IT'S MOVING DAY!!!!!!!

stormy weather

Spending time in the basement is no fun! We have had to spend the last two night going in the basement because of the storms. Tornado's everywhere and rain, rain, rain. The sub pump never stops running. I sure am happy they are saying nice weather for all of next week.

Friday we went to Amy and Adam's house for supper. She had a turkey in the freezer and decided that she would have Thanksgiving in June. The food was great and we had a good time until the storms came. Then Rick and I left because we had left Dexter out of his kennel and he is a big baby in the storms. He was very happy to see us.

Yesterday I went for a 5 mile run and then I took Dexter for a 2 mile walk. After that I packed most of the day. Rick went to Jordan with one of his biking friends and biked 37 miles in the morning. He spend the rest of day in the basement packing up all of his string stuff. We are going to have everything ready to go Wed. Rick is getting the U-Haul in the afternoon and then he is going to start packing it up. We hope to get it all packed up so on Thur. we can just move it into the new house.

Back to packing
Later Sharon

"Who needs toenails anyway." -sign on course

While running the race last week there were so many funny signs along the course I wish I could remember them all. My toenails on my big toes have started to turn black so I am guessing I am going to lose them. I ran 5 miles last night after work. It is the first time I have ran since the race. My toes hurt like crazy while running.
I have to work today and then I have my 4 day weekend. Then I work next Wed. and then I have 7 days off! To bad I will be packing, moving and unpacking on most of them.
Going to be a short post today
Later
Sharon

13.1

I finished another half-marathon!!! Christa and I went up to Duluth on Thur. afternoon with the camper and truck. I have never pulled a camper that far by myself before and never had to back one into to a campsite before. So we were very proud of ourselves that we did it and got it all set up with no help. After we got everything set up we went into Duluth to the expo and picked up our race bags. Cassie and Amy got to Duluth around 9:00.
Friday we met up with Cassie and Nicks friends Tanya and Chris. Tanya ran the race with us. It was her first half-marathon. We spent the day at the expo and walking around Duluth. We also went to a very good restaurant for lunch. In the afternoon Nick and Jese made it up. We went back to the expo for spaghetti dinner. After that we all went to bed for an early night.
Sat morning at 4:00 we were up and getting ready. Cassie and Jese brought us down to the bus and we were off to the start of the race. The weather was pretty good. It was around 60 at the start of the race and around 68 by the end. It was a little humid and cloudy most of the race. It was pretty windy until we got into town, but even then we got some good wind gust that slowed us down. I was really happy with the race. I managed to run it without injuring myself. I ran it in 2:07:59. I came in 2911 out of 5828 finishers, 1286 out of 3308 female finishers and 89 out of 225 females finishers age 45-49. I could not be happier with my time and how the race went. I felt so good when it was done. I said before I ran this one that it would be my last but I am taking that back! I am for sure going to have to run another one next year. Christa ran really good this year. She beat her time from last year by 4 min. she came in at 2:54.
After the race we all went back to the campsite and Jese and Nick made us some lunch. Then we went back into Duluth and went to the after race party. It was lots of fun. Christa, Cassie and I even went dancing! After that we went to Grandma's restaurant and had some supper. We were all pretty tired by then so we went back and had a campfire.
Sunday we get up by 8:00 and packed up and were on our way back home by 9:00.
It was a great weekend and a great race!
Later Sharon

Poor Cassie

Cassie ran into a sign with her face when she was watching for me to come running by. To bad I was already passed where she was and waiting at the finish line! Thank goodness she did not damage the sign!!!

Camper all backed in

I asked Amy to take a picture of me and Cassie and Christa decided they should be in it too

Christa and Jese

Cassie and Nick

Christa trying to pick up a ship chain

Happy to be done!

Christa and I at the after the race party

2:07:59

Me at mile 7 still had a smile on my face!

