Saying Goodbye With Weird Sandwiches

 

Jensen Send-off

A slight disclaimer....most of the so-called conversations in the above album never actually took place, although it's not beyond the realm of possibility to think that they could have....

Nevertheless, let me know by comment or email if you want a picture or caption deleted. I'll be happy to comply, or at least give you the number of my lawyer.

And lest thou thinkest this album not worth viewing because thee be unacquainted with the people in question, I feel duty-bound to inform ye that through many of the 32 pictures runs a nefarious subplot involving two bachelors, odd ingredients and quite possibly an unscheduled church board meeting!! Oh yea.
(is it just me, or does anyone else think that a guy who has monogrammed shirts might be able to afford more conventional eats?)
 

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BLEAH

I have just spent most of the day organizing this fall's school books and getting the curriculum lists, textbooks and publishers all typed up.

It was exciting until the last hour and a half when I started to feel nauseous from the concentration.

Apparently Ma was not meant to think for too long a stretch.

I need to go out and clear my mind by pulling a few weeds or somethin'....except, the wind is blowing SO HARD I might lose additional brain cells.

Life is full of conundrums.

Speaking of which, what were we to do without air conditioning and the project of tearing out the chimneys before even thinking of a new heat pump?

Well, much to my dismay, we were not allowed to bewail and gnash the toothers very long, as cathartic as that exercise may be.

The tricksey husband has come up with another winner.

Loren bought an attic exhaust fan from Menards--which as we know is pretty much heaven on earth for much of the male species--and installed it (in of all places) the ATTIC!
First he took off the door to the attic stairs, than he made a little frame for the fan to set in, horizontally speaking.

After that he made a temporary door to close off the rest of the space under the fan, which is situated on the landing to our attic.

It works right well!

We have one window that can open in the old part of the house and that, plus several in the new addition are kept open at night and most of the day. (the doors into the kitchen and old basement are kept ajar, too) Then the huge monster-of-a-fan draws in the cool air from below, pulls it up through the house and spits the hot air....well...some-where.

In fact, it works SO well that we're often cold upon arising.

Of course, I would never complain about that.

One thing is obvious, though.....Loren would have had tons of fun at LeTourneau.
 

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After the Rain

We've had a humdinger of a week, but things are starting to wind down.

And before I can post about the doctor visit yesterday, I need a coupla teenagers to sign release forms (heh, heh) so until that time, here are a few pictures from a walk around the yard following our most recent torrential rainstorm, Thursday evening:

It was quite cool after the fierce winds and downpour, but perhaps Trevor-the-Bunny-Lad overdid it with an old winter coat....hmmm, what is he looking at?


Ah...a double rainbow. Despite the dullness of this picture, it was brilliant


There looks to be a tangled knot of baby birds in the 2 1/2 inch diameter chipping sparrow nest...
...and they appear un-fazed by the storm.

There were still odd clouds hanging about...


But then the sky cleared up for a beautiful sunset.

 

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Safely Back Home

Sorry for the lack of posting today, but we left for Iowa Falls at 7:25 in the morning for 7 dental check-ups, scurried home with a few minutes to spare before heading to Iowa City for two cardiology appointments.

Good check-ups, all around....NO CAVITIES.

Normal hearts with a mitral valve prolapse, but no big deal.

More details tomorrow, with exciting pictures of Kendra messing with the expensive ICD interrogation equipment in Dr. H's office.

No problem, though.

Really.
 

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Minnesota Visit

 

Uncle Bob and Aunt Celeste visit

As promised, here is a 43-picture account of yesterday's visit.

I was also able to get Uncle Bob's signature on our copy of his Systematic Theology book, and that makes me very happy :-)



Uncle Bob is one all-around swell guy.
 

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One Normal Day...

...between two humdingers.

Yesterday we left before 8 to drive up to Minnesota with some folks from church, the Bell family.

Had a great time up at Uncle Bob and Aunt Celeste's on their 120 acre farm located on the top of Vinegar Hill.

Picasa album to follow, natch.

We is plumb tuckered out with sunburns and headaches but the fellowship was totally goodsome and even heavenly.

Driving up to our place around 9...*yawn*...forty-five last night, we spied an evil raccoon loping across the gravel road away from our front lawn. Immediately I thought of the little chipping sparrow nest but I looked this morning and there are four (I think) baby birds and one unhatched cowbird egg.

