stuff and nonsense

So when people ask how work is going I usually say, "Good, it's fun." And it is... but, yeah, there is sometimes more excitement and danger that I don't randomly share... it's been crazy around here... last week, somebody had an accident with sodium (they're ok) and spent the day in the ER. Yesterday when I got to work and the lab across the hall from mine was all taped off... apparently one of my coworkers accidentally synthesized a very unstable explosive... it was after I left so I missed the bomb squad and the haz-mat team. :) It's all taken care of though, no worries. :)

I've been to sewing club, church, the eye doctor, and a wedding shower this week. It's been busy. Poor Bob had to make supper one night since the eye dr. took so long. I'm ready for the weekend. But still nervous about potluck.

Blessings.

randomness

hm... I haven't blogged in a while... I still don't really have anything to blog about. :)

We have been slightly busy I guess. MLK weekend was great. We finally got the desk that we ordered put together (Merry Christmas to us); after it came with several broken pieces, and after several emails to customer service.

K and K had a singing in their barn, I met some new people.

I called my Grandma to get her taffy recipe... I already had it, but I just love hearing the commentary that goes along with getting any recipe from Grandma or Pearline... I didn't end up making any taffy. hm... maybe if it gets cold again, o wait, it's January.

Dale and Meg had potluck, which was a great time as always.

I miss green growing things... my seed catalogues are getting very dog-eared.

We're hosting rotating potluck this weekend and I'm trying not to be nervous.

Blessings.

Quilts and Cars

It's been kind of a busy week so far, full of things that make me smile. I got to go to quilting Monday night... they're making a quilt for the menno relief sale and this week was quilting week... I was pretty excited, when they say everybody is welcome to help, they really mean everyone. And they said they wouldn't pull my stitches out, even though they aren't as pretty as some of the other ladies'. :)

My car needed some looking at, so instead of going all the way to the dealership in W-ton it went to a guy here in town. It's all better now. I love knowing my mechanic. Although, I prefer that they forget who I am because they haven't seen my car in a such a looong time.... haha. Unlike that summer that the guys at Service Auto knew our entire family by first names... and what car you were talking about when you called them. *sigh*

Last night I got to hang out with K and Ambo and Sarah.... good times. We did not name the last slice of pizza, played some subjective Guess Who ("does your person look like they would enjoy playing the accordion?" is so much more fun than "does your person have blue eyes?"), and got "That thing you do" stuck in my head. So much fun to hang out with them again!

We get Monday off. Woot! Hooray for MLK jr.

Blessings.

one year ago today I found out that one of my friends wanted to marry me....

it's been a good year.

Blessings.

Happy New Year

So we made it through Christmas. It was good, and I was very thankful that everything we had to go to was on different days. Bob didn't have to work the week after Christmas... so not fair. :D Haha... but then I wound up home most of the week with a low fever, so I guess I can't complain.

We didn't do anything for New Years... And barely made it to midnight... *sigh* I'm getting to be so old and tired. :P Or something. I think it was more that I was half sick.

I didn't make any resolutions. Last year I came up with some and then I got engaged, yeah... they didn't happen. The one about using my passport REALLY didn't happen.

Sunday my siblings and Bob and I all piled into Shelly's car and drove to Iowa for our second cousins visitation. It was probably the saddest one I've ever been at... just makes my heart hurt for them. And then we got to drive two hours back home...

Jakey has introduced me to great Russian literature. I finished "Crime and Punishment" by Dosteovsky before Christmas, and he just loaned me "Eugene Onegin" by Pushkin. They're different. I think I like it. We'll see if I'm up to reading "War and Peace" which I'm told is "like being bludgeoned repeatedly about the head with awesomeness." *grin*

I'm ready for spring now.
Blessings.

Christmas randoms

In no particular order...

The boys playing Matt's 'The Office' version of Clue.

Abby was tired. :) I should have been sleeping too, since I had a fever the entire day. O well.

Uncle Randy recording hours of gift opening footage.


Our Christmas tree that took up half the living room.

Nativity.

Matt's madrigal.

The flowers Bob got me for my birthday, they were so pretty.

Jakey put soviet propaganda posters on his list...

We also got cool new t-shirts. Mine says I (heart) warders. It's from WOT. Woot.

Jakey was also modeling his sweet new 30 round banana clip...

So I was supposed to work this week, but yeah, I've had a little bit of a fever since Monday night. Too much Christmas I think. :)

Blessings, and Happy New Year!

one of the most amusing moments this christmas...

Yes, that is Grandpa in the middle. *grin* Uncle Roy is on the left, and Johnny S. on the far right. He didn't know the girls... they met them on vacation at Lake Geneva, "they needed a ride." So funny. Austin got the picture from one of Johnny's grandkids (he wouldn't tell who) and had it enlarged.

Merry Christmas

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime,

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The hearth-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, good will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;"

For hate is strong

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep.

