Feels like Wednesday

Since this is a three day work week it's felt like a Wednesday all day. Lucky for me tomorrow is Friday. hahahaha.

2 more days until the Iowa bowl game! Go Hawkeyes!

Dad B .... we miss you

Seven years ago, today, I learned that my father died. It was totally unexpected - heart attack that was preventable. If only parents would listen to their children but that's another story.

Over the years it's gotten easier. There are still days when I think I need to tell Dad this or that only to realize that I can't call him anymore. Some days I feel him by my side, usually on a sunny day when I'm cruising down the highway.

I miss him and I wish Boyd had more time to get to know him.

Best Christmas Ever?!

Boyd and I are thinking this has turned into one of the best Christmas's ever! Which is a real surprise to me.

Neither one of us were looking forward to the holidays as we were playing the gifts to each other kind of low key. I ended up getting Boyd mostly stocking stuffers and he had one gift for me. Then yesterday just as the store was closing I was able to get a WII. yahoo!

As was reflected in some of my posts, I was kind of 'over' the holidays for like the last week. It seemed like my family was making getting together kind of difficult and I felt caught in the middle. I knew that I had gifts for everyone in my stash but I didn't sit down to wrap gifts until Tuesday night. Most of the nephew's gifts went into cereal boxes which almost didn't get wrapped.

I made the scrapbook pages for the boys Tuesday night too. I was alittle stressed out with that but I got them mostly done. yahoo #2

Christmas Eve I headed out at 6AM to pickup some gift cards for the boys and a few other necessities. I came home to make sure all their gifts were wrapped. Then headed out to Moms.

It turned into a great day. One of my gifts to the boys were pennants that they had to make in their school colors with their mascot name. I wasn't sure if they would like it but they had a good time and said they wouldn't mind a similar gift next year. yahoo #3. We ended up opening gifts and finishing up with pie and ice cream.

Then I headed out to WM and picked up a wii! yahoo #4. Ran into some friends from the burg - can't believe how big their little boy is or how much he resembles his mom's brothers & kids. yahoo #5.

Today has been a nice and relaxing day. Boyd and I did the gift thing in the morning and have spent most of the afternoon watching Christmas movies on TV. Along with a couple of naps thrown in. yahoo #6.

All in all this is definitely in the top 5 Christmas's and I think one of the top 2 since we've been together.

Merry Christmas to all

From our house to yours!

Love,

Boyd & Karen



Our once a year photo op and look at my husband....sigh!


P.S.

Check out Buddies blog for his own personal Christmas wish.

Got Christmas Plans?

I don't. Who knew that talking to a Mom and a Brother to make plans could be so difficult? Over the weekend we had plans for 30+ people and it all worked out.

sigh!

All I know for sure is that DH is working and Buddie and I will be hanging out at home.

Family Christmas

One of my favorite things about Christmas time is seeing all of the aunts, uncles & cousins from my Mom's side of the family. My mom is one of 9 children and all but 3 of the sisters still live within 30 mins of the place they were raised. So I grew up with all of them, as one of the 4 little girls.

We use to gather at the farm (Grandma & Grandpa's house) at Christmas. Of course as we grew older the kitchen & living room weren't big enough to hold everyone. So each year a different sibling would be the host/hostess. As the cousins started getting married and having their own children we started renting a large banquet room and the siblings would take turns playing host.

I cannot imagine growing up away from these people. I hope that someday we have children who can grow up knowing their great aunts, uncles, second and third cousins. I keep wondering what they would do if I showed up with Buddie. Lol....it wouldn't fly.

Today, I was talking with one of my cousins who is a senior in college. She was there with her boyfriend and talking about their plans for the future. As we looked out over the tables she said I can't believe how fast everyone is growing up. I looked at her and said yup and we're saying the same thing about you.

The best part about the day besides seeing everyone was that Boyd was able to attend and one of my favorite cousins and her family were there. He and Boyd are able to talk sports which is nice - since there are only 8 sports fans out of the 33 people there.

The bad part about the day was having to say good-bye. The lunch goes by to quickly and with the bad weather we were only together for an hour and a half. Every year it seems like we say hello, sit down and talk to the people you sit by and then everyone is ready to leave.

Even though we live close we rarely get together out side of Christmas. We always talk about having a game night, pool time, or craft night and it never happens. I guess I'll have to take charge and plan something.

Got Snow?

We do last heard 8.3 inches at 5 AM and it's still snowing.

Boyd went out to see what the roads were like since he was supposed to work today. He said the snow was so deep on the river road that that it was hitting the front bumper of MY truck (snicker...I paid for it all and had it before I met him) and flying up over the hood. Of course an hour later he tells me he was doing everything he could to keep it out of the river - I so did not need to hear that. Needless to say he called in and said he wouldn't make it to work this morning.

I let Buddie out and I tried to warn him that there's a lot of snow and he has to be careful. (PSA I believe that dogs can and do understand us. So I talk to him like a real person.) I opened the front door and the snow was up to his belly, he tried to navigate the steps only to make a leap. Luckily he made it to the bottom without issue. He was so confused at first, he was hopping like a frog to get around. I think this is the most snow he's seen at one time. I laughed and wished our camcorder was charged. Maybe later. I think Boyd's going to have to blow out a potty area on grass when he does the driveway.

Tomorrow we're supposed to be going to the family Christmas with all my aunts/uncles, cousins/spouses, and children. It's usually a good time with a lot of great food, laughter and catching up. With another storm scheduled to hit I'm not holding my breath.

A little birdie told me that a local store has one day printing for photo cards. I might just get some cards out after all. =)


PSA = Public Service Announcement.

Stuck in a rut

Today I feel like I'm stuck in a rut in the road. Who knew that Christmas was 7 days away, that the local B & N didn't have the book I wanted for my mom even though the website said they did. I have nothing, well not much for my mom and was looking forward to getting the book for her. Guess wrapping up a picture of it will have to do.

On top of that it's one of those days when I wish I wasn't a girl. Too many hormones going on, which means too many emotions and a lack of concentration and...well you get the picture.

My house is in disarray and I don't care, well I do but I'm trying hard not to. The hallway still has Halloween papers in the frames and a Christmas count down that's stuck on day 13. Decorations sitting out in the area where I want them but not arranged. Every year I think it will be different and yet here I am again.

Another year where I'm left wondering why I 'do' all of this. My family wants to go to my brothers, my sorority sisters aren't coming since we have 2 meetings in Jan already, I thought about having friends over after the first and well with the weather I'm thinking why bother - plus then I'd have to finish decorating. ;{

Not sure if I'll be getting Christmas cards sent out this year. I have an awesome pic of Buddie but I'm out of time for ordering photo cards and getting them sent out. Where has the time gone? Seems like I still have 13 days left. lol! I feel guilty about not sending them to those who've sent one to us. And this is the first year I can remember that I've even had the thought.


