stuck

I tried to go to work three times this morning. The first time was around 7am when I usually leave- I made it about 1/8 of a mile and hit a drift (at least one foot deep across the road) and dad had to bring the truck down and pull me out.

Then after my uncle drove through it and matt and the mail man made it I decided I would try to follow Jake and drive in his blazer tracks... and I got 1/8th of a mile plus 10ft. *grin* Poor dad. He had to bring the tractor I was so stuck. In the middle of the road! It was so disheartening- I could see all the cars on the Dee-Mack slowly driving past and I was so close and just...couldn't...make it.

So I gave up until the snow plow came at stinkin 10am... (seriously what were they doing all night? w-ton township has let me down!) All of the roads in the area were clear except ours. Maybe they forgot us. Maybe I should bake the township commissioner a pie.

I went through three pairs of socks too...

On the bright side, my sweet grand prix has a trailer hitch and it was super easy to hook up a chain. *grin*

too much food

My days are all mixed up since this weekend. And I really don't want to go to work tomorrow... o well.

I skipped the CIS Wednesday to bake pies for thanksgiving dinner with my mom. We made six- pumpkin, pecan, and apple and we had leftovers. Which I love.

Friday I didn't feel like going to work so I took it off (my boss is gone anyway). I did not go shopping, there are way too many people out. :)

We had to go to the Wyss Christmas on Saturday with my Grandpa's siblings and Dad's cousins. It wasn't very exciting. I did get to see Mindy though, so that was good.

My aunt and uncle came over for supper tonight. Shelly and I decorated our dollhouses for Christmas with our cousins... and played barbies... fun times.

I'm excited about the snow.
Blessings.

good for the soul II

So after spending thursday night with good friends I got to spend saturday and sunday with some more super cool chicas. Gridley invited half the world (basically) and fed us a lot of good food. It was packed at the fellowship hall and there really aren't enough bathrooms, so Kris and Sarah, and Danielle and I explored the dark, creepy (according to Kris) church. We were late for the singing, which was ok because we didn't have to sit in the front. :D And when they were reading off the list of who was staying where, Clark read off 'staying with Amber, Kaleigh, and Sarah is Jenny and Kristen;' we all died laughing... becuase we obviously weren't branching out at all... and were pretty much just going to have a party... haha.

We stayed up late talking and playing with the cats and stuff. It was great.

Sunday after church was more of the same... Callie, Syd and Sprout graced us with their presence.... some Princess Bride goodness... fun times.

And since this seems to be the week to be social, I met my friend Elizabeth for supper on monday. I haven't been to Busy Corner for years and years and I haven't seen her more than 3 times since we graduated HS... it was really long overdue. Although, she's been in the Philippines for the past year or so and it's been really hard to get together. :) We bonded in 8th grade scholastic bowl... so long ago!

Blessings.

good for the soul

So last night I went out to eat with Gab, Kat, Nic, Bob, Matt, and MegandDale. It was fun. And really good to see them all again. We went to Logan's Roadhouse... which I had never been to before... I don't really understand the difference between it and Texas Roadhouse... whatever, the food was good and the company was excellent so I've got no complaints.

We went to Gab's and played Imaginiff afterwards. Not really sure how I feel about that game... it's fun... but I'm not very good at knowing what other people will put. :)

My coworkers all discovered facebook this week. Slightly amusing... they are all jealous the number of 'friends' that I have. Haha.

I'm going to Gridley this weekend- woot! I'm excited. Hopefully the power won't go off this time...
Blessings.

Out West

So it was a really busy weekend. Really fun too. Friday night Ellie had the yg for a western mystery supper and singing. We all dressed in our western best so there were lots of boots and bandannas and guns... I wore my moccasins and brown and put feathers in my hair. I was the only indian... which I love. We sang out of the country western hymnals (after they put their guns away) and people brought instruments- a stand up bass, a mandolin, two violins, and a bunch of guitars.

Matt and I left for Kansas City right after the singing... at 9pm. Yes, we know we're crazy. But the roads were deserted and it only took us 6 hours with a stop for gas and a stop for those pretty red, white, and blue lights. *sigh* I was going to save money and not spend 80 dollars on a ticket to the Lion King (I went in HS) and instead I get to pay some podunk missouri town $83. It was after midnight and there was no one else on the road (except the cop I guess) and he must have been bored because I'm pretty sure I was only going 67 in a 60, and he said I was going seventy. I wanted to ask if he was serious... but I didn't argue. Uncle Randy says I was doing my part to help impoverished school districts in central MO... haha.

