Vacation Day 1 (aka So far, so good.)

We made the first leg of the journey with no problems. The blind guy even drove part of the way. We’re presently camped at the same campground I stayed at with my parents when I was a child.
This place brings back lots and lots of memories. We’re only a few spaces away from the campsite where I recall watching news footage of hurricane Camille (now I’m dating myself). It’s amazing the stuff you remember from your youth. We made a sightseeing trip to the Interlochen Center for the Arts and then had dinner at a Mongolian Grill. After dinner we shopped at the biggest darn Meijer superstore I’ve ever seen. I think I’ve been in auto assembly plants that were smaller than this building. We found everything that was on our list (which is unusual in itself). And have now returned to the camper for the evening.

Tomorrow is to be a day that includes touring a farm I read about in “County Living” magazine that I plan to get ideas from. I’m sure that we’ll also visit our share of vineyards and wineries (as is our custom). The Princess is always fun when she’s ‘pickled’ before lunch.

Well, I better start getting ready for tomorrow.

Check back soon (and often)

Dave and (the soon to be pickled Princess) Julie

The Cure.

As obvious as it may seem, I’ve just realized that the cure for not getting something accomplished is JUST DOING IT! Hence, here I am back at the blog. Summer semester is over for me now so hopefully life will calm down to a ‘dull roar’ for a while (yeah right) so I can keep up with the blogging Joneses.

This season is doing well for the vineyard. Now if we can keep the ‘critters’ out of the fruit, we should have a decent harvest. We got the barn roof fixed last month (only two years overdue) so hopefully we’ve delayed some decay for a while. I still have potential plans for it so I don’t want it falling down around us. A pile of barn would only detract from the beauty of scenes like this.

I’m also happy to report that now a year post-op, the Princess is finally getting ahead of everything and says she is starting to feel like ‘her old self’ again. She still has a few kinks to work out, but I think she’s well on her way to wholeness. She even reports losing weight. That is an accomplishment to be applauded! I seem to be stuck at between 20 and 25 pounds lost.
I’d like to wax philosophic, but I’m to ‘burnt out’ right at the moment so I’ll sign off until a time hopefully in the near future.

Check back soon (and often),
Dave and (the slowly healing and shrinking Princess) Julie

Wisdom

Since I have nothing original to say, I'll post an email that a good friend sent me last night:

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion…
Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28.. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Check back soon (and often),
Dave and (the ever busy Princess) Julie

At least I'm consistent.

Well, here it is May and I'm REALLY behind in blog posts. My only excuse is my schedule. I had classes 3 nights a week this past semester. I'm in no hurry to do that again. I'm pleased to say that the semester is now over and I got an A in my Business Ethics class. As for my German.....well all I can say is "Mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut".
With school out of the way (for a few days) I've been able to get some work done outside. This year we re-planted 20 Delaware vines to replace the ones that did not survive the drought, plus 25 Diamond, plus 25 Cayuga vines.

I was in the vineyard tonight looking at how the vines came through this past winter. I'm pleased to say that in spite of the brutal weather we had, it looks like most of the vines made it. I have only seen one mature vine that may not have survived the winter. That's a good thing.
In addition to the new grape vines this spring we also have another new addition to the farm.

His name is Maxwell (or Max for short). He is a "full grown" Corgi that we got from a rescue organization in Eastern Ohio. Even though they tell us he's probably about a year and a half old and full grown he's only about 15 pounds (about a quarter of Eli's size). He's a great little character and we enjoy having him around.
Beginning in June, Morgan (our FULL GROWN Chocolate Lab) has the Princess enrolled in obedience classes. We'll see how that works out. I'm sure SOMEONE will get educated (it just remains to be seen WHO will get the education). I'll try to keep you posted on how that all turns out. Well i need to sign off and get back to less meaningful pursuits.

Check back soon (and often),
Dave and (the ever learning Princess) Julie.

"Cheer up"

"Cheer up!" Mother said "Things could be worse". So I cheered up. Sure enough, mom was right. Things got worse. Today was a very dark day on the farm. Let me recount the day.
I was up very early in order to be at church by 6:30 (I was on the audio team today). As usual I let the dogs out to bark at the garage door as I was putting it up. Once the door was up, I called the dogs back in. Morgan came running and I let her back in. I called Eli two or three more times. Since he didn't come back through the garage I supposed he went out into the yard so I got into my truck and started it up. As I was pulling out of the garage I felt a bump and heard Eli yelp. I knew right then we were having a bad day. He got up and ran back into the garage and hid behind the car so I figured I must have run over a foot or something. Sensing that I was going to be late I went in to get Julie to take a look at him. We moved the car and Eli got up and followed Julie back inside. I figured that was a good sign so i took off for church. Well, Julie noticed that Eli didn't seem to be doing vey well, so she enlisted the help of my mom and dad to get him in to the Vet. After checking him out the vet told Julie that Eli was more banged up than we first believed and should be taken to Columbus for further evaluation/treatment. So Julie called me at church and I made a flying run home to pick her up and then another flying run to the vet to get Eli. We were part way to Columbus when Eli succumbed to his injuries in the back seat of the truck with his head on "moms" leg. We take solace in the fact that he did not have to endure prolonged suffering and that now he is free to run and play in a far better place than the here on the farm. We were privileged to have Eli with us for about three years and I can truly say I've never known a dog who was better at expressing his personality. We will always remember his "cheesy grin" and laugh. He brought us much happiness and we will miss him terribly.


Check back soon (and often)
Dave and (the extremely sorrowful Princess) Julie

How Now Brown Cow?

