New neighbors!

Best BBQ in Texas

Carol Hagan

Explosive by Laurie Justus Pace

Note left by contractors at the house after John "flashed" them the day before....

We are converting the garage into a den and have had the guys from Tow (Dwayne and Dave and Co.) working on the project for the past week. A few days ago, Dwayne stopped by early in the morning with his wife Mary and were greeted by John in his birthday suit. Now we get notes like this taped onto the garage!

Another Texas licensing saga...

As you may recall, it took John at least 6 visits to separate DMV offices in the area to get a Texas driver's license. It only took me 4 attempts before I finally pried a Texas driver's license out of the clerk's tightly-fisted fingers!! I actually failed the eye exam on my third attempt (in spite of having successfully passed it in Minnesota in February). In any event, I am now licensed to drive in my home state of Texas.

Monica is 19!!!!

Hard to believe, but true - my little girl is 19 years old today. I received a phone call from my sister, Monica, wishing me a "happy 19th anniversary of the day I gave birth" which got me thinking - why does the person who was born get gifts on their birthday? Why doesn't the mother get gifts on the anniversary date(s)of when she actually gave birth???????? Hmmm....that means Sean only has 72 days left to shop for me!

Seriously, Happy Birthday to Monica Donahue and congratulations on all of your accomplishments - you rock!

Llano transplant

We had a nice visit yesterday with Katherine Walther. John and I met Katherine at Select Comfort in Minneapolis. After we bought the house in Tow, we learned that Katherine and her husband Jim had (at that time) recently moved to Mpls. from Llano (the nearest town to Tow)! Small world....

Jim was in Llano doing a job for the hospital and Katherine met up with him here for a few days of vacation. We are hoping that they will relocate back here again soon!

Empty nest again....

Jim, Esa and Sean have all departed for their respective home states and we find ourselves without guests for awhile. The visit with Esa was wonderful and reminded me once again that the Burkhardt family has blessed me in so many ways. She is a bright, creative girl and it is so fun to be a part of her life and watch her growing up.

Sean's stay and departure were not quite as smooth.....suffice it to say that a 21-year-old child should visit often, but not stay too long. The visit with Sean was stressful for everyone and reminded me once again of the importance of therapy (i.e., we all need more). While my children may not realize it, parenting them has been the most important thing in my life and always the driving force of my decision-making process. I did the best job that I could (given the circumstances of our lives) and gave it my all....now, they need to take it from here.

Good news - it looks like we have sold the Edina house after 2 weeks on the market! Marcia Russell of Edina Realty is a fabulous realtor and made it all happen.

Esa and her Dad, Jim, celebrate Fathers Day here

The simple life.....

As I may have already told you, things move a little slower in Mayberry RFD than we are used to......our new appliances are now at least 2 weeks overdue and the construction crew seems to be on a binge (or on the lamb)...no response from the lighting contractor (fish must be biting again) and we haven't seen the mailman in about a week.

It has been almost 100 degrees everyday for the past 3 weeks. Last night, after we got home from work, we hopped on the boat and went out to Gilligan's Island with Esa for a swim. Today, Esa's Dad is flying in from Minneapolis for a visit - she is so excited!

Business was good today - we get great week-end traffic now that the "season" is in full swing. The house in Edina has been on the market 4 days now and getting some showings. Mike and Patty went to Birchwood last week-end and fixed the pipes that had frozen over the winter - they also got the pontoon out of storage and on the lake and spotted more new eagles than last year. Sean is working the crowd at the golf club and pulling in good tips. Monica turns 19 in 2 weeks. Kaitlin gets married in a month and soon some Stanges will be in town!!!

Multi-tasking artist

Esa came to the shop with me today

Beth and Esa come to visit!!!

Beth and Esa arrived a few days ago.....we are having a gas! Beth goes back to Colorado for work at the National Park and Esa will stay on for awhile and then fly back herself. Quite worldly for a 6 year old!!!

Sunny days

One of the things I love about living here is the sunshine. We have had a streak of hot/hot/hot weather for 2 weeks now and the sunlight is glorious.

Tomorrow I go to the Austin airport to pick up Beth (Jeff's sister) and Esabella (my beautiful niece who has a special spot in my heart). I am so excited - I haven't seen either one since they moved to Colorado.

We are having dinner tonight with Jeff and Elaine Leedy - both are artists who live in this area and we carry their work in the store. Sean is in Austin visiting the SAE fraternity house and has his first day of work at the golf club tomorrow.

Still having a gas.........

New window decals

John's idea of a "company car"

John applies window decals

How is a guy supposed to shake that cake-eater image with this nametag?

Everybody is working!

Sean got a job at the Horseshoe Bay Resort and is working at Slick Rock golf course this summer.

End of a long roadtrip

Mission accomplished - the house in Edina has been cleaned out and will go on the market this week. My sister was a Godsend and my daughter and Caleb pitched in every day. I thought it would be melancholy, but it wasn't at all. We filled a dumpster, a trailer and 5 storage vaults before pulling out of town on Wednesday. Sean and I drove back to Texas and it is good to be home!

This was stenciled in Sean's room 19 years ago (we left one section above the door)