Sunday, November 26, 2006

Blog challenge.....

From Sara: Ok, you guys know how this works.. I'll post it, if ya feel like taking it yourself, I hope to see it on your blog.

1. List 5 hobbies that sound fun, besides scrapbooking
  • Oil and watercolor painting
  • Treasure hunting
  • Cave exploring
  • SERIOUS Bird Watching
  • Amateur archeaology
2. List 5 classes that sound fun
  • Japanese for tourists
  • Visual Basic Programming
  • Ancient History of the World
  • Wine making
  • Travel Agent school
  • Belly dancing!

3. List 5 things you personally would never do that sound fun
  • Bungee jumping
  • Sky diving
  • Snow skiing
  • Gun-less bank robbery
  • Jumping off the high dive

4. List 5 skills that would be fun to have
  • Translating many languages
  • Sign language
  • Natural musical talent for any instrument, especially drums!
  • Psychic ability
  • Auto Mechanic skills

5. List 5 things you used to enjoy doing
  • You've stumped me. I can't think of anything I used to enjoy that I don't still enjoy. I can think of many things I like now, that I didn't like before, like broccoli and green peppers, but not the other way around.

6. List 5 silly things you'd like to try once
  • Frog legs in France
  • Jumping on the velcro wall thing
  • Level IV white water rafting
  • Painting some graffiti somewhere
  • Standing on the corner with a weird sign (like "THE END IS NEAR") and see what happens

It's just for the BIRDS! (yeah, more bird pictures...)

Hey all. I took a birthday walk today and did a little bird hunting. I think I like this hobby because it is TOTALLY FREE! Also, it involves the outdoors which I want to get more of.



Well, today I saw a LOT of cardinals. Some some junkos, a small "herd" of birds chirping up a storm in a thicket, until I got too close, then all was quiet! I saw a hawk- probably a red tailed hawk but not certain, a male and female downy woodpecker, and something I had no idea what it was, a RUBY CROWNED KINGLET. That was cool! Just a pretty little greenish bird. I really had to look through the book awhile before I matched it, but it was an exact match.



Here are some pictures.



Ruby crowned kinglet....


Female Downy Woodpecker......


Male Downy Woodpecker.....


Hawk about to take off.....

Happy Birthday to Me!

What a nice relaxing birthday. I did some shopping with Jordan yesterday, got some free goodies (I had a $10 fashion bug and a $10 Macys) We also went to Gorman's and I picked up a couple of things with my 20% off coupon. All-in-all it has been a very relaxing holiday weekend.


Today - My birthday pictures!

Here are the kids doing their "gansta" thing. Whatever.....

EYES of a child.....

Actually eyes of a teen.

Why you ask? We were trying to PROVE whether Steven's eyes have different colors or not, once and for all, and well, the thing just kind of grew into a picture taking fest.

Steve:



Jordan:





Thanksgiving sadness and hopefulness


This is a long post with the upsetting parts at the beginning, happy parts saved for the end.


What an emotional Thanksgiving. Some background. My FIL has just recovered from prostate removal for cancer. While he was recovering, MIL tried to start the lawnmower, injured her shoulder and required surgery. As of Thanksgiving, they are both well on the way to complete recovery.


They have turned over the reins, so to speak, to the kids to have holiday events at their homes, and only Christmas dinner at their place. John "signed up" for this Thanksgiving, but not any of his siblings came. It was John's parents, my parents and us four. Well, I won't go into details about the family squabbles, but we choose to just stay out of all that and focus on our parents. The main thing that makes me mad, and this is the mother lioness in me, my kids feelings are hurt. I can't stand for them to hurt, but I know it's life and we have to hurt sometimes. Today we are all in a much better spirits after talking it out. I just remember the first few years of our marriage when all 8 of his sisters and brothers and their kids would be at the in-laws for everything. People just don't realize what they have, then it starts to fade away, and I just scream inside when they don't fight to keep hold of that something special. It's the same way I feel about friendships I guess. I just can't seem to let things go. I have to fight to hold on, even when it seems hopeless. The last few years I have just dreaded almost every holiday, because of the fractures in the family fabric. At some point you do have to throw in the towel though, and I think John and I have agreed we are now at that point. Time to give up, say "DONE" with that. Move on and truly, truly appreciate what we DO have. That is my Thanksgiving wish for myself, that I really can learn to stop begruding the missing elements for being missing. Stop wasting emotional energy, and stop feeling sorry for myself.


Another sorrow, my cousin Jesse died Wednesday night. He is about a year older than I am. My sister and I had cousin crushes on him! Anyway, as he grew older, with his troubled homelife he turned to drugs and crazy living. He ended up dying of liver disease but did have full blown AIDS the last several years. I will pray for his spirit to find peace.


On with the happiness.... Our dinner turned out very, very good. MIL made pumpkin pie which was very good. My mom brought special jello which was Yummy! She also made some deviled eggs for us which were also good. I have always liked hers the best. Tom brought Colette and Trinity over for some dessert later that evening. We had a really nice time. Trinity is such a hoot! She was playing hide and seek, well, not really, more of a chase thing, and just screaming with laughter nonstop. It really livened up the day. Hence, the hopeful attitude gets reinforced. Jordan was going to read her a book, but got her feelings hurt when Trinity turned one page and then decided that was plenty. We had to explain to Jordan, that is just par for the "two year old" course!

