David is back in school, starting 7th grade in about 17 more days.  He has lots of fun planned for the remainder of the Summer, like a week at a sleep-away camp in WA state.  Thanks to his Uncle Po and Aunt Taya!

Brian starts a new schedule at work tomorrow.  They are working 6am – 6pm with a 30minute lunch Mon-Sat! OK, once again, HOLY CRAP! They are so busy at work the boss offered them a $1/hour incentive to get them to go with the new 70+ hour work week. Frankly we could really use the money, so I’m not complaining, perse, but I do worry about Brian. As it is, he is so tired all the time, all he’s going to do now is come home, eat, shower, go to bed.  Which sucks for both of us, but it’s supposed to be temporary. We’ll see…I’m kinda hoping it goes so well that the boss let’s the guys keep the extra dollar an hour.  **keeping fingers crossed**

Rochell is finally getting the house process going.  There was a hold up with the mortgage (loan officer is truth be told), so Mom went another way. So now we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel and it looks like she will be able to get into her new house, next door, before the snow flies. YAY!

I took a bad spill at the grocery store, where I work, last Monday. BADLY sprained my ankle. I don’t know when the last time was that I was in so much pain.  The pain has subsided for the most part, but the range of motion hasn’t.  Stiffness and swelling are still a battle. But I’m getting there.

The Library continues to keep me busy. I’ve wrapped up my first Summer Reading program and there were lots of lessons learned. In fact, tomorrow when I get in, I need to write those lessons up so I remember for next year.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading and reviewing on my book blog.  I love having access to books before they are published, being in on the sneak preview. It’s a blast and I’ve been fortunate to read some really great literature…a couple of stinkers too, but the good is far outweighing the bad! If you want to check it out… www.novelgoddess.com

That’s about it for Mott, North Dakota. Life is different here, not better or worse, just different!

Way back when, my little brother, Porter, was a video games editor and writer for Amazon.com. Part of his job was to play all the new video games that were coming out and he would write about them on Amazon. With that said, Porter had every video games system on the market, as well as all the latest and greatest games to go with them.  He also had a built in excuse when his wife would get a bit perturbed with the amount of time he spent playing said video game, “But honey, it’s my job!”.  I remember he and I talking about this when my family was visiting his home for one of the first times. The story came out as he was setting up my then, 4 year old son with some video games to play with while we were there.

At the time I remember chuckling at the convenience of that excuse…oh how the tables have turned! Porter no longer works for Amazon, and probably only plays video games when he and my son are together…but I, on the other hand, find myself frequently using his “convenient excuse” whenever I want to read rather than do laundry, dishes, or other household chores! OK, Po, the shoes is on the other foot, you can start kicking me with it. LOL! Love ya lil brother!

I had to work at the grocery store today, and Brian had the day off. I knew Brian and David would probably be in the store around 3pm to plan dinner.  You see, the Saturdays that I work and Brian is off, he usually makes dinner. Brian and David did turn up shortly after 3pm to inform me they were making tacos for dinner.

Sonya, who I was working with today, asked her brother what he was making then proceeded to invite herself and Cameron over to join us. Truth be told I invited them about a half second after she asked if she and Cam could come…she knew she wouldn’t be turned down!

Shortly after that, Brian’s brother and his wife show up at the store…while Brian and David were still there.  Sonya mentioned to Michele that she invited herself over for taco dinner then Michele asked if she and Kenny could come too. SURE, the more the merrier.  Then Brian says to me, “You better call Mom and Gram and see if they want to come”…they did.

To be fair, Sonya and I didn’t want our other co-worker, Dixie, to be left out so we invited her and her boyfriend as well…but they had other plans.

Everyone converged on our house between 5 and 5:30pm. Bri already had 6 pounds of hamburger seasoned and cooked up. I whipped up some pico de gallo, and started frying tortillas.

After the tacos we all sat around for a good ol’ gab-fest. We hadn’t done that since Christmas…but this was much more relaxed. I think we should do this at least once a month! We all have so much fun when we get together at someone’s house over a meal.  And even though it was dinner for 9…it was relatively quick and easy. Ah, the joys of having so much family so close!

