The Last Day of 2011.....and many other Coffee Ponderings

Happy New Year!  Another beautiful morning looking out my patio door to the East.  The weather will turn a bit blustery later on in the day and overnight.  Another difference between NW and Central Iowa is what is perceived as WIND.  We are under a wind advisory for "gusts of 35 MPH".  In NW Iowa that was a typical day.  Which brings up my theme today -- PERSPECTIVE.

When 2011 started this past year, there was a bit of a fracture. A conflict if you will of my personal and my professional life.

In the Fall of 2010, I had a personal experience that I can't even describe, but it gave me complete perspective on many parts of my life, especially personal and professional.  I was so very fortunate to be a part of something that was ground breaking and will forever affect me the rest of my life.  It was a combination of spiritual and physical healing.

Upon returning to NW Iowa, I realized that 90% of the puzzle pieces were put together.  The other 10% were scattered and fractured and I needed to take charge in either fixing it or changing it.  The process began.  My eyes were open to possible employment opportunities.  And as God would have it (and I really believe this entire process was driven by a higher power), there was a job opening still working with victims of crime, but it required a significant move.  If this were going to work, Curtis and I both needed to be on board.  Probably the most surprising part of this was his willingness to look at something new.  Particularly, since it would be a decrease in pay for me.  (In the middle of a two year debt reduction process, I was going to take a pay cut?)  I THANK him for that.  He could have decided that he didn't want to do this and we would have had A LOT of discussion about that, but he was on board right away. (THANK YOU!)

But just because there was an opening didn't mean that I was going to get it.  So the hat was thrown in the ring and the "winds of change" began.  I got the job, notice at CAASA was given (I had been there a total of 13 years), a rental was secured (again a faith moment - friends needed a renter, we needed a space), and my job began.  This was the end of April.  But this was just the beginning.  Curtis needed to find employment, we needed to sell our house, our kids were trying to figure out what this meant for them, and I quickly realized the process was just beginning.

Now throw in, moving away from my BEST FRIEND IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.  Not just my best friend, but a sister to me.  She was part of that incredible experience in Fall of 2010 and I THANK her for sharing that with me.  We are bonded forever because of it.  We are so alike (yet different - like most sisters) that our families don't like to play Apples-to-Apples with us because we always win - we know what each other is thinking.  When I lived in Spencer we would see each other every day.  Her family is so incredibly important to me and I think THAT has been the hardest transition.  (I got a recent fix over Christmas and it just made me realize how much I am missing out with all of them and hope to have a plan to increase my "time" spent with them - thinkin' weekly SKYPE appointments!).  FAMILY (biological or not) is so very important.

In the middle of this transition, we had two different "vacations" planned.  My hubby teaches classes to First Responders across the country.  He teaches them how to deal with the media in crisis situations.  Now this usually takes him to very rural parts of the country in Texas, Tennessee, and various other parts that I have really no interest in seeing (remember I grew up in SW Iowa -- Hillbilly Central was part of my life for 18 years - I don't need to see that any more).  But every once in a while he will get a venue that I want to attend as well.  There were two of those this year.

Diamondback rattlesnake hiding from us when hiking

Chase Field Scoreboard

The first one was Tucson, Arizona.  I fell in love with Arizona when we ventured to Phoenix a few years ago for Curtis' 'real' job and traveled to Sedona and Jerome (my favorite town in Arizona - if you have NetFlix, I encourage you to watch BLOOD AND WINE.  Is the story of the former lead singer of TOOL starting a winery in the mountain town of Jerome and tells its amazing history.  THAT COULD BE FOR ANOTHER BLOG POST).  But Phoenix and Tucson are like NIGHT and DAY.  I fell in love with Tucson.  You don't realize how fortunate we are in the Midwest during the economic crisis until you travel to places that were hit VERY hard - like Tucson.  PERSPECTIVE MOMENT!  We stayed downtown and many building are sitting empty, real estate has tanked, and many people have NO work.  In spite of that, the town itself is beautiful and there seems to be a resilience.  I made the comment right away that I will retire there.  (SEE FINANCIAL GOALS that I talked about earlier)  The best part of the trip was attending a Diamondback vs Cardinals baseball game at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.  It sparked my interest in baseball again.  And little did we know, they would make the playoffs and win the World Series.  And my Cards won that game against the Diamondbacks pretty EASILY!

