I love Dancing with the Stars!!

I just love to watch DWTS! I think I've already got the top 3 dancers picked out this year and the season has just started. Unfortunately, you just never know how the public is going to vote. I guess that's what makes it so good! Kirstie Alley is fantastic...she can really move! She's also got Max for a partner and he'll make her move!! He doesn't cut corners on his choreography!

Hopefully I know more about dancing than I do about basketball. Last night I picked UNC to win the whole thing...well, they got beat last night, so now it'll probably be Kentucky that wins and I've never liked Kentucky. Hopefully UConn can knock them off and out!! Butler's playing like a team possessed and who can possibly stop the 3's that VCU puts up...of course, they may not make any of them next weekend!

We're about ready to leave tomorrow morning. It was pouring in the Tampa area today when Bob called. I could even hear it through the phone! I hope that stuff goes away by the time we get there. I'd like to get a little sun, at least! I can hardly wait to get warm!!! More later...

Finally

I've been trying to get on here for about an hour, and I'm just now able to do so. I hate to change servers, but I'm afraid Dave's going to insist. This really is ridiculous! Mediacom has a special for 19.95 for high speed internet. I wish some people would tell me how they like them...their speed, their reliability, etc. The big thing I would miss with a larger company is service. When I have a problem like tonight, usually I just call Cliff and he fixes it right away. I won't be able to do that with Mediacom - I'm sure I'll just get voicemail. But since Cliff lives here and IS KeyOn and the office is in his basement, he just fixes things for us! That's what's nice about small companies. That being said, however, it's starting to tick me off!!!!

Today was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. It was only about 40, however. Tuesday we leave for Florida and Bob says there's a chance of rain M-F this week...wouldn't you know it. My tan is faded and I was hoping to get some sun!! Oh well, there's always next year!

Can you believe how messed up the NCAA basketball tournament is? Kansas fell today to an 11th seed...do you think maybe they looked past them? Now I hope that North Carolina wins it all. I hope Harrison Barnes keeps playing as well as he's been playing. He's probably going to go pro if they would win the championship. He's awfully good for a freshman!! I sure wish he'd gone to Iowa State instead of UNC, but who can blame a kid for wanting to go someplace where a national championship is a definite possibility...not me.

That's all I'm pondering tonight. More later...

Quick Saturday

This day sure went fast! Dave had a meeting at church from 9-4:00 and I thought I'd get lots done while he was gone! It just didn't happen!! After my shower, I finished reading a book that I just started on Thursday...The Rapture of Canaan. This book was on Oprah's reading list some time ago and at the time, I didn't have any desire to read it. But for some reason, I inherited two copies of it, so I thought maybe I should give it a shot. It was a good book - easy reading, which is a surprise because lots of the books that Oprah chose were NOT easy reading. Maybe they were just too deep for my simple mind!?

I did get some pictures uploaded today. Here are pictures of the cards we made at club yesterday. Since most of the supplies were furnished by the demonstrator, I have no idea where the papers and stamps came from. I think she said the stamps were from PaperTrey. Anyway, I think they turned out really cute. I also think they'll be hard to mail! This first one, I furnished the blue background - it is a cardstock that I got in a big pad of cardstock (from Walmart). The inks I used were all from SU. Shirley had already cut out the clouds from a die that she has. We were asked to bring buttons of a certain size, but weren't told what we they would be used for. I think this card turned out really cute.
This is probably my favorite of all the cards. Shirley furnished the red and white circles. I had the cherry paper (from Designs With a View). Her sample had us putting the two circles with the cherries on a white cardstock base. I thought that was a little too plain, so when I got home I finished this card by adding a Cherry Cobbler base to my white card and then adding the cherry paper on top of it. The ribbon is the Cherry Cobbler seam binding from SU. I LOVE this color!!

This third card is another one she showed us. Again we brought buttons, but didn't know they were for flowers. I ended up using some of her buttons because I brought mostly red and green buttons and green flowers just wouldn't have looked right. The ink is Certainly Celery from SU as is the green square. The ribbon is one I picked up at Hobby Lobby or Michaels somewhere!
I hope you enjoyed my cards. I love doing these cards. I hope I will be able to take some of my stuff with me to Florida next year so I can continue to make cards and/or maybe even package some of them and sell them. At some point, I may have too many!! They're just like fabric - they seem to multiply easily!

