Saturday Rod and I drove down to Oshkosh to go to the weekly
summer Farmers’ Market. They close off Main Street and especially the Hmong
farmers bring in their products. We bought raspberries, blueberries, bok choy,
and other fresh veggies. I got a souvenir for each of my mah jongg friends and
the woman who made them was right there. Several exhibitors had gorgeous
bouquets of flowers but I spotted the purple ones right off and went back at
the end to get them for Paul (my nephew) and Stephanie (his new wife) for the
next day. It was kind of a cloudy but nice day and the crowds weren’t too big.
Rod said we were lucky! There were a lot of stands with Chinese/Thai/Laotian
food and I bought some crab Rangoon for lunch later.
By the time we got back to his apartment Gail had called and
she and Doug (her Retro friend who will probably work as Santa when he retires)
had come back from camping at Country USA south of Oshkosh to get a shower. We
met up with them at Retros for a visit and chat. Gail and Doug had dressed up
at the festival as Mr. and Mrs. Claus so showed us some pictures on their phone
of people who had asked to take their picture with them. She said her second
bedroom is full of all kinds of costumes! They were headed back for one more
night there. The only name I recognized on the roster was Sheryl Crow whom
she’d seen on Weds.
On early Sunday morning I took a great hour long ride around
Neenah on Roscoe’s (my nephew)
really comfortable bike. It had a great seat, shock absorbers, reverse
brakes – no handbrakes- and only 3 gears. I went down by the lake to an area
that reminded me of Shady Rest in Sandy Hook in Newtown on Lake Zoar where Bud
and I had vacationed one summer.
Kelly (my sister) had been to a family wedding Saturday but
she and Cassie (my niece) came up around noon for a visit. Cassie just
graduated with high honors from high school and had just returned from an
introductory freshman orientation at the U. of Minnesota where she will go in
the fall. She seems very self-directed and focused on getting a veterinary
degree, which is a LOOONG academic haul!!
I hope it’s all she dreams!! She seemed excited and Uncle Rod will rent
a van to help her move in at the end of August.
At 2:30 we headed out to Neenah/Greenville in the country to
see Paul and Stephanie’s new home and have dinner. It was a delight! The two of
them did the cooking with delicious guacamole (pretty tied with mine!!), steaks
and fish, potatoes, salad and scrumptious ice cream and fresh strawberries to
top it off. Stephanie’s sons Cal (3rd grader) and Jared (going into
7th grade) were fun to meet. Cal took me up to his room to show me.
His and Jared’s room are separated by a sliding barn door. There is also a
secret room he took me to later – a plain wall he told me to push and an
L-shaped room, no windows with a tv, big pillows – basically a hidden playroom.
Very clever!
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| Cal, Jared, Stephanie, Paul Rice, my nephew |
Paul later gave me a tour of the rest of the house with his
office in the basement and guest suite.
Stephanie’s parents, Karen and Steve, stopped on their way
back from Door county weekend and stayed for dinner. He will retired in a year
and a half from Neenah Corp. He and Rod knew each other. They were delightful
as well. Lovely home, lovely family! Paul and Stephanie had met up again at a
high school reunion and connected, just around the time she was divorcing. They
seem like a lovely, happy couple! I’m so happy to see Paul with a wonderful
family. They seem to make it all work out.
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