Sometimes we lose our glasses. We can't always remember what exit to take, even though we repeated "take exit No. 58" three times. We forget to take our pills. Where did we park the car? Where do you apply Head On?
Last night we forgot to close the garage door. We were stripping the interior of the car so we can wash all the Colorado dirt and bird doo off of it at Virgil's new car wash behind Target. Somewhere along the line we forgot to finish the job and left the hatch door wide open and the garage door in the up position. Oblivious, we watched the news and went to bed. Normally, this security breach would go unnoticed until the next day when we would chasten ourselves for our laxity.
Bonanza
Not in Saddlebrooke. In Saddlebrooke we have the Saddlebrooke Patrol.
The Saddlebrooke Patrol is an elite pack of gentleman Rough Riders who browse the Saddlebrooke range seeking outlaws and signs of criminal opportunity. Last night they found a bonanza on Rock Crest.
We were awakened shortly after midnight by flashing lights and a persistent ringing. What could it be? My light-sleeping spouse was no help. I scurried down the stairs, trying to remember where the light switches are, how to open the door.
Surreal
"Saddlebrooke Patrol, sir. Your garage door is open and it won't close because the car isn't all the way into the garage." He spoke with a sure confidence that didn't go with the goofy stocking cap he had pulled all the way down over his glasses tops. (These people think it is cold here and it is amazing the garb they think appropriate to 32 degree weather.)
Still in a foggy, surreal half-awake state, I meekly thanked the patrolman, hunted up the car keys, closed the garage door and headed back to bed, hoping my wife would not say "Who was that masked man? I wanted to thank him."
Oh Yes. This morning it finally came to me. You apply it directly to your forehead.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Correction
An error in a previous post has been brought to our attention: The Ancient Age Bourbon Whiskey I drank upon arrival last night was not purchased by Virgil, as originally reported. In fact, it was purchased by Stephen. The sandwich I am enjoying tonight as I post this, made from Butterball Extra Thin Sliced Honey Roasted Turkey Breast and Hillshire Farm Ultra-Thin Deli Select Honey Ham on Oroweat Health Nut Original Bread with butter and mayo and pickles was provided by Virgil. We regret the error and apologize for any confusion this unintentional oversight may have caused.
Want to buy a house in Ft. Collins?
-------------------------------------
For Sale, 4BR, 4 bath, nice nbrhd, nr 2 schools, grt lndscape, hge mstr, vlt lvroom, 2 -car grage, nwly redcorated. mst see! $400,000 or BO. Nice semi-retired couple moving to Minn.
4400 Craig, Ft. Collins
------------------------------
I promised you some photos of Linda and Ron at the house on Craig that they are diligently preparing for sale. Sunday the house had a nice but rare coat of snow all about it. But don't worry. There are mostly Republicans and Mormons in the neighborhood so all the walks are shoveled clean as soon as the snow falls.
Kathleen and I told Ron and Linda we'd treat them to dinner 
Saturday night. Linda took us to a nice lunch in their Old Town at Enzio's where we had some nice pasta and sausages and salads. Very Tuscanesque surroundings and a great looking bar, if you ever get the chance to check it out.
During a mandatory shopping spree, the couple picked
out a nice picture depicting one of the great restored buildings in the Old Town. After the picture helps sell their house, it will be used in Minnesota to remind them of their time in Ft. Collins.
Our treat was to be dinner anywhere they wanted to go, --- the trick was that it was Saturday night and we had no reservations. Kathleen and I have a rule to never go anywhere on Saturday night and, sure enough, we proved the rule, as everywhere we went, there were long waits and standing room only. We settled on pizza to go from the Old Chicago.
Back at the house we were just finishing up the meatlovers when the doorbell rang and the entire Heurta family exploded through the door.
We weren't sure we were going to get to see all of them (the grandkids had to clean their rooms to qualify to come over to Grandma and Grandpa's) but there they all were, with all the energy and vigor of youth, excited to run free at the Big House.