At one time today, I looked out my window at the big lot just west of us and there were 18 robins out there, just hopping around! It was like a flock of them had landed out here! It's so fun to see them. I wonder how far north the hummingbirds are? When we get back from C'water, I've got to get my feeders out. I want to be sure they have food when they get here! The experts say that if you don't have food out for the orioles when they first arrive, you won't have them at all...they'll go elsewhere!

Tomorrow is church and Sunday School and then Bible Study in the afternoon. It'll be a busy day! More later...

What Happened to Spring?????

This is what we woke up to this morning.





More snow! There were two good things about this snow. 1. It made the trees and bushes pretty. 2. It was all gone by 2:00!! I was glad I got a few pictures before it all melted away!

I went to stamping club this morning. We made cards using buttons as our embellishment, which was very appropriate because the lady who demonstrated today collects buttons! We made some really cute cards, which I'll post tomorrow. After club, I stopped by the cemetery to get my pictures. Then, I came home and played for a while, read for a while, tried to bake some rolls that had been in our freezer too long evidently because they never did rise, and then I fixed supper! I lead such an interesting life!

More later...

Thursday

I had a good day today! I talked to an old friend on the phone. While we were talking, she was outside walking. So, after we hung up, I decided to go outside and go for a walk. She had told me that it was gorgeous out - not too cold and not windy! After all, it was a beautiful, sunny day! So I went outside in what I had on - jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and a flannel shirt. Well, I got about 1/2 a block away from our home and I was freezing, so I turned around and hot-footed it home! I told Dave tonight that I'd figured out a way to keep our backs from hurting...walk on concrete so fast that you get shin splints!! That way, you don't feel your back, you just feel your shins!! lol

Since I was freezing AND huffing and puffing, I didn't go back outside. Instead I ate my lunch and worked on making cards. Tomorrow is stamp club so I got my kit ready to go and gathered up the samples I want to show in the show-and-tell portion of club. Can't wait to see what we're doing. I just know that we're using buttons!!

More later...

March 23rd, 2011

Is it ever cold here!! The temperature is around 44 but the wind is making it bitter, bitter!! Dave said it's supposed to snow or have a wintery mix all weekend - yuck! So, I made our reservations to go back to Clearwater. I sure hope Bob & Ann will let us stay with them again. Our renters leave on the 30th but we're flying into St Pete on the 29th! I haven't got us any return reservations yet. I'd like to stay a while and warm up again!! I talked to my brother today and he said it was downright hot there today.

I finished a book today, called "Lovely Bones" - this is a weird book. It's about a young girl who is raped, killed, and dismembered...but the book is written from HER viewpoint. So it's all about her looking on while her family disintegrates after her death and about her being in her heaven. It really makes you think, but I thought it was a very strange book. I was told tonight at choir practice that there's even a movie coming out...I don't believe I'll be spending money to see it!

More later...

Bumpy Ride Ahead

It sounds like it's going to be a bumpy night tonight...must be spring in Iowa. There are severe thunderstorm warnings all around us and tornadoes west of us. We're in a tornado watch until 9:00 and a severe thunderstorm area until 10:00. I hate this part of spring! We're supposed to go back into the 40's for the rest of the week - a couple of days are to only be in the 30's. That's after having 3 straight days of 65+! Oh well, this too shall pass, right?

I took my tax papers in today. That wasn't fun either! His initial report showed us owing over $5,000!!! Come to find out, one of our investments had been coded as a taxable distribution instead of a rollover. Whew! I was sweating that one! Now it looks like we'll actually get a little money back - yay!!

I'm getting off of here so that I can unplug my computer - just in case lightning hits it! More later...

Busy, Busy, Busy

What a busy day this was! I had a doctor's appointment in Fairfield this morning. On my way back to Ottumwa, I decided to stop in Libertyville to see my Aunt. Oh my! That's all I have to say on that subject!

I didn't get home until about 10:30 and then I started working on finding everything I still needed to have our taxes prepared...I have an appointment in the morning with our CPA. I have been working on this for several day, but I still had to go through all of the medical bills and all of the donations. About 4:30 I got done with everything I could do without Dave's input. I had a PEO reciprocity meeting at 5:00, which didn't get over until 6:30. I came home and ordered pizza! I figured I deserved it. By the time I got home, Dave had been working on his part of the tax prep. I'll be glad to get this over with. I hate tax time!

About 7:15 I realized that Dancing With The Stars had already started and I was missing it! By the time I got on, I had only missed Mark Ballas and his partner. I got to see all the rest. This is going to be an interesting season. There are three stars who have lots of ability! They got 8's on the very first night of competition!! That's almost unheard of! The sad part of DWTS is that Derek Hough isn't dancing this year...we'll miss him!

