The Science of Garbage

Wisconsinites take their trash very seriously, recycling happens every other week and it is amazing all the rules about trash. Someday I will attach the RULES, but suffice it to say that trash is an artform.

My sister-in-law Janet says, "just take it down the street to Grand Chute, you can put dead bodies in the trash and they will pick it up".

I'm going to add pictures of our vacation every now and then, so they really have nothing to do with trash.

Repairs

When we lived in San Juan we took care of the problems around the house, but that doesn't even compare to this house.

We have had workmen or problems at least 2 a day, today the freezer wouldn't freeze and the new washer leaked, the phone stopped working and the garbage disposal sounds like a jet plane taking off (literally). I love the house and when we get things worked out it will be great.

We are definitely not the best fixers of things, we finally figured out the reason the freezer stopped working, when you came into the room and turned on the lights it came on and every time you left the room and turned off the light the freezer stopped. Why oh why, do people connect all their light switches to their plugs!! The phone cord was plugged in the wrong hole...are you seeing where I'm going with this...the only thing I can guarantee is that I did not make the garbage disposal sound like a jet engine.

We stopped in Idaho to see my dad at the Veterans Home where he lives. This is my sister Sherry too and our kids in the background (notice the red hair).

Starting Over

We have been in Appleton, WI for one week, after two weeks on the road seeing everything West of the Mississippi. It was a great vacation for our family, the kids saw 37 different kind of animals on the sides of the roads and we kept a running track of all the different liscense plates in the USA, we got 46.

Some of the highlights were:

1) The Corn Palace, South Dakota - concert/swap meet venue - the entire building is covered in corn cobs.
2) Devils Tower - Wyoming
3) Mount Rushmore - South Dakota
4) Hot Springs - Idaho
5) Yellowstone, Wyoming - Old Faithful, we met our friends Dan and Edris Snipes there and Old Faithful goes off about every 65 minutes or so, Dan is a photographer and we kept talking so long they missed Old Faithful - it is incredible. Sorry Dan.
6) Can't forget Napa...that was gorgeous!

We made it to Wisconsin and signed the papers and took ownership of our first house! It's a great house, I love the floor plan and if I could just get everything put away we would be a little more content. I got a new washer dryer set which makes me really happy, I keep thinking if I get everything I need and stock up on food and have a computer to communicate I won't ever have to leave the house in the winter. If it weren't for those darn necessities like taking the kids to school, helping them make their way here, etc. I could be a complete hermit. You all know me though, and I really can't keep quiet long, but it really is different in a new place, the people seem like they are from another planet. They are so nice that when I go to the stores (especially Home Depot) I have to hide from the people there, they just track you down and want to help help help.

I've met the neighbors and they are all nice, we have a great neighborhood, the houses are gorgeous and the park nearby is great! We go at night with jars and catch lightening bugs/fireflies. I haven't ever seen them before and it is almost surreal when you are standing in the open field watching them fly. Since we have been here we have seen some incredible Lightening/Thunder Storms, Hail and had one Tornado Warning. The weather is always different. When we got here it was hot and muggy today you would have thought it was going to snow it was so cold.

Yesterday we were in Chicago loading up on supplies, we had to go to our favorite places; Trader Joe's, Costco, IKEA and The Container Store. I think we will be set for a while.

Tomorrow is Mike's first day at Humana, he is very excited! We drove up to his new office building, it is in the middle of nowhere and it is a huge building. Pray for him as he starts his new life too, God has been so faithful to us and he feels bad for some of his old friends back at Remedy - they will find out this week how many of them will still have their jobs. Many are gone already because of their choice and some did not have a choice.

My idea about starting this blog was to keep in contact with you all and let you know what is happening with us and you can comment back on the blog or just send an email every now and then.