Newsletter from the Days - July 2011

July 31,2011

NEWS FROM THE DAYS:

I write this in hopes that our politicians will pull their heads out and do the right thing. Economic power determines who the world power will be, and we have held that position my entire lifetime. I don’t know about everyone else, but I would hate to see the life and freedoms we cherish flushed down the toilet because of politicians who would rather push their agenda than do what’s best for the country. If the US defaults on their debt, the “you know what” will hit the fan, believe you me.

On the bright side, Linda and I contributed to the economy by going to see a movie, Larry Crowne, a pretty good movie. Then we went with Stephanie and her kids to see CARS 2, another good movie.

I attended the annual Cabin Classic with 8 friends, now in its 37th year. Golf weather was great – we had to go without hot water at Phil Hansen’s cabin due to his water heater burning out, and learned how to sponge bath with micro waved water. So I’ve done my pioneer hardship activity now. While I was gone, Linda, Stephanie and kids saw the latest Harry Potter movie. Linda and Debbie went school shopping for Kaylee, and Linda is looking forward to shopping for Stephanie’s kids before school starts. Sarah and Kaylee start Kindergarten this fall! Ye gads, the grandkids are all growing up.

One evening a sharp skinned hawk flew into our dining room window screen going after out cat, Pumpkin, who was sitting inside the screen on the window ledge with the glass window open. Needless to say, there was a pretty good bang as the hawk hit the window with one wing and the screen with his other wing and claws. The cat never moved so fast and didn’t reappear for over an hour from the bedroom. The hawk bounced back and slowly flew away over the back fence, his striped horizontal black (or brown) and white tail behind him. There are two new screen tears where he hit the screen, but other than that, no lasting damage.

Linda and I spent two nights in Wendover and enjoyed the getaway. The kids came over on July 4th for fireworks in our front yard and a barbeque. Same for the 24th of July holiday. I read The Trail to Tranquility, a great book about obtaining peace and spirituality in your life. Written by a Rabbi. I’ve finally decided after reading this book that there is a creator. Then I read another good book, a biography about Woody Allen’s life. I used to love him when he appeared on Johnny Carson in the old days. I stained the 20 ft. of cedar fence that was replaced in our back yard to match the rest of the fence. Our garden is going crazy! I think it’s because of the sign I mounted on the fence, THE GARDEN OF EAT’N. And that’s the news from the Days. Love,
Tom & Linda

Day family newsletter - June 2011

July 1, 2011

DAY FAMILY NEWS – JUNE 2011

Twelve baby quail showed up one morning in our backyard. About a week later, there were only four left . I decided to officially sign our garden – had actually named it years ago, but decided to make a sign and hang it on the fence. GARDEN OF EAT’N is now displayed in yellow block letters on a beige background board. The garden, although planted rather late due to weather, is starting to grow. The carrots, onions and radishes did not survive due to the quail who love to eat them as they sprout through the ground.

Attended Dorothy Wardrup’s funeral and was reminded by a cousin that it is our turn to host the Janssen cousin reunion. The funeral was very nice – the news of hosting not. But Shelley and I met and planned out the event to be held Sept. 10th from 1 PM to 3 PM at the Olive Garden (not of Eden) by Fashion Place mall. Deon will put together a digital e-vite as well as a normal mailed one. Shelley will plan and conduct activities – and I’ll pick someone to say the prayer and emcee. Danny will attend – either Virginia will pick him up, or I will. We’re planning on taking Dad’s CDs to play in the background. We have a room reserved just for our party, so we can do things privately.

I’ve played some golf this past month, and Linda and I have kept busy reading. Linda and I have started going to the library to get most of our books, and Linda tried an audio book this month. I’m still reading the old fashioned way, page by page. We also got our order of True Blood, the 3rd season, and have watched several of the episodes. This is a vampire HBO series that we fell in love with, though the 3rd season isn’t up to the first two seasons in our opinion. A lady at my work calls it vampire porn. It’s not really porn, but it is pretty edgy.
Stephanie had to travel around southern Utah in her new job, and we took the kids for four nights. They especially enjoyed going over to the elementary school nearby and riding their bikes and playing on the playground equipment.

Katie and Bill just returned from a nice vacation with his parents in Vegas where they used their timeshare. Bill entered a “no limit” poker tournament with 2800 other entrants. He doubled his money halfway thru the first day, and then lost on a lucky last card draw to a straight of an opponent.

Everyone met at a local buffet for Father’s Day, as our planned barbeque got rained out. Linda got me a leaf blower, and I’ve already found several new uses for it – kind of like getting a self propelled lawnmower – I didn’t really know what I was missing!

Debbie let us know she has been given notice of being laid off at American Express. She will be looking to work for someone else in the future. Our legislators vetoed the governor on the state’s 4-day work week, and we’ll be going back to Monday thru Friday hours after Labor Day. I believe this is a precursor to finding out you’re going “down” instead of “up” when you die , as going back to a 5-day work week will be “he__” after enjoying the fruits of “heaven” the past 3 years.

And that’s the news from the Days for June 2011. Love, Tom and Linda