Holiday Weekend

It was a wonderful holiday weekend! After our feast in Mason City, Jay and Briana followed Dale and me back to Des Moines. On Thursday night we went to a Bucs hockey game. It was Jay and Briana's first time to Buccaneer arena but it wasn't a great game. We dug out our old wooden Chinese Checker game and had lots of fun. I was the champion of the two, three and four person versions which was pretty fun. . . for me! I sent it home with Jay so he could practice with Briana. Since we aren't big shoppers, Jay, Briana and I enjoyed a very relaxing Friday morning at home. Dale joined us later for our favorite burritos and a stroll around around the Des Moines sculpture park.

Ashley and Travis arrived later on Friday. We made lasagna . . . three kinds of lasagna. One with no veggies, one with no meat and one big one with everything! We played Apples to Apples and an amazing game of Jega with a very tippy tall tower.

As you well know, food is a very important part of our gatherings. Since our vacation in September I was anxious to make pumpkin french toast for Travis. I was going to make waffles for Jay, but I still cannot find my waffle iron. Has anybody seen it? It turns out that we were all pretty happy with the french toast so that worked well. I am going to find that waffle iron. It's got to be somewhere! Jay and I even checked in the storage garage and couldn't find it. Fortunately it was not a waste of time since we stumbled upon the Chinese Checkers game.

Disc Golf Outting

It has been a fun holiday weekend with lots of activity, relaxation, food and people. As I upload photos, I realize that I have not planned or organized my blog ideas for the weekend. That's OK with me but this is my notice that it is not in chronological order.

Dale had suggested disc golf when all the kids were home for the holiday and it turned out to be a great idea. Nine of us hit the disc golf course close to my house while crock pots of chili simmered at home. When we got home, Ashley and I made cornbread. Dale made his spicy chili and I made my chili. It was not a competition but more of an exhibition. I must admit that Dale's crock pot was the empty one at the end of the day.


Disc golfing was so much fun! It is a very hilly course and I think we got a bit of a work out. I know that I did. Some had lots experience. Jay even had a bag full of discs. Others had never played disc golf before. We just had fun while enjoying each other and a beautiful sunny November afternoon. Although there were a few close calls only one person was hit directly with a flying disc. We played, we ate, then we relaxed. Some of us relaxed enough to fall asleep which was quite an accomplishment with nine people in one small living room. It was cozy, but I love having a house full of people.

Thanksgiving Feast

Thursday I got to share a Thanksgiving feast with my sisters and their families. Dale and I drove up to Mason City for the afternoon and met up with Jay and Briana there. We had a wonderful meal and lots of fun and laughter between cooking and dishes. Drew celebrated his birthday on Thanksgiving this year so we got some yummy blueberry pie too. I didn't take many photos and when I did get out the camera, I didn't take the time to try to take good shots. I just enjoyed the people and the food.

When I got home I wasn't surprised that I didn't have great photos for blogging, so I cropped and edited our annual sister pose. I just didn't want to ignore a major holiday that's always been one of my favorites.

Saturday at Drake

Dale and I had planned on a Drake football game on Saturday afternoon. Then we heard that the Drake men were playing basketball earlier that same afternoon. Drake offered admission to the football game with your basketball ticket. It sounded like a fun afternoon. Then on Wednesday a friend offered me their season tickets for that day because she would be out of town. It just kept getting better.

I loved watching the basketball. It's probably my favorite sport to watch. Drake men led all but the final minutes of the game. Sadly the football team lost too. It was a nice sunny day and the first half of the football game was quite pleasant but when the sun set it did get chilly. Drake was struggling and I was cold so we left before end of the game. That was plenty of time on a bleacher for one day!

Big Enough?

Hey, Ashley, is this big enough yet? I have really enjoyed making this for you, but I know that it has taken a very long time. I think it's about five feet by five feet. I have used 11 or 12 skeins of yarn but I do have more if you want it to be bigger. Let me know what you think. I will wait to bind it off until I hear from you. For now I will start working at weaving in all the loose edges. That will take me a while too.

Early November

If anyone has checked my blog lately they probably think that I have not been doing much. That's not the case but I have not taken many photos and I have not blogged. Dale and I went to a Drake women's basketball game a couple of weeks ago. Last weekend I went to a Drake men's basketball game with my girlfriend, Jennifer, a couple of her friends and her 11 year old son. It was fun to watch the Drake players start a new season but I think that the most fun was sharing the excitement with an 11 year old. He even caught a free t-shirt and got lots of high fives from the players.

Last Sunday my friend, Tammy called to tell me about an event that she thought I might enjoy. Dale was interested too so we headed out to a beautiful farm yard west of town to see an "Earthdog Test." It was a perfectly gorgeous November afternoon with a beautiful cornfield, a cool old barn and lots of dachshunds and terriers. We met dogs and dog-people while we spent time with Tammy and Sadie. The test itself takes place underground where the dogs work their way through tunnels to find the rat, which is protected in a cage. I guess these dogs are bred for that just like a herder is bred to herd. It was fun to learn and we were fortunate to meet a couple of women who were so gracious to teach us and share the day. I even got to hold a beautiful longhaired dachshund puppy. I didn't even know that I thought dachshunds could be cute! November has been very good so far.

Breakfast Options

Four years ago when my cholesterol levels elevated a bit from my previous excellent levels, I made some changes in my life. The changes paid off and my cholesterol improved again. One of the changes was breakfast. I learned to like oatmeal. At first I just tolerated it but then it did become a part of my routine and I ate oatmeal for breakfast 6-7 times a week. It was "real" oatmeal not the flavored sweetened packets. This summer I finally got very tired of my oatmeal and started eating cold cereal with milk again. I buy bananas and other fresh fruit and enjoy that in the cereal. Now that it's getting cold again, I may pull out my oatmeal and try to train my taste buds again. I have two huge containers of oatmeal so I better work on it!