Been way too long since I posted

Happy 4th of July 2015 to everyone.  It's been over 2 years since I've posted anything.  A lot has happened in that time frame.

I have a new normal now.  I ended up getting a divorce and relocating to a new town.  I am still working at the same place just coming in from a different direction now.

Shortly after I moved, and before I could get totally settled, my mom passed away.  It will be one year on Aug 2, 2015 since she passed away.  I miss her every day.  It took many months for me not to cry every single day.  But now I'm down to maybe once a week that something hits me and I remember mom and have a pity party on my own.

Life is good.  I'm OK and hanging in there.  I have a lot of great friends to lean on when I feel down in the dumps.

I still like to scrapbook but am limiting it to the vacations that I take.  I really don't have anyone that will want all these scrapbooks when I die...so limiting what I scrapbook at this point in time.  But don't want to give it up completely.

Well, I am going to try to make a better effort to post more frequently going forward..but making no promises.

Looking forward to the fireworks tonight.  We have been lucky and have had some great weather lately.  Had quite a bit of rain earlier but that has slowed down and the temps have been great.

My friend Lori has a son, Devon.  I enjoyed going to his baseball games this spring and early summer, but they are over now.  I may try to find out when Boone or Perry play and go to a high school game.  I enjoy my time at the ball park.

Well, that's it for today's edition.  Hope everyone is doing well.

May 2013 be a happier year

   2012 is over...thank goodness.  I am certainly hoping that 2013 will be a happier year for the Albritton/Mersman families.
   Mom, dad and I went down to Louisiana in April and went to the Albritton Reunion.  There were about 90  relatives there!  They thought that was one of the biggest turnouts ever.  I'm so glad that we made the trip down.  We always stay with Dan and have such a great time.  The weather is always so nice and the trip down is fun to watch the shades of green perk up as we get farther south.
   Dad had Alzheimer's for several years but in late September he started having back aches and by the first of October he had been in the ER several times...but it seemed that by the time the Dr got to him the back aches had gone away.  But it turned out they were justified...he had bone cancer and several tumors in his back.  He spent 2 weeks in the hospital before being transferred to a local nursing home in Perry.  He only spent 4 days there before passing away.  It's so hard losing a parent...even though he had Alzheimer's he still had a funny to tell and a sparkle in his eyes.  I just know that he is in a better place and without pain and he has all his old memories back...
   We lost one of our black labs in early October.  I came home one evening and he was 'gone'.  So sad for us.  He was 14 years old but a good old boy.  Russ and I loved him and enjoyed all the years we had with him.
  I went on a vacation in late October after dad's funeral.  It was bittersweet but the trip was preplanned and prepaid...so not really a viable option to not go.  I went on a 9 day trip with a gal pal.  We had a great time.  Mornings were the hardest for me and they still are for some reason.  When I think of dad and him not being around ever ever ever again...it really makes me sad.
   I am going to start writing down as many 'dad' memories as I can.  He was an awesome dad and I learned so many lessons from him....so I want that to be documented,
   Well, I haven't posted for a long time and really would like to do a better job of keeping the blog up to date...but one just never knows.
  I just hope everyone has a great 2013 and that there is more peace on earth this year and not so many tragic stories of death and violence.

Gas Leak Trauma--REALLY LONG STORY

   On Thursday, July 19 I went out around 8ish to put fresh cool water in the dogs swimming pools.  It was a really gorgeous night out.  Nice and cool and a wonderful breeze.  Decided to walk around the east side of the house and go up front and water there as well.  As I was walking to the east I could here a distinct HSSSSSS (not of the animal variety).  I thought to myself that I must not have gotten the water turned off.  Walked back and No...the water was off...but could smell gas...and detected that the regulator up at the house (keep in mind that our gas METER is about a block out in the bean field) was leaking at what seemed to be an alarming rate of speed.

   I immediately headed inside to call Black Hills Energy to let them know of my problem.  When I think back now, I was really lucky.  The dishwasher and the clothes dryer were both running and of course the Air Conditioner had been running off and on...but since it had cooled down so much that evening it wasn't currently kicking on and off (probably a good thing).

   I called the emergency number and the gal on that end wanted my address of course.  She then asked if anyone was there with me.  I said "No, just me and my two cats".  She said "I'd like you to walk outside and keep walking until you don't smell gas".  I'm thinking 'she just wants to know how far the gas has permeating into the air'.  But her next statement brought the whole situation into a different light.  "What is the name of someone who could tell us how to get to your house in case we can't reach you?"  OK, my interpretation of that is "If your house blows up and you're in pieces...we still need to get there...so who can tell us how to get there?"  I said to the gal "You're sort of freaking me out now".  She said she just wanted me to be safe and to stay as far away from the house as possible.  So I'm pacing out by the gravel road and she says she has put in a service call the they will get there as soon as they can...but may be up to an hour!

  I sneak back up to the car parked by the house and gently open the door to get my lawn chair out and a box of kleenex (you know me, I'm crying by now cuz I'm freaked out).  I put the lawn chair out by the road and just sit staring at the house waiting for it to blow up and knowing that I will be traumatized for life if that happens to my two buddies inside.  There was no way I could get the cats out...so I just prayed for the best and if the house did blow..that they went quick and did not suffer.

   I gave them Lori's name and number since I didn't want to freak out my mother and I knew Lori would keep a level head (even though if she got the call she'd know I was looking down from heaven at that point in time).  So I had to call Lori and tell her.  She assured me that all would be OK..even though she did suggest I get in the car and back it out to the edge of the road.  I decided that might not be the best idea since there was gas smell every where...so I just sat in my lawn chair and called lots of friends to help while away the time.  But believe it or not I got cold...so I had to sneak back up to the car and get my blanket. 

