Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Falling on ice...

Well, hubby has no broken bones but is very bruised and sore. He is unable to sit and can hardly stand so is mostly bedridden. The fall happened so fast. He blames it on his his shoes, he wore a pair of boots he hasn't worn for a few years and claims they were too smooth. No matter what the reason, it happened. I am just hopefully that there are no long-term repercussions.

What can one say about friends when you are in need? Groceries for Ardmore were delivered and I was picked up at the airport yesterday. Thank goodness the flight from LA to Fargo is only 3.5 hours and I didn't have to sit in the cities for any length of time. I love it!

I took on a 6 am flight which is pretty frightfully early considering that I needed to go through the scan for my hip and knee replacement, but I always request a wheel chair with an assistant because it can be a long way to walk. I don't know if I can handle the walk with the extra carry-on items. When one takes a wheel chair the assistant pushing brings you right to the front of the line at the security point, brings the totes and helps you with everything. You go though the scan and get checked by TSA. The wheel chair assistant picks up all of your totes, brings them to you, helps you get everything organized again (they will even help you get your shoes on if needed), and then deliver you to your gate. Well worth a generous tip! It is such a relief and I don't have to worry about being late or getting lost. Fargo is easy, of course, one doesn't need any help there but Vegas and LA are something else! I highly recommend anyone who had hip or knee replacement to consider going this route is flying through a major air port.

Now about the snow that greeted me in Fargo! It was quite a surprise to see the amount of snow we had, the cold I expected, but that is still a shock. I remember when a friend brought her children here one winter and they ran to go out the door and stopped dead when it opened, totally in shock about how cold it was. Then there was our granddaughter when Michelle's family visited one Christmas. She seemed to never warm up during their whole visit. Thank goodness the year's fall was warmer than normal, all the way through Thanksgiving. We can handle two and a half months of cold weather!

Time to go buy some groceries and get some pain pills for hubby!

Charleen

Monday, December 28, 2009

Sunday night and Christmas with family

It has been fun to see what creative dishes Brian cooks. We had the most delicious turkey and cranberry sauce I've ever eaten. The only thing that I have made while here is the stuffing for the Christmas dinner turkey. Between Brian, Michelle, and James, we ate some very good meals. The setup and cleanup was a snap with everyone pitching in to cook, put together salads and sides, wash dishes, and clean up, it went very smooth. As the saying goes, "Many hands make work light."

Christmas Eve night we played the white elephant game with everyone vying for what they wanted. Some things were gag items like a "Max - Wild Thing" key chain and Thumb Wrestlers, while other items were taken over and over again. Bryce ended up with an iTunes gift card and Leah the Apples to Apples game, which was passed back and forth several times as was some truffles. It was such fun!

We went to see Sherlock Holmes Christmas night. This is a must see for movie buffs. We had to pay attention to the flash backs to make sense of some of the plot but this added an interesting dimension to the movie. Robert Downey played an excellent Holmes, although not the Holmes I picture from my childhood. Much more human and not a stilted as as the old Holmes was.
Last night we went to see the cartoon, "Fantastic Mr. Fox." A very humorous and delightful tale about the fox and his friends who did some sneaky steeling in an exclusive farm neighborhood.

This morning, James, Ashlee, and I attended church services at the Los Angeles Stake Center. According to church history it was built in 1923 under the supervision of Pres. Heber J Grant. It was the first LDS stake organized outside of the intermountain region and the also the first stake established in a city/town outside of Salt Lake City. It is a beautiful building. James told me, Brian had been in one of the wards connected with stake when he served his mission in the 1980s.

When we arrive home Brian was in the process of making turkey pot pie from a William and Sanoma recipe. It was fabulous! I am going to make this recipe the next time we have turkey.
This evening was a very relaxing. James and Ashlee left about an hour ago and Brian headed out for a meeting about 2 hours ago. This is actually the first time I have been alone! I finally get to upgrade the blog.

One sad incident happened yesterday. Ardmore walked to get the mail, slipped on some ice and ended up in the emergency room. I will certainly be glad to get home on Tuesday to see how he is doing and see what I can do to help him. The doctor couldn't tell if he fractured a bone, perhaps we will know tomorrow when a radiologist looks at the x-rays. It is hard to believe that the time has gone by so fast.

Time to run for groceries and pain meds!

Charleen

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Christmas in LA

I am at the Grove waiting for my family to come so we can eat at The Cheesecake Factory. Arrived yesterday to a very cold windy day. I left my winter coat in Minnesota with hubby and was very disappointed to find out that I probably shouldn't have. Today is a very different story though. It is warmer!

At 6:30 am, I drove into the LA temple grounds to go through a session, only to be a few minutes too late and had to wait an hour. A very relaxing hour. It was beautiful this am, no wind and already a little warmer. The temple years were ablaze with Christmas lights of red and white, absolutely beautiful.

