Tuesday, May 31st - another week of ups and downs, but mostly ups!

What started out as a pretty quiet week wasn’t without it’s ups and downs

Thursday morning I arrived at work to this scene.

All the stuff under and on top of my desk was in a big pile beside the stairs and an assortment of garbage cans were strategically placed on the top of the desk. It seems at some point the evening before (thankfully when there were still people in the building) something in the air conditioning system overflowed and at some point it was like a monsoon over the oval office. Not a great way to start the day. The good news is that there was someone in the building and their quick actions saved (mostly)  everything and the better news is that it wasn’t a Monday which is usually very busy.  There was still a bit of dripping when I came in at 7:30 and I didn’t finish getting everything back together until a little after 9:00. All in all it could have been worse.

Friday was the day Lloyd was picking up the baby chicks. Unfortunately when he got there, something was apparently on fire and everyone and everything had been evacuated so he had to make a second trip into town. Eventually they arrived home, safe and sound (except for one poor little one that was trampled) but as Bernie often points out, “That’s farming”

After numerous unsuccessful attempts to get our lawn tractor functioning this year, Lloyd finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a new one. The old one is still very useful as a small tractor, just not for cutting grass. But that’s okay, we’ve used
it many times over the years to move stuff around. The new one was being delivered on Saturday while I was at work.

Saturday was cold and not so nice out but Sunday was much better. Perfect opportunity to try out the new lawn mower.  I was able to get at least the front and side grass cut without a hitch. YAY!

Sunday morning Bernie came over and he and Lloyd headed out for a bit of a bike ride, while Brenda came over for coffee after church. When we were finished solving all the problems of the world, (as we’re prone to do when we get together after a lengthy absence, ) we took a drive down the road to see the tulips  again.

 This week the show was pretty spectacular. A few of them have been cut down but most are still there and far more than last week were open. It truly is a sight to see.

Sunday afternoon Brenda and I went for a ride, our first of the season. My bike is in the shop so I followed her with the Miata. Cooper was pretty happy to be invited along for the ride. We wound our way cross country and eventually ended up in Montague where we enjoyed a tea and something completely different but in a good way – Orange Meringue Pie. It was chilly sitting outside but with the dog, we didn’t really have a choice. The earlier  warm sunny weather had started to cool off somewhat. I was lucky to have a heater but Brenda must have been chilled when she got home.  

Sunday was also the last day for Meghan’s motorcycle course, which we found out she passed – well done, Meg and congrats.

And last, but certainly not least, the biggest "UP" of the week. I didn’t check email all weekend and was pleasantly surprised to see this message from Patti on Monday morning, along with a couple of photos of a very proud young man (and rightly so).This was a huge accomplishment for him and we're all VERY proud of him and his efforts. 

" Tristen made it through the crazy 6 hour workout this weekend, did his 40-5 km runs, wrote 3 essays, attended 6 training classes a week for 16 weeks in a row and passed the 8 week leadership course. 

Today, he got his black belt. As I'm sure you can imagine he is very pleased with himself. And we are so proud of him :) 

Patti"