Christa and Tanya Laumann at mile 7

Mile 7

Christa and I before the start of the race

One house sold one house bought

Yesterday we had our house closings. I am so glad that part is done. You never know what can happen until the deal is done and the papers are all signed and checks are handed out! Now we just need to get moved. The people who are in the house we bought will be out on the 30th so we are going to be able to move in on the 1st.
After we finished with the house closings we went to Menard's to get prices on cabinets and bathroom stuff. We want to get the kitchen cabinets ordered ASAP so we can get the kitchen done. Now we just have to decide if we want to have them custom made or go with Menard's. Menard's would be a lot faster but then we would have to install them. But having custom made cabinets means they would be exactly what we want, but it would take longer and would be more expensive. We will have to decide soon.
When we got back home it was already 8:00. Poor Dexter had a long day of being in the kennel so we took him for a walk and then it was time for bed.
Today is my last day of work for the weekend. Tonight Rick and I are going to put the camper up so I am sure I know how to do it. Then I have to practice backing it up. I have pulled campers and boats with a truck before but I have never backed it into a campsite before. Since I will be taking it up to Duluth with just Christa I guess I better learn how to do it. Amy and Cassie are coming up later on Thur. because Amy has to work until 2:30. I don't want to wait that late because I want to miss traffic. I looks like we are going to have good weather for running on Sat. I am getting excited to run, it is going to be fun.
So just about every night I have seen this older couple walk by my old house and Ricks house for the last year or so. Last year when I first noticed them the women was walking with a very bad limp and her one hand looked bad. I am guessing she had a stroke. The husband would have to support her as they walked by slowly. Well this spring when I started to see them walk by again she is walking so much better and they are always holding hands as they walk by. It very sweet to watch them as they go by. The fact that the husband has been there helping her along as she recovers and to see them holding hands is really nice to see. It is nice to see people that love each other and are there for each other.

Got to go I will have lots of pictures for Duluth when I next post.

Later Sharon

Lots got done but still lots to do......

I had a very nice weekend. Friday I babysat all day, Liam and Josie were good. After they left Rick and I went to Owatonna to do a little shopping. While we were at Kohls this guy came up to me and say Hi Sharon, I had no idea who he was until he told me his name. What is funny about this is that he was the fist boy I ever kissed! It has been 30 years since I have seen him last so I guess it is okay that I did not know who he was.
Saturday was a day of getting lots done. I slept in until 8:30 and then I got busy. I got laundry started and some cleaning done. We had a graduation party to go to at 1:00 so we had lunch there. When we got back home we started packing. We have a enclosed trailer that someone is letting us use so we packed it with everything from the basement. We have everything out of the basement now except the furniture and Ricks string stuff. We have to wait until right before we move for Rick to pack the string stuff up because he has string orders to make all the time. I was pretty tired and hot after lifting all those boxes and going up and down the steps so many times. After we got done we took Dexter for a little walk and then watched a movie and some UFC.
Sunday we were going to do some more packing but I decided that we need the day off. Rick and I went for run in the morning. I ran 5 miles and Rick ran 2 and then he went for a bike ride. After I was done running I took Dexter for a 3 mile walk. When we got done we ate lunch and then decided to go to a movie. We saw the A-Team. It was good. We left Dexter out of his kennel the whole time we were gone. He was a good boy.
Today it is back to work. All the students are gone! I should have a nice quiet week.
Later Sharon

Oh they look so young......

So in packing we found Ricks very old computer that has been sitting on shelf for years. I hooked it up and got it running and got the 1056 pictures he had on it transferred to a zip drive. It is funny to look at them. The 3 on top are of Christa and Jese when they were around 17 years old. They both look so young.

Today I have had a busy day. I had to be at the dentist at 7:30 to have my crown put on. Then I went to Walmart and was back home by 8:30. I took Dexter for a walk before the rain came. We just made it back to the house before it started. After that I went down in the basement and got the last of it packed up. We are going to put it in a covered trailer this weekend. I hope we can get it all in. When I was done packing downstairs I did not feel like packing any more so I paid the bills and then I made cookies. Now we are going to to watch a movie. Babysitting tomorrow!

Later Sharon

I read this in the Star Tribune this morning, thought it was interesting......

June 3, 2010

The 40-Year Itch

By DEIRDRE BAIR

New Haven

THERE’S an old French expression I found useful when I wrote a book about couples who divorced after long marriages: “I wasn’t holding the candle.” It means that I couldn’t know what happened between the two people in a marriage, so how could I possibly know why they split?

That hasn’t stopped speculation about Al and Tipper Gore, who are behaving with grace and dignity as they keep to themselves their reasons for ending 40 years of marriage. Public reaction has followed a pattern, beginning with shock and disbelief: “They seemed like the ideal couple, so perfect together.” Outrage came next: “Was it all a sham, especially that kiss on the convention stage?” And finally fear: “Are all marriages doomed to wither and die — and will mine be among them?”

