The Best Christmas EVER........

Now that it is over, it is a time to reflect on the holidays and make sure you made a difference in someones life during the holidays.

Christmas Eve day started out at 5:45am, as we needed to take Jonathan to work so he didn't have a car there. Joel & I did some very last minute shopping. Once home we cleaned up the house, loaded up the car with presents that needed to go back to Minnesota with us and got us ready. Joel left at 2:20 pm to go get Grandma Waage, load up her presents, pickup Breeanna at 3:30 pm and Jonathan at 4:00 pm. Once everone was loaded off to Christmas at Rita's party room with John Young, John, Joanne and Courtney. On our way, we stopped off at Wong's Kitchen to pickup our Christmas dinner. It was nice to see Mom & Papa Wong and Michael as we hadn't seen them in years. With food in hand, off to Rita's we went.
After we had the car unloaded, we sat down to a wonderful Christmas dinner that I didn't have to cook! Rita had the party room all decorated, tables set and a beautiful buffet table all ready to roll......

And then the presents came......... we opened present after present. It took us 2 hours to open all the gifts, which are too many to mention. I think everyone was pleasantly surprised. By now it was 9:00 pm and we needed to think about heading back to the north-woods. After the clean up was completed, cars loaded up, goodbyes said, we headed out for out 2 hour drive.

We arrived back to Chetek about 10:45 pm to drop off Grandma Waage and the rest of us back to our house for our Christmas. It has been a family tradition for many, many years that after festivities, to go back home, put on our Christmas jammies and open our presents. Anybody that knows me, knows that I get joy out of spoiling the heck out of my family when it comes to Christmas........well, this year my family turned the tables on me! My #1 son got his momma a Kindle Fire! My #1 honey got his wifey a WiFi Blue Ray player and a Packer Jersey (Clay Matthews)! Big Joe and Breeanna got me gift certificates for my Kindle. Joel got a whole brew system from Jonathan & I so he can brew his own beer! Big Joe got him some tool that he thought he needed and Breeanna got him a charging system that all you need to do is lay your phone on it. The kids got too much to mention. We finally got done opening presents at 2:15am, quickly threw breakfast into the crockpot and were in bed by 2:30am.......well kinda, I had to get up and make sure that Santa could get into the house to leave his goodies!

Sunday morning everyone slept in until 9:00am. We quickly got up, got ready and went to pickup Grandma Waage for Brunch. After breakfast we opened more presents! I swear my family bought out every store in Rice Lake. We brought Grandma back home around 1:30pm, so we could get the house put back together and get in a quick nap before the Packer game started at 7:20 pm. We got over to Gilligan's around 6:00pm in order to get on the boards and gather our seats. We met a new friend, Jack who is the owner of Crimson Hue, right down the street from us. The Pack won.....da! We went to bed.

Monday was our first chance to sleep in and didn't have a schedule to keep, that is until Grandma Waage called to say she needed trash bags. Seeing we planned on running up to Rice Lake to exchange or return a couple of things, we invited her along. We bummed around to see what kind of after Christmas sales there were, some good, some not so much. After we returned her home, we headed down to Eau Claire to exchange ,my Columbia coat that was the wrong size. While we were down there, we continued to do the after Christmas sales and had a little dinner. We got home about 7:30pm and started to prepare Joel & Big Joe to go back to work the following morning.

Just think Christmas Day last year we were snowmobiling! Not this year.......

This upcoming week is expected to be slow at work for me, which is ok with me as I have a crap load of laundry to do. We had plans for New Year's Eve, but they got canceled, so now I think we are just going to head over to Gilligan's to hang with our new friends. New Year's Day we have a Packer game to watch at Gilligan's. Monday I have a old dear friend from Emmanuel Lutheran days that is coming for lunch with his significant other, that I am totally excited about seeing. Monday afternoon we are returning to Gilligan's to watch the Badgers in the Rose Bowl game. Tuesday evening it is back to Gilligan's for trivia night!........maybe we should just set up shop at Gilligan's because we are going to be there all frickin weekend!!

Check Back Often.......Check Back Soon

Joel, Amy and Jonathan
P.S. I would have included Christmas pictures, but due to circumstances beyond our control.......ok, Joel screwed up! For Christmas we purchased a electronic picture frame for John Young and after Christmas Eve, Joel tried to down load all the pictures onto his frame to find out he needed to leave the sms card in the picture frame! Hence, all the pictures are with John Young!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Top row left to right: Lilly, Charlie Brown and Izzie
Bottom row: Jack, Paris, Oliver and Chica

Correction......

We never got Lacey as a foster.......instead we welcomed into our home, Izzie. She is absolutely the most beautiful red stag we have ever seen. Izzie is a 5 yr old red female, spayed, docked tail and uncropped ears. 12", 12 lb. Shots up-to-date. Owner give-up.
Izzie is a total cuddlebug who absolutely adores people and loves being outside. She enjoys going for walks and afterwards, she'll want to crawl into your lap under a blanket to take a nap. She is housebroken and crate trained. She does great with strangers, small dogs and cats but doesn't do well around large dogs. She's incredibly sweet and affectionate.

One holiday down.......Two more to go!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful day that was spent with football, friends, food, family and then fun!.......

We started by preparing all our food Wednesday evening, Thursday morning we got up, cleaned the house and popped the 26lb turkey in the oven. Off to Gilligan's we went to watch the Packer Game with friends. It was a nail biter, but the Pack pulled it off.......11-0! Woot! Woot!

