This, that, and the other...

Our Primary activity was successful, even though it ended up being inside due to the rain. We just played a few extra games, I took a few items from the museum to show, we talked about what it was like to be on a wagon train and what sorts of things we could take with us. The food, beans, bacon, biscuits with honey, watermelon and milk went over very well. It is always good to have an activity over and then look back and feel it was successful.

It rained all day. We ended up with somewhere over an inch of rain all total. The crops are going to love it! They are lush now and are going to be more lush in a couple of days. Tonight is clear and warm, 68, so tomorrow will be warmer than they predicted. Good, we want some good summer weather. I look forward to about 80, of course, that includes having the ability to head indoors to the air conditioning; after all, 80 with 80% humidity is a little hard to handle.

The Red River Genealogical Society spent about two hours at the museum. We discussed several cemeteries that needed transcribing and what could be done to accomplish this. I hope that we are able to finish all of the cemeteries in the county eventually. That would be such a worthy goal, but a challenge too.

Thought for the day:
Be sure that it is not you that is mortal, but only your body. For that man whom your outward form reveals is not yourself; the spirit is the true self, not that physical figure which and be pointed by your finger.
Cicero (106BC-43BC)

Markets & Rain

Well the stock market continued to slide today (11,346) even though crude oil settled the day at 140.21.
I wonder what will happen to the historical society endowment fund under these circumstances. I have seen it drop into the 9,000 range once when the stock market took a hit. We were still over $150,000 at our last quarter earnings. The foundation changed their policy on the way the charge us for managing our account recently; they will begin to charge us about $1,100 a year now. That could hurt.
We had a nice rain on our crops today, about 1/2 inch. Ardmore had been thinking we needed a little and he got his wish. It is still pretty cloudy so more could be on the way and it looks like more will be tomorrow.
It is 10:00 and it is still light, even though it is overcast. Tomorrow we have a Primary activity at church. It is scheduled as an outdoor activity. I hope it doesn't rain but the forecast doesn't look good. We are going to do a Pioneer activity, play pioneer games and eat pioneer type food. I think the kids will enjoy it, provided the weather cooperates.
I have been trying to get the newsletter and several other things done at the museum. Today we did some sorting. We had a request for some of our cemeteries from the Red River Genealogical Society. They are coming up tomorrow to transcribe some of the cemeteries that Milt Sather hadn't completed. Britt and I went through the cemetery records and I located copies of the cemetery records I had people trancribe into data bases. We moved them all over to the server so now they are available to us when we do research. I know I will use them. Some of the cemeteries were on a list that the RRVGS wanted so we put the rest on a cd. We will give those to the visitors tomorrow.
I suppose I need to hit the sack. We are starting at 10 tomorrow so I should be there by 9. I hope we have enough help.
Thought for the day:

"The human body has been designed to resist an infinite number of changes and attacks brought about by its environment. The secret of good health lies in successful adjustment to changing stresses on the body." Harry J. Johnson

Oil and the Stock Market

The stock market was at a two year low of 11,465 when crude oil hit $142 a barrell yesterday. This morning oil is $140.85 so it has dropped a bit. The Saudis tried to get the price lowered recently but none of the other oil cartel members felt that was a good idea and wouldn't go along with it. We need to look at another energy source, that will compete with oil and be green and efficent. Perhaps the way to go would be solar, I don't think electric is the way as we need coal for electricity.

One does need to sleep sometime...