As they say, tomorrow is another day...

Dec 17

Boyd had cataract surgery yesterday & today is the follow-up appointment. Please pray that everything is going as expected & the roads don't get too bad before we get home.

Storm today, nice tomorrow and major storms coming Thurs-Sat with another round scheduled to start on Sun. I *love* winter in iowa. sigh!

December 12

Finally Friday! I was so happy to be at the end of what seemed like a very long week. I was supposed to go out with my sorority friends for drinks after work. After getting out late and driving home behind very slow people I decided to go for a ride with Boyd and hang out at home.

Here are the bad Buddie under the tree pictures....


A sign that he's had too much


Take two that night after work


This is a bad picture of his perturbed look



A Grinch reindeer



Sorry about all of the pictures, I was on a role.

December 11

Images from Christmas on Main. The local holiday event - a few years ago it was in the top 10 of an A&E Christmas special. Most of the stores downtown open their front windows to different groups/business to setup a Christmas postcard. They have hot spots in certain businesses and Nestle offers free hot cocoa and a place to warm up. At 20 degrees it *wasn't* to bad - last year it was an ice storm.

Little boy opening his John Deere tractor under the tree.


Live nativity on the side walk with mini donkeys and a small black lamb.


Fire box where they were roasting marshmallows for s'mores. Yum!


The local bakery making a gingerbread house.


My flamingo friend was directing the hand bell ladies - they were watching her and laughing.




I had a great time and lots of laughter with my flamingo friend. I saw several other friends and ran into one of Buddies favorite people - a vet tech at Dr. Andy's office. She was there with her dog Brittany handing out doggie treats.

They had the cutest golden/yellow lab puppies inside the theatre with red ribbons tied around their necks. There were 9 of them and most were sleeping, some on the floor and some in children's laps. I so wanted to bring one home - but I promised Boyd I'd wait until spring. We don't want to potty train in the winter. sigh!

I found out tonight that after leaving main street my flamingo friend fell and broke her hip while walking out to get her mail. She's at a local hospital and my heart breaks for her. She was planning on spending the weekend with her daughters and grandchildren getting a tree & decorating and then making Christmas cookies.

December 9

Yucky, yucky weather. All schools in my area were closed. I ended up calling in and requesting to work from home after my not so DH told me I *had* to. That almost made me want to go to work, but hey I'm not that crazy. *wink*

I get that Boyd is concerned about me and having to drive 25 miles in 100% snow covered roads with the occasional ice thrown in. I just wish he would ask me instead of mandating what I need to do. I have to big of an independent streak to have things mandated to me.

mini rant over

I spent the day working in my office and put up a small tree over the lunch hour. I miss having my Disney stuff up here but it didn't pay to put it all in here when I'm not in here much.

Boyd spent the day trying to install a new garage door opener - yes we are still parking the truck outside after 3 weeks. It's become a game to figure out who has the opener and who needs it. My favorite is when it's Boyd's first day back to work and he tries to leave with it. *wink*

Unfortunately the door isn't operation yet. Hearing the door crash down a couple of times freaked me out but I didn't hear any yelling so I figured they were both OK.

Buddie on the other hand was total freaked out. When the work first started he was launching himself at the door to the garage trying to get to them. So I had the brilliant idea to gate him up here with me. Unfortunately he was stuck in the room over the garage and all of the noise. He was almost as freaked as he gets during storms. I couldn't not take all of the crying, it was like fingers on the chalk board.

He eventually calmed down and was sleeping by my feet at the end of the day. I so love that and miss it on my regular days!

Tonight is my sorority Christmas party and soup supper. Fun times!

December 8

Well it was a Monday. Weather started to get bad before it was time for me to leave work. Left early and got home safely. Made up an hour and a half of work. Tried to prepare myself for the crappy weather coming and revving up to drive to work tomorrow.

December 7

A fun & relaxing day at home of course I'm so tired I don't even remember what I've done today. sigh!

It's an NFL Sunday so I enjoyed watching the fox pregame show. We love the comraderie between those guys and I love the humor from Michael Strahan.

We're going Bowl -ing. Well the Iowa Hawkeyes are - they are playing in the Outback bowl on New Years Day against South Carolina. Hurray Boyd has the day off and we might invite some friends over.


Another day of catching up on cleaning, laundry, working on the Christmas decorations. I did accomplish 5 of the 9 things on my to do list. Plus I got in a really good nap.

I love Sundays!


I know I still haven't posted pics....I'm always good at taking them & not so good at uploading and posting them.

December 6

Happy 99th Birthday Oma! I miss you and cannot believe that this spring will mark four years since you left us. It seems like only yesterday that I saw you smile. I put out your wreath this year and it reminded me of the day I gave it to you and how your face lit up... I love you!


Today was a busy & full day. Boyd had to work so Buddie and I were up before the crack of dawn, just like a normal work day. Only today I got to cuddle in bed and finish a book. =)

I made a plan last night and this morning decided to do something different. I cleaned up & semi organized my old work office. Since I've been at the cabinet shop I haven't really used it. I needed to make up some hours and knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate infront of the TV and the dining room table just isn't comfortable. So I now have a workable office again. Woo Hoo! Plus I had a little extra incentive. I found out it maybe possible for me to work from home on bad weather days. That made me very happy and took a load off Boyd's mind.

Over breakfast I sat down and watched part of Home Alone 3 - cheesy I know but it's light hearted and that's what I needed. Then I made my favorite winter snack - Chex Mix. Yum! I also worked on a Christmas craft - a banner/swag that says Merry Christmas - it's still a work in progress so I'll post pics when it's done.

Supper was grilled cheese and tomato soup eaten while watching the Iowa vs. Iowa State dual wrestling meet. I still don't get all the rules and Boyd laughed at my cheering . Iowa kicked butt! I guess that's why they are number one in the nation, of course ISU is number two and it made for an exciting night.

I'll try to post pics of Buddie and the wreath tomorrow. I really just need to go hang out for a little bit. Plus I'm hearing something on the TV downstairs that's making me relive my teenage/college years - St. Elmo's Fire, Chicago songs....

December 5

Today was such a great day! And ended with an evening full of laughter.

It started out in my favorite way, cuddled up in bed with my boys with the christmas lights and christmas music on - waking up slowly. It's the best!

Before I left for work I decided that I needed to have a picture of Buddie infront of the tree. It did not go well and I was almost late for work. :(

Work was interesting - had a series of conversations with a coworker it is the most we've ever talked - I like being comfortable enough with coworkers that we can chat. I also earned the nick name Wendy - due to my new red hair and the pigtails I wore today. One of the girls in the office called my hair 'interesting', I think I'm going to be wearing pig tails a lot because I know it will irritate her and make the 'boys' smile.