They came equipped with radio-control devices, DVDs, etc., for a Saturday night pajama party and church with Grandma in the morning.
Parents Alyssa and Corey got the night off and are beginning to show their age: they opted for a quick trip to WalMart and then home to bed.
Kathleen and I are hopeful that the Heurta's will come to Minnesota to stay next summer, but only time will tell what they end up doing. It would be great having them extend our family there.
For Sale, 4BR, 4 bath, nice nbrhd, nr 2 schools, grt lndscape, hge mstr, vlt lvroom, 2 -car grage, nwly redcorated. mst see! $400,000 or BO. Nice semi-retired couple moving to Minn.4400 Craig, Ft. Collins
------------------------------
I promised you some photos of Linda and Ron at the house on Craig that they are diligently preparing for sale. Sunday the house had a nice but rare coat of snow all about it. But don't worry. There are mostly Republicans and Mormons in the neighborhood so all the walks are shoveled clean as soon as the snow falls.
Kathleen and I told Ron and Linda we'd treat them to dinner 
Saturday night. Linda took us to a nice lunch in their Old Town at Enzio's where we had some nice pasta and sausages and salads. Very Tuscanesque surroundings and a great looking bar, if you ever get the chance to check it out.During a mandatory shopping spree, the couple picked
out a nice picture depicting one of the great restored buildings in the Old Town. After the picture helps sell their house, it will be used in Minnesota to remind them of their time in Ft. Collins.Our treat was to be dinner anywhere they wanted to go, --- the trick was that it was Saturday night and we had no reservations. Kathleen and I have a rule to never go anywhere on Saturday night and, sure enough, we proved the rule, as everywhere we went, there were long waits and standing room only. We settled on pizza to go from the Old Chicago.
Back at the house we were just finishing up the meatlovers when the doorbell rang and the entire Heurta family exploded through the door.
We weren't sure we were going to get to see all of them (the grandkids had to clean their rooms to qualify to come over to Grandma and Grandpa's) but there they all were, with all the energy and vigor of youth, excited to run free at the Big House.
They came equipped with radio-control devices, DVDs, etc., for a Saturday night pajama party and church with Grandma in the morning.Parents Alyssa and Corey got the night off and are beginning to show their age: they opted for a quick trip to WalMart and then home to bed.
Kathleen and I are hopeful that the Heurta's will come to Minnesota to stay next summer, but only time will tell what they end up doing. It would be great having them extend our family there.
Female relative appears topless in Mexico
I was just emailed some great photos of one of our relatives who has been appearing topless at a resort in Mazatlan. I don't think anyone will be offended if I post a couple of the pictures here, (they're not that explicit) but I am having a bit of trouble with the download just now. Check back later.
We're here
We arrived in Tucson at 11 p.m. last night. Found the keyhole in the dark and it turned.
We unloaded the car and made the bed upstairs. Kathleen got to sleep. Stan was still wired from driving 14 hours from Durango so he broke in to Virgil's Ancient Age Bourbon Whiskey instead.
We've got a lot to tell about on this Three Sisters Tour. It is now the Four Ladies Tour because we visited Lois Eldredge in Phoenix for an hour last night. She's got a new townhouse to show you. Got to show you Heidi's townhouse in Durango too. They're remaking a single family home in the old part of town into a galvanized monument to the Teluride look. More later.
Yesterday Kathleen did a drive by shooting of the Four Corners area and the Grand Canyon. We'll post some of that when we figure out how to run this computer.
The neighborhood looks to be in good shape. It's 61 and sunny today. They had two inches of snow around here Sunday but that's all gone and people are walking around the golf course now with serious intentions.
Kathleen stepped outside this morning into the little yard. She was quiet when she came back in and I know what she was thinking about. We miss our little dog. She was so fascinated last year with the patch of stones and bushes in the back with all the exotic smells from the strange critters they have in these parts. We miss her a lot.
