I woke up this morning and took Kaylee to school, and today was "Bowling Day". I ended up bringing another little girl in our car with us (car seat and all, of course) because her mom had to go home and change out of her pajamas, having forgotten today was "Bowling Day". Now that's funny, there. I can see that happening to me. Well, sort of. I don't go inside the school wearing pajamas. But I can STILL see that happening to me. ;)
The girl we took with us, we'll call her "A", is very small for her age, not very verbal. She brought her own bowling ball in a little bag because she actually is in a little kids' bowling league. Kind of cute, actually, and to zip to the end of the story, she creamed everybody else on her final score, too, so hey! We get there, get the shoes on, I get the machines figured out on how to plug in everybody's names, and the games begin. I took quite a few pictures. The management said "no flash" because there was a league there practicing. But our lanes were the last six in the row, and if I aimed that way, there was no way a flash was going to bother anybody behind me. So I was a bad girl and ignored the manager. Especially because photos without flash in there can not turn out and this is a once-in-a-year school event. They deserve to have photos taken.
Anyway, then there is This Woman. She's a brute. You know how usually you say "Other People's Children" in a negative way? Well, in this case the child is just fine, but it's "Other Children's Mothers". We'll call this child "D". Well, "D"s mother is very competitive, and wants D to beat everybody. She's always yelling at her and telling her to throw harder or do better or use a different ball or whatever she thinks it'll take to make her daughter be the best one there. I usually avoid the woman because she is one of very few people whose mere voice feels like nails on a chalkboard to me. This time, D's mother walked up to A, who was holding onto her OWN BALL, and said in this nasty voice "A, you don't need to hog this ball! D is going to use it." I responded very politely with a smile and "It actually IS her ball, she brought it from home." Mother Dearest responds by PULLING the ball out of this little kids' hands and saying again nastily "Well she still doesn't need to hog the ball. Other people can use it." To which I respond by standing up, walking up to her, taking the ball back out of her hands, handing it to A, and saying "It's her ball and she can choose whom she wishes to let use it." Mom stands there and stares at me, and when I use the analogy that I could feel her sniffing the air around me, I'm not much kidding. She reminded me of a bad-tempered bear. I WANTED to say "Pick on somebody your own size", but looking around I realized that wasn't possible. (In the words of Larry the Cable Guy, 'Lord, I apologize for that...'). This woman is loud, obnoxious, rude, and worst of all, she treated A like she wasn't even there, just muscled this kids' obviously special possession right out of her hands like it was her right. A's mom wasn't there, and here comes this Mother yelling at this kid for 'hogging' and prying her own stuff away from her. I Can Not Stand Bullies. She stared at me for awhile, and I shamefully admit I stared back at her while waiting for her to decide what she was going to do about it. She harumphed off and went one way and I handed her daughter another ball and wished her good luck. Every once in awhile I'd feel eyes on me but mostly I was too busy taking pictures of the kids having fun and cheering on Kaylee to notice. :)
Kaylee lost the bowling game. Kaylee does not like losing. She was pretty mad about it, in fact. She didn't want to leave, she wanted to play again, Right Now. (I just don't know where she gets the perfectionism gene! :)) In fact, she not only lost, she was in last place. How you can be bad at bowling when there are bumpers in the gutters, I don't know, but she was. She even got one spare and still came in last place. So we're going to take her bowling again just us and get some practice in. Of course I can't say much, because bowling was the first class I almost failed in college. No, I'm not kidding. I thought it would be a stupid easy A, a way to knock off a "sports" elective, and a way to learn something new. But they based your grade on your bowling score. I literally was in danger of flunking, and I didn't think that was fair, because it's not like I wasn't trying, or that I failed tests, I just can't bowl! Apparently, I passed THAT little gene on too.
She had fun though. She asked me at the end what "place" she was in, and I said "fourth". She said "well, I WAS in LAST place but now I'm in 4th." I didn't tell her she was 4th out of FOUR on her lane and that IS last place. :)
Tonight Kaylee had Awanas, and they had Passports, went to Portugal and Brazil and had foods from different countries, etc. She had a fun day!
Tomorrow I'm supposed to fly to Syracuse, NY for the day. The weather looks on the bubble right now. It may be doable, as long as the storms here are scattered enough and the clouds there where the temps are a lot colder are good enough to avoid too much icing. We'll see. It's supposed to be somewhat gusty winds too. So far nothing that says "no way", but still "eh, maybe".
I'll work on getting some of the bowling photos up on Kaylee's site tonight...
And I can't remember what else I was going to say, so I guess I'll sign off for now!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday/Tuesday
I haven't felt like typing again I guess! Monday was a busy day; Kaylee had school, and I went out to the office where I had my laptop and was able to hook up on my home computer and answer a lot of emails and do quite a bit of work. Very cool! We had lunch at Applebees, I shipped off SMA Support stuff, hit the post office, and took Kaylee to ballet. We stopped for ice cream after it was over and came home!
Today was a short school day-after going to the store, the post office, the office to pick up Vivonex, the Fed Ex store to ship it off, and CVS, I headed to pick up Kaylee and took her to get the new kids' video she's been waiting to see. The video store had rented it out, so we hit the next one. She was very excited to finally bring it home. ;) Mostly today was spent doing computer stuff, a little cleaning, a little work; life in general. Tomorrow it's Kindergarten Bowling, and flying.
Oh, I just finished "Black Monday" by R. Scott Reiss. I think Mom ought to read that one. It's about a plague that sweeps the world, but it doesn't affect humans-it affects oil. Cars and planes die, machines all around the world stop, there's no heating oil, etc. and how people react in the "civilized" countries. There's a little science, a little mystery, a little "this could actually happen" creep-out. I liked it.
Night!
Today was a short school day-after going to the store, the post office, the office to pick up Vivonex, the Fed Ex store to ship it off, and CVS, I headed to pick up Kaylee and took her to get the new kids' video she's been waiting to see. The video store had rented it out, so we hit the next one. She was very excited to finally bring it home. ;) Mostly today was spent doing computer stuff, a little cleaning, a little work; life in general. Tomorrow it's Kindergarten Bowling, and flying.
Oh, I just finished "Black Monday" by R. Scott Reiss. I think Mom ought to read that one. It's about a plague that sweeps the world, but it doesn't affect humans-it affects oil. Cars and planes die, machines all around the world stop, there's no heating oil, etc. and how people react in the "civilized" countries. There's a little science, a little mystery, a little "this could actually happen" creep-out. I liked it.
Night!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Weekend Update
There is a certain temperature that changes Steve from comfortable to HOT. It's one degree different. At 72 degrees he's fine. At 73 degrees he's red-faced and sweating. I have a weight like that. It's just about a two pound difference, but when I hit it, I feel it and it feels gross. Well, I hit it-so this week I've been working on those creeper pounds. I was down two again as of Friday, but I haven't exactly behaved over the weekend. Tomorrow begins another day!
We've had the weirdest weather. First we had a snow emergency, something like 16" of snow. Then it snowed again. Then yesterday we had an ice storm. Accumulated about 1/4" of ice. Then the temps went up and it turned into rain and melted the ice. Of course today it started snowing again. Finally, the temps are warm enough now that all the snow and ice have melted again, and now they are talking flash flood warnings. After it freezes tonight in the below freezing temps. It's a bit hard to keep up with. Spring anyone??
Well, today we got a project done. We painted our living room wall and our dining room walls. It's a dark red color. We like it, it actually looks pretty good! A lot of work though. We have several more walls to do. For awhile we had about 4 different colors on the walls in different spots as we tried to find the right shade to go with the wood trim/leather couch/wood furniture. Finally we gave up on the tans and golds and went with the red, and it looks good! I'll try for a photo tomorrow when I don't have to use a flash. Kaylee helped paint. She went first with a paintbrush, then I followed behind with a roller. She HAD to be included in the painting scheme and got very insulted and annoyed every time we said her part was done. She's still mad that we didn't let her use the roller.
Last night we all camped out on our living room floor. We each had our own sleeping bag and pillow. Actually I think we all slept pretty well, too! Kaylee has "Ellington the Bear" from her school this weekend, and she slept with Ellington. We got up this morning, and Steve and Kaylee fixed a nice brunch of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I made two trips to Lowes today for paint and supplies, and yesterday we made a run there too. Mostly we spent the weekend painting, prepping, cleaning up, and eating. Now I'd like to read a book, but it's 11 pm and I'd be stupid to start one now, considering it would make me want to stay up until 3 am to finish it, and that wouldn't be bright. :)
Tomorrow will be a busy day! Catch you then!
We've had the weirdest weather. First we had a snow emergency, something like 16" of snow. Then it snowed again. Then yesterday we had an ice storm. Accumulated about 1/4" of ice. Then the temps went up and it turned into rain and melted the ice. Of course today it started snowing again. Finally, the temps are warm enough now that all the snow and ice have melted again, and now they are talking flash flood warnings. After it freezes tonight in the below freezing temps. It's a bit hard to keep up with. Spring anyone??
Well, today we got a project done. We painted our living room wall and our dining room walls. It's a dark red color. We like it, it actually looks pretty good! A lot of work though. We have several more walls to do. For awhile we had about 4 different colors on the walls in different spots as we tried to find the right shade to go with the wood trim/leather couch/wood furniture. Finally we gave up on the tans and golds and went with the red, and it looks good! I'll try for a photo tomorrow when I don't have to use a flash. Kaylee helped paint. She went first with a paintbrush, then I followed behind with a roller. She HAD to be included in the painting scheme and got very insulted and annoyed every time we said her part was done. She's still mad that we didn't let her use the roller.
Last night we all camped out on our living room floor. We each had our own sleeping bag and pillow. Actually I think we all slept pretty well, too! Kaylee has "Ellington the Bear" from her school this weekend, and she slept with Ellington. We got up this morning, and Steve and Kaylee fixed a nice brunch of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I made two trips to Lowes today for paint and supplies, and yesterday we made a run there too. Mostly we spent the weekend painting, prepping, cleaning up, and eating. Now I'd like to read a book, but it's 11 pm and I'd be stupid to start one now, considering it would make me want to stay up until 3 am to finish it, and that wouldn't be bright. :)
Tomorrow will be a busy day! Catch you then!
Friday, February 23, 2007
Friday
I dropped Kaylee off at school this morning, and she was excited because it was Pizza Day for lunch. :) I came home and walked just one mile today so that I could get going. I headed out to Kokomo, and Chuck and I flew in the Baron for an hour. Put it away and headed to Glenndale for OUR pizza lunch. I left there at 2:30 and ran to get Kaylee from school. I was going to take her flying with me, but she was violently opposed and pitched a fit at the idea. She also had circles under her eyes and had Awanas practice at 6 pm, so I figured I'd best leave her home and resting until then, which we did. I got her ready for Awanas, and after I dropped her off I headed back out to Kokomo and took up Justin in the Baron for an hour. Picked up Kaylee, stopped at Arby's for supper, brought some home to Steve, and that was Friday. Tomorrow nobody has to work, and tomorrow night we are supposed to start getting some freezing rain, up to 1/4" of ice or so, and we're going to 'camp out' in our front living room with Kaylee. Sleeping bags and all. :)
I got to Awanas to pick up Kaylee a tad early, so I saw her standing off to the side crying with her arms wrapped around her. I stayed back and watched as a teacher talked to her for a minute, and then she seemed fine. Afterwards I asked her why she was crying, and she said it was because a ball hit her in the stomach. (They were playing dodge ball). I asked her if she went off and cried a lot, and she said "yes". (I'm not sure that she did). She said she doesn't like to get hit by the ball. I told her that's the point of the game, and I asked her if anybody else complained or went off and cried when they got hit. She said no. They are soft balls by the way. She also is the only one who complains in ballet about stretching. I told her she was going to really need to save the crying and complaining for when she was actually hurt, and that she needed to toughen up a little bit if she wanted to do this kind of activity. She said "If you want to trade me in for another girl, you can." I said "Of course I don't want to trade you in for another girl! I want the girl I already have, and I want her to toughen up a little bit and not complain so much." She said "I can't HELP it!" I said "You can help it, it might be hard, but you can help it." Her response was "I'll try." Her personality is very dramatic, it's just the way she is, but just because she's very dramatic doesn't mean it doesn't feel very real and important to HER. I'm not like that at all so it's a little hard for me to deal with and be sensitive to her needs while trying to help her. Something tells me this will only get worse as she gets older. ;)
Let's see. Laura's Ten Good Things For The Day:
1). iPod-literally music to my ears
2). The sound of 600 hp on a calm cool morning/evening
3). Hugs from a six year old happy to see me
4). Lunch with the Glenndale Guys
5). A new book waiting to be read
6). Hot chocolate spiked with Baileys; warm and relaxing
7). Enjoying "Numbers" with Steve
8). A quiet house
9). Camping out in your own house just because you can
10). High Definition television for the first time in your own home. ;)
I got to Awanas to pick up Kaylee a tad early, so I saw her standing off to the side crying with her arms wrapped around her. I stayed back and watched as a teacher talked to her for a minute, and then she seemed fine. Afterwards I asked her why she was crying, and she said it was because a ball hit her in the stomach. (They were playing dodge ball). I asked her if she went off and cried a lot, and she said "yes". (I'm not sure that she did). She said she doesn't like to get hit by the ball. I told her that's the point of the game, and I asked her if anybody else complained or went off and cried when they got hit. She said no. They are soft balls by the way. She also is the only one who complains in ballet about stretching. I told her she was going to really need to save the crying and complaining for when she was actually hurt, and that she needed to toughen up a little bit if she wanted to do this kind of activity. She said "If you want to trade me in for another girl, you can." I said "Of course I don't want to trade you in for another girl! I want the girl I already have, and I want her to toughen up a little bit and not complain so much." She said "I can't HELP it!" I said "You can help it, it might be hard, but you can help it." Her response was "I'll try." Her personality is very dramatic, it's just the way she is, but just because she's very dramatic doesn't mean it doesn't feel very real and important to HER. I'm not like that at all so it's a little hard for me to deal with and be sensitive to her needs while trying to help her. Something tells me this will only get worse as she gets older. ;)
Let's see. Laura's Ten Good Things For The Day:
1). iPod-literally music to my ears
2). The sound of 600 hp on a calm cool morning/evening
3). Hugs from a six year old happy to see me
4). Lunch with the Glenndale Guys
5). A new book waiting to be read
6). Hot chocolate spiked with Baileys; warm and relaxing
7). Enjoying "Numbers" with Steve
8). A quiet house
9). Camping out in your own house just because you can
10). High Definition television for the first time in your own home. ;)
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Bugs
Some days you feel like the windshield, and some days you feel like the bug. Today I believe I shall be the bug. :)
Kaylee did have school today after all, for once. Thursdays she is out at 11:30, so it was a short one. While she was in school, I came home and walked 2 1/4 miles. I definitely do better listening to music on my iPod than I do trying to watch the TV while treadmilling. Anyway, I showered then headed out to run the errands. I went to put on a sweatshirt, and somehow managed to pinch a nerve in the middle of my back. How you can walk 2 1/2 miles and be fine and then hurt your back putting on a shirt is beyond me, but I managed it. It hurt to breathe deeply or move, turn my head, anything. Still does, actually. It feels like it needs cracked but the one time I tried left me gasping on the floor unable to actually breathe for a little while. So...I won't try that one again. I took some Tylenol to hopefully reduce any inflammation in there. Anyway. Did the routine. Headed out to the Post office, Fed Ex, bank, back to the store to pick up the ant traps I forgot yesterday. Off to my least favorite place-the mall-to pick up a supply I can only get there. When I left there it was time to get Kaylee...lunch, gymnastics, supper, yadda yadda yadda. Had a mom at gymnastics say she was driving along and her car started shaking but none of her sensors were going off so she called her husband sobbing saying "something is wrong with the car!!" Her words..."I called him sobbing 'honey, something is wrong with the car'!!" Oh, please. Sobbing?? The problem? She'd compacted a bunch of snow in the undercarriage of the vehicle. "I had no idea it would make my car shake like that!" *sigh* Some days I'm just so proud to be a woman.
