Saturday the 22nd

Yesterday when we went to Des Moines, we had two little eggs in our robin's nest. Today when we got home, we had three!!! Do you think there'll be four tomorrow? I guess we'll know soon!!

We had a good time in Des Moines. It turned out that it was a celebratory trip - my hubby decided to retire from Golden Furrow...well, sort of! He's retired from full-time part-time and will just be working hourly now - when they need him, if he wants to work he will! He called me in the morning yesterday while I was working out to tell me he'd decided to retire completely. So I called him back to ask him when this was effective and he said today (Friday)! So After PEO we went to Des Moines, did our shopping, and stayed all night at the Embassy Suites. We went to dinner at Doozies and walked out and sat by the river, which by the way, smelled like a river! This morning we set an alarm for 6:30 (weird I know, after all it's Saturday!), went downstairs for breakfast and then hopped on the shuttle for the "famous" Des Moines farmers' market. It is very large! Lots of booths of produce today - beautiful asparagus, beautiful radishes, tomatoes, onions; lots of booths with plants - flowers, tomato bushes, herbs, hostas, etc.; lots of booths of fresh flowers and planters; lots of food booths - anything from Bosnian to Dutch letters from Pella!; art booths; musicians; and even mimes! It was quite an experience. We were there by 7:45 AM and it was BUSY! There were so many people it was hard to see some of the booths. There were also lots of dogs - every kind imaginable, from little bitty to huge!

After we got home, Dave went to work at the Habitat house and I took a short nap out on the sun porch. Then Dave mowed while I worked on the laundry and got supper. Tomorrow is worship in music Sunday at church so I'm really looking forward to that. After church I think I'll try to get my brother to go to the cemetery to see if Aunt Helen's grave needs more dirt and/or grass seed. I'm looking forward to Monday - I'm going with Bob to watch Allison play softball. She is 8 and pitched 2 innings last night in her game. In the second inning she threw out one batter and struck out the next two...and she even got a hit when she batted. This morning she was playing soccer! She's playing in a 10-year-old league...I asked Vicki why. Vicki said that she throws so hard she would hurt an 8-year-old catcher! Of course, her daddy is a world-class fast-pitch softball pitcher and her mommy (Vicki) was a pretty good pitcher when she was a kid too! I think she's going to be an athlete, what do you think??

Thursday Thoughts

Since I knew that rain was forecast for today, when I got ready to go to exercise this morning, I also went up by the cemetery on Court Street and took some pictures of the iris. They are absolutely beautiful this year. These pictures are pretty good, but they don't really do them justice...be sure and drive by before they are all gone. You know that iris don't really last that long, but they are gorgeous.
This is one of the iris that I loved. I used to have one of these big yellow hybrids, but somebody I know killed it out by putting too much mulch on it! Actually it didn't die, it just is stunted...it's coming back this year, but I don't think it's going to bloom. I may have to dig what's left of it up and replant it. Isn't this pretty?? It's around the corner south.
I love this picture. I took a picture almost identical to this when this flowering crab was first blooming, but this one is better I think. In fact, I think it could be a postcard promoting Ottumwa.
Since I was out taking pictures, I also took this one. Mrs. Robin didn't move a muscle or twitch an eye - I was only about 12 feet away from her...after she finally flew, I got a picture of the next and there's still only 1 egg in it. She sat there a long time today...I figured she was laying another egg, but when Dave got home about 2:30 there was still only one. The bird books say that robins usually lay 4 eggs, so she'd better get in gear!!

Tomorrow is a PEO day, so it'll be a busy one. I will exercise in the morning and then PEO is a luncheon, followed by a meeting. After the meeting, Dave and I are taking off for Des Moines to do some shopping for things we haven't been able to find in Ottumwa. We'll either come home tomorrow evening after dinner or we'll stay all night - I'm going to vote for coming home. I like my own bed too much!! Dave wants to work Habitat Saturday morning, so if we stay in Des Moines, we'll have to get up early to come home.

That's all for now. More later...

Wednesday the 19th

All I can say is we're going to wow them at church Sunday. We're singing some beautiful songs! This will be our last Sunday for the summer, so we'll leave them wanting more!

I'm sorry, I don't have much to blog about tonight. I went shopping to try to find some sheets that are at least 15" deep, but I couldn't find any that I liked. I guess I'll have to go to Des Moines sometime soon! I sat outside for over an hour today, much to Mrs. Robin's chagrin! She wanted back in her nest and tonight I figured out why - there's one egg in her nest! I'll try to get some pictures up here tomorrow, but for now I'm going to bed. Dave's asleep in his chair and has been for a while!

Busy Tuesday

I have been a very busy girl today - I went to exercise and then this afternoon I mowed the yard. But the good part of mowing was that Dave came home and did the trimming WHILE I was mowing. I think I'm going to like having him around some!! Then at 4:15 I got my hair cut. I went to someone different this time...interesting hair cut. She actually cut it dry. When she got done you should have seen the waves and curls in my hair. She didn't cut it too short, but yet it's short enough that all the curl came back. The problem with her cutting it dry is that there were at least a million little hairs all over me and I itched something awful, so I had to take a shower!

