I don’t exactly have a lot to write.

We stayed home today, though C went to youth group this evening. We moved some furniture into the living room. C mowed the lawn. The dishwasher didn’t fully drain so we fiddled with it and then tried another load and it seemed to drain properly. We will have to keep an eye on it. Willie and I went for an evening walk.

I really don’t have much to say. Perhaps some nuggets will come to me tomorrow.

Had my first spam comment on here today. It is nice that I can approve/unapprove/identify spam/and delete comments.

The highlight of our day was driving over to Wisconsin, picking up an antique piece of furniture, and heading back over for pizza and ice cream in Wabasha. C drove, the weather was beautiful, and we had a very nice time together.

The day did end up being a little longer than anticipated so upon arriving home Willie took a two-hour nap. He needed to decompress and rest. C worked on a diamond dots picture and I started organizing school things and adding some fairy lights around the ceiling of her room.

I did have to search for some school items that I forgot to pull out earlier in the week when things were accessible. The exploded family room was a little much, so before Willie got home yesterday I shoved things back in boxes – not necessarily their original boxes – and put them back in the closet under the stairs. To find my school boxes I did some shuffling and climbing over others to try to get to what I needed. Things were hidden in boxes labeled “school” and “office” and “notebooks”. In the end I was able to find most of what I needed to get us started on Monday.

I was trying to wrap my brain around what unpacking all of it really means. What kind of organization do I need to have or does it just need to go away? There may be some winter bonfires in order to get rid of the massive amounts of paper I have kept. Of course I could easily recycle it all, but there is something about burning things that is cathartic and makes it easier for me to let go. I have absolutely no idea why. Perhaps I will understand it better as we go through Cs psychology class this year.

Time for bed.

Willie made it home this evening – he walked in the door and gave me a really long hug and then C too. We moved to the living room and he immediately began telling me about his week. The initial word that came to mind to describe his details was “debrief”. Before he got too far along he paused and started recording, so that he can remember. It is quite remarkable the honor that was displayed for Leslie. So many processions and fire fighters and police officers honoring him. Willie’s days were full – the goal was to honor Leslie as well as they could and take care of the crew – from what it sounded like, they accomplished that here in Minnesota. Midway through his story we went outside to lower our flag to half mast. The governor declared them to be flown at half mast starting today for five days in honor of Leslie. Willie learned the proper way to lower them earlier at the hotel he and the rest were staying at as they got to help lower it this morning. I stood by while he lowered, raised, and then lowered the flag. We then went in and he continued his story. I’m glad he was the person here as the liaison to the crew – he was the right person for the job. When we were talking about the processions I thought it was rather fitting that at least one vehicle in the long line had Alaska plates.

I’m glad to have Willie home, and I am thankful for the opportunity he had to take care of Leslie and his crew.

I didn’t hear from Willie until late tonight. He was once again super busy. Most of the crew flew home to Noorvik today, but four remained and will fly home with Leslie – the departed – tomorrow. It is likely we will see him in the evening. He took the remaining four out to dinner and then they did some shopping. Without a time limit it sounded like they were in the store for a lot longer than one would have expected. When Willie called at quarter till 10 they were making their way out to the car with what sounded like excitement over the things they found. He hung up in a hurry but it was clear that today was a really good day, all things considered.

C and I went and picked up two matching desks off an older lady downsizing. They had belonged to her two daughters. We will share the extra bedroom downstairs as an office/classroom. Several more boxes were unpacked, a couple items made it in the go-away box, and I even threw away some things! We also went to a “garage sale”, which actually ended up being an antique sale that a gentleman regularly hosts out of his garage. I was hoping to find a shelf or table for the office but instead found a Jotul Krumkake iron – just like the one my mama used when I was growing up. Jack liked to talk and he told C and I several stories, including one about a counter from the general store in Dundas, MN that Jesse James and his gang frequented prior to a robbery. C enjoyed his story. Maybe when it isn’t 11pm I can try to retell it.

The crickets are very loud outside.

Willie is up in the Cities tonight. Yesterday he received a call that a firefighter from Alaska had passed away on a fire up on the Superior. His day and night were spent communicating and coordinating with so many people and early this morning he headed up to meet the crew and their departed crew member. His day today has been non-stop. He left here at 7:30 and didn’t pause to eat a meal until 6. I think in some ways he is in his element – talking to people, coordinating, planning – but I also think it is emotionally taxing and stressful. It doesn’t help that his back is bothering him still. I did check the firmness of the bed this afternoon however and it was at the very softest it could have been. I’m sure that has not helped and over the last month has gradually affected his body. We don’t know exactly how long he will be away, but it could be through the weekend. He won’t leave until the firefighter’s body is flown home.

This is the first time Willie has been away from us overnight since early on in his transplant. Definitely an odd feeling.

As a result of the chaos of the hurried unpacking yesterday searching for Willie’s work credit card, the house is a disaster! I did get a few more things put away today but there remains a fair amount to deal with. One good reason for him to be gone as if he were home it would be driving him batty. No comfortable place to hang out or sit down. C and I will keep plugging away at it as time allows.

Attaching a photo so you can understand what I mean when I say chaos. This is from yesterday and has improved…but it still feels overwhelming. I want to get rid of more stuff.

Willie’s afternoon got really busy today. As a result C and I attempted to unpack a lot of boxes in an effort to find something he needed. We didn’t find it and the downstairs is a disaster as a result. On the flip side, I did actually get a handful of boxes legitimately unpacked and things put away. A lot more to do after work tomorrow so that the house doesn’t feel like chaos.

