Surprises, Sunsets and Scanning....

Almost every day that I've been back someone from my past has come back into my life. Today it was Connie and Stacey, friends from rollerskating days in Omro. I've been on facebook with them for a while but today I actually saw them in person. They came into the Village of Winneconne Hall while I was working what a nice surprise.

Stacey was a little girl the last time that I saw her and now today she has a daughter getting ready to graduate from high school. Stacey and her mom Connie, went to Winneconne High and surprised her daughter with a limo ride for lunch. So I guess today was full of surprises for a lot of people. Way to go Stacey and congrats to her daughter who is graduating from high school.

I always thought the sunsets in Arizona were breathtaking. My youngest son, Jon, always burst my bubble and had to explain to me that what I was actually seeing in those AZ sunsets was lots and lots of pollution in the air. Thanks Jon. Tonight the sunset in Winneconne took my breath away and I don't think there is pollution in this air. Thankfully Jon wasn't standing next to me explaining the science behind the sunset so I could enjoy it's beauty. Here is a set of pics taken from a different area of the property - the marsh and channel. I tried to stand in the same place and kept taking shots, I just couldn't believe how fast the sun went down and how that affected the changing of the colors.

 Tomorrow is Friday AND the first of June already. My weekend plans are to get working on June specials in Heritage Makers, scanning (I have my old computer here now so I can hook that PC up to the scanner since Kodak still hasn't made their scanners compatible with Macs), and maybe actually find time to play with my Cricut machine. I haven't been able to work on traditional scrapbooking for a while. How about you? What have you got planned for the first weekend in June?

Savings on liquor, and I'm willing to share it....

I talked about my coupon class earlier in my blog but I have to tell you, what she taught me really, really works. I didn't think I'd have time to cut, sort and shop the way I was taught but last Saturday I saved exactly $107 on my groceries. Even as I was looking at ads I kept thinking this is not worth my time. Boy was I wrong! Being Memorial Day weekend helped since they had so many fantastic deals and a lot of my money was spent on alcohol, beer and soda...but it was all things that I needed (or will need with company arriving soon).If you live in the White Mountains check out that coupon class offered at Northland Pioneer College. If you live anywhere else you need to see if your local community college offers a seminar on savings. You won't regret it.

The lilac bushes in my yard are done blooming for the year, I think. My sister said sometimes if you cut the lilacs back soon enough you might get a second blooming...I did trim them back so we will see. Here's a picture of Aiden helping pick some for the house. He just couldn't believe that I was allowing him to pick flowers. I think he's picked some in the past that probably weren't suppose to be picked and was punished for it. And by the way, this is not the best picture of me...Good shot of my tatoo though.

 Aiden got to spend some time with his Uncle Eddie while he visited. I guess Uncle Eddie was too much to say so Aiden just called him Uncle for short. Once again, that kid just cracked me up. Here they are playing tug of war and of course you know Eddie let loose so Aiden went flying. But I wanted you to see some more of my flowers. The rose bush by the stairs is getting big, much bigger than the rose bushes in the front yard. I think this one is doing so well because it gets tubs of water dumped on it at least three times a day from the humidifier. That humidifier has been running in my scrapbook room constantly since I've arrived. I need it to help keep my papers from feeling so damp. What I really need is to start up my traditional and/or digital scrapbook classes so I can use up some of my supplies. Who in the area is interested? We could make it a ladies' night and I'll serve the new alcohol and beer that I just bought!

Jon, Aiden? Aiden, Jon?

I got to visit a brand new doctor today...and she wasn't a PA she was a doctor! Something we didn't experience too much in the mountains of Arizona. Anyway, I've been coughing for almost three weeks now. Not a cold or anything just an annoying dry cough and it's really giving me headaches and my ribs feel like I've broken them from this. All I do is disturb people at work, in meetings and church. The worse part has been waking up in the middle of the night thinking I'm choking. The doctor said that the allergies are very bad this year in Wisconsin (I was told that in Arizona too) and my throat is so irritated that it is swelling shut. She gave me some medicine to try to help me stop coughing during the day and some stronger meds to take at night so I can finally get some sleep. I've taken it already so if this blog begins to not make too much sense you'll know why.

I've got to share these pictures, two are of Jon when he was little fishing off the dock in Winneconne and two are of Aiden fishing off the dock in Winneconne. I never dreamed that I'd experience the happiness of taking pictures of two generations doing the same thing in the same place.

