Hi Everyone,

Hope your Christmas was great. Mine was wonderful. We went to the motel like we do on Christmas and got to see 3 of the granddaughters haven't seen for at least 2 years and longer for one of them. Had a great time. We always do the dice game and fight over the presents we want. Lots of fun. It seems like everyone is going to try and stay at the motel next year.

Santa's Mitten Maids went great. Thanks to all who donated. We had 135 children this year.

Came home and started to work on my laundry room/pantry. I had overloaded the shelves and they were looking like they were going to let go so I reinforced each shelf and put on new shelf paper. Rochelle came home with me and has been a great help. I got one side of the room done in 2 days but ran out of steam today so will start the other side tomorrow.

It looks like we've got about 3 inches of snow so far and the wind is out of the northeast so we will probably have lots more. Hopefully the kids won't have a hard time driving up here tonight.

So far no entrants for the Bread & Soup Contest. But we will still have a good variety of soups and breads for the Sled Dog Races on January 8th. We will be ready to serve at 11:30am. We will be serving all day. The awards for some of the races will be a 6pm. We will stop serving about that time.

Have to go play Wii with the granddaughter. Have a good weekend.

Take care,
Julie

Here it is only a week til Christmas. I hope all of you are getting everything done you wanted done. I have been in a panic thinking I was leaving for the cities on Wednesday and how was I going to get everything done before then. Last night I looked at my school calendar and realized that school isn't out til Wednesday so I won't be leaving for the cities until Thursday. So I have gained an extra day so that will help now things don't look quite so bad.

Well we got the Santa's Mitten Maids presents all wrapped. We ended up with 135 children this year. Thank goodness for all the elves that turned out to help wrap. It sure makes the project alot easier with help. Kathy Peterson is already trying to find out when the stores open on the day after Christmas so she knows what time she has to be in town to do her mega shopping. She is lucky and has elves to help her on that day also. Lots of people seem to think that Kathy and I do the Mitten Maids single handed but we could not accomplish everything that gets done with out all the help we receive. People who knit and crochet hats and mittens, the ones that have a nice basement and allow us to store everything there, to the wrappers and last but not lease are the ones who donate money to make it possible for us to do this project. Without all of you there would be no Mitten Maids. Thank you very much for helping us to do this great project.

I must admit that I haven't done the Wii as faithfully as I should. It will be easier after Christmas then I won't have so much going on.

I'm hoping Rochelle will come up with me after Christmas. I want to clean all the shelves in the laundry room and it would be so much easier if I had a helper. I even tried to bribe her that if she came and helped that I would go snowmobiling in the afternoon with her. Hope it was enough of a bribe.

Well I had better get busy and finish what I have to get done today.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Very Blessed New Year

Take care,
Julie

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged. It has been pretty hectic for me trying to get things done for the craft shows. I made two batches of jam this week for the craft sale, one was Rhubarb Strawberry and the other was crabapple butter. Last craft sale is tomorrow in Deer River. Hopefully it will be a good one.

Next on the list is clean up the house enough to walk through and get things ready for Santa's Mitten Maids. The elves have done all the shopping and it is up to me to get all the family names and children ages etc so that we make sure we have presents for every child in the family. We will be wrapping on the 16th instead of the 18th. Once Kathy and I have the toys sorted for each family then we know if we've bought enough batteries and the misc. stuff. We will be providing presents for about 115 children this year. Presents are given out with the Holiday food basket from Second Harvest Food Shelf.

After that is done then I rush around to make sure I've wrapped all the presents I've got hidden here and there. I've cut down on my list alot so really don't have much to do. Then I go to Steph's for Christmas. Hopefully this year it won't snow so the rest of the family can get there.

I bought one of those WII game things with the fitness board. Started doing it tonight and I think it could kill a person. Sometimes would like to tell the little person who is my trainer to stuff it. It is much better than trying to walk on a tread mill. I started out taking it easy so I will want to keep on doing it. I have to get rid of the spare tire around my middle. Shows what happens when people are so good to you and help you with your wood pile.