Brian colored and cut my hair today then I headed out to do some shopping. I did quite a bit but still am not done. I waited until I got hear, knowing that the selection was going to be excellent. It is.

It was interesting to come down the escalator at the Grove. They were shooting snow out of an upper snow making machine and it was so strange. The children were trying to catch it on their tongues and prancing around. I hear northern Minnesota was expected to get a snow storm. It's nice to miss that.

Time to do some more shopping before we

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

NDMOA - Snow Country Prison Opens

A week ago last Friday, we opened the North Dakota Museum of Art exhibit Snow County Prison: Interned in North Dakota. This is a must see exhibit. I had no idea that we had a Japanese and German WWII internment camp that close to Minnesota. 3,850 men were held the camp. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to leave your family and be placed so far away, but to have this happen in your own country, even though you had nothing to bring it on yourself, would be very difficult this was what happened to the Japanese US nationals. It was interesting to discover that the Germans in the same internment camp had more freedom than the American Japanese. Many of Germans had worked for Standard Oil and were in the US at the time due to work and were not allowed to return to Germany. They were able to take tools and other items of their trade along, the Japanese had one suitcase. I can't imagine how they handled the dreadful cold of Bismarck in the winter in uninsulated buildings. Depression must have been an all consuming issue for many of them. Included in the exhibit is several poems by Itaru Ina that display the sadness of the time. It is interesting to think that this could happen again, the law that placed them in the internment camp is still in effect.
I am thankful that I work where I do and have the opportunity to see our museum have exhibits such as this. It is an exhibit I highly recommend.
We have classes coming to the museum for the next three days to see the exhibit. I wish we would have had more schools participate, but I am thankful that the schools who read about the exhibit and saw the need to bring their students to see the exhibit.
We have now had snow and below zero weather. Last night it was bout 11 below, right now it is 9 below. Yesterday Valley Spring California had snow! I wonder when they had snow like this before?


Leah had a wisdom tooth pulled today. Poor Leah! She had been suffering with it for several days. It is over now and she will have no more pain from that tooth!
I have so much to do and so little time. I am thankful for the upcoming Christmas trip to my children's. Whoo-hoo!



Sunday, December 6, 2009

Things I am thankful for...

Today it was fast and testimony Sunday. I have so many things to be thankful for and the gospel of Jesus Christ is one of them. Just knowing that He was willing to give his life for me, is amazing!
My brother, Bob and his wife, Marie were here this past week for a couple of days for a late Thanksgiving. It was such an enjoyable two days. I worked for a couple of hours on Tuesday and arrived home about an hour prior to their arrival.
They came up in the first real snowfall of the year; the snow was bound to stay this time! We ended up with about 6-7 inches; their trip reflected the roads as they arrived about 2 hours later than I had expected them. They didn't get into the snowy area until International Falls and it continued to get worse as they drove west.
This didn't keep us from having a delicious dinner at our local Chinese restaurant. We each ordered our favorite food and shared. One would think we would have quite a bit left but that was not the case, we only had enough for one meal for one person. It was so good! Family time is so precious. I am thankful to have a brother.
Yesterday, Michelle and I were visiting on the phone and I could hear that little Damen was at her house. I suggested we talk on Skype so I could see him. I am definitely thankful for living in a day when I can contact my family and friends via the computer and visit.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Weather and is it going to come to a screeching halt?

Had to share this photo and video from Friday when hubby was out picking rocks. Picking rocks in our area at this time of the year doesn't usually take place. The ground is too hard or we are contending with snow. Not so this year, here is hubby, albeit, dressed for colder weather than necessary, I had just walked to the bridge in a sweat shirt.


The Polaris six-wheeler is a necessary machine on a farm. Hubby uses the six-wheeler for many small jobs. He is picking rocks to go around a new machine shed on the farm. The six-wheeler is used to check fields for weeds, haul water to trees, haul gravel to low areas in the main yard, "pick rocks," the list is endless.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Poetry Forms

Wanting to become a little more familiar with the Haiku style of poetry prior to the Snow County Prison exhibit, I did a little research. Haiku (pronounced Hi Coo) is a form of Japanese poetry containing three lines of which there are 5 syllables in the first and third line and 7 in the middle line. An example taken from the exhibit is the following poem taken from the North Dakota Museum of Art website on Snow Country Prison: Interned in North Dakota:

I'm leaving–
but the suntanned child
doesn't know

–Itaru Ina

Ina was a former Japanese internee at the prison. He wrote countless poems while he was there, these are displayed throughout the exhibit. I hope to encourage people to count the syllables within some of the poems and examine the beauty of them. They fit so well with the exhibit. We can be grateful to his daughter who so willingly shared them with curator Laurel Reuter and the design staff.