I have a warm feeling inside of me knowing that even though I moved a lot with my kids, my sons had  a stable place to visit... at Grandpa's and Grandma's. Many memories were made here and the boys knew that they were always welcomed and loved...and now Aiden has that in his life too. I have so many pictures of family and friends who visited this dock over the years and caught fish. I'm thinking I might design a storybook with all those pictures and fish tales. I could make it into a guest book for people to write in. I will keep you all informed on what I decide. Any ideas to help me along?

Last night the bull frogs were out. They must sleep during the day because they never stopped croaking at all!! As I layed in bed, coughing, I kept listening to them and envisioned that I was in the swamps of Louisiana. Not a pleasant thought I might add...swamps, bugs and alligators are not my idea of a fun time.

The weather changes many times a day here. It will be coolish in the morning, hot in the afternoon and then one night it will be warm and not a thing is stirring outside (last night) and the next night it's cold enough to crawl under your blanket (tonight). I am constantly going from room to room opening or closing windows. Darn, mom has a lot of windows in this house! It also looks like it has snowed all over my lawn. There are a few more very large cottonwood trees on the property and they are messy. There is a constant flow of cotton coming down right now and I'm sure that has something to do with the allergies. I don't think people are allowed to plant these kind of trees any more because of the mess they make.

My new Memories in Bits and Pieces LLC business cards arrived today. Now I can begin using some marketing techniques that I learned from Casey Eberhart, the Ideal Networker   www.caseyeberhart.com   I needed my new phone number on my business cards so while I was at it  (actually while Eddie was at it) he updated and made some other minor changes to the cards. I also ordered magnets for the first time. So if anyone is interested in a magnet for their fridge or filing cabinet just write on this blog and I'll get you your very own...how exciting for you.

Wish I could bottle a four year olds energy-I'd be rich...

Having a four year old around takes a lot of energy. Aiden doesn't stop moving from the time he gets up in the morning until he crashes at night. I get tired just watching him. He keeps me amused all day long. We were sitting in the living room watching one of his movies and out of no where he says "Grandma I really like your house." Then he goes right back to watching the movie. Or we will be riding in the car and we think he's sleeping because it's so quiet in the back seat and he'll say "you're so pretty" ...he just cracks me up.

He got to visit the local Winneconne Public Library and pick out movies. One of them was Wall-E. I was surprised that he has never seen that one before. But he made up for it because in the short time he was here I think we watched that movies at least a half dozen times! I guess that's one to put on the Christmas list.

The big game on your phone or on some type of electronic device, such as the Kindle, is Words with Friends. I'm not big on playing games but this one keeps me connected to many friends from Arizona and I use it to relax. I also began playing with Aiden. He knows his letters and is starting to sound out his words so he can put some words together (with a little help) and he can work any electronic game or phone better than I can. So now I look forward to playing with him every day.

My brothers and sisters came over for Sunday dinner. And since we were together (except for Bruce - we missed you) we started to prepare  for this year's MacGregor Reunion. This is the first time we have ever had the reunion in Wisconsin and we want to make this a memorable time for all the MacGregors who attend. I didn't realize it but our get-to-gethers always revolve around food! We decided where we were going to gather on Friday night, Saturday all day and Sunday morning. But what took the longest to decide on was what food to serve our guests. I'm not telling you what it is but I can assure you that it will be delicious and plentiful.

All the reunion shirt orders are in. Eddie had the artist that he uses for his company re-design a special MacGregor logo for this year's shirts. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Don't forget to register for the summer online digital scrapbooking classes that begin next week. You don't have to drive anywhere, you can take the class right from your home - online. Go to www.npc.edu to register today!

Ghosts in house, Online Digital Scrapbook Classes, Lambeau Field...

Yup, I'm still here. I think this  makes a record for me...I've been in the same state now for over two weeks, it's been a long time since I've been able to accomplish this. I am so happy to be back home in Wisconsin. No mater where you go or how long you are away the place where you grew up family is always going to be "home".

Last week Aiden and his mother, Mandy, came for a long weekend. What a pleasure to be able to have him here in the house that his great grandpa and grandma Schroeder built. Kids say the cutest things. I had to work the first day that they were here and I called and spoke to Aiden during my break. In a very excited voice Aiden said to me "Grandma there are ghosts in this house!" I of course had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Then I found out...he was referring to all the deer, antelope and fish hanging on the walls. He has never seen dead animals in a house before. I can imagine what he thought when he woke up to those things hanging over him. I still don't understand why he thinks they are ghosts, but it's cute just the same. All my life my father and brothers hunted had their game stuffed and mounted so I never really think twice about all these heads. For someone who has never lived with hunters I guess seeing all the game on the walls in houses and restaurants is very strange.

