Sunday evening Oscar post.......

What?  It isn't Saturday morning.....it's Sunday night.  Where have I been?  Why am I late?

It has been a busy weekend of being out of town , hair cut, wine, CAASA fundraiser, wine, and lots of laughs.  

So not much to say cause I have to tweet on the Oscars -- can't wait......love Billy Crystal!

But had to share what I got to enjoy this weekend!  LOVE YOU ROO!

Couldn't get it to rotate, but love it!  POSING!

Saturday Morning Coffee Ponderings....

Another Saturday and another week down.  Can you believe that we are almost at the end of February.  Who knew how fast this Winter would fly.  I am still waiting for those March blizzards that Iowa always gets during Girl's and Boy's Basketball tourneys, but the great thing is that it melts so much faster now.  A couple of posts ago, we were getting slammed with snow --- now it is all melted and brown soggy grass is every where.  Another sign of Spring is the new patio furniture out at the stores.  I am shopping for some and am hoping to find a used set that has a large table and 6 chairs.  We will see what I can find on Craig's List and/or Ebay.

This morning, I am up and going before my house guests get up.  Now that isn't really a BIG feat since Chris and Kara (son and future daughter-in-law) have what I like to call "gamer" schedules.  She usually has to force him to get up by 12:30 pm when they are here.  It has been great to spend some time with them in spite of my "puke-iness" yesterday.  The young kids had never seen "Hot Tub Time Machine".  So we exposed them to one of the funniest movies.  If you haven't seen it I recommend it....especially if you survived the 80's.  It is along the lines of Hangover (but shhh.....I think it is better) and Curtis and I have seen it 100 times.  I still laugh and get grossed out every time I watch it.  RENT it!  Or better yet STREAM it on NetFlix!  Kara and I are going to hit some wedding boutiques today to see what they have for wedding attire.  The BIG day will be here before they know it.  I can see a bit of the "overwhelmed" look on both of their faces - but it will come together.

Tonight we are headed to friends Kristin and Eugene's house for "Gumbo Night".  I can't wait.  I hope my stomach survives.  Maybe that is what I need -- something to BURN IT OUT -- what ever IT is!  I am taking Salsa and Cheese cornbread......yum.  More details next week on this.

What happened this week?  As always it is the same old story......work, school, sleep, "rinse and repeat".  Is pretty uneventful.  I have realized that I (like my daughter) am going to maybe take a different path than I previously set out.  My original plan was to go to DMACC and be done after this Fall's semester and then transfer to the U of I.  That was before my social work class.  Now, I have been "doing" social work for the past 13 years in my jobs - at CAASA and elsewhere.  Of my four classes that I am taking, it is my least favorite.  Not a good sign since I will be focusing on that subject for the next TWO at U of I.  I can't stand all the theory and conjecture of the class.  When doing the work, it is so much different.  I compare it to living in a house for an extended period of time before you buy it.  It doesn't feel right.  And if you all know me my "gut" rules many of my decisions and when it doesn't, then I usually make the wrong one.  My gut is telling me to get a GENERAL ED degree and then move on for my MPA.  SO........Curtis found a catalog for a general studies degree at USD just hanging out at work -- KARMA ENERGY? maybe -- and I can get a degree from USD online and it is cheaper than U of I.  Since we are cash flowing this whole thing......I think that is what I am going to do.  I have to do some more investigating, but it feels better to do that than my original plan.  Stay tuned.....gotta get thru this semester first!!!!!  Whose idea was it to take 12 credit hours off the bat?  Kicking my butt.......but I CAN DO THIS!!!!!

