2025, Automotive, Family, Farming Update, Seasons

NOVUS INITIUM

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A NEW OR FRESH BEGINNING

The weekend farm report comes to us from Ben.

Asking Google for a Latin translation for a “new beginning” turned into more questions than answers, so it’s something like the title. Or maybe not. One of you will have a better idea. I just didn’t want to give this a tired or cliched heading. I thought of PT Barnum and “This way to the Egress!” but Ingress wasn’t what I wanted. 

I went around on Wednesday morning and recorded the mileage and hours on the cars, truck, tractors, gator, lawn mower, and the pump on the diesel barrel. 

Everything was pretty average. Kelly drives a lot less miles now that she’s working at home of course. We spent 34 hours cutting grass. 140 hours between the two tractors, slightly less than normal for me. No snow to move last winter, and less weeds mowed last summer. I moved 488 dozen eggs, which is pretty impressive. That’s 5856 eggs! Jeepers! Well done girls. Other than December when I got maybe 5 dozen, they were over 40 dozen / month with May being the highest at 63 dozen. 

We are starting 2025 with the bathroom and laundry room remodeling project. Our contractor, Joe, called on Tuesday afternoon and said he could start Thursday if we wanted. Well, with my family Christmas at our house on Saturday, January 4th, and already having the theme of “A YMCA Construction Christmas! Dress as your favorite Village Person”, we figured ‘why not!’ and also, then we don’t need to clean so much. I’ll put a sign on the front door: “Pardon our mess”. 

We spent New Years Day cleaning out the laundry room and bathroom, taking pictures off the walls, and doing laundry. We delivered several boxes to Goodwill, and created a couple bags of trash, and it felt good to purge.

Everything is in disarray and is going to be a pain in the butt for a couple of weeks. They have been starting in the mornings before daughter is awake. We’ve warned them she’ll probably come out and yell at them and slam her door at least a few times. Sure hope it’s worth it. Kelly has been planning this for about a year and she’s still going through the catalogs and watching home remodeling shows. Pretty soon it will be too late to change her mind. SO MANY DETAILS! Tile, finish, walls, flooring, knobs, door styles, lights, hooks, towel racks, shower door, should this be here or here, oh my goodness. It makes my head spin. She’s enjoying herself.  

My 2024 To do list: It’s fun to put it in Excel just to count it up. I had 212 listed items. And some were pretty mundane, such as ‘haul in garbage’ or ‘cut the grass’, but that’s what I needed to do that week, and it’s always satisfying to cross something off. There were 58 items I carried over to 2025. Like having the septic tank emptied (carried over from 2023) and shingling the feed room. Plus, a few more shop things. My big project for 2025 is to build a lean-too off the back of the shed to make up for what I’ve lost in storage space inside with the shop project. I’d love more concrete inside the shed, but I need to pay down what I’ve spent the last two years. 

 Honestly, I think the best thing we did was add the hot and cold faucets in the garage. That is just so handy. The point was to be able to wash the dogs, which we’ve only done about once, but filling their water buckets just makes that Worth it. And all the buckthorn that Kelly cleaned out the last two summers! That makes me happy every day! The view that it has brought back, both from the road above, and from below looking up. Even the neighbors commented on that. So many of the things on the list was just work that had to be done. Kelly and I were talking one day about so much of the last 30 years we can’t even remember. As the phrase goes, ‘Life is F-ing Relentless’. it’s so hard to remember every-day special moments because you’re so busy just existing. Milk the cows, go to work, do chores, feed the kids, repeat. It’s hard to remember all the little day to day stuff.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LATIN PHRASE?

2025, animals, Family, Fantasy, holidays, Movies

Our Holiday Movie

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All autumn I was dreading “the Christmas movie”. On Christmas morning, YA and I have almost always opened stockings and then gone to the movies. We did skip a couple of years due to COVID and one year we just couldn’t find anything at theatres that we liked so we streamed a movie and watched it from the comfort of the sofa.

I knew from YA comments that she wanted to see Wicked. And you all know from my rant last summer that I was not that interested. The thought of seeing a 2½ hour movie (that is just Part I) of a musical that I’m not crazy about just didn’t seem like a fun way to spend a morning, much less a holiday morning. So when I saw a poster at Southdale for Red One, I thought we might find a compromise.

