Teresa and Patty

While I try to catch up on birthday posts and, at the same time, keep from getting ever farther behind, I have to remember my daughters-in-law, Patty (Dave's wife) and Teresa (Dan's wife). Patty's birthday was March 5th so it's late and Teresa's birthday is June 26th so it's a tiny bit early.

Initially I was going to do a post for each grandchild. Then I did Beth because I wanted to do all the kids. Sarah's was yesterday and the twins will be July 4th. Even though their birthdays were April 18th and April 21st respectively, I didn't want them to not be recognized so I thought better late than never.

Then it occurred to me that there were other important members of my family that I didn't want to slight. My children-in-law. The only problem is that they're a little harder to do. I can't tell you about their births or about their childhoods. I don't know little stories about when they were growing up; and, their childhood personalities remain pretty much a mystery to me. I am sure though, that both Patty and Teresa were sweet babies and obedient children with gentle, loving personalities. Otherwise, how could they have turned out so great.

Both came into our lives in the Fall of '93 when Dan and Dave attended Ball State University in Muncie IN after graduating from Kemper Military School and College, a two-year junior college,

We are blessed that both daughters-in-law are kind, loving, supportive wives to our sons and loving and conscientious mothers to seven of our grandchildren.

They both fit right in as soon as they were introduced to their four sisters-in-law and we all felt like they were part of the family from the get go.

Teresa, a high school cheerleader and Patty, a high school athlete who played on TWO state championship volleyball teams, also got along well together which was important since they would be spending quite a few years not just as sisters-in-law but neighbors as well.

Teresa has training as a surgical assistant and a dental assistant and is currently office manager of an orthodontic practice in Colorado Springs, Co.

Patty has a degree in early childhood education and a Master's of Science in Reading and is currently a reading specialist in the Washington DC area, Fairfax County. Next year she will coach other teachers on all areas of instruction.

I give these girls so much credit. First of all, I salute every young mother who works while caring for her husband and family. Really, I'm a proponent of the state-at-home mom but not because I think it's detrimental to the family when mom works but because I think it's just too hard on mom.

And I give them credit for their amazing adaptability. They've moved so often it makes my head spin and each time they adjust beautifully to their new surroundings and their new work environments.

And I give them credit for being military wives. That can't be easy. There are demands on these young women that would have most of us cowering in our shoes. It's not just the military environment but it's also the deployments. They shoulder enormous responsibilities that are usually and should always be shared by two. When something breaks, they have to figure it out. When the kids have difficulties, it's on them to find solutions. The house, the cars, the kids, their jobs, and the unceasing worry about the spouse who's in a far off land and usually in danger. I don't know how they do it.

I know they'll find this hard to believe but I also give them credit for being married to my sons. I know they aren't perfect. Nobody is. (really I think they are - don't tell them that though) But both girls are loving, devoted, and steadfast and we know that we can all always count on them.

The Dans

The Daves

So here's a birthday shout out to Patty and Teresa. Late for Patty and a little early for Teresa but one just as heartfelt as the other.

You Capture - Get Down Low

Beth is really making us work now, isn't she. You would think that she wouldn't want her mother laying around in the back yard with a camera in her hand. She should just be glad that I decided to give you all a break from Striebel Pond pictures otherwise the embarrassment could have been epic. This way only the neighbors saw and, I guess fortunately, didn't care enough to call 911.

I started with the hydrangeas and the hanging basket. It really gave me a different perspective to lay under the flowers and take pictures. I tried some straight in to the stems and dirt shots but they came out a little too good. I don't really want to share the horrifying sights I saw of a whole new crop of weeds coming in.

And then there were the naughty fish. Any other time when I feed them they're plowing through the water with half their bodies above the surface. Today, when I'm laying at water level with a camera in my hand, they avoid me like the plague. I don't get it. Why are they so camera shy?

Ahhhhh, but then the pond from way down low.

And finally I thought the cloud bank in the background gave the illusion of a very tall flag pole with me way down below it snapping a picture. Did it work? I'm not so sure.

Now to get way down low from lots of other perspectives, visit Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Sarah

She was born on April 21st, 1978 and sweet, loving, tractable Sarah also had her stubborn streak. She was due well before the twins' birthday and she definitely should have been born on their birthday, but she made her appearance three days after their birthday. And the moment she showed her adorable little face, the reason she took so long to make her appearance became apparent. Most babies come out looking at the floor and their little skulls help push their way through the birth canal. Sarah came out sunny side up, looking up at everybody in the delivery room. She wasn't about to miss a thing then and she hasn't missed a thing since.

