nothing much

It's been a week since Labor Day and I keep thinking of things I want to blog about but my computer is far, far away. Well here are some random Netski doings.

The Friday before Labor Day, Aug 30th, took the day off. John was returning from 2 weeks in Austin (ugh, again...). I actually enjoyed a wonderful day of cleaning. Yes, sometimes I enjoy cleaning. WEIRD. Picked John up at the airport around 4:30 with the kids and we were very, very happy to have him home again. The weekend of Labor Day was nothing special, just a nice relaxing 3 day weekend. I had aspirations of bird watching but decided I'd rather just spend time with the family. Sunday before L.D. we had a nice party to go to at some friends. Monday we just relaxed.

Back to work on Tuesday, I continued with my 5-day review that would determine whether I got released from the training section. Wednesday was the final day of that review and yes, I did pass this review and got released. Thursday was moving day and Friday was my first full day in the new module. I have a window seat and I absolutely adore that.

Today, Saturday, has been fun. I am still on a high from finishing completely with training. I brought in all the bird feeder equipment and cleaned it, getting ready for the winter bird season. I think I need to get a heater for the bird bath. This afternoon some of us girls met up at a quaint little wine shop and participated in the tasting. That was quite nice.

In other news, dad got in a wreck Thursday evening and the minivan is totalled. He's okay, just sore and a bit banged up, but nothing broken thank goodness. I plan on visiting tomorrow.

I guess that's about it. Oh, yesterday while waiting for the bus, a guy drove by with his windows down, and he had "What I've Done" by Linkin Park blaring out his windows. I almost ran over to his car to give him a thumbs up sign, but then I rightly second guessed that impulse. He drove around the block again trying to get into the parking garage and the song was still going. That was nice.

He's Sixteen Now

Some STAYcation pictures

NELSON SCULPTURE GARDEN

NELSON SCULPTURE GARDEN
NELSON SCULPTURE GARDEN
NELSON SCULPTURE GARDEN
NELSON SCULPTURE GARDEN
NELSON ART MUSEUM
NELSON ART MUSEUM
NELSON ART MUSEUM

WWI MUSEUM

WWI MUSEUM
WWI MUSEUM
WWI MUSEUM
WWI MUSEUM


AT THE ZOO - my best shot. She was obviously posing for me.

AT THE ZOO - can you tell we got soaking wet? It rained the entire time, but it was still a lot of fun.

One is the Loneliest

Last night, our first night without John for another two weeks. At least we have each other. Poor Johnny just has Frank.

Being back at work after a week off stinks. Is there some way I can have a permanent vacation AND get paid at the same time? (something legal...)

We cleaned out the refrigerator, since Tuesday is trash day. Ate leftover and threw out some things that were spoiled. I had some blackberries in the fridge for a couple of weeks and I think they had begun the fermentation process, a distinct alcoholic odor came from that bowl!

Well, with the fridge cleaned out, the dishes done and the bathrooms clean, we sat down to watch a movie, "Tootsie" from the 80s. I still can't believe Dustin Hoffman didn't get best actor for that. He was just amazing. It was funny, just what I needed.

Today was the first day of school and I took the annual picture. I also took a few as the car drove away with my two teens in it. Weird. Jordan's last year of high school, Steve's first at the high school building. But their last year together.

I hope this coming year is as happy as the last one
I hope Jordan gets straight A's
I hope Steve brings the house down with his improv
I hope that life is good to them.

Linkin Park

Linkin Park was the highlight of our stay at home vacation last week. Wednesday night we headed out to Sandstone. Okay let me rephrase that..."Capitol Federal Park at Sandstone", previously called "Verizon Wireless Amphitheater" previously called

SANDSTONE. (way back to the olden days kids) Thank God it's gotten it's real name back.

We had seats out of the mosh pit ruckus which was good. Body surfing has become too dangerous. Jordan on the other hand ventured out into the pit following a couple of friends. Let's just say the mosh pit made an impression on her.

What is my favorite LP song? Papercut. But I love every single song. The set list was just perfect.

what i did last summer (last week)....

It's Sunday evening and summer at our house is drawing to a close. School starts next week and it will be strange having both the kids in high school. We did have a nice staycation though. Here's a recap of our week. I'll try to get in some pictures later on.

Monday: Plaza, Barnes and Noble, Winstead's for lunch. Just relaxing.
Tuesday: Nelson in the daytime, Fiddler on the Roof in the nighttime.
Wednesday: WW1 museum in the daytime, LINKIN PARK at night!!!
Thursday: Zoo in the rain. It was fun, but wet.
Friday: Truman Library.
Saturday: Computer shopping, wiping hard drives on old computer, reinstalling software, setting up new programs. UGH. A stressful day.
Sunday: Back to the routine, laundry, etc...

