Santa's on his way........

Merry Christmas Eve to my faithful and not so faithful readers!!! :)

Well, today is Christmas Eve 2006 and that is just so hard to believe. Where has the year gone?
Seems like yesterday it was LAST Christmas!

Today, I've managed to make a batch of dipped pretzels, both chocolate and white ones. I even made them 'fancy' by drizzling the opposite color on them!!!!!! Have also whipped up a batch of home made noodles; they are currently rolled out and drying. I've also got some oatmeal cookies in the oven right now. Poor Ambrose was doing everything but BEGGING for them for the past 2 days! lol In fact, when I asked him what he wanted for lunch today, his response was "oatmeal cookies".....too funny. So, since I don't make those ever, I searched online for the simplest, easiest recipe it could provide. I do not like raisins in them; all my cookbooks called for molasses and or crisco - both of which I do not have and I'm trying not to go to town!!! SO..this one looked simple. And they are very tasty I might add!! I need to make a couple other things for tomorrow but I guess I'll have later tonight and in the morning. Right now, another thing that is going on is "the turkey is in the sink, thawing out"!!!
My mom is coming here for Christmas day. I'm going to make the turkey....and don't laugh at me, but I've never baked a turkey a day in my life. SO...if you will, image the scene from Christmas Vacation when Clark cuts open that beautiful looking turkey and it goes "poooooooof".....but while your thinking of that scene, cross your fingers that mine does NOT do that! LOL Oh well if it does; we'll have plent of other things.

OMG...as I sit here, a bird just SMACKED into the window right in front of me! LOL LOL Poor bird. And it's not that my windows are so clean that he didn't see it! he he

Anyhow, back to Christmas plans. Today I'm just baking and cooking and I really need to put the table back together with all the pretty stuff. I'm cooking steak and baked potatoes & salad for supper. I haven't even asked Am what he wants. We normally plan several weeks ahead what we're gonna have for Christmas Eve dinner. But this year, I'm just going to fix it and give it to him. I think I'll cook it a little earlier than usual. Christmas Eve service at church is at 7:00 and it seems like for the past 4 years, we've just got enough time to change and get ready for church just as soon as the last bite is devoured!!! *3 years ago tonight, we got engaged!!!!!
I still have a few gifts to wrap. I guess I better get that done, huh? I think I will go do that now since Am just went outside to piddle. One is his!! lol

Merry Christmas and may Santa bring you what you wished for........

The reason for the season

Miss Emily

This is one of the pictures I got from Sally this afternoon. It was right after I posted my earlier blog. Isn't she a cutie???? I love the big red bow!!!!!!!!!

Sunny & in the Sixties Saturday

What a day!!!! It's quarter to three and it's 62* degrees! Isn't that amazing for December 16th in Missouri?????

Well....the meteor shower was a bomb when I went back out in the night. I should have just stayed out when I was out there at 10....it was a good one. The "streaking meteors" were very bright and they were long in their streak; simply amazing! My friend Chris took her kids out to a dark area on a country road and they watched in the car. She said they were both excited and amazed!!!! Well....I just happened to wake up at 2:00 and decided what the heck and went out again. That was supposed to be the PEAK TIME...and all over the sky not just one area. Guess what. It had gotten sooooo cloudy that I could only barely see about 7 or 8 stars above head. Couldn't even see the moon sliver. I was really really disappointed. Oh well...... next time I guess!

My cousin Amy had her baby last night. She gave birth to a healthy 7 lb 14 oz 21" long baby girl: Emily Jo This is her 2nd child.
Here she is:

Her Aunt Sally should have more pics tonight so maybe I'll have another one to show you. She doesn't look too happy in this picture. Sally said she doesn't have a real loud voice (I'm sure she'll learn to change that) and that she's really "chunky"!!!! Congratulations to Amy & TJ and let's not forget big brother BO! {for those of you who don't know them....and went to our wedding....Bo was our ring bearer)

That's all I have to report today.......Have a good rest of the weekend!!!!

OHHHHHHHH wait. I DO have something else. I knew it would come to me some time! Just for those who have kept track of my every blog as it happens (Susie and Mel) the old "PSYCHO BITCH" cow is now officially in the barn!!! SO she's been contained and will be eating all the time to get a little meat on her bones so Am can take her to the sale barn. But after he got her in......he then realized that Christmas Day and New Years Day are on Monday's and the sale barn won't be open either time and he's not ready to send her tomorrow. (Sales are on Monday's and we load up on Sundays) SO...she will be in the barn until after the 1st. Next one is the old crippled up black cow. I call her Frosty...as she has part of an ear off - probably due to frost bite. She's pretty lame and the two of them are going "bye bye" together!!!!

Watching the skies.....

WELLLLL
You know I'm fascinated with meteor showers....there is one tonight. It was supposed to start shortly after 9:00....the peak viewing should be around 2. Well...I went outside a short bit ago..ohhhh about 9:45 and I can honestly tell you that YESSS there is a meteor shower!!!! Am even came out and he saw a few too!!! Thank goodnes it's decent outside LOL MY plan is this....IF I wake up in the night around peak time, I am going to throw on some sweatpants and my shoes/coat/stocking hat and go back out!!!
I know....what a damn freaky moron!!!! And I say that the old mean cow and my cat are psycho's!! LOL

I'll report tomorrow with what I see in the night (if I make it up)

p.s. Susie I have tried and tried to leave a comment on your blog and it will not let me. Says it doesn't know me and to try again later!. GRRRRRRRRR ANyhow, I'm sorry about your dog......you and Mom should go dog shopping together! lol
Night.

Greetings.....

Snow + Sun = Slushy Sunday

Those are 3 pics from last weekend's storm. Obviously today is a different story. I'm writing this at 8:05 p.m. and it's currently 45* Pretty yuky riding behind the tractor on the pallett!!! But it was better than busting my rear end trying to walk down to the barn!!! I really need to get a digital camera. I left Santa a nice verbal hint just a bit ago!!!! I doubt he heard it.

Yesterday, I had 3 of my friends out for the day. We get together every year for our own little Christmas. This year it was my turn to have it. I've never hosted it and since I have more room (more than the dumpy trailer I had that is) I volunteered last year! Unfortunately, I was a bit under the weather though. I don't know what was wrong. I woke up at 4:30 in the morning w/ a headache which isn't anything uncommon. But when I got up for the day at 5:30, I just had that nausiated feeling. I got up anyhow...and got my table settings out and tidied up a little; decorated the bathroom w/ the winter stuff; turned on the crockpot of veggie soup and started simmering the chili again. I also had to make the chicken salad croissant sanniches...I had cooked the chicken breasts the night before. Let me tell ya........by 9:30, I seriously had to hurl. I actually turned OFF the stove because that chili smell was just about to send me to the throne! It was really weird. After that was off, I got to feeling better just a little...but not a lot. It came and went as the entire day went on. I managed to get everything put together. Ambrose left here around 11 and headed to Quincy....to do whatever it was that he did over there. He piddled and I would guess that maybe he shopped! My first guest, Karen, arrived shortly before noon. Then Mia came around 20 after and Chris came right after that!! We sat around and talked...then we {they} ate and we did our gift exchange. I did manage to get a tiny bowl of veggie soup down and 1 chicken salad croissant. I couldn't tolerate any more than that. I had all sorts of things too; BBQ little weiners, veggie pizza, chex mix, hot ham/peppercheese sanniches, chocolate eclairs....what a shame I couldn't eat. Oh well. I managed to get thru the day and that was the goal. My last guest left about 4:45. Am didn't get home until 5:30.......which totally surprised me. Of course, I had the kitchen almost completely put back together and cleaned up. What do you think he wanted???? something to eat! LOL men shall be men, huh? I did wake up this morning and felt fine. We watched tv and went to church and then just piddled around here. I helped feed the cattle this afternoon. Got to see the new baby. Oh..forgot to post that. Last Sunday, Am went to the cows (in the fresh foot of snow) and he found a new born calf. What a surprise. Evidently "Bitch" (that's her real name) got bred before Mac was put elsewhere. Am had no idea that she was even going to calve NOW. The calf is a boy. He looks just like the calves that cow has has for the past 2 years. The only difference is he's red....and he's a boy. Other than that....identical for the 3rd strait year. How weird is that?!?!?!? And she also is the first to calve the 3rd strait year. I took a picture.......6 weeks from now when the film is done and developed, I'll post it! lol

Have a great week

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a compilation of hilarity ...

