barelycontrolledchaos

Missing Him

2011-02-11T06:43:00.002-06:00

I woke up thinking about how much I miss my Grandpa. He's been gone just over 3 years now. It doesn't seem like it can be that long yet it seems like an eternity since I've seen him. I still hear his voice in my ear though.

Gpa always had a joke and a smile. Many times I'll hear a piece of news and think, "I wonder what Gpa will think of this!" Many more times I"ll be trying to figure something out, where someone lived or how someone is related and I'll go to the phone to call him and remember he's not there to answer.

I'm really sad that Gramp never got to meet my son. I doubt he would have understood all the intricacies of adoption - the heartache, the cost, the joy, and the loss - but he would have delighted in his second great-grandson.

I was very, very fortunate to have my Grandpa for almost 93 years. I do realize that is very rare and most people don't get to experience such a thing.

My Grandpa was an awesome maker of peanut brittle. My sister has carried on that tradition. It's not something I can bring myself to do.

He and my Grandma were married for 50 years before she succumbed to cancer. He lived another 23 years without her. One time he was asked if he would ever marry again (like several of the other old guys in the community). His reply was, "why would you ever want to go through that (seeing someone you love die) again?"

After Grandma first died he'd bring little debbies to all the family dinners and functions. As time went on he became quite the baker! He was well known for his treats, candies, and cookies. He loved to take them to friends and family.

Grandpa and Grandma mowed and maintained the local township cemetery where Gramp was a trustee (like his father before him). Once Grandma was gone my sister and I helped him mow and he'd give us the money to spend at Christmas time.

When we were little we'd spend days at a time with Grandpa and Grandma. Grandpa would fall asleep in his chair and we'd call him on it. He'd say, "I was just resting my eyes".

Gramp had a blue Chevy truck we'd go bumping around the country in. When we moved to the farm from Knoxville I remember Grandpa making a wrong turn and me getting him headed in the right direction. I was 7.

When we'd go to Waterloo he'd always stop and get us an ice cream at the Dairy Cone.

When my sister graduated from college it was hotter than hell in the gym. Gpa had unbuttoned his collar and had his clip on tie clipped on his shirt pocket! Grandpa got sick right when I graduated from college so it didn't really register with him.

Grandpa was an old guy born in 1915 so he did have certain opinions about certain things but those opinions could change. My best friend is a gay man. Grandpa knew. He said he didn't understand but Brian was a good man. The only thing he needed to change was to "get a damn haircut!"

I just miss him. He was flawed and could be hard - but aren't we all? He was such a big part of my life for my WHOLE life. I still find it hard to believe/remember that he's gone.

None baby stuff

2011-01-01T08:50:00.003-06:00

(Well, I'm sure he'll sneak his way in somehow!)

We had a lovely Christmas. I made the kids and dog pose nicely before the present opening occured. Everyone was quite happy with what Santa brought them. Heath is growing so quickly that things that had been purchased and wrapped 2 weeks prior had to be exchanged!

We took Ryan sledding up at the school. There was a little "mogul" built into the main run. He had a blast!

We've had A LOT of freaking snow! At least it was light and fluffy (and the wind didn't blow).

There's a fire hydrant in there somewhere!

Nicky got his ACT scores back. We're VERY proud of him!

3 Months old!

2011-01-01T08:48:00.003-06:00

My how he's growing! He's unoffically 18.5# and 25 inches long. He's my little chubba lubba.

2 months old!

2010-12-07T17:10:00.002-06:00

Heath had a great 2 month check up! He's 12.9# now and 23.75" long! He's in the 75th percentile for height and weight up from the 25th so we were very happy!

I started back to work on the 29th (my birthday). As I was hauling him and his stuff into Daycare I twinged my back. I've pretty much been out of commission since. I missed two days of work and also only worked 2 half days. Nick is having to go to and from the babysitter's with me so he can carry him in and out. It's too much weight for me at the moment.

I think my chiro treatment yesterday (the 5th one!) may have finally turned the tide. I'm feeling lots better and was able to work a full day today.

Now to get the Christmas decorations up!

There isn't a Catch! Free Cards!

2010-12-07T17:05:00.002-06:00

My favorite Christmas cards are simple. A simple, elegant image with a simple message is what I like best. I love getting photo cards from far flung family and friends and seeing how their kids have changed and grown, the trips they’ve taken, or the pets that have joined their family. I really like the look of this card:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/starlight-joy-christmas-5x7-folded-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93491

The joy at having a baby this holiday season is something we want to share with all!
With Heath’s adoption I have had a chance to create some wonderful cards. I wasn’t able to make his birth announcements with Shutterfly because a professional photographer friend went created and printed announcements for us as a surprise gift. However, if he hadn’t done so I would have used Shutterfly for sure!

I’ve had many, many compliments on the Baptism announcements I created. It was simple and elegant. I used the Jolie Bebe Blue http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/5x7-flat-stationery-cards/jolie-bebe-blue-baptism-invitation-4x5-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93370 with a picture of Heath when he was 12 days old.

I have to say though that my very favorite product from Shutterfly is the photo book. I find myself creating the 8x8 size time and again. http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books/everyday-8x8-photo-book

I’ve created a photo book of our trip to Venice. I also created one and then ordered two more copies for the kids of our Westward Ho Trip to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks. I may create another of our A to Z trip from last summer when we visited Arizona and Zion National Park.

I encourage you to check out Shutterfly and this awesome promotion for 50 free cards http://bit.ly/sfly2010!

1st Official Photo Shoot

2010-10-24T21:53:00.002-05:00

Uncle Brian came over for our first "official" photo shoot when Heath was 12 days old.

This Bibs outfit is a gift from his birthparents. It's got the cutest little high top sneakers to go with it.

He's really mild mannered and easy going. He's not a big fan of opening his eyes, though.

Loves to sleep with his hands up by his face.

Now at 3 weeks old he's awake from longer periods of time each day. He's pretty hungry and has been eating 6 oz instead of the usual 4 oz.

This is the outfit he wore for finalization. He is truly and finally and irrevocably legally ours forever!!

Welcome!

2010-10-13T22:58:00.003-05:00

We've added to the Chaos! Welcome to Heath Arnold! He arrived September 29, 2010 at 9:54 am. He weighed 6#13 oz and was 20" long.

Now it's 2 weeks later. He's a pound heavier and a half inch longer.

***LOVE***

summer is almost over

2010-08-07T20:11:00.003-05:00

The kids are back from summer visitation.

Christy returned with a turtle. Joy. We went and bought $93 worth of turtle supplies, learned he'll live for 25 -30 years...and she said she didn't think it would be that complicated and she wasn't planning on a lifetime commitment. Thank you Jesus! He's been released in the wilds and I'm planning a return trip to the pet store.

Nick is thinner and taller.

We school shopped and hair cutted today. (I know that's not a real word). We finally told them where we're going on family vacation. We're flying to AZ tomorrow to see the Grand Caynon, Northern AZ and Zion Nat'l Park. We'll be gone a week.

I got promoted at work. I know sit at the front desk. I am an Administrative Assistant how works M-Th 8 to 3, refuses to work on Fridays and gets to go on vacation whenever I want! I love my job!!

BIG NEWS!! We've been picked by an expectant mom to parent her child. He's due in October! We're having a baby!!

So needless to say...things are a little more chaotic than usual around here!

CA Trip I

2010-06-28T21:31:00.003-05:00

Mom and I drove to California in the beginning of June for a family reunion. We went out through, Missouri, Kansas, Southern Colorado, S Utah and S Nevada entering California around Mono Lake and Yosemite. We came home on I-80This pictures are in random blogger-ific order.

This is Amelia Earhart's birthplace on the Missouri River is Kansas.

