DONELLE'S DADDY SAYS HI

Donelle scored big at the North Palm Beach Easter Egg hunt! Dad got the benefits of that one.

Nothing too wild planned for the summer months. We go up to Delaware this weekend for a wedding, doing some BBQing and swimming over Memorial Weekend, and planning a brief trip to Orlando in June to see Shamu at Seaworld. After that, it's "turn up the A/C" and enjoy the pool and beach for the rest of the summer.

Loved the photo of those crazy singing Lutheran kids.
TOM H.

SADIE STREET SINGERS

Circa 1980-something perhaps?

GOOD LIFE SINGERS

From St. John Lutheran Church. I see Scott Ehlts, Sue Merritt, and Michelle Eden from our class. Check out the hair and glasses. Good lord.

SPEAKING OF JAN

Here's an old photo of some good lookin' high school cheerleaders. I see Kath and Jan from our class. Recognize the others?

GOOD WISHES FROM JAN COSTELLO

Carron,

I was checking on your dad. I know he was having surgery on the 15th. I hope all went well. Please let him know that I asked about him. I know it's tough on the family, too. Hope he is on the road to recovery. Take care!!!! Hope to hear from you soon. I e-mailed you last night but I had a wrong address.

JAN

SCOTT IS HOME FOR TWO WEEKS

Carron,

I swore I wasn't going to check my military e-mail while I was home, but I am glad I did. I actually just checked the class web site since I can access it from home.

I arrived home Saturday about noon. I was fortunate to catch an early flight to Des Moines. We arrived at the gate just as they were boarding. What a trip.

We left Iraq on Thursday night. They fly you to Kuwait. We left Kuwait late Friday night. We landed in Shannon, Ireland, and had a 3 hour layover there. We aren't allowed to drink!! Can you imagine, being in Ireland and not being able to have a Guiness. I love Guiness. I have had one since I have been home, but none in Ireland. We then flew to Atlanta. What a trip, but it is great to be home.

I have spent the last two days catching up on household chores. Carol has done a great job but there are little things that needed repair. I have already fixed the toilet, the sump pump, mowed the yard, planted tomatoes, replaced the dog tie-out, cleaned the storage room, replaced a few light bulbs, and replaced various filters. It has been great.

I will call you this week. My parents are coming down on Tuesday, but I will get you called. Oh, I will call on my new cell phone. My soon-to-graduate son has my old one and has no intention of giving it back. Like I said, it is sooo great to be home. I can even drink water, soda, beer, right up until bedtime if I wish. The bathroom is now only a few steps away.........and indoors!

Call you soon.
Scott

THREE GENERATIONS ON MOTHER'S DAY

Y'all can't even tell me you don't have pictures of yourself with your kids and/or moms from Mother's Day. PLEASE SEND AND SHARE!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DARCIE!!!!!!!

Darcie received two blue balls and something to pull her hair real tight!!

WHY GOD MADE MOMS

(Answers given by 2nd graders)

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.

3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of ?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We're related.

2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your mom?

1. My Mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.

3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.

2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?

3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.

2. She got too old to do anything else with him.

3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goofball.

2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.

3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms & dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.

2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.

4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time.

2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.

2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.

2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.

3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

A NOTE FROM MICHELLE CONLEY

Hey, Girl,

I apologize for not responding to you sooner. The company I work for is in the process of being acquired by Unitrin Insurance Company, so to say the least it has been crazy around here.....I am so tired of smiling and making small talk to groups of men in black suits and explaining to them our procedures/quality/incentive programs/objectives, etc....and having them just stand there and nod their little heads in unison....knowing they have no actual ideal what I am saying and are only looking for the bottom line - $$$$$$$.............

So, first of all congratulations on your recent engagement....I am very happy for both of you...Have you had time to set a date yet???? I love reading the blog to see what everyone is up to these days....

I am so sorry to hear about your Mom's fall, but it sounds like she is doing well...and I will be thinking good thoughts for Dad on his upcoming surgery....

I am not sure when I will be back in Iowa this year. The family is coming here to Chattanooga this summer for a week... I am looking forward to having them all stay will us and very thankful we have three full bathrooms and a case of wine in the basement.....I would love to come home to Iowa in December to see some snow..I know - how crazy does that sound?....I hated it growing up........

I promise I will send pictures next time.. I will let you go for now...Take care and have a Happy Mother's Day.....

Michelle (Conley)

CONFIRMATION IN DENMARK

My neice, Alexandra, got confirmed in Denmark last Friday. She is a pretty little Scandinavian, eh?

CALL FROM DEB WILCOX

As Tony and I are driving along I-94 in Minneapolis on our way back to the motel from the Mall of America, my cell phone rings.