Last weekend was a complete blast.  We ventured to Spencer and then to Sioux City.  Stopped in to SCT to see Chad Elliott's commissioned art work for the new addition of the theater.  It is beautiful.  Chad is such an amazing talent.  I know, I have talked about him beforeon this blog but not only is he an amazing musician and songwriter, but he is an amazing artist as well.  There are two pieces that were unveiled -- Opening Night and Closing Night.  They are amazing.  Connie at SCT told us that they are going to sell them as prints. WE ARE IN and decided right then and there was going to be the center point of our basement family room decor.  So.....can't wait to get that project started!  I will post before and after pictures.  Decorating girl friends are coming to town the first weekend in March to help me get started, drink some wine and just have some fun!


We then moved on to Sioux City. Why "sewer city" you ask?  Mat D and the Profane Saints!  First time we have seen them in almost a year.

First of all, we decided to head to Sioux City early....Curtis' idea - I believe he said "let's go shopping".  Okay!  You suggested it....let's go.  We arrived there about 5 hours before the show was to start.......hit some stores - Gordman's, and then the mall.  Keetah and Curtis like to try to embarrass Jack and I - think mayo bowling in HyVee with Wheat Thins.  We now expect it so not really a surprise any more - you are going to have to come up with something else kids.....the old jaded fuddie duds are on to you.  Most of the time, we just keep walking and ignore them.  :)  They both slide into the mall photo booth and proceed to sit in there for a while......at one point teenagers came up to the booth to form a line to be "next" and got tired of waiting.

I took this picture right before the booth cameras were getting ready to snap pictures.

After shopping, we headed downtown.  We wanted to find a place to eat supper and decided to go to Rebo's.  It was a Caribbean - Mexican infusion type restaurant (best way I know to describe it).  It was packed and we waited about 30 minutes.  The food was really good and we once again annoyed a server.  Seems to be our theme.  I particularly enjoyed the sign (really a plastic plate) that informed me that this was the Women's restroom.  BAD ASS NAKED FEMALE BULL FIGHTER -- I think this needs to be a movie.  I cast Selma Hayek as the bull fighter.  This has prompted me to do some research to see if female bullfighters actually did their business NAKED!  Hmmmm......another blog post perhaps?

Here we are enjoying our drinks and food at the restaurant.  Keetah rocking her new hat and I just noticed that Curtis and I dressed to coordinate -- he in his green vest and me in my (okay really Keetah's) green scarf.






Okay -- Back to Mat D!  They were playing at the Chesterfield. Which was about a block from the restaurant.  So.....we headed there to begin our musical evening.  Now some of you may accuse me of an obsession.  What?  Me?  Seriously......I am!  And I wouldn't blame Mat and the boys if they decided to get a restraining order.......I can't help myself.







Any whooooo......their opening band was ShowBaby out of Sioux Falls.  WOW!  Mat told us that they were good, but who knew.  All original songs, no covers, and they ROCKED IT!!!!  http://www.showbabymusic.com/ is their website.  I am one of those girls that could easily be a groupie (20 years ago that would have been cool -- now just creepy!) and this band was "groupie worthy".  We (Keetah and I) particularly enjoyed the drummer.  His energy and style were amazing and he was a cutie patootie to boot!

Show Baby played for about 45 minutes and then it was SAINTS TIME!  From the first song to the last.....the energy was fantastic and they were in "testify" mode!  (Lots of ! points in this post!)  Dancing, screaming, etc, etc.  All in all an amazing night of music and fun......shots (too many to remember) and dragon tattoos (almost the same as Lisbeth Salander's) later, I woke up with a sore throat, ringing/humming ear drums, and sore ankles and thigh muscles......Yep!  THAT is a great night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out their new music video on the website.  http://www.matdandtheprofanesaints.com/

The band is working on a new CD Holyoke and I will be making a road trip to their CD release party.  So ride along if you want to come with!  I will let you all know when it is going to happen in future posts.

So as you can imagine I needed to recover a bit this week so things were calm and healing.  I did discover another tattoo design after the concert.  The very talented Saints guitar player Kurt has the mudflap mamma logo on his guitar.  I am going to steal a version of this and include a couple other details for my design.  I can't wait to be the 90 year old grandma with this tattoo on her leg!  Yes, kids, grandma is CRAZY!!