I didn't have any time to be creative today and tomorrow's not looking too good either! More later...

A taste of summer!

It was absolutely beautiful today. I was awakened this morning to a heavy thunderstorm - love that thunder and lightening! The rain we had made our grass green-up! My dad always said it was the lightening that made the grass green - either way, it sure looks green compared to yesterday. By the time I got out of church, it was 69 degrees out and the sun was trying to shine. It was 73 here at 6:00 PM...unbelievable! It was fun to look at the three cities I have listed on my computer desktop...it was 73 in Ottumwa, 74 in Clearwater and 75 in Fort Lauderdale! Unfortunately the other two cities will continue to have warm weather whereas we're supposed to go back into the 40's again later this weak.

Church was great as usual. Pastor David talked about "feeding God's sheep". It was another powerful sermon. There were 3 little girls sitting in the front pews (they were in the children's choir) and they were mesmerized by David's sermon. They all 3 gave him their undivided attention. Very interesting, considering they are probably all 11 and under. After church we went with several church people to El Potro for lunch. It's been a while since we've done that.

I watched part of the race until it was time for Bible study. Then this evening I got to watch part of the UNI women's game. Unfortunately, they got beat by 3, but they played really well. It turned out to be a bad weekend for women's sports in the state of Iowa...all 3 teams lost their games and are out of the NCAA tournament. At least they got there - that's better than lots of teams in the country.

Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with Dr. Hill at 8:45 AM and then I have a meeting in the afternoon at 5:00. In between I've got to get my tax papers together because Tuesday morning I meet with the guy who prepares our taxes. Yuck! More later...

Last Day of Winter

Today is officially the last day of winter - yay!! I understand that spring is supposed to officially arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon - the sooner, the better! It really is starting to "smell" like spring, but I want it to feel and look like spring! I'm ready for green grass and green trees and WARM weather! Today wasn't too bad, though. It was 56 this afternoon, but a strong breeze made it feel a little cooler.

We went to the Evening Lions' pancake breakfast this morning at the KC Hall. They had either pancakes and sausage or biscuits and gravy...I had pancakes, Dave had the gravy! We sat with some neighbors that live about 5 houses down...that was fun because we don't see them much. They have a '54 Olds that they wrecked last year, but they haven't fixed it yet. The whole front end of it is demolished! He doesn't know if he's even going to fix it - they have other toys, like a touring bike and a boat! She's worked at South Ottumwa Savings Bank for 52 years and she's going to retire. Her last day at the bank is 3/31. She and another VP of the bank are going out on the same day - they represent 87 years of service in the bank in O-town! That's a lot of time on one job!! She said it's time - she finally feels ready to leave and she's excited about it. Maybe we'll see more of them!

After breakfast, Dave called Bryan to see if we could go to Waterloo and take him out for lunch. Unfortunately, he didn't call back until about 11:00, so our lunch was a little late! We went to a place called Chalapa's (I think) - a Mexican restaurant that was wonderful! Then we had to check out Bryan's upstairs to see what progress he's making. He's so very talented - his bathroom upstairs is beautiful and he's about ready to start tiling his laundry room. He's got all the carpet up and is ready for the underlayment. It's a big project, but something he loves to do! While we were there, he got out some chocolate for us to try. It was milk chocolate with Apple smoked bacon bits...not my favorite. I love bacon and I love chocolate, but I didn't particularly like them together! He also had some lacy things he'd bought at World Market - they were wonderful. They tasted like flattened out Heath bars!!

I drove up to Waterloo and Dave drove back! In case Ann is reading this...guess how many chihuahua puppies they had in Dysart. Dave guessed 7 and I guessed 5 - they had 8!!! They need to sell some puppies! For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, there's a place in Dysart where they raise chihuahuas and they have a sign in their front yard telling how many puppies they have each day. My family always plays a guessing game to see who gets closest to the correct number. Dave won today.

In closing, here's a picture I love and wanted to share - it's one of those pictures that transports me back to S Florida. It's kind of a warm-fuzzy! Enjoy!!

More later...

Friday, March 18th

I had a PEO meeting at my house this morning. It turned out to be a wonderful meeting. There were 25 people in my living room - and no one had to sit on anyone else's lap!! The hardest part of the morning was trying to get everyone parked to where they could get out when they needed to. I stayed outside directing traffic - all I was missing was a uniform and a whistle! I'm just glad it didn't rain because about 11 cars were parked on the grass!! The rain is supposed to come tomorrow afternoon now - it was originally to be here Thursday, but they just kept moving it back.