I guess it would be too much to expect the raccoon to pick out the cowbird eggs and leave the bonny little sparrows...anyway, I'll try to keep folks updated on that situation :-)

We had the most wonderful time yesterday and I discovered Uncle Bob is a kindred spirit in that he also likes to take plants from the woods/ditches and cultivate them around his yard :-D

*happy sigh*

Tomorrow we have another jam-packed day, starting off at 8:00 with dental appointments in Iowa Falls for moi and zee kiddos, followed by racing home, switching vehicles and taking Kendra and Melinda down to Iowa City for check-ups with the electrophysiologist, super Dr. H. who is legend among all the doctors I have known.

In the meantime, my three yellow groundcover roses that I got for 63% off arrived this morning, so I'll be fixing up a new nook in the yard, especially for them....just as soon as I figure out where and how.
 

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The Jim-Bob Report

"Happy third day of summer, everyone...this is Jim McDonald in Des Moines. We know everyone's getting tired of the constant stream of bad news from Iowa, so today we'll be bringing you good news for a change, ironically enough, out of Texas. We've sent our man-in-the-field, Bob McCackle, down to the Lone Star State to cover the famous Plano Open golf tournament. Word has it an up-and coming young star is making her debut in this hallmark of the LPGA tour. For more information, let's go right to Bob, who's covering this week's tournament...Bob? Tell us about this rising young semi-pro golfer..."

"Top O' the morning to ya, Jim. There's a lot of chatter about this new gal, Sarah Hess. Word has it she can drive a ball nearly as far as Zach Johnson, Iowa's own native son. So I'm here to..."

*****da dat, da dat, da dat, da da da da da dad, da dat, da dat*****

"We interrupt this program for a SPECIAL REPORT. This is Jim McDonald with late-braking word out of the Hoyt homestead...our cub reporter, Trevor Hoyt, has just sent me this stunning picture and I have him on the phone line...

...Trevor? What have you got for us?"

"Welw Mistoh Jim, Mommy found diss nest--a chipping spehwoh nest--an...an it has five EGGS in it! And dat's not alwoh...TWO of duh egg don't bewong to duh speh-woh!"

"Sounds pretty exciting, Trevoh...I mean, Trevor. What's Ma's explanation? Aliens from outer space?"

"NO, Mistoh Jim, soh. Mommy thinks a nasty ol' Cow-buhd has waid the two biggoh eggs...an boy is she mad!"

"Whoa...sounds pretty intense. What do you think will happen, Trevor?"

"Welw, Mommy wanted to toss the two big eggs out so dey wouldn't cwowd the wittle baby buhds, but my sistoh, Me-winda said it was intowesting and we should see what happens...just anothoh wittle dwama in da howtwand, Mistoh Jim. Back to you..."

"Thank you, Trevor. And now, we return to our regularly scheduled programming, where Bob MacCackle is covering the golf tournament down in Plano, Texas....Bob?"

"JIM! I can't believe you interrupted me for a crummy BIRD nest...fer cryin' out loud....!!"

"Now Bob, take it easy. It wasn't my decision...came from the highest authorities...*aside*...'That's fine, Honey, thanks. Oh...and can you get me two sugars and a cream to go with this?'...Now Bob...*slurp*....what's happening at the golf tournament?"

"Well Jim, speaking of teed off, Sarah Hess is just about to make her second shot off the fairway....it's a par 4 hole and if she gets good placement on the green...hang on...she's just...whoa! The ball has taken a funny angle and...and...it's coming straight for me! Just a sec....I....*galunk*.....'gulp'....*sounds of shouting*...."

"Bob...? Bob, are you alright?"

"Jim? Mike Huckabee, here. Bob half-swallowed the golf ball but he's gonna be just fine. Fortunately I was standing right next to him and was able to perform the Heimlich maneuver...ball popped out like a toad oughtta swamp water...kinda pretty, really...anyway, I'm a handy guy to have around, you might say. And you can pass that along to anyone who might be looking for help, if you get my drift..."

"Yes...well, thank you, Mr. Huckabee....*clears throat*....unfortunately we are out of time. We'll be keeping everyone updated on the birdie situation, both golf-wise and aviarally speaking. Until then, this is Jim McDonald, for Bob MacCackle and little Trevor Hoyt, saying...

...good-day."
 

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How I Earned My Keep Today

• Finished church cleaning
  
• Weeded and built up sides of one strawberry bed
  
• Cut four boys' hair....the youngest two of which were icky with sweat and dust
  
• Baked homemade cookie bars for lunch...well, I mean for after lunch
  
• Did load of laundry
  
• Didn't yell at anyone
  
• Didn't cry
  
• Only drank two cokes

I say....who da Ma?
 

