Daddy, come home!

“Daddy come home!”

This is the chant I started with the kids on Saturday afternoon, day three of our missing him. He is the Jr. Counselor for the Wyoming District LWML and is attending the conference in Portland, Oregon while we stay in Bport, wishing we were closer to Papa & Grandma, and all the cousins. Lord Willing, Daddy will be getting off a plane at 10:45 p.m. Sunday night and driving home. He tells me he has to work Monday morning in the office, but I have news for him…

During his 4 day absence, we drove to Sidney to cheer on Bridgeport’s Swimming Beez, the local swim team. It was a beautiful sunny day and not too hot. Kyra rode home with us and I made a quick return at Cabela’s while we were down there. Dropped her off at the pool once we got back into town, which, of course, was where Eden wanted to stay. So, we drove back and got our suits and headed back to the pool. The kids swam and I got my feet wet, which felt wonderful! Lars decided to have another 2 hour temper tantrum, and while he lay on the hall way floor, screaming, Eden and I went outside to the swingset, watered the vegetables & flowers, and had a loud supper. When nothing would calm him, we loaded up in the stroller and walked 2 miles. That worked, and we even had enough energy to stop and swing at the park on the way home.

Friday, I ran errands in Scottsbluff all morning, and twiddled my thumbs all afternoon, watching another storm blow in. Literally. Bport had 58 mph winds. Neither child napped, so by 5:00, I was tearing my hair out. Daddy phoned at bedtime and the kids took turns chattering away. I worked on lesson plans until 11p, crawling in bed just in time to hear Lars start screaming. Got him back to sleep and slept until 0300, when the sprinkler that I have had ‘off’ for over a week began pounding water on the window/siding outside my bedroom. After removing myself from the ceiling, I trudged outside to the garage to see that, indeed, the sprinkler was turned off, but was actually running. Who knows how to disable a sprinkler at 0300? Not me. I pushed every button, advanced through all the circuits and went ‘on’, ‘off’, ‘on,’ ‘off’, about 13 times before it shut off. Got back in the house to discover that Lars had also been awaked by the same noise. Got him back to sleep and he was up with a smile at 0600. Fun.

The same thing happened the next night, but the front sprinkler was stuck on. Even after unplugging the system, the water was still happily spraying. At 11:00 p.m., I was in the front yard in my pajamas, trying to figure out how and where to shut the water off. It was not a pretty sight. I’m not meant to be a single mom slash homeowner.

Eden has been attending KinderCamp on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the community center. It’s a program for 3-5 year olds that involves coloring, crafts, snack, 20 minutes of the movie Madasgar (which is this summer’s theme), exercise and walking across the parking lot to swim at the pool. It’s a very affordable program and it provides me with some one on one Lars time two mornings a week. I think it is also preparing her for pre-school this fall.

Tuesday afternoon was Story Hour at the library and afterwards I took Douthit’s home, where I made myself comfortable for much of the evening. She makes the best grilled chicken.

Thursday afternoon, I had a yard full of neighborhood kids. It was 100 degrees in the shade and we have the best sprinkler this side of Main St. Between the Turtle Pool, sprinkler, swingset and sandbox, it was like an amusement park. I even had red Kool-aid, which got its start in the wide open state of Nebraska, by the way.

Monday & Wednesday evening I taught EMT class. It’s starting to get past the boring stuff and into the fun stuff. We’re getting on the floor and really doing hands on learning, which I love.

Firecracker season is here in town. Every time there’s a mere crackle, the dog barks. He’s spent a lot of time indoors this week.

Last Sunday, Father’s Day, we were at the West Park all afternoon throwing horseshoes with a buddy of mine from the Fire Department. I intended to display photos of the event, but Al has the camera 1000 miles away, so it’ll have to wait until next week.

I am sitting out on the back deck, watching what I can of the orange-y sunset over the roof tops. A bird is on the wire near our apple tree and it’s desperately calling for something or someone. The thumbnail moon is hanging overhead in the clear blue sky and if it weren’t for the mosquitoes, I might actually stay out and wait for the stars.

Daddy, come home!

Happy Father's Day

What a whirlwind of a week!

Let’s think backwards, it’s easier on my brain.

Spent all day today out in the sun throwing horseshoes and making conversation with some friends. The all day picnic lunch was nice, too. I felt like a goat, grazing.

Saturday morning we were up early making Scones for the relative’s road trip. Saturday afternoon/evening/night, the preacher performed a wedding and we all went to the dinner reception afterwards. We had to leave before the dancing began, because it was so late, Lars was so tired.

