Saturday, November 25, 2006

Sharing the Holiday

Nothing says "I'm thankful" like gathering several of your best pals in the backyard and blowing a couple hundred dollars worth of bullets shooting at small clay discs.

How was your Thanksgiving?

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Blessings

When I was growing up one of my favorite holidays was Thanksgiving. Usually it meant going to one of my grandparents' for dinner, or some of them traveling to have dinner with us. It meant a day when bickering was put on hold (for the most part) and the tummies were filled with yummy goodness. Early on, and into my teens, I thought to myself... I am never getting married, I am never having children. Partially because of the selfish nature of the beast (only child syndrome, you know) and partially because of the turmoil I saw around me in my own family and others.

Many years later, I am a happily married woman with four beautiful grown children, a whole houseful of critters, and a few good friends - in the real world, and in cyberland. Although it turned out a whole lot different than what I'd imagined so many years ago, I love my life. Hope you can say the same.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Another Meme - For GG

Things you may not have known about me...

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Retail clothing store manager
2. Demographic mapping coordinator
3. Freshman Admissions evaluator at a local University
4. Mom (anyone who argues this isn’t a job come over here and bite me)

Four movies I would watch over and over
1. Breakfast at Tiffany's
2. The Way We Were
3. Legends of the Fall
4. It’s a Wonderful Life

Four places I have lived:
1. In a large town – Des Moines, Iowa
2. In a very tiny town – Gilman, Iowa
3. In a mid-sized town – Storm Lake, Iowa
4. In the country

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. CSI
2. Dexter
3. Wire in the Blood
4. Rebus

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Acapulco
2. Northwoods, Wisconsin
3. Black Hills, South Dakota
4. California

Favorite foods:
1. Handmade onion rings (not them icky frozen jobs)
2. Beef Strogonoff
3. Hot cocoa (real, not instant)
4. Cherry pie

I'm not gonna tag anyone... feel free to do it on your own and let me know how it comes out!

Friday, November 17, 2006

It's Official!


My eldest son is engaged!!!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Dear Co-Worker

Which part of "I'm really swamped today, could you have someone stay in the office and cover things" don't you understand?

You had one guy stay here in the office for about an hour this morning, then he left to "get parts" and you let the other office guy take this afternoon off. You? You found it convenient to disappear to who-knows-where. All I know is when I called you to come in and talk to a customer, you were at home. At 11 o'clock.

Dumbass.

A Quick Update


Hair-tearing. Yup. That's pretty much how things are going right now.

I am so swamped at work I can't see straight. There are myself and three men in the office. One took the week off to go pheasant hunting out of state. One is new. One is a dumb-ass. I'm not naming names. This is the time of year our company hands out turkeys to our customers. Customers have been known to come by the office to pick up their turkey. That's allowed. However, it is not a good thing to be the only person in the office because everyone else is out delivering turkeys and have to do a.) my work which is in overload this time of year b.) answer the phones c.) talk to the customers d.) try to find a turkey for a customer in a refrigerated truck out back only to find the guys didn't leave me any in the refrigerated truck to hand out. Dumb-ass.

Oh, and did I mention I have to go deliver turkeys tomorrow night after work? yeah.

Next week will find ten people at my house expecting 1.) a full Thanksgiving meal, 2.) a clean house and 3.) a presentable me. At this point? Good luck on 2 and 3.

The car is wonderful. Thanks for asking. Still nameless. The one name I liked, Hubs objected to, so back to the drawing board.

Monday, November 13, 2006

AARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!





Can you guess?



I found out MIL isn't going to leave town until the 26th. She will be home for Christmas. We'll be having Christmas eve at her house with "The Brats Boys" and family and she'll be coming to our house Christmas day.

I knew if I celebrated too soon it was going to come back and bite me in the butt.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Would You Believe?

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Isn't She Pretty?


This is not MY car, exactly, but it's a picture of one just like MY car. My NEW car. My very special "girlie" car. (According to my daughter this is definately a "chick-car" scaring Hubs out of ever thinking of driving it without me.)

