Sibling Rivalry

As most of you already know, SME is 14 yrs older than Z. We never thought that they'd have much in common. Boy were we wrong! The older Z gets, the closer he becomes to his beloved sister. They have the same warped sense of humor(humour for SME), they watch the same TV shows(with the exception of Lost), and they both love to gang up on their Mom, even though they live 1100 miles apart. Our 3-way phone conversations can be a riot at times!

Purely by coincidence, Z and SME both received The Sims Complete, for Christmas. Ever since, they have been exchanging tips on the game. Z has been unsuccessfully trying to recreate our house in the Sims' environment. The game wouldn't allow him to build an 80 ft long house. Naturally, SME felt the need to one-up her brother. Last night, SME successfully added our house to her Sims environment. Not being one to gloat, SME immediately emailed screen shots of the house to her brother. She did an impressive job with the options available to her


Here's a view of our living room and the kids' bedrooms. SME says she couldn't put in the hall closet. I think she eliminated the hall closet, and the closet in her room, to make her room bigger than Z's.
Here's the view of our kitchen and master bedroom. Where's the fridge and the back porch SME? Oh...the deer antlers are in the garage now...that was a nice touch though. ;)
Here's a view of the living room, Z's room, and the hall from a different angle. SME managed to place the hall bookshelves and the dishwasher, but left us with no fridge. Are you trying to starve your ravenous brother?

Other than that, you did a GREAT job SME. You did a fantastic job on the new living room floor, even though you haven't seen it in person yet! BTW, the new couch is on the north wall; it's too big for the east wall.

Now SME just needs to add a family to our house. I shudder to think what type of warped individuals will be residing there!

Reality SUCKS!!!!

K holding Z, at his baby shower.


My 2nd best friend, in this 1-horse town, died at 10:30 last night.
We ALL know where she is now, no question!
I'd say "Rest In Peace", but I KNOW that K isn't resting. She's far too active to be resting on her first day in heaven! Knowing K, she's probably trying to find a way to comfort all of us who are left on earth without her.
I'm happy that she's reunited with her parents and sister. I'm grateful that she didn't have to die of Alzheimers, as she feared. I'm grateful that her pain didn't last too long, and that she didn't linger for weeks in a coma.

After posting last night, we received an update on K's condition: she only had a 30% chance of making it through the night. When the phone rang, early this morning, it took both of my shaking hands to pick up the receiver....I knew what the caller would say....K's gone.

Boss and I held it together pretty well with each other until Boss said: "We have to bake the beans for K's funeral." I said: "Oh my God, this isn't a joke anymore! We promised to serve baked bean sandwiches at her funeral." Reality SUCKS!!

Ever since we started catering funerals, K said that she wanted a simple funeral. She loves smearing cold, leftover baked beans on toast. One day, while we were cooking for a funeral, K said that she wanted us to serve baked bean sandwiches at her funeral. She must have repeated this request 1000 times, over the last few years. It was an inside joke with the 3 of us....now it's REALITY! K knows that I think eating after a funeral is barbaric. I can't do it! She told me, with that damned twinkle in her eyes, that: "You WILL eat a baked bean sandwich at my funeral, cuz I SAID SO!" Alright K. I'll choke down a sandwich. But only because I KNOW you'll be watching. If I don't, I know that you'll find a way to mischievously get back at me. You do, after all, know where I live and work! I'll eat that sandwich, fighting back my tears, swallowing down the lump in my throat, because I LOVE YOU K!

I can't bring myself to use the past tense when referring to K; I just talked to her Thursday! Boss and I have talked, and laughed, with K at least 5 days a week for the past 20 years! The next few weeks at work will be extremely difficult to bear. We will constantly be waiting for K to walk through the door... or we'll want to remember to tell her something...or the returning snowbirds will ask about her...or a customer will want to know why she isn't baking doughnuts anymore....or we'll find one of her possessions lying around......
K's beautiful spirit will always live in our hearts!

As much as all of us are mourning K's absence in our lives, her husband is suffering 100 fold. Their 50th anniversary was coming at the end of June. We, and their 4 kids, were planning a surprise party for them. B and K were made for each other. I'm certain that B feels as if half of him has died. Please pray for B, as he faces the rest of his life without his soulmate.

Friday the 13th Bit Us....BIG TIME!

Boss overbooked us on catering. We have 4 large, and 2 small jobs to accomplish in 2 days....with 3.5 workers! The restaurant was too busy today for us to work on the catering jobs too much. We had to pitch in after our regular shifts were over.

Our favorite neighbor's funeral was today.

Our co-worker was life-flighted to Duluth this afternoon, following surgical complications.
Please pray for her!!

I'll fill in the details later. I'm too exhausted to write coherently right now.

Why We Live HERE; Reason #43

Every time I start questioning our sanity about our lifestyle choice, something beautiful happens.

At daybreak this morning, I was taking a smoke break outside at work. The seagulls were squawking, as usual. This morning, something was different, and louder, in their cries. I looked up to find 2 bald eagles, floating in the air current, barely above the rooftops. As I watched, a 3rd eagle joined their slow circle of the restaurant.

While I stood there, grinning like an idiot, the eagles hovered directly above my head. I could see the feathers of their wings subtly moving to hold their seemingly motionless positions. As they hovered, they talked quietly among themselves. As I watched, they were joined by a 4th eagle. This eagle was immature, and hadn't acquired his "bald" head yet.

The intrusion of the young eagle disrupted the peaceful gab session of the other 3 eagles. Soon, all 4 eagles began jockeying for position, and started flying in a widening circle. I was hoping that this would lead to a "Cartwheel Display", where a courting pair flies to high altitude, locks their talons together, and cartwheels toward the ground. I would dearly love to see this dramatic courtship flight, but no such luck today!

We sometimes question ourselves about why we struggle to eke out a living up here, at the edge of the universe. This morning God gave me another amazing answer to that question.