Haha, not necessarily together. :D
Monday night I went and talked at the 4-H club meeting... it was really fun, once it was over and I stopped being nervous. Seriously, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders are scary. And some of their parents were there. *grin* Poor Bob, he tried to calm me down... There were a few kids who were doing their demos, so I got to watch them and learned all about making pudgy pies, knitting, making a picture frame, and making cocoa mix. Then it was my turn. Yikes. I talked about the lab a little bit, and about single molecules and polymers and I'm pretty sure I kept talking faster and faster and faster. And then I put on my lab coat and goggles (completely unnecessary, but they make me look smart) and made slime for them. Which I think they liked, the boys kept calling it 'snot'. So lovely. I like playing with the leftovers.
My sort of not stoned drivers license picture is no more... I went to go get it renewed and not only did they make me take the test, they made me take a new picture. While I was there I saw all sorts of people, plus a little dog that was hanging out with the mother of a 16 year old while he took the car on the road test. Inside. um.. ok. And I didn't get lost, which is always a good thing.
So... while I was writing this we had to evacuate the building. woot woot. And spent an hour outside in the beautiful weather while they figured out why the alarm had gone off. And tomorrow is a federal holiday. I love my job.
Blessings.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Monday, November 08, 2010
There are things that I like about fall and winter... the darkness is not one of them. Anyway.
We had a good weekend. Saturday Bob and I raked up some more leaves... woot woot. There's still some on the trees so we'll probably have to do them again. O well. I don't mind a little hard work. We spent the afternoon listening to Trans Siberian Orchestra... it was cool, but very loud and much flashing lights. Bob really liked it; I liked it, but I think I'd rather listen to a CD and not have all the lights and high decibels. My head started to hurt a little bit later while we were eating at Monical's.
Sunday we went to W-ton for a change. It was good to be there... although hearing about how we "never" come gets really old really fast. Such is life I guess, but it doesn't make me all that anxious to visit. I know, I know, it's a bad attitude... but it makes me wonder if they actually like seeing me or just like scolding me. Anyway. And then we went to my parent's to check out the new carpet and for Sunday afternoon snack, which I love. :D
I'm doing a presentation for the 4-H club tonight... I'm kind of nervous.
Blessings.
We had a good weekend. Saturday Bob and I raked up some more leaves... woot woot. There's still some on the trees so we'll probably have to do them again. O well. I don't mind a little hard work. We spent the afternoon listening to Trans Siberian Orchestra... it was cool, but very loud and much flashing lights. Bob really liked it; I liked it, but I think I'd rather listen to a CD and not have all the lights and high decibels. My head started to hurt a little bit later while we were eating at Monical's.
Sunday we went to W-ton for a change. It was good to be there... although hearing about how we "never" come gets really old really fast. Such is life I guess, but it doesn't make me all that anxious to visit. I know, I know, it's a bad attitude... but it makes me wonder if they actually like seeing me or just like scolding me. Anyway. And then we went to my parent's to check out the new carpet and for Sunday afternoon snack, which I love. :D
I'm doing a presentation for the 4-H club tonight... I'm kind of nervous.
Blessings.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Friday
I love Fridays. And Thursdays for whatever reason.
And Christmas. However, I refuse to listen to Christmas music or decorate before December 1st. I'm all about living in the moment, or something like that, since I maybe have already sent my family my birthday list and our Christmas lists. There are only 42 shopping days left.... haha. And I've started my list of ideas of what to get people. Hooray! I love Christmas shopping.
So I was browsing around amazon last night looking for cool possible gift ideas.... and as much as it hurts to admit it, I bought myself a ceramic pilgrim couple. I like it. Me, who always said my mom's were cheesy. I will now sit here sheepishly and contemplate the fact that I ordered pilgrims. :)
Oh, and my little sister has a blog. Go check out her pictures of taking piglets to the south side daycare she volunteers at... mkwyss.blogspot.com
And Christmas. However, I refuse to listen to Christmas music or decorate before December 1st. I'm all about living in the moment, or something like that, since I maybe have already sent my family my birthday list and our Christmas lists. There are only 42 shopping days left.... haha. And I've started my list of ideas of what to get people. Hooray! I love Christmas shopping.
So I was browsing around amazon last night looking for cool possible gift ideas.... and as much as it hurts to admit it, I bought myself a ceramic pilgrim couple. I like it. Me, who always said my mom's were cheesy. I will now sit here sheepishly and contemplate the fact that I ordered pilgrims. :)
Oh, and my little sister has a blog. Go check out her pictures of taking piglets to the south side daycare she volunteers at... mkwyss.blogspot.com
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
We Voted!
Huzzah!
Bob made me wait until after work so we could go together... I suggested we take a camera... he looked at me funny. :)
And then I got to wear two "I voted" stickers for the rest of the night.
Can Chicago just secede already?
Bob made me wait until after work so we could go together... I suggested we take a camera... he looked at me funny. :)
And then I got to wear two "I voted" stickers for the rest of the night.
Can Chicago just secede already?
Monday, November 01, 2010
a series of unfortunate events...
Ok, so the weekend wasn't quite that dramatic. :) It felt like it a few times, though. Thursday evening, we had one couple call to cancel because of a funeral so I tried to call a few people who we don't know very well, or don't see very often, or who don't have kids that they would need to get a last minute babysitter for... yeah, they were all busy. Which is ok, we'll just have rotating potluck with 8 people... and I'll quick come up with a vegetable. (I was already making meat and rice.) And then one couple called to say they had sick kids so we were down to 7 people. Aahh. It ended up being a really fun evening so all was well.
Bob accused me of wanting to host so I have an excuse to buy flowers. He might be partly right. *grin* What can I say? Fall flowers just look so pretty! I did change the water... some of that fall color must be fake!
Saturday morning Bob got up early and went to help on a ACWR roofing project... and I slept... hehe. Actually, I got up before 8 (shocking, I know) and raked leaves. I filled the truck bed twice and there are still a bunch on the trees.
That afternoon I went and watched Derek and Leann's kids for a few hours. I was reminded why I never babysat... It was ok, we played play dough and played in the yard.
I got to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters Saturday night. The swat team told me to "drop the candy and nobody gets hurt." Other than a kid in a costume from Avatar, there weren't very many creative ones this year. And we were down to four pieces of candy so I turned off the light early. Maybe we shouldn't have opened them before Halloween.... hehe.
Grandpa and Grandma Beutel are letting me keep their beautiful geranium in our sun room until it dies... it looks so healthy next to my poor plants that I didn't bring in soon enough.
Bob accused me of wanting to host so I have an excuse to buy flowers. He might be partly right. *grin* What can I say? Fall flowers just look so pretty! I did change the water... some of that fall color must be fake!
Saturday morning Bob got up early and went to help on a ACWR roofing project... and I slept... hehe. Actually, I got up before 8 (shocking, I know) and raked leaves. I filled the truck bed twice and there are still a bunch on the trees.
That afternoon I went and watched Derek and Leann's kids for a few hours. I was reminded why I never babysat... It was ok, we played play dough and played in the yard.
I got to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters Saturday night. The swat team told me to "drop the candy and nobody gets hurt." Other than a kid in a costume from Avatar, there weren't very many creative ones this year. And we were down to four pieces of candy so I turned off the light early. Maybe we shouldn't have opened them before Halloween.... hehe.
Grandpa and Grandma Beutel are letting me keep their beautiful geranium in our sun room until it dies... it looks so healthy next to my poor plants that I didn't bring in soon enough.
Sunday was pretty quiet... except Bob decided he was really hungry for Chinese for supper. I'm not overly fond of Chinese, but Oriental Palace in Pekin has Thai and Japanese food too. So we went there and got excellent service because we were the only customers in the whole place. Which is really kind of weird, but it was fun and the food was good (and fresh).
Blessings.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
This week...
Has been pretty quiet. Other than spending time with Sharon & girls, and avoiding getting ready for potluck we haven't had much going on. :)
Although, Sunday night we braved the storm and went to Steak and Shake for milkshakes. And a Frisco melt. After we ate supper. *grin* This is why I must exercise.
Our leaves need raking badly and it's too dark to see when we get home from work. I was hoping the wind would take care of them... no such luck. At least this year they're dry and crumbly and not heavy and wet like last year.
