m e a d o w l a r k

hi ya’ll from tennessee…wil and i are actively reading the blog- happy to see it has some traffic again! our life seems to be abnormally busy right now; work has consumed both of our lives the last couple months. summer definitely went by so fast that it didn’t feel like summer.

i wanted to hop on here and let you all know that there actually is a way to have your post categorized with your name (someone mentioned it in a past comment). it has been set up since the beginning, but i don’t know if it was ever mentioned in any of the tutorials for anyone to know!

when you write a post, you’ll notice 6 or 7 blue categories on the right…if you hit the little plus sign (+) on the “categories” section, it will show a list of all the participants in the blog. when you write your post, you’ll click the box next to your name and unclick the box that says general. not only will it show your name at the beginning of your post when published, it will keep all of the posts sorted by category so someone can go click “chuck” on the main page and see all the posts chuck wrote.

i can include a little picture of it when i get home to give you a visual of that list…i can’t upload pictures at the moment. i’ve tried to go in as people write their posts and change the categories myself, but i’ve gotten behind with all this activity!

thanks, kristen

Well I drove down the mountain road today for what I am sure will be the last time for a while. While it is a blessing to be here, a blessing to serve, a blessing to be with my family…I will not miss driving up and down that mountain road each day! It makes me realize that I generally drive around town and to and from work without really thinking much about it. You have to contantly be awake and aware while driving that road.

 Shari is improving greatly. Tomorrow their housekeeper will be there for 4 hours cleaning but Shari will be alone the rest of the time. We are hoping it goes ok. I worked today on letting her do things for herself, she really can do most things, there are just a few things that are difficult. Adjusting the ice packs on her back is difficult and unfortunately not something that can wait until Fred gets home. After tomorrow Fred has a 3 day weekend which gives her a lot of recovery time. What will happen for next week remains to be seen. She sees the neurologist next Friday and will hopefully have more information then about recovery time.

It has been incredibly hot here. The temp outside at Berryessa today was 109!!! Now that’s hot! Made me oh so thankful for the air conditioning that I normally am not very fond of! Now I am back down at mom’s and while it is not quite that hot now at 8pm, there is no air conditioning in this house and it is HOT! Especially upstairs. I will be hitting the pool when I am done posting this!

As I said I am blessed to have been able to be here but I am very anxious to get home. I miss my family terribly and I am ready for the routine of my life. Mom had CNN on a few minutes ago and they were showing St. Paul and talking about the Republican convention next week…I almost cried as I said “oh, it’s home!”

Chuck, Travis, Elaine, and Onjya thank you so much for working so hard at keeping things running while mom-less. Thank you for being so willing to send me away! And for being so supportive of what I had to do even though it is so far away from all of you. I cannot wait to see you Saturday.

Aunt Shari sends a great big thank you to all of you also!

Love to all….Renee

I started school on Monday, and it was great because I’m in high school now, and yet they still treat me like I’m a kindergartner. And all the Juniors and Seniors are super rude, because to them I’m just a stupid little sophomore. It’s nice to see all my friends again, but I don’t like school. None of my teachers are especially nice, and I don’t have a ton of classes with my friends, but I’ll get over it. I’m not in any fall sports, so I just run on my own after school to get ramped up for track in the spring. That’s about all I have to say for now, so you’ll hear more about my insanely interesting life soon. Love you all!

I did not realize how sad and pathetic I am as it has been almost a year since I last posted my last blog.

My last entry discussed my return to college life, so I thought that I would start there.

I am currently on a 3 week break before starting the fall semester. Since my last class was Statistics, I thought that I would write in that context.

1- The number of years that I have been at this “school” thing

1 ½- How many years I have left. As much as I wish that time would generally slow down, this is one area of my life that I wish would go a little faster than normal.

90- The percent of statistics that Travis says are “made-up” on the spot.

816- The number of miles that I have commuted to work by bicycle this summer. I would like to get to 1000, but the days are starting to get short. Technically, I don’t know if I am “sticking it to the man” by reducing my carbon footprint while commuting to an oil refinery, but it sure feels good.

