The branch finally fell!!! We took Accalia to wallyworld for her portrait (how can she be 10?!?!). I took the middle kids with me and we ambled to the lawn and garden section. Found a tree trimmer and how the blade should be attached. Got home, slapped the blade on and went to work. After about 20 minutes, the branch crashed to the ground (luckily I have the reflexes of a cat as the branch landed where I had been sawing a split second before it hit). it is now neatly cut down and waiting to be a part of our next campfire.

Made some progress in the basement. Was just hoping to make a dent in it and feel like I did more than that. Once we have the yard sale, much of the crap down there will be gone.

Didn't mind not working at the Hut today, though know we need the $$$$. We'll see what next week holds.

A highlight this past week was having my niece and nephew stay with us for a couple of days. They are awesome kids and it was nice getting to hang out with them for a little bit. They had just returned from a family vacation out west and were in town for a throwing camp. My niece has placed the last three years at state in discuss (5th, 2nd, and 5th) and her brother wants to follow her into the ring. I think Cole liked having another boy in the house. He still did things with his other friends, but seemed to really like hanging around his cousin.

A low light this week was a branch in our front yard. The branch in question is huge and hangs over a good portion of the front yard. It is now devoid of 99% of its bark. I am freaked out that at some point, the damned thing is going to come down and there is going to be a kid underneath it at the time (catastrophic thinking anyone?). The branch is too high to get to with any ladder I have. So I hit upon an idea - a wire saw. I used tied a couple goofy golf balls to a line and threw it over the branch, I then tied both ends of the line to a wire saw I'd picked up in Sioux Falls. It did seem to work a bit. I got about half way through the branch with the saw bound up. I have thus far been unsuccessful in removing it. I did go to Ace and bought a tree trimmer with a blade attachment. Problem is the damned thing came with virtually no instructions, so the blade does not seem to be going on it worth a damn. I'm either going to get back to Ace or another store to look at another trimmer and see if I can glean how to attach the blade.

Another low light - the mower died on Sunday. I had been thinking of getting a reel mower and did finally break down and get one. It will be getting assembled and probably used before the weekend ends. I'll be getting the old mower in at some point, but if I like the reel mower, may end up getting rid of the old one.

Another highlight - the shop called and the tiller (after a freakin' month) is repaired!

Did not get many hours at the Hut this week. Manager was confused about me wanting this weekend off. Going to use the time tomorrow to clean the basement (at least get it a bit neater) and get that frickin' tree!

Last weekend was the camp-out. I think that it went better overall than the one last year. I didn't feel as stressed. Might have helped that I didn't have any appointments scheduled and that the days, as a whole, were not us trying to get things done. Amy's brother, Anthony, was not able to get time off to come down for the camping. Hopefully he'll make it next year. My dad only stayed on Friday night and left Saturday. We'll see what happens next year with Joan added to the mix. At this point, I rather have my doubts that Dad will make it at all.

Only one thing pissed me off. The airport was hosting a program that Sat. to give kids airplane rides. Last year, Dad went up with Cole (who wanted an adult with him) and had been talking with Cole about going up with him again this year. Problem was that the weather did not cooperate. The event started an hour late, at 10 instead of 9. There were a lot more kids there this year. Since they were running behind, when Dad asked if he could go up with Cole, he was (rather rudely) told no. Cole then started went out to the plane with Accalia and two other kids, did the walk-around the plane. When it came time to get in, Cole started crying because he thought Grandpa Nelson would be going up with him. The pilot walked Cole back to us. As he left, the pilot told Cole that he'd take him and his Grandpa up a bit later. This was around 10:45 - 11:00 AM. Dad, who had planned to leave to go to Joan's once he got done with the plane ride, announced that he was not going to be able to wait and had to leave. So Cole, who was already sad, gets crushed. Cole starts talking about how he should have gone up with Accalia. Cole indicated then that he wanted to go up with me, then his Grandpa Greve. The pilot returned and took a different group of kids up, telling Cole (again) that he'd take Cole and his Grandpa up later. Cole finally decided that he would rather go back to the campground after we told him we'd try to find another airport in the region hosting the event at a later date.

I am SO pissed that Dad bailed on his grandson like that. I can understand his desire to get to Joan's, as she was having a family reunion that afternoon. Dad could have been late for that if he'd chosen to be. The camp-out had been planned since the first part of November. I believe it was late Nov. or early Dec. when Dad got back together with Joan. I can take Dad bailing on the camp-out, I really can. He let his grandson down and didn't seem to see that as a problem.

Oh, we've decided to try to find out when the event will be at the airport next year and will do everything in our power to ensure the camping weekend does not coincide. If they do happen to fall on the same weekend, we'll not take the kids in to participate.