Friday-Thermopolis
As we are headed to the Catholic church for the funeral mass, we pass another church. On the side is a huge canvas sign stating "Open Sundays". What's funny is the white canvas sign covers another sign. Due to rain and wind the canvas has begun to come off and reveal a permanent sign with Christmas lights which reads "Seasons Greetings".
The funeral mass goes well. Counting our family there are about 20 people at the mass. Mom and I used to joke that she had outlived her friends. I think other commitments and poor health had more to do with it. I spoke about mom, calling her a woman of faith and optimism as I believe those were two of her strongest characteristics. The urn was made by one of the local parish members as a fundraiser. It was made of 100 year old chestnut from Anoka, Minnesota and it was beautiful. We went to the cemetery for a graveside service and I placed the urn in the freshly dug grave. With all the rain the past two days I brought home some of the grave with mud on my shirt and watch.
At noon our family went to the golf club for lunch and to say good-bye to my brother Bill and my cousin Ann as they left for Cheyenne and Montana respectively. At that moment I felt closure. Our motel had a mineral springs hot tub and a warm swimming pool so we all went swimming in the afternoon. Even the little guys enjoyed the water. We brought in pizza and called it an early evening.

Thursday-Casper:
I got up early and help Keri feed the little guys at the motel breakfast. At 10:00 I met my coffee drinking "homies" for hot chocolate at Johnny J's (This is where Prez Obama ate lunch when he was campaigning in Casper in 2008). I enjoyed it and returned to the motel to get ready to head to the airport to pick up David and Kelsey and then the final leg to Thermopolis for the memorial service.
There are no towns between Casper and Shoshoni (96 miles). When we finally reach Shoshoni we all headed for the rest rooms at one of the convenience stores. While waiting I saw a book titled "My dog was a Redneck but we got him fixed." Didn't buy it.
Arrived in Thermopolis just after a hail storm had gone through and it looked more like January than June on the ground.
Tuesday was our 42nd anniversary but we waited until last night to celebrate with Keri and the boys, David and Kelsey, my brother Bill and my cousin Ann Johnson, who had driven down from Monana for the memorial services.
It rained like crazy and I was nervous about what the weather would be like at the graveside service on Friday.

Wednesday-we (Keri, Kathy, the Grandtwins and I) are headed to a memorial service in Thermopolis, Wyoming for my mother. We have two minivans loaded with stuff. We decide to bypass Cheyenne and gas up in Wheatland. The second call I receive is "Did you bring grandma?" The reference are to her cremains behind my seat. I give a positive reply. We pull into a gas station in Wheatland where the price is $3.31.9 per gallon. Compared to Denver this is good. Just as were filling up a hail storm erupts. Fortunately we are under the covering for the gas pumps and we aren't going any place until the hail lets up. Some are about half an inch in diameter. I know-I got hit with a couple. No visible dents.
We continue on to Casper. As we drive into our motel in Casper, we see most of the guests standing outside looking at the clouds to the north of the motel. A funnel cloud has been sighted but apparently it is going north of Casper. I don't know what kind of weather omen this could be.

T-shirt seen yesterday

"Drink Apple Juice
OJ Kills"

With a picture of O.J. Simpson

Today the wife and I celebrate our 42nd anniversary.
We were married June 7, 1969 in Jackson, Minnesota. The temp was in the 90's and so was the humidity and the church wasn't air-conditioned (great weather for growing corn).
A little after noon on that day (I think the wedding was at 2:00) my brother-my best man, my best friend-a groomsman, and I headed for a restaurant/bar (they served only beer) to eat and have something to drink. We were all dressed in suits which made us stand out in this place. There was another guy across the bar from us-he was also dressed in a suit and looked familiar-having a beer. He kept looking at us. Finally he walked over and told us he had to be some place at 2:00 but seeing us there, he wasn't worried about being late. He happened to be Kathy's uncle whom I'd met the evening before at the rehearsal dinner. We made it the church with at least 20 minutes to spare and the rest is history.
Love you, Kathy.

Friday is trash pick-up day in our neighborhood-the Golden Ghetto. During the hours of 7:00 am and 8:00 am several trucks cruise the 'hood' looking for discarded items which may be worth something. This morning it was only two cruisers. It could be a sign of the economy, heavy recycling, or just good business. Who knows?

Bumper sticker seen on the back of an yuppie SUV:
"Save an elk
Shoot a land developer"
It's a Colorado thing.

Today I celebrate the ninth anniversary of my retirement. Our son graduated from college on Sunday and I retired the following Friday. No more tuition checks and R & B and book payments-a coincidence-probably.
I had district seniority so I knew if I decided to retire I would qualify (only five of us did and I don't know how may applied). At that time we received a year's salary spread over twelve months. When the head shed secretary called to say I had the option to accept but had a few days to consider. I told her "I want it!" When she asked again, I almost screamed "Yes, I want to retire!" As a school counselor all I did the last two or three years was administer one group test after another. I considered them worthless then and I still do but someone thought "No Child Left Behind" was good but it would involve group testing. I didn't consider NCLB worthwhile and I still don't but someone decided we had billions of dollars to waste on testing.
Am I happy-oh, yes. I work harder being a childcare provider for my grandtwins but I enjoy that.