tall grass and iced tea

We're setting records today and tomorrow... although, Kurt's heard we're to reach 100's!


Next couple weeks will be busy at work.... summer vacations for 1 teacher... and Kurt and I may need to also fill in for the 2 guys I laid off.... we'll see if they decide to teach in August or not.....

Apparently civilization has come to Cow Town.... we are set up for high speed internet installation in a couple of weeks!!!! I know, amazing. However, I'm trying not to get too excited until I actually see it happen!

The annual Summertime S-family Shindig is set for our house, Sat. August 12th, 3pm! Bier, brats and burgers! C'mon over!

Yes... changes here on the page... I needed something HOT! 'Cause I have to keep reminding myself, that on the flip side, in 6mos, it will be Jan 31..... and we'll be snowed under most likely.... sigh...... really, not too many other places do you have such extremes..... blazing hot and sunny and frigid with 6 feet of snow..... heh. And, I walked to school. Uphill. Both ways. Hey, but at least we have mosquitos!

Ok, I'm off to learn about shutter speeds and aperture. And, write some paychecks.

Premium Bavaricum

Interesting label for some tastee Weissbiers that Kurt found. I enjoyed the dunkel and sampled his, um... "regular" .. for lack of a word.... Weiss!
Ah, the Bavarian's are getting rich off us.... $3 for 1 bottle of this golden juice! Mmmmm, yummy. But, well worth it, in my estimation!!

photo friday

This week's theme is Portrait. I am reminded of one Kurt sent to me from his office chair using his new little gadget!

I'm also reminded of how few pics I've been taking as of late. Hmmmm. Frustrated with the camera? Frustrated that I don't know how to use all the buttons? I dunno. I took a bunch of upclose, evening shots of these huge, yellow lilies in our garden.... They all turned out like crap. If the flash fired.... they were so over exposed, when I turned the flash off... they were either slightly blurry or most disappointing, the color was all wrong... nothing like the air was at all.... sigh. Maybe I should have boosted the iso?! Frustrating.

I think I should make the effort to just get back to having the darn camera with me and shoot, shoot, shoot!

Busy day today... lots of running around, class to teach, bills to pay, Ads to run in the paper by noon, calls to make, teacher to fire, photos to take..... party to schedule.... sigh.

Thank God It's Friday!!!!! And a hot one at that..... 33-35 Celcius through mid next week.... GAH!

Hey! It's the weekend, and we need some cool Weissbier Kurt!!!!!

what a week

.... it's tough falling asleep at night when you've just fired a guy.

...and I have one more guy to let go tomorrow...

Shopping day!

It was a good day to go to IKEA... of course, everyday is a good day at IKEA! All the European housewares!

So Kurt and I went yesterday and bought some new red bedding, rugs, and new oak dressers... unfortunately, we grabbed the wrong boxes... Ya, go figure. We took boxes marked 1 and 2 of 2... and they wrang up the correct price.... yet, it's not the 6 drawer dresser.... And, we didn't notice it until we were unloading it from the van at CowHaus. We're quick that way... . heh

But, HEY! I get to go back again today!! How cool is that?! No one zipping through the displays... I mean, how can one possibly look at all the stuff when cruising by??? So, I'll bring little Cee with me, and she can enjoy all that Euro goodness too!!

Whee, happy shopping!

Sample Pic!

Just a picture example from the new camera. Unretouched...except that I reduced it in size by 75%.

Summer Times

Good thing Kurt jumped in and posted, 'cause I've been really slackin' in the writing department. Although, that's mostly because it's just ho-hum around cowtown these days. Same wicked sticky days and nights, and some pretty exciting thunderstorms thrown in for good measure.

The kids need to get back to school, shame it's still 6 weeks out..... So, I'm shopping for the last of the summer clothes, which are now on sale as the 'back to school' gear is hitting the store shelves. Updated sizes to fit this December in Florida and carry over to next year's season. I've been tossing about the fall schedule at work. I think I will do better this year only assigning me 2 days to teach. Then I can be home on Thursdays, which are busy with studying for tests, and I can go in to supervise on other days if I need to! I gave our one guy a raise which will begin this Sept, our 1 year anniversary of school owners, and I still have to talk to yet another teacher... and tell him the bad news how he's been over paid this past year, by like double. He's getting a pay cut.... sigh. Not really looking forward to that talk, but it has to be done, and I'm ready for it.

Let's see. Nope, nothing else fantastic happening here. Well, unless you're interested to know that my Sim's Strangetown is becoming populated with quite the alien race.... 24 babies. Ahh, quite the little generations of families I'm becomming attached to! ;) hahahahahaha

New Camera!

I gotta new camera! I gotta new camera! I gotta new camera!


Check it out here: Tiger Direct!


Less than $50! Throw in a 1GB card, get a couple of rechargeable AAA batteries... and I've got movies, sound and stills (3 MegaPixels!) in a tiny little package that even I don't mind carrying around!

Crashing Change

Getting old is both an internal and external process. (As well as eternal, but that's another story!) The external is all about falling apart physically, watching the healing process slow, the joints stiffen, the muscles that simply don't want to grow the way that they used to.