The day started out with a phone call that my best friend had had her baby…a darling little red-headed little guy. This was still in the days when the hospitals still only allowed the immediate family into visit new mothers. While Suzie and I considered ourselves sisters we knew hospital administration may not agree. Being the smart-ass I am I had a plan in place in case anyone questioned me. Since the baby’s father was not in the picture I was going to tell anyone who challenged me that I was the father and that I was a pre-op transsexual when I got Suzie pregnant…and I’d since had gender reassignment surgery. Since the baby had red hair it was plausible enough to work.

All the stress and worry during Suzies pregnancy was for nothing and her son had arrived safe, sound, and healthy. Such joy!

After leaving the hospital Porter and I went to go check on Nanas house. Nana was in a rehab facility recovering from a stroke the previous month.

Porter and I go to Nana’s to find the house had been burglarized and evidence indicated the burglars could still be in the house.

We made the necessary calls from the neighbor’s house and started the reporting and clean up process.

We made it home in time for a pizza dinner and the phone call that Nana had passed. It was utter devastation.

Nana, born Valborg Lynnea Eklund, had been born January 7, 1902 to Swedish Immigrants. She was one of those positive people who became the best of friends with EVERYONE she met! Going for a couple of groceries could take hours if you weren’t careful. She was an incredible oil painter, something she loved! Mostly she loved her family and made each and everyone of us feel like she loved us the best.

I didn’t go to Nana’s funeral…I fought to not have the memory of her in a box missing her essence and all that made her Nana. I still wonder if I should have gone…not that Nana would have cared… She would have said, “Oh Honey, do what makes you happy.” Not going to the funeral was closer to “happy”, but it would be a while before we could happily laugh at the Nana stories.

I think of Nana often, I hear her often in my head, and see her often in my dreams, as well as when I watch my sister Lynnea (Nana’s namesake). I miss you Nana and look to the day when we will see each other again.

Actually he turned 12 last Tuesday, on the 28th. We didn’t all get together to celebrate it with cake and ice cream until today though.

Dude got the iPod Touch he’d been wanting. He only asked for two things, a PS3 and an iPod Touch like mine. I told him way back when, that there was no way we could get him both so he needed to pick one. That’s why he got the PS3 for Christmas. Meanwhile he has been great about saving his allowance and any other money he could scrounge (like change), so he could get the iPod. Just last night he came to me saying he’d saved enough for the iPod and could we order one.

I’m glad he got what he wanted. He is such a good kid and is very kind and helpful. I wish I could give him everything his heart desires, knowing him, he wouldn’t ask for much for himself, he’d focus on others.

Last year, for Thanksgiving, it was just Brian, David, Kenny and I. The meal was chicken rather than turkey and all the side dishes were new recipes.  I’m realizing that I am not one for “traditions”…I seem to always be on the lookout for “new” and “different”.  With that in mind, I suggested something different for today.

I suggested that we have soup for dinner. I volunteered to make 2 different soups, Sonya was going to make one and so was Rochell.  I was also going to bake fresh bread, and a couple of pies. The idea was suggested as a lark, until everyone surprised me and said it was a great idea. WOO HOO!

Fast forward to Wednesday morning when I wake up with a migraine and a terribly sore throat. David had been home all week with Strep Throat…and was kind enough to share it with me. So much for Thanksgiving dinner!  Rochell and Sonya sent some soup over…which was greatly appreciated.

Thanksgiving 2010 did not go as planned, but that’s OK…we still have tons to be thankful for and we are, every day.

Basketball season is upon us once again. This season, seems shorter than last season…thankfully! Last season we did a lot of driving around in the bitter cold with lots of snow on the ground!

This year David is doing so much better. He’s understanding the mechanics and nuances of the game much better and is playing more. Brian has been bailing out of work on home game days at 5:00 so he can see the whole game, which David loves. This season also has his grandmother, Aunties, and a cousin coming to the home games. The big difference is that last year the home games were actually played in Regent which is about 12 miles away.  While the Mott gym is smaller, it does make for a much larger turnout and it also means less driving for mel…YAY!

David is also getting much more playing time as well as carrying the ball and shooting…all skills have really improved over last year…the added height doesn’t hurt either! LOL!

Just had to share a few pics from Tuesday’s game.   I’m trying to get back in the habit of shooting more and posting here more!