The Modesto, CA Farmer's market was a riot of sweet cherries and rainier cherries. Cheap and Delicious!

Yosemite is still magnificant and awe-inspiring! This is from Olmstead Point:

The Garden of the Gods is pretty spectacular too!

With the snow melt Yosemite had very full waterfalls and water flowing everywhere.

This is Upper and lower Yosemite Falls from the valley floor.

Sun Sum Summer time!

2010-06-24T20:53:00.002-05:00

It's finally officially summer Here. I can't believe I haven't posted since March. I'm a working woman now (26 hours a week!). Which I love but it has seriously cut into my blogging time!

So here's an update since march:

New York City ROCKED!~! I can't wait to go back! We were there Fri afternoon until Monday afternoon. We ate Cuban, visited the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square (we really were a half a block away!), Hells Kitchen, Ground Zero, the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum, The UN, Grand Central Station, Broadway (we saw Mary Poppins and A little night music). I would spend ALL my extra money on shows if I lived there. We went to Amy's breads, I had a delish cupcake from a famous cupcake place whose name I can't remember. We saw Bryant Park and the NYC Library! Catherine Zeta Jones almost stepped on me! We went to Rockefeller Center and ST Patrick's cathedral. We had a great time and stayed at the Paramount Hotel.
The kids left for the summer. Both of them managed to move on to the next grade though it was in doubt because of nick's laziness and procrastination. So one kid is on the honor roll with a 4.0 and the other could have been but instead barely passed sophomore English. They're back Aug 6th.
Mom and I drove to CA for a family reunion. We were gone 12 days. We drove Hwy 50 through CO, UT, and NV. We visited Manitou Springs, Yosemite, Mono Lake, the San Joaquin valley and Oroville. We purchased pottery thus propping up the CA economy. We brought the Aunt home with us.
We had the dining room painted a lovely shade of light grey. The trim is bright white. The outlets have been switched and the carpet has been cleaned.
Kurt and I planted a lot of new perennials. We attempted to liberate my hostas from the timber weeds at the farm.
I got "promoted" at work. I'm now an administrative assistant working M-Th from 8a-3p rather than working 8-10 hours whenever I feel like it.
We still don't have baby although we talked to a potential expectant mom (it fell through, but it was exciting). We're starting Year 2 of waiting.
Kurt goes to Tucson Sun-Wed.
Tomorrow I'm trying acupuncture for the first time.

I think that pretty much sums up what's been happening around here. I'd post some pictures if I was on the other computer.

New York II

2010-03-21T08:39:00.002-05:00

We're going to see A Little Night Music with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury for the matinee on Sunday.

We may try to get standby tickets to either SNL or their dress rehearsal. The host that weekend is Tina Fey so it might be kind of difficult (as if getting there by 7 am won't be difficult enough!).

I'm worried about being poorly dressed for the restaurants and such. I bet they're used to shlubby tourists though. However, I think Kurt and I are better behaved, dressed etc than the usual clueless tourist.

It's only 3 weeks away! WOW!

Quilting

2010-03-21T08:25:00.003-05:00

In February, I saw in the paper that there was T shirt quilting class being taught nearby. I've always wanted to make one out of my high school and concert tshirts! I thought it would be perfect for Rikki and me to do!

It was to held for 4 consecutive monday nights. We'll we had shitty weather so by the 4th and final Monday we'd only had two classes! Rikki and I ended up going for two entire saturdays as well and we still aren't done.

Turns out I didn't have as many tshirts as I thought either. I had to buy and create additional shirts to get to the 15 that I needed.

Here's a layout of my shirts once I got them cut and fused.

Here's a shot of me working on my "fatties" which is a tshirt attached to a piece of sashing and repeat!

Et Voila! It's my quilt top assembled with the fatties, skinnies, cornerstones and one of the borders.

I've now added a second wider border and it's ready to be backed and quilted! I'm having the quilting done (or I will). Once it's quilted I'll have to take another class to learn how to do the binding.

Poor Kid

2010-03-09T20:27:00.002-06:00

Nick had his 4 impacted wisdom teeth out on Friday. The poor guy. He kept throwing up and had the misfortune of finding out the meaning of suppository. Kurt got back from Vegas a couple of hours after we got home from the surgeon. Nick was still pretty out of it.

He's been doing really well. They were off school yesterday and then had a late start today so he had a decent recovery time.

It's nice that we could pay for it with our HSA. I'm glad Kurt deals with getting us signed up for all that stuff!

New York State of Mind

2010-03-09T20:16:00.003-06:00

Yep, that's right! I'm finally going to see the bright lights of New York City! Kurt and I have booked tickets for the second weekend in April! It'll be a whirlwind. I'm already over planning but we've got the hotel, Statue of Liberty tix, and theater tickets!

Anyone have any suggestions of things to do? We're going Fri-Mon and seeing the show Sunday afternoon.

I'm soooooo excited!!

Typical

2010-02-12T12:10:00.003-06:00

Well in our typical chaotic way we've got way to much happening at once.

The plumber is coming. Kurt and I need to shower. The dog needs to go to the kennel/pound for the weekend. I need to start laundry but probably shouldn't since the plumber might need to turn off the water.

Oh and the dishes need done and the dishwasher run. Did I mention all of this is at 7 am? I DETEST morning!

Plus it's payday Friday so I need to pay bills and run errands. I should probably look at Minnesota weather, too. We're headed there this weekend to see Young Frankenstein on stage. Mom and Dad are going, too. Which means I also need to pack.

Serenity NOW!!

Whatever Works

2010-01-24T18:05:00.002-06:00

Kurt and I watched Woody Allen's Whatever Works today with Larry David. I loved it! It has my two new favorite movie quotes. Kurt says Larry makes him nervous (he said that when we watched Curb, too). I smiled through the whole thing. It reminded me that we need to get the next season of Curb that we need to watch.

Yesterday we when bowling for someting different to do. It wasn't as fun as I would have hoped. I whacked the ball into my knee on one of the releases, my underwire was poking me in the upper arm (now i have a bruise), and our lane didn't work well so I ended up getting screwed out of a frame.

I've made some kick butt chicken and noodles for supper. I used no yolks to keep it healthy (ha!).

We're doing Lighten up Iowa again. One week is down and I'm down 2#. Yesterday it seems like all we did was eat.

The Blind Side

2010-01-15T22:48:00.002-06:00

Kurt and I went to The Blind Side tonight. It is a TERRIFIC movie! I can't believe how good it was! As a side note...the real life guy has got to be impressed that Tim McGraw was playing him.

Today is Day 2 of the lifestyle change/shift. I'm kinda hungry but feeling good! We only got water at the movies tonight.

I did the dreaded grocery shopping today. I came in under budget at WM but went over budget (since there wasn't one) at Targucci. I think tomorrow is going to include some house cleaning. I got a sewing machine for Christmas. I need to get it out of the box and attempt to fix my swishy pants pocket.

So another exciting weekend around here.

Long Time No Blog

2010-01-01T17:33:00.003-06:00

Wow I can't believe it's been so long.

Happy New Year!~

Kurt and I stayed in last night. We played with the Pooper dog and watched 6 or so episodes of Big Bang Theory. Love that show! We were supposed to go to a wedding reception but we were tired and felt a little under the weather. Then -10 degree weather wasn't much of an incentive to go back outside either.

Today we went to OG and had soup, salad and bread sticks (with $2 off thanks to my coupon!) and then we went and saw It's Complicated. It was great! I found myself smiling thorough out and having some deep belly laughs. I just love Meryl Streep. She seems like a nice lady. I'm not a huge fan of Alec Baldwin but he was good too. Plus how can you not like Steve Martin? We really enjoyed it. The theater was packed (with middle aged people). We quickly walked over to the mall and bought some 50% off calendars and then went and looked at diamonds. Now it's 5:30 pm and we're in for the night and we're perfectly happy!

