*Feelin' Great in 08

One week from today we leave for Wefest. My living room looks like an unprepared campsite. I gather things together and pile them all in a corner and check em off the list. I still need to set the tent up in the backyard to air it out. The kitchen looks similar because some of the food stuff/utensils are in containers or sitting on the table. I think I can safely say that I have never forgotten a single thing that we needed. There may have been moments that I wished I had something but it wasn't because I forgot...it was an after thought. I've been in touch with some of the people we met last year and with my friend Bob that I met 3 years ago. Bob lives up there and works the 10,000 Lakes Festival and Wefest. He let Brandi and I use his shower several times last year and between him and I we cooked breakfast for the 3 of us. He told me we could stay with him while we are up there but I like camping way too much to do that. He has an awesome house up in the hills over looking Little Detroit Lake. Its a beautiful view. Bob and I had several escapades a few years ago and I still laugh about it. I proved to Brandi that those of us in our 50's can still have a great time! I am soooo looking forward to going especially since it will be my first and only get away this summer.
I have someone to collect the mail, check on the cat and water the garden. My neighbors always watch the house...Barb has the back covered and the guy in the other half of the twin home see's everything else. Yeppers..I am prepared. My gas tank is even full and with any luck it will still be that way next Monday.

Duh?

Someone's Living Will hmmmm

Last night my sister and I were sitting in the computer room and I said to her, "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle to keep me alive.That would be no quality of life at all. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."
So she got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine.
She's such a bitch.

ACCEPTANCE

to come to terms with something: to acknowledge a fact or truth and come to terms with it.
to tolerate something without protesting or attempting to change it.
believe something: to acknowledge that something is true.
take blame for something: to admit the blame or responsibility for something.
take on duty: to agree to take on a duty, responsibility, or position.
be welcoming to somebody: to treat somebody as a member of a group or social circle.
accept or except?
Do not confuse these two, even though they have similar pronunciations. Accept is a verb only; it means variously "to take something offered," "to believe something," and "to agree to something," as in We cannot accept [not except] such a lame excuse.Except can work as a preposition meaning "to the exclusion of," "excluding," as in All students except [not accept] the freshmen are eligible. It is also a conjunction meaning "if it were not for the fact that" and "otherwise than," as in I would have finished the course except [not accept] that I became ill at the end of the semester.The demonstrators did not quiet down except [not accept] to regroup and plan their next move. Finally, it is a verb used most often in the passive voice in the meaning "to leave out or exclude," as in Only children were excepted [not accepted] from attendance.

What's been going down

Nothing major some little stuff. About 2 years ago Jamie partially broke a tooth eating a
Pork Rind (gross) his tooth got infected and caused a hematoma (sp?) We went to the hospital and they gave him some drugs, nothing more they could do and the problem went away....
Last week Jamie was eating some super chunky peanut butter and bit into a nut, you could swear it was a small pebble it wouldn't even smush with your fingers or a knife... anyway the so called peanut he bit into was the broken tooth and to boot his nerve was exposed, the pain shot up one side of his and to the other side. He ended going to the U of M emergency dental and they had to pull it out and well yes cut it out of his jaw bone at that time he was told why he was in so much pain, it was the main nerve of the teeth and jaw bone that got exposed. The only thing he ever told me before the surgery was that it hurt. crazy huh? I would have been writhing on the floor crying in pain. Well he is now to the point that he is actually taking pain pills, him on pain pills is another story in itself, I have never laughed so hard in my life, he likes to give lectures and get all philosophical. Yes I know what you women are thinking about his pain and laying on the couch and it is true. Hope you caught on. okay enough about Jamie.