Sarah was number 6 of 6 and I was lucky because she was such a mommy's girl. If my lap was available, Sarah was in it and I loved it. Maybe that's why we were able to stop having kids - I finally got a lap baby.

From the time she was about three years old, she was wise beyond her years. I remember driving down the street with her when she was about four. A guy backed out of his driveway right in front of me so that I had to slam on the brakes and the box of Fannie May Mint Meltaways that was on the seat, slid to the floor and spilled. I said, "that guy wasn't paying very good attention, was he" and Sarah replied, "I think you both weren't paying enough attention". And that's how she's always been ever practical, realistic, and matter-of-fact.

And she was so sensible. When she was about ten, her older siblings would bribe her to go to the gas station down the street and get treats for them. She was no dummy. If her siblings made it worthwhile for her to go, she'd go. But only then.

She was always a sensitive little girl too. One day I went to the school during lunch and Sarah was in the lunch room crying. I soon found out that while eating lunch, her loose tooth had come out and she'd swallowed it. I took her to the washroom, calmed her, and washed her tears away but to this day, the thing she remembers most is that while we were in the washroom, the little boy who had been sitting next to her at the lunch table, ate her sandwich. That really hurt her feelings.

And she never liked to hurt anyone else's feelings either. One of my associates where I worked thought she was the cutest little girl ever. One day he came out to the car to say hi to her and then said, "can I have a kiss" and puckered up his rather large lips. Sarah looked at him and quietly said, "that's okay" and retreated to the depths of the backseat.

She played volleyball in junior and senior high and she was a senior when the Michigan City Wolves, her team, won the state championship. She was an integral part of that team, a starter, a go-getter, and completely unflappable. She started a mental movement that last week before the big game that helped her team overcome the nerves and intensity that go with a state championship game on live TV. I wish I had even one of the posters that she made but other team members took them home as souvenirs of a magical time.

She went to college 300 miles away and it makes my heart ache to think of what it felt like to leave her there. Alone.

But she graduated from that college where she met the man she would marry. She now lives in Louisville, KY which she loves and has three of the most beautiful children you'd ever want to see. I love that, in each of the kids, you can see a little bit of Sarah from long ago. If I couldn't, I would miss that little girl way too much.

Shrinking Days of Summer - Week 4

This this week for the Shrinking Days of Summer Mini Challenge, I didn't shrink. I gained. I'm not completely surprised what with my poor dinner choice last night, my more dramatic drop last week, and my refusal to cave into my better judgment to go to bed instead of staying up late and eating to stay awake.

My daughter, Amy, tells me that it's okay just don't lose motivation and she reminds me that 6 years ago when we both rocked Weight Watchers and looked our best ever - we had ups and downs.

So it is what it is. I gained .4 of a pound and I'm gonna just keep on keepin' on.

Oh, and yesterday was the first day of the mini challenge where we had to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetable every day and I didn't eat any. I'm pretty sure I can do better than that! We'll see.

From Mess to (Almost) Best in 54 Days

It doesn't seem possible, but we started preliminary work on our pond renovation way back in April.

There were many reasons for the delay in finishing including weather (that was a big one), lack of knowledge, (I pretty much knew what we needed to do just not how to do it), and lack of time.

Our old pond really didn't look bad but it had some problems. There were areas where the dirt surrounding the pond and the landscaping were actually higher than the edge of the pond liner. Therefore when it stormed or whenever it felt like it, dirt and debris went into the pond. Also, a couple of years ago I asked for and received from my daughters a pond skimmer. This is an apparatus that causes floating debris to flow into a box and then be captured there instead of sinking to the bottom of the pond and becoming rotting waste. Another problem we needed to tackle was the box filter/waterfall. It stuck up out of the edge of the pond like a sore thumb. I never once liked it from the time we got it but a waterfall is important not just for its aesthetic aspect but also to help aerate the water. And the biggest serious problem with the old pond was that it wasn't level on all sides so in order to hide the unattractive liner, I would pile rocks along the edge starting somewhere underwater. Unfortunately it was impossible to hide that liner everywhere and also impossible to keep those rocks from constantly tumbling to the bottom of the pond. So you see, we were up against it - a lot!

Here's how it looked last year.

I'm laughing pretty hard in a crying sort of way as I write this because it actually looks kind of beautiful in a way doesn't it? But that's only because we worked so hard to hide the flaws right? And of course it's an advantage to have the plants all mature and everything but with the renovation the plants are kind of starting over. And lets don't forget, this was right after it was cleaned too.

I'll go take pictures tonight even though they probably won't do it justice but I did promise. Before I do that, though, let me describe the changes.

We took EVERYTHING out of the pond. Those irises had to go because they multiplied and grew like weeds. And they collected pond waste because they are filtering plants but they smelled bad. And they were taking over. So they're gone.