Snowbound on Ponderosa Trail

Wow....who woulda thunk it, huh? Last night, after 6, it started to sleet. It sleeted for hours!!!! I know when I went to bed after 10, it was still pinging on the winders. Our bedroom has 2 windows....North & East. Guess what direction it was blowing? Yep...North & East. So it was like double pings!!! There were times that it sounded like small hail. Anyhwo......I drifted off sometime after 11:00. I woke up at 2:30 and went to the bathroom and while I was up I figured I might as well check out the door. After all....the weather forcast WAS for 12"-15" of snow! {Yea right.....} WELLLLLLL at 2:30 the sleet was certainly over...but the snow was already quite deep. On our steps coming into the house, the snow was "step deep", meaning you couldn't tell where the steps were. Kind of looked like a ramp. It was blowing in pretty good too. OK....well so it was a real winter storm but surely there's not gonna be THAT much snow, right?? WRONG! Ambrose got up at his normal time of about 10 or 5 till 5:00. He fed Molly her morning routine of tuna, turned off the lights, shut off the alarm before it went off, and went back to bed. I knew right then and there that we were doomed. The man doesn't miss work for anything. Goes in sick even. SO....I said "well?" "It doesn't look good" was all he said. SO...I got up and looked. HOLY TOLEDO!!! Now I understood why he went back to bed! Well..we laid there until 5:30 and he got up at 5:30 when the local news came on. I did too. After awhile, I decided to open the door and stick a tape measure in it.....well.....the snow on the top step was level with the door and it wouldn't open too much. But I managed to get a 10" reading out of the deal. Good grief!!!!!! The silly man....by 7:00, he was outside, scooping the sidewalk! Now...if you ask me, who cares if the walk is scooped at 7??? He just can't sit still. It appeared to be a long day/weekend comin! lol ANyhow...later this afternoon, sometime between 1 and 2, the county truck came down the road and plowed us out. We had no idea they'd do it today.........or at all. BUT we were officially opened up! Rudy sure had a good time in the snow. Watching him "race" thru the snow and 'falling' into a drift was just hilarious!! He rolled around in it numerous times too....just like he does in the grass in the summer!! Too cute! The cats however, they were piled up on the hay bales in the garage!! All 6 of them were home!

Well......have a good weekend everyone!!!!

rain amount update

Just to report.......since my last posting which was before six....we've gotten a lot more rain. At that time, it was 1 inch. Around 8:00 tonight, the raingage check was 2 inches 3 tenths. Right now, it's quarter after 9 and he just checked again....total now is THREE and 1/2 inches. GOOD GRIEF! Ambrose dumped it out and turned it back upside down to put it away for winter so it doesn't freeze and break. How many November 29th's can you say you had 3.5" of rain and it's still coming down? So far no freezing. We have 34* so it's getting close to the borderline. I just talked to my mom and she said that the grass is a little crunchy and she could here that crackling sound that trees make when there is ice on them. Actually when she called, her power had gone out. She was in the middle of talking to me on Yahoo! messenger and I wondered what on Earth she was typing.......but she called to tell me not to worry why cause she was sitting in the dark. Good grief I hope she doesn't go all night like that. At least there's the wood stove!
That's all. Good night.

Weird & Wicked Weather Wednesday

OK...today started out in the 60's at 5:00 a.m., thunder in the N.W. and lightening. By the time I got to work at 6:45, it was very dark in the West and lots of lightening. By 9:50, the temp had dropped to 56...and by 10:40 it was 47. Right now, 5:45 p.m. it's 37* and it's been raining off an on a good portion of the day. I left work at 3:30 since I went in early. I rescheduled my hair cut incase the weather was crappy at 5:30...... ANyhow...we have had an inch of rain and the ice and snow is slowly creeping in. I got an email from one of my many sister in laws this afternoon (she works in Lee's Summitt MO){KC} and it was freezing rain and she said North KC had an inch already. I wasn't sure if she meant an inch of ice or snow. Sure hope she meant snow. The weather man has revised our forecast to a possible 10 inches of snow by mid Friday. YUK AND YIKES

OK.......SUSSSIEEE is dying to hear the "day after Thanksgiving shopping trip" story and I apologize for not posting it sooner. It really wasn't all THAT bad. We left here at 6:00 and went strait to Walmart in Hannibal. There was one item that I wanted to get, that was one of those "store buster" things. We got there, parked, went in, grabbed it off the display in the center aisle only about 30 yards down, was the only one in line and back to the car....all in TEN MINUTES! wooo hooo That had to be the very best Walmart trip I have ever had!! Next it was to Kohl's. OMG! The parking lot was full from N - S and from E - W......so I parked at Lowe's next door and that was where the Mr. hung out. I ventured into Kohl's. WHOA! I'm sure you've all been in Kohl's. OK....the cash registers are all at the front of the store and the towels/sheets and stuff like that is at the VERY BACK of the store, right? OK.....I grab my bag and start strolling about. The first thing I wanted to look at was their Christmas items (at the back of the store.) I KID YOU NOT, there was a line back there........that started at the cash registers....it went down the entire sides (YES BOTH SIDES) of the store and both lines met at the back and kept going...in a cris cross sort of way...............can you get the image? I was like "HOLY SH*T BALLS....what on Earth am I doing here and why in the world am I actually putting things in my bag to purchase?" But the voices in my head didn't answer and I kept shopping. Needless to say....I didn't get a LOT of things by my bag was about half full and I figured that I needed to get in line while I could. Lord only knew how long it was going to take to get up front!!!! I hopped in line promptly at 7:30 a.m. Thankfully, there was a very pleasant lady in front of me. The line didn't move too bad from time to time. It would be a lot nicer if the MORONS WHO WEREN'T BUYING ANYTHING would just get out of line. SOme people are just plain STUPID. I mean....go next door or go shop around or go to the car....but just get the h*ll out of line, would ya???? ok, sorry about that. ANyhow, by the time I got to the front, my cell phone rang (which I was shocked it didn't ring a few times before it did) It was my lovely man and he was still in Kohl's wondering where I was at. I replied, "I'm still in line to pay....but I'm almost to the front. Give me 30 more minutes maybe less"....... ANyhow, it was much less than 30 but when I paid and got out, it was 8:35!!! I stood in line for a flipping HOUR! I hope you people that I bought gifts for appreciate it.........cause I'm never doing that again...and the stupid store opened at 6 the next day and had had big time sales ever since! LOL
From there, we ventured to the mall. He went to Sears (and reported that it was a _______ mess) I will let you fill in that blank! lol I went to Bergners and it was pretty busy too. I got a few things there too. We walked the mall and then left and decided since we were in Quincy we might as well stop at K's. I'm sure glad we did as I picked out a pretty pair of diamond/ruby earrings as a gift from Am! I've always wanted Rubies. They're so pretty and I wear red all the time!
While we were looking at the rubies, my mom came up to us!!!! She was in Quincy for lab work at the doc and decided to do a little shopping to....so then we went to lunch. It was 11:00 and Am and I were STARVED. We thought mom was still in K's so I called her...she was not...she was actually just stepping into Applebee's!!! [Tell me one thing...what did we all do w/o our cell phones in the past????] I told her to grab a table for 3 and we'd be right there. That place was PACKED TIGHT at 11:15 in the morning........I guess all the people were starved; everyone had got up in the middle of the night to go shopping! lol We had lunch and then we came on home. MOm, on the other hand continued to shop as she had not started early like us.

That is my story..........not much to it...but it sure took me a long time to type that!! LOL Hope your eyes are not tired, and Susie-Q, I hope you're fulfilled now, darlin'! :)

Hugs to you all

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Keeping track

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Cats Cats Cats

This is why I love cats!!!! Watch this little video. (for those of you who have dial up slow speed...I'm not sure how long it will take to get going!!!!)
I love this. I haven't forgot to post the end results of our "Black Friday" shopping trip......just saw this video and wanted to share!!!!! (click the little arrow at the bottom of the video to get it to play)

Browse through only the BEST videos at pYzam.com!

Black Friday

OMG......it's 5:55 a.m. and I'm headed to shop. Can you freakin believe it?? I swore back in 1989 that I would NEVER EVER EVER, so long as I live, go out at any timr of day, on Black Friday. SO.....since I've been up since 4:15 wide eyed awake, what else was there to do besides get up at 5 and take a shower! LOL
Now......as I type, my dear husband is getting ready as well. He has decided that HE wants to 'tag along'. WTH????? (that means what the hell) He hates Walmart and that is my first stop. Boy, isn't he in for a treat!?!?? LOL LOL

I'll update later........I'm LMAO at him actually. Then I'm headed to Kohl's in Quincy. If he thinks THAT will be calm....HA.

Later

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Buried at PhotoCasket.com



Ahhhhhhhh This week of work is OVER!!!! THAT is the first thing I'm thankful for! hahaha I am just glad it's a 3 day week and that I don't have to go in on Friday! Whewwwwww. Glad I'm not in retail - something I'll never do again unless it's forced upon me! I'm glad I don't work in retail NOW......because the grocery stores are a crazy place to be the night before a holiday. I know....been there worked that and it SUCKS!!!!!