So on to the evening of laughter, I decided to attempt the Buddie by the tree pictures again. Only this time I let him on the couch next to the tree. My boy gets so embarassed! The look on his face was priceless and the pictures don't do it justice. I'll try to post the pics later this weekend - the batteries went dead in the middle of the photo shoot. I really need to get some rechargeable batteries.

That was the beginning of my laughter - Buddie doesn't like being laughed at so that makes me laugh harder and even more. He 'attacks' me when I laugh at him by jumping on me and trying to get in my face. It is too funny.

As Boyd was getting ready for bed he was complaining that he was cold so I pulled out his flannel pants and color coordinated shirt. Seeing my husband in plaid flannel pants was too much. I broke down laughing, of course Buddie thought I was laughing at him. He jumped up and grabbed me with his front legs, and started hoping - it was a funky little dance we were doing. Of course my laughter escilated when Boyd put on the shirt and realized that it was a tank top and commented that he was going to get tangled up in it while he slept. At that point I was ready to roll on the floor with laughter - only Buddie was on the attack. I ended up falling on the bed laughing, Buddie jumping on me and Boyd giving me the cold shoulder. I laughed so hard I saw stars and my tummy started cramping up. It was that laughter where you try to stop and the littlest thing sets you off laughing again.

This has been one of my most favorite days!

December 4

I made it back to work today. yahoo! I guess the flu shot did pay off. Most of the guys were out 3-4 days and mine was only 1.5. =)

It turned cold here and I'm not ready for it. I wish the car had auto start. I've been so spoiled with working at home and before that having the truck with auto start.

Buddie was so excited to see me when I got home, running and jumping all over. Plus he met me at the door. He's been stingy lately and staying in bed until I finally call him.

Tonight is my TV night, abc all the way. I start out with Ugly Betty since it makes me laugh and then watch Grey's Anatomy and follow it up with Life on Mars for Boyd.

Supper is baked chicken & salsa served over rice. yummm-o!

December 3

Stayed home from work since I just feel yucky. Everything is making me cranky and the weather isn't the best so Boyd doesn't even want to escape for a drive.

I even got a flu shot this year.... sigh!

December 2

Life is always an adventure. Seems like whenever we have plans a wrench comes in. ;)


Here's hoping the sickies go away soon and that Boyd doesn't get sick.

Happy December

I am so excited that December is here. I'm not sure why but I'm more excited about this holiday season than I've been in a long time. I told Boyd I wanted to get the Christmas stuff out at the beginning of October and was able to hold off until Nov 1. :)

I still have some cleaning to do and some areas that I'm not sure how to decorate but for me that's the fun of the season. Pulling out my decorations and figuring out how I want to use them this year.

Today has been a bit stressful. This was the worst drive to work, people going slow, people going fast and snow blowing across the road. I left plenty early and drove slowly and got there safely. Tonight the drive was fine, our driveway is another story. sigh!

Buddie and I headed out for a drive after work, man the river road is still snowy and icy, but it's Bud's favorite drive and we saw a lot of birdies. We ended up at the library, I wanted to get a few more Christmas related books - mostly Debbie Macomber - to fill the cool evenings I want to spend curled up at home.

So much I should be doing and here I am online again watching Shrek the Halls and avoiding bill paying & cleaning.

In laws & out laws

We headed to CR today to have a Thanksgiving lunch with Boyds sister & brother. We love to visit their house. It's like going on a mini vacation!

Black Friday

On Friday morning as Boyd was getting ready for work at 5 AM I decided that I wanted to go shopping. I waited until 6 to call my mom. She was up and ready to go. =)

We headed to the CF Younkers - I have a thing for Fiestaware and their door buster sale was too good to pass up. We had to park in one of the furthest spots but there wasn't really a line anywhere. People were still friendly and smiling. Plus they had 'bag' boys to help hold product and carry it out to your car. I love that!

Then Mom and I headed out to breakfast - we need to do that more often! And of course ended up at Hobby Lobby. I shocked myself by only getting glue dots and some fall flowers that were 90% off. Love those sales!

27th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for family. The in-laws, the out-laws, the family that God gave me and the family that I've created for myself. I love you all and I hope that you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving Day!

26th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for the law enforcement officers who patrol our highways and roadways. Along with me making it home safely.

I travel part of the Avenue of the Saints (highway that connects St. Louis, Missouri and St. Paul, Minnesota) everyday on my way to work and on my way home. There is an alternate route but the Ave is the quickest.

Tonight on my way home there was so much traffic, generally there are pockets of cars but mostly the two lanes going in my direction are clear. Tonight there were very few open pockets and most of the two lanes were full. With most of the license plates from out of state it was a little stressful for me. They tend to be the worst drivers going 10-15 mph over the speed limits.

I have driven in San Fransisco when there was a transit strike and while it made me uncomfortable it was OK. I hope that someday I can get back to that level of confidence. While I loved working from home, I regret that I basically stopped driving. When we traveled Boyd would drive and if I had errands I tended to wait until he could take me. Don't get me wrong I still drove but it was once a week or every couple of weeks compared to everyday.

I wish everyone safe travels and good times tomorrow!

Sunrise, Sunset

Just for Desiree ;)

Sunrise

Boyd took me to work today so I could safely take pictures.

This pictures don't do the sunrise justice. The blue was much bolder, plus it wasn't blurry IRL. ;) It would help if the car wasn't moving.





Sunset

We saw this on the way home. Boyd was getting ready to turn down the river road and I barely got him to go straight to city hall.

This is my favorite.


This is Boyds favorite down by the river bend close to our house.


I really like this one too.

24th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for...the little things that make me smile.

Today it's been
* having Boyd drive me to work just because and having Buddie come along for the ride.
* listening to Christmas Carols - with Boyd and at work
* having Boyd slip a chocolate chip cookie in my bag.
* seeing the sea shell on my work desk that I found on the beach the day of Dad's funeral. It reminds me that he's always with me.
* getting an email from a friend
* seeing my favorite ornaments on 3 of my trees
* having Boyd call me as he's coming home from getting coffee and telling me I need to come out so we can go for a ride to see the Christmas lights down town.
* talking to my mom
* having Buddie give me kisses when they picked me up from work. He rides strapped in the back seat, standing up with his head between us. Every time I leaned into him he would give me kisses. I love my Bubba!
* reading my favorite blogs and being inspired
* seeing my friends online.
* looking at my wedding ring & thinking of Boyd or our wedding day or our tree.
* thinking about Thanksgiving and seeing my family
* thinking of my Christmas List
* hearing Boyd tell me he loves me.
* feeling the softness of Buddies ears under my fingers.
* the taste of the fries we backed in the toaster oven for supper.
* the smell of the Christmas mix I have cooking on the stove - cinnamon, chives, bay leaf.