Anyway, we got there at 3am and I slept pretty late. Brent brought his two girls over for awhile... and then Galen and Shan stopped by with their girls... We played some games and chilled most of the afternoon. After supper the boys left for the Lion King and Aunt Karen and I went to 'run errands' which turned into going a few places and then getting cheesecake at the Cheese Cake Factory. So good!

It was good to see everybody at the KC church again! I got to sit with Amor and Kami in church... they are both potty-training and there was one extremely amusing (for me anyway) incident involving Kami and a puddle on the floor... haha.

We left for home right after church, and after a few hands of Rook. We stopped in Hannibal to switch drivers at a gas station... and ran into an old HS friend. So random! He was in KC to visit his fiance and to go to the Lion King (oddly enough). We haven't seen him in years and he was the last person I expected to run into on 36 last night. Craziness.

Morning came way too early...
Blessings.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

Happy Remembrance Day.

hooray for being a gov't employee and not having to work today!

so tired...

Wednesday Gab and I went to Champaign to see the girls. It was pizza night at church, which was great! And I got to see Neal and Kim; it's been a long time. We went to custard cup after church and then went to Baytown to hang out. I think the highlight of my night was the looks on certain of the groups faces when we sang 'you get a line' haha. I got home around 1... pretty late when the alarm goes off at 6:15.

Friday was singing at Timber Ridge... it was less chaotic than normal. Abby was around this weekend and afterwards we stayed up until 2 talking and sewing. I was a little tired saturday morning...

I raked some leaves yesterday.... some because I got tired of it and it was cold and so I went in and drank cocoa. I still had some flowers blooming!

My not winter hardy plants came inside a while ago... we don't really have anywhere to put them so we have a fern in the bathtub, which I love.

Today was Logan's wedding. It was nice. And I don't have to go to any more weddings this year! Woot! I didn't keep track, but it was a lot...

Blessings.

suburban adventures with sarah

I went to Chicago this weekend. Kind of. Mostly just the suburbs. I'm not really sure why. But it was great fun!

They had invite a friend weekend and Sarah invited me to go with her. Technically we were Greg's guests... but EZ had told us about it too... and we stayed with Carrie... It was a really small weekend- which I love. And I got to do lots of following people around town as close as possible because I didn't have the foggiest idea of where we were. :)

We raked leaves and pulled weeds for an older lady in the beautiful indian summer temperatures. And then we went to the school where Troy (I forgot that he lived up there) teaches and filled soup kits. Sarah and I made lovely fall centerpieces for a nursing home and painted pumpkins. There was the ubiquitous supper and singing. And talking to cool Chicago people. Like Andrea, who's a country girl that understands chemistry. And Kait, and Carrie, and Kathy.

Carrie lives on King Arthur's Court... next to a moat... in a building named after one of the knights of the round table. We got to look at old gridley year books... and got soo much sleep because of the time change. It was great!

I don't remember if I've ever been to Chicago church before, so this maybe was the first time. It was good, I like small churches. Although, there was a spider on the bench that was a little bit scary. Sarah was brave and killed it for me. We left for home right after, and didn't get lost.

I think I'll be home this weekend.

Happy Reformation Day!

Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg church 491 years ago, October 31, 1517.

Much better reason to celebrate than Halloween...

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

random thoughts

something about a company front with horn flash gives me goosebumps.... so cool.

corn disappearing into the combine header is mesmerizing.

library book sales are amazing.

Hither and Yon

I meant to clean my closet this weekend... it didn't happen... I didn't even get my room dusted. O well.

Shelly and I got up early and went down to U of I to the band day. It wasn't very warm, but it wasn't very windy so it was a great day to sit and watch bands. Eureka did really well- they won their class, and combined parade and field. Woot woot. We got to see most of class B field competition... and during the break we explored the new stadium a little. It's really cool! I'm so glad they didn't ruin it like soldier field. Shelly had never been up in the colonnades (which is a crime, so I dragged her up the ramps to see that.) Definitely my favorite part of the stadium.

