Freaky Friday

Not really freaking, just the same old stuff.

I had to take my car in for a tuneup. I love my car, but I had to take it in today because there was a recall notice for it. Wow. I've only had it 6 weeks! I'm not even sure what they did to it, but they washed it for nothing, so that was nice.

Told Steve I didn't want to go biking yesterday and would rather drive around looking at the flooding. He took me for a hugely long hike down by ConAgra downtown. I was in serious pain and not very happy. Can't decide if he: a) Doesn't hear me. b) Doesn't pay attention to what I say. c) Has no concept of pain, or d) Was trying to get even for me not going biking. Probably, it was a combination of all of the above! Ah well, it made the warm shower that much nicer when we got home.

Forgot to order my Ambien today. MUST get it done and picked up by 4 p.m. tomorrow.

We FINALLY got rid of those stupid bricks from in front of the house! When we moved in they bordered a small rose garden, but they were put in the ground with the the sharp ends sticking out of the ground, so I had Steve dig them out because I was always scared someone would fall on them. He dug them out and then just put them in front of the house - two years ago. Smitty said he wanted them, but that's as far as that got. I told him this week I wanted them GONE, so he loaded up the truck tonight and we took them out there. Now, if I could just get the rocks weeded (yes, you read that right), get some type of holder for the hose so it isn't always laying in the yard, and get the cobwebs off the front of the house, I think it will look a lot better. We need more rock in the back yard, but I'm just happy to have those stupid bricks gone!

When we were going out to Sue and Smitty's there wasn't a cloud in the sky, it was gorgeous out - just a little humid, but about 87 degrees. Nice. As we turned off of 84th Street, I noticed a thunderhead way off to the northeast, but that was it. We got in the truck after Steve unloaded the bricks and he turned the weather radio on and they were just announcing a tornado confirmed just north of Cedar Bluffs - and sure enough the sky was all gray and angry looking off in that direction. Scared the crap out of me because Meg is at Camp Cedars just north of Cedar Bluffs! Her being at camp didn't used to bother me so much, but ever since that tornado hit the scout camp at Little Sioux and killed some scouts, it scares the crap out of me.

I had to laugh though, I sent her a text message to see if they were okay, but there was still a severe t-storm warning, so she said she'd call me later. Then I got a message from her saying, "Theres a shit ton of golf ball sized hail and otherwise were good". This from my English major daughter! I'm not sure exactly how much a shit ton is either....

I've downloaded a bunch of free books and stuff on my Kindle, but now I don't feel like reading any of them. I get a blog every day about free books on Kindle and some sound pretty good when I read the reviews, so I download them and then when I go back to read them - eh, not so much. I got one the other day about 2 brothers and a sister who are firefighters, but it turned out to be nothing but a glorified love story. Ick. I hate those stupid books. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, but something beyond their power is keeping them apart, or else one of them is totally oblivious to the other, they have a fight, and then miraculously at the end of the book they realize they can't live without each other. Blech. Change the names, the books are all the same. Booooooring. Do you think I like romances? Heh heh... Let's have some true life. Boy meets girl, they think they're in love so they get married. Boy is totally indifferent to girl, but goes nuts to hang out with his friends and girl is left at home alone all the time. One or the other dies before they realize maybe they care about the other after all. Maybe. Hey, now THAT'S life.

Took Cookie to the vet the other day. She just could not stand up. Picture Bambi on ice, only not so cute and kind of scary. When I called to make her appointment, I seriously thought we were going to have to put her down, but he prescribed some tramadol for her arthritis pain and we're going to see if that helps. She also has a new heart murmur that's pretty significant, so we need to watch that too. Since then she has been better, but not like her old self, still does the Bambi thing and needs a lot of help. Should you put a dog to sleep just because she's old and can't walk anymore? She still struggles to run to Steve and she loves to just be held and sleep on my lap while I watch TV in the daytime. Does she have the quality of life of a puppy? No. But then I don't have the quality of life of a toddler either, but I still enjoy my life and wouldn't want someone to put me to sleep. I struggle with decisions like that. I won't let her get as bad as Jojo, heart-wise though. I know now that I let his heart get too bad. I miss him though.

Steve and Tom are going to Walnut, Iowa, for their antique celebration tomorrow. I'm not. I've had enough of being drug all over the place for one week. Besides those 2 get to talking and I could literally disappear and they'd never notice. I'm invisible. So, I might as well stay home where I'm appreciated! (The dogs, you know...)

Next Tuesday, Lisa is bringing Callie and Tilley to Omaha. India is taking Callie and I'm going to take Tilley to Clive, or Des Moines, or wherever on Wednesday. Steve was going to take Wednesday off, but wouldn't you know it, he has meetings that morning and can't. I really didn't expect that he would, so I'm not too disappointed. I kind of wanted to go to Hickory Park and thought that would be a good reason to go. He says he could get off at lunch and we could go then, but I really don't want to have dinner in Ames and then have to drive home. I'll just go in the morning and be home by 2 or so, and that will be that!