After the first of the year I need to get started on my soaps. My inventory is quite low and I have 6 new fragrances that I haven't soaped yet. I've also decided that the kitchen needs to be painted. I think the last time it was painted was when Steph graduated from high school. That was sometime in the early 90's, so it definately needs some fresh paint. So that is the plan. I'm hoping by telling all of you that I will actually get off my duff and do it.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Take care,
Julie

Hi Everyone,

Hope your month has been going good. Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is almost here. It has been a busy month for me. Deer hunting and cutting up deer. Granddaughter Rochelle got her 3rd deer this year with a different gun. She shot a button buck, she was hoping for something bigger but we like venison and that is what come out. Granddaughter in law Michelle got a nice 6 point buck. We got 6 for 9 hunter so everyone will have some venison. I've also done some craft shows and of course Steph and I did wreaths again this year. In between times I've had some canning to do. Canned some potatoes and then got some carrots given to me so I canned those also. I still want to can some venison. I also made some jerky that is the first time that I have ever done that. It turned out fairly well. Still have some more I want to do but won't get it done until after Thanksgiving.

Well it looks like winter is coming. Ice last Friday, probably the slowest I've driven in years. Was really glad that there was no school just had to go to Squaw Lake to work. Today it was snowing and pretty slippery. I went to Deer River and Grand Rapids today and it was pretty slow going. Got done what I had to do and made it back home safely.

Going to Steph's for Thanksgiving and then when I get home will be a push to get things ready for the last craft sale of the year at the high school in Deer River on Dec. 4th. This is usually a great sale with lots of cool things for those hard to buy for people for Christmas.

On Dec. 18 we will again be wrapping presents for Santa's Mitten Maids and getting everything ready to hand out on the 20th.

Hope all of you are getting everything ready for your Christmas season. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Take care,
Julie

Another week gone by already. Was an interesting week with all the rain we got. I was surprised on how the deer were moving during the rain. I counted 26 on Tuesday morning on the route. They were everywhere and in groups. Too bad they always think they should cross in front of the bus. Right now I'm driving a flat nose bus so they seem quite up close and personnal. I only saw 2 bucks in the bunch.

I know I was busy all week but not sure what I accomplished. I did can 32 quarts of potatoes. These are so nice for fried potatoes and helps to round out a meal when I have unexpected company I think I should feed.

This week I have to work on the stuff for my craft sale in Blackduck on November 13th at the school. This was a wonderful show last year. Lots of unique gifts for Christmas presents.

Hard to believe there is less than 3 months and Christmas will be here. Wish I knew what to buy for Steph and Randy. They are so hard to buy for. The girls are easy nice green money that is what those teenagers tell me they like. I like it also as there is no work on my part. haha.

I got alot done this weekend. I got all my filing done. I don't know why I just don't do it in the beginning instead of letting it pile up and when the pile crashes down then I decide it is time to file. What a mess. But it is done so I am happy. Just have to copy a few things off the computer and then I can spend a day deleting stuff.

Today I finished the dry wood into the basement, closed up the wood shute for the winter and painted 3 shelves that I use for the craft sales.

Steph and I start our wreaths this weekend. Hopefully things will go well with that. Sometimes it is hard to get everything done with both of us working.

Community supper is November 18th from 5 - 7 and they will be serving wild rice casserole as the main dish. This is a great supper all monies donated go to Fresh Water for Life. The St. Catherine and Centennial Lutheran Ladies do a great job on this.

Thanks to all who came to the Firemen's Dance and donated items for it. It was a great success.

I heard that Joanie LeCuyer put on another great Halloween Party for the area kids. Thanks Joanie for all the work you do on this.

Hope you all have a great week.

Anybody have anything they'd like to put on here just drop me a line at jhemphil@paulbunyan.net .

Take care,
Julie

Hi Everyone,

Hope your weekend went great.

I had the most wonderful time thanks to Steph and her family. For my birthday they took me to two great concerts. The first was Lee Ann Womack, Reba, and George Straight. It was awesome. The next night they took me to Lady Antebellum which was also a fantastic show. She also took me to lunch at Toby Keith's new restaurant in the cities. Great food and a cool looking bar. Would be fun to go there when they had music sometime. Then she was kind enough to drive me home while I crocheted scrubbies. I'm a little behind in them so was able to get quite a few done.

