Last of January

This last day of January makes me think ahead. I feel a countdown to warmer weather! It's just four more months until the pool opens. I look forward to the sunshine, bright blue water, cold drinks, novels and girlfriends. I know that tanning is not good for our health, but somehow I feel much healthier when I have been kissed by the sun!

It's just five weeks until day light savings time. That means that we will actually have sunshine after work. Maybe a stroll around Gray's lake with sunshine, no ice and no polar wind.

This is also the time of year that Dale and I enjoy vacation planning. I love vacation and Dale has taught me a whole new depth of what it means to plan for a trip!

Today the temperatures will be in the forties, snow will melt and the sun will shine. All more reasons for me to focus on my countdown. I think this may be an early case of "spring fever!"

My Sister, Cindy's Birthday!!

Cindy is younger than me but we are both officially in our late forties. . . only 20 months apart. Yes, I am the older sister!
She doesn't get down to Des Moines often, but this photo was from a very fun trip to the farmer's market in Valley Junction in 2007. We enjoyed the music, atmosphere and samples. Did you know that one can actually get tipsy on those teeny tiny little wine samples?
This photo reminds me that the weather will be warm again someday and that Cindy is "still wild and crazy after all these years!" Happy Birthday, Cynthia Colleen!

Jake's Hockey

Jake is my youngest nephew and he is a great hockey player! I watched him the first time he tried skating and he loved it. After years of practice and probably hundreds of games, he is strong and confident on the ice. It's fun to watch him play and to sit with family at the Mason City arena. Sunday morning we got to watch a game and see lots of family. The games are great, but more importantly, Jake is a good guy and a very nice young man. I hope that we get to watch him play baseball or football later this year.

Happy Birthday, Jay James!

How fun to get to celebrate Jay's birthday with him today! Dale and I drove up to Mason City and we all saw Jake's hockey game. (More on that later.)

We took Jay and Briana out for a long lunch with good food, conversation and plenty of time to relax. After lunch we all went to the mall for the best cookies in the world. We love the "mall cookies" in Mason City. . . a family favorite and birthday tradition for Jay! To walk off a couple of calories and enjoy the very refreshing air, we walked across the Meredith Willson Footbridge which is a "Music Man" landmark. It was a great place to get a photo for the blog! I wish you a very happy and healthy year, Jay!

Jay's almost 28!

My baby boy will turn 28 this weekend. Jay was born on Superbowl Sunday 1981. Since his birthday will be Sunday, it would have been a Superbowl birthday party had the NFL not changed their schedule. I still think that the Superbowl should be in January, but that is another story!

More importantly, I get to celebrate with Jay on Sunday. It's fun to look forward to the time with him and remember the day that he was born and birthdays past.

Jay was the biggest baby in the nursery with a huge appetite and little need for sleep. He turned into a joy filled, energetic, friendly toddler. His personality and golden curls appealed to strangers often. The years flew by; elementary school, teen years, college and adulthood. I am very proud of him and look forward to celebrating his birthday with him!

Our First Dog Show

Mowgli and I both experienced our first dog show today. He was a participant and I was a spectator. We both did very well! I was very proud of my grandpuppy who won a first place ribbon. Ok, so he was the only Canaan in the puppy category, but it's still a blue ribbon.

I was pretty excited about the opportunity for people watching and I was not disappointed. It was like a beauty salon for dogs. The owners were busy with blow dryers, powders, brushes, combs, hairspray and ribbons. Some of the cuts on the poodles must have been embarrassing to the male dogs in particular. I did try to get some photos but the action and the lighting did not serve me well. This is Mowgli hanging out with us while we waited for his breeder to be ready for him. It's actually the breeder who shows him. We just showed up to watch. I learned lots about the different breeds from my friend, Tammy. We enjoyed the people watching and saw some gorgeous dogs and some interesting (weird-looking) dogs as well. It was a fun event. I hope Dale and Ashley got better photos.

Happy Fiftieth, Jill!

Jill is officially my sister-in-law, married to my brother for almost thirty years! But she has been a part of the family for so long that she is like a sister. We have shared great memories. We met before we even had our driver's licenses. In 1978 we were next door neighbors in tiny little apartments. We loved the seventies music and will even sing together now if the right song comes on at a hockey game, party or wedding reception.
Happy Birthday with love, Ethyl!

Friday Quilting

Remember the fabric that Ashley and I purchased and cut about a month ago? We have a goal: two tree skirts in 11 months. I have made some headway on the project and I am anxious to show Ashley when she arrives tonight.

I know very little about quilting but fortunately I have some good advisers. They are over 100 miles away, so the advice comes over the phone. I am working at this one step at a time. Right now I am sewing together the small squares to make two large squares. I will figure out the next step after I finish this one.