Dave went to work today so I had the whole afternoon to myself. I was able to get everything put back in place, including all the chairs, AND get the dishes done and tables cleaned off...and I got to do it at my own pace.

Tomorrow morning we're going to have pancakes at a pancake breakfast sponsored by the Lions Club. Dave bought tickets as a surprise. I really didn't want to get up that early, but...

More later...

Balmy Day!!

I don't know if today's heat broke a record or not, but it was 73 degrees at 5:45 when I went to Photo class!! It was a gorgeous day - the sun didn't shine brightly, but it was there at least! I found my long-sleeved shirt a little too hot!! But this is Iowa, so I'm told that tomorrow we're back to rain and a high in the 40's - yuck!!

I had an eye doctor's appointment this morning. My prescription changed quite a bit, so I had to get new glasses. I didn't really want to do that, but since these lenses are chipped from my dropping them on a tile floor in Florida, I guess that it'll be okay. The frames I got are sort of reddish brown, but with some bling on them! I really considered frames that looked a lot like Sarah Palin's - they looked really nice on me, sort of brought out the silver in my hair (like I needed any help with that!!!) I was afraid, however, that I might start thinking like her if I had that frame (haha)...not really, I vetoed that frames because the lenses were 3 mm smaller than mine now and it's really hard to fit both the bifocal and trifocal into the smaller lenses.

Tonight I went to my camera class. It was pretty interesting tonight. We worked with Photoshop Elements and learned how to make some easy corrections on our photographs. The second half of the class was spent talking about our cameras and since I have a new one, I was able to find out lots about mine!

Tomorrow I have a PEO meeting here, so Dave and I cleaned up the house and put out extra chairs. I'll be glad when it's over though!! We've got 24 coming and that's a lot of people for our living room! It's a good think we like each other! More later...

It's 55 degrees at 9:30 PM!!!

What a beautiful day today was! It was shorts weather and you know how I love that!! Unfortunately, though, I had a meeting this morning that took about 2 hours so I had to be inside! This afternoon, I went outside and pulled some of the dead perennials off to see if there was any new growth...and there was!!! I picked sticks out of my gardens and then my back started tightening up, so I sat on the front steps and just absorbed the beautiful day!! Tonight I had choir practice - we're singing some great songs during Lent and for Easter!

I wanted to share some cards I made yesterday and this morning while I was waiting for my meeting. The card base itself is Stampin' Up's certainly celery (my very favorite color of theirs!!) The stripe is from one sheet of double-sided paper from Cosmo Cricket that I picked up somewhere (?). The ribbons are from Walmart, but the button is from SU as are the inks and the stamps. I used up almost all of the striped paper that I had...for some reason I only bought one page of this paper. It's really pretty - it has yellows, oranges, and greens! I made four different versions with basically the same ingredients. I hope you like them - I do!





You're not seeing double on this card. I actually stamped the card twice, just a little bit away from the first stamping - it gives the stamp a bit of dimension!

Tomorrow's another busy day for me. I've got an eye doctor exam in the morning and my photography class tomorrow night. In between I have to clean my house because PEO is here Friday morning and so far 26 people have responded that they'll be here! I don't know where everyone will sit!! We'll have to get some chairs from church, I believe. More later...

The Ides of March

I don't know if you know what I am talking about when I say that today is the Ides of March...I said this the other night at church and no one knew what I was talking about....I'm just going to let you wonder or look it up yourself if you're so inclined!

Tonight at sorority, we had a short quiz about St. Patrick and our knowledge of Irish lore. We had 11 questions and I only got 5 answers correct. Can't believe I didn't know more about St. Patrick and the "little leprechauns!" I do know that March 17th is St. Patrick's Day AND my mother-in-law's birthday!! I also know that my grandchildren LOVE St. Patrick's Day! On St. Patty's Day, the leprechauns visit their home, turning things upside down, leaving footprints on the tile, and even painting shamrocks on their bull terrier!! I'm sure they also get money and candy in their little pots of gold! No wonder they love it!

This was a beautiful day in SE Iowa. We had temps around 55 degrees and the sun was shining brightly. It's still 45 here even at 10:00 PM! Tomorrow it's supposed to be near 60 and on Thursday, we might even hit 70!! Dave and I got the lawn tractor out today and I drove it around the yard, mulching leaves while he picked up sticks and put them in the little wagon I was pulling. It felt so good to be outside!! Dave even power-washed both vehicles just to get the salt/sand/mud off of them from the lousy winter weather we've had!! The car is a long ways from being clean, but it's sure better than it was!!