We got home in time last night to get cleaned up and go to the Firemen's Dance. Thanks to all who support our Fire Dept. we appreciate you very much. Almost had fresh venison on the way to the dance. WAYYY to close for comfort. Good thing I wasn't driving my usual speed. Was a fun evening. I can't believe I was up so many late nights. Monday morning will be hard on me to get out of bed and go to work after so much fun.

Needless to say today nothing much was accomplished. Bed early tonight.

So nothing much else to say tonight. Hope you all have a great week.

Take care,
Julie

This is scary when I went back and read and had found I had repeated myself a couple time. I guess I have that CRS (Can't remember S***) disease. Either that or I'm not doing enough so I'm finding myself repeating.

...is thinking if hot flashes are like a tropical vacation then where the &#@* is the Cabana Boy and Beach???

Have a great week.

Gee, another week has flown by and I'm not sure what I've done with it.

Steph and I did make a bunch of jelly over the weekend. Mild and Hot Jalapeno jelly and Hot Habanero Jelly. Got the kitchen garage cleaned up after and getting ready to make wreaths in November. Boy is that coming fast. The guys that were up this weekend hung some lights out there for us and put castors on a cabinet. The kitchen out there is really coming together. Love it. Having the stove out of the Squaw Lake School is the greatest thing.

Been doing some cooking. Lots of buttercup squash. It is excellant this year. Of course the argument here is brown sugar on it or not. I am always for the not but I do put it on some of the squash. I guess if I didn't put too much on it would be ok. I just like the baked squash with butter (yes real butter) and salt and pepper.

I did get the rest of my dry wood split but haven't got it in the basement yet. I have it all covered with a tarp. Tomorrow I have to get the water line to the pig pen blew out and take out the air conditioner from the living room window.

Then on Wednesday I am off to Steph's. She is taking me to the Reba, George Straight, Leann Womack concert on Thursday night and Lady Antebellum on Friday night. I am so excited about it. What a great birthday gift. Thanks so much Steph, Randy and family.

SO tomorrow I have to finish up a couple of baskets of soaps and jams and jellies for the silent auction on Saturday night at the Firemen's Dance. So far I know we have a beautiful quilt that was donated from the Centennial Lutheran Ladies, 5 lbs wild rice from Mertes garage, 2 wooden seats that fit in a 5 gallon bucket for ice fishing from the Mini Max Flea Market, A hand carved ornament from Gayle Roush, a muzzle load gun. I'm not sure what else has been collected for this.

Haven't seen much for wild life this week. I'm not sure where the deer and grouse have gone to but I'm sure not seeing any.

Well, I got the results back from the rhumatologist and he says I don't have any arthuritis so I guess we are back to practicing and trying to figure out why all my joints ache so bad.

I hope all of you are enjoying this lovely fall weather we have been having. Even tho I bought a snowmobile I wouldn't mind this lasting for another month or so.

Have a great week will try and let you know next weekend how the concerts were.

Take care,
Julie

Gee a whole week has went by. Where did it go?? I guess I spent 2 days running to doctors. Sure ruins a nice day when you are stuck in a car. Friday wasn't so bad tho I took Nancy my sister with me and we had a great time even tho I had a doctor's appointment. I have some type of arthuritis they aren't sure what. Have to try some pills for a month and then go back.

Yesterday, I went riding with a friend and we put on about 270 miles. We went from here to Thief River Falls through the Red Lake Rez and came back through Bemidji. It was great weather and alot of fun. Today my joints told me about it.

I was just going to do a few things this morning and then go for a ride. BUT I decided to make a couple batches of cookies and then I had laundry to do. How does one person have 5 loads of laundry in a week. Then I decided to cook and clean house. Well was too tired so didn't go for a ride.

Nothing much else going on around here that I know of. Duck hunting has sucked for most of the guys I've talked to. Was too hot over the weekend so the Grandson didn't want to bow hunt. He went fishing and caught some nice perch.

