That Zeus!

Well, Zeus ran away AGAIN today, but this time he came right back. We had two workers at Mark's house. Zeus is feeling so at home that he started chewing Mark's shoes, his cup, his blanket. Okay, Zeus, time to move to the back porch.

The only problem with the back porch is that it leads to the back yard, which is not a problem if THE GATE IS SHUT AND LATCHED.

Zeus, being the free spirit that he is, romped and played in the back yard. When a worker was fetching something and left the gate open, Zeus saw an opportunity.

He ran away!

Fortunately, one worker (the one who had left the gate open before, but not this time) ran after Zeus. But Zeus just circled the block and came back to the front gate, waiting patiently to be let back in.

Whew! Now he knows his way around, and he knows a good thing when he's got it I guess.

He also has his name and Mark's phone number engraved on the back of his new rabies tag.

Oh, by the way, I was wrong in my comments yesterday. Zeus and Raven did meet briefly when Zeus came back from being lost the first time. I guess Raven didn't even bark--they just sniffed each other, like they knew they were uncle and nephew. Or nephew and uncle as the case may be.

Stay tuned for more adventures of Zeus, the run-away comeback-kid dog!

Till next time,


Suzi

Zeus and me

Home and happy.

At long last

Here is a picture of Zeus, on Mark's upper porch. Isn't he sweet? When I can get Tim to email me more photos, I'll post more.

(Don't worry Raven, you're still my first doggy love!)

Till next time,

Suzi

Summer's flight

Well, July is now closing down, and my sister informed me I need to blog again. So here goes.

I'm still waiting for my husband to email me pictures of Zeus. They're on his laptop, and I can't figure out how to access them so I can show the new dog to the world. Have patience, I hope to soon.

Lately Tim and I have been coming home from work, having dinner, and crashing soon after. He's been working long days and work has been busy for me too. I suppose it's nothing compared to what it will be once I start teaching my freshman class in the fall, but still I'm not bored.

Speaking of which, my class section is now full--fifteen students. Ten young women and five young men, from all across the US with varying declared majors--education, nursing, biblical studies, physics, etc. It should be fun.

This week at work we enjoyed watching a friendly game of kickball. Nathan from our office was our star player, and when he called me from his cell phone to complain that the whole business office was coming to watch the game, and was there NO ONE from our office who would cheer him on?--well, I had to rally the troops and head over to the field, with the promise of refreshments waiting for us. Concessions included popsicles, lemonade (water of course), popcorn and ice cream sandwiches. Of course we worked the sugar and calories off walking back and forth from the office. It was a beautiful day and I got a bit of sun to show for it, sitting in the bleachers. Toward the end of the game, one of the organizers yelled: under 55! and a guy from my 1980 Bethel graduating class who is now a co-worker ran out on the field and showed he still had it. I said, "not bad for a 50-year-old" and someone said, really he's 50? and I said, well he's my age. Then silence. I guess they thought he was a lot younger than me.

Anyway, it's nice to get some breaks from the computer screen (at work, I love it at home--Facebook, blogging, checking email). August 7 is staff appreciation day, and we're going to take the day to ride the Minnesota Zephyr. We get to ride the rails in historic Stillwater, MN, complete with a grand meal and entertainment. Everyone is very excited.

Hopefully Tim will get the pictures of our new dog soon. I'll have to post pictures of Raven, too, so he doesn't get jealous!

Till next time,

Suzi

Zeus has been found!

Thank you all for praying! I had canvassed the neighborhood last night and talked to some kids about our dog. This morning I drove by a pet hospital in the neighborhood and called them with a description of the dog.

Well, some kids FOUND HIM and took him to the Pet Hospital. I had given them Mark's phone number, so they called him with the GOOD NEWS!

I'll have to post pictures soon.

We are VERY HAPPY!

Till next time,

Suzi

New dog is missing

A short blog today--we are in the process of moving our son Mark to his north Minneapolis home--one that Tim just purchased for a really good price. We just got him a new dog, Zeus--a hound German shepherd mix. Well, a worker who was coming to the house didn't know we had a new dog and left the gate open, and Zeus is now AWOL.

Please pray for his safe return. He went missing yesterday morning (Tues, July 15) and we've combed the neighborhood for him. I've posted his description on Craig's list. He does have a micro chip, so we are hoping that will help in his return. He has a collar but no tags yet.

Last night we took our dog Raven to stay with Mark. I love and miss Raven, but I love Mark more, so I know Raven will be a good companion till we can get this dog or another for Mark.

Thanks for your prayers!

Till next time,


Suzi

Whoa, summer's almost half over!

Wow, the summer is really flying by! This is Whiz Bang weekend in Robbinsdale, our fair town. Last night Luke's band played a few numbers at the local stage, under the town water tower, just about an hour or so before the Minnesota skies unleashed a strong storm. By that time I was safe in my friend Kimberly's basement, watching a movie with our bookclub (Memory Keeper's Daughter--a book we read several months ago).

