It's All About The Nieces!

The month of May has been a very exciting time for many of our nieces.

So, today we are giving them the spotlight!

However, first I must say congratulations to Nick. He graduated from St. Thomas University this past week! Suzanne took him out to lunch the day he finished his writing project to cap off his final semester. He had no interest in walking at commencement exercises, so instead we will all go out to celebrate with him in the near future as soon as he can fit us into his schedule!!! He deserves a post all of his own!!! Love you, Nick!!!



And even though I am focusing on our nieces, it does not mean I am forgetting about our nephews.

Congratulations also goes to our youngest nephew, J.D.


who is graduating from Fargo North this spring. I understand we missed a great open house given in his honor earlier this month and am disappointed we couldn't be there. I am glad we did get to see him play football in the Fargo Dome last fall! J.D. is off to Valley City State in the fall and football will again be part of his world as he pursues his college degree.

I enjoyed following the travels of our niece, Vanessa, J.D.'s older sister,


as she studied abroad in Barcelona this past semester, visiting a great deal of western Europe as a result. I envied her as she shared wonderful pictures on Facebook. She returned home in May and will finish her degree at Minnesota State University Mankato in December.

Speaking of finishing degrees, congratulations to niece Mollie, pictured here with her brother, Jake.

Mollie graduated in May from NDSU!!! Good luck to you, Mollie, as you head off into the business world!

Our niece, Amanda,
graduated last spring from Kent State with a major in photo-illustration. She is continuing her education at NDSU seeking a degree in early childhood education. She went with Jim and Mary to Florida recently to help them pick out a house! Lucky Amanda! I'd recommend working on finishing that next college degree in Florida, Amanda!!!

On May 6th, Paul and I helped Zuel, husband of niece, Melissa, move their belongings out of their house in St. Louis Park. Here is Jamie with their niece (and our grand niece) Meredith.

Meredith is the daughter of niece, Jessica. Here she is, pictured with her twin sister, Jennifer.

Jessica is a physical therapist in Fargo and Jennifer is an engineer in Virginia.

Their older sister, Missy, started her new career as a nurse anesthetist last December and accepted a position at a hospital in Fargo.

So, she and Jamie left the cities, bought a great house in Fargo and joined the clan up there. We worked hard that day loading up their truck, but Zuel always makes any event fun. I can hardly wait to see their new home. Missy has a real talent for decorating and I am sure is busy putting things in order!!!

On Mother's Day, we hosted a shower for niece and godchild, Elizabeth and her husband Mike. May has been a very busy month for these two. They just moved into their new home (right here in Inver Grove Heights!!) yesterday. I think their house should have been featured on HGTV. What a tranformation as their families pitched in and worked with them to clean and paint. It is a beautiful house and I am sure they will be very comfortable there as they start their family. We, of course, are glad because it is so close!!!

They are expecting their first baby on July 3rd. I am proud to announce we will have another grand niece!!!

Linda and niece, Jennifer, traveled from northern Wisconsin for the weekend of the shower.

Here they are working with Suzanne, the event planner, as they made candy baby rattles for the place settings.

And the finished product.


With niece, Jennifer, comes grand niece, Clara!!!


This young lady is the spice in the soup, let me tell you!

We love having her around. She gave me an excuse to get away from the kitchen

where I found myself most of the weekend to spend precious bonding time.

Suzanne encouraged me to expand my horizons by recommending a baby shower centerpiece idea, which I worked hard to bring to fruition.

This type of activity is out of my comfort range, but it turned out just fine. The bouquet included "flowers" made out of baby onesies, bibs, hats and socks. Speaking of onesies, we also had the family decorate onesies for Baby Rohrer as a prebrunch activity. It is always most enjoyable to observe the creative minds in the Geier family!


You should check out the brunch menu items on Suzanne's blog, http://qwerkyqook.blogspot.com/, because she did a great job.

And, we worked well together!

Arriving early for the event to offer his help in the kitchen was nephew, Joey.

Can you believe it? He not only arrived early on a Sunday morning (at the request of his mother) but also brought flowers! He's the best!! Joey graduates this summer from Le Cordon Blue College of Culinary Arts. We plan to go to the school this week to eat dinner! I can hardly wait.

Last Monday we went to Northrup Auditorium

for the commencement of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management Graduate Program to watch niece, Lisa, receive her MBA diploma!! Bravo!!!!

The speaker at the graduation ceremony was Sherron Watkins, the 'Enron Whistleblower.' We all agreed it was the most interesting graduation speech we had every heard! Paul, Suzanne and I were lucky enough to share a celebration lunch with Lisa, Paul and Marlys, Kevin and Julie and their sons, Andrew and Matthew. Andrew and Paul are "best friends."

And while I am on the subject of grand nephews, we were able to share supper with

grand nephews, Tyler and Caden this month as well. I love having them closer to us now that Mike lives in Rosemount!!

Okay, back to the nieces!

Tomorrow our niece, Emily, celebrates her birthday!!!

Emily teaches Special Education in Breckenridge. She is a wonderful mother to their son, James, who is a true delight! We get to see them next weekend! Did I mention Emily is my godchild?

I am going to a shower on Friday in North Dakota for niece, Abby, who is getting married in August.

Abby goes to college in Tuscon, where she is studying to be a registered nurse, following in her mom's footsteps! Here she is pictured in an apron! Being her mom is a master cook, I can understand the calling to tie those apron strings and head into that kitchen in her new house!!!
The day after the shower, we head to Battle Lake to celebrate Lisa's graduation with friends and family. Her brother, Kevin, will be catering the event. Kevin and Chad are master chefs themselves, so the event should be quite the culinary feast. I have been assigned the job of guacamole maker. I am prepared to fulfill my duties!!!