Last night I stayed up until 12:30 watching 27 Dresses and then couldn't get to sleep. As usual I woke up around 6:30 and of course, couldn't get back to sleep again! Oh well, I have too much on my mind to sleep half of the time anyway.
I finally got the package for Damien mailed to Breanne on Friday and she received it to day. After seeing the photos of him, I wondered if the clothes would fit, he is so chunky! Today they went to the store and purchased his first Gerber's baby food. He is now a Gerber baby just my kids were and Michelle's kids were. Breanne sent three cell phone photos on Sunday and I was amazed at how much he had grown. The doctor thought he was a year old, well he does weigh 18 pounds! The hardest thing about being a great-grandma is being 22 hundred miles away.
I walked past the bridge again yesterday, that is about 1.25 miles from the house. A good walk and a warm one when it is 75 degrees and muggy in Minnesota. I didn't notice the mosquitoes until I was almost home. I must not have been inviting at the moment as all they did is swarm.
Tonight, I left work at 6, a little earlier than usual. Ardmore was taking a nap so I decided to lay down too. Woke up to the cell phone ringing at 9, it was Breanne. She had received my little Damien care package.
Michelle and Dave had gone blueberry picking today. She was bagging them for the freezer when I called. The blueberries have been very plentiful this year and the prices are good. I really should purchase several packages and freeze them too. I love blueberry muffins and pancakes, especially in the winter, it seems like a special treat then.
I am still not done with the newsletter. I just don't seem to get to it at work. I finished my weekly newspaper column today. I also need to write about The Power of One the solar car that came through on Saturday night, couldn't cross the border and spent the night at a neighbors. It was quite a car. The car was built in Toronto and the owner, Marcelo da Luz is on a mission to prove that a solar car is viable and it trying to set a distance record by driving from Buffalo NY to Inuvik, Northwest Territories, a trip of about 10,000 miles. He travels about 7 hours a day averaging 30-40 miles per hour. He had two companions, a bother and sister pair, Evan and Merissa Engel, who were both filmmakers. Marissa is also a writer. They are documenting the trip with the plans to make a film of the trip.
I still have my exercising to do and it is 12:30. One does need to sleep sometimes.

Mallard ducklings

On the way to work this morning a female mallard duck with 5 ducklings cross Highway 11. I noticed the car in front of me slow down and when I reached them they were about 3/4 of the way across the road. Then I went about another 3/4 mile and up a little from a ditch bank were two Canadian geese with three larger duckling. This is something I have never seen before so it was a great experience.

This is just a continuation of the morning blogging.

A friend of mine passed away from complications following salmonella poisoning. I am stunned that this happened. She had been doctoring for what was believed to be an intestinal track aliment and was to treat it with Iodium. It wasn't working and she had returned to the clinic a few days later. Her daughter brought to the hospital after she became dehydrated. The hospital immediately sent her by ambulance to Altru in GF. She was on total life supports shortly after and on Monday evening the family decided to let her pass away naturally.

Our life is such a short span here on earth. What do we do with it and how do we react to the experiences we have? I believe in after life and that a person is in a better place, but will I be ready to accept that when the time comes? How will I react if Ardmore passes away before I do, or one of our children or grandchildren? Deep things to think about.

Summer...Finally

The bird feeders need to be put out. The other day a humming bird flew right to the area where I always have the feeded. He must have been here before.

Politics are so controversial. According to the Huffington Post two Muslim women wearing head scarves were refused seats on a stand behind Obama. Apparently several Muslims were invited to sit behind Barac Obama at a Democratic rally at the Joe Louis Stadium but the Obama volunteers were told women with hijab head scarves were excluded from the invite. If this is true, I wonder what the repercussions will be for Obama if he is elected. There is always something that seems to cause a ripple effect in politics.

I have been having some pain in my hip when I sleep on my left side. I can sleep for only about 2 hours before the pain wakes me. My right hip is then very stiff and sore and must stretch it our and change positions. It isn't something that can't be managed, but it is annoying. I also find that I am very stiff in my hip when I go to stand and my first steps are a little hard to take. Once I am moving, this leaves and I am fine. I continue to do my daily exercises and now am walking about a mile plus outdoors and about 2 miles at physical therapy on the tread stepper and tread mill. I really enjoy an early morning walks to the bridge.

The count down to my knee replacement has begun, 19 days until July 7. Wow, the time has gone by fast. I am hoping that once my knee is done, I will find some of my other problems will also recover. I hear knee replacement is a more challenging surgery. I am praying for a quick recovery.

We finally have some nice summer weather, it was about 75 yesterday and this is suppose to continue for the next two weeks.

Ardmore has been busy spraying the crops. He had about 1 1/2 rounds and he will be done by the sounds of it. The crops are really looking nice, especially the wheat. I haven't taken out crop insurance for hail yet and will probably need to soon.