The flooding is crazy here... I'll have to take I-80 through Omaha and Council Bluffs and then go up into Iowa. Can't go across the Mormon Bridge, the road is flooded on the Iowa side and I-29 is closed from the Crescent exit to Missouri Valley. It makes the drive a little longer, but not that bad. I-29 is also closed from Hamburg, Iowa, to Rock Port, Missouri -- that'll put a dent in the fireworks in Omaha this year! ha ha ha...

Well, thus endeth another day. Hallelujah and good night!

Sunday, 12 June 2011

Good day today. The weather was wonderful! Even this afternoon it was warm, but cloudy and the wind had a cool feel to it. Niiiiiice.

Matt came over today to do his laundry so we got to see Hailey and spend a few hours with her. She loves Thomas the Tank Engine, which really cracks me up. We watched an episode of that while Matt took the vacuum home to use, then we watched some Barney for a bit, until the lure of the kitchen drove her upstairs. She really loves playing with her kitchen. I might have Matt and Steve take it over to their house, since she doesn't spend so much time with us as she used to. She loves to bake the French Fries, and her "tookies" and her oranges (?), but she has fun. Today she got irritated because I have one of those magic bottles for her baby doll. Every time she thought it was empty, it would suddenly fill up again. After four times of her thinking it was empty and it really being full, she got ticked and tossed it across the room. "I said no more!" And that was THAT! She loves Barney and loves to sing his ending song with him. I will get a video of her singing soon. I just love it. She cried when she had to leave tonight. It broke my heart. She wanted nana and kept holding her arms out to me. I saw a picture of Eric Dane with his 14-month-old daughter the other day and he said about her daughter, "She owns me"... That's exactly how I feel about Hailey. I would move heaven and earth to get her what she wanted - not to mention the fact I put her on a pedestal. She's my first grandchild - what else can I do?

Finished a book called "Sisters" by Kathleen Thompson Norris today. I wasn't much impressed with it at first, as a matter of fact, I had to practically force myself to read it. For one thing, it was kind of smarmy, a little too much like Little Women to make me a big fan, but I kept reading, hoping it would get better, and it did. I'm still not much of a romance book person, but it was pretty good. I'd give it 3 stars, but don't know if I'd read it again. This is one of the free books from Kindle that I've managed to download from the Free Kindle Guide, so a free book is a good book - when you're broke. Besides, you never know when you might find a really good newcomer! I'll let you know what I think about the others. I think I've downloaded at least one a day for the past couple of weeks. Looking forward to some down time this summer and cozy nights around the fire in the winter.

Mom, Bob, Steve and I went to the Scandinavian Midsummer Festival at Stinson Park, which will always be AkSarBen to me, this afternoon. It was fun. We didn't know what to expect because this was only the second year they've had it, and last year it mostly got rained out. They had a pretty good supper for only a $5 donation. A couple Swedish meatballs, boiled potato, pickled herring, cucumber, lingonberry, a piece of hard tack, and a pepperkaka or gingersnap as they're known in the good old U.S. We bought a little package of Spritz cookies too... I love Spritz cookies, so buttery they melt in your mouth. Yummy dinner. I pawned my picked herring off on Steve and Bob. I'm not one for pickled fish. Ick. Good diner! They had a troll out meting people, they decorated a May Pole and sent it up and then danced around it, and played several games involving dancing around the pole. I think everyone really got into the spirit of it. I know Steve and I enjoyed watching it. We should have brought a blanket and/or some lawn chairs, but we didn't. Next time we'll know better. Weren't sure exactly what to expect this year, but now we do. The head of the Norweigen Consulate spoke to us for a few minutes about Midsummer night and some of the traditions that are still continued in Norway and other countries to this day. The trolls and witches that come on the longest night of the year. You have to build bonfires to keep them away. If you make a sachet bag with either 7 or 9 herbs and you sleep with it under your bed, you're supposed to dream of who you're going to marry. He said to be careful - you may get more than you wished for! LOL! Then they planted the May Pole and had the dancing. By that time I was kind of tired of standing and there really wasn't anywhere to sit, except on the ground and neither Carol or I thought we could get up off the ground if we sat down! So, after about 2 hours of fun, we cam home.

I want to try to find Hailey a small trike tomorrow. The Elders had stopped over tonight and she was entranced by their bicycles. I think she's about ready for a trike. Wish I had gotten her one when Wal-Mart had them for $20 at Easter. Funny how just a couple months can change things? I asked Matt if we could come over tomorrow and he said he's think about it. He better be kidding, ungrateful kid... I'll hold his towels for ransom that he left in our dryer.

Started taking the generic Fosomax today. Another pill in the jar... At least it's only once a month. I guess I can live with that. My DEXA scan needs to improve by next year.

Guess that's it for today.

Today, I'm thankful for my family. We're blessed that we've had children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren who haven't had any significant health problems and that... In this day and age, is a true blessing. Love to my family!


Mom, Nana, and Mindi