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful family.

In between family events and yard work this past month, Paul and I have been out twice with our camper. How fantastic to get out in the spring to do some birding

and hiking.



We will keep you posted as the summer unfolds!!

Real Life Adventures

Some of you may be wondering what Paul and I have been up to since our last post. After all, settling into retired life is an adjustment.



Many day to day aspects of our life remain consistent. But, we are able to report we enjoy spending our days together.

We ended our trip to warmer climates last February to prepare for our trip to Italy with the Rosemount High School Chorale. The trip was all we hoped for and more.

We landed in Rome and boarded buses for Sorrento.



We spent a day on the Isle of Capri.


And spent a day on the Amalfi Coast.


We toured the ruins of Pompeii.


And drove north to stay in Orvieto and tour Assisi.


We ended the week in Rome where we once again visited the ruins surrounding the Roman Coliseum,

the Vatican
and St. Peter's Basilica.


The students performed five concerts during their tour and did a wonderful job. We enjoyed spending our days in the company of young people. Although we returned home exhausted, we were very happy for the experience.

As the calendar turned toward spring we realized we were settling into a very good routine.


And we found we were ready to tackle some of those projects we had been unable to get to during our careers.

We worked in our basement to clean our storage room which had accumulated years of "memories."


We shredded multiple years' supplies of obsolete records.


With the basement storage under control, we turned our efforts outdoors.

I have never spent more time outside enjoying the spring weather. I love the outdoors. It brought me back to my childhood on the farm.

Okay, so it wasn't exactly "Little House on the Prairie" but it was a time of many happy memories.

Paul and I raked leaves.

And practiced "controlled" burns.

We pruned apple trees.

And cleared TONS of brush that had grown and grown for years.

While we worked, I found my mind going back to life in Antelope Township and remembering how much I loved being outside on our farm.


You see, I was a middle child.


And, as I choose to remember, Mom placed me in charge of the four younger boys, who were pretty much banished from the house on a regular basis. We had a good thing going outside. There were so many areas to explore. Then, one day, an older (unnamed but dearly loved) sibling, full of early adolescent empowerment, stomped out into the yard and proclaimed I was to report into the house immediately. I knew my life was to take an incredible change for the worse. I wasn't sure what was going on inside that house, but I knew one thing,

it wasn't going to be a pleasant change in my day. I did what any sane individual would have done. I headed for the chicken coop.


And hid under the roost.


It didn't last long. I knew I couldn't spend the rest of my life under there.

It wasn't that we had an unhappy life.

Rather, we were rarely allowed gradual transitions.

Life was dished out in a series of abrupt turns.


Where were the pleasant routines we practiced with our own children?



We were raised in a "It's bedtime, go!" world.


We were not indulged.


However, we did know about indulgences!


Now (and here my mind digresses), according to church teaching


I gleaned as a child, even after "sinners" were absolved in the confessional (where we found ourselves every two weeks)

and said our Our Fathers or Hail Marys as penance, people still faced punishment in Purgatory

before we could enter heaven.

That scared the bejeepers out of me as a child!

In exchange for certain prayers, a Catholic could receive an indulgence, which reduced or erased that punishment instantly, with no formal ceremony or sacrament. Great news! Something onto which I could grasp !!!

Hope!!!

You see, we were made very aware of our possibilities. Catholicism, particularily during our childhood, was not a religion of gray areas. It was pretty much black and white.

As I remember, I was having a considerable challenge staying out of trouble in the venial (or less serious) "sin" department. There were too many sibling incidents in any given week I had to deal with in that confessional.

I was too, well, human.


I figured I was going to need a savings account. So, I would kneel in church (where we seemed to be quite often now that I think about it) and I would take my missal

and I would pray those prayers to rack up the indulgences.

And, to me it was the best use of applied math

I ever came up with in my life. (Sorry, Lisa!)

I spent considerable time figuring out how I could lessen my time in Purgatory, whatever that was.

This activity helped me pass many hours sitting in that church. I figured I had years of my "sentence" taken care of and was looking forward to quite a savings account in case I ran into some "snarls" ahead.

I am thinking I wasn't the only person who did this.

And then, one day, a bunch of old guys in Rome

who had been so far removed from their childhood or family life they could not even remember

wiped out indulgences.

They said they didn't count anymore.

I just couldn't believe it.

But it doesn't matter.

I am over it.

Whatever.

Where was I?

Oh, yes, working outside.

This was just one of the thoughts that crossed my abstract random mind as we worked to clear corners of our yard that were briar patches.

I guess I worked out a few briar patches in my own mind in the process!!!



And, as we worked together, we turned those messes into cleared and clean areas.


We felt such a feeling of accomplishment as we worked each day.


We have spent 14 days outside so far this spring. Now, we are working to transplant forgotten perennials to new locations. Plants are being given a chance to grow and thrive.

We have moved geraniums,
sedum,

peonies,


ornamental grasses,


Siberian iris, (originally from Dad's garden in Reile's Acres)


hostas,


daylilies,
and ground covers.



Time will tell if they are happy with the abrupt changes we have brought to their lives.

I guess we didn't offer them opportunity for transition!

We work hard every day. But, we set our own schedule. When we are tired, we quit.

And then we head into the house and relax.

One of us has even started to


And we really do enjoy our days together,


in spite of our strong opinions!

Because, we do


It is time to get the camper out of winter storage and hit the road.

Where will our next trip take us?

We'll keep you posted!