Then tonight was my last sorority meeting of the year. We don't meet in June, July or August. I will actually host the first meeting of the new year on September 7th...and I have the program that night too. This way I get all of my sorority commitments out of the way in the first meeting, as we all have to sign up for two things during the year - either hostess, co-hostess (which means dessert), or program. I opted for hostess and program, someone else can bring the dessert.

Well, I'm off for bed. More later...

Monday

I just think this world is going way too fast! It's Monday again and it's already the 17th of May! Wow - this month will soon be gone. Tomorrow night is our last Beta Sigma Phi meeting of the year and Friday is the last PEO meeting in our book! We'll get new yearbooks the first meeting in June. This year is flying by!

Dave got home early this morning. When he called me at 8:00 he was already in Delta, so he had to leave Waterloo pretty early! I had a hard time sleeping last night, so I was still asleep at 8:00. When he's gone, I usually have trouble sleeping the first night. I went to work out about 11:00, then came home and cleaned up the house. I also spent some time watching Mrs. Robin re-build her nest in my beautiful wreath. You know, of course, that the robins use mud and other wet stuff to build their nests. Therefore, they're a little messier than some nests.

Sorry, I'm not very chatty tonight. More later...

Sunday at Home

Church was really good again today. Our anthem was super! The sermon was wonderful! Even the cookies looked good! Our friends, Jim and Janice, even came to church. He always says that the roof will cave in if he comes, but it didn't!! Hopefully they'll come again next week!

After church we came home to get ready to go to Waterloo again. I decided that maybe this painting expedition should be a bonding time for Dave and Bryan, so I stayed home. I had a good day even though I was alone again. I watched the NASCAR race - it was kind of boring as races go...I think there were only 4 cautions. It wasn't a good day for the Hendrick Motor Sports racing team either. Jeff got 11th, Jimmy got 2nd, Junior was 3 laps down at one point, and Mark Martin didn't do well either. I didn't want Jimmy to win, but I'd rather have him win than Kyle Busch and Kyle won today. Oh well, there's always next Sunday!

A couple of months ago I subscribed to Games magazine as one of the fund-raisers for Kelly and Megan. I worked on puzzles for a lot of the day. I went outside at one point and tore down a robin's nest that she was building in my wreath. Within minutes she'd started all over, so I guess I'll just let her build up there. I did enjoy watching the baby robins last year, so I'm sure I will again this year. It's just that I put a new wreath out this year and I didn't want it dirtied up! Then tonight was the final episode of two of my favorite shows - Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters. Both were really good episodes and as usual, B&S made me cry! They killed off Robert, who is played by Rob Lowe. I had read that he wasn't coming back next season, but I didn't think they'd kill him tonight already! He's turned into a very good actor. I'll miss him.

Since I'm up past my bedtime, I guess I'd better go to bed. Dave stayed in Waterloo and will start home early in the morning, so I'm baching it tonight! More later...

Saturdays - More of the Same

My title says it all - today was just more of the same. Dave went to work at the Habitat for Humanity House; therefore, I was alone all day again! I did have some fun, though. I went shopping!! I found a jacket that I could wear in the spring weather - it was $100 and I got it for $30! I didn't really have anything that I could wear to church or someplace where a sweatshirt isn't appropriate...but now I do! I also went to the Mall to Donna's Gift Court. Now that is a fun shop. If you're looking for a gift for someone, I'm sure you could find one there! She carries purses, jewelry, flip flops, cutsy note pads, coffee, candles, wall decor, etc., etc., etc.!! She's looking for part-time help. If Dave keeps on working every day, I may go to work for her. She only wants someone from 10-3 Tuesday thru Friday and once in a while on a Saturday. I could do that, but I'm not really wanting to work. Just might consider it to help her out. She and her husband used to have a cool '61 Chevy. They sold it a few years ago because they just don't have time with her running her store. We really enjoyed them when they were car showing! We'll see! I haven't mentioned this to Dave yet...and I probably won't for a while - so don't tell him!!

When Dave got home from Habitat, we both took short naps in our chairs. Then I woke up just in time to watch the Preakness. I wish I would have had money on Looking' at Lucky. I said after the Derby that he would win at the Preakness and he did. Unfortunately our Iowa horse only came in 6th and the Derby winner was 8th. No Triple Crown this year!

Tomorrow is church and then we're going to Bryan's again. His dad is going to help him paint his garage. It's just bare drywall and he wants it painted, so we're going up to Waterloo again tomorrow. At least this time we'll drive the Cadillac and won't feel so many of the bumps in the road! I'll be taking my book and I'll also play with his cats while he and his dad are painting! I'd hate to get in their way! We feel like we've been slighting Byran since we spend 2 months with Jami and hardly ever go to see Bryan. I think he's enjoying seeing more of us!! More later...