New Boots!

Smurfskin! ;-)




What Smurfs look like up to their necks in snow...

Ivy, where's your brownie?

Winter Good Times! :)

Trisha's Birthday

So, Trisha's birthday was on the 6th. Sandra and I waited until the 10th (Thursday). She was happy to celebrate twice. :)

Making Music

Today I spent a bit of time arranging my own music for a solo at Mom and Dad's church...I'm singing it on Sunday, the 6th -- in 6 days. I couldn't find anything in my growing collection that seemed to fit the theme except for a good old-fashioned hymn. It's my personal belief that "special music" in a service should be a bit different from the usual congregational hymn. So, I took that hymn and another one, combined them in...well...what could be considered an odd way, wrote my own lyrics and this should be really interesting. I won't have sung it with full accompaniment before Saturday, so I hope it works. Otherwise, I'll have to make changes right then and there which would only make things more interesting. I've written descants before, but never arranged a whole piece. I'm rather looking forward to it...and getting more and more anxious about it the closer it comes!

Random Update

I guess I just felt like writing a little...

Had rehearsal again last night for the musical. It's been fun dancing once a week. The people are pretty fun. We laugh a lot. Also, it's nice that there are people who are just as imperfect at this dancing stuff as I am. There is one girl, though who...well, maybe I shouldn't spoil it so those who attend can be surprised. Suffice it to say she gets the whole stage to herself at one point and it's amazing the stuff she can do. There are a couple amazing dancers in the cast. They make the rest of us look like we can't even walk right! But it sure is neat to watch them go! :)
Usually the day after rehearsal I'm in all sorts of pain. Surprisingly I have almost no extra pain. It's amazing! I think the major difference was we had time to stretch before getting started. All the other rehearsals we just kind of jumped in and got started. I'll take what I can get! :-D

My last essay for my Introduction to Literature class is due Wednesday. I have to write about either "The Glass Menagerie" or "Oedipus the King." I can't decide which. The instructor is also offering some extra credit to add points to our grade. I want to look at my grade to see if I need them (technically I don't, but it never hurts to add back points that were lost), but the website went all screwy on me when I was moving around on it. I'll have to try later.

I had an 1100 word paper due yesterday. It was insane. We had to research a government regulation regarding adult education and a court case in which the regulation was broken. We had to describe both the regulation and the case, then relate them to each other and then relate them to the class. I don't know how I wrote almost 1300 words in 7 hours (less, actually). God did it. I don't remember half of what I wrote, so I blame Him if it's goofy. :-p
I really don't want the stress of doing something like that again, but it would be out of character for me not to. :-p

I'm going out to the farm Wednesday. I have rehearsal with St. John's choir since I'm singing with them 3 times between now and Christmas: Thanksgiving Day, December 9th (Advent service), and Christmas Day. After than I won't be able to do any extra singing until the end of March! Between school and the musical I will be so busy I won't know if I'm going or coming!!

Well, I think that's it for now. I'm going to make a list and go to Wal-Mart...if nothing else, but to get out of the house for a bit. The weather's been lovely the last few days. Maybe I'll walk. :)

"New" things

So I've been watching the Husker game tonight (against Oklahoma). I haven't watched a Husker game on TV (let alone anywhere else) in over a year! Then it occurred to me the game is in Lincoln. I haven't been this close to a game in over 9 years! As mind-blowing as that realization was, it then occurred to me that I haven't had Christmas with my family in Nebraska in...3-4 years? I can't remember! Thanksgiving? 9 years.

Wow.

Halloween 2009

We got all dressed up to take Nikki, Ivy, and Trisha's brother, Jacob trick-or-treating.


Here's my "before" shot...




Here's a close-up "after" shot...





Here's the family...





Justin was a "displaced" (versus "urban") cowboy. Nikki is a pirate. Jacob was Ironman. Trisha was a "tavern lady". Ivy was a Cornhusker cheerleader. I'm the scarecrow and Samson was a dog for Halloween.

We got chilly, but the kids had fun and we saw a lot of other kids out running around in some cute costumes. Some of the other parents were, too. My first Halloween in the cold in 9 years!! Not too bad! :-)

Had to share! :-)

I think I'm going to go to Wal-Mart and put Halloween decorations on the Christmas trees since they don't have any Nativity sets out yet. :-p

As requested...

