They Drink Alot of Coffee in Hendrum

This past weekend I went to Hendrum, MN. No Mall of America, no city buses, not even a grocery store. Just lots of humming birds, flowers, and friends including an occasional rooster.
I got the royal treatment of accomodations with the best bed in the house and found out what something called "coffee time" is. At least I think that's what it was called. I got to hear stories about numerous people and events I knew nothing about but was fascinated by (at least somtimes). I was treated to a Redhawks game on Saturday night and found out that paint stops drying after the 6th inning. I attended their local Lutheran church on Sunday morning with Myra, her sister Bev and Kathy (who might as well be their sister) and had trouble figuring out who the minister was because she didn't dress the part, but her message was great and there was coffee time again after the service.

All in all it was a very nice time. I think I'll go and have a cup of coffee and think about the next time I plan to visit Hendrum

"DJ Fieds & the Fam"

Way back in junior high Daniel wanted to DJ for his church youth group. It never happened (another blog) but he never gave up. Buying equipment and renting some when needed he has branched out and made a small business for himself providing music for weddings, dances, and other events. He joined forces with his sister who has a tremendous handle on song titles and music from many different eras due to her degree in Music Therapy and help from dad (those that know us know what I mean). Muscles and transportation was provided by his friends Jesus and Jordan and "DJ Fieds & The Fam" was born.

Since they were creating a Web page I was asked if I would take some photos for advertising purposes. Taking Michael with me we drove out to a Ramada Inn in NE Minneapolis and I spent an hour shooting various pics of them in action. It was actually an enjoyable time even though I didn't know a soul there. It made me kind of sad that we didn't have a dance for our wedding.

Summer Birthdays

Michael and I celebrate winter birthdays and our kids celebrate summer birthdays. Daniel turned 24 on Saturday and since my mom's birthday is 5 days later we usually combine the two. I thought it would be fun to eat outside at the picnic table. It was until a bee came along to join in the fun, somehow the dog ended up with mustard on his back, and a side dish was left in the microwave and I didn't find it until 3 hours later.
The evening ended well however with ice-cream cake and presents all around.

Sharing and Caring Paws

Karen mentioned to me that I should bring our dog to the nursing home that she works at. I thought it was a great idea and agreed to bring him over there the next week. I picked a day I had off and headed over to Hopkins. I don't know who had more fun, the residents or Karen. She enjoyed her time sharing Bandit with the staff and residents where she works as a Certified Music Therapist.

Everyone loved to see him and it was equally fun for me to finally see where she works. I got to see her office and some of the equipment she uses with the residents when they have a therapy session with her. I could tell she loves her job and the staff really like having her as an employee.

I found great satisfaction and pride seeing how Karen is so relaxed with the residents, knowing all their names and making sure that everyone that wanted to pet the dog got to do just that. We ended at noon, she punched out for lunch and we swung by Jimmy Johns for a quick sandwich. I think Bandit had fun too even though he didn't get to order anything.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Michael and I have a couple that we bike and fellowship with through church whose husband is a 3rd year art student. This year he is studying portrait painting with oils. He was sharing his love of that particular mediam over Sunday brunch with us and stated he was looking for subjects to paint. He would pay his subjects $8.00 an hour. They usually get people through running an ad in the paper, sometimes having them wear certain outfits, etc. Being as my work schedule was reduced to nothing at the time, I volunteered thinking it might be fun. I had no idea what goes into a painting! My job was to sit on a chair that was on a short table and stare at an object out the window for 22 minutes without moving. He would set a kitchen timer which would allow me 7 minute breaks as well between sittings. Sounds easy, no?? It's wasn't. I kept falling asleep after about 15 minutes. I found it very hard. I did have a walkman to listen to and found that classical music was the only form of music that kept me awake. Don't ask my why. One would think talk radio would do it but that had no effect. It took approximately 2 months. I had to always wear the same clothes and the chair was marked so that it was always in the same place. We also would do it at the same time of day so the rays from the sun through the window would be the same each time or close to it. His teacher would stop each day and give him ideas on how to improve each part. I never thought my hair had so many hues or that my blue eyes actually have green tones in them. I thought I looked to serious and a bit too old but then I'm a difficult critic when judging myself.
Last week was the final spring showing of the artists work. There are approximately 50+ artists at various stages of development of their art. Dan did a great job and even though it was hard and I wouldn't do it again, I found it was a wonderful learning experience of which I am proud to have taken part in. I'm including a shot of Dan with Michael in front of a self-portrait Dan is working on. (Sorry about the body portrait behind me. Hope nobody's offended. It is one of the subject art forms used for some of the students)

Bandit

Since not everyone is on Facebook that reads my blog I thought I better cover the latest addition to the family. His name is Bandit, the name of which I'm still not fixed on yet but it's okay. I wanted to call him Louis or Louie after my favorite western author Louis Lamour. We then considered Hunter but even though he is a hunting variety of English Setter he will never hunt. Then we thought about Dupont since he lives on Dupont Avenue but then we would probably end up calling him Dewey and we thought that maybe my good friend Myra wouldn't appreciate that. I thought about Ranger after The Lone Ranger since he also had a mask and was a good guy and a bandit is usually not a good guy but then our little guy is not a good guy yet since he is not quite housebroken and likes to nibble on tender fingers with his needle sharp teeth and steal my small kitchen towels that hang off of my refrigerator. However he has his good points too. He is a very cuddly type and loves to be held. If he is tired from all his shenanigans and you rub his chest very gently he falls asleep in your arms. He considers me his meal ticket since I'm the one that feeds him and rescues him from his kennel most days and when he goes in another room he sometimes thinks he's alone in the house and cries for me even though all he has to do is come into the room I'm in.

They tell me he will be bigger than Comet but then that's okay since it's more to love.

Will You Still ...When I'm Sixty-Four (or 90)

Sorry my blog has taken so long to post but Google shut us down for maintenance reasons. Anyway, I thought I'd slip a "long lifer" blog post to cheer any of you that think life is a bummer when you reach old age. My Uncle Norman turned 90 last week and when one of his kids posted his picture on her blog I felt compelled to as well. After all, turning 90 doesn't happen every day. I came to realize that I really don't know that much about him but the things I do know I'll share. He was born in Duluth and has one sister, my mom. He is from Scottish descent having the last name Cameron. He had a band when he was a teenager and played the trumpet. Even though he wasn't close to my mom growing up he is now. He calls her every Sunday without fail. He calls me about once a month. Yesterday he called to say that his son bought a van that his Little Rascal fits into so he can go to church. I thought he was going to burst through the phone. He spends every Mother's Day with his kids and they go to the horse races in the Seattle area. Life has been kind to him especially since his mind is still pretty sharp. So if you are ever in the Seattle area and run into an elderly Scottish gentleman riding a red Little Rascal that looks like the picture on this post say hi for me and btw, don't forget to throw him a salute: he also served his country during World War II as an Air Force "Radar Man" in China.