Am & I are headed up to my mom's and then we're going to Ft. Madison to "Alpha's" for our dinner. We've done that for the past several years. It's very very good. And no big dinner to compose OR clean up!! That's the best part!!! I imagine we'll come home later that night. I am not planning on going shopping Friday..at least not heavy shopping. But I did see one thing at WalMart that I might brave out to get. It's a Christmas gift if I do go get it.....but we'll see. I swore many years ago that I would NEVER...that's right NEVER go out on the day after Thanksgiving for the rest of my life!!!!!!!

Well...you folks have a very Happy Thanksgiving......................................



Buried at PhotoCasket.com



Buried at PhotoCasket.com


Buried at PhotoCasket.com

Recap of Coralville....finally

AHhhh Haaaaa!!!!! I finally got this to work!!! WOO HOOO Guess I have to start the pictures before I start the posting!!! Anyways, here we are!!! This is "us" at our hotel. This was Sunday morning after we ate breakfast! Some nice lady was

kind enough to take our picture. Sorry to you who didn't go........don't tell me you didn't get the invite!! lol Check your snail mail mailboxes more often...they were sent in August!!!!! (Tena...are you going next year????) {and Beth, what about YOU?????}



This next picture is Golda and the latest addition to the family, Mr. Landon Hatfield Monohon. He had such a rough start to life and who would have thought that he would even be here today? "Thank you Lord for answering all of our prayers!!!" Landon was pretty somber while we waited here for our table at the OG (olive garden) He is such a good baby!!!!!



Here, you see Amy (who is due on Christmas Eve with our next family addition, Miss Emily Jo), SANTA, Kathy, and Sally!!!! These silly girls were "posing" for Susie on the mall side of the fence with ol Santie in the background sitting in his Santa chair/house. Everyone else (mostly little kids) were in line....PAYING MONEY for a picture with Santa. From the story I got, he noticed what the girls were doing and he kindly got out of his chair and came up to them and posed with them!!! FREE OF CHARGE MIND YOU!!!!!!! Isn't it cute?????? Santa......what a good ol' boy!! :) and I've been a good girl this year!


Now...the next couple of pictures are of a little inside story of our group. Several years back 1998 I think they said, my cousin Tim, did his own rendition of "Goatboy". Do any of you remember that character from SNL??? (Saturday Night Live) Tim's video is such a hoot...and he'd kill us all if he knew we still watch it on an annual basis!! Sally got the video tape put onto DVD and brought her portable player!! Anyhow...we laugh so hard every time........ In 1999, Sally brought it the first time and then taped us watching the video! THEN we watched the tape of us watching the tape!!! LOL It's just hilarious But one of those "I guess you had to be there the first time" situations!! Still cracks me up just to think about it!!!! Aren't we silly????

Well ok. Those are all the pictures that I have to post. Thank you Susie, for allowing me to use them on MY blog!! I know they are on yours...but I put different story lines with them!! :) Once I get my pictures developed, I'll try to remember to post them at that time!!!!!!! Hope you enjoyed!

Have a good night.

Dear Abby.....

.........you see, I have this cat. She's 11 and will be 12 at the end of April (which, in cat years she will be 68 in April). She has a problem (besides being a freak) Lately, I have noticed that she is becoming obsessed with the "moisture" that collects on the inside windows. You know, when it's cold out and warm in the house, the bottom of the windows collect some wetness???? {maybe our house is just so old that they do that} Anyhow.....here is why I say she's obsessed. She gets up on the night stand by the bed (which she does anyhow to look out) but she's not looking out......she is LICKING...yes LICKING....the moisture off of the window. I know I KNOW......what on earth is wrong w/ this idiot? She's nuts I'm telling you....but I like her!! Is there any suggestion in your suggestion bag on how to cure a cat from LICKING THE WINDOWS??????? *it's really annoying at 3:30 in the morning right next to the bed!!!!!
UUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG retarded animal!
I know......she's just a damn FREAK


Buried at PhotoCasket.com


I think she does this while we're sleeping


Buried at PhotoCasket.com


Well, this past weekend was the annual trip to Coralville {Iowa City} for a weekend of shopping. We had 9 people go. 15 were invited by invitation and we never heard from the other 5 so not sure what happened. I'm not one to keep reminding.....once the invite is sent it's no longer my responsibility! lol Anyhow...we had a great time! We have a rule..no husbands and no children. A baby is allowed...as they have to have momma....but anyone over 1 (or under 18) isn't on the rule list...no ifs ands or butts! I mean..it's our one weekend for girl time....to get away from the men and kids and just relax and have a great time!!! We met up at Younkers at 10 on Saturday and did our thing.....shop, eat, shop. Around 4:30 we headed back to the hotel (which is actually just across the mall parking lot) for a little R&R and then went next door to the Olive Garden. That's a "norm" as well for this trip!!!!! After getting beyond stuffed to the gills we went back to the hotel and just hung out for awhile. THEN we went across the street to get ice cream. We weren't too hungry for ice cream, but Sally said that this place rocked!!! If you ever get a chance to go to a COLD STONE CREAMERY, do it. Don't mind the prices.....just go in and grab one of those creations!! OMG...it's sooooo flipping awesome! In fact, it's the fanciest ice cream joint I've ever seen in my life - other than the ones they show on Food Network. Which I have to tell you.....on "Ham on the Street" last night they were at a Cold Stone Creamery! I got online when I got home Sunday night to check them out...........there's one in Columbia!! Woo Hoo. Check them out: www.coldstonecreamery.com

OK...so we stay all night at the Holiday Inn. Since we had 9 people we ended up with 3 to a room. I roomed w/ Susie and Kathy. We stayed up till MIDNIGHT (about 2 hours past my bedtime) and talked and watched tv. Got up in the morning....got ready for the day, ate breakfast downstairs (not real sure how we could have been hungry but we were) and then headed to Kohl's for some shopping since they were the only ones open!!! After the Kohl's trip it was back to the mall for more!!!! We met up for lunch and then departed on our own ways after that. Mom and I ended up leaving at 3:30 and headed home. We got to her house just shortly after 5 and then I left her house to come home at 5:30. We had a ball!!!!!! Here are a few pictures.....that I'm posting WITHOUT Susie's permission!!! I don't have my film used and developed and since Susie posted these on her blog from her digital camera, I'm stealing them! I figure the worse she can do is tell me that she doesn't want me to post them....and if so I'll just delete them! I don't foresee a lawsuit of copyrights or anything! hahahaha.
Well crap...I'm "editing" my post....because after I put in the pictures and it said they are there and checked it....I see they really are NOT there......what's up with that??! I guess maybe Susie has them blocked after all. LOL It's operator error I'm sure....it's happened to me before and I don't know why. gggrrrrrrrr I'll keep trying
Have a good week.............

11/16/06

Yep.....I'm still alive.
Nothing new going on.......................just work and that keeps me past busy. Am is going to sell the calves this weekend. Which is just as well he do it when I'm out of town.....that way I won't be sad. I haven't even been down there since Sunday.......so I'll never see them again. No more Tiny, Carmel, Tall White Legs, Rose, Ross, Little Red....those are the ones I named. Oh well. We'll start from scratch again in January!!! I'll be in Coralville Iowa on the annual "girls weekend of shopping"!!!!!!! Can't wait!!!! I'm headed up to my mom's Friday after work. She's glad; as she is anticipating "computer school"!!!! She got a new computer a few weeks ago and is just loving it!! She said it has changed her life!! I'm glad as I think it will really keep her company thru the winter dull drums!!!!! We don't even talk on the phone anymore....she'd rather talk on yahoo messenger I think!!!!

I really have nothing else to report. SOrry....we're boring and do nothing! Just in case I don't post again for another 3 weeks (lol) Have a very nice Thanksgiving..............................

Trick or Treat Tuesday

Let me start by saying HOW ABOUT THOSE CARDINALS!!!!???????? I have meant to post since last Friday but just haven't. Woo hooo!!! A Cardinal fan's dream!

Today is Halloween...........where has the year gone? I mean.....mannnnn. 3 weeks until it is Thanksgiving. That also means it's 3 weeks till the 2 year mark of my Dad's death. What a downer November is. I'm not sure what we're doing for turkey day yet.....we'll probably go North to Mom's.....but we haven't talked about it.

I've been busy helping my mom as her "tech support" person. SHe's new to the internet world and is having fun with it I think! I never thought I'd see the day that she bought a computer! LOL She's learning a few things pretty well...then there's things that she has trouble with and it's hard for me to help out when I'm not there. I'm helping her right now as I type this, to get into ecards! :) It's the simple things in life, is it not?

Well......it's almost 9 and my body thinks it's almost 10. I'm going to get off here and relax. (IF my tech support duty is over, that is)

Happpppy Halloweeeen!!!

almost time to fall back....