Tomorrow Kaylee has the first full day she'll have had in like 2 weeks, and for me it's lunch at the airport. Pizza, I believe. Our conversations for the day included lava and volcanoes and how they work, including Google photos of them; lice and nits and what they are and do, also inducing Kaylee having a feverish head-scratching hair-mussing 'get the bugs off of me' attack (NO, she does not have lice); rats and mice and how they are different, and why it's not okay to pray to Jesus to make you do well in something you refuse to practice and work hard to do yourself. Among others. :)
Well, this 'bug' is going to go feed the cats and sit down with a mug of tea. Maybe tomorrow will be a windshield day.
p.s. Am I the only one who could not care less about the Oscars? Can they *maybe* come up with something else to talk about on TV for awhile? If you took off the Oscars, Anna Nicole Smith and Brittney Spears, I don't think there's anything left...
Kaylee did have school today after all, for once. Thursdays she is out at 11:30, so it was a short one. While she was in school, I came home and walked 2 1/4 miles. I definitely do better listening to music on my iPod than I do trying to watch the TV while treadmilling. Anyway, I showered then headed out to run the errands. I went to put on a sweatshirt, and somehow managed to pinch a nerve in the middle of my back. How you can walk 2 1/2 miles and be fine and then hurt your back putting on a shirt is beyond me, but I managed it. It hurt to breathe deeply or move, turn my head, anything. Still does, actually. It feels like it needs cracked but the one time I tried left me gasping on the floor unable to actually breathe for a little while. So...I won't try that one again. I took some Tylenol to hopefully reduce any inflammation in there. Anyway. Did the routine. Headed out to the Post office, Fed Ex, bank, back to the store to pick up the ant traps I forgot yesterday. Off to my least favorite place-the mall-to pick up a supply I can only get there. When I left there it was time to get Kaylee...lunch, gymnastics, supper, yadda yadda yadda. Had a mom at gymnastics say she was driving along and her car started shaking but none of her sensors were going off so she called her husband sobbing saying "something is wrong with the car!!" Her words..."I called him sobbing 'honey, something is wrong with the car'!!" Oh, please. Sobbing?? The problem? She'd compacted a bunch of snow in the undercarriage of the vehicle. "I had no idea it would make my car shake like that!" *sigh* Some days I'm just so proud to be a woman.
Tomorrow Kaylee has the first full day she'll have had in like 2 weeks, and for me it's lunch at the airport. Pizza, I believe. Our conversations for the day included lava and volcanoes and how they work, including Google photos of them; lice and nits and what they are and do, also inducing Kaylee having a feverish head-scratching hair-mussing 'get the bugs off of me' attack (NO, she does not have lice); rats and mice and how they are different, and why it's not okay to pray to Jesus to make you do well in something you refuse to practice and work hard to do yourself. Among others. :)
Well, this 'bug' is going to go feed the cats and sit down with a mug of tea. Maybe tomorrow will be a windshield day.
p.s. Am I the only one who could not care less about the Oscars? Can they *maybe* come up with something else to talk about on TV for awhile? If you took off the Oscars, Anna Nicole Smith and Brittney Spears, I don't think there's anything left...
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Ricken Schmicken
So this morning I get up, get Kaylee ready, and run her to school. It's a little foggy, I notice, but I don't think a thing about it until I get to school, and there's not another car in the lot. With a sigh, I turn around and go home, and turn on the TV for the first time that day. Sure enough, school is cancelled--again--for the entire day! Sheeeeesh. Even Kaylee was annoyed this time, she wanted to go to school today. And obviously my plans for the day were rearranged.
So first I came home and walked on the treadmill for 2 miles. Kaylee of course had to come in and play the piano loudly while I was trying to walk and listen to my iPod, lean on me, talk to me, etc., which is why I generally wait until she's in school. ;) But I got it in, along with a good start on drinking more water and less Coke. So, that's good.
After I showered and got ready, I took Kaylee on my errand run. Post office, bank, other bank, UPS store, grocery store, and then on to something fun for Kaylee. We went to Hobby Lobby and she picked out the fabric she wanted to use for her footprint quilt square thing. See, every year around her birthday we go to the fabric store and she picks
out a fabric she likes. I get paint, stick it on her feet, and put her footprints on a square of the fabric I cut out, and then I put the date and her age on it. The last two years were Princess. This year she chose Tinkerbelle fabric, and she was very excited to find it. :) The photos are up on her site HERE. Here's one...it's not great of the square itself, but you get the general idea. When Kaylee is 16 or 18 (or however many squares it takes), I'll have all her footprint squares sewn together in a quilt. Should be kind of neat to see a progression of her footprints and a progression of her interests. It also provoked her today to ask me if she could take the rest of her Tinkerbelle fabric and make a dress out of it. I said I couldn't do that, and she asked if one of her Grandmas could do that. I told her that was a lot of work. So her next question was "Well, can I just do it myself?" I told her some day, if she wanted to learn how to sew clothes, she sure could. She didn't want to wait that long, and asked if she could just do a shirt instead of a dress. When I said it was just as hard, she said "Well, how about one of those cloths like Cinderella wears on her head, THAT shouldn't be too hard..." So Kaylee is at least temporarily interested in learning how to sew. She asked me "Grandma Stants and Grandma Chiles know how to sew, why don't you? Why don't you want to know how to sew?" I said "When I was in high school I made a shirt and a skirt. After that I just didn't want to any more." She couldn't understand how I could not be interested in making my own clothes, because to her it's the coolest thought ever. We'll wait until she actually TRIES it herself and has to rip out stitches and has a crooked seam and see what she thinks of it then. ;)
We came home, and she ate the lunch I'd packed for her for school today, then we did her footprint project. She did a great job! Then we learned her Awanas verses (John 1:1-4), and Steve and I took her there. She said them all, and got her last "red jewel" for her crown on her uniform. :) Meanwhile, Steve and I hit Texas Roadhouse for dinner. LOVE their soft rolls with cinnamon butter. Yum.
Tomorrow is supposed to be foggy in the morning again, so I'll turn on my TV before getting ready and see if Kaylee gets yet another day off of school. At least she has gymnastics tomorrow...
So first I came home and walked on the treadmill for 2 miles. Kaylee of course had to come in and play the piano loudly while I was trying to walk and listen to my iPod, lean on me, talk to me, etc., which is why I generally wait until she's in school. ;) But I got it in, along with a good start on drinking more water and less Coke. So, that's good.
After I showered and got ready, I took Kaylee on my errand run. Post office, bank, other bank, UPS store, grocery store, and then on to something fun for Kaylee. We went to Hobby Lobby and she picked out the fabric she wanted to use for her footprint quilt square thing. See, every year around her birthday we go to the fabric store and she picks
out a fabric she likes. I get paint, stick it on her feet, and put her footprints on a square of the fabric I cut out, and then I put the date and her age on it. The last two years were Princess. This year she chose Tinkerbelle fabric, and she was very excited to find it. :) The photos are up on her site HERE. Here's one...it's not great of the square itself, but you get the general idea. When Kaylee is 16 or 18 (or however many squares it takes), I'll have all her footprint squares sewn together in a quilt. Should be kind of neat to see a progression of her footprints and a progression of her interests. It also provoked her today to ask me if she could take the rest of her Tinkerbelle fabric and make a dress out of it. I said I couldn't do that, and she asked if one of her Grandmas could do that. I told her that was a lot of work. So her next question was "Well, can I just do it myself?" I told her some day, if she wanted to learn how to sew clothes, she sure could. She didn't want to wait that long, and asked if she could just do a shirt instead of a dress. When I said it was just as hard, she said "Well, how about one of those cloths like Cinderella wears on her head, THAT shouldn't be too hard..." So Kaylee is at least temporarily interested in learning how to sew. She asked me "Grandma Stants and Grandma Chiles know how to sew, why don't you? Why don't you want to know how to sew?" I said "When I was in high school I made a shirt and a skirt. After that I just didn't want to any more." She couldn't understand how I could not be interested in making my own clothes, because to her it's the coolest thought ever. We'll wait until she actually TRIES it herself and has to rip out stitches and has a crooked seam and see what she thinks of it then. ;)We came home, and she ate the lunch I'd packed for her for school today, then we did her footprint project. She did a great job! Then we learned her Awanas verses (John 1:1-4), and Steve and I took her there. She said them all, and got her last "red jewel" for her crown on her uniform. :) Meanwhile, Steve and I hit Texas Roadhouse for dinner. LOVE their soft rolls with cinnamon butter. Yum.
Tomorrow is supposed to be foggy in the morning again, so I'll turn on my TV before getting ready and see if Kaylee gets yet another day off of school. At least she has gymnastics tomorrow...
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Tuesday
Kaylee's first day of school without a delay since the snow storm was today. They did several writing worksheets and she's getting pretty good! They are also moving into first grade math. That'll make a nice head start for next year...
Here is the promised photo of Kaylee by our new television. There aren't any pillars yet for our videos and dvds, but you can at least see Little Miss Vanna White pointing out the weather channel on television here. ;)
I picked her up at 11:30 and headed to Applebees with Chuck and Judy, Nathan and Steve. I had a salad, counterbalanced by a delectible brownie bite. But I'm going to have to tone down my chocolate consumption and ramp up the exercise-I'm up in weight to my "HALT" number. I've flirted with these same 10 pounds for like 2 years. Time to go back the other way again. Argh.
Well, tomorrow should be a busy day, and hopefully I'll start off with some exercise. ;) For now I'm going to watch The Unit and relax!
Here is the promised photo of Kaylee by our new television. There aren't any pillars yet for our videos and dvds, but you can at least see Little Miss Vanna White pointing out the weather channel on television here. ;)I picked her up at 11:30 and headed to Applebees with Chuck and Judy, Nathan and Steve. I had a salad, counterbalanced by a delectible brownie bite. But I'm going to have to tone down my chocolate consumption and ramp up the exercise-I'm up in weight to my "HALT" number. I've flirted with these same 10 pounds for like 2 years. Time to go back the other way again. Argh.
Well, tomorrow should be a busy day, and hopefully I'll start off with some exercise. ;) For now I'm going to watch The Unit and relax!
Kaylee's Kindergarten Photo
Well, it's back! That was actually pretty quick. I've put the photos up on Kaylee's site, but here's the little version. :)
Actually, I'm not that impressed. The subject matter is adorable, of course! :) But I could do a better job on the photography than he did. The 
background is a yucky green color. I can't decide if his background was actually that color, or if he color tinted it or it printed out that color. But I don't like the coloring at all. I assumed it would be gray like the last two years. Which would have looked nice with dark red. And there's a big shadow behind her, which shouldn't exist in a professional photo. And maybe they are rushed, I don't know, but if I were taking a picture of kids, before I snapped it I would hope I would notice things like messed-up straps and crooked dresses and fix them first. I can't NOT get her Kindergarten photos, and they make you buy them before you even see them (pay up front per package, as if you know what you're going to want before you see them). But I could do better. On the flip side of it, this is her KINDERGARTEN photo, and her straps are messed up and her dress is crooked which is a normal state of affairs for her, and she's a cutie pie. :) So, if you want one, tell me what size and I'll send it on. :)
background is a yucky green color. I can't decide if his background was actually that color, or if he color tinted it or it printed out that color. But I don't like the coloring at all. I assumed it would be gray like the last two years. Which would have looked nice with dark red. And there's a big shadow behind her, which shouldn't exist in a professional photo. And maybe they are rushed, I don't know, but if I were taking a picture of kids, before I snapped it I would hope I would notice things like messed-up straps and crooked dresses and fix them first. I can't NOT get her Kindergarten photos, and they make you buy them before you even see them (pay up front per package, as if you know what you're going to want before you see them). But I could do better. On the flip side of it, this is her KINDERGARTEN photo, and her straps are messed up and her dress is crooked which is a normal state of affairs for her, and she's a cutie pie. :) So, if you want one, tell me what size and I'll send it on. :)Monday, February 19, 2007
I needed a cup of tea for this one.