Pictures from Andrew & Andrea's wedding on September 26th, 2009...


The Ceremony...




A motley crew...




Believe it or not, this is my dad cutting a rug!




I have a ton more pictures, but thought I'd at least post the highlights. :)

First Rehearsal

The first rehearsal for "Beauty and the Beast" was last night. There was a read-through (I'm in the chorus, so I didn't have any lines - I'll have parts during the singing - but got to sit there anyway). Then the "adult chorus" got to do some dancing.
I didn't think my body could still do some of that stuff. I think it's because I've been doing my stretches (Tai Chi style) and walking Samson usually twice a day (we even jog sometimes!!!).
It was actually pretty fun. The other cast members are nice and many have great senses of humor which only made it more fun to be there.
The absolute best part of the whole rehearsal, though...they thought I was about 20!! They're my new favorite people in the whole world! ;-p
We don't have rehearsal again until the 1st of November. Gives me time to recuperate and do more Tai Chi and dog walking. :-)

First real snow!

I'm not sure how much there was, just that it was far more substantial than that Palm Sunday snow we had 7 months ago. First real snowfall in Samson's life (and for me it had been some 6 and a half years)! When he first was going outside he got two feet out the door and then backed up -- bringing snow with him. It wasn't until Trisha scooped (or scraped -- it wasn't that deep) a path from the door to the stairs off the deck that he would go outside to do his business. This morning he was even less convinced that it was a good idea. Finally he went out and had all sorts of fun running around the yard. I happened to not be home when it occurred, but was here for a repeat performance. Here's a snapshot of him in the yard. Note the numerous tracks. He had fun. :)





As for myself...I really need to invest in a window scraper and some boots! :p

No more kitten!

My kitten, Trifecta, died. They don't know why. She wasn't growing the way her siblings were, but didn't show any signs of a problem. She just...died. It's sad, but I guess it's better she was still at the farm, so I didn't really have time to bond. That would have been worse.

No way!

Has it really been 3+ weeks since my last post!? Sorry about that! And I keep promising to do better. I've been such a liar!

HAHAHA The titles of my last two posts rhyme! :-p




You might be wondering why I have this picture here. Well...here's the long and/or short of it...
The Elkhorn Valley Community Theater is doing this show in March. A member of the church choir mentioned they were having auditions and I was seized by the harebrained idea to go. So I did. And I got in! The director said I had a great audition and she is "going to keep [me] busy in the chorus, singing and dancing." OMG! Dance rehearsals start the 18th and then are just about every Sunday night through November. We have December off and then the "real" rehearsals start. On one hand I'm not really sure what I managed to get myself into (since it's been about 10 years ago I last did a musical and about 9 that I last did a play and then there's the FM and my school load to consider). But, on the other hand, it will be challenging and something new to do. The auditions were pretty fun despite nerves, so I figure the show just might be the same way. And who could resist singing that soundtrack, anyway! :-p
So!! I expect to see you Nebraska and other nearby types in the seats come the end of March! :)

Quiz

I just finished my first online quiz for my "Introduction to Literature" class. It gave us a time limit of 45 minutes...I was done in 3 and seconds. I hope that's a good thing. I had been a little nervous about it. Now I'm just hoping I didn't click on anything weird and mess it up.

Grizz

Who remembers my bear, Grizz? I had a bad dream last night that his left eye was gouged out. That would be traumatizing! Happily he is fine albeit worse for wear. Are grizzly bears supposed to live to be 31 years old?! :)

Nevermind.

(See previous post for reference.)
I just checked the mail. The bookstore job I was telling you about...
They sent me a postcard (of all things, believe it or not) saying they don't have any openings right now but that they keep applications on file for six months.
Oh well.

What to write...what to write?

There's been so much, it seems! My goodness! I give up on trying to get caught up with pictures of everything all the way back to whenever I last managed to post regarding the going's on around here. Call it lazy or call it busy, either way it just is not happening. :p

Justin, Trisha and the babies left for Minnesota on September 6th. They were supposed to be back on the 12th, but had car trouble on the 10th or 11th and ended up stuck there until supposedly tomorrow (the 15th). I haven't heard otherwise, so we'll assume they are still going to be home tomorrow night sometime. It sure has been quiet without Nikki and Ivy!

