My Colorful World

Fall Update

2011-09-30T13:58:00.004-05:00

I can't believe how quickly the time flies. Tomorrow is October 1...where did the first part of this year go? I guess I have done a lot this year. Earlier in the year took my folks down to Louisiana to see my brother and go to a family reunion. Then in late September went on a bus tour with 3 other girlfriends to a Cranberry Festival in Warrens, WI. We had a great time with the exception of me having a gall bladder attack (didn't know it at the time that was what was happening). So now I get the pleasure of having my gall bladder removed in the next few weeks.

Later in October I'm taking my folks down to Louisiana again. I'm looking forward to a restful week down there. As a rule we don't do a whole lot..but still have a great time. Then the next thing you know it's Thanksgiving...and then Christmas and before you know it....It's 2012!!!

We have had some awesome fall days around here with LOTS of sunshine. I love days like these. So I'm going to enjoy each one and soak up as much sunshine as I can...cuz I know what's around the corner. I'm not even going to mention it yet. But it's Iowa and we know what that means.

Well, not much of an update but it's something anyway.

Bird Sanctuary

2011-05-15T13:54:00.003-05:00

I can't believe the different kinds of birds that have been showing up this spring at our feeders and suet feeder! Here are what I can remember:
red headed woodpecker

red bellied woodpecker
baltimore orioles (these just showed up this weekend)
gold finches - male and female
ladder back woodpeckers
thrasher
rose-breasted grosbeak
indigo buntings
bluebirds
male and female cardinal
nuthatches
downy woodpeckers
juncos

It's been so fun the past few weeks to watch the comings and goings of all the different birds. I really don't do anything super special. We have two hanging bird feeders and one suet feeder. I try to keep the bird bath full of water for them. But other than that...nothing fancy...just a good buffet I guess.

I will try to get some snapshots through the window if I can. It's been interesting to see which ones will be on the feeders at the same time. Some share much better than others.

Hurry up spring!

2011-03-01T13:34:00.003-06:00

Our winter has not been as bad as last year..but never the less I am ready for spring. We've had some teaser days with today being one of them. I was out running errands at lunch time and had my car window down. What a treat to breath in fresh air.

Pretty uneventful winter at our house. Russ probably had the worst truck driving winter on record. It got to be funny (probably not so much to him), but where ever there was bad weather out east, that was usually where Russ was either headed, there, or trying to get out of. He got to Atlanta right before their ice storm and sat for 2 days. Got to Chicago in the middle of that blizzard. He was the only one that made it to the loading dock that day. All employees didn't make it. So he sat there for a couple of days. So needless to say he's had a rough winter and I've heard all about it. So I'm cheering for spring to make his driving days easier.

Had our annual scrapbook retreat at a Bed and Breakfast in Valley Junction the first weekend in February. We always have so much fun. We've lost a few of our regulars and gained one or two along the way. But there is always an abundance of laughs and good times. I worked on my Washington DC album and got over 30 pages done. Not quite done with all of them but have a night of cropping coming up this Friday, so will continue to work on the album then.

Planning on taking my folks to Louisiana again this spring. We are hoping to leave on Good Friday and get down there on Saturday. Then we can all celebrate Easter together. Mom's birthday is May 6, so we'll celebrate early while down there. The Albritton reunion is the last Saturday in April, so we'll go to that and then head home on Sunday. We'll stay with Dan while we are down there. It's always so nice to spend some time with him. They should be having nice weather by then..hopefully in the 70's.

Well, I'm sure we're all anxious for spring to arrive so we can see those fresh new flowers pop up out of the ground and watch the grass grow. I'm even missing my lawn mowing chore. I don't listen to my MP3 player much unless I'm mowing the yard, so I'll have to get it out and charged up and get my Glee music loaded onto it so I'm ready to go.

Since March is coming in like a lamb, I guess that means it is going to go out like a Lion. I hope that doesn't mean some kind of storm...especially not a snow storm.

Fall full of fun

2010-10-11T07:27:00.004-05:00

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!!

2010-08-11T08:49:00.002-05:00

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

2010-06-27T11:18:00.002-05:00

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

2010-04-28T12:30:00.002-05:00

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...

2010-03-27T18:51:00.003-05:00

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.

Tooting my own horn

2009-12-18T13:19:00.002-06:00

I know I already posted about this award, but thought since I had a picture, I would post it as well.

My boss, Craig, sent out an email to all of our clients regarding me getting this award and I was so surprised at all the nice comments I received back. It almost brought tears to my eyes how some of them responded.

I guess I don't do it for the glory. I do all my volunteer work because I enjoy it. I would not be sitting on all the boards that I sit on if I didn't enjoy it. YSS is such a great organization and they do SO much to help the youth, I am just honored to be a small cog in the big wheel.

If you're ever given the chance to be a mentor..please do it. I found it to be a very rewarding part of my YSS volunteer work.

Winter has arrived

2009-12-13T16:40:00.003-06:00

Well, winter has arrived with a BLAST. We got over 12" of snow this past week..pretty much all in one day. Here is the blow up bear that we have outside. This is the first year for us putting it out. My brother gave it to us a couple of years ago, but we always seem to forget about it until after the fact. Since the weather had been nice we decided to take advantage of that...and glad we did..or it probably would not have gotten put up this year.

I ended up staying in Ames Tuesday and Wednesday nights so I could make it to work. I knew if I came home, I wouldn't get out until Thursday...or even Friday.

I was also being honored with an Outstanding Service and Volunteer Award from YSS and it was being presented to me during the noon hour on Thursday. That was another reason that I stayed in Ames.

It was really nice to get back home Thursday evening. I've had a nice weekend at home. I was able to get laundry caught up and pick up some around the house. Put on new flannel sheets that I'm anxious to try out tonight. I just love my winter flannel sheets. Nothing better when it's so cold outside.

Well, not much of a post, but that about sums it up for now. I need to shift gears soon and get my Christmas gifts wrapped. With Russ still not working, things are a bit sparse, but I did the best I could with what funds we had available to us.

Happy holidays to everyone.

Where does the time go

2009-10-09T13:14:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's been over a month since I was in Breckenridge. The time has gone by so quickly. The picture is of the house where we stayed. It was AWESOME!

I went on a short road trip with a couple of other girlfriends right after I got back from Breckentirde. I haven't downloaded those pics yet, but will try to post one of the log cabine where we stayed while in Nauvoo, IL.

Fall is definitely in the air and I think I've heard rumblings of snow showers this coming weekend. I am so NOT ready for winter. I have started parking the car in the garage so it's not so cold when I get in it in the mornings and don't have to SCRAPE. Time to put the summer clothes out and get the cuddleduds back out of storage.

Not a whole lot going on with me right now. Russ is still not gainfully employed but had a couple of leads this week, so I'm hoping SOON he will find a job. It's been over 2 months now and each week I get a wee bit more nervous. I'm afraid that the longer he's unemployed, the less likely a new employer will look at him.

Maybe he can help some of his farmer friends with the harvest if he's off work that long. But let's pray that he finds work soon. Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is less than 2 months away and then Christmas is only a month after that. Where did this year go?

Well, just wanted to give a brief update of what's up with me. Back from vacations and working 5 days a week...bummer. But at least I have a good job and I like coming to work every day.

2009-09-11T08:50:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of the three of us at a place called Fatty's. They specialize in pizza. Fran and I shared a pizza and cheese bread. Sue got a rueben that she said was fantastic. We brought leftovers home with us to munch on later.

We are having a great time out here in Breckenridge. The house where we are staying is absolutely awesome. I should have taken pictures before we 'settled' in but will try to take a few after we pick up and get loaded up to come home. We have had a nice relaxing time and yet have kept fairly busy as well.

I was working on some scrapbook pages for my GodDaughter so brought that with me. I worked on that on Wednesday and actually finished up all the pictures she gave me to work with. So I'm really pleased about that.

Yesterday we headed into Golden to the Coors Brewery, then Denver to Hammonds candies, then on to my Aunt and Uncles house. We dropped Sue off at the Westminster Mall to meet up with some friends that had moved out here about 20 years ago. They were thrilled to see her and took Sue home with them, while Fran and I went to my Aunt and Uncles. We had heard that Dillard's had a great clearance sale going on, so Fran and I shopped a bit there before heading to my Aunt's house. We could have shopped longer but felt like my Aunt should take priority over clearance priced shopping.