More later...

Monday, March 14

This was a really busy day! It started VERY early, too. Dave had to be at the hospital at 6:00 AM for a colonoscopy, so we had to get up at 5:00. He was first on the schedule and by 8:00 he was out and awake and hungry! Everything was clear this time - thank God! So by 8:45 we were heading to breakfast at Riverside!! By 10:30 or so I had crashed and I went upstairs to read. I had a really hard time keeping my eyes open, but I finally finished a 605 page book about 12:15 and then I took a nap!! I had a really hard time napping though, because the phone rang twice - both annoying calls!!!

This evening, I had an Evangelism meeting at church, followed by a Disciple meeting...then I had to type up the minutes when I got home! Tomorrow I've got a luncheon meeting and a meeting tomorrow night! Actually, the whole week is like that - I've got meetings and doctor's appointments all week, ending with a PEO meeting here on Friday morning - so I've got to clean house too!! More later...

Sunday, March 13th

Poor Dave's not having a very good day today. Any of you who have prepped for a colonoscopy know exactly what he's going through. He's such a trouper, though - he never complains. He's just been watching Arnold movies most of the day and this evening we're watching IPTV which has doo-wop music on! I've been at church a lot of the day today. We both went to church this morning - I actually sang in the choir today. Today Pastor David started a series of sermons on tears. He told us when we prayed, we should mean it and want it bad enough that you may have tears when you pray. It was a very powerful sermon and at the end of it, he had a time for silent prayer - I doubt that there was a dry eye in the church! After church, I stayed for Sunday School where we're studying parables and today's was the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Then this afternoon, I'm involved in a women's Bible study group which is studying the book of Jonah. We had a wonderful group today and shared a lot about the interruptions in our lives - most all of which turned out to be Divine Interventions instead of interruptions!! God is good - all the time!

Tonight I've been very frustrated trying to get on Facebook and FarmTown. I finally closed my browser (I use Firefox most all of the time) and tried opening it in Google Chrome. It worked!! My crops, however, died in the meantime because I didn't get them harvested in time. Oh well - it's a good thing it's a game and not real life - I lost lots of FarmTown coins today!! Haha - too funny!

We're off to bed because we have to be at the hospital at 6:00 AM! Keep Dave in your prayers! More later...

March 12, 2011

My big excitement for today was I went to WalMart!! Whoopie! I lead a very boring life, don't I? I got several items to make my craft room a little more organized, which was really good. Plus, I was able to get the groceries there too, so I killed two birds with one stone! Speaking of birds, I found a website that tracks the ruby-throated hummingbirds' migration north - http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/galleries/2011/humm_ruby_an_spring2011.html - you'll have to copy and paste this into your menu bar if you're interested in looking. They are definitely on the move!! I can hardly wait to see them again!!

Another bird website that I've been watching is an eagle's nest in Decorah. It's a live cam, so you get to watch mama eagle all day and night if you want. http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/decorah_eagle_xcel.html - again, you'll have to copy and paste this into your browser...it's really pretty cool!

Tonight we have to change our clocks to daylight savings time and I'm really not looking forward to that. I have to be at church at 8:45 and I won't be able to go to sleep any earlier, just because the clock says it's an hour later - grrrrr!!!! Tomorrow Dave has to prep for his Monday 6:00 AM colonoscopy, so I will stay out of his way and sneak any food, so he doesn't have to smell it! Poor guy! He has colon cancer on both sides of his family - both his mom and dad, so he has to do this religiously! He's not looking forward to it and I don't blame him. We just hope and pray for a good outcome.

More later...

Friday, March 11th

Today made me think that spring is coming! It was in the mid-50's here and the air smelled like spring. It is still 48 degrees at 9:30 - that's definitely an improvement! All of the snow is gone! I just about got the shorts out, but with 20-30 mph winds, it didn't feel very warm!! So instead, I wore sandals with my jeans and long-sleeved shirt!!

I didn't do much today. Dave worked at the park all day and I worked in my craft room, trying to organize some of the stuff that's gotten out of hand. I think I'll make a run to WalMart or Target tomorrow to get some of the plastic Sterlite stacking 9" drawers. They'll make my life a lot more organized...and neater, too! Dave will be working at the Habitat house, so I won't need to worry about doing anything with him.

