Day 43 - February 12, 2011

Guess who actually stood up and walked to me first thing this morning!! Yes, I cried.

He is really wobbly and weak but he is trying hard to be wherever we are, he doesn't like to be alone. The new challenge is to keep him lying down so he doesn't hurt himself by falling when he tries to walk. He still loses his balance easily. He is also scarfing down food today. We are so happy!!

Everyone took a little stress break today. The girls went shopping and when they got home to help Woofy-sit, Jim and I did something we've never done before...we went to the parking lot of Wendt's on the Lake. There was a very large crowd already assembled when we got there...

and what was the big attraction you ask? The answer is...

...sturgeon! It was opening day of sturgeon season which is a very big deal around here. (Note all the camoflage/hunting clothes-which must help in sneaking up on the fish?) By the time we got there about 52 fish had been brought in and the largest to that point was 132 pounds. It might have been this one in the sled. We saw one get brought in to be registered and weighed...

it was only 42 pounds. We walked around a little bit to soak up the cold, damp, fishy smelling atmosphere. As far as I can tell the thing to do is stand around and wait for someone to bring in a fish, then you take pictures of it and touch it. I guess I wasn't totally into the spirit of things because I only took pictures. We saw a total of three fish not including the minnow one of the DNR officials was showing the little kids. (It had been removed from one of the sturgeon's stomachs.) I have to admit I didn't get it, but everyone else there seemed to really be enjoying themselves. It's hard to imagine we've lived in this area almost ten years now and have never been part of this excitement,...well, now we can say we were. It is amazing what a big deal this is. There was a regular highway out on the lake...

After the thrill (?) of the sturgeon-fest we drove to Beaver Dam to visit Jerry in his new digs. On the drive I started the next baby gift I need to make (for our school secretary)...

Jim said he can't understand why I won't "just sit and relax" even though I've told him a thousand times that crocheting, knitting, sewing, etc. IS relaxing for me...and it's cheaper than therapy! : )

Jerry's assisted living facility wasn't as dreary as I expected (Grandma had said it was very old) and Jerry was in good spirits. Of course part of that might be that he believes he's going home next week (there has been no official medical coorboration of this claim), or maybe it was because we brought him a diet Mountain Dew (Little Debbies and diet Mountain Dew are his personal addictions.) We met his roommate, Mark, who is 84 and used to be a mink farmer. He is a very nice man. They both had some pretty good stories to share and I learned more about mink farming than I'd ever need to know. The Badger game had been playing on Mark's radio when we arrived (Jerry can't get ESPN there which bothers him greatly) but since they were losing by 7 Jerry turned it off. We should have left it on because it turned out to be a great game. Apparently the Badgers pulled off a big upset and, according to Grandma (another avid Badger fan), one of the players made NINE THREE-POINTERS! : )

After a really nice visit we went back home to take our turn dog-sitting so the girls could go to work. I worked on the handkerchief/bonnet I was making for Thaddeus...

and managed to finish it. I spent the rest of the night trying to get this blog updated. Tiffany got home from work at 10:30 with an interesting story to tell. A customer had gone through the drive-through, placed and order and, when they got to the payment window, handed in a fish and then drove off,...yes, a fish, and yes, without their food. No explanation was provided.

I'm not sure why Tiffany brought it to our house, but here he is...

We couldn't just leave it in the bag, so I put it in with Jerry's fish which we are fish-sitting while he's in assisted living.

The really weird thing is that Tiffany found out the same thing had happened at McDonald's too! Does anyone have an explanation for this strange customer behavior?

Inspite of its occasional weirdness, today has been a really good day, the best in a while. Praise God for his unfailing grace and mercy, we needed a break!

Scripture passage of the day:

Psalm 28:7

The LORD is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song.

Photo of the day:

The world's best dog with his scrambled egg, ham, pancake and cat food (long story) breakfast.

Get well Olaf!