It's Deb!

She apparently heard a song on the radio that reminded her of high school and being old, so she calls me!!! Deb only has a few days left of nursing school and then she will graduate and take state boards. She's having a gigantic party in July to celebrate her hard work. What fun it would be to crash that party!

Deb works in a prison. Can't you just see her NOT taking crap from those inmates? Inmate: "Really, Mrs. Ludwig, I didn't do it."

Deb: "Yea, yea, yea, blah, blah, blah. Now bend over."

Congratulations, Deb! You've earned it!

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES...

We hit the Mall of America on Saturday afternoon. A roller coaster, a bench, and some shrimp.

SHE DIDN'T, BUT SHE SHOULD HAVE

Well, Linda didn't win, but we had a great time anyway. Quite the honor to get into the pool of top 10 finalists. The ceremony was great, the dinner was delicious, and seeing Linda was the best part of all.

Do you recognize the Albertson kids in the bottom picture? The boys are Ross and Nick (Linda's son) and the girls are Kristin, Sonja, and Becky.

MINNESOTA TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Linda's awards ceremony is this Sunday, May 6th. Tony and I are going up on Saturday to sightsee and visit some of my relatives. On Sunday, at 12:30, we will be heading to the convention center to, hopefully, see Linda win Minnesota Teacher of the Year, 2007.

Above is a picture of Linda winning Minnesota FRENCH Teacher of the Year, 1998.

Of course, you know I will post photos on Monday.

Wish us good luck!!!! And, wish Linda a crapload of luck at Linda.Albertson@district196.org

Y'ALL AIN'T GONNA BELIEVE THIS...

OK, so Tony and I are on our way home from my son's track meet at Linn-Mar. We are touring through Marion, sightseeing where Tony used to live, etc. As we're driving down the street, I see someone I think I recognize. "STOP! I think that was Gary Rains."



Tony slams on the brakes, puts it in reverse, and sure as shit... there's Gary. Of course, I always have my camera with me, so I made them pose for a photo. (Sorry it is blurry. I still had it on the motion setting from the track meet.)

Gary made his feelings clear by letting me know he never got an invitation to the class reunion and that he lives in the same house he lived in five years ago. Oops. I told him I was in charge of A-L and Deutmeyer was in charge of M-Z. :-/ Then, he proceeds to tell me that he hunts every year with Ivan Bowers and Coons and that he works with Scott Petersen. Those three got invitations and RSVP'd, but never told Gary about it. Ha. He's starting to take it personally....

Gary's e-mail address is rainsinmarion@aol.com. Shoot him a message and welcome him aboard! GREAT to see you, Gary!!!

LISA AND MARK

Mark Lubbock called on Saturday night. It appears he had been indulging in some alcoholic beverages. Something to the effect of, "While you're still a single woman, you must come to Chicago and get in trouble with me." Goof.

Lisa Toner called last night to check in. She is such a sweetie. She said she talks to Susie Gombert frequently (Susie, e-mail me!!!!), she saw Libby recently (and said Libby has the most beautiful daughter), and filled me in on other gossip. Lisa's son, Camerson, will be heading to Iraq in October. She's a nervous momma, as you can imagine!

Great to hear from both of you!! Thanks for calling. :-)

MARY JO AND DEER COLLIDE

(Mary Jo and a deer collided. From what I understand, the deer came through her windshield and Mary Jo got hurt pretty badly. Let's all send her our get well wishes. Poor thing. Send her an e-mail at suchatailwind@yahoo.com)

Hi, Carron,

Thanks so much for the letter and concern. I am doing ok. Just got home yesterday from the second surgery. My mouth is wired shut. Some will be happy about that. LOL. I have a few more surgeries to go, but not sure when yet.

But you shouldn't be worrying about me. You have enough on your plate with your folks. Hope they are doing well with all that is happening to them.

Just thought I'd touch base quick and let you know I'm ok and just dealing with what that rotten deer did to me. I'll be myself again soon enough... could have been worse.

Happy to hear about you and Tony! You deserve a special guy in your life. Take care.

Mary Jo

PROM

Here are some pictures of Dean's and my kids, Wes and Ellyn, on the way to their first prom tonight!

IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY

A certificate from Senator Hancock of Dubuque County verifying Brenda's daughter, Kristin, is a genius just like her momma!!

ALMOST HOME...
Hi, Carron,

Sorry to hear about your Mom and Dad. I know they will both come through just fine. I also received your photos. Super.

I am anxious to head home. I am under two weeks now. Can't wait. We have less than 100 days left in theater also. It seems like forever. I am sure I mentioned this before, but it will be just 3 weeks shy of a year from the last time I saw my kids when I return home on leave. That is a lifetime. It seems that way.