Sue and I stayed up late last night after we got back and since she didn't get to shop there, we may do a little side trip on the way home and see what bargains we can't live without. Of course that will all depend on how well Fran can pack the car! We were pretty full coming out here, but have eaten our way through at least one of the coolers..so we will be able to load things in that. Sue has agreed to be crammed in a bit tighter if need be, so we'll see how it goes. I have tried to pick up some Christmas gifts while out here...to justify the spending. But I think maybe most of the purchases may have been for me. But I have saved for this trip, so there is no guilt on my end.

Next week I take off on Thursday with Debbie and Connie from Perry to head to eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. We are going to check out Nauvoo, IL. I'm driving, so will just go where they tell me. It should prove to be a nice relaxing time with them. I'm so blessed to have so many friends that like to go on trips with me when Russ isn't available. And I'm lucky that Russ is OK with me taking off with the girls.

Well, time to get going this morning, so will post more later.

Let's get caught up...

2009-09-04T08:51:00.002-05:00

The NASCAR race was awesome and if I wasn't heading out for a vacation on Sunday, I'd be at the track tonight and tomorrow night for the trucks. But I just have too much to do and too little time. Once again though this weekend should be a perfect weekend for a race as was the weekend that we went. We tailgated before and after the race so we avoided the traffice headache. We had a great time though.

Russ is currently unemployed AGAIN. That adds some stress to my life. My new motto is ONE DAY AT A TIME. He did sell his pickup so that helped to pay the bills this month. I'm so hoping that he will come up with something in the next few weeks. I'm still working on trying to get unemployment for him. We have to file through Minnesota because the employer that we would be drawing off of was out of Texas but had a satellite out of Minnesota and cuz we live closer to Minnesota...go figure. So let's hope this time the unemployment comes through. The last time we filed, we didn't get it..but this time he got fired. He held out until they got mad enough to fire him even though he wanted to punch their lights out.

Anyway, I'm getting ready to head to Breckenridge to spend a week with a couple of girlfriends that I worked with at Oscar Mayer in Perry. One of them I grew up with and the other I met at Oscar Mayer and we became fast friends. We are driving out and have no real big plans to do much of anything. I'm taking some scrapbook stuff, books and movies. There is a hot tub at the house where we're staying. My boss is a quad owner of a place in the mountains, so for Christmas he gave me a week to use. I'm looking forward to a week of relaxation and laughter with friends.

Then I come back and work for 3 days and then I'm off again with two other girlfriends from Perry (Deb and Connie). We have been great friends for about 15 years I think. We do lots of girl trips together. We are heading to eastern Iowa/western Illinois to Nauvoo area. Again, just a relaxing journey..no big plans just head east and see what there is to see. We are hoping to maybe see some fall colors...but may be just a bit early for that. But that's OK, cuz that wasn't the plan anyway, we just wanted to get away for a long weekend...just us girls.

Well, that about does it for now. Will take some pics at Breckenridge and try to post when I get back.

Gentelmen, start your engines!!

2009-07-31T15:07:00.002-05:00

We are going to be among the crazy NASCAR fans at the track in Newton tomorrow. I sure hope that the weather cooperates with us. We are going to try to be at the track by 8am and beat the worst of the crowds trying to get in. Just hope everyone isn't thinking the same as us. We are going to take our grill and do some tailgating while waiting. I'm also taking a book, crossword puzzles and sudoku puzzles to work on...in case it's raining in the morning when we get there.

I'm really pumped to see this race. It will be a long day, but a great one I'm sure.

More when I get home...

It's a girl...Bella is her name

2009-07-31T15:01:00.005-05:00

We got us a new 1 year old papered black lab for FREE yesterday. Someone took her to some of Russ' friends for them to give to a good home and we are the lucky ones to get her. She turned one in May. Her name is Isabella Black. She is papered/registered, but we will be getting her spayed. We still have Garth and he will be 11 in September, so there is a 10 year age difference. So far Garth has been OK with her, but she did get on his back yesterday and with his arthritic hips, it must have hurt and he yipped at her. So far she is being kept separately out of the pen. Russ is going to divide the football size pen into two until after we get her fixed. Then we'll see how they do being in there together. She is a pretty good dog. She knows some commands but doesn't 'hold' them for very long. I may have to have the gal that 'gave' her to us help me a bit. She trains lots of dogs, so I'm sure she can give me some pointers. I want Bella to have better manners than Garth. She's a girl you know, so she needs to act like a lady.

Well, I just wanted to share our new addition with you. I'll try to get a closer picture of her to post. She has the cutest little tilt of her head. You can kind of see it in this picture.

Made Lemonade..

2009-07-19T08:26:00.002-05:00

Well, the old air conditioner was installed on Friday and it WORKS. It was SOOO much cheaper to use this one..rather than have a new one installed. My folks came up on Friday afternoon and they stayed Friday night and into Saturday to help me get TONS of stuff pulled out for a garage sale next weekend. We have a 6 x 12 foot trailer that is practically full right now. We really got a lot accomplished. I don't use my desk top computer any more, so I cleared that desk off and am getting rid of that. So then I could rearrange the 'computer' room. It looks so much nicer now that it's not as crowded.

I hope the garage sale is a success. My goal is to make $100. Anything over that is a big bonus. We have a recliner to sell, computer desk, lots of baby clothes, snow blower and a lot of miscellaneous. So here's to a profitable garage sale.

The weather has been so nice that even though the AC if fixed I haven't needed it. With highs in the 70's...who would think that this is mid July. Let's hope that this great weather streak holds off until the garage sale is over next weekend.

Well, wanted to post a postive post for a change. Hope everyone has a good upcoming week. Will be kind of busy for me. Going to try to get the trailer pulled over to Boone on Tuesday evening, going to Indiana with Russ on Wednesday and then hope to leave work a bit early on Thursday and have Friday off for Garage Sale day...

More LEMONS!!!

2009-07-16T07:33:00.002-05:00

Well, if it's not one thing...it's another. Our A/C went out on Monday evening. Had a tech guy come out and tell me that our compressor is shot. So now need to buy a new unit. We actually had the old one from the old house that we tore down when we put our house in. That unit was only 5 years old when we had it removed. I'm glad that we had someone who knew what they were doing pull it out..cuz think we may actually be able to use it to replace the crapped out one. That would be a switch...good luck!! What's that?

I'm trying to get things pulled out for a garage sale on July 24 and 25 at a friend's house in Boone. My folks were going to come up earlier this week and spend a couple days with me getting things pulled and loaded in the trailer..but with no air...we postponed until this coming Friday and Saturday when it's supposed to only be in the 70's.

Life has sure thrown lots of curve balls at me lately. I'm ready for life to get easier...any day now.

When life gives you lemons...

2009-06-22T15:01:00.002-05:00

Wow, things can change in a heartbeat. Russ left his job the later part of May and didn't have another job lined up. So to say the least things have been very stressful for me. I'm happy to report that as of next Monday he will be starting a new job. I am so in hopes that this one works out. He needs to find a job where he can stay and be relatively happy.

I put my folks' motorhome on Craigslist -- since we were 'holding' it up at the farm. We just sold it yesterday--Happy Father's Day Dad!! Mom and Dad took less than what they wanted, but they got cash and we are done with that process. People wanted a new motorhome for the low price that was being asked. Very frustrating. So I got to where when people called, I didn't disuade them, but reminded them that it was 31 years old. The people that ended up with it are perfect. He and his father are fixer uppers. The wife is tickled to have something that is old and the grandkids don't have to fear for their life if they track in a little dirt or something. We hope that they get many years of enjoyment out of it.

Summer has hit us full force today..it's in the 90's with a heat index of over 100 degrees! I don't like it when we don't get a nice easy transition into summer. But mother nature rarely checks with me before she does what she wants to do...darn it.

I am planning on going on a short road trip with some Perry girlfriends in September. I think we're heading to eastern Iowa and over into Nauvoo Illinois. Some place we've never been before. This should be a laid back kind of trip. Just enjoy the sights and don't work off a planned schedule of events. My kind of vacation.

So wish Russ luck on his new job. One of these days he'll find one he can stick with..but next time I hope he has that lined up before he quits!!

Just a quick update

2009-05-11T16:23:00.002-05:00

Not much to report. Russ surprised me by being home this past weekend. I had gone to Perry on Friday night to go to the dance recital and stayed at the folks' house. Then on Saturday I met up with some friends in Madrid to do the city wide garage sales. Found a few things I couldn't live without! When I got close to home I could see a big red truck (semi) in the driveway and Russ was out on my rider mowing. He had already finished up his part and was doing my part, bless his heart. He had actually gotten home on Friday afternoon, but knew that I was busy so didn't bug me. He just got busy doing lots of stuff around the farm.

I had stopped by Earl May on my way home to get him some tomato plants and hopefully get me a sensation lilac. Well, got the tomatoes but they didn't have a sensation lilac that wasn't $50, so decided to go without for now.