I have a gas-guzzling 2001 Chevy Tahoe that we bought new, but when it was purchased it was Hubs' vehicle. I got it a year or so later when he decided he really did want a nice pickup to complement his work truck. It's a red and silver two door and it serves a purpose. I wouldn't want to be caught in the Iowa winter in the country with two feet of snow and no four-wheel drive. However, with gas prices the way they have been, and the fact that I do like this vehicle and don't want to get rid of it - I'd like to keep the miles off it - I rarely drive it anymore. Unless I need a reliable vehicle to go out of town or need to haul something large.

I have not had a new car since 1989. I have a tendency to bond with my vehicles. My 1989 Honda Civic was a cutie when she was young, but through the years she got passed on to kids to drive. (Through garage doors. Twice. The gas tank cap was sprung. The windshield was cracked. The rust is barely holding it together. Several gallons of Mountain Dew were slopped here and there. I don't drink Mountain Dew. There is some mystery substance staining the back seat. I don't want to know. Honest. Speakers for the stereo are blown. When you drive down the road in the dark with the headlights on and the fan motor kicks in, the lights dim. There is a rattle. Oh, who am I kidding? There are LOTS of rattles.The interior lights no longer come on when you open the doors - probably out of embarrassment for how bad she looks. She tries. Her heater still works great and the air conditioning keeps up fine. She still gets great gas milage, too.) Then a couple of years ago, my son got a new car and I got the poor thing back. She's been a good girl, but she, like me, is getting old. She's a manual 5-speed and although I really love driving a stick, my body doesn't much anymore. I've got a trick knee that is okay most of the time, but occasionally will "stick" when I use the clutch. Not a good situation.

One day while daydreaming, I mentioned to Hubs that someday I'd like a new "beater" - what we call our junk cars to keep the miles off our "good" vehicles. I'd always thought the Beetles were cute, but hadn't driven a new one so wasn't sure if I'd even like them. A few days ago, out of the blue, Hubs showed me some on the internet. He's such a sweetie. He'll totally forget some things, but other things... well, he remembered and it was a surprise.

Saturday, after getting off work at noon, daughter and I drove to another town 40 miles away to test drive a 2001 model. They let us take it back home to show Hubs. The dealer said he'd meet us back at the store in a couple of hours. It drove like a dream. It was so much fun! I fell for it. Hard. As we drove back on the lot, the dealer had a distressed look on his face. 20 minutes after we'd driven off the lot, a man who had been looking and test-driving that car several times that week came in and gave him a cashiers check. He'd sold it right from under us!!!

Hubs exact quote when I called to tell him was "well, I'll be dipped in shit". Yeah. He's a farmer. Can ya tell?

The next day or two were filled with angst. Hubs scoured the Sunday paper for another one but this one was the "luxery" model and they were not to be found. After thinking on it, Hubs just said "Let's go look at a new one". Never thinking I'd find another one that would be what I wanted (I can be a bit cynical at times) he, daughter and I drove to the nearby big city dealership to check it out. There, my friends, was MY new car. It's got all the do-dads and gizmos and extras you could ever want, in an affordable, cute, hell... even FUN... package. Yes, and here is where my "only child syndrome" kicks in... and it's MINE. Although, technically, Hubs' name is on the title... 'cause I will share...

Now she just needs a name.

Techno-Nerd Alert

Can anyone tell me how to post "you-tube" videos to the blog?

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Need I Say More?

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Disclosure



Back in August I posted about the farm situation and it was in the tone of frustration. I was so tired of fighting the high fuel prices, higher fertilizer and chemical prices, and horribly low grain prices. I was depressed and fearing that our beautiful "dream house" was going to turn out to be just that ... a temporary dream that we'd wake up from as we had to sell. Worry and fear made me angry. Angry that this was going on and on and on, year after year, and no end in sight.

Through it all, I tried to keep my "core" of positive thinking. I've never been "suzy sunshine" and wouldn't want to be. I need to be realistic. But in that realism, I tried to tell Hubs that it had to change. I know that the world needs the commodities the farmers provide. That eventually the "powers that be" would have to realize this and the world would turn a little and things would even out a bit.

They have. At long last.

Since August the fuel prices have come down. The grain prices have gone up. The harvest was not as productive as the Chicago boys* thought. That makes for a shortage of grain. The demand is still strong. That makes the prices go up. The prices are still going up... and are projected to continue, possibly into the $4 range. That, my friends, along with a good grain harvest, is pretty close to the equivalent of winning the lottery in my world. (However, not the kind of lottery where you quit your job and run off to the Carribean.) Rumor has it the prices may even stay high for a year or two. That would be amazing.