A cup of warm almond tea with a bit of honey for sweetening and a bit of milk. Ah, much better! Now on to tell the tale of my day. :)
Yesterday evening I had some stomach problems-enough so that I went to bed early in hopes that they'd go away by this morning. They did during the night, but I woke up at 6:30 a.m. (which does not please me) with my stomach having a life of its own. I finally gave up and got up around 7:15 and started preparing for the flight to Pennsylvania. Flight plan-filed. Weather-check. TFRs-check. Routing-check. Shower-check. Flight bag packed-check. (Okay, that's a cheat, I don't really carry a flight bag. But I did take my little Pizza Hut bag where I carried my important things--iPod, reading glasses, new James Patterson novel, purse, and okay, my routing information and airport diagram.) I decided, hey, I'll even leave a little early, get the plane fueled up and ready to go, and I might have to scrape some snow away from the big door, so I'll bring the Jeep that has the shovel in the back. Check.
I got out to the airport, and pulled up, and sure enough, there is snow in front of the doors. Both the door to the Mustang hanger (where the approach plates for the trip are) and to the Baron hanger (where the plane is.) It looks like a fair amount of snow, which is a tad discouraging, but it's not THAT bad, I say to myself at first glance. Ha. I am ahead of schedule, so I whip on my gloves, my hat, my iPod, and my shovel and go to town. (Stomach ache and all.) ;) Twenty minutes later, I had cleared off an 8 foot section...of an 80 foot hangar. I'd also cleared two doorways, as you can see by the photo. Funny, the snow doesn't look as tall in the photo as it did in person. But it WAS fairly close to the height of the doornob on the left side of the door. :) However, after 20 minutes of shoveling, I sat in the Jeep to warm up and reassessed, and the end result didn't look promising
for a timely departure. I called Steve, but he didn't pick up (which he is currently thankful for by the way). Then I walked to the other end of the hangar for the first time, where I noticed something very discouraging--when they'd cleared off the ramp, they'd piled the snow off to the side...except they were in front of the door. So there was a pile over six feet high, over two feet wide, and the entire length of the side of the ramp that would have to be moved. Um, I need more than one or two shovels here. So I decided on a Hail Mary and went up to the FBO to see if there was Any way they could provide something to help me get the snow out of the way. And low and behold! They brought a pick-up truck with a snow plow on the front. That worked for the snow in front of the door. But it didn't have a chance on the big pile. So they left. And came back with a giant snowblower, and I watched it eat that huge pile and blow it into a field. I had one problem left--there was a large ice lip in front of the hangar with the approach plates. I chopped at it, scraped at it, and proceeded to break a piece of my shovel on it. Ty came over and he chopped on it for awhile, and got the door open JUST far enough for me to squeeze in and get the plates. One big hangar door open, one little hangar door open, and we are on our way!
We had some awesome winds for the trip over. We were at 9,000' and doing like 228 knots
groundspeed. Which is pretty impressive. Got to Erie International without incident (which is good). They claimed the runway was 60% clear of snow and ice with braking action of "fair" (which as you may guess is better than "poor" and worse than "good".) Actually the runway was fine. The ramp to park was pretty sad though. It was nothing but snow and ice. So we taxiied and parked rather...slowly, and I was glad to see the lineman who parked us was ready to dive out of the way should I skid when I went to hit the brakes. Here's the Baron parked out in the cold.
And here's the irony. While it was very cold and snowy in Erie, it was 47 degrees in Kokomo. The sun came out, people were wearing short sleeves, and the rest of the snow pretty much melted completely off the remaining hangar areas. Yeah, :P
In Erie I went to Bob Evans for lunch. I actually broke my own rule--usually when I go somewhere new, I make sure to eat at a place that only exists there. A mom and pop restaurant, something new and different. And there were several there. But I had a craving. And I listen to my cravings. So Bob Evans it was. They have a new artery-clogging feature that has two pancakes, with vanilla cream custard stuff in between them, along with banana slices and chocolate chips and covered in chocolate syrup. I only got about a third of the way through it before I gave up and didn't try to eat any more. I hate wasting money, but I also didn't want to go into a food coma for the trip home.
Of course we all almost went into a coma on the way home anyway. Those winds that helped us so much on the way out? Not so good for the way home. And they'd picked up by quite a bit too. We ran a true airspeed calculation on the way home and it came up with a 66 knot headwind. That's not good. We were at 6,000', doing about 128 knots. So we went down to 4,000' to see if that would help. And I watched our airspeed go down to 113 knots. Geeeeeeesh. So I went back to 6000. It took a loooong time to get home!!
But it was a pretty flight. And my stomach was fine by the time I took off, and stayed that way.
In the meantime, Kaylee got to go to the mall today and get two presents, and she got to go to the office, and out to lunch with Chuck and Steve, and she got to take "daddy" to ballet class, and then met up with me at Applebees for dinner once I got home. Then I needed a cup of tea and to sit and relax for a bit before getting ready for tomorrow. :)
For those who asked, Holly is doing very well! She's out of intensive care and in her own room, and doing very well at this stage! And for those who asked, little Jillian seems to be doing okay too. She's had some chemo, but she's off the vent, she's sitting up and playing in the play room a bit, and she seems to be hanging in there...
Steve is still playing with our new TV and its setup. Remind me to post a pic of Kaylee in front of it tomorrow so you can see. And he had a nice daddy/daughter day, tea set party and ballet and all. :)
Now I'm tired and off to bed!
Yesterday evening I had some stomach problems-enough so that I went to bed early in hopes that they'd go away by this morning. They did during the night, but I woke up at 6:30 a.m. (which does not please me) with my stomach having a life of its own. I finally gave up and got up around 7:15 and started preparing for the flight to Pennsylvania. Flight plan-filed. Weather-check. TFRs-check. Routing-check. Shower-check. Flight bag packed-check. (Okay, that's a cheat, I don't really carry a flight bag. But I did take my little Pizza Hut bag where I carried my important things--iPod, reading glasses, new James Patterson novel, purse, and okay, my routing information and airport diagram.) I decided, hey, I'll even leave a little early, get the plane fueled up and ready to go, and I might have to scrape some snow away from the big door, so I'll bring the Jeep that has the shovel in the back. Check.
I got out to the airport, and pulled up, and sure enough, there is snow in front of the doors. Both the door to the Mustang hanger (where the approach plates for the trip are) and to the Baron hanger (where the plane is.) It looks like a fair amount of snow, which is a tad discouraging, but it's not THAT bad, I say to myself at first glance. Ha. I am ahead of schedule, so I whip on my gloves, my hat, my iPod, and my shovel and go to town. (Stomach ache and all.) ;) Twenty minutes later, I had cleared off an 8 foot section...of an 80 foot hangar. I'd also cleared two doorways, as you can see by the photo. Funny, the snow doesn't look as tall in the photo as it did in person. But it WAS fairly close to the height of the doornob on the left side of the door. :) However, after 20 minutes of shoveling, I sat in the Jeep to warm up and reassessed, and the end result didn't look promising
for a timely departure. I called Steve, but he didn't pick up (which he is currently thankful for by the way). Then I walked to the other end of the hangar for the first time, where I noticed something very discouraging--when they'd cleared off the ramp, they'd piled the snow off to the side...except they were in front of the door. So there was a pile over six feet high, over two feet wide, and the entire length of the side of the ramp that would have to be moved. Um, I need more than one or two shovels here. So I decided on a Hail Mary and went up to the FBO to see if there was Any way they could provide something to help me get the snow out of the way. And low and behold! They brought a pick-up truck with a snow plow on the front. That worked for the snow in front of the door. But it didn't have a chance on the big pile. So they left. And came back with a giant snowblower, and I watched it eat that huge pile and blow it into a field. I had one problem left--there was a large ice lip in front of the hangar with the approach plates. I chopped at it, scraped at it, and proceeded to break a piece of my shovel on it. Ty came over and he chopped on it for awhile, and got the door open JUST far enough for me to squeeze in and get the plates. One big hangar door open, one little hangar door open, and we are on our way!We had some awesome winds for the trip over. We were at 9,000' and doing like 228 knots
groundspeed. Which is pretty impressive. Got to Erie International without incident (which is good). They claimed the runway was 60% clear of snow and ice with braking action of "fair" (which as you may guess is better than "poor" and worse than "good".) Actually the runway was fine. The ramp to park was pretty sad though. It was nothing but snow and ice. So we taxiied and parked rather...slowly, and I was glad to see the lineman who parked us was ready to dive out of the way should I skid when I went to hit the brakes. Here's the Baron parked out in the cold.And here's the irony. While it was very cold and snowy in Erie, it was 47 degrees in Kokomo. The sun came out, people were wearing short sleeves, and the rest of the snow pretty much melted completely off the remaining hangar areas. Yeah, :P
In Erie I went to Bob Evans for lunch. I actually broke my own rule--usually when I go somewhere new, I make sure to eat at a place that only exists there. A mom and pop restaurant, something new and different. And there were several there. But I had a craving. And I listen to my cravings. So Bob Evans it was. They have a new artery-clogging feature that has two pancakes, with vanilla cream custard stuff in between them, along with banana slices and chocolate chips and covered in chocolate syrup. I only got about a third of the way through it before I gave up and didn't try to eat any more. I hate wasting money, but I also didn't want to go into a food coma for the trip home.
Of course we all almost went into a coma on the way home anyway. Those winds that helped us so much on the way out? Not so good for the way home. And they'd picked up by quite a bit too. We ran a true airspeed calculation on the way home and it came up with a 66 knot headwind. That's not good. We were at 6,000', doing about 128 knots. So we went down to 4,000' to see if that would help. And I watched our airspeed go down to 113 knots. Geeeeeeesh. So I went back to 6000. It took a loooong time to get home!!
But it was a pretty flight. And my stomach was fine by the time I took off, and stayed that way.
In the meantime, Kaylee got to go to the mall today and get two presents, and she got to go to the office, and out to lunch with Chuck and Steve, and she got to take "daddy" to ballet class, and then met up with me at Applebees for dinner once I got home. Then I needed a cup of tea and to sit and relax for a bit before getting ready for tomorrow. :)
For those who asked, Holly is doing very well! She's out of intensive care and in her own room, and doing very well at this stage! And for those who asked, little Jillian seems to be doing okay too. She's had some chemo, but she's off the vent, she's sitting up and playing in the play room a bit, and she seems to be hanging in there...
Steve is still playing with our new TV and its setup. Remind me to post a pic of Kaylee in front of it tomorrow so you can see. And he had a nice daddy/daughter day, tea set party and ballet and all. :)
Now I'm tired and off to bed!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Camp-Out and Busy Weekend
Last night Steve, Kaylee and myself wrapped up in sleeping bags and blankets and had a camp-
out on our (enclosed) deck. We had a couple of heaters going, and we all slept together on the floor. It was actually nice-you could see all the snow and huge ice cycles hanging around outside, see the snow blowing around, and you were cozy and warm. Kaylee told us a scary story by candlelight, and had a flashlight under her chin in true Scary Story Style. And it was new to her because she got to stay up until past midnight, too. Then this morning when we woke up, Steve brought out the little portable stove top camping thingy, and he and Kaylee cooked breakfast for us all. We had eggs and toast, and it was quite tasty, actually! From there it was "clean up the deck" time for awhile. All in all a fun night. :)
Steve and I then went through our VCR tapes (and DVDs) and took out a whole large paper sack full of them that we don't need (Denise Austin's Pregnancy Work-out is NOT something I need to hang on to any more!) We went through our CDs and cleaned those out as well. Took apart our old TV stand. Kaylee and I put away her clothes and cleaned her room, I cleaned the front living room, swept the dining room and vacuumed the front living room, then steam cleaned it in an attempt to get stains out of the carpeting. And let me say, NONE of the stains were from Kaylee. Nope. They were from the cat throwing up. Whatever is in her stomach must be made of some form of acid, because there is NO getting it up. They ought to find a market in which to sell something colored pink that won't "bleed" or come out. Spot cleaners, STEAM cleaners, nothing. Our carpeting has about 8 big pink and one yellow (huh?!) stain that Will Not Come Up. *sigh* But at least I happen to know that for the moment, it IS clean.
I got some SMA Support checks ready to go to the bank and some ready to get in the mail, paid the house bills, cleaned off my desk, AND kept up on my emails. Yesterday I spent from about 9 a.m. through almost 1 a.m. working pretty much non-stop, working on SMA stuff. I ate breakfast and lunch both sitting at my computer desk. I did eat dinner with the family at least. Then around 1 a.m. I went on the deck and camped, of course, and I'm still not caught up, but I'm a lot better off. I went from 80 items in my inbox to zero, and from 272 in my SMA Things To Do (TTD) folder down to 132. I have some more organizational things I want/need to do, and I still have to balance the checkbooks for the month, and get out receipts for donations made at the end of the year for those who requested them above $250.00. And...I think I'll be in decent shape to plow off a good amount of SMA TTD next time I get a day to do so.