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Nolan Turns Nine!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh BOY!
He's not excited...not at all.

Here's a closeup of the cake. After vowing to never attempt decorating another cake in my LIFE, Carolyn volunteered to make Nolan's decoration of a Tiger.
I thought she did right well :-)

The obligatory sibling present, which Trevor had carefully wrapped in a red bandanna and secured with copious amounts of Mommy's scotch tape...
...in which we discover Trevor has given away his Christmas present. (I discreetly suggested Nolan give them back...)

Shocking I know, but Ma's first present is a book.
Nolan thought this was pretty cool, since it's based on the Rube Goldberg principle and I guess that means he'll be an engineer when he grows up...

And a sketch book


And now an art book, that teaches step by step how to draw various things...
...really important things, like football players.

Nolan has already whipped out a very credible Triceratops.

Puzzle of the entire WORLD.
(no kid of mine is gonna end up like those ignoramuses on "Jay-walk"......the ones who don't know 95% of their basic history and geography facts)

Ahhh....colored pencils AND paint pens :-) (I'm sensing a theme)
To write on his new sketch pad, naturally. I think he may not have understood the concept of "not having to add water," for the next day he had filled up the sink and was dipping the paint pens into the water...*heavy sigh*...I hope there's some paint left in those babies.

But he's done his math drill every day this week, so that's a plus :-)

___________________
It's been a long morning of trials with Blogger, our network and the Internet. Not that I'm paranoid or anything, but clearly these three entities are out to get me.

But since things finally posted...

I WIN.
 

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Time to Vote

Okay peoples...the moment has arrived!

This is your chance to vote 'before' or 'after' concerning Ma's haircut.

This first photo is not having washed my hair since before bed last night. For some reason it always looks halfways decent on the day I'm planning to get it cut...
...and that's after trimming my bangs a coupla weeks ago when I couldn't stand it any more.

Naturally, if I tried for this look on a Sunday morning, it would utterly fail. You have to trust me that it was looking shabby most of the time.

Now for the second photo....and as usual, it came out a leetle beet short, but as they say, it will grow out.
So I think it makes me look taller as WELL as younger :-) (you know that they say about older women and long hair)

The pictures a lame from the standpoint of having to hold my head up...can't have the turkey neck showing, after all. Oh...and I'll bet you never guessed I took these myself!

So now comes time to cast your ballots...First way? Second Way?

WAIT! Just to show you that we're not limited to merely two options, here's another potential vote grabber...



That was taken at my last physical--which is 3 months overdue, but who's counting--when I had my generic hearing test. I don't have those cool earphones on hand, but if that pic's the popular choice I'm certain I could scare up something on Ebay.

And there you have it.

Only one vote per person, please...and remember, my fate lies in the hands of the readers as I remain,

your humble Ma.
 

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Haircut

Ma is off to get a haircut. I'll try and get 'before' and 'after' pictures up, later.

Maybe we'll have a vote-off.

Please try and bear up under the suspense.
 

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Whew Baby

Ma has been outside workin' hard today, and she is plumb tuckered out.

Got a bang-up headache, but that's what happens when you're out sweatin' in the hot sun, soaking up that good ol' vitamin D.

Every once in a while I'd come inside to rest and sweat some more. Remember....the heat pump conked out this past winter so now we don't have air conditioning, and may not have any most of the summer.

Fans help.

But getting back to my extraordinary efforts outside:

Today I weeded the cucumbers and cleared grass and weeds from three paths. This latter involves sliding the shovel back and forth, back and forth...it's' not good for the carpel tunnel syndrome in my right hand, but hey...what's a little more numbness when I sleep at night?

Ethan did a bunch of mowing and then I did some more--came in and made supper and then did some more mowing. Most of the lawn is done and in a nice diagonal pattern.

Hey folks...we may live in the middle of cornfield, but you just KNOW we're on the cutting edge of lawn care. And some day, when we have oodles of money sitting around, I'll be puttin' on the dandelion killer and THEN won't we have a drop-dead lawn!

(granted...not the most important goal to have, but one has one's little dreams, one does)

Probably get Nolan's birthday pics up tomorrow. Right now I need to get cleaned up, take two different kinds of pain reliever and put the third load in the washer.

Life is cabaret, old chum...
 