Some of you already know a lot of this about Tyler some of you don't so here is goes:
I have talked to Tyler about 6 times since he has left, He was really sad and depressed for the first couple of weeks, he is doing great now and sounds happy. He has made good friends with some guys who are from Maple Grove and Brooklyn Center. One of the guys in his platoon is 42 and a retired Marine and decided to re-up in the Army. another guy there defected from Iraq and has joined the U.S. Military.
Tyler called the other night another short conversation, he is doing great and does his BRM competition today, David what is BRM? He also said he loves shooting and he is at a Marksman to expert shooter right now, he must have gotten that from me cause well I can shoot like no other. (brag, brag, brag.) The barracks he is in has gotten infested not only with black widow and brown recluse spiders also with fire ants, he said they hurt really bad, they finally bought a can of raid phewww! The weather there is hot humid and like living in Africa as Tyler so says.
It rain every morning and they have to do PT in the wet sand. whiner! I want to say to him suck it up boy but I don't want to in a letter or over the phone, I will have to wait until he gets home. maybe, depending, he can do 75 sit-ups in a minute and runs forever in a day, so yeah
probably won't give him hell cause he can also endless push-ups. He says his PT Sarge is a....
well you know what and they have at least 2 hours of PT at night and the morning just cause the Sarge wants to. hahahhaha. Tyler decided to get himself a Chemical burn from the MRE stove.
Knowing him he was probably jacking around.
I cannot wait until I get to see him, he has made me more proud and happy for him than ever.
The graduation ceremony will be cool, he is one of the Platoon Banner holder guys. Awesome.
He has ordered copies of the pics holding it I don't know how many so if anyone wants one let me know, yes Debbie and Jeannie you I already know will. Just so you know Tyler is seriously thinking on going full time active after he graduates high school. and will do college later, he says I will follow in the foot steps of Uncle David. Jamie and I fully 100% support whatever decision he makes regardless of anything else. Other than that he is doing what he is suppose to do and getting his ass kicked... blisters, cuts etc... crawling in broken glass, ya know that type of thing, he did say that he did not puke after the gas chamber exercise and that it stunk like really strong ammonia.
I have been working, tending to my tomoato plants and flowers, cleaning, reading and walking around the house aimlessly.
Life is great at the West household.
oh yeah and the cat is crabby, she is lost without Tyler and pukes on his bed at least once a week.
Bye for now
Lots of Love
Jodi & Jamie and the cat

Da BoyZ

MORE NEW PICS IN PHOTOBUCKET
ALBUM: Ron n Tia visit

*What I Miss About My Childhood

Seeing the Goodyear Blimp, walking to the "Little Store" and buying a bag of 'SweetTarts' for a nickle, riding my bike to visit Grandma Johnston, playing 'Captain, May I', 'Red Light, Green Light', 'Red Rover,Red Rover', 'Hopscotch', '4-Square', 'Ghost in the Graveyard', back in the day we called it Starlight, Moonlight. Watching the fireflies, playing Barbie's on the front steps of our house in Brooklyn Center, going to the lake, making sand castles, watching the cows, going up in the hay loft with Debbie Kunkle and finding new kittens, helping her collect eggs from the hen house. Swinging on tire swings, walking to town from the cabin, catching frogs at the creek.
Playing 'Jacks', collecting marbles and steelies, watching Casey Jones, Dave Lee, Axel & Carmen, Clancy & Willie, Kukla, Fran & Ollie, Sherry Lewis & Lambchop.
Candy dots/buttons, tiny wax bottles filled with juice, flavored wax lips that you could chew like gum, wax whistles...flavored of course. Bazooka bubble gum with comics, Cracker Jacks, prizes in cereal, Red Ball Sneakers, pedal-pushers (Capris), a card, a clothespin and bike spokes...hehehe,
Riding my bike to the old Camden Library, the smell of the books, the old, warped floors, swimming at the Camden Pool, walking to Brookdale, jumping rope, Chinese jump rope, the cool white sand in the sandbox, the big oak tree in Ramsey.
Ahhhh, what memories,
Deb

Mid-Summer

This Wed. will literally be the middle of our summer. Six and a half weeks off and six and a half to go. Sadly, we haven't left town yet. We are planning on going somewhere the last week of July though. Ann wants to go to Temperance River State Park up the north shore. Ali is at Bible camp this week - her 5th year - she loves it. I think she'd like to be a counselor some year. Adam will go next week for the first time. He is going with a boy from school, Garrett, whom we know pretty well. Hi sister has gone to the camp in the past as well. It is called Camp Lebanon, in Upsula Minnesota. You can Google it and sometimes they post pictures of camp weeks. I'm not sure what Adam will eat - he wants me to pack him some pop-tarts for back-up in case he doesn't like the food.

For you out of towners, we had a golden birthday open house for Adam on the 12th. (He turned 12 of course) It was fun and he had a good time. Thanks for helping make it a special day for him if you were able to be here. Ava plays - everyday - just plays. Plays with anyone who will play with her - plays games, sports, house, whatever........she's a player. What a life.....remember playing? I played with matchbox cars a lot......and tonka trucks before the roads were tarred (sp?) Anyway, we have fun watching her play. Ann and I are well......working on the house.....walking when we can......life is good.....God Bless!

Rich

Bruno finally made it into the pictures!!