Our second trip of the year in the middle of this transition was HAWAII.  A once in a lifetime trip to an amazing place.  He taught two classes there so we got to stay extra time on the big island.  We stayed in a hotel on Waikiki beach.  I don't have the words in me to describe this experience and awesome X 12 doesn't really do it.  And because I am a closet socialist, I think that every person that gets married should be able to apply to a government program that allows them to experience this place at least once in their lifetime.  One of my favorite experiences was getting in the rental car and driving to the North Shore.  Watching the waves, experiencing the scenery, eating the fresh seafood -- it all was surreal at times.  That is why we MUST go back!  But I think my FAVORITE was going to see Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial.  I am not a huge history buff, but it was very moving and amazing.  My proposed government program will have this as one of the "requirements".  :)

USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor

So back to the "move".  We interjected those two trips in the middle of this transition.  While most people would have thought that created more stress, it actually helped to reduce it quite a bit.  The next process was to SELL THE SPENCER HOUSE.  We had garage sales EVERY weekend in the month of May and part of June.  We sold ALL of our furniture and most of our housewares.  Down sizing is something we all need to do every five years or so.  It was very cleansing.  Getting the house ready for sale was probably the most stressful and hardest.  My words of advice for this part - DON'T DELAY DOING HOME IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS FOR THE FUTURE.  We have done that the last 10 years.  And quickly realized that because of that we had to spend lots of money to sell this house.  Carpet, flooring, paint, new bathroom -- it all added up.  But the MOST POSITIVE UP SIDE -- our house sold 4 days after we listed it.  Again, another faith moment for us.

In the middle of that, Curtis got two job offers.  Both of them were for things that he really wanted to do.  So again, faith/fate.  At this time, I have lived in Ankeny since the end of April by myself and going back to Spencer every weekend to prepare a house for sale, garage sales, and bringing load after load of personal items when I came back.  Curtis made the move the first of July.  He started his new job right after July 4 and STILL LOVES IT. :)  Another PERSPECTIVE moment because I was living by myself and now he and the two dogs were upsetting my routine.  WHAT?  But I quickly realized that I missed them all and we settled in....kind of.

We quickly became aware that a two bedroom town house was not going to work for us.  We didn't have enough "personal space" for each other.  So we started house hunting.  Now keep in mind that I have only purchased one house in my entire life.  And I don't remember that it was a process that took a long time.  Of course, that was in Spencer and the choices were not as numerous as they were in the Des Moines Metro area.  We had a very, very (did I say VERY) patient Realtor.  Erika was so amazing and so helpful.  We gave her a total of about 20 houses to look at and not a single one of them gave me the "WOW" factor in my gut that I was looking for.  Then, she said.....how about we look at this one?  The second I walked in the door, I knew that we were home.  A FAITH MOMENT?  I think so once again.  The last of the things that we needed to get done to make this transition complete.

Now.....2011 wasn't just about our move and trials and tribulations.

I will be a mother-in-law after September 2.  Kara and Chris set a date.  I am so excited for them.  They have worked really hard to make a life for themselves and am beyond proud of my son who has become an amazing man!   And I look forward to getting to know my new daughter even better.




Bailey moved to Ankeny, started at DMACC, works for the local UPS Store (has developed GUNS - her words not mine) and is looking to transfer when she graduates from DMACC.  That process will be resolved soon hopefully.

Jordan is still in Spencer, working at a job he loves and involved in the Occupy Movement.  I am proud that he is energized about a cause and hope that he doesn't get jaded by the process.

I think that 2012 will be an adventurous year as well.  There are still many "new" things on the horizon for us this year.  We have started the process of becoming re-aquainted with old friends from central Iowa.  I start school in 10 days.  Curtis' dance business is expanding (a bit slower than he wants) and he is booking across most of the state now since he has 2 and now 2 more partners to work with.  One of my friends is getting married in June and I hope to go across country and celebrate with her.  So stay tuned, humor me by reading this blog, and enjoy the many blessings that we all have!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE DEANS!

What am I watching? What am I listening to? What am I reading?

