catching up on all points

Although I've posted twice, I've never really said anything much about myself, my creepiest animal choice, or favorite movie either. So here goes to catch up: My husband and I moved to Pella about a year and a half ago. We are the parents of Kari Ringgenberg Pingel (5th grade teacher at Jefferson here in Pella). She is a Central College grad (that's when I first ever entered this fair town a few years back) and her husband Eric went here also (where they met). They have four children: Wade 14, Jordan 12, Kjersten (Kiki) 9 and Annika 8. That is basically what brought us here in our retirement. I had been retired from teaching 7th and 8th grade English and reading for all of one year (my husband was a principal), and the first year I moved here, I ended up finishing out the year for a teacher who had to quit. That was kind a shock to my system but also a good thing. So we went to school clear out into June due to all the snow, and I finished up on a Thursday and on a Monday I began at Gosselink's Christian Bookstore (where I continue part-time to this moment). I love that the Lord gave me that opportunity...and truly it is one of those things where I can see His hand at work saying, "Here's the desire of your heart. Go for it." I had been known to say for the last two years of teaching that when I retired I just wanted a little part time job in a bookstore. I had a steep learning curve at the bookstore, but now when I ask someone, "May I help you with anything?" I occasionally can actually help them!! I love it there!
Ok, I have three other daughters, two are married, and so I have nine grandchildren in all. My "baby" is 24 years old, and I had her at age 40, and she's still single. She's in military intelligence at McConnell AFB in Wichita, but it's a long story as to how she got there. She would so not strike you as the military type. The next older sister is also at McConnell AFB.

I thought about what creeps me out most in the creepy, crawly world. I have to say it's centipedes. The first home we ever owned was an older house in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, that we sort of gutted and it turned out nicely. But around once a month or so, I would encounter one of these amazingly large, incredibly fast scuttling "things." I didn't even know what they were for sure the first time I saw one. You almost can never catch one and kill it! Oh, makes me tremble and turn sick even now. I could be reduced to a complete baby that wanted to move back home with "mama" when I saw one. One time one was in my underwear drawer. I screamed and slammed the drawer shut. My husband (bless his soul) went through all my "articles" and never found it. It never showed up in there again, but for the remaining two years I had to pull out things very slowly and inspect them...that after drenching every last inch of that dresser with insecticide. (I know that God had a plan for bugs and disgusting things...but all those legs??)

My favorite movie of ALL time is Dr. Zhivago. It is a beautiful love story set against the Russian Revolutionary times! Yes, this reveals my age, but you can already have that figured out. Our most watched movie together (my husband and I) is The Shawshank Redemption. But who can forget the first time I saw Star Wars (in a theater in Des Moines) when it had just first come out. There had been NOTHING like that up until then. And who can forget Peter Jackson's magnificent Lord of the Rings series. And yes, I too loved The Princess Bride! It caused us to go around for weeks saying, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!" in our best accents. I also once was giving a spelling test and the word I pronounced was "marriage." I then pronounced it in my best wacky priest accent from The Princess Bride, "Mah-waaage," and about three kids looked up and said "The Princess Bride!!"

So I suppose I should get P.S. I Love You from Netflix, huh?
Lana Ringgenberg