After having one two many beers, we went back to the house to finish up the food and waited for the family to arrive. After all my years of making Thanksgiving dinner.....I do have to say that this years was my best ever! Along with Mr. Tom Turkey, we served sweet potato casserole, wild rice stuffing, garlic cauliflower mashed potatoes, cranberry tangerine relish and dinner rolls. Everything was made from scratch, no short cuts here. After our bellies were stuffed, the pies made it to the table, apple, pumpkin and Jonathan's Birthday Pie.....French Silk. We sang Happy Birthday to him and onto the birthday presents. Joel & I had a huge surprise in store for him. His first present was a white basket, his second present was a spool of purple ribbon, his third present was a purple dog coat, his fourth present was a purple food bowl, his fifth present was a purple collar with matching leash and his final present was adoption papers for Chica! Jonathan & Chica had bonded when she came to our house as a foster, when clients came to visit Chica to see if they wanted to adopt her, Jonathan was heartbroken. Chica wasn't what they were looking for, so we pretended we were still searching for a forever home for Chica, when really she was already home with her new Dad! It was priceless to see the joy in his eyes when he realized that Chica was his. I ever so politely reminded him that when he moves out.....Chica goes with him! :)

After the excitement of presents, Jonathan needed to get ready for work.......Black Friday! He is still working in the Electronics Department at Wal*Mart and loves it. He has been there long enough to enjoy benefits and vacation pay. Once he left for work, Joel & Big Joe drove Breeanna home in Shell Lake. The puppies and me took a small nap in preparation for midnight shopping.

We all got up at 11:20 pm, fluffed our hair and off to Black Friday shopping deals we went. Our first stop was Wal*Mart where we purchased a Christmas Present for ALL our guests who sleep in the breezeway......a 32" LCD HD television (even had DVR satellite hooked up on Sunday). Then we were off to Herberger's, Kohl's and Menard's........mission accomplished! We got everything we were going after. Finally got home at 7:30 am and off to bed we went.

Friday was a low key day, Joel worked on the mud room for a bit.

Saturday we were off by 9:00 am to Eau Claire to do some more retail therapy. After a full day of in and out of every store in town, we were back home in Chetek by 5:30 pm to meet Jonathan for his birthday dinner at Gilligan's.

Sunday we went and picked up our tree before it gets so frickin cold. Worked in the house pretty much all day because there was no Packer game :(

All in all the last couple of weeks have been so busy in preparation for getting the house ready for Christmas & the New Year. Joel is trying like crazy to get the mud room completed before we welcome our holiday guests.

This upcoming weekend is already stacking up to be a busy one. Christmas Tree up, finish decorating the house, more wood working in the mud room and last but not least........the Christmas card photo shoot with the puppies! Watch your mail.......

Check Back Often.......Check Back Soon
Joel, Amy and Jonathan

First snow 11-10-11

The Waage's have never been so busy getting ready for the winter to arrive and it is knocking on our door. November 11-10-2011 I awoke to our first snow of the season. We aren't quite ready for it to be here yet. We have replaced both the windows in the breezeway and still have to replace the kitchen window. Hoping with all the changes, new windows and additional insulation we have done since last winter will help a tad with the electric & gas bills! Time will tell.

Our dear little Xandro whom we've had since 10/7/2011 is going to his new forever family tomorrow........Omar & Silvia and his older brother Charlie (Chi/Beagle). He has been such a goof ball and we will miss him. But with each foster we find forever homes allows us to help others.


And don't forget little Chica aka "Baby Girl"......she is still hanging with us awaiting for her forever family to find her. She has adjusted to the move to Wisconsin. She hasn't had many accidents, but most of them were due to not getting to the potty pit in time. Her favorite past time is laying on a lap and giving mega kisses! She will make a great addition to any family.

This evening the Waage Herd will be welcoming :

Ms Paris.......she is a 6 yr old black & rust female, docked tail and beautiful natural ears. 12", 10 lb. Spayed and shots up-to-date. She just arrived earlier this week from San Antonio, TX where the fosters are busting at the seams. Her original adoptive mother rescued her while she was just a pup, now has decided to go to veterinarian school and wouldn't have time for her. According to Paris's Texas foster mother, she is quite the good swimmer and loves water. She loves to play in it, dig in it, chase it and get all wet.

And then because we have the saying around here.......If you have 5, what 7! We took on Lovely Lacey........she is a 5 yr old black & tan female, spayed, docked tail and uncropped ears. 11", 10 lb. Shots up-to-date. Rescued from shelter. Her name should have been Lucky.......because she is a very lucky dog because she was rescued by the people at IMPS on her last day at the shelter! At some point, the people that she trusted really scared her, so her new family will need to be patient, gentle and willing to help her overcome her fears. If you raise your voice, she will drop to the ground because she is afraid she is going to be hit. That doesn't happen anymore (She usually get my ears scratched and is told what a good girl she is), but it's hard to break an old habit. Once she does trust you, she wants to do everything to please you.

If you know of anybody who is looking for an addition to their family, please let me know. There are hundreds of little min pin's throughout the United States that would love to have a forever family. Any of our rescues can be transported to anywhere in the United States with our ground transport. Check out our website: www.minpinrescue.org to view all of our available dogs.

Tomorrow Joel and I are going back to Minnesota to celebrate our elders, Rita (11/7/11) and John (11/12/11) birthdays. We will end up going to Old Country Buffet because it is John's FAVORITE place to go to eat fried chicken. It is going to be a quick trip because Joel & I have a fundraiser for the Lion's Club to attend in the evening. WE have been supporting the Lion's Club for many, many years. It's our way of giving back. When Jonathan was 2 years old, he developed a condition in his eyes requiring him to need bifocal glasses. At the time, we were flat out broke. So our local Lion's Club in South St Paul paid for Jonathan's glasses. Due to the early detection and getting him into those glasses......his eyes were fixed without surgery and after almost 18 years since.......no eye problems. Joel & I always said that when we were able, we would pay them back in some form or another. So for about 10 years, we purchased our Christmas tree from the Lion's and now that we have moved, we support the Lion's Club in Chetek as well. It just a good cause..........

Sunday is going to be more working around the house, putting in the new kitchen window and working on the mud room. I should be able to get a whole days work out of the boys seeing there is no football game until Monday night. Of course, Joel took Monday off so we can go to Gilligan's for the game! John & Courtney are coming up on Monday morning. Courtney has decided to move to Chetek to have a fresh start. Monday afternoon, she is scheduled to take her college entrance exam for WITC in which she will be taking the CNA program. Once she completes that, she will have to decide if she wants to further her education and go onto the nursing course. She has already found a house that she loves and literally can see Grandma Waage's house from her living room window. We are so excited for her........and her new life and new career! Good Luck Courtney!!

