tank went empty. (Now there are two tanks and we started with them both full.) It seems that if the temperature is below 40 degrees that you have to manually change the tanks so that they both go down equally. Of course it is a lot colder than 40 degrees and we did not know that we needed to change the tanks. So the one tank was totaly empty....and since it was the one that all the heat was running on. When it went empty....the heat went off!! And because it was really cold....the water hose froze. So, we also had no water. Great way to start the day. Tom took the empty tank and got it filled after we called the place that we bought the 5th wheel from to find out what the problem was.....and Amazing!!! The heat came right on and up the temperature went on the inside..... Then he left the hose out in the sun to unfreeze it...... After getting new tires on the truck and breakfast....we went back to the 5th wheel to get the water going. Just a little bit of work and ...... there was water!! We did a couple of other errands and got back to the 5th wheel a couple of hours latter ...... There is water coming out of the back of the 5th wheel....just like a small fountain...... And you can guess what is coming next! The faucet was left on in the kitchen......full force.....and the tanks were closed......(with it hooked to the sewer, we could have left the tanks opened and flowing directly into the sewer....but didn't).....after 25 gallons ...... the water had no where to go but out of the sink down on the floor and off to the lowest corner....all the way at the back! Not having it totally level meant out the back end..... That is across the one little area that had carpet and padding.
We went to work immediately with towels to try and get all the water up...... But saw that was a loosing battle....really we needed a shop-vac or better yet a carpet shampooer!! A carpet shampooer really pics the water up fast! Off we go! In all of Versailles.....at every place we could think of .....not one place rents carpet shampooers..... The local supermarket used to but when Versailles got a super Walmart....the supermarket went out of business...... Walmart used to but quit a couple of months ago......and no one else has picked up the slack!! We bought a small shop-vac and worked for about an hour and half before we gave up and realized there was no way we were going to get all the water out of the pad and carpet......Next step is to rip up the carpet. Well they put this carpet down like it was the last one on earth and it was meant to be there the next hundred years...... There were staples every quarter to eighth of an inch! And the pad has these industrial strength staples that are going to take a jackhammer to get out! Once we got it started....it could be ripped up for a couple of inches at a time by taking a good hold with two hands and just yanking......a little at a time...... but it was also the side with the slide out and was that part really stapled and under everything. Seems that they lay down the carpet and then put the cabinets on top of it!! But with a lot of pricked fingers, barked knuckles, and the dullest knives to cut wet carpet you could have....it did get out.....well almost all out...there is still a part that we are not going to get out with out some real TOOLS. Mike came to help after school was out with a real knife. So now we have a small heap of very wet carpet and pad in the back of the pick-up with 5 empty ice chests. But at least with the help of fans we can get the wood under floor dry..... well almost all of it dry....there is still that part that is going to need some real TOOLS....
At this point....just laugh.....because we have already pulled out what little hair we do have.....and have had to use about half of the band-aids that were left in the box from the 'hunters' doing their job on the butchering....(not just the cutting of the meat.....really butchering some of it..... and every now and then getting a little too much skin to go with the deer). The air was just a little blue from the verbal abuse as well as the humidity from the wet carpet and the heat. And we have not had enough time pass to really make it all 'funny'. I am sure in the upcoming ..... months that we will start to see exactly how funny this whole thing was..... Right now it was just a learning experience and...... Just Making Great Memories.......

11/11, 11:11

I just realized that it is 11-11 and after 11pm.....11th month, 11th day, 11th hour, 11th minute and it is the start of Fashing!! Party Time!!

For anybody who has lived in Germany....it is the time before Lent. From now til Rose Monday, Shove Tuesday, and Ash Wednesday it is party time. Time to get out and have a good time before the coming of Lent. This is when I miss living in Germany and Europe. (Besides missing the food, cheese, wine, and volksmarching!!) It sneaks up.... clobbers me over the head.... and makes me 'homesick'.