So don't forget to set your clocks back this Saturday night. I'm actually not real sure where October went. This whole year has flown by but October especially. Mercy. I hate the time change. The only thing I like about the standard time is it's light when I get up in the morning! I've been showering in the dark lately and still dark when I'm dressed! That sucks!!! I'm thinking that beginning in 2007, the time change will be in March and November so we'll get more time of the daylight savings. Works for me!!!

Well....last weekend, Rudy and I were in the first annual Canines for a cure dog walk. It was for the P.A.W.S group and breast cancer awareness. We were in the local paper, along w/ some others. Here we are......not the greatest picture but you get the point. I was really disappointed that his ST LOUIS CARDINALS dog bandana didn't show the display!!! It kept moving down and you couldn't see it....oh well! I'm the girl in the red sweatshirt with the biggest dog of this group.

They had a great turn out! Over fifty people for the first one. I'm thinking they raised nearly $3000 if I'm remembering correctly!!!

Well...tonight is game 4 of the world series. Last night was a rain out........they're down 3-2 at the current second but ready to tie it up. Hopefully they'll win tonight and clinch it tomorrow. How awesome to be at the WS for the first year in their new stadium. It will be more awesome to win the series at home for that reason!!!!!!!

I am taking tomorrow (Friday) off. Going to hang out "at home" (mom') I'm only staying till Saturday afternoon because we have another committment to attend. Well....I guess I'll go for now. Have a good one.

Game #3

Well...as I post this, the Cardinals and Tigers are in the bottom of the 7th inning of game 3 of the "Fall Classic". They are back in St. Louis tonight....YAAAYYYY..and are UP with a score of 2-0!




Not much to report really. Just another really busy week at work and I really don't do a dang thing when I get home. I'm in my LAZY mode I guess. It was 25* this morning at 5:30. That's too cold for me in October!!!!!!

Have a good rest of the week. Only a week until it's time to trick or treat!!!

Sweeeeet!

The St. Louis Cardinals pulled off a huge win in game #1 of the World Series last night (Saturday) in Detroit! My friend and indirect co-worker, Brent, was there! He's there for tonight's game too....pulling for the Detroit Tigers mind you. It's been raining in Detroit all day and it is very windy and 40*. Rather miserable I'm betting.....and I think Brent deserves to feel miserable! LOL Sure hope they win tonight...that would be great!

Yesterday was the 1st annual "Canine's for a Cure" walk in town. You didn't have to have a dog to participate...but it was for the P.A.W.S group and also for breast cancer awareness. Rudy and I went. He even sported his new STL Cardinals dog bandana. And, sorry, I don't have any pics of that. We'll see if we make the paper! lol

Not much to report. Kinda chilly today.........rather breezy and it just feels like winter is setting in a bit early. Perhaps there really IS something to those wooly worms!!!

Well....that is all I have. It's 9 minutes till game time.....so must go.

Have a great week~

Fantastic Friday

What can I possibly say besides.......

THE CARDINALS ARE GOIN' TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!

October 16

Welcome to Monday. And a dreary, wet, chilly, nasty, all-around YUK day!!!!
The Cardinals were rained out to tell you the truth. THey announced the cancellation around 4:30 this afternoon. Bummer. My friend Kyle from work (yes, Mel, the only Kyle) was going to the game today....guess he'll have to go back tomorrow since tonights tickets are to be used for tomorrow. He'll be hacked off I'm sure.
Today was your ordinary Monday. It started off by my boss Lisa calling me into her office before 8:30. She wanted to tell me that Bobbi just gave her notice. November 10 is her last day. Bobbi is our personnel person for the Monroe City plants. SO......what does that mean now? I have no idea. Only thing I know is it leaves a mere THREE people in the HR department. GGGGAAAAAWWWWWWDDDDDDDDD

That is pretty much all I know or can think of. Hope everyone has a good week. I'm going to go watch the rest of Emeril. He's making mexican dishes! YUM (too bad I'll never be able to make them for Pooch)

Let's go Cardinals....let's go

Did you read the title with "clap clap" at the end? Try it again. Let's go Cardinals...let's go CLAP CLAP Let's go Cardinals... let's go CLAP CLAP LOL



Well, so far, the Cardinals have managed to win the past 2 games to take a 2 - 1 lead on the Mets in the NLCS; for those of you who really do not give a rats patoot about baseball...that means that they need to win tonight and tomorrow in order to go to the World Series! They need to win a total of 4 games out of 7. They just began the game (game #4) as I started to type this. Figured I better make a post before you wonder if I fell off earth again. LOL

Was a pretty busy work week - as normal. I was ready for this weekend. We skipped the Monroe City football game on Friday-as it was in California MO which is a good 2 hours away. They got slaughtered anyhow. We stayed home...got a Casey's pizza (which was phenominal by the way) for supper. Hadn't had one of those in ages! I can't hardly hack Pizza Hut anymore. Then we watched the Cardinals game. It was great...and right up to the last out!!!! Saturday, Am worked till about 8:30 or so. I made my normal Hannibal trip. But I added a couple of stops...such as JC Penney's, Steve & Barry's, Walgreens and THEN to WalMart for groceries. I forked out $102 at WalMart alone. Dang that place. How do you people with families do it? Mercy. I thought I had gotten off a little too much the past few weeks. LOL I came home and put all the crap away and started a pot of spaghetti sauce! That's my masterpiece ya know. We listened/watched the Mizzou game in hopes of a big win to continue their season of a perfect one at that (to be 7 - 0) but they lost........so they are now 6 - 1. I listened to alot of it outside, as I was pulling out some flowers that bit the dust from the frost this week. I raked off the crud and planted 50 tulip bulbs!!!! Don't say "FIFTY???????" because where I put them and how I did it I probably could have planted a few more and probably will once all of my petunias die off!!! I got pastel colors this year as I'm kind of sick of seeing red ones!!! Something different. Speaking of flowers: here is a picture of my mums - They aren't fully bloomed in this picture but they are pretty close now!
Last night, we ate sketti and watched the Cardinals game. Went to bed and slept like rocks! This morning, got up and I made some muffins for breakfast; got ready for church; went to church and then just piddled in the house most of the afternoon. Am watched his precious Rams play this afternoon...( i hate the rams) My Chiefs got beat but I'm used to it! lol We put storm windows on later after the game and then headed to the pasture to round up the cows for the nightly round up. It drizzled off and on most of the day. We were kinda wet by the time we got back to the house. Warmed up sketti for suppa; cleaned up the kitchen and here I am!

SO....on the note of knowing our humdrum routine life, I'm going to go away now. Cards are up to bat in the first inning and I must go.

GOOOO CARDINALS!!

Have a good week everyone!

Memories Monday

OK.....call it cheesy; I simply call it maybe I am still in the newlywed mode sometimes!! 2 years ago right now as I type this........I was in my wedding dress, drinking wine and opening gifts
It's amazing how fast time flies! Yes, today is our wedding anniversary. We actually celebrated yesterday by going to Quincy for dinner. We ate at Sprouts Inn. YUM. I used to meet mom and dad there for their anniversaries (not every year but a lot of them) and so I decided that I wanted to there for ours. The food was wonderful. We got the Sunday special (turkey, dressing, noodles) and it was soooo good. Definately home cooked and not just warmed up pre-process crap. We were stuffed before we were done. After that, we went to K's to check out their going out of business sales. I don't really consider 10% much of a liquidation sale. Gold was 50% off but I really didn't look that close. Found a nice small computer desk that I like so I'm sure I'll be going back in a week or two!!!! Then we went to the Humane Society to get a replacement tag for the dog. Somehow, his has disappeared so we got another one w/ a new number. We watched the Cardinals win the NLDS after snacks at supper time. Yaaaay Cards!!
Today - when I got home - there was a fresh fall arrangemet of flowers on the table and a very nice card!!! Am got a card and a nice Mizzou windbreaker pullover! Wasn't sure what to get him and since he was sooooo excited on the Mizzou record, I couldn't resist!!!! We had supper tonight and then after I did dishes, I whipped up a fresh apple crisp!!! I used his mother's recipe. Decided since she's not here on earth to celebrate with us, the least I could do was make her apple crisp! It was delightful I must say. (Susie-did you recognize that word??LOL)
Anyhow....I set a tradition last year with the next part. I got out our unity candles (side candles and all) and set them on the table w/ my flowers, lit then, poured a very small amount of wine in the wine glasses, put some crisp on plates (and keep in mind it was piping hot from the oven) and topped it off with a scoop of "Carmel Crunch" ice cream!!!!!!!!!!!! OMGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man I did good!!!! It was very very tasty, but why wouldn't it have been? I made it for God's sakes!
That sums up the evening!!! That's pretty much it!

Wacky Wednesday!

Not a whole lot of news to report but I thought as though I better post something so Mel and Susie don't get on my case!!!!