My car is in the shop today getting an oil change and hopefully getting the annoying whine fixed. Hooray for high mileage cars! I'm just thankful my parents taught me to pay cash for old cars... I'll never spend as much repairing it as I would have spent to buy a brand new car (no debt either!). So I'm driving Bob's Dad's truck. Woot. I like trucks. It makes me miss my Dad's green chevy pickup. That thing was amazing.
Blessings.
Although, Sunday night we braved the storm and went to Steak and Shake for milkshakes. And a Frisco melt. After we ate supper. *grin* This is why I must exercise.
Our leaves need raking badly and it's too dark to see when we get home from work. I was hoping the wind would take care of them... no such luck. At least this year they're dry and crumbly and not heavy and wet like last year.
My car is in the shop today getting an oil change and hopefully getting the annoying whine fixed. Hooray for high mileage cars! I'm just thankful my parents taught me to pay cash for old cars... I'll never spend as much repairing it as I would have spent to buy a brand new car (no debt either!). So I'm driving Bob's Dad's truck. Woot. I like trucks. It makes me miss my Dad's green chevy pickup. That thing was amazing.
Blessings.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Whole Egg Country
So I was cleaning out some old files on my lappy... we had a big project in High School to research our family trees and learn about our heritages... this was part of my project. Frederika was my great-great-grandma, and Kari was my great-grandma who raised 14 children and lived on a dairy farm in Lester, Iowa.
Frederika Knoblock woke up to the smell of eggs frying that morning. For a moment she couldn’t remember where she was. Then it all began to come back: the months of planning and packing, and the tearful good-byes when the day finally came to board the ship for America. She had been reluctant to leave Germany, even though her husband Wilhelm could hardly keep enough food on the table. She had been an expert at making food stretch as far as possible to keep her seven children fed. They even had to share their breakfast eggs because farming had gotten so bad.
Wilhelm jumped at the chance when her brother, who was already in the United States, offered to sponsor them so they could start over in America. Her brother bought 80 acres and it was waiting for them in Iowa. They had left early in 1889 to start their new life. The thirteen days on the boat had been crowded and cramped and there weren’t enough beds for their entire family. Her darling two-year old Karoline had slept in the top of a trunk on the way over. She looked over to the bed on the floor where little Kari was still sleeping peacefully. She hoped that she would have a better life here.
All too soon it was time to get up for breakfast. She woke her children and they all went down to the table. She couldn’t believe all the fresh food. She began to help her sister-in-law dish out the food. Out of habit she cut several eggs in half for her children. Her brother couldn’t believe what she was doing. He told her to give every one of her children a whole egg, even little Kari, because “America is a whole egg country!” Frederika could hardly believe it. A whole egg for everyone in the family! There would be no need for her food stretching skills here. What a story she would tell to the people back home and to her grandchildren and maybe their grandchildren would hear it too.
Frederika Knoblock woke up to the smell of eggs frying that morning. For a moment she couldn’t remember where she was. Then it all began to come back: the months of planning and packing, and the tearful good-byes when the day finally came to board the ship for America. She had been reluctant to leave Germany, even though her husband Wilhelm could hardly keep enough food on the table. She had been an expert at making food stretch as far as possible to keep her seven children fed. They even had to share their breakfast eggs because farming had gotten so bad.
Wilhelm jumped at the chance when her brother, who was already in the United States, offered to sponsor them so they could start over in America. Her brother bought 80 acres and it was waiting for them in Iowa. They had left early in 1889 to start their new life. The thirteen days on the boat had been crowded and cramped and there weren’t enough beds for their entire family. Her darling two-year old Karoline had slept in the top of a trunk on the way over. She looked over to the bed on the floor where little Kari was still sleeping peacefully. She hoped that she would have a better life here.
All too soon it was time to get up for breakfast. She woke her children and they all went down to the table. She couldn’t believe all the fresh food. She began to help her sister-in-law dish out the food. Out of habit she cut several eggs in half for her children. Her brother couldn’t believe what she was doing. He told her to give every one of her children a whole egg, even little Kari, because “America is a whole egg country!” Frederika could hardly believe it. A whole egg for everyone in the family! There would be no need for her food stretching skills here. What a story she would tell to the people back home and to her grandchildren and maybe their grandchildren would hear it too.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Shoe Boxes
Right now we have a little bit of Christmas stacked in a corner at our house. *grin* I like it. And I'm not even that anxious for Christmas to be here.
Our potluck spent Thursday evening wrapping and filling shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. (National collection week is coming up!) It was a lot of fun. We all brought stuff to fill the boxes so we had a whole table full of loot to divide up. Blake and Kris were there- it's always good to see them.
Then after we got done with the Christmas stuff, we bobbed for apples and ate pumpkin bars and fresh salsa and caramel dip. Hooray for fall!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. O. wait. Never mind. :)
Blessings.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Some days...
I have a degree in Chemistry. Today, I moved a refrigerator.
In other news, I finally got to go eat lunch with my little sister Dalaysia. She said she had a good summer. She also said I was "giggly." um... Not sure that's ever been used to describe me before. :) It was fun to be back in a grade school again.... especially since her school is probably about as old as mine was. Old buildings are just awesome in general. She showed me all of her silly bandz... I am so out of the 4th grade loop!
Blessings.
In other news, I finally got to go eat lunch with my little sister Dalaysia. She said she had a good summer. She also said I was "giggly." um... Not sure that's ever been used to describe me before. :) It was fun to be back in a grade school again.... especially since her school is probably about as old as mine was. Old buildings are just awesome in general. She showed me all of her silly bandz... I am so out of the 4th grade loop!
Blessings.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Pumpkins and Mums
I have a confession to make. I don't really like mums. *gasp* I know. I like chrysanthemums of all kinds but "fall mums" just don't do much for me. To orangey and yellowy and well, too Fall. But I bought one anyway because my geranium looked too summery. I don't really like geraniums either, but they're kind of quintessentially summer and they're easy to keep alive so... yeah.
Anyway.
We had another pretty busy weekend. Rustin and Sharon and Grace and Eden were here for the Pork chop fry so we spent Friday evening with them. Saturday I went to quilt club and made jello for the pork chop fry. Bob went to the Pumpkin chucking thing with Rustin and his Dad... I wasn't too sad to miss it to do other things. :) And then we went to the famous Koch pork chop fry in the evening. woot woot. The weather was great and the food was good. And it wasn't very windy so we didn't come home smelling like smoke! hooray! Bob was still really stuffed up from being outside all day. Oh, and we got to bring home a pumpkin! The winner already had pumpkins at home and we were sitting by them. Score. I'm excited.
My cousin Clayton spent the night with us Saturday night. I don't get to see much of him anymore... he came to church with us and then we had to rush to get him back to work on time. It was good to have him here and get caught up... he's um, not exactly putting first things first right now, say a prayer if you think of it.
And then we relaxed and enjoyed the sabbath...
Blessings.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Lovely weekend
This past weekend was great. And nice and long. Hooray for Columbus Day and for other pointless government holidays that everyone else ignores! I love them. Anyway. So Friday evening I had a bad headache and Bob wasn't feeling real great so we stayed home and were total bums.
I slept till I woke up on Saturday, which was amazing and I felt ten times better. We went and dropped part of Bob's new computer (it came broken) at the UPS store and did some other stuff and ate breakfast for lunch at Bob Evan's... I think we were the youngest people in there... fun times. :)
When we got home I cleaned and stuff.... woot... and then since I missed going to Apple River and stopping at Tanners for Apple Cider Donuts, I made some. I found a pretty easy recipe here. I had some problems flipping them in the oil so I ended up with a lot of pieces of donuts and a few whole donuts. And donut holes! They tasted really good. Of course, what doesn't taste good dredged in sugar and cinnamon?
Merrily frying away...
They were sooooo good warm. *sigh* I think I'm going to need to get more exercise....
So then Sunday we went to Champaign for Alan and Natalie's wedding. It was such a great day. Good to see people, and be in Champaign again, and the wedding was very sweet. I'm just so excited for her! And she looked adorable, and the reception was really cute, and they served IBC Root Beer (which we love). *grin*
Dave and June had a family wiener roast that night. The weather was beautiful. We didn't stay very late because Bob had to get up super early (4:30ish) for work. And I had to get up super early (8ish) to go shopping. It's a rough life, I know.