Carol says the Labrador sleeps on my side of the bed now. I hope he remembers who owns the bed. He is a big fellow and I would hate to have to fight for my place.

I received an e-mail from Milt Luckstead today along with a couple of pictures. He is doing great and so is his son. I find it amazing how we all have grown and raised our families. Who would have guessed all those years ago?

Well, I better let you get back to work, assuming you are at work.

Take care.

Scott

MIKE x2

The two Mikes checked in last week. Hauser called one night last week. Deutmeyer rang me up on Monday afternoon. MH is trying to avoid fighting in Iraq and MD is doing his best to avoid bar fights. Best of luck to both of them. Thanks for the calls, guys.

BRENDA IS A GENIUS....

(Amazing intellectual information from Brenda Hanken....would we expect no less from her????)

"At three minutes and four seconds after 2 AM on the 6th of May of this year, the time and date will be 02:03:04 05/06/07.

This will never happen again."

FAVORITES...

My parents and my kids. Add Tony into the mix and my life is complete.

Life is good for me when those five people are with me.

Oh, crap.....I am getting sappy. Someone say something funny....

Hurry.

ADVICE FOR THE DAY

TOUCHING BASE WITH SCOTT W.

Hi Carron,

The internet police have once again blocked the class of 81 blog so my access has been denied. It is frustrating to say the least. You take so many things for granted back home. Simple access to websites would be nice. Listen to me complaining of internet access in a war zone. I think of what my Grandfather endured in the Philippines during WWII. He relied on the mail and it took weeks to get a reply, if at all. No internet, TV, air conditioning, etc. We are a spoiled generation.

I am looking forward to leave in a couple of weeks. I am at the burnt out stage. God willing, we have less than 100 days until we are sent home. That can all change, but odds are it won't. I submitted my retirement resignation letter. If approved, I will retire 23 days prior to my 23 year anniversary in the Army. The Guard is different from active duty. I can't draw my retirement until I turn 60 and then it is a small amount. It should cover groceries.

I have to run to a meeting. Take care and say hi to everyone back home. I hope all is well. I did see your engagement announcement in the blog before I was blocked. Congratulations to you and Tony!!

Scott (Weber)

QUICK UPDATE FROM BZ...

HE WILL BE AN IOWAN AGAIN SOON!!

Carron,

I will be moving our family & stuff up to Des Moines in 3 weeks. I am away for my initial job training for a couple weeks. My job will involve claims development for veterans. The VA rules & regs are complex, and the training takes awhile.

Regards to your family, I see they are on the mend.

Brian Z.

BIRTHDAY PHOTOS

The Miell/Bungum/Rickels family above.

Tony and Darcie below.

Taken at my birthday party Tuesday night.

LOVED the "happy ball", Darc!!!

And, I was quite "functionable" at work today!!

BRENDA'S SON, NICK

Brenda's son, Nick, getting ready to run.

Thanks for sending the photos, Bren!!

GREETINGS FROM DI
Carron,


So give me an update on your birthday yesterday. Were you lavished with gifts and such???

Also, how are things on the Pete and Ruth front? Your dad is such a strong positive person and I just know he will come through this fine. I hope your mom is getting better and will be able to get through all this as well. I did talk to my parents and they told me to tell you that they will do anything you need them to and not to hesitate to ask!

Must get back to all my Administrative Professional's Day feasting. We have food galore. LOVE IT!! I will NOT be loving my workout tonight, but life is for living and I am gonna eat snacks if I want to!!!!

Have a good one!


Di

I KNEW I WOULD HEAR FROM HIM AND I KNEW IT WOULD BE LATE....

Carron,

I am such a shit. I remembered your birthday on Sunday, but I thought, no, I can't send anything. It has to be on her birthday. Then, of course, I spaced it off. Bad, bad, me.

So did you do anything exiting? How are the men in your life? Any other excitement?

I am just trudging off to work everyday. Cardinal is proposing some re-structuring, so not sure what might happen. They are tired of the people in Illinois telling them how to run the business (the right way, I might had) so they may close this sight and move everything to the red-neck-hillbilly-hell known as Dublin, Ohio. They are so stupid in Ohio. They named 2 towns in the state Dublin. Go figure.

Well I must go to work for my keeper. Hope all is well.

