Happenings UP north!

Last week Chris was in San Diego for a conference. While he was there, a few things happened -- you might call it a banner week for yours truly.

• I won a hunting rifle! Yep, pregnant women in the UP win hunting rifles. :-)   It's a Savage Axis .308 complete with scope. We took it to the range on Saturday to get it sighted. Although it was pretty windy, it worked our decently.
  
  Backstory --- I purchased a raffle ticket last month supporting a local American Legion post. I figured it was a good donation of $5. I received a call last Thursday from Northwoods (Freeman's) and initially thought, "What did Chris order now?" Well, the message went on to inform me that I had indeed won the grand prize! Pretty awesome, indeed. Now I just need to take it hunting. Imagine this ..... a 7-month+ pregnant women stomping through the woods with her new rifle. Hmmm ......, perhaps a new pair of cute boots might be in order!  :-)
    
  
• Chris actually made it home on Friday ... and I made him an apple pie. OK, banner-week worthy? Well, I think so!
   
  
• I good friend of mine met me at a quilt shop and had me pick out a design and fabrics for a homemade baby quilt! I must admit, the design is cool and the fabrics we picked kick-ass! There will be NO other quilt like it in the world. It is SO going to rock. Thanks, Kristen!
   
  
• Our 15th wedding anniversary was Wednesday. I was the recipient of a free lunch at work - - courtesy of a meeting about GRE/TOEFL testing standards. Lasagne and salad was had by all. So, if forced to be without your husband on your anniversary, look into attending an ETS testing update meeting. Things could be worse!
    
  
• Chris brought back Godiva chocolate for me from San Diego. Ask any pregnant woman .... this is a sign of TRUE love!
    
  
• I also was the recipient of a BE-A-UUU-TIFUL ring enhancer that fits perfectly around my engagement ring. Chris presented it to me in a very romantic and sentimental way. He asked me to marry him. At first I was a bit thrown. Of course I said yes! Then I realized that there was something additional being placed on my finger. He's a smooth, smoothy, he is! I will treasure it and, more importantly, him ALWAYS.
  I'm a very lucky woman. :-)   I need to find a camera and post some photos.
    
  
• I was also surprised with an impromptu viewing of our wedding video -- once he located the VCR (you do remember what those are, yes?) Man, we looked so very young. We also looked happy. We had no idea back then, did we? I envy our younger selves the youth, but wouldn't go back. Life makes you stronger and helps you appreciate all you have ... even if you don't really realize just how much you DO have.
  
  Of course, there was a bit of sadness ... seeing the faces of all those we've lost since then. Desperately wanting the camera to move back in another direction so we can see more of a particular loved one .... knowing that it can't and those moments were so very fleeting -- at the time, thinking you had eternity. Sad for the loss of those gone on ahead and sad for the loss of those who weren't yet here to meet them ... those who will never meet them in this life.

Great times, sad times ... all part of the same package. What can you do? Roll with the waves the best you can and take the time to look at the scenery ... even when, especially when, the schedule calls for a scenery-free trip. That's when there's the most to see.

Running with cargo

This past weekend I ran what will be, in most likelihood, my last race of the year .... plus some -- I think a turkey trot over Thanksgiving might be a bit much. Although it was a 5K, the cargo I now carry made it a bit more challenging. However, between support belts and heartburn a good time was had. It was a bit chilly starting out, but once the freight got moving things warmed up quite nicely. Chris and our friend Bruce once again volunteered -- they did last year as well, but I was on a different course and never saw them. Of course, after the race we required sustenance at Candies Cafe in Hubbell, yes, Hubbell.

Later in the day we picked local apples. I made them into applesauce on Sunday. I canned some as well! My first experience canning anything turned out pretty nicely -- if I say so myself. So, in the depths of winter we will have applesauce. Applesauce that came from UP-bred and raised apples, prepared in a UP kitchen, and consumed in a UP house.

If you ask me, life is pretty darn sweet.  :-)

Fall thoughts ....

Context: written around a campfire on a cool, windy, beginning-to-rain, September morning. Actually, the handwritten pages of this journal have some smears from the raindrops that began to fall as I wrote.

September, ... Your arrival oftentimes finds us hot and miserable. Your departure oftentimes leaves us snow -- at least frost-speckled, late summer gardens.

It is my lucky circumstance to have been born at the almost-midpoint of your annual lunar travel. Fall has always been the best .... Change. Last respite before winter. Hell, I even match September -- brown-golden eyes, red-golden-brown hair, same color freckles, a propensity for sweatshirts and hiking boots, red wine and campfires, apple cider, new-paint smell, hot dust smell from freshly-turned-on furnaces ..... Ah, how I love this time of year.