I hope all of you are enjoying this lovely fall weather. Even tho I just bought a different snowmobile this weather could keep on for another month or so. I always hate that in between fall and winter when we get the yuck. I don't mind snow if it dry but I hate wet sloppy snow.

The only thing I can think of coming up is the Firemen's Dance on October 23 from 8 to midnight with music by Johnny V and The Bzz. Hope to see you there.

Have a good week.
Julie

The brain of the STUPID person has two sides: the LEFT one has no RIGHT and the RIGHT one has nothing LEFT.

Hi,

It sure turned out to be a lovely day today. What a difference sunshine makes for the attitude. I had a great weekend. Went down to Steph's for Rochelle's volleyball tournament. A great time with the girls.

I was going to go for a bike ride yesterday afternoon but was just too tired to do it. Maybe this weekend.

I've been seeing a few grouse now that the leaves are starting to fall. You sure can tell it is fall with all the bough pickers out and about.

Tomorrow my job is to render lard and make jelly. While the lard is rendering I can be making jelly and cleaning up my mess in the kitchen. So many things to get done and so little time. I have to get ready for a few craft sales and Steph and I still do some wreaths each year.

I see a few deer everyday on the bus route but sure not the number I have seen in years past.

So does anyone remember the old timers saying when the bees nest are high in the trees does that mean alot of snow??? My niece took a picture of a huge bees nest that was probably 20 feet up in the air. It looked really cool with all the colored leaves around it.

I am practicing making good choices and controlling my emotions. It's not easy so don't p*** me off. (My new theme song. haha)

Hope you all have a good week.

Take care,
Julie

Wow, time flies fast. It seemed like I had just blogged and it has been 8 days.

Went for a nice motorcycle ride with friends last Sunday. We went to Remer then to Longville down County 84 to Pine River. From Pine River we went to Pequot Lakes and then across to Aitken and then back home. 270 miles so that put me over the 5000 mile mark for the summer. The trees were gorgeous along the trip.

Going to the cities this weekend to see my granddaughter Rochelle play in her volleyball tournament. Seems like there are always things to do.

Well, I finally got back to the wood pile today and the first thing I did was yank the pull rope out of the splitter so no work there today.

It was a beautiful day here today. Lots of sunshine what could be better.

Been seeing quite a few deer and a few grouse. Not many ducks or geese. Duck hunting opens this weekend.

Hope all of you are having a great week.

Firemen's dance October 23, 8 to midnight at the Squaw Lake Community Center with Johnny V and the Bzzz playing hope to see you there.

Have a great weekend,
Take care,
Julie

I'm shocked at the miles I've put on my broomstick today!!

It's been a long week already and it is only Wednesday. I started butchering pigs on Monday. Hopefully by the end of next week all the pigs will be gone.

Been seeing a lot of deer on the bus route. Today I think they were trying to commit suicide, I had 4 of them at different times running in front of the bus. If I hit one there sure wouldn't be too much good meat to salvage.

I worked on the wood pile today. Got another stack put up by the wood shute and covered. Then I started splitting the kindling wood and got one loader bucket of that put in the basement. If it isn't pouring down rain tomorrow I will try and get the second load split and put down there.

I don't know about this weather. It would of been a fantastic day if only the sun would of shined all day. Tomorrow they are predicting heavy rains. I am sick of rain. I guess if it rains too much to work on the wood I can start making jelly. I have a bunch of crab apple juice to make jelly out of.

Went to town yesterday, had to take the bus down for service and do some errands waisted the whole day between bus runs in town.

This month is flying by pretty fast it seems like. Is it just because I am getting older? Or are we just too busy now a days.

Well, not much else to say tonight. I hope the sun is shinning wherever you are tomorrow.

Take care,
Julie

Hard to belive another weekend gone. They go by so fast. Steph and I were busy this weekend making pickled beets, pickled HOT peppers and some relish. We did 133 pints of pickled beets, 42 pints of pickled HOT peppers, and 22 pints of relish. We need to spend a weekend making jellies and jams. I don't have any pepper jellies left so need to make some of them.

