Wet Friday

I went to exercise this morning because they were calling for ping pong sized hail this afternoon. I'm sure glad I went when I did. It did hail this afternoon, but it wasn't ping pong sized - it was more like pea-sized or even marble-sized. It really rained also. We got almost .8 of an inch in a very short time. Up until it rained, though, I had the house opened and was enjoying the wonderful muggy day!

Dave got home about 4:30 today, came in the house and took a nap. That's okay, because I wanted a nap too! This evening I've been working on uploaded more Cyclone pictures to my computer so that I can get them on Facebook for the guys to enjoy. Tomorrow Dave and I are getting up early so we can put up new mini blinds in the family room. Then he's going to go work at the Habitat house and if the grass dries enough, I'll have to mow again. Seems like a never-ending job this spring, but isn't the color of the grass beautiful this year? It is just so lush and so green!! I just love it!

More later...

Thursday Ramblings

Dave is sitting in his chair sneezing! He's been out in the garage moving things around so that he can get his truck in the garage in case it starts hailing tomorrow. I keep telling him he'll be at work when it hails, but he needed to get this done anyway. When he got home today, we went out to the sun porch and just sat around for a while before we got dinner.

My day today was a fun one. I hurt too bad to go exercise. My back hurt bad last night - I even took a pain pill! This morning when I got up both my back and my shoulder hurt, so I decided that today was a day off. Perhaps I should lay off of some of the shoulder exercises when I'm at Lady Fit. Dr. Steve said to do what I could and if it hurt, then lay off for a while. So tomorrow, I'll just stretch my arm instead of actually lifting weight.

I also took the final for my class on creating web pages. I got a 100% on the test. There was only one question that I doubted myself on, so I looked it up. I should have trusted my first instinct because I was right. I also uploaded a few pictures to my Cyclones Forever album on Facebook. The guys who used to pay at ISU really like the pictures. I've still got tons more, but I'll upload them a few at a time. This is one of the ones that I didn't upload. I'm afraid the rest of the guys would give Derek a rough time about this picture! I personally like it - he's such a cutie!

The guys could have their individual pictures taken anyway they wanted them and this was a popular pose. I'm not sure that anyone pulled it off quite as well as Derek though! I have to tell you that when I was single, I had a wall in my basement which I affectionately referred to as my "stud" wall and I had several of these pictures on that wall! Enjoy!

Wednesday Thoughts

I guess I just plain forgot to blog last night. Dave was talking about his work and I was still thinking about choir practice, so blogging wasn't on my mind! I had a fun day yesterday - I went to exercise and then I went to get groceries. I came home and put a roast on in the slow cooker. I love the smell that roast beef makes in a house! I had also put some eggs on to boil when Sue called...yup, forgot them! At least they weren't ruined! Then I went outside and mowed the back yard. Dave mowed the rest of the yard, but the back was too wet. It wasn't too bad yesterday. It probably would have been better if I'd have waited for today...the wind is really blowing. I was going out to put some Round-Up around some of my plants, but I think I'll wait for the wind to die down a little. I'm going to "paint" it on, but I'm afraid with the wind, the weeds will blow up against my flowers and then I'll kill my flowers!

Last night when Dave got home, I needed him to help the birds in the bird house. The floor is falling out of their house! We put duct tape around it to hold the floor in place. I haven't seen any birds go in or out today, so I hope we didn't scare them away.

I also was able to get lessons 11 and 12 completed, except for the assignment which is optional anyway. I've finished the quizzes, though. Now I just have to download the final test and take it. This creating web sites is a hard class. Lots of memorization, which tends to leave as you get a little older!! I guess I'll do it now, then go outside. More later...

What a Day!!

This was a very exciting day for the city of Ottumwa and for about 2000 people who were able to get tickets to see President Obama when he visited Indian Hills Community College! I just happened to be one of them! I am glad I wore comfortable shoes, because I had to walk a long ways just to get in line! Once I was in line, we stood for another hour plus before our line even started moving! Then once we got inside, we sat for another hour plus before President Obama got there. But, it was all worth the wait. He did a wonderful job. He's very impressive - he "bounced" into the building and up on the stage. He was funny, he was convincing, he was charismatic!! I'm very glad I went.