Which won't be tomorrow, as I'm supposed to be flying to Erie, Pennsylvania. :)
Right now Steve is napping while watching the Daytona 500 (is it OVER yet?) and Kaylee is watching Cinderella III. I'm updating Kaylee's site next with the two photos I took on the deck (nothing fancy, one is the above) and then will start going through my magazines by the couch and try to clean out that basket. And of course keep working on the other above-mentioned things I need to get done. Until I run out of energy for the day, anyway...
out on our (enclosed) deck. We had a couple of heaters going, and we all slept together on the floor. It was actually nice-you could see all the snow and huge ice cycles hanging around outside, see the snow blowing around, and you were cozy and warm. Kaylee told us a scary story by candlelight, and had a flashlight under her chin in true Scary Story Style. And it was new to her because she got to stay up until past midnight, too. Then this morning when we woke up, Steve brought out the little portable stove top camping thingy, and he and Kaylee cooked breakfast for us all. We had eggs and toast, and it was quite tasty, actually! From there it was "clean up the deck" time for awhile. All in all a fun night. :)Steve and I then went through our VCR tapes (and DVDs) and took out a whole large paper sack full of them that we don't need (Denise Austin's Pregnancy Work-out is NOT something I need to hang on to any more!) We went through our CDs and cleaned those out as well. Took apart our old TV stand. Kaylee and I put away her clothes and cleaned her room, I cleaned the front living room, swept the dining room and vacuumed the front living room, then steam cleaned it in an attempt to get stains out of the carpeting. And let me say, NONE of the stains were from Kaylee. Nope. They were from the cat throwing up. Whatever is in her stomach must be made of some form of acid, because there is NO getting it up. They ought to find a market in which to sell something colored pink that won't "bleed" or come out. Spot cleaners, STEAM cleaners, nothing. Our carpeting has about 8 big pink and one yellow (huh?!) stain that Will Not Come Up. *sigh* But at least I happen to know that for the moment, it IS clean.
I got some SMA Support checks ready to go to the bank and some ready to get in the mail, paid the house bills, cleaned off my desk, AND kept up on my emails. Yesterday I spent from about 9 a.m. through almost 1 a.m. working pretty much non-stop, working on SMA stuff. I ate breakfast and lunch both sitting at my computer desk. I did eat dinner with the family at least. Then around 1 a.m. I went on the deck and camped, of course, and I'm still not caught up, but I'm a lot better off. I went from 80 items in my inbox to zero, and from 272 in my SMA Things To Do (TTD) folder down to 132. I have some more organizational things I want/need to do, and I still have to balance the checkbooks for the month, and get out receipts for donations made at the end of the year for those who requested them above $250.00. And...I think I'll be in decent shape to plow off a good amount of SMA TTD next time I get a day to do so.
Which won't be tomorrow, as I'm supposed to be flying to Erie, Pennsylvania. :)
Right now Steve is napping while watching the Daytona 500 (is it OVER yet?) and Kaylee is watching Cinderella III. I'm updating Kaylee's site next with the two photos I took on the deck (nothing fancy, one is the above) and then will start going through my magazines by the couch and try to clean out that basket. And of course keep working on the other above-mentioned things I need to get done. Until I run out of energy for the day, anyway...
Saturday, February 17, 2007
P.S.
I am sitting here on the laptop, on my couch, but I am actually working on my home desktop computer. As in what I do on my laptop is actually being done on that other computer. No more transferring emails, no more not having the right programs on the laptop. I can do the same thing at the office--be sitting there and actually be working HERE. Now how cool is THAT? I'm loving it.
Flying quote for the day that makes me smile:
"More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive of such a combination" ~Wilbur Wright
Flying quote for the day that makes me smile:
"More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive of such a combination" ~Wilbur Wright
Yes, I missed a day
But it wasn't anything exciting. :)
Kaylee finally had school again! She had an hour delay, but at least she had it. Of course she DOESN'T have it Monday because it is President's Day. It feels like it hasn't been "normal" around here for quite awhile!
She had her Valentine's Day Party at school Friday, and everybody got and gave valentines and little gift baggies. A fun time was had by all.
While she was in school I did my errands and went to Glenndale for lunch. I got a turtle ice cream cake from Culvers, and it was VERY rich. Not like a DQ cake, it's super creamy. Not really ice cream per se. Anyway, I've got to get those more often.
Today I spent most of the day trying to catch up on my emails and computer work. And I took a decent chunk out of it. Well, not really, but I had 80 messages in my inbox that needed something and I got through all but 16 of them today. Of course I have 272 things in my SMA Things To Do folder, but I will start working on those this coming week and hopefully will get some good progress in. It's amazing how things pile up in a short period of time and how once you get behind it's like swimming upstream just to stay where you are. Unless I have full days at a time to do nothing but SMA stuff, and I mean full days from the time I get up until midnight or later, with just a few breaks for food or errands, I get behind. *sigh*
But we also spent today rearranging our front living room, which looks good, doing laundry, dishes, picking up Kaylee's room, and setting up our new TV along with the sound system. I'm going to take a picture of Kaylee in front of our TV tomorrow to post. It looks big to me. Steve got an incredible deal on it, AND we can pick up the High Definition channels on our own, so we're lookin' pretty good over here! :)
Tonight we're supposed to have a camp-out on our deck with Kaylee, extra heaters, and sleeping bags. I'm sure we'll all be so rested tomorrow. lol But she'll have fun. We get to lie there and watch the snow...
Kaylee finally had school again! She had an hour delay, but at least she had it. Of course she DOESN'T have it Monday because it is President's Day. It feels like it hasn't been "normal" around here for quite awhile!
She had her Valentine's Day Party at school Friday, and everybody got and gave valentines and little gift baggies. A fun time was had by all.
While she was in school I did my errands and went to Glenndale for lunch. I got a turtle ice cream cake from Culvers, and it was VERY rich. Not like a DQ cake, it's super creamy. Not really ice cream per se. Anyway, I've got to get those more often.
Today I spent most of the day trying to catch up on my emails and computer work. And I took a decent chunk out of it. Well, not really, but I had 80 messages in my inbox that needed something and I got through all but 16 of them today. Of course I have 272 things in my SMA Things To Do folder, but I will start working on those this coming week and hopefully will get some good progress in. It's amazing how things pile up in a short period of time and how once you get behind it's like swimming upstream just to stay where you are. Unless I have full days at a time to do nothing but SMA stuff, and I mean full days from the time I get up until midnight or later, with just a few breaks for food or errands, I get behind. *sigh*
But we also spent today rearranging our front living room, which looks good, doing laundry, dishes, picking up Kaylee's room, and setting up our new TV along with the sound system. I'm going to take a picture of Kaylee in front of our TV tomorrow to post. It looks big to me. Steve got an incredible deal on it, AND we can pick up the High Definition channels on our own, so we're lookin' pretty good over here! :)
Tonight we're supposed to have a camp-out on our deck with Kaylee, extra heaters, and sleeping bags. I'm sure we'll all be so rested tomorrow. lol But she'll have fun. We get to lie there and watch the snow...
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Life Resumes
Today Kaylee still didn't have school, and tomorrow she has a one hour delay, but we actually left our home for the first time since Monday. I ran to two banks, the grocery store, and the post office. From there Kaylee and I went to McDonald's Playland so she could have something fun to do for awhile. A few hours later, we ran home, ate a snack, changed clothes, and went to gymnastics. Finished gymnastics and came home, had supper, and then she and her daddy hung out for awhile before bed. So a busy run-around day.
Today is also a very extensive surgery for Nathan's daughter Holly. She has a brain tumor, benign, but still very large, fast growing, it's affected everything from her memory to her balance, she's been in surgery for almost 12 hours to remove it, and is still there now. So anyone who reads this who says a prayer, it would be appreciated! Edited to add, Holly got out of surgery very late, but is in ICU and recovering...
And I take a little bit back about Valentine's Day. It's nice to get a card or a thought from someone who loves you and takes the opportunity to say so. Thank you. And I loved the Colts flags. :)
Today is also a very extensive surgery for Nathan's daughter Holly. She has a brain tumor, benign, but still very large, fast growing, it's affected everything from her memory to her balance, she's been in surgery for almost 12 hours to remove it, and is still there now. So anyone who reads this who says a prayer, it would be appreciated! Edited to add, Holly got out of surgery very late, but is in ICU and recovering...
And I take a little bit back about Valentine's Day. It's nice to get a card or a thought from someone who loves you and takes the opportunity to say so. Thank you. And I loved the Colts flags. :)
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Valentine's Day
Well, sort of. We're not celebrating it today really, but we will either tomorrow or Friday. Kaylee's school will celebrate it the first day they go back, which right now looks like Friday, since tomorrow school is cancelled as well. At least Kaylee's school. :) Valentine's Day doesn't mean a lot to me. I think it's silly to have to have a specific day where everybody is supposed to be all loving. Why can't people be loving every day instead of waiting for one day a year to pull out all the stops? This is one day where the expectation is "Romance". That's not a lot of pressure for guys or anything. *eyeroll* It just doesn't do much for me to think about couples fighting all over the country on February 13th, but when February 14th arrives, suddenly it's cards and roses and chocolates. Well....okay, let's keep the chocolates.
Today was a fun Snow Day for Kaylee! We woke up to a white winterland. The driveway was
gone, the drifts were several feet high in places. Steve went out and shoveled snow ALL day. Of course we have a small snow blower, and of course the first time we could actually use it, it is somewhere else. So he shoveled by hand. Ah, it's good exercise anyway, right?! Meanwhile, Kaylee was outside climbing on snow hills, "Geronimo"ing into snow piles, playing in a snow fort, throwing snowballs at her father, and in general having a wonderful day. In fact, I heard her yell once "This is the BEST winter EVER!" :) I took some photos, which you can see on her site HERE. She went in and out a couple of times and spent most of the afternoon out playing in the snow. She went through two coats, two pairs of gloves, two sets of snow boots and two pairs of socks. And ended with some hot chocolate and a smile. :)
My previous post may sound a little cranky. In fact, it's hard not to sound cranky when one is discussing one's pet peeves. But let me point out that most of my pet peeves have to do with the fact that I am actually kind of shy. Well, except for the spelling one. And the driving one. And the tipping jar one. Okay, and maybe the...oh, forget it. Some of them are about me being shy, anyway. But really, I am not cranky. Usually. :) Seriously, I think you ought to write up your own list of Pet Peeves. It's kind of fun!
Tonight Kaylee drew me a bath, and I lit some candles, and we stood in the bathtub for a long time and just talked. It was a nice end to a nice day!
Today was a fun Snow Day for Kaylee! We woke up to a white winterland. The driveway was
gone, the drifts were several feet high in places. Steve went out and shoveled snow ALL day. Of course we have a small snow blower, and of course the first time we could actually use it, it is somewhere else. So he shoveled by hand. Ah, it's good exercise anyway, right?! Meanwhile, Kaylee was outside climbing on snow hills, "Geronimo"ing into snow piles, playing in a snow fort, throwing snowballs at her father, and in general having a wonderful day. In fact, I heard her yell once "This is the BEST winter EVER!" :) I took some photos, which you can see on her site HERE. She went in and out a couple of times and spent most of the afternoon out playing in the snow. She went through two coats, two pairs of gloves, two sets of snow boots and two pairs of socks. And ended with some hot chocolate and a smile. :)My previous post may sound a little cranky. In fact, it's hard not to sound cranky when one is discussing one's pet peeves. But let me point out that most of my pet peeves have to do with the fact that I am actually kind of shy. Well, except for the spelling one. And the driving one. And the tipping jar one. Okay, and maybe the...oh, forget it. Some of them are about me being shy, anyway. But really, I am not cranky. Usually. :) Seriously, I think you ought to write up your own list of Pet Peeves. It's kind of fun!
Tonight Kaylee drew me a bath, and I lit some candles, and we stood in the bathtub for a long time and just talked. It was a nice end to a nice day!
Laura's Top Ten Pet Peeves List
Huh, it's harder to limit to ten than I thought. This is in honor of another Top Ten Pet Peeves List I enjoyed reading today. :)
1. Deliberately spelling words incorrectly, especially in businesses. I don't care if a person can't spell well-I am no walking dictionary myself-but things like "Kwik Mart" and "Collision Cure Body Werks" drive me crazy. It's not cute. It's not clever. It's stupid. Stop it.
2. People who drive the same (slow) speed side by side in the only two available lanes. Lead, Follow, or get OUT of the WAY. Especially My way. The left lane is for passing. The right lane is for cruising along at whatever speed you wish. Enough said.
3. Interrupting and/or talking on top of someone else. Nothing drives up my blood pressure faster in a conversation than trying to listen to two (or more) people talking at the same time. As a friend of mine says, "Everybody is on transmit, nobody is on receive." Listen to what is being said and wait your turn! I may have two ears but I can only listen to one person at a time.
4. Chatting Hairdressers. Now I will readily admit this one isn't fair. They are doing their job, and most people like it. But I can not stand that every time I go to get my hair cut, the hairdresser feels we have to chit chat like old friends. I don't know you. You don't know me. You don't care about my life, and I don't care about yours. I just want a hair cut. Can I do that in silence? Maybe think about something else important that might be on my mind instead of getting all tense trying to come up with something interesting to say? Last time I went in to the mall haircut place, my mind wandered, and apparently I'd been silent too long for the Hairdresser Code of Honor. Her opening question to me? "You here to shop?" No, I'm here to get my dang hair cut. This is why I usually cut my own hair, or wait until it is miserable before I go in.