P.S. I am really getting tired of hearing about STAYCATIONs. It has been all the rage in the media with the high price of gasoline, so you hear it all the time. But hey, that's what it was.

Senior Picture taking

There are about 35 photos in all. Jordan got her senior yearbook picture and her cap and gown picture taken at school. Then we drove around town taking more pictures for the official picture.

My favorites?
9, 19, 25, 35, and 02. What's your favorite?

summertime lemonade

take a can of frozen lemonade, add a beer or two, and vodka to taste.

and, as this was being discussed, the comment was made "if you have nowhere to go, it's okay to drink this..."

Do I have anywhere to go? Am I going nowhere? Hmmmm. I guess we all wonder if we're going nowhere, approaching dead-ends, or contributing to anything or anybody. I guess it's a sign of our self-absorption that we even have the time to consider this question.

I plan to keep looking outward, keep my focus as much on others as possible, and keep sipping my lemonade.

July so far

We had an enjoyable July 4th, visited lots of family. We closed out July 4th watching the fireworks at the local amusement park. July 5th John saved Jordan and her boyfriend from getting a citation for shooting off leftovers. Just in the nick of time! Jordan and I made the first college visit last week. It was quite the adventure. In other news, we've had a stray child at our home for much of the summer. Good news is that his parents have gotten into a transitional housing program. It is a very strict program, but hopefully they can complete the 90 days .

Mean Girls

Dedicated to the Bible reader on the bus who "hmmph"'d at me Monday.

The bus is crowded. The bus is noisy. The bus stops suddenly, starts chokingly, and sways to boot. What little pleasure I have on the bus is usually attributed to nice folks who smile when we are in "standing room only" mode, the men who offer up seats to the ladies, the ability to play Tetris on my cell phone.

And once in awhile, perhaps one day out of five, I strike up conversation with a stranger or new acquaintance.

On the day in question I squeezed myself into a spot between two large ladies. "Donna" was on this four-seater bench too, but we were separated by above-mentioned Bible reader. Ms. Bible Reader was reading around Psalms 31. I was thinking of saying something to her, since my very favorite Psalm happens to be #33. But, before the words could get out she had flipped over to Proverbs. About three minutes later she flipped over to Song of Solomon. Moments later, Isaiah.

Curious. I guess it wasn't what you call in-depth reading. More like browsing, or perhaps window shopping. (Verse shopping?).

Anyway, Donna caught my attention and I asked how she enjoyed her Friday off. She replied in kind. (We were talking behind Ms. Bible Reader's head which was leaned forward to read).

We hadn't gotten more than two pleasantries exchanged, when Ms. Bible Reader let out a loud, annoyed-sounding, HARUMPH. She also used her body language to convey how much our conversation annoyed her. I guess we were disturbing her "verse shopping".

So, Donna and I, being the nice people we are (you know.... Golden Rule followers) did not return tit for tat, but sat patiently through the remaining few minutes of the ride. As we walked to our building together we had the chance to vent.

Usually when I spend time Bible reading, I am inspired, thoughtful, calm. I can't remember a single time in my entire life when Bible reading actually made me grumpy!

Some Birds and Flowers of June

Just wanted to share some nice nature with you.

This guy is a little Chipping Sparrow. I built a brush pile in the backyard, and I think he is living in there. He actually came to our finch feeder last night, nibbled a bit. But I've seen him in the brush pile before too.

This picture turned out so pretty with the finch reflected in the birdbath water.
Indigo Bunting, taken at the nature sanctuary.
The hummingbirds have been coming to the feeder. This little one ate from the feeder for a minute, rested here, then went back to the feeder for seconds, rested again, then flew off!
Okay, can you say Finch Fight? I think it was a lover's quarrel. They were sitting on the fench just squabbling.
A pretty pose for this robin.


Now some flowers!


Just a mixed planter on the patio, mostly marigolds.

Balloon-flowers.

Geranium.
Shasta Daisy (the big tall ones)
I forgot what these are called, sorry.
Purple coneflower.
I think the red ones are impatiens, but I forgot what the little purple ones are called, we got them about 8 years ago.

Our biggest hydrangea bloom so far, not quite done. As of this week its a beautiful blue color!

Happy Tuesday....and musical thoughts.

Approaching the end of another workday. Nothing to show for it until payday on Friday. I was thinking about music yesterday as I was on the treadmill. (yes, another music rant, sorry).

I was listening to some music, probably 65 Days of Static. While my legs were plugging away at 3.8 mph, my mind was soaring over the sights seen by the Mars Rover, and the new robot that is exploring the poles there. I visited the Amazon too. I time travelled to the future to a week in Austin and another to be spent in Florida. I travelled to the past, Minnesota, the Grand Canyon. I visited a lost loved one.

Why does the right music set my mind so free?

A song on my mind, depressing I know.