Monday Monday

I'm sure glad I didn't have to go to work today. I've been so tired today and so has Dave. When we go to Indiana we don't get a lot of sleep because of the bed we sleep in. It's just a full sized bed and we're used to a king sized bed. It's also very hard and we're used to our Tempurpedic mattress. Plus, Dave is a flopper! So when he flops in that little bed, I about bounce out of it. So today, we just took catch-up naps and tried to rest!

We had a really fun time in Indiana though. We went to two birthday parties - one for Dave's 95 year old uncle George and one for his sister who just turned 60. Uncle George's party was in Warren, which is about an hour away from where Dave's folks live. So after driving for 7 hours, we drove some more! Then Suzy's house is about another 45 minutes away from where George lives...so more driving! At George's party, they had a chocolate bar with all things chocolate - chocolate cakes, chocolate candies, chocolate fondue, chocolate ice cream - you get the idea. I want you to know that even I was sick of chocolate after we ate! There were lots of people there from the "home" and lots of cousins, aunts and uncles, etc. At Suzy's it was just Maury's family - he and Roberta, Don and Bev, Pat and Milt, Suzy and Greg, plus Suzy's two kids and their families. So, it was much more intimate and fun. She served a wonderful chicken-noodle casserole, along with a spinach/strawberry salad and a broccoli salad. When we decided to go home, it was about 8:00 and I was driving. We got into two or three torrential downpours. I didn't like it much - I was driving a large van that I wasn't used to on a road I wasn't familiar with and I didn't know where I was going! Thank God we made it okay.

We went to church with Don and Bev Sunday morning and out to see their house. Then we went to Flora for lunch - more driving!! Oh well, it was fun anyway. It rained on us all the way home except for about 50 miles of our 7-hour trip!

Today I went out to get my ticket to see President Obama tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to that! However, since I'll basically be tied up all afternoon, Dave decided he's better mow the lawn. So he did everything but the back yard which was too wet. He left it for me! More later...

I'm Home

We made a flying trip to Indiana and got home this evening. I'm very tired and I'm going to bed - I'll tell you about our trip tomorrow. Good night!

GEMS

I got my gems done today! I picked up my new sunglasses clip - and it didn't cost me anything because they were still under warranty!!! Then I went to exercise, and for some reason it really wore me out today - oh well, hopefully I'll get to go tomorrow. But Dave's talking about going to Indiana, so who knows! After exercising, I went to HyVee and got groceries. I also bought a mini orchid - I sure hope I can keep it alive. They have some gorgeous orchids at our North HyVee - almost thought I was in Publix in Fort Lauderdale there for a minute!! Then I came home and mowed. I got to mow with the new mower. It is really fun having power steering! I just zoomed around those trees and things! It's also got cruise control on it and the steering wheel adjusts! I cracked up!! No wonder I had to show them my driver's license to purchase it! Dave even stopped by while I was mowing. He said it was to see me, but I know better! He wanted to try out the new mower too! So he took it for a spin around the edges of the yard - I don't do the south edge of our yard - the slope is just too steep. I can't even watch him do it! It just makes my tummy flip!

Tomorrow, I have stamping club in the morning and then I'm the program at another PEO chapter here in town. Then if it's raining hard, I think we'll take off for Indianapolis. If not, I'll come home and Dave will be at work!! More later...

Wednesday Thoughts

Today I spent a bunch of money and that's always fun!! I bought us a new John Deere lawnmower with power steering!! It's even in my name! We've got our old one sold, which is nice. I wanted to mow today, but it started raining and just as it started, they delivered the new mower. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I was disappointed that I couldn't mow. Actually it's supposed to be 74 degrees tomorrow so that'll be a better day anyway. Tomorrow I've got to do GEMS - groceries, exercise, mow, and pick up my sunglasses! I also have an evangelism meeting tomorrow night and I want to take some pictures. Do you think I'll get everything done?

Choir practice tonight was wonderful. We're singing such cool songs the next few weeks - a bunch of them have syncopated rhythms and are old spirituals. Should be lots of fun once we learn them well enough to not be afraid of them! We heard today that our Pastor Sara's husband passed away. I'm so sorry. He had Altzeimers, so I know he's in a better place, but I also know it will be hard on Sara. She's been so good to go visit him every day even though he was in his own little world. Our prayers go out to her and Jack's family tonight.

