Back for the firste time since May 9,2007!!

Hello---

Thanks to each of you who remember to use LARGER type.
Using Verdana font today, 5/27/07.

We readall available messages, and will try to catch up to you today. I had scheduled the planting of the rest of my flowers today and the sun is shining so i am ready to go, but first things first!!

Mothers Day found us meeting David's family, Mark, Dr. Al and a couple of Richter cousins at Bay Shore mall for an evening meal at a place unfamiliar to us California Pizza kitchen--very crowded, but when we tasted their food we realized why. Try it if you haven't already. Susan was with Bridget for their overnight, Maura was planting gardens, and I expect the rest of you were honoring moms someplace.Thanks for the lovely flowers (Susan. Michele, David), lotion(K&L), olive soap (C & M) and Maura's jacket with the lighthouses.and Mark's strawberry rhubarb pie. A lovely day.

The next day we had a luncheon for retired educators at the Hilton hotel in downtown MKE. A nice meal, good entertainment and old friends. It is really difficult to find your way around downtown this summerwith all of the construction.

Spent the next two days at Ft. staying with the kids while Mark attended to business in Chicago. Sunday the mother=daughter luncheon was held, and Susan, Maura and bridget were able to come with me.

Dad was able to work in a shampoo and staining of the deck in between times. it looks very nice.

Monday morning we were off to the wwii gathering of people who served on LSM sailors. i read and did some tidying up in the RV, and when Dad was finished we joined maura and Tim for supper at Culver's. Left for home about noon.

Had learned the sad news of jim Gehred's death on Saturday. We did get to the wake in Brookfield and had nice visitswith all the Gehred family.

Several days before I was contacted by a classmate from Clarke and invited to a luncheon in Naperville involving local alumni. Charleen was going in and Dad was willing to drive me, so we went on Saturday. Luke O'Connell, Tim's oldest son,was in Chicago visiting a friend so he came to Peggy's, too, and rode back to Dubuque as a surprise guest for Clare's gaduation.

Only7 women were able to get to lunch, but we had such agood time that we decided to try to make it each year, for as long as we can hold up!!

Tomorrow we will go to a memorial day Mass in Waukesha at St. Jose'h's cemetery, so we will be gone until close to noon. if anyone wants to join us later, please feel free, but let us know so we can stock up the larder

Freya must really be able to do justice to those carrots now that she has her molars in place. Glad it was an almost painless process and she is her happy little self again. The nursery school idea sounds like a good one. You were lucky to find a place so close to work.

I can hear those little plants calling to me, so I had better attend to them and Dad can add to this if he likes.

Matt, Mary Jane Dorava asked about you. She was at the luncheon with her mom, Amy and her twins. Love to all, Mom.

Glad, of course, that Michele reports improvement. With the level acitivity there seems to be at that home, ENDURANCE must be the watch word. We continue to pray--and for all of you as well!

Our SQUARES are doing well, C & M, and the pepper, egg plant and tomato plants have been in 4 days and I trust we are past frost danger. Hope the replacements in Boise are beginning to catch up. We have beans up about 3/4", letture varieties in each square are showing their first leaves. The same for one hill of cukes, but hope to see some life from the squash and peas in a day or two. In the back area where I mix the compost and soil for the squares, I have already planted more peas and beans, many pereninial and annual flower seeds and do more of that planting today. Next is weeding of flower bed areas and putting down some of the great mulch which the arborist left after taking down the broken basswood tree last fall.

When we were in Ft. A. last week, Calvin made a big effort to help me get the Vista program into the lap top. While he was able to get on their wireless hook-up, the next steps seemed to elude us even though the Vista CD was loaded into the machine. Perhaps, it will be best to wait for Kevin and his family experts to assist us!

While the ladies at lunch yesterday, Bob and I had an
interesting exchange of family history with both Peggy and Luke. Luke admits that he is quite hazy about the children of his Dad's O'Connell first cousins, so we tried to gived him some background. He has decided not to
continue with seminary studies and and is engaged to
a young woman, Megan Touhy(sp?)and they intend to be married next winter sometime. She is from Philadelphia and they both hope to settle in the greater ny area where he would like to attain a teaching position and she is interested in the theater. Luke will be going back to NY this summer wondered if he might get in touch with you NJ folks. Thought he would like to get acquainted with more O'Connells, especially Magdelana and Declan whose pictures he saw when we shared Christmas and Idaho pictures with C, B, and he and Peggy. Peggy was asking your work, too, Kevin and Lyn. In addition to being a 25/30 hour a week reference librarian for Naperville, she also works part time at the local Community College where she coaches students and teaches some class sessions on use of best reference library search techniques. She asked about your free lance work, Kevin, as well as your current position. I mentioned your web site and she would like to see it. I tried to sender my file folder, but it didn't seem to work. Her e-mail is pox657@aol.com.

Got good first hand reports from Charleen and Bob on their trip to Sedona for the marriage of one of their nieces--the daughter of her brother, Bill. They also provided an update on Stephanie and Tim's new home in Tulsa and Tim's new work materials lab setting. setting. Tim will apparently have to do less traveling in this position.

Always pleased to see moe Freya pictures whether they are in the Blog or in an e-mail. Thanks for keeping them coming.

Sorry to read in the Sports news that Bridget's team had such a tough loss to Catholic Memorial yesterday. She has merited special recognition to playing on two levels--2 games on the same day in some instances--and keeping up with all her other obligations in these last week of school. Spectating in the rain for 1 and 1/2 hours for a game isn't nearly as demanding.

We didn't see Bridget Curran, nor Steve, yesterday as she was involved with a HS softball game in the AM and a Club Volleyball tourney in the PM and her dad was with her. Peggy had been at the ball game in the AM, too. Seems these Bridgets have ENDURANCE, too.

Somehow we shifted inot another font, but it looks OK to us!

Love, Dad