But such questions expose just a few widespread but unrealistic assumptions about late-life divorce. Divorce lawyers tell me the fastest-growing segment of their clientele is the middle-aged and elderly. And their divorces do not all that often involve husbands running off with someone new, leaving wives alone and bereft. A 2004 AARP survey of 1,147 people who divorced in their 40s, 50s or 60s found that women initiated late-life divorces more often than men did, and if the divorced women wanted a new partner, they usually found one.

For my book, I interviewed 126 men and 184 women who divorced after being married 20 to 60-plus years. And what surprised me most was the courage they showed as they left the supposed security of marriage. To them, divorce meant not failure and shame, but opportunity.

“People change and forget to tell each other,” Lillian Hellman said. Still, many couples seem to have an “aha!” moment when they realize that it’s time to split up. No matter how comfortably situated they are, how lovely their home and successful their children, they divorce because they cannot go on living in the same old rut with the same old person.

Men and women I interviewed insisted they did not divorce foolishly or impulsively. Most of them mentioned “freedom.” Another word I heard a lot was “control”; people wanted it for themselves for the rest of their lives. Women had grown tired of taking care of house, husband and grown children; men were tired of working to support wives who they felt did not appreciate them and children who did not respect them. Women and men alike wanted time to find out who they were.

One spouse might have wanted to keep working while the other wanted to retire. Often, there was an emotional void; one would say that the other “doesn’t see me, doesn’t know who I am,” while the other hadn’t a clue: “I thought everything was just fine; we never argued, we don’t fight.” One grew disenchanted with the wrinkled person across the dinner table and wanted someone new and exciting.

I talked to men who were serial marry-ers with trophy wives they abandoned, as one of them put it, the minute the woman “got broody and wanted babies.” And I found women who wanted a man who would take them dining and dancing, but then go home to his own bed and leave them alone until the next party.

Many stories ended with some rendition of, “It’s my time and if I don’t take it now, I never will.” No matter whether they had spent years gearing up for divorce or decided on the spur of the moment after one minor disagreement too many, few had regrets. Men who wanted new companionship easily found it, and women who wanted new partners had them within two years.

Divorce is easier now. Our retirement years are longer and healthier. Both men and women often have enough money to make changes. And the stigma of divorce has long since faded. A century ago, Elizabeth Cady Stanton called it a “social earthquake.” But several decades later, Margaret Mead thought every woman needed three husbands: one for youthful sex, one for security while raising children and one for joyful companionship in old age. In the 21st century, Margaret Drabble, the British novelist, calls life after divorce “the third age.” The heroine of her novel “The Seven Sisters” says, “Our dependents have died or matured. For good and ill, we are free.”

So let us not feel shocked or sad about the end of Al and Tipper Gore’s marriage. Let us instead wish them well, and hope that they might enjoy their third age, individually and in peace.

Deirdre Bair is the author of “Calling It Quits: Late-Life Divorce and Starting Over.”

On this day.....

On this day one year ago I was sitting in a hospital bed. I am very happy to say that I am much healthier now! It sucks not having a gall bladder but it is much better then being dead.

Rick and I went to the Boat House last Friday for supper. We have not been there in a long time. I had a real beef hamburger. It has been way over a year since I have had a beef hamburger. It was delish! To bad I cannot eat them more often, they are soooo bad for me.

I had to work all weekend. My last one for 3 weeks. It was pretty busy at work because the students are all leaving for the summer. Yesterday was the last day of finales for them. They have to be out of the dorms by 3:00 today.

My stupid phone decided that it is not going to notify me when I get a text message. It also will not let me hear any ring tones that came on the phone. Of course I can not figure out how to get it working right again. I hate it when my phone is smarter then me.



It was so nice sleeping last night in the rain and since I am working today I don't care that it is still raining.

On Sunday after work I ran 6 miles again. It was a good run. Only 11 more days until the half-marathon. I am NOT ready!!

Later Sharon

oh sooooo pretty......

So getting up at 4:00 AM and leaving for work at 5:00 AM does have it benefits. For one this time of year I get to see the sunrise. It was so pretty this weekend on my way to work that I actually stopped my car and took a couple of pictures. Makes it worth getting up to see the beauty of nature.

Yesterday I babysat Liam and Josie. I forgot I had to babysit so it is a good thing I did not get them until 1:00. Otherwise Adam would have been pounding on the door to get me out of bed at 6:15.

Today I slept in until 8:15, it was nice. Then I took Dexter for a long walk. I had a bunch of stops to make in town so I got that out of the way and now I am going to go down in the basement and pack. I really don't want to do it that is why I am updating this!

I guess the stuff is not going to put itself in boxes so I better get going.

Later Sharon