That was good timing - Dave just drove in. More later...

Tuesday

My sister-in-law (Dave's sister) is turning the big 6-0 on Saturday, so I created this black and white card for her! I hope she likes it. I don't have any numbers that small, so I had to write in the 60th. Can you imagine, Dave's mom had Suzy (this same sister) and then 11 months later had twin boys - Don and Dave. Wow, she really had her hands full with 3 babies under the age of 1...plus she had another daughter who is about 6 years older than Suzy. I found out today that my camera is just as good as a Canon, so I won't be trading cameras. I'm sure that Dave will be excited to hear that. And, speaking of Dave, he just drove in - it's 10:05! He got home early tonight! I'd better get off of here and go meet him at the door! More later...

Monday Thoughts

This is Monday, isn't it? I had a pretty busy day for a Monday. Ususally I don't have much to do on Mondays, but today was an exception. Although I was busy, I got to take a lot of pictures with Marshall's camera - I think the pictures ARE crisper than with my Sony. I called him, but he hadn't taken any pix yet, so I've still got to wait for my verdict. Speaking of pictures, I ordered from Snapfish.com two 24x30 prints of ocean views. I thought if they blew up well, I'd frame them and put them up in our house. They were fantastic! I took one of the to M&J here in town to get it framed. The frame and the matting are going to cost me $190! Good thing I only paid about $25 for the print! I'm going to take the other one over to Henderson's in Fairfield and have it framed as close to identically as I can. Hopefully it won't cost $190!!

Also today, I got finished with lesson 9 of my web page design class. I had a problem with the assignment though, so I've had to write in asking for help. I'm sure it's something simple. The design I got was just fine, but it wasn't what I thought I was designing. So, I want to know why!

Well, Dave just called. He's just leaving Moravia. I'll be glad when June gets here! More later...

Great Sunday

Today we woke up to another beautiful day. Dave got up early and went to Walmart for something - don't have a clue what! Then he went down by the dam to see what the fishermen were trying to catch and he went over by the new Habitat for Humanity house that has been put up in the last two weeks. Then we went to church to make the coffee and open the doors! I got up about 7:15 and got to church for 8:45 choir practice. We sang a song for confirmation today. It had wonderful words and very appropriate for this Sunday. We had six young ladies who were confirmed today. They are very talented and very nice girls. I'm anxious to get to know them better now that they are maturing! I got the nicest note from one of them, just thanking me for being active on the Evangelism Committee. What a sweetie. Today's sermon was also very appropriate and then we had communion too. It was a very good church service and it was good to have a large crowd today. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the bell choir had a wonderful piece - accompanied by a cello, a flute, and percussion instruments. Very beautiful! I love the music we do each week. Most of it is very challenging for me, but boy, is it ever effective!

After church, Dave and I went to lunch at 2nd Street Cafe. Nan even joined us since she was downtown working. Then we came home and dave fell asleep in his chair and I took a nap upstairs on the bed. After an hour of napping, the phone rang and no one was there. I was so sound asleep that I was into my dream and had no idea where I was when i opened my eyes. I was able to fall back to sleep. Dave couldn't so he got up and trimmed the yard, went over to Nan's to help her with her weedeater. When I finally woke up, we went and got an ice cream cone and then went out to Craig and Sue's and picked up my '56 Chevy! It was fun driving it again. I loved this day!! It was so good being with Dave all day!

I think I'm going to like his being semi-retired. He's so excited about only working 6 months out of the year. Last night he talked and talked and talked! He has so many things he wants to do, including spending more time with his family and even spending more time in Florida seeing Jami and the family! Obviously when he got tired of talking, I was wired and didn't get to bed until after 1:30! He, however, talked himself out and he was able to sleep! Gotta love that man of mine! More later...

Crazy Day

This morning I woke up and was pretty much beside myself. I don't know if I had cabin fever, or what, but I knew I wasn't going to sit in this house all day alone! I called Marshall and went over to his place; we're swapping cameras for a few days. I must be from Missouri because sometimes I have to actually SEE things to believe them. I am not sure that my camera will get the quality of pictures that a Canon will get. So, I'm using his Canon and he's going to take photos with my Sony. He thinks my camera is as good as his Canon, which means that it must be the operator then!

