My Weekend

Ch. Joyslyn's Paisley, 2005

Lynn and I had an unusual experience this past weekend—we actually went together on a trip that involved three overnight stays! Now, those of you who lead normal, married lives might find that statement odd but, trust me on this, we very seldom go away together because of the dogs. It is difficult to find someone to take care of them for an extended time, and when we do find someone, I get so worried about what's happening at home with both of us gone, that Lynn prefers to stay home rather than to go with me and listen to me fret constantly! 

We manage to take turns getting away, me to dog shows and work-related conferences and Lynn to car shows with his street rod.

At any rate, our son Aaron and his wife Amanda, agreed to take care of the dogs while Lynn and I took a short trip to Nebraska. First, we visited my mom, my sister, and brother-in-law and had a wonderful time with them, eating Mom's great meals, digging through a huge box of old family pictures and reminiscing, and just plain hanging out and enjoying each other's company. I had not been "home" for over a year so it was good to be back and see what changes had happened to my hometown. One thing that impressed me was that the old movie theatre had been renovated and re-opened, run by an entrepreneur class at the high school and supported by parent and community volunteers.  We went to a movie there, for old times sake, paying just $4 for a ticket to see Thor!

The latter part of our journey took us to David City, NE, where we lived for 16 years until we moved to Illinois in 1989. In the spring of 1973 both of us were hired to teach, starting that fall, at Aquinas High School. Lynn was hired to teach speech and drama and direct the school's plays. I was hired to teach English. Lynn left after 4 years to go back to school for his Masters Degree, while I stayed for 16 years, teaching Freshman and Sophomore English. It was so hard to leave that school when the time came for us to move to Illinois because Lynn accepted a teaching position at Western Illinois University. The Aquinas faculty and students were part of my family. As a matter of fact, on our moving day, the seniors were excused from classes in the morning so all could come to our house to help us load the U-haul, to clean the house after everything was removed, and to say good-bye.

Aquinas High School was celebrating its 50^th anniversary so we went to David City to attend the banquet, hoping to see former colleagues and former students. We were not disappointed. We had a wonderful time, once again reminiscing and seeing pictures through the years. I left with a "big head" after hearing everyone tell me, "You haven't changed a bit." (Somehow they missed the extra wrinkles and white hairs. It must have been the lighting in the gym!)

Another great thing about visiting David City is that it is the home of KV Vet Supply! Of course we had to stop there to do some shopping! I had my list all made out and—a lot of money later—we loaded the boxes in the car. (Hey…I saved a ton of shipping costs!)

On the home front: Little Dreamer is not a happy girl at present. All her siblings recently left for their new homes and she is lonely. The three girls are 4 months older than Dreamer so they are a little too rough in their play with her. She is managing to deal with it, as long as I supervise and don't let the play go on too long.

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you!

Joyce