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More Picasa-ness

 

Bible School 08

Stuff is starting to stack up for posts, so here's a 13-picture Picasa album of the Vacation Bible School program last Friday night.

Ma apologies for the grainy picture quality. It wasn't until the next day that I realized the camera had been set for approximately six steps lower exposure, to accommodate my attempts at snapping a pale flower.

Oh well. Not all the pictures show that flaw, just 97%, heh, heh.

This year the VBS curriculum came from Answers in Genesis. That gets a 'two thumbs up' from Ma.

Go ahead and look...I can practically guarantee you will get at least one chuckle :-)
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Tonight we celebrate Nolan's 9th birthday! Pictures to follow, sometime....
 

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Business Speak

Just because I'm a stay-at-home mom doesn't mean I can't appreciate the mangled and often unintelligible verbiage apparently used by many office-types.

Here's a sample of "50 Office Speak Phrases You Love to Hate..."

2. "My employers (top half of FTSE 100) recently informed staff that we are no longer allowed to use the phrase brain storm because it might have negative connotations associated with fits. We must now take idea showers. I think that says it all really."
Anonymous, England

3. At my old company (a US multinational), anyone involved with a particular product was encouraged to be a product evangelist. And software users these days, so we hear, want to be platform atheists so that their computers will run programs from any manufacturer."
Philip Lattimore, Thailand

9. "Until recently I had to suffer working for a manager who used phrases such as the idiotic I've got you in my radar in her speech, letters and e-mails. Once, when I mentioned problems with the phone system, she screamed 'NO! You don't have problems, you have challenges'. At which point I almost lost the will to live."
Stephen Gradwick, Liverpool

39. "In my work environment it's all cascading at the moment. What they really mean is to communicate or disseminate information, usually downwards. What they don't seem to appreciate is that it sounds like we're being wee'd on. Which we usually are."
LMD, London

40. "At a large media company where I once worked, the head of human resources - itself a weaselly neologism for personnel - told us that she would be cascading down new information to staff. What she meant was she was going to send them a memo. It was one of the reasons I resigned - that, and the fact that the chief exec persisted on referring to the company as a really cool train set."
Andrew, London

The entirety of the BBC article can be read, here.

I can't help but think I've been missing out all these years....

*giggles uncontrollably*
 

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Adventures With Ma

Didn't even have to leave the house before having my first excitement of the day...

Behold: the Bunny has lost a tooth!

Yes, the first tooth from the last kid. 'Tis another milestone.

Of course, he prefers to be called 'Trevor', but he will always be a bunny, to me.

The tooth had been loose for a coupla weeks, and besides causing difficulties eating, it can make that whole teeth-brushing business a tad tricky.

This morning I noticed it hanging by less than a thread so I tested the waters for a grand Ma-tooth-extraction.

Trevor was reticent and I didn't force the issue. Just mentioned how nice it would be when it DID come out...all the advantages of easy eating and brushing. And I may have fixed up an empty pill bottle for his tooth collection....took off the label, replaced it with high quality duct tape and labeled it in ink, 'Trevor's teeth.'

Making a big deal is half of growing up, dontcha know.

About ten minutes later he came up beside my chair and asked me to pull it. Went rather fast--me being an expert and the tooth being so loose--and he barely felt a thing.

THEN came the fun of going to each member of the family and having them 'Oooo' and 'Ahhh' over it. More big dealedness.

Good times :-D
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Forward Ho, to Adventures With Ma:

After cleaning out the fridge--which amazingly enough takes FAR less time if performed at intervals of less than 8 months--Ma heads off shopping, her first stop being the Goodwill Store.

It is important to point out that despite finding a beautiful shirt on sale, she puts it back on the rack.

Our heroic Mas likes to engage in these little feats of mental strength from time to time. It makes her feel so...so, powerful.

And humble.

On to Wal*Mart, where her eyes alight upon a sign at the parking lot entrance...


Ooooooo, a rare epigastric treat!

Not just 'Bee.'

Not just 'Wine.'

But 'Bee AND Wine!'

Right away Ma surmises several things:

1) The type of bee offered must be very special, for it only comes in the singular form. There are no generic off-brand bees. No bees in a cardboard container, per se.

2) It would seem to be a new product, due to the wording, 'Now Selling.'

3) No distinction has been made as to whether the bee is alive, or deceased. And Ma is not terribly conversant with the properties of wine, but utilizing the best of her cognizant powers, she divines that the bee is most probably alive. The act of consuming a live bee could presumably tickle the throat, necessitating a quick and hefty dose of wine chaser.

