June 22, 2008

• Congratulations to Shawn Johnson from Des Moines

  What a thrill it must be for the family of Shawn Johnson, the 16 year old that has just won the Olympic trials to go to China.  She is a very poised, pretty young lady, a tribute to herself, her family and her coach.  The news has been covering her since we moved to DM so when I saw that trials were on TV today we watched (well, I did).  She, and the other girls, were superb. (…)

June 21, 2008

• Sale Over, We're Back in DM

  Whew, the sale is over, the stuff is gone and we had a delightful dinner with friends after the sale.  It's probably the last time we will ever go to "the Little Pink House" for dinner, but it was a delightful way to end a long and stressful day.  Janet and Ernest are so fun to be with, she is, without a doubt, the most pleasant person I have ever met.  She always make me chuckle, even when it doesn't seem possible and Ernest, with his white beard and shorts and suspenders just cracks me up!  Janet kindly informed Martha that she has known me longer than anyone else in MP, which is true.  I met her when I first went down to look for housing and stopped at the bank to ask if they knew of anyplace.  She made me smile then and has never quit. (…)

June 18, 2008

• Sale Day Tomorrow

  The sale is tomorrow, I think we are really close to ready.  Still have some meat in the freezer that we have to take with us to DM but the rest is all at Martha and Ingrids' so we are in good shape there.  I bought a rolling cooler tonight which I decided we would use enough to justify having it and it will make the meat move a whole bunch easier.  I have to go to Burlington in the morning and take the TV boxes back to MediaCom and pick up some dry ice to pack the meat in, if there is any there.  If not it will just have to be packed in ice and go that way to DM. (…)

June 13, 2008

• Grand News

  I'm going to be a Grandma again to another beautiful, wanted, loved baby.  Life doesn't get much better than that!! (…)

June 12, 2008

• Interesting Day

  Some days just don't go the way they start out, I went to work thinking that it would be a normal day and then I got an email from someone I talked to a couple of months ago and they said they had gotten funding to do the $1,600 ad for 2009 so send the contract and they would get it ready to go.  Now, I don't know if their year (it's a CVB) starts early or if this is going to wait until January, but, either way it's fine and fun to get. (…)

June 10, 2008

• Old Friends

  It's fun to take the time to visit with old friends.  I just got off the phone with S in Ankeny, we visited for well over an hour and will be doing the thrift shop/breakfast outing sometime before we leave.  Should be fun. 
  They now have three poodles and 3 cats…I'm sure they would like more if they had more space.  Such characters, they do love their animals. (…)

June 7, 2008

• Race Time

  Last night we went to the races at Prairie Meadows since the weather was decent for a change.  We started out standing out by the track and then over by the paddock area.  It's amazing to me how powerful the horses are, they are skinny (my daughter said they aren't skinny they are just right).  The jockey's are little bitty guys, some were maybe 5'2" tall but they could slip through a keyhole and never touch the locks!  That being said, they are solid muscle, like solid rope, tough and strong. (…)

June 6, 2008

• Tornado Central

  It appears that the Midwest has done something to make Mother Nature unhappy!  The night before last there were 5 tornados on the ground in SW Iowa and last night there were more.  I heard on the weather this morning that so far this year the Midwest has experienced 100 tornados this is an all time high.  Goodness!  Parkersburg certainly is an example of the strength and speed of a tornado, 8 dead and the town is a pile of ruin.  How sad, it was such a lovely little town with its Victorian B&B on 14 that I saw when I would drive through the town on my way north.  It is just outside of Parkersburg where I saw the silver fox, such a beautiful animal.  That could be part of the reason I had such fond thoughts about Parkersburg, I mean, how many times in your life do you get to see a silver fox? (…)

June 3, 2008

• Cottonwood Trees

  There are times when I sit back and think about the little things that make me smile.  One of those is the sound of a cottonwood tree as the leaves clink together in a breeze.  When we lived on Greenwood there was a self started cottonwood tree on the corner of the lot next door, as it grew we would hear the leaves clinking when the breeze started up.  Now to some people I am sure that the sound would be offensive but to me it was one of the most peaceful sounds ever.  Then the lot was sold, a house was built on the lot and the tree was cut down.  Always missed that silly tree, didn't much like the neighbors either and I'm certain that it is because they cut the tree down.  It seems to me that I only spoke to them a couple of times so really didn't have any reason to like or dislike them, they just cut down the tree! (…)

May 24, 2008

• Getting Closer

  We are getting closer to being all packed, should have it wrapped up tomorrow.  For someone that doesn't like a lot of "stuff" we sure as the world have it!!  Of course, there are boxes of china and crystal, sewing things and personal things like brushes, toothpaste and all that kind of stuff but then the huge number of boxes of office supplies, paper, computer stuff, and all that kind of stuff.  So, guess it's not all "stuff" but sure are a lot of boxes!  We packed them in the priority mail boxes so that makes it seem like there are a lot more, but they are a size that I can carry without any problem so it works out well. (…)