We had a lovely Christmas. We had Eve Eve at Mom and Dad's with the Steins. We had a special visit from Santa in miniature. The 24th I made shrimp cocktail, shrimp scampi, and lobster tails for the four of us. I have some leftover lobster so I'm going to attempt lobster pot pie. The 25th Mom and Dad and all the kids came here. We had a lovely ham lunch, then presents and a movie in the afternoon. That evening Kurt and I went and saw Sherlock Holmes. It was fun. RD Jr is HOT. I didn't follow all of it and thought it was a little long but it was worth the $5.

A Christmas bonus was seeing/lunching/hanging with an old friend (who is new again). We reconnected on FB and have picked up where we left off. Tara was home from San Francisco so we had lunch. Then she and the fam were at the movies and then I ran into her the next day at Walmart (the center of the smalltown universe doncha know!)

The 26th we left for 3 days in South Dakota with Kurt's side of the family. South Dakota was in the middle of blizzard of a century. We made it out there just fine. We had 4/6 meals the were frozen pizzas, $2.99 lunch of 15 at Long John Silvers, another ham dinner and much snacking, laughing, and game playing. All in All it was a great holiday. As was 2009 a great year!

A Prairie Home Companion

2009-11-09T16:37:00.004-06:00

Mom, Kurt, Marn and I attended the live broadcast on Saturday. It was pretty neat! We definately brought down the average age in the room! GK was much taller than I expected. It's cool that it came to DSM so that we don't need to go to the Twin cities and have all that extra expense

The house looks like my great grandma's with the lighting and the porch.

Afterward Mom treated us to dinner at Centro! I had the Seafood Fra Diavolo. It was VERY yummy :-)

West Ward Ho - Conclusion

2009-10-29T12:30:00.003-05:00

Where in the World is Wall Drug? Right where it's always been on I-90. It was fun to poke around.

I remember this Jackalope being HUGE...I must have been tiny!

The World's ONe and only Corn Palace! Can't drive through South Dakota without subjecting the kids to the rite of passage! It was raining so I only have a shot from inside.

Who can forget the Badlands?

Thus concludes our trip. we drove 4, 000+ miles. We spent the night in Sioux Falls with Grandpa and Grandpa and then headed for home sweet home...where a happy puppy and piles and piles of laundry awaited!

West Ward Ho X

2009-10-29T12:18:00.003-05:00

These guys don't change much!
The visitor's center and flags are new since...hmm....1980? I think that's when I was last there!

Bear Country USA is much improved!

Christy carrying on the family tradition!

One last Elk for the road!

West Ward Ho IX (i dont' think that's the right # for 9)

2009-10-29T12:07:00.003-05:00

I've always wanted to go to Devil's Tower!

It's just a big rock but it's pretty awesome!

We hiked all around the base of it.

West Ward Ho VIII

2009-10-29T11:52:00.003-05:00

We drove down through the Grand Tetons and spent the night near Jackson Hole. However the mountains were shrouded in clouds so we didn't get to see the spectacular views.

This cutie was at our resort. His little tushie and feet were sticking out the other side!

We drove through snow at 9,000 feet on June 7th!!

The balsam root was everywhere! Bears like to eat its roots.

West Ward Ho VII

2009-10-29T11:33:00.002-05:00

Mammoth Hot Springs was about the last thing we visited in Yellowstone. It was totally surreal!

This is another of the pools near Old Faithful.

West Ward Ho VI

2009-10-29T11:11:00.004-05:00

At Castle Geyser. It erupted almost continuously.

One of the many plentiful boiling pools

The bald eggs were nesting

She was crying for her baby (notice it in the hot spring)

West Thumb of the Yellowstone Lake and an Elk in the Mist

West Ward HO ....Where were we?

2009-10-29T10:51:00.002-05:00

The Falls at Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (looks fake doesn't it?)

Bison are everywhere!!

The only traffic jam we were in for the entire trip. It lasted about 45 min and hundreds of bulls, cows, and calves went by!

Grazing in fresh green meadow. The sun even came out for a bit!

Castle Geyer near Old Faithful.

Wahooooo!

2009-10-28T21:12:00.002-05:00

I passed my licensing exam today!

I am a licensensed nursing home administrator!

I am soooooo relieved!

National Equality March

2009-10-14T10:51:00.006-05:00

We spent the weekend in Washington, D.C. where we took part in the National Equality March. We flew to DC with our friend Rikki, Amy, and Sherry. Randi and Matt also joined us. It was one of the coolest, most meaningful experiences of my life. I'm so proud to have been a part of it. We all must continue the fight so that ALL people are treated equally EVERYWHERE.

John Oliver from the Daily Show was there. The segment aired last night Oct 13th.

We marched from the White House to the Capitol.

Here's our Iowa group!

There were so many great signs! There were only a few haters along the way and we peacefully and respectfully drowned them out!

Heading up Pennslyvania Avenue. The estimate of the crowd was 200,000!

We marched right past the White House.

To learn more to donate or to learn how to lobby for equal rights check on http://www.nationalequalitymarch.org/ on the web or on Facebook.

Westward Ho V

2009-09-30T13:47:00.002-05:00

We have our National Parks passport book that we like to fill. Another stop we made was at Grant Kohrs Ranch in central Montana. Rain was threatening and we still had a long ways to go, but it was a nice place to get out, stretch, and have yet another ham sandwich!

The ranch has a ranch house and out buildings, cattle, teepees, and a railroad running through it. It is a working ranch.

We peeked in here.

The blacksmith lady made us nail puzzles which kept the kids occupied for a while. Then we piled back in the truck and continued on our way to Idaho where we'd rented a cabin for the Yellowstone portion of our trip.

Westward Ho IV

2009-09-30T13:37:00.004-05:00

As we headed south out of Glacier toward Yellowstone (an 8 hour trip!) we stopped at this Indian built Mission. There's not much else to the town. We listened to Clive Cussler's "the Chase". Flathead Lake is featured in the novel and we got to drive right past it!

We love our little off the beaten path guide books!

The murals were gorgeous!

Westward Ho III

2009-09-26T08:21:00.003-05:00

In Glacier we spent a night each in two of the historic park lodges. (They were the only 2 of 5 that were open). The Lake McDonald Lodge was smaller - more like a private hunting lodge. It had animal trophies and really cool chandliers. The room we had was teeny tiny. The bathroom was miniscule. The location, however, was great!

The first lodge we stayed at was the massive Glacier Park Lodge.

This is one of the Jammers that you can take on a park tour. It was WAY to expensive for the four of us especially since the Going to the Sun Road wasn't open all the way yet. We later learned the road was 100% open until June 30th!

Nick is reading in the lobby. These logs are 40' tall! You can see the marks from the chains that strapped them to the trains that brought them to the building site.

Catch up and Arts on Main

2009-09-26T08:08:00.002-05:00

Marnie and Ryan were up a couple of weekends ago. Marn caught this "whopper:.

Ryan was really good when we were visiting Big Grandpa in the hospital. He and I hung out on the floor and marveled at Grandpa's hospital gown.

Kurt and the kids with the Flying Car from Harry Potter. The rest of the exhibit was cool, too. They're both wearing Tshirts we got on Westward HO. They wear them constantly!

The flower is on my desk.

The painting is above my desk. We got them both at Arts on Main last weekend.

Julie and Julia

2009-09-14T20:48:00.003-05:00

Kurt and I went and saw this movie Friday night. I liked it a lot. Julie was a little whiny but she was that way in the book, too. Meryl Streep really nailed Julia Child. I loved Julia's book "My life in France". It was fantastic.

