I always forget...

...that when both air conditioning units are running I can't plug in the iron. Or the toaster. Or my sewing machine. It flips the breaker. Who wired this place anyway?

Kentucky

So... we spent the last few days at Kentucky lake on Wyss Vacation. Yay for vacations! It was fun; and very, very, hot and humid. I took our camera along and didn't take any pictures... oops.

We didn't do a whole lot, just the usual Rook and fast Scrabble and swimming and boating and eating. I love vacation. The lake was nice, although not very cool (except for way down deep), and there weren't tons of boats out. I went skiing and wake boarding... fun times. Wake boarding is hard. And tiring. I got up for a little bit, and then I got off balance and drank half the lake. Skiing didn't go so well after that... my arms were too tired. I was super sore for a few days, it's finally getting better now. It was worth it though.

I was a little bit mean to my cousin Clayton. He was spending pretty much every minute on his phone texting people while he was in the middle of a Rook game (and all week) and supposed to be paying attention to the game... I borrowed his phone for a minute and texted all the girls in his address book "pickles, ice cream, and rotten tomatoes," and then erased it from the sent box... he was very very confused when he started getting texts back. He should just be glad I couldn't think of anything more creative, or mean, to send!

Some of us girls were talking to Grandma and Grandpa one night and my dad's CIY days got brought up... Grandpa was a founding member way back when and he made a comment about how it was different in his day, to which Grandma replied, "you have no room to talk!" and proceeded to elaborate. So hilarious!

We brought the Wii along... the younger boys loved it... Cailer was pretty sad when "Nintendo Bob" left...

We left on Wednesday... mur. It's stinks to have to leave early, but our vacation days are limited. *sigh* At least we got to stop at Tobin's for supper on our way back. And we got to get soaked in a downpour on our way into the restaurant... good times.

Ooooh, and we have a new niece! Her name is Eden Rose.
Blessings.

Berry Picking

Bob's uncle and aunt have some unused pastures and timber behind their house that are full of wild blackberries, so yesterday afternoon I went blackberry picking. It was hot, humid, and buggy. But it was a good excuse to break out my awesome rain boots! Aunt June and Mary S. joined me before I filled my bucket. The blackberries were plump and juicy and plentiful... I ate a lot of them. And I put some on ice cream last night, and some on my yogurt this morning. Yum.

I'm also discovering mosquito bites and scratches all over today. My shoulders must not have gotten enough Deep Woods Off on them because that's where all the bites are. I watched them bite me through my shirt... nasty creatures.

Have I mentioned that I love summer?

Preservation, Aquatics, and Les Mizerables

So I feel like my life revolves around vegetables right now. Friday I picked more beans, and then spent the evening blanching them (with my very own blancher...pasta pot.... thingy... it was hard to find apparently, I got it for Christmas). I should have more than plenty in the freezer now... hooray!

Saturday morning I went to get my next block for quilt club, cleaned, went swimming at Roy's with my family, and then did corn for the rest of the day. Mom and Dad's corn didn't do much this year and the coons took out half of it, so they got four bushels from a neighbor. Well, four feed sacks full. I'm probably the only person that associates the smell of feed with fresh sweet corn. So we cleaned corn and cleaned corn and cleaned some more corn and then more.... I stink at cutting it off the cob, Mom did that. And we had the obligatory conversation about how the big washtubs that we were using were what my great-grandma gave her kids baths in.

It was after six when we got done so I took my share home to cook it there... Bob and Jakey were just getting done fixing supper for me when I got home (thank goodness for frozen pizza!). Ok, it maybe wasn't just for me. :) And then it was after ten when I finally got everything cooked, cooled, and bagged. I went straight to bed. After a shower because Bob said I smelled like corn and lake water. :) It was hard to get up Sunday morning.

One of Bob's myriad of second (third? I dunno) cousins is in Les Miz this summer, so we went to see it with Kevin, Dale and Meg, and Shelly. Shelly came over for supper before we went and got to experience indian food. She walked in the door and said, "it smells weird in here." Whatever, it tasted good. Les Miz was excellent. Corn Stock is in a big tent at Bradley park so it was a little bit warm, but I barely noticed. I had a very hard time not singing along. Such a good musical... I always tear up at least once, and always at a different part of the story. Now I really should finish reading the book!

Blessings.

Verschiedenes

It's soooo hot. Good thing I work inside. :) Although, some days it can get a little sticky at the lab.

Carol and Michelle came over for supper last night before church. It was fun... and I didn't burn anything...

Kary's wedding pictures are online; I'm going to post instructions to view them in the comments. There are lots of them.

Blessings.