"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep!

The wrong shall fail,

The right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men!"

God bless us everyone!

I turn my collar to the cold and damp...

ugh. I don't like wet. Although, it is kind of nice to not get shocked every time I take off my lab coat and touch my desk. And my computer. And the door handle.

static is worse than damp.

for it's one, two, oops wrong season

So Saturday Bob and I celebrated my birthday, part II. We were going to go tour the Pettingill-Morron house and then go out to eat. Except we got there and there was a sign that said "please call to schedule a tour." um... nowhere on the historical society website does it say that, it lists Saturday tour times and when they're closed. *sigh* So then we were in Peoria and it was way too early to eat, so we stopped at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory. We passed Lakeview museum and decided to see if they were open... yeah, they close at 4 and we would have not had much time. *sigh* They did have a used book sale going on in the lobby. Which we love. And now we have more books. :)

We also stopped at Barnes and Noble and Best Buy since they are there, and we were there, and it was still early. Good times. We did go for supper eventually, at Seven on Prospect. It was really good and they gave us lots of food. And then we went home and played DK for a while. I'm so bad at it... o well, it's great fun.

Sunday we went to Gridley for Christmas. Jesse got a lego power pack so the boys played with that all evening.

Christina got a tea set, so she served tea and whatever food you wanted. So funny.

Bob loves taking pictures...

Last night I got to hang out with the W-ton girls at Katie's new house. So much fun... we laughed a lot and talked a lot.

And then when I got home and started packing our lunches I discovered that the turkey was slimy... ick... and we haven't eaten at home much so we didn't have any leftovers. *sigh* I'm a failure as a wife. :D O well, I'll just have to go to Jimmy John's for lunch... bummer. haha.

Blessings.

merry birthday to me

So Tuesday night I went down to Champaign just because. I haven't been there in ages! And I don't get to see the C-U girls nearly as much as I would like. And Bob was busy. It was great. I got to meet Natalie's two cute "foster" puppies. They came with Amber, Sarah, Natalie and I to Sonic... I had to order... it was scary. :P They had the rest of the UIYG over to decorate cookies and sing Christmas carols which was great fun. Jakey was busy studying so he didn't come... I stopped by on my way home to bug him. Lots of things are different since I graduated, but one thing never changes- the smell of the Saltshaker. :)

I didn't get home until midnight. Wednesday was a sleepy day. Totally worth it though.

Yesterday was my birthday. I'm officially 25 and old now. *grin* Or something. When I got to work I found approximately 300 paperback books covering my desk, and balloons and streamers. My coworkers borrowed them from the bookshelves in the cafeteria (people bring all kinds of books they don't want any more and leave them for anyone to read)... so then we sorted them all by genre. It was interesting to note what science people read- half were sci-fi/fantasy (lots of TOR novels) and half were harlequin romance and chick lit (aka bodice rippers). Only three westerns, a handful of suspense/thrillers, and few non-fiction books.

When I got home from work, Bob had gotten me flowers and beautifully wrapped presents. He's amazing. :D And I was maybe so excited about getting Donkey Kong and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that I forgot that I had bought cream on my way home and left it in the bag on the floor... and we went to Mom and Dad's for supper. oops. It's ultra pasteurized right??

Mom made steak and mushrooms and cake. It was great. I rescued the rest of my tree ornaments and looked at all their Christmas cards. And then Shelly dressed up like a Russian.

Bob and I both have work Christmas potlucks today, so I spent the rest of the evening making party potatoes and Bob made jello. Woot. And cupcakes because I forgot to take doughnuts to work for my birthday. (I thought that was over after grade school...) I even made buttercream frosting- so yummy.

It's kind of crazy to think how much has changed since last year. I love birthdays for looking back and remembering. Blessings.

Here we come a caroling...

So we were busy again last weekend. Hooray for December! :)

We went to the H.S. Madrigal Dinner last Thursday; Matt was in it. I was quite impressed... the food was good, the music was good, and the company was excellent. :) I always used to go to Morton's to see Katie, and since Tremont is waaay smaller I wasn't sure how it would compare.

I was pretty excited to go caroling on Friday. We were in a pretty small group, we all fit in one big van, but we sounded good. And the people we sang for were very appreciative and teary eyed. :) I always forget to eat something before we leave so I was starving by the time we got back to the fellowship hall. (and they don't serve sloppy joe's! happy day! sorry to all of the very hardworking w-ton food committee, I just don't like them, especially after Christmas caroling.)

Saturday I worked very hard all day to get ready for having Gab and Brian over for supper. Or something. :) I went simple and low stress and made chili. It was good to hang out with them... much interesting hypothetical conversation, nintendo, and scrabble.

My family was in church for the wedding on Sunday, along with half of the w-ton church. It was good to see everybody and eat cake.

Two days until my birthday... woot.