Saw quite a few deer on the bus run last week. One morning I saw 17 with a couple of bucks in there and a few fawns. Mostly does and yearlings. Only 2 grouse for the week and a few geese. The most geese I see are on Arnie Petersen's lawn each day.

Went for a bike ride today did about 50 miles. It was chilly out even tho the sun was shining and I had on my leathers it felt good to come home where I had the wood fire going. Seems early to be burning wood but everytime the gas furnace kicks on the $$ signs run around in my head.

Tomorrow I start butchering the pigs I raise. 6 down tomorrow, 5 on Friday and 2 the next week. Then just clean up the feeders and waterer and this job is over til next year. I really lucked out last week as Steph had seen a couple of pig feeders on an online auction down by them and we got them and Randy brought them up to me on Monday night. We got 2 for less than 1/2 price of a new one and they are in really good shape.

Well another week of work to look forward to. Hopefully in between work I will get some soap made. I also need to make some crab apple jelly or I will have to freeze the juice for another day. Funny how some weeks there doesn't seem to be enough time to get everything done.

Steph got me the greatest birthday present. She is taking me to see Reba, George Straight and Leann Womack and then the next night we got tickets to go see Lady Antebellum. Wahoo what a fun 2 nights that will be. Works out great as it is Fall Holiday so don't even need to get a bus driver.

Well, need to get a couple things done before going to bed so have a great week. I'll try and write some during the week if it doesn't get too hectic.

Take care,
Julie

Just squawking

Thursday, September 16th is the Community Meal put on by St. Catherine Ladies and Centennial Lutheran Ladies. Serving is 5 to 7 and this time they are serving cheeseburger macaroni. This is a free will donation and all proceeds go to the project Fresh Water for Life. Hope to see you there.

October 23 is the annual Firemen's Dance at the Community Center with music by Johnny V. Hope to see you there. Raffle tickets are on sale now.

I had a great weekend. Went down to Steph's for a surprise bday party for Randy. His birthday isn't until October but as the invitations said "HE HUNTS" so we have to do this early. Came home early on Sunday and went for a bike ride. It was awesome out there. Hope I get some more in this week.

Been seeing a few deer on my bus route. Not many grouse tho. Maybe when the leaves start to fall will see more of them.

Waiting for the maps and info to come from TripleA so I can start planning my bike ride out west next summer.

Wow is it wet in the woods. Tried to go on a 4 wheeler path and water was over the tires. Too scary for me. Might be hard to deer hunt if it doesn't freeze.

Well not much on the little brain tonight. Hope all is well with all of you.

Take care,
Julie

Trying to get back on track

Hi Everyone,

Hope all is well with you since the last time I posted.

Boy have I had fun on my motorcycle. I've put on almost 5000 miles this summer. It was great no matter how p***** I was I could go for a ride and come back relaxed. Hope the snowmobile does the same thing for me this winter.

This dreary weather is already getting me down guess I will have to invest in a sun lamp and see if that helps.

Hard to believe that the first week of bus driving is over.

Been seeing a few deer on my route. Not too many grouse. No ducks and the only geese I see are on Arnie Peterson's lawn. They know they are safe there.

Had company last weekend and the boys split quite a bit of my firewood. Granddaughter Rochelle loves to drive the loader so she with some help put wood in the basement. I stacked with some help and anyway the basement is full. This is really early to have that done. Now all I have to do is hook up the new furnace that was given to me.

It's raining pretty hard out again. The satellite keeps going off and on. I am sick sick of rain.

It was a busy summer or so it seemed. Of course I took two trips so there was about 3 weeks out of the summer. Went to Kansas and visited my nephew. Took my two sisters with me and then we stopped back in Missouri and visited cousins. It was a great trip.

Then I went to Montana with my friend Diane. We trailered our bikes and went riding around Flathead lake and then went to Billings and rode from there to Red Lodge and up the Bear Tooth Pass. That was awesome. We visited with Diane's family in Montana and then Stopped in Bozeman and visited Lynne Hubert and then on to Gillete Wyoming and visited a granddaughter and saw her new house. It was a great time Thanks again Diane.