When we built the pond nobody that I remember talked about an underlayment but now that's all you hear. So we left the old liner in as underlayment and laid a cheap liner over it. Now when it comes time to freshen it in the Spring and Fall, we'll just throw this one away and put in a new one.

We used landscaping rocks all they way around the perimeter some two deep and some one deep to level all the edges. The theory is that with everything level, we can fill the pond right to the top edge and won't have to conceal bare liner with rocks.

We figured out how to and then installed the skimmer. Wow! That was a biggie and it held us up for awhile but thanks to online help sites, we were able to do it ourselves. Two years ago a guy was going to come out and install it for $100 but he never showed up. I wish he had so we could have used it for those two years but I'm also glad that we figured it out.

We lowered that box filter/waterfall. The waterfall itself isn't as spectacular but the box isn't as ugly or intrusive either and that's what I wanted.

Finally we got done at least with the pond itself. All the landscaping and rock moving still isn't finished. Anyway, we filled it and put the very relieved and happy fish back in. Here's how it looked on the 17th.

And here's how we got there:

Never mind. I was going to go into the steps we took to build it, why it looks like it does in this picture, and how it actually looks quite a bit different now; but, I just can't seem to get this post finished. So I'll chronicle some of the construction steps in a post next week sometime, including the drama that had us draining the whole thing on Saturday just before the big storms.

Those Were Some Storms!

Friday afternoon had my head spinning. It wasn't just the potential pond disaster which I'll address tomorrow, it was also the weather.

Harry left for work at 2:30 while I frantically fought pond wars. Since it appeared that the death of all my koi was imminent, I was somewhat pretty much panic stricken. I dashed back and forth between the house and the backyard trying to keep an eye on the weather and save precious koi lives, I glanced at an email from Harry that came up on my computer and it said, "YOU'RE DOING EVERYTHING YOU CAN. GOOD LUCK. T-STORMS COMING BEFORE TOO LONG. JUST BE CAREFUL OUT THERE !! ". That was at 4:16 p.m. Since he works about 25 minutes west of here, he gets first look at most of the weather.

At 4:37 another email said, "HERE IT (STORM) COMES !!!! CHECK THE RADAR !". That was fast! I would have thought I'd have a little more time but I didn't so I tried to work faster.

Then at 4:50 another email from Harry. "GET IN THE HOUSE AND CLOSE THE DOORS!!!! THIS STORM HAS SOME VERY STRONG WIND WITH IT." So I did. I had just gotten the newly filled pond drained and now the fairly torrential rain could help re-fill it. So I hunkered down in the house and waited for the storm to pass.

The weather channel reported winds in our area of 67 mph! Wow! I was glad that it held off until the exact second that I finished my work and dashed in the house chased by some big old drops of rain.

Of course during the storm I thought of my feathered friends at Striebel Pond and hoped they wouldn't get blown away and that all the parents were able to protect all the babies. I was also thinking of Striebel Pond because I hadn't gotten my walk in yet and I wondered if I was going to be able to; but then it magically cleared and I headed over there.

The stoplights I encountered enroute were out and at least one pole was leaning precariously over the highway. There was evidence of at least one large tree being separated on Hitchcock Street to allow traffic to proceed and parts of the Striebel Pond walkway were littered with debris.

Water from the flood plain gushed into the pond.

And there were no ducks at their usual meeting place.

But other than that the pond was once again serene and beautiful.

And most importantly, the swan family still numbered eight.

As an eerie darkness descended, though, I realized that I was out there alone - almost. There was one other individual to keep me company. I was so relieved that I took his or her picture.

And that should have been the end of this post except there was another storm coming and this was the one that would do the real damage. Lots of people lost power and, sure, I felt sorry for them. But we lost CABLE, INTERNET, TELEPHONE - the whole bundle. And that was HARD!
We couldn't watch TV, check the weather, write a blog post, or do any of the other innumerable, vital things we do routinely.

And it was out for almost 24 hours. That means from late Friday night until early Sunday morning we were virtually incommunicado. And THAT was painful.

You Capture - Water

I was so excited when I found out the subject of this week's You Capture would be water. It was perfect. We were finally finishing the renovation of our water garden so I would be able to show pictures of the hopefully beautiful finished product. The one thing I knew for sure was that I wouldn't be posting pictures of Striebel Pond since I posted a zillion of those last week.

So here are my 'water' pictures - all taken at Striebel Pond. You know the old saying, "the best laid plans......"

These are all SOOC. No editing. I don't have time. I've got a water garden to finish.

For lots of beautifully creative water shots, visit Beth at Ishouldbefoldinglaundry.