This lead me to study poetry once again; I haven't done that for about 40 years, although I have loved poetry since my youth. It brought back some memories of reading poetry to my children when they were young. Favorite poems were any by A.A. Milne about Christopher Robin, especially Christopher Robin is saying his prayers... Other favorite poems include The Ragged Man, The Three Little Kittens, The Highway Man and of course,

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night,

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night,

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Do Not Go Gently always causes me to ponder. Will I go gently into the night or will I howl at the moon for what I still want to do, still want to see, still want to be able to appreciate, for this is a wonderful time to live. Let me go gently but let me live long enough and enjoy what there is in this life. Prepare me for the next life, but let me go gently toward the light.


Friday, November 20, 2009

Just getting things done

Last week, we sent out the fall historical society newsletter. We wanted it to go out about one week before the Harl and Kate Dalstrom book and author program this coming Sunday afternoon at 2 in the museum. The two former Nebraska professors have written about the 1938 fire that destroyed over 7,500 acres along the Rainy River from International Falls to Roseau. Seventeen people lost their lives due to the fire. Harl will give a brief presentation entitled "Dances, Editors, Fires, and Homicide: Researching Borderland History," which will describe some of the methods of doing research which the couple have used in various projects.

On Friday, November 27 at 2 pm, a ribbon cutting ceremony will open the North Dakota Museum of Art exhibit Snow Country Prison: Interned in North Dakota. Snow Country Prison is a photograph/poetry exhibit from the North Dakota Museum of Art. It tells the story of 3,850 Japanese and German so called "enemy aliens" who were incarcerated at was Fort Lincoln in Bismarck ND. "These were not soldiers, not men of war. Rather some were German and Japanese citizens caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Others were Americans of German and Japanese ancestry whose loyalty was question by their own government. And there were Japanese Americans, forced by the fear that their families would be split apart, who renounced their American citizenship and were subsequently locked up in Fort Lincoln to await deportation to Japan." - Laurel Reuter, Director, ND Museum of Art. The poetry is based on the Japanese Haiku poetry format. I hope the teachers who bring their students to the exhibit will have the students examine the poetry, look for the meaning and the 17 syllables within each poem.

This is the first major art exhibit RCHS has had the honor of displaying. The exhibit is hosted through a joint effort of the Roseau County Historical Society and the Roseau Public Library. The exhibit will be on display in the Trader Room of the Roseau Community Center from November 27 through December 12. I am excited to see the exhibit and have received many exciting comments from local people who are also excited to see it.

So far the composition class I’ve been taken has lead me into some very interesting areas. The second essay had to coincide with the Al Gore’s global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” I choose to talk about deforestation and was educated way beyond that. I used a variety of sources but found the United Nations Environmental Programme website’s for the Science Compendium 2009 and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Control (IPCC) to be the most informative. It has been so enlightening and interesting that I will continue to follow what transpires with global warming.

I have the greatest admiration of the students who are in school full time; many not only take a full load work but also have to take care of their families. For me this has been a real balancing act; trying to do a good job at work, take care of home, and take just one class. I worked two nights until 2:30 am on the last exam. James commented that now I was just like the usual college student, “no sleep and late hours.”

Thursday, November 5, 2009

No snow yet!

Around Halloween we are usually seeing snow flurries and snow on the ground by deer hunting season. I remember one year when I had taken our children trick or treating and there was enough snow where when our daughter dropped something, we couldn't find it! That was certainly not the case this year, we have yet to see snow of any degree in Roseau County.

It has been a very busy month. The museum has gained several employees through a federal program and a grant to another organization which has been very beneficial. I try to keep ice cream and cookies on the break table to keep them happy! It is pleasing to see how well these women from different backgrounds work together. We have people entering information on artifacts that we couldn't get to during the flood, helping with databases for the Women in Military 2010 program, doing research, filing, and scanning our photos for the collection program. Someone asked me if we had work for these individuals. Work? We have work for several more, so if you would like to volunteer, step to the plate!

Our granddaughter, Breanne and hubby are expecting their second child. This will give us two great-grandchildren. It is so busy at the museum, I worry that I won't be able to get out to see them when the baby is born. I had hoped to be able to go and spend a week helping her, we'll see. Little Damen is becoming more of a little boy than a baby, his grandmother Michelle says. She took take of him about a month ago and send some photos.


Brian spent a week in Korea and Japan recently. I was very excited for him. It was work related but he still was able to find some time to see some sites. Ardmore was in Korea during the fifties, when he served in the military. He has a hard time believing the changes that have taken place in Seoul since those days.

Time to enter five things I am grateful for:
1. No snow and ice yet!
2. My iPod. I love iTunes and download several podcasts to listen to when I go to bed. I especially enjoy the CBC radio program "Between the Covers" where a chapter from a book is told for 15 minutes each night. I just listened to a science fiction book, "Roll Over." I also enjoy Stewart Mclean's Vinyl Cafe weekly program. I use my iPod when I go for walks, it is great to encourage a quicker pace when listening to some of the old 60s and 70s music.A
3. A lamp that I purchased at an auction. It has my favorite bird, the humming bird, on it.
4. Good friends, I will especially miss my lunch partner, Mickie Slater who is retiring from her job as Roseau City Clerk this month.
5. My car, actually the ability to go anywhere I desire, simply by sitting behind a steering wheel and turning on the ignition switch and driving down the road.