Remember even though it is winter, we still have time and space for visitors. If you have nothing better to do on any given weekend......head up to the lake for a visit, we would love to have you:)

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

Fall is Upon us

It's been pretty quiet around the Waage house.......well, except the puppies! Life with 6 puppies is pretty busy, hectic and fulfilling!

The guys have been busy also......getting ready for winter:
Boat out of the water.......................... check
Docks out ........................................... check
Boat winterized................................... check
Waiting for marina to look at boat...... not done
Boat & Jetski into storage....................not done
Leaves rakes 1,2 and 3 times................not done
Camper cleaned out and down............ check
Windows installed................................not done

Hoping that the weather will hold out to get the rest done in time. There is more construction going on. We finally found a used garage 10' x 7' insulated garage door, which we made made the garage door smaller and added a mud room with a window. Now that we got the new garage door, we will be able to get my truck into the garage for the winter. This is necessary with me being here by myself and being able to get out if Grandma Waage needs help or has an emergency.

Last Friday I celebrated 2 years with Styer Logistics......wow does time fly when you are having fun :)

Big Joe started his new job with Dedicated Logistics and is loving it. He is driving flatbed with a day cab, so he is having to learn how to chain, strap and secure his loads of steel, granite and tubing. With him in the day cab, his company puts him up in hotels on the nights he is away from home.

Charlie Brown was put on a diet 2 weeks ago and I am happy to report that he is down to 17.4 from 20.6. The average min pin weighs 10lbs and that is where the vet wants his weight to be. We think 10lbs is a little small for for him as he is such a big boy (height) compared to the other puppies. Oh, well time will tell.

Our niece, Courtney came and spent the weekend with us. It is so fun to have her here. She is away fromthe cities and undesirable friends for a break. She is so trying to turn her life around and has come a long way since I dropped her off in a homeless shelter over a year ago. It was tough love and wouldn't change a thing! We got our niece back by doing so.

This weekend is Gilligan's Halloween Scavenger hunt that we have been doing for years. Our regular team was unable to make it, so we tried to put together another team of at least 4 and found out yesterday that Sandy & her husband had to cancel as well! So if anybody out there has nothing to do.......we would love to have you come up and join Joel & I in the hunt.

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

.......and then there was 6!

Last week started off quiet with Denver gone and I was regrouping for the next foster. Wednesday around 1:30 pm, I got a call that any foster mom would have a heart attach over..........Denver had darted out the front door at Kevin's house around Noon and they hadn't been able to find her. Kevin, Nicole and Papa Leiner live on the busy intersection of Butler and Robert, so if you know where that is.......it is a major miracle that she made it across without getting hit by a car. We immediately jumped into action! Joel left his work and Jonathan & I left Chetek heading for West St Paul. We figured that Denver had only been with them for 2 1/2 days so maybe if she was scared and hiding somewhere she would hear one of our voices. We walked & walked looking for her with no luck. The longer she was gone the more worried we became. We had a couple sightings, but they were all from earlier and we could have really used a current one to help us get on the right track. Kim, our boss from IMPS called with suggestions and said she will not come out until rush hour traffic and day light was over, so she suggested that we go make our posters while we wait. It took us about an hour to get a picture made at Wal*Mart and then go over to Kinko's. With 100 posters in hand, we headed back to the neighborhood and started plastering them on all the telephone poles. We had completed 2 streets and were half way through our third when a gentleman walked down the sidewalk and started to cross the street. He stopped in the middle of the street and asked us if we putting up garage sale sign or did we lose a dog. We told them he had lost a little black dog..........He said come with me, we have her. Are ya kidding me!! Seriously!! Really!! We found her!! Safe and sound!! Praise the Lord!! After we all said our thank you's and hugs, we headed back to the Leiner's house with Denver. We had a quick lesson on how quick little puppies are and make sure that they came up with a new way to potty Molly and Denver, so this would never happen again. It was now 8:15 pm and we were starving, so we ran up to Panda Express for a quick bite to eat. By 8:40 it was off to Chetek Jonathan and I went. Whew, what an 8 hours of high emotions......I needed the 1-1/2 hour drive home to calm down & relax.

The rest of the week was uneventful......thank goodness! Then Friday finally came......the new puppies were coming!!! Of course there was a change in plans with Spice. Spice's foster parents in St Cloud had adopted her, had a new baby and decided to give her back, now at the last minute they had decided to keep her and give it a second chance. Now it was time to pick another puppy to bring up to the big north woods and join the Waage Herd. Grandma Waage's neighbor, Ruthanne was very interested in adopting a puppy, so we had requested someone would was laid back and just plain a sweet thing. Boy, is that what we got!!

Xandro, is 5 years old, neutered, up-to-date on his shots and 99.9% carbon copy of Lilly!! The only differences is Xandro's nose is about 1/4 inch longer than Lilly's and he is a lovey, dovey! He has spunk, but yet is happy cuddling on your lap. He will make a great addition for any family........and yes, he really does that one up and one laying down with his ears.......he is just too dam cute!!

Our next one is Chica but I nicknamed her "Baby Girl" because that is what she is. She is 1 year old, spaded, up-to-date on shots, 6" tall and 6 lbs. She is most content laying in your lap and I see her being very, very loyal to her person. She just wants to please and be loved.........


They both have fallen into The Waage Herd just fine, no adjustment period necessary...............................and no accidents in the house!

Saturday, was errand day into Rice Lake, clean the house and of course play with the puppies! John, Joanne and Grandma Waage came over for dinner to celebrate Joel's birthday. It was an early to bed evening as we had a big day planned for Sunday.