It has been a very busy weekend with different parts of the family traveling in for Christmas, gift exchanges, game playing, and hugs and warmth from those we love the most.

So, surfing through some of my favorite blogs and hanging out with another early riser  - GABE.  He explained to me that he gets up early on no school days because he doesn't want to waste any time sleeping when he doesn't have to go to school.  On school days, he would rather sleep in.  LOVE THAT KID!

But since I couldn't sleep this morning past 5:30, I thought that I would share another installment of WHAT AM I READING? WHAT AM I LISTENING TO? WHAT AM I READING?

What I am watching:
Football has taken up most of my weekends.  This is an exciting time for the NFL with playoff hopes being realized or dashed, it gets very exciting.  Most of my disappointment surrounds our beloved Cowboys (and particularly a very whiny overrated quarterback named Romo), but it has been great to watch the Pack dominate once again.  I hope they meet up with Brady and the Pats (another hated team) and dominate - that will be a better game than the Super Bowl.

Seriously though, movies or TV.......The last movie I watched was STRIPES!  I know - I forgot how cheesy and silly that movie is.  Bill Murray was one of those comedians that was just silly and then turned into a really GREAT actor.  Bailey had never seen the movie before so we watched it Christmas Eve.  Thank you NetFlix.

The television series we have been re-watching recently is Commander in Chief.  This was a one year series that had unfortunate timing - released during the popularity of West Wing.  It had to compete with the "other president show".  This is a well written show released in 2005 starring Geena Davis.  She becomes the first female president.  She is the vice president in the first episode and the president has a stroke  and dies.  It is very complex and does a great job showing the political issues that arise out of sexism due to her presidency.  Donald Sutherland plays her political rival with mastery.   YOU LOVE TO HATE HIM.  I remember watching this series when it first came out and was a bit upset when it wasn't picked up for a second season.

If you get a chance I encourage you to watch the series.  Again, THANK YOU NetFlix.


What I am listening to:

Nothing has really stood out since the last "music" post.  I am still listening to Adele, OVER AND OVER AND OVER again.  However, the last few days, I have been listening to likely the BEST CHRISTMAS CD in many many years - Michael Buble Christmas.  His rich smooth voice makes sometimes annoying Christmas music bearable.  I was fortunate enough to see Michael (yeah we are on a first name basis - after he sang the song about me ("Me and Mrs. Dean - I mean Jones") we became much much closer) in concert at Wells Fargo Arena shortly after we moved here.  He is an amazing show man and I think that after the concert, I listen to his music differently.  That could be why I like this Christmas CD.  Check it out.....it will likely be my favorite for Holiday seasons to come.

What I am reading:

Not much news in this section either.  I am still working on Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.  It has so far been a slow beginning, but I think that it will pick up.  This author's writing style is a bit difficult to keep focused, however, I think the main character (a little boy who lost his dad in 9-11) is complex and would likely have an official diagnosis of Asperger's or Autism (and we may find that out yet) -- and that contributes to the difficulty of being able to follow his thought patterns since it is told in first person.


Only 14 days until I school starts!  Now one would think that I will not be posting, but I am still going to try.  Two of my classes are watching movies (IT's a FILM CLASS) and reading (HUMOR IN LITERATURE) so I will try to keep you updated on what I am consuming in those two classes.

Have a GREAT NEW YEAR!   And enjoy all those moments with Family and Friends because they go by so quickly.

26th Wedding Anniversary Recap and other coffee ponderings.....

As I set here on Christmas Eve morning, looking at the plates of Christmas treats, I am enjoying a peaceful cup of coffee before the visitors stir.  The first Christmas in the new house.  Because our children are at the age where they NEED to work on the holidays to take advantage of the extra pay, they will be trickling in and out throughout the next four days.  Chris and Kara are here from Cedar Rapids last night through today.  Jordan will be here tomorrow afternoon with the Dodson Clan.  I can't wait to see and FEED them all.  Since Bailey lives here and her place of employment is closed the next few days, she will be enjoying all the comings and goings of everyone as well.


The sun is just rising up over the roof lines and casting a bright yellow glow on my kitchen wall.