Friday evening, my Uncle John and Cousin Jenny were driving through Nebraksa from Oakland, California, where they live, to Michigan to visit family. The car was stuffed full, as Jenny will be headed to U of Penn for the next three years for another college degree. Since we are 37 miles off I-80, they blessed us with their presence for supper, followed by a drive out into the country. We saw Jail & Courthouse Rock, turned around and drove up Main Street, touring the church and new addition, and out into the sandhills about 10 miles north on the highway before turning around and driving over and around the State Lakes while the kids were sleeping. Lots of campers out, with brilliant campfires glowing off the still water. They laughed hysterically when they saw the Mercantile (which says, “all your ranching needs here” above the door), then the Farmall tractors sitting in a parking lot, followed by the John Deere Re-conditioning center all right on Main St. Uncle John said, “What an experience. We sure don’t have this in Oakland!”

Thursday, after my hair cut, the kids and I hung out all day and got the camper cleaned up and ready to take to the lake that evening for fishing, food & friends. Kyra spent the day with us while her sister was still at resident camp. Mark & Laura met us out there and, between rain drops, we built a fire and made pizza pockets while the kids fished for a while. Kyra caught a baby catfish and Eden, a prickly sun fish. We would have like to stayed longer, but the unpredictable wind & rain was threatening, so we packed up and went back home to our solid roof!

Wednesday, we got our trusty babysitter to watch the kids while Al and I went out to dinner and saw the Theatre West production of “Over the River and Through the Woods”, a charming play about the importance of family. It was worthy of both laughter and of tears and it brought out much conversation on our hour long drive home.

Monday & Tuesday were both spent running errands in the morning, fulfilling appointments in the after noon, and meetings/class in the evening. I’m really enjoying teaching the EMT class here in town, and am reviewing everything that I book learned so many years ago, all over again. However, it’s a lot more prep work than I imagined, which wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have two young and needy children around all the time. I’m hoping I can do a little better as the summer goes on.

Happy Father’s Day to all who are blessed to be daddy’s!

A week of Storms

This week can be summed up in three words: Busy, busy, busy..


Or, better yet, three letters: V.B.S.


Then a garage sale on Friday all day. I was up at 0600, putting signs around town and studying the clouds to see if I could roll things out onto the driveway or not.


We’re also still reeling from Detroit’s Game 7 loss to the Pens. Hockey Town is missing a friend this summer….but it was a great year. I loved some of the players Detroit acquired this year and I hope to see much of the same next season.


Hotmail has been acting up all week so I haven’t been able to check my email on a regular basis, which puts me behind in just about everything on the outside world.


Spent Saturday morning participating in Treasure Trek Nebraska, which is basically a time set aside for Western Nebraska to have craft sales/garage sales. The kids and I went out after breakfast with a $25 limit and came back with a full Ford of goodies, including a solid oak hand made high chair that I don’t need but really loved (it weighs 900 pounds, give or take), a stringed musical instrument from Italy that needs a good tuning and some strings, a graduation scrapbook, some Christmas bows, dress up clothes/jewelry & toddler clothes, most notably some well worn Levis for Eden for race night. The big purchase was a pack-n-play for Laura’s house and a toy tractor that Lars wouldn’t get off of, even after we put it in the Ford.


I taught EMT class on Monday night while Al had a sudden voter’s meeting. They are deciding on a chancel area and needed a quick meeting. Apparently, the meeting wasn’t so quick and the kids were tired so somebody else had to bring them home during the meeting. We really need to coordinate our schedules better.


Tuesday and Thursday afternoon was story hour at the library, which Eden really loves. It’s worked out that Laura can pick up Eden while Lars is still napping and then I am the neighborhood pick up Mom and, now that I have an 8 seat vehicle, pick up several kids and drop them off at home afterwards. They have so many kids this year that they are splitting the ages and doing each group once a week. So, now it will just be a Tuesday adventure.


This whole week has been cool & wet, tornado-y, thunder storm-y, and hail-y with flooding so I’ve got tall weeds to pull in the garden, but haven’t had to water.


At 2:30 Wednesday afternoon, the big storm came and warnings went out all over town. Several tornados had touched down in Eastern Wyoming and Western Nebraska. I even heard our county mentioned on the Weather Channel. The Vortex 2 team has been spotted all over our area, watching for tornados. They filmed a live 30 minute feed in Goshen County of a tornado that was pretty cool.


Thankfully, this area is so sparse of people and homes that they rarely cause damage to buildings or people, but more often spin across the plains into nowhere, which is what happened this time.


Our church is a community shelter, and the people from the gas station starting coming over mid afternoon. A family with two kids, a bike rider, attendants and others passing through came to hang out. Pastor gave the kids some toys and came home to check on his family, which was nice. When he went back up to church later, the bike rider was the only one left, so we had him over for beef stew & biscuits and had a nice visit. We got him a hotel room and drove him uptown when it was the kid’s bedtime. A nice fellow, young and bald, he was bicycling 800 miles from Denver, where he lives and works as a paramedic, to Fargo, ND, where his parents are worriedly waiting for him to show.


Naturally, EMT class was cancelled on Wednesday because of this and a flash flood that stranded several people out in the county when the crick overflowed, swelled the river, and closed several highways until it receeded. Hail was said to be 10 feet deep just west of here and the snow plows went out around supper time to plow the hail off Angora Hill, 12 miles north of town.