And that's the easier of the two to battle!

The internal is tougher, keeping the mind young is a challenge that many of us put off until it's too late. Cee 'n Me have been talking of change lately, about the ability to not only accept changes, but to create changes and how this ability is a large part of how young the internal self really is.

I think many mid-life crises are nothing more than the sub-conscious noticing that the conscious is dialing down the size and scope of life changes, retreating into the security of conservative decisions, small decisions.

We all cry, "I'm flexible, I can change!" as we strive to adjust to a new toothpaste. "I'm not growing old, I just like to have my routine!"

Perhaps that's why so many crash into divorces and ill-advised relationships as they hit mid-lfe: it's BIG change, it forces them to be young.

Personally, I was thinking of building a gazebo...

steamy times

in CowTown.... Here I was this morning, wondering if the days ahead would be cooler than it's going to be today....



..... right.

Seems today is the cool day. Oiy.

And, as far as they can tell... which usually isn't much 'round these parts, Tues and Weds will continue with the heat wave.... Ja, I know, summer time in the windy city is always hot and sticky... bleh.

Gah! This fat old person doesn't like the heat much anymore.... Guess who will be at the pool the next few days?!

That rocky, ocean shore of Maine sounds really good right about now! ;)

some updates

So, we had a bit of a disappointing day in Chicago. Some setbacks. Some miscommunication. Turns out, our visit downtown was just a chat, to tell us about the types of pumps. We've taken the necessary next steps.... blah, blah, long story short.... It's coming. When? Who knows? Perhaps this week, doubtful, perhaps by the end of July, more likely. It will be here... just slower than I was lead to believe, and thus filled little cee with much anticipation... ooops.

Some catch-up pics from last week's sleep out in the tent in the back yard. I guess, technically, it's the front yard

Last Friday aternoon my brother, his girlfriend, and mom came out for a visit! John brought with him his compressed air canon! This year, it worked! Awesome! It was so loud that Karl's friend who lives 2.3 miles away, heard the boom! Ha ha! Fantastic!
My little brother, my littlest kid, cee in the background with Ella... in the backyard on our walk that evening after dinner!


Kurt surprised me with 2 new books this evening!!! AWESOME! Ya know, in preparation for our upcoming trip to Bavaria next summer!!!! =) It quotes the American Novelist, Thomas Wolf in the forward.... "Munich is a kind of German heaven.... A great Germanic dream translated into life.... The best beer in Germany, in the world, is made there.... The Bavarian is the National Good Fellow! He is supposed to be a witty and eccentric creature.... " Ah, lovely!!
When I finish with these books, I'm certain that I'll need more than just a couple of days in Munich.... sigh. Maybe the next trip we can devote to further exploration of Bavaria! ;)

And so, we finish with tonight's adventure.... We took a bike, a scooter, and roller skates to the park for a long race around the path... a mile or two perhaps. Karl, Kai and Calli were zipping along respectively on their wheels listed above.... My wheels? The dog! Tugging me along up and down the trail hills.... as if to say.... "hurry up, Tubby, there's more good smells ahead!" And so we went.... Good time!

And now, I'm going to soak in the tub and read these interesting books!!

Nice

A short work week, and on to another great weekend! Shame this one was only 2 days long.... Ah well, lovely weather, and we had no plans. The perfect recipe for recharging the batteries and gearing up for a busy week.

Tomorrow little cee and I are off to Children's Hospital in Chicago. Big day as she gets her mechanical pancreas... so to speak! Pictures to follow, I'm sure! She's very excited about this new gadget called the pump! Oh the learning we have ahead of us tomorrow.... So, we'll be in the big city, surrounded by sterile walls once again.... bleh. I don't like hospitals.... Ah well, I hear all good things about this gadget... so, we'll see.....

weekend edition

It was a lovely, extended weekend! Both of our businesses were closed Monday as well as today, the 4th! ...and we did absolutely nothing!! Well, for most of it. We can't discount Kurt's chainsawing down 2 huge trees at my request. The forest, as lovely as it is... has been encroaching upon my living space. I need some sunlight around the house. The entire decking was shaded. Now, I have some lovely sun! Thank you, Kurt. And, I'm glad your chainsaw is working again..... who walked away and left those tomato plants with their metal cages in the way of the falling tree???! Oooops, heh, sorry ;) A story for another time. Now, on with the photos...they all click bigger. And, since this post took me an hour and a half, please do, click 'em.... make it all worth while! ;)

We were treated to a music festival..... ....and it was lovely...the first 35 mins. But, then when we were told that there were still 20 more songs to be sung and danced to.... um, well, that's when the boys lost it.... and they said that was a good show... but, good-bye. Oh dear, the tears and plenty mom had to do to smooth over the feelings....

Fast forward to today, Tuesday. Kurt played in 3 parades on the north shore, and was to be gone all day.... He did come back for dinner on the deck, complete with waterfall, tiki torches, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" soundtrack, brats and of course....
.... hey, how about that new import Kurt found for me, and an old favorite from our Wales trip for him!

We were just settling around the table outside, 5 mins to 6pm, when we heard the screeching of tires