Mom and Shelly and I drove up to Woodfield Mall for the day... well, I drove, it's generally less stressful for all of us that way. :) We took their new pretty blue van, which was really fun to drive in city traffic. Anyway, it was lots of fun. They've got pretty much all of my favorite stores and then some. We were all practically drooling over the cool stuff at Anthropology. If anybody is wondering what I want for my birthday/Christmas... they have the coolest aprons ever. But then we had to come home... and we got stuck in construction traffic and Shelly had the hiccups.
There were roses waiting for me... for no particular reason. Bob's pretty much the best. He's even letting me help him build his new computer. I got to install the CPU last night. I feel very nerdy. :D
Blessings.
I slept till I woke up on Saturday, which was amazing and I felt ten times better. We went and dropped part of Bob's new computer (it came broken) at the UPS store and did some other stuff and ate breakfast for lunch at Bob Evan's... I think we were the youngest people in there... fun times. :)
When we got home I cleaned and stuff.... woot... and then since I missed going to Apple River and stopping at Tanners for Apple Cider Donuts, I made some. I found a pretty easy recipe here. I had some problems flipping them in the oil so I ended up with a lot of pieces of donuts and a few whole donuts. And donut holes! They tasted really good. Of course, what doesn't taste good dredged in sugar and cinnamon?
Merrily frying away...
They were sooooo good warm. *sigh* I think I'm going to need to get more exercise....
So then Sunday we went to Champaign for Alan and Natalie's wedding. It was such a great day. Good to see people, and be in Champaign again, and the wedding was very sweet. I'm just so excited for her! And she looked adorable, and the reception was really cute, and they served IBC Root Beer (which we love). *grin*
Dave and June had a family wiener roast that night. The weather was beautiful. We didn't stay very late because Bob had to get up super early (4:30ish) for work. And I had to get up super early (8ish) to go shopping. It's a rough life, I know.
Mom and Shelly and I drove up to Woodfield Mall for the day... well, I drove, it's generally less stressful for all of us that way. :) We took their new pretty blue van, which was really fun to drive in city traffic. Anyway, it was lots of fun. They've got pretty much all of my favorite stores and then some. We were all practically drooling over the cool stuff at Anthropology. If anybody is wondering what I want for my birthday/Christmas... they have the coolest aprons ever. But then we had to come home... and we got stuck in construction traffic and Shelly had the hiccups.
There were roses waiting for me... for no particular reason. Bob's pretty much the best. He's even letting me help him build his new computer. I got to install the CPU last night. I feel very nerdy. :D
Blessings.
Friday, October 08, 2010
whirlwind
Last night I went down to Champaign... it has been a very very long time since I've had a chance to go just to hang out. It was a little bit of a whirlwind- I think I'm getting old. Good times.
My first stop was at Mark and Ashley's... it was good to see them and Reuben... then I quick stopped at Susan's apartment because I hadn't been there before. They live upstairs in a cool old house in the middle of all of the lush Urbana foliage. I liked it a lot.
I ate supper at the Saltshaker... Jakey was cooking. ERN had invited himself over, but he didn't show. (bummer- haha) They made bbq... woot. It was fun to be there again, although I am slightly disappointed in Jake that he hasn't skipped a class yet. I mean, seriously, what is he doing with his time?
Then I headed over to the Dojo to see Amber and Sarah. We chilled for a while and then we went to Cocomero for frozen yogurt. It's self serve so I tried chocolate, raspberry, and strawberry- so good. After that, we headed back to Urbana to Rachel's apartment to hang out with the UIYG. (Yes, I was all over town last night) I just love that group, most of the faces are different, but somehow it's still very much the same. Definitely a blessing to get to hang out with them again.
So then I had to go home... after driving past 709 and stopping for a polar pop. hehe. Old habits die hard. It was late and I was tired. And I have a bit of a headache today. It was worth it though!
Blessings.
My first stop was at Mark and Ashley's... it was good to see them and Reuben... then I quick stopped at Susan's apartment because I hadn't been there before. They live upstairs in a cool old house in the middle of all of the lush Urbana foliage. I liked it a lot.
I ate supper at the Saltshaker... Jakey was cooking. ERN had invited himself over, but he didn't show. (bummer- haha) They made bbq... woot. It was fun to be there again, although I am slightly disappointed in Jake that he hasn't skipped a class yet. I mean, seriously, what is he doing with his time?
Then I headed over to the Dojo to see Amber and Sarah. We chilled for a while and then we went to Cocomero for frozen yogurt. It's self serve so I tried chocolate, raspberry, and strawberry- so good. After that, we headed back to Urbana to Rachel's apartment to hang out with the UIYG. (Yes, I was all over town last night) I just love that group, most of the faces are different, but somehow it's still very much the same. Definitely a blessing to get to hang out with them again.
So then I had to go home... after driving past 709 and stopping for a polar pop. hehe. Old habits die hard. It was late and I was tired. And I have a bit of a headache today. It was worth it though!
Blessings.
Thursday, October 07, 2010
The best laid plans
I was expecting to have a very quiet week this week, literally. Bob had training scheduled on second shift... so I would have been all by my lonesome... woe is me. Anyway, so I had it all planned out so I wouldn't get too bored or freaked out in our quiet house; Monday night I kept myself busy with canning apple pie filling and laundry and facebook. And Tuesday I was in the middle of browning sausage for the freezer and making a casserole when Bob called to say he was done with training and coming home with a pizza. A very large pizza. A stuffed take-and-bake pizza. At 8 o'clock at night. We didn't eat all of it. :)
Wednesday Carol had invited me for supper, and she graciously let Bob come too since he wasn't at work. :) It was fun to see her house, and she made us a really good supper.
So yeah, my grand plans for getting all kinds of things done got a little derailed... but... I don't really mind that much.
Blessings.
Wednesday Carol had invited me for supper, and she graciously let Bob come too since he wasn't at work. :) It was fun to see her house, and she made us a really good supper.
So yeah, my grand plans for getting all kinds of things done got a little derailed... but... I don't really mind that much.
Blessings.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Fall
I'm so not ready for cold weather. mur. But, it does make me hungry for apple cider donuts and hot apples over ice cream. None of this pumpkin stuff. :)
Last Thursday we went to rotating potluck at Jim and Rachel's. It was great fun.
Friday night we went to my parents for supper since it's been ages. Bob and my siblings climbed the new grain leg. I did not, I prefer solid ground to ladders and small platforms on 110ft towers. It was probably good I was on the ground because I found a sick opossum and raised the alarm... Dad and Troy speedily dispatched it. Grandpa gave us a short combine ride... short because the tank was almost overflowing and he was quitting for the night. *sigh* And then we had milkshakes.
We had to get up early Saturday morning to go sing for a funeral. It's been awhile, since I'm usually at work during the day. I tried especially hard to blend with my fellow sopranos.... my Grandma wanted men to sing lead at her funeral because she wasn't fond of how the sopranos sounded. *grin* I miss her. And then we were bums for the rest of the day... well, kind of. I cleaned and stuff.
Sunday was really nice and quiet too... hooray!
Blessings.
Last Thursday we went to rotating potluck at Jim and Rachel's. It was great fun.
Friday night we went to my parents for supper since it's been ages. Bob and my siblings climbed the new grain leg. I did not, I prefer solid ground to ladders and small platforms on 110ft towers. It was probably good I was on the ground because I found a sick opossum and raised the alarm... Dad and Troy speedily dispatched it. Grandpa gave us a short combine ride... short because the tank was almost overflowing and he was quitting for the night. *sigh* And then we had milkshakes.
We had to get up early Saturday morning to go sing for a funeral. It's been awhile, since I'm usually at work during the day. I tried especially hard to blend with my fellow sopranos.... my Grandma wanted men to sing lead at her funeral because she wasn't fond of how the sopranos sounded. *grin* I miss her. And then we were bums for the rest of the day... well, kind of. I cleaned and stuff.
Sunday was really nice and quiet too... hooray!
Blessings.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
For Karen-
This is my new "wall art." And some flowers from my flower beds. They always start blooming again when it cools down in the fall, which I love.
It's next to impossible to find square frames for cheap (or at all)... The only ones I saw were black and they were on sale so I spray painted them white. I like it. It goes with my apron curtains and random other vintage kitchen paraphernalia. :)
Blessings.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
I need suggestions
For books to read. I've pretty much finally made it through all of Bob's books... and mine... and there are still two and a half months until Christmas. (Which means new books!)