Sunday was a sad, sad day..........the boat came out of the lake for the winter :( Time to winterize, clean it up and put it into storage. She is going to get an overhaul over the winter and repairs after the damage she sustained in the May storm. Then it was time for the boys to get into the water to take the docks out. Usually it is late October job and they are freezing their nuts off, but this year having the last 8 days in the 80's kept the water bearable :) Once that was done it was off to the Packer's game at Gilligan's.................and thanks to the Brewers, we were able to buy the Brewer Bucket, 9 beers for $10!! The Brewer Bucket is how ever many runs the Brewers have is the number of beers in the bucket!! Winning!!! After the fabulous Pack win.......we went home to bed with many beers under our belts!

Joel took Monday off as he knew it was going to be a late night at Gilligan's, so he is working around the house doing little projects here and there. Big Joe headed to the cities for his orientation for his new job with Dedicated Logistics. This upcoming week appears to be quiet, but that is always subject to change................

Halloween scavenger hunt is Saturday, October 29th and everyone is welcome to come.

Check Back Soon........Check Back Often

Joel, Amy and Jonathan

First Foster completed! Onto the next.....

As you saw in an earlier post, Joel & I have started fostering rescued min pin's.........

Ms. Denver was our first, she arrived on Thursday, September 8th and on Sunday, October 2nd, she went home to her forever family.....Kevin & Nicole. We couldn't have hand picked a better home for her....Oh, that is right, we did hand pick them!! lol After a terrible first 5 years of her life in a puppy mill, she is now going to have the life of being a princess, that she deserves.......she is even getting a Papa, which 10 bucks says she attaches to him & his armchair.

This Friday our next little angels arrive........yes I said angel"s". Our first little one is Xandro, who is 5 years old and has been in foster care since being rescued from an overcrowded private rescue in Texas. This little sweet thing won't be around long .........Ruthanne, get that baby bed ready! LOL

Our next little baby appears to be Jackie's long lost sister, Spice. Spice is a 2 yr old fawn female, spayed, docked tail and uncropped ears. 11", 8 lb.
Spice is just what her name suggests..... a sweet mix with a little zest to keep you on your toes. Spice is a friendly, well mannered, crate trained, house trained little girl that just needs a little work on leash training to finish her perfect little self off.

Last weekend Kevin and Nicole come for a visit with out children. Friday night we took a trip to Eau Claire to bring Joel's brand new computer to Best Buy for repair. The Geek Squad kept it, but they were pretty sure the hard drive was shot......after 34 days! They don't make stuff like they used to! Then it was off to Olive Garden for a nice dinner for four. Don't get the opportunity to do that often, it was very nice. After we headed for home and a early turn in.

Saturday morning everyone choose to sleep in until 9:00 am. We quickly had breakfast, showers and out the door we went to go to the Cranberry Festival in Stone Lake, WI. It was a beautiful fall afternoon to walk around, people watch and have some beers. We were back home by 6:00 pm and had a Shrimp Boil for dinner.....delicious!

Sunday, after breakfast we were trying to get Denver's adoption papers in order, so that Kevin & Nicole could leave out by 12:00 pm to get home and get Denver acclimated to her new family and home. Once we sent the new family on there way, Joel & I headed over to Gilligan's for the Packer game. During the game, Michelle & Scott joined us for some hoot & hollering and once again...... another successful game and Sunday afternoon with our friends.

The Halloween scavenger hunt this year will be Saturday, October 29th. We are needing to know how is all coming up, so please let us know. If you have never attended this function.........you might want to consider, it is always a BLAST!

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

A new phase in our life

The Waage's entered in to a new phase of our lives.....Min Pin Rescue. We filled out our application to become foster parents.......I know several of you will ask "What the Hell!" but as we see it when you have 4 what is 1 more. Last Thursday our first foster arrived, Ms Denver. She is 5 years old and has spent her WHOLE entire life in a puppy mill in Missouri. Her story starts 2 1/2 weeks ago when she was rescued and moved up to Minnesota. Once in Minnesota, she was vetted, spayed and moved into a temporary foster home while a more "permanent" temporary foster home could be located.....hence, The Waage's. The first couple of days have been rough, I won't lie. It just pains me to know that setting the table, washing dishes or even the phone ringing scares the crap out of this little girl. She doesn't know anything about home sounds, life as a dog or accepting love......but that will change. So it will continue to be a slow process as we get her ready for her forever family, once they find her. Today we had a large breakthrough, she played with Lilly! I know it seems small to many, but not to her. So check back to see how she is doing as she learns about life as a spoiled Waage dog! LOL

Also Thursday was the season opener for the Packers, so I called Joel early afternoon and told him he needed to come home to go to Gilligan's to watch the game. Joel took Friday off, grabbed Denver and headed home. After drinking our way through a Packer victory, we went home to introduce the Waage herd to Denver.

Friday, was an ordinary day with the exception Joel was home while I worked. He completed the dog tower for the office, which the dogs absolutely LOVE.

Saturday, was Harvest Fest with farmers market, craft fair and flea market followed by the demolition derby. We were getting ready to attend when we received a distress call from Grandma Waage that she had fell and her eye was bleeding. Joel & I headed over to find her sitting in her apt with some strangers that had helped her off the sidewalk. We thanked them and started to clean her up. Once we cleaned out the wound, we decided that there was no need for stitches. Took her up to Wal*Mart to repair her glasses and dropped her back off at home. Then we headed to the derby........which was a total dud from the last couple of years. Hope things are an indication of this becoming a flop. Guess we will have to wait to next year to find out.

Sunday, we worked around the house and decided to take a cocktail cruise around 2:00 pm. Left the dogs behind and we sailed off. Ran into Tim & Sue who were doing the same thing, anchored and visited for several hours. We then moved to Linda's Lakeshore for a bathroom break and more visiting on the deck. Around 8:00 pm we all decided to call it the evening and take the cold boat ride home. The end to a perfect day.........Thanks Tim & Sue!

Monday was back to work we go...........

This upcoming weekend was supposed to be Oktober Fest, but cancellations from John & Andi, Kevin & Nicole, Wayde & Shelley and Klaus & Ann leaves a small party left of Joel, Amy, Big Joe and Sheldon, so I think we are just going to cancel, stay home and work around the house.

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

There just hasn't been anything exciting going on!

