My blog

Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely ladies, and to the delightful gentlemen in our lives!

Since this is my blog, I will just write about my weekend! :-)

Well, the weekend started on Friday evening, when some of my horse girlfriends (girlfriends who own and/or ride horses, that is) coming over for the evening. Candy, Cindy, Lisa, Deb, Gale, Allana, and my mom were all here. Jamie and Jackie couldn't make it - and we really missed them!

We had a great time - there were enough appetizers and snacks to last all night - and they nearly did. We went up to the barn for a while for a taekwondo demonstration. I took them through the white belt form and then through two of the "one-steps." They all did a great job! Then we talked a bit about self-defense strategies. Go for small, sensitive areas (eyes, nose, jugular notch, solar plexus, and the obvious "below the belt" area) and make it count! Then they practiced kicking and hitting a bag as hard as they could. That's something guys might do in sports, but we gals almost never try to go full force. These ladies picked it up pretty fast! Candy has had experience in hapkido, and, boy! she has not forgotten a thing! She kicked that bag with tremendous force!

We ate dinner at 9:30 p.m. (thank you, Lisa, for the chicken casserole!), and then watched the DVDs from Candy's trip to a cattle ranch in Montana. It was great!

Lisa and Cindy stayed overnight - and we didn't hit the hay (speaking figuratively!) until nearly 1 a.m.!!! We had a nice breakfast together the next morning and sat and talked and talked and talked until nearly noon! I am so very thankful for a continuing friendship with these ladies, even though I haven't had a horse in nearly 13 years!

Then I did something I never do unless I am sick or have jet lag - I took a TWO hour nap! Yes, those horse girls wore me out! Haha! No - really, I had been tired all week and knew I would be spending most of Sunday with my mother and I didn't want to nap through that, so I just let myself keep sleeping. I couldn't believe it!

I went to Mother's in the late afternoon. The weather had been just awful all day - cold, dark gray, and windy. So we just enjoyed the evening at her house and a delicious pot roast she had made. We had a nice long conversation with Julie, too!

Even though I had napped, I was tired and ready to go to bed by about 11. I slept SO well, and then we got up early so we could get to the 8 a.m. service at her church, St. Andrew's. The service was so nice, and then the men of the church had prepared a simply elegant Ladies' Tea for us to enjoy at 9 a.m. It was really nice!!! The food was great, and the men insisted that we remain seated and allow them to serve us! It was just lovely! And not only the men - some of the younger fellows were just as gracious! Fr. Patrick Ormos, their previous rector, and Fr. Roger Bower are in the picture below (Fr. Bower on the left). It was great to see Fr. Patrick again!

Well, I had resisted going to church at 8 (since I go to work at 8 five days a week), but it was just great to be home and still have the rest of the day ahead! We exchanged some gifts - I got a beautiful red Gerbera daisy I can plant out in the garden! I have always wanted one! And I gave Mother a computer program to help her with her computer work and email. I had also bought some ready-mix concrete anchor goop, so that I could reattach the grill on her cute little brick oven out in her back yard.

It was not difficult at all to get that done, and, being the ever enthusiastic "pyromaniac," I found some little sticks and wood and got a little fire going. It was so cute! Why in the world did we wait nine years to do this??? We need to get a larger grill, but then we will be able to really cook out there!

During the course of the day, we also received phone calls from Wolfie, Johanna, and Christa! YAY! Now that is a GREAT day! Getting to talk to everyone in the family! The only thing better would have been to give them all a great big hug! They are all doing just great, and it was such a treat to talk to them.

At some point in the day, since I was spending some relaxing "down time" with Mother, I remembered that Christa and I had come up with a great term a couple of weeks ago in Minneapolis. There is a funny story behind it, but it is "Tarry on!" Now, this was a simply wonderful way to express just what we were doing - dawdling enthusiastically!

Finally it was time for me to head home. We both agreed that it was really like a vacation - I could have stayed there a lot longer. But I came home and went for a very nice run - about 3 miles, but not very fast - my usual. Then I worked on the pond and the grass we are trying to get to grow for a while, and then weeded a new little flower bed. Girls - it is where the sand box used to be under that little maple tree. Lovely white daffodils have finished blooming, and now I'm waiting for the purple iris. The white bleeding hearts are there, too. It was nice to get the weeds and maple seeds cleaned out.

Now it's time for bed, and to get ready to start the week. I'm looking forward to a 10-day visit from Wolf this week!

I hope you all had a good day, and can also say, "Thank you, Lord. I am blessed!"

Jan

YES! It surely is looking like we are having an early spring! Even though I love snow - and I really DO love snow - it is a wonderful treat to be seeing the most undeniable signs of spring in Scenic Northwest Indiana!

Last week, on two separate days, I heard the guttural, trilling call of the sandhill crane. These birds migrate through the area every spring and fall, and congregate by the thousands in Jasper-Pulaski State Park, about an hour south of our place.

If you're interested, you can see the Sandhill Crane breeding and migration map here:

http://www.savingcranes.org/mapsonsandhillcrane.html

We are about halfway between their winter home in south Texas and the southern side of the Hudson Bay in Canada.

