Fall full of fun

In September a girlfriend and I sent to Washington DC for a 6 day tour. We flew in from Des Moines. There were 41 total on this trip. About half flew in from all over the country and the other half caught a bus up in Wisconsin. We figured it would save us 4 days of vacation to fly and it wasn't that much more so that decision was pretty simple.

What a great trip! Here's a list of what I remember that we saw:

• every memorial (Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, WWII, Vietnam, Iwo Jima, Jefferson)
• Mount Vernon
• Arlington Cemetery
• Changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier
• Arlington House
• National Cathedral
• drove by lots of embassy's
• Smithsonian (Holocaust Museum, National History Museum)
• Connie and I rode the Metro the first day when we got in before everyone else
• Took a nighttime tour so we could see all the memorials all lit up--what a sight

We really had a great time. LOTS of walking, but we made it. We walked a lot the very first day when we got in several hours before anyone else. That really pooped us out. We both had leg/feet cramps but that must have toughened us up because after that there were no cramps. I got a couple of blisters, but nothing that really kept me from going. I did sit a few times while Connie did a little more 'going'. By late in the afternoon of walking so much, my 'dogs' were just plain worn out. Believe me we both slept very well during that trip.

I'll try to post a few pictures at some point in time.

I will be taking my folks down to Louisiana this month. We are all looking forward to that trip. Louisiana is having really warm weather though...so hope my brother's AC holds up. They had really HOT temps most of their summer. I think it's still in the 90's down there. But I'd rather have it in the 90's than 70's. We are close to our fall/winter season here in Iowa, so I'll try to soak up as much of the Louisiana sunshine as I possibly can. Then when our first snow flies..I'll try to remember the warmth of the Louisiana sunshine. HA

Well, it had been awhile since I posted, so thought I'd take a quick minute to get something out there. I scrapbooked with some friends this past Friday night. I really haven't wanted to do much scrapbooking lately, but that got me going and I finished up my Nauvoo trip that I took with Deb and Connie a year ago in September. It felt good to have that done. Now I need to go through the DC pictures and get those printed so I can start working on that album.

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!!

It's almost 9am on a Wednesday morning and I'm sitting here in my easy chair waiting for someone to come help me with the WATER in our basement. We had about 4 inches in there on Monday morning but the lift station was working hot and heavy. On Monday evening there was still some standing water..but not covering the whole floor. Last night there was about 1/2 inch on the floor...well we got 3.5 inches of rain last night...so guess what? I have about 4 inches of water standing in my basement and I don't hear the lift station working! So I called Russ crying that he needed to get ahold of the guy who helped me last time. So here I sit waiting for someone to come and figure this mess out. I am so tired of all this rain. We've had about 9 inches of rain in the last several days...so I guess I understand why there is water...but I need something that works to draw it out. The drain can't keep up with the inflow!

I am not one to usually wish the summer away..but this year I am just ready for summer to be over. But I also fear what winter is going to be like! Last year was brutal..so I hope that all this rain this summer is not an indication of what the winter will be like. I know there are a lot of people out there that have it a lot worse than I do, but I'm still feeling sorry for myself.

Well, guess I'd better get off my duff and get a few things done around here while I have some quiet time.

Hope everyone else is not dealing with water issues. I know the town of Ames is bombarded as well. They say that this is worse for them than the floods of 1993...and that was bad. So even if I could get to work, not sure of what path I'd take due to all the flooded roads. So maybe being home is just the right place to be for now..

Does anyone know anybody that can do an anti rain dance? If so, please send them my way.

Summer Update

Well, we are definitely into summer around here. Yesterday it was in the 90's. It was a good day to head to a movie in the afternoon. Russ was home so we headed over to Ames to see Grown Ups with Adam Sandler, Keven James, David Spade and lots of others. It was good but we have seen funnier. But it was a 'cool' way to spend a hotter than heck summer afternoon. Russ headed back to work shortly after we got home.

I got most of the mowing done around here on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Hot Hot Hot! Will try to work on more of it this next week when things dry out around here.

Family update..my dad has Alzheimers and we went through a really rotten spell awhile back. He had to be hospitalized to get his meds (and his attitude) under control. Very stressful time for Mom and I but we made it through and Dad is doing MUCH better now. My brother was recently back up here to take my folks Toyota pickup back to Louisiana. We always enjoy it when he's up here. Now we need to figure out a good time for us to go down to visit him for a week. Maybe this fall.

