The one good thing about turning the clocks back is that it was light when we got up this morning--the bad thing is that it will be dark by five in the afternoon. John decided not to go hunting this morning, so we had a leisurely breakfast and then got ready to head off to church for the Sunday morning service. Attendance was way down today--think it was a combination of the time change and opening deer hunting. Those that were there shared their hunting experiences after the service. Sounded like most of the hunters had success on the first day.

Matt took Hanna out this morning and they sat in their deer stand until it was time to leave for church. They saw a couple of deer but couldn't get a good shot. This afternoon John and I wrapped the shrubs in front of the house so they won't get crushed by the snow this winter and then we watched the Vikings and Eagles win. John went out to his stand late this afternoon and stayed out until dark--again, he didn't see a single deer. We ended our evening watching the Cowboys take a beating. That was good to see when you are an Eagles fan.

Today was the opening for the Minnesota deer hunting season. John doesn't go out the first morning--says he never sees anything then--but waits until the evening to hunt. We were just finishing breakfast when the phone rang. It was Sam. He said "Tell Grand mom to get her camera ready". I grabbed my camera and we headed up to Matt's place. Sam and Matt were hunting together this morning and both shot nice does. This was Sam's first deer and he was smiling from ear to ear. John helped them get the deer hung up in the garage and then we all went in the house to hear the "hunting story". We got a blow by blow account including where the deer came in, how close it was, how it fell, and how hard it was to drag them out to the pickup.

Sara, Rachel, and Hanna hunted on the home place, but didn't see one single deer this morning.




Before leaving, hunting plans for the evening were discussed and it was decided that Hanna would come home with us and go hunting with John tonight. We had some lunch after we got home and then everyone just vegged out until it was time to get ready to go out to the deer stand. Hanna and John got bundled up in their blaze orange hunting clothes and headed out to the deer stand around 5 p.m. They stayed out there until dark, but didn't see any deer.

When they returned to the house, we had pizza for supper and then took Hanna back to her place. A couple of Matt's friends from the cities had dropped in after hunting all day and told us about their day's adventures. The one fella saw a huge buck and was just about ready to shoot when it suddently scented him, turned around, and ran off into the dense brush. He was just sick that he missed such a trophey. Matt plans to hunt in the morning but is not sure who is going with him--Sam or Hanna. After we got home we watched a little TV and then turned the clocks back before heading to bed.

We got up nice and early and were on the road to Grand Forks by 8 a.m. Our plan was to do some shopping and eat lunch before we headed to the Alerus Center for the Clearbrook football game. First stop was Cabela's to check out any sales they might be having--there were a few, but nothing that grabbed our interest. From there we went to Sam's Club to pick up bulk packs of chewing gum and face soap to take with us to Texas. Since we ate breakfast pretty early, we were getting hungry, so our next stop was Culver's for some lunch.

When we were finished eating, it was time to head to the Alerus Center for the football game. Clearbrook was playing at 12.30 p.m. in the first of four semi-final sectional games. We met up with Matt, Sara, and the kids along with some other Clearbrook fans to watch the game. Sorry to say that Clearbrook got hammered--we all left at the end of the third quarter. Matt and Sam wanted to get home to go bow hunting and John and I still had a little more shopping.



We made a quick stop at Best Buy and then the mall before hitting the road for home. After supper we spent the evening watching a couple of TV shows. Tomorrow is opening deer hunting--hope the kids do well.

We had another bright, sunny day. The temperatures are only reaching the low to mid 40's now, but at least we haven't been hit with a snow storm. The deer hunting season opens this Saturday morning and the forecast is for clear skies and warn temps--at least warm temps for this time of year in northern Minnesota. Many years it has been well below freezing on opening morning.

John had a dental appointment this morning for his annual checkup and teeth cleaning. This is his least favorite thing to do, but he made it through and is good to go for another year--no cavities.

After lunch, John spent a couple of hours working in the shop making parts. My day was spent doing some cleaning up around the house and sorting through our canned goods to see what gets packed and what can stay until next spring. Tomorrow we are taking a road trip to Grand Forks for a football game and some shopping. Our evening was spent working on the computer and watching some TV.

John and I got up as soon as the alarm went off at 6:15 a.m. We had to be at the Honda dealer's by 8 a.m. to drop the car off for an alignment. It was going to take a couple of hours before the car would be ready so we got another loaner vehicle. We had an hour before John was due at the surgeon's for his final checkup, and since we didn't take the time to eat before we left home, we headed across the street to Country Kitchen for one of their delicious breakfasts.

John got a good report on his shoulder. Everything has healed up nicely and he has no activity restrictions. The doctor only advised against one thing and that was not to do heavy work above his head--something he will always have to guard against. He mainly needs to use caution and common sense when doing certain things.

Since we were still waiting for a call that the car was done, we headed to Gander Mountain so John could buy his deer hunting license (he finally made the decision to hunt). From there we went to the mall where we did a little shopping and visited with an old friend we saw. We were just getting ready to leave when we got the call that our car was ready. We made one final stop to pick up some milk and then we hit the road to home.

After lunch John went down to the shop to make a few more parts that were needed. While he was busy with that, I took care of some chores around the house. We spent the evening watching Survivor and a couple of other favorite TV shows.

Today was a pretty quiet one around here. John left early this morning to finish the trim job he and Matt have been working on for the past few days. He thought he would be home by noon, but they found they had to hang a couple of exterior doors, so they stayed until they had everything done.

When John got home, we headed off to vote. We cast our ballots in a little town hall out in the country where our township and one other share the voting facility. We signed our names in the registration book and were handed a ballot. We then went into a little cubicle and it filled out. After we got that done, our ballot was put into a cardboard folder and we then slid the ballot into an electronic vote counting machine. This is worlds away from the computerized ballots of the bigger towns and cities. The electronic machines have only been used for the past couple of years--prior to then, our ballots were counted by hand.

Following supper we spent our evening watching the election returns on Fox News. What an amazing night!!

We had a couple of appointments in Bemidji this morning so we were up and out of the house pretty early. First stop was the Honda dealership to drop off our car for servicing. We picked up a loaner vehicle from them and drove to John's eye doctor appointment. It was time again for his annual eye exam--he had all the usual tests and learned that his eyes are very healthy. From there it was back to the Honda dealer to pick up the car. We found that it needs an alignment done, so we will have to bring it back again on Wednesday morning.

Our next stop was Wal Mart to pick up a few food items. We didn't need very much as we are trying to clear out the pantry before we head to Texas. It was close to noon by the time we left Wal Mart, so we decided to grab a bite at Burger King before we hit the road to home.

This afternoon John went back up to the job site to help Matt install more trim. They were short some pieces, so this evening he spent a little time in the shop finishing what they need so they can complete the job tomorrow. My afternoon was spent doing more sorting and packing along with laundry. Tonight we watched the Giants win the World Series and some of Monday Night Football.