Has been nearly HOT the past 2 or 3 days but cooled down today finally. Actually, right now as I'm typing, it's rather cool. I'm actually in my silky long lounge pants!! Pretty odd to be stripped down to near nothing last night and sweating and tonight I'm almost cold! LOL

The first week of October is almost over. CRAZY!!! My 2 year anniversary is JUST around the corner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now THAT is hard to believe!!! I think we are going to go to Quincy on Sunday and out to eat dinner. :)

Wellllll that's pretty much it! You got a post - so deal with it! heehee just kidding.

Summer's back Sunday

Well.....as I type this at 4 in the afternoon, the current temperature is 86*. Quite far from the 38* morning just 3 or 4 days ago! Isn't that called the splendor of Mid-west weather?

We had a magnificent time on our "Hays wine fest" this weekend!!!!! We met at the hotel and ventured on to Augusta MO, which is actually 45 miles further South. What we should have done (and will know for next time) is booked a room in Washington MO and then went. Yes, that is how close to St. Louis we were!!!! Our first stop, which was late morning, was at Montelle. OMG what a fantastic place. I would call it "first class". Very nice, the view was something else and it was huge! Oh...and I found THE BEST wine I've ever had!!! :)
Here is their website. www.montelle.com The only bad thing is you're not allowed to bring in your coolers and food to this place. They promote their restaurant and deli. Which......is fine IF you don't have coolers full of dips, cheeses and meats. We had everything from fruit to meat trays!!!!!! Anyhow, we stayed there until about 1:30 I'm thinking. We really enjoyed it. There really wasn't too many people there when we got there, which made the (HUGE) tasting bar easy to get to. By the time we left, it was like opening day of trout season. It was shoulder to shoulder. We decided to leave there and hit the next one so we could get out our eats!!! We were starved and some of us needed to eat to soak up the suds! heehee (there was 14 of us and 3 pretty sober drivers...so take your pick who it needed to eat!!) Next stop (headed back towards the hotel) was the Balducci Vineyards. www.balduccivineyards.com This place was nice too. I mean not in the "first class" way but very open and lots of tables set up. It was actually just an old barn which has been made into a winery. There's info on their webpage. When we got there - we pushed tables together out in the open and whipped out all of our snacks. We pretty much devoured them! LOL Then started opening up new bottles of wine to check out their stuff! heehee A wedding party came. Pretty cheap way to have your reception I tell ya! Was kinda cool to see a bride all dressed up, her maids and all the dudes.
We were there quite a long while and decided to move it up to Blumenhof Winery in the little village of Dutzow. www.blumenhof.com It was a nice LITTLE place that was packed. Am and I didn't drink anything there. I decided it was time to mellow out! I was NOT out of hand, by any means, but I just decided to sit out at that place! We were there for a couple hours or maybe not 2 and then headed back to our hotel. Its actually in New FLorence right on the intersection of I-70. 15 miles before Hermann. We checked in and then ended up walking to the truck stop cafe up the road. (Melody, it's where we used to eat breakfast). It was called Maggie's. OMG you should see their cream pies! I am NOT kidding when I say normal height pie and 6-8" of merangue. Sure looked good. Everyone got some except us. Am did get ice cream. They said the pie was awesome!!!! We sat around chit chatting until about 10:30 and wrapped it up. Got up this morning (well.....I didn't sleep whatsoever which is a hotel norm for me), showered and ate breakfast down in the lobby. (yes, Mel, they serve breakfast now) We all left at 9:15. Kind of nice to get out of there so early. We were home by 10:30. Rudy (dog) was soooooooooooo excited to see us!!! So now we know he's fine if we have to leave him over night.

That is the brunt of the weekend. It's hot..........and I'm tired and now it's 4:20 so I'm going to wrap this one up! Hope your eyes aren't sore! lol

p.s. Am wasn't pissy at all........he ended up taking his headphone radio so he was completely tuned into the Mizzou game AND the Cardinals game. In fact - he was quite popular w/ strangers asking what the score was! Funny how you just assume because one has on headphones that they have a game on! LOL

Sweet wine Saturday

Good morning.............or to some of ya, good day. It's about 6:40 and today is Hermann trip day. Pooch and I are going to drive ourselves this time (scarey, huh Mel...lol) Last count there was about 15 or 17 people going. us, Dean/Rita, Jean/Randy, Bill/Barb, Barb's brother/wife, Gary/Sharon, Mary Ann, Donnie/Carol Jane and maybe that was all. Isn't that 15? Wow. All Hays' in one way or another. We are going to leave here around 8:30 (which is a bit early if we aren't stopping at the Junction for breakfast.......:( Meeting at the good ol Booneslick Lodge (Mel....they still have goats across the road! LOL) at 10:30 and from there, Rita said that we are going to venture to Augusto to the wineries there. That's fine but it's another 40 miles. Wasn't really wanting to drive another 40 miles. Especially if we stay awhile and drink lots of wine. Oh well. Last year we hit 4 or 5 in Hermann and ended up sitting outside by the pool at the motel for hours!!!!!! It was so fun! Randy has already informed me that he and Jean are cutting away from the group and going to the stock car races that are across the way from the hotel. They did that last year. Woohoo..what a plan. "Can't wait to get to HERMANN to go to the races" lmao

Monroe City football team got their butts CREAMED last night in Macon. We left @ the end of the 3rd quarter and it was 34 -0. That was the final score. The Cardinals however, did manage to pull their heads OUT of their behinds and won 10-5. Thankfully Houston lost too so that turned the "magic number" into 2. Figured they'd blow it. They were very very close to doing so. Mizzou plays this morning at 11:30, STL plays at 12:30 - poor Am..........he'll probably be pissy because he's missing all the game! LOL

Turdy Thursday........

I know you are wondering - "What in the heck does turdy Thursday mean"!!!!!! lol WELLLL it means that when we went on our walk this evening.....I lost count after 3 - how many times Rudy ate turds. Yes, he eats cow pies. Is that gross or what? Once, on the way back to the house, he even picked a piece of one and ran off with it in his mouth. He seemed rather proud. THAT is when I got the idea for the subject title! LOL The more I think about it....the more disgusting it is. WHY - IN GOD'S NAME - DO DOGS EAT POOP??????????????????????


Well....the weather has sure changed today! It got really breezy and rather cool. Right now at 9:30 it is 49.9* on our thermometer. Brrrrr. But, I think by Monday, its supposed to up around 80. I love fall!

Right now, I'm watching E.R. Man I love that show. Hard to tear away - therefore I'm only writing on commercial breaks! I made a pot of chili after supper. I'll put it in the crock pot in the morning and that way, it'll be ready for supper. Since it'll be Friday - we can eat chili and head to Macon to the football game. I also have a pan of brownies in the oven. THOSE are for this weekend. IT's the 2nd annual Hays' Hermann trip. (Mel, don't you wish you could go!?? ) We're somewhat more relaxed as an all Hays' group but still had a ball last year. The ladies bring snacks. I'm taking brownies and some dip stuff and crackers. Will report that later!!!

Well...the commercial over and I'm outta here.
Have a good one!

Cause of insanity

......as if I didn't have enough problems going totally NUTS as it is - - - someone leaves me a very nice "annonymous" comment!!! Hmmmmmmmmm wonder who it is! Now I can't talk negative about you for fear it might be YOU! LOL

Thanks for the comment!!! Glad you enjoy it! (whoever the heck you are.......)
No more annonymous....I'll have to quit posting entirely lol So ya better 'fess' up.
My thought is, it's Mel!!!!

Wooly Worm Wednesday

I liked that title. I used it because it's now Wednesday (It's 6:29 a.m) and last night on our walk, I saw COUNTLESS wooly worms on the road an in the pasture. As I mentioned in an earlier post - they were very very dark. Few light colored ones. SO, we'll see what winter brings. According to the Farmer's Almanac - they're predicting colder and more snowfall than usual. However, the University of Missouri's weather division (I don't remember what they're called) has predicted normal temps and less than normal precipitation. That just goes to show that you and I could put in our predictions too and somewhere, someone would believe it! LOL

Not too much going on so far this week. Work has been busy. Am is still working 11 hours a day. Until that Hannibal plant is all cleaned out. I know a couple of other guys that are working on it from 6-6 are really getting tired. Bad thing is, they are "trashing" the plants here. Dragging crap in from Hannibal and just sitting it around where ever there's an empty spot. The toolroom looks like a dump! Today and tomorrow, there are going to be company wide (mandatory) meeting/assemblies. Hopefully, Eric and Dave will bring us all up to snuff and let us know just exactly what is going on and how things are looking for us. Not that it's good (as the ship is sinking) but hopefully he can answer some questions that people want. I know that people want to know when they are going to take the freeze off of our wages, which WOULD be nice, as Am and I both lost our annual raise this year and I didn't get jack ___ when they moved me to the HR department) Another question I know they'll ask, is when we'll start seeing "employer match" on our 401(k) contributions. That won't be decided until the end of the year. And I'll be involved somewhat with that. Lots of updating in the systems!! (yuk) Today's meetings are in Palmyra and we'll have ours in Monroe City tomorrow.