Even though the grass and leaves are in hibernation, I still love the crispy bite of the early morning.  Frost on the deck, breath fog escapes from your nose and mouth and the sharp sting of the inside of your nose freezing.  I guess I am always supposed to be a Midwest Winter Girl.






Last weekend Curtis and I ventured to Davenport to celebrate an early anniversary.  We splurged and stayed at the Hotel Blackhawk.  It is this beautiful refurbished New Orleans style hotel.  The staff were incredibly friendly and the rooms were beautiful.  As I always do, I asked for a FREE upgrade from what we had booked and paid for through www.hotels.com  - One of my favorite sites and I now have an app on my iPhone - "OF COURSE" said the very friendly desk clerk.  So we got a two room suite.  

This is the room when you walk in the door.  Couch on one side of the room, desk on the other.  Hooked to the desk is a flat screen television in case you and your guest want to watch two different things apparently.  There was a fully stocked minibar to the left of the couch.  Quite nice.

Stepping in to the next room, are the very comfortable beds, a walk-in closet and of course a luxury bathroom.

Beautiful walk in shower that I would like to duplicate in my own bathroom.

And a television in the mirror of the bathroom!  It really doesn't take much to impress me because I am used to cheaper hotels, but this was really cool.  Watching sports updates or the news while getting ready?  HEAVEN!!

We started to explore the hotel and discovered in the basement - a martini bar and bowling alley.  It was very retro and very well decorated with soft neon.  The bar was really cool and we found out is a hopping place at night.  We went back after our evening activities and couldn't even get in to the place they were so packed.

After we investigated the hotel, we set out walking in downtown Davenport.  I could not have said that 26 years ago when we were first married.  Walking around in downtown Davenport would not only have been dangerous but STUPID.  However, they have done A LOT of work to rebuild this area and it is quite pretty.  Business looks like it is still being conducted and restaurants seem to be very successful.

Of course we found a local brewery:  Great River Brewery.  When I saw the outside, I expected this larger area similar to a Granite City type brewing company.  NOPE!  A very small, biker type bar with pretty good beer.  I was pleasantly surprised and very glad to support a local company.

Gotta love those iPhone self portraits!  If Apple could invent a long arm app (to hold the phone out), I would download it.  Otherwise my chin (or should I say CHINS) always seems very LARGE in these types of pictures.  But this is us sitting at the bar at the brewery.

From there we walked down town a bit more and then headed to dinner at "THE BIX".  The hotel restaurant.  Amazing food.  So good that we forgot to take pictures of our anniversary dinner.  OOPS.  But trust me....my pasta and Curtis' steak was some of the best food I have ever eaten.  YUMM-O!

Our next adventure was to trek to the East Davenport Art District and find my friend who is an amazing artist and watch her do her thing.  She is a painter however, has an amazing twist on it by taking photos of her work when finished.  She paints live models.  I am lucky enough to own a couple of her photo pieces and wasn't sure what to expect for the live show.  WOW!  I couldn't take pictures.  BUMMER!  She paints a back drop canvas first.  Then when she is finished with that, she brings out her model or models.  Then proceeds to paint their skin, their hair, their faces until their entire bodies are covered.  When they are then the same patterns, colors and shapes as the back drop, she poses them into various pictures.  It is really quite amazing.  Here are her websites:  http://durbinedesigns.wordpress.com/?ref=spelling

and

http://www.etsy.com/shop/durbinedesigns

Some time when you are here visiting, make sure I show you the finished results.

After that, we headed back to the hotel and decided to call it an evening.

All in all, it was a great weekend.  Curtis got a chance to reminisce in his hometown.  I was able to see my friend Nicole do her amazing art work.  And we celebrated another year.  It was a year of MAJOR changes for us.  Hopefully this next year will be a bit quieter, but I have a feeling that it is just the beginning.......thinking WEDDING!  YIKES!

Saturday Morning Coffee (and Snicker Salad) pondering....

Good morning!  It is Saturday again.  The sun is coming up over our little forest in the back yard and I ran short of coffee beans this morning so the coffee is a bit weak.....but it is still brown warm liquid with a splash of half and half.  Might have to stop at Starbucks on the way out of town to get my caffeine boost.