This is not to say this has just become a stress-free job. It doesn't mean I'll stop being tired most days, or crabby some days... It just means we are going to get to keep this beautiful house. Keep the life we've grown to love. Keep on keeping on. We've been given the shot in the arm we always knew was a possibility, we just never knew when or how it would come. In the interest of full disclosure, I wanted to share the good as well as the bad.

*Chicago Board of Trade

Friday, November 03, 2006

Early Celebration



No, we're not celebrating Christmas early... exactly. We're celebrating the fact that MIL is going to be out-of-state for Christmas. Hubs' sister and her husband are building a house (which, Hubs saw the plans for and tells me looks remarkably similar to *cough* *cough* someone elses' house...). Last Christmas my MIL went there because it was going to be their last Christmas in their current house. Well, as it turned out, THIS Christmas is going to be the last Christmas in their current house. Everyone say "awwww"... So, we've been blessed with having our children come home for Christmas without the wet blanket that can be MIL.

I am so going to hell.

Lawn Ornaments

visitors

Twin fawns who visited in August.

garden_visitor

Monarch butterflly loving the butterfly bush in September.


bunny dog

Big bunny dog!


ball_obsessed

What can I say? She's ball-obsessed.


face_to_love

Is this a face to love, or what?

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Coulrophobia




I realize I have an unnatural phobia… and yet I am finding more and more people who share it. Do you have it? Do you know what it is? Yeah, the picture kinda gives it away. It's the fear of clowns.

I don’t know for sure when it started. I think when I was small I just thought clowns were creepy. Later on, I heard stories of John Wayne Gacy killing little boys and how he chose to perform as a clown. I also got freaked out by my favorite author, Stephen King, when “It” came out.

I respect the people who play clowns (or have played them) and think they must have a hard time trying to make children laugh who are terrified of them. I wonder what they do when that happens? Hopefully, give the child some space.

I realize it is probably a silly fear to have. What’s a clown gonna do? Hit me with a water balloon? Throw confetti at me? Make a face? Nothing that is really going to harm me in any way, shape or form. Unless, of course, he really IS an evil person just dressed up as a clown.

I admit, after reading Wikopedia's description and how extreme some people have reacted, I don’t have a severe case of the phobia. I am much more terrified of spiders. I just don’t feel comfortable around clowns. Actors? No problem. Put someone in a cat suit and sing “Memory” to me and I melt. White face and a big red nose… well, I just can’t sit still for long.

Today I heard a bizarre news story out of Sarasota, Florida. A few years ago Chicago had an art project / fund raiser where they put artistically decorated cows all over the city. I think they were then raffled off or else they were sponsored in the first place and money was raised for a good cause (see how well I pay attention?). They did the same thing in our state capital with pigs and in Iowa City with the University of Iowa mascot Herky Hawk. Well, now Sarasota has had a brainstorm called “Clowning Around Town” where they’re doing it in their city with… yeah… clowns. The news report was about how they’re being vandalized and they’ve only been on display for a couple of weeks. In my opinion, they’re lucky they’ve lasted this long!! Can you imagine driving around and seeing clowns on every street corner? Yikes!

(In a related side-note, the dj's were talking about people being afraid of clowns and how one of them had a co-worker who was terrified of them. On his last day of work, several of them dressed up as clowns and would creep up on him and stand on either side next to the water cooler, or to get on the elevator... or come up behind him and just stand there until he noticed... freaking him out every time. The boss finally had to tell them to go "get normal" as they were going to scare the guy half to death!)

How about you? Anyone else out there phobic about clowns? Something else you want to share?

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Fall Colors In the Yard

fall_color2
The front walk. Fall garden colors.
fall_color3
Front side garden.
fall_color4
Sedum and mums.
fall_color5
Marigolds in the gazing ball.
fall_color
The side yard by the driveway.

Halloween Re-Cap

Can you tell who has which pumpkin? These were carved by my grandson (shown), youngest daughter and myself.



Youngest daughter doing her civic duty - handing out trick-or-treat candy at the mall. You can't tell very well from this picture (partially because she's blurry) but she was decked out as a cat, complete with face makeup. I promised no close-ups posted. She didn't want to paint up in the first place... I made her.