May 20, 2008

• Beautiful Day in Iowa

  Ok, so now I know why we live in Iowa, it's for days like yesterday and today.  The sky is clear, the temperatures about perfect and things are getting done at the office, what a delight. (…)

May 18, 2008

• Packing

  I coundln't help but thing of Jolene when I was packing my cloths, she told me years ago that I had WAY too many cloths, kinda have to agree with her today! 
  We have most things packed, not going to be able to move them all today, but we will get some of it moved and the rest will stay here until next weekend or until after the sale.  It has been interesting to see what all has been stashed in all these years. (…)

April 28, 2008

• It's Not Over Yet

  The grass may be green, the trees may have leaves budding out and the magnolia tree is filled with blossoms but winter isn't over in Iowa yet.  The weather for tonight is going to be below freezing again.  Yes, that's right, 31 degrees and winter coats suggested for today.  Great. (…)

April 26, 2008

• MP

  For the first time in a couple of weeks we came back to MP to check on the house, get the fish ready for the auction and mow the lawn.  Interesting thing about this trip was that it wasn't snowing, blowing or freezing, although it was cold, 50's. (…)

April 25, 2008

• Cloudy Day

  Today is the follow up to a day of rough weather in much of Iowa, it's cloudy, cool and looking like it may rain again at any minute.  Days like this are days that are made for either staying tucked in bed with a good book or working in an office with no windows so you don't have any idea what the weather outside it like.  Unfortunately, those two aren't options when you do what we do, we have wonderful big windows and the work doesn't wait for a good day with a book! (…)

April 23, 2008

• Election Continuation

  She's something, isn't she?  Down and out and then boom, she comes through with enough to keep in the game.  It's interesting to watch the maneuvering, listen to the he said, she said; the spins on comments and interviews and the human characteristics that surface at the times when they truly wish they could be hidden; the hardness, the frustrations, the sniping and the gloating.  It reaffirms the fact that, in my opinion, anyone that wants to be the president of the USA is really seeking something that I certainly don't have or lust after!  I wouldn't want to have to be "on stage" all the time with nothing left sacred.  I'm surprised that we don't get told how often each of the candidates go to the rest room (like who cares, but then who cares about a lot of the stuff the media shoves at us about the candidates?)
  The biggest lesson to be learned (if you are so inclined to learn anything from this nightmare of politics) is that those that quit lose, those that keep fighting often will prevail, at least to some degree.  Like I said, she's something.    I think McCain was talking about that in some of his speaking engagements last week, about continuing on, after all, a few months ago he was nearly declared totally out of the running and Romney was a "shoe in"….where is Romney now?  Who knows (and as far as I am concerned, don't really care) but that's not the point, the point is, don't give up (at least that's what I take from it). (…)

April 19, 2008

• First Night of 2008 Races

  Last night was the first night of live racing for the season at Prairie Meadows so we went out.  Although it was busy, it wasn't as packed in the race area as I anticipated it would be but let me tell you, the casino was packed!  People were wandering around looking for a machine to take their money!    Both of us commented on how the economy can't be that bad with thousands of people at the casino wanting to give their money away.  (Yes, I'm one of those that doesn't think gambling at a machine is a way to get rich.)
  I know that there are many people that get a real charge out of playing slots, and some actually make money.  I don't happen to be one of them.  I might as well give the doorman my money and go home when I walk into the casino.  It isn't something that thrills me, entertains me or anything other than bores me to death. (…)

April 17, 2008

• Perspective

  It's interesting to hear the different perspectives on the same subject by different people.  The news media today had different views of who did the best in the debate last night between Obama and Clinton, most saying that Obama tried to take the high road and Clinton went for the kill.  Then there were those that said that Obama is afraid to say anything that will hurt him more than he is already hurting himself with his current and previous associations with people like his pastor and some radical bomber from the "old days".  Then Hillary got good remarks for saying that she was sorry she lied about her experience in the Middle East and getting shot at. 
  Then, in came Steve to work and said how well he thought Hillary did.  He thinks that she showed leadership, strength and just made Obama look like a loser. (…)

April 15, 2008

• Wonders Never Cease

  Finally, a chance to post on payperpost.  My timing on it has been worse than awful lately.  When I'm at work I forget to check or if I do remember there are great paying opportunities and I've missed them all! (…)

April 12, 2008

• Auctioneer

  Ok, so the auctioneer didn't come at 9 so I called.  He was here yesterday..great.  Anyway, he is coming after the auction they have today so he's bringing Ed with him (Jeff was coming alone before) so they can get through more quickly.  I like Ed so that's fine with me.  Otherwise, Jeff wanted to come during the week, I supposed I could have driven back but I really didn't want to so he said they would come this afternoon. (…)