The whole event taxed our local emergency services and drew out hundreds of town folk to take pictures. We of course went out, but forgot the camera. So, I have borrowed some from friends.


As I write this on Saturday afternoon, the weather radio buzzer just informed me that a tornado is again on its way to my house. Hard to believe with all this blue sky and fluffy clouds. Pastor is out helping a rancher brand cattle. They were really short of help and he’s long on energy, I guess. I’m sure after a week of VBS, a day of garage sale, and now cattle branding, Sunday’s sermon is going to be short, sweet & to the point!

Stormy weather

Monday morning, before my week was shot to all, Laura & I and our blessed children loaded up in the Ford and headed to Cheyenne for a day of shopping. Surprisingly, my kids were very well behaved for the duration and we had a great time. We went to a mall, which I haven’t been to one in eons, and Kohl’s, a woman’s wonder world, as well a few other places.

Laura bought our lunch at a Mexican place and I got gas in Wyoming for $2.22 a gallon, 50 cents cheaper per gallon over the border! Gotta love the state with no gas tax.

The car ride home was a continual torrential downpour with flooding streets and a slippery interstate, so everybody was feeling the pressure and the kids were getting ornery. Especially the driver, who despises rain more than death itself. I think that’s why God put me in West Nebraska, b/c it rarely rains. But anyway…we made it home just before weight watchers and my EMT class. Of course, I couldn’t get the power point to work, but nevermind.

Lars cried for 3 days straight unless he was attached to my hip, which has caused Eden to suddenly want to be held all the time, as well. Al seems to be busier than normal with pastoral activities, and I’m preparing lesson plans for the EMT class, which, though time consuming, should be fun. However; with two kids hanging on me, it’s been frustrating.

The suddenly stormy weather has caused the barometric pressure to rise and the storms have made being indoors more of a necessity this week, as well.

I took a walk all by myself on Tuesday night and the cool air was so wonderful, I about walked right out of town and kept going. Except, I’m terrified of the wide open country spaces out here and I never made it past the city limits, where the street lights end!

On Wednesday, I took Eden to daycare and told Al we should pack the camper and get out of town for his day off. Unfortunately, everywhere in Western Nebraska had a chance of T-storms from Thursday evening through Saturday night. Fearing an even WORSE time if we were out in the rain and tornados, we decided otherwise.

Instead, we spent Friday cleaning out the garage for our upcoming garage sale. It’s going to be a combined effort with some of our stuff, some of Laura’s stuff and some stuff from yet another parishioner. Tornado watches were in effect all Friday evening and it was stormy with hail during supper, but Al took Eden to the races and Mark took his girls, as well. So, it was fun for all and the wives got some time alone. Well, after Lars went to bed anyway.

After two very hot summers here in Bridgeport, one in which I was very pregnant, Al & I finally came up with a plan for the back deck. If you’ve never been to the parsonage here, you’ll not know that the house is what the locals call a ‘raised ranch’. (Split level for those of you back east). There is no main floor. If you come in our front door (east side), you can choose to go up 7 steps or down 7 steps. In the back of the house (west side), there is a flight of steps, one story, outdoors leading to a wood deck, 20’ in length, 10’ in width. Off the deck is a sliding glass door which leads into the kitchen. The grill is on the deck, along with a couple chairs.

If you’ve never lived in Western Nebraska, you will also not know how extremely hot it gets here. Because of it’s height from the ground, and our lack of shade trees, our back deck gets all the sun in the middle of the day and is routinely over 110 degrees throughout the summer. I never turn the lights on up stairs and never open the blinds, to help keep it cooler in the kitchen and dining room. We try to grill out a lot, but yesterday the grill got to 900 degrees in 5 minutes and our pork chops were rather ebony.

Lastly, if you’ve never lived in Western Nebraska, you simply have no concept of how breezy it gets here. Ground level is bad enough, but up on the deck, its gale force winds strong enough to regularly blow my children off the top step. (Lars was the most recent victim, but only fell 3 steps on his head before I caught him).

So, getting around to the solution; we have ordered a “Coolaroo patio sail”, Ocean Blue in color to add some pizzazz to our deck. With my red geraniums and the American Flag flying nearby, we thought some color would brighten it up a bit. It’s an Australian made weave that blocks 90% of UV waves and provides some shade, hopefully making it tolerable to be on the deck during the evening and cooling the kitchen/dining room at the same time!

It’s due to arrive this Tuesday and I hope to get it up soon after. I’m very excited for it!

Saturday, the kids & I hung out mostly indoors as it was warm and humid out. I did clean out the truck (pick up) a bit, as we’re hoping to sell it on the garage sale and buy a car that gets better gas mileage for some of the preacher’s out of town visits and trips to Winkels. Had to replace the water pump first, but now it’s in good running condition. Of course, he’s already found the convertible he wants, but I’m holding out for something practical. We’ll see.