OK....I've totally bored you with WORK b.s. It's now 6:37 so I better hop in the shower and sort a load of clothes to throw in the washer.

Have a great day and watch the willy worms!!!!!! I imagine you're seeing a lot of dark ones too.

Summer Solstice ends....

Can you believe that FALL has officially arrived? Where has this year gone???? MY OH MY. Seems like just a couple of weeks ago that I was off for 6 weeks after my hysterectomy. And then all the heat of the summer that we didn't think would ever end and now it's fall. You know what that means........yuk! I have seen a LOT of BLACK BLACK BLACK wooly worms. I've always heard that black ones mean a very harsh winter. Ambrose seems to think that "it doesn't mean a damn thing".....and those are his exact words that I hear ALL the time!!!!!! We'll see!

Well....I guess I need to go back and report the happenings from last weekend. I really had intended on doing it earlier this week but you know how that goes! My friend Susie, as you might have read in her comment from yesterday, thought I should dwell on the festivities from then. Here you go, sister!!! LOL

Last weekend was the 21st annual "Mule Festival" in Kahoka. It's really a fun time! It's at the fairgrounds. {which just happens to be about 2 miles from Mom's house} What they have is a bunch of race type activities for those who have mules. For instance, there's one called "monkey in a tree". They have these tall ropes. At the other end, there's 2 people and 2 mules (a person on each mule) They race to the other end, jump onto the rope, hang there for so long like 10 seconds or something and (TRY TO) get back on the mule and race back to where they started. As you can imagine, the mules are so dang spooked from the jumping off and hanging bit, that a lot of times, the people can not get back on the mule! lol Sometimes they get half on and have to hang onto the mule on the way back! Another one is called "Bat in the barrell". There is a ball bat in a barrel to start with. The person rides the mule to the end, gets off, leans down and has to put their forehead ON the bat handle (as it stays in the barrel) and they have to go around the barrel 10 times [as fast as they can go] while leaving their head on the bat. Are you following that? Then...after the 10 times (and mind you, some of them are very very dizzy), they have to get back on their mule and ride back. That doesn't always work either!!!!! There are many funny races like that! PLUS....the FOOOOOD. You know..."fair food" Greasey fries, ribeye sanniches, pork chop sanniches, corn dogs, KETTLE KORN, lemon shake ups, home made ice cream....just to name the things that mom and I eat! LOL A craft barn, "flea market junk" stands and so on....It's just a fun time! It's usually the 3rd weekend of September I think. OH...and on Saturday night, there's a rodeo. Mom and I went back to that too. This year had a HUGE crowd and I don't mean just at the rodeo. From the time it starts on Saturday morning at like 9 or 10 until it's over on Sunday. I haven't gotten confirmed numbers but we had heard that there was around 1200 campers! Can you believe that in little ol Kahoka?!??!?

Remember me telling you guys to watch for the monarch butterflies?????? WELL.......here is a link to a story in the Monroe City newspaper. This past week, one of those "night roosts" were in town! I guess it's not the first time either. HOW COOL! I would have LOVED to seen it. I keep looking for one here!

Click on this: http://www.monroecity.net/articles/2006/09/21/news/butterflies.txt

Today, I made a peach pie. For some reason, our peaches just turned ripe on the tree. It's actually the first year for it to produce (as we planted it a year ago). It was loaded and they were HUGE peaches w/ all the rain we'd gotten. We haven't cut the pie yet...but don't worry. Its only 8:09. We went to Quincy this afternoon. Hadn't been for several weeks. Went to Lowe's & Home Depot. I bought some tulip bulbs as I want to put some in my new flower bed. I went w/ pastel colors rather than the traditional red and yellow! I hope they grow! We also went to the mall and then we ate supper at the Tower of Pizza. YUMMM Hadn't been there in ages. Got home shortly after 7 and played w/ Rudy for a little bit and now here I am!!!!

Don't forget to read the monarch article that was in the Spalding's yard *unless of course, you ARE from MC*

Have a great weekend!!!

*Susie - I hope this L ON G posting satisfies (or bores) you! LOL

Nothing to report......

I tried to post a funny picture but it wasn't working. Maybe this one will. I just found it very humorous - REGARDLESS of your personal political views.

Susie got onto me for not reporting anything....but I will do it later. I'm going to go make a peach pie. Believe it or not..but our peaches JUST NOW ripened!!! Can you believe that? Nothing like 2 months late.

ENjoy the picture.....LOL

TAKE me out to the balllllll game.......

TAKE me out to the crowwwwd. Buy me some peanuts and CRACKer jacks. IIIIII don't care if I ever get back - so it's ROOT root root for the CARRRRDnals if they don't win its a shame. So it's ONE TWO THREE strikes you're out at the OLLLLLL BALLLLLL GAAAAAME!



Well......Ambrose and I went to St. Louis today to a Cardinals game (as you probably couldn't tell from my opening act - to which, I typed so you could sing it exact and put the emphasis in all caps!!!!) We had the tickets since opening ticket sales were on back in March. What a sucky game, man! It all started w/ our original plan falling out. We were going to leave here around 8:30 and stop in Troy MO at Denny's and eat a huge late breakfast. That way we wouldn't have to spend more money later or eat crap at the game. OK....we get to Troy and there's a big sign over the entrance sign that says "temporarily closed". NUTS...now what. So we stopped at the convenience store for a potty break as we always do and bought a bottle of water, a banana and some breakfast snack cakes. Not quite the same as eggs, sausage, hash browns and toast but it held us over till we got downtown. We took I40 in and I noticed that the gas prices around Chesterfield were $2.22. Once I even saw $2.19....it's currently $2.29 here in Monroe. SO we get downtown, park in our normal place and walk around. We decided to eat lunch since by now it was 11:30. We went to TGI Friday's. Then on to the game (it started at 1:10) What a crapola start. Marquis gave up 4, yes FOUR runs in the FIRST inning.........what a dousche bag. They took him out in the 2nd inning. It took 30 minutes for us to get thru their line up in the first inning, and we went thru their entire line up before getting that 3rd out. When STL came up to bat in the 1st...it was only a 10 minute deal. Good grief. Needless to say...it was a long afternoon. We lost 5-1. And we scored our 1 run in the very last moments of the last inning w/ 2 outs. Geeeeeez
We came straight home. I say straight - had to make one 2 minute stop in Hannibal for cat feed. We were home at 6:45. We got on I70 at 4:15....so it was 2 1/2 hours. Pretty slow traffic around the St. Peters area.......
We did have a good time, it was just a crappy game.
Guess it's back to work tomorrow.
That is all I have to report.......... :)
Have a good remainder of this week!

Let us not forget

Can you believe that today marks the 5th anniversary of the world known "Nine-Eleven"????
I was at work when it happened. At the end of that week, on Friday, our fire department had a special ceremony at the beginning of the home football game. I went and it was very moving. That night, as all home games ended this way, a bunch of us went to the Dug Out (the bar)
Well....a bunch of us were at a table (drinking it up) and we were in a deep discussion about the world and things. I distinctly remember Ambrose sitting at our table, for some reason. It was that night that I started to "notice" him. I think it was a mutual thing. From then on, we were rather "chummy" on the weekends. The following month, the Cardinals made it to the playoffs. After discussing my plan with a couple of friends, I decided to go for the plunge and ask Am if he would go to a playoff game with me if I got tickets. I finally got "balls" and called his house and of course he was not home. I had to leave a message.......which, in a way, was the easy way out!
He "flagged me down" the next day after work and said he would!!! SO...I got on the horn and ordered 2 tickets for the October 12th game. We went and had a blast....the rest, as they say, "is history"!!!!! Almost 3 years to the day, we got married!!!!!! SO.....along with 9/11 is my history of "Am & Heidi" so to speak.

We had a nice rain in the middle of the night last night. Actually, it was this morning...........about 4:00 this morning. Some pretty hellacious lightening and thunder. Several of which about shook me out of bed!!! I hate those close strikes! I felt like they were right in the lilac tree which is about 2 feet outside the window! When I got up at 6:30, I threw on my shoes and checked the rain gage. 1" 3 tenths This afternoon, out of nowhere, we got another little storm. It was 4:30 and time for me to go to the car. I ended up waiting about 15 minutes or so before going out. I did have an umbrella....but that wouldn't have helped.
I was headed to the funeral home for a visitation and really didn't want to be drowned before getting there. By the time I got home shortly after 5, we had another inch and 1 tenth!!!!!
2" 4 tenths in a 12 hour block is pretty good if you ask me! Looks like we might get a little more before it's over. Ambrose figured up since August 7, we have had 8" 6 tenths. Can you believe that????? For August? WHOA!!!