   After an hour I called Black HIlls Energy back and she said that the guy was having to come from NEWTON and would probably be at least another 1/2 hour.  WTF!!

  I got cold enough that I decided to go sit in the garage in Russ' truck.  I was cozy in there but afraid I would fall asleep and miss the guy pulling into the drive.

   He got there around 10.  I walked him around the east side of the house and as soon as we turned the corner I could smell gas.  It took him another step or two.  He was hoping that there would be a shut off valve at the house so he didn't have to trek out into the field to find the meter and shut off out there.  He got out his wrench and started what I thought sounded like pounding...so I headed east towards the bean field.  I was afraid he was going to spark something and we'd all be blown to kingdom come!

   He got it shut off at the house.  He then needed to go in and check the house for the level of fumes.  He asked me to stay out side and his next statement was "If I come out running...you take off running as well."  Well, I can laugh at that now, but at the time I'm freaking out and walking rapidly towards the road.  It took him a bit to come out and I was afraid that he may have been overcome with fumes..but he finally came out and said the house was fine.  A little more detected in the basement but not enough for concern.  He said I could go back in the house and he was going to check some more things outside.  

   He then came back in and said that he was going to have to go out to the meter after all because he felt there was a leak underground....UGH.  So trying to explain where the meter is in the middle of a bean field is not fun.  But I did the best I could.  He went out and tried...but came back in and said that he was seeing a reflection but not seeing the yellow pole that they put up for an identifier.  I finally said that Russ said that when there is corn in the field, he goes over about 6 rows and heads straight north and usually runs into it.  The guy said that was helpful.  So after 15-20 minutes he came back in and said that he found the meter and was able to get the gas shut off out there.  That's pretty much the end of their story.  They shut it off and then it's up to you to figure out how to get it fixed!!  So he left around 11.  It was after midnight before I could get to sleep and then woke up at five the next morning.

  So now it's Friday and really the only impact I have is that I don't have hot water.  I took a shower as soon as the guy left so I could get the last of the hot water out before it cooled off.  I then made some calls Friday morning.  2 of them were too busy to help and the other 2 never called me back.  So now I'm going into the weekend with no hot water.  But a good weekend for this to happen.  I was headed to my folks in Perry on Friday after work and spending the night.  We had a reunion in Perry on Saturday and then I had to head back to Ames to my boss' son's wedding at 4.  So I was able to clean up at my folks on Saturday.  Russ didn't get home that weekend so he missed ALL the excitement.

   I did go over to Lori's on Sunday evening so I could have a nice shower and wash my hair.  

  I emailed a client/friend of mine that I know through the office and he gave me the name of a plumbing company in Ames that he thought might help.  They did come out to the farm Monday morning and determined that there was NO underground leakage but they could not find a regulator to replace the one that was outdated.  They had some calls made but didn't get an instant response...so still no hot water..but at least I have someone working on it.  SO Monday night I did have to take a cold shower and let me tell you, even though I came home feeling like a cold shower would feel good.  IT DIDN'T.  They were able to get the regulator late Tuesday and came Wednesday morning and got me all fixed up.  The guy from the plumbing company even came in and lit my hot water heater for me...so when I got home I HAD HOT WATER.....YIPPEE.  Now waiting for the bill.  But what do you do?  Hopefully, this will be the last time we have to deal with this kind of issue...so it will be worth it.

  So that's my story.  The guy that came on Thursday said that Northern Natural Gas owns the main line and BHE takes care of it for them and he didn't understand why they didn't have someone more local (like Ames or Des Moines) to come out and take care of situations like this so the customer didn't have to wait so long for a response.  I agreed and will be writing a letter to someone.  Not that it will change things but still want them to know how freaked out I was sitting out there waiting for someone to come not knowing if my house was going to blow up in front of me!

  Sorry this was so long...but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Hope everyone else's summer is not as eventful as mine turned out to be.

Been way too long since I've posted

It just seems that one thing after another keep me from logging in and updating my blog.  I can't believe that it has been almost a year!  Here's the update:
Took my folks to Louisiana last fall
Took my folks to Louisiana this spring for the Albritton Reunion
Taking my folks to Louisiana this fall

My brother lives down there and we stay with him and always have such a great time.  The weather is always very nice and we can take long walks each morning..so we all really enjoy it while we're there.  We also have a cousin that loves to do a big family fish fry when we are there and that's always fun.  The reunion is great but this year there were over 90 people there...so not a whole lot of close visiting time to be had.  So the family fish fry is great to be able to sit one on one with cousins and sort of get caught up.

I have another trip planned for this fall.  A friend and I (the one that I went to Washington DC with in 2010) and I are going to head west this time.  We are going on a 9 day trip out to California.  We will spend 3 nights in San Francisco, take a train down to Huntington Beach for 2 nights and then take a bus down to Los Angeles for 3 nights.  I'm looking forward to this as I have never really been to California (only long enough one time to board a cruise ship).  Lots of side excursions on the agenda as well.  So that will make it a trip to remember.  So I'm saving all my nickels and dimes (and quarters) to help pay for this great trip.

That's it for the normal update.  Will post my Gas Leak story next.

Fall Update

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!!

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

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

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

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

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

Summer Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Update for spring

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

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

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

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

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

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

Been a long time...

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

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

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

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

Tooting my own horn

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

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

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.

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...

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!!

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

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..

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...