Sudi will be proud of me - I even got some fabric out today. I think I feel a project coming on. Nothing like a quilt because I don't know what to do with them after I have made them...probably a tote or two...maybe a purse out of another color. Maybe I'll even get enough fabric out to make another sweatshirt jacket!! Who knows?? More later...

Massage Day!!

I love having massages and today was my massage day! To say that I'm relaxed is an understatement!! I also get to report that the sun actually peeked out this afternoon - hooray! Tomorrow it's supposed to be 56 degrees and I can hardly wait - I probably won't be able to sleep, I'm so excited for warmer weather!! The 7-day forecast even says 50's for most of the week!! Dave got his moped out this afternoon, so he's planning on riding around town tomorrow. Since gas is $3.44/gallon, we're trying not to drive much!!

More later...

Another Gray Day!

Will the sun ever come out again??? I'm getting very tired of gray, drizzly days. Today was really a gloomy day - foggy, drizzly, some snow flakes, yuck!! I think by Friday maybe the sun is supposed to be here!! I hope, anyway! I had to go to Fairfield to a funeral this morning - a gloomy day for a funeral. During the service, I thanked God for sending us Pastor David - I am so glad that we have a Pastor who is excited about the word of God! Funerals are truly celebrations of life with him.

I didn't get home until about 12:45 and then I had to make a casserole and a dessert for tonight's potluck at our church. Dave vacuumed and mopped the kitchen floor while I baked and did dishes! What a guy!! After the potluck, we had Ash Wednesday services and then choir practice after that!! I just got home and I'm tired!!

Today is my youngest niece's birthday. It's really hard for me to believe that she is 41! I tried to call her a little bit ago, but she didn't answer. She may be on the house phone!

More later...

March 8, 2011

Another gray, gray day in southeastern Iowa - and I must say, I'M GETTING TIRED OF GRAY!!!! Whew, do I feel better - thank you for letting me scream a little!

Today I'm going to share a couple more cards with you. First of all, all of the papers, inks, stamps, etc. are Stampin' Up, unless otherwise noted. This card is made of melon mango - one of my favorite colors. I added a lighter pink (from JoAnn's) to it and then centered the three flower panels on it. I made a couple of different versions of this card - I really think it turned out well. I'm sorry that when I scanned it, it was crooked. :( I'll try harder next time!
This card is CASE'd from one I saw online. The one I copied was done in an old gold, but I didn't have anything but this color. I also used three amber colored "rhinestones" whereas the original card had gold ones. It's really a pretty card in person - very classy! It's a card I'll do again in different color waves.
Today I was supposed to give blood, but since I've still got a loose cough, they wouldn't take my blood! I've been working in my craft room trying to re-organize it, so I was glad that I got to come back home without giving blood. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in my little room...I need to take everything out (a clean sweep) and then put it back in, organizing as I go. I just don't have room to do that clean sweep - My craft room is so small, I can hardly turn around in it as is!! So, I guess I'll clean out my fabric closet and a dresser and start from there. The fabric is such that it's not usable right now, so I have to fix that! I know I've got "stuff" in my closet that I'll never use, so I guess I'd better get a box started for a garage sale this spring/summer! Yuck!

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, so we'll be going to dinner at church and then staying for the service at 6:30. I have decided to give up Mafia Wars for Lent. This is really going to be hard for me, because I really like that dumb game! I wanted to get all the way done with the Bangkok and Italy levels, but there's no way that's going to happen, so now's as good a time as any. After Easter I may go back and try to catch up - we'll see. I've never been back to my Zoo after I quit it!

More later...

My Birthday

If the sun would have come out, this would have been a perfect day. Instead it was gray, gray, gray!! I got to sleep in this morning and then had breakfast in bed, while I read the newspaper. This is the card that Dave got for me - it really looks hand-made. As I studied it, I decided that I'd try to make MY version of this card for Vicki, whose birthday is Wednesday.

So this is my version:
I used all Stampin' Up papers, inks, and stamps. The ribbon was something I had in my stash. It was actually about 1/2" wide, so I cut it in half with a rotary cutter. I didn't have any bright blue marker that would show up as well as the purchased card, but I think my version has the same effect. I'm pretty proud of myself!! I hope Vicki likes it. I may make some more of this card later - it's a very striking combination of embossing and stamping.

I also worked on our Alaska trip today. I will be purchasing our airline tickets tomorrow. I didn't realize how long a trip it is from Anchorage to Seattle - it's like 5.5 hours in a plane! Wow - Anchorage is a long ways away!! The flights out of Anchorage are late night flights - I guess I'll just take an extra tranquilizer and sleep all the way! (I hope, anyway!!)