23rd Day of Thanksgiving

Today I'm thankful for .... stealing Martha's idea ...... a short work week. I am so in need of a vacation, time spent with family and time to hang out in my craft area to work on one of many projects. Plus getting all the decorating done.

22nd day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for religion and that we have the freedom to believe and practice what we want.

I am also thankful that my mom taught me how to sew. I've been sewing off and on since I was 7 or 8. Lately I've only been making curtains but in the past I've made 3 flower girl dresses.

Today I made a simple curtain for the kitchen window.

Our Tree

This is 'Our Tree' or the story of us tree.

It is decorated with the 9 'our first Christmas' ornaments that we received/I bought. My dad died just after Christmas and I guess I was a little confused about what I had and what I needed. The glass ball with the painting is my favorite. It has our names and our wedding date.

I also add our yearly Hallmark ornaments, we've been getting the one with two animals. I didn't notice one in the book this year so I'm not sure what we'll do. I love that Hallmark makes it easy, pick a theme and buy the ornament. No going everywhere to find something that will fit.

When we adopted Buddie I found a picture frame ornament with a blue bootie that said First Christmas. It was too cute to pass up so that's on the tree. Last year we did the Pluto frame from Hallmark. This year I got a simple silver frame with 2008.

My mom taught me that every tree needs a bird. It's something she was taught by her German grandma. The bird on this tree is very special to me (it's just above the big ball ornament). Mom gave it to me when I put up my first tree at college and my great grandma had given it to her. I've also added a pickle ornament which has become a tradition in our family. And a gold key, since we don't have a fire place Santa needs a magic key to get inside.

This is also my messy tree with lots of beads, ribbons and garlands. I am still looking for the perfect tree topper, right now it's just a big ribbon.

22nd Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for Boyd for making my heart warm. As he was getting ready for work at 5 AM he looked at me and said I love it when you decorate for Christmas. It makes our house feel homey and reminds me of being a kid.

LOL! I love to hear that! Ever since we've moved here and I've gotten settled I've decorate the whole house for the holidays. At first I was worried it was too much, then he started telling me he likes it. It doesn't matter that we've been here....wow 4 years coming up in a few weeks. Every year he tells me this - and he repeats it through out the season and I never get tired of hearing it.

This year I have the Western tree up and decorated. The traditional tree with all my different ornaments is up and has lights but no ornaments yet. I also have 'Our' tree setup in our bedroom with all of our first Christmas ornaments and our yearly ornaments. I've also started adding Buddies yearly photo ornament. :)

I need to figure out where my Disney tree will go since I'm not working out of my home office anymore. That's on my list for later today.

Things I've done

I found this on Lee's blog . If you want to play along, just copy the list and highlight all the things you've done.

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
- Grandma lived in the house where Mom was born until she went to the nursing home.
- Visited the house where my Grandpa was born

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt - well I've done a couple of squares.

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job -does being layed off count?

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone - cracked my thumb where it connects to the wrist in 6th grade.

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person - does flying over it on the way to CA or home count?

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

21st Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for the cabinet makers IT/IS (Information Technology/Information Software) Thanksgiving dinner.

At work we collect all of our pop cans and use the $$ to buy a full Thanksgiving dinner. Complete with turkey, ham, stuffing, potato's, gravy, corn, pasta salad, pecan and pumpkin pie with whipped topping.

I thought it would be a long afternoon after the big lunch but it went surprisingly fast. I was struggling for a little bit and then set a goal to finish the report I was coding before the end of the day. I ended up finishing the report and have a few tweak to get everything lined up correctly.

And TGIF! No big plans for the weekend, I'll probably end up doing more decorating and cleaning. I need to decide if I'm decking the kitchen out in the snowman collection like I did a few years ago or keeping it simple again.

20th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for the beautiful sunrise I saw as I was driving to work. Over the last 120 days I've come to enjoy the quiet drive in the morning and being able to see the sunrise. Now anyone who knows me knows that this is so not typical of me. When I worked from home I think I got up 5 mins before I started work.

Over the last few weeks I've been noticing and enjoying the colors in the sunrise. The bright orange or pink strokes across the sky, it starts so small and turns out so big and magnificent. Each day is so incredibly different.

The sad part is at this time of year, I see the sunrise going to work and the sunset on the drive home. Makes for a short day!

19th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I'm grateful for music.

The last two weeks have been filled with Christmas music. I listen to it on the way to work and I've ripped my favorite albums to my PC at work so I can listen to it there too.

It seems like music has always been part of my life. Mom loved to listen to her 78 records - and the Sunday morning/afternoon music hour when they played songs from the 1950-70s. Mom always did the washing and Tom and I shared the drying. We had to finish the Sunday dinner dishes before we could go out to play or sit down and watch the Minnesota Vikings game.

Back to the music, I tried out for band at the end of fourth grade. I sat down with Miss. Blake and said I wanted to play the flute. She said, "But you have nice fat fingers. They are the best for playing the clarinet." And that's where my career began. I stayed with it through college and played in a couple of summer bands. Over time it was one of the things I let go. Some days I miss it - I tried out for the summer band 4 years ago and realized I've forgotten 3/4 of what I ever knew. Maybe someday I'll make it back to playing.

18th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for books and living in a country where for the most part books aren't banned.

I enjoy reading and I love going to my local library. Along with the books they have some good eye candy behind the desk. ;)

I tend to read a lot of romance and every once in awhile I try to branch out. Sometimes it works well and others not so good. My biggest problem is getting so interested in a book that I forget about life outside the book. Buddie has had to growl and bark many times to draw my attention away so that he can eat, go outside or play. I am doing better about not staying up all night reading. Last week I was up until midnight and finally put the book down.

Some of my favorite authors are (in no particular order):
- Janet Evanovich
- Sandra Brown
- Jennifer Cruise
- Susan Elizabeth Phillips
- Susan Mallory - new find
- Debbie Macomber
- the food based mysteries
- Janet Dailey
- Rita Mae Brown
- Jennifer (?) Anderson
- Rachel Gibson

17th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for easy recipes. I made chicken cordon bleu from a recipe on the Kraft Foods website I varied it by pounding out the chicken and making a roll. Took about an hour to prep, pound and cook. :D

Boyd gave it a 5 on our 5 point scale. double thumbs up!

16th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for .....

hmmm it's been a quiet day at home. I got to sleep in...love the electric mattress pad cover that keeps the bed toasty warm. Buddie spent some time cuddling with me that's always nice.

Watched the pregame and put up my Western Christmas tree. Organized some of the decoration boxes in the car side of the garage since that door isn't opening anytime soon. :(

Had to sit through watching the Vikings loose and put up the tree in our bedroom. Now there's a three way tie for first place in the NFC Central division. Of course it's the Packer, Vikings and Bears. There goes the stress level in our house for the next few weeks.