Today was my day off so I had the luxury of staying home till noon when the temperatures were above zero! I stayed in my robe and quilted then left home for a burrito lunch with a girlfriend. It's a good start to the weekend!

Brrrr....It's officially cold!

It was below zero today and now the temperatures are dropping! These are the coldest temperatures in Des Moines in the last decade. It is frigid. Even the metro schools are closed tomorrow.

This bird feeder (at work) had been occupied much of the day by house finches and cardinals, but when I brought my camera, they got shy. The icicles are absolutely gorgeous. They were formed on a warmer day earlier in the week but will not be melting anytime soon.

Fortunately I have a warm coat and got new mittens and a scarf for Christmas so I am well protected and cozy.

Fun Weekend

It was another weekend with very few plans but plenty of options. I did get time to hang out at home, relax and get a few things done. Dale and I also found several opportunities for fun here in Des Moines. Friday night we went to Wells Fargo Arena to watch the Iowa Chops play hockey against Manitoba. We saw a huge hockey brawl in the last period...only one player kept his gloves on.
Saturday we went to see a movie: "MILK" at the Fleur, one of our favorite movie theaters. The movie was excellent and so was Sean Penn who played the lead role.
Sunday night we headed to the Knapp Center to watch the Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team. Although it was a very close game, Drake won. I enjoyed the game lots and the people around us add to the pleasure. There were a large group of cub scouts near us as well as some of the regulars who often sit in the same section. I love watching the games. It's fun that we feel like "regulars!" Now the weekend is over and its time to face Monday and the next snow storm of the year.

Orange Tic Tacs

I took this photo months ago. I had planned to tell the story of our family tic tac tradition, but Ashley beat me to it! From the time that Jay and Ashley were very little, orange tic tacs were in their Christmas stockings and Easter baskets. They were a favorite of their dad's. Even after the divorce, I continued the tradition. They seemed to look forward to that predictable treasure in their stockings or baskets. When they went to visit their dad for a weekend or longer period of time, I would occasionally slip tic tacs into the bottom of their bag. When Ashley went on church service trips, I would put the tic tacs in her bag secretly as I would load it into the car or unload it at the church or airport. When they left for college there were tic tacs. When they would bring laundry home it would go back to the dorms with some tic tacs from time to time...always slipped in quietly. I am sure that they saw me sometimes, or heard the familiar sound in their bags, but they never mentioned it. Recently when Ashley and Travis visited, I slipped tic tacs into her bag when she was out of the room. It was this container of tic tacs that I photographed. (Not very creatively!) I was surprised to find that she photographed the same container of tic tacs and added them to her blog with the story a couple of weeks later. Her photograph is much more creative and inspiring! The photograph was partially for a contest submission that asked for an object that inspires. This week the contest announced the five finalists and Ashley's photo and story were selected as a finalist! How exciting. You can check out the contest at http://www.merakohblog.com/ You can even vote if you like, but most importantly, I just wanted to share her accomplishment. I am very proud of her and her courage to develop her passion for photography!

Looking back at 2008

I have a tiny drawer in the guest room. It's really not big enough for much but it has become home to my ticket stubs. Its a jumbled mess, but all in one place. I used to save the stubs just when I would to to a Broadway show in NYC, but then decided to keep more as a memento. In this photo are lots of ticket stubs from 2008. It's fun to look back and remember all the fun. If you are over 40 and actually want to read the words, you may have to click on the photo to make it larger. (I feel your pain.) At the bottom of the drawer I found a ticket stub from Yankee Stadium (may it RIP) from July of 1994. Dale and I went together to most every one of these events pictured except I went to Frost/Nixon with my Kaley JoBo (niece.) Our kids joined us for several events and that was very fun too. There is plenty of room left in the drawer and I look forward to adding more ticket stubs in 2009. Maybe a St. Louis Cardinal baseball game or even another nascar race. Let the fun begin!!


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Welcome 2009!

First I have to give Dale credit for the photo. He got out the camera to document the New Year's Eve meal. I had never made jambalaya from scratch. It sounded good and like something that would be fun to cook together, so I found a recipe and we worked together. We started out the evening early with a Drake men's basketball game. It was a fun game and Drake won. Then we headed to the grocery store to purchase ingredients. There was lots of chopping and slicing vegetables and sausage. We did substitute the craw fish tails with small shrimp, which is acceptable especially in Iowa. We put on some music, cooked, sipped wine and relaxed. The jambalaya was good, but enough for six more people. After dinner we got out the raspberry chocolate from Chocolaterie Stam that Santa had left in my stocking. It was a wonderful New Year's Eve and I didn't have to stay up till midnight!