After I did that, I still was unsettled, so I called my buddies, Sudi and Howard to see if they wanted to go to the Dutchman's Store in Cantril. I needed some things and thought today would be a good day to go. I'm sure glad they went with me, because a road trip is much better shared! While we were in the car, Dave called to tell me that he would probably not be working tomorrow - yeah!! I get pretty excited over little things! Then a little later he told me that he'd actually talked to his boss about going down to 6 months instead of 9 and his boss thought that could definitely be worked out. So, it looks to me like I'm going to have my husband with me at least half the year - yeah again!! He's already called his brother and his dad and told them. Dave cannot keep a secret, he just has to tell his bro and his dad everything! He just cracks me up!

After we got back to Fairfield, we went to a friend of Sudi's and took some pictures of her flowers. They are beautiful. I just hope my photos do them justice! I still haven't done any architectural photos, but I'll try to get some tomorrow.

I mowed the yard when I got back to Ottumwa. I didn't really want to. I wanted to play Farmtown, but Facebook was so slow that it was ridiculous, so I went out and mowed. It felt good getting out there and mowing the yard...and the yard looks good too. Now, Dave won't have to spend his Sunday mowing. All he'll have to do on the yard is go around the front of the property where there's an incline. I don't do the incline! It scares me. Tonight I've been playing on Facebook. I've still got some farming to do, but I'll be able to get it done before 10:00 and then I can go upstairs and read until Dave gets home. What a crazy day!

I think I missed yesterday

I guess I forgot to post something last night. Can't imagine that I might have been playing games or something else that would cause me to forget to blog! I didn't go to bed until late. Dave called and he decided that he was just going to sleep in his truck at the plant last night. He had a truck coming in at midnight and another at 4:00 so there was no use in getting a motel room - he wouldn't be sleeping a lot anyway. So, I stayed up until I was really tired - that way I figured I'd sleep pretty well. He hasn't been gone overnight for so long, that it was really weird having him gone. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well. Dave didn't sleep well. So tonight he's coming home, but probably not for another hour or so yet. I'll be glad when anhydrous season is over - and I know he will too!

Last night I went to my photography class. It was really fun. The Photo Shop printed up to 50 free prints for each of us. We were then asked to pick out about 5-6 that we really liked and the class would critique them to see if they could have been improved, etc. It was very interesting. I think we all learned lots last night. There were 5 students there and the 2 "instructors". Good input from everyone. We all had some good pictures and some not-so-good pictures! Our assignment this month is to step outside our comfort zone and take pictures that we wouldn't usually take - like architectural photos or night photos. I'm hoping to take some of each of those. I also felt that my pictures just weren't as "crisp" as others in the class so one of the guys is going to let me trade cameras with him for the weekend. He'll take pix on my camera and I'll use his just to see if it's operator "error" or if it's the difference in cameras. That should be interesting.

Today was my PEO meeting and then I came home and just piddled around here the rest of the day. I'm pretty bored right now, with Dave working night and day, 7 days a week. This too shall pass!

Hallalujah!!

Dave had a doctor's appointment at 4:30 today, so I went with him. Dr. Anderson told him his wound was healing well and in about another week, he'll never know by looking that he had surgery. Since they were all dog-tired at work, Dave stayed home after his doctor's appointment and took me out to the Club where he was going to try to eat something solid, which he hasn't done since the 6th of April. He ordered Tilapia cause he figured that would be soft, as well as some mashed potatoes...HE ATE EVERYTHING ON HIS PLATE, including some mixed veggies which weren't as soft as the fish and potatoes! He said he was just starved and it all tasted so good!

I had choir practice tonight - boy are we singing some beautiful songs in the next few weeks.

Tuesday Thoughts

I started out my day today with a meeting at Indian Hills at 9:00 - ugh! That's a bit early for me! IHCC is offering free estate planning to their retirees so I went to see if there was anything else I needed to do. Today was basically just a preliminary meeting...we'll meet again in May with more details.

After that meeting, I stopped to take some pictures and then stopped at Bob's. I hadn't seen him since he returned from Texas, so it was good to get caught up. After that I went to exercise. Then home for a bite of lunch and off to have a full body massage. This afternoon I worked on resizing my pictures for class on Thursday night. The Photo Shop will print up to 50 pictures free for class. Once we have the prints, we'll all pass them around and critique them. Should be interesting!