Got to wash the car at Virgil's famous car wash and have lunch at Clare's in Catalina. Then we'll try out the gently-used golf cart and see if we can navigate it like Mr. and Mrs. Saddlebrooke going out for bread and milk at the corner store.
Much to do, lots of time to do it.
More later.
Stan
P.S. Attention "Stephen P Rolfud" . Your Pottery Barn catalog arrived in the mail today.
We unloaded the car and made the bed upstairs. Kathleen got to sleep. Stan was still wired from driving 14 hours from Durango so he broke in to Virgil's Ancient Age Bourbon Whiskey instead.
We've got a lot to tell about on this Three Sisters Tour. It is now the Four Ladies Tour because we visited Lois Eldredge in Phoenix for an hour last night. She's got a new townhouse to show you. Got to show you Heidi's townhouse in Durango too. They're remaking a single family home in the old part of town into a galvanized monument to the Teluride look. More later.
Yesterday Kathleen did a drive by shooting of the Four Corners area and the Grand Canyon. We'll post some of that when we figure out how to run this computer.
The neighborhood looks to be in good shape. It's 61 and sunny today. They had two inches of snow around here Sunday but that's all gone and people are walking around the golf course now with serious intentions.
Kathleen stepped outside this morning into the little yard. She was quiet when she came back in and I know what she was thinking about. We miss our little dog. She was so fascinated last year with the patch of stones and bushes in the back with all the exotic smells from the strange critters they have in these parts. We miss her a lot.
Got to wash the car at Virgil's famous car wash and have lunch at Clare's in Catalina. Then we'll try out the gently-used golf cart and see if we can navigate it like Mr. and Mrs. Saddlebrooke going out for bread and milk at the corner store.
Much to do, lots of time to do it.
More later.
Stan
P.S. Attention "Stephen P Rolfud" . Your Pottery Barn catalog arrived in the mail today.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
People, be careful out there
The last time we stayed with Linda and Ron in Ft. Collins, Dumb & Dumber was playing. Ron was late joining us at the movie, but we knew he had finally arrived when we heard his guffaws somewhere in the darkened theater. Ron laughed that way a lot last night.
One of the best things about Ron is that he never seems to change much. He looks the same, weighs the same and still looks great in a pair of shorts.
We're posting this note Saturday morning in the pastor's study at 4400 Craig Ave. The book shelves are lined with such fare as "God's Politics," "One Nation Under Gods", Tim Russert's "The Wisdom of Our Fathers" and something that has to be new: Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope."
There was something new in the kitchen too. Revely was "The Greatest Hits from the Concordia College Choir," as might be expected, but breakfast comes directly from the new Norwegian son-in-law, Norwegian waffles. Thin and delightful, Ron serves 'em hot with strawberries, whipped cream and some kind of nut paste that looks like dark chocolate but is allegedly "good for you."
It was good for us, we ate heartily and talked about the traumas of preparing a house for sale.
The beautiful house on Craig is becoming not so beautiful anymore. That's because the realtor (as in HGTV's Sell This House) insists they take the color out and put the oyster in. They're doing a great job blanding up the place, with Ron shaking his head at his decades of good work disappearing from the walls.
This will sell, it will sell, we encourage them.
Cars stewn about
We departed home on Thursday at 1 p.m., heading for Iowa. We were on I 35 for a mere five minutes when they closed it. That's right. Closed it. Cars were strewn about somewhere ahead and we sat still wondering if this was an omen.
Eventually we cut across the median, doubled back, worked some county roads and got ahead of the accident. The closure meant we had no traffic with us all the way to Des Moines. Entering Des Moines, traffic stopped again on 35 for an accident with cars strewn about. As we drove past we saw the exploded air bag and wondered. That night, at Becky and Al's house, we found out. He died.