Wow, Bruno finally made the blog. If you go into the photobucket, there is a real cute picture of Samuel at Rich & Ann Marie's this last weekend.. Click on it to make it bigger, and there behind Samuel you will see Mom's car. Behind Mom's car is our Durango and LO AND BEHOLD--THOSE ARE BRUNO'S FEET STICKING OUT!! WHOO HOO!!
Nice big feet, huh?


Love Jeanie

*Catching up

I was going to play catch-up last night and when I signed in I saw Jeanie's blog. By the time I got done reading it I was too tired to add an entry. ~snicker~ I know I am going to be a called a name for that lol.
Katie is back in MN. She was in Hennepin Co. Jail at first. She appeared in court there...I don't know what happened. She was transferred to Lino Lakes and went to court in Anoka yesterday (July 10). I went also. It was the first time I have seen her in a year and a half. From what I could see, she looked good, her face was clear and she had gained weight. She has another court date on Aug 27th in Anoka at 8:30 AM. She does have a bail set and to get her out it would be 140.00. She once again begged me to bail her out. I told her I don't have the $$. I probably could afford it but its not happening. Oh, I thought about doing it but not for her....it would be for me. ...I wouldn't be alone so much, there would be someone here when I am gone for that week of Wefest. Those were only fleeting thoughts and Dad told me to "let them fleet" .... they 'fleeted' and have left the building.
She gave me the song and dance about having some time to get her head outta her azz, get a job etc. etc. Well, if she is going to end up serving time anyway it makes no sense for her to get a job now. I think she may have been saying things she thought I wanted to hear. And, maybe I do want to hear those things but it comes down to....do I believe those things? I want to believe them but I cannot trust her. She kept telling me she had no place to go but here with me. NOT MY FAULT!!
I've only talked to her on the phone and I don't know that I am ready to talk to her in person.
Anyway...if anything new comes up with her, I will post it here. I still prefer not to discuss her and her troubles unless I bring it up first. This whole thing with Katie has tried to take a 'front seat' in my life and I cannot let it.
On another note.....I hadn't heard from Ray in 2 weeks and then he called the evening after the funeral. He said he'd been busy..yadda, yadda, yadda....I know I am NEVER too busy to make a simple phone call. I think cloud 9 dissipated right out from under me. In dad's words.."Such is life". This Sunday I am going with Lynne, Fran and Harvey to see Sister Andy in Kansas...the cloister is sounding better everyday. ; )
Deb

So.....did ya miss me??!!!!!

Well hello family, it's me. It's been a while since I've been on.. I guess I just have this crazy busy life or something. Or this lazy life... maybe a little of both. Anyway, I did respond to the last couple blogs, I think from Joda and Ber. So READ IT! Anyway, first off, Ron and Tia and Joey, it was sooo great to see you. What an awesome little kid he is. Wow. I will never forget how when Kale was sitting by himself at Debbie's (I think he was sad about something) and there's Joey, sitting right next to him with one little arm Kales leg and one around his neck, just trying to comfort him. It was-- well-- a tear jerker. I know I know, it doesn't take much for me.. but still, it was simply great to see that. And those eyes. And the way he rolls them -- and whatever other little looks he give: Ron Jr. All the way. And yet when you look at him he has so much of both Ron and Tia in him. And, its very exciting to know there is another little one on the way. It was a great time you guys. Ron, I'm glad for you that you were able to see Uncle Eddie before you left, I know how you are and I know you would've wished you had, if you hadn't.
Ok, on to the rest of you slugs. Oh, all of a sudden I have nothing to say. Imagine that. Bet you can't can you? Well me either. So Dave and Kris, hope you are adjusting to your first baby moving out.... or is she like alot of other kids that move out.. comes over all the time?? Just kidding Jess, even if you do I bet your Mom and Dad dig that. Hope Zach and Mandy are well too. So Dave.... did ya let Mandy go to the cabin or whatever it was with her friends???
So Brent was in a play/musical the other day in Grantsburg, Cinderella. Yep, thats what I said. And he absolutely loved it. Bruno and his Dad drove up there Tuesday night, I would've but it was Uncle Eddies reviewal that night. Brent was one of the mice. Ok, so he's been in 2 plays now, once as a monkey and now as a mouse. Hhmmm... he hopes to get a speaking part sometime. HEE HEE But (as he puts it) "well at least I got to be monkey number one". How proud he was of that. And seriously you guys, it was the most lame play I have ever seen. But it was fun. For him and for us. I guess the one he was just in was put together way better than the one he was in here in Minnesota!! Imagine that. Starting next Sunday, we will have him for a week at a time, every other week. So... if anybody wants to spend any time with him during the day while we are at work... have at it. Deb. Rich. Jim. The rest of us work during the days -- during the summer. (Jimbo, don't take that wrong because I know that being home with two boys is a full time job). But Brent sure likes your boys.. so if you ever feel like taking on a 3rd one.. give Bruno a call!!! heee heeee
Jode, thanks for driving yesterday during that crazy procession to Fort Snelling! I can't believe somebody didn't die on the way there. But I knew it wouldn't be either one of us cuz you told me (as I am grabbing the OH SHIT handle) that you were not going to crash us. I am soooo glad that Debbie came up with that great idea, cuz wow, I would've freaked. Thanks Deb, it obviously did make more sense for Jodi since she was much closer to home. And oh yeah, thanks for bringing me back to my truck. My nice hot steamy truck. Ok, well if I have forgotten anything - tough shit . Doesn't that sound like MOTHER??!!
Ok guys, I love you all. I need to go make some BLT and C's for supper. Dollar to the first person who can tell me what the C stands for.