I just read 'Riders of the Purple Sage' and tried to read 'The Last of the Plainsmen' by Zane Grey. I wasn't impressed. Maybe I was expecting them to be more like Louis L'Amour books, but yeah, how was he famous? He does description really well, but I kind of just wanted to slap the girl upside the face in 'Riders of the Purple Sage.' The other one was boring. :)
Anyway, we had a nice quiet weekend for a change. It was heavenly. I went to a few garage sales on Saturday, and actually found what I was looking for! We don't really need anything and our house is full, but I couldn't resist a cool milk glass vase... and some old handkerchiefs. My big project for the rest of the weekend was framing them with two I got from my Grandmas. I hung them over the kitchen table.
Blessings.
I just read 'Riders of the Purple Sage' and tried to read 'The Last of the Plainsmen' by Zane Grey. I wasn't impressed. Maybe I was expecting them to be more like Louis L'Amour books, but yeah, how was he famous? He does description really well, but I kind of just wanted to slap the girl upside the face in 'Riders of the Purple Sage.' The other one was boring. :)
Anyway, we had a nice quiet weekend for a change. It was heavenly. I went to a few garage sales on Saturday, and actually found what I was looking for! We don't really need anything and our house is full, but I couldn't resist a cool milk glass vase... and some old handkerchiefs. My big project for the rest of the weekend was framing them with two I got from my Grandmas. I hung them over the kitchen table.
Blessings.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Water Woes
Bob called me Monday to tell me that we had a leaking pipe in the crawlspace... um..um... but, we're having people over on Tuesday! So, he shut the water off and called K and K. Who were in Indy. (And having a hard time getting home- what a Monday for them!) But they thought they'd make it back early enough to come look at it... so we got Subway for supper. I asked Bob if it could be tradition when we don't have water and he looked at me funny. He obviously didn't grow up in a third generation farm house with not up to code plumbing or electric and sharing utilities with the pigs.
Monday is laundry day and it desperately needed doing, so I went over to Bob's parent's after supper to borrow their washing machine and shower. It was after 9 when I got back and K and K had had more issues so.... still no water. Eventually, they decided to turn our water back on and just let it drip until morning. And it was fixed when I got home from work on Tuesday. Hooray for good landlords! And hooray for renting! I was not sad we didn't have to deal with it.
So thankfully we still got to have Luke & Heidi and Mike & Katie for supper Tuesday night. It was good to see them all again. And considering that we've been married over a year and hadn't had them over yet, it was about time. :) I didn't burn anything, so that was good. And we had plenty to drink.
Blessings.
Monday is laundry day and it desperately needed doing, so I went over to Bob's parent's after supper to borrow their washing machine and shower. It was after 9 when I got back and K and K had had more issues so.... still no water. Eventually, they decided to turn our water back on and just let it drip until morning. And it was fixed when I got home from work on Tuesday. Hooray for good landlords! And hooray for renting! I was not sad we didn't have to deal with it.
So thankfully we still got to have Luke & Heidi and Mike & Katie for supper Tuesday night. It was good to see them all again. And considering that we've been married over a year and hadn't had them over yet, it was about time. :) I didn't burn anything, so that was good. And we had plenty to drink.
Blessings.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
I'm gonna pitch me a tent, won't have to pay any rent
Today's the day I'm going camping! Name that tune...
Anyway. So last Friday night we packed up and headed out into the wilds of Spring Lake. (Seriously, south of pekin, need I say more?) We met Dale, Meg and Maria, John, Mike, and Kevin at the campground.
Maria's such a good little camper.
We had a pretty gourmet supper: hot sandwiches, sauteed peppers and onions, soup, fried apples, pudgy pies and cookies all over the fire.
Kevin brought his ukulele and serenaded us with 1920's love songs after we ate. It was dark so I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately.
There was a nice soft carpet of pine needles on the ground, plus we had our foam pads and Dad's thermarest mattresses; we slept very well. We had egg sandwiches for breakfast and cinnamon rolls warmed up over the fire. Yum. Everything tastes better outside.
We decided to get everything cleaned up and packed up after breakfast before we went exploring, which turned out to be a good thing since it started raining. I hate dealing with wet tents and camping gear and was very glad it was all safely in the car.
It's dove season so a lot of the trails were closed for hunting and we were walking down the road to check out the lake when it started pouring. Well, it started out as a drizzle and then it poured. We took shelter under a tree (I know, I know, still not safe in a storm but it kept the worst of the rain off) until it let up a little bit. Hooray for walking in the rain. I don't think the drowned rat look is a good look for either of us. Oh, and Bob did finally get his hair cut yesterday. :)
Maria looked like she was enjoying the rain...
One brief glimpse of Spring Lake
Dale and Meg bought a new piano that they needed to pick up farther south along the river, so after the rain passed and we dried out a little we went with them to load it up. Meg and I watched.
And then we came home and unpacked and got cleaned up and went to potluck. Which was great fun as always. Good times.
Anyway. So last Friday night we packed up and headed out into the wilds of Spring Lake. (Seriously, south of pekin, need I say more?) We met Dale, Meg and Maria, John, Mike, and Kevin at the campground.
Maria's such a good little camper.
We had a pretty gourmet supper: hot sandwiches, sauteed peppers and onions, soup, fried apples, pudgy pies and cookies all over the fire.
Kevin brought his ukulele and serenaded us with 1920's love songs after we ate. It was dark so I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately.
There was a nice soft carpet of pine needles on the ground, plus we had our foam pads and Dad's thermarest mattresses; we slept very well. We had egg sandwiches for breakfast and cinnamon rolls warmed up over the fire. Yum. Everything tastes better outside.
We decided to get everything cleaned up and packed up after breakfast before we went exploring, which turned out to be a good thing since it started raining. I hate dealing with wet tents and camping gear and was very glad it was all safely in the car.
It's dove season so a lot of the trails were closed for hunting and we were walking down the road to check out the lake when it started pouring. Well, it started out as a drizzle and then it poured. We took shelter under a tree (I know, I know, still not safe in a storm but it kept the worst of the rain off) until it let up a little bit. Hooray for walking in the rain. I don't think the drowned rat look is a good look for either of us. Oh, and Bob did finally get his hair cut yesterday. :)
Maria looked like she was enjoying the rain...
One brief glimpse of Spring Lake
Dale and Meg bought a new piano that they needed to pick up farther south along the river, so after the rain passed and we dried out a little we went with them to load it up. Meg and I watched.
And then we came home and unpacked and got cleaned up and went to potluck. Which was great fun as always. Good times.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Pincushion
I have so many mosquito bites on my legs, some from camping this weekend, some from being out in our backyard. They're driving me crazy. Specially since every time I walk anywhere my skirt rubs them and makes them itch even more. woot.
Nasty creatures. I wouldn't mind a little bit cooler weather so they go away.
Nasty creatures. I wouldn't mind a little bit cooler weather so they go away.
Friday, September 17, 2010
*tsk*
How did I manage to register for a melon baller and not for a pastry wheel??
I did use my melon baller last night so as not to waste the last of the watermelon. So good.
I did use my melon baller last night so as not to waste the last of the watermelon. So good.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Fir and Festivities
Um... I seem to only blog about my weekends. Sorry. That's kind of my focus when there really isn't anything exciting going on during the week (which I love). Other than Bob killing a massive spider on the wall.
At work today I was feeling slightly mischievous... there have been two filing cabinets sitting in our hallway for a few weeks. They don't belong to anyone, and nobody knows why they're there... they are up on wheels for moving. It was really bugging some of the more concrete sequential scientists, plus they were in the way and a safety hazard... anyway, my coworker and I turned them perpendicular to the hallway on either side with about 5 feet in between. So to walk down the hallway you had to walk to the left and then back to the right around them like a maze. Hehe. So funny. They're gone now. I don't know who removed them.
So yeah, we kept busy again this weekend again. Saturday afternoon Bob, young Matt and I went to Grandpa and Grandma K's to trim their bushes. They trimmed, I raked. Not my favorite job in the world... at least it smelled like Christmas with all the cut evergreens! And it looks pretty nice from the road.
