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.