5. Tip jars at coffee places. You have GOT to be kidding me. I'm already paying more for one cup of coffee than it would cost me to buy two GALLONS of milk. And you want me to TIP you for standing behind the counter and mixing up my coffee for me?? Give Me A Break. Tipping is for good service from service providers like waitresses who get poor baseline pay and spend their day on their feet shuffling food and drinks and complaints. If pouring a cup of coffee and handing it to me over a counter is so much work that you need a tip, then move over and I'll come do it myself.
6. Tardiness. Being late occasionally happens to everybody. Being late consistently is just rude, inconsiderate, and at worst, arrogant. Buy a watch or make an adjustment to start out earlier. And if you tell me you are going to be somewhere at a certain time, and you are not able to be there at that time, at least call and tell me. The last guy that came to our home two hours late for his appointment time got the Laurie Look of Death. My time, my life is just as important to me as yours is to you. What makes such a person think the world should stop and wait for them? Leaving me hanging, wasting my time, is one sure-fire way to make sure you won't have to worry about dealing with me much in the future.
7. Public Nosepicking. Okay, I know, it's a fact of life that people need to take care of the issue. But that is why we created tissues. Or at least privacy. Guess what? When you are driving down the road in your car, you are not invisible. Everybody passing you, or that you pass, or that is sitting at a stop sign, or that is in their house looking out the window can see your finger(s) up your nose perfectly clearly. Even people who do it in private find it disgusting to see other people do it in public. Just thought you might want to know that.
8. The "12 Items or Less" lane. This is a Two-Parter. It's been done before, but it's still one of mine, so here goes. It is not "12 items or less". It is "12 items or fewer". It's only two additional letters, surely grocery stores can afford it. Why is it that national grocery chains don't have ANYBODY in management who understands that grammar principle? Meijer, however, DOES have the appropriate sign, and I keep meaning to actually write them and thank them for breaking the mold. Secondly, why do people insist on going through this line with a cartload of things? They can't possibly miss the big sign. Or the line of people holding a toothbrush and a package of grapes. They smile sheepishly and shrug like "oh well, I have a few too many, but that's okay because the other lines are soooo much longer! I'm sure you understand!" and start piling their stuff on there. I have been dying to politely walk up to these people and say "Can you not read, or can you not count?" because one or the other would seem to be true. If you have 13 items, maybe sneak it on through and nobody will notice. I assure you the cashier will notice, but will "let it go" without much of a murmur. But coming through with your week's worth of groceries? Come on...just wait in line like everybody else!
9. The Phone Stalker. When you call me, if I do not answer the phone, I am not available at that moment, for whatever reason. Don't hang up and call me right back, then hang up and call me right back, then hang up and call me right back and leave a blank voicemail. Leave a message the first time! Let me know you called and what I can do for you! When I become available, I will call you back or get in touch with you some way. It will not make me become available any faster if you just keep dialing my number over and over; in fact if I see you called four times in a 20 second time frame, without leaving a message, it will probably make me not feel like speaking to you at all for awhile out of principle. That is annoying. Don't do it.
10. The Personal Space Invader. When you're speaking to me, or standing in line behind me, please leave enough space in between us for me to breathe. It's horrible to be in a buffet line, or a grocery store line, or a post office line, and have whomever is behind me creep up to my back until I can almost feel them breathing on me. Until their coat or purse or bag or arm keeps brushing against me. *Shudder* I promise you, creeping up my backside those extra couple of inches will not get you to the front of the line any faster. They will, however, get you either a dirty look from me, or a "whoops" as I swing a purse or other object seemingly innocently over my shoulder and whack whomever is lurking right behind me. BACK OFF, please. And if you are speaking to me, I assure you I can hear you just fine from a couple of feet away. If I can see the status of your pores or how many hairs need trimmed in your nose or smell what you had for lunch, YOU ARE TOO CLOSE. And while I'm at it, if I'm in a line somewhere, I don't really need you to speak to me. Reference the hairdresser number, and let me be unfriendly in peace.
You know, that's a little cathartic. Anybody else have a Top Ten they'd care to share? :)
1. Deliberately spelling words incorrectly, especially in businesses. I don't care if a person can't spell well-I am no walking dictionary myself-but things like "Kwik Mart" and "Collision Cure Body Werks" drive me crazy. It's not cute. It's not clever. It's stupid. Stop it.
2. People who drive the same (slow) speed side by side in the only two available lanes. Lead, Follow, or get OUT of the WAY. Especially My way. The left lane is for passing. The right lane is for cruising along at whatever speed you wish. Enough said.
3. Interrupting and/or talking on top of someone else. Nothing drives up my blood pressure faster in a conversation than trying to listen to two (or more) people talking at the same time. As a friend of mine says, "Everybody is on transmit, nobody is on receive." Listen to what is being said and wait your turn! I may have two ears but I can only listen to one person at a time.
4. Chatting Hairdressers. Now I will readily admit this one isn't fair. They are doing their job, and most people like it. But I can not stand that every time I go to get my hair cut, the hairdresser feels we have to chit chat like old friends. I don't know you. You don't know me. You don't care about my life, and I don't care about yours. I just want a hair cut. Can I do that in silence? Maybe think about something else important that might be on my mind instead of getting all tense trying to come up with something interesting to say? Last time I went in to the mall haircut place, my mind wandered, and apparently I'd been silent too long for the Hairdresser Code of Honor. Her opening question to me? "You here to shop?" No, I'm here to get my dang hair cut. This is why I usually cut my own hair, or wait until it is miserable before I go in.
5. Tip jars at coffee places. You have GOT to be kidding me. I'm already paying more for one cup of coffee than it would cost me to buy two GALLONS of milk. And you want me to TIP you for standing behind the counter and mixing up my coffee for me?? Give Me A Break. Tipping is for good service from service providers like waitresses who get poor baseline pay and spend their day on their feet shuffling food and drinks and complaints. If pouring a cup of coffee and handing it to me over a counter is so much work that you need a tip, then move over and I'll come do it myself.
6. Tardiness. Being late occasionally happens to everybody. Being late consistently is just rude, inconsiderate, and at worst, arrogant. Buy a watch or make an adjustment to start out earlier. And if you tell me you are going to be somewhere at a certain time, and you are not able to be there at that time, at least call and tell me. The last guy that came to our home two hours late for his appointment time got the Laurie Look of Death. My time, my life is just as important to me as yours is to you. What makes such a person think the world should stop and wait for them? Leaving me hanging, wasting my time, is one sure-fire way to make sure you won't have to worry about dealing with me much in the future.
7. Public Nosepicking. Okay, I know, it's a fact of life that people need to take care of the issue. But that is why we created tissues. Or at least privacy. Guess what? When you are driving down the road in your car, you are not invisible. Everybody passing you, or that you pass, or that is sitting at a stop sign, or that is in their house looking out the window can see your finger(s) up your nose perfectly clearly. Even people who do it in private find it disgusting to see other people do it in public. Just thought you might want to know that.
8. The "12 Items or Less" lane. This is a Two-Parter. It's been done before, but it's still one of mine, so here goes. It is not "12 items or less". It is "12 items or fewer". It's only two additional letters, surely grocery stores can afford it. Why is it that national grocery chains don't have ANYBODY in management who understands that grammar principle? Meijer, however, DOES have the appropriate sign, and I keep meaning to actually write them and thank them for breaking the mold. Secondly, why do people insist on going through this line with a cartload of things? They can't possibly miss the big sign. Or the line of people holding a toothbrush and a package of grapes. They smile sheepishly and shrug like "oh well, I have a few too many, but that's okay because the other lines are soooo much longer! I'm sure you understand!" and start piling their stuff on there. I have been dying to politely walk up to these people and say "Can you not read, or can you not count?" because one or the other would seem to be true. If you have 13 items, maybe sneak it on through and nobody will notice. I assure you the cashier will notice, but will "let it go" without much of a murmur. But coming through with your week's worth of groceries? Come on...just wait in line like everybody else!
9. The Phone Stalker. When you call me, if I do not answer the phone, I am not available at that moment, for whatever reason. Don't hang up and call me right back, then hang up and call me right back, then hang up and call me right back and leave a blank voicemail. Leave a message the first time! Let me know you called and what I can do for you! When I become available, I will call you back or get in touch with you some way. It will not make me become available any faster if you just keep dialing my number over and over; in fact if I see you called four times in a 20 second time frame, without leaving a message, it will probably make me not feel like speaking to you at all for awhile out of principle. That is annoying. Don't do it.
10. The Personal Space Invader. When you're speaking to me, or standing in line behind me, please leave enough space in between us for me to breathe. It's horrible to be in a buffet line, or a grocery store line, or a post office line, and have whomever is behind me creep up to my back until I can almost feel them breathing on me. Until their coat or purse or bag or arm keeps brushing against me. *Shudder* I promise you, creeping up my backside those extra couple of inches will not get you to the front of the line any faster. They will, however, get you either a dirty look from me, or a "whoops" as I swing a purse or other object seemingly innocently over my shoulder and whack whomever is lurking right behind me. BACK OFF, please. And if you are speaking to me, I assure you I can hear you just fine from a couple of feet away. If I can see the status of your pores or how many hairs need trimmed in your nose or smell what you had for lunch, YOU ARE TOO CLOSE. And while I'm at it, if I'm in a line somewhere, I don't really need you to speak to me. Reference the hairdresser number, and let me be unfriendly in peace.
You know, that's a little cathartic. Anybody else have a Top Ten they'd care to share? :)
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Here we go!
Well, we've gotten 13" of snow so far in Kokomo, and we're supposed to get another 4-5" tonight. The winds are blowing pretty hard, up around 40mph gusting winds, which makes it a rather white-out kind of condition. Many counties in Indiana declared a state of emergency, and you're not supposed to drive around. My county was in there, and then it wasn't, so now I'm not sure if it is or not, but I'm not going anywhere anyway, so it doesn't much matter. Schools are already cancelled for tomorrow. The drift by our west porch door is now several inches taller than the bottom of the door, we can't open it any more. The other door is sheltered. There are some really tall drifts in our yard. I'm going to stick Kaylee in snow pants tomorrow and stick her in a drift and see how far up her it goes. :)
I didn't even get out of my pajamas today, though I did go take a shower around 5 pm. ;) Hey, it was a relaxing day! We had grilled cheese for lunch, we had chicken soup for dinner, I'm going to have hot chocolate and Bailey's a little later.
Weather like this is actually kind of beautiful, as long as you have good shelter and supplies. I can't imagine being homeless right now, and trying to stay warm in a cardboard box somewhere...
Kaylee has asked some pretty good questions lately again. I can't remember one of them, but the other today was about why air coming through a small fan was cooler than the room air that it came from. Flying (and physics) actually helped me answer that question a bit, but I thought that was kind of an astute observation.
Kaylee also tried to come in our room last night after we went to bed. I said "No, Kaylee, go back to your own bed." She huffed and puffed and went back to her own bed. And in the morning, she had stuck a note under my door that said:
"Der Mommy Ples Lt Me Km in Ur Bdrom. Love Kaylee i love Mommy."
Translated of course as:
"Dear Mommy, Please Let Me Come In Your Bedroom. Love Kaylee. I love Mommy."
I love getting little notes from her! It makes me smile. Even if she needs to work on vowels. ;) The other day she was being kind of grouchy, so I sent her to her room for awhile. The next time I went by her door, a note was sticking out from under her door that said "Der Mommy. Wn Kn i km ot. Ples lt me ot." You know, "Dear Mommy, When Can I come out? Please let me out!"
She makes me laugh even when she's being naughty. :)
Although she did hurt me yesterday. She said she doesn't like to read books, she just likes to look at pictures. *sigh* :)
And tomorrow I don't think I'm going anywhere either. I should use that time to catch up on computer and email work I'm behind on, that's for sure...
I didn't even get out of my pajamas today, though I did go take a shower around 5 pm. ;) Hey, it was a relaxing day! We had grilled cheese for lunch, we had chicken soup for dinner, I'm going to have hot chocolate and Bailey's a little later.
Weather like this is actually kind of beautiful, as long as you have good shelter and supplies. I can't imagine being homeless right now, and trying to stay warm in a cardboard box somewhere...
Kaylee has asked some pretty good questions lately again. I can't remember one of them, but the other today was about why air coming through a small fan was cooler than the room air that it came from. Flying (and physics) actually helped me answer that question a bit, but I thought that was kind of an astute observation.
Kaylee also tried to come in our room last night after we went to bed. I said "No, Kaylee, go back to your own bed." She huffed and puffed and went back to her own bed. And in the morning, she had stuck a note under my door that said:
"Der Mommy Ples Lt Me Km in Ur Bdrom. Love Kaylee i love Mommy."
Translated of course as:
"Dear Mommy, Please Let Me Come In Your Bedroom. Love Kaylee. I love Mommy."
I love getting little notes from her! It makes me smile. Even if she needs to work on vowels. ;) The other day she was being kind of grouchy, so I sent her to her room for awhile. The next time I went by her door, a note was sticking out from under her door that said "Der Mommy. Wn Kn i km ot. Ples lt me ot." You know, "Dear Mommy, When Can I come out? Please let me out!"
She makes me laugh even when she's being naughty. :)
Although she did hurt me yesterday. She said she doesn't like to read books, she just likes to look at pictures. *sigh* :)
And tomorrow I don't think I'm going anywhere either. I should use that time to catch up on computer and email work I'm behind on, that's for sure...