It's been a pretty boring summer up at the Waage homestead.......

We only have had 2 guests all summer, Nancy one weekend and then Kevin, Nicole and kids another. Guess people must think we have the plague or something! LOL

On August 21st, we celebrated Lilly's 3rd birthday with a small gathering with all her brothers. It was a pretty low key day but ended with birthday cake!

On Sunday, August 28th, Joel, myself and the puppies went back to Minnesota to take care of swapping our cell phones and having a lovely candlelight dinner with Nancy and Michael on their deck. We stayed on the cots at Grandma Waage's house. On Monday, we hopped on the fair bus and met Nancy and Hannah with friends at the fair. The kids split upon arrival while the adults wandered, people watched, ate and of course, drank beer! We got home pretty late that evening, but it was well worth it.

On Tuesday, August 30th, I found a job in my field of expertise, applied for it and 2 hours later got a call for an interview the following day. The next day I went to the interview in Chippewa Falls and I felt it went well. After some thought about the position, I decided it wasn't likely to work out as the person who would be my boss had a quite, shy and crawl under a rock personality and that I would eat her alive! So the following morning I sent a e-mail withdrawing my application. Later in the early afternoon I got a call from the company offering me the job. I regretfully had to decline the offer......I'm sure the owner's jaw dropped as I declined! He was speechless......it was kinda funny and dam it felt good to reject a company rather than the other way around.

This pass Labor Day weekend was somewhat quiet. We worked around the house and Joel built a "dog" tower for the puppies to go in the office. They absolutely LOVE it! On Saturday afternoon, Courtney came to stay with us for the weekend. On Sunday with just hung out as it was a tad chilly to go out on the boat. Did some shopping up in Rice Lake and turned in early. On Monday, we got up had a Belgium waffle breakfast and then headed to Jim Falls, WI for a Demolition Derby......My favorite!!!! We were so close to the track that we even got muddied on......It was a blast!!!

Tuesday morning bright and early, Courtney and Joel went back to Minnesota.

Today, September 7th is Charlie's 3rd birthday, so birthday cake for dinner tonight!!

Tomorrow, September 8th is the 1 year anniversary of Zoey being gone. Even thought the puppies keep me hopping, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss her or her smile. I think the squirrels don't miss her though...............lol


This upcoming weekend is Chetek's Harvest Fest with chili contest, craft fair, all city garage sale and best of all.........Demolition Derby!! Woo Hoo!! Nobody is scheduled to be up this weekend, so if you'd like to join us.....give us a call, we'd love to have you.

The following weekend is Oktoberfest, so if your interested is coming up that weekend, let us know.

Check Back Soon.......Check Back Often

Joel, Amy and Jonathan

Ok, so I got behind.......again!

I'm a busy, busy woman on an mission, so this will be a quick run down.

The weekend with Nancy was planning on being an awesome weekend to be on the lake according to the weather man. Well, obliviously he forgot to send the memo to Mother Nature, because Saturday early morning & afternoon sucked! We prepared to be on the lake around noon, so with the boat loaded.....off we went. We were going to do the loop through the draw, hit the island and anchor at the sand bar. As we started to go under the Gilligan bridge the sky turned cloudy, so we turned around and headed to the sand bar. After we anchored and hung out for about 30 minutes, it started to sprinkle, so we headed home. Just as we docked, it poured! We hung out at the kitchen table playing Trouble (the board game), drinking beer and eating. In about 3 hours it cleared out, so loaded up the boat and shoved off.....again. We were able to get in about 4 hours on the boat.

Sunday, Nancy & Hannah were on there way home by 11:00 am as we needed to go to Rice Lake to get groceries to send Big Joe off to work. He needed to be in Chicago by 0700 Monday morning. After he headed out, the rest of the afternoon & early evening was preparing for Joel to leave for Minneapolis for the week.

The following week was pretty quiet until Thursday, August 4th, when Charlie's surgery was scheduled to remove this cancerous lump. Everything went well and I was able to pick him back up at 4:30 pm. He was still a little loopy from the anesthesia, so we decided to turn it in early.

Kevin, Nicole & the kids arrived late Friday evening. Everyone but Kevin & Joel turned in so we would be fresh for Saturday. Everyone woke up to a cloudy crappy morning...........once again we had planned on being out in the boat early, but the weather sucked. Later in the afternoon we headed up to Rice Lake to do our weekly grocery shopping, so that we wouldn't have to do it on Sunday. Sun came out, so we were back to the house by 3:00 and on the boat by 3:05! We had a beautiful cocktail cruise and ended up at the island for the kids and guys to play water football. Around 7:00 we made it back to the house for pulled pork dinner that had been cooking in the crock pot all day.....Yum!

Sunday was an ordinary day with us trying to get Big Joe ready to head to Chicago, doing laundry, preparing for Joel to go back to Minneapolis and the up coming week. Kevin & Nicole decided to stay until Monday morning to avoid traffic. The week has been very busy with bring Grandma Waage to all her doctor appointment, going to bingo and preparing to go to Minnesota this weekend.

Grandma Waage's health isn't the best lately. Since moving to Chetek, she has continually declined. This week her doctor advised that we start preparing to put her in assisted living. This upcoming weekend, Joel & I are going to the family house in WSP to start the preparation to put it on the market. So if anybody has anything fun going on......give us a cell on either of our cell phones.

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

Ok, so I'm a week behind....shoot me!

After my class reunion, we had the week to get ready for our niece, Courtney to come and hang with us for the weekend. She arrived with Joel on Friday afternoon and we started our weekend by heading down to Eau Claire to check out phones at the Sprint store. August 1st we are up to renew our contract and get new phones, none of us knew which phone we were interested in. So after the Sprint phone tour, we headed to J C Penney's to shop for work pants for Jonathan. Found pants for Jonathan.......and shoes for momma! .......and Courtney also! After shopping, it was time to hit up our favorite Chinese restaurant........Asian Buffet. A couple trips to the sushi bar and it was time to head home.