Russ and I worked in the garden and got the pole beans, tomatoes and onions planted. Preened really well around them hoping to help cut down on weeds. We also planted them in a way that he can get the tiller down the rows easily also.

He also helped me in the front flower bed. It hadn't had a lot done to it once I saw that HUGE snake last year out by that flower bed. The snake took a trip, but you just never know who else might be hanging around! So I wanted Russ' help in case 'the big one' showed up. We got the flower bed under control without mishap. I forgot how nice it can look. I still need to get out there and do a little more to it. I have an old bathtub (not clawfoot) in that flower bed. I think I'm just going to plaster it with marigold seed tonight and see how that goes. Once I get the rest of the bed under control, I can also preen it to help with the weeds. I also have a a white lace plant that got winter killed a couple of winters ago that I need to get out of there. I think I may try to put a clematis in its place. I just love clematis plants.

We met my folks in Boone at Godfathers for pizza buffet on Mother's Day. It was nice that Russ was home for this as well. Mother's got to eat for $1.99...so I was a mother yesterday. I didn't feel well, so didn't even eat the $1.99 worth.

I have cut wayyyy back on my caffeine and I think that's the cause of my headaches. That and the fact that I snore and grind my teeth at night. I bought a mouth guard that I have worn off and on, but I think that actually makes my jaw not aligned so that gives me pains in the morning too. I tell you what, getting old really sucks.

Last year I had several goldfinch hanging around our feeder and when it got cold we had another kind of bird hanging out, so I bought song bird food and used that all winter and we had birds at our feeder throughout the whole winter. Now this spring we have enjoyed 3 different kinds of woodpeckers, 2 male goldfinch, 1 female goldfinch, a male and female cardinal and some chipping sparrows. There is one more breed but I can't think of the name right now. The female cardinal has a nest in our forsythia bush right under my bedroom window and it has 3 eggs in it. I'm anxious for the little ones to hatch and hope that they live and hang around as well.

I have really enjoyed the feeder. Just have to keep up on the water in the bird bath, because I noticed when I don't keep it full for them, they tend to leave for a day or two and I don't want them to find a better place to hang out. Now I'm just anxious to see if we get any orioles this year. We had a few last year..so hope we have a few this year. They are so striking in color. I guess it doesn't take much to entertain me, does it?

Back from our trip

2009-05-01T08:44:00.003-05:00

We had a really good time on our trip to Louisiana. We left on Tuesday, April 21 around 1. We made it to Carthage MO before we decided to stop for the night. My dad doesn't like us to drive after dark, so we stopped well before then. Grabbed a quick bite to eat and then to the hotel room.

The Econo Lodge where we stayed had a great breakfast bar for us to indulge in before we left on Wednesday morning. We were on the road by 7. Made it down to Dan's at 2:30. It was 91 degrees there!! When we stopped for a bite of lunch I asked to use their restroom so I could take my sweatpants off and put shorts on! I was hot...but it felt good to have warm sunshine on us.

Dan lives right on Lake D'Arbonne in Farmerville LA. He has such a nice little place. He has done a lot to fix it up. He says it was kind of a dump when he first bought it, but has really done a great job of fixing it up. He had lots of help from Ramona with this project as well.

Dan, Dad and I took a boat ride one morning before the winds picked up and put white caps on the water. We also took lots of car rides with Dan being the escort. He took us to Farmerville, Downsville and Monroe to see the 'sights'. Dad grew up down there, but things have changed so much, he didn't remember much.

We went to the Albritton Reunion on Saturday. There were about 60 there. Dad had 12 other brothers and sisters. Two of those died as infants. There are 6 still livng. Five of those were at the reunion. The one that didn't come lives in Florida and is going to Louisiana for her class reunion later this summer, and didn't want to make the trip twice.

Lots and Lots and Lots of cousins there. I never did know very many of them. We used to go down to Louisiana every other year for Christmas but we decided on the way home that we must have stopped doing that in early jr high days because we don't remember some of the kids as they were growing up. The ones we remember most are the ones that are closer to our age. There was SO much food at this reunion. Someone even brought gator. I kept to things I knew, like fried chicken and ham balls that Mom took.

We left on Monday morning to head home via Smithville MO where Christy, my god daughter lives. I wanted to see Trevor and baby Addison. We got there around 5:30 and met up with them for a Chinese supper at 6. Addison has her fussy spells each evening..and we were witness to it. I dropped Mom and Dad off at the hotel and then I went over to Christy's for a bit. Then back to the hotel. Wanted to get an early start to get HOME.

Up and on the road on Tuesday by shortly after 7. So got folks home around 11 and then I got home around 12:30. We really had a great time. I hope we can do it again before dad gets the point where he won't travel.

Scrapbooking accomplishment

2009-04-14T13:29:00.003-05:00

I finally have my Hawaii album about 99% done. I hope to finish it up this coming weekend. I have the front page to do and then mat the journaling pages that I have..then I'M DONE.

This coming weekend we are scrapbooking all day at a friend's church in Des Moines. I am hoping to finish up the HI album and work on some other layouts.

Soon I will need to start my Las Vegas album. That will be a fun one to work on as well. Haven't even gone through the pics yet to see what all I want to scrapbook.

But right now I have other projects that need to be scrapbooked. I could also be making some cards. You can never have too many home made cards on hand, can you?

Some day I'll take some snapshots of some of the Hawaii pages and post a few here. I'm just not real good at getting those kind of snapshots to turn out very good. But I'll give it a try and post a few.

Just checking in...

2009-04-07T11:32:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile since I posted. Not much going on. My face is 99.9% better now. Still have a pink spot on my cheek that is very tender. It feels like a burn that is healing. Kind of hard to explain..but I'm sure it will heal in time. Just have to remember when washing my face to not scrub too hard in that area or it hurts like HE**.

Getting geared up to take my folks down to Louisiana to visit my brother and attend the Albritton (maiden name) Family Reunion. My dad was one of 13 kids. There are only about 7-8 of them left living. But there are a slew of Albritton's down there.

My brother moved down there in 2007 and loves it. He lives on a lake front. We will be staying with him. I'm really looking forward to mom and dad seeing where he lives. The last time we came home from TX through LA I went over there, but Mom and Dad were busy and didn't make it over there.

So this time we will stay with him. Just going to spend a few days down there. Two days to drive it, a few days there and two days to drive home. I am so in hopes that the weather down there is better than the weather we are having here in Iowa.

Ugly Face!!

2009-03-19T14:52:00.002-05:00

Not sure what happened to my cheek while we were out in Las Vegas..but I ended up looking like I had been hit with an ugly stick!!

On Tuesday night while out there, my right cheek had a wierd sensation going on. I would rub, then scratch, then put ice on it and nothing I did seemed to help. But Wednesday morning I had some sort of blister thing going on.

Russ took me to a pharmacist and he wasn't sure what it was, but recommended putting Neosporin with pain relief on it and taking 3 advil every 6 hours. So that's what I did for the duration of our time out there.

Each day it got progressively worse. I called the Dr in Nevada IA on our way home from the airport to see if I could get in. They got me in that afternoon. He wasn't real sure what it was but gave me a prescription for antibiotics to take. But by that night my eye was pretty much swollen shut and my face just kept swelling, so Russ took me over to Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames to the Emergency Room. That was around 10pm. We got home around 4am!! That Dr didn't know what it was either but took a culture to see if that would show what it was. He prescribed a different antiobiotic and a virile med just in case it was something virile. He recommended that I go to see a Dermatologist on Monday if I wasn't showing significant signs of improvement.

Well Monday came around and I didn't look any better, so the Dermatologist got me in that morning. He thought it was staph or strep infection...but did another culture. He said to keep taking the meds and let him know if I didn't see improvement by the time the meds were done. Each day it got a tad bit better and after 10-14 days, it looked a lot better.

Now after 2 weeks all I have left is a small scab on my cheek about the size of a pencil eraser. I think that is the spot where it all started. So I'm letting it take its time in healing and the scab coming off. I sleep with vaseline on it each night. The culture came back with no signs of strep or staph...so it's a big mystery what got me in Las Vegas. But the saying that 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'...did not apply to me. What ever happened to me in Vegas followed me home in a big way!

We still had a great time. Other than me looking like someone that should be a star in a freak show, it didn't slow me down or keep me from doing anything. We went up to the strip on our last night to go up the Eiffel Tower and they took a 'professional' picture of the 4 of us. I leaned into Russ so my face would be hidden on that side. Not something you want a 'keepsake' picture of.