You can hear samples of calls here

http://www.savingcranes.org/sandhillcrane.html

or here

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/id

On Friday night we had some friends over, and they, too said they thought we would have an early spring, not from something pleasant like observing sandhill cranes, but by noticing that the skunks are out! Yes, I had noticed, too, and I had also started noticing more roadkill - a somewhat morbid sign of spring.

Over the weekend, I saw a number of robins chasing around someone's front yard, and on Saturday I went for a run toward Wanatah. I heard the most wonderful sound!!! There must have been a real congregation of redwing blackbirds in the neighbor's woods! Hallelujah! So I had my eyes peeled to see some perched on the fenceposts along Highway 30 as we drove in to Valparaiso for church on Sunday morning. Indeed! There they were! Those beautiful, glossy black birds with their flashy red and yellow stripes!

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-winged_blackbird/id

And, on the same run, I heard the unmistakable call of the little goldfinches as they flew out across the fields! They don't have their lovely black and yellow coloring yet, but they are flying around! And here you can see and hear them!

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Goldfinch/id

I have always enjoyed the Farmer's Almanac, which my parents used to put in my Christmas stocking every year. So I thought I would check out my early spring theory there. Hmmm......it seems they would not agree! Here is what they say about March in Scenic Northwest Indiana:

MARCH 2010: temperature 29° (7° below avg.); precipitation 2" (1" below avg.); Mar 1-9: Snow showers, cold; Mar 10-14: Snowstorm, then snow showers, cold; Mar 15-22: Heavy snow, then snow showers, cold; Mar 23-26: Rain and snow, cold; Mar 27-31: Sunny, then rain, turning warm.

http://www.almanac.com/weather/longrange/IN/Hammond

So far, I'm winning! It's March 8, and the next four days are supposed to bring us high temps in the 50s! I hope we don't get slammed later this month, but it's entirely possible!

Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing and hearing my favorite springtime birds. That is a great web site for birds!

Have a great day, and think spring!

Jan
cranescrane mapmore cranesredwing blackbirdgoldfinchalmanac

We looked into switching from DirectTV to Dish to save a little money, but I am here to tell ya DirectTV is the WINNER hands down!

Dish grabbed our phone number from the internet and some people who were very hard to understand called and bugged us. AND the website wanted Wolf's social security number - a big NO NO.

So we called DirectTV and talked to them twice - once to order HD and the receiver, and once to cancel the monthly equipment protection plan which we felt we didn't need. We talked to two LOVELY ladies who not only gave us helpful information but also told us about discounts we were eligible for - and we hadn't even asked about them! They were NICE, gave us a GREAT DEAL, and SAVED us some MONEY!

Thank you, Direct TV!

PS - No, they didn't pay me to say these things, but I DID promise them I would tell the world (well, not quite) about the great customer service you get with DirectTV!

And they are married! The ceremony on January 9 was simply wonderful - as were all the days leading up to the wedding.

I just can't imagine any of the parts of the weekend being one bit better than they were - we are so thankful and happy for Christa and Isaac!

Here are a few photos!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Jan

Just a quick blog update - we went running up at the Dunes this morning.

It was pretty chilly - about 24 degrees and a little breeze. It was Bill, Jim, Rachel and me - and Lola, Jim's Golden Retriever.

We headed out through the foresty part toward the ridge. Jim, Lola, and Bill stayed on the forest trail, and Rachel and I headed up the steep sand dune to the ridge - going from west to east in a clockwise direction. We would meet up with Bill and Jim at some point.

It was such a beautiful morning - the air was so clear, and with all the leaves down, you could see way across the forest to the other trails and beyond.

So we trotted along, and I did have to just hike up the steep sand dune, but that is more strenuous than running. Picked up the trot again - Rachel was a little faster, so she moved on ahead of me a little ways, but I just kept jogging along. I did stop twice for a couple of seconds - once because the view out across Lake Michigan was just stunningly beautiful, and once to see that there were a whole bunch of geese at the water's edge.

So I jogged along, lost in thought, in the moment, in the beauty...... and after a while I realized I had run TO the ridge, was running the entire ridge (the downhills AND the uphills!), and I started thinking maybe, just MAYBE, this would be the day I could run the whole way!

We did meet up with Bill and Jim at the east end of the ridge, and headed back through the forest. I told Bill I thought I was going to be able to run the whole way for the first time!

I always think, at that point, that we are probably almost to the parking lot, but NO - it is always so much farther than I have anticipated. But since I had set my sights on the goal, and I knew that I could do it ("I CAN do it" - right Christa and Jo? haha!) I just kept chugging along.

Now the truth is that my legs were a little tired, but I made it! YAY!!!

Here is a great saying I wish I had never thought of (not really! haha!):

The goal achieved becomes the new standard.

So that would mean, now that I have done it, running the whole way every time has to be my standard. But I think I will just put that little thought in my pocket (thank you for that idea, Rachel) to pull out and motivate me when I think I can or should do it, but I won't abandon the other runs that include however much walking and socializing I want to do along the way.

AND - today is Rachel's 25th birthday! Happy Birthday, Rachel! I had brought some cookies to share with everyone anyway (thanks, Waddie! they loved them!), and then I took Rachel out for coffee. It was supposed to have been a "Merry Christmas" coffee, but got to be a "Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas" coffee! Spending time with Rachel was a gift for me, too!

Now back to the real world of errands and WalMart.

Give yourself the gift of setting an achievable goal and reaching it every day!

Jan