Leah's Journal

18 MARCH 2005

Busy, busy, busy - that's what life is now! Last weekend, I met Margaret and Gerry, his daughter, Mandy and her new husband, Brad, in Wisconsin Dells; it's located approximately 200 miles northwest of Chicago. Accommodations were at Peppertree at Tamerack, a timeshare resort. We enjoyed a lovely one bedroom unit with little patio and I got to sleep on the couch.....which was fine in addition to being comfortable. The timeshare was arranged through the Armed Forces Vacation Club at a weekly rate of $264.00. It was a true value. Wisconsin Dells (dell: a small, secluded, wooded area) was, on the other hand, a true tourist trap even with many businesses still shuttered for the winter. We were surprised by a beautiful snowstorm and entertained by flocks of Canadian geese, no - not geese - they were ducks and I'm not sure of their nationality. Gerry built an inviting fire one evening and, on another, he BBQ'd delicious bergers and brats.........during the snowfall. All in all, the four days were relaxing (we didn't stay the entire week). On Sunday, we took a side trip and visited Gerry's sister, Vickie, in Stevens Point - about 70 miles away. I think that I would like to explore Wisconsin and it's gently, or softly, rolling hills more extensively. It's a beautiful state. We watched two old movies that Margaret had brought: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Shawshank Redemption. We also watched one of the Best of Carson tapes. Margaret and I went to the Ho Chunk Casino (sounds Oriental, doesn't it?), that is owned and operated by a Native American tribe. We didn't see any "Indians" and neither of us did well; in fact, we observed that not only did we not do well, nobody else seemed to, either. We remarked on how somber the environment was with no eruptions of victorious exclamations.

I have been busy sending my resume to online sites with nary a nibble yet. I spent a long time at the Hermann Memorial Hospital site yesterday only to get "timed out" so I guess that I'll have to start the process there all over again. It can be discouraging.

Tonight, Theresa Jacobi and I are going to a play called "Vincent in Braxton." It is about Vincent van Gogh's time in England courting a lady twice his age with the complication of a disapproving sister's visit and before he became a "painter." I guess that would be considered a run-on sentence. Tickets were priced less than movie admissions at $5.00 a head. Tonight's performance is a preview performance. And so it goes .................