But again, all in all we had a fabulous time with Mark and Deb along. What great friends. We laughed and laughed and laughed. We all have such fun together.

NASCAR in Las Vegas

2009-03-19T14:45:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of pictures from the track in Vegas. The one with the race car was actually taken on Friday during Sprint Cup Qualifying. The other one was on Friday night at the Speed stage while they were doing their live show. That was a long day but the weather was nice and we had a great time. Got out there early afternoon and watched the qualifying, then shopped the driver's trailers and then headed over to the Speed Stage for the show. It was wierd seeing these guys live and not on TV. We had to keep working our way up but we ended up not too far from the front of the stage. We were on the TV show. I TiVo'd it at home and can see us really well. Deb and I both had lime green jackets on so that helped to find us easliy in the crowd.

The race was on Sunday and it was a sunny day. We all got a bit sunburnt but nothing that a little lotion didn't soothe. We used headphones during the race so we could here some of the drivers or listen to MRN radio. We bounced back and forth. Heard a few f bombs on the driver's channels...OOPS. Our seats were between turn 3 and turn 4...could have been better but we still had a great time. Lots of walking for sure but again the weather was great so we didn't mind the walking. Just took our time.

Neon lights...here we come

2009-02-25T13:00:00.003-06:00

We leave for our Las Vegas vacation tomorrow. Another couple that went out with us when we got married is going with us again this time. We are going to the NASCAR race on Sunday. We are also going to go out on Friday evening and try to be at the Speed TV stage when they record the Trackside show that night.

We are really excited and looking forward to this winter get away with friends. Now if the weather will just hold out until we can get off the ground and out of Iowa, we'll be happy travelers. We don't fly out until about 1pm...so anticipate what/if any precipitation we get will be in the form of rain.

I've offered to take money from friends with us to double for them..but have not had any takers on that yet!! We're not big gamblers, so lots of fun sightseeing adventures in the plans for us. The resort where we're staying, Grandview Las Vegas, is south of the strip a few miles, but we have a rental car and Russ did great driving last time we were out there, so don't expect any problems this time either.

We have a neighbor doing pet duty and keeping an eye on the place. I always miss my boys when I'm gone, but they will be fine.

Hope to get lots of great pics while out there..so will try to post a few upon my return.

Scrapbook weekend fun

2009-02-19T11:19:00.002-06:00

There ended up being 16 of us at the crop in Des Moines for our Night O.W.L.S. retreat weekend. Lots of laughs. Lori's birthday was Sunday, so we did a surprise birthday cake for her on Saturday night. Some of us went across the way to eat supper and those that stayed behind (as a favor to me) then got the cake out and 'splashed' her area with confetti. Lori was really surprised. I'm glad that she was. It was hard to keep the secret because I talk to Lori pretty much every day and had to stop myself a couple of times to not say anything about the cool cake that she was getting. The cake turned out fantastic. The cake was done by a gal that has a cake business in RR Perry and is my cousin and a friend to a couple of the scrapbook gals. She really did a great job with the scrapbook theme....but more so because it was YUMMY!

We had lots of challenges throughout the weekend and many gals got lots done. Some friends of mine have loaned me their Twilight series books...and I took book 2 with me...so I cheated a bit and spent some time in the room reading off and on. Great series so far. I'm now on book 3 and can hardly wait to finish that so I can get to book 4 and see how it ends.

Anyway, the weekend was a lot of fun as usual. It's something that I look forward to every year. Several of us kind of work on this throughout the year coming up with themes, prizes, challenges, games and things for the goodie bags.

It's really interesting to see what everyone is working on. We had one gal working on decorating a clock face. Some worked on cards and mini albums. It's the kind of a weekend where you just bring what you want to work on...no rules..just have fun.

Now I get to look forward to going to Las Vegas next week to the NASCAR race on March 1. I'll be sure to post pics of that. I can hardly wait.

Fun Weekend Ahead

2009-02-05T14:35:00.002-06:00

This is our annual scrapbook retreat weekend in Des Moines, IA. There are usually 15-20 of us ladies that get together and scrapbook the whole weekend. During that time though there are games, challenges and lots of goodies to nibble on. And oh so much laughter. Someone always comes up with a real goodie. I think last year it was Jenni and her Captain Jack (or some other captain) imitation..with the BIG mustache and stance to go with it. Too funny. I think there may have been liquor involved in that event. Some times things get a bit crazy late on Saturday night.

I am so looking forward to this weekend with the girls. It's always a lot of fun not to mention I usually get a lot accomplished as well. Right now I'm working on my Hawaii pictures from last February. We went to HI right after the retreat. I'm hoping to get those finished up and get them in order so I can put them in the album soon.

Our theme this year is Pirates. I see some eye patches being put to work over the weekend. Hope no one has to walk the plank.

May have some pictures to share next week. It is also supposed to be nice this weekend, so that will be nice as well. Can maybe get up and walk outside for a bit if need be.

Meet the Ford family

2009-01-26T20:24:00.002-06:00

I went down to see new baby Addison this past weekend. She is such a doll! She was born on 1.5.09 so is less than 3 weeks old in this picture. Trevor just turned 4 in December.

I snapped this picture right before I left on Sunday. They were getting ready to go to church. I had a great time while there and enjoyed spending time with both kids, but gave Addison lots of hugs and kisses.

It will be a joy to watch these two kids grow up. Trevor calls me Judy but calls Russ "Papa Russ". He kind of had a hard time understanding why Papa Russ was not with me. More than once he wanted to know why he didn't come with me. But I think we finally got him to understand that he was out in his big truck working.

Hopefully, Russ will be able to go with me the next time I venture that way. Trevor so enjoys seeing him.

Some days...

2009-01-14T13:47:00.002-06:00

Today I'm having a real hard time coping with life. This morning I just wanted to stay in bed and not even try to come to work. I'm so tired of everything in my life being a struggle. By the time I got out of my YSS Board Meeting last night it had been snowing for an hour and a half. I had thought of staying at a friend's house but decided I'd just go home and take my chances in the morning. It took me about 45 minutes to get to work this morning. It took about 15-20 minutes just to get out of the yard this morning. I'd go 15-20 feet and then start spinning, so I'd back up and then start ahead again. Then I'd spin again, and so on and so on. I had to back all the way from the garage out to the road cuz I knew if I tried to back out and turn around to get headed out I'd never make it. The gravel road was really pretty good. I brought old 30 over and there were all kinds of drifts on the north side of the road (the side I was driving on) and sometimes I had to kind of take my part down the middle and just hope those coming from the other direction would see me and move over.

There were drifts along the north side of the road that were taller than my car. That was really kind of nice since the snow blowing off of those was blowing OVER the car and not onto the road. I just hope that tonight when I get home I can barrel my way into the garage and then we'll just wait and see what tomorrow brings. But I am getting tire of always waiting to see what tomorrow will bring. I want to KNOW what tomorrow will bring.

I don't know if it's me or what but I am SOOOO tired of this winter already. It really has put me in a funk today that I'm finding hard to come out of. Hubby is also not happy with his job and that brings me down as well.

You know that expression that somedays you're the windshield and some days you're the bug...well, today I'm the bug.

Then to hear the forecast for tomorrow really depresses me. They are saying that the HIGH will be BELOW ZERO. Well, that's just plain ridiculous. I called my mom in Texas and said if things didn't get better this winter, that I'd be packing a bag and going south with them for the winter next year! Oh for those retirement years when we can go south and not deal with this CRAP.

Can you tell I'm a big crabby today? Well, I won't go on and on...even though I could. I'll just concentrate on getting busy here at the office.

It's a Girl!!

2009-01-06T09:25:00.003-06:00

Well, my God Daughter had her baby girl yesterday morning. So I'm once again an honorary Grandma. Her name is Addison. I think her middle name is Marie, but not 100% certain of that. As soon as I have pictures of her, I'll post one. Christy has sent me pics via the cell phone, but I don't know how to get them from cell phone to computer. So you'll just have to wait. She weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces and has a full head of auburn hair. I can hardly wait to get down to MO to see her and give her big kisses and hugs.

Well, just wanted to post a quick update about Addison. More later...

It's a new year

2009-01-01T20:02:00.003-06:00

Lots of my friends are coming up with their 'word' for 2009. I can't seem to come up with anything that jumps out at me. I just want 2009 to be a better year for everyone. It seems that my scrapbooking buddies and I have had our share of grief and sorrow in 2008, so I'm hoping that we all have more joy in our lives for 2009. Maybe JOY will be my word for 2009. I would like to find a lot of JOY in all things and for all people.