Monday, February 12, 2007
Heat Wave
Today it actually got up to freezing! And the weird thing is that it really did feel almost balmy. I didn't even wear my jacket most of the day running errands because I was warm enough. That'll tell you a body adapts to what it is exposed to!
I hit the grocery store to stock up on supplies prior to this storm hitting us. Funnily enough, that wasn't an original idea. The shelves were actually rather bare. My brand of toilet paper was out of stock even! :O The most bare aisle? The soft drink aisle! They were wiped out. Apparently Diet Coke and Mountain Dew are survival staples for more people than just me.
My next stop was the post office, where I found myself in line behind 23 people. Is there something special about mailing packages off before a big storm, or did I just hit some kind of weird rush-hour at the Post Office? It took me 20 minutes to get through the line. That kind of thing never pleases me. I hit the bank next and made a hefty deposit for SMA Support, which is always fun!
Then I headed out to the airport, and Steve and I flew the Baron for awhile, practicing all his checkride maneuvers. Coming up after the blizzard settles down, we'll probably go up another time or two and get his checkride scheduled. And a marriage survives a wife teaching a husband. So far. ;) The airport had all their snow plows and blowers out and running and ready to go for this storm.
After we flew, it was time to get lunch at Applebees with Chuck and Nathan. When I left there, I dropped off three bags and one bin of clothing to Goodwill, came home and called a friend, (yes, I used the phone), picked up Kaylee at school, and promptly forgot today was ballet-again. I remembered with 15 minutes to spare, so we hustled out the door, and she did her dancing. She sure does love to do it. She really wants to take Hip Hop too, but so far I've said no, as she has enough on her plate already. But today there was a song with a big beat, and while the other kids stood there patiently waiting for the teacher to tell them what to do, Kaylee starts jamming. Swinging her hips, just jamming. Other mothers smiled at her. Okay, so did I. She also got paired with her school friend for a skipping exercise. As soon as the teacher put them together, Kaylee pumps her fist and says loudly "YES!!! That ROCKS!!" Um. Yikes.
After ballet was over, we went next door to the sandwich and ice cream shop called Serendipities. Steve met us there, and we chowed down on excellent soup and sandwiches, and I had a waffle cone for dessert. Came home, Steve and Kaylee played until her bed time and I worked on the computer. And that was my day, minus some boring things like "fed cat" and "did dishes" and yadda yadda yadda. :)
The snow is around Indianapolis and headed our way. Reports indicate it could be up to even 16" of snow depending on how this happens. So I guess we'll see. It's supposed to start in a couple hours here, and snow for a couple of days. I'm thinking I'll have to get pictures of this somehow...
I hit the grocery store to stock up on supplies prior to this storm hitting us. Funnily enough, that wasn't an original idea. The shelves were actually rather bare. My brand of toilet paper was out of stock even! :O The most bare aisle? The soft drink aisle! They were wiped out. Apparently Diet Coke and Mountain Dew are survival staples for more people than just me.
My next stop was the post office, where I found myself in line behind 23 people. Is there something special about mailing packages off before a big storm, or did I just hit some kind of weird rush-hour at the Post Office? It took me 20 minutes to get through the line. That kind of thing never pleases me. I hit the bank next and made a hefty deposit for SMA Support, which is always fun!
Then I headed out to the airport, and Steve and I flew the Baron for awhile, practicing all his checkride maneuvers. Coming up after the blizzard settles down, we'll probably go up another time or two and get his checkride scheduled. And a marriage survives a wife teaching a husband. So far. ;) The airport had all their snow plows and blowers out and running and ready to go for this storm.
After we flew, it was time to get lunch at Applebees with Chuck and Nathan. When I left there, I dropped off three bags and one bin of clothing to Goodwill, came home and called a friend, (yes, I used the phone), picked up Kaylee at school, and promptly forgot today was ballet-again. I remembered with 15 minutes to spare, so we hustled out the door, and she did her dancing. She sure does love to do it. She really wants to take Hip Hop too, but so far I've said no, as she has enough on her plate already. But today there was a song with a big beat, and while the other kids stood there patiently waiting for the teacher to tell them what to do, Kaylee starts jamming. Swinging her hips, just jamming. Other mothers smiled at her. Okay, so did I. She also got paired with her school friend for a skipping exercise. As soon as the teacher put them together, Kaylee pumps her fist and says loudly "YES!!! That ROCKS!!" Um. Yikes.
After ballet was over, we went next door to the sandwich and ice cream shop called Serendipities. Steve met us there, and we chowed down on excellent soup and sandwiches, and I had a waffle cone for dessert. Came home, Steve and Kaylee played until her bed time and I worked on the computer. And that was my day, minus some boring things like "fed cat" and "did dishes" and yadda yadda yadda. :)
The snow is around Indianapolis and headed our way. Reports indicate it could be up to even 16" of snow depending on how this happens. So I guess we'll see. It's supposed to start in a couple hours here, and snow for a couple of days. I'm thinking I'll have to get pictures of this somehow...
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Snow, Snow and More Snow
Well, we are sitting on the next winter storm watch. Supposedly we're going to get another 9-11" of snow by Tuesday, starting tomorrow. So tomorrow morning I'm going to have to hit the store and stock up on supplies, just in case we get stuck indoors for a few days. They were talking about how it might get "up" to freezing in a few days. How nice!
This morning Steve, Kaylee and I went to a hill at a local park and went sledding. I took my camera, and only got a few photos and my battery went dead. And it was really cute and I didn't get any great photos yet, and I was NOT happy about that. So now I'm going to make everybody go again with this new snowfall so I can get good photos. Maybe next weekend. ;) Kaylee went fast and far, never really wiped out, and had a great time. Steve and I went down too. It mostly hurt my rear end, pounding down the hard packed ice and snow, but it was fun. I put the photos up at the bottom of this page: http://www.kayleestants.com/photosfeb07.htm.
We came back and had some hot chocolate, took a rest, and then Kaylee and I baked Valentine's Day cupcakes in the shape of hearts. She did all the work except for pouring the batter into the cups. She does a great job! Those photos are up at http://www.kayleestants.com/photosfeb07b.htm and here's a taste of one, the finished product. Kaylee got her school Valentines all done too, hand written herself, of course!
Tomorrow is school, and I have to make a bank deposit, and go to the store, and ship off a few items, do some SMA stuff, and get that all done in the morning before the snow starts in in earnest!
This morning Steve, Kaylee and I went to a hill at a local park and went sledding. I took my camera, and only got a few photos and my battery went dead. And it was really cute and I didn't get any great photos yet, and I was NOT happy about that. So now I'm going to make everybody go again with this new snowfall so I can get good photos. Maybe next weekend. ;) Kaylee went fast and far, never really wiped out, and had a great time. Steve and I went down too. It mostly hurt my rear end, pounding down the hard packed ice and snow, but it was fun. I put the photos up at the bottom of this page: http://www.kayleestants.com/photosfeb07.htm.
We came back and had some hot chocolate, took a rest, and then Kaylee and I baked Valentine's Day cupcakes in the shape of hearts. She did all the work except for pouring the batter into the cups. She does a great job! Those photos are up at http://www.kayleestants.com/photosfeb07b.htm and here's a taste of one, the finished product. Kaylee got her school Valentines all done too, hand written herself, of course!Tomorrow is school, and I have to make a bank deposit, and go to the store, and ship off a few items, do some SMA stuff, and get that all done in the morning before the snow starts in in earnest!
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Mildly Amusing Quotes of the Day
Truer words have rarely been spoken...
"The only thing scarier than crashing and dying due to bad fuel management in your airplane would be surviving it and having to live it down!!"
"Winning" an argument on the internet is like wetting yourself in black pants...it warms you up, but nobody notices.
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On the more serious side...
"The secret to happiness is freedom, and the secret to freedom is courage"- Thucydides
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And on the more rude side...
"According to Self magazine, one in four women say they have negative thoughts about their body during sex. See, why do women worry about these kinds of things? During sex men are probably thinking about some other woman's body anyway. Don't worry about it!" -Jay Leno
"The only thing scarier than crashing and dying due to bad fuel management in your airplane would be surviving it and having to live it down!!"
"Winning" an argument on the internet is like wetting yourself in black pants...it warms you up, but nobody notices.
-----------------------------------------
On the more serious side...
"The secret to happiness is freedom, and the secret to freedom is courage"- Thucydides
-----------------------------------------
And on the more rude side...
"According to Self magazine, one in four women say they have negative thoughts about their body during sex. See, why do women worry about these kinds of things? During sex men are probably thinking about some other woman's body anyway. Don't worry about it!" -Jay Leno
Little Jillian
This is from my friend Anita's blog. I just wanted to add it here too...
Please pray for this sweet little girl. She had been sick for
about a week. So her parents, suspecting pneumonia, took her to the ER (on Wednesday). In a mind-numbing series of events, they found out that she had a large tumor in her chest that was causing her lung to mostly collapse, and pushing her heart to the side. Yesterday (Friday), she underwent surgery to have the tumor biopsied, had an MRI and a CT scan and had several different IVs inserted in her hand and ankles. She is four years old and one of 11 children. Her family has a neat story (too long to tell here right now) and many of her siblings are adopted (two sibling groups).
Obviously, her family (parents are Jeff and Katie) is trying to process all of this and make decisions. The doctors think it is a very fast growing tumor and has probably only been there for one to two months. It is now about football size. This morning Jillian was intubated. Last night, the plan was to start chemotherapy on Tuesday, if she is strong enough...
Please pray for this sweet little girl. She had been sick for
about a week. So her parents, suspecting pneumonia, took her to the ER (on Wednesday). In a mind-numbing series of events, they found out that she had a large tumor in her chest that was causing her lung to mostly collapse, and pushing her heart to the side. Yesterday (Friday), she underwent surgery to have the tumor biopsied, had an MRI and a CT scan and had several different IVs inserted in her hand and ankles. She is four years old and one of 11 children. Her family has a neat story (too long to tell here right now) and many of her siblings are adopted (two sibling groups).Obviously, her family (parents are Jeff and Katie) is trying to process all of this and make decisions. The doctors think it is a very fast growing tumor and has probably only been there for one to two months. It is now about football size. This morning Jillian was intubated. Last night, the plan was to start chemotherapy on Tuesday, if she is strong enough...
Ah-HA!
I just remembered what I was going to say yesterday. Kaylee's a bugger. :) Said affectionately, of course. Steve came out and said "So did you find your toothbrush?" I look at him blankly and say "What?" He responds with "Apparently not. Kaylee hid our toothbrushes, and I just found mine by the trash can under the sink, but I can't find yours." I couldn't find mine either. So after she got back from school, I asked her where it was. Her response? "I hid it in the dirty clothes, and I put a pair of dirty panties on top of it!" As she walks away giggling and laughing, I'm torn between the laugh and the "eeeeeeeeew!" How does one disinfect a toothbrush?? Microwave it? Boil it! That's what I'm going to go do...
I can say I'm glad she's a happy, fun-loving girl with a weird and slightly gross sense of humor. Except when it's used against ME. ;)
I might have already said this, but she's also big into being a "champion" and "going down in history" right now too. Thus the Awana team she wants to join. I just remembered where that came from. "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". She asked me what "You'll go down in his-to-reeee" meant, so I told her, and from then on she has wanted to go down in history. The Champion thing I believe came from the Queen song I may have been singing. "We are the champions..." "What's a champion Mommy?" So now, she has a few new goals. To be a mermaid princess fairy, and to be a mom with lots of kids (she wants to be able to tell THEM what to do), and to be on TV or stage (oh lordie), and now to be a champion and someone who goes down in history. You can't say the girl doesn't dream big. ;)
Today is the funeral for Wayne, and some of the typical weekend family time and clean-up action. Laundry is in the dryer, dishes are in the dishwasher, child is in the bath tub, kitty litter container is empty, old mail is tossed out, and the day has just begun.
Speaking of Kitty Litter. Here I am yesterday morning sitting at my computer working quietly, when I hear this running water tinkle noise. I jump up and catch Roadie peeing behind our book shelf. I pick her up mid-stream by the scruff of her neck, yell at her louder than I yelled at my college roommate who turned me in for having my mother stay in the room next door, and threw-literally threw-her out on the deck. She landed on her feet just fine by the way. And she stayed out there, all alone, all day long. I think I let her back in around 9 p.m. And nobody call Animal Cruelty, she wasn't harmed in any way. There is a litter box, etc. out on the deck. When I brought her back in, I took her back to the spot, which I had cleaned up and sprayed with cat repellent, told her "NO", and let her go. Next time I catch her, she's moving out to the deck for an undetermined period of time. She's a very affectionate and people-person cat, so being alone makes her very crazy. She stands at the door and meows very loudly. I'm willing to try electroshock therapy or anything else needed to get that stupid cat to pee where she's supposed to pee and only where she's supposed to pee. She uses the litter box just fine 95% of the time. That other 5% is going to get her killed. I think the Chiles family needs another cat to keep them company! When should we deliver her/have you up for a pick-up?
I put up a joke at www.laurastants.com on the first page. It wouldn't be big enough to read, here. Airline Pilot Humor, the Sick Version. Made me laugh. Kim Neel, I suggest you not look at it. ;)
Well, the child wants out, the dryer has stopped, and the dishes need put away. And I'm hungry. So, back to regularly scheduled life!
