Catching up

I was thinking 2 weeks ago, that I would be an every 2 week blogger. Well, 2 weeks later and I am thinking if I can get this blog done once a month I will be doing good! Now I have to try and remember what has happened over the last month.

Now that I have read what happened the last time I wrote, I can catch everyone up.

Our $2000.00 well bill ended up being a $2600.00 well bill. We received the bill on Wednesday, and the guy called to get the check from us on Thursday. We hadn't even told the other households how much the bill was going to be. Everyone was able to round up their share, and we were able to pay the bill by the next week.

Unfortunately, that took the money I was saving to pay the tax/title and license on the Yukon. So have been saving and moving money around so I can pay that this week, to the tune of $1400.00. For those that don't live in Nebraska, that is the correct amount. When I first moved here I couldn't believe how much it cost either!

I discharged all my patients in Kimball, so have been working at the out patient clinic for the last 3 weeks. It is nice to have a break from the drive, but I am going to miss my mileage check at the end of the month, and with Christmas coming up, I will really notice it. I also miss seeing all the people at the nursing home.

Mark has been working on tractors. My Dad brought up his little Yanmar tractor in August. Mark tore apart the engine and after looking at the manual that was written in Japanese, he called a place to get the information needed. He ordered parts, sent back the wrong parts, ordered more parts, had to call for the right specs... but finally finish last week. Kind of. He was running the tractor, but still didn't like the sound, so reved the engine, and it started knocking! I am guessing that is not a good sound since he shut it off right away, came in the house and said I am not working on it any more! In the mean time, Mark went to the ranch to work on his Dad's 3010 John Deere. The transmission was bad. Mark pulled the part that was bad out, and then found a used part to put in. I get a phone call Saturday morning that goes like this:
Laura- Hello
Mark- What are you doing?
This is where I made my mistake
Laura-Nothing
Mark- Could you run by Bridgeport Tractor Parts and get a part for me, and then run it up here? Please!
Laura- Of course I can, I only have a house to clean
So the rest of the day was spent in the car going to Crawford and back. Then the kicker is that Mark can't get the part back in, without taking the entire transmission out of the tractor, so he ends up bringing the transmission home anyway. After he got home, we all loaded up in the pickup and went and cut 2 loads of firewood. The rest of the week was spent trying to get the transmission put back together which was not fun, but I will not go into all the details here. Suffice it to say there was a lot of cussing coming from the shop, and since I was out most nights helping Mark some of the cussing was coming from me! Mark finally got it done on Thursday. He took off work to work on the transmission, and also spend the day with his parents that came down for the Veterans Day celebration at school. Mark and Kyra took the transmission back to the ranch this last weekend, and the 3010 seems to be running well again. Now back to the Yanmar for Mark.

This last weekend was the start of deer season, so Kyra went with her dad up to the ranch, so she could help Grandma feed the guys and clean. She was so proud when she came home with $20 for all her work. Lexi spent Saturday babysitting, so I mainly had a quiet day to work on house work.

Sunday was our Thanksgiving dinner at church. I made a turkey and rolls. I stayed and helped clean some, then Lexi and I headed home. Mark and Kyra got home around 2:30 that afternoon. I made soup and chili and bread bowls to put it in. The Strawn's came over for supper and we had a nice visit, it seems like forever since they have been over.

Winter has finally arrived here, so we have been enjoying all the firewood that was cut 1 1/2 weeks ago. Mom and Dad are planning to come up for Thanksgiving if the weather cooperates. One week to go!