Saturday was a day filled with shopping, shopping and more shopping! The one thing I miss the most about losing the girls is the fact I have NOBODY to shop with. With Courtney up........she filled the void. We had a blast and even ended up flying back to Eau Claire to look for an item we had been searching for Courtney........mission complete!

Sunday, we finally were able to get onto the boat once the fog and cloudy skies disappeared. First we anchored at the sand bar for awhile, visiting with a couple of friends........then we decided to do a cocktail cruise and take her around the loop. Dinner was in the crock pot, so when we returned.....Hawaiian Ribs were served.

Monday morning, Joel & Courtney (with some nice sunburn!) were on their way back to the cities. Had so much fun having Courtney here, that we decided in the next couple of weeks that she was going to come and stay the whole week. Later in the morning as I was working in the office, I noticed the lump on Charlie head had gotten bigger and was bleeding. I called the vet and she wanted to see him later in the afternoon. The vet took a slide of the lump and stained it. After a couple of minutes she came back and said the the lump did have bacteria in it, but also the cells that normally are round, weren't and that they had wisps on them. This is a sign of cancer. We discussed the treatment options and decided to treat him with a very high powered antibiotic. He is taking it twice a day for 7 days and if it isn't totally gone, he will be having surgery on Tuesday, August 2nd. It is amazing how such a little lump can cause so much havoc.

This upcoming weekend, we are preparing for Nancy and Hannah to come up along with Jonathan's friend from South St Paul, Hailey. With 90's, hot and humid planned for the whole weekend..........you know where you will find us!

The weekend of August 5-7th, we will be having Kevin, Nicole and the kids up. Keith.......there is room for you and your family!!!!

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

Class of 82' Rocks

This past weekend was my 2nd annual mini class reunion up here at the lake. As usual we had a fricking blast!!



There was so many memories from the weekend, so we captured a couple here.






Diana and Mary the "morning after"......













Jack was caught giving Linda some love












Carolyn and Renae waiting patiently for the boat to be loaded to head to the sand bar.









It's 90 degrees and the air is on.......Susan, what the heck do you need a coat on?









all and all it was a fabulous weekend. The heat was on, but we had no Lisa drama which was a plus!

Looking forward to the 3rd Annual Mini Class Reunion next year......See you all July 20-21st, 2012!

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

Busy, Busy.......

We made it through the 4th of July weekend .......it was a weekend filled with lots of work, but we made it.

Friday was quite uneventful with Joel arriving from work, Big Joe coming home after playing super trucker and Jonathan off to work. We went to bed early as we had a early morning.

Saturday we were up & Adam by 6 am to head to Minnesota to meet John & Joanne at Grandma Waage's house to start cleaning it out. She hasn't lived in the family house in almost 5 years, so it is time. We loaded up our Tahoe, John 's truck and a rental trailer. There was still more, but we will save that for another Saturday. We were all loaded and heading back to Chetek by noon. Once we arrived back home, we unloaded all the vehicles and started to go through all the "stuff". We did some marking in preparation for a garage sale at the end of this week. By early evening, we were all exhausted and called it the day.

Sunday, we took the day off. It has been non-stop working around the house since the middle;e of April and in fact, we haven't even been on the boat once.......really! I'm telling the truth! John & Joanne had stuff to do around their house, so they weren't coming up to continue to work on the garage sale. Joel & Big Joe worked on the yard and did some tweaking on the underground sprinkler system. At noon we dropped everything and prepared to launch the boat with us, puppies and beer on board. We did a little cocktail cruising and then the puppies were getting over heated, so we headed to the island. Once we anchored, we got the puppies cooled down. Charlie didn't have a life jacket because the little porker has gained a pound or two over the winter months, so Oliver inherited Charlies life jacket. Charlie didn't do much swimming because he didn't have his life jacket. Friends, Kim & Dan arrived along with their dog, Foxie, who also wears a life jacket. Foxie wasn't interested in swimming, so we put Foxie's life jacket on Charlie. Once it was on, we took him int he water for some swimming and then put him back on the boat. Well, apparently Charlie wasn't done swimming because as we were talking to Kim & Dan.......Charlie cannon balled off the cooler that was sitting int he doorway of the boat! It was hilarious. Kim & Dan then had to leave for dinner, so we visited our would-be neighbors had we purchased the Sumner house. We ran out of beer and needed home. I didn't feel like fixing dinner so I went to take a shower, laid on the bed in the a/c and fell asleep!

Monday, was scheduled to be another work day. yea! We meet John & Joanne and Grandma Waage for breakfast at Mary's Cafe to plan our next move. Once back at the house, the tent went up, boxes cleared out of the garage and table put up.......gee, it started to look like a true shit sale. It's pretty bad when you run out of the 10, 25 & 50 cent stickers.......what does that tell ya? Around 4:40 pm we ran over to Dairy Queen for a quick burger before John & Joanne headed back to Minnesota. Once back home, Michelle and Shauna came over for a boat ride, swimming and fireworks. Instead of anchoring on the end of our point, we decided to head over to the sand bar, which just so happened to be right in front of where the fireworks would be exploded from........we had front row seats! Had a beer or 2 and visited with friends that came & went. After the most amazing fireworks I have seen in some time, we toodled home to see Michelle and Shauna off. Same thing as Sunday night.......shower & off to sleep we went.

Back to the grind for all of us on Tuesday and more preparation for the garage sale after work for me :(

The month of July is a busy one for the Waage's with the upcoming Grandma Waage garage this weekend, July 15-17 is my class reunion at the lake, July 22-24 Courtney's weekend, July 29-31 our visitors are Nancy, Mike and Hannah Dickinson with Mike Mangsku and August 5-7 Nicole, Kevin and kids are coming for a visit.

Hope everyone had a fun but safe 4th of July

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

OMG........It's the Fourth of July ....already!

Boy times flies when we are having fun. This summer has been so busy and now we are fast approaching the holiday weekend. This weekend is no exception.

On Saturday, Joel & I are meeting John & Joanne at the family house on Carrie Street to FINALLY clean it out and prepare to put it on the market. Grandma Waage has not been in the house for over 4 years and it is time. We have rented a trailer and will be bringing all the stuff up to our house for a HUGE garage sale July 7, 8 & 9.........more work for me! yea!