Ma thinks a dead bee could stand alone, swallowably speaking.

Well, one learns new things every day and Ma's shopping trip has been no exception.

Attractive advertisement aside, she does not partake of the opportunity to purchase 'Bee and Wine.'

She is not certain she could stand the buzz, but most of all....

Chocolate hath charms enough.
 

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Greetings Y'all,

Another floodsome day, here in the heartland.

We stopped for milk on the way home from church yesterday and I picked up a copy of the WCF Courier. This picture on the front was pretty amazing...


Taken in Cedar Rapids. Can you believe it? Those are houses, washed off their foundations, clustered next to a railroad bridge.

Speaking of church, we were just a tad late yesterday morning as we found another section washed out on our usual blacktop route. Probably the place we drove through last week. That's two washouts on that road, alone.

I think the county's run out of blockade signs.

ANYWAY, things are looking better, in that no more rain is forecast until possibly this weekend.

*LOUD CHEERS*

Cedar Rapids is still a mess. People that thought they might get into their homes today to have a look and carry off in a plastic tub what they could, were told, "No go."

Conditions were deemed more hazardous than previously thought.

Highway 380 is closed for a section below Cedar Rapids, but there is some good news for The City of Five Seasons: they've recovered another of the well pumping stations, so their water capacity has moved from 25% to 50%. That means on alternate days, people can utilize showers and laundry.

Still forbidden whatsoever: lawn sprinkling or watering. (as if anyone would want to water their lawns...)

Iowa City and the University of Iowa is the newest mess, though the Iowa River crested slightly lower than expected.

And then there are the farmers. Farmers are getting hit extremely hard.

It's too depressing to share all the flood and storm news, but much of the state of Iowa is seeing big-time disaster.

Still, there are everyday tasks and responsibilities to focus on. Mundane things like cleaning out the fridge and going grocery shopping.

I'm thankful to have a fridge and a home for which I can furnish supplies.

I also feel guilty for having them when so many people are struggling.
 

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The Triumph of Ma

Blooper....oops, I mean Blogger, was refusing to post my picture again last night and this morning, so I journeyed to the faithful Photobucket, noticed the html option and...ta-dah...



I win

'Tis a double triumph, in that this is my "Lizzie Miller Rose," which belonged to my maternal grandmother who died before I was born. It's blooming more than ever, this year.
 

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Ach du Lieber!

As they used to say in Pennsylvania Dutch.

And as the river goes across Interstate 80.


Now Coralville and Iowa City are getting swamped, as is Des Moines.

Cedar Rapids will be at least a week until they get down to flood stage and everybody's hopin' the last of four well pumps will hold out. Water usage continues only for drinking purposes.

Oh dear.
 

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Very Sad

 
I always appreciated hearing what Tim Russert had to say.
 

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Cedar Rapids

Several people have asked about Ardith. Thankfully, she lives up on a hill, in a hilly residential area that is not right next to the river.

Also good is that fact that she lives on the same side of the river as her work. She carts Jason to his job at another Rockwell Collins building and they've had to take some longer routes to work, is all.

Jason said as far as he knew, Rockwell Collins was not planning to shut down.

When it rains terribly hard, Ardith gets a little trickle in her basement that goes directly to a drain. I believe Jason's set up on the other side of the basement from that area.

However, some residents are without power and may remain so for up to a week or two. Also, the water supply is at 25% and people are being asked to only use water for drinking purposes....so, I don't know how the whole bath and hair-washing situation is going :-p

The city has gone beyond the 100 and 500-year flood monikers...it's truly the worst flooding Cedar Rapids has ever experienced.

Normal river levels are 12 feet and it's expected to crest around 32 feet sometime today. Officials are not completely sure since the instrument that measures the river's water levels washed away...
 

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'Nuther Day

The days have fallen into a happy Bible School rhythm:
-flurry of activity at breakfast...eating and packing lunches, brushing teeth, etc.
-getting kids out the door and on their way
-sitting down at the computer for several hours of browsing and eating chocolate.

OK, that last part never happened, though I can understand why people might think that if they walk by the rec room two different times, glimpse me during two mowing breaks and assume I've been sitting there the entire time.

But I digress.

Last night I hurried through my supper to go back out and attack the dreadful tree roots. I was frantic to get the old tree out and find a workable replacement from our vast collection on the 'dirt mountain.' Happily, one was had, planted just before the rain and is nicely drooping at this very moment. Those pictures will be for another post, however.