CHEERS!!!!!

So until next week........Cheers to live music, screaming lyrics at a concert, dancing until your legs tingle, and friends and family!!!!!!

Saturday Morning Coffee Ponderings.....

Brrrr!!!!!  It is a cold one this morning.  Beautifully bright but Flipping Freezing.  And this week I noticed two things that make me think that Spring is on its way:  Sun stays up for a little while longer when I get home from work and the angle has moved toward the northeast.  So Earth is waking up.  We may have a few more days like the latter part of this week, but we are on our way.  Can't wait to do some outside work at our house.  Flowers!  Deck boxes!  YEAH!

This week has been very busy once again (seems to be a theme) and throw in an emotional roller coaster and that is a combination that creates a tinderbox of explosion.  Just waiting!  The outcome may be a disaster and the Hazmat crew will need to be called in.

Can't figure out the edit tools for the photo!  OOPS!

The extreme highlight of my week was a visit with my friend Dawn (and her family) in the "trailerhood".  For work, I travel across the state to visit programs that receive grant funds.  I had to make two visits to Northeast Iowa.  I was able to then camp out at her house for the overnight and continue on my way the next morning.  First of all, I have known Dawn from my Women of Today days.  Some of you know this organization, but it is a civic club that brings women together for community service projects, fundraising, etc.  Dawn was in the Nashua Women of Today and I was in Spencer Women of Today.  Both of us became fast friends.  Our kids are about the same age.  In fact, Emily and Bailey hung out at a Women of Today State meeting once.  We would see each other at least 4 times a year when we were active in the club and have a great time.  Over the years, our kids grew up; we both decided to move on from Women of Today; but we remained friends.  Facebook has been instrumental in rekindling that friendship.  The other common ground we have is WINE.  We both love our grapes - I like the dark variety and she likes the white ones. I admire this friend as she has raised an amazing family, has a hubby that is funny (similar to mine - note the picture sneak in) and is a decorating genius.

So my visit included a bottle of red wine that she saved specifically for me - which was really good by the way -- so good I drank the damn thing by myself and decided not to just save corks any more but the whole dang empty bottle.  INSPIRED by Dawn of course!  Think Wine Bottle TREE in the "woods" of my backyard.  More on that when the ground isn't frozen.

Wednesday afternoons are dedicated to hanging out with her grand daughter Addie.  Adorable funny child that has her grandma wrapped around her finger - and her grandpa, and her aunt Emily......she has it made.  But Dawn picks Addie up from daycare and then they hang out in the afternoon.  So I arrive later than I planned because I got lost in Basset Iowa.  Who does that?  Me of course!  There were too many trailers to pick from evidently and Dawn is out in the boonies so has no cell phone reception and my desperate text and voice mail pleas were not heard until about 3 hours later.  (I actually knocked on another trailer door - thank God no one was home cause it looked a little sketchy.)  But I finally found it and arrived with Addie getting her bath.  Dawn fixed me a great supper and we sat down for some wine and fellowship.

Addie has her own trampoline in the house!  Yep!  It is set up in the living room and she jumps and has a blast.













She is also an incredibly bright child.  She was reading the dictionary to her grandpa.  Teaching him a few words apparently.







Addie can give any one the "grandparent fever".  I think I almost caught it, but I took some medicine (think wine again) so I am better now.  I am just fine with Grand Cats at the moment.  I have two - Sputnik who is a naughty child of Jordan and Kendall and now Chris and Kara got Setzer this week.  Can't wait to meet him.

All in all the evening was grand - including a little amateur Taro Card reading -- will have to do more of that later.  Wish I could have stayed longer however work beckoned the next day and I hope we can get together soon for some "junking" and wine!