On August 28th I went with some friends and we did the Veterans On the Lake ride from Deer River to Ely. It was pretty cool in the morning but was great weather in the afternoon. Lots of fun. Much more fun to ride with friends than alone.

I will try and write at least once a week. Hopefully I can keep the depression under control this winter.

Take care,
Julie

March 11,2010

Hi everyone,

Hope you've all had a good winter. I'm really behind on things.

Perch Jerkers Contest on Saturday, March 13 is CANCELLED. Too much water on ice.

St. Urho's Parade still on at 5pm at The Hill. Come and join the fun.

March 17, is Community supper at the Community Center. This is put on by St. Catherine and Centennial Lutheran Ladies. Free will donation with all proceeds going to Fresh Water for Life. They will be serving Corned Beef and Cabbage. Yum Yum!!

April 10th, Bullhead and Fish Fry at the Community Center. We will be serving Bullheads, Pollack, Potatoes, Assorted Salads, Baked Beans, Bars, Coffee and Lemonade. $8 for adults, 5-12 - $4 and under 5 free. Come and join the fun and visit with people you haven't seen for a year. All proceeds go to the Community Center Fund. Hope to see you there.

Starting to see a few deer on the bus run. They look in really good shape. Just too bad don't see more. Saw 5 today in over a hundred miles of driving.

Roads are getting pretty sloppy. I sweep off the lights everyday and they are still covered in mud. Hope the sun comes out this weekend and dries things up.

I am really hoping for warm weather and to have my road dried up. I bought a motorcycle and I want to practice riding it. Been a long time since I've been on anything like that. Figured I wasn't getting any younger so now was the time and if I decide I don't like it I'll sell it. Must be going into my second childhood or maybe my first.

Well, I will try and do more writing on this. Hope you have a good weekend.

Julie

Hi,

The holidays are over and now I need to get back to my blogging and get some other work done at home.

Sled Dog Races will be in Squaw Lake on January 9th. The time they will be arriving I still don't know.

However, I do know that there is going to be a soup and bread contest that day at the Community Center. The last I checked we had 5 women signed up but that was the middle of last week so I'm hoping there will be more. There will be 3 judges judging the contest. This is sponsered by the Squaw Lake Fire Dept. Auxiliary. The contest will be judged at 11am. The soups and bread will then be for sale at our concession stand.

Also, that day weather permitting we will have some things for the kids to do both inside and out.

I had a great holiday even with recovering from surgery. Our family gets together at the Holiday Inn in St Cloud on Christmas day. We get to visit and there are lots of things for the kids to do there. It is fun for all ages. With the weather this year it looked a little like it wasn't going to happen. Jamie's ended up in the ditch on the way down and Mandy's family backed out and didn't come. Missy had to work so we had Bradley with us. I've forgotten how much work a 4 year old can be. Thank goodness there were lots there to help with him. All in all it was a good time and I had plenty of time to nap and get rested up.

I have a feeling this week will be a long one for me. Back to work and I'm used to those naps in the afternoon. Also, it is colder than cold again today. I think I'm getting to old for this cold weather. Got one bus started today but couldn't get the other one going. Have help coming later to try and get that one going.

I made a kettle of turkey and homemade noodles today. I put these containers in the freezer with turkey and broth or ham and broth but do I ever mark what is in them? Oh no it is always a surprise when I grab one out. Today I was sure I had ham and when it was thawed it was turkey. Oh well either one makes a nice kettle of soup. It's just that I've had turkey quite a bit in the last couple of weeks.

It seems when it is cold like this all I can think of is soups. Must be a carry over from my childhood when Mom always had a kettle of soup on the back of the wood stove. So when you came in either from playing outside or working you could have a nice hot bowl of soup. Of course there was always homemade bread to go with it as Mom baked at least twice a week. Each nite when dinner was over the leftovers went into the soup pot. So sometimes you got beef or venison in your bowl and other times it was pork or chicken just depending on where you put your soup ladel. We called it Garbage Soup and my younger brother and sister thought that was all we ever ate. I keep telling them Mom had to cook other food or there would of been nothing to go into the soup kettle. I'm sure now a days kids would think you were trying to poison them if you asked them to eat it. I still make a version of it when I clean out the fridge each week only now it might go into a casserole instead.