My almost 12 year old son would be the dude on the right and yes, he has a gun in his hand.  That is counter-intuitive to everything I ever heard or learned growing up in Los Angeles, or living in Las Vegas.  David had to attend 24 hours of “Hunter Safety” training and pass a comprehensive test before he could get a hunting license. He knows more about guns than I do, I think, and I was on a shooting league in Vegas way back when.

Both David and his Dad enjoy their early Sunday morning forays into the chaparal to try and roust a few pheasants…neither one has actually hit any though. They are even dragging my poor dogs out with them who have no training in hunting but seem to be naturals anyway. I guess I am the only animal lover in the family…I refuse to hunt or clean what they hunt, and if they ever do actually bad something, I suspect I won’t be interested in cooking or eating it either.

“Every party has a pooper that’s why we invited you…Party Pooper”. Yep, that’s me, a party pooper! (How much longer until hunting season is over???)

Life has been both blessed and cursed…Isn’t that usually life in general?  I guess the blessing and curses have been a little larger than usual.

I am the new librarian for Mott, ND. Which has definitely been one of the blessings. It’s a small library, I’m guessing only about 10 thousand titles.  All the titles are still being loaded into the computerized system that was purchased approximately a year ago.  At the time I took over and uploaded a searchable listing into the library’s homepage there were about 5500 titles.  I’ve loaded quite a few more, but no where near what had already been done.  I’m enjoying it immensely and just wish it was a job with more than 18 hours a week.  I’m still putting in my 12 regularly scheduled hours at the grocery store, which helps financially…I’m glad I could keep the hours at the store. My poor sister-in-law, Sonya, has spent a lot of time out of town lately and I’ve been helping to cover her hours at the store…I appreciate the extra hours/money, but it’s been exhausting.

Poor Sonya, and thus all of us, has been through the ringer. Her “significant other” from Vegas, Doug, has been hit with major heath issues. First he was hit by a heart attack. Sonya flew to his aid because I guess his family couldn’t or wouldn’t.  After he got home from the hospital, Sonya came home, and Doug followed her a few weeks later to do some of his R&R here. While he was here he passed out in the bathroom, which made us think he was having more heart issues. Long story short, it appears he has brain cancer. Final results of a brain biopsy are expected any second now…in the meantime Doug has deteriorated very significantly.  Doug’s insurance company wanted him treated in Las Vegas so they paid a private plane to come get him and Sonya. Poor Sonya is torn because he has no family in Vegas now that we’ve all moved to ND and his sisters, his only family, can’t or won’t come be with him. I can’t begin to fathom what Sonya is going through.  She is coming home on Saturday…with Doug’s urging and, I’m sure, a very heavy heart.

David is well and still growing…he is going to be 12 in December and he is 5’9″ and wearing a size 12 shoe and still growing…pretty significant considering he hasn’t hit puberty yet. I wonder how tall he is going to get? He enjoy lording it over me that he is now my height! Little turd! 6th grade has started out well…he was really looking forward to being in 6th. He admires his teacher and has since last year. He like that she doesn’t put up with any shenanigans…unlike last year’s teacher.  He still has issues with one boy in particular from last year…the reason I had to write the email to the teacher mentioned above.

Fall has appeared in our little corner of the world. Harvest is done and hunting season will be here in a few weeks. Then it will be time for Winter and that dreaded “S” word! I’ve actually had to break out the long pants a few days this week due to weather and temperature!  A blizzard, a big pot of soup and laying in bed with the hubby all day doesn’t sound half bad…at least being the librarian, I know I will have some good reading material for the snowy days!

It’s almost 3am…I suppose I should let the dogs out one more time than go in and snuggle up against that handsome, snoring guy I have in my bed. Life could definitely be worse.

I’m sitting here listening to the umpteenth rain storm of the Summer. But for some reason this one reminded me of my Dad…I don’t know if it’s because it was loud or what exactly it was that jogged the memory, but it did.

I’ve always loved rainstorms…the louder the better, the more lightening the better, the more thunder the better. I got hit with a vision of my Dad, in his robe stretched out on a couch under the big picture window on Murietta. He would long for rainy days when he didn’t have to go anywhere and could just sit and enjoy the fact that there wasn’t much he could do other than read a book, in his robe, on the couch, under a big picture window, with a storm blowing past outside.

Yeah, I love the rainstorms…even the bigger, scarier ones we have in North Dakota, cuz they always seem to remind me of Dad.