This has been a beautiful autumn here at the lake. There were predictions
that our late and long-lasting freeze in April combined with our scorching
temperatures and dry weather this summer would result in lackluster
fall color, so the last few weeks have been a colorful surprise to everyone.
I went for a ride the other day to take some photos to share with you --
especially those of you in warm weather climates that do not enjoy this
kind of fall displays. The photos don't fully capture the brilliance, but
they are still nice.
It's been a busy time since my last posting.
We had sad news as a family that everyone's favorite cousin, Nancy
McGee from California passed away unexpectedly on October 13th.
She was one of the kindest, sweetest people I have ever had the
privilege of knowing. Her passing came has a huge shock to all
in the family, particularly to her loving husband, Roland. I don't think
I have ever been around such a devoted couple, even after 30 years
of marriage, so my heart goes out to him in his loss.
This is Roland and my lovely cousin, Sharon. The nice things about
sad events like funerals is that you get to see family members that
you rarely get to see otherwise. Roland, Sharon and her mom, Bardy,
another lovely cousin, all came back to Iowa for Nancy's services as
she wanted to be buried next to her parents in Malvern, IA.
Jordan, Pam's grandson, had been in a bike/car accident the night before
the services. He was on the bike, so it is lucky that he wasn't hurt worse
than a separated shoulder. This is his "pitiful look."
These are some of the other "lovely" cousins. My grandmother, Lela May, was
one of 11 children. Two of them died very young, but the other 9 had amazingly
long lives. Most of them moved to California as adults; only 3 or four stayed
behind in Iowa. As is the way with time, they are all gone now. Nancy was the
daughter of the youngest of grandma's sisters. The pretty gray haired lady in
the above photo is the daughter of another of grandma's sisters, Betty Hobus.
Betty and Bardy are two of just a handful of remaining children of those original
"Miller kids." It is sad to me that our next generation of kids will eventually lose
contact with their California family. I have so enjoyed knowing and spending
time with my "California Cousins." I am sorry they won't have had that
opportunity. Actually, some of the best times in my life have been with those
California Cousins. We Iowa Cousins have had good times together too.
My mom and Betty's husband, Edward, always used to exchange disgusting gifts.
(One year mom received a beautifully wrapped very dead cat.) We had fantastic
treasure hunts at Easter time and played fun family games, like "Button,
Button, Who's Got The Button." That was all a long time ago, but I am so
thankful for those wonderful memories and simpler times.
Here's Jordan with Pam. He is looking less pitiful here.
This is cousin, Betty. Once, her husband Edward, found a "cow pie" and
somehow talked Betty into covering it with chocolate and pretty frosting
decorations to look like a very expensive chocolate Easter Egg. That was
one of my mom's gifts as well. Don't worry, my mom came back at him
with some real doozies also.
This is my friend, Susie. She attended the funeral with me. She is
always there when I or my family needs her. I am sooo lucky to have
her as my friend.
The following weekend, Jerry and I made an impromptu trip to KC to
look at houses. This is one we found and liked. The mauve color is
a little odd, but the inside was awesome. It looked like a house in a
magazine; everything was just right and to my liking. The back yard,
deck, etc., were awesome!
Below is another one we liked. It is less expensive, but again, I think it
is OK as is -- no painting, etc., would have to be done. Oops, I forgot
about the cats. The carpeting would have to be replaced. Need I say
more?
I really like some of the unique features of the "cat" house.
We could find a dozen houses that we would love to have, but we can't
do a darn thing about any of them until we sell this one. We are pretty
much back to square one on it. The two couples we thought were
interested both fizzled out. My guess is that it will be spring or summer
before we get it sold, and we will be lucky if it happens then. This RE
market is the pits!
The following weekend was my 66th birthday celebration. I celebrated
it with Bruce Springsteen in Minneapolis, along with some other special
folks, such as Rob, Susan, Tessa, Sam, Suzanne and Susan's whole
family. Rob and Susan had such a large group that they hired a Hummer
limo to take them to the concert. Suzanne and I arrived at our hotel after
the big group had already been delivered, so the limo came back to make
a special trip for us. Rather than just the two of us climbing into that huge
thing, we insisted that the above couple who were also attending the Bruce
concert ride with us. They were hesitant at first, but then they loved it. I
have no idea who they were, but I'm sure their ride to the concert made
an interesting story when they returned home.
The concert was great-- as always. Somewhere on the main floor are
Rob and Susan. They love being as close as possible. Once, Rob was
so close, Bruce even leaned down so Rob could play his guitar! That
was one of the biggest thrills of his life! (He has a lot more photos
on his blog, should you want to check it out ... www.peach.typepad.com.)
Here are Tessa, her friend, Abby, and her cousin, Kat. Earplugs are
required, but I think Abby's were having a problem. :-)
Here's Abby and her mom, Beth. They are very close friends of
Rob and his family in KC. In fact, they seem very much a part of
our family.
Suzanne was LOVIN' IT! This was her first time away from Mitchell.
It was very traumatic for both, and several phone calls were made
back and forth, but they both survived. It was probably good for
them, but that first time is always really tough.
Three generations of Bruce's Girls.
We missed the peak colors in Minneapolis, but we still had a nice view
from our St. Paul Hotel room.
Suzanne and I looked forward to our "girls day out" on Saturday.
We immediately headed for IKEA. I sure wish there were an
IKEA store closer to us! What fun. We then went to the Mall
of America. That wasn't so fun. That place is huge and I have
never seen so many people in my life. Yikes! I'd hate to think
what it is like the day after Thanksgiving! We could barely get
in and out of the stores because of the crowd. We both swore
that we would never go back.
We checked out of our hotel Sunday a.m. to return to reality. Guess
what, our rented Chevy HR was dead as a door nail. We had to call
a cab to get to the airport and leave the car parked for the rental
agency to deal with. We weren't really all that impressed with the
car. We both sit tall, so we had to lean over to see what color the
traffic lights were. There were some other drawbacks, too. The
biggest one was, of course, that it quit working!
I've stayed put since that trip, except for a one day drive to Branson, MO,
to see my California friend, Gay, who was there with a tour group from CA.
We had lunch and a nice visit then I started home. I decided it would be
smart for me to spend the night after I started my journey, so I stayed in
Springfield and finished the trip on Thursday. I can tell when I am too
pooped to do stuff, and that was one of those times. It was worth it,
though, to see her. It had been a long time.
I have had some problems with dehydration, so I have had to go into
the hospital for fluids a couple times a week recently; otherwise, I am
doing OK. My tumor markers are down to 77.5, and my counts are
very low as well. It's good to have low markers but not low counts,
so I am waiting for an OK from my doctor to be able to carry through
on our Thanksgiving plans.
We had planned on leaving today for Colorado, but I felt too crummy
yesterday to try it, so we decided to wait until tomorrow. If she calls
in the a.m. to say, "NO WAY!" I guess we won't be going. (We all
have bad memories about last year's 8 day stay in the Minneapolis
hospital over Thanksgiving.) So, right now, I don't know for sure
what we will be doing. I sure hope Colorado is a go. I haven't been
there for 2-3 years! I don't think Jerry has been there since Suzanne
and Jack's wedding in 2000!
That pretty much catches you up to this week. I will close out with
a few more fall photos.
Have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING. I am very thankful for so many
things, and all of you are certainly on my grateful list. Thank you, as
always, for your continued prayers and support.
We love you.
Judy and Jerry
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