I have a couple minutes to write down my random thoughts and/or rants this morning.  And I have three things on my brain -- just three cuz I had too many LONG ISLAND ICED TEAS and WINE last night and needed a bit of ibuprofen this morning.  Rhonda -- YOU ARE OLD -- STOP DOING THAT!

Curtis and I are leaving for a quick get away to Davenport for our anniversary which is next week.  Excited to stay at the refurbished Hotel Blackhawk downtown and then have plans to see a live art show with my friend Nicole.  She is so very talented and does an amazing job painting live models.  It is hard to explain but is incredibly beautiful.  I have already purchased three of her pieces and hope I can get another tonight.  FINGERS CROSSED!

Technology and Christmas Cards:
I am trying to figure out if we send out a formal Christmas Card or an electronic letter. MOST everyone that knows us and would be receiving this card, are also on many of our social networking sites that we inhabit.  However, since we had the big MOVE this year, most people don't know our new mailing address.  So I am leaning toward the USPS - SNAIL MAIL CHRISTMAS CARD.  Whatever I choose, I only have 8 days before Christmas to figure this out.  Where did the time go?

What Makes Me Smile on A Daily Basis:
I love this little flower.  I found it at a gift shop here in DSM.  It is so adorable and it is solar so it doesn't have a battery to be replaced.  I set it under my cubicle florescent and it does this all day long.  ENJOY and I bet you can't help but smile

Display Case with a New Home:
With my ridiculous attempts at decorating, I come up with some random ideas most of the time.  I went on an adventure this week to find something to put inside my front door entryway.  Homemakers here in DSM is my favorite furniture store.  The website really doesn't do it justice, but here it is   http://www.shophomemakers.com/

So I went looking for a sofa table or bench to put there.  Instead, I purchased this display shelf.  Curtis had to put it together and hurt his back in the process (SORRY HONEY BADGER).  But as you can see -- after he lugged it to the place I thought it should go, he had to drag it back across the room and it has now become part of the living room furniture.  I love the clean lines and it matches my 1960's Mad Men style furniture perfectly.  So I need to find some things to put on the shelves.




My dilemma is still what to put in that entry way space.  I am thinking a large floor vase similar to either of these and dark in color.  I will keep looking on Pinterest and at our new consignment decor shop here in Ankeny.  Hopefully I can find something to make that wall pop out.

I think that is it for the week.  Hope you all make it a great one.  My house will be filled with people next weekend.  Can't wait to see my family.  I miss them all.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

What am I watching? What am I listening to? What am I reading?

I decided to add a section to discuss what I am watching, what I am listening to and what I am reading.

What I am watching:
aMOVIES:  The last movie rented from my trusted Red Box was Crazy, Stupid, Love.  I was a little hesitant to rent it because I thought it looked like another predictable RomCom.  Here is the link to the IMDB information about it.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1570728/ 

SIDE NOTE:  www.imdb.com is one of my FAVORITE websites.  I have an amazing iPhone and iPad app that let's me enter any movie title, actor, movie song and has all the information plus reviews about that movie.  Even the OBSCURE weird stuff.  It is great cheat for a trivia game.

Back to the Movie:  I was hesitant.  I LOVE Steve Carell and Julianne Moore and of course KEVIN BACON.   I must say, I WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRISED.  The movie starts out with this really sad revelation and you completely feel for Steve Carell's character.  At the same time his wife in the movie, Julianne Moore, is so conflicted and tortured you can't hate her, just feel sad for her.  As the movie progresses, the plot lines are a bit predictable.  Josh Grobin makes an appearance that makes me think he might be in more movies in the future.  FUNNY GUY!  And the other middle of the movie saving grace is Ryan Gosling's ABS!  WOW!  Any-who.....there is a bit of a twist at the end (I won't spoil it) that came out of no where.  Usually I can figure those things out.  Didn't have a clue.  I give it a 3 out of 5 glasses of wine.  SO GO RENT IT!

TELEVISION:  Many of you know this but we have not hooked up cable or a dish since we moved to DSM.  We are able to get off air channels with an antenna but that gets us the big 4 - ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX.   This means no DVR either.  I was never a person to arrange my schedule around a television show because I could always rely on my trusty DVR to have it loaded into a memory space for me.  NO SO MUCH ANY MORE!  We have not had FX, AMC, A&E, or of course HBO or SHOWTIME.  I have missed an entire season of TRUE BLOOD - GASP!!!  So we have utilized Netflix streaming and tried to watch or catch up on shows that we hadn't watched before.