Sandra and I have been going to town getting things done. Tasha moved out on the 3rd (I think that was it). So, I am moving into the master bedroom with Sandra and we are turning what was my room into an office/library/work space. I have my keyboard in there. The bookshelves are in there. A desk will be in there. Then all the work and school stuff can happen somewhere other than at the edge of my bed! That will be so nice! I think we will also keep it as kind of the pet room, too. My cats are used to everything being up here and Trisha's cat has started using my cats' stuff, too. It has been a lot of work getting things moved around, but it is coming together. We hope (fingers crossed) to have it all done before they get home tomorrow, but we're not sure some of the heaviest stuff (my dresser, TV and the desk) will happen until Justin is here to help. We'll see how it goes. I am here all day every day to take care of the finer details and the clean up.

Still no luck on the job front. I'm praying to get a position at a local Christian bookstore. The people there are so nice and they said they would be really flexible with schedule so I could still get my classes and choir rehearsals in where I need them. Haven't heard anything yet, but it's only been since Thursday (the 10th) that I dropped off the application.

The trip to Arizona for Andrew's wedding is coming up fast!! We leave on the 22nd or 23rd (I can't remember which...if I was ever told). I think we are supposed to get back on the 29th. Sounds like I need to find someone (probably Mom) who knows for sure what is going on and get some details! :)

Okay. I'm tired and getting hungry. It is about dinner time. I should go see what I can rustle up. For some reason just a box of mac n' cheese with tuna in it sounds good enough. I just realized we haven't checked the mail since Thursday. I think I'll go do that, too. Ciao!

And then there were three!

My Dusty kitty came to me 11 years ago in 1998. She's a pretty little calico.

Then, Mom and Dad found another calico with similar markings a year or two later. Her name is Mini because she was Dusty's "mini-me" (until she grew to be quite a bit bigger than Dusty, that is).

This morning Mom introduced me to a new tiny calico kitten. She has similar markings to Dusty and Mini! So, now there are three pretty calicos in the family. Mom and Dad said I could have her once I have my own place again. I named her Trifecta! :p

You must be kidding!

It scares me to think people who write like this are training to be or already are teachers/instructors. I took this straight from one of my online class discussions...

You made some very good points! It's always great to
train/teach students who are "coachable or teachable". Not all adults are
teachable. Some, as you stated, feel that once they are seasoned or
experience, there is not much more hey can learn. Its like adding salt to
a womb, when the instructor appears younger or less seasoned. This is
something, that as adults, we have definitely got to improve!! There is
always more room to learn and grow. We don't know everything and can often
learn from those younger.

I have seen worse, but couldn't get over the "salt to a womb" bit. One word: proofread!

I figured it out.

I've been trying to figure out how I will be able to share all the zoo fun we had all the way back on August 1st and not cross anyone's eyes or give anyone cute-zoo-picture-burnout. So, I decided to do it in chunks. I already posted about the bats. (That was really creepy, by the way; but you might have noticed I felt that way by the "they're going to get me" comment during the video.) This will help me sort through the pictures for my own evil purposes, too. I know Trisha and Justin took a lot of pictures as well. Trisha might already have some up on her Facebook or whatever-it-is page.

"Batty, batty, bat!"

Sesame Street's Count von Count would have been wild about this part of the zoo when we were there on August 1st.



"Count with me! Doing the Batty-Bat!"

Picture size

I haven't figured out why the picture at the top of my page is small! When I created my blog, the picture was the perfect size. It filled the top part of the page (give or take) in just the right way. Ever since I changed it from that first picture the only way to get a viewable picture is to tell it to shrink-to-fit (which I think it did that first time, too, as that is the automatic setting) and now I only get those tiny pictures. It bothers me. If anyone knows how I can fix it, please feel free to pass along your advice. I would love to listen to it! :)

From Hayrack to Barn (July 23, 2009)

Ever wonder how a bale gets from a hayrack into a hayloft? Well...maybe you haven't, but if you read/look on you will find out. Oh, and the answer is the elevator...that's what you call the loud, squeaky thing my sister is putting the bales on...you'll understand what that's about in a bit.