One thing we wanted to do while Aiden was here was take him to Lambeau Field in Green Bay. I've never been on the tour so that's how we spent our Friday. When I saw the field from a distance I filled up with pride. Pride that I was able to take my grandson on his first visit to Lambeau Field. I still remember the day my dad took me for my first time. I hope Aiden will remember this day with me as well as I remember my day with my dad.

We had a very entertaining man as our guide. He told the history of the Packers and I was afraid that Aiden would get bored, but I was proud of him.. he hung in there even though I  know he was really tired. Since he was the only child in our group the man made sure he addressed Aiden often to keep him interested. We took pictures with Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi (I mean their statues...they weren't there and unlike the animals they weren't stuffed for the walls). We got to go through the same tunnel that the Packer's go through to get to the field and I'll have to admit, I got very emotional. Then we finally made it to the field and took loads of pictures. The guide kept warning us not to go on the grass, but since I don't know when or if I'll ever have Aiden down there again I grabbed him and touched one toe onto the grass. Aiden kept looking around for the guide I think he was afraid that we would get yelled at.

The final stop was the gift shop. Aiden wanted a ping pom, once again I had no idea what he was talking about and he gets so frustrated with me because it's evident that he knows what he's saying and thinks I should know too. Anyway, a ping pom was a pom pom, and he wanted a Packer's number one foam finger and a cap. Actually, he wanted a lot more but we stopped with those three items. I'm not sure who had more fun on this trip, me or Aiden. I plan on putting Aiden on the waiting list for season tickets to the Packer games. I know the odds are not in his favor...but who knows...maybe by the time he's ready to retire he might be chosen.

Now for a ittle business talk. My next online digital scrapbook class begins June 6th and if you or anyone you know is interested in registering for this class please tell them about this blog. I guarantee that you will have a fun time AND learn some new tricks on digital scrapbooking with Heritage Makers. I am trying something new for the summer. Not only will I teach you all you need to know about online digital scrapbooking but you are actually going to make a flip book. (also known as a brag book) It's the perfect size to fit into a purse. It's also the perfect price range for teenagers who want to make a book about their last school field trip, or a gift for a graduate, perfect for little league teams and I could go on and on with examples but you get the idea. Join me on Tuesday evenings from the comfort of your own home for these online digital scrapbook classes during the summer. Register today at Northland Pioneer College www.npc.edu or call me 920-420-0463 if you have any questions. See you then!

Geese poop alot, ancestry and Heritage Makers 7X5 digital scrapbooks on sale...

When I returned to Winneconne last Saturday I've had a family of geese near the shore line. My mother use to go out every morning and chase the geese away with a broom because they made such an awful mess all over her lawn. Dad used a BB gun to chase them back into the water. I thought I had a much softer heart towards them so I haven't done either of those things...that was until tonight. When I got home this evening I noticed that a family of geese (not my usual ones) were in the middle of the front yard. I know how messy and slippery they make the grass with all their poop so I decided to chase them away. As I approached them, I told Bella, my 4 pound chihauhau to go after them...yeah right...the minute the father goose looked in Bella's direction she bee lined it for the front porch. Anyway, as I got closer I found out that FIVE geese families had decided to visit the front lawn! I had 10 adult geese and 16 little ones. What an awful, awful mess. I had to be careful with every step I took. I flapped my arms and yelled..they looked at me like I was crazy and slowly waddled into the water, then they swam about 6 feet off shore and turned around and stared at me. I think if I would have went into the house they would have come right back on shore. I had to stand there for quite a while as they finally decided to slowwwwwy swim down the lake. I bet my parents are laughing their asses off in heaven. Tomorrow morning I'm going into the garage to see if dad's BB gun is still there!

The Winneconne Library offered a class tonight on how to search your family history on ancestry.com
They are providing this website to use in their library free of charge. I've been using ancestry.com for years now but I was hoping to find out more on how to use it, I'm sure there are things that I just haven't used yet on that site. The woman who taught the class (I didn't get her name) was from the Oshkosh library and she gave us many sites, besides ancestry.com, to check out for our searching. I took lots of notes so as soon as I play around with other sites I will let you all now. I just love looking up the history of my ancestors. The ones from Wisconsin and Germany and the ones from California and Canada.