Got a call from my mom that we're now doing Thanksgiving at my brothers with his in-laws. Boyd works so it will be nice to get out for awhile.

Ending the day relaxing with the laptop, watching TV and enjoying the lights on the tree.

15th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for my home.

When we decided to start looking into moving here I kept coming across this house. Every time I would read the description and think that's not what we're looking for. Around Mother's Day we were in town and drove past the 'not right for us' house and there was an open house. The minute we opened the door I *knew* this was the house for us. I saw past the dated wallpaper, old neutral paint and knew I could make this into my home.

Only thing was it was really out of our price range. Mom really wanted us to move here and every few weeks she would call and say the house dropped to xyz price. I called a cousin and set up a viewing to make sure we weren't buying a lemon - only there was a crisis at work and I couldn't go. Boyd drove up and went to the viewing. They said it was a great house.

In October I walked into our trailer and listened to a message on the answering machine that a woman wanted to interview Boyd for a job at a non local hospital. I turned and looked at him and asked what this was about. Without me knowing he had applied for a job in the area we wanted to move. I was sooooo incredibly happy.

Then Mom called to say the house price had dropped again. It was finally in our price range. I called the realtor and talked about making an offer. I'd only been in the house once and decided I should probably look at it again. Didn't matter that I already had paint colors picked out for all of the main rooms.

So one Friday afternoon we drove up to see the house and after 3 hours in the house we ended up making an offer. I was so excited. We scrambled to get all of the paper work done, talked to my boss to switch to a telecommuter.

Needless to say we got everything done and purchased our first home in Nov 2004. We spent weeks pulling wallpaper and painting. My mom and aunt weren't too sure of the crazy colors I was using but they helped me out anyway. My brother tells me all the time that my living room is Harvest Gold. The tag says Arizona Tan and that's the story I'm sticking to. My kitchen is Liberty Blue - medium on the color scale but kind of bold - perfect for my Americana theme and my snowman collection in the winter. :D

We can't believe it's already been 4 years! So much done and so much left to do. From the beginning of the first project we knew in our heart that this was home.

14th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful that my mom has a key to our house and lives close by.

I got home from work and put the car in the garage. Decided to head out and see about meeting friends for drinks. Decided not to stop for drinks since the Goat's parking lot was full. Came home and attempted to open the door...nothing. Tried the keypad and it just flashed red at me.

So I called mom to see about getting her key and was so happy to remember the screen door was unlocked. Otherwise I would have been totally locked out of the house and wouldn't had to wait for Boyd to get home with the other garage remote and hope that that door still opened.

Technology is so......frustrating.

13th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for Buddie!

He has been an amazing addition to our family. I am a calmer & more relaxed person, especially after spending some quality time with him.

He makes me laugh everyday - sometimes it's from the simplest thing.

We have a language all our own and he understands me and knows what I'm talking about. Thankfully he hasn't figured out how to spell yet.

When I'm frustrated with him he looks at me with those sad brown eyes and my frustration quickly leaves.

Momma loves you Bubba and you will always be her baby!

12th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for Technology.


Do I need to say anything else?


OK, I'm thankful for computers, since that's my career. The Internet, google, applets that run on my computer telling me the current temperature and in one click will tell me the forecast for the next 7 days, plus show me a map of the area showing rain/snow showers.

Then there's my car that gets 25 mpg on a regular basis and 27 mpg if I'm careful. The best though is the exterior temperature gage that gives me comfort in knowing how careful I need to drive - 36/37 degrees means there's not much if any ice on the early November roads.

11th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for all of the veterans and all of the men and women who are currently serving in the armed forces.

10th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am grateful for my job. I am working at a company where I can joke around with coworkers, they are open minded and ask for feedback/recommendations and I feel like I'm contributing.

I love to come home and see my boys. They are both very excited to see me each evening. Buddie will follow me around and wait for attention. When I go to pet him he will sit up and wrap his front paws around my arms and stretch so that I can scratch his neck.

9th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful that the Vikings and the Packers are playing on a day that Boyd works. Since I love the Vikings and he loves the Packers it's often a tense day at home.

I am thankful I get to spend the day in the recliner with a comfy blanket, a dog in my lap and playing on the laptop while watching football. It's all the ingredients of a great day minus having Boyd home.

8th day of Thanksgiving

Today I am grateful for......there is so much to choose from

I spent the day shopping with my Flamingo friend. We went to the Barn Happy Christmas open house, listening to Christmas music all the way. We were both ready to go home and decorate for Christmas.

Then we went to do some serious shopping, Hobby Lobby & TJ Max along with a stop for a mid afternoon meal at Olive Garden. We didn't make it home until 6.

Boyd was still working, and I fell asleep on the couch. Barely waking up when he got home, ended up sleeping on the couch till 10 with Buddie curled up in my lap.

I love days like this!

I have to say I am grateful for lazy, relaxing, fun filled, laughter making days!

Edited to clarify....my Flamingo friend is a friend who loves all things Flamingo. She is not involved with the Flamingo scrapbooking message board. Apologies, I forgot there maybe some confusion. LOL!

7th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful that it's Friday and I'll be having a fairly quiet weekend at home....it's been a stressful week at home and at work.

Boyd has been having some eye problems and we found out this week that he has a cataract on his left eye and will need to have it removed. As a result they will surgically insert a lens in his eye which will give him 20/20 vision. Woo hoo!

6th day of Thanksgiving

Today I am grateful for my friends both in real life and the friendships I've built online - both with the women I've meet and those I only 'know' through pictures and comments on message boards.

5th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful that my husband fixes me dinner at least once a week. Of course it usually involves going out and picking something up from a restaurant. At least it's one day I don't need to cook. :D

4th Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am grateful for the right to vote.

My friend Martha summed up my thoughts perfectly...I voted

3rd Day of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for the nice warm weather. Over 70 degrees in Iowa in November is pretty rare. I just wish that I had some vacation time so that I could sit in the sun and enjoy a relaxing afternoon.

2nd day of Thanksgiving

Today I am grateful for a quiet Sunday at home with my husband and my dog. As we were unwinding after dinner I told him that it felt like 3 different days rolled into one. I love days like this!

27 days of Gratitude - 1st Day of Thanksgiving

I found this on Jeanette Lynton's blog (the founder of Close to My Heart)

"The words gratitude and grateful are some of my favorite words in the whole world. I love them so much I use them many times throughout my day! The reason I love them is because they describe who I am. I am grateful! And November is the perfect month for counting my blessings! So this month, I’d like to share with you “27 Days of Gratitude.” To count down the days to one of my favorite holidays—Thanksgiving!—I’m going to blog about something that I’m thankful for every day."

And I decided to participate, plus they say if you do something for 27 days it becomes a habit.

Today I am grateful for my mom. That she is still relatively healthy, living in her own home and driving.