Tonight I'm waiting to hear from Dave. Tomorrow is his follow-up visit with Dr. Anderson. I hope he can help Dave eat again. I went out this evening and bought him some ice cream and some more protein drinks - basically that's what he's living on. I've been working on my PEO agenda and trying to figure out some things before our meeting on Friday morning. More later...

Fun Day

I had a fun day today. OK, so I didn't do my homework - I'll get it done! Instead I cleaned out 3 drawers in my craft room and worked on 2 drawers in the kitchen, one of which I got completed. The other one is still a junk drawer. I wonder why people have junk drawers; why don't they just throw things away instead of hiding them? I also went through some of my scrapbooks and pulled out pictures of my time at Iowa State. I then uploaded them to Facebook so "my boys" could see them again! Gosh, that was fun - it's always fun reminiscing! I also ran an errand for Dave and went to Lady Fit to work out. I even sat outside and got some sun. Dave wants me to pray for rain, but I just can't do that. He is exhausted from so many hours and if it were to rain, he'd get a break from the late nights. I suppose it's selfish of me to want sunshine. Tomorrow is his birthday - I wonder if he even remembers. Poor guy he just called to tell me he probably wouldn't leave Moravia until about 10:00 - that means he won't be home until about 10:45 or so.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with a guy that Indian Hills is using to visit with their retirees. He's supposed to be giving us advice about retirement and wills and such. I don't quite know why I agreed to do this, but I did - yuck. Then at 1:00 I have a massage. I'll have to go work out sometime between the two because there's no way I could exercise after a massage...I'm pretty much a limp noodle afterwards!

Super Sunday!

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood! I really like this spring-like weather - I sure hope it stays around for a while. It's so nice going to church without having to bundle up! Church today was really good. I loved the song we sang today and so did the congregation - they applauded! For those of you reading this who are not Presbyterian, you have to understand that Presbyterians are very quiet in church - "we" don't say Amen after prayers (although that is changing), we don't clap when we appreciate something like good songs, we don't shout "Praise the Lord" or "Hallalujah" or anything like that...we just sit there and absorb! Today they clapped for our anthem - it was "Everytime I feel the spirit" and it was a FUN song to sing, so we rocked it! Pastor Sara started a series based on Acts and had we remembered, we were going to clap for her too, but we didn't.

After church I drove to Albia and got a hot fudge sundae! I've decided that I can have ice cream once a week and no more. They have the BEST hot fudge in Albia! So I ate mine by myself, then bought Dave an ice cream and took it to him at the plant. He's still not home - probably won't be home until about 10:30 tonight. He's started biting his inner cheek and you know how that is, once you bite it the first time, you continue for a while. Unfortunately his is still raw, so it really hurts. He says he's already lost 5 pounds and probably will continue to lose because now he's afraid to chew. He's got a birthday on Tuesday and a doctor's appointment (follow-up) on Wednesday. I hope he gets better soon. He's in a great deal of pain yet. He's basically just gutting it out by going to work everyday...he says he's just as well off working as sitting around thinking about his pain! I'm sure he's right.

This is a busy week for me - I've got something every day this week except for tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm going to work on my homework assignment. More later...

Perfect Day

This was an absolutely perfect day! I had a great time today. I washed windows - I even took off screens and washed the bay window in the family room. That was a hard thing for me to do all by myself. Luckily the wind wasn't blowing too hard when I flipped the screens out or they would have gone flying! I took down the burgundy mini blinds in the family room, measured them and now I'm ready to replace them. I guess it's time for something other than burgundy. I'm just not thrilled with the idea of white blinds (or off-white), but that's what's all over the house, so I'll probably go with them. I also moved furniture and swept out half of the sun room. Now, I've got to put that half back and get the other half ready. Then when Dave gets done working such long hours, maybe I can get him to help me move the treadmill. I'd really like to sell it, but I don't think he'll go for it yet. I also went outside and picked up the rest of the sticks that I didn't get yesterday. Now the lawn is ready to be mowed, but again Dave has to get home so he can put the mower deck on!