We were late getting off I 25 in Ft. Collins last night. We called our hosts to tell them the situation. There was an accident at our exit, ironicly E Harmony Lane, and cars were strewn about. We don't know if anyone was killed because we didn't watch the news at Linda and Ron's.
People, be careful out there.
Flying down the freeway in Minnesota we drove by the exit for Austin's Spam Museum with the motto "Either you get it, or you don't." We didn't have to stop because our Sister Solveig in Sunol already got it for us. She has written a wonderful piece about her adventures at the Spam museum.
Spam is good stuff, Becky and I agreed Thursday night in their comfortable condo in Waukee, IA. She fed her kids Spam, our mother fed us Spam. She remember some of the ways it was fixed, principally as a meatloaf with brown sugar on top and whole cloves stuck on top in a diagonal pattern. She did not remember mom's toothache remedy for before you would go see Doc Steen: Put a whole clove on the hurting tooth, bite and hold. Eventually it numbs up real good.
Kathleen offered that whiskey and sugar was their remedy. "That may be, Kathleen, but I doubt Bev and Erling ever thought of it."
Becky and Al's comfortable condo is in a gated community near the Des Moines golf course and overlooks a small artifical lake. Al happend to be in town so we enjoyed a nice chat and then a nightcap of Bailey's and decaf.
I would add some photos to this report, but Linda and Ron aren't doing digital YET. They plan to go fully digital when they move to Minnesota and have access to more of the son-in-law's skill set, which ranges far and wide, much beyond his kitchen work. Between Europe and Anja, think of the money they will save on film and photo supplies.
Tomorrow we head for Durango for the third stop on the Three Sisters Tour: Kathleen's sister Mary Lou says we can stay as long as we want in the guest room. Good deal.
Sponge Stan Squarepants and Kathleen
One of the best things about Ron is that he never seems to change much. He looks the same, weighs the same and still looks great in a pair of shorts.
We're posting this note Saturday morning in the pastor's study at 4400 Craig Ave. The book shelves are lined with such fare as "God's Politics," "One Nation Under Gods", Tim Russert's "The Wisdom of Our Fathers" and something that has to be new: Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope."
There was something new in the kitchen too. Revely was "The Greatest Hits from the Concordia College Choir," as might be expected, but breakfast comes directly from the new Norwegian son-in-law, Norwegian waffles. Thin and delightful, Ron serves 'em hot with strawberries, whipped cream and some kind of nut paste that looks like dark chocolate but is allegedly "good for you."
It was good for us, we ate heartily and talked about the traumas of preparing a house for sale.
The beautiful house on Craig is becoming not so beautiful anymore. That's because the realtor (as in HGTV's Sell This House) insists they take the color out and put the oyster in. They're doing a great job blanding up the place, with Ron shaking his head at his decades of good work disappearing from the walls.
This will sell, it will sell, we encourage them.
Cars stewn about
We departed home on Thursday at 1 p.m., heading for Iowa. We were on I 35 for a mere five minutes when they closed it. That's right. Closed it. Cars were strewn about somewhere ahead and we sat still wondering if this was an omen.
Eventually we cut across the median, doubled back, worked some county roads and got ahead of the accident. The closure meant we had no traffic with us all the way to Des Moines. Entering Des Moines, traffic stopped again on 35 for an accident with cars strewn about. As we drove past we saw the exploded air bag and wondered. That night, at Becky and Al's house, we found out. He died.
We were late getting off I 25 in Ft. Collins last night. We called our hosts to tell them the situation. There was an accident at our exit, ironicly E Harmony Lane, and cars were strewn about. We don't know if anyone was killed because we didn't watch the news at Linda and Ron's.
People, be careful out there.
Flying down the freeway in Minnesota we drove by the exit for Austin's Spam Museum with the motto "Either you get it, or you don't." We didn't have to stop because our Sister Solveig in Sunol already got it for us. She has written a wonderful piece about her adventures at the Spam museum.