A busy fall is about over.

No matter how you look at it.....it has been a busy week. Fall is definitely here and gone. The leaves that were so beautiful have had the wind tearing them off the trees. The weather is much cooler and greyer. But that just means that we will have a great spring. For without the fall, and winter....there would not be a spring.

The election is over!! Just to get rid of the terrible commercials is a great relief. It has been going on for so long. And I suppose that as things go....the next one will start.....in the next few weeks. Too bad that we can't do what many other countries around the world do.....only allow campaigning for 6 to 10 weeks.....fast, furious....but over!

Our grandson, Mathew has been playing on the varsity team for the season and we have been going to Versailles (and some of the away games) to watch him play. He really is pretty good and will be much better as he gets to play more and gets older. The team has done well, and have been playing in the district and regional playoffs.

First there was the game at School of the Osage at the lake on a Friday night. (Not all that far for us to drive.) Then there was the election and I was a poll worker from 5am to 8pm. (Made a really long day!) Then the next day we drove to Mountain Grove to watch the team win the game and keep their season alive. (That made two really long days in a row!) On Saturday, I had a craft fair and was at that from 7am to 5pm....another long day. And then tonight (Monday) we drove to Versailles to watch them play the next round. Unfortunately, they lost. But except for a couple of stupid penalties and a couple of mistakes, they would have had a much closer game. They all played well. We are glad to be able to go and see Mathew play. Even the games that they were behind in....they never gave up. Hopefully, the team will continue to improve and will do much better next year and the year after.

The 'kids' will not be 'kids' forever. We have to get in all the time that we can now.....for it will not be that long before they are grown and gone. As time moves on.....the 'kids' are growing up and the rest of us are growing older. But we are proud of all of them. They have grown from youngsters through teenagers and are now grown with 'kids' of their own. And those are the 'kids' that are now repeating the cycle. We are all hoping that they learn from our mistakes.....but know that they are probably going to repeat some. We will hear the statement....'I wish I had listened to you when.......' and will hear our own thoughts when we were young just as winter follows fall and spring brings the beauty of new life.

We have finally ended the growing season. It was down to the mid 20's the other night. I had already brought all the plants into the garage and will put them back out tomorrow again. I was going to bring them directly into the house but we did that last year and ended up with two frogs/toads in the house... One, the cat and I chased around the dinning room before it got removed to the outside. The other somehow ended up in the washer with hot water and bleach....Needless to say it did not do well.

All is well here....well..... really just a normal comedy of ??? We have had a great couple of days. We have had a sewer smell in the basement for a couple of weeks, and have been trying to track down where exactly it was coming from. Originally, I thought it was the storage room and then any of the drains. But it was not.... Add to that the fact that the pc died! (and it smelled like it in the basement!) It was a good thing that Jeff (our computer guy) was home so he could work on the computer and diagnose that it was in fact kaput. On Tuesday, he was checking out the computer and then it was the plumber's turn. Finally, I think that we located the smell coming from the corner of the TV room where the hot water tank is. But to get to it you have to first move the bookcase and all the books that are in it. Once the plumber glued two pipes together....end of smell. It seems that when we had the roof replaced, a pipe got twisted and popped loose letting sewer gases vent into the house. I got a new pc yesterday and Jeff got that all up and working before he left for jump school. This morning I finished installing all the other programs except that now the sound plays though the Skype phone instead of the speakers....guess I will live with that until he comes home in December. I doubt that the military thinks that my speaker problem is an emergency!!

Add to that the fact that I replaced the sewer smell with the smell of charcoaled smoke and it makes a week of fun and games. I made green beans and potatoes...put them on stove...sat down on couch.....and you can guess the rest. Alarms went off. Smoke was everywhere. The dog was barking because Tom was home. I had to get the fans out of the attic because it has been so cold...we didn't need them. At least, I did not burn down the house...... But now we have burnt smell every where. I have to say that it is easier to take than the other smell. Now I will have to work on getting rid of the smoke smell tomorrow before we go off to watch Mathew's football game. At least they are playing on this side of the lake at School of the Osage. So we will not have to drive all the way to Versailles.