Monday, October 12, 2009

Snow and Weddings

October reminds us that fall is nearly over here in northern Minnesota, winter is just around the corner. Do you think that perhaps the corner may be too close? After the past summer of cooler than normal weather, we had a delightful September and a later than usual frost. When October arrived, it was a bit colder but it didn't bring frost again until almost the second week. Then the cold arrived with late fall vengeance.

Last Thursday, there was a legacy grant workshop in Shevlin, Minnesota. For those who don't know where Shevlin is, it is about 15 miles west of Bemidji on Highway 2. Thirty-six individuals came to learn how to write Legacy grants. Several grant application writers from MHS (Minnesota Historical Society) arrived presented a workshop and assisted in the grant writing. I am sure they must be weary of assisting with the grants; there has been so many workshops all over the state already.

Joan Hull, a staff member, and I headed down about 8:30 to what looked like a fairly decent day. We spent the day working on a grant and listening to other people present their ideas and work on their grants. It was a day well spent and our Northwest Minnesota consortium of friends made the day even more enjoyable.

Our drive home was more eventful. The trees were beautiful in their fall attire.

We also saw about a 100+ swans on a pond coming back from Gully. Then it got ugly. The clouds rolled in with some sleet, then snow scowls. Not fun at times and a good reminder of things to come.

On Saturday am, we woke up to a winter cover of fresh snow. I even had to sweep the car off when I drove to Roseau to do some shopping. There was a coat of about one and half inches all over it. First real snow of the season, and it disappeared by noon!

We had an enjoyable Saturday evening at the wedding of a neighbor's daughter. One of my friends from International Falls, a great-aunt to the bride, was there. We had not seen each other in years so it was fun to catch up on what has been going on each others lives. The wedding was a very festive occasion! The bride and groom were a delight to watch as they celebrated the first day of their life together.


Ardmore enjoyed chatting with several neighbors and school chums. It was fun to listen to Ardmore and the Lee boys discuss their youthful escapades. One never knows what their spouse was really like until you listen to them visit with their childhood friends. Having not grown up in this area, they had even more meaning to me. I lived in town almost all of my life, he lived in the country, quite a contrast.

We waited and waited for a slow dance on Saturday evening but didn't get to dance while we were there. I was presenting a lesson in Relief Society at church on Sunday and decided I needed to check over everything one more time so we went home at 9:30. Aren't we the dead beats? We had a very enjoyable evening while we were there and that is what counts.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

First Frost

This morning, we woke up to a sparkling white yard, yup, the first frost hit the area. I was up early, heading to a workshop in Thief River. When the sun came up it cast the most heavenly golden glow over the yard and on the wall in the bedroom.It was delightful to see we were going to have a beautiful sunny day. The drive was gorgeous!

The workshop, for history teachers, was on doing oral history interviews. This was the first time our historical societies were given the opportunity to attend this type of workshop and it was very good. We worked a little with a local teachers who has had students do military interviews in the past and is planning on doing Korean and Vietnam vet oral history interviews this year. He always makes sure the historical society receives copies for the archives so future generations can benefit. I am hopeful he will do more interviews in the future and we will be able to partner on equipment through the Legacy grant funding. It is so exciting to know this funding will be available for the next 25 years. Thank you people of Minnesota. You have always made good choices and you made another one in the voting booth last year.

Did I say we are going to be great-grandparents again? No? Well we are. I am very excited. Breanne is due in about 4 1/2 months. Damen will have a little sister or brother! Life is so good.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Shelving Installation and Exhibits

The last two weeks were a whirl wind of activity.We started putting the shelving together two weeks ago and are finally finished. As usual there is always changes. We decided to put a shelf in the work room too. The room looks so much roomier and neat with the extra boxes set on the shelf and used foam core posters laying neatly in a pile instead of on a way too small top shelf where they looked ready to fall off at any moment. The floor in the storage room is almost clear of any items that were placed in random places; now they line the new shelving, are accessible, neater, and most of all neater. The shelving for the snowmobiles is ready, all that is needed is to cut the 5"x6" boards and place the platforms with the snowmobiles on the shelves. We will need an electric forklift to take care of that.

we will begin in earnest looking at designing the upcoming exhibits. First will be the hockey exhibit. I have contacted several former hockey players requesting articles for the exhibit. Some items have been donated, others loaned. It will make for a great story. I hope to have some oral histories for our SMART board presentations. The SMART board should arrive in about a week and we will then have to install it on the wall next to my office. The dedicated laptop will be placed in the room directly behind that wall and with wireless accessibility. I am planning to request a new video camera and software so we can place the interviews on the SMART board.

