PICTURES

I am posting a few pictures from the reunion. More will follow.

BAD BLOGGER !!!!!

Something has changed with Blogger and I don't really know what.

After the reunion I tried posting pictures and it wouldn't take them.

Then I went into the guts of this thing and really messed things up.

To make a long story short, before I was done trying everything I could think of, I lost my blog template. I haven't been able to restore it to the way it was.

For now, until I get up enough nerve to mess some more, it IS what it IS. Plain old black and white.

For some reason Picasa is now loading my pictures to blogger and as I enter them I get nothing but mumbo jumbo until I post.

What that means is, I have no idea where my pictures will be placed, or my description of the events.

Enough for now.

Pictures later.

REUNION ?

Bob talked to Meg and she said Loretta is thinking of coming back for a visit this summer.

I wonder if there would be a chance for some kind of reunion in Lincoln?

Anyone interested?

EASTER

I finally got my Easter pictures off my camera and into my computer and thought I had better get them posted before it was time for Christmas pictures.

Dans boys came over and found that the Easter Bunny had left eggs for them at our house. The "hunt" was fast and furious with Peyton managing to get quite a few in spite of his big brothers.

The Bunny never got a call back from Spencer's mom, so he must have figured Spencer had other plans.

Today is May Day. I wonder how long before that tradition is forgotten about. Not many remember delivering baskets and running before you got caught.

Does May Day also usher in spring? We always seem to have to have a jacket handy. It can be cold and rainy one minute and too warm the next. Nights are still pretty chilly.

Time to have coffee and get ready. I have a couple of garage sales I am going to this morning in the neighborhood. Never know when you will find a treasure you just can't live without.

IT'S BACK !!

It has been a long time (maybe 14 years), but an old ailment has returned to haunt me.

Bursitis.

The picture is an exact replica of my right elbow this morning. (Minus all of the hair.) OUCH !!

The cause? I cleaned house yesterday. Not all of it. Just the dining room, kitchen and 2 bathrooms. I didn't even do that great of a job. Just needed it to be where I could stand to look at it.

The last time "it" visited was when I painted every wall and ceiling out at the acreage. The sack of fluid was bigger than the size of a baseball then . Right now I am well past a golf ball and headed for a tennis ball.

The cure? The doctor (any doctor will do) sticks a needle (HUGE) right into the sack and drains it.

The way I see it, I have 3 options. Never do housework again (fat chance), turn all household cleaning over to Bob (when hell freezes over) or find some doctor to do the deed (when I get up enough nerve and can't stand the pain anymore).

APRIL ?? ALREADY ???

Where has this year gone? It seems like I have worked on my "project" forever. I am starting to get real tired of it! To be exact, I think this starts my 7 Th month.

My scanning is done. I am trying to get everything on Cd's. For economic reasons, I bought bulk stack #1. One hundred. No problem. Needed more. Bought bulk stack #2. One hundred. No problem. Needed more. Bought bulk stack #3. One hundred. Soooo close to being done!

PROBLEM !!!!

Computer started making the most awful noise, grinding sounds and was actually vibrating. Then it would freeze up and go into a nervous breakdown. Eventually, all I could do was pull the plug and re-boot. I finally took it into the computer doctor (Best Buy) last week. They told me it was nothing wrong with the computer as they didn't think my CD drive was going out. They thought I got a bad bunch of Cd's. I buy all of my Cd's at Best Buy. Except for bulk stack #3. Wal-Mart. Ummmm.

On my way out, I picked up bulk stack #4. One hundred. The first 3 I burned were pretty shaky at best. Then it got better but takes forever to burn. I am back to my project, but I do have most of bulk stack #3 left if anybody is interested in buying them. Cheap !!

I entered a new stage in life with 2010. It all started in January. I happened to noticed a co-worker in the obituaries. Soon followed by another. Then another. Then another. By mid February there were 5. All were men. Three in their 40s. Two in their 50s. One from a rural home fire. One from a heart attack. One from Lou Gehrig's disease. Two from unknown causes.

I now go straight to the obituaries THEN the front page.

Flowers are coming up, trees are starting to turn green, windows have been open for 2 days and garage sale signs are up all over town.. I even walked into an air conditioned building today! That MUST mean spring has come to Nebraska.

Enough for now. I am going to go back to my "project" and see how far I can get.

Be back later.

WHAT DAY IS THIS ???