Well I feel like a sister of Pauline and Lucy. (Pauline.....from the Perils of Pauline....for those of us who are not old enough to remember....had things happening all the time.....just like Lucy.... Things Just Happen : )

I hope that all of you are enjoying our happenings. And when the world starts to 'thump you on the head'....

It could be worse...................... you could live here!!!

What a couple of months...glad that we went when we did. Don't know if we would have gone this month. September brought a water stain in the ceiling of my sewing room. Had the roof looked at and it needed to be replaced. Got the estimate, sent to the insurance, got check from the insurance with both our names and the mortgage company.....whats with that? Never had that before. Unfortunately, they are not here. We had to send the check to Phoenix to get their endorsement. Could not get anyone to start until it got back. Any way, we now have a new roof over our heads. Looks just like the old one. They had to take off two layers of shingles to get down to the wood. No rain and they were done in four days. But now we have small parts of shingles and a few nails and staples all over. They were really great at picking everything up.....but ..... we will probably be finding pieces for a long time.
Now with the election and with a few more commentators, and annalists....we won't even have to have an election....they can tell the outcome by asking a couple of people on the street and we can get on to something else on the news.....like the train wreck happening on Wall Street.....(but who cares). That may be all the entertainment we can afford. After years of saving.....we are about where we were 8 years ago, but older and ready to retire. The good thing is that Tom has job security in that every morning at 6am the doors open and......they will come. We had been looking forward to him retiring in 2010 but that may not happen as we will not have the 401k to use. Could not take it out till then....and hopefully the stock market will quit going down by 5% every day. At some point.....it has to start back up.
We have been really lucky. We have a nice home. Tom has a good job (most of the time). The kids and grandkids are all healthy and doing well (or were). We have great friends and family(if we have to sponge off someone!) The weather has been exceptional. We have enough food in the pantry and freezer to last. The Kat and dog think we are the greatest thing since ..... 'cat food' (their favorite!) And we are healthy for a couple of 'old farts'. I will just have to learn to enjoy margaritas..... on the deck.... watching the sun set behind the trees.....wrapped up like NaNuk of the North!

: D What more could you ask for??

Back home again!!

We are back home again. To took a flight from Hickam (Hawaii) to Lincoln Nebraska on Saturday. It was and Air National Guard unit that was flying back home. Lisa and the girls came and picked us up at the gate to the base. We spent the weekend with them and got off first thing on Monday to drive home. We rented a car and drove from Omaha airport to Scott Air Force Base in Illinoise to pick up our car and then to the St Louis airport to drop off the rental car. We then drove home. Now..... we just have a suitcase of laundry and a pile of bills, magazines, and junk mail to go through.

It is nice to be home. The cat is thrilled to have her people home. She was with us every minute when we got home. In the morning, she realized that she could be a cat and come in and out of the house as she wished. Shelby is more than glad to be home. He has been next to Tom since we picked him up. He will be more than ready to get a full and quiet nights sleep. We are all glad to be home. I will spend some time on the pictures in the next few days.

We had a great time and enjoyed our vacation. We found some wonderful places to stay next time and some 'rules of the road'. We will try military 'space a' again.....but will take our passports in case there is somewhere we can go to easier....! : )

Back on the mainland.....!!!

We took a flight to Lincoln Nebraska....and Lisa came and got us. Now we just have to get Home.....L

Still waiting......

We did not get out last night and there is nothing listed for today. We are staying close by as there was an unlisted plane yesterday that went to Travis and we missed it. The listings are only on the board at the air terminal.....so......staying close to the terminal.....and on the phone....all day. Hopefully, there will be something soon.
Just have to get back to the mainland and from then we can drive home if we have too.......
Love to all and miss being at home.