Eat. Pray. Love. is another book I loved. It's being made into a movie starring Julia Roberts. I'm not real excited about her being the lead. She's never a character in movies anymore. She's just Julia Roberts. Tara asked who I'd rather see playing the part. I've been thinking about that and I just don't know. Maybe Michelle Pfeiffer? Have anyone read the book? And again...I read it before Oprah recommended. That's important to me for some reason.

I think I would blog more I if I had images saved to the laptop. Instead they're saved on the desktop. When I'm in the mood to blog it's in the evening and I'm in the bedroom on my laptop.

We had a busy weekend. We went to the movie Friday night. Saturday, we went fishing with Dad, Marnie and Ryan. It only lasted about half an hour but it was fun! We had lunch at the farm then stopped at Grandpa's and watered the trees we'd planted. Too short naps were had and then we went to CR to see the Orchestra Iowa perform Orff's Carmina Burana (look the title up on youtube)(you know the music). It was awesome. It was outdoors on the lawn at Brucemore. It was a perfect Iowa summer night made even better by Brie, french bread, grapes and Moscato d'Asti.

Sunday we went to Jakway Park for their "day". We had homemade chicken and noodles (kinda short on the chicken and the noodles but still yummy) and then we beat it CR (again) for a Kernels game. I hate baseball but friends asked us to go. It was perfect blue sky puffy cloud day to be at the ballpark eating peanuts and hot dogs and cotton candy and beer. I entertained myself by taking pictures (and drinking beer). We came home exhausted. I've had a head ache ever since. I hope we have zero plans next weekend!

West Ward Ho II

2009-08-31T20:18:00.004-05:00

Taking a break from hiking at Sundrift Gorge in Glacier:

Nick spotted a big horn sheep:

Swift Current Lodge - It wasn't open yet:

This deer was right next to our truck. Christy spotted it.

There are glaciers under all that snow - this is the first week in June!

West Ward Ho I

2009-08-31T20:07:00.002-05:00

Heading toward on of the glaciers

On the Cedar Trail

The glacier is lost in the clouds:

Christy is loving the mountains!

Just beyond the "watch for Grizzlies" sign in West Glacier:

Fishing Fun

2009-08-13T12:01:00.003-05:00

Dad and I went fishing to a county pond this morning. I wasn't have any luck and Dad was pulling them out one after another.

I finally got one! It was the biggest of them all until.........

Dad caught this bass!

My nephew

2009-08-05T09:12:00.002-05:00

Marnie, Ryan and I went to the zoo on Thursday. Snow leopards are his favorite!

Of course, we had to do the penny squasher! Have to start them young!

Turtles aren't that exciting......Notice the Junior Ranger Vest we got him at Glacier? He LOVES it. He's Park Ranger Casey when he wears it.

Here is is pretending he's sick.....

This is the look we got when we asked if he was going to be good at the Restaurant.......

"Ummmmm.......NO!" was the answer (but he was pretty good!)

Scrap Retreat Weekend

2009-08-03T21:06:00.002-05:00

My sister and I and the other sisters went on a scrapbooking retreat weekend at the Craft Cottage over the weekend. It was lots of fun, lots of laugh, and lots of creativity. We've always wanted to go an do that! Now we have...I don't know that we'll need to go again though. It was a long time to sit and do that! The place could have used a couch or something to be able to take a break and relax. I got a lot done! I made a card, altered a hideous picture frame, and made lots of pages. I even got in 5 hours for my Master Gardener volunteer time!

Kurt is still in the Philippines. He's scheduled to get home Wednesday night. I can't wait!

Our Next Big Trip

2009-07-19T20:02:00.003-05:00

In October we are going to participate in the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. Rikki, Amy and Rikki's bff Sherry are going too! Another girl and her bf may go. Rikki's cousin, Damien, might take the train from NYC and join us, too. (I doubt it thought because he never shows up for anything).

We've booked our air and we're working on the hotel. It's hard to know where to stay in D.C. especially since we don't have much info about the march yet.

Today we went to gpa's and planted a russian sage. It's so pretty! Things look pretty good out there. My dad has done a great job mowing. Stuff we planted previously is blooming. I wish I had taken my camera. The Pooper is zonked out! He had lots of fun running around and getting dirty. Good thing I'm planning on getting him groomed this week.

Thanks Facebook

2009-07-09T20:53:00.002-05:00

Been spending way too much time on Facebook which leads to blog neglecting. (It's a lot easier to upload photos to FB). We've been gone again. This time Kurt and I went on a Baltic Cruise with my parents. We got back the 3rd and I promptly succumbed to sinus infection. Urgent Care opened at 8 am on the 5th. We got there at 8:15 and I was patient #5!

We've also be slaving away on the Dear Birthmother letter and profile. I think we finally got the letter approved. Now we have to pick the photos for it and for the online profile.

Kurt has to go to Indianapolis for work next week. Then the week after that he's off to Manila for 2 weeks.

I've got to volunteer at the Fair next week for my master gardener hours. I've also go a scrap weekend with the sisters coming up and the coochie campout. Summer is FLYING by!

More stuff on the way to our Destination

2009-06-14T18:48:00.002-05:00

and the world's largest talking penguin

Stave Church in Moorhead, MN

Near Mandan, ND where Lewis and Clark wintered

At the Lewis and Clark Center

Steele, ND home of the World's Largest Sandhill Crane

Road Side Oddities in Minnesota

2009-06-14T18:41:00.002-05:00

The World's Largest Crow in Belgrade, MN

The Sign says it all!

The Vikings landed in Minnesota ya know! The Kensington Runestone.

Dividing his snacks (and candy from Cinqo de Mayo) into daily allotments.

4,117 miles and who knows how many $$ later....

2009-06-14T18:35:00.002-05:00

We had a great vacation! There was just enough family time. It went sooooo much better than expected! We had breakfast at the hotel, sandwiches for lunch and dinner out. Everyone had a snack box and no one ran out!

We visited Glacier, Yellowstone, followed the Lewis and Clark Voyage of Discovery (although it was deemed too boring to listen to), the Tetons (shrouded in clouds), Mt Rushmore, the Badlands, Wall Drug and many little points in between!

The kids' money lasted longer than I thought it would. I'm surprised there's a rock left to purchase in the West.

We got to visit with Kurt's parents on our way home so that was a bonus ending to our journey.

HOme again!

2009-06-10T21:26:00.001-05:00

We are back from family vacation out west. We are exhausted. We have no food and no clean clothes!

Stay tuned!

Sunday in Photos

2009-05-25T09:40:00.003-05:00

Jack in the Pulpit -

More wildflowers-

The Explorer - checking out a turtle sunning itself on a muskrat hut.

Peaceful Oak Savannah:

A bullfrog!

Hmmmmm

2009-05-25T07:38:00.003-05:00

i could have sworn I did some updates since May 11th. Weird.

We've had a productive weekend I guess. We've gone out to the farm twice. We've been clearing weeds and liberating raspberries. I've created a hosta garden along the shed. Our plan is to move out there once Christy graduates so we're trying to get some plantings established before we go. It's a huge struggle for me to NOT buy and put in plants here. I don't want to have to move a lot of stuff though. I've got enough perennials here already.

Yesterday we went to an outdoor learning center featuring wetlands, an oak savannah, and multitudes of trails. We saw tadpoles, toads, bullfrogs, spotted frogs, a snake, birds, and lots of wild flowers. There are also 11 Indian burial mounds. I chose not to hike up the huge hill to look at them but Kurt and the kids did. The mosquitoes were starting to bother me and I think maximum exertion had been achieved for this couch potato!