Other than my Garbes family fix, the week was about school and work.  We are headed to Sioux City today (via Spencer) to see Mat D and the Profane Saints.  One of my absolute favorite bands and song writer (not just in the local area but EVER!).  It will be a really fun time and I hope the road trip breaks up my FUNK of a mood.  www.matdandtheprofanesaints.com  Ready for some testifying!  So off to shower and pack.

I have another blog in the "edit" pile and hope to be able to finish it after this weekend.  I know I promised that this past week, but it is really going to happen now!  Really!  I promise!!!

Take care all and enjoy your weekend!

Saturday Morning Coffee Ponderings......

Good morning Y'all.  It is a morning of snow fall and unknown snow accumulation.  The forecasters have put us in a winter snow warning zone, but still are saying 1-6 inches.  That is a big difference particularly when you are shoveling your driveway. I am on  my second (YES SECOND) pot of coffee.  I think it is a sign of my week.





From the time that I took this video until looking out now, It has increased.  Snowing pretty big flakes.  But perspective.....we have been so spoiled that we don't know what to do with our selves when we have a bit of snow.  There will be a plethora of stupid drivers and winter complainers.






It has been a busy week.  Juggling full time employment, full time school, and life has been a challenge.  I hope that my abilities to multitask get a bit easier through the rest of the semester.


As you may recall, one of my "things" for these posts is to look through my phone and upload any pictures or videos that I took (cause they are really important - REALLY?) and talk about them.  I stopped at the "LARGEST TRUCK STOP IN THE WORLD" to use the facilities (too much tea) and in the stall was this sign.  WHO KNEW that Interstate 80 was the 2nd longest interstate.  And the longest Interstate is I-90 which is just right north of us.  HUH.......got to PEE and I learned something new.







The other picture is of the Ice Fog in Clinton when I awoke (not really awoke cuz I didn't sleep well - so emerge might be the better word) from my hotel.  First time this year I have had to scrape my windows.  SO SPOILED.  The fog was so thick that I had to completely trust my phone GPS to get to my location.  A little spooky driving in a location that you are unfamiliar.  But I survived.





Curtis, our friend Kristin and I were so fortunate to attend a Chad Elliott/Bonita Crowe show at The GrapeVine, LLC this past weekend.  Chad's mom Kathy was there and  it was amazing to see her.  She looks great and after that amazing show, we were all so proud.  We were reminiscing about 15 years ago when Chad started his career.  He has come so far and his talents have grown.  The energy from the crowd was the best I have ever seen.  He fed off that energy and had the crowd eating it up.  So very proud and happy for him as he is invited to Tennessee for a folk contest.  This is a great honor and he and Bonita will be there to "audition" his original music.  It will be a great thing.  Check Chad out at www.chadelliott.net.  I have an amazing video of Chad singing one of the classics, but alas the file is too large to upload.  I am trying to figure out how to put it on YouTube so you all can enjoy.

And in other live music updates, Curtis, Jack, Keetah I are headed to Western Iowa next weekend to see Mat D and the Profane Saints.  They will be debuting some new music and ROCKIN the Chesterfield in Sioux City.  CAN'T WAIT!  If you don't know them, check them out at www.matdandtheprofanesaints.com. I just discovered this morning, that he has songs from his new CD Holyoke posted on that website.  Guess what I will be doing this morning while I am typing.

These guys are two of the best story telling songwriters.  Am proud to know them and enjoy (and some might say obsess over) their music.