Still waiting......

We got to the terminal by 2am and the flight was cancelled.... so, we waited until the flight at 6am and did not get on it. There were a lot of people waiting on the flight because the first one was cancelled. The closer it got to take off.....the more people came in. there were several big families. But they did not get even close to category 6. So we will try again latter this afternoon and then again early in the morning. So maybe it will be a day of rest. We got a nap early this morning and then another before we went to the terminal. We are short on sleep and just a little tired. Now is when we really need the patients.

We will have to see how the next couple of days go........

Back on the web!

Here we are back on the internet again. Bet you were wondering were we went. We got to Kauai and the Barking Sands Beach Cottages. There was no internet at the cottages. Which meant 4 days with out being on the web!! (I don't know how we made it through! : )

Anyway....Here we are back on Hickam. There is three planes out tomorrow morning, starting at 2am. We will just have to see how it goes. Once again we have our fingers crossed.

I am going to add the photos to the online album and then will start working on adding the comments. We saw some wonderful sites. Spouting Horn is a natural fountain in the lava. The waves come in and the fountain goes off.

We have had a beautiful time and will have to do this again soon. It was wonderful to sleep with the sound of the ocean waves.

Really out of order but............Back again...

This post fell out of order and I did a little research and found the way to get it back to the place it belonged.  I have left all the changes along the way!!   Just to make it a little more confusing.....I mean interesting!  : )

This post is obviously out of order....don't know what happened and don't know how to fix it.....but from our trip in August last year.  Hope you enjoy it....

Bet you wondered what happened to us..... Well, we got some tourist stuff done and took off to Kauaii. At the beach cottage that we were staying at did not have internet! Oh, My! Off the net for 4 days.....don't know how we made it!! : )

We are now back to Hickam Air Base and waiting to see if we get out in the morning at 2am. Well, we will have to see how that goes. I have plenty of pictures to show and will put them on the web for all to see. Hope that they turned out well. I will be adding the descriptions as time goes on.

We have had a great time and really enjoyed the time. We are going to have to do the beach cottage thing again. It was really nice and I wish that we could have stayed longer and done less! It was wonderful to have the sound of the waves to sleep with.

Another fine day in Paradise

Well we have had another fine day. Lots to look at and our friends got here. We are off tomorrow to the island of Kauai. NOT space A. We actually have reservations. We have been on vacation for a few days and I have yet to sleep in......every morning it has been up early, off to something. Same thing tomorrow. But after that....two whole days of not going any where......More on what we did latter as the night is getting shorter and I hate mornings.......L

First day and just trying to slow down....

We spent the first day just trying to slow down. We did get a room at the Hale Koa....with a full ocean view and a price to go with it. This morning we were moved to another room that is a little less expensive and still have an ocean view.....a Partial Ocean view and is the tower with construction going on. So room is not as nice and will probably be 'renovated soon after we leave. (Hopefully not because we have been here.) But because it is just a place to stay at night it really is not a problem.

We went out this morning and did some walking around. We went to the International Market place and down Kalakaua Blvd. (It is still New York with a beach.) Back to Fort DeRussy and the US Army Museum. The last time we were here (15 years ago) it was being worked on.

It was originally a bunker from WWII. A very well constructed bunker. It was scheduled for demolition and the company went bankrupt before they could do the work. The next try....a wrecking ball was used and the company finally gave up. It was constructed to withstand any thing.......and did.

The museum now has a wonderful collection of things from WWII and the units from Hawaii. There is also a display of all the Medal of Honor holders and those awarded the Distinguished Service Cross from the Hawaiian Islands. Another of the displays is the only exhibit of its kind, showcasing General Shinseki's military career. Originally from the island of Kaua'i, General Shinseki is the first Japanese-American soldier to become the Chief of Staff of the United States Army. It took a while to go through it because Tom and I read almost all of the tags. Boy! did the air conditioner work....that is the coldest I have been in August in a long time. Next time I am making sure I have my pashmina (shawl) with me!!