Spam is good stuff, Becky and I agreed Thursday night in their comfortable condo in Waukee, IA. She fed her kids Spam, our mother fed us Spam. She remember some of the ways it was fixed, principally as a meatloaf with brown sugar on top and whole cloves stuck on top in a diagonal pattern. She did not remember mom's toothache remedy for before you would go see Doc Steen: Put a whole clove on the hurting tooth, bite and hold. Eventually it numbs up real good.
Kathleen offered that whiskey and sugar was their remedy. "That may be, Kathleen, but I doubt Bev and Erling ever thought of it."
Becky and Al's comfortable condo is in a gated community near the Des Moines golf course and overlooks a small artifical lake. Al happend to be in town so we enjoyed a nice chat and then a nightcap of Bailey's and decaf.
I would add some photos to this report, but Linda and Ron aren't doing digital YET. They plan to go fully digital when they move to Minnesota and have access to more of the son-in-law's skill set, which ranges far and wide, much beyond his kitchen work. Between Europe and Anja, think of the money they will save on film and photo supplies.
Tomorrow we head for Durango for the third stop on the Three Sisters Tour: Kathleen's sister Mary Lou says we can stay as long as we want in the guest room. Good deal.
Sponge Stan Squarepants and Kathleen
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Three Sisters Tour starts now
We're off. We depart today at 1 p.m., heading for Des Moines and our first stop on the Three Sisters Tour as we sponge our way across the continent.
The Rendezvous is stuffed with things we think we'll need as we now wander around the house wondering what it is that we forgot. We, of course, will remember what it was after we are on I-35 in the fast lane heading south. Then we will say, "That's OK. We'll just buy one at the Target in West Des Moines."
Big sister Becky is our host tonight in their West Des Moines condo. We'll rise early tomorrow for the dreaded Nebraska trek to Ft. Collins to see sister No. 2. We'll recuperate there all day Saturday, eating Ron's waffles and talking about The Wexford and future plans.
Early Sunday it is off to Durango, CO., to see Kathleen's sister Mary Lou for a day. Then we cross the Four Corners, peer into the abyss that is the Grand Canyon, and drive on to see a family friend, Lois, in Chandler, AZ.
We should be in the friendly confines of our Rock Crest home near Oracle by late Tuesday.
We'll keep you posted, of course.
You can use our regular email addresses as we will be monitoring them from Tucson.
The Rendezvous is stuffed with things we think we'll need as we now wander around the house wondering what it is that we forgot. We, of course, will remember what it was after we are on I-35 in the fast lane heading south. Then we will say, "That's OK. We'll just buy one at the Target in West Des Moines."
Big sister Becky is our host tonight in their West Des Moines condo. We'll rise early tomorrow for the dreaded Nebraska trek to Ft. Collins to see sister No. 2. We'll recuperate there all day Saturday, eating Ron's waffles and talking about The Wexford and future plans.
Early Sunday it is off to Durango, CO., to see Kathleen's sister Mary Lou for a day. Then we cross the Four Corners, peer into the abyss that is the Grand Canyon, and drive on to see a family friend, Lois, in Chandler, AZ.
We should be in the friendly confines of our Rock Crest home near Oracle by late Tuesday.
We'll keep you posted, of course.
You can use our regular email addresses as we will be monitoring them from Tucson.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Why is everyone happy?
Here's the news release issued by the school district:
The
Mr. Rolfsrud began his tennis career in
The coaching career of Mr. Rolfsrud began at Mankato East while still in college and has continued ever since. Coach Rolfsrud has previous head coaching experience in
Coach Rolfsrud looks forward to the challenges of rebuilding the Sabers tennis program. His initial goals include increasing participation and developing more consistent play throughout the line-up. Mr. Rolfsrud teaches Junior High Math in the Shakopee Schools and served as the boy’s assistant tennis coach this past year.
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