Well....I have bored you long enough............have a good remaining week!
And as my blog title states: LET US NOT FORGET those who fell this day 5 years ago

Myspace Glitters

WOW Wednesday...........

Well......I'll start this with a somber note. I've been in (email) contact w/ a good friend of mine who works 3-11 in the Palmyra plant. She has informed me that they have been freaking laying off LEFT AND RIGHT since 3:00 today. At last email (which came at 9:00 tonight) they had 4 more to report. She said that "they" (she and everyone who is coming to talk to her) have figured up that since 3:00, they have layed off 27, YES, 27 people tonight on the 3-11 shift only. Is that insane or what?????? My heart goes out to them........and I cringe each moment her emails come in. Sounds like that ship is sinking and really really fast. Dang..............................

Well.....off the sad crap.

How was everyone's Labor Day weekend? Summer is officially over in that aspect, but not on the calendar side! I ended up going to my mom's on Saturday morning. We went to Montrose to "Dave's Old Fashion Meat" and I loaded up on fresh meat for home. He has great stuff there; a little pricier than the store but so much better. Then we ate lunch; and then started pilfering thru things in the garage. We got several boxes of 'goods' washed, wrapped, boxed & labeled for a future date. Lots of things to go thru. SHe had wanted to go thru stuff last summer but it just never worked out for us. I was working boo-koo hours, then knee surgery and then winter was here. This "stuff" is stuff that my dad had in the garage. It'll be 25 years before we're done and have a sale (those were my mom's words). I think I believe her! lol
Sunday, we were heathens........ it rained in the late morning. She fixed me a breakfast of ham, scrambled eggs and toast and then we got back to the garage. The woman was on a mission!!!
We stopped for a late lunch and then back out for awhile. I ended up leaving there around 6:15.
Monday, Am and I just milled around the house in the morning and then went to Bethel MO that afternoon. "Why on Earth to Bethel?" you ask???? Wellllll, each year on Labor Day weekend, they have their annual sheepfest. We actually go up to watch the stock dogs do some working demonstrations. We watched some of the sheep sale too. THen it was "farm tour" on the way home. (farm tour is "road trip"....."long way home"........)
I fixed steak for supper (as I actually bought 2 NY Strips over the weekend), made a green bean casserole and baked potatoes. It was a good meal!
AMbrose took Tuesday and today off as vacation days. He's just been doing things around here. Mowing, caulking windows, painting, fixing fence, you know - man stuff.

Well....I know nothing else. At least nothing I can think of!
Have a good rest of the week. Keep your fingers cross for the remaining folks at Intermet.
It's getting serious.

*at least I can add my new job of Benefits Coordinator (Human Resources) to my resume*

One helluva Week

I can't even begin to go into it...................I mentioned the death of an associate last week...well Monday we find out major layoffs.....Tuesday it was announced who.....Wednesday - one of our associates lost her full term baby...due next week........Today was a day from hell and tomorrow (Friday) is the last day of a lot of people and it's another "evening at the tavern right after work". I haven't been to the bar in 4 years and this is the second time in 3 weeks. lol

I am going to be at my Mom's most of the weekend.....I will try to do a better job posting next week.

Have a super weekend.....and enjoy the 3 day weekend~ Happy Labor Day.
I should be back on here Sun or Mon.


Heid

Wow.......

What to say. Kind of been a bad week so far and it's only Tuesday night. Our company has decided to do a little more "down sizing"....due to lack of sales and releases. I had a list of 28 people given to me this morning of people that are going to be layed off. Yea, they can opt to take production positions....or they can stay layed off..maximum of 6 months then the job terminates. A lot of the people are indirect labor. Thanking God that I am no longer in the department I was in 6 months ago or I'd been one of them out the door. Ray had to get rid of 4 people in his area. 3 computer techs and 1 accounting person. There is no longer an Accounts Receivable spot. Too weird if you ask me. Several toolroom guys, a customer service rep, 2 engineering services guys (which is Am's department), our receptionist (which is my department and a complete shock to us all) and a handful of production people in the Palmyra facility. As far as Am....he is fine.........and won't have to go to 3-11 or 11-7. And for myself, I guess I'm safe...for now. I have the gut feeling that if HR has to cut back again, I'm the one going. Several people that have been there many years have been given lay off. One guy for instance, has been there over 36 years..........and a couple shop floor guys...have to go to 3-11 and they've been there over 20 years. It sucks...it really does. I count my lucky stars that neither my husband or I got the shaft. At least not this round. I hope to God it's over with......I'm debating what the heck to do.............I mean, I've been riding this up and down industrial wave of ownership/downsizing for several years.....it has to stop sometime.

Update on the old psycho bitch cow. She's alive and well. Am found her MOnday night. I was bowling on league and she was fine...........I still say that for some reason she was just po'd that I was there. We threw her some corn tonight. I stayed on the other side of the fence. She was in the brush, hiding.

That is pretty much it. I don't have much upbeat stories for you. And to top it off, the Cardinals are getting skunked tonight......

Soggy & Sultry Sunday

WOW!!!!!!!! Woke up this morning to 2 inches and 1 tenth in the rain gage! I don't even think I heard it rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO....added to yesterday's 4 tenths - we got 2 1/2" this weekend! YESSSS As far as the rest of the day, it was just down right sultry around here. I think more rain might be on the way....it has to be....too humid not to rain!!! Radar shows some out W so maybe we'll luck out again.
Today was a typical Sunday. I did some laundry this afternoon. Ambrose had an "FFL" meeting in town at 2:00. I watched a movie on some channel after he left. It was called "A Walk To Remember" and it was a daggone tear jerker. Good thing Am was not here........ It was sad and of course, I bawled like a fool about 3 different times!!! For those of you who honest to God don't know what FFL stands for (and LMAO if you don't)...it's Fantasy Football League. It's just a bunch of guys and their fantasy teams. They really get into it. I don't understand all their rules and such but it seems to be a big deal! (whatever if you ask me) He got home about 5:45....not too tipsy but I knew he must have drank SOMEONE'S beer! lol It wouldn't be the same if he didn't! HA
I had supper almost ready by the time he got home. It was a new recipe and it was rather tasty!! Am doesn't like rice so he didn't eat that part. I tried to trick him and put just a tiny spoonfull on his plate under the stuff. Here is the recipe. Try it sometime!!!!!!! VERY simple and quick...and good! Cards are playing the Cubs tonight. Scott Rolen (third basemen for STL) just hit an "inside the park" home run...wooo hooo! That just tied it up at 2-2 in the 1st inning!

ANyhow.....here's the recipe! Enjoy!

PEACHY CHICKEN

4 BONELESS CHICKEN BREASTS

1 T. vegetable oil

1 T. butter

1 can (15 oz) peaches - DO NOT DRAIN (I actually used a 29 oz can)

1/2 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 C. orange juice

1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix

Cooked rice

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown chicken in oil and butter; remove and keep warm. Add peaches with juice, brown sugar, orange juice and soup mix to skillet; stir until combined. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes.

Reduce heat; return chicken to pan. Simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until chicken juices run clear. Serve over rice if desired.

Saturday Evening Post......Hays style

Do you like that title????? LOL

Well...I guess this is going to be a cow rendition of the post. I got some pictures back and of course there are cow pictures! When one has no children to take snap shots of, you resort to the next live creature around you!!!!!!! This top picture is my favorite ol cow. Her name is "Momma". She is very very gentle. She always has a "nice" calf. And very easy to tame. 2 years ago, she was the mother of "Toby" and I HATED seeing him leave........ last year, she was the mother of "Pete" (named after Am's dad of course). He, too, was an awesome calf. Hard to watch them leave when you get so attached to them....at least for me anyhow!! Am sees $$$$$ I think! haha This year, her calf is tame also. I named him "Tiny" because he was soooo little when he was born. Much smaller than she usually has. On the night this picture was taken, we'd taken some corn stalks from the garden down to the lot. They were enjoying it very much. "Momma" especially! She shook and shook and shook that stalk several times!!!! It was funny. You know how a cat plays w/ a mouse before eating it....well, she was shaking that stalk up & down before devouring it!!!!!!!!

This is a picture of "Carmel". (named for the color, of course) She belongs to "the psycho bitch cow". She is kinda shy but friendly, unlike her mother who is just plain NUTS!!!!!! In this photo from a couple weeks ago, she was bawling. The mother was no where near and she was just calling for her I guess. Just like a kid would do if they were lost from their mom. Funny how animals and people have the same kind of concept on certain things....like ways in life for instance.