January 23rd is the bridal shower for Amber Michalek at the Community Center. I've forgotten what the time is but I will find out tomorrow and post it. Amber is marrying Cody Pitzen from Effie.

My puppies are happy to be back home. They have been at Randy's since Thanksgiving and they couldn't behave themselves there so they had to go to the outside kennel. So far since they have been home they are model puppies in behavior.

Here's something somebody sent me today and I thought maybe some of you would enjoy it.

This is a wonderful piece by Michael Gartner, editor of newspapers large and small. In 1997, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. It is well worth reading, and a few good chuckles are guaranteed.

My father never drove a car. Well, that's not quite right. I should say I never saw him drive a car. He quit driving in 1927, when he was 25 years old, and the last car he drove was a 1926 Whippet. "In those days," he told me when he was in his 90s, "to drive a car you had to do things with your hands, and do things with your feet, and look every which way, and I decided you could walk through life and enjoy it or drive through life and miss it." At which point my mother, a sometimes salty Irishwoman, chimed in: "Oh, bull----! she said. "He hit a horse." "Well," my father said, "there was that, too."

So my brother and I grew up in a household without a car. The neighbors all had cars -- the Kollingse's next door had a green 1941 Dodge, the Van Laningham's across the street a gray 1936 Plymouth, the Hopson's two doors down a black 1941 Ford -- but we had none. My father, a newspaperman in Des Moines , would take the streetcar to work and, often as not, walk the 3 miles home. If he took the streetcar home, my mother and brother and I would walk the three blocks to the streetcar stop, meet him and walk home together. My brother, David, was born in 1935, and I was born in 1938, and sometimes, at dinner, we'd ask how come all the neighbors had cars but we had none. "No one in the family drives," my mother would explain, and that was that.

But, sometimes, my father would say, "But as soon as one of you boys turns 16, we'll get one." It was as if he wasn't sure which one of us would turn 16 first.. But, sure enough, my brother turned 16 before I did, so in 1951 my parents bought a used 1950 Chevrolet from a friend who ran the parts department at a Chevy dealership downtown.. It was a four-door, white model, stick shift, fender skirts, loaded with everything, and, since my parents didn't drive, it more or less became my brother's car. Having a car but not being able to drive didn't bother my father, but it didn't make sense to my mother.

So in 1952, when she was 43 years old, she asked a friend to teach her to drive. She learned in a nearby cemetery, the place where I learned to drive the following year and where, a generation later, I took my two sons to practice driving. The cemetery probably was my father's idea. "Who can your mother hurt in the cemetery?" I remember him saying more than once. For the next 45 years or so, until she was 90, my mother was the driver in the family. Neither she nor my father had any sense of direction, but he loaded up on maps -- though they seldom left the city limits -- and appointed himself navigator. It seemed to work.

Still, they both continued to walk a lot. My mother was a devout Catholic, and my father an equally devout agnostic, an arrangement that didn't seem to bother either of them through their 75 years of marriage. (Yes, 75 years, and they were deeply in love the entire time.) He retired when he was 70, and nearly every morning for the next 20 years or so, he would walk with her the mile to St. Augustin's Church. She would walk down and sit in the front pew, and he would wait in the back until he saw which of the parish's two priests was on duty that morning. If it was the pastor, my father then would go out and take a 2-mile walk, meeting my mother at the end of the service and walking her home. If it was the assistant pastor, he'd take just a 1-mile walk and then head back to the church. He called the priests "Father Fast" and "Father Slow."

After he retired, my father almost always accompanied my mother whenever she drove anywhere, even if he had no reason to go along. If she were going to the beauty parlor, he'd sit in the car and read, or go take a stroll or, if it was summer, have her keep the engine running so he could listen to the Cubs game on the radio. In the evening, then, when I'd stop by, he'd explain: "The Cubs lost again. The millionaire on second base made a bad throw to the millionaire on first base, so the multimillionaire on third base scored."