I got on Facebook tonight to look at all my birthday messages. At last count I had 115 of them from all over the US, plus from Brazil, Poland, and Germany! What fun! I also had phone calls from my brother, two of my nieces, Jami, 2 PEO sisters, and a lady from church. Then I got cards too!! This has been a fun day. Thank you all!! Sudi, I'm sure glad we didn't go to Amana this last weekend. I'm going to try to get my craft/sewing room cleaned up to where I can find things when I look for them! I don't need any more fabric for a while!!!

More later...

Sunday Ponderings

We had a baptism today at church - a little boy named Hayzen. He was so cute in his little tennies and his sweater vest. Unfortunately, he slept all the way through his baptism and his trip up and down the aisle so he could meet the church congregation! It was also pre-school Sunday at church, which means that our pews were full! I think that's the answer to low attendance in churches - have the little kids perform every Sunday. You then get parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts & uncles too!

After church, I went to Sunday School where we're going to be studying the parables in the Bible. Today's parable was about the rich man and Lazarus. I don't know which parable Pastor David will pick for next week. Regardless, it'll be interesting! After Sunday School, I hurried home because we'd invited Kyle and Cassie over for Sunday dinner. They seemed to enjoy being here...they left about 2:50 when I had to go back to church because of a class that I'd signed up for. This Bible study class is about Jonah and about interrupted lives. Life interruptions are actually divine interventions and are a privilege - this is the theme of the study. I think it will be a fun study!

By the time I got home, it was almost 5:00! I missed the majority of the NASCAR race, but I did get home for the last 50 or so laps.

I haven't been sleeping well, so I think I'm going to bed early tonight. Before I go, though, I wanted to share a couple more cards we made yesterday. This first one is my favorite of all of them. I love the colors AND the technique. Again all papers, inks, etc., are from Stampin' Up.



I really like the green ribbon and the brad is a rhinestone, but it doesn't show up well in the scan. Sorry. The second card is another one that I really like. This little girl stamp could be so versatile - I may have to consider getting it one day. This ribbon is the new seam binding that Stampin' Up came out with a couple of months ago. I ordered some of this in cherry cobbler red, which is one of my favorite SU colors ever!

The inside of this card is supposed to say, Happy Spring or something to that effect, but I'll probably use it as a get-well card!

That's all for now - more later...

Saturday, March 5th

Am I ever glad that I had something to do today, because it was a yucky day weather-wise! Unfortunately two of the things I had to do involved me going outside to get there! This morning, I went stamping from 9-noon in the conference room at the library. We made 5 cards - all of which are really nice. Here are three of them: This first one is made to fit in a regular business envelope, which I especially like. Sometimes I don't have any of the envelopes that are 5 1/2 x 4 3/8, so this will be great! Most of the people got a poppy red background, but mine was blue. I teased Kathy that she did that on purpose...I'm always telling her I don't like blue! Regardless, this card turned out really nice. I ordered the scalloped punch - I've been wanting one of them for a long time!
All of these cards were made with Stampin' Up paper, cardstock, ink, stamps, ribbons, and embellishments. This card is going to be for my mother-in-law. Her birthday is March 17th! So instead of putting Happy St Patrick's Day on the inside of the card, I'll put Happy Birthday! The shamrock was made by putting 4 little hearts together - clever!


I think this card will be a great masculine birthday card. It's just very masculine looking to me. Maybe it's the mixture of navy and burgundy on a white background. Anyway, it uses paper that was embossed with my new favorite embossing folder, also from SU!

After stamping, I went over to church where they were having a craft/bake sale/bazaar. We have one lady in our church who makes to-die-for cinnamon rolls, so I was able to buy 8 of them. I also got a pint of home canned salsa and a couple of crocheted dishrags. When I got home, Dave had left me a message that he had bought cinnamon rolls too! Great minds....!

Tomorrow we are going to church and then Kyle and Cassie are coming over for pot roast. I know Kyle appreciates a home-cooked meal. He said he'd been cooking bacon ever since he's been at Bob & Ann's - that was all he could find in their freezer!! He's so funny! He and Cassie rented a duplex today in Prairie City. This way he'll have about a 45 minute drive to work and she'll have about 40 minutes. I didn't ask if they could have pets or not - he and his roommate from college co-own a pit bull that looks more like a boxer with a tail! I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

More later...

A Good Friday!

