A beautiful, sunny, stormy day. Sounds odd doesn't it. But this morning, it was kind of cloudy but pleasant so I finished trimming the privet bush. (I don't think it is really a privot, but I like the name.)

This afternoon, about 3:00, it started getting very windy, then some mild thunder then the biggest BOOM we have had in a couple of years. Poor Chelsea is a basket case and Oscar flew (literally) from the window to the door of the office without touching the ground. Dick and I went to two graduation parties. Jessica Bainbridge and our niece, Jessica Deeley. It was raining until about 5:30 then cleared up nicely. Jessica actually graduates on the 11th but she leaves on the 13th for 25 days in Germany. Wow, kids now days sure have opportunities. She has worked her little buns off to afford this trip with fundraisers and a job and she maintained her school grades and extra circular activities too. Randy, my baby brother, can be very proud of ALL of his girls and I am very proud to be their aunt.

It was fun spending time with Uncle Pat, Aunt Joan, Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Bob. Next weekend, I will be taking Mother to my cousin Brian's daugher Amanda's graduation so I will probably see them again then.

Jeff and Kathy were there too, of course, Kathy is retired now. Jeff and Randy make their annual trip to Indy this year. Jeff said it was perfect this year. The weather was wonderful and the race was great. Danica, the young lady who managed to come in fourth on her FIRST major race, was quite a draw and VERY impressive. This group of guys have been going to Indy for at least 40 years. They used to camp out and tailgate. They still do tailgating but now they stay in a nicer motel out of the elements. They aren't stupid.

Jeff and Kathy said that the currants are looking really good this year. They should be ready about the middle of July. Last year we missed them and are we ever sorry. The wine needs to mature for a year but it is REALLY good. I told Jeff and Kathy that we don't want to miss the crop again.

A dear friend sent me the following. Try it. It is great.

HOW TO START YOUR DAY WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK


1. Open a new file in your PC.

2. Name it "Housework."

3. Send it to the RECYCLE BIN

4. Empty the RECYCLE BIN

5. Your PC will ask you, "Are you sure you want to delete housework permanently?"

6. Answer calmly, "Yes," and press the mouse button firmly....

7. Feel better?

Have a pleasant relaxing Sunday.

God love you - I do

Mary

WHAT A DAY! The Plymouth ladies were all unable to come to lunch so I had to redo my plans. I ended up going to the bank in Sheboygan Falls and picking up some pins I needed at Evans. Then I went to church for the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and dropped some information off to Lynn in the church office.

I stopped at Mom's for a few minutes. Randy had brought over a big box of cook books that Dolores brought to their house. Donna and her girls took what they wanted and they are spreading them around. We aren't sure why Dolores sent them down. Has she stopped cooking? Maybe so. Did she decide to REALLY clean house? Such a puzzle. I brought home a Frugel Gormet cookbook and will go through the Taste of Home but lord knows I have anough cookbooks myself.

I trimmed half of the corner bushes around the birdbath. It is supposed to rain for the next three days. I hope it starts late enough tomorrow so that I can finish the bush.

We had lasagna for dinner. I am using up things in the freezer. The sauce I made up without meat worked well for this too. I sliced mushrooms and meatballs along with three kind of cheese, the sauce and the lasagna pasta. Yum Yum. We had chocolate cake too. If you come Sunday I have plenty left for everybody. (If you ALL came I would add stuff til there was enough. One of my curses. I love to feed people.)

Tomorrow is the graduation party for Jessica. That will be fun. At least for me. I hope that it does not rain before late in the evening. I sure would make it difficult for Randy and Donna. She actually graduates on the 11th but she leaves for Germany on the 12th. So this is quite a whirlwind time for that girl. Boy, the kids now days sure have wonderful opportunities.

Love

Mary

Dick's blood test was perfect again. Sue, his technician, says that he is getting boring. We all LOVE that kind of boring. She says he should continue doing what he is doing and not doing what he is not doing.

Today was nice and warm. Low 70s. I went out in the front yard and trimmed the bush that Bobbie says is really a tree. It is under the Locust tree. If I let it go it gets way too big and tries to overtake the Locust. Trimmed, it looks nice. With any luck at all, this weekend I will get the privot hedge that corners the birdbath squared up. Everything is healthy and thriving. A good thing, but it does make a lot of work.