On our way back to the car we passed the Abraham Lincoln mobile exhibit, which was just sitting in the Assembly Hall parking lot. So we walked through it. Just because it was there, it was free, and it was really cool! Plus we got penny tie tack pin things. :D

Then we went to the south quad to see the new bell tower... and walked back to the parade route to watch the parade... then walked back to see if the conservatory was open. It wasn't, which was very sad. We ate lunch at Za's. So good.

Shelly had to wait tables at the benefit dinner so we had to go home early and not watch any more bands. Sad news.

Matt and I went to Kevin K's for a weiner roast that night. It was enjoyable, even though I really didn't know very many people at all. I was sitting on the leeward side of the fire so I came home smelling like a chimney. Hooray.

Sunday I decided I didn't want to go to the wedding in W-ton so I went to Gridley instead. It's been a long time since I've been there. K, Amber, Sarah, and Sprout were all there... so yeah, it was good. They lost power in the middle of the last song of first service, so we ate lunch in the dark and then they canceled second service. We chilled at Kaleigh's after church. Good times.

So what's worse than when it rains cats and dogs? When it hails taxicabs! *grin* (I saw uncle bill in church)

i must look young... or something

Last week I was at the florist picking out bouquets for our kitchen help at the invite... she asked me if I was going to drop them off right away... yes... are you old enough to drive?? you don't look old enough to drive....

I stopped at the library after work and checked out "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." The librarian asked if I was reading it for class. Um... no... just for fun. Oh, well I'm impressed! (pretty sure Mark Twain is not a hard read, even if I was a high school kid)

But then my mom told the little neighbor boy who was getting a combine ride that I was 24... which I won't be until December... um.... seriously.

Fall

I think I like spring better. It's just too cold.... I'm really not looking forward to winter.

This weekend I remembered to plant bulbs! So hopefully we will have crocus and hyacinth this spring! (If the squirrels don't find them... or other animals that I don't want to think about)

Last Thursday night I saw a large spider on my bed- it was huge. I tried to squash it, but it disappeared. And then I couldn't find it. I made mom help me look and she couldn't find it.... it was extremely traumatic. And I realize that my fear of spiders is irrational but the later it gets and the more tired I get, the scarier they are. I managed to sleep in my bed but.... Saturday I cleaned. Pulled everything out from under my bed, took off the mattresses, removed everything that wasn't furniture from my floor.... still no spider. (my room needed cleaning anyway...) It's probably in my closet. I've been shaking my shoes out, and clothes out, and watching my step. I have calmed down a little bit since it's probably not a brown recluse but stray feathers from my pillows make me jump.

Heidi got married Sunday... it was a good wedding.

my boss is gone this week... woot.

Blessings.

Because Heidi tagged me...

Some Random and or weird facts about me:

1. I'm the only person in my family to ever break a bone. It was in fourth grade and I was swinging on the monkey bars, fell off, and landed on my arm. I broke my humerus right above the elbow, and pinched my radial nerve. So it kind of hurt a lot. But I didn't cry at all- I remember screaming and running into the office and waiting for my mom to come get me and then waiting in the ER for the orthopedic surgeon and then waiting some more while some med students looked it over- all without any kind of pain reliever. My left hand is still weaker and my left ring and pinkie fingers get stiff and cold fastest.

2. In grade school I was fascinated (ok, obsessed) with Indians... I think I read every book in the grade school library and made a pretty good start on the ones at the W-ton library about Indians. I had sheets... and books... and dolls.... and my favorite vacation was when we went to Mesa Verde. Maybe that's why I love it that moccasins are in style right now! I might have a pair...

3. I dislike coffee. I haven't had any since I stopped waking up at 5:15. It tastes nasty, it smells nasty, and I can get the same effect from Dr. Pepper which tastes amazing, and is pretty much the nectar of the gods... And cocoa is a much, much better hot drink because it's chocolate and I could continue with the Greek mythological references and say that chocolate is basically ambrosia. :D

4. If I don't have a good book to read I sometimes read encyclopedias. There are just so many cool and interesting things in them. My favorite articles as a child were 'Clothing,' 'Flags,' 'Dogs,' 'Cats,' The American Revolution,' an article with instructions for building a river and dam model out of plywood, and of course, 'Native Americans.' I liked most of those because they had a lot of pictures.... in the back of our F volume, there is a super cool section of transparent pages showing all of the different biological systems in a frog. (circulatory, bone structure, etc.) Our encyclopedia set has an article for each letter, the illustrations show the progression from glyphs to phenician to roman to modern letters, which I love to read. Yes, I know I'm a nerd.

um... I'm running out of things...