This was a beautiful day - up until about 2:30 anyway! It started raining/drizzling about then and with the temps in the lower 40's it was downright chilly out. I started out this morning waaaayyy early (for me, anyway)! I got up at 7:00, came downstairs and peeled potatoes, carrots, onions, etc. for a pot roast for some friends of ours - she just had knee replacement surgery and he's the one who had gone into A-fib two times last month! I actually fixed 2 pot roasts - one for them and one for us, so I had to peel twice as many potatoes, carrots, etc.!

PEO was at 9:30, so I had to hurry around a little just to get ready. This was my last day as President of my chapter. We had 18 members present and all went smoothly, even the installation. For the most part, my voice even held up! When I got home from PEO, our house smelled so good!! Dave had been at church working this morning and came home for lunch. He said that he was planning to surprise me, but since I'd fixed the pot roast for us, he thought he'd better confess that he'd invited Sue & Craig and Nan to join us at the Club for dinner in honor of my approaching birthday! So, we unplugged our pot roast and stuck it in the refrigerator to finish cooking Sunday morning! After lunch I baked brownies so that Barry & Mary would have dessert with their pot roast - us too, of course!!

Tonight we went to the Club - reservations at 6:00 and we didn't get home until 9:00. It was fun just sitting there gabbing with good friends! The talk of the Country Club tonight was Coach Kidder's resignation - or forced resignation, as the case may be! Either way, it's a good day for IHCC!! It was in the paper this morning, so I called my brother to tell him - he found out yesterday from Coach Carroll, who's entertaining the thought of applying for the job. I don't think he will, but it WOULD be fun if he was the coach again!!

That's all for tonight - I'm going stamping at 9:00 in the morning, so hopefully I have something cool to show you tomorrow!! More later...

Thursday

Dave surprised me this morning by telling me we were going to Cantril after breakfast. I needed several things and I figured I'd be going by myself, but he took me instead! When we got there all the parking places on both sides of the street were full...just like on Saturdays! I swear this is southeast Iowa's favorite shopping spot! Anyway it was a fun drive. We saw lots of green grass...not summer green, mind you, but it was green nonetheless. I also saw a red-winged blackbird and thousands of Canadian geese flying around. I sure hope they are all harbingers of spring! It actually got to 54 today, so it turned into a nice day. We didn't even wear coats!!

Tonight we picked up Kyle and took him with us to the Wapello Country Historical Society soup supper. It's all you can eat soup, cornbread, and dessert for $6.00 - we're big spenders!! Then he came back here with us and we just chatted. He's been at his job now for 6 days and seems to like it very well. Next week he starts on his shift work. He'll work Monday and Tuesday either 5 AM to 5 PM or 6 to 6, then off on Wed. & Thursday and work again Friday thru Sunday. Then the next week he'll only work Wed & Thurs and be off the rest of the time. That sounds like a pretty good work schedule to me!

Tomorrow is my last PEO meeting at President and I must say I'm looking forward to it. I've gone through everything and I'm ready to hand everything over to Peggy! More later...

Good Night for the 'Clones!

The Cyclone men played Colorado tonight in Ames...what a game! We ended up winning by 5!! Colorado needed the win in order to be eligible for the NCAA tournament. We needed it too! We were up by 12 and then Colorado was up by 6, etc....but really matters is that we were up by 5 at the end!! Good job of coaching, Fred!

The Warriors are playing Southeastern in a best 2 out of 3 series with the winner going to District Tournament. We are down by 3 with 15 seconds left. We got 2 3-point shot attempts at the end of the game, but both missed. So, again Coach Carroll and his Blackhawks got the best of the Warriors and Jeff Kidder! It's hard to be sad, even though, I'm a Warrior through and through. I love Coach Carroll though, so it was a win-win situation for me. There's always next year.

More later...

March 1st

March came in like a lamb today - it smelled like spring out! It actually got up in the mid-40's here, so it really was a nice day. A lot of the snow melted and we can actually see grass again! The rest of this week, however, is supposed to be more like a lion! After all, the girls' state basketball tournament is in Des Moines this week!! Another good sign though - horses are starting to shed!! Yay; I'm ready for spring!

My day started out way early! I had an 8:00 appointment for a mammogram. I was ready for a nap at 11:00...that's the earliest I've been up for a long time! I also had sorority tonight, so I've been busy today! I finally got all of my pictures uploaded to my computer and I got all of the mail gone through to where I've only got a very small pile left!! It's been a good day! We still can't find my keys though...we took the car key off of my key ring so that we could give the car key to Bob to take to Florida and we can't remember what we did with the rest of my keys. Dave's out looking in the pickup right now!

More later...