Today I'm enjoying my first really "do nothing" day. Which means I should be doing a lot. We're having a little gather to celebrate Luke's birthday tomorrow (his birthday was July 7). I need to get cracking cleaning and pick up a few things.

I think I blogged about Tim buying a house in north Minneapolis for a really good price. He's very excited and is fixing it up for our son Mark. It's in a pretty good neighborhood--had some of the copper taken from it, but will be a nice place for Mark. It is solid with hardwood floors, so Tim's ripping up all the carpet.

Tim's aunt passed away this week after a long battle with cancer. Tim's mom is from a family of 17 or so children (two moms), so a couple of Tim's uncles are close to Tim's age. This aunt was only 51 years old. The service was beautiful and we enjoyed a nice catered lunch in the downstairs of the funeral home--a lovely and spacious location. It was a very special tribute to her life. She (Char) was at Christina's open house just a few weeks ago, and even made it to a family 4th of July celebration (we were at Cornerstone). She died on July 6.

Well, I better try to get something done around here. All week I've been working and then running around in the evenings and collapsing into bed around 10 or 10:30. I don't even really remember what I've done at night--running errands with Tim mostly and looking at the "new" house I guess.

Hope you're staying cool this summer--we finally got our AC fixed--there was a leak near the condenser. So it was nice and cool here for our hot humid day yesterday. Hurray! This is a wonderful thing since we've been unable to pinpoint our AC problem till now. Now Tim can be comfortable.

Till next time,

Suzi

Back from Cornerstone!

Well, we're back from the 25th anniversary of Cornerstone! Tim went to some great seminars (I joined him for Miroslav Volf) and we all went to some wonderful concerts. All stages were closed on Friday night for the 25th anniversary special from the main stage. Candles and communion elements were passed out and we worshiped as Charlie Peacock led us in participating in the Lord's Supper. Several Cornerstone "old-timers" (Rez Band, Lost Dogs, Sixpence, Charlie, Over the Rhine, etc) were on stage for little bits, and The David Crowder band concluded the evening of music. At midnight we watched a spectacular fireworks show to commemorate the anniversary and the anniversary of our nation.

It was great to see my brother Roger and my nephews Derek and Ethan (and their buddies Ryan and Brad). Not too many mishaps--we couldn't find the bag for our screen porch poles when we were packing up (probably stuffed in the tent bag and we'll find it later), Roger had a flat tire (he's only missed one year in the past three or four of this particular car malady) and it was pretty hot the first day. But we had temps dip down in the 50s one evening and loved the cooler weather. We camped on a gravel site in the trees and I spent a lot of time reading my book for book club (Dragon Bones--a mystery set in China, which I finished last night).


Tim got to meet some locals as he went into Bushnell to locate a nozzle for our camper sink, deodorizer for the camper potty, and a pan for cooking. (I had several, but nothing of the three-quart variety...) He listened to one man's story of his wife's battle for cancer and their recent trip to Minnesota to the Mayo Clinic. When he went to the pharmacy to find baby aspirin for me, he encountered more locals sitting having coffee in the eating area of the drug store. They were talking about him! The man whose wife was sick was telling his Bushnell friends about this nice man from Minnesota, and how most Cornerstone goers were great people, with only a few "troublemakers" in the bunch. Tim ducked around a corner to listen. It was nice for him to hear from strangers that he was a nice guy (I could have told him that myself!).

Tim also found out that gas had been inflated a dime for festival goers. One station had gas a dime cheaper, but had the prices marked the same--all the locals were going to that station during the festival. For Tim's compassionate ear, the man who told him his story rewarded Tim with the advice about filling up at the cheaper place. It pays to be nice!

I'm glad we went, but it's good to be home. When we stopped at McDonalds in Cedar Rapids, Tim bought in his laptop and we checked email at this WiFi place. BTW, we noticed some devastation in Iowa by the recent floods--several buildings were boarded up, and blocks had trash lining neighborhood streets. Very sad. We hoped we helped the local economy by stopping and buying gas and food.

Will we go to C-stone next year? We'll see. If we do, I hope our boys will go--this year we only brought Christina and her friend Travis. We missed the boys' help driving back--I hate driving the truck pulling the camper, and we didn't want Christina to drive either. Needless to say, we spent a few hours at rest stops on the way home.

Tomorrow--back to work! It's also Luke's 23rd birthday! Wow, time flies! Cornerstone is 25, Luke is 23. I must be at least that old, since Tim and I celebrated 25 years of wedded bliss a couple of months ago....

Till next time,


Suzi

Cornerstone bound

After months of debating, we've finally decided we are going! Tim, Christina, her friend Travis and I are busy cleaning and packing, and yes, we're taking the trailer! I just talked to my brother Roger who is about 5 hours from C-stone.

Isn't last minute planning fun! It will be good to get away. Luke and Mark will be here working, so we'll really miss them (especially their help driving and setting up/tearing down)! It looks like Beckie and Dale will be staying at our house to help take care of Raven since Luke is in and our a lot.

Stay tune for a C-stone report!

Till next time,

Suzi