I'm sure 2009 will be a year of challenges for our country and our economy, but hopefully by this time next year we will see many positive differences.

Here's hoping everyone has a great 2009. Best wishes from the Mersman household.

Christmas Break

2008-12-28T11:31:00.003-06:00

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!

2008-12-22T11:53:00.004-06:00

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!!

2008-12-17T15:16:00.003-06:00

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

2008-12-10T15:21:00.003-06:00

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

2008-12-10T09:35:00.002-06:00

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.

Russ home and new tradition

2008-11-24T16:17:00.004-06:00

I took Friday off to head to Quincy IL to pick up Russ. Being the good wife that I am, I got up at 4:30am and was on the road by 5 to get there by 10. Well, it only took me 4 hours to get there. I beat him there so went to Big Lots and Dollar Tree to kill some time. We ate lunch there in Quincy and left there around 12:30pm. Got home right at 5...unloaded my car and stashed most of it in his car to take to his orientation in Fort Dodge next week for the new job. It will be nice to have him home this week.

Decided since Mom is not having Thanksgiving any longer at their house (first time in 40+ years it's not there) I would have Mom and Dad come up on Wednesday afternoon and spend the night. That way I get to spend a little extra time with them before they head south. Then we can get up on Thursday and get our last minute dishes prepared and head to Steamboat Rock where the tradition has been passed to Mom's great niece, Amy.

Now that we are at the other end of the traveling..it makes you watch the weather channel more closely. Also, mom doesn't like to drive after dark, so we'll have to leave Amy's early enough to get back to Nevada..to get them headed back to Perry in good time. But that's OK. We will still have a great time visiting with the relatives and pigging out on the GREAT food that will be on hand.

So next week starts a new job for Russ and we are so in hopes that this company is the real deal and doesn't blow smoke to get drivers hired. It would be so wonderful if he could call this place 'home' until he retires. They sound like an awesome company, but time will tell. We are going to remain optimistic.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

The List

2008-11-23T17:24:00.002-06:00

If you want to play along, just copy the list and highlight all the things you've done.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

That was fun. Great list to work off of. Makes you remember some good old days.

New opportunity!

2008-11-16T13:22:00.002-06:00

Well, Russ is going to be starting a new job on December 1. The company where he is currently at, Sharkey Transportation, just didn't turn out to be what they had promised. Their equipment is certainly below par according to Russ. They also were not getting home weekends as promised either. He was only getting home for his 34 hours off. So he would get home usually on Saturday morning and go out around noon on Sundays. Just not enough home time to get anything done.

He will now be working for Decker Transportation out of Fort Dodge. They are supposed to be a family based trucking company and he is supposed to truly get weekends off. I'll post more later after he's been there for a bit.

So this coming week will be his last week at Sharkey. I'll have to head to Quincy IL to pick him up..so that will be either Friday or Saturday. Then he'll take the week of Thanksgiving off. That will be great. That way I know he'll be home for Thanksgiving. That's not something that I have been able to say very many times over the years. He sometimes makes it home and sometimes he has not. So we will enjoy this year and then see how the company handles other holidays going forward.

So here's hoping that Decker is the cats meow and Russ can call this company home until he retires in 12-13 years. Wish us luck

2008-11-06T14:50:00.003-06:00

As the weather starts to turn colder, I am going to go back to these Hawaii pictures more and more often. I am currently working on my Hawaii scrapbook album. I need to get it done, so in the dead of winter I can pull it out and remember what a great time we had and how wonderful the weather was.

It was absolutely picture perfect the whole time we were there. We had so much fun and did a lot of great things. We saw lots of whales on the whale watching excursion we went on. The helicopter ride was worth every cent we spent on it. We both were a little hesitant about going up in the helicopter but it was so worth it to be up so high and see all the great things the island had to offer. We saw lots of waterfalls that you would NEVER see from the land. We always had some down time each day to just relax as well. I enjoyed going out by the pool and taking a book with me.

So it's dreary days like today that make me go to these Hawaii pictures and treasure the memories that Russ and I created on that anniverary vacation.

Another year almost over...

2008-10-30T10:44:00.003-05:00

Can you believe that this year is almost over..gone..another one bites the dust! In less than 2 months we will be celebrating Christmas! Where did this year go? Where did all of the years go since the big Y2K hoopla?

My mom is not hosting this years Thanksgiving for the first time in about 40+ years! She decided after all the years she's done it, it was time to turn over the reigns to someone younger. It's a lot of work to clean and get everything ready for 20 some guests each year. She always did the turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy and at least a couple other things..Pumpkin pie for sure. My husband, Russ, LOVES her pumpkin pie.

So this year she will get to take it easy and only take side dishes to the dinner. Mom's great niece, Amy, in Steamboat Rock, will be hosting it this year. She may find out what a task this is and try to pass it on to someone else for next year. She is married and has 3 small children..so she's a brave soul for taking this on. But her Mom lives close by and I'm sure she will be of great help to Amy.

It will just seem strange to not have it at Mom and Dad's house, but I can certainly understand the pressures of making sure that everything gets done on time and that no one goes home with food poisoning! Mom always had the most moist turkey. I liked sneaking tidbits as her and dad pulled all the meat off the bones. You know, you always have to taste test before serving guests.

Just talking about Thanksgiving day and all the goodies that we enjoy makes my mouth water. We have so much to be thankful for in this country. I know I am a very blessed person to have such a great family and the best friends one could ask for.

Well, enough rambling for today. It had just occurred to me that Thanksgiving is 4 weeks from today.

Project time

2008-10-29T10:26:00.002-05:00

I'm working on a 2009 calendar for my folks. This picture is of my great nephew that lives in Omaha. He is such a cutie and has the biggest dimples. He is 7 now. I haven't seen him for over 2 years, so was glad to get some recent pics of him to add to the calendar.

I'm assuming this must be before school one day. His dog Lena is out there with him.

I've got a few more Christmas projects to work on. I really like making hand made gifts for Christmas, but some times I bite off more than I can chew.

Time with Trevor

2008-10-20T10:43:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that I went down there and came home and DID NOT TAKE ANY PICTURES! Christy is about 6 months pregnant and I meant to take some PG pictures of her. I also wanted to get some updated pix of Trevor. But I came home without taking my camera out of my bag. Shame on me!!

I had a great time visiting though. Friday night we were visiting and TV was on. All of a sudden Trevor perks up and jumps up and down and says "John McCain, John McCain". I laugh my butt off. Then Christy says "Ask him who is going to be president". So I do that and he says "Barack Obama, Barack Obama". Too funny. Christy says that they don't ever talk politics at home so she's not sure where he got that..but he definitely knows them when they show up on commercials.

Saturday Trevor went to his Grandparents with his dad, Travis. Christy, her friend Patty and I headed to Kansas City so the girls could get their hair cuts. After that we ate lunch at Granite City and did some shopping. We left Christy's at 8:30am and didn't get back to Christy's until about 6pm. I loaded up and headed home to spend a little time with Russ before he headed back out on Sunday.

Such a pretty weekend though. I could use several more days of sunshine like we've had recently. I'm not ready for the snow to fly.

Fun weekend ahead

2008-10-16T11:24:00.002-05:00

I'm heading to Smithville MO when I get off work at 3 on Friday. I am going down to see my God Daughter and her family. Christy has one son, Trevor, who will be 4 in December and I love spending time around him. He's at just a fun age. He loves his Pappa Russ but I don't know if Russ will make it home in time to go down there. Christy is also pregnant with baby number two who we are told is going to be a girl. I have done tons of 'thrift' shopping and clearance shopping and have that baby girl enough clothes to get her by her first year for sure. I also picked up some bargains for Trevor.

So I'm anxious to get to Christy's with all my goodies. I also picked her up some maternity pants and a top while in Quincy doing some shopping. Saturday we are going into KC so Christy and her friend can get their haircuts. Trevor will be along with us as well, so he and I can hang out while they are getting haircuts. Then we usually go shopping and out to eat and make a day of it.

I need to work on my Christmas list and see what I have left to buy. I have a good start though. I am hoping that it's a nice sunny day for our outing. If Russ should make it home, he can sleep in and watch TV at Christy's while we're shopping. Christy's husband Travis runs a golf course and they are having a tournament this weekend, so he won't be around much.

That's about it for now. Hope everyone is having a great fall...where ever you are.

Well,

I've been tagged

2008-10-08T13:41:00.004-05:00

This is something new to me. But I guess I'm going to give it a try. Mary tagged me.

1.) I used to work in a meat packing plant many moons ago. My favorite job was picking the pituary gland out of the brain. They used it for medicinal purposes, so I always felt good when I found them intact and could 'pick' them out with the tweezers without causing any damage.

