We just got word that the college is opening up in August. I am not sure this is a good idea but we are trying to keep positive. Truman can not do in person orientation yet, so the college did an online orientation. Firedrake is signed up for her classes and was horrified to learn that she has to take trig. We decided to put that off this semester as I have a feeling that classes will be cut short and she really struggled with her Calculus class online last semester.
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| She finally heard back from her room mate and they are just starting to communicate who is bringing what. We are only six short weeks away so we really need to start putting together what she is taking with her and what we need to buy. |
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MarioFan and I Spent some time with my MOM at her house. Since my Dad's passing she is now trying to take care of her home on her own. So many things my Dad and her did together and she needed a little help, but mainly we went to just spend time with her:)
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| My mother is a fantastic gardener (I did not inherent that trait) and her yard is so lush and peaceful. We spent many mornings and evenings outside enjoying the sights and sounds of nature. We also cleaned the patio bricks, weathered sealed them, and added sand to the patio. |
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| Both kids helped lay mulch down in the yard and do general gardening stuff. | | | | |
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Mom and I worked on stain glass projects for her yard. She wanted to hang some glass from her sign
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| the other side of the sign |
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| Mom's puppy Jack kept us entertained with all his puppy antics. |
In the evenings we went through all of my Dad's Military boxes and tried our best to sort through them and put them in order and into an album. It was both sad and fun to see all the performance evaluations, certificates and awards my Dad had. This was a project he was working on before he passed last year.
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| I think we went through about three boxes full of stuff. My MOM found a great Navy album that we are putting things into. We didn't have time to go through the photos, just his military file and awards. |
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| My dad in 1961-2 joined the army reserves and was training to be a cook but after only six months he left to join the navy. |
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| His Navy picture. He was tested in the Navy and was told no way was he going to train to be a ship's cook, he was too bright. He entered the field of cytological technician. |
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| Found this citation for his service at the Golf of Tonkin. Something he never talked about with me. |
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| Found some pictures from his promotion to Chief Petty Officer. He worked his way up to Master Chief before he retired. |
So many memories and so many things I didn't know. There were many things my mother never knew since his job was so secretive. We plan to go through his military pictures next time I am there.
Mom is a member of a local gardening club and she spent two years trying to get approval to place a Blue Star Memorial at the rest area near her home. My Dad passed before he saw it completed. But it is finally done and they held a ceremony last year on its completion. My mother had a bag piper come and play Navy tunes at the ceremony in honor of my Dad.
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| This was the first time I was able to see the completed garden. It looks great and is completely planted with Native plants for the PA area and also encourages pollinators. |
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| In another little area of the rest stop some girl scouts created a fairy garden. It was cute |
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| We spent lots of time together and enjoying each others company |
My sister presented me with a lovely pillow made from one of my father's shirts. I will treasure it always
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| My father was a huge Cardinals fan as will has a Iowa Hawk-eye fan. He was born and raised in Iowa. While at my Mom's I found some Navy buttons which I am going to use to replace the shirt buttons. So everything my dad loved will be on this one pillow:) |
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| Our last picture together before we began the journey home. |
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| Mom loaded up my car with some plants to add to my garden. I need to get them planted in the garden asap. I hope they do well but I do not have a great track record |
I am back at home and starting to get Firedrake ready for college and trying to prepare my lesson plans for MarioFan. I need to start ordering some resources. It will be a busy couple of weeks
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