Jamie's new toy

The Hot-dog roller

Jamie was like a kid in the candy store when we got this, we ate hot-dogs for like 5 days in a row and for snacks, I never want to eat a hot-dog again.

Directions?

So I need help... I am going to the Tatse of MN on Saturday and I need directions! I have ideas, but I am unsure of the easiest way to get there... someone help.. please!

I am going with Pat and my sister Carissa and her boyfriend Justin. It should be fun!

Brandi

Yeah okay now...

okay now, David blogged, Debbie and Richard Commented. Where are the rest of you? Did ya hear that Brett Farve might come back? some say it's a rumor, some say not... but with the Packers highering Daunte Culpeppper(Jamie and I call him Dainty Culpecker) I wouldn't blame him, he is way COOL!!!!!!!!!!! No I am not a Vikings fan, more of a Packers, Colts, and yes David a Broncos fan.

bye- bye for now.

Lots of Love
Jodi

Running Sucks

AS I am re-entering the workout lifestyle I am now remembering some things about running. I cannot run anymore, my knees really hurt and that is sad cuz I liked running. I am now relegated to the stationary bicycle, recumbent cycle at that.
I remember my senior year in high school track. Bryan had done a drawing of a guy running who had a thought bubble that said "Running Sucks". I thought it was so funny I convinced the track team to each buy a silkscreen of it on some nice bright yellow shirts. We decided to wear them to school on meet days. This went well until the administration, i.e. J. Craig Rounds got wind of it and made it his personal mission to find every track team member and make us take it off or turn it inside out. (They kinda had problems with the word "sucks" back in the '80's).
J. Craig, of course told the Beef about it and I got a nice lecture about being a leader and blah, blah, blah...
The sad part was that the admin and coaches (Beef and Fischer) actually thought we were serious and hated running. The sadder part is that they missed the irony! Every runner loves to run until about ten miles into the marathon, they then question everything, only to finish and continue on to race another day. Since I can no longer run, I am on a quest to find something new that sucks. I need some new kinda kick...Who sings that song? A buck for the first right answer.
Anyway, right now, lifting weights sucks.

WHERE OH WHERE

Hello, Hello, Hello, is there anybody out there? Just nod if you can hear me is there anyone home?
Okay seriassly now, so because you people are lame I am going to babble.
Got another letter from Ty mania, he is doing way better and sounds like he is having a great time, whew! He says his barracks are infested with Brown Recluse and Black Widows, great huh? He is also the Platoon banner flag holder guy. not sure if its the banner or the flag.
but either way it is cool! There is a guy in his platoon who is 42 and an ex-marine, who decided to re-up, also a Iraqi who emmigrated to the us and is joining the U.S. army.
Apparently 80% of the guys there are 17 and Ty says they suck because they don't listen
and they goof off, I can see him now just steaming and probably wants to kick some ass.
Jamie has been off work for a whole 3 days, he is still trying to catch up on his sleep and such.
He goes back tomorrow and were hoping that he does not get over-loaded again (wishful thinking). I have a bunch of Tomatoes growing 24 to be exact, and my Day-Lily has 32 buds
on it some have bloomed there yellow there pretty , little, yellow, different. haa haaa
yeah ya know the line for Austin Powers. Anyway I did not get much sleep lastnight
so forgive my weirdness. and no comments on that please.
So I guess that is about all for now, looking forward to Friday Mom called me lastnight
to tell me that we have to do patrol at 12:00am to 2:00am to make sure nobody is doing
anything wrong, could be interesting!

bye bye
Lots of Love Jodi