2.) My first job was as a car hop at Dog N Suds drive in restaurant in Perry at the ripe old age of 16. I was paid 50 cents an hour and when I got my first check of $6+ I thought I was in heaven.

3.) I had my appendix out when I was 4 but had my 5th birthday in the hospital. I remember the nurses coming in to sing happy birthday to me.

4.) I didn't marry until later in life. We got married on Valentine's Day of 2001 in Las Vegas and our wedding was on the internet so friends and family could watch (provided they had a computer). A couple that we are great friends with, Deb & Mark, came out and stood up with us. We had a great time.

5.) I like to watch NASCAR on the weekends. It's better to TiVo it though so you can fast forward through the commercials and back it up to watch the 'big one' over and over and over again. We went to a race in Charlotte NC several years ago and are going to the Las Vegas race on Mar 1, 2009. The couple that was with us when we got married, is going out with us. Russ and I are really looking forward to this get away with friends. We always have a great time with Mark and Deb.

6.) Purple is my favorite color. I'm sure it comes from having a Grandma with the first name, Violet. Grandma Vi owned a restaurant in Jamaica IA and I loved going there as a kid and 'helping' in the restaurant. My cousin, Calli, and I went and spent a few days in the summer and we drove Grandma crazy I think. We were always rearranging her furniture..but after we went to visit friends, the furnture was back the way it was in the beginning! But I don't remember having hurt feelings over that. My Grandma died when I was only 27. But I have so many great memories of times spent with her.

The "Rules":* link to the person who tagged you* list 6 random things about yourself* tag 6 new people* let each tagged person know they've been tagged by posting a comment on their blog* link to the 6 people you've tagged* and let the person who tagged you know that you posted

I'm only going to be able to tag a few that Mary didn't already tag:

Gina

Kristina

Janet

Joellyn

Jenni--oops I forgot she doesn't have a blog yet.....HINT HINT HINT

October is a crazy month for me

2008-10-07T10:32:00.002-05:00

It makes me tired to just look at my October calendar. I have so many things scheduled. I have something going on every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for the whole month. I also have lots of weekend activities planned as well. Had to pick up Russ' cousin from the airport last Saturday and will take her back on Sunday, October 26.

So before I know it November will be here and Thanksgiving will be right around the corner and then comes Christmas...and so on and so on.

One weekend in October I am (and Russ too if he's home) planning on going down to Smithville MO to see my god daughter and her family. He son, Trevor, is my honorary grandson, since I won't have kids. He calls Russ--Pappa Russ, but for some reason the Nana Judy didn't stick and I'm just Judy. But that's OK. He's such a sweet boy. Christy is pregnant with number 2 and they are saying that this one is a girl. I have bought about 60 items of clothing for new baby. Christy isn't picky..so she lets me go to consignment shops and garage sales and pick up baby clothes for her. I've also picked up several things for Trevor. I've had great fun finding treasures for the kids. So I'll be making a delivery of those things when I/we go down. I can hardly wait for her to see all the things that I have.

Plus I have not seen her since she told me she was pregnant and she's due early January, so I'm looking forward to seeing her as well. She is like the daughter that I never had and in her adult years we've become really close.

I'll be anxious for baby to get here and see pictures of her. Hopefully, the winter weather won't keep me from getting down there after she's born.

Well, everyone have a great fall...sad to say but winter is just around the corner.

Getting up to date

2008-10-07T10:24:00.003-05:00

I enjoyed my time in Quincy. The weather was absolutely perfect. Nice sunny days. I went shopping most days. I got some Christmas shopping done and found some great bargains.

I went to the local scrapbook store but they didn't have anything that tripped my trigger, so didn't spend a dime there. I know that is a shock to most that know me.

I loaded up the car on Wednesday morning and met Russ for lunch. Then back to Sharkey to unlaod all his stuff for his truck. They were getting their trucks assigned that afternoon. I then headed back home. It was a beautiful day for a drive. Not a lot of colors just yet but it was an enjoyable drive. I have my audio books to keep me entertained. I am addicted to them and can't go very far without have a book to listen to.

Russ then got home on Friday around midnight. He must have been one pooped puppy cuz he slept until 10:30..then fell asleep on the couch around 2 and I had to wake him up at 4:30 so we could go to Des Moines Airport to pick up his cousin who flew in from Phoenix.

We didn't get back home until 10 and he slept again until about 9 the next morning! I think he was refreshed when he left. He gets very frustrated at trying the learn the mobile mac (computer thingy) in the truck. He just is not very technically skilled. I helped him and wrote down some cheat sheet notes for him and I know he will do fine after he's done it all a couple of weeks or so.

Russ left out at noon on Sunday. Mom called to say that Dan, my brother, was headed up from Louisiana and would be at their house around 6 and asked if I wanted to come for the afternoon and be there when he got there. So I headed to Perry around 3ish. I had Russ' car, so Dan was surprised when he got there and I popped out of the house.

He checked out the new garage and we worked on the folks' motion lights. They have been messed up since they were installed. I tried to work with them when I was there last, but finally gave up and said Dan could work on them when he got here.

He also has the job of replacine the motion light above the back door that I broke when trying to adjust it. Handyman Judy....I'm not! I try but don't always succeed.

That pretty much sums it up for me. Today is a gloomy rainy day but I really think that we needed the rain so I won't complain as long as it goes away in the next day or two. I have to have SUNSHINE!

Update from Quincy, IL

2008-09-29T15:40:00.003-05:00

We made it to Quincy by supper time on Saturday evening. We got a later start than I had anticipated...but we really were not on any time table, so no big deal on when we left or when we arrived in Quincy. The hotel where we are staying is really old..but clean. We are in a wierd sort of room. Our room is in the core of the building, so we don't have a window that faces outside..the window that we do have has frosted glass..but does not face the outside. So if you don't have lights on, it's pitch black in here. But it's fine for why we're here and the price was right for the one night we had to pay. Sharkey is paying for the rest of the nights.

Russ had a wake up call at 5 and headed down to get his ride out to the training center at 6ish. I rolled over and went back to sleep for a bit.

Around 10 I started working on the scrapbook stuff that I had brought with me. I finished that project around 12:30 and then headed out for an adventure and some lunch.

I went to a couple of strip malls, Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby and Ben Franklin's Crafts. Didn't buy a lot but felt good to be up and moving around. It's kind of sprinkly, rainy out.

Back to the hotel around 3. Not sure when Russ will get back. I asked him to call me on his lunch break..but he must have forgotten or got busy cuz he didn't call. So I have not idea what time to expect him.

Not sure what we'll do this evening. Will depend on how brain fried he is.

This is an interesting older river town. I hope to get out and go to some museums maybe tomorrow. Since I got my scrapbook project done, I'll need something to do.

Well, that's it for today.

Folks' fire update

2008-09-25T14:02:00.003-05:00

Well, things have finally started looking up for my folks since their garage fire. Russ and I went down last night to get our trailer that they had been using for storage while the garage was being torn down and rebuilt. The garage is up and they finally got the garage door opener installed just this week. So just some last minute rearranging for the folks to do to get it all done. Then we have to finalize the spreadsheet of all that was lost and replaced and lost and not being replaced. Then it will be a DONE DEAL. I know my mom is ready for it to be over with. It has been real stressful on her to take all the responsibility on herself. Dad has been busy getting things put back but he has his way and only his way of doing it...so you might as well leave him be and just let him do his thing. But all in all it's just about all done.

Just wanted to post an update since so many of you knew about the fire earlier this summer. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers during this process.

Russ is home

2008-09-23T10:23:00.002-05:00

Russ got home at 5:30 this morning. He was finally done at Poly around 3 yesterday..so he drove straight through. He really likes his new car but the car alarm thing needs to be checked out. It got set off as he was coming in the house this morning and it sounded like the cavalry was headed our way. It must be some sort of add on thing and it has been causing problems. So when Russ gets rested, he'll take it in to our trusty car guy and ask if it can be removed.

We will be taking my Vibe to Quincy with us this coming weekend. The recruiter just called Russ and gave him the scoop. They are putting us up in an older hotel..reminds me of Hotel Pattee in Perry. But the pics of the place look really neat and the rooms look good as well. I'm hoping that they have wireless internet so I can take my laptop..but even if they don't, I'm guess that a library or some place will have wireless. Would also like a refrigerator so we can take a few things to keep cool...like my morning milk! But if there is no refrigerator, then we'll take a cooler. I'm pretty flexible. We only have to pay for Saturday night and they are picking up the tab for the rest and reimbursing us for fuel for the car as well. Then Russ says when he heads out, they hand him $300 cash to get started.