We ordered the some boards to put up signage for the upcoming Smithsonian Museum on Main Street Between Fences exhibit. 1"x6" boards will be painted white and cut into pickets, which will be used sold to provided funding for our exhibit and programs. This week's newspaper article also mentions the need to land owners across the county to bring a peanut butter jar of dirt from their land into the museum so we can show a cross section of the type of dirt our county has.

The One Woman and Women in Military programs are devloping nicely for the upcoming March Women in History exhibits. I am very excited about what we will be doing in that area.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Summer, finally?

For about the past two weeks off and on we have had absolutely delightful weather. Last Thursday, I took the day off, knowing that this hot weather is not going to hold for much longer. A friend had invited me up to her cabin on Lake of the Woods; I am so glad I went. The day was hot and sunny. She picked me up with their boat and we headed between the beautiful, wooded Northwest Angle islands to their cabin at the point of a peninsula. What a treat!

After a delicious lunch we hopped onto the boat to visit an artist friend of hers and visited the hours away until almost 5:30. We quickly donned our swim suits and dove into the icy dark lake. It was so cold enough at first to take your breath away but in no time, we adjusted and enjoyed swimming.

It reminded me of the many hours I spent at Lake Vermilion with my parents and brother. My mother often would pack a fabulous lunch of fried chicken (she was a fantastic cook), potato salad, apple pie, and our favorite deviled eggs with paprika. My dad would rent a boat and off he, my mom and brother would go while would stay and play with a friend whose parents owned the resort we always went to. I can see feel the fat blood suckers that were infamous where we would go swimming. It wouldn't keep us out of the water on a hot day though; blood suckers or snapping turtles, it was just too hot to not take a dip!

Back to the Angle, about seven it started to cloud over and as we sat on their back patio we could see the lightening pulse across the sky in the south. All too soon, the day came to an end and I drove back home, through the white pines, the coniferous and deciduous trees with the deer making their presence know way too often.

Life on the farm is never dull. Yesterday, Ardmore began combining the wheat. It seems to be running ok, he said. He was not without problems though. Driving the combine home in the dark became a challenge when the water pump blew up and started spraying antifreeze. He spend today removing the pump, taking it in to be repaired, and installed it this evening. Hopefully we don't get the rain from the clouds that seem to be coming this way.

Work at the museum is moving right along. We have had Sentence to Service in the past several days installing shelving in the storage room. It is amazing to see so many things come off the floor and get installed on shelves. There will always be a few things that will have to remain on the floor, but for the most part, we will look immensely organized.

I tried to show our photos from Hanley Falls at the RCHS board meeting last night but they I couldn't get on the Internet to do it. We are not on Facebook with several photos from our trip posted on FB.

I think I will add a couple of photos from my trip to LA and Bakersfield. These are from the Huntington Library and Gardens.








Monday, September 7, 2009

Hanley Falls, Minnesota and the Installation of Between Fences

Now that the hectic, overloaded time we spent at Hanley Falls is over, I am trying to get some of the work I have here at home caught up. I arrived home at 11 pm, too tired to even bring in the suitcase.
The first of Ardmore's first cousins passed away on August 29. Jalmer Haugen's funeral was Friday afternoon. It would be family time for Ardmore's siblings. Bergliotte arrived the day before and morning I decided to have breakfast with her at the Roseau Diner. She pulled the photos of her grandchildren out of her purse to share. The photo of the Bridget's girls and Mary Beth's Corbin showed how they were aging. Mary Beth's little girl is adorable. I'm sure Mary Beth has enjoyed being home during the summer, one of the advantages of teaching. Following a breakfast of easy-over eggs and dark toast, we headed to the Roseau City Center for a tour. It will probably be the last time she will get to see the museum the way it is exhibited now. She was surprised at the collection and amazed at all that was in the storage area. The afternoon was spent at Helgeson's funeral chapel and the Badger Pioneer Cemetery visiting with relatives and friends; some we hadn't seen in many years and Ardmore didn't even recognized them. Adding onto the already busy day was supper for the missionaries.It is such a relief to be able to pull our some already cooked hamburger and mix it with a can of diced tomatoes and Prego for spaghetti. We ended the day visiting with Bergliotte, who headed back to the motel around 10.

Saturday I mowed our 4 inches tall lawn. It was a lovely day to be outside so I totally enjoyed being on the mower. There was also unpacking to do and washing to take care of. I tried to squeeze in some study time for my class but that wasn't as much as I would have liked, I was too tired and ended up napping.

About Hanley Falls...The Between Fences MOMS Smithsonian Exhibit installation, docent and interpretive workshops were informative and intense. As usually, it was a good thing we put it together as a group, there is always a few glitches, such as, installing a panel backwards, placing the wrong connectors in a panel, not having things lined up so the screws won't go into the panels or kiosk.


