Hey baby, where have you been?

I've dropped off the face of the blogging earth. What do I do when I'm not blogging? Well, fun stuff like putting together a rough draft of my first paper for Comp I, getting school up and going for my kids, farm work, housework, laundry, blah, blah, blah....I'm sure you can relate!

Congratulations to friends Don and Gina on the wonderful news that they are expecting baby #1!

Say it isn't so

Apparently Fargo is no longer a "small town" where you can leave your car running in the parking lot. What is this winter going to be like? Imagine the AAA calls.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=103507&section=News

Hold Me Back and more

I went to Comp I class today. We are actually doing some interesting stuff - hey, my writing can always use improvement - anyway, the assignment was to read and mark-up an essay. It wasn't long, 5 pages or so. It was a great piece. The author was incredibly descriptive. It was not a hard read.

In class we were asked to form groups of 2-3. No one approaches the old lady in the class, so I asked two very nice young men if I could join them. Sure. They pulled out their books - not a mark in them - HEY guys, you are paying for this class!!! WRITE IN THE BOOK - you paid for it. It turned out that they hadn't even read the assignment. I want a good grade. SO...I admit it, I took over the group, told the note taker what to write and approved it before it was turned in. I guess I'll have to find another group next week - although I was kind and they were very sweet they may not want me back. It's really weird taking a class with young folks who are nearly the same age as my son.

I'm not going to school because I didn't have anything else going on this week....

Happy news - Our youngest turned EIGHT today. She was so excited for this day to come and then the mailbox....not a birthday card in there. Pain, agony, disappointment were written all over her face as she came dragging back from getting the mail. How do you fix that one? I guess I need to send more cards to others so that my kids get some in return. She was crushed. For days she has been counting how many cards might come, who might send them, etc. I think she had pictured the mailman staggering to the door under the weight. Well, little one, happy birthday anyway.

It seems so long ago that my favorite husband walked and I waddled into the hospital to be induced on Labor Day. Ten LONG hours later the product of my labor (literally) was a 8 lb. 16.5 oz. little girl. Dr. Wilson came into the room in shorts and sandals just having come back from a barbeque. Ahh, memories.

We measured today - Birthday girl grew .5", #1 daughter (simply for means of identification, not preference) grew .5" and our son grew .75" - all since 7/14. We measure the childrens' height on every birthday of theirs and on my favorite husband's bday (my bday is only 2 weeks from our son's so it doesn't make sense to use mine).

To conclude the evening, I attach a photo taken of one of the calves. He is standing in front of a wheat field that has been harvested. The content look on his face is due to the fact that the photograph was taken before he was castrated this past Sunday.

Can't wrap my mind around it

As stated in The Forum http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=101773&section=News , the devastation after the hurricane brings back memories of the flood of 97 in Grand Forks, ND. I recall watching two newscasters lose their polished appearance as they continued to broadcast far into the night. They weren't reporting on the disaster outside as much as they were reading offers of shelter from individuals up and down the Red River Valley. A typical announcement would be "John Smith on Rt 24 can take in a family of up to six and has corral space for animals. Call XXX-XXXX." Those men loosened their ties, were unshaven, rolled up their sleeves and just read announcements of incredible offers such as these to those fleeing the flood in Grand Forks and the surrounding area.

I appreciate Peggy Noonan's article today http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/ She uses the term "piggism" to refer to the looters. She is being kind.

Now on the home front. How do we deal with $3+ gasoline when we commute in excess of 45 miles one way?
-Horses? No, there aren't a lot of hitching posts in town - but maybe there should be.
-My favorite husband is reading a lot about biodiesel. Does anyone have an old diesel vehicle that he could test his theories on? He is looking for a small diesel pick-up.
-Stay home? We are supposed to begin our 100 mile one way/once a week trek to Detroit Lakes, MN next week. Is that going to happen? We were having difficulty imagining where the tuition $ would come from. Now I can't imagine where the gas $ will turn up.
-Make every trip to "town" count. No more running into Fargo for just one thing. EVERY trip will be jam-packed with errands and there will be a lot fewer of them. Today I am shifting appointments around to coincide with my husband's work days so that we can ride with him. It will be a monster-long day in Fargo as he usually works 12 hour shifts, but given the alternative...

Trying to wrap my mind around it.