Things are wrong in this world and I feel powerless.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdRd3k4CIAg

System
Of
A
Down

"Chop
Suey"


Wake up (Wake up)
Grab a brush and put a little makeup
Hide the scars to fade away the (Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup)
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?
Here you go create another fable

You wanted to,
Grab a brush and put a little makeup
You wanted to,
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup
You wanted to,
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table
You wanted to,

Oh I don't think you trust,
In my self righteous suicide,
I cry when angels deserve to die
In my self righteous suicide,
I cry when angels deserve to die

Father (Father), Father (Father), Father (Father), Father (Father)!
Father into your hands, I commend my spirit,
Father, into your hands,
Why have you forsaken me,
In your eyes forsaken me,
In your thoughts forsaken me,
In your heart forsaken, me oh!

Trust in my self righteous suicide
I cry when angels deserve to die
In my self righteous suicide
I cry when angels deserve to die...

Travels

I like traveling. I mean, I REALLY like traveling. I can get in a car, drive for hours, and hours, and still arrive at my destination with positive energy. (provided enough sleep was obtained the previous evening of course). This weekend Steve and I took a road trip up to Minnesota. John is working for 2 weeks in a very small town, but for the weekend we are staying with Aunty Mary in Minneapolis and John has joined us there.

Floods:
There is MAJOR flooding going on right now in Iowa. Our route, I-35, was not closed at all. But in Des Moines we were able to see the flooding of the Des Moines river which was way out of its banks, and very close to the highway surface. East of Des Moines I-80 was closed due to the flooding. There are many people who have had to evacuate, and will probably lose their homes.

People are jerks:
We ran into a little stretch of construction where the highway narrowed to one lane only and traffic had to merge. As semi drivers sometimes do, two of them formed a blockade to keep cars from cutting to the front of the line. I really don't mind when they do this, but not everyone feels that way. I was driving next to an extra-long tractor trailer. There was a small purple car behind him that kept trying to peek around the right side on the shoulder. When we finally arrived at the merge spot, the purple car tried to pull around the semi on the right shoulder and pass him to get to the front of the merge line. The semi driver just drove onto the shoulder himself and almost put that purple car into the ditch. Eventually the purple car did get in front of the semi as we merged to one lane. They were right behind me. Now that traffic was at a better pace, the purple car drive just kept going at a snail's pace, and there was nothing the semi driver could do. I was glad to get FAR ahead of them.

The Weather:
It's bright and sunny this Saturday morning. I would like to drive over to see Minnehaha Falls later. I've been there once before with John, the kids and my parents. It was probably around 1995 though. I think Mary and the boys are going to the gym to work out around noon, so perhaps this afternoon.

"How Chris W. Saved My Life" a story from the 70s.

The Salvation Army vehicle was a big station wagon from the 70's. Rather angular in shape. The cool feature of this station wagon was the neat seats in the very back of the wagon. There were two little mini-seats that faced each other. After church when it was time to take people home the kids, including me, would fight over the back. The neat thing about the back door of the wagon, it had a huge window that had electronic control. Wow! An electric window! That was cool. We pretended the back of that station wagon was our own little house, or spaceship, or train, or ocean liner, or airplane.

Back to my story. It was late on a Sunday night and we were taking the usual folks home. Chris and I were in the very back of the wagon just goofing around, laughing at our silly jokes. When he got dropped off, my dad just rolled down the electric window and he climbed out. I stuck my head out, still talking to him as he started toward his house, but my dad, unaware of my little head sticking out, pushed "the button" that could have spelled my doom and chopped off my silly pre-teen head!

But no, not a chance. I made a startled squeak of some sort and Chris, in a couple of strides arrived at the back of the wagon and pushed my head inside! Of course I was very frightened and cried all the way home. My dad apologized profusely of course for scaring me. I lived, didn't hold too much of a grudge about it, and wonder if that little event changed my life in any way.

Yes, it's been a month. Here's what went on, with lots of pics.

Hiya. It's been awhile. You're probably wondering what happened? Let's just say it was probably the busiest two month period of my entire life. But, a lot of fun and cool stuff happened, so here's my 'travel' report. (no travel, really, but we can pretend..) Here's the story of spring at our house.

March 23, 2008 - Easter Sunday. Here's a picture of the family that I stitched together. It was FREEZING. None of the usual crowd was around to do Easter pictures. We always have a 'just the girls' picture, but this year it was just us. It was a really nice day too.

On April 5, we had a nice girls dinner to visit with Denise Z who was in town for a week. Then Jean and I went downtown to Artopia. My pictures aren't great from that event, but we had a good time. Got to see some interesting performances and some really nice music.

April 17, 2008 - Jordan performing her Dramatic Interpretation for Showcase Night at the high school. She'll be taking this performance to Nationals later this summer.

