Earth Day

The schools are doing a fine job of teaching students about keeping the planet green. I know because last week Miles was very excited to tell me he was learning about recycling. Did I know you can take old cardboard and it can be recycled into new cardboard? Then Claire and I get to take Lucas or Miles to events often when there is a need for each child to be at a different location. So far the two of them go to gymnastics, Cub Scouts, soccer and piano lessons. Saturday we were at a soccer game with Lucas then we continued on to a Kid’s Run so he could run a mile for a t-shirt. Lucas sits in the back and plays with the iPhone while I begin telling Claire how I couldn’t start my mower. She said I might need to take the old gas out and put in new. But I wasn’t sure what to do with the old gas. Claire said they often poured their old gas in the vacant field by their house. Lucas starts interjecting, “What did you say? That’s bad for the environment.” So he does listen when we imagine he is only spacing out on Skee Ball. We are now trying to be more appropriate with our conversation but it won’t be easy since he spells now too.

Jill just phoned on her way to the Tri-Cities. She is excited about your trip with them to Fort Leonard Wood. She also mentioned that Ronna, Michelle and most importantly, Lochlan will be Memorial Day. It has been many years since we’ve seen Michelle there. Jill is on her way to Suncadia so she will check that place out for future reunions. You can google it and see what you think. Gayle and Jim just returned from their cruise so I know she will be getting the details out to everyone soon. She has big shoes to fill but Dorena did leave lots of instructions including amounts of leftover paper products and game items. Leslie is also getting geared up for Memorial Day as she was attempting to determine the anniversary year. It has to be our 42nd Annual Memorial Day Johanson Reunion. I heard Charlie will be there, also Brett and Anna Marie, Cyd and Dave from my side of the family which is amazing as I’m often Alberta’s only representative.

I’m glad you have your ticket to Portland and a ride to Brooks also. This morning I had a big raccoon trying to get a drink from the pool. I have no idea where he could live near my house but I think he has a skunk friend in the vicinity also. I’ll post his photo so you can squint to find him.

Hospice Here

I know you think poorly of this group but it may have changed for the better recently. Anyway they are bringing my mom a hospital bed, a chaplain periodically, a nurse weekly and a social worker for me. At least I think I will talk to her most often. I know I won’t be mentioning anything to my children because last week when the director suggested it was time to contact Hospice I shared this information with my two children in an effort to get some type of feedback about this decision. Neither bothered to answer my email at all. When questioned about this they both said they didn’t know what to say.
These are the days when I might even imagine missing siblings.

My mom is tired and sleeps the majority of the time. She only eats occasionally even when Boost is offered. Her caregivers are so good to her and she seems to like them. I am very pleased to have more folks around to make her comfortable.

I’m so excited that you and Hank will get to visit Willie when he completes his army basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood. Hank really gets into the room reservations and travel arrangements. We surely haven’t heard much about Memorial Day. I talked with Diana the other day and no one is certain about Betty and Brice attending though it is possible if there is a nearby motel perhaps. I think we need to get Leslie on the publicity committee for this holiday. Did you buy a pair of the Cole Haans she recommended? I love being on her buying suggestion mailings.

Our travel plans have stalled because of my poor eyesight. The Lonely Planet book had so much information that the print had to be smaller and smaller. I finally found a Rough Guide to Malaysia and a huge map of the area that I love. I am ready to make airline reservations whenever. But yes, it is a good suggestion to make certain we do have an official receipt.

There is bad news on the soap opera front. As the World Turns will be over in September. Do you remember watching it when we were in Soap Lake helping Grandma and Grandpa clean motel rooms? The characters on the show are practically family friends now. I can’t even begin to remember all their marriages. I know you’ll find this news tragic.

Peyton, Walker, Lucas and no Miles : (

Easter

The bunny came early at Brett’s house and Anna Marie was kind enough to wake me at 6:30 a.m. so I wouldn’t miss the hunt. I should have remembered the rabbit would be up early before I spent several a.m. hours reading the iPad reviews. I hated the name of the new product but now I’ve forgotten about it and just want to get my hands on the new computer. I think it will be awhile yet.

Lucas and I had a great vacation in Oregon. We didn’t get to see Leslie but we did get to visit the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry with Gayle and Becca. Lucas ran into the mass of students and we couldn’t find him for five minutes or so but from then on he kept an eye on one of us. His favorite thing had to be going inside a real submarine and seeing the torpedoes, the ice cream machine and hearing the kwak of the emergency horn. Gayle had previously given the Kubin family the gift of an overnight in the submarine. I am so thankful no one gifted me in such a manner. You can imagine the claustrophobia.

Ah, but the Kubins are a hearty, fearless bunch as you could see from their photos of Disneyland. Even Uncle Ron was laughing in every photo. Their family will look much different next year. Say, you could attend Willie’s graduation in Missouri.

We loved staying on Gayle’s 150 acre spread in the 5000 sq. ft home. There was even a framed handkerchief from my mom on her wall. She needs lots of things to fill up space but I was especially touched that on it there was a card to Alberta from one of her Libby friends. Lucas liked playing board games with Gayle and says he is in charge of the games for Memorial Day. So far they are Stratego, Triominos, Sequences, Battleship, Uno, and Monopoly. This is fair warning to stay away from the game table at Brooks.

Gayle drove us to the ocean and we hiked along three beaches gathering “keepers” that we happened upon. I think if you give any kid a sandy beach they can entertain themselves for hours on end with nothing but sticks and rocks. We were thoroughly tired when we got back to the house but Jim continued to keep us entertained. It was the final day of elk season so he left the house about 7 with a huge rifle and within the hour was back saying he had an elk. At first it was hard to tell if he was happy or overwhelmed because then the real work of preparing the elk needed to be done. Lucas and I watched out the window while he brought the elk to the back field and proceeded to take care of the details. I mean he was a great host to actually get an elk so we could experience the end result of hunting. Gayle was not too excited to head out and be the helper but I do think they got to bed in the early hours. The next day there were coyotes visiting their back pasture and we drove by the shop to see the hanging meat. Now we are wondering where the head was? Maybe next time we visit it will be on the wall.

We traveled to Petyon and Walker’s house the following day and the boys were so glad to see one another. We overheard them upstairs talking about bodily noises inappropriately and then stealing under shorts with much rowdiness and loud voices. I mentioned to Cyd that we had at least 10 more years of this boy stuff ahead of us. Just imagine how nice a quiet little girl would be. Rounding them up at Burger King was a major undertaking and some older couple there said it reminded them of their houseful of boys years ago and they were joyful about it so maybe in a few more years we can act the same way.