We started with four seasons of the AMC Show Mad Men.  If you are not familiar, it takes place in the 1950s and 1960s surrounding Madison Avenue and the advertising agencies in New York City.  The one thing that I can say is that it is very compelling and the characters are very complex.  The writers do a great job of conveying the struggles of the inner demons of the main character (AND BOY HOWDY DOES HE HAVE MANY) and the gender and race struggles of that time period.  At times I found my self getting very angry at the way women were portrayed in the series.  Then I would realize that it was very realistic to the time period.  I can not wait for Season 5 to premiere March 2012.  But then I will have to wait for the season to be released on DVD.  So probably another year.  I give it a 5 out of 5 glasses of wine!  If you haven't seen it -- I recommend it.

What I am listening to:

My most played selection on my iPhone or iPad in the last month is Adele.
 
http://www.adele.tv/home/

Her "not so new" release 21 is incredibly rich and sorrow filled, yet has some catchy and amazing tunes.  In spite of her recent bought with throat issues causing her to cancel all of her US shows, Adele remains a vocal force in the pop and jazz music realm.  I had in my iTunes library her debut CD 19.  Her sophomore success has caused me to add that CD back into my playlist.  I think I listen to her every day.  Even though the radio is OVERPLAYING a couple of her songs, I still can't get enough of her rich, sultry, vocals.

I encourage you to go to her website and watch all her videos.  Her interviews describing the inspiration to all her songs on 21 are really good.  Here is the website link to see them.  http://www.vevo.com/search?q=Adele

I rate 21 as a 5 out of 5 wine glasses.  I give her debut CD 19 a 4 out of 5 wine glasses.

The other music that I listen to every day are TWO songs that I can't get enough of.  They get in my head at the beginning of the day and I can't get them out until I listen to the song.  First one......

LMAFO - Sexy and I Know It
http://www.vevo.com/watch/lmfao/sexy-and-i-know-it/USUV71101468  Now, I know it is a silly, silly song. And these boys are silly, silly boys.  But their sense of humor is contagious.  Don't judge me!  The video (link above) makes me giggle like a 12 year old and I can't get enough of their 'fros and speedos'.  Humor me would ya?  I rate this song 3 out of 5 wine glasses.

MAROON 5 w/ Christina Aguilera - Moves Like Jagger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEPTlhBmwRg  My boy Adam Levine (I say that like we know each other - only in my dreams) always delivers rock star performance songs (and concerts too).  But this song with Christina knocks it out of the park for me.  The link is to the music video.  Check it out and you will be moving like Jagger.  I rate this song 5 out of 5 wine glasses.

What am I reading:
I have been burning up the Nook these last few months.  I am anticipating that come January 9 when school starts I will not have any "free" reading time.  So trying to get in as many books as possible off my wish list.  I have 30 days left to get it done.

Thanks to my old Spencer Book club and my NOOK BUDDY KEETAH, I have been enjoying the "Eden" book trilogy:  Chasing Eden, Beyond Eden, and Treasure of Eden.  Not the best written book that I have experienced, but the subject matter is very interesting.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/chasing-eden-sharon-linnea/1103526457?ean=2940012881991&itm=1&usri=chasing+eden

This is a trilogy and I  feel as if they were written as one big book that either the author or the publisher decided to divide up in to three books.

The main character is a chaplain in the US military and the book starts with her in Iraq and the book tells us the 'real' reason the war started:  The search for the Garden of Eden which is reportedly in the area of Iraq.  Of course the book is fiction, but reads for the first part like a non-fiction book.  It does have a bit of "spy" type thrills in it and keeps a person guessing most of the time.  I am currently on the third book and have enjoyed them.  I rate all of them 3 out of 5 wine glasses.

Next on my list after I have completed this book is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

 I picked this book because the movie is being released soon with Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks.  It is the story of a young boy whose father dies in 9-11.  This boy's journey to find something from his father and the people he meets along the way.  I will report back with this book when I am finished.