After restorative $1 sundaes we continued home and then went back to the farm to continue with our efforts.

I was dismayed to discover a TICK on myself when I went to shower. We're now on Lyme disease watch. I can only assume it will take effect next week when we are on our Westward Ho! family trip.

Nick updates

2009-05-11T10:20:00.004-05:00

Nick is doing pretty well with soccer considering he's never played before. He plays defense.

He takes some pretty hard shots!

He had a good 16th birthday!

Yet another new watch. These children go through watches and shoes like toilet paper!

New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas

2009-05-11T10:03:00.003-05:00

Well thanks to Blogger these are out of order.

I was standing in Colorado when I took this one:

We drove up and around the side of this volcano in Northern New Mexico. It was scary too! You can see the road going around it.

Typical "home" in the Grasslands of SE Colorado:

The ruins of Ft Union in Northern New Mexico.

The Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert

2009-05-11T09:55:00.002-05:00

Storm clouds as we are racing toward the parks

The Painted Desert

Petrified Wood! The rangers were watching everyone VERY closely! As if we could have lifted it!

Another Scary Drive - Salt River Canyon

2009-05-11T09:46:00.005-05:00

I had lots of other cool images but turns out my film camera was worn out :( I've got nothing.

It used to be this was the only route through Northern AZ to Phoenix. It was terrifying!

Biosphere 2

2009-05-11T09:37:00.002-05:00

Anyone know what Biosphere 1 is? Answer below!

My husband is a geek. We were in the neighborhood. We HAD to stop!

I have to say - it wasn't awful.

I'm glad we went.

**EARTH is biosphere 1

Amazing

2009-04-21T18:00:00.001-05:00

how one phone call....no, make that 3 phone calls....can put one in a foul mood.

AGAIN I am washing my hands of the entire mess.

Tucumcori Mission and Tubac Artist colony

2009-04-18T08:38:00.003-05:00

This is the interior of the mission at Tucumcori. It has not and will not be restored. The holes in the walls are damage from people looking for Jesuit treasure!
Another beautiful Arizona morning

Pottery at the artist's colony of Tubac. Nothing was open. People in Arizona don't seem to get going too early!

Gotta love how Blogger uploads stuff! Not!

San Xavier del Bac - White Dove of the Desert

2009-04-18T08:25:00.004-05:00

The Mission San Xavier del Bac was founded in 1692. The present church was built under the direction of the Franciscians. It was begun in 1783 and completed in 1787. The interior has been restored under the direction of the guy who restored the Sistine Chapel. (That's some accurate reporting on my part, huh!)

The Main altar

Grilled Orange Rosemary Chicken

2009-04-16T20:27:00.002-05:00

New Recipe. We had it for dinner tonight. It ROCKED! It's from "Lose Weight the Smart Low Carb Way" book I got at the friends of the library sale.

It says it's equally good cold in a salad. I'll find out if that's true for lunch tomorrow. I served it with fresh green beans, a salad and leftover sticky rice.

Grilled Orange Rosemary Chicken - 307 calories, 5 g carbs

1 large orange
1 T olive oil
2 T fresh minced rosemary or 1.5 tea dried
1 tea salt
1/2 tea red pepper flakes
3 1/2# skinless chicken parts (I used 1.5 pounds of tenders)(they were on sale)

Grate the orange peel into a large shallow dish. Squeeze the juice into the dish. Stir in the oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper flakes. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hour or up to 3 days.

Grill until the juices run clear.

EASY!! I think it could be baked pretty easily, too!

This is the first installment of trying to add something new to the repertoire!

Tucson 3

2009-04-16T13:44:00.003-05:00

SCAREY ROAD!!! Driving through Grant's Pass in Tucson. The image DOES NOT do it justice!

The Desert was in bloom!

I love the Saguaro! The landscape is soooo different from Iowa. I love it!

Yeah, I could live here in the winter

Tucson 2

2009-04-16T13:34:00.004-05:00

Ho'Okum petroglyophs

Saguaro Park West in the Sonoran Desert

This could be my favorite Image from the Trip

2009-04-16T13:30:00.004-05:00

DeGrazia's Studio in the Sun

2009-04-16T13:22:00.004-05:00

There is a 100 year retrospective of DeGrazia's work showing currently. These are some of his stations of the cross. Amazing!

Purple prickley pear cacti

The Chapel DeGrazia built on the property. LOVE the Arizona sky!

Our home while in Arizona. Sigh....nice :-)

New Mexico to Tucson

2009-04-16T13:14:00.002-05:00

The only thing we did in Truth or Consequences, NM:

We stopped in Tombstone, AZ and saw the shoot-out at the OK Corral

We visited Saguaro National Park East in Tucson. We thought we might hike a little since we'd been in the truck for so long.

However......

We decided against it. That's a little too much nature for us!

Albuquerque

2009-04-16T12:56:00.002-05:00

The 400 year old church in Old Town

A courtyard with Chili Ristras

Church detail

Albuquerque Overpass at Sunset

I love map cards!

2009-04-16T12:49:00.002-05:00

I collect all kinds of postcards. I've already mentioned my love of postcrossing. I got this AWESOME Oregon card via private swap today. LOVE IT!!

I'm Back!

2009-04-15T16:50:00.002-05:00

The test is over (for now). I did not pass. (Sounds so much better than failed right?) I got 109. I needed 113. I'm going to concentrate on other things for a while then start studying again and reapply to take the test.

The other things - well the main other thing - is adoption. Kurt and I have decided to adopt an infant domestically. We've started the homestudy process and are working on the "Dear Birthmother/ Birth Parents letter" and our profile book.

It's like the plague house around here. Three out of four of us are sick. Only the dog and christy have escaped. Nick has Flu A - I'm getting over sinus infection - Kurt has something in between. I've washed in hot water, I've covered everything in Lysol and bleach wipes, and we've drained many a bottle of juice and of cold stuff. It stinks!

Gay Marriage Upheld in Iowa!!

2009-04-03T16:32:00.001-05:00

It's a great day to be an Iowan!

Tucumcari II

2009-03-21T07:56:00.001-05:00

Some of the Famous Neon (during the day)

Mesalands Dinosaur Museum

You can touch this!

A leg bone! Kurt is 6'3" btw

New Mexico - The Blue Swallow

2009-03-21T07:49:00.001-05:00

One of the garages

Notice the rotary dial phone

Oklahoma City

2009-03-21T07:36:00.004-05:00

Chihuly Tower More Chihuly

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

Chairs inscribed with victims' names

Topeka

2009-03-21T07:31:00.003-05:00

The Kansas Capitol building
Brown vs. Board of Education Museum

Tucson Wrap Up

2009-03-19T09:45:00.002-05:00

We made it back late Monday night after a 13 hour drive from Dodge City, KS. The best part of it was getting up in the morning and getting to say "Let's get the F**k outta Dodge".

I HAVE HAVE HAVE to study. My test is April 7. Not much more til after that.

Please don't Divorce Us

2009-03-19T09:41:00.002-05:00

I wish I knew how to make this show up

Tucson At last!

2009-03-09T10:51:00.000-05:00

We got up and watched the sun come up over Truth or Consequences.....well, ok, we were going to McD's for breakfast BUT the sun was coming up! We really liked T or C. It's very picturesque with the mountains in the near distance and lots of pretty buttes. There's a large lake there and a mineral springs (although we couldn't find either of them). The Rio Grande runs along the town, too.

Originally it was named Hot Springs but won a contest the Truth or Consequences show was having where they wanted to rename a town to celebrate the show's 10th anniversary. Miraculously we were on the road by 8 am! We only made just over 300 miles for the last two days!