PICTURES:
The gals out on the patio
Mercedes, Annette, Jordan, LaVonne

Francis and John watching some football


Jim sleeping, per his usual and Steve wishing I didn't have a camera

John tossing Trinity up in the air.

Tom, Trinity and Colette

FOOTBALL! The Chiefs won of course.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Workin' in THE CAVES......

Here's the latest news about netty. I got what is known as a "detail". In layman's terms that means I have been assigned temporarily to another area to help out for a short term assignment. The secretary at NRC is ill, so I am filling in for a time. What is NRC you say? Well there are a LOT of boxes with files in them.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

BIRD NERD, That's Me......

I love birds. I think they are very cool. I like to identify birds. Not too long ago I saw an unusual bird up at G&G T's and I couldn't figure out what the heck it was. The men were trying to tell me it was just some hawk, but I knew better. I thought vulture.... But I had seen a Turkey Vulture just this summer and knew they had a red head, this crazy bird didn't. Well, I FINALLY purchased my first Bird Field Guide and found out what the heck that bird was. A JUVENILE turkey vulture! They just have a brown head. Crazy! Here's a picture with a bunch of zoom on it.
















To continue my bird nerd adventure story. I was driving home today and saw a couple of regular turkeys right next to the road, so nerd that I am, armed with a camera at all times, I made a U turn and got some turkey pictures. Here's the best one of the male.


Monday, November 20, 2006

SQUAW - my new acronym

So, I was feeling a little rambunctious the other day while Jordan and I were doing some bread baking. Okay, I was actually doing the baking, and Jordan was being forced to learn a bit about bread baking!

I started wondering what I was going to be like at 50, still spry and goofy? I began thinking up adjectives to describe me at 50. After writing them down, Jordan realized they could almost spell squaw. So we fixed that:

S: Spontaneous
Q: Quirky (or Queen of the House)
U: Ubiquitous (present everywhere at once) or Unforgettable
A: Adventurous
W: Weird

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Here are some recent pictures.....

We really love Monopoly at our house.
I especially like it when I win....

There was a really foggy morning last week
and I had to drive to work
very, very slowly
....


This is Rick and Karen in
front of their new home
...


Here is Steve jamming on Rick's guitar....


Here's a shot from Bugsy Malone....


Chad and Steve with their silly string guns...


Jordan's official homecoming picture....





Blog challenge 11/13...

From Lisa: Since Thanksgiving is approaching rather quickly, this week's challenge is to blog about your favorite Thanksgiving tradition. Do you do something unusual that's become a tradition? A food you ALWAYS have to have? Share your favorite Thanksgiving memories with us....

Well, this is kind of strange as we are having Thanksgiving at our house for the first time. We have always gone to St. Joe in the past to my in-laws. Now we are beginning new traditions in our family as the in-laws are looking at downsizing their home and turning over some of the responsibilities of tradition to the kids. It is a tough transition. It means facing that day when they (my parents and his) are no longer with us and we are the OLD generation, the next in line. Maybe I will blog about how it goes afterwards, but it certainly won't be the same, as we already know not all the family can even come which will be weird in itself.

Blog challenge 11/07.....thankful

Shawn asked us to blog 10 things we are thankful for.....


  1. Having the necessities that allow survival.
  2. A free trip around the sun.
  3. A happy family that likes to play Scrabble and Monopoly!
  4. Freedom of religion.
  5. Ability to have a say in my destiny (i.e. voting, basic human rights, etc..)
  6. Scientists and priests who can converse with each other.
  7. Music
  8. Theater arts
  9. Adventure opportunities
  10. Bookshops

Highlights and The Technology Age.

Friday night Jordan and I went to see the high school performance of Brigadoon. Wow! It was great! They have some great singing and dancing talent at that school. Jordan didn't have a tournament this weekend so it was a bit more relaxing. It was nice to see Steve a bit more, since the junior high musical is over. Whew. That was a long haul.

Technology - Steve's social studies teacher did an online MP3 study guide for his next test. You can download the MP3 to your device, or just listen at your computer. Is that cool or what?

Monday, November 13, 2006

Weekend update.....

Friday 11/10

John and were BOTH off on Friday for the federal holiday. That was nice. After the kids went to school we went up to our favorite coffee bar (Buy the Book). I had hot chocolate, bagel and cream cheese. He had his usual breve and a cinnamon roll. Ahhh. Then we headed up to St. Joe to visit the in-laws. That was a nice visit. Got a lot of pictures from mom. They are trying to slowly get rid of extras that they don’t want to take with them when they move in a couple of years. In the afternoon I worked on a couple of design team projects for TPP. I was not very pleased with the 12x12 layout, but I LOVE the Christmas card I made with Bohemia product. Steve's school musical was this weekend. We got in free Friday night by selling tickets, so we had to be there at 6. It was pretty cute. Then we dropped off Steve and went to some friends and played this new game "Dirty Minds". The clues are "off color" but the word you are guessing is clean. So, of course you can't figure it out because you are laughing too hard about the crazy clue! Jordan got home from debate tourney at midnight. She had to wake up at 4:45 am today, poor kid.