Beans and Baling

So we had a busy Saturday. In the morning I cleaned and randomly decided to wash my car, while Bob went to help Uncle Dean at the cabin. Then I headed over to my parents to pick green beans. woot. It also happened to be baling day on the farm. Which I love. Ranks right up there with chicken pickin' day and seed pick up day. :)

Anyway, I picked my beans and got all hot and sweaty and dirty and full of zucchini prickles somehow. Mom and I walked out to the field to watch the baler. Bob came at some point and he and Matt were on the rack. Tate was riding the four wheeler back and fourth to the field all day.



Grandpa was shuttling empty racks to the field and bringing back the full racks.



He let me drive it one time. It was kind of scary because, as you can see, there's no passenger seat and he was perched on the axle next to me and holding on to the seat... and the field was a little rough and bouncy. He was excited because he bought the 60 from my Grandpa Schlipf and he thinks it's cool that both of my grandpas owned the same tractor and that their grandkids still 'use' it. *grin* He also thought Bob and I need a picture in front of it. Please excuse the fact that we're all filthy dirty and I maybe got hot while picking beans and stuck my head under the hose...

Bob and Matt hard at work. Bob had to borrow a hat. Matt is naturally that fashionable. :)

And then I came back to the house and went up in the hay mow to watch. And I helped my mom set up for the best part of baling day- baling lunch! Sandwiches, cold drinks, and ice cream bars for all under the big tree in the front yard.

Good times. And then I went home and blanched and froze beans.... and I think I still need more... woot.

Blessings.

Hey honey...

My coworkers and I went to Steak and Shake for lunch today. We were served by a waitress who insisted on referring to everyone as "Honey" the entire time. "And what would you like, honey? How's everything so far, honey? Can I bring you anything else, honey?" I.DESPISE.BEING.CALLED.HONEY. Especially by total strangers. I got way more than my share working at Lindy's. ("Oh, I don't need a bag/carry out/ receipt, honey.") And Hon. Ick. It's just so irritating when people use terms of endearment for people that they obviously have no affection for or relationship with. What happened to "Miss" or "Ma'am"? *grin* And yes, I realize that I sound like an old lady... although, they are some of the worst offenders.....

Anyway. Happy Friday.

O and in case you were wondering, Bob is not allowed to call me 'Honey' EVER. Or anything except Jenny in public... seriously... I have a name for a reason. :)

The Fourth, Up North

We decided to take advantage of our coinciding three day weekends (woot woot) and go visit Rustin and Sharon and Grace in Minnesota. It was a really fun weekend... I'm so glad we went.

We left work early on Friday and drove... and drove... and drove... haha. Actually, it wasn't too bad and we got there in about 10 hours. And listened to Knife of Dreams the whole way up. Good times.

Saturday morning we got up fairly early and went to the Hancock Firehouse for the pancake and sausage breakfast. They showed us around 'the store' and I got a post office picture. And some funny looks. Imagine that. :)

Grace enjoying her pancakes-

Rustin let us try out his new scooter ("motorcycle," according to Grace)... well... I took it around the garage, Bob took it around town. We had pork sandwiches from Wurstmacher for lunch and then we watched the Fourth of July parade. It was great, although a little hot and sweaty. I didn't even think about sunscreen so I have some lovely burn lines. I liked the marching band a lot... and the community band... and all the fire trucks... hooray for Americana!

Grace had a big bucket for candy and it mostly got filled!

She wasn't impressed by the fire trucks and wouldn't go get the candy they threw because she was scared of the sirens.

After the parade we all went with Sharon to pick up the barricades around town, and then we went back to their house and cooled off. We watched fireworks that night... Grace spent most of the "happy birthday america celebration" in the car under her blanket, silly girl. :)

Not a fan of loud noises....

Church on Sunday was quite enjoyable. I like small churches, and I've never been to Morris North (or Morris) before, so that was cool. They have way better lunches... *grin* I met lots of people that are distant relatives and/or knew my parents, aunts, and uncles. We went to Rustin's parent's for supper and pie and spent the rest of the evening chilling.

Monday morning we left for home, after a really good breakfast. I kind of wanted to stop in Minneapolis and introduce Bob to IKEA; he was nice enough to oblige. That store is so cool. I got a pair of planters, and then Bob really wanted to get a Bonsai tree, so we did. Hopefully I don't kill it; I don't really know anything about Bonsai trees. We ate lunch at the IKEA Cafe and then drove and drove some more. So, in the interest of conserving electricity and all that good stuff, both of our air conditioners were off while we were gone. When we got back it was like walking into an oven... I don't think it's ever been that bad after a trip before. So HOT. It took a looong time for the house to cool down enough to even think about sleeping. I'm still maybe a little bit tired after 12 hours traveling and then not being able to sleep....

Blessings.

Happy Fourth!

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!