Fall is here

and I'm so ready for Christmas. I want to get all of my decorations out and do the house up.

Then reality hit and Boyd said no, it's not even Halloween yet. Today we spent time in the yard getting things ready for winter. While I love fall I'm not quite ready for winter yet.

As for Christmas decorations, I'm plotting and planning what will go where. I want to invite my sorority sisters over for drinks or tea or something.

Happy fall!

Danny

Today I found out that a friend is losing her 5 yr old little boy Danny. My heart breaks for her, her husband, their daughter Madison and their extended families and friends.

A tumor was found yesterday on his brain stem, after emergency surgery he has not woken up. This is what she sent to a friend. "They have not declared him brain dead, but they are keeping him alive until her mom gets there. So she can spend some time with Danny.

He is gone."

Danny loved the movie Cars and Lightening McQueen. He seemed like the sweetest little boy with the typical little boy streak.

Life is so short and precious.

Halloween is here

Today I brought out the Fall and Halloween decorations and did the house up. Well the inside anyway. The outside will need to wait for another day. I had fun watching football, decorating and creating.

In my spare time I created the Halloween count down displayed above. I thought it would be something fun for us to do. Plus it's the count down for Boyd's birthday. I was going to create a birthday count down but since Boyd's birthday is 3 days before Halloween I went with Halloween instead. The birthday one can wait until well May since the next birthday is mine. ;)

Now we're at the end of the weekend, I had a great time and maybe tomorrow morning I'll be ready to go back to work. Ha!

7 Random Things About Me

As challenged on Elsie's blog

1. am so ready for fall, the changing of the leaves, and the crisp morning air.
2. would rather have a mixed flower arrangement than roses.
3. feel out of sorts if I don't take time to read.
4. obsessed with my 2 Big & Rich Cd's.
5. still take pictures with my film camera
6. have 8-12 rolls of film that need to be developed.
7. don't like graham crackers unless they are in smores

Virtual retreat results

I attended a virtual retreat this weekend with a group of friend who weren't able to attend the real retreat. A virtual retreat means that you work at home like you were really at the retreat and try not to let things at home distract you.

I had a lot of fun and accomplished more than I have in months. Four altered photo frames, a wall hanging and 8 2pg layouts along with 3 filled slide in pages. I finished 2007 up to Christmas!

I'm not sure what pics to use in the photo frames but I'll figure something out. I figure they'll be fun to have on my desk at work.

My favorite thing from the weekend is my wall hanging. I started with four chipboard panels and picked out some of my favorite fall and Christmas photos for alternating sides. Any way here are the pictures and details.

On the fall side I used some discontinued CTMH papers and other accents I've accumulated.


On the Christmas side I used some paper from my stash and other accents I've accumulated.


For the hanger I used double sided red/gold ribbon. I used a glue stick on the papers since it dries faster than Mod Podge. On the photos/accents I used tape runner.

I loved this project and I love knowing that I can switch things out or add things if I ever want to. You know how it is, you think it's perfect and they your in a store and find "The PERFECT thing" for that project.


Thanks Martha for hosting our retreat and thanks to everyone for all of the goodie bag items. I'll enjoy them all in my dreams. ;)

Pirates!

In honor of talk like a pirate day

My pirate name is:

Red Mary Flint

Passion is a big part of your life, which makes sense for a pirate. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Anniversary

Today is our 7th wedding anniversary. The other night I went through my scrapbook of favorite wedding events. It took me back to the day and all of the emotions that I went through.

I was so happy, excited, scared, nervous, thankful....

I remember being so nervous when the preacher came to say it was time. My tummy was rolling and my mom and dad were by my side. I told my dad "I don't think I can do this" and he told me to grab hold of his arm. I did and later found out that I gave him a bruise. I don't remember the first 10 mins of our wedding. Then my dad started singing and I knew that I had to calm down and listen because this was a day that I didn't want to forget.

Everyone was shocked when my nephews came in with the John Deere peddle tractor and wagon full of flowers & the mini penguin that had many adventures with me. I don't think I'll ever forget my youngest nephew aka Little Sista grabbing the penguin out of the trailer and running across the front of the church saying "Mom, I found a penguin". Then Boyd had to move the tractor out of the way.

Oh so many memories. I vividly remember sitting at the reception and sitting back and telling myself that I needed to remember this moment. Being my husbands side and surrounded by our family and friends. There was so much laughter at the reception.

Over the years I've found out that my bridesmaids hated their shoes & very few wore their dress again, I chose a simple dress from a regular store just for that purpose. Mom also told me that she did not like my dress but she didn't say anything at the time because I liked it so much. She said I was half naked in my strapless floor length gown. My in-laws were all surprised when my divorced parents got along and danced several times. We did not have all of Boyd's nephews as ushers - just realized that one last year....I'm so sorry Cilantro. All the ushers and groomsmen were out in the parking lot drinking before the wedding.

I'm sure there are more stories but it's 2 mins till kick off and well in our house this is the game of the year.

My Minnesota Vikings are playing his Green Bay Packers.

Makes for an interesting marriage and a very interesting anniversary - first time in 8 years together this has happened.

End of Summer

I cannot believe how fast the summer has gone. They were talking about it on the news tonight. It started with the EF5 tornado hitting the local area around Memorial Day, then it was the flooding by that time it was the fourth of July. Then I started a new job, the Olympics and now well it's that last weekend of summer.

There were so many things I wanted to accomplish in the yard this year and nothing was accomplished except growing a great garden of weeds. Boyd took on the task of trimming them down today. We really need to make a decision about what to do next year.

We purchased a new patio/fire pit set this spring and we've hardly even used it. I can't wait for the cool fall nights around the fire pit. Hopefully the bugs won't be too bad, ah the joy of living by the river.

All in all I must say it was a good summer - minus the tornado and floods of course. The temperatures were fairly mild and we even had some August days where we turned the AC off. I've gotten use to the 25 mile trip to work each day and I kind of enjoy watching the sun come up. The trip home is a little chaotic with all of traffic - makes me wish I could get off at 3.

Our plans for the weekend are fairly simple, watching the Iowa game, finishing up the yard work Boyd started and hanging out here at home and with some family & friends.

We hope that everyone has a happy, fun & safe weekend!

Olympic Fever

For the last two weeks I've had Olympic fever. I love watching all of the different sports and trying to find some of my favorites. Who knew that wrestling was on at 4 am (more on that later)?

Every evening for the last two weeks I've stayed up way past my bedtime. Waiting to see the swimming, gymnastics, beach volleyball, or track and field events. Then when we win I stay up to see the medals ceremony. Boyd thinks I'm crazy but hey it only happens once every four years and this year there was a lot I was interested in. To be able to see one swimmer set a record 8 gold medals in one Olympics, that's something I want to remember and to be able to tell our kids someday. Plus add in the local Iowa favorites and that means watching most all of the gymnastics and trying to find the wrestling.