As I said, I traveled a bit this week for my job.  Two days out of the office and a 3 hour drive one way to get to my destination gave me a lot of windshield time.  Windshield time is a time where I am staring at the road and doing more internal pondering.  On this "journey" I had an experience that I am still processing and sorting through.  Bear with me readers because I am going down a road where people look at me with "SHE HAS LOST HER MIND" sparkles in their eyes but here we go.  My spirit animal is a hawk.  What does that mean?  Our nation's First People talk about an animal "energy" that we all have.  Mine is the hawk.  I have always had a wonder about these animals.  Iowa is full of them - thus the "Hawkeye State".  And many of us see them perched on an interstate sign or diving for dinner, however we just move right along.  Not me, I count them as I am driving, look for different markings while driving, and am all around obsessed.  Some people might say "Hawks really?".  There are other majestic birds - Eagles, Falcons, etc. Why not one of those more "important" birds?  I can't really answer that other than I have always had this connection.  I think of them as the "trailer park" bird - kind of like me - (A WHOLE OTHER BLOG POST).  THAT is likely why I like them so much.  Thanks to Keetah, she sent me a blog about what the Hawk symbolizes.  Any who........As I am driving home on Thursday afternoon, I am windshield pondering; struggling with some emotions regarding helplessness and what the future holds for a sista.  And I see one hawk, another hawk, another hawk, another hawk.....all within a short time frame.  Now anyone that knows me knows that I don't get emotional publicly usually.  One of my co-workers calls me a "stone" cause I "never let people see me sweat".  As I am driving and see HAWK after HAWK after HAWK, I can feel my resolve slipping.  ELEVEN hawks in about 90 miles.  Tears begin....overwhelming emotions. OMG!  This is a message that I am still sorting out.  Good thing I had to go to the bathroom (a cynical person - MEMEME! - would say "that's why you were emotional silly - you had to pee") The Divine Spirit of the Hawk blog that I talked about above basically says this:

In representation to humanity, the hawk is called messenger, protector and visionary. Keen vision is one of its greatest gifts. Hawks see things others miss.

The hawk comes to you indicating that you are now awakening to your soul purpose, your reason for being here. It can teach you how to fly high while keeping yourself connected to the ground.

As you rise to a higher level, your psychic energies are awakening and the hawk can help you to keep those senses in balance. Its message for you is to be open to hope and new ideas, to extend the vision of your life.

The Hawk is an animal of flight. It soars through the air looking down, and sees everything. It has a larger perspective of what is going on down below. With its keen eyesight, it looks down as it soars through the air looking for its prey. It can see the smallest of creatures below.

The Hawk is known as a messenger, similar to the planet Mercury, for the hawk soars close to the Grandfather Sun, as does the planet. When you listen to the power of the Grandfather Sun or Wise Spirit that lives within, you are protected from all types of harm.

The Hawk teaches you to be observant and take a close look at your surroundings. It soars with the power to overcome difficult situations. It soars in circles over the life of the earth, asking you to circle over your life and view it from a higher perspective.

The Hawk has a distinct cry, one that most people are aware of. Its cry signifies awareness. If you hear the cry of the hawk use your intuitive ability to discern the message and seek the truth.

If a hawk has soared into your life, you require a higher perspective. You need to see the details of what is going on and look at the bigger picture. Take a look at your situation from above.

I can't get it out of my brain. This energy I really feel is transferred into my intuitive abilities to "read" people.  I have talked about this with some of my besties, but I can feel when a person has "real" intentions or their energy is genuine.  When I meet someone that has ugly (sometimes evil) energy, I know it instantly.  I think this comes from my spirit animal's "keen vision".  I can see it on a different level than others.  So much so that my judgement is question constantly because others don't "see it that way".

What does all this mean?  WHO THE HELL KNOWS!  But......it has set my brain in overload processing it all.  It has helped to write (or type) it all out today.  Still working on it.  Which will lead me into my next blog subject that I hope to get done this weekend -- BEING GOOD ENOUGH!

WHEW!  Thanks for reading all that.  Yep, your brain is saying -- RHONDA HAS LOST HER EVER LOVIN' MIND.  It's okay.  I feel like that some times too.

Wind has picked up here, so blowing and drifting will being.  Headed to DSM on a mission to find something at Gordman's.  PLEASE STUPID DRIVERS STAY HOME!  Wait that's me.......TILL NEXT TIME folks....