I'm sure we will save some time to enjoy a cocktail cruise or maybe even a dinner cruise with my honey.

The grass is slowly coming up in the front yard and I was hoping that it would be somewhat grown before my class reunion here the weekend of July 15th. We did have an interesting visitor at our house a week ago. Came home from Menard's to find a momma painted turtle laying her eggs in our front yard. Big Joe figures that due to the soft black dirt, she was attracted to our place. After looking up on the internet, we will have babies in approximately 72-80 days. A couple of days later as I was working in my office, we had more visitors........ Mommy and twins.


This is why we live in the north country. Love the wild life.


Hope everyone has a enjoyable and safe 4th of July.

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

The Shit Hotel is now open for business

Last Friday we finally had our new septic put installed. No more worrying about Jonathan taking to long in the show or a toilet running, which would cause our old septic system to overflow.

Rick Brown started dropping equipment off around 0600 Friday morning but didn't actually start until 0730. We were only without a toilet, shower or sewer for about 3 hours, so that wasn't bad. I guess there isn't much to say about the installation and pictures speak louder than words!






Pumping out the old tank for the last time.......








Digger Dude taking out the old septic & dry well......










Digger Dude ripping up the yard to install the 3 rows of baffles for the drain field.....









Our new 1600 gallon septic tank that is going to be lifted into the big hole...........











View from my office as I was working.............









After all the dirt was put back into place, machinery had left and workmen had gone home.......we had one hell of a mess on our hands. The digger dude had changed the pitch of our hill, so on Sunday, Joel installed a new retaining wall to house a new flower garden and hopefully will hide the cement lids of the septic.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer.

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

New Hotel for Shit!

It has been pretty uneventful since the party. Joel went back to work on June 1st after his 10 day vacation. Maxx has 2 lacerations on his eyeballs after chasing the deer into the wood. Now he is on medication and we think he need a pair of "doggles" to protect him and us from $85.00 vet bills! LOL The weeks after the party we discovered 2 sinkholes in the driveway. The dry well collapsed taking the driveway with it! We had scheduled the new septic installation, it just wasn't quick enough. Yesterday the digger dude came to dig 2 holes for the perk test and is coming back on Friday to start constructing the new hotel for shit!

Yesterday was Big Joe's birthday, which he spent on the road in PA. His job is going well and he loves it....with the exception of having to leave his little Oliver behind. Sunday John & Joanne drove Grandma W's 1995 Ford Tarus up to Chetek so he would have a car.

Tomorrow the farmers market starts out at the Mennonite Bulk Food Store in Barron. I head out every Thursday for fresh bakery, fruits and veggies now until October.

More pictures to follow during the construction of the Shit Hotel.

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

Another bash comes and ........goes

Once again we had another successful Memorial Weekend Bash. After a week long battle to get the house ready, we pull if off the best we could and welcomed our first guest of the weekend........Wayde and Shelley. We hadn't seen them in quite some time, so we spent the early part of the evening getting caught up on family news. Klaus and Ann parked the trailer at Northland resort, came down to say they hadn't eaten and we all went off to Pokegoma for a late dinner. After a wonderful fish fry, cheeseburger, sirloin steak and multiple beer tastings, we head back to the house for a huge bon fire and bed time for the girls.

We started our Saturday with our annual Belgium Waffle Brunch and as breakfast came to a close, we welcomed our next guest........Nancy. After dishes were done, Wayde, Shelley, Klaus and Ann did the healthy thing and went for a bike ride and bar hopped along the way. While they were biking, we needed to run up to Rice Lake to get a couple of items and get back to the house to meet the rest of incoming guests. Sheldon arrived around 3:30 pm and by 4:00 pm the rain started to roll in and along with the rain came John & Andi driving Buford (Buford is South St Paul's retired ambulance) with the lights & sirens a blaring. Once they stopped out popped the last of our guests.......Bri and Michael. After Buford and the trailer were settled in for the weekend, we prepared for dinner. This year Joel & I thought we would try something different........an good ole East Coast shrimp & crab boil. Yum Yum is all I can say......there wasn't much left over, so we are assuming everyone LOVED it! I can say we will be doing more of these this summer. After dinner and dishes.......the after party started. Pretty much the same, bon fire, laughter and John's homemade Apple Crumble.....................which was Lil Andi's demise!

Sunday morning brunch went well and after dishes we all decided to sit under the the tent for a game of Mexican dominoes and cocktails. By late afternoon it was time to start getting ready for the party. Soon after 5:00 pm guests started arriving for the food, fun and dancing.......
Big John and Lil Andi started the music festivities by requesting all couples submit their wedding songs. Joel's brother, John and Joanne danced to "their" anniversary song....I'm All our of Love by Air Supply.
It didn't take long for the shots to start coming out with vengeance and all the brave soles started to sing their best. Bri, Breeanna, Jonathan, Kyle and Michael tried their hand at it, but it was decided quickly that they were not American Idol material, but maybe they would be a hit on the American Idol reject show.......LOL.

After hitting the liquid courage that was being served in the 3 gallon drink dispenser.......Joel, Sheldon, Klaus and Wayde decided to try there hand at "Mustang Sally" which normally is sung by Mike Kensy, who was unable to attend as he was vacationing in Florida. Lets just say........dam we missed you Mike!





Then once the Doctor arrived for the ceremony, Jonathan and his girlfriend , Breeanna....aka Chickie sang a duet which was very cute.





We were able to get a picture of Pam with hubby Jim before she decided to hit the liquid courage hard and heavy. As the evening progressed, she got enough courage.....with the help of the liquid courage dispenser to sing "Pretty Woman" with her backup singer Mike. After her performance her self proclaimed new title was "I'm a Superstar!" Well, just to give an update........"Superstar" didn't make it out of bed until Monday evening at 6:30 pm after spending most of the early morning on the bathroom floor!

The the best announcement of the evening........after being single for over 5 years, Sheldon brought a date for the occasion. May I introduce.................