We also spent some time just looking out to sea....and what a site it was. There was all kinds of traffic.....Good thing they did not need a traffic cop!... There were different kinds of boats all in the same view.

Latter in the day there were beautiful sail boats to watch. Who wouldn't love to look at this.....

We have made it!!

After much hurry and wait..... We have made it to Hawaii. We did get a room at the Hale Koa for the night. We were lucky as all the rooms have been reserved. We could not make reservations because we did not know when we were going to be here.....makes it ruff to try a get the best rates. We will have to check and see what would happen if we did make reservation but had to back up the check in time. Don't know but it might be an option.

We did not have any problem getting out of North Island. There was a C-40 plane with 120+ seats. There were tons of kids. School here started Wednesday. So, some of them have missed the first two days of school. Hope that we do not run into the same thing on the way back. There should be a lot of traffic into Travis so again....we will have to see.

But after all is said and done.....we got here without too much trouble and have to say it went rather well. There were some minor problems but it helped that Tom knew more about the location of other bases. There were more options available than just standing and waiting. Well we will be here in Honolulu for a couple of days and will have to decide what we want to do. Because it is a really busy weekend....(guess that they all are). There seems to be no cars to rent. One trip that we want to take is to the Missouri. If we get a car, we could drive there and take our place in line. Without purses, bags, or large cameras. They are all prohibited. We saw that at the travel office this afternoon. Will let you all know how it goes....... L

Made it to the west coast.

Well, after a day of travel we have made it to the west coast. The flight to Travis was moved to Miramar.....San Diego. It was a medivac flight and the patients needed to come to Miramar not to Travis...so off we went. And there was to be a flight to Hawaii on Thursday....but it was cancelled. There is now suppose to be a flight from North Island (Coronado Calif). So we are at least on the right coast. If nothing else...we have to be in the north by the 9th. We rented a car and drove to North Island. Hate the traffic here!
It is a small world. One of the young men on the flight to Miramar was a sergeant in the Sapper School. Tom is the medical officer for the Sappers. The sergeant had heard and seen Tom's name but had not been to sick call or to the CTMC....so he knew of him. Then one of the other young men was in basic training with the sergeant. We have always known that it is a small world...but this was real proof.
Now we are spending the night and will see what happens in the morning. The flight is suppose to have 100+ seats..... As an experience, it has not been too bad. You just have to have a good attitude and be willing to take a few extra curves in the road and take your time. We will see how it goes tomorrow. Still have patients and plenty of time....

The start...

We have made our way to Scott Air Force Base. It is the starting place for our Space A flight. There is a flight leaving in the morning. We have to show up and see if we will get a seat. It will all depend on how many show up in the categories that are ahead of us....and there is no way to know until you get there. If it is full...we stay till the next day...and the next. We will just have to be really patient.....! I have brought plenty of things to sew on. At least my fingers will be busy.
Waiting for a flight...L

Not off yet!

Well, we did not get off this morning. You can call and get the flights that are proposed to leave for the next three days. There were none going to the West coast Tuesday, but there are several on Wednesday to Travis in California. (The list is in a constant state of fluctuation...so even when we get there...it could change. Flights can be added or subtracted.) Of course, Travis only has two days on their recording. But so far every day has had flights to Hawaii. So for now we are spending the night in our own bed and will take off in the morning. Shelby is at Camp Best Friends and will be well taken care of for the next couple of weeks.
So for us we will be on the way.....one way or the other...... Good thing we have a month to try this out.....We are just going to have to take it as it goes..... L