Love you,

Mark (Lubbock)

DEB'S ALMOST A NURSE

Carron--
Congrats on your engagement! I LOVE being married to my bestest
friend in the whole world. He is so good to me......and it took
me 37 years to get the right one.........
What's been going on here? Not much........
New vehicle...........
Got tickets to the Pat Green/Sugarland/Kenny Chesney Concert in
Denver on June 30th..........
Dug up three old trees, planted five new ones.....(no pics of
that)
.......tornado warning......no biggie except we went into lockdown
at the prison while I was there dealing with some daytime
administrivia today........so I couldn't leave until they cleared
it.......(PITA)
..and thought I would send my crazy dog pics too.......
Just another day in paradise..........last unit test is tomorrow,
final is Monday......graduation is May 12th.......take boards in
June (hopefully I'll get an early test date) and then life will
get back to some version of normal.
Tell everyone "hi".....I'm thinking good thoughts for your mom and
dad with all of their illnesses/injuries. Getting old sucks...

BRENDA'S DAUGHTER, KRISTIN

Hi Carron,

I was sending these pictures to a friend, and thought maybe you'd like to see them also!

This is Kristin at her piano recital a couple of days ago.

Take Care! Bren

SLOW NEWS DAY

It's my birthday.

That's it.

Hell, I can't even lie about how old I am.

WORKING BACK INTO IT SLOWLY...

Our dog, Cookie, begging for cookies.

Hey, unless y'all have something better to send me, don't say a word.

OVERWHELMED...

Sorry, everyone.

I have been out of touch for well over a week. Life seems to be overwhelming me lately. Kids, work, the usual - we all go through it this time of year.

Also, my mom fell and broke her hip over a month ago. The ornery woman walked around for a week before the pain got so bad she thought it might be a good idea to get it checked out. She was in surgery three hours later. They inserted some titanium iron rod into her balljoint thingamajig. Sounds like an expensive golf club to me.

Then, my dad has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. His surgery is on May 15th.

Don't we love being a part of this "sandwich generation" where we get to take care of our kids AND our parents?

I'm looking forward to life returning to normal anyday now and y'all will be seeing goofy-ass pictures again soon. No cows or trees, I promise.

Send stuff.

CB

STAY OFF THE SIDEWALKS

The boy child turned 16 yesterday. And he got his braces off. Dean and I own those teeth. They're worth approximately $230.77 each.

I HATE YOU

My cat, Odie, is so not digging the bunny ears. :-/

KARLA B. HAS SPOKEN

Hey, Carron:

Yes, it's been quite some time since I've actually sent a "real"
e-mail.

Things are pretty good. I just started another new job today. I'm going
to be working at 3 different places. How's that for keeping the old brain
cells working? I'll be at St. Lukes 2 days a week, and then at Manor
Care and Willow Gardens split the other 2 days of the week. I'm still
keeping my Fridays "off", so I'm hopeful it will all work out great.

We've also been keeping busy around the house, cutting, hauling,
splitting and stacking wood for burning next winter and some for
campfires this summer. I'm looking forward to when the weather is nice
enough for those outside campfires!!!! Mushroom season is just around
the corner also, so I'm psyched that it's SPRING!!!!!

It's kind of funny, our plans for the night Scott was going to have his
party got cancelled so we were actually going to go. Good thing I called
him on that day; because I hadn't been on the site to get the message
that it was cancelled. So we went from having 2 possible things to do,
to none.... go figure.

Well, that's it from Waubeek.

Stay cool and thanks for keeping the blog going!

Karla (Bonifazi) Simmen

Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Phi Kappa Phi inducts new members 04/06/2004

Fifty students at Clarion University were inducted into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

Phi Kappa Phi is an all-discipline honor society, with a mission "to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others." Those elected to membership include upper 7.5 percent last-term juniors and upper 10 percent seniors, along with outstanding graduate students, faculty, professional staff, and alumni.

Ernest Hartwig, a junior secondary education/social studies major. He is a son of Suzanne Hartwig of Knox and is a 1981 graduate of Anamosa Community High School in Anamosa, Iowa.

(Look what I found about our buddy, Ernie. He so smart.

Hey, Ernie, remember when we were counselors at 7th grade camp as 9th graders? With Jean, Stan, and who else?? Some Biggart gal from the class of 1980?? Did we or did we not sneak out and go canoeing during the early a.m. hours??)

04/04/40

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMA!

Today is my momma's birthday, so just because I can, I am taking up blog space to wish her a happy birthday!!

Happy #67. We love you.

Carron, Tony, Wes, and Ellyn

HAPPY EASTER!

RANDOM HAIR DUDE

Question: Is this hair real or is it an a.k.a.-Britney-hat-with-hair-attached-thing-because-he's-really-bald-as-an-ass thing?

Form small groups. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Disclaimer: We're sorry if this is anyone's grandpa, dad, brother, or uncle, but this was some funny shit, man.

RANDOM CEDAR RAPIDIAN DUDE

We have no idea who this guy is, but he insisted we take his picture.