Beyond Labor Day

Football (and knitting, if you're like me) season is upon us, so it's safe to say summer is over. And the rainy days we've been having would confirm it. I know it will continue to be wet, because the roofing project is still waiting for shingles (they should be arriving Monday) and someone to complete the job! The barn has tar paper, which hopefully will hold up in spite of the wind that has been blowing through. I'm going to be optimistic and think James-Philip will find a friend to help him get that done once the shingles are here. The house could wait for next spring, when all the roofers in town won't be so backed up, dealing with hail storm repairs all over town.

Before Tom began his extended fall journey, we had birthday and Christmas (mine and JP's) so Tom could enjoy our reaction to his gifts. So now I have a great collection of movies to watch (lots of Muppet movies that I don't have on DVD) and a few Wii games (Lego Indiana Jones and Harry Potter). That will keep me busy over the winter in between knitting projects. I tried the Indiana Jones game the other day - I'm going to need a small child to help me get through that!

Almost Labor Day? Really?

It's embarrassing to think the entire summer has gone without adding any news at all here! Perhaps that's a sign that it was just a bit busy...

As the photo on the website showed, we had an incredibly rainy May-June which caused a tree to just fall over. Tom was planning on re-roofing the barn, but the rain interfered with removing the old shingles, and the tree presented a more obvious project - he really wanted to get that cut up and out of the yard!

Mother Nature had some interesting ideas too, in addition to the unusual amount of rain. June 30 saw an incredible hail storm blow through the area - truly golf-ball sized hail! Not much you can do about it, except wait and cross your fingers about what you'll find afterward. I was lucky - at the library, I park in the shade of a building to help keep the sun off the car, which also protected it from the hail. I had only a shattered side-view mirror, and assorted dings on the roof and hood. Other vehicles in the parking lot suffered much more serious damage - rear windows shattered, hoods totally smashed.
Even at home, we only had a broken window in the barn (which was really so dirty it wasn't obvious - the insurance adjuster noticed it) and a few cracked light covers on the motor home. The roof on the house did suffer, and we'll be replacing it - we'd expected to do that next year anyway, so this just moves our plans up a bit.

The rest of the summer was unbelievably hot for our area - lots of over-90 degree days. We're just not used to that kind of heat! But Tom and I did get a few camping trips in to enjoy the outdoors. It's almost time for him to head south, with a side trip to southeast Asia with a group of friends from Mexico. Hopefully the roofing will be done first!

Springtime in the Rockies

Yes, it is spring, which really means beautiful weather, green grass, followed by rain, sleet and snow - sometimes all in the same day! It is also the season of library conferences, meaning I spent early April attending the Montana Library Association conference in Bozeman, and the Mountain Plains Library Association conference in Oklahoma City later that month. In between, I spent a week in Gainesville with Tom, who had just returned from Mexico (he drove back with a friend). We took the Amtrak Heartland Flyer up to OKC - a wonderful way to travel! While there, we visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial, a very impressive site.

James-Philip is now unemployed, although Tom expects to hire him to help with some roofing projects. There is talk of possible jobs in a few months, but right now he's enjoying the time off.

Jon-Erik is still working on graduate school - there was more to the application process than he realized, so it might take a little longer to get started!

I was so focused on my Knitting Olympics project, and watching the Olympics, I completely neglected posting anything! It was a great challenge and I finished my Olympic socks just as the closing ceremony show began. Whew! So, here are the socks and my Gold Medal, courtesy of the Yarn Harlot and Mr. Franklin Habit. I was part of the Ravelry Socketeers Olympic group, and there are some beautiful socks there too. Now it's time to finish the projects I put aside - another pair of socks, and a sweater for Tom.

It's still winter

Snow this morning, sunshine this afternoon. We're not having sub-zero temperatures now, and there is a great increase in daylight, we've made it through the worst.

Tom went to Mexico early in January, and is working on installing a kitchen in our house there. We'd really like to sell that, so this should help. He is enjoying the sunshine!

Jon-Erik took the GRE, and is planning on Portland State for graduate school, beginning this summer. We visit on Skype quite a bit.

James-Philip hasn't been laid off yet, and expects to work through April. He is the person with a great flat-screen TV (last year's birthday present) so will have a house full of people for the Super Bowl.

I plan to do some Olympic knitting while watching the Vancouver events - socks, and possibly a sweater. I have one to finish (for Tom), a sock for him too, but really want to do something special during the Olympics. I usually over-plan though, so we'll see!

Merry Christmas!

It was a Wii Christmas around the family: not just Mom and Dad, but Greg and a cousin all got systems! We spent the afternoon setting it up and helping Mom and Dad learn how to use the controllers. They enjoyed bowling, and Mom was the champ! We're giving them a day to practice, then we'll get them started on the WiiFit (the main purpose of our gift!).

Jon-Erik is home and has gone through most of the activities on my WiiFit, setting high scores that will take me awhile to reach. We've also played a lot of Animal Crossing, although it's more fun when we can be playing together online - at home we can only be in our town, one at a time.

The big news: he will actually graduate! He passed his final class at Portland State, and we were concerned UW (Wyoming) wouldn't give him the credits he needed, since there is a difference between trimesters and semesters. But it's all good now, and he should receive his diploma in February. I know he's relieved; 8 years and 4 schools is a long time. He found out he can take the GRE anytime at a convenient location near Beaverton, so he will do that when he returns home. We're not placing bets on how long a graduate degree will take, or what his major will actually be. But at least he will be starting something new!

James-Philip expects to be out of work when the current project ends, but I'm hoping we'll be able to use him as a volunteer at the library. We're getting ready to upgrade to RFID - placing radio-frequency tags on all items (over 100,000!). That could be a fun activity for him and a big help to us.

Tom is freezing in Gainesville - they had a big snowstorm just before Christmas. Montana isn't looking so bad now!

Yes It's Fall

Today was the typical Montana weather experience people usually talk about: 55 degrees at 6 a.m., beautiful sunny morning, clouds rolling in around noon and rain for a few hours. But sunny again later, although a bit cooler. Good thing I went with shoes today instead of the sandals I've been wearing all week!

Tom's Habitat for Humanity project was quite an adventure. We realized a few days before he was due to fly out that Manila was having the worst flooding in 40 years, from a typhoon. Typhoons aren't unusual, so it was surprising to have it cause such a disaster. Things were somewhat improved by the time his flight left, and he was able to stay in the hotel he'd planned on, but had hoped to take a few days for sight-seeing, and that wasn't possible. He spent the time helping out with disaster relief until the Habitat project was ready. Luckily that was in an area farther south, so it wasn't as affected.

He was heading to Texas when he returned to the States, so I'd booked his flight, and arranged a flight for James-Philip too that would have them arriving in Dallas at almost the same time. JP was laid off for October, so we thought this would be a good time for him to take a vacation too! Tom didn't have the flight info, but I figured he'd have internet access once he got to his friend in California. He did find an internet cafe in Manila, and I kept getting emails from - even after he was supposed to be flying! He said the airline just canceled the flight, and put him on the next one (24 hours later!). I was concerned he'd miss his flight to Texas, but in the end it all worked out.

He and James-Philip had a great visit, JP is back to work now, and I'll be heading there for my birthday and Thanksgiving. Then Tom goes to Mexico in January to work on that house and hopefully get it ready to sell.

Jon-Erik will be visiting for Christmas, after his class at Portland State U. finishes and before he takes the GRE next year. We visit often on Skype and using the Wii Speak as part of Animal Crossing, but it will be fun to have him around for a bit.