First, Dad climbs up in the hayloft via a ladder to a hole in the loft floor. He graced us with a photo op...though he has been known to lean out that door for less noble reasons.






Sandra uses a hayhook to pull a bale down so she can get hold of the twine keeping the bale together. Then she'll pick it up to put it on the elevator.






Mom even got in on the act when she arrived home from work. She didn't even bother to change clothes! What a farm wife!! Dad must be so proud! :)






Okay, here's what it looks like all put together (give or take). Remember the elevator I mentioned? Don't have your sound turned up too high on your computer. There's the disclaimer. Now if you sustain hearing damage it's your problem and not mine. You had fair warning! :p

Of course, I was there lending moral support...looking goofy...and documenting this momentous occasion for all of you dear, sweet people. :)

Sandra's Birthday

(Slowly but surely I will get caught up.)

Sandra turned 21 on the 27th of July. We celebrated on the 23rd with Grandma Haack.

Becoming 21 doesn't stop Sandra from requesting a cake with sprinkles and a SpongeBob candle!

It was too windy outside, so we all had to go in to the physical therapy/exercise room at the vet's home to light candles and sing "Happy Birthday."

It was good cake and good weather. I still can't believe my "baby" sister is 21!

Sang at St. John's 7-26-09

I got to sing at St. John's Green Garden Lutheran Church. It's where I "grew up". My accompanist ended up being Eric whom I babysat from when he was an infant! A long way from "Come listen! Come listen!" He would have me listen to him practice for his piano lessons. Now he is a great pianist and did a wonderful job accompanying me. I found my new favorite accompanist. :) But, boy, does it make me feel old! :p

VBS 7-25-09

Vacation Bible School (for those of you who aren't familiar with it). Mom was helping by taking care of one of the VBS leaders' baby girl. I went up there to rehearse and ended up being appointed impromptu photographer for the day. I followed the kids around and took pictures of their craft time, snack time, lesson time and music time. Just one picture...

Confused tree

I saw this tree the other day (not yesterday) when I was walking too and from Wal-Mart. Then, today, I saw another one in a different part of the neighborhood. What kind of tree has naked branches, but a leafy trunk?!

I need air!

For probably the first time since I moved back to Nebraska, I miss Arizona air. I'm sure there have been days since I got here on April 1st that were more humid than today and that I walked outside on those days. There is something about today, though. I'm glad I'm done with errands...except maybe moving my car back into the driveway...which I might forgo now. I took one step outside to walk to Wal-Mart and the bank and it felt like the air sat down squarely on my chest. I don't remember having a hard time with it before today. It was bizarre -- the heaviness! I don't like it. It sure made the walk difficult. I don't know. Maybe there is something about my actual health today that made it seem that way. I have been pretty wiped since going to the zoo, but I walked yesterday and was fine -- granted, it probably wasn't as humid at the time.

Well, obviously I'm back in the air conditioning now. The discomfort is wearing off and I'm watching Sesame Street with Nikki, so I think I'll get over it. Sesame Street + Nikki = Awesome! :)

Coming Soon!

Here I am falling behind again. I've been very tired lately. And, since my new class started, I've begun to spend more and more time on that, too. I definitely have some fun things coming up I will be posting. For example, VBS from St. John's (Mom & Dad's church), and the trip to the zoo yesterday. I am still sorting out pictures from the camera for the last couple weeks -- 400-something!!! :-0 It will take some time, but it's one of my goals today to get caught up with that...and do homework. I have a large project coming due tomorrow and, as is an unfortunate habit of mine, I have yet to start. There is also a team assignment due and so far I do not appear to have a very focused or time-aware team. :-/ I guess we'll see what happens.

Well, I am making lunch today. The cake should be about done and then I can put the green bean casserole and the ham in the oven. In fact, I should probably be going to get them ready.