As I was coming in around dusk, Ethan was terribly excited about what they were going to show me inside. "Now, don't look through the window, Mommy...it's a surprise!"

"Ah," I thought, "maybe they did the dishes for me..."

Actually...no.

Several kids had been assigned specific chores, and Carolyn's was to get Trevor in the tub and wash his hair.

Then there was a little matter of styling gel exuberance and presto....
...their version of Mr. Bass on the Mushroom Planet.

Or possibly a cross between Popeye and Alfalfa. (some of you youngsters will have to look those two up)

Oh well...I mean, how cute!

Besides, washing dishes is an excellent way to get dirt out of your fingernails.

It works even better than kneading bread.
 

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And That's Why I'm Takin' Tomorrow Off

 
Tuesday:

--weeded two strawberry beds...or attempted it...would you believe the ground can be too wet to pull weeds?

--mowed 3/4 of the whole lawn. More amazing when you realize I didn't start until after 3:30. Finished at 8:30pm.


Wednesday:

--worked 5 1/2 hours at monthly cleaning job. Dug up stump and roots from broken Maple tree. This only took 4 hours. Jammed volunteer Ash tree in hole and said a small prayer.

Now we wait for yet another line of storms to roll in around 11 or 12ish.

It's getting to be a habit.
 

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Off to Bible School

 


And there they go...oh look! The Bunny Boy is waving to his chère maman :-D

Hard to believe Trevor is six, the little shrimp. We'll see if he can make it the rest of the week. I think he believes one of his older sisters will be with him, but both Kendra and Melinda are helping out with another class...

He has to go at least through tomorrow, 'cause I'll be at my once-per-month 5-hour cleaning job that morning.
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A fair amount of water is down, from our roads, at least. Mason City got hit really hard and their sewage treatment plant flooded and had to shut down. The levee broke at Greene and their main street is a lake. Clarksville is partly closed down.

Highway 3 was flooded at Dumont yesterday and I didn't realize it until after I was well on my shopping way, but Butler County was under a "Travel Not Advised"....OOPS! Well, I left from the southwest corner and did most of my driving in other counties.

New Hartford had everything turned off...gas, electricity, because of flooding...as if the tornado that went through there wasn't enough... It's a mess.

We get a break from rain today but another storm is supposed to roll in Wednesday night and go through part of Friday.
_______________

After Sunday dinner Ma had a fun hour picking through the grass to find broken glass. One piece was discovered by my finger. (I must say, glass makes a very clean cut) Even so, I still found more bits and pieces while mowing yesterday. I was careful to blow everything toward the house to minimize the affected area.

However, the kids are no longer allowed to go barefoot this year.
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Garden is most gooey but Ma is venturing out with boards to step on. MUST pull some weeds before the next deluge.

People are saying this is worse than the flood of '93, which at the time, was referred to as "the 100-year flood."

We are all just ants.
 

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(Not) Just Another Storm

We've been havin' some kinda weather this week. Ma was all ready to post pictures directly to the blog, when Blogger El Paino Supremo reared it's ugly heado, denying Ma picture posting privileges.

No matter! Ma will not be thwarted...I'll just have to insert links to their new location on Photobucket.

After two straight nights of storm-after-storm, we caught a break Friday evening and actually got to sleep...well, except when Trevor-boy came over and whispered outside the bedroom door, "I'm sca-ohed." (he hasn't done that for months)

Last night was another story. It started out with this formidable wall cloud, and went downhill from there.

It had been windy all day, but there was still plenty of room to increase the velocity.

Still, the kids were sitting all calm and spiritual-like in the living room, while I read the last chapter of the study book for Sunday School. Despite my need to beat the Saturday night preparatory deadline, Derek interrupted my well modulated yet appropriately expressive tones to say,

"I hear a noise outside....it's going up and down...."

We ran to the addition and opened the screen door...and now the truth can be told...yes, Ackley's tornado sirens CAN be heard clear to our house.

It was still light enough to see the horizon, where no funnel shaped clouds whatsoever did loom.

*insert hemming and hawing*

Loren got the lowdown from Weikerts: a funnel cloud had possibly been sighted near Ackley and the siren had been sounded as a precaution.

*insert more hemming and hawing*

Another peek out the door confirmed that the wind had picked up, so we headed for the basement...but, WHICH basement? We landed in the old one, which was closest.

