Christmas Break

Our office is closed this year until January 5. I really enjoy this time at the end of the year to wind down. Russ was home for Christmas this year so we went to church with our neighbors on Christmas Eve then came home and opened gifts. I made the two of us a nice dinner on Christmas day. We had ham, scalloped corn, potatoes and pumpkin pie. Then on Friday we headed down to Smithville MO to spend the day and night with my God Daughter, Christy, and her family. She is due to have baby number two on January 5, so it was fun to see her at 9 months pregnant. She is really pretty miserable, so I'm sure Jan 5 won't get here soon enough. She is having a c-section so she knows when baby will be born. I'll be anxious to go down and see baby and family some time in January.

Russ has left for a short run so I'm busy getting things picked up around here. Going to make a trip to Perry tomorrow to check on the folks house and pick up their junk mail. Then I'm going to stay and have supper with a couple of friends and their kids. Just going to kind of hang out and pick up things around the house here. If I just do small tasks at a time, I get so much more accomplished rather than looking at the BIG picture. That really overwhelms me. But breaking down everything into small tasks helps me to keep on track and keep going. Everything doesn't have to be done in one day. I'm sure Monday, Jan 5 will be here before I know it. But I'm going to enjoy this time off while I have it.

Hope everyone has a great holiday season and gets 2009 off to a good start.

Baby, it's cold outside!

I am so ready for this winter to be over with and it just officially started this past weekend! Hard to believe that yesterday it did not even get above zero...now that's cold.

Our office will be closed for the holiday starting Dec 24 through Jan 4. I'm ready for a break. It will be nice to not have to get up early and go out in the morning cold.

I would like to get down to see my God Daughter in Smithville MO to see her and her family during the break. Will just have to wait and see weather wise when that happens. She is having baby number 2 on Jan 5. She is having a c-section so knows the due date. I would like to see her one more time before delivery...then I'll give her a few weeks after baby is born to go down and see how things are going.

Well, hope everyone has a great holiday and a safe and happy new year.

We are going to Vegas in February/March with a couple from Perry to see the NASCAR race. I can't wait for that. Give me something to look forward to. It should be warmer there than Iowa, right???

Life of a truck driver!!

Russ started a new job last week with a company out of Fort Dodge. He was supposed to have gotten loaded last Friday and been home by late Friday night. Well, it ended up not getting loaded until Saturday, so he got home Saturday evening instead. His load was going to drop in Conrad IA...north of Marshalltown, so he did a good deed and brought the truck home and was going to deliver Monday morning leaving from our house. That would save the trucking company about 80 miles (not leaving from Fort Dodge). Well, we won't do that again. Russ had the truck up in the driveway by the house and had it plugged in...but it still gelled up on him. He went out at 3am on Monday morning to start it up -- no luck. I went out 3 different times to help but no such luck. He worked on that thing for 12 hours. A diesel company came out and they could not get it started either. So Tuesday the semi tractor was towed to Ames to get worked on. Keep in mind we are not sure who is paying the bill, but we are saying our prayers and hoping that the freight company will reimburse us as these charges are on our credit card at the moment. Russ talked to them and they said for him to just turn in the receipts and they would take care of it.

Anyway, today the truck got running and he is now out doing his thing. So let's hope that he is no where around the ice that they are predicting to come in tomorrow evening.

Oh yea, he also lost his only set of car keys. So I had to go to George White and get a set made this morning so when he finally gets back up to Fort Dodge he can drive home. So needless to say it's been a rough week for Russ. I do think that this company seems to be pretty good though. Again, time will tell on how we turn out with these extra expenses. They also told him that even if he would have left the truck running, it probably still would have gelled up. Diesel just can't handle the cold temperatures.

Fun Picture

The picture was taken last year while at a scrapbook convention in Kansas City. We were actually at the Kansas City Speedway. The 'magazine' cover I saw on Walgreen's web site.

How fun is this? I'll have to try to get a picture of Russ at the Las Vegas race track in March and do a cover for him for next year for Christmas.

Kind of a neat idea for gifts. I'll have to keep this in mind for next year. I'm about done for this year.

Just thought I'd share..the pic kind of goes pretty well with the magazine cover, don't ya think?

Life has its ups and downs

Well, Russ didn't get the job at Decker Trucking. He probably should not have gone up there when he did as he was sick with sinus problems. But who would have thought that at the time it would have made that much difference. Oh well. We got right after it and applied at another firm, Oberg Freight, out of Fort Dodge and he has officially gotten hired by them. He went through orientation, physicals and learning their computer the first of this week and thinks today he will be assigned a truck and go out. So needless to say the past several weeks have had lots of ups and downs for us. I tend to get more stressed out by it..at least I show it more. I know he internalizes it more. He gets very withdrawn and quiet when he's stressed. But he is more optimistic now.

So now we can look forward to our trip to Las Vegas and the NASCAR race in Feb/March with more enthusiasm since he has a job. Kind of puts a damper on things when you don't know where your next paycheck will be coming from.

Winter is off to an ugly start here in Ames/Nevada IA...we have had freezing rain and snow this past week. I was late to work yesterday, but better late than never. I usually wait until I have good daylight before venturing out after snow and/or ice.

Well, here's hoping for smooth sailing for the Mersman's in Nevada IA for at least the next year. I've had enough stress in the past couple of months to last all of 2009.

Hope all is well with everyone and that you're all staying healthy and happy.