By the time the exhibit was installed on Wednesday we were ready for a break and some supper! We all spent some checking out the Hanley Falls exhibits. For a very small town they do a very good job. The museum has a very active board, most of them were in attendance at the installation. Britt and I were impressed with all the cataloging they had done. Each artifact was labeled with a small tag that told who the donors were, the number and the artifact object name. We know how much time it takes to accomplish such a task.

One of the interesting complementary exhibits was a fence with a tractor seat attached, to represent "fence sitters". We all know how fence sitters add to the workload of others. Do you know any examples of fence sitters in your life? Share them if you do in the comment section.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Is there time for anything else?

This last Tuesday I added one more thing to an already overloaded plate, a composition class from a nearby community college. This has been something I have wanted (and needed) to do for a long time. It will have a few drawbacks. One is that it is always on Tuesday nights and I have board meetings and Toastmaster Club meetings that night twice a month. I have to be realistic about what is the most important thing. One other thing that makes it difficult is that the second week of class, I will to be out of town for a workshop for the Smithsonian exhibit we are hosting next March. It is really going to be interesting to see how I can juggle all of this. I am going to see if the board will allow a switch in days or even have the meetings earlier so I won't be late for class on the night of board meetings. Is there such a thing as a smooth transition in life when one wants to do something special?

Last night, I finished the last of the Twilight series. What can I say, Stephanie Meyer had me hooked from the beginning of the first book and for the next 3500 pages, I kept turning and turning and turning. Last night we had a Relief Society picnic at the city park in Warroad. I had 150 pages left in the last book, it was so tempting to stay home and read. I had woke up at 5:30 am, picked up the book, and could hardly put it down all day. Well the the RS picnic took precedence. It was great, the food was tops, you men in our Elders Quorum are great cooks! The hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, the watermelon, and the cheese cake Mike made were so yummy! It was way too cold though, I had to go get the blanket from the car even though I had a sweatshirt on. I was frozen, and by 8:15, I threw the blanket in the backseat of the car, turned on the car and flipped the heat on. Oh, that felt so glorious when it finally warmed up. The time spent with my friends was worth the deep freeze though. Amazingly with only 150 pages left in the book, I was so tired when I got home, I headed straight to bed, turned out the lights and slept from 10 pm to 8:15 am. First thing this am, I went straight for the book and finished in between scrubbing floors and cleaning. By 12, the last satisfying page was read. It may be about vampires and werewolves, but each book are excellent and very enjoyabe. Now, what will Meyer write next? I do need to stop reading until I am done with the class though. I need to prioritize!

Thought for the day:
"Wherefore, if ye shall press forward,
feasting upon the word of Christ,
and endure to thee end,
behold, thus saith the Father:
Ye shall have eternal life."
2 Nephi 31:20
Book of Mormon

Monday, August 24, 2009

Monday Scramble

Questions for Monday

1. How many desktop computers in your home? One in the office

2. How many laptops? One next to my bedroom

3. What kind of internet service do you
have? dsl

4. Do you tend to use more than one email account regularly? no not really

5. Do you use email as a main source for communicating to your family and friends? No, I use the cell phone more.

6. What kind of computer monitor do you own? Older clunker model, I have a flat screen in my museum office, and really like it.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Bears & Eagles

After mowing the lawn this afternoon, I decided to go visit a neighbor and then pick up the mail. We had an enjoyable hour together before I decided to head home to make some potato salad. I picked up the mail and had the radio on listening to a commentary on MPR so didn't rush into the house. I happened to look up and my hubby was standing in the patio door waving his arms trying to get my attention. I rolled down the window; he shouted there were two large bald eagles feeding on a woodchuck (he had shot it a couple of days earlier) between our shop and garage. I looked over just as one headed skyward and the other continued to feast. All I could think was camera, what a time not to have a camera. The second eagle tried in vain to pick up the woodchuck but it must have been too heavy. He then flew off too. I noticed one of them continued to come back and check out the yard but after two circles, it decided not to return. I headed for the house and picked up the camera and returned to the car where I continued to keep watch but they didn't return. Finally, I gave up and went and drove the dry lawn mower into the shop and headed back inside. It was such a spectacular thing to see in our yard!

Hubby told me tonight that he had seen a black bear walking across our field today and it went into the neighbor's woods about a mile east. I love to walk to the church in the evening; I think I will be a little more cautious walking for this fall.

I feel for the wild animals this year. We had such a cold late spring, the lilacs didn't bloom until almost the 15th of June; and many of us didn't get our crops in. I'm sure there is a lack of food in the woods. I don't know what the blueberries are like this year as I have been buying them all summer. Enough about the bears & eagles.

Why would one want to fight mosquitoes when blueberries from Maine, Michigan, California, and Canada as so plentiful and delicious? I really appreciate the farmers in these states and Canada for diversifying and making it possible for us to purchase blueberries so much these past three summers. They have become a real staple in the Haugen home, we go through at least a pint a day, just nibbling.

As a survey, I would like to know how many of you are purchasing more blueberries than you have in the past? Just go to the comment section and let me know.