Well now, you haven't had fun until you've sat on the stairway while a few of the older kids found the two or three remaining dry places on the floor and the little kids made nuisances of themselves by squeezing past people up and down the stairway.

Once or twice we thought we heard a slight noise...maybe something falling.

Upon deciding nothing was happening, we went back upstairs whereupon it become suddenly evident that the living room had been newly air-conditioned. OK, it was only top half of the main window, but we were a little surprised. Especially Loren, when he realized he'd have to cut up some plywood and screw that baby to the rotten window frame. (this is particularly fun when you were just hoping to go to bed)

The one good thing about all this--besides the refreshingly cool air, was that the glass fell out on the grass.

Oh yes, the bird feeder fell over again.

When we woke up the next morning--an event that occurred entirely too soon--we noticed a little tree damage. (ah well, I have plenty of little Ash trees I can use as a replacement)

Somewhat bleary-eyed, we proceeded to church and managed to stay awake. Just barely.

But on the way home, we noticed the water had risen . There'd been numerous flooded fields, but nothing across the road on our way to church.

Hmmm, this was going to be interesting. The nice man in the truck said that mini-vans had made it through so there was NO WAY our 15-passenger Maxi-van was turning around.

The pool seemed somewhat bigger once we got into the water, but we made it, with Loren giving advice to all persons of driving potentiality on the tricks to getting through standing water without stalling.

Which we didn't. Stall, that is.

We had heard of a washed out bridge one mile further on from our usual turnoff, so we investigated. Those cows on the left just have a narrow strip of grass between the water.

Seems odd for a paved-road bridge to wash out.

I've never seen so much water around, and there's potential for rain almost every day this next week.

Bible School was supposed to start tomorrow, but it's been canceled due to "several" gravel roads being unpassable.

I'm going to try and get out tomorrow by a roundabout way to go grocery shopping, however.

I mean, fer cryin' out loud....we're almost outta chocolate!
 

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Open House Time o' Year

We don't go to that many open houses, particularly with the current gas prices. But the lure of free food only 3 1/2 miles down the road was too much to resist.

Here's an 11-picture album, complete with Ma's usual snappy captions...

{5:00 update: I found a picture I'd forgotten...Elizabeth Currier's new haircut}

Nancy Weikert Open house

A most excellent time was had and certain people were quite reluctant to leave:

"Awwww, they're just starting a volleyball game..."

"Can we buy a horse?"

"But I thought we were staying 'til midnight!"
 

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Mmmmmm....

It is difficult to keep an upbeat view of life when the past two nights have been interrupted--literally for hours at a time--with repeated lightning and torrential rains.

However, I'd decided to try and go about my usual routine, interspersed with rests, observing the raised blisters from pulling up long grasses, and googling debilitating diseases to see how many symptoms I exhibit.

Yes, it's been that kind of a fun day.

Suddenly, from the computer room came strains reminiscent of a forgetful child leaving game music running. I plodded over with my fatigued body, ready to administer justice and what did I spy, but Loren running some weird video of a man playing bike horns.

I lightly tripped back to my computer and pulled up YouTube...



OK...if you can't laugh at that, you are in pretty poor shape!

Thankfully, I can still laugh.
 

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Today doin's

Super muggy, warm day.

Kinda makes one long for air conditioning, but that bird flew the coop when the heat pump died this past winter. Maybe the heating/cooling company we contacted will get back to us one of these days...ha, ha.

At any rate, Ma got both of her Echinacea colonies de-grassed, AND finished up the very last of the mowing.

That should hold the lawn for another two days. Mucho raino makes for many mowings.

And speaking of deluges, last night was a whopper!

Right about beditmee the ol' lightning kicked in. Flashings and boomings abounded. At one point I was just starting to drift off when....CRACK!!.

I'll confess I yelped.

Later the rain pounded in mighty gusts against our north windows--the storms came in from the southwest, by the way--and then the hail started.

Contemplated taking everyone to the basement, but decided I was a couple hairs shy of being scared stiff, so we waited it out.

In the morning, a tree on Mr. Lupkes' property showed obvious signs of being struck by lightning. No problemo, though...it was a good 200 feeto from the house-o.

Thankfully, the potential for strong storms this afternoon did not materialize. We hope for a more quite night this bedtime.
 

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Life in the Yard

Wonderful and productive day up at Ye Olde Hoyte Homesteade.

Ethan and I whacked off more of the lawn and I pruned most of my rose bushes--including the monster Rugosa that threatens to take over the yard every two years.