5. I am very picky about Apple Pie. (Pie in general really) It all tastes good no matter how many crusts or what kind of crust or filling... but the perfect apple pie is pretty hard to find. :) It has to have two crusts (top and bottom) made with lard. Crisco doesn't taste as good. Butter doesn't get flaky enough. One crust is a cop out and crumb crusts are for cobblers, not pies! The filling has to be apples. Just apples. None of this custard stuff- save that for the peaches and the key limes. Apples and custard just don't mix. One time I had somebody try to feed me "home made" apple pie... they bought Pillsbury crust and apple pie filling. I had a hard time not saying anything, but I ate it with a smile and it tasted good- seriously though people, just because you assemble it in your kitchen does NOT make it a home made apple pie. ok. I'm getting off the soap box now.

6. I hate, hate, hate Six Flags. Amusement parks in general really. Strong statements, I know. But it's true! Besides not liking roller coasters and rides (I'm afraid of heights and rides make me queasy), I can not understand how people can justify spending that much money to be amused and entertained. More than half the acreage is dedicated to selling sweat-shop junk for way more than it's worth and for large portions of over- priced, extremely unhealthy food. Six Flags and amusement parks remind me so much of the soulless society in Aldous Huxley's "A Brave New Word;" people who spend their whole lives in pursuit of pleasure and the next thrill. If I was going to pick a symbol for western hedonism, epicurianism, and commercialism, Six Flags would be it. I know, I know, it's just good clean fun but there are cheaper things to do with your family that are better for your mind, body, and soul- like support an underutilized state park perhaps? :D

7. I don't like raisins. No reason.

8. Showering is not high on my list of priorities... I've gone for more than a week without one while camping in the Boundary Waters. I wouldn't do that normally, but it really doesn't bother me not too. *grin*

There you have it. I'm not going to tag anyone... all of my faithful blog lurkers can feel free to email me some random facts about yourself. Seriously. I would love it.

Blessings.

the weekend part II

The invite went really, really well. Work projects all worked out- the group I was in washed all of the windows on the outside of Restmor. K, Sarah, Rhonda, Syd, and Ginny were in the group too... we visited K's grandma while we were there. It was such a nice day out I was glad we could be outside.

Supper was so good. We had enchilada's and Spanish rice and chips and salsa... yum. And we had lots left over, which I love. We barely got cleaned up in time to listen to Fred's talk which was good. And then we had desert, which was also good.

Matt kept his friends at our house so Shelly and I took some girls to grandma and grandpa's. It was really good to hang out with Kris and Rhonda again... and get to know Destini (she's a fellow shaker sister) and Laura better....we played games... and stayed up pretty late talking.

Church was good. And full. I didn't do much of anything Sunday afternoon. :)

I didn't have to work today because it's Columbus day. woot woot! I slept in and hung out with Gab this afternoon. We went for polar pops... good times.

Blessings.

the weekend part I

so I tried to blog about the weekend earlier and blogger erased it all. so sad. and heidi tagged me... I'll get to that eventually, I'll need to think about it though because I am perfectly normal and nothing about me is weird. HA!

It was a really good weekend. I am glad it's over though! No more things to plan! (this week anyway- hooray for being on the yg committee)

Friday evening we had the yg at our house for a surprise going away party for Kendra B. She went out to eat with Amy and they were going to join Jodi and I at my house for a 'girls night' because the yg calendar was 'too full' to schedule a formal farewell or anything. *grin* So it was such a nice night we decided to play Settlers on the porch- where everybody was hiding. It was great- she didn't suspect a thing and was totally shocked. So then we sang and ate ice cream cake and played Settlers and Trivial Pursuit until midnight. Amy and I lost two games of TP, the 80's and 90's version and the LOTR version. O well.