Check out full reviews at this link below.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/extremely-loud-and-incredibly-close-jonathan-safran-foer/1100044509?ean=9780547416212&itm=1&usri=extemely+loud+and+incredible+close

That is all for now.  Hope it inspired you to read, listen or watch.

Until next time!

Saturday morning coffee pondering

Good Saturday Morning.  I know that I only have four people (maybe) reading this but it seems to have turned into a journal type thing.  So I will go on the record apologizing for any content that may be included that I run my mouth about.

This week has been extremely busy.  It felt like the longest week since I started working 6 months ago.  Has been the first week of really busy.  But I love it and am excited to continue to work hard and expand my knowledge base.  This will help with school starting in less than 30 days.  Can you tell I am nervous?

We (really Curtis) got our meager Christmas decorations out.  The living room tree is up.  The basement tree is up and I have a space for the ceramic tree that my mom made us many years ago.  Curtis decided that since we have such meager decorations for a tree, (I REALLY NEED SOME DECORATION HELP!) that he was going to spice it up with some "up-lighting".  So here it is....

The blue lights make it look like a stage production of a Charlie Brown Christmas.....but our theater family LOVES it.

The weather in Central Iowa has been so mild, however we have had the first week of precipitation and some white stuff.  The commute into the Capitol was interesting on Friday morning.  The commuters fall in to two categories -- those that drive like crazy even if the roads are snow covered and those that are cautious in spite of being tailgated and rear-ended by the first group.  And I suppose you all think that I fall into that first one -- WRONG.  My little red skate does not like the slick roads.  So I become the cautious slow commuter.

The precipitation was just a cool rain coming down last Saturday.  I tried to catch it on the bushes outside our house then.  The drops were pretty.

No we have a little bit of snow but have had the first "cold snap".

Now keep in mind, COLD in Northwest Iowa is totally different than COLD in Central Iowa.  I have been keeping tabs on the lows in NW Iowa.  -17 in Sheldon - regular temperature mid week.  We have barely made single digits as lows here and people are complaining.  The perspective is funny.

This week we were able to connect with friends that we haven't seen for a while.  It was good to talk to them and catch up and see how much their kids have grown and matured.  It makes me feel extremely old.  But out of that Curtis was able to acquire a prized possession.  He has been looking for this for a very long time.  And Brett had a bottle.

I don't think he likes the taste as much as his Jameson, but he can say he has a bottle.

That is it for the week.  Going to head out with Friends tonight to check out ZOMBIE BURGER.  One of my favorite new restaurants in town.  New pictures next week.  We are headed to Davenport to celebrate our anniversary at a really cool hotel and check out a friend's art show.

Until then.....check out one of my favorite blogs.
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/
For an organizing nerd, this is nirvana!

Till next time!

Fall Musings

Winter is finally here.  Measurable snow is expected over most of the state.  Of course not in the central part of the state -- since we are in the South.  Every one keeps telling me that we will get snow and it is going to be very much below zero, but so far I haven't seen it.So I decided to call this post -- FALL MUSINGS.  I have been in central Iowa now through TWO seasons - Summer and Fall.

This Fall has been amazingly mild.  The leaves had time to turn blaze colors of gold, red, and brown.  The flower beds had time to change to their fall colors and allow their owners to put them to sleep at their leisure, not in a hurried few hours of a quick weekend.  This picture was taken on I-80 on my way to the Sioux City area on a Saturday for a friend's wedding.

This fall meant that Curtis and I moved into a new house.  This journey of the big "move" was so very smooth since it began and the house purchase was really no different.  I am in LOVE with this house.  Like most houses it isn't PERFECT, but it suits us well.  There is enough room so we can do our own things without hearing or being in the same vicinity, yet it is small enough that I can (kinda of) keep up on all the house work.

 The neighborhood is very Iowa diverse.  Not ethnically (it is Iowa after all), but different stages of "family-dom".  To our left we have a new family with a 5 month old baby boy and an amazing black lab Maggie.  To our right we have a 3 year old little girl that LOVES (I MEAN IT -- LOVES) Stella and Zoe and she has a new baby brother that is about 2 months old.  Across the street, we have a couple with grown children (like us) and she self labeled themselves as the "old" people in the neighborhood.  Really they are just a couple years older than we are.  So far we are very pleased with our choice and our blessing.