The title has no real significance to today's blog. I just wanted to say something silly that might catch someone's attention who might otherwisw overlook it. I should be reading for class, but I thought I'd procrastinate by blogging. Today was a very trying day at work. I managed to get "chewed out" by two different doctors in two different practices. Neither of them were really nasty, but they are both mature gentlemen who really know how to make you feel seven years old and caught with hand in cookie jar. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. At least the weather here was beautiful today. This evening I put a leash on Morgan and she took me for a drag around the perimeter of the property. I wonder who is training whom. After the "walk" Morgan, Eli and I played fetch. I suspect we'll be doing a lot of that as the weather continues to get nicer. It was a real treat to sit out on the patio and listen to BIRDS! I actually heard some robins along with finches and sparrows. They are true harbingers of Spring. This past Winter was particularly long and brutal in a lot of ways. I'm glad it's just about over. Well, I think I'll head in to do some reading. Just so we all remember why we're so happy Spring is coming, I'll provide a reminder:

Check back soon (and often)
Dave (and the MIA Princess) Julie

New Life

We spent a good portion of today working outside. It certainly feels good to get back out in the sun. Andrew and I started trimming apple trees. Miriam’s friend Jacob came over and was helping Andrew while I headed out into the vineyard. I think I have most of the winter pruning done now. I'm really pleased that life is coming back.
This week has been very busy (as most are around here). Early this week I found that my love of food has finally caught up with me. According to (one of m many) physician(s), I am now borderline diabetic. So I need to loose weight and start exercising NOW (according to him). The Princess had a few physicians’ appointments this week too. Now we find that we both have new dietary requirements. I guess I'm going to have to start paying a whole lot more attention to that soon. I survived a German midterm and wrote my portion of a paper for our Business Ethics group project. I'll be SOOOO happy when this semester is over.


Saturday we welcomed a new addition to the family. Her name is Morgan and she's 5 years old. She's a chocolate Lab with a WHLOE LOT of energy. We are all working to get used to each other. Morgan was a (primarily) indoor dog before. She's having to make the adjustment to living (primarily) outdoors and getting along with Eli. Yesterday she met Tigg'r the Tabby Tomcat. She's never seen a cat before. It did not go well. Hopefully they'll get along in the future.
The upcoming week promises to hold many exciting possibilities too. Tuesday I'm headed back to the eye surgeon to see how things are "progressing". Since my last procedure on my left eye I've now started noticing distorted "spots" (due to histo) in my right eye as well. Hopefully they won't "bloom" very quickly and I'll have enough time to finish my BA while I can still get around independently.
Well, I'm going back outside to see what kind of trouble I can get into out there. Hopefully now that life seems to be returning to the farm I'll actually spend more time blogging. Until then.....

Check back soon (and often),
Dave and (the incredible shrinking Princess) Julie

A Day in the Life

We started the day off early today. The Princess (who is now MY chauffer) wanted to be sure we got to my doctors appointment in Toledo in plenty of time. I’m happy to report that she was very successful. I’m not happy to report that since we got there very early, we got to sit in the waiting room for over an hour before we even got past the front window. The testing and procedure went off without a hitch. On the way home we stopped off for a bite of lunch and I had a DELICIOUS Ruben sandwich. After that the Princess dropped me off at home to remain sequestered and take it easy for the rest of the day. Now I get to stay out of the sun for at least 2 more days (or risk severe burns). Tomorrow it’s back to work and school (German quiz).

Check back soon (and often),
Dave and (the sleepy Princess) Julie

So much for Resolutions.

Well here we are more than halfway through January and it's my first blog entry for AD 2009. It seems that the hurrier I go, the behindier I get. Oh well, here's what you've missed. I'm back in class for the Spring semester. On Monday nights I have a class whose title seems to be an oxymoron these days. The class is "Business Ethics" and I have to admit that it is a very thought provoking class. I worry, however, that we might be teaching young people a poor lesson if 'ethics' in business differ from the 'ethics' in life. There seems to me to be too much compartmentalization in life these days. If we're suggesting to these kids that ethics are different in business than everywhere else I think we're missing something (but that's just my humbe opinion). On Tuesday and Thursday nights I have German class. It's quite humbling to be in a class full of people who are just coming off of four years of High School German when my most common experience with it is being yelled at by the "Dutchmen" in our community. Thus far I'm enjoying it. We'll see how I feel by the end of the semester. My hope is to be able to get enough hours in to get my BA by December of 2010. Keep your fingers crossed!
Good news from the Princess. She has "graduated" from her regular doctors appointments and will only need to go back if she experiences problems. We're all very relieved about that. On the flip side, I went for my regular checkup at my eye surgeon last week only to find that the bleeding has started again. Therefore I'll be going to St. Vincents in Toledo on Wednesday to get it "sealed" again (for the third time). In case you're curious about how they're doing it this time, I found a pretty good explanation here:
http://www.retinavitreous.com/treatments/pdt.html
I plan to be back to work and school on Thursday but I'll have to stay out of the sunlight for several days. To that end I guess I'm fortunate that it's January in Ohio. There's not much sun to stay out of right now. The other fortunate thing is that after Wednesday I'll pretty much have my insurance deductible taken care of for this year.
All of this "stuff" going on has me in a generally foul mood. I'm still very thankful for all of the great things that I have going on in my life, but I'm just disgusted (and tired out) by all of the 'crap' that life is throwing my way over the last year. This too shall pass. I just needed to vent a little. Well, I should get back to my homework.
Check back soon (and often)
Dave and (the ever patient Princess) Julie