Scott and Ned and Kent and Ryan showed up at our house later that night er, morning. :) So they were around when I woke up. Mom went to Church to make food so I was home making breakfast casseroles and most of the world decided to drop by and make cider. It was craziness. And I'm told it got worse after I left for church. We seriously had sooo many people in and out- 4 k-bergers, 5 lemans, 2 of their neighbors, 3 heinolds, 1 stoller, grandma and grandpa, fred and boys, paul our truck driver, and all of their vehicles. Poor Dad and Fred were trying to farm around them all... and I was trying to keep little children from tracking grass and mud into our clean house. I was maybe a little bit rude to some of them.... o well.

So then we all went to the invite....

adrenaline rush

Days like today make me wonder why an easily-freaked-out, timid, cautious girl like me ever wound up in such a dangerous field. Not that it's unsafe... just a lot of things that can go wrong and a lot of unknowns. Like today when my reaction was overheating- it was supposed to be at 40 deg C and it was at 100 and climbing... um... um... Dr. K.... what do I do?? We got it cooled down and it doesn't even look like the reaction was ruined. But yeah, my heart was pounding...

Only one more crazy busy weekend to go... woot woot. Last weekend was a lot of fun. The Brothers Appreciation went well- I think they liked the outdoor theme. But then, who doesn't like skeet shooting, hatchet throwing, all the apple pie you can eat, and extremely cheesy songs to the tune of Home on the Range? (O, Washington brothers.... we really appreciate you.... haha I'll stop now, it just gets worse.) The attire was pretty great too. It was very hard to pick best dressed outdoorsman. :)

We had a lot of pie left over. Which I love. Last night our well driller was out to fix our well again so hopefully we won't have as much sand in the water now. They were out there really late so Mom and I took them some pie and ice cream. (go us for being all hospitable *grin*)

I'm starting to freak out about the invite... what if we don't have enough food? or places for people to stay? (which actually might be a problem for guys- yikes) I just keep telling myself that it'll be ok. aaaahhhh. Anyway.

Blessings.

unbalanced

It's bad.

All this switching between my glasses and contacts with slightly different prescriptions is not doing anything for my balance and coordination. I was having problems standing up in the river last weekend. And I keep running into walls and things in the hallway. (which is a fairly normal occurrence but it's definitely increased) And last night when we were singing at ISU I almost tripped over my own feet into Sprout.

*sigh*

Apple River, a wedding, and some cider

One busy weekend down, two to go. :)

Friday evening I got to hang out with K and Amber- it was great. There was much sugar involved.... we made smores, roasted glazed doughnuts, ate gummy worms, and drank mountain dew. The stars were absolutely gorgeous; it was such a clear night. We lay in the back of Jeremy's pickup and stargazed and we saw a bunch of shooting stars. (and I think maybe one iridium flare) I didn't spend the night though because we left for Apple River super early the next morning.

I forgot to take a camera... so I have no pictures of this years trip. It was probably one of the best that I've been on. Good weather, fun people, good attitudes... yeah. Definitely good times. The River was higher this year so the wading was great. I was kind of afraid after we saw a few crawdads... which we might have sang about. We ate supper at the "Shepherd of the Hills" Lutheran Church (cooked by the older ladies that go there) and sang in their tin ceilinged sanctuary.

Eight of us got up super early Sunday morning to try and make it back in time for the weddings... it was sad to miss church at the chapel.... some things must needs be I guess. We might have been a little confused how to get home. (Still amazed that there was no map in the vehicle- seriously) But we made it. :)

Tam and Jer's reception was pretty cool- except for the bugs. My least favorite reception job is refilling punch.. and so I refilled punch... but it was ok; I only spilled on one person. And I got to talk to the people in the kitchen who were mostly my friends' parents. ;) It was good to see all of the U of I people that came. I was pretty exhausted afterwards.

We've had apples rotting on the trees for a while so Monday night we made cider with Fred and Di and the boys. Homemade cider is the best. Pasteurized cider is for wimps. Haha- the fresh stuff really does taste better.

anyway. hooray for wednesdays.
blessings.

i'm getting old and forgetful...

How could I have forgotten??? So the other night I got a phone call from Kansas... in the middle of a singing.... and they were singing Pull for the Shore. Which I love.

Definitely saved it on my phone. :D