I'm watching the NASCAR race now. I finished all of lesson 6 including making my own web page from their instructions. I've got lesson 7 partway read, but haven't done any of the projects...and I have only printed out lesson 8, I haven't even looked at it! I sat outside for a few minutes today and while I was sitting there, mama and papa chickadee were building their nest in the little birdhouse Maury gave us. In fact, one of them just went in there now. I assume it was mama, but I don't think there are eggs yet. Who knows. I'm not going to be able to see in the little hole to tell!

Dave is still not home. I don't know h0w late he'll be tonight. Probably very late! People are planting around Moravia so they'll have to get the anhydrous on. No rest for the wicked!

Beautiful day

Today was a gorgeous day - started out a little cold, but turned out really nice. I even sat out for a while today. I ate my lunch out in the sun room and then went outside and got some sun. This morning I ran an errand for Dave and then went to work out. Then I went around and took some pictures for my "class" this Thursday night. I'm supposed to have taken 50 pictures of anything. I can't believe how hard that assignment is. If I were given a specific subject, I wouldn't think it was so hard. I probably took 30 pictures today and hope to get some more tomorrow. I haven't checked them out, so I don't know if any of them are good enough to print!

Dave just got home. He went to work at 6:30 this morning - he's putting in some long days. I haven't seen him yet - he said he was so greasy from repairing machinery he would have to use the degreaser in the garage before he could come in. He's exhausted and his mouth hurts and he's hungry because it doesn't hurt as much if he doesn't eat. Poor guy!

I also went to pick up our taxes today. We dodged another bullet - at least we don't have to pay more. I'd better close; I think I'll spend some time with my hubby before he falls asleep in his chair!

Praise the Lord!!

This was another long day! We had to wait until about 3 minutes until 5:00 to hear that Dave's tests were all benign. Wow - it's so hard to wait, you just imagine all kinds of things when you have to wait. But, we got wonderful news and we are very relieved. Dave was able to work today - in fact he didn't even get home until about 8:15 or so. I took him to Moravia about 10:00 and then came back to work out. After that I went grocery shopping and came home to take a nap! Needless to say, we haven't been able to sleep very well lately!

We want to thank all of our friends for all of the prayers. We could feel the love that everyone sent up on our behalves. Tomorrow I have some sticks to pick up because of the winds the last couple of days and I have some errands to run for Dave. Then I have to get busy and do lessons 6, 7 and 8. I'm almost done with lesson 6 and lesson 7 is adding links so that should be fun. More later...

This was a long day...

Today was a really long day. Dave had his surgery this morning. Dr. Anderson took at least two biopsies of an area on the inside of Dave's right cheek close to his right tonsil. The doctor doesn't think there's anything to worry about, but said we'd need to wait for the pathology report before we knew for sure. Should get it tomorrow. We went in about 9:45 and didn't get home until about 2:45. Poor guy - he's in a great deal of pain. After all, he's basically got an open wound the size of a 50-cent piece in his mouth - like a huge cancor sore. Thank goodness he has pain pills - he's definitely been taking them this afternoon. He's sleeping now, but it's time for another pill. Dr. Anderson said he could resume normal activities tomorrow - I don't think he'll be going to work, but he may feel a whole lot better in the morning! At least since it rained, he doesn't feel like he has to be at work - they probably can't do much with as much rain as we had.

Keep Us in Your Prayers

Tomorrow morning I take Dave to the hospital for his biopsies. Please keep us in your prayers. He's very nervous about this. More later...

Monday Thoughts

This morning, I got up around 7:30 and ate my breakfast while I read the paper. I stayed up a little late last night reading a book by Nora Roberts called The Villa. I was able to finish it this afternoon. I'm going to be sad that I don't get to read more about this wonderful family. I love Nora Roberts' books - she tends to get me drawn in from the very first page or two. This book was no exception!

I had an appointment with Dr. Hill today. He burned off a wart on my wrist. I was also able to talk to him about my shoulder and about my back, and he changed my stomach medicine to a generic Prevacid. I will try it to see if it works better. Dave also had a doctor's appointment today. He had Dr. Anderson look at the spot in his throat. Dr. Anderson wants to biopsy the two different spots. He doesn't know what they are, but felt they should be checked out. Keep him in your prayers. He goes into the hospital Wednesday morning for the biopsies...he'll be sleeping through the procedure, so I'll be there to bring him home. He's a little nervous about it all.