In addition, I planted the last remaining partial garden beds with flower seeds...no-till, so I'll be reporting on that someday, you can be sure.

In the meantime, let's take a quick look around the yard...

Wow...a four-leafed clover!
Melinda, resident botanist, found this on one of her daily rounds to check on plant life.

My Spiderwort--rescued from the ditch--being its luscious blue and violet self.


It's June and Rugosa Roses are bustin' out all over :-)
Their silky petals remind me of paper...and now I'm startin' to think of Marie Osmond, which might date me...just a little.

This Monarch was taking a sip of Dandelion nectar the same time we were watching the fawn...


Welp, time for beddy-bye. Ma's been so very industrious, and she is so terribly brave, that she's agonna try sleeping tonight without a mite of Benedryl.

I've been weaning myself down and Loren says it's all psychological, anyway.

Which of course begs the question: do I wish to sleep well, without the aid of half a pill? Or be wakeful and prove Loren wrong?

Life poses difficult dilemmas, heh, heh :-D
 

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More Tornado Business

I've been trying to change the blog template to reflect a better site for donating to tornado relief in Parkersburg...but so far Silly Blogger will not let me change it...

So here's a link to the local (Hawkeye) chapter of the Red Cross.

Or you can send a check or money order to:

American Red Cross Hawkeye Chapter
2530 University Avenue
PO Box 1680
Waterloo, IA 50704

Putting "Iowa Tornaoes 2008" in the memo line will ensure a contribution goes to local relief.

Thanks!

Now, you may have already seen this on the evening news, but in case you didn't, here's a view from the security camera of an ATM outside the Bank in Parkersburg...it gives a unique look at destructive winds hitting the house across the street...


And here's what it looked like inside the bank...


Aplington/Parkerersburg Schools decided to simply end the school year. They hope to have a new building in a year.

There are 150 National Guardsmen staying in town to help with cleanup and protect form looters. No one is allowed into town unless they have some official business.

Here's a fourth-hand account of one man, who talked to someone at church, who in turn told the story to Loren:

The man had just barely gotten into his basement when the tornado hit. He looked up and saw his house taken away. A few moments later he saw two cows fly over...
 

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Ma's Day at the Marsh

 

Big Marsh June 08

 

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El Marsho Biggo

Ma finally got out to Big Marsh today :-D

First I did my duty by dropping off almost a year's supply of old cans and bottles at the dumph. I guess the young whippersnapper dude has given up on me, for he made nary a mention of recycling, this time.

Then, armed with my trust camouflage backpack containing keys, wallet, cell phone, protein bars, apple, water and extra camera battery, I proceeded to the very wet and protected marshland.

It was so wet, Ma had to wade in to get TO the marsh! Once you get on the premises, there are several car-width raised tracks to walk along.

I spent 3 hours there, amidst clouds and occasional drizzle, but it was a great time, though somewhat tiring.

Here are a few teaser shots....I hope to have a Picasa album up later today.

A Common Red Darter, yet il est beau, mai non?


Although it is still early for Iowa wildflowers, there were a few specimens about...


The Pelicans! Oh yay for Ma...she found the American Pelicans :-)
(it's just like the scene in the Wizard of Oz when Toto escapes from the mean ol' neighbor lady....."You came back...you came back !")

Well now, if you want to see more, you'll just have to go to the Picasa album I am working on....it'll be ready sometime tonight.
 

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Spots on the lawn

Yeah...this business of weaning my self off the Benedryl seems to be going nicely :-(

Anywho, we have quite the visitor on the far side of the lawn.

Whoa...a fawn!
Melinda found it on one of her thrice daily garden forays. It was snoozing under a Rugosa Rose bush in front of the garden.

At first I wasn't sure whether to tell the other kids, but figured it might be hard to explain the picture on the blog if I didn't take them out to see it.
We were not anxious to meet its mama, so we kept a wary eye out for protective does.

A sleepy eye opens...


and the head comes up to have a look at the gawkers
Hope it does OK through the night...and that they move on before morning.

________________

Tomorrow...I mean, later today, I'll be heading over to take the trash to its inevitable rendezvous with the Transfer Station, a sanitized name for "The Dump."

The REAL reason I'm going is so I can stop at Big Marsh and have a tramp. Hopefully I'll spy a nice birdie or two. Hey, we saw a Pelican on our way home from church, and with all the rain this spring, there oughtta be something interesting in the winged creature category.

I can hardly wait :-)

I can also hardly sleep...
 

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