The last weekend in October always means soccer tournaments too.  I ventured to Council Bluffs to meet Keetah, Kiona, Gabriel, and of course MARISSA.

This picture was taken on the last day of the weekend tournament and as you can tell it was COLD.  The girls didn't have a a great winning weekend, but they always say that they learn a lot and have fun with their team mates at the hotel.  Those are the memories they will have for the rest of their lives, not that they won EVERY game.  It is always amazing to see from year to year how much they have grown as a team and as individual players.

 We then completed our FALL activities by venturing to Spencer for a family holiday event.  The Dodson's hosted us for the weekend.  This pie looked and tasted amazing.  Keetah did as always an incredible job of cooking and hosting.  They always make us feel like we are at home when we invade their place.

Unfortunately, the weekend ended with a virus that attacked EVERYONE.  I have never seen so many people get sick at one time.  The only one that was immune was Marissa.  She was a trooper with the vomit and other things all around her.  People were dropping like flies......it was amazing.  I decided to venture back to Ankeny early so I could get a very sick Bailey back to her home base.  I think she got the brunt of it.  I think every one has healed completely except me.  I still have this upper respiratory JUNK.  I expect that is why I am up writing this blog since 6:00 am.





AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST for the Fall musings.  Since we have moved in to the house this Fall, we have re-introduced Cecil to the house.  He is very happy.  He has playmates with Stella and Zoe and is content to sleep all day and roam the fenced in yard.  He continues to try to speak with us in a "yowly, weird, psycho way".  Curtis has been researching why he is doing this and we now suspect that it is the early stages of "Kittie Alzheimers".  It makes sense in light of his behavior.  If we are in the basement family room watching TV, we can hear him yowling and crying like he is trying to find us.  We will call him downstairs and he will come to join us and the yowling stops - like he realized that "Oh Yeah!  There they are".  This makes me sad, but we really don't know how old he is.  I hope that we are wrong and we have MANY years of YOWLING yet to go.

Until next time where you will hear a rant or a movie or a book review.

Happy FALL and welcome WINTER!  To come in the new year --- SCHOOL, SCHOOL, SCHOOL.  I am sure you are going to see many posts about my experience with LEARNING!

Wine Adventure Weekend

This coming weekend two friends are headed to central Iowa to partake of a grape harvest and stomping event at the Somerset Winery in Indianola.  http://www.summersetwine.com/

Not only will it be great to see them, but it will be fun to enjoy the winery experience.  They have a contest for a video.  WE will be shooting that video and submitting it for great prizes.

Check back for additional photos and videos courtesy of the GRAPE GODDESSES!

Hawaii - Final Day

Even though this is titled "FINAL DAY".  I did forget to add to Part 3 our visit to downtown, historic Honolulu.  When coming back from the NORTH SHORE we decided to try to find the King Kamehameha.  It happened to be rush hour traffic in downtown Honolulu.  So driving and parking were very tricky.  Fans of Hawaii 5-0 old and new recognize this site.  The buildings are beautiful and very historic

I never knew that any of the islands had tall skyscraper type buildings.  However, there were many office buildings downtown.  Much commerce happens within the capitol buildings.

This tree was outside the historic buildings on a square area.

The final day ended with a pack up from the hotel and a drive to Pearl Harbor.  I didn't know really what to expect.  We got there pretty early and the crowds were already big.  Was hard to find any where to park.  The USS Arizona anchor is below.  Was rescued from the harbor after the ship was sunk.

The Memorial actually sits in the middle of the harbor on top of where the ship still is resting on the bottom of the 40 foot deep harbor.  This picture is the bridge that takes you to another battleship site.

This is one of my favorite quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt

I am so glad that we decided to visit the memorial.  to the right is the actual turret for the gun from the USS Arizona.  At the memorial site, you can see all the turrets and the rest of the ship right under the water.

The memorial was a very patriotic and education experience.  The site is beautiful and somber.

After the memorial tour, we decided to have lunch at this great seaside restaurant.  The weather was beautiful and the view was spectacular.

Thus ends our Hawaii adventure.  It was a great week of rest and amazing sites, food, and beach time.

We will go back to the islands for another trip at some point.