Mother's Day is gone for 2012 and Father's Day is right around the corner. Show dad how much you love him by making him a digital scrapbook (storybook) by Heritage Makers. It's super easy and I can guarantee that no other gift will mean as much to him.  The 7X5 digital scrapbooks are on sale this month month only so don't wait. Contact me so I can get you started with activating your FREE account.  Call 920-420-0463, email info@memoriesin.com or visit my website www.memoriesin.com

Texts, milk tins and oysters = a Happy Mother's Day to me...

Happy Mother's Day! I have so much to be thankful for but the fact that God gave me three loving sons to mother is what I am most thankful for. It was a perfect Sunday today, sunny, warm and not too windy. I think May is my favorite month in Wisconsin.The weather can be warm like it was today and I can sit outside on the porch and watch the sun go down over the lake while listening to the geese and ducks, and there are NO mosquitoes biting me. Yes, this is my favorite month of the year here in Wisconsin. In another month I won't be able to even open the door to the outside after the sun sets because I expect the mosquitoes to be out in full force. Those little bugs really love my blood.

We enjoyed brunch at the Fin N Feather this morning. It was a huge spread of food and every bite was delicious. Salads, soups, breakfast foods, lunch items, ham and prime rib...my favorite was a french toast bake. It was bread with cream cheese and pecans smothered with some gooey, sugary substance baked and served warm. Yum! And are you wondering if I stuck to my portion control today...the answer would be no. After all it was my day and I could do what I wanted to do.

Joey always gets me my favorite chocolates for Mother's Day...oysters. For years he has had to mail them to me but by the time they arrived in Arizona the box of chocolate oysters are melted together. Well today he delivered my chocolates to me in person. When I opened the box we just about died laughing...he had left the box in his truck on this unusually warm day and the entire box was melted! They were melted worse than when they arrived in Arizona...I actually had to get a spoon to eat them. Melted or not they are still the best chocolates on this Earth.

Our sermon today was about The 5 Love Languages. I never heard of this book but it sure fit into the entire Mother's Day theme. Here's a little about what they are...

Of the countless ways we can show love to one another, five key categories, or five love languages, proved to be universal and comprehensive—everyone has a love language, and we all identify primarily with one of the five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch.

 I began to think about my mother and what she would have liked the most of these 5 things. She always said she liked it when we visited her, she wasn't much for receiving gifts, she'd rather be the one giving gifts, neither of my parents were good at verbally  telling us how much they loved us and until mom's  later years she didn't like to hug...but written words of affirmation (thank you notes) was what meant the most to our mom. I know this because I'm still sorting through her old papers and I have boxes of thank you cards and letters that she saved throughout her 80 plus years. Reading through those cards and letters makes me realize how important of a person she was not only to us, her family, but to neighbors, organizations, employees and friends. She was a generous and giving person. Some things that she did I wasn't even aware of until recently. She wasn't the type who bragged or looked for recognition. What a remarkable woman my mother was. Happy Mother's Day to, my mother, Irene Margaret MacGregor Schroeder.I truly believe you were with me and my boys on this very special day. 
Thank you for a perfect day...Jon, Joey and Eddie.

Jon arrived safe, MacGregor shirts need to be ordered...

Jon made it to Wisconsin safely with my dog, plant and u-haul trailer all intact. He made record time too. He left Tempe, AZ around noon on Sunday and arrived into Oshkosh, WI around midnight Tuesday morning. When he got to Winneconne ( a few beers later because he stopped into the Bar to visit with his older brother) it was around 2:30 am and he flicked on my bedroom light and tossed my dog onto my bed. We were so happy to see each other...at least I think she was happy to see me, it might have been that she was just happy to be out of the car after two days...but I'm going to keep thinking she was just happy to see me.