I am so in hopes that this is the job for Russ and that he can see himself staying there until he retires 12 years from now!

Well, that's my update on that part of my life.

Russ' start date at new job delayed

2008-09-18T13:35:00.002-05:00

The company that he's currently working for is not being very cooperative in getting him back to Texas so he can get home and start orientation at the new job next Monday. So he will be starting September 29 instead. He should get home next Tuesday or so. Then Saturday we will head to Quincy and have the weekend there and he will start his orientation on Monday, Sept 29. He says he will be in orientation for 3 days, so I think I'll stay over there until Wednesday morning and then I'll head back to Ames and try to get a 1/2 day of work in .

We will both be glad when we can say adios to his current employer and embark on this new journey. I'm anxious to see if he really will make it home every weekend. That will take some getting used to, but in the long run it will be so much nicer having more regular routines that we can count on. Maybe next year we can get the camper off the farm!

Well, that's todays news. We are having glorious fall like days here. It has been in the upper 70's and low 80's for the past several days and supposed to keep it up for a few more. So I am going to enjoy them one by one.

Weekend of work

2008-09-15T16:13:00.002-05:00

Russ got home last Wednesday afternoon..but then it rained and rained and rained...so he was not able to get out and get his mowing done. We finally got out and trimmed up the forsythia bushes that had grown about 4 feet during the summer. When they start to brush up against the house/screens and wake me up...then we know it's time to trim.

I was also hearing strange noises on the roof of the sunroom. Well, that meant a ladder and chain saw. Russ did a GREAT job of trimming that area above the sunroom and we shouldn't be bothered with those limbs for a couple of years.

I dug up my potatoes also. Decided to see what I had grown. I will post a picture of the bounty soon. We ate them last night with our cheesey chicken dish. We hope to enlarge the garden a wee bit for next year. Especially if Russ will be around more to help me with it. We have not had good luck with our pole beans the past couple of years. We need to figure that out cuz I miss not having fresh green beans during the summer. The years they've come on good, we had so enjoyed them. The tomoatoes didn't do very well either. I picked a small handful of these as well and ran through the blender with some onion and garlic and tossed in the freezer to use in spaghetti sauce this winter.

Well, this is Russ' last week with Poly Trucking. Next week we will head over to Quincy, IL for his orientation. I plan on taking my laptop with me...so hopefully I can post some good news from there.

New opportunites for Russ

2008-09-11T10:47:00.002-05:00

Well, my husband finally got fed up with his current employer and found himself a new trucking company to work for. The old company is Poly American out of Grand Prairie, TX. The new company is Sharkey Transportation out of Quincy, IL. He will go to Quincy on 9/22/08 for orientation. I'm thinking that we'll go over on Saturday and bum around and then I'll stay until Monday or Tuesday with him. I'll need to bring the car back home as he will be assigned a truck and will more than likely be on a 'run' when his orientation is completed.

I'm looking forward to a nice weekend away. There may be some fall colors to see by then. It's only a little over a week away, but the trees around here are already starting to turn a wee bit. It looks like Quincy is right on the river, so that may be neat to see as well.

We'll be without insurance for 3 months..but we've gone longer, so not too worried about that. When he does get insurance it will be paid for by him employer and will cover Russ and myself. Right now we are paying over $300/month. The new insurance company will be Blue Cross Blue Shield...so that will be a BIG improvement over what he has now.

So just keep Russ in your thoughts in the weeks to come that he settles in with this new company and his stress levels can go way down. He will be home every week so that alone will be an adjustment. He said last night that it had been 24 days since he was home last. His tushy was a wee bit sore. Hopefully, this will help his tush to not get so sore either..as he'll have a couple days of easy chair a week now.

Summer Flowers of 2008

2008-09-08T16:54:00.004-05:00

These are some of the blooms from my summer flowers. There are rose of sharon bushes, hibiscus bushes and lots of lilies. There were really pretty this year.

Can't say the same for our garden. For some reason it didn't do all that well this year. Russ had a few tomatoes one time when he was home. But they seemed so small. I did put some through the blender with garlic and onion to use in sauces this winter...like spaghettie sauce, etc. We also planted potatoes and when Russ gets home next time, I'd like to dig up a couple of them to see what they look like. This is a first for potatoes. So we'll see how that goes. Next year's garden will be a tad bigger and designed better than the garden we had this year.

This climatis was really pretty. You can see Russ' big red truck in the back ground. We are hoping that he won't be driving for the big red truck company much longer. But I'll save that for another day.

Russ got a 'new' car

2008-09-04T15:15:00.004-05:00

The old Buick that we had that had belonged to Russ' mom was down in the 'yard' at Texas so when Russ got in down there and was held over for a few days, he would have some wheels to run around in and not be stuck in the semi for 48 or more hours. Well, the Buick had major problems so we had talked about him getting a different vehicle. He just called and he went shopping and found himself a new car.

This is a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am and only has 52,000+ miles on it. He is pretty excited to have wheels down there that he can depend on.

He says that he has gotten a call from his supervisor regarding the fuel charges. Let's hope that meeting goes OK. I told Russ that I had a print out of our credit card that I could fax down there if they needed something right away. I just have to keep being optimistic and hope that it all turns out for the best.

Anyway, I just wanted to post a pic of the new car. I got this pic off the internet site where he bought the car. I actually downloaded all the pics from the internet sight so I can scrapbook about Russ' new baby.

My husband faced Hurricane Gustav

2008-09-03T08:39:00.002-05:00

What an eventful weekend my husband had. He is a truck driver and had a load to deliver in the panhandle of Florida last Friday. Well, anyone watching TV knew that hurricane Gustav was headed into the Gulf Coast over the weekend. His next load after Florida was Houston, TX for a delivery on Tuesday AM! Well, if you look at the map of the US and figure it out..he would have gone right through the thick of it while going east to west. I told him to be sure to tune his XM radio in to the weather channels down there so he didn't head into the eye of the hurricane. He did major zig zags up into Mississippi and then down to the coast west of New Orleans. When he called Monday to say that he was on Interstate 10 west of New Orleans...I about wet myself. I said, "Oh honey, I think you better head for higher ground..from what I'm hearing you are right where Gustav is headed". He called later to say that he was heading north on I49 up into Louisiana. He got not quite halfway up the state and had to stop as he was going to run out of fuel and there were no truck stops open! He hadn't eaten for two days and only had enough water left to take his AM meds on Tuesday!

I was in panic mode which is nothing new for me. I tried to google on the internet to find a station open for him to get fuel. I called more than 5 stations and no one was answering. So he finally pulled over and just waited for Tuesday morning and hope that something would open close to him. Well, the truck stop where he was at, opened the pumps to credit card purchases only..which meant he had to use OUR card..but at least he could get some fuel so he could get the heck out of there.

He went a bit further north and fueled up more (again on our credit card) and then headed for Houston TX. I am glad to report that he called last night and said that he made it to Houston and has one more drop in TX then he goes to the 'yard' in Grand Prairie and get the truck serviced and hopefully they will send him home to Nevada, IA.

Now we just need to hope and pray that we don't have to fight to get reimbursed for the $700 worth of fuel that we just paid for!! The first station had run out of receipt paper..it said to see attendant...which there wasn't one. So all we have is our credit card statement. Russ assures me that they will reimburse us. So I will remain optimistic.

So the Iowa boy got a hurricane education. Next time they predict one close to you...get food and water and park the truck out of harms way and RIDE THE STORM OUT!

Oh, did I mention that I fell this week...

2008-08-29T09:22:00.002-05:00

We have been drinking smoothies for lunch at the office to help with calorie intake and weight loss goals. My boss brought in a dorm refrigerator to put in the bathroom ... and put the ice machine that he bought me last year for my birthday on top of the refrigerator.

Well, Tuesday late afternoon I decided to have my smoothie--wasn't hungry at lunch time-- so went into the bathroom to retrieve the fat free yogurt and strawberries. Well the refrigerator door gets hung up on the shelves inside so it needs an extra nudge to close. Well, my hands were full, so I stuck my foot in the bathroom door to nudge the fridge door shut, and the bathroom door came back and 'grabbed' my leg/foot...and DOWN I went. I mean to tell you I hit my head HARD on the floor. My boss was out but Roger (another advisor in the office) was in and he came running around the corner and asked if I was OK. At that point I thought my head was going to burst with the pain...plus the wind had been knocked out of me. I just laid there and rubbed and rubbed and rubbed my head where it had banged on the HARD floor. I had scraped my arms, hurt my butt and really whacked my head. I finally got up and made it back to my chair. I made it to the end of the day...but really hurt. My back started to ache as well.