Surprise!

On this birthday of mine, I wish to say one thing:  hehehehehehe

Poems in peanut butter

A few weeks ago (probably longer than that now) I went to a writing workshop on the shores of the big lake. It was a beautiful day. Windy, a bit grey, the lake singing to us all day. The kind of day that screams for crackling fireplaces.

One of the prompts that day began with a list of random words generated by those in attendance:

• green
• love
• windswept
• family
• solitude
• peanut butter

We were to take these words and write something using them all. What follows is the result of my labor. :-)

Oh, sweet peanut butter!
How I love your windswept  mountains of peanut love.
You make family meals,
     and comfort children in lunchroom solitude
     with warm visions of home.
What could spoil this protein-filled dream?
Alas, dear peanuts, if you were green.

Training ... sort of

Well, is you follow the tagline of this blog I guess I should say something about "training."

So, Chris and I are set to complete the Grand Isle Half-Marathon in a little over a week and a half. The race happens in Munising, MI -- about 3 hours east of Houghton. As the name suggests, the race does indeed occur on an island. Part of the fee for participation includes a ferry ticket to get to the race site.

At this point in the game I should be trained to kick the behind of this trail race. Ha! As you well know, life happens along the way. There's also something about some kind of road being paved with the best intentions .... Let's just say this: I will run the race. Run is a subjective word and will be applied subjectively to how I approach the race.  Enough said.

It's also been warm here lately -- right now my office is 87 degrees. While it doesn't get super-warm in Houghton all that often, when it does the un-airconditioned nature of many of the buildings on campus makes life a bit icky. Alas, tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer. Joy!

Whew - I better stop typing ... I'm working up a sweat!

One year ago.........

One year ago yesterday I was in the hospital giving birth to our daughter, Katie.
One year ago yesterday was one of the worst days of my life.
One year ago yesterday was one of the best days of my life.
One year ago yesterday we left the hospital without our daughter, Katie.

On July 13 this year we went to Katie's point and visited the place where we spread her ashes. We also spent some time sitting by her rock that is placed under a small pine tree. We took her some pink roses from a rose bush in our yard. They smelled like rose-perfection.

 

We also visited the place where Mary's ashes were spread by the Copper Harbor lighthouse. Its a beautiful little field, still and full of daisies.

It ended up being an absolutely beautiful day. Not too warm - not too wavy. The big lake treated us kindly in our kayaks and rocked us gently in our sorrow. We could feel both Katie and Mary looking down on us ... smiling.

Copper Harbor holds such special meaning for us. It seems only natural that we would someday retire to this special place while we live out our days, waiting to be reunited with the ones we love.

Happy Summer!

So, yesterday was the beginning of summer. It was a balmy 59 degrees here with rain all day. I turned on the heat in the house, but just for a little bit ........ Today we have even more rain and it's pretty much the same temperature. Honestly, I enjoy grey and rainy days. However, I'm wondering if summer plans to arrive this year. One of two things will happen:

1. We will have a cool summer.
2. It will stay this way for awhile longer, then suddenly be 90 degrees.

Don't know which it will be. Either way, it's still a beautiful place with wonderful people. Our life here is truly blessed.

Goodbye, Grandma

Chris and I went home this past weekend to attend my Grandma Helminen's funeral. She passed away last Tuesday at 86 years old. One word the minister used to describe her was "energetic." Those of us who knew her couldn't help but to laugh a bit.  Energetic .... yes, that's one way to describe her.  :-)

Much love, Grandma. Tell Grandpa we said hello.

Killing Facebook

So, it's been awhile since Chris and I killed our facebook accounts. Well, we killed them as much as you CAN kill a FB account -- deactivated is as far as they'll let you go. All you have to do is login again and it will all magically appear once again. Joy of joys. It's been pretty enjoyable .... life without FB. Can't say I miss it all that much. We're considering opening a joint account in the future ... for family and CLOSE friends only. However, we're not in too much of a hurry to do that either.

I'm thinking I'll start using this blog more often. Don't know what exactly it will hold .... perhaps info about the dinner I plan to make tonight, or about the run I took yesterday, or about the sore foot I now have (and the nervous feeling that if I'm smart I may want to avoid running for a bit despite the 1/2 marathon plan I'm following), or about the truck we're planning to buy ..... who knows?! The blogging world is my oyster.

To those folks who bother to keep track of this thing .... thanks! Hopefully, I can provide something worth your efforts.