I just realised it has been quite a while since I have posted.

I really have been pre-occupied and didn't even give my blog a thought. Detailed explanation to follow at a later date.

I thought I was nearing the end of my project (of which I an now completely sick of) but, alas I was wrong.

I will post again in a couple of days with an update, but in the meantime you have a new photo to think about.

Good luck on this one.

February came and went. Fast. We are into March. Don't know where the time goes. We ended the month at Val's for Spencer's 11th birthday. Talk about time flying. I don't know where those years went!

Tonight was a sleepover. Don't know when Damien and Raidyn fell asleep as I didn't make it past 10:00. I was up at 12:30 and Peyton was still awake. I left him watching the cooking channel and went downstairs. He was still awake at 1:00. I checked him again at 1:30. Every 30 minutes from then until 4:00. He was still awake. That is when Damien woke up and had to give me hugs. At 4:30, Damien needed a drink. Of course Peyton did too. I started another pot of coffee and filled my cup. At 4:44, before heading back downstairs, I checked the boys again. (I am talking A.M. here.) Damien was still awake and Peyton had his eyes closed. It scared me! I had to check to see if he was breathing. He was asleep!

Heading upstairs for my 3rd cuppa coffee at 5:45 (I am still talking A.M. here.) I found Damien still awake and having a high old time with Raidyn. The TV went off. Threats were made. I told them they were not allowed up before 7:30! I grabbed my coffee and retreated to the basement.

The good thing is, they didn't wake Peyton. The bad thing is, I don't think they will go back to sleep. Mom and Dad may very well get three very tired and crabby kids back.

Sunday was a trip to Valentino's for Jens birthday. We left our house at 10:00. It was snowing lightly with huge flakes. When we came out at 11:30, it was a blizzard with strong winds. Visibility - a block at most. VERY cold.

The first picture was taken a week earlier when the guys came to visit. The others are at Val's and on the way home. The guys had to show off their spiked hair, which they were very proud of.

Will this winter never end ??

VALENTINES DAY

Old Irish,

Happy Valentines Day. I love you !

Swedeheart

INVADED !!

Friday afternoon. They were everywhere. Rooftops, trees and in the yard. Robins !!

I have never seen so many together at one time. I think they are still looking for a state with no snow or cold weather. Don't think they have found it yet.

What a pretty and hopeful sight.

GAME

An old friend of Bob's, Dick Kutlas, called Friday night. He had an extra ticket to the NU-OU basketball game and wanted to know if Bob would like to go with him . Dick would pick him up.

We have had many chances this year to go to games. Casey has been getting tickets from a friend at work who couldn't go. It was always when the snow was too deep, too icy or just plain too cold to get out and make the effort.

This time Bob jumped at the chance.

Then came the 10:00 news.

Due to the terrible storm in the southern part of the country, OU couldn't get here in time for the afternoon game. It was changed to 7:00 PM that evening. Quite frankly, I am shocked they were even able to get here then.

Bob called Dick Saturday morning and they talked about it. I don't think Dick goes out at night anymore and he didn't want to go.

Dick lost his wife earlier this month. I posted a picture and her obituary. I think both Jerry and Donata might remember her.

I hope they get another chance to go to a game. I know Bob would enjoy it.

Jackie asked if I had ever gotten my "wireless' printer configured yet. No! Right after Christmas I decided to 'flip' the two rooms in the basement back the way they used to be and put everything in place to do that. Right now, neither room is done and the family room looks like a tornado hit it. I am pretty sure I know where the instructions are. I just can't get to them. I thought for sure I would make some progress this afternoon, but the Hallmark channel had a movie marathon on today. Watched a couple of very good movies and fell asleep during the last one.

I hope to get this done soon and the house decent enough so I can ask Jackie to come over and figure it out for me. I know another battle with that printer and I will come out the loser.

MY DAY

I got a cut and perm today.

My instructions. Not short and not too tight.

OUTCOME:

My hair is as short as it has ever been. It is so tight, my toes are curled. (Except for the five that haven't moved in the last year.)

TIME TO POST

It's been a while. Funny how fast time flies when you don't do anything. I have 2 projects started and finished neither.

In answer to a couple of questions. I believe the snowstorm was about 1974, and that is a guess. The person behind Casey, I believe to be Shannon.

The most exciting thing to happen this week was - Sunshine!! Two days worth !! Very windy and cold, but sunshine never the less.