Another Adventure Begins

My last posting was about the reservations in Kauai. Well it turned out that we did get the dates okay.....now we just have to get there. We leave Monday morning the 28th of July for a new adventure. We have never taken a space A flight and this will be a first. We will be off to get to Scott Air Force Base in Ill. Once there we are looking for anything to Hawaii or the west coast. Then the wait begins. We are in the 6th grouping so there could be a lot of people ahead of us. And of course, there has to be a flight going in the right direction. We could be lucking and get right out or..... Not. We will just have to wait and see. There was a flight direct to Hawaii last week. So we are hoping for another one. We have till the 3rd to get to Kauai and the 9th to get to northern California. On the 9th our nephew is getting married and we would like to be there. We could just end up right back at home after a week. Need to take a tour book of Illinois and see what is there...... More latter so keep an eye out. I am going to try and keep this up to date so all can see how it is going........Love to all Tom and Laura on another adventure in travel.

Another fine day...

This is the start of my day.....May have messed up reservations for Kauai....Got Melissa (Grand-daughter is staying here for two weeks) to Best Friends animal hospital (she is volunteering to see if she wants to be a veterinarian)....came home to move bookcase for bug guy so he can spray latter.....got my hair cut....picked Melissa up for lunch and back to work.....picked Tom up at Sanman's so we can get green truck radiator fixed (just a small hole in the plastic!)....he came home for lunch.... Talked to Kauai and have reservation confirmed (now just have to get there flying military space available!)....bug guy sprayed.... now Tom weed-eatering (is that a Bushism?)....I am trying to catch mouse that is eating honey peanuts under chair (set a trap with nut....peanut! No body here would sit still on the spring for the trap!! : ) and put bookcase back..... Anybody want to change places for the day!! Maybe better tomorrow!
Tomorrow... Tomorrow....the sun will come out Tomorrow........well maybe not....it is suppose to rain!!
Could be worse.... it could snow!~!!
Love to all L

June is here

I have survived finishing two different quilts for scholarships in May. The first one is for SAPA (Society of Army Physician Assistants). It is always Red White and Blue and a star pattern. Most of the fabrics are also stars. This year I choose one of my favorite patterns. I did only a throw size but am using the same pattern and color choices for a full size quilt next year. These quilts are easy in that I have choice on all parts....but that makes it difficult because there is so much to choose from. Making them has become a joy in artistic expression.

The next quilt was for the Veterans Caucus - AAPA. Tom volunteered me to do one for each of the conflicts that the American Soldier has been in. This year was the War of 1812. I am using fabrics and pattern and style of the era. After spending a lot of time on research and collecting fabrics, I am working my way through each of the conflicts.

The quilting on this quilt was a hard start. It took almost three hours to get the first six inches done. I picked out a lot of the quilting at the beginning and then finally found a pattern that worked and got rolling. Luckily, the rest was just a matter of getting finished. There was a whole lot of diagonal lines. The medallion panel was all diagonal, narrowly spaced lines and the borders were diagonal lines that changed direction. These patterns (the piecing and the quilting) were taken from antique quilts from the 1812 era.

I then went back and added the lines from the first verse and the choirs of the Star Spangled Banner in blue thread. I wanted the words on there because they were written at this time, but I did not want them to jump off the quilt either. I think that the overall look was exactly what I was hoping that it would be.

After several late nights (or early mornings) of quilting. It was finally done. One of our good friends died this year and as a way to honor his service to the armed forces and to Physician Assistants, I added to the dedication of the quilt.

They are off and on their way to somebody else. Unfortunately, it was not easy to let go of something that I put so much time and work into. I have to hope that the person that bids the most.....cares as much as I do about them and takes good care of them.

England - not quite spring.

I arrived on Easter Sunday to the great spring weather of 2 inches of snow! The weather here has been just a silly as the weather at home. I have made several trips out into the countryside. The kids have moved from Marlow (Oxford area) to Newmarket (Cambridge area). They are much closer to the North sea here and therefore the weather is quite changeable. This time I have got a three week stay and have been out to Norwich, Ely, Cambridge, Bury St Edmonds,
Newmarket, and the Sutton Hoo site.