Hope to post more this afternoon and evening! Ciao, All! :-)

Baby Mozart

So, I shared Nikki's interest in the piano previously. She's quite the little Beethoven hammering out "masterpieces".
Ivy, though, tends to have a slightly lighter touch. So now we have a "Little Beethoven" and a "Baby Mozart"!! :)

Observation

I noticed something the other day while I was walking to and from the bank via the Walmart parking lot. Security is not so much a concern here as it was in Arizona. (I think I knew that from before I lived in "big city" but I must have forgotten.)
I was walking through the parking lot and saw a car with the windows down and no one around. I lock my car when I'm out at the farm! I cannot fathom the idea of leaving the windows down while I was in the store! It's one thing to leave it unlocked (which many do -- not that I've tested that, mind you) and take a chance something happens, but leave the windows down and invite strangers to reach into your car?!
It's quite similar with homes, too. Doors remain open and unlocked much of the time. I think the doors at the farm are only locked if the house is going to be empty for more than a day. They certainly aren't locked at night! I think Justin locks the door at night and I know they lock it when the house is empty (like when everyone's out at the store or on a walk). I was in the habit of locking all doors behind me. I forgot how trusting of one's neighbors it can be here in the Midwest. It just isn't like that in a metropolitan area of around 4-million people.
I think I'll keep my door-locking habit, though. Better safe than sorry!

Father's Day

Wow!! I can't believe I forgot this! Sandra and I took Mom and Dad out to eat for Father's Day on the Thursday before Father's Day because neither of us could be there on that Sunday. I have to share a couple of pictures (aren't we all surprised).

(I pick funny cards!)

Good lookin' bunch even if I do say so myself...which I do since this is my blog. :p

Sunday

It is Sunday. The weather is nice. I got to sing a duet with Sandra in church this morning. Justin is making his version of Dad's concoction. We are going to watch a movie, though I don't know which one. And, Ivy keeps crawling back here to visit me and she is all grins and giggles.
Nice Sunday. :)

Finally!

So, there you have it! I finally have my blog up to date! Nothing has really been going on since last weekend (the cherry business was on the 12th). So, I've just been working on job searching (still no luck), getting ready for my next class to start (Tuesday, the 21st) and practicing with Sandra to sing in church on Sunday.

Now, after all that work on my blog, I think I will stop and do something that requires neither typing nor staring at my computer! :)

A Bowl of Cherries

Life has its moments...and sometimes they are literal. Dad brought home a big box of bing cherries. I pulled out the stems and sorted out the bad ones while Mom put them in jars with the appropriate potion and got them canned. They looked so pretty! I don't have a picture of the finished product, but I conned Mom into taking a picture of me in my part of the process. :p

Formatting

Well, that was frustrating. When I put my post about the fair together, the formatting looked great. Then when it posted it got all screwy. Oh well. Pretend for me that it looks nice! :p

"Meet me at the Fair"

Golden cupie doll if you can tell me where that quote comes from! ;p

The Madison County Fair was last weekend. Mom and I went in the afternoon of the 11th and then Dad, Mom and I went again that evening when Dad got home from work. This year Mom entered cookies and a picture. I'm thinking I need to somehow become a county resident, because I know I could do that! And what's to lose. Not getting a ribbon? Not getting paid $1.50 for 2nd place? (That might not be the right amount, but you get my point.) Anyway, we had a good time, so, in my usual fashion, I'd like to share some of that good time with everyone.

First a couple to set the mood...

Two of Mom's cookies won ribbons. The Ultimate Chocolate cookie got 3rd place and the Oatmeal Cranberry Orange received a 2nd place ribbon.

There are folks demonstrating their skills/trade...like the woodcarver (note the hand-carved banjo in the back -- pretty cool)!

And there are always different performers. We didn't go to any of the rodeo or concerts, but Mom and I got to see a magician put his assistant in a box, do all sorts of things to the box and then help her back out again.

And, surely, no fair experience is complete without a walk through the livestock barn...

Of course, there are always some things you don't necessarily expect to see.

Like the critter with four horns...

The kids playing a video game inside a DeLorean...

The tiny little house completely wired for electricity, phone and internet...

The camper that is also a horse trailer...

Or the absolutely gigantic combine...

There were normal tractors and old ones, too...

You can't really see it in this picture, but this one has a jar on it (close up next). I decided it was for putting fireflies in so you can see what you're working on at night. I don't remember what dad said it was for...

...but a place to keep your toy tractor isn't what I would have guessed!

Of course, no trip to the fair would be complete without funnel cake!!

Dad and I had some, too, but I think Mom is addicted to the stuff now. :)

Finally, there was the several mile hike to the car...

I can't remember the last time I went to the county fair. It's probably been about 10 years! We had fun!