A week ago Tuesday Casey had a VERY frustrating incident. He left the house Tuesday night to go to work. And couldn't. His car was 'FROZEN' to the street. You read it right. FROZEN. I did NOT say stuck. There is a difference. After trying for some time to get loose, he had to give up and take Bob's car. Wednesday morning he worked over 2 hours trying to break the ice to get it loose. I have never seen anything like it.

The whole week was a nightmare as far as the weather went. Heavy fog every night and very icy streets every morning. I found out the hard way! I had a Dr. appointment that Monday morning at 7:00. With no warning, I hit ice and took my truck for a ride sideways down 70th street. It was a good thing there wasn't anybody in the lane next to me or it could have gotten ugly.

Friday we went to a movie. Casey talked me into it. I knew I probably wouldn't like it, but I was desperate to get out of this house. Avatar. Loved it ! Bob too. With a 2 1/2 hour run time I don't recommend taking children (or adults) who aren't able to sit for a long period of time.

Guess I will go get another cup of coffee and maybe take a stab at one of my projects.

WINTER, MID-WEST STYLE

It is still here. Winter that is. The first two pictures are from our local paper and are titled 'snow harvest'. There are more pictures and stories to be found here. I can't imagine the working conditions. Some of the crops can be saved but those buried too deep will probably be lost.

The next two pictures are of the 'hood' one morning last week at 3:00 AM. It was 22 below zero and bitter cold. The clouds were spooky but beautiful too. We hit forty one degrees today, a 63 degree improvement. We need lots more days like this.

FEMA toured the state last week to determine the damage and whether or not we qualify for aid. I hope they came down through North and South Dakota and Norfolk. The Dakotas had 2 feet and more, Norfolk 18 inches. Really ugly up there.

Our problem is there isn't anywhere to put this amount of snow. Out in the country it is really bad. We have also been spoiled for many years. Winters have been too nice.

I remember waaaaaay back when.......musta been 37 or 38 years ago. We lived near Garland then and the kids were all little. Bob worked in Lincoln and just happened to be on 1st shift at the time.

It had started snowing early in the day and kept getting worse as the day went on. Bob got off work and made it to Garland where he stopped to get some needed supplies. Milk and beer are all I can remember. Then he headed out into the country for home. He got within a mile of home before getting stuck. The next to last thing he did before starting to walk was to pull up the antenna on the car and tie a hanky to it. That was one of the smartest things he ever did. We had no idea how bad this was going to be. The 'last' thing he did was grab the milk and the beer. He made it home with the milk. The snow was too deep, the conditions were exhausting, and the beer was too much to carry. It was deposited in a snow drift somewhere along the road.

When it finally quit snowing enough to venture out, Bob headed to get the car. Remember that hanky? Without that, he would never have found the car. It was completely buried. A shovel wasn't going to begin to dig it out. The Seward newspaper wanted to take a picture of it, but the roads kept drifting shut and they couldn't get to it. Eventually the county plows came and dug it out. They also pulled it home as it wouldn't start. The engine was packed with snow.

When school finally resumed, school buses couldn't make their normal routes. Too many roads were one lane, and the snow piled so high that the buses couldn't make the turns. I will never forget the first day Casey was able to go back to school. What a relief! We all had cabin fever by then! We also needed groceries!!!!

We are spoiled. We haven't had winters like that since then. Back when people did what needed to be done and life went on.

TAKE A DEEP BREATH !!

After Thanksgiving, Christmas came fast ----- only to be postponed until the 27th.

NEVER have we done this before because of the weather. People, it just wasn't fit for anybody to leave a nice safe warm home and try to go somewhere, and I am talking about people who live right here in town!

As you can see by the pictures, the guys still got their loot. (Grandma and Grandpa didn't do too bad either.) It was still a bitter cold nasty night, so everybody headed home early.

Then came Grandpa's never ending bowl games. It seemed like the only 'important' one took forever to to get here. For those of you who didn't hear, the Huskers spanked Arizona in our bowl game. Love those Huskers!

On January 4th, Shannon had a birthday. She turned the ripe old age of 37. I don't know where those years went. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Since then I have been waiting. Waiting for something to happen. Nothing ever does. I spend my time doing pretty much nothing and I gravitate to the couch when I need to put up my foot.

Maybe I will get motivated to blog a little more as I do have some pictures I want to post.

Hope you all have a happy New Year !!