We have started working on the historical society summer newsletter. Helen spent a day last week with me and we organized and decided what should go into it. It always takes time and then I end up with other things to do so it seems like it takes longer than it should.

We are going to be great grandparents again. It is too soon but it happened. Perhaps I can find some time to go out and help Breanne during the first couple of weeks after this baby is born.

I was off most of yesterday. I ran errands in the am. A doctor's appointment at noon took about two hours, then saw my visiting teachers. Pam called to ask if I was coming in for a massage which felt wonderful. I didn't get to the museum until about 4:30. It worked out fine as it was quiet and I did the deposit for the museum. I have it in the car and plan to take it to the bank this morning.

Talked to Michelle for a while in the morning yesterday. She and Dave were planning on going to the temple. She asked me to design a business card for Dave and sent me the criteria. It is hard to find a photo that will work with his business, he does landscaping and handy man work.

Thought for the day...
The world is a great mirror. It reflects back to you what you are. If you are loving, if you are friendly, if you are helpful, the world will prove loving and friendly and helpful to you. The world is what you are."
-- Thomas Dreier, Author

Rain, rain, go away - give us some sun!

My brother called this evening. He is tired of all the rain and cold weather. As a golfer, he was looking forward to getting out on the course and golf a few rounds. His wife started golfing last year and with them both having the same day off, it was one of the things they loved to do on a day off but not this year so far.

We just had a down pour. So far we have been lucky and haven't received much rain just the perfect amount. We will see what we have now. Our fields desperately needed the rain we received last week. The tractor tracks in the wheat field were still black, and the canola and soy beans plants had not broke through the ground yet. Today it has been very windy but it didn't start to rain until around 10 pm. I decided to take my two Begonias in earlier as the wind was knocking them around like they were swings and they were taking a beating. Good thing they came in as when it stared to rain it blew harder. One thing about having rain; the old timers say, if we don't have rain we don't get a crop. Hurrah for the rain!

Helen came in to the museum today and we worked a bit on the newsletter. We hope to get it together so it can be mailed with the consortium newsletter. We meet on that on June 23.

Then this afternoon our new board member came in and went through a board orientation. I had designed a PowerPoint presentation that would give her an idea of what we are all about and had also put together a binder for her with all the areas that would help her get an idea of what we do and of the board meeting info for the past year. I hope it was helpful.

Britt and I went over the museum plans and decided on a few changes to the way things were designed and determined what we should do for some new exhibits. I am excited about the input from her. She has some very good ideas.

Yesterday was a busy day! I had a doctor appointment with my orthopedic surgeon in the am, physical therapy in the afternoon, and an FSA appointment later. All of these took up most of the day and I just popped into work periodically. I am going to have my left knee replaced on July 7. I do have some apprehensions but my brother gave me such a glowing report from some of the people he works with at the Virginia hospital, I need to think positively. Then there is my friend Lou, who had knee surgery last year on Valentine's Day and went back to work a week later without a cane and had the other knee done three weeks later and went back to work again a week later. I hope I can have such good luck. Like I said, I need to think positive!

Tonight I put a pork roast in the oven. I love Greek Seasoning for pork. It gives it the most delicious flavor. I was so tired I set the stop time set and went to sleep. Later when it was turned over the under meat was so tender and delicious, the top part will now be the same. Yum!

I just turned on my Bach in the Bath CD, it is so lovely. I think I will lay down and listen and go to sleep. It lulls me to sleep.

US History Made - Obama for President

Following reaching the recent delgate count of 220, Barak Obama was declaired the Democratic contender for President of the United States. Although Hilary Clinton had the majority of popular vote, Obama received the delegate votes, accorded by state voting laws. This will be a very interesting summer and fall as the election will now move into high gear and the canadidates will bring in the big guns. No small fire any more.

I tend to be Republican so will be watching with interest as McCain andObama shoot paint balls at each other, trying to make each other look as bad as possible. I do think that Clinton would have made a better president. She was at her husbands side during his Presidency and has knowledge of what it is like. In my opinon, Obama does not have enough experience to be President. He has only been a senator for one term, and hardly that at best, being elected in 2004. We will see how it all shakes out in November.