I can say I'm glad she's a happy, fun-loving girl with a weird and slightly gross sense of humor. Except when it's used against ME. ;)
I might have already said this, but she's also big into being a "champion" and "going down in history" right now too. Thus the Awana team she wants to join. I just remembered where that came from. "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". She asked me what "You'll go down in his-to-reeee" meant, so I told her, and from then on she has wanted to go down in history. The Champion thing I believe came from the Queen song I may have been singing. "We are the champions..." "What's a champion Mommy?" So now, she has a few new goals. To be a mermaid princess fairy, and to be a mom with lots of kids (she wants to be able to tell THEM what to do), and to be on TV or stage (oh lordie), and now to be a champion and someone who goes down in history. You can't say the girl doesn't dream big. ;)
Today is the funeral for Wayne, and some of the typical weekend family time and clean-up action. Laundry is in the dryer, dishes are in the dishwasher, child is in the bath tub, kitty litter container is empty, old mail is tossed out, and the day has just begun.
Speaking of Kitty Litter. Here I am yesterday morning sitting at my computer working quietly, when I hear this running water tinkle noise. I jump up and catch Roadie peeing behind our book shelf. I pick her up mid-stream by the scruff of her neck, yell at her louder than I yelled at my college roommate who turned me in for having my mother stay in the room next door, and threw-literally threw-her out on the deck. She landed on her feet just fine by the way. And she stayed out there, all alone, all day long. I think I let her back in around 9 p.m. And nobody call Animal Cruelty, she wasn't harmed in any way. There is a litter box, etc. out on the deck. When I brought her back in, I took her back to the spot, which I had cleaned up and sprayed with cat repellent, told her "NO", and let her go. Next time I catch her, she's moving out to the deck for an undetermined period of time. She's a very affectionate and people-person cat, so being alone makes her very crazy. She stands at the door and meows very loudly. I'm willing to try electroshock therapy or anything else needed to get that stupid cat to pee where she's supposed to pee and only where she's supposed to pee. She uses the litter box just fine 95% of the time. That other 5% is going to get her killed. I think the Chiles family needs another cat to keep them company! When should we deliver her/have you up for a pick-up?
I put up a joke at www.laurastants.com on the first page. It wouldn't be big enough to read, here. Airline Pilot Humor, the Sick Version. Made me laugh. Kim Neel, I suggest you not look at it. ;)
Well, the child wants out, the dryer has stopped, and the dishes need put away. And I'm hungry. So, back to regularly scheduled life!
Friday, February 09, 2007
Friday Friday
And another busy day in the record books!
Still cold...sunny but cold. So this morning Chuck and I went out in the Baron and flew around. It was a good day for it, the heater worked just fine, and it was just pulling it out and putting it away that was a tad...nippy!
By the time we were done, I headed home quickly to try to find photos of one of our pilots who just passed away. Wayne was a sweet man, a good man, and I'm sorry that he is gone. Unfortunately I didn't have any photos of him by a plane. His funeral is tomorrow...
When I left the house, I headed out to Glenndale for the weekly luncheon. Today was fried chicken and some awesome mashed potatoes with cheese! We stayed at the airport until mid-afternoon, then I had to leave to pick up Kaylee at school. Her school pictures were today! I hope they got her to smile, but somehow I doubt it. It takes a lot to get that girl to give a real smile, even for me, and I doubt the photographer would be that patient. But I can hope they turned out well. ;) Anyway, I picked her up, ran some errands, did some work, then took her to try-out for the Awanas team. I don't know why she wants to be on this team so badly, but she sure does! That lasted until about 8 pm. Some late food, and finally she's off to bed later than normal, but tomorrow is Saturday at least.
And that's it for tonight!
Still cold...sunny but cold. So this morning Chuck and I went out in the Baron and flew around. It was a good day for it, the heater worked just fine, and it was just pulling it out and putting it away that was a tad...nippy!
By the time we were done, I headed home quickly to try to find photos of one of our pilots who just passed away. Wayne was a sweet man, a good man, and I'm sorry that he is gone. Unfortunately I didn't have any photos of him by a plane. His funeral is tomorrow...
When I left the house, I headed out to Glenndale for the weekly luncheon. Today was fried chicken and some awesome mashed potatoes with cheese! We stayed at the airport until mid-afternoon, then I had to leave to pick up Kaylee at school. Her school pictures were today! I hope they got her to smile, but somehow I doubt it. It takes a lot to get that girl to give a real smile, even for me, and I doubt the photographer would be that patient. But I can hope they turned out well. ;) Anyway, I picked her up, ran some errands, did some work, then took her to try-out for the Awanas team. I don't know why she wants to be on this team so badly, but she sure does! That lasted until about 8 pm. Some late food, and finally she's off to bed later than normal, but tomorrow is Saturday at least.
And that's it for tonight!
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Still Freezing
Apparently we're in the midst of a record-breaking freeze-wave. Right now, Kokomo is sub-zero (again) and is supposed to stay cold for awhile longer. Thank heavens for warm clothes and warm homes.
Let's see. Today. Anna Nicole Smith is dead. Suicide perhaps? I hate to say that she won't exactly leave a void in the world, but tis true. It's still pretty sad though, what a waste of a life. And that poor 5 month old baby girl left behind. Ugh.
I took Kaylee to school this morning, on another 1-hour delay thanks to the temperatures. (I'm not sure exactly how a one-hour delay helps the temperatures, but I'll go with it.) This meant she was only in school for 2 hours today. I came home and worked for that time frame. When I picked her up, we hit Wendy's for lunch, then came home. She had gymnastics this afternoon, and right after gymnastics we headed to Indianapolis and met up with "Grandma Shaffer" and her two teacher friends who were there giving a presentation at a teacher conference. We were going to take them to a nice Italian restaurant just a couple of blocks away. I plugged it into the new Garmin street GPS Steve bought. I plugged the wrong one in, and instead of going 3 blocks, we ended up going 20 minutes...and once we got there, we couldn't find it. It must have been in the mall or something! :O So...we went to Outback Steakhouse! Twice in a row for me, but it was mighty good anyway! We finished up, dropped Grandma and friend off at their hotel, and headed home. It was a nice evening! Kaylee went to bed without arguing for once, and in fact wouldn't even take the time to put on her pajamas. :)
Today the all-male version of the Three Amigos flew the Saratoga and Baron to Sheridan. Um, guess that's about it! Oh, tomorrow is Kaylee's School Photo Day. She'll probably have circles under eyes and be grumpy from being up until 10:30 pm, and I didn't have a chance to give her a bath tonight so her hair won't be fluffy either. lol Oh well, she's beautiful no matter what. :) She wanted to wear a fancy dress with cherries on it. It's sleeveless. It's going to be windchill below zero again in the morning. Um, no. She didn't care. Stubborn, stubborn girl. She will be wearing long sleeves, trust me. ;) I'll let you know when the photos are back, of course!
Let's see. Today. Anna Nicole Smith is dead. Suicide perhaps? I hate to say that she won't exactly leave a void in the world, but tis true. It's still pretty sad though, what a waste of a life. And that poor 5 month old baby girl left behind. Ugh.
I took Kaylee to school this morning, on another 1-hour delay thanks to the temperatures. (I'm not sure exactly how a one-hour delay helps the temperatures, but I'll go with it.) This meant she was only in school for 2 hours today. I came home and worked for that time frame. When I picked her up, we hit Wendy's for lunch, then came home. She had gymnastics this afternoon, and right after gymnastics we headed to Indianapolis and met up with "Grandma Shaffer" and her two teacher friends who were there giving a presentation at a teacher conference. We were going to take them to a nice Italian restaurant just a couple of blocks away. I plugged it into the new Garmin street GPS Steve bought. I plugged the wrong one in, and instead of going 3 blocks, we ended up going 20 minutes...and once we got there, we couldn't find it. It must have been in the mall or something! :O So...we went to Outback Steakhouse! Twice in a row for me, but it was mighty good anyway! We finished up, dropped Grandma and friend off at their hotel, and headed home. It was a nice evening! Kaylee went to bed without arguing for once, and in fact wouldn't even take the time to put on her pajamas. :)
Today the all-male version of the Three Amigos flew the Saratoga and Baron to Sheridan. Um, guess that's about it! Oh, tomorrow is Kaylee's School Photo Day. She'll probably have circles under eyes and be grumpy from being up until 10:30 pm, and I didn't have a chance to give her a bath tonight so her hair won't be fluffy either. lol Oh well, she's beautiful no matter what. :) She wanted to wear a fancy dress with cherries on it. It's sleeveless. It's going to be windchill below zero again in the morning. Um, no. She didn't care. Stubborn, stubborn girl. She will be wearing long sleeves, trust me. ;) I'll let you know when the photos are back, of course!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Snow Day
Today was sure pretty. Cold, but pretty, with all that snow sparkling. Kaylee's school was delayed an hour again (I could get used to sleeping in an hour later), and after I took her, I went home and worked until about 11:30. Hit lunch at 
Culvers, went to the office for awhile, went and got Kaylee. She was SO excited about the snow, we bundled up and played outside for awhile. We had a snow fight--of course she got mad when I actually got her, but that's the joy of being six I guess. You think that you should be able to get everybody else, but they can't get you. ;) We both did snow angels, picked off some big ice cycles, played a couple of games. And then Kaylee's switch flipped and she decided she was freezing, and we came inside and had some hot chocolate. Her website is updated with some photos from today. :) She's getting ready to go to Awanas, and I'm ready to then head on over to Outback Steakhouse for an Anniversary Dinner with Chuck and Judy and family (Happy 43rd Anniversary!) and Nathan and Tre and family, etc. I haven't had Outback since the Gnat was sold, so I'm looking forward to that! Yum.
We have a new TV. Of course it isn't as easy as that. They didn't have the one we wanted, so they gave us an upgrade for the same price, but said it would be in on Wednesday. So today arrives, and the TV doesn't. So Steve goes in to HH Gregg and apparently does some "I am NOT HAPPY" conversations. And comes home with the floor display model, after getting a total of about $400 off of the total price of this TV. I can't remember what size it is right now, but it's our first widescreen, and I think the first TV we've bought in 11 years. Now maybe we can watch movies and shows without that annoying black banner across the top and bottom of the screen all the time. ;) Anyway, it is sitting on our deck, waiting for us after dinner tonight to move our existing TV into the other room and set this one up. We dismantled our TV cabinet yesterday, so we're ready for action. As long as it's back up in time for me to watch Criminal Minds, I'll be good. ;)
One more quickie...Kaylee has decided that she wants to "Go Down In History". She keeps trying to figure out how she can be famous. She also wants to be on television and stage. She has told me she can't wait for her ballet recital because she wants to be on stage. She also wants to know how she can do commercials on TV. Most of all though, she wants to be famous and quote "go down in history". Ummm....
Boy am I in trouble.
Time to prepare Kaylee for her Awanas verses and change back into jeans and get ready to go!
Culvers, went to the office for awhile, went and got Kaylee. She was SO excited about the snow, we bundled up and played outside for awhile. We had a snow fight--of course she got mad when I actually got her, but that's the joy of being six I guess. You think that you should be able to get everybody else, but they can't get you. ;) We both did snow angels, picked off some big ice cycles, played a couple of games. And then Kaylee's switch flipped and she decided she was freezing, and we came inside and had some hot chocolate. Her website is updated with some photos from today. :) She's getting ready to go to Awanas, and I'm ready to then head on over to Outback Steakhouse for an Anniversary Dinner with Chuck and Judy and family (Happy 43rd Anniversary!) and Nathan and Tre and family, etc. I haven't had Outback since the Gnat was sold, so I'm looking forward to that! Yum.We have a new TV. Of course it isn't as easy as that. They didn't have the one we wanted, so they gave us an upgrade for the same price, but said it would be in on Wednesday. So today arrives, and the TV doesn't. So Steve goes in to HH Gregg and apparently does some "I am NOT HAPPY" conversations. And comes home with the floor display model, after getting a total of about $400 off of the total price of this TV. I can't remember what size it is right now, but it's our first widescreen, and I think the first TV we've bought in 11 years. Now maybe we can watch movies and shows without that annoying black banner across the top and bottom of the screen all the time. ;) Anyway, it is sitting on our deck, waiting for us after dinner tonight to move our existing TV into the other room and set this one up. We dismantled our TV cabinet yesterday, so we're ready for action. As long as it's back up in time for me to watch Criminal Minds, I'll be good. ;)
One more quickie...Kaylee has decided that she wants to "Go Down In History". She keeps trying to figure out how she can be famous. She also wants to be on television and stage. She has told me she can't wait for her ballet recital because she wants to be on stage. She also wants to know how she can do commercials on TV. Most of all though, she wants to be famous and quote "go down in history". Ummm....
Boy am I in trouble.
Time to prepare Kaylee for her Awanas verses and change back into jeans and get ready to go!
I always did like Mark Twain
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying
that I approved of it."
--- Mark Twain
that I approved of it."
--- Mark Twain
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Our First "Blizzard"
Well, sort of. We got something like 6" of snow today, from noon on. It's very pretty, but it shut the roads down pretty thoroughly. I was out driving around after lunch, and it was already getting slick. They pre-empted local TV shows just to show us the roads for 3 hours, and interview drivers who all said "Oh yes, it's terrible out here!" Whatever...it snowed, we got it, get off the TV!
Kaylee prayed last night that it would snow a bunch today, so she got her wish. :) School was delayed by an hour again today, and I would guess tomorrow too, if it's not totally shut down.