Have a great Sabbath day, keep it Holy and think of our Savior often!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Muffins

Sometimes I get into a baking mood. Last Friday was the beginning, starting out with chocolate chip cookies. Saturday I wanted to make some blueberry muffins to go with out usual Saturday morning omelet. I usually don't make muffins from scratch, I think the package mixes are hard to beat, Saturday was no different but it was different in that I had no muffin package mixes. I pulled out a cookbook and found a recipe using cake mix and started in. With a little doctoring up, they were delicious and made a dozen large muffins. So here goes:

Blueberry Muffins
Preheat over to 350
Bake about 20 minutes, watch closely

1 French Vanilla cake mix
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil (I used grape seed oil)
1/3 cup cultured sour cream
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cups blueberries

Mix dry ingredients together, stirring to remove lumps and blend. Mix the liquids all together and pour into the cake mixture and stir until all it moistened and a little lumpy. Fold in nuts and blueberry. Spray two six cup muffin tins and put about 1/2 cup in each cup.
Bake about 20 minutes, checking often after 15 minutes. This was the first time I have made this recipe and can't remember exactly how long I baked them.
They were delicious! I think this recipe could be varied for any type of cake mix, a yellow or lemon cake mix would be good, and a variety of ingredients such as, dates, cranberries, raisins, carrots, and nuts could be added.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Julie & Julia

My Roxann and I headed for a day in "the city", meaning Winnipeg. Our goal was to see Julie & Julia, eat lunch out, go to a bulk food store and a grocery store, and do some shopping.

The traffic was light all the way although we did put up with a few trucks holding us up along the way. First place we headed was to the shops on Waverly. We walked out empty handed at Liz Claiborne and a couple of other stores but we found bargains and things that fit and looked good at Reitmans and some jewelry at another store. Summer things tended to be picked over but the fall items were on all on sale.

We were pretty hungry after that so ate at Mixin's. Roxann had a grilled chicken, vegetables and rice while I had my favorite, Chicken Souvlaki with a Greek salad. Dessert was good too, ice cream for Roxann and Oreo cheese cake for me.

After fiddling with the credit card ticket dispenser at the theater, we finally go the hang of how to use it, got the tickets, popcorn and water and headed for the movie. My friend, Donna had seen it on Saturday and when asked to rate between 1 - 10 she gave Julie & Julia an 11! We gave it a 10, should be an academy award winner for Meryl Streep, she was an excellent choice for Julia Child. The back and forth parts of movie between Julie and her husband, Eric and Julia and Paul added the perfect dimension to the movie. It was just long enough with no slow places where a person was like waiting for what would happen next. The movie was a pared down version of the book of course, but justice was done. It is a must see!

After the movie we headed out the east door into the mall and did a little more shopping before heading to Chapters to check out The Art of French Cooking. Can you believe they were out? We decided we could probably purchase it online cheaper any way. We stopped at Starbucks in Chapters and had a snack before heading for the car and the trip home. We decided to forgo going to the grocery store or bulk food store, we felt sated already! Now we are ready for a good relaxing sleep

Bon Appetite!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Daily Scripture Study and What it can do for Me

We had some very good talks on daily personal scripture study at church today. We all know we must eat to live. One of the talks mentioned that studying the scriptures is like a garden. Have you ever seen a clean garden, free of weeds, the rows stretching out with great organization? You know exactly where to find the tomatoes, potatoes, peas, etc., don't you? What about a garden overgrown with weeds? One year I remember having a garden that I just did not have the time to take care of. That was when I realized that I had to prioritize what was the most important thing to be doing. It was not a garden; it was weed infested, chaotic, and a mess! Nothing grew well and well, it was hard to even locate anything but the corn!

Can we do the same with our scripture studying? We know we must study and learn to stay close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and to receive the guidance we need from the Holy Spirit. We also know that there are ways to do this, the most important ways are through prayer, scripture study, and fasting. Prayer can be a with us at all times, we can have a secret prayer in our hearts by thinking of the normal daily things we need guidance with, the friend or neighbor who is sick or in need, our families, who are always close to our hearts, our daily work and how we approach it, and the many other things that one can think of. Without prayer, my day would exclude the presence of the Holy Spirit and His guidance. Could I go without that each day? I don't think so!

Ad with prayer, so it is with daily scripture study. Today there are so many ways one can study the scriptures. On your way to work you can listen to them on your i Pod or via a CD or cassette. At night you can do the same as you go to sleep. These ideas are easy ways to study the scriptures. They don't take any more time than turning on a machine and tuning it.

One of the talks pointed out that we need to study our scriptures in a more organized manner, not just read them. We need to find a quiet time when we have more than 5 or 10 minutes a day to spend studying them.

The talk quoted several points for good scripture study from Elder L. Lionel Kendrick's 1993 Ensign conference talk which I quote:

"It is not enough to read the scriptures. Random reading results in reduced retention. We must search for specifics. We must seek for truth and increased understanding of its application in our lives.