One of our friends from U of I got married on Sunday in Taylor, so the plan was to get up early and ride down with Dale, Meg, Maria, and Matt. Yeah, so I was up and ready to go and Bob started feeling sick.... um.... lovely. I must confess I do not deal well with how often Bob's not feeling good, he's always got allergies and all sorts of other ailments. And I rarely get anything that a little tylenol and some rest won't fix. (Today I was trying to convince myself I didn't feel good so I wouldn't have to get up and go to work... didn't work, I'm totally fine.) Poor guy, he doesn't get a whole lot of sympathy from me, mostly just frustration. Anyway, they ended up leaving without us.
Thankfully, he was feeling better enough to leave in time to make it for the wedding, so we did get to go. It was a really pretty Sunday morning drive, the leaves are just starting to turn and it was sunny and the sky was blue. There were lots of dead skunks by the road. ick. The wedding was really nice, it was good to be there and Matthew and Alicia were quite cute. Scott was there too... the 4th weekend in five that we've seen him, which is awesome. *grin*
Matt rode back with us after the reception. Good times.
Blessings.
At work today I was feeling slightly mischievous... there have been two filing cabinets sitting in our hallway for a few weeks. They don't belong to anyone, and nobody knows why they're there... they are up on wheels for moving. It was really bugging some of the more concrete sequential scientists, plus they were in the way and a safety hazard... anyway, my coworker and I turned them perpendicular to the hallway on either side with about 5 feet in between. So to walk down the hallway you had to walk to the left and then back to the right around them like a maze. Hehe. So funny. They're gone now. I don't know who removed them.
So yeah, we kept busy again this weekend again. Saturday afternoon Bob, young Matt and I went to Grandpa and Grandma K's to trim their bushes. They trimmed, I raked. Not my favorite job in the world... at least it smelled like Christmas with all the cut evergreens! And it looks pretty nice from the road.
One of our friends from U of I got married on Sunday in Taylor, so the plan was to get up early and ride down with Dale, Meg, Maria, and Matt. Yeah, so I was up and ready to go and Bob started feeling sick.... um.... lovely. I must confess I do not deal well with how often Bob's not feeling good, he's always got allergies and all sorts of other ailments. And I rarely get anything that a little tylenol and some rest won't fix. (Today I was trying to convince myself I didn't feel good so I wouldn't have to get up and go to work... didn't work, I'm totally fine.) Poor guy, he doesn't get a whole lot of sympathy from me, mostly just frustration. Anyway, they ended up leaving without us.
Thankfully, he was feeling better enough to leave in time to make it for the wedding, so we did get to go. It was a really pretty Sunday morning drive, the leaves are just starting to turn and it was sunny and the sky was blue. There were lots of dead skunks by the road. ick. The wedding was really nice, it was good to be there and Matthew and Alicia were quite cute. Scott was there too... the 4th weekend in five that we've seen him, which is awesome. *grin*
Matt rode back with us after the reception. Good times.
Blessings.
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Labor Day Camping
So, we camped out last weekend with our potluck. It was great fun and super relaxing, which I love. Here is our tent on Friday night:
We were a little bit worried it would smell a lot like boys since Matt took it to Wabakimi a few weeks ago. (and you must get a starry look in your eye every time you say it, plus a ghostly echo: "Wabakimi-imi-imi") Thankfully, it just smelled like camping.
We were right next to Greg, Mary, Max and Nora... good thing we both sleep soundly and didn't hear the kids at all! This is Dale, Meg and Maria's little tent and Brent, Janelle, and Londyn's mansion. :)
Relaxing by the fire:
Max busy eating his supper. He had the cutest pajamas; a little King of the Wild Things sleeper. It was so funny to see him in it running around the fire... it was too dark for pictures, but it was adorable.
Saturday morning the guys made breakfast. Bob fried up the bacon. They made eggs, biscuits, and gravy also so we could build our own Stacks.
This picture is funny... Janelle was heating Londyn's bottle in hot water heated over the fire... I think Max or Nora just fell off a chair which is why Mary and Meg's expressions are so great, and Maria is very blissfully unaware.
Dale spent most of Saturday smoking meat for supper. It turned out fabulous.
Bob and I had to go home for a little bit to mow the lawn and I needed to clean desperately. And then we went back out and relaxed some more. They have a really great sandbox that all of the boys enjoyed playing in. :)
We all went home Saturday night and then came back out after church on Sunday. Bob and I went exploring with Dale, Meg and Maria down to Mud Creek. Us girls went wading, which I love. And Bob taught Maria how to look for worms under rocks. She liked the sand box too.
Then we sat around the fire and cooked our suppers and relaxed some more... and then we went home. Good times. Much laundry.
We were a little bit worried it would smell a lot like boys since Matt took it to Wabakimi a few weeks ago. (and you must get a starry look in your eye every time you say it, plus a ghostly echo: "Wabakimi-imi-imi") Thankfully, it just smelled like camping.
We were right next to Greg, Mary, Max and Nora... good thing we both sleep soundly and didn't hear the kids at all! This is Dale, Meg and Maria's little tent and Brent, Janelle, and Londyn's mansion. :)
Relaxing by the fire:
Max busy eating his supper. He had the cutest pajamas; a little King of the Wild Things sleeper. It was so funny to see him in it running around the fire... it was too dark for pictures, but it was adorable.
Saturday morning the guys made breakfast. Bob fried up the bacon. They made eggs, biscuits, and gravy also so we could build our own Stacks.
This picture is funny... Janelle was heating Londyn's bottle in hot water heated over the fire... I think Max or Nora just fell off a chair which is why Mary and Meg's expressions are so great, and Maria is very blissfully unaware.
Dale spent most of Saturday smoking meat for supper. It turned out fabulous.
Bob and I had to go home for a little bit to mow the lawn and I needed to clean desperately. And then we went back out and relaxed some more. They have a really great sandbox that all of the boys enjoyed playing in. :)
We all went home Saturday night and then came back out after church on Sunday. Bob and I went exploring with Dale, Meg and Maria down to Mud Creek. Us girls went wading, which I love. And Bob taught Maria how to look for worms under rocks. She liked the sand box too.
Then we sat around the fire and cooked our suppers and relaxed some more... and then we went home. Good times. Much laundry.
On Monday I got up and finally gave the front door a second coat of paint. Then I went shopping. Then I came home and did lots of laundry. woot. I also attempted to grill pizza, which turned out ok, but it would have been a lot easier with more grease on the grate and oil on the crust. There was some stickage and burnage but overall it tasted pretty good. Not sure if it was that much more incredible that it makes it worth it to not just use the oven...
Blessings.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Poetry amazing-ness
Something random I learned the other day- any poem in ballad meter can be sung to the tune of the Gilligan's Island theme. Therefore, you can sing Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death-" to the tune of Gilligan's Island. Along with "Amazing Grace" and "The House of the Rising Sun." (And vice versa) You know you want to look up the words and try it right now... *grin*
Because I could not stop for Death-
He kindly stopped for me-
The Carriage held but just Ourselves-
And immortality.
Kind of changes the tone of the poem.... but O, tis fun!
Our labor day weekend was good, but my pictures are still on the camera... wait for it...
Blessings.
Because I could not stop for Death-
He kindly stopped for me-
The Carriage held but just Ourselves-
And immortality.
Kind of changes the tone of the poem.... but O, tis fun!
Our labor day weekend was good, but my pictures are still on the camera... wait for it...
Blessings.
Friday, September 03, 2010
Man may work from sun to sun
But woman's work is never done.
I'm feeling it. And I'm really looking forward to this weekend and hopefully just relaxing. I got a bucket of tomatoes from mom and got them all pureed on Tuesday. I made sauce with about a third of them, and waited until yesterday to cook up the rest of them. I'm at 31 pints.... not sure if I should do more or not. We'd probably eat it if I made it- I love all things Italian and homemade sauce is better than from the store. It just takes so much time that I don't have and I end up trying to scrub little drips of tomato sauce out of the carpet.... note to self: carpet in the kitchen is not a good idea for someone as messy as me.... not to mention slightly unsanitary... not that the unsanitary part bothers me all that much *grin*.
Anyway, so last night I was busy with tomato sauce, supper, getting food made for the weekend, and getting all our stuff together and ready to go. Yeah. I was tired. Some days, ok most days, I have two full time jobs. woot.
Life is good though.
Blessings.