April 18, 2008 - The funniest play ever. The Complete Works of Shakespeare, abridged". Steve was one of 3 primaries in the play and they all played various roles. Steve played about 15 or 16 different parts, including most of the female roles, such as Juliet, Hamlet's mother, etc... I can't remember laughing so hard for a long time.

April 25 - Choir Competition at State. This is a picture of Steve and his girlfriend Victoria at M.U. All the kids did fabulous at state. Steve's ensemble received a 1 at districts and a 2 at state . So that was great. A couple of the kids we know got 1's at state.

April 29. Well, you just go right ahead and guess what this picture is about. I bet you will never guess. The answer is somewhere below..... Just look for the word fishing pole. Okay, if you are impatient, like I know you are.. I'll just tell you now. We were doing some housecleaning, as in "clean sweep' style cleaning. It suddenly occurred to the kids that the little tiny fishing pole, leaning up in a corner, in the upstairs hallway, right outside Jordan's door.....well....we tried to decide how long it had been there. We finally decided it was at least 3 years. So, what does that say about our skills in ignoring things? It got pitched finally.

April 30 - Debate and Forensics award night. Jordan received her pins for lettering in Debate and Forensics.

May 02 - The HAZING OF STEVE...in other words, how he got into the Improv Group at the high school. Three openings were up for the improv group this year, to replace the three outgoing seniors. After a workshop one night, auditions the next night, and making it to final callbacks, he still had to wait and see if he was one of the 3 who were chosen. We all went to bed, since the call hadn't come by 10:30 or so, we figured he didn't make it. (even though I made him wear his black shirt and red tie for the final callback)! Well about 11:15 the phone rings. It's a young man we know from church who is one of the outgoing seniors. He pretty much begged me to find a way to get Steve outside the door (keep in mind it's a school night) and he promised to have him back no later than 12:00. It was a 'tradition' for the new members to get initiated. So after about 5 minutes of deciding with John's help since we were in a sleep-deprived fog, I walked down the hall, woke Steve up, told him to get some clothes and shoes on so he could do something for me. Of course he is pretty groggy too. Finally I get him downstairs and trying to keep the whole thing a secret (they were going to jump him on the porch), got him to go out. They took him away, painted and taped and dunked him, and he came home the happiest I've ever seen him!

May 03 - Jordan and PROM!! The limo story. Corey's parents rented a town car style car with a driver to take them to dinner and the prom. When the driver took them to dinner, he asked if they would mind a big limo, at no extra charge (as long as they didn't get the cups dirty since he wouldn't have time to clean them). Umm, of course yes! So he drove them around a few places downtown for pictures before taking them to prom. What a great night for them.

May 10 - BEN GRAD! Our nephew Ben at his college grad party!

May 11 - Mother's Day. Can you believe I took no pictures other that this one? It's Fireball sleeping on the electric blanket. He's getting arthritis and he really likes the warmth. For Mother's Day, Steve got me the new Killers CD "Sawdust" which is GREAT. Jordan got me the Fiddler on the Roof WIDESCREEN special edition DVD. It's great to finally see it widescreen!

May 16 - class is finally over! Hooray. Eight months of intense training and now I'm official starting 'on-the-job-training', working to get stats high enough to be assigned to a group. We had a really nice graduation day. One of our classmates wrote "on the last day of training" to the tune of "On the first day of Christmas", and "this job is your job" to the tune of "this land is your land". We had lunch and bowled at one of the new places downtown and it was fun. I got three strikes in a row, and had my highest bowling score ever. !

May 17 - Nephew Luke high school graduation party . He is heading off to the Naval Academy this fall.

May 19 - The CURE in concert! What a blast! The opening act was called 65 Days Of Static. We have already downloaded a bunch of their music. It was a great night. The weather was perfect.

May 20 - the junior high awards ceremony. Steve, "best actor" award. His drama friends also got some certificates. Emma got a special commendation from the House of Representatives in this state! She's pretty awesome!

May 22 - Choir Concert, the last one of the year. The kids also received their awards for the district and state competition, medals and certificates. About a dozen, including Steve had enough points to LETTER! So, Steve got a letter! He was thrilled.

May 27 - Happy birthday Jordan!

May 27 - a family picture on Jordan's birthday. We had dinner at Bo Lings. It was my first time there, Steve's too, and we really loved it. Steve has decided that he now likes Chinese food.

OKAY TIME FOR A FEW BIRDS, but stay tuned for a picture of my new fountain! These bird pictures were mostly taken May 31st around town, at the nature sanctuary and at the local park.

Summer Tanager

Two Carolina Wrens building a nest.

Male Baltimore Oriole.

Eastern Meadowlark singing

AND HERE IT IS - June 1st! My old fountain got smashed recently and was beyond repair. John helped me pick out this neat one. I love it. It has 3 lights in it and lights up at night!

THE END