When Kaylee woke up this morning, the first thing she did was come up to me, hair wild, in her pajamas, holding a fist full of money. The first words out of her mouth were "Mommy, Cinderella III comes out today!" She wanted to go get the movie before school. So of course the first thing I did after picking her up from school was to take her to spend her birthday money on "Cinderella III". She was jumping up and down in line at the store, and the cashier thought it was pretty cute that she was counting out her money. We ran home, and she spent the next 90 minutes watching her new movie, rather enthralled. Ah, to be a kid again. :)
You know, I KNOW there was something I was going to talk about, and I can't for the life of me remember it. Argh. Darn old age. ;)
Kaylee prayed last night that it would snow a bunch today, so she got her wish. :) School was delayed by an hour again today, and I would guess tomorrow too, if it's not totally shut down.
When Kaylee woke up this morning, the first thing she did was come up to me, hair wild, in her pajamas, holding a fist full of money. The first words out of her mouth were "Mommy, Cinderella III comes out today!" She wanted to go get the movie before school. So of course the first thing I did after picking her up from school was to take her to spend her birthday money on "Cinderella III". She was jumping up and down in line at the store, and the cashier thought it was pretty cute that she was counting out her money. We ran home, and she spent the next 90 minutes watching her new movie, rather enthralled. Ah, to be a kid again. :)
You know, I KNOW there was something I was going to talk about, and I can't for the life of me remember it. Argh. Darn old age. ;)
Monday, February 05, 2007
Double Brrrr
Well, it is nose-crystalizing cold. We're also supposed to be getting 4-6" of snow tomorrow. Wind chills were in the negative teens. Going outside feels fine-for about .1 of a second. Cars are groaning, locks aren't moving, and the inside of my deck is frosted over even with heat and dehumidifier running 24/7. Welcome to Winter, man.
Kaylee's school was delayed for an hour because of the cold (and probably will be tomorrow, too). I got her off to school, ran several errands, then went to the office and stuffed envelopes for billing. Had lunch at Applebees with Steve, Chuck and Nathan. When I picked Kaylee up at school, we got a snack, got ready, and headed to her ballet class. I made sure she wore long sleeves this time! After ballet we went out to eat at Ruby Tuesdays with Steve & Chuck. Kaylee was running out of patience/energy at this point, but she survived. We all came home, bedtime for her, a little "24" for me, and tomorrow starts another day. Of course tomorrow is the day that Cinderella III comes out, and Kaylee has been harassing me for WEEKS about it. She has enough money saved up from her birthday to go buy it, and that's what she wants to do. S0, a movie-hunting we shall go tomorrow after school. ;)
There is NO flying going on right now. 1) It's too bloody cold for the pilots and 2) It's too bloody cold for the planes and 3) did I mention it's too bloody cold? I'd be afraid of what might bend, snap, or brittle off. Of either me or the plane. :O
Getting sleepy--night!
Kaylee's school was delayed for an hour because of the cold (and probably will be tomorrow, too). I got her off to school, ran several errands, then went to the office and stuffed envelopes for billing. Had lunch at Applebees with Steve, Chuck and Nathan. When I picked Kaylee up at school, we got a snack, got ready, and headed to her ballet class. I made sure she wore long sleeves this time! After ballet we went out to eat at Ruby Tuesdays with Steve & Chuck. Kaylee was running out of patience/energy at this point, but she survived. We all came home, bedtime for her, a little "24" for me, and tomorrow starts another day. Of course tomorrow is the day that Cinderella III comes out, and Kaylee has been harassing me for WEEKS about it. She has enough money saved up from her birthday to go buy it, and that's what she wants to do. S0, a movie-hunting we shall go tomorrow after school. ;)
There is NO flying going on right now. 1) It's too bloody cold for the pilots and 2) It's too bloody cold for the planes and 3) did I mention it's too bloody cold? I'd be afraid of what might bend, snap, or brittle off. Of either me or the plane. :O
Getting sleepy--night!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
HOLY COW!!!!!!!!
They did it!! The Indianapolis Colts are the Champions of Superbowl XLI! Woo-HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! I'm so excited! Peyton Manning is a good, solid, decent man with good morals and very good skills. Tony Dungy is a good coach who never yells, never raises his voice, and never swears. He was caught cussing once, when he agreed to go on "The Best Damn Sportshow Ever" (the name of the show). And Jim Ursay, the owner of the team, promised that if they ever made it to the SuperBowl, he would take all of his employees. And he kept his word, bringing in 150 employees and their families to Miami at HIS cost. The leaders are modest, spiritutal, and gracious. The Defense started off the worst in the league and ended up turning it around 180 degrees the last four post-season games. The Colts are a good team with honorable players and employees and I'm SO glad they won it!
Outside we heard a couple of loud explosions, which scared the cats, and which we can only assume are fireworks celebrating the win. :)
On a funny side-note not football related...one more definition of Irony: When as a woman, you now want to weigh closer to what Oprah does, not Tyra Banks, former Victoria's Secret model.
And I'm not making fun of Tyra. She got on TV in a swimsuit and told everybody who was criticizing her weight to kiss her fat rear. She still looks better than most people I know, and it takes guts to go on TV as a former underwear model less than "perfect". I just thought about it and thought it was funny that Oprah weighs less than Tyra Banks, that's all. ;)
Now, back to celebrating the Colts. :D
Outside we heard a couple of loud explosions, which scared the cats, and which we can only assume are fireworks celebrating the win. :)
On a funny side-note not football related...one more definition of Irony: When as a woman, you now want to weigh closer to what Oprah does, not Tyra Banks, former Victoria's Secret model.
And I'm not making fun of Tyra. She got on TV in a swimsuit and told everybody who was criticizing her weight to kiss her fat rear. She still looks better than most people I know, and it takes guts to go on TV as a former underwear model less than "perfect". I just thought about it and thought it was funny that Oprah weighs less than Tyra Banks, that's all. ;)
Now, back to celebrating the Colts. :D
SuperBowl Weekend
Well, it is FREEZING cold here. High of 6 degrees I believe. It looks beautiful, but it sucks the air out of your lungs once you step outside. I am thankful for a working furnace and warm clothing.
Yesterday I spent sleeping. Pretty much all day. I have no idea why. I got up like at 9:30 or so, was up for awhile, slept again until 11 something, ate a little breakfast, slept again until 1:45 pm, etc. Felt like I was walking through molasses most of the day. Did start a book later in the afternoon and managed to stay awake the rest of the evening I think, but went to bed and slept like a rock all night too. So, not an overly productive day, but apparently I needed some extra sleep!
I got up this morning, and finished the book. It was "Flyboys". I don't know what I expected it to be exactly, other than an historical look at pilots and warbirds in WWII, but it wasn't what I expected. I haven't seen the movie "Flyboys" yet, but I'd highly doubt it goes into what this book by that name does. I can definitely say I learned some things, and I learned some things I'm not sure I'm glad I learned. As I get older, I'm changing my mind on feeling the need to know everything. And I KNOW I'm getting older, because they showed actual photographs of 8 particular "flyboys" from WWII, and all I could think when I saw their faces, was "They are babies." Tortured, beaten, hacked to death, and several eaten at dinner by their captors, as 18-20 year old boys. Bright innocent eyes in their first photos, old cold or sad eyes in the war room photos just months later. A tad sobering. As were the parallels of how the United States and Japan and Germany and China and Mexico and Russia and so on all were not so different from each other. At all. The depictions of torture that people did to each other and the enemy, well, it almost makes Vlad the Impaler look tame. Puts a more sobering (the only word I can come up with right now) spin on all of it-the aircraft used, the missions pilots went on. It un-romanticizes something that wasn't 'romantic' to start with. Humanizing everybody involved I guess. Anyway, it's a good read, maybe a little tough now and then if you're in the mood for "fluff", but it's a fair portrayal of both sides and an historically accurate rendition of times, places, events, and people. The next time I see a Corsair or B-29, I'm going to be thinking about some of these boys I just read about.
On a much fluffier yet still quite serious note, the SuperBowl starts in 30 minutes! I have the TV on, and some cheese and crackers and chips and salsa and cheesy breadsticks and Mike's Lemonade ready to go. Steve and Kaylee went to a birthday party for a young man from the airport, but I wasn't feeling up to it; they should be back any minute here as best I know. Either way, I'm ready to watch, and if I am alone for part of it, I will jump up and down in my own living room to try to prevent that stroke that almost happened in the play-off game against the Pats. Come on Peyton and crew, hold it together for one more game...the biggest game in the country! :O
Yesterday I spent sleeping. Pretty much all day. I have no idea why. I got up like at 9:30 or so, was up for awhile, slept again until 11 something, ate a little breakfast, slept again until 1:45 pm, etc. Felt like I was walking through molasses most of the day. Did start a book later in the afternoon and managed to stay awake the rest of the evening I think, but went to bed and slept like a rock all night too. So, not an overly productive day, but apparently I needed some extra sleep!
I got up this morning, and finished the book. It was "Flyboys". I don't know what I expected it to be exactly, other than an historical look at pilots and warbirds in WWII, but it wasn't what I expected. I haven't seen the movie "Flyboys" yet, but I'd highly doubt it goes into what this book by that name does. I can definitely say I learned some things, and I learned some things I'm not sure I'm glad I learned. As I get older, I'm changing my mind on feeling the need to know everything. And I KNOW I'm getting older, because they showed actual photographs of 8 particular "flyboys" from WWII, and all I could think when I saw their faces, was "They are babies." Tortured, beaten, hacked to death, and several eaten at dinner by their captors, as 18-20 year old boys. Bright innocent eyes in their first photos, old cold or sad eyes in the war room photos just months later. A tad sobering. As were the parallels of how the United States and Japan and Germany and China and Mexico and Russia and so on all were not so different from each other. At all. The depictions of torture that people did to each other and the enemy, well, it almost makes Vlad the Impaler look tame. Puts a more sobering (the only word I can come up with right now) spin on all of it-the aircraft used, the missions pilots went on. It un-romanticizes something that wasn't 'romantic' to start with. Humanizing everybody involved I guess. Anyway, it's a good read, maybe a little tough now and then if you're in the mood for "fluff", but it's a fair portrayal of both sides and an historically accurate rendition of times, places, events, and people. The next time I see a Corsair or B-29, I'm going to be thinking about some of these boys I just read about.
On a much fluffier yet still quite serious note, the SuperBowl starts in 30 minutes! I have the TV on, and some cheese and crackers and chips and salsa and cheesy breadsticks and Mike's Lemonade ready to go. Steve and Kaylee went to a birthday party for a young man from the airport, but I wasn't feeling up to it; they should be back any minute here as best I know. Either way, I'm ready to watch, and if I am alone for part of it, I will jump up and down in my own living room to try to prevent that stroke that almost happened in the play-off game against the Pats. Come on Peyton and crew, hold it together for one more game...the biggest game in the country! :O
Friday, February 02, 2007
Flying Friday
Kaylee dressed up in pink tights, ivory shoes, a pink sparkly formal dress, and a pink jeweled hair bow. She looked quite stunning for her 'wedding' event today. :) However, I had forgotten I was supposed to bring a "Wedding gift" of wrapped crayons, so I dropped her off, ran to the store, got cat food and crayons, wrapped them up, and dropped off the gift with an hour to spare for the wedding.
Then I headed to Glenndale; today's lunch was Sloppy Joes, and they were pretty good! Afterwards, Nathan, Chuck and I took the Baron to Huntington to check on the T-6 being built there. They seem to be moving on it pretty well! It's pretty neat seeing how everything goes together, and I can't wait for the project to be finished. We headed back to Kokomo, then Chuck and I flew to Muncie to pick up Nathan in the Cheyenne. By the time we headed back to Kokomo, the skies were basically clear. The clouds and snow showers had moved out, and it was blue skies and miles of visibility. A tad gusty, but not as exciting as some other trips we've had. lol It was a nice day, fun and relaxing and a little exciting to see the progress and get to mess around for the afternoon.
Back to Glenndale to pick up Kaylee, a bit of supper, bedtime for her, and now we're watching SuperBowl commercials from years past. Two days to the Colts in the SuperBowl...there are little signs up all over Kokomo. Businesses have "Go Colts" or "Colts" or "Good Luck Colts" or whatever up on several places. It's fun, and man do I hope they win...
Well, I can't think of what else I was going to say, so I'll sign off for the night!
Then I headed to Glenndale; today's lunch was Sloppy Joes, and they were pretty good! Afterwards, Nathan, Chuck and I took the Baron to Huntington to check on the T-6 being built there. They seem to be moving on it pretty well! It's pretty neat seeing how everything goes together, and I can't wait for the project to be finished. We headed back to Kokomo, then Chuck and I flew to Muncie to pick up Nathan in the Cheyenne. By the time we headed back to Kokomo, the skies were basically clear. The clouds and snow showers had moved out, and it was blue skies and miles of visibility. A tad gusty, but not as exciting as some other trips we've had. lol It was a nice day, fun and relaxing and a little exciting to see the progress and get to mess around for the afternoon.
I've got a "Formation Flight" book and videos to go over, learn, etc. At some point here I'll have to hook up with an appropriate instructor and get actual training in it. Something else to make me feel inadequate until I get it down, but something else I really look forward to accomplishing...and doing. I hope. :)
Well, I can't think of what else I was going to say, so I'll sign off for the night!
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Hmmm....
Quieter day today! Kaylee went to school, I went to Glenndale then ran to Kokomo with Chuck and picked up time sheet from the planes for the end of (last) month billing, back to Glenndale, pick up Kaylee, get lunch at Mike's Pizza, change her clothes and take her to gymnastics, back here to change clothes and get ready, and I go to Olive Garden with Michaele and Andrea, where we stay for like 3 1/2 hours! Now it's 10:30 and I'm TIRED. Tomorrow is Kaylee's school "marriage" between "Q" and "U", so she gets to dress up formally. And that, in a nutshell, is my day!
*Yawn* Night!
*Yawn* Night!
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