If she were going to the grocery store, he would go along to carry the bags out -- and to make sure she loaded up on ice cream. As I said, he was always the navigator, and once, when he was 95 and she was 88 and still driving, he said to me, "Do you want to know the secret of a long life?" "I guess so," I said, knowing it probably would be something bizarre. "No left turns," he said. "What?" I asked. "No left turns," he repeated. "Several years ago, your mother and I read an article that said most accidents that old people are in happen when they turn left in front of oncoming traffic. As you get older, your eyesight worsens, and you can lose your depth perception, it said. So your mother and I decided never again to make a left turn." "What?" I said again. "No left turns," he said. "Think about it. Three rights are the same as a left, and that's a lot safer.. So we always make three rights." "You're kidding!" I said, and I turned to my mother for support. "No," she said, "your father is right. We make three rights. It works." But then she added: "Except when your father loses count." I was driving at the time, and I almost drove off the road as I started laughing. "Loses count?" I asked. "Yes," my father admitted, "that sometimes happens. But it's not a problem. You just make seven rights, and you're okay again." I couldn't resist. "Do you ever go for 11?" I asked. "No," he said " If we miss it at seven, we just come home and call it a bad day. Besides, nothing in life is so important it can't be put off another day or another week."

My mother was never in an accident, but one evening she handed me her car keys and said she had decided to quit driving. That was in 1999, when she was 90. She lived four more years, until 2003. My father died the next year, at 102. They both died in the bungalow they had moved into in 1937 and bought a few years later for $3,000. (Sixty years later, my brother and I paid $8,000 to have a shower put in the tiny bathroom -- the house had never had one. My father would have died then and there if he knew the shower cost nearly three times what he paid for the house.)

He continued to walk daily -- he had me get him a treadmill when he was 101 because he was afraid he'd fall on the icy sidewalks but wanted to keep exercising -- and he was of sound mind and sound body until the moment he died. One September afternoon in 2004, he and my son went with me when I had to give a talk in a neighboring town, and it was clear to all three of us that he was wearing out, though we had the usual wide-ranging conversation about politics and newspapers and things in the news. A few weeks earlier, he had told my son, "You know, Mike, the first hundred years are a lot easier than the second hundred.." At one point in our drive that Saturday, he said, "You know, I'm probably not going to live much longer." "You're probably right," I said. "Why would you say that?" He countered, somewhat irritated. "Because you're 102 years old," I said.. "Yes," he said, "you're right." He stayed in bed all the next day. That night, I suggested to my son and daughter that we sit up with him through the night. He appreciated it, he said, though at one point, apparently seeing us look gloomy, he said: "I would like to make an announcement. No one in this room is dead yet." An hour or so later, he spoke his last words: "I want you to know," he said, clearly and lucidly, "that I am in no pain. I am very comfortable. And I have had as happy a life as anyone on this earth could ever have." A short time later, he died. I miss him a lot, and I think about him a lot.

I've wondered now and then how it was that my family and I were so lucky that he lived so long. I can't figure out if it was because he walked through life, or because he quit taking left turns."Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one's who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it & if it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would most likely be worth it."

ENJOY LIFE NOW - IT HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE!

Well, did everyone make their New Year's resolutions?

Mine were to work on my relationships with others. Seems like I'm becoming my Mother more and more even tho I vowed when I was a kid to never be like her. Here I look in the mirror and I see her and sometimes when I'm talking I hear her words coming out of my mouth so I've decided that I need to work on that and become Me again.

Also, I need to exercise more. Now that is a word I truly hate. But I'm not doing much now that it has gotten cold out so I need to start. I was thinking of buying a Wii with the fitness thing but I'm not sure that I would do it anyway and it is alot of money. Anyway I would have to get Rochelle up here to show me how the thing works. She was excited because her parents said she can't have one so if Gram bought it she knows she could use it on the weekends when she is up here.

The last thing I'm going to work on is to be more outgoing. Wow, I saw all those eyebrows raise up. BUT in the last few years I seem to find many excuses for not joining my friends and family in things they are doing and wanting me to join them.

So that's my list. Hopefully I will still be working on it in March.

Have a great week. I will try and get all the times for the stuff that is going on in Squaw Lake.

Take care,
Julie