After my appointment, I went to lunch with Sudi, Howard, Chris and Earl. We shared a lot of laughs! It's so good to have "old" friends!! Dave went back to work after his appointment and he's still at work now. He doesn't figure he'll be home until about midnight and then it will all start again tomorrow morning. They're trying to beat the rain.

Happy Easter

It was a beautiful Easter Sunday...for the most part! I didn't even have to wear a jacket this morning to go to church - it was lovely out! I didn't look to see how warm it was, but it was warm enough that I opened the sun roof on the car! Easter breakfast at the church was good, as usual. We sat with the Schwenks and their two daughters were home from the east coast where they go to college - one in Philadelphia and one in Providence, RI. It was a good table to sit at - the girls entertained us! Then after breakfast, I had choir practice which took the entire time allotted and then some. We had a very hard time with the introit this morning for some reason. The anthem was much better. We got done practicing about 9:15 and there were already lots of people in church...it started at 9:30. Both pieces came out beautifully in church, AND we played to a packed house. Lots of people there today. We even had about 8 little kids come down for the children's sermon.

After church, Dave and I came home and Dave took a nap so that he'd be ready for work at 2:00. He slept for about an hour and a half and was ready to go back to Moravia about 1:00. I took a short nap, then started working on my lesson #6 with an occasional break to play a game or two. I also went out about 4:30 (right before the rain) and got myself a chocolate shake to celebrate Easter. It didn't rain much at that time, but the stupid weather radio kept going off. When it went off, I had to go upstairs and listen to the message, then shut it off and come back downstairs. One time I had barely turned it off when it went off again, so up I went!! Good exercise. Dave didn't get home until about 7:30 or so. Just before he arrived, it started raining again. This time it rained for several minutes. Mom always said that if it rained on Easter Sunday, you'd have 7 Sundays of rain...I sure hope she was wrong.

Tomorrow I go to Fairfield for a doctor's appointment and then lunch with Sudi, Howard, and other friends. I wish Dave could stay for lunch, but he said he'd have to get back to Moravia to work. More later...

Saturday

I just spent the day "lounging" today! I did, however, get my lesson #5 done, including the assignment and the quiz. I've also gotten started on lesson #6. Hopefully while Dave is gone tomorrow I can get it done too.

We have to be at church at 8:00 for breakfast in the morning. I made an egg casserole using the recipe they gave us - the differences in them will be in the meat added. Some will have ham (mine), some bacon, some sausage, and some hamburger. Then the optionals are onions and green peppers. One of the ladies will add jalapenos to hers. Should be good! So, my schedule is 8:00 breakfast, 8:45 choir practice, and 9:30 church. Then Dave will go to work about 2:00, so I'll be here alone tomorrow too. That's okay though because I've got some crafting things I want to do!

Happy Easter! I hope the Easter bunny finds you all, but don't forget what Easter is truly about. He is Risen!! Hallelujah!

Good Friday

I guess I've been too tired in the evenings to write on my blog. Sorry. It's been a busy week. Tuesday I went stamping, so I didn't get home until late. Dave didn't get home until right before me and since we hadn't eaten supper yet, we ate at 9:30 or so. Then Wednesday night, we had a congregational meal at church, followed by a slide presentation by a guy in our church who had just returned from a Mission trip to Haiti. I had to leave that presentation early because of choir practice. Didn't get home that night until about 9:15. This time, Dave got home right after I did and he hadn't eaten, so I fixed him soup. Thursday was Maundy Thursday and our choir sang at East End Presbyterian Church, so again another late night. Dave got home about 9:45 or so. So we went to bed late again. Here it is Friday and I've been sick all day. I don't know what's going on - I've awakened 3 nights in a row with a severe stomach ache and, unfortunately, today it didn't ever go away. In fact, I am sitting here with my Rolaids by my side, eating them like candy. I've got a doctor's appointment on Monday, so if it doesn't go away before then, I'll talk to him about it.

Tomorrow I have to make an egg casserole for Easter breakfast at the church. Dave thinks he'll get to go to that and to church, then he'll probably go back to work. He's planning to work some tomorrow and then when he gets home, he'll go to work on the Habitat house. I sure don't see much of him these days. When he gets home at a decent hour, he goes in and sits in his chair and falls asleep! Poor man, he has to be tired!

I'm sure glad that Sudi and Howard made it back safely. I'll be glad to see them on Monday.