It was pleasant drive to Tucson. We're halfway through Moby Dick disc wise. It only took 70 chapters before the Pequot landed her first whale!

On the way into Tucson we decided to turn south and go see the gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone. We had lunch at a very empty b an b with very authentic Mexican food YUM! The historic district is about 3 blocks long and closed off to traffic. There were gunfights, cowboys, and working girls wandering around. The street was lined with stores with pottery, silver, and turquoise. I tried on some gorgeous bracelets in the words of my grandmother, “MY what good taste I have!”

It was cloudy and kind of gloomy as we pulled into Tucson. The first thing we saw was the “Boneyard” with acres and acres and acres of retired planes lined up in rows of military precision. There was also a big transport plane with a fighter jet trailer it and two other planes flying around on maneuvers. Pretty cool! We eventually found our way to Saguaro National Park (the East one). We drove the 8 mi loop looking at hundreds of cacti. There are 4 or 5 main types in this section of the park. I've never really seen anything like it. It was awesome! The light was very flat though and my camera doesn't have very good definition in low light. I plan to go to the West one during the midmorning afternoon and see if it's better.
Hung out in the hot tub last night. It was nice after 3 days in the truck and mostly crummy motels.

Now Kurt's on a call and we're waiting to change rooms since the nearest elevator is out of service and the Internet connection is rotten.

Still in New Mexico

2009-03-09T10:44:00.000-05:00

Turns out we can drive the truck around town but we shouldn't get it out on the open road for a few hours. We checked out of the Blue Swallow and found some hot food at the Pow Wow Restaurant. Tucuamcari is (was) famous for their neon signs. There was a pretty cool one on the Pow Wow along with several cigar store indians. After lunch we went to the Mesalands dinosaur museaum. It was ony 6 bucks to get in and it was fantastic!

Mesalands community college in tucumcari has a palentolgoy program. They found 4 or 5 dinos last year! The museum has fossils you can touch! Also they have replicas cast in broze so you can touch those too. I can't even begin to describe how cool it was. If it was such a drive to NM from IA i'd recommend it to anyone with kids.

We finally got on the road around 130. It was horribly windy with 50 mph gusts. I really think New Mexico is pretty, but there is not a lot out here. We got to Albuquerque in the late afternoon. Kurt hasn't been there before so we stopped to look around in Old Town. We did a little shopping and enjoyed the architecture. There were chili ristra's allover. It was chilly with the wind. Since it was late in the day I don't think my pictures are going to be very good. Plus I was cold and didn't really give a rip about being creative.

After an hour or so we got back on the road. As we were leaving town there was a gorgeous dramatic storm cloud and sunset over Sandia Peak. It seemed like we drove all damn day but we only made it to Truth or Consequences, NM crashing for the night in the Super8. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

Kickin it on Route 66

2009-03-07T11:22:00.002-06:00

We're still in the Blue Swallow. We walked a ways down Route 66 and discovered a drive through donut store. We walked up and got a few. The owner said he saw us down at the Blue Swallow. The tow truck driver went by and honked at us. Bill brought Kurt over some coffee and was at the door the second Kurt got back from NAPA to see if we were staying another night.

We discovered that the truck blew a spark plug right out of the hole. They will put in a heli coil and glue it then insert the new plug. It needs about 3 hours to dry. At least we aren't going to be trapped here until Monday or later. There is very little to do in Tucumari (and very few places to eat) and none of them are within walking distance.

We hope to head out around 2 or 3 pm.

Oklahoma State Line

2009-03-07T11:20:00.001-06:00

March 6

Kurt had calls at 730 and 9 and then got sucked into an interview. Needless to say today did not get off to a good start.

We drove downtown and went to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. They have the world's most comprehensive collection of Chihuly glass in the world. The pieces were amazing. The museum has a diverse collection of other things and was very well laid out.

Kurt had another call at noon so he went out to the truck to take it. We ended up driving the few blocks over to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. It was pretty and quiet. There were a lot of people there enjoying the sun and warm weather. It didn't feel sad to me.

We didn't stay too long. We got back on I-40 and headed for Texas and New Mexico. Oklahoma has very very red soil. It is dry and not too interesting to look at. We had lunch late at the Cherokee Trading post. Kurt had a buffalo burger and I had some ribs (gotta have BBQ, right?). Both were good. We went into the trading post. It was very nice instead of tacky. We got a bunch of postcards, a Christmas ornament, and I got a charm for my bracelet. We like to get Christmas ornaments on our travels. It's Santa riding an armadillo.

We finally made it into Texas. It was probably after 3:30pm. We are NOT making good time or miles.

The Texas panhandle had lots and lots of cattle and scrub brush. There were abandoned homesteads. I noticed though that even the occupied homesteads look abandoned! It was very windy. We saw the largest wind farm in TX – I think it's in Weatherford or maybe it was Hereford. I40 runs along Route 66 so that was kind of neat to see.
Right when the landscape started to get interesting again with buttes and such it started to get dark. We finally got to New Mexico. It was another 300+ miles to Albuquerque. We decided to shoot for Tucumcari.

When we about 10 miles outside of town. We heard a pop and bang under the hood. We got pulled over to the side. Across the median there was a cop and a tow truck helping another motorist. Kurt walked over there (in the dark) and one of the cops met him in the median. “Stop! Don't come any closer!” There was no tow truck. Instead it was two cars of troopers doing a “consent to search” on the other car. They were nice enough to call us a tow truck.

The thought of towing the giant beast to town was daunting. Watching the guy put it up onto the flat bed was scary. It started to slide back at one point – I guess that's when he released the winch and it slide back into the chairs.

We got a lift into Tucumcari. There is a NAPA that is open from 8 -12pm on Saturday that has a repair shop otherwise the Ford dealership opens on Monday. He sent us across the street the a Route 66 classic motel The Blue Swallow. We got a room for $66. Bill, the owner, is very friendly and very proud of his place. It was used as a model for the CARS movie. It's also been in some other movies.

On the road again

2009-03-07T11:19:00.000-06:00

March 5

we drove to Oklahoma city today. It was kind of a long day with over 700 miles. The flint hills in Kansas were pretty at dusk. We're listening to Moby Dick on cd. It's funny! I cannot imagine actually reading it!

We had dinner just north of the Oklahoma state line in Mulvene, KS. We ate at a little diner called “Laurie's”. It was very homey. Kurt had chicken fried steak, I had ham steak and we both had yummy green beans. It was our waitress's birthday so she was handing out cupcakes. They were great! It was the kind of cupcakes I wanted for my birthday!

There is green grass and blooming trees that are leafing out here in OKC. There really appears to be a lot to see and do here. I was amazed.

Since work is paying for the hotels we're in a Marriott. Nice bed and good A/C! The hotel is full of cowboys sporting big belts, tight jeans, big hats and spurs. It's something nice to look at after a day of driving through Kansas – which could well be the Nebraska of the South!

What a bunch of Dorks!

2009-02-27T02:36:00.002-06:00

Kubbestol by Hans Sandom

2009-02-16T11:05:00.003-06:00

Why bother?

2009-02-15T19:30:00.005-06:00

We went to Decorah for the weekend. We were making it a combo anniversary/v-day thing. There isn't as much to do in Decorah as I thought so we got done shopping etc early and our dinner reservation wasn't until 7 pm.

We decided to go out to a new little restaurant called la dolce vita. It was a veer to the left death ride out there but it was very pretty. Despite it's loveliness we only had a drink and the spring rolls which to my dismay were cold.

We headed back into town and decided to see if we could eat early. It was a no-go. The hostess even told us it would be better if we could come later than our reservation. We drove back downtown in search of more appetizers and had no luck. We did have another drink at a very loud college bar. I believe I am officially old!