I'm feeling it. And I'm really looking forward to this weekend and hopefully just relaxing. I got a bucket of tomatoes from mom and got them all pureed on Tuesday. I made sauce with about a third of them, and waited until yesterday to cook up the rest of them. I'm at 31 pints.... not sure if I should do more or not. We'd probably eat it if I made it- I love all things Italian and homemade sauce is better than from the store. It just takes so much time that I don't have and I end up trying to scrub little drips of tomato sauce out of the carpet.... note to self: carpet in the kitchen is not a good idea for someone as messy as me.... not to mention slightly unsanitary... not that the unsanitary part bothers me all that much *grin*.
Anyway, so last night I was busy with tomato sauce, supper, getting food made for the weekend, and getting all our stuff together and ready to go. Yeah. I was tired. Some days, ok most days, I have two full time jobs. woot.
Life is good though.
Blessings.
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Road Goes Ever On
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
So we went to Kansas City for the weekend. It was a blessing.
We left Friday after work so it was after 11 when we got to Brett and Laura's. I drove some on the way there... Bob just got a power converter and he was busy 'modding' on my lappy... but then I got tired and made him drive the rest of the way. I love the open road, it makes me happy. And there is only about nine miles of two lane left on 36! Happy, happy day! We haven't been to KC in over a year so that was a very pleasant surprise.
Saturday morning we slept in. It was so nice and quiet and cool.... so great. Laura, Carol, Dianne, and Joni went shopping instead of being lazy like me... grin. We ate brunch and then went to a park with Brett and Bryce and threw frisbees and swung on the swings. Bryce wanted "underdoggies"... yeah, I'm always afraid the kid's going to kick me in the head or something so my attempts were a little half-hearted. And then we all went back to B and L's house and played a game until it was time for church.
They had jackstack for supper and it was amazing as always. The ordination service for Randy was good- the second one I've been to this year, which is kind of weird. It was good to see Karen and Randy and the boys. And all their kids. Laura told us a hilarious story later that night about Kami's underwear falling in the toilet somehow... o my... it seems there will be a whole new generation of funny k-berger stories!
It's so nice that church starts later out there... grin. Church was really full Sunday. Afterwards, we stopped at Karen's to change and then left for home. It took us just over 6 hours (woot woot!). I was freaking out for a little bit because my car was acting really funny and I was pretty sure we were going to end up stranded in Missouri (since there were only four other IL cars going back too...) but it was fine after we stopped for gas and let it sit for a minute. Hopefully it doesn't happen again.
Anyway, so it was 10ish when we got back and our house was hot. *sigh* And I had to make lunches and unpack. Ugh. It was late before it was cool enough to sleep, and I didn't sleep super soundly. I did not want to get up this morning, but I've survived so far today!
Blessings.
The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let other follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
So we went to Kansas City for the weekend. It was a blessing.
We left Friday after work so it was after 11 when we got to Brett and Laura's. I drove some on the way there... Bob just got a power converter and he was busy 'modding' on my lappy... but then I got tired and made him drive the rest of the way. I love the open road, it makes me happy. And there is only about nine miles of two lane left on 36! Happy, happy day! We haven't been to KC in over a year so that was a very pleasant surprise.
Saturday morning we slept in. It was so nice and quiet and cool.... so great. Laura, Carol, Dianne, and Joni went shopping instead of being lazy like me... grin. We ate brunch and then went to a park with Brett and Bryce and threw frisbees and swung on the swings. Bryce wanted "underdoggies"... yeah, I'm always afraid the kid's going to kick me in the head or something so my attempts were a little half-hearted. And then we all went back to B and L's house and played a game until it was time for church.
They had jackstack for supper and it was amazing as always. The ordination service for Randy was good- the second one I've been to this year, which is kind of weird. It was good to see Karen and Randy and the boys. And all their kids. Laura told us a hilarious story later that night about Kami's underwear falling in the toilet somehow... o my... it seems there will be a whole new generation of funny k-berger stories!
It's so nice that church starts later out there... grin. Church was really full Sunday. Afterwards, we stopped at Karen's to change and then left for home. It took us just over 6 hours (woot woot!). I was freaking out for a little bit because my car was acting really funny and I was pretty sure we were going to end up stranded in Missouri (since there were only four other IL cars going back too...) but it was fine after we stopped for gas and let it sit for a minute. Hopefully it doesn't happen again.
Anyway, so it was 10ish when we got back and our house was hot. *sigh* And I had to make lunches and unpack. Ugh. It was late before it was cool enough to sleep, and I didn't sleep super soundly. I did not want to get up this morning, but I've survived so far today!
Blessings.
The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let other follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Late summer randomness
These are the two cool hanging planters I got at Ikea. I had some herbs in them, but they promptly died. I don't think they got quite enough light... so now I have some lower light tolerant houseplants in them. Please ignore the mess on the porch...
I have a few peppers! Yay!
Pretty much all that's left in my garden: tomatoes, peppers, and some herbs.
My lantanas are doing great! They're supposed to be pretty drought tolerant, and they seem to handle the part shade well.
The horrid rabbits ate all of my pansies. All of them. So they aren't in this picture, but I did have lots of snapdragons and zinnias and a few day lilies. I think the tree grew because it's definitely more shady back there than last year!
I canned pears Monday. Woot woot. Only about 10 pints, but it took forever. I am not a fast pear peeler. I love summer. And freshly canned produce. Although, it makes for really long days when I don't start until after work and after supper....
I have a few peppers! Yay!
Pretty much all that's left in my garden: tomatoes, peppers, and some herbs.
My lantanas are doing great! They're supposed to be pretty drought tolerant, and they seem to handle the part shade well.
The horrid rabbits ate all of my pansies. All of them. So they aren't in this picture, but I did have lots of snapdragons and zinnias and a few day lilies. I think the tree grew because it's definitely more shady back there than last year!
I canned pears Monday. Woot woot. Only about 10 pints, but it took forever. I am not a fast pear peeler. I love summer. And freshly canned produce. Although, it makes for really long days when I don't start until after work and after supper....
Blessings.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Come, Ye Thankful People, Come
So. Another busy weekend. And I was afraid I was coming down with something all week so we did nothing on Friday night. And I went to bed early. Which is a good thing, because the rest of the weekend was crazy busy and emotional and I don't know if I could have made it.
Saturday morning I got up and went to get my next quilt block and bought some paint for the front door. Then I went home and went back to bed and didn't get up again until... well, until I felt rested... it wasn't technically morning anymore. :) So fabulous. We maybe had breakfast burritos with fresh salsa for lunch... yum. And then I painted the front door because it needed it and it was bugging me. It was covered in scratches and chips; it looks like at one point the door was painted a robins egg blue. Hopefully the siding was a different color with a blue door... right now it's yellow with grey trim... Anyway. It looks much better, so I can rest easy now.
We had supper at the condos that night with everybody before Jakey's testimony. I've seen my cousins a lot lately- it's great! Then we went over to church... I was a little nervous... I always am. You would think that by now Shelly and I would know better than to sit by each other- us plus nervousness plus emotional-ness plus our tendency to find slightly funny things absolutely hilarious is not a good combination. So there we were up front with Mom and Grandma... Dad's cousin-in-law Rod was here from Lester... asked Jake something about if something died would he dig up the remains (trying to get at not digging up his old buried self)... to which Jakey replied- 'certainly.' Um. Yeah, he used to have an entire collection of dead things in various states of decay, so when he said that we lost it. Mom, Shelly and I were cracking up. In the front row. The bench was definitely shaking. Wow. Thankfully we all got it together before we made too big of a scene.
Afterwards a bunch of people went out to the farm to sing... and eat... so we went too. Good times, but we stayed too late. When we got home, Bob had a little bit of trouble getting the door open. I guess the paint wasn't totally dry around the edges... oops. :) And I discovered that I forget to turn the dryer on so our sheets and towels were all still wet. *sigh*
Sunday was the baptism and then we went home and were pretty much bums for the rest of the evening. And I didn't want to get up this morning, but that's nothing new...
Blessings.
Saturday morning I got up and went to get my next quilt block and bought some paint for the front door. Then I went home and went back to bed and didn't get up again until... well, until I felt rested... it wasn't technically morning anymore. :) So fabulous. We maybe had breakfast burritos with fresh salsa for lunch... yum. And then I painted the front door because it needed it and it was bugging me. It was covered in scratches and chips; it looks like at one point the door was painted a robins egg blue. Hopefully the siding was a different color with a blue door... right now it's yellow with grey trim... Anyway. It looks much better, so I can rest easy now.