I'm looking forward to a week trip to Washington DC with one of my friends, Connie. She found this trip online and tossed it out to Deb and I. It sounded like an awesome deal. One price pays for airfare, hotel, some meals and lots of tourist stops. This trip in in September which I'm told is going to be a great time to be in DC. I've been checking out books to try to spiff up on my knowledge of the capital!

Russ has been doing great on his job with Copeland Trucking. Knock on wood, I think he'll stay there for quite awhile this time. We will actually have insurance come August 1! We have been pretty lucky with our health issues while without insurance.

One of my cousins was back in the are in June and we had the opportunity to spend some time together going to a wedding in Omaha. We headed over on a Saturday, went to the wedding and spent the night..then home on Sunday. Then she coordinated a family picnic in Norwalk for Father's Day. She lives in Washington state so don't get to see her that often, but when we get together we reminisce about so many good old day memories. We are very close in age and she lived in Des Moines growing up so we spent lots of time together. It's always nice to spend time with her when she's back in Iowa visiting her family.

Well, guess I better shift gears and get started on house work. Hope everyone has a great and safe summer.

Update for spring

I can't believe that it is almost May 1. Where did the time go? At the office, we became a new company on January 1, 2010, so that was, and continues to be, a busy time. Russ was unemployed for 8 months to the day before he found a new job. He is on week 3, so let's hope that he likes this one and sticks with it. Too hard to manage money without his income..but we are going to buckle down and get things paid off and start to save again....I SWEAR!!

It seems like I've been busy with lots of things lately. I sit on 3 different advisory boards and that keeps me pretty busy as well with meetings once a month and other activities as time allows. One board that I sit on is the Eastern Story County Youth and Shelter Services (ESC YSS) board. We are in an Endowment Campaign. Our goal is a modest $100,000 and we are halfway there. Now we just need to keep hitting it hard to get the balance raised and continue to try to do fundraisers each year to add to that fund. With just the interest on $100,000 we can do so many great things for the youth of Story County. With all the recent budget cuts..it seems that the kinds of programs we support...they are the ones getting the cuts. So it's VITAL that we continue to find ways to raise funds to support all of our great programs. Can you tell I have a real passion for this project?

If any of you have any great ideas for fundraisers Please Please Please let me know. I'm even considering writing to some celebrities to see if we can get some donations from them. Every little bit helps...we just need to come up with a unique fundraising idea that will generate some good money annually.

Well, my folks have settled into their new digs in Perry. Mom is absolutely loving the new smaller place. They are getting ready to have an auction with leftovers from the big house. The auctioneer has not gotten back to her yet, so we're not sure when that will be. Then the next task is to sell the big house. Then my Mom can really sigh with relief. But I'm please the most with how my dad has transitioned. With him having Alzheimers you just never know what the reaction may be...but he had reached the point where he knew that they needed to get into a smaller place to Mom could handle things easier since he's not able to do much to help any more. It it so hard to watch your parent's age. But I guess watching them age beats the alternative of not having them here at all.

My brother should be coming up around time for the auction. It will be good to spend some time with him. Since he's moved to Louisiana we only get to see him 2-3 times a year. Dad doesn't want to make the trip down there any more...so unless Dan comes up here...we don't see him. I'm hoping that maybe later this summer or early fall dad will maybe decide he'd like to make the trip and we can spend a week with Dan.

Well, just wanted to do a quick catch up while I had a few free minutes. I'm trying to take shorter lunches when I can so I can leave at 4pm. Going over to Boone after work today to watch a little friend of mine, Devon, play baseball. I've been told that he has really improved since the last time I saw him practice. So I'm anxious to see him play. And it's a really great day (other than the wind) to be outside.

Been a long time...

Here is an eagle that I saw a few weeks ago in one of our neighbor's trees. This is the first time I've seen an eagle out in the 'wild'. What a sight. I just happened to have my camera with me and took several pictures until he got upset and flew away. But I hear through the gravevine that he/she may have a nest around our area. So I hope to see her/him again.

It's been a LONG time since I've posted. Not a lot going on but still seems like I've been busy all the time.

My biggest news would be that my folks are moving out of their BIG 2 story house into a 2 bedroom duplex. They are moving April 1. I am going to go spend the long weekend with them to try to help get them settled. I'm so happy for them. My dad has Alzheimer's so it's been a real struggle for my mom to keep the big house going. This is just going to be the best for both of them. I'm hoping that they get settled quickly and that Dad will get along OK. I think he'll do fine as long as Mom is there with him.

Well, this isn't much of an update...might be more to share soon..but for now this is it. I am so happy that most of the snow is gone. I have grilled out a few times already and hope to grill out again tomorrow. I really think that SPRING is really gonna happen here in Iowa really soon.