We got back out to the restaurant and didn't get seated til probably 730. Our crab cake (tasty but overly fried) arrived in a timely manner as did our soups and salad. At 8:10 we began to wonder where the F*** our food was. People that had come in after us were getting seated and getting their food! We finally got our waitress attention and she told us it would be 2 min. We pressed her a little, she pointed to the kitchen and said "that's how they do it". Then told us it would be free. We finally got our food at 8:55. My prime rib was terrible and tasteless and you could hear my baked potato when I cut it. Kurt said his was pretty good but we were both exhausted by 9. We couldn't get our waitress's attention again so we left what little cash we had for a tip and walked out.

We got back to the hotel and it was freezing. Did I mention our table was directly in front of the door to the outside? Kurt had his coat on the entire time. I ended up with my swishy pants on huddled under the covers. We were lights out by 9:45!

Today, we went to the Vesterhiem Museum. I haven't been there since I was a kid. It's 4 floors of the Norwegian American story. It was pretty interesting. There were some really cool chairs there that are carved out of a single log. Of hand I can't remember what they're called but now I want one! There was also lots of pretty silver jewelery. Silver is a huge part of the regional costumes of Norway.

Overall it was nice to be together with no kids and no dog, but it wasn't exactly the weekend romp I had in mind!

Three Years Down!

2009-02-09T17:38:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was our 3rd wedding annivesary.

I got a label maker!

We celebrated with afternoon naps and then dinner at Olive Garden. (We should have stayed home and ordered pizza).

I love you Kurt!!

Date night

2009-02-06T22:12:00.003-06:00

Kurt and I went to see he's just not that into you. It was cute. Then we went to Wal-Mart. We do live a glamorous life. Don't be jealous.

Octuplet F**k Up

2009-02-06T08:10:00.005-06:00

Ok I'm officially annoyed. I know this isn't news to anyone but here's what's set me off today:

It's that Nadya Suleman - The mother of 14 via IVF. She's on the Today Show with Ann Curry. 1st she looks like Angelina Jolie - so I guess we know who'll be playing her in the movie. 2nd - one of her reasons for having her children is she had a lonely and dysfunctional childhood. SHE LIVES WITH HER PARENTS!!! Weren't they part of her dysfunctional childhood? Ergo.....

How is she going to feed them? How is she going to clothe them? Maybe TLC will step in and help.

IVF can be up to $20k a cycle. She's had at least 6 rounds - she's unemployed. Who's paying for this? Me? The taxpayers? If I'm spending $ on IVF it damn well better result in ME having a newborn! Ugh!

Beware of Barnes and Noble

2009-02-03T22:44:00.005-06:00

This summer they changed their return policy. An original receipt is only good for 14 days and then only on certain items. A GIFT receipt is good for 60 days. So ALWAYS get a gift receipt. An original receipt is NOT AS GOOD AS A GIFT RECEIPT. They have an extensive 2 part policy on the back of their receipts which excludes items such as:

puzzle stow and go ( the reason for this warning)
book ends
coffee cups
stationery
book ends
etc, etc, etc

Sunday, I was LIVID. The MOD was very rude and defensive. I, unfortunately, did not get her name. Kurt and I are no longer going to patronize them. Which may not seem like a big deal to those of you who do not live in the sticks, but for us it is. There isn't another bookstore anywhere nearby. There are 2 independent books stores that I know of within 90 miles. There is BDalton but it is owned by B&N.

I called and spoke to a different manager today. After a great while and much explaining and complaining she has agreed to give us an in-store credit. So we will patronize them once more. Then it is over. We're card carrying discount members, too. We spent a significant (to us) amount of money with them. I'm sure they won't feel our loss much but we are done.

Another dull one

2009-01-25T19:39:00.002-06:00

Kurt's been on the phone since Midnight last night. they say the problem is fixed. He finally got off the phone at 530 tonight and has gotten a little sleep.

I appear to be sick or getting sick. The roof of my mouth is very sore and I'm getting an occasion stabbing pain in my ear.

We didn't go anywhere or do anything this weekend. Yesterday Kurt finally plastic-d the two big windows in the living room. Last night we watched Elizabeth - The Golden Age. It was very beautiful and well acted. Some of it drug on a little though.

We ate ice cream with caramel sauce and chocolate cupcakes - which may have been the highlight of the weekend.

Impressions of the Day

2009-01-20T10:49:00.004-06:00

wonder what was in the box Michelle gave Laura
too bad he picked Rick Warren - bigot :-(
hilary doesn't look happy
Barack H Obama - kinda sad he can't use his middle name without people freaking out
LOOK at all those people - WOW
The girls look cute
BYE BYE BUSH!! Please let that be the last of that bloodline.
That is some Hat Aretha is sporting
That's the end of the evil cheney!
Simple Gifts is so beautiful
This is like the poor girls version of twitter!
AND THE CROWD DOES WILD!!!!
Omg I can't believe he is president!
An articulate president - HOW refreshing
"we are ready to lead once more"
"Our power doesn't allow us to do as we please"
There are people everywhere!
Wow ~ what a speech :0
Say "Amen" - that guy should of done the invocation

I hope this good feeling can continue for the next 8 years!

OMG I did it!

2009-01-15T20:34:00.003-06:00

I applied to take my nursing home administrator's licensing exam.

I'm going to go throw up now.

Not Again

2009-01-15T20:08:00.004-06:00

Day 3 of no school. Seriously. Lord help me. It's -21 here with windchill it feels like -50. Do they go to school in Alaska? It's this cold there quite often, right? Kids have missed 6 days of school so far this school year. SIX!!

Good thing I like my new hat 'cuz I'm wearing it in the house.

All's Well

2009-01-10T08:18:00.003-06:00

The pooper is home. He seems to be doing pretty well. He LOVES his stinky canned food. He is still on antibiotics for the inflamed liver and bile duct that caused this whole problem.

Tomorrow is Christy's 14th birthday so last night we drove in the the "wintery mix" weather to go to Hu Hot. It was shrimp night. Christy had 3 plates! Pretty amazing for a skinny little thing like her. Nick in his own words "burnt out his taste buds". Every time we go he tries the recipes listed. He's working his way from mild tot HOT! He only has the two listed in red left to try.

Since it snowed 2-3" yesterday and 5" was predicted overnight we stopped and got some movies. We figured we'd be snowed in, the kids are here this weekend, and Waterloo has a MUCH better selection. We ended up with 5 movies and a bottle of water for $6.72! On tap for the weekend are:

Spiderman 3
The Lost Boys
Michael Clayton
the Golden Compass
Burn after Reading

I'm going to make regular chili and chicken chili today. I've already got a load of laundry in the dryer.

Kurt has a honey do list that is larger than normal since he was gone last weekend. Luckily, none of the "do-s" are very difficult.

Stay warm everyone!

Crummy Weekend

2009-01-05T16:02:00.004-06:00

Well my last childless weekend - no, make that week - was crummy.

Francis has been sick, then better, then sick, then better, then sicker. He's spending the night in the doggie hospital having a series of barium xrays. All of his levels have JUMPED in the last two weeks. He started throwing up again last night. It appears his pancreas and liver are inflamed. Then when I was vacuuming this afternoon I found more dog barf. Rather than just being bile this pile had something red and green in it. Maybe cloth? I couldn't tell. So now Dr Tom is afraid something might be stuck. Hence the extra xrays. I just came into some money today, too. Looks like we know where that's going to be going :-( But I would like to have a happy, healthy, non-puking pooper again.

Kurt has been gone all but 3 nights this week. He was only home by default on one of them (I forgot to take his clothes when we met friends for dinner Friday night). Him not being here makes me crabby. His company being unorganized and ungrateful makes me crabby.