Tonight was choir practice, both adult choir and bell choir. Sr. Marcia, the ex-principal of our school, who has been here forever, 28 years as I understand, is moving to another ministry at the end of June. We are having a celebration of her service and a good bye party on Sunday. The choir is singing along with the childrens choir. We are singing a wonderful song along with the children called There is a Redeemer. The children will sing the first two verses and we will join in four parts on the refrain and both choirs will sing the last verse a capella. The children are so precious and we all enjoy singing together so it sounds wonderful.
Sr. Marcia will be so pleased. We are also singing her favorite - On That Holy Mountain.

Did I tell you that we have robots that do our vacuuming. They are called Roomba and are kind of like another couple of pets. After you make sure that the area you want vacuumed is surrounded by "walls" of one kind or another you turn them on. If you don't contain it, it escapes and you don't know where it will end up. They are fascinating to watch, they even know when there are stairs and turn around (usually, actually we have had the Roomba go tumbling down the stairs twice.) Anyway, I moved the carpet runners into the kitchen while we are doing the main carpet and you would really laugh to see Roxie jump on the end of the runners to get a ride.

Have a nice Friday.

Mary

We had dinner with Mother at The Villager. Mother and I both got their "Pasta Viola" a construct your own pasta meal. This is kind of fun. You choose your pasta, sauces, herbs and veggies and add meat or seafood if you want it. I keep trying different combinations and they are all good.

The Sheboygan Theatre did a fine job on Sondheim's Into the Woods. It is a typical Sondheim, full of good but not "humable" music and the story is fairytale and fun. Almost everyone dies which is really rather odd. It was a new play for Dick and me which is always an adventure.

And it is always nice to spend an evening with Mother.

Tomorrow, we shop and Dick gets his finger pricked again. He has had another long streak of being right within the perameters. We are very pleased with that. I means that his medication if working and keeping him stable.

I also have choir tomorrow night so it will be a busy day.

It was beautiful today. Well into the 70s. Dick says he is turning on the air conditioner tomorrow so summer is really here.

I am tired and hope to sleep tight tonight. Chelsea has been getting me up way to early lately. It was 5:30AM today.

Mary

What a beautiful day. The temperatures were up in the high 60s and everything is green and fresh. Days like this make me remember why we stay in Wisconsin. They almost make up for the icy below zero days we struggle through in the winter.

We cleaned the kitchen screens and windows today too. It is amazing how much that brightens up the room.

Chelsea woke me up way too early again. It was not even 5:30AM so Dick and I got out for our grocery shopping early too. But it makes for a long day.

Tomorrow night, Dick, Mother and I are going to the Sheboygan Theatre Company to see Into the Woods. Mother saw a production of the musical last year at Sheboygan Falls High School. Jessica, my niece, was one of the performers in that one. Dick and I have not seen it. Sondheim can be different. Some of his work I like a LOT and some I find rather odd. This one should be fun as it is a fantasy.

Well, I am tired. A E. V. Lucas said, "One of the most adventurous things left is to go to bed, for no one can lay a hand on our dreams." So I will start my evening's adventure. Hope yours is pleasant too.

Love

Mary

Yesterday was a lost day. I totally forgot to post on the blog.

Went to church early because the choir was not singing. The rest of the day was pleasant. Jim and I went shooting. I did pretty well with the pistol. Not so good with the trap shooting, but I was trying out my new vest. It did help with the bruising of the shoulders, but I need to get used to it. I will go again next Sunday so I have one more try before shoot league again on Monday.

Dick took Jim and I out for dinner last night. We sent to Nino's - always a good place to eat. I got pork, Jim got steak and Dick got fish.

Today was equally quiet. We fried out brats for dinner and I fixed the famous Kunert potato salad and beans to go with it. It was a beautiful day, up into the high 60s and sunny. We had lots of rain yesterday. A good thing for my new grass and I can see my bean plants coming up. Did I till you that there are buds on my peony bush. I am just delighted. This is the plant that I have thought was dead two years in a row. But it keeps coming back and this is its first year to bloom.

Yesterday, we had some really persistant thunderstorms. Our poor little Chelsea was just frantic. People in the area were setting off fireworks both Saturday AND Sunday nights and she is afraid of that too. Poor little thing keeps pacing and trying to find a safe spot. Jim and Dick both held her for a while and she just trembled. Her whole body turns into a little bowl of jello. We can't figure out why in the world fireworks are being used for Memorial Day. Neither can our girl. Hope they are out of them. I think if there were three days in a row, Chelsea will lose all hope.

Love

Mary