Did you know that wrestling was on at 4 AM, well not really it was on anytime between like 4 am and 10 am. GR RR! So Boyd's alarm would go off at 4, I'd wake up enough to turn on the TV and try to find the right channel. It was 4 am and there were 4 channels to choose from. I tried to keep one ear open to hear if it was wrestling and would usually fall asleep again. I think in the 4 days of trying to catch things I caught one bout and then it wasn't even an American. Sigh! Last weekend we were lucky enough to catch a little of the women's wrestling and saw 2 Americans pin their opponents.

OK so I've watched a little too much TV in the last two weeks. Buddie has taken to standing next to me and growling, just to get my attention. Poor boy, he's getting use to us both working and now he's having to deal with no time for him. Well, Bud it's the last day. Momma doesn't know what she's going to do with herself now, so that means more time for you!

I'm mulling over creating a scrapbook of the highlights and low lights of the games. Before these games started, I was watching some of the commercials with past highlights and thinking to myself, I know I saw that but I'd forgotten. So I want to preserve some of my memories. Boyd thinks I'm a dork, another friend thinks I'm crazy but hey it works for me. Now to try and figure out a size and what album to use. I thought I had the size figured out until the Iowa gymnast won the gold and they did a full page cover story.

I need to go finish burning a dvd of the opening cerimonies so I have room for the closing cerimonies.

I tell ya it's a fever!

Olympic Commercial Challenge

I accepted the challenge from Martha. This is one of the commercials that always make me smile. Buddie chose the other one.

Ahhhh, it's almost Friday

One more day of work left and then we have an open weekend. So many options, I know what we should do and I know what I want to do and they are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

The weather is supposed to be so nice on the weekend. I'd love to spend a day in the lawn chair reading a book. Instead I should be weeding my flower garden, who knew that weeds could grow so fast while my pretty flowers are drying up. sigh...the to do list never ends.

Tomorrow should be an interesting day for us, we are going to attempt car pooling. As DH is working 8 hours instead of 12. Wish us luck, we're going to need it. I have to leave the house a half an hour early. I will get off 45 mins to an hour early which will be a nice way to start out the weekend.


Have a wonderful day!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Buddie!

Buddie thank you for being the greatest four legged friend I've ever had. For putting up with me treating you like a baby/person and making me laugh most every day. I thank God everyday for bringing you into my life. I can't imagine life without you.

I love you!

Momma

Road Trip!

Today we took Buddie on his longest road trip yet. I think it was 345 total miles.

We headed out mid morning and drove to Red Wing Minnesota. We went to several stores and then found the Red Wing Pottery store and found a great fiesta outlet. I told Boyd that I was overwhelmed and I didn't know what to get. They had so many shapes that I can't find around here and of course they had every color. I stayed within my price limit and I was happy.

After that we ambled down the road and passed through Lake City. Both Boyd and I loved the town and thought we could live there. It's next to the Mississippi and Lake Pepin.

We meandered down the road aways and went through a town that was just hit by strong winds or a tornado, still waiting for the final report. Then we ended up at my friend Amy's house. She graciously invited all of us in. Buddie was so well behaved even with 5 kids running around.

We had a great time visiting with Amy and our friend Martha from Colorado. I was sad when we finally had to leave.

Happily I found out Amy only lives an hour and a half from us so I see more visits in our future. =)

Buddie survived our trip and enjoyed some ball chasing at Amy's house. He was more than ready to be home and barely got in the door before he was curled up in his ball on his pillow. He hardly even wanted to get up and go to bed.

Recapping....

Wow it's been awhile since I updated, seems like it was just last week rather than almost a month.

We ended up having a second crest around 16 feet and by that point it wasn't bad. I think that we ended up with a 500 year flood, of course we're not getting much attention since a large town farther down the river also had major flooding around or over the 500 yr flood plan.

Cleanup is well underway here, several downtown businesses have relocated or repaired and reopened. It's nice to see that. Unfortunately it seems like there is more debris on main street every few days. Also we lost the new pet store.

So many homes are still being cleaned and are not inhabited. The middle school is being relocated to an office space and the elementary school has been cleaned and will reopen in the fall.


Thankfully all of our family downstream is OK and did not have flooding. Over the weekend we found out that 100 people from Boyd's old work have been flooded and several lost their homes. The office where I use to work had 7 feet of water and everyone is working at home or alternative locations. They think the office will reopen in a year or so. Other businesses in the downtown are scheduled to reopen within a month.

Floods of 08 - DOT pics

I came across this website showing some of the damage to the roads and bridges around the state.

Click here

Floods of 08 - June 13

Just a quick update today, after not having the internet I headed to the library to catch up. Plus City Hall was moved here and I wasn't sure where to pay my bill or what blue mail boxes I could use.

Luckily the City ladies were able to help me out. They gladly took my bill & check, just weren't sure when it would go to the bank.

They said that Denver is picking up the mail out of the main box by the post office. Sounds like our post office will be closed for another few days. We had figured that since we didn't get mail on Mon or Tues, I think it started again on Wed. It's so hard to keep track of the days.

We received word that our Cardinal fan cousins are OK, they ended up putting out 500-700 sandbags and the local hardware store came out to put in another sump pump. So only minor flooding for them. They are looking for some volunteers to help move things back to the basement and to get rid of the sandbags.

Thankfully everyone we know is OK.

Flood of 08 - June 12

The great cleanup has begun with rumors of more flooding and a crest on Sat. There are piles all over town with debris from homes and businesses.

My brother was in town helping his friend clean out his business so we stopped into help out. They had already washed everything down but it's weird working in a downtown business with out lights. We helped to pull up the old linoleum and then pull or hammer in the nails. I kept thinking an area was done and then we'd sweep and I'd get my pant leg caught on another nail or I'd step on one.

The side walks downtown were barely passable with everything from the different businesses. There were computers, cubicle walls, chairs bookcases, desks, carpeting, flooring, drywall, you name it and I think it was there.

Our internet was down today. It's amazing how much we rely on technology. No email, no checking the flood stage website, and of course no internet surfing.

I am so thankful that we didn't have water damage and that we were able to help out a little.

No pictures today they were all on film.

Floods of 08 - June 11

The river crested yesterday and slowly started to receded.

This morning the water was off of Horton Road and we were able to reach the west side of town. We headed off to Wal-Mart to stock up since rain was forecast for the rest of the week and we didn't know how long the road would be open.

Going out we drove up around by Carey school, the water tower and the VFW (where our wedding reception was). Then came down past Wartburg and saw the remains of the water around the wartburg tennis courts. We threaded past the High School and then between the golf course to the old 218 into town.

The national guard was posted at the stoplight by the cemetery, stopping people from going down the hill to Burger King. From pictures on the internet, that whole area was under water all the way up to the fair grounds.