Well...after 2 trips to the pastures today, the ol' psycho bitch cow is still unseen. On another note, the calves were playful this evening. I always name most of them; some are nameless though. Anyhow, last fall, Am bought 5 cows from my mom and I decided that the first "bull calf" born from them would be named ROSS! Well...Ross is a scared, slinky, skittish lil guy. He never lets ya come up to him or anything. Alway curious, but stays well away. Tonight, for some reason, he was the complete opposite! He wanted to play but he was a little more aggressive than I thought he needed to be. We both messed w/ him as well as Rudy. It was kinda fun. Carmel - on the otherhand - is still shy.

I really don't have anything to report. I know you could care less about the cows.......but you know that's part of our life!! We didn't get much rain. 4 tenths in the raingage this morning and that still stands as the total.

Did you people know (or realize) that right now is the beginning of the butterfly migration enroute to Mexico? I don't know if you have noticed where you live, but we have noticed more butterflies the past few days. Take a look and watch that for the next few weeks. There should be more Monarchs that will come thru in September. There's a few websites that will actually show the route and where they currently are. This is one I was looking at a little bit ago.

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/FallMigration2006SL.html

Well.....I think thats it. I've bored you long enough!!! Good night and have a good weekend - whats left of it!

The latest from Ponderosa Trail

Hey y'all.........
I really sucked at keeping up w/ news this week, huh! Well I'll tell ya what: most of this week, in the evening time, we couldn't get online to much of ANYTHING. Therefore it was impossible to post a blog when the page never came up! And I have no time at work. I feel guilty doing this from work anyhow. I only do it when I have to.
Let's see.....what has gone on this past week. (and I'm sure you could care less)

Monday: bowling season started. One of the girls of the team I'm on had a partial knee replacement in June I think...and she's not released to bowl yet. Since I am the designated "6th man" {sub bowler} I was up to start the season for her. I was horrible. I actually didn't even want to bowl...but I really enjoy seeing my friend Bev since I never see her anymore. I don't get to the bank! (thanks to online banking) Anyhow......that was how the week started.
Tuesday: I don't remember what happened......not much apparently. Just work and a typical night around here.
Wednesday: I woke up in the middle of the night w/ a migraine and never bounced out of it. I ended up getting sick in the morning. Thought I could shake it and go ahead and get ready for work but that just didn't happen. I called my boss at home around 6:50 and then called Pooch (Am) at work. I went back to bed..........I slept for another couple hours and still had the headache but it was better. I didn't get in the shower and dressed until after 2:00 LOL I already had an eye appointment at 5:00 in Quincy, so I went ahead and went. Got my next 6 months of contacts and came home. After supper, we took our nightly walk to the cows. We found the "psycho bitch" cow and gave her some grain. For some reason, she decided to turn on us and she went nuts. I wasn't really comprehending at the time, that she was charging me, until she was right at me! I know Am was hollering "RUN....YOU BETTER RUN" but it was one of those moments that just doesn't dawn on you until it's too late. Well....the good of it was, that I finally got with it....and screamed HEYYYYYY and hit her face just as she was about 5 inches from knocking me down and stomping the crap out of me. She went on the other way. Still not sure what got into her. SHe's been a skittish cow since he got her 4 years ago but has calmed down lately since he's feeding her alone to fatten her up. (She's getting very thin and will be going to market in fall) SO then.....as we're walking back to the next pasture........I decided to walk way away from her.....next we knew...the ol' bitch was coming right towards Am. He has a big stick thing that has a metal end....and he had it pointed towards her to make her go on....well, she didn't care and was coming straight on. He had to crack her over the head w/ the stick. (not the metal part...just the stick) Unfortunately, it cracked right over her eye area. I did feel sorry for that....but she really could have hurt us. SO......that was our Wednesday night. Nothing like another wild night w/ one of the animals, HUH!? I hope you're not laughing at that one. Once I thought about it........I wondered what one does if a big ol cow gets you down. I mean, do you lay there and act dead or do you scramble and try to get out of the way - only for the cow to bring more aggression. I asked Am what to do...he said he's really never been charged before so he wasn't sure. SHe's just nuts...that's all. Bitch! Anyhow....we've not been able to find her still as of this evening (Friday). She must be hanging out in the brush. I hope she's not real hurt.....yet again...I don't really want to be in the same pasture w/ her anymore. AM said maybe she'll die, as she won't be much of a loss. He's not a mean person, especially to animals......so for him to react like that - it was bad. He's worried that she'll hurt someone when she goes to market. Crazy cow.
Thursday: nothing exciting. Work.
Today/Friday: ditto the above of nothing.
We did have a sad day at work yesterday. One of the guys in the Palmyra facility had a bad motorcycle accident right after work and he was killed. Pulled out in front of a grain truck right on highway 61. ANother employee was w/ him...they were going for a ride. He was about 100 feet behind and watched it all happen. Pretty sad. His name was Darin Miller. 36 years old; divorced in January; has 2 little boys - 8 and 5 Someone told me today that he had just gotten custody of the little boys. How sad. *Susie.....is he any relation? I know you're related to Millers in Kahoka.....what about in this area?

Well.....Cardinals are playing the Cubs at home this weekend. Right now, in the 6th inning, it's
2-0 in favor of the birds!!!!!

I'm going to go shower the ticks off of me (LOL) and go lounge on the couch

24 hour headache

ewwww I hate headaches. I've had this one for about 24 hours now..........and it's not much better. This morning, we were greeters at church so we "had" to go to church. I swear, my head was near the brink of exploding about 6 notes into that pipe organ. lol I fixed Am some pancakes after church and I laid down for about an hour. My little frozen eye mask didn't even help. OH well.....I guess it'll go away when it's ready. I need to pop some more pills but not sure what to take. NOTHING is working.

Well...the Cardinals just beat the Cubs, 5-3. Uncle Bob, if you have a way of reading this (lol) YOU OWE ME A BIG GULP! teehee

Today is a nice day....nice and cool and a good breeze. Am is out mowing. The sun finally came out a little bit ago. Was pretty overcast until then.

Nala, my viscious cat, is asleep in the window, on top of the air conditioner and Molly, Am's fat/lazy cat, is asleep on the floor under the fan. I think I will go clean out the cabinets where the pots/pans are. I'm getting tired of the lids falling out when I open it up!!!!!!

Thought of the day.....

HAVE A GREAT REMAINING WEEKEND......................

Lightening show....

Well, as I type this, we're having a storm! So...who knows if I'll get this posted or not. It's been raining for a little bit but not real hard. The lightening and thunder is what we're getting a lot of right now. Ralls County (which is us) is the only county right now under a warning. Whooppee
My friend, Beth, and family are camping this weekend. If it means storms the whole weekend, I vote for them to camp more often so it'll rain! LOL (sorry Beth)

GOOOOOO ST. LOUIS CARDINALS!!! They beat the Cubs today! CUBS SUCK @&&!!!!!!!
I hate hate hate the Cubs.

Which brings me to only ONE story, now that I think of it. When I was a kid...let's say 10-16, my Uncle Bob and I had this rival. Every Cardinals/Cubs series, we would make a "bet". Back in those days, I was totally intrigued with the 7-Eleven store's BIG GULP! Uncle Bob had one pretty often and mom would never let me get one. Too much soda and I was just a kid. Anyhow, and I don't remember who started this betting thing...probably UB actually!!!LOL We bet the best, 2 out of 3 on the series - looser had to buy the winner a Big Gulp from 7Eleven. So after that point, it was just a standard rule whenever they played! I always found great joy to call him the night before and say "We gonna bet on that Big Gulp?" and I can still remember his laugh.......... (Rusty/Tena, I'm sure you can too......) He would always get SUCH A CHARGE out of the times when IIIII had to buy his!! I usually would "pay up" the following Sunday after church. We ALWAYS went to Aunt Judy/Uncle Bob's house after church. I'll never forget that old house on Timea street...I spent a LOT of time there growing up. Anyhow......on those times I lost the series, mom would stop at 7Eleven, I'd go in and buy a B-G filled full of Coke (the ONLY soda our family would drink) and then we'd drive a few short blocks to their house.......and as soon as we walked up the steps, thru the patio and into the door that went to the kitchen, there he'd be sitting-at the table.....with that huge sh*t eating grin on his face.....twirling his handle-bar mustache....and then he'd burst out in that laugh that could never be forgotten. What a memory!!!!!!!!! :) * really miss my Uncle Bob.............they don't get any better than that ol' boy*

OK....that is a sign that I am getting OLD!!! When ya start telling stories of "I remember when...blah blah blah"....that means you're starting another phase of the aging process! LOL
Anyhow.........to get on w/ the posting...Go Cards....and have a nice evening. Thanks for reading

p.s. since my original posting, Ambrose checked the rain gage and we have a half inch of rain! Yaaaay. I'm sure some areas are getting more, but we'll take whatever God wants to give us!