Heading to bed.

I have found that depending on how late I write, the posted date of this post will say tomorrow and not today.

This morning feels so long ago now. C and I had chiropractor appointments and then she ran to Costco with me.

After work Willie and I went to Hobby Lobby to get some of our Alaska artwork framed. It took some time to pick out the frames and mats. C joined us after her haircut. Two of the three pieces are below.

After dinner we went to our neighbor’s house for family Bible study. It was wonderful! We started out with a hymn and then jumped into Genesis. After each taking a turn to read a few verses in the chapter we stopped and started discussing what we read and what we observed. The particular story we happened to be in was the story of Lot and his family. That led us to ask if anyone had any angel stories. Do you have any angel stories? This particular line of conversation led us to one of the girls commenting on a video she had seen online from nurses who have experienced being present when patients die. They said it happens in one of two ways, either very peacefully and they often notice a sweet smell enter the room, or the complete opposite with absolute terror and the smell of sulfur. This is not a joke. What a picture the short clip painted in my mind.

Talk then moved to other things. We are so thankful to be here. Living right next to friends was the key requirement and I’m glad it worked out. Despite it being late C is still over hanging out with the girls and all she will have to do is walk the 25 yards home. No moose to worry about on this walk. C was asked by her friend as Willie and I were heading out if she missed seeing her friends. She said yes, she misses her friends, but she doesn’t miss Alaska. She still wants to visit of course, so that will continue to be in the works.

Plans tomorrow include picking up wood for the attic floor project, along with an attic ladder, and hopefully moving that project along before bedtime.

We had a fun time yesterday, spending time with new friends. We didn’t leave until afternoon, so the morning was spent taking care of a few chores around the house and a couple last minute errands.

At 2:45 we met the other couples across town so that we could carpool. Several of the families have very large vans and the fifteen of us split up amongst two of them. The husband of my friend whose birthday we were celebrating put together a series of questions we could all ask and answer on the 1.5 hour van ride.

Below are the questions Chris put together for us. Perhaps you can use them for some of your own conversation starters.

For the car drive: What was your most embarrassing moment while dating? What was your first impression of your spouse—and how wrong were you? What is the funniest misunderstanding you have had as a couple? What is the strangest gift your spouse has ever given you? What was your first date? What is the silliest disagreement you have ever had?

For dinner discussion: If scientists cloned Rebecca, what would happen when the two Rebecca’s met? If Rebecca came with a signature warning label, what would it say? If Rebecca had her own reality show, what would it be called? If someone made a movie about Rebecca’s life, what would the title be? If Rebecca were arrested for something completely harmless, what would it most likely be?

While we did converse over some of the questions we also had a lot of free-flowing dialogue.

The weather was beautiful and the river water was calm.

We got home at 10 but the get-together wasn’t over. Four of us couples met over my friend’s house – she is the one who lives right behind us – and we played a game for another hour. We almost didn’t go over because it was way past our bedtime, but how could we refuse living so close. No regrets staying up late, but there was no way I was going to write when we got home. It was then straight to bed for us.

Because we went to bed so late we did sleep in. Willie’s neck had a crick in it, so we didn’t do everything we planned on today, but we did get curtain rods and curtains hung up in all three bedrooms and over the deck door. The family room still needs curtains, but I am waiting until we get furniture down there to decide what color curtains to get. C and Willie also finished putting things together in her closet.

Some folks are still having trouble seeing all my posts. I haven’t yet figured out how to organize the pages correctly. Eventually I will have it figured it out.

Last night when I was ready to sit down and write C was on the iPad looking at dresses. I was getting tired and wasn’t going to interrupt her, so I didn’t post anything.

Overall it was an uneventful Thursday. At dinner time somehow we got on the topic of what C and I would have done if Willie weren’t still here with us. That was something he wanted to talk about when he was sick and I never wanted to think about it for a variety of reasons. Yesterday the idea wasn’t as raw and it was easier to briefly talk about it. I didn’t want to believe he would die and it wasn’t healthy to start planning life without him when he was still here. If we had to cross that bridge we would have, but I am so thankful we haven’t. As we sat eating we all reveled in the fact that we were enjoying it together, out in the summer evening. I would not have imagined us being here right now way back then.

Today was a nice Friday. I didn’t have any work meetings and so was just able to be heads down on a project I have going on. The weather today was odd. It was warm, but dark and overcast. It wasn’t until late afternoon that the storm moved through. It wasn’t particularly long-lived, but there was thunder and lightning.

After work we all went shopping. Tomorrow Willie and I are going on a dinner cruise with some friends to celebrate a birthday and it is a dress-up event. I haven’t worn a nice evening dress in years and Willie didn’t have dress shoes. We went to a few stores and all acquired a few new items. C collected more earrings – I think she almost has enough to wear a different pair each day for a year. That might be a slight exaggeration, but she has quite a few. I found a sun hat in two colors and finally found a dress after trying on a handful. I do not like trying on clothes. Willie was able to pick up a couple pairs of pants and he now has some classy shoes to wear for special events. It was kind of fun going to stores as the three of us – that is not very typical of us to go shoe/clothes shopping all together.

C is now playing games over her friend’s house and it is time for me to go to bed. I like ending the evening with a jotting down of the events of the day, or the last couple of days as has been the case a couple times lately. I don’t want to make a habit of missing days, but now and again it may happen.

We spent the morning visiting with Pa – which is always nice.

Willie just-about finished the storage shelves in the garage. Tomorrow we have a few more brackets to install.