 Third and FINAL trip of belongings from Arizona to Wisconsin. My God, Red drove a 26 ft. truck and pulled a trailer, Jon and I drove a 16 ft. truck last summer and now Jon drove my KIA pulling this trailer...I bet you can guess where all my money went this past year huh?
Here's a little advice or I should say warning to anyone thinking about purchasing a VISA money card...DON'T DO IT! Since I wasn't going to be with Jon on this car trip and he couldn't use my credit card I decided it would be a good idea to put enough gas money on a VISA money card. He had two cards to make sure that he had enough in case of any emergencies. Well...he used the card twice before it started declining, he called the 800 number on the card and they said we needed to register the card, he wanted to know why it worked twice already without registration and they didn't know. So Jon registered both cards and the company said he was good to go...not true. When he got another few states away the cards we beginning to be declined again...so he called again. This time they said since the gas station kept trying to run the cards before we knew they needed to be registered the VISA Company put holds on both cards. Jon argued that everything was taken care of, but they said there was nothing they could do about it and told Jon not to worry because he'd get his money back, but not until May 16!! So my son was stuck two states away from me with no money and no working money cards, needless to say he wasn't a "happy camper". Thank God I have an awesome family. I called my brother in Phoenix and he was able to borrow me money and he was able to immediately run to Jon's bank and deposit that money directly into Jon's debit card. That was what Jon needed to finish his trip, so he deserved those beers that he had when he arrived into Oshkosh.
My oldest son came on Tuesday and the two of them unloaded my appliances and Jon had all the rest of the items that were on that trailer and stuffed into the back of my KIA unloaded and in the house by the time I got home from work for lunch.
As a huge thank you I invited my brothers, sisters their spouses and my sons to dinner Tuesday night at Haase's Supper Club in Borth, WI. It's been my favorite place to eat since I was a teenager and now it's my sons favorite place to too...we even have Marina wanting to eat at this restaurant whenever she visits.  Sadly, not all could make it to dinner the other night but I will thank them in some other way. And Bruce and Delia when you arrive this July I will take you guys. (So for all my soon to be visiting MacGregor cousins...this is a restaurant you don't want to miss eating at while you are here for our reunion this summer.)
Speaking of the MacGregor Reunion this summer I still need to know how many shirts your branch of the MacGregor tree needs and what sizes. Aunt Molly and Uncle Jack we still need to know what color you would like your branch's shirts to be.

Beer is a sign that God loves us......

My last flight for a while..and it's too bad because I think TSA people were beginning to know me quite well. I had many pat downs and squabs of my hands and neck brace these past 9 months...I was kinda looking forward to going through security.
Jon wasn't able to get off of work on Saturday so the plan to begin our trek from Arizona to Wisconsin together disappeared. Thank God we had a plan B.
The guys from Car-Quest in Overgaard picked up and delivered the rented U-Haul trailer to my house and Arin and Dawn (you guys know who you are) helped load the heavy things onto the trailer and get it all strapped down tight. Mandy, Bethanie and Baylend helped finish packing. But with my luck the connector to the trailer was faulty and didn't work. I waited until the next morning for the part to arrive but that didn't happen, so Car Quest called everyone on the mountain and there was no part to be found for my KIA. Finally, Arin wired the trailer so at least the brake lights worked and I had to drive it down the mountain like that. A place in Mesa was waiting for us to pickup the part that we needed. I was worried about where to store the loaded trailer while it was in Tempe for two days. One of Jon's friends came through and offered his gated back yard. Thanks Dorsey!
I want to thank everyone who has helped me. Donna and Fritz from Car Quest, Arin, Dawn and the two young men who helped with the appliances, Mandy and her teenagers and Jon for keeping his cool through all of this (most of the time). My neighbors for keeping on eye on the place in my absence. I have never been so thankful for the cameras in the backyard. Between the cameras and my watchful neighbors we always know if someone is on the property when they shouldn't be. Thank you Charlotte and Bill. I am one very lucky woman to have friends like these.
After many hours of hard work packing, loading, driving a heavy load down the mountain with no directional lights, worrying and then being in that Arizona desert heat I treated myself to one large, cold Michelob Ultra (or maybe more) and got into the pool at Jon and Marina's complex. How does that saying go? "Beer is a sign that God loves us." That quote meant a lot to me on Friday!

First things first...by special request

I have so much to write and so much to tell you but first...Theresa here are the pictures that you requested. I took these shots driving home from work in Show Low on one of my last days. Thanks for asking to see them, otherwise I probably wouldn't have taken any for me to remember.

Just so you know I am not driving and taking pictures this time. Donna was driving on this day and it's her dirty windshield. (I had to put that in here because I know she always reads this blog.)








 The empty spots on the right are the results from the awful Rodeo-Chedeski fire that destroyed our forest, which use to be full of Ponderosa Pines, in the summer of 2002. Even ten years later I get sad driving past some areas. I just realize that we will never see these trees again in their full glory, our kids probably won't either...maybe our grandkids will have the opportunity to enjoy the new growth some day, and all because two stupid humans.

The final approach into the Heber-Overgaard area on Highway 260 coming from Show Low. Good bye everyone. I was part of this community for almost 14 years and made some very good friends and many, many fond memories, many of which will go into a Heritage Maker's storybook (the memories...not the friends) so I will always have you with me. Thank you.