Blessings.

Christmas time is here...

Such a busy, Christmasy weekend!

We got a tree on Saturday. It's pretty, but somehow it looks a lot bigger in our house than it did on the lot. :) Now I just need to get my ornaments from home so it won't look so bare!

I made spritz and we frosted gingerbread and sugar cookies. I think I made way too many of everything, but they're just sooo good. :)

Shelly called me last night and read me "Davey and the First Christmas," which is pretty much the best! I don't have any Christmas books... it's very sad. I'll just have to go hang out at home sometime and read Davey, and the Grinch, and the Night Before Christmas.

Blessings.

sugar and spice

Our house smelled good last night.

I made chicken tikka masala for supper.... garlic, turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala.... heavenly.

Then I made springerli.... much sugar and the wonderful aroma of anise...

Blessings.

Thanksgiving

I love long weekends. :) Even when they're busy.

I also love being a government employee and getting off two hours early on Wednesday by executive decree. :)

We spent Thanksgiving with some of my family at the farm... it was a small group, but quite hilarious at times. And Grandma and Pearline did most of the cooking so the food was great, of course. We were there pretty late because I had to wait for Shelly to get home from work so we could sing thanksgiving songs... and Bob and Jakey were playing Age of Empires...

So I slept in Friday. And was kind of a bum. I did get the house cleaned though. We went to the Beutel thanksgiving for supper- more good food and singing. :) And I didn't have to bring any leftover jello home. woot woot.

Sharon, Rustin and Grace were here so we had Christmas with them on Saturday. I liked Grace's toys a lot... :P We had some really good kabobs for supper, and stayed up really late again. I was having a hard time staying awake in church on Sunday.

Tomorrow is December 1st.... which means it's time to start decorating for Christmas. I'm excited. It also means there are only 17 days until my birthday.

Blessings.

Things for which I am thankful:

Bob

family

good friends

weddings at which I get to see good friends (nic and amanda's was great)

apple pie

sunshine

church

cake

down comforters

spices

my job

Jesus

dr. pepper

flowers

Things that make me smile

and rotating potluck. :D

Blessings.

once upon a midnight dreary...

... name that poem...

So I'm ready for some sunshine again! I don't like wet very much. It's a good thing I don't live in Oregon or a rain forest or something. Damp and dreariness does nothing for my mood... it could have had something to do with reading Wuthering Heights also.... but getting Jakey's Christmas present in the mail yesterday didn't even really help. (It's awesome. I'm excited. He's pretty much the funnest person to find gifts for.) Maybe I can convince Bob that I need to go someplace with green growing things.... ha!

Tonight I have to come up with desert for potluck... I haven't decided what I'm going to make yet. I'll probably just make pie because it's easy and I don't think I'm brave enough to take something I've never made before.

It's going to be a busy few days.... but I'm really excited for Nic and Amanda to get married! It makes me smile a lot. :D

Blessings.

happenings

So I'm pretty done with Christmas shopping. Yay! It helps that I had last Wednesday off for veteran's day and spent the whole day shopping... :)

Bob went to Nic's bachelor supper Friday so I invited myself to supper with Mom and Dad. And finally got some papers signed to switch an account to my name.... which we really should have done when I turned 18 or something, because it's twice as complicated since my name changed and I'm adding Bob. Plus, it was necessary to drive my car through a field of cornstalks at least once this year.... I don't think I got any stuck underneath. :)

We went to walmart the other night to fill shoe boxes.... the toy selection stinks. No little dolls, or stuffed animals, or much of anything that would fit. There was plenty of uber violent stuff... It was still fun though and it was hard to fit it all in the boxes, so I'm sure they'll be happy.

Grandma and Grandpa and Pearl and Kary came for supper tonight. I cleaned extra good. And used my china for the first time. And was a little worried that my food would taste bad.... but it was ok.... they did say it was "different" though. Haha. I think they were a little surprised at how different our house looks now, they all came and helped when we were cleaning and painting, and how livable it really is. :P Good times.

I'm not excited to go to work tomorrow.... *sigh* hooray for Mondays...

Blessings.

Indian Summer

I love it. :D

Except those awful lady bug things also love the warm weather. And a random wasp that was flying around our back porch.

There's a lot of pork in our freezer.... it's amazing. :)

I helped out at the Haitian linens open house last Friday and didn't buy any Christmas presents.... buying decorating stuff for other people is hard, so I just don't. I did get some pretty Christmas things for me. :D

We raked leaves again on Saturday- so much easier with dry leaves! And I maybe jumped off the truck into the large community leaf pile. It was awesome.

I don't like the time change. (Although it is waaay easier to get out of bed when the sun is already up.) Last night I was attempting to grill in the dark by lantern light; not very easy, and I burned my knuckle on the lid. My Wyss Farms, Inc. pork chops still ended up tasting pretty good. :)

Blessings.