We had supper at the condos that night with everybody before Jakey's testimony. I've seen my cousins a lot lately- it's great! Then we went over to church... I was a little nervous... I always am. You would think that by now Shelly and I would know better than to sit by each other- us plus nervousness plus emotional-ness plus our tendency to find slightly funny things absolutely hilarious is not a good combination. So there we were up front with Mom and Grandma... Dad's cousin-in-law Rod was here from Lester... asked Jake something about if something died would he dig up the remains (trying to get at not digging up his old buried self)... to which Jakey replied- 'certainly.' Um. Yeah, he used to have an entire collection of dead things in various states of decay, so when he said that we lost it. Mom, Shelly and I were cracking up. In the front row. The bench was definitely shaking. Wow. Thankfully we all got it together before we made too big of a scene.
Afterwards a bunch of people went out to the farm to sing... and eat... so we went too. Good times, but we stayed too late. When we got home, Bob had a little bit of trouble getting the door open. I guess the paint wasn't totally dry around the edges... oops. :) And I discovered that I forget to turn the dryer on so our sheets and towels were all still wet. *sigh*
Sunday was the baptism and then we went home and were pretty much bums for the rest of the evening. And I didn't want to get up this morning, but that's nothing new...
Blessings.
Friday, August 20, 2010
And the livin' is easy...
Tuesday night I got to hang out with some of my old w-ton friends for the first time in ages. It was a lot of fun to see them all again. We ate supper at Avanti's... and talked.... and talked... and talked. And then we went to Culver's for dessert and talked some more. I miss those girls! We have a lot of sweet (and funny!) memories... maybe I should dig up some old pictures and tell some stories...
Nights like that get me through the weeks when I accidentally let a batch of glue burn over in the hood.... oops. Ugh... nothing like cleaning burnt stickiness off a hotplate. Unless it's scrubbing out a lab sink. Woot woot. 409 is my new best friend. :)
Yesterday evening I made salsa. I cheated a little bit and used a Mrs. Wages mix... but I mixed some corn and black beans into a few jars so I'm not hopelessly un-domestic. *grin* Hopefully it tastes good. I did get a short Pinky's break with Dale, Meg, Maria, Bob, and Dang for ice cream. So good.
I actually had to get out of bed when my alarm went off this morning... mur... because the life insurance nurse was coming. She stuck me. They didn't tell me she was going to stick me. I.HATE.NEEDLES. And I'll probably get stuck again in a few weeks for our Medical Surveillance program at work... the joys of working with all sorts of dangerous and potentially harmful substances... Anyway.
I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend.
Blessings.
Nights like that get me through the weeks when I accidentally let a batch of glue burn over in the hood.... oops. Ugh... nothing like cleaning burnt stickiness off a hotplate. Unless it's scrubbing out a lab sink. Woot woot. 409 is my new best friend. :)
Yesterday evening I made salsa. I cheated a little bit and used a Mrs. Wages mix... but I mixed some corn and black beans into a few jars so I'm not hopelessly un-domestic. *grin* Hopefully it tastes good. I did get a short Pinky's break with Dale, Meg, Maria, Bob, and Dang for ice cream. So good.
I actually had to get out of bed when my alarm went off this morning... mur... because the life insurance nurse was coming. She stuck me. They didn't tell me she was going to stick me. I.HATE.NEEDLES. And I'll probably get stuck again in a few weeks for our Medical Surveillance program at work... the joys of working with all sorts of dangerous and potentially harmful substances... Anyway.
I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend.
Blessings.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Let your heart be
moved. blessed. full. encouraged. happy.
We had such a good weekend. We left Friday after work and headed to Leo to visit my cousins. On the way we stopped at Mike's new apartment and got a tour... and dropped off a strawberry pie. For a housewarming present. Because I don't owe him a pie, no matter what he says. :)
It was about midnight when we got to Loren and Rita's... hooray for losing an hour... Matt and Shelly were already there and Scott and Ned got there not long after us. So we were up until 2ish just chilling.
Saturday morning Bob and I made a quick trip to Ohio to see Will and Joanna (and Trenton and Tyson and Max and Beth!). I had printed off directions, but didn't print off the map.... soooo.... we missed one turn and it took a little bit longer to get back to where we wanted to be... and got to see a little more of the Ohio countryside than we were expecting to. It was so good to be with them! Brought back a lot of fun memories of U of I days. And Jo's house is so cute... I liked it a lot. Will made us a decent map so it didn't take us quite as long to get back to Rita's... and we got to go right through Amish country. We saw lots of buggies and horses- and solar panels on barns and a brand new recliner going home in the back of a buggy. The funniest/ most incongruous sight was the little girl driving a little electric barbie car around in her driveway right next to her parents' horse and buggy.
We spent a few hours boating on the mighty St. Joe River Saturday afternoon. Bob went skiing and tried wake boarding. He came so close to getting up! I was very proud. :) And then we had to come in and get cleaned up to go to the benefit concert.
Matt, Shelly, Scott, and Ned were all singing in the choir so Abby and Lys and Bob and I went to listen to them. It was fabulous. You can read all about it, and probably eventually get the recordings here. Then we all went back to Rita and Loren's and hung out till late again. Bob fixed their computer and wireless network... I was tired, so I went to bed.
Sunday morning we were almost on time for church. Ha! :) I can't remember the last time I was actually on time to Leo... o well. Bob had never been there before at all, I'm expanding his horizons greatly. *grin* After church we took the jet skis out on the river for a while, and then cooled off in the pool until we left.
We gained an hour on the way home so we got back fairly early... I'm still exhausted today. O well, it was worth it!
We had such a good weekend. We left Friday after work and headed to Leo to visit my cousins. On the way we stopped at Mike's new apartment and got a tour... and dropped off a strawberry pie. For a housewarming present. Because I don't owe him a pie, no matter what he says. :)
It was about midnight when we got to Loren and Rita's... hooray for losing an hour... Matt and Shelly were already there and Scott and Ned got there not long after us. So we were up until 2ish just chilling.
Saturday morning Bob and I made a quick trip to Ohio to see Will and Joanna (and Trenton and Tyson and Max and Beth!). I had printed off directions, but didn't print off the map.... soooo.... we missed one turn and it took a little bit longer to get back to where we wanted to be... and got to see a little more of the Ohio countryside than we were expecting to. It was so good to be with them! Brought back a lot of fun memories of U of I days. And Jo's house is so cute... I liked it a lot. Will made us a decent map so it didn't take us quite as long to get back to Rita's... and we got to go right through Amish country. We saw lots of buggies and horses- and solar panels on barns and a brand new recliner going home in the back of a buggy. The funniest/ most incongruous sight was the little girl driving a little electric barbie car around in her driveway right next to her parents' horse and buggy.
We spent a few hours boating on the mighty St. Joe River Saturday afternoon. Bob went skiing and tried wake boarding. He came so close to getting up! I was very proud. :) And then we had to come in and get cleaned up to go to the benefit concert.
Matt, Shelly, Scott, and Ned were all singing in the choir so Abby and Lys and Bob and I went to listen to them. It was fabulous. You can read all about it, and probably eventually get the recordings here. Then we all went back to Rita and Loren's and hung out till late again. Bob fixed their computer and wireless network... I was tired, so I went to bed.
Sunday morning we were almost on time for church. Ha! :) I can't remember the last time I was actually on time to Leo... o well. Bob had never been there before at all, I'm expanding his horizons greatly. *grin* After church we took the jet skis out on the river for a while, and then cooled off in the pool until we left.
We gained an hour on the way home so we got back fairly early... I'm still exhausted today. O well, it was worth it!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Sometimes I get bored
The other weekend I was bored and decided to make matching dresses for our two little nieces... I used a super simple pattern I found online. I think they turned out really cute! And they look adorable on Grace and Eden.
I was maybe hoping they'd have a girl for this very reason.... *grin*
Sharon took this picture right before church... all together now- awwwwww.
I was maybe hoping they'd have a girl for this very reason.... *grin*Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Pie and Peaches
I feel like we had a busy weekend.... even though there wasn't much on the calendar. Saturday I spent the afternoon making pies for rotating potluck, so I didn't get to enjoy the sun or the heat much. Potluck was good, as always. :) And we had a lot of leftover pie. Which is amazing.