65- The number of miles that Onjya and I biked last weekend on our Father-Daughter camping trip. (Way to go Onjya!) It was extremely fun. We camped, swam, canoed, fished and ate smores…good times!

3- The number of teenagers in our home that are helping out so much while mom is away. No fighting, the work is getting done, everyone is staying fed. Yeah!

1996- Driving distance in miles from Farmington, MN to Napa, CA. It seems like an awfully long way away, but I know that is where Renee’ needs to be, and where our thoughts and prayers are all directed. Get well soon Shari and Fred.

5- The result of 4 + 1; also the number of people that I will look forward to sleeping in their own beds again soon.

3- The number of days that are left in the kids’ summer vacation! Yippeeyeah!! I hope that my cell phone can get used to not ringing continuously from 9am-4pm daily.

My first class in the fall will be a professional writing class. I’ll have to figure out a way to make that the theme of my next blog.

Chuck

i went on a mission trip a couple of weeks ago and i was beyond amazed at how much poverty so many people were living in.

i felt embarassed at how much wealth i was living in and it really made me appretiate what i had.

but at the same time everytime i buy an overpriced shirt or a new pair of pants,

i cant help but to think that theres someone out there who needs this shirt more than i do.

with all the impoverished people in the world, the little i do to try and help seems so insignificant.

advertising has us chasing cars and clothes,

working jobs we hate

to buy things we dont need.

with an underpaying job and an unsatisfying school i dont have the time or the money to do the good that i should be doing.

and even if i did i wouldnt know where to go.

i love my life, and i love my family.

but most of things that truly bring me joy are not purchased.

i just wish there were easier ways to help save the world.

i wish society wasnt stuck in this rut of working and buying, working and buying.

Almost everyday this summer i have gone fishing. Whenever i go fishing i don’t go on a boat and go fishing, i ride my bike 2 Lake Julia Park. Everytime i catch either; sunnies, bluegills, bullheads/catfish. Then until yesterday when i was @ the park for about 4 hours w/ my friend Jeremy, and then @ 1:00 p.m. i caught a carp. it was about 3 lbs. then i called my friend Mitch, and he came down and saw the carp and when it was time 2 let the carp go i took it out of the bucket and i handed it over 2 Mitch and he kissed it and threw it back in the lake. i also got really badly sunburnt yesterday. but now it doesn’t hurt that much since my dad put lotion on it last night.

Hello everyone, just wanted to update all of you on Shari and life up here at Berryessa. Shari is doing remarkably well for all she has been through. Her injuries are quite serious, it seems she broke just about everything from the waist up. Of most concern is her broken back and neck. She can lay in bed and lay back in a chair without her brace on but otherwise has to have the brace on. She is obviously in a lot of pain and still on pain medication on a regular basis. Her attitude is very good, she is working hard on being a good patient! It could be so easy to just be plain grumpy but you can see that she is working on not letting that happen. She is very grateful for the help given and for the encouragement of others.

 I have to ditto what mom said, cards, letter, phone calls are a wonderful thing! She will be laid up for a very long time and I am sure that frustration and depression will set in.

Leila and I are up here during the day now, as Fred has gone back to work. We are driving up and down the mountain each day to get out of the house a bit for ourselves and to give Fred and Shari a break from feeling like their lives are completely invaded. It is an awful drive! I cannot believe that people voluntarily make the choice to have to comute that every day! Makes me grateful for my boring little suburban neighborhood! Leila will go home this weekend. I am still not sure how long I am staying. Shari goes back to the doctor on Wednesday and hopefully we will know more then about what care is required and for how long. 

Mom has sprained her ankle and is convalescing herself. It will make it difficult for her to be the only on available to care for Shari. We will see what happens. I am sure it will all work out fine.

Keep Shari in your prayers, there is a long road ahead. Pray for the careg\ivers around her, it is a task we are thrilled to be able to do, but also a challenge. Pray for Leila and Renee’s families as we are gone from them. Pray for Chuck with those three teenagers! Pray for those three teenagers without mom!!

Also I have been hearing about how many of you actually come to this website by hearing about  how many people found out about Shari’s accident by reading it here…so leave us comments so we know you are there!