While sitting at an intersection waiting for a vehicle, I HAD to try to record the sun as it was coming up over the east horizon. Unfortunately, this doesn’t do justice for the beauty of the moment – especially through a dirty bus window.

The weekend started for me on Friday morning. Jim was caught up with dry corn and had been spending some much-needed time on combine and corn head maintenance. On Friday morning, he asked me if I wanted to ride along to Cornlea (Nebraska) to get parts for the corn head. Jenna thought that was quite funny…going to Cornlea for the corn head – appropriate. Cornlea was about 2 ½ hours from home. I thought…what the heck?! Before we could go, though, I had to sub for a driver on the morning bus route.

I’m going to just mention that driving a morning route stresses me out! As a sub, I still have to rely on the kids to help me get them home and this is my fourth year of subbing. Our school has four full-time drivers and as a sub, I have to know all of the routes. Most of my subbing is usually in the afternoon. When I get a call for the morning, I immediately get nervous. Why? Because the route is usually backwards, it’s still partially dark to real dark, the kids are tired and don’t want to be bothered and I have a clock ticking away. In the afternoon, the kids are willing to help and if it takes me a little longer to get them home, so be it. I got along fine on this particular morning. I only had one minor goof and it was corrected by going around the section – no big deal. I think I may have even gotten them to school on time.

When I returned home, the “rotor rooter” man had been there, did what he needed to do and was gone again. About every other year, the tree roots take over the sewer line while we’re away. Just like the bugs and spiders take over the house. I realized we had a problem when I got out of the shower the day before and had a small swimming pool in the basement. Luckily, the rugs dry and the water eventually drains. Just one more thing to have to deal with when you get home. It was a pleasant day for a drive – almost down right chilly. When we arrived in Cornlea, it was lunch time and we had to wait on the employees to return. Once they got back to the shop, we purchased the parts and headed back home. We were nearly home when I said, “this would have been a good weekend to go camping!” And then another thought came to mind…a fire! Yep, that’s what we needed to do for supper! I made a few calls and it was a go. Our family LOVES having a campfire to roast hotdogs, have s’mores and to sit around and enjoy being together.

Jillian trying to get the end of the stick to smoke.

Now she’s figuring it out! Brooke is cautiously watching (for a second before she finds a stick too).

Saturday and Sunday were spent at household auctions. Have you ever been to a household auction? An auction is held when the owners of the home are either preparing to move or have passed away. Most times, it’s due to the latter. A lifetime of memories, goods and “stuff” are auctioned and sold to the highest bidder. Sometimes you can purchase items for next to nothing or they can go way higher than they should.  Regardless, it’s sad to see the items that once held so much importance sitting in the yard.

Jamie helping Brooke try on a great find!

Candi, the girls and Taylor looking for an old Christmas album for me. I was hoping to find Gene Autry’s “Rudolph”.

This is something I loved doing about 15-20 years ago when the kids were much younger. My friend, Trish,  and I would pack our kids in the car with bags of blankets, toys and snacks for the day. The kids still talk about the fun things they did while their mothers had fun buying “stuff”. I had a great time this weekend and probably bought more than I should have. My best purchase was a couch. Our couch was bought in 1990. I still love that old couch and it’s been a great friend to our family. However, at the sale on Saturday, there was a couch that was nearly new (5 months old) and the owner told me she had paid over $1,000 for it. Items can either go real high or fairly cheap,  just depends on the two people wanting the same item. How bad do you want it and how far are you willing to bid? I ended up buying that couch for $180. When the bidding was over, I found the owner and apologized for the low price. But…I guaranteed her that it was going to a home that would love it and take care of it for the rest of its life.

Jillian helping Taylor

One thing I found out the hard way yesterday is that things have changed since I used to frequent auctions. After bidding on boxes filled with a variety of “stuff”, I won the bid at $6. I was thrilled. You see, there was a blue and white crock that was old, cute and would make a lovely addition to my serving bowl accumulation. It was something you don’t see very often and was probably worth more than $6. Twenty years ago, you could buy your goods and leave them lay where they were until the sale was over or you’d had enough of the bidding wars. Yesterday, when it was time to start gathering, the box holding my beloved little crock was GONE! I couldn’t believe it! Times have changed, I guess, and I have learned a valuable lesson – the hard way!

My lovely little crock would have been in one of these boxes. I hope the person who took it enjoys it as much as I would have!

“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure”…or woman’s!

More than anything, this was a real family weekend! I got to spend time with all my kids and “grandkids”. Jillian even commented that she got to see me for three days! Do I still have work to do to get the summer harvest adventure cleaned up? YES – but sometimes you just have to pretend you have nothing better to do than be with your family and that’s just what I did this weekend!

P.S. The Yellow Beast and Jim are back to picking corn today.