Saturday was Rikki's 30th birthday bash. She and Amy rented a bus and planned a pub crawl. I got a new outfit and accessories. Saturday we got YET ANOTHER ice storm. Travel not advised and towing prohibited on the route I need to take (along with most of NE Iowa). Lovely. It sounds like a good time was had by all. Instead of partying it up Francis and I stayed in our jammies all day, napped and watched tv and movies. We got in some Iron Chef, some Anthony Bourdain as well as Out of Sight ( I didn't see all of it but it was pretty good). I didn't realize it was a Soderbergh film. Then going with the Jennifer Lopez theme on TNT or TBS we watched Monster in law. It's not going to win any awards but it was entertaining, too. Probably the best of the 3 was The Sentinel with Michael Douglas.

So it's been me and a sick dog all week along with a somewhat crabby and very distracted husband on IM. A bright point was the Caribbean Crusted Snapper I had for dinner on Friday night at Ced Rel Supper Club. Gotta love a place that has a relish tray!

Christmas Wrap Up

2008-12-30T10:23:00.005-06:00

We had a lovely Christmas for the most part.

Mom had oyster stew on the 23rd for us so we could leave for Rochester early on the 24th. The stew was yummy! The oysters were HUGE ( i, of course, stayed away from them)

The morning of the 23rd I had to take Francis to the vet for an emergency visit. He'd been throwing up. When we got there he got an IV for dehydration, two shots of antibiotics, and a throat culture. I checked to make sure he wouldn't be contagious since we'd be seeing his doggie cousins in Rochester.

Nick put his Santa hat on the Pooper. You can tell he's not feeling well since he didn't shake it off ASAP. He did very well being strapped in for the ride.

Think I went a little overboard?

Who wants to go fishing with me??

Nick, Christy and Kurt were really happy with the 5x7 collage print I made and framed of our trip to Chicago.

The tiger t-shirt got a thumbs up!

Lyle and Audra Kae really really enjoyed the family scrapbook I made for their 50th anniversary. It included wedding pages/photos for their parents, them, and the three boys. Each family also had two pages and I did a page for each of the nine grandkids. There were some other misc pages, too. It was a lot of work, but well worth the pain in the butt it was to see them so thrilled.

We came home in the dense fog on the 26th. We stopped at the vet to pick up more antibiotics since Francis' throat culture showed tonsillitis and we stopped at Urgent Care where Christy tested positive for strep throat.

Now the kids are gone til the night of the 4th. Kurt's been gone 2 nights working and I have all the Christmas stuff put away.

Bring on the new year!

Freezing my A** off

2008-12-21T19:13:00.005-06:00

It's been a cold, cold, cold dull weekend. Overnight Thursday we got 8 - 10 inches of snow so of course there was no school on Friday. The kids don't go back until Jan 5.

Saturday the weather forecast said blizzard warnings for late Saturday night and all day on Sunday. Kurt, my parents, and I went to the Amanas to see the play Nuncraker. It was snowing a little when we left. We took the truck. By the time we got out of the show at 5 pm it was a full blown blizzard. We only had one super scary episode when we hit a patch of ice and fishtailed. Mom and I shrieked and Kurt kept it on the road. It was a long tense ride home.

Friday night I fell down the front steps in spectacular style. I hit my tailbone, my butt, my butt, my back, my back, both wrists and my ankle before face planting in the snow. I've been bruised and stiff all weekend. Today I can't bend or twist. Kurt is being very patient with me.

Kurt's been reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows all weekend. I've been channel surfing and taking advil. I also made a pumpkin pie and peppermint bark.

So overall my weekend has been as dull as this post :)

A winter scene

2008-12-12T11:03:00.002-06:00

I'm supposed to be disinfecting/cleaning our bedroom, but instead I'm watching a pair of cardinals hop around in the snow outside my bedroom window. I'd like to get a picture but am afraid that getting up and going past the window will wake up the dog and scare the birds away.

Venice - Final shot

2008-12-10T18:25:00.003-06:00

We had a great time. This is on the Rialto Bridge spanning the Grand Canal.

Venice VIII

2008-12-10T18:11:00.005-06:00

Santa Maria Della Salute - This church was built the thank Mary for sparing the lives of 1 in 3 Ventians during the Plague

High water

The sun does shine in Venice!

Kurt on the downside of Accademia

Venice VII

2008-12-10T17:40:00.004-06:00

The Accademia Bridge - we crossed this numerous times a day

The canal in front of our hotel from our balcony

A detail on a building

Another detail

The Grand Canal

Venice VI

2008-12-10T17:19:00.005-06:00

Above the door way that goes to the Doge's palace. Perhaps, a Doge kneel before the lion - symbol of Venice and St Mark
A rainy afternoon on the Piazza San Marco

The horses that stand on St Marco. These are the originals. The ones outside on the balcony are copies.

San Marco from the Piazza. The flood waters were to the tops of these chairs the day we left.

A view of the horses looking toward the clock tower

Venice V

2008-12-10T17:06:00.003-06:00

WOW! This is post # 501!

The following images are of San Marco's Basilicia and the gorgeous mosaics inside

The Holy Family

St. George slaying the Dragon

Various saints and angels

Jesus - Byzantine style

Venice IV

2008-12-10T13:32:00.004-06:00

On the balcony at San Marco

One of the many canals and bridges we crossed - constantly!

On the balcony at St Mark's. The Doge's Palace on the left, the column with the lion looking out toward the lagoon.

Prociutto at the Christmas Market.

Yummy THIN pizza. It was soo good!

Venice III

2008-12-10T13:19:00.003-06:00

The front of the Fenice Opera House. It's really exquisite inside. Lots of guilding. No wonder it took them so long to rebuild it. I can see why it was next to impossible to fight the fire. It's in a very small, confined area. It took us almost three days to find it! It's hard to decipher maps in the rain and navigate the narrow streets or tell what direction you are going.

A view of the Doge's Palace. We toured it. We were there probably 4 hours.

The courtyard at the Doge's Palace. Notice how it was light when we started and dark (see above) by the time we came back out? The Doge's Palace is right next to/attached to San Marco Basilica.

Along the lagoon. That's another little island across the way. I believe that's San Giorgio than you can see. We didn't make it over there.

Venice II

2008-12-10T13:03:00.004-06:00

I'm just going to post pictures. I don't have the energy for a blow by blow...plus I don't think anyone really cares :)

What's the deal with blogger not posting images in the order you upload them? Anybody? Bueller?

Our first yummy meal! Kurt's tagliatelle with swordfish, olives and eggplant.

And to think I went to photography school! Can you say "clash"? This is our comfy bed in our former palazzo hotel.

Lighting candles for safe travel at St. Stefano's

My delish vermicelli and clams

The view out our hotel room. We stayed at the Hotel American Dinesen on the Campo san Vio.

Chili

2008-12-08T17:31:00.004-06:00

I made chili this afternoon. I taste tested a cup this afternoon. It will be fine for dinner. I'm baking peanut butter star cookies right now. I may have broken into the bag over the weekend. Still, there were plenty of stars to stick in the cookies.

Kurt and I both have low grade colds. We didn't do much over the weekend but lay around and watch movies. We rented Casino Royale so we could relate it to Quantum of Solace. Again, I say oh la la to Daniel Craig.

We also watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was decent. It had some funny bits. I like Mila Kunis - Jackie from That 70's Show. We squeezed in White Christmas and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Not much got accomplished around here.

I got the Tales of Beedle the Bard on Friday. It was short at only 107 pages with rather large double spacing. It was cute. I think JK Rowling must have been exhausted from writing the last HP book since this one was so very short. All the $$ is going to a children's charity to I don't feel bad about spending the $ on it.