Two weeks before Christmas we went to see Wicked at the Riverview. I always like the Riverview, even if I’m not that wild about what’s showing and that’s exactly how it turned out. We had a nice enough time, I didn’t have to close my eyes over anything gory. Since I’ve gone on and on about Wicked already, I won’t get into it here – suffice it to say it was a good decision not to see this as our Christmas Day movie.

Red One turned out to be at the end of it’s run before Christmas Day (how does this make sense that a Christmas movie stops showing a couple of days before Christmas?) so we decided to see our holiday movie on Solstice this year.

The movie lived up to my expectations. Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans are the main stars. Johnson can’t act his way out of a paper bag but his charm is that he knows this and doesn’t try. A bit refreshing actually. I only know Chris Evans as Captain America, but he gave a creditable performance as the guy who gets transformed by Christmas spirit.

It’s almost impossible to do spoilers for a movie like this… if you don’t know where it’s going, then you’ve never seen a Christmas movie. Here are a few things I thought were particularly fun:

  • • The reindeer are all female.
    • Johnson is the commander of E.L.F., the groups that “guards” Santa. He explains this to Evans at one point saying that as far as Evans is concerned, it stands for Extremely Large and Formidable.
    • Toy stores are the portals to the North Pole transit system, which reaches all over the world.
    • Santa is a smallish, muscular guy who works out a lot and loves cookies, except for macaroons.
  • And, of course, there is a massive polar bear named Garcia on the E.L.F. team.

By the time we got home from the theatre, YA had discovered that Red One is already out on Prime Video. I’ve watched it twice more since then!

Do you have a favorite holiday movie?

2025, animals, books, Food, work

Not a Chance

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In a conversation yesterday afternoon, YA was telling about some woman online who has quit her job to be an influencer.  Apparently this woman is garnering a lot of negative attention right now and shedding followers like a Samoyed in summer.  She then went on to suggest that I could become an influencer.  When I stopped laughing (quite a bit later), I asked her what I could possibly influence.  She said baking or book reviews. 

While I do think my baking is usually top notch, I am not meticulous.  A co-worker way back in the day said once that “done is better than perfect” and if I have a motto in life, this is it.  I also do not think that I am a discerning enough reader to do book reviews.  I like what I like and would be the first to admit that I’m probably not consistent in how I allot my praise or criticism.

My comment to YA was that I’d be ashamed to leave the house if my job title were “social influencer”. 

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

2025, Business, education, Uncategorized

Out With the Old

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Most of my adult life, the new year has come with the headache (mild) of having to remember to write the correct year on forms and checks, mostly checks.  I can’t even guess how many times into a new year I have still been writing the old year in the date.

As I changed out all my calendars this morning, I thought was thinking about this problem and realized that it’s not much of a problem anymore.  I write almost no checks anymore.  I still write a check to Bachmans most months since they do not have any kind of online billing yet.  And the place where I pick strawberries in the spring and raspberries in the fall still needs a check.  Even the apple picking place accepts cards now.  Since I write so few checks, writing the date isn’t as automatic as it used to be either.  Of course, I haven’t had to order checks for a couple of years now.

When I got my first checking account, my mother spent a couple of hours teaching me how to balance my checkbook, which I did religiously for decades.  These days I check my bank stuff online every few days so even balancing the checkbook has gone by the wayside. 

Do you still write many checks?  How do you remember the new year’s date?

2024, Family, Gatherings, holidays, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Ends/Beginnings

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We typically spends New Year’s Eve staying home, drinking in moderation, and going to bed before 9:00. Tonight will be no different. The New Year has never meant much of a change for us, but this January forward will be much different than in the past.

I retire from full-time work January 31. I will be out of the office for the month of February, and then start part time in March. I hope to put in no more than 20 hours a week, doing two evaluations a week and writing the reports. I am a little concerned my agency wants me to do more than I have imagined, as I have been asked to supervise two counseling interns and to continue behavioral consulting at Head Start. They also want me to continue as a consultant to the Youth and Family team and to train staff in diagnosis and treatment planning.

All the while this will be going on, Husband and I will be downsizing and preparing ourselves to move to Minnesota. I think the move will be no later than the spring of 2026. It is very strange to have so much uncertainty in our future after 36 years of much the same activity, people, and tasks.

What does the New Year hold for you? What have been your most uncertain times? How do you celebrate New Year’s Eve?