Sat 11/11

Not much going on today, just mopping the kitchen floor. John thinks one of the priests is coming for dinner, but forgot if that was a "for sure" thing. So, I guess we might have to cook some dinner! Steve's out raking leaves. John headed off to church meeting. The afternoon was quiet with both the kids gone. John and I went out to Longhorn for dinner. Got a call from Jordan to come pick her up at 7 so I drove out to Grandview HS. Quite the adventure.

Sun 11/12

Felt so rested today. I have been suffering lack of sleep for about 3 weeks now and finally feel all caught up.

We went to early mass. Jordan got coerced into cooking some biscuits and she made a new recipe with pecans, rolled up into little spiral log thingies. They were totally AWESOME. Steve made some bacon. I typed for the hospital for a couple of hours. Also managed to get the laundry completely done by 9pm. MIRACLE! Steve’s last day as stage manager for the musical at his school – Bugsy Malone. I think we are glad that is over. It’ll be nice to see him after school today for the first time in a couple of weeks!

Monday, November 06, 2006

The good old days.....(some really old pictures)

This picture is me and Bea in our bedroom in the trailer in Topeka (see post from a few days ago. See that kids roll top desk? I FINALLY convinced my dad to give it up. Steve and Jordan were almost to big for it by the time I got it. But Steve will be getting it for his kids when they arrive. It now has lots of new decor on it, some from me, some from Bea and some from my kids too! Oh, those telephones on the desk were the coolest Christmas present ever!!!!



This picture is from Christmas, either 1965 or 1966. Me in the foreground, Bea in the next. I can't remember where this was, or who the other kids are. I am the youngest cousin on both sides, so I can't figure out who the baby is.



This is ME! My baby picture. I was about 1 year old here.



This one is up on the farm in North Dakota. That is my mom. Probably about 1970 or so. We had so much fun that trip. The tie die is FRESH. Everybody was tie dying at the farm and mom let us too! There were about a dozen buckets out in the yard and all the aunts uncles and cousins were tie dyeing. What a blast! I still remember many happy times at that place.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Somebody came home.......

FRIDAY - John came home today for the weekend! Hooray!

SATURDAY - The weather is gorgeous!

Well, here is my recap... First woke up at 4:45 to get Jordan up for her debate tourney. Typed 1-1/2 hours for the hospital. Showered.

Picked up Joann and headed over to Corner Cafe, met Kathy there. We had breakfast. They were quite busy and the service wasn't the best, but she tried anyway. I ordered grits. Well, just a warning to you who like grits. They put some kind of chicken stuff in them. They are NASTY. I just like mine plain thank you (with butter and sugar of course).

Then we headed over to the Paperie Place garage sale. They also had the Hallmark Artists sale there. There was a lot of neat stuff. I did pick up a new 6x6 album for $5 (K&Co). I picked out PP for DD's homecoming dance pictures. Very pretty stuff.
Said goodbye to Kathy, took Joann home and went home and took a much needed NAP.

Watched some Star Trek, What not to Wear and occasionally clicked to the Mizzou game to see how bad it was getting!

John and I went up to the square and walked around. He got a breve and we each got a book at Buy The Book (our local european bookstore). I got a Bird Field Guide. We window shopped a bit. Went into the Coming Home Store for the wine tasting, and I bought two new bottles of wine after trying them out. Came back home and now we are just hanging around. Jordan will need picked up eventually, but we have no idea what time. It's crazy like that on debate weekends.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Busy days.....

What a day! Nonstop doesn't even begin to describe it. I think I did okay though. Of course every time I turned on the radio in the car there was something about John Kerry's dumbass remark. What a dork.
Anyway, back to my non-stop day today. Keep in mind, this is FAR from a typical day. So that's why I am moaning about it.
5am - alarm / shower
5:25 - woke up Steve for shower
5:30 - woke up Jordan
continued with hair drying (fun with my new hair dryer!)
6am - kissed the kids, and out the door
6:32 - timed in (usual day at work, started working on upgrading an existing spreadsheet to add more functionality - after 2-1/2 weeks I already have an Excel rep)
3:02 - timed out
3:25 - arrived at St. James for Girl scout meeting, bought all the girls a soda (pat, pat)
5:00 - drove through Wendys for dinner
5:15 - stopped at bank for haircut money
5:30 - haircuts, me first, then Jordan. While Jordan was in the chair, ran home and picked up Steve, took him back to his haircut.
6:50 pm - raced back home, Jordan grabbed clothes for Sun-Do
7:00 pm - got Jordan to Sun-Do
7:10 pm - stopped back by Sandra's to get my coat which I left there (what a ditz)
7:20 pm - home. Filled up the bathtub halfway with hot water.
7:30 pm - internet time for a couple of minutes
7:50 pm - picked up Jordan
8:00 pm - finished filling the tub and took a nice WHIRLPOOL bath. Ahhhhhhh.
8:54 pm - thinking about heading off to bed.
So, that's about it folks.