Journal

A busy week getting everything arranged for the memorial service. Dale arrived on Thursday and brought a box of cookies from Jenny. Jenny had made cookies that Grandma Sprong used to make - what a nice way to remember someone. Carol, Trevor and Bill arrived later in the evening and we all enjoyed cookies that Jenny made.

About a month ago we contracted to have some additional frost free faucets put in our yard. The fellow was supposed to start about a week later but we never heard from him. He shows up today while I'm getting all the food together and all the people are here and shuts the water off for about an hour and a half. I ordered a chair for the library that was supposed to be in four weeks ago - they said it would arrive today. Sprint "lost" our long distance carrier and we couldn't make long distance calls - the only local calls we can make are to Easton and Winchester. Tim almost didn't make it on his "buddy" pass because he wasn't dressed well enough and he had to change clothers and catch the next flight. But all ended well - we have the new faucets, my chair is here, we can call long distance and Margaret and Tim made it.

Saturday, October 4th was a beautiful, clear, sunny day. All went well at the memorial service in Lawrence and everyone seemed to appreciate the personal and informal touch to the simple service. The grandchildren, Carol, Bill and Elizabeth, planted chrysanthemums by the headstone at Round Prairie cemetary and then we came home for a big dinner. Appetizers were served in the old house and the Sprong/Roach relatives that had been at the farmhouse when growing up had a good time reminiscing. Getting dinner on was hectic but with a lot of help from the "house guests" we got it served. Thanks to Margaret for lending such a big helping hand. The evening was total decompression time - we lit the candles on the deck, ate popcorn and drank wine and beer.

All of the house guests left on Sunday and it was certainly quiet. It was great to have some time to talk to Carol and Bill over the weekend, very nice to have Margaret and Tim and Dale take their weekend to come and wonderful to have Elizabeth and Jonathan here for almost two weeks.

Jonathan, Elizabeth and I headed to Science City at Union Station in Kansas City on Wednesday. We went there in June and Jonathan enjoyed it. He liked it even more yesterday, partly because he knew what it would be like and partly because there were very few people there and it was easy to do lots of things. When we were there in June, Jonathan was frightened by an electric company exhibit that "overloads" if you open too many circuits - he associated the "overload" to an unrelated loud sound. Wise mother Elizabeth made sure he went back to this exhibit and did it without "overloading". This time it turned out to be his favorite things to do. We had a great time combining the corn, watching the model trains, walking through the treehouse and playing miniature golf. Jonathan still doesn't like the dark tunnels in the "sewer systems" but that will leave something for the next time.

We had been discussing for the last 2 1/2 years whether we should do something about our septic system. The first spring we were in our house, we had about five days of almost constant rain. Our septic system backed up in the basement. What to do! We talked to people, read information, tried to analyze and put it off. The only time there was a problem was when it rained a lot. Finally we decided the problem must not be the septic tank itself but that the ground got supersaturated. It was dry last weekend and even with all the showers and dishwasher loads with 8 houseguests here, we had no difficulty.

We decided to expand the leachfields so when the ground was totally wet there was more area to absorb effluent. The work was finished yesterday - hope it works!!

Yesterday, Pat sawed and cleared two dead trees giving us potential firewood when the pieces are cut into fireplace size pieces. He also trimmed the branches hanging over the herb garden - this is great as I thought I might poke an eye out one of these days. He's preparing the area that was dug up for the laterals so he can mow there; it will extend the back "yard" even farther down the hill which will make the view even better.

I finished planting the 70 bulbs that came last week - Asiatic Lillies, tulips that hopefully bloom 5 years and daylilies. I'm trying to have something blooming from April thru October. I had decided that the tulips would benefit from a couple of inches of manure; as I was opening the gate to go to the well-composted manure pile from 4 years ago, all of the cows and three calves came up to visit. I thought this is not going to be a good thing if all the cows get out. Later they were a long way down the hill and I was able to get the manure. I used it on the tulips and to plant forsythia, a very common Midwest plant but I still love it. It is one of the harbinger's of spring and is a mass of yellow flowers.

Now, I am going to go sit on the deck with a glass of white wine and enjoy the beautiful weather.

It was a very comfortable feeling to get together again with my college roommate and friend; it had been 29 years since we had seen each other and only rare intermittent communication otherwise. Nothing had changed; everything had changed - we're still the same basic people, but it's hard now to identify with the 18, 20 year olds that we were. Fortunately none of our life experiences have changed us into people we don't like - I'm looking forward to seeing Elaine more frequently than every 29 years! We did some reminiscing - wonder what happened to... and do you remember... but mainly we caught up on families and exchanged opinions. She reminded me I had been a member of Young Republicans - goodness!!!

The evening brought back wonderful memories of the Indiana University years - it was a very special time.

Elaine transferred me to Leah on Thursday evening in downtown Chicago. Brian is staying with Leah and it was nice to see him again. Be sure you learn how to secure the sink and tub if you go visit!!

Other than some work related e-mail and phone calls, I read all day. What a treat!

That evening, Leah and I went to see Regina. The reviewer was kinder to the production that I was. There were some nice parts but the whole opera did not hang together well and was too static, especially the first act. The second act was a big improvement with the entrance of the chorus. Although, I think instituting some scene changes and direction changes would increase audience enjoyment and interest, it isn't an opera that I would care about seeing again.

Saturday I spent another lazy day and finished the most enjoyable book "I Don't Know How She Does It".

In the evening Leah, Brian and I went to the Italian Village - a downtown Chicago institution - to eat. It was crowded but fun. Leah and I left Brian to finish all of the food while we went back to the Lyric Opera for Figaro which was a wonderful production. We were seated in the highest row in the highest balcony and it didn't make any difference.

Figaro is a fast paced, really silly story of machinations and disguise and has many funny moments. The music when done well is spectacular.

Sunday morning Leah and Brian took me to the airport to catch my 10:33 am flight. En route, I received a call from Pat asking me if I had noticed that my ticket was for 10:33 PM. What a dodo!! Fortunately, American got me on an earlier flight.

Another interesting occurrence - Leah got stopped for speeding as we were entering the airport, plus she had an expired license plate. The policeman was a nice guy and only ticketed the expired license plate.