I had fun going through WM and getting the supplies we needed. Boyd thought I took to long, I was just enjoying walking around. ;)


I think I have pictures somewhere, not sure where as the days have blended together and I don't remember which camera was used. Sigh!

Floods of 08 .... Tuesday (6/10)

Boyd burst into the bedroom at 5:58 AM and asked if I wanted to ride along to town. I figured I'd better go with in case he got lost. The boy just doesn't know the area very well but I love him anyway.

So we piled into the truck with Buddie and headed out. We went down the river road and it was lapping at the edge of the road. Pelican park is totally underwater and the houses across the street are now surrounded. The grassy area before 5th St was filling up too. I knew that wasn't a good sign of what was to come around town.



We headed out the alternate entrance and found that Horton Road was underwater. As I looked to the West the river was huge and the water was rushing over the road. I hope that the horses that use to live to the east of the road we moved to higher ground.

Here's the road - it looked like the bridge was still dry which is a good thing.


Water rushing over the road


The head start which is usually 2-3 blocks from the river.


Bremer Ave - they are moving the barricades from 2nd St to 3rd St.


We stopped by Mom's and got her out of bed. I just wanted to make sure her sump pump was working and the basement didn't have too many leaks. Things were good there so we headed home.

We ended up driving 12 miles to get to what is usually a 5 min 1.5 mile trip.

I love living in a river town!

Floods of 08 - Monday night

Once Boyd got home from work we headed out to the local Fareway store. I know Boyd had stopped for the essentials but they had a great sale and we needed some fresh meat.

So we headed out and were shocked to see the water getting close to the edge of Horton Road. We got to 5th Ave NW and it was blocked off, the water was over most of the park and edging past 4th Ave NW. We made the mistake of skirting up 2nd St NW. It was so full of people helping to sandbag and the gawkers. The water was halfway up the avenues and getting to the edge of St. Pauls church.

We made it to Fareway and were shocked to find the store still open and very few sandbags out. It also wasn't too busy so I made a quick trip through the store.

From there we headed over to the East side, the river looked to be 2 feet from the top of the dam. 1st St NE was closed and City Hall looked like it was in a lake. We headed towards Cedar Lane and I hopped out to take pics. Of course the good camera still uses film so I'll have to wait a bit for those pics. Anyway I barely walked around the first corner and there was the river. I expanded out the zoom and as far as I could see the river was across the road.

Then I asked Boyd to head to the Green Bridge, it is usually so high above the river. I was surprised to see the number of people hanging out around the bridge. It was closed off from vehicles but people were still walking across. Considering that I could have reached through the grates at the bottom of the bridge and touched the water there's no way I would walk on it. Unfortunately again I used the film camera. :( As we past by the Amvets and little league diamonds the diamonds were totally under water.

From there we headed home, we had burgers to grill and tator tots to bake. We are thankful for where we live and that our house is high above the river.

Floods of 08 .... Monday (6/9)

The weather this spring has been trying. We have day after day of severe weather and now the flooding is here.

The Cedar River started rising on Sunday evening and alerts were going out that it would be worse than the floods of 99 & 93. We didn't live here then but I know it was bad. All three bridges in town were closed. Since I didn't see it, I have had trouble comprehending it.

So back to the floods of 08. Early Monday morning when Boyd went to work he said that the water was almost over the road at the ski club. I went out just before lunch time to run some errands and to check on my Mom. At that point the water was almost over the road close to Brown Lane and also the ski club was still threatening the road.

Downtown was a flurry of activity. Shop openers and apartment dwellers were carrying out anything that could be damaged by flood waters. There were also trucks filled with sand driving around and dropping off product where it was needed. Lots of people were out helping to fill sand bags. I ended up getting caught in traffic trying to cross the Bremer Ave bridge. There was bumper to bumper traffic and I was caught on the bridge through 2 lights. I have to say I don't like bridges in general but to be caught with that much water flowing under me and feeling the bridge bounce when the dump trucks were crossing, I was almost ready to freak out.

I was shocked to see 1st St NW closed with water over Kohlman park and most of 1st St. Again there was a flurry of activity with people moving and sandbags going up. I made the loop around the lot where the new Walgreens will go and was surprised to see no sandbags around the 300 block of business. The 200 block of business had stacks of sandbags 6-8 high. The 100 block had very few sandbags although it looked like people were just getting there.

I ended up on the East side of the river headed to my Mom's. I stopped in to see Mom and started picking her brain on the floods of 93 & 99 to see how in the world Boyd could get home that night. I knew the river road would be closed and 1st st was already closed. We decided that he should take the really long way home. Head up 63 to C33 across to Horton Road and then home.

Mom and I headed out to run errands and grab a quick lunch. She was shocked at the number of cars out, I think that's the busiest I've ever seen the town. It's not even that busy during the horse sale and we joke that it's busy then. While we were shopping we heard a rumor that a dam north of us had broken. So we cruised through McyD's and headed back to her house. Since I had the Grand Prix, I didn't want to get caught away from home.

On the way home, I was shocked at how quickly the water had gone up.

Here's some perspective this is the ski club on an average day


Here's the ski club on Monday




It was quickly covering the road close to Brown Lane. Luckily there was a drier spot between the river and a large puddle so I was able to get home.

A bad pic but you get the idea. The cars behind me didn't seem to want to wait.

Shortly after I got home a neighbor called and said the water had breached the road at Pelican Park. She also let me know that the alternate entrance was open and the trailers that were blocking the road were gone.

Murphy edition where we live sits up off the river and the only way in is on the river road. In situations like this there's gated dirt road off a dead end that takes us to the main road. It's a pain but at least we can get out.

Later in the afternoon I heard that the rumor of a dam break was not true and the dam was holding steady. That was good news. They were still forecasting the river to crest at 18.2 on Tuesday evening.

I talked to Boyd before he left work and asked him to pick up some bread and milk on his way home. Since I wasn't sure we could get to a grocery story here in town by the time he got home and there's a Hy Vee right next to the hospital where he works.

IA EF5 tornado

Parkersburg Iowa EF5 tornado

Our hearts go out to all of those affected by the tornado in NE Iowa. From Parkersburg, New Hartford, Dunkerton, Fairbank, and Hazelton to all the farms and acreages in between. Also to those in Dundee who were affected by flooding.

This picture above is one that touched my heart, it shows the extent of the damage and also the extent of caring/helping in this part of the country.

Spring scrapbooking weekend

I just finished a weekend of scrapbooking. My goal was to finish two coffee table books and a total of 60 pages. I finished my two coffee table books and a total of 58 pages. I was very happy with my accomplishments.

The weekend was a great time spent with old friends and new. I had fun visiting with everyone and catching up. There was much laughter and I left with stronger tummy muscles! :)

I'll try to take some pictures of my pages to share.