Sunday afternoon we went to Grandma and Grandpa Koch's for awhile with some of the pie, then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Beutel's with more of the pie, and then we went back to G and G Koch's for supper.
Yesterday I picked up peaches at the farm to can... and realized I ran out of sugar when I made pies... so I got to stop at the new IGA in Mackinaw on my way home. I liked it. A lot. Too bad it's totally not on my way anywhere or I would shop there all the time. For the record, Bob is amazing- not only did he eat frozen pizza last night while I was cutting up peaches, he also helped me fold all the laundry. It took awhile, it was around 10:30 when I got done. But, now I have 6 quart and 10 pint jars of canned peaches. And no place to store them. O well, that's a minor detail.
It's so much work, but it's worth it.... and it was pretty exciting to use my new canner for the first time. Well, new to me, it was the Happy Man's. He was retired and had all sorts of hobbies, including canning. His wife was not nearly as enthused. *grin* Which is why a lot of his stuff made its way to the farm and then to me...
Blessings.
Sunday afternoon we went to Grandma and Grandpa Koch's for awhile with some of the pie, then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Beutel's with more of the pie, and then we went back to G and G Koch's for supper.
Yesterday I picked up peaches at the farm to can... and realized I ran out of sugar when I made pies... so I got to stop at the new IGA in Mackinaw on my way home. I liked it. A lot. Too bad it's totally not on my way anywhere or I would shop there all the time. For the record, Bob is amazing- not only did he eat frozen pizza last night while I was cutting up peaches, he also helped me fold all the laundry. It took awhile, it was around 10:30 when I got done. But, now I have 6 quart and 10 pint jars of canned peaches. And no place to store them. O well, that's a minor detail.
It's so much work, but it's worth it.... and it was pretty exciting to use my new canner for the first time. Well, new to me, it was the Happy Man's. He was retired and had all sorts of hobbies, including canning. His wife was not nearly as enthused. *grin* Which is why a lot of his stuff made its way to the farm and then to me...
Blessings.
Friday, August 06, 2010
Knives
It's been pretty quiet around here this week. Well besides church, grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, an insurance meeting, and a visit from a knife salesman...
Yeah, so a few weeks ago I got a phone call from a Cutco rep wanting to know if he could come demonstrate his product, he goes to RBHS and he's earning money for college. I should add that he never actually specified he was selling Cutco; I found that out from Heidi... who gave him my name... who also said he cut himself really bad while he was demonstrating for her... I was slightly intrigued.
So he came over Wednesday night to show off his knives. It was pretty hilarious. I was trying not to laugh the whole time. He wasn't necessarily funny, it's just that the 17-year old in a tie acting enthused about expensive kitchen knives and gadgets cracks me up. Yes, I know I have a weird sense of humor. He was holding the binder full of glossy pictures up with one hand and holding his "script" right behind it- and he dropped it on the floor once. I heard a lot of "this is my mom's favorite, she uses it all the time," and "I don't cook much... yet... but my mom has this and we use it every day." He knew his stuff about all of the knives, though it is hard to picture him using "the mini carver, now this is the knife to use on a roast."
And so it went. I didn't buy anything although he did pull out paper and pen to show me how low three easy payments would be. *grin* I have brand new knives, the same brand that my Mom has used and abused for 27 years. Plus I've cut myself on my not Cutco sharp knives and I really don't think I need anything sharper in the house. So he packed up (with the help of his handy-dandy diagram) all of his stuff and left... on the way out he mentioned how he hadn't driven himself over because his license was suspended for too many speeding tickets.... O my. Yeah, I laughed.
Blessings.
Yeah, so a few weeks ago I got a phone call from a Cutco rep wanting to know if he could come demonstrate his product, he goes to RBHS and he's earning money for college. I should add that he never actually specified he was selling Cutco; I found that out from Heidi... who gave him my name... who also said he cut himself really bad while he was demonstrating for her... I was slightly intrigued.
So he came over Wednesday night to show off his knives. It was pretty hilarious. I was trying not to laugh the whole time. He wasn't necessarily funny, it's just that the 17-year old in a tie acting enthused about expensive kitchen knives and gadgets cracks me up. Yes, I know I have a weird sense of humor. He was holding the binder full of glossy pictures up with one hand and holding his "script" right behind it- and he dropped it on the floor once. I heard a lot of "this is my mom's favorite, she uses it all the time," and "I don't cook much... yet... but my mom has this and we use it every day." He knew his stuff about all of the knives, though it is hard to picture him using "the mini carver, now this is the knife to use on a roast."
And so it went. I didn't buy anything although he did pull out paper and pen to show me how low three easy payments would be. *grin* I have brand new knives, the same brand that my Mom has used and abused for 27 years. Plus I've cut myself on my not Cutco sharp knives and I really don't think I need anything sharper in the house. So he packed up (with the help of his handy-dandy diagram) all of his stuff and left... on the way out he mentioned how he hadn't driven himself over because his license was suspended for too many speeding tickets.... O my. Yeah, I laughed.
Blessings.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
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?
Friday, July 30, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
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?
Monday, July 19, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, July 12, 2010
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. :)
Good times. And then I went home and blanched and froze beans.... and I think I still need more... woot.
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.
Friday, July 09, 2010
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. :)
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. :)
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
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!
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!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
sunshine, on my shoulders makes me happy
Hooray for nice sunny weather! I love it! And I love eating my lunch outside...
It's been quiet. Other than making a trip to Steak and Shake and Walmart and Culver's this weekend, we haven't been doing much. Which I love.
We discovered that our bathtub is really white. As much as I'm ashamed to admit it, I've never actually scrubbed it out. It gets wiped down regularly, but not scrubbed... I just needed to clean something on Saturday (work out all of my latent aggression... you know... haha) and the tub was it. Half a bottle of vinegar and 3 sponges later... all the hard water/soap scum/loveliness was gone and we have a sparkling white tub and shiny hardware. Now if I can just figure out how to get rid of mildew that's BEHIND the clear caulk that's replacing crumbling grout on the tile surround... ew. Note to self: tile looks pretty, but it's not worth the maintenance. :)
I get to do applesauce tonight. woot.
Blessings.
It's been quiet. Other than making a trip to Steak and Shake and Walmart and Culver's this weekend, we haven't been doing much. Which I love.
We discovered that our bathtub is really white. As much as I'm ashamed to admit it, I've never actually scrubbed it out. It gets wiped down regularly, but not scrubbed... I just needed to clean something on Saturday (work out all of my latent aggression... you know... haha) and the tub was it. Half a bottle of vinegar and 3 sponges later... all the hard water/soap scum/loveliness was gone and we have a sparkling white tub and shiny hardware. Now if I can just figure out how to get rid of mildew that's BEHIND the clear caulk that's replacing crumbling grout on the tile surround... ew. Note to self: tile looks pretty, but it's not worth the maintenance. :)
I get to do applesauce tonight. woot.
Blessings.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Father's Day
So, I had pictures to post and no time to post them...
Last Saturday we went to my parent's for homemade ice cream. And so I could raid their landscaping again. And so I could beat my siblings at John Deere Monopoly. It was a good time... haha. Mom has hydrangeas and cat mint and delphiniums (that I planted) and I have bedraggled looking plants that the rabbits are chewing on. *sigh* O well. At least they aren't in my garden, which has grown a lot!
The results of my thievery plus my new salt and pepper shakers that make me smile. I was in Pier 1 the other day and I just couldn't resist... good thing they were only $3 and I had a coupon!
As for monopoly, I don't think I've ever won that game.... we played K-berger rules, and it was taking forever. Bob isn't a big monopoly fan and I was getting tired so not all of it was my mad monopoly skills. There was maybe some selling and trading of property to try and make the game go a little bit faster. Plus I kept landing on free parking. When you play K-berger rules, every time you have to pay taxes or have to pay to get out of jail, etc. it goes to the middle of the board and who ever lands on free parking gets to take whatever money has accumulated. It's handy. Anyway, I'm the new JD Monopoly champion, woot woot.
Sunday we were in T-town for church for the first time in ages... And we went to Bob's parent's for Father's Day festivities with the Beutels. Dave and June had the Kochs next door and so there was a very large water fight after supper. It was very fun to watch... I got a little bit wet, but I mostly just took pictures and filled water balloons.
Blessings.
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