Saturday, May 26, 2007

Rude spring travels



Mat and I just returned from a wonderful trip to French Polynesia. We planned the trip because our friend Sherri got her jazz band, Blue Renditions, booked on the Paul Gaughin ship for a week. The trip was my 45th birthday to myself (and I included Mat, aren't I nice?). We flew into Papeete, Tahiti, and traveled to several of the islands. It is truly a magnificent place, so lush and tropical, and relatively unspoiled. One of the highlights was a day on a private motu (one of the islands that is broken off from the main island surrounded by a barrier reef) where we were able to swim and snorkel and drink from coconuts. Truly marvelous. Attached are a couple of pictures.


After the trip, we had to come back to the real world and our lives and jobs in Helena. We have been doing some work on our house, so are keeping busy with that.


On July 1 we are having a "celebration of life" for Dick Rosa, our stepfather, in Polson. All of his family will be in attendance, as will Dione and her family.


Best wishes for June to all.


Maureen and Mat

Thursday, May 10, 2007

SUSAN AND HARVEY'S MOVE

Hi Bill,
Yes, I have signed an employment agreement with Northwest Medical (soon to be MeritCare) and will start on July 1. And, I have been accepted to the Suicide Summer Research program at the University of Rochester. This is a National Institute of Mental Health supported project that provides training to physicians, psychologists, and other interested professionals in suicide intervention and prevention. They will fly me to NY and put me up for a week, at no cost to me or my program. The first year of this program deals with developing research that will prevent suicide. For me, this means developing some kind of program that can be left behind for psychology residents in the MCARPT program. The second year deals with writing a grant for NIMH monies to fund the research. I am excited about the possibilities.

On a sad note, Julie called this morning and informed me that her brother-in-law, Mark, committed suicide. She was in a rush to get to Williston to be with Dennis. Harvey is coming to Detroit Lakes tonight, and we will make our way to Williston tomorrow to offer whatever comfort we can. I did call Mom to make sure she was doing okay with this news. This will likely bring up a few "Rod memories" for all of us. I intend to bring my laptop, so I'll keep you posted as we hear more news.

Love,
Susan


"It is never too late to be what you might have been." George Eliot


Wednesday, May 09, 2007

SUSAN HAS A NEW JOB!

A note from Marilyn indicates that Susan has a new job at Thief River Falls, Minnesota, about an hour from Grand Forks! They are quite excited about the new opportunties. She and Harvey are getting their house near Minneapolis ready to sell.

Julie and Dennis are getting ready for their move to Williston the last week in May, where they bought a house. Their house in Garrison is already sold.

Carol continues to cook at the bar and lounge, with 75% of the business coming from the food part. She conducts various games (like "tick" and "minnow" races) to attract customers.

Marilyn, Issy, Dad and Ron helped Mavis celebrate her birthday at the South Forty in Sidney!

And Marilyn is enjoying the "farming" in their front and back yard!

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

GREETINGS FROM LINDA

Hi all,

It's been awhile since I posted anything so I thought I'd say
hello to everyone before Uncle Bill leaves on his travels! Life in Miles
City is pretty uneventful. Seems like all I do is work, eat and sleep. I'm
STILL Acting City Clerk (five months now); however we have posted the
position and have a couple of applicants. I have been calling other City
Clerks in the state trying to steal them away from the city they work for.
I am desperate; it is so hard to get good help that really want to work! If
I can hold out for a couple of more years I will have 35 years in and I
think I can safely say......it's time to get the heck out of here! One nice
thought is that if things get too crazy, I do have enough years that I could
retire anytime. I'll be in Billings this afternoon and the rest of the week
for training so will get to see Charlie.

I got an e-mail from Cindy yesterday; they sold their home!
However, they have to pay some closing costs and realtor fees....but it sold! She
is excited and glad to have that out of the way.

Jenny is about done with her Special Ed Endorsement. The
Bozeman school district has been giving her $2,500 per year to complete the studies.
She has also been working on her Special Ed Masters and was excited to get a
100% on one final and expects an A on the other class. Of course we are
really proud of her as it has been hard teaching Special Ed (severe and
moderate) and furthering her education at the same time.

Jodi is busy working for the Farm Service Agency and raising
children. Ted and her also administer the all the junior high and high
school youth programs for our church. It keeps them busy. They will be
driving the church's Greyhound bus with 24 high school students to Austin,
Texas, the last two weeks in June for a mission trip. Dallas and I will
watch the grandkids in the evening and weekends with Ted's parents during
the day! It is a good thing the kids are great because this time is during

Monday, May 07, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAVIS!

A Happy Birthday!

Mavis was one year older today, and has a new photo on her driver's license to prove she hasn't aged from the last time her license was renewed. She has a bunch of baby ducks and puppies (8!) to take care of as a special gift, and is getting lots of help with them from four grandkids down the road.

It was also calf branding today, much delayed because of windy and rainy weather. The crops are all in, but the seeds almost got blown away by the 50 mph winds. The plants will probably come up sideways!

Dad went with Mavis to Williston (for the drivers license) and got treated to ice cream. The cake was to be this evening, at a party hosted by Will and Trista at their house. Mavis, Marilyn, Issy, and Dad were in Bismarck on May 2 for medical checkups, with good results all around. Dr. Franks is quite amazed that Dad is doing so well. His pacemaker is good for another five and one-half years, at which time Dr. Franks said Dad should be sure to come have it changed--at age 98!

Lila Out and About

We tried to call Lila several times in the last week without successs, getting us worried. Finally e-mailed Cindy to find out the score. Turns out she was busy all about town, having lunch with Mavis, Marilyn, and Dad, among other things. Cindy and Don are still trying to sell their old house so they can move to the new one on June 1. Charlie has a new car (!) and is aiming for a promotion in her job. Linda and Dallas were saddened by the death of a neighbor in an accident--at age 31. Lila was going to a birthday party at Karen's, among her nany social adventures!

Dione, Saul and Mollie are Busy Folks

Dione was just interviewed for a new job next year, as teacher of gifted children in a town near Yellow Springs. Sounds like she is very likely to get the position. In the meantime, she is trying to finish her master's degree and all the special preparation required. Saul is busy trying to keep the lawns mowed at both of their houses. The new one is not yet ready for move-in because of several changes they are doing to make it more liveable. Mollie scored in the 99th percentile on achievement tests in reading, vocabulary and math, and in the 96th percentile for science and social studies. She is auditioning for a play and will go to soccer camp in June. In the meantime, she reads lots of books!

On the Move from Tucson

We have leased our house for a year (to two young doctors with a 16 month old son, and a new baby on the way), and will leave May 22 in the motorhome for northern country. Temperatures are supposed to hit 100 degrees this week, so it is time to meander. We'll go first to Salt Lake City to see granddaughter Chandra, Bryson, and Kira. Quite unfortunately, Chandra learned last week that she has cirvical cancer. It is quite treatable, but it will be an ordeal to accomplish that.

After SLC, we'll take a leisurely journey to Washington to see family and friends before heading east to Missoula where we hope to link up with Dione, Saul, Mollie, Maureen, and Mat after their visit to Flathead Lake around Independence Day and a memorial to their step-father, Dick, who died earlier this year. Sometime soon after that we'll wind up in North Dakota for a few days.

The Blog is not likely to get much attention from your "editor" for the next few months since we will not have access to high speed Internet. Hopefully, some of you will pick up the slack and add news and info.

Cheers,

Bill and Marie