I woke up at 4:30am on Wednesday and could hardly move! My neck felt like I would assume it would feel if you had whiplash. I pretty much hurt all over. I didn't make it to work on time..but finally straggled in. I started popping the advil every 3 hours. When I got to the office, I told Roger and Craig (boss) that it felt like I had done 500 hundred pushups, gotten whiplash, been hit over the head with a frying pan and been kicked in the tushy!! Other than that I felt pretty good. HA HA

I kept popping pills and did leave early Wednesday. My mom was afraid that I would feel worse the next day, but actually on Thursday I felt a bit better. Still sore, but not nearly like I was on Wednesday.

Funny--when I told Russ what I'd done..his first comments was "Were you wearing slacks?" What a hoot... I said "Yes, dear, I was not wearing a skirt that flew up over my head."

Well, that should about get me caught up for this week. I may post more this weekend. I'd like to post some of the flower pics I took a few weeks ago.

Not much to post about...

2008-08-29T09:13:00.002-05:00

It's been kind of a crazy last week or so. I went to my folks house in Perry last weekend to help Mom some more with her inventory list for the garage fire. It's amazing how many more things you think of that went up in smoke after the fact. We are still thinking of things that got bulldozed away this past week. So the garage is down and they have OK'd the foundation to build the new one upon. They came and power washed the floor, driveway and walks. Now they are ready to get moving with the building process. Hopefully, they will begin that next week.

A good family friend passed away this week. Clifford was the husband of my mom's best friend, Gldays Read. He was not quite 87 years old. He had been having a lot of health problems lately, but you're still never ready for them to leave this earth. Gladys and Cliff had been married for 58 years. She will have a tough road ahead, but there are lots of family and friends for her to lean on. They lost their son David (close to my age) in 1992 and their daughter Karen (several years younger than me) in 2005 and still have one son, Keith (a few years older than me) living in Olathe KS. We lived by them until I was 8 and we moved where my folks now live. But Mom and her have stayed friends all these years. My mom just aches for the sorrow that Gladys will feel in the days to come. Anyway, I went to Perry on Wednesday afternoon and went to the visitation that evening and stayed with the folks Wednesday night and attended the services yesterday morning. It was a hard day...but the hard days are ahead for Gladys. Please pray for her. She has great faith and she knows that Cliff is with David and Karen now and pain free.

This is the holiday weekend and Russ is down in Florida, so I will be spending it mostly alone. But that's OK, with the week I have had, I could use a little down time. Well, I hope everyone has a good holiday weekend...BE SAFE.

My boys

2008-08-19T11:46:00.002-05:00

Here's a picture of my lazy boys relaxing on the mattress cover while I'm washing the sheets. They are so much fun to have. I'd only had one cat at a time until these two. I had Felix (the black and white one) first, then came Grayson. They really love each other and play nice--most of the time.

I would be lost if I didn't have these two boys to come home to. We also have a black lab, Garth, that toughs it out in his HUGE pen outside. His pen is probably more square footage than our house. He has a nice dog house that was built by my dad. It has double walls, so warm in the winter and it must be fairly cool in the summer, cuz I'll come home a lot of warm days to him tucked up inside. We do put swan bedding in there for him during the winter months. When we got him, we also got his brother, Will, but we had to put Will down 3 years ago on July 4. Garth adjusted well, but loves it when Russ comes home. I let him out when I mow, but he loves to hang by Russ when he's home and outside. He LOVES to be around people, but he also loves to jump up on ME...and he has wicked toenails.

Well, I just wanted to share a picture of my indoors buddies. They are my kids!

Gal Pals in Branson

2008-08-15T13:19:00.005-05:00

Last December I used a week of my boss' time share to spend some time in Branson with two of my good friends--Deb and Connie. We were there for Deb's birthday on 12.3..and had her celebratory dinner at Shorty Smalls, a great BBQ place.

This picture was taken at the Grand Village Shops. What a great time to get some Christmas shopping done. We had so much fun. I love going on trips with these gals. We ALWAYS have the best time. We laugh a lot and share great memories of a long time friendship. I have known Deb since she was a wee one. I lived next to her until we moved to a different house in Perry, and got reconnected later in life through tap dancing classes. I helped to coach Connie's daughter in the 80's and then we reconnected as well through tap dancing classes. The three of us have done a lot of traveling together. Even gone a cruise with these two fun loving gals. It's so nice to have friends like these. Everyone needs to cherish all their special times with special friends. Deb and her husband are going to Las Vegas next year to the NASCAR race. That will be a great time as well.

Busy Day

2008-08-14T16:43:00.002-05:00

I took the day off of work and my folks came up to the farm to help Russ and I with the 'honey do' list. Boy did we get a lot done. We worked in the spare bedroom and moved the extra dresser out and put my small oak desk that Dan gave me in there. Then we pulled the wing back chair out of the computer room and put the platform rocker that was in the scrapbook room in the computer room. I need more room in the scrapbook room and also the computer room. The wing back chair took up too much space. So now I have these two extra pieces of furniture that I need to get rid of. Need to take pics and post to see if anyone wants to buy either. I may keep the low dresser...just need to get in the scrapbook room and organize and then I'll see if it's something that I can use in there. But I know the wing back chair has to go. Just no room for it.

I grilled hamburgers on my new birthday grill. It's just an inexpensive little grill but it has the dual burners and the upper warming area..that's what I was looking for. We also had some WONDERFUL sweet corn.

Then back to work. We went outside to the little shed and did a clean sweep kind of thing. Took 99% of it out...pitched and cleaned up then put back my flower pots, etc. It's so much nicer now. Russ will put the snow blower, lawn mower (walk behind one) and tiller in the old garage. Now I can do some plant potting in there.

I actually then cleaned up and went to the office for a bit in the afternoon. I told my boss that I had to come to the office to get some rest. My arms ache, my back aches and my feet hurt..but it was a good feeling to get so much done today. My folks are the best helpers.

They finally got a bid and the OK to have a new garage built..the old one had a little mishap with a HOT lawn mower. So within a couple of weeks they will have a new garage! Then they can go new car shopping. Then once we get the 'stuff' put back in the new garage, that episode will be a done deal. What a learning experience and something that I hope we don't have to go through again in my lifetime.

Russ is home

2008-08-13T10:08:00.002-05:00

Well, Russ got home yesterday after being out for 3 weeks. I thought he had been gone longer, but he said it was actually just short of 3 weeks. Too long in my book! He really needs to hop on his John Deere and get the back 40 mowed...but of course since he's now home to do it, it rained a good part of yesterday at the farm. But today is a new day and it looks absolutely gorgeous out so he should be able to get his mowing done.

My folks are planning on coming up tomorrow to help with the big 'to do' list that I created while I was at their house in Perry this past weekend. Just lots of little things that I can't get done alone, and Mom LOVES to help me switch things around and help me toss things. Sometimes she gets too aggressive with her tossing skills..but she's getting better at asking before the final pitch in the garbage. I think I acquired my cluttering skills from my dad...he tends to save as well, because you just never know when you MIGHT need that little something.

The folks had a fire in their garage a few weeks ago so have been busy helping with the details of that whole process as well. I think they will end up with a new garage out of it. They have a guy that has bid on bulldozing, hauling away and putting up new. One guy to do it all seems the way to go, so you're not waiting on each step to get done before starting the next.

Their car also got totalled since it was in the garage. Their car insurance company didn't even look at it..just said that if it was in the garage when it caught on fire, they would total it. They came the next day and towed it away. A friend of mine bought it as a buy back option and they got a really good deal as the car only had a few bad spots on it where stuff overhead and fallen on the car. Other than that, the car is in great shape. Glad that someone will get some goodie out of it. We had thought about it ourselves..since Russ' car that he keeps at the 'truck yard' in Grand Prairie, TX has now decided to cause us big grief. Russ will have to do some used car shopping the next time he's down there for a few days. He really has enjoyed having a car down there as a lot of the time he is there for 2-3 days while the truck is being serviced and they are lining up his next route.

Well, I guess this should do it for today's post.

Something new

2008-08-11T09:14:00.000-05:00

I've wanted to start a blog for some time now. Most of my close friends know what's up with me most days anyway, so this will be a way to keep those not living close by in touch with what is happening at the Mersman household.

This will be a short initial post, but will try to add more as ideas occur to me. I'll also try to learn how to add pictures. I took some awesome pictures yesterday of all the tiger lilies, rose of sharon bushes and my beautiful hibiscus flowers. Will try to share those in the days to come. Talk about a range of colors!