Well I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. We did. We have a lot to be thankful for. We are all in good health. We had a good auction season this past year and we have made a lot of new friends. We are looking forward to Christmas. Our youngest son, Pete, will be home then.

I have been meaning to take some time in my blog to introduce our family and some of the people who have been so faithful in helping us with our auctions. Some of you may have noticed that Pete hasn’t been at our auctions this Fall. Pete is living in Washington DC and is working for Lutheran Volunteer Corps there. He is doing job skill tutoring in a program called “So Others Might Eat” He is enjoying his work but I know he will enjoy coming home and seeing his friends here. Before moving to Washington, Pete was deeply involved with music in Northfield, singing in the St Olaf Choir, playing bass in BarCode Blue and regularly dropping in to play at the Nordic Jam at the Contented Cow.

Pete has grown up at auctions. When I first started doing auctions, Pete was so little that Barb would take a playpen along for him. He has been helping me ever since. Pete is pretty good at mechanics and electronics. When he is available, I count on him to start lawn mowers and chain saws and VCR’s. Pete graduated from St Olaf last year with a degree in Philosophy.

One of the best things about auctioneering is that you never know what will come up next. Some days that can make you nervous, but usually something turns up just in the nick of time. We are starting to pencil in dates for next year. I will make up a calendar again pretty soon. I will be helping with a fund raising auction in Northfield for the “Friends of the Library” on February 28. I am working on an auction project for July 4. I will fill in the details next time.