The house that the kids live in is directly across the street from one of the main training sites for race horses. Newmarket has been a horse racing town for over 300 years. It has two world famous race tracks and over 50 stables or stud farms. It is also the location of The National Stud. This is a breeding farm for thoroughbreds that covers 500 acres, 8 stallions and accommodates up to 200 mares. Needless to say.....in this town there is a whole lot of horsen going on. It is really enjoyable to watch the horses in the morning going about their daily work outs...

Ely Cathedral is the highest point on The Fens landscape. The Fens are a vast former wetlands that were drained starting with the Romans. It houses The Stained Glass Museum that has stained glass from the 13th Century to the present. In 672, St Etheldreda started a monastery that developed into the collection of towers and lantern that it is today. 'Ship of the Fens'

Kings College Chapel, Cambridge. Coming up is the 800th year anniversary of the 31 colleges that together are called Cambridge University. It all started in 1284 with the founding of Peterhouse and the last college founded in 1977 was Robinson College. In between it has helped change the world... from Newton's law of universal gravitation to the discovery of the structure of DNA.

I have also made a couple of trips to London to continue to work through the many museums and galleries there. This trip I went to the Wallace Collection that is housed in a residence of the Wallace family. It is a 4 generation collection of articles that includes everything from armour, paintings, porcelain, furniture, scupture, and wonderful wall coverings.
I also have made another trip to the Victorian and Albert Museum (V&A). It was once described as the 'worlds largest jumble collection.' It is one of those places that has to be seen to be believed. It is self described as 'the world's greatest museum of art and design'. It covers over 7 levels and has 5 major themes. So needless to say, I have been once all day and saw/covered as much as possible (sensery overload!). And have returned to selected areas to look more closely, read, and learn about the items. I will have several trips before I am done.
So far that is this trip. I have pictures to get on to the computer from the Sutton Hoo site and The National Stud. I will get them done tomorrow(Okay, maybe not tomorrow but in the next few weeks)..... until then...... See the world, enjoy and hopefully develope some understanding.

Hope that you enjoy my trials for the day.....all you can do is just smile and keep moving.....I spent the day trying to get a good copy of 'In the line of fire'. I am trying to get rid of the vhs tapes that take up so much space. First time yesterday late.....stopped copying. I was not here, so do not know why. This morning, started again. I had blocks to trim (96 2 1/2" blocks) and did them down stairs...listening to the tape. Almost to the end....it stopped! But I heard it and took a quick look to see that "it is illegal to copy"....and then shut off! Okay...more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. Went to my sewing room and retrieved the vcr player, moved it down and read instructions...hooked up and set up to record for the third time. Left to do errand and figured that it would finish while I was gone. Got home and ....you guessed it....it stopped early again. (Think that I ran out of space on dvd. Thought that I had overwritten...but didn't). Started a forth time, set up again with a brand new dvd....and had to wait to go to dinner to make sure that it FINISHED! Finalized and went to dinner. Got home and the movie on AMC....you guessed it again.....'In the line of fire'! Tom read my horoscope for the day...."Although it might take a second or third effort, success in an important endeavor will finally be achieved. It'll be about something no one thought you could do and will prove persistence pays off." Don't know if it was persistence / stubbornness / or just plain blind luck.
I hope that as I go places in the world and see the beauty, that I remember that it is the small stuff that gets to you most of the time.....

The beauty of Kauai

Just a few pictures of the ocean and the beautiful sunsets.

We were on the west side of the island. It gets the best sunsets and has the greatest weather. It will be raining like crazy in the mountains or on the north side and the sun will be shining and beautiful on the west. It is also the slower paced side of the island. Which is much more to our liking.

Off to another location by the ocean. This time to Kauai.

Just sit me down and let me watch the waves come in .... and the waves go out .... and the waves come in ....