Things have settled down a tad at the Waage's, but not totally.
After the Packers won the Super Bowl in January, we set our sights on the next task at hand.......Grandma Waage. Over the last year or so, Grandma Waage has started to decline and the family decided it was best to get her closer to one of the boys. We started checking around the Blaine, MN area where John & Joanne reside, to see what we could find for low income senior living. Didn't get very far, as there were 10+ year waiting lists for most of the facilities that would work for her. Then we expanded our search to Chetek, WI. In September 2010 she submitted her application for a senior community right in town and in the end of January 2011 her number was up...............She is moving February 28th! We had a lot to do in so little time. When it came down to it, she actually moved March 5th. I came back to the cities on that Friday for the big move. With the help from Sheldon & Brian along with Joel and late arrival, John, we got the moving truck all loaded in no time. All in all the move, adjustment and settling down into our small town has gone fine. She has made new friends and absolutely loves her new neighbor, Ruthanne. She even got a new hair do.
In the end of January while we were dealing with the Grandma Waage move, we were also dealing with Big Joe and his new career change. After one day shy of 2 years of being unemployed, we drove down to Eau Claire, WI to put his butt on a Grayhound bus headed to Salt Lake City, UT and his new job........as an over the road truck driver! He was accepted into their driving school to get his class A license. So for the last 8 weeks we has graduated, completed his phase 1 training and started his phase 2 training. Last Thursday he came home for "home time" after being gone since February 4th.
Then there is Joel......since the price of fuel has gone to the moon, he has been staying back in Minnesota. He leaves for work on Monday morning and returns Friday after work. In the month of April, he has been taking all of the Fridays off, so he has only been 4 days a week. I am getting used to that, but it will be coming to an end soon :(
So with Big Joe and Joel gone......that leaves Jonathan and I to tend to the house.......ok, me!
Official "ice out" this year was April 14th. The determination of ice out is when you can drive a boat from Red Rock to Red's without hitting ice. This picture was taken right before the Sunday evening storm on April 10th. Chetek was the center of the bulls-eye. No damage from the storm, but the cell that passed over us went 113 miles to the east and threw out a tornado on Merrill, WI. Scary to think. A couple days later I found a friend doing a little fishing about 20 foot off our shore
. He never caught anything, but it was sure majestic to watch. About 3 weeks ago, I woke up to a sunny morning. As I laid in bed trying to fine the energy to crank my butt out of bed, I thought I heard the beautiful songs of our loons. I told myself I was crazy........as the day progressed I looked out the kitchen window to see our loon fishing right in front of our house. There was still a couple of ice islands floating around.......but it didn't seem to bother him.Now that Easter is behind us, we start the process of getting ready for the 4th annual Memorial Weekend Bash. Lawn to groom, small projects to finish and garage to sweep......all in preparation for Big John & Lil Andi. If you are coming this year and need a place to stay, please call, e-mail or send a message through facebook. We still have spots available to stay at the house, resort down the street and hotels.
I promise now that the season is upon us.......I WILL update the blog weekly. Also remember.....if there is a date that you would like to come up to the lake, please reserve early.
Take Care and see you all soon.
Check Back Often.......Check Back Soon
Joel, Amy and Jonathan
