It all started with the band concert...

The last few weeks have been full of taps on the shoulder from my dad.  It started with Ellie's band concert a little over a week ago.  While she was getting ready I remembered my own very first band concert in sixth grade.  Poor dad had to drive home and get the flute I had forgotten at home.  I'll give you three guesses how happy Susie was with me.  Then after enduring that horrible first sixth grade concert I remember drilling him on the way home, " What was your favorite song?"  "What did you like best about the concert?"  "Could you hear me playing on the fourth measure?"  I am sure that he was just glad that it was all over but he played along like the great dad that he was.   He listed favorite parts and favorite measures and made me feel so important. 

Tonight we had a dance party to celebrate Steve's birthday. Our friend Dustin told us of the "great mouse adventure" at his mom's apartment.   His mom had called him in a panic about a dead mouse under her bed.  He had many questions including, "how do you know it is dead?"  "how long has it been there?"  "how did it die?"  When he arrived he realized it was just an extension cord covered in dust.  This reminded me of how much fun dad used to have with dryer lint scaring mom with fake mice.

I am thankful for all of the taps on the shoulder.  I miss you every day dad!

Mylee Sue

Yesterday my new niece arrived on the scene! We had all been waiting for her to make her appearance and it seemed like perfect timing that she arrived on the day that grandpa Myles was supposed to leave on his big Canadian fishing trip. Myndy and Jason debated on her name but finally settled on Mylee Sue to honor Grandpa Myles. I hope this girl knows she has a lifetime of fishing and hunting ahead of her.

I think I can fix this

We are enjoying time up at the lake this week to celebrate the fourth of July.  As I watched Steve ride around on dad's old mower today, a puff of blue smoke trailing him, I thought of the pride my dad took in fixing things around the house.  In some families I'm sure it's a point of pride to have a new mower, or a new vehicle....but my dad got the most satisfaction out of fixing something that others would have junked.  This is evidenced by many things around the cabin and home:  the mower, the fridge he rescued from the junkyard, my vaccum cleaner, and his boat with the new floor he and Katy put in.  The list could go on and on but the lesson he taught me was that sometimes new is not better and it's often worth a little time and elbow grease to get something working again.

Are we talking Crestliner?

We are spending Memorial Weekend at the cabin.  As we made up our way up 94 I noticed all the boats, trailers, RVs and campers.  This reminded me of one of my dad's favorite questions, "Are we talking Crestliner?"  When Steve got the job as the assistant principal at John Marshall one of the first things dad wanted to know was what we'd do with his pay raise.  "Are we talking Crestliner Steveo?" 
When I worked a week of consulting for the St. Croix Ed District dad asked, "So how much did you make?  Are we talking Crestliner?"  When we got our tax refund dad didn't ask how much we got he just said, "Are we talking Crestliner?"

No Crestliner yet dad but Steve is doing a lot of shopping! 

Chief Irrritant

I know these blog posts have been making my dad look like a saint but I'll let you in on a little secret. My dad had a gift for being extremely annoying. One of his favorite things to do was to wait until one of us was watching a sad movie and he noticed tears. Then he'd cry and wail loudly to irritate us.

Another one of his tricks was to take a feather and rub it under our noses while we were sleeping. When I was little we even had a contest to see how long I could go without laughing.

When mom was watching TV he'd creep up behind her and play with the back of her hair, hoping she thought it was a mouse. Then he'd sing, " Su-san don't bother me. Su-san don't bother me. Su-san don't bother me" until she got up and chased him out of the room.

It's strange the funny things you miss. I'd give anything for a little fake crying or a feather under my nose.

Chief Irritant

I know these blog posts have been making my dad look like a saint but I'll let you in on a little secret.  My dad had a gift for being extremely annoying.  One of his favorite things to do was to wait until one of us was watching a sad movie and he noticed tears.  Then he'd cry and wail loudly to irritate us. 

Another one of his tricks was to take a feather and rub it under our noses while we were sleeping.  When I was little we even had a contest to see how long I could go without laughing. 

When mom was watching TV he'd creep up behind her and play with the back of her hair, hoping she thought it was a mouse.  Then he'd sing, " Su-san don't bother me.  Su-san don't bother me.  Su-san don't bother me" until she got up and chased him out of the room. 

It's strange the funny things you miss.  I'd give anything for a little fake crying or a feather under my nose.   

Car Wash

I thought of my dad today because my van desperately needs a car wash.  Having a clean car was kind of like a religion for my dad.  Before we went to school we knew about armorall, whitewashing tires, and chamois clothes.  The drill went something like this:
1.  Drive car up to pumphouse.
2.  Hose down car and get sprayed by dad who was sneakily wielding another hose.
3.  Soap up car and dodge the spray from dad's hose as he rinsed.
4.  Dry the car with insanely small chamois clothes.
5.  Dry spots again because they did not meet inspection.
6.  Park clean and shiny car in the yard and avoid driving the two miles of gravel for as long as possible so the car would actually remain clean.

I promise I'll take the car through the carwash tomorrow dad.  I know it's not quite the same as doing it myself but it's still a clean car.