"If we are to be effective in our study of the scriptures, we must prepare for it to be a special spiritual experience. The following suggestions may be helpful.

"1. Schedule

"Schedule a time to search the scriptures daily. Scripture study is such an essential part of our spiritual development that we must take time and make it a priority in our daily schedule. Our spirits should never be deprived of the much-needed spiritual nourishment which comes from scripture study. Without this spiritual food our spirits become starved and weakened to temptation.

"President Kimball taught the principle that “no father, no son, no mother, no daughter should get so busy that he or she does not have time to study the scriptures and the words of modern prophets.” (Ensign, May 1976, p. 47.)

"2. Pray

"We should begin and end each study session with prayer. We must invite the Spirit to teach us. Nephi taught that: “the mysteries of God shall be unfolded … by the power of the Holy Ghost.” (1 Ne. 10:19.)

"3. Search

"To search is to seek, to explore, to examine carefully. As we study we should do so with purpose, searching for specifics and an expansion of our vision of eternal truth. We must search for principles, doctrines, answers to questions, and solutions to problems. We should look for doctrinal relationships and for possible hidden meanings of that which has been recorded.

"4. Ponder

"To ponder is to meditate, to think, to feast, and to treasure. It is more than a mental method, it is a spiritual striving to obtain and to understand truth. We should follow the process taught by the Savior to the Nephites as he taught them sacred principles. He then instructed them to “Go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow.” (3 Ne. 17:3.)

"We should ponder the meanings of the things we learn from our search of the scriptures. The Apostle Paul instructed the Philippian Saints to “think on these things.” (Philip. 4:8.) To think involves forming mental images in the mind and focusing intently upon that which has been discovered. Nephi counseled to “feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” (2 Ne. 32:3.) To feast is to consume, to digest, to absorb.

"As we ponder, we should follow the counsel of the Savior when he said, “Treasure up in your minds continually the words of life.” (D&C 84:85). This implies that we should repeat in our minds the principles we have learned and draw upon them in each of our decisions.

"5. Relate

"Nephi has counseled to “liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.” (1 Ne. 19:23.) We must read as if the Lord were speaking directly to us in a personal manner.

"6. Apply

"President Marion G. Romney counseled: “Learning the gospel from the written word … is not enough. It must also be lived. … One cannot fully learn the gospel without living it.” (Ensign, Sept. 1980, p. 4.) As we learn a principle, we must make a real effort to apply and to live it in our life."

Elder Kendrick ended his talk with this conclusion:
"The scriptures are priceless possessions. If we search the scriptures, seeking for the plain and precious principles, the Lord will reveal his will unto us and we will be richly blessed. If we research the revelations and respond correctly to them, we will return home safely to Heavenly Father. To this I so testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen."
(Ensign, May 1993)

Can I not find some time to study, really study my scriptures as the Lord would have me? Would I not truly benefit from this study time? Think of how we would grow in the gospel if we put our Prophet and Apostles testimonies on scripture study to the test.

Can I challenge you, my readers to find time to "meet me in your favorite chair for scripture study daily"? I know I need to prioritize my scripture study time today, not tomorrow. My scripture study garden needs some real weeding!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Total Knee Replacement (TKR) and Total Hip Replacement (THR) Update

It has been 17 months since my right total hip replacement in March 2009 and 13 months since my left total knee replacement in July 2008. Would I do it again? In a minute! My only regret is that I waited so long.

After not being able to do much exercising for so long, like 3 years due to the hip pain, I relish the idea of doing an sort of exercise. I would think that anyone who has had a replacement has gone through physical therapy. The exercises received there can be included in life time maintenance of the replacement. It was recommended by my orthopedic specialist that I cross train, so that means alternating between walking, biking and going to a gym. Most towns now have physical therapy places that offer low cost physical fitness centers. Many health insurance companies will cover the cost of going to a center up to a certain cost each month. The key is to look at what is low impact on the knee. I like an elliptical machine when I go to the gym. It is low impact and gives one an excellent cardiovascular workout. It also works the gluts and then strengthens my hip muscles. I also find that if I don’t exercise, my knee gets stiff so it is telling me – do some exercise with me. The rest of my body needs the exercise too.

A knee replacement should last at least 10 -12 years. My mother had a total hip r
replacement and she did not have to have it replaced the rest of her life, she was 73 when she had it and 89 when she passed away.

What has been the greatest challenge? Range of motion in my knee. I do find even know that I have the ability to increase my range of motion doing various exercises. Moving the seat of my stationary bike down by increments is one of the ways I do it. Also using the steps. I stand backwards to the step with the toe of my foot on the stair and push myself down so the knee gets bent more. That is the most effective exercise.

So if you are in need of hip or knee replacement, don't wait. Listen to your OS and then your physical therapist, you won't regret it!