Polly the Pole..........and they lived happily ever after!








Monday was spent taking the tent down and cleaning our mess up. Friends and family left for the reality of the real world! With the exception of our niece, Courtney.........who extended her vacation until Wednesday when she will go back to the cities with her Uncle Joel.

See you all next year for the 5th annual Memorial Weekend Bash!

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

Thanks Sheldon & Michael...........

Sheldon and Michael Dickinson came to Joel's rescue on Saturday to help get the trees out of the lake and rebuild the docks. Without their help, we would still be trying to clean up after the horrendous storm that hit us. We were bless with wonderful friends, but not wonderful weather. Big Joe was able to come home to do his 34 hour reset, so we had another hand. Saturday was raining, cold and windy......but that didn't stop our boys from doing the job at hand. Poor Joel was in the water so long that he eventually lost feeling in his legs & feet! It was a long day, but they got 'er done.

While the guys were working in the yard, using the chain saw and talking amongst themselves...........there was an Amber alert issued! Momma deer lost her baby fawn. She was attempting to get fawn to cross the road, but a car come and scared momma back into the woods. Prior to her running into the woods, she talked "deer" to fawn and must have told fawn to stay put. Fawn then ran to our neighbors porch to wait for momma to come back. So, of course had to take advantage of the photo opportunity before momma came back. It took less than an hour before momma came back to get the fawn and they both ran off back into the woods.

Monday, Jonathan finished up his last final and is officially done with school for the summer. Now he will be able to start working more hours and put money back into savings.......yea, right! lol

In case nobody realizes it.......but the 4th annual Memorial Weekend Bash is just over a week away. RSVP's are coming in, but there are still a couple of the regulars out there that haven't sent them in. If you plan on coming and are needing accommodations in the house, please let us know as we will be assigning people to beds in the next week.

Hope to see you all here

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

One step forward.....Two step back

We have been making headway on getting ready for the party and then in an instant.............more work that needs to be done.

Yesterday morning started as any other ordinary Monday morning. Joel off to the cities at 4 am, me & puppies up at 7 am and Jonathan off to school. Each morning when I get up, I love to look out over the lake from our bedroom window. It is the most peaceful and beautiful sight. This Monday morning was a little different as I looked to the south and there was just a small horizon of sunlight and to the north it was pitch black. I knew we were in for a doosie of a storm. It took a matter of no time before the storm was upon us with huge down pours, thunder, lightning and quarter sized hail. It stormed for a couple hours, then the wind direction changed and the skies started to lighten up a bit. Once the wind changed......it blew and blew and blew some more. Huge tree branches fell on top of the house which sounded as they were coming through the roof. I keep going outside to make sure things were okie dokie. After several hours of the blowing, I called Joel to see if he could look on his weather monitor at work to see how much longer me & the puppies had to go through this crap! As we were talking, I was standing at the door looking out over the lake. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.......white caps on the lake that had to be 3-4 foot tall. They were coming one after another, pulverizing the boat. They hit the boat....one after another and a couple of times went over the boat. I told Joel I thought the dock was slowly moving, so I ran upstairs to get a bird's eye view from the master bedroom. As I approached the window, I got there just in time to see the boat tilt to one side. As the boat was literally balancing one one pontoon, the 24' of dock crumbled and became plywood in an instant. The boat was now being tossed in the waves while attached to one section of the dock. Joel was on his way to Hinckly for work, so as I reported what was happening he immediately turned around to start heading home. He told me to call Steve, Jim, Jonathan or Gary to see if anybody could come & help me secure the boat. I tried everyone I could thing of.......everyone was unavailable. So here I am watching out the door as our boat and dock smash against the rock and there is nothing I can do. I worry that the boat is going to continue going down the shoreline taking my neighbors docks and boats with mine. As I watch this horrifying scene unfold........all of a sudden one of the trees breaks off and falls into the water. As it couldn't get any worse........when it fell, it landed on our other dock (Big Joe's/Pam & Steve's dock) and smashed it to pieces. Prior to this I was crying.......now I flat out balling and frickin out! I watch as the boat and docks get caught up on the tree, but seems to hold them there instead of damaging my neighbors dock. Within about an hour the lake grows calm and I wait for people to respond to my distress call.

Now what we have left is a hell of a mess to get cleaned up before the party........so if anybody out there reading this has nothing to do this weekend, we could sure use the help in clean up, tree removal and dock repair! Give us a call if you are able to help.....even if it is for the day! Every little bit will help.



Now some good news to report......Big Joe has gotten a real job. He left C R England and was hired on by K & S Carriers out of Greenwood, WI. Joel, Grandma Waage and I took him down there Saturday morning. He loaded up his truck and off into the wide blue yonders! He delivered his first solo load yesterday morning in Hummelstown, PA with no incidents! Even though his terminal is only 80 miles from the house, he will stay out until the party. So now we will have one more thing to celebrate. The list is getting longer.

Well, I must go now and continue working on the storm clean up........

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan

The countdown to 4th Annual Memorial weekend has started!

Invitations sent.......check
Dance floor ready.....check
Music secured.......check

Well, ok we are the first to admit we have a ways to go before we start welcoming guests for the season, but we guarantee it will all be done before the party. It is hard to believe that this is going to be the 4th annual Memorial Weekend Bash.........

Over the years we have created so many meomories and know that his year will be no different. I hope that you will join us in welcoming the summer season at the party, Sunday, May 29th starting at 6:00 pm. This year, we will be doing things a little different. For cost reasons, we will be turning dinner into a potluck. We will supply the friend chicken and ask our guests to bring something to pass such as a salad, side dish, dessert and bring your own beverage of choice. Return for our listening and dancing pleasures is Big John & Lil Andi.

For those of you whom are wanting to come for the weekend, we have limited spots at the house, room in the yard for a small pop up/small camper/tent, Northland Resort literally right down the street has cabin rentals & camper sites and hotels/motels in town........just give us a call.

Hope to see or hear from you all soon

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Joel, Amy and Jonathan