2024, Farming Update, Theatre, Uncategorized

Wrapping Up

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Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben.

The chickens might be coming around, slowly, to laying eggs again. Friday we got five eggs. Three on Saturday, and that’s normal to have more every other day.

Still have three guineas. They sure seem like bullies; they’ll chase roosters away from food. And they don’t even necessarily eat it, just stopping someone else from eating.

No sign of ducks lately. I’m really bummed about that. I’ve been wondering if next year I got mallards, would that help? Would being able to fly help them escape whatever it is that’s been taking ours? Don’t know. But I sure miss having ducks around. I noticed today my pond has sprung another leak and there’s not much water in it. No need to fix it at the moment.

We had a nice quiet Christmas Day. I made cinnamon rolls from scratch the night before. Never made anything with yeast that had to rise before, so that was fun. I’d like to try biscuits, too. Then Kelly made lasagna for supper and it was really good. When we were first dating, lasagna was the first meal she made for me, showing me that she knew how to cook. Well, readily admitting lasagna was the only fancy meal she knew how to cook. What did we eat when younger? A lot of potato chips and dip, I remember that. I don’t remember what else. Maybe we ate out a lot.

I was working on the shop the other day and pounding in some trim nails and caught myself with my tongue out.

I must have been concentrating, but I hate the tongue thing.

The shop is really coming along.

This past week I installed a trim piece along the top to protect the insulation and keep the birds out of it. And with all the rain and warm temps the last few days, I cleaned up some stuff, got the trailer for the scissor lift in the shed, and the four wheeler inside so I can try and get that running again. (I think it needs new fuel. Take off the carburetor, again, and dump out the old fuel, and clean the tank, and try this for a 3rd time).

My friend Doug sent me a photo had had found. He titled it ‘mentors’. The two guys left and middle were his mentors and all three were/are mentors to me.

That’s Donald on the left. He was such a cool guy with a great laugh. And such a craftsman. Besides theater he would fix furniture and make vases out of old fence posts. And he was an actor. One of his roles, he played the butler, ‘Firs’, in Chekov’s play, ‘The Cherry Orchard’ and he had a great death scene. He also told me, “If you think about it long enough, you’ll find an easier way to do something.”

In the middle is Gary. He was at the Civic Theater when I first started to volunteer there in 1983, but then he became the technical director and speech instructor at the Community College. We discovered we were distantly related: his Grandfather and my Grandfather were brothers. He retired from the theater technical director position, but continued to teach speech, and that’s when I got hired as the college TD. We shared an office for a couple years. He was a fantastic designer. And did his best to impress that upon me. Some of it stuck. He passed away the same day as Prince, which is why you didn’t hear about his passing.

On the right is Doug, the man who sent the photo. He is also so creative and such a great designer! I talk with Gary or Doug sometimes when I need inspiration. In the way back days, Doug and his wife Joan created trophies to give out at a theater award banquet. I received ‘Best Director’ for sitting in the booth trying to get actors to stay in their light. (Talking to myself: “Don’t go there! Come over this way! No, not up there! C’mon, one more step!”) I was young. I didn’t know that wasn’t a thing.

WHAT ARE YOU GONNA WRAP UP IN THE LAST TWO DAYS OF 2024?

2024, Family, Gatherings, Kids, Uncategorized

Naughty!

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We went to a very early Christmas Eve Service at 1:30 PM on Tuesday. It was nice to be in the congregation instead of being a church musician. Nice, that is, aside from the three very naughty children in the pew in front of us.

The children in question were apparently cousins sitting between their mothers. One was an 8 year old girl in a green, spangly dress. The other two were brothers, ages about 8 and 4. The girl’s mother was somewhat attentive. The boys’ mother was somewhat inert. Their father was seated on the other side of her from the boys, and he didn’t seem to notice what they were doing.

No one sat still. There was constant movement and activity. The four year old was the major instigator of trouble. The adults had wisely provided crayons and papers to color on, but the four year old decided crayons were weapons to draw on his brother and stick in his brother’s ears. He blew raspberries at his brother and cousin and they pushed and shoved him. Sometimes they tried to ignore him. There were snacks and crackers all over the pew. The boys’ mom sometimes whispered to them to settle down, but did nothing to stop any of the activity. This went on the entire service.

It wasn’t until the four year old decided to start smashing Goldfish Crackers in his brother’s hair that I intervened. I tapped him lightly on the shoulder with my bulletin. He spun around, saw my glare, sat down, and didn’t move for the rest of the service. I am happy to say that our grandson colored quietly for the majority of the service.

What were the most difficult venues for you to behave in? How would your parents have handled the naughty ones I encountered?

2024, Art, Family, Kids, Uncategorized

Art

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I am amazed by the wonderful art kits and projects that are availble these days for children. We got our grandson something called Paint By Stickers. You can see one of his creations in the header photo. We also got him this amazing art kit:

It has water color pencils, pastels, charcoal pecils for sketching, and things I can’t even identify. He loves doing art projects. He set straight to work with it after opening it on Wednesday morning.

I sure can’t say the same for me either now or when I was a child. I despised art class and art projects in school. Sewing and embroidery made sense and I enjoyed them. I still do, but drawing? Forget it. My fingers don’t do what my brain tells it to do when I have an art implement in my hand. My hand writing is and always has been awful. I think it has something to do with a lack of patience.

One of my favorite college classes was Art History. I love other people’s art and learning about artists and their lives. .Just don’t make me create anything. I will leave that to the proficient.

What art projects did you like or not like as a child? How about now? Who are your favorite artists?

2024, Food, Gatherings, History, holidays, pets, Uncategorized

Family Time

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My parents and I always opened our presents on Christmas Eve after church. That was a German tradition from my mother, and also cleared the way for Christmas with family on Christmas Day.

We usually headed for Magnolia, MN late morning on Christmas Day to either my paternal grandparent’s farm or the farm of my dad’s younger brother a couple of miles east. My dad’s sister and family would come from Sioux Falls, and we would have a huge meal (usually turkey and all the fixings), and then we children would have to wait until after the dishes were done to open presents. That was a long wait! Late in the afternoon we would head to Pipestone, 25 miles north, to whichever of my mother’s family would host Christmas. There usually were no presents, just a big meal and lots of desserts.

Yesterday we spent time in Brookings opening presents, taking turns cooking, napping, reading, doing art projects with our grandson, and listening to grandson read aloud the various books he received (Cat Kid, Wild Robots, or Dog Man). He also received some pretty wonderful art kits which he started to use right away. It was very foggy outside, and we didn’t go anywhere. We watched The Muppets Christmas Carol after eating the French Canadian tortiere that grandson and I assembled and baked. He was a good dough pincher. It was a restful day. The Westie and cat napped on various soft blankets. No one had to wait for the dishes to get done before opening presents. We cleaned as we cooked. We listened to Christmas music on MPR all day. It was a great time.

What were your family gatherings like when you were a child? What were some of your favorite presents? Who did the dishes?

2024, Family, holidays, Travel, Uncategorized

Whoops!

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YA is waiting for a package.  I’m not sure what’s in the shipment, but it left Columbus on November 20.  Then it hit St. Paul, Minneapolis, San Antonio, Puerto Rico, Jacksonville, Chicago.  Four days ago it got back to Minneapolis but apparently has moved from one Minneapolis station to another.  Supposedly it’s out for delivery today (Tuesday).

I had a trip once that went really awry.  It was supposed to be Minneapolis to Chicago to Barcelona.  The ship was departing Barcelona at 5 p.m.   Chicago got delayed so I jumped onto a flight to New Jersey.  Was going to taxi to LaGuardia but the flight I wanted was also delayed.  So I ended up on a flight to Frankfurt.  I literally missed the flight from Frankfurt to Barcelona by minutes.  The door had closed but they plane was still sitting there.  I even tried bribery.  It was now noon.  They put me on a quick jump to Munich where I thankfully got on the plane on time to Barcelona.  Luckily no delay.  I got to Barcelona at 4 p.m.  Managed to talk my way off the plane first and my supplier rushed me to the port.  Unbelievably they held the ship departure 10 minutes for me.  I was shaking a little when I checked in on the ship.  The rest of the trip went very smoothly but I had to talk through all my itinerary changes a couple of times with accounting when I submitted my expense report. 

I’ll do a quick update if the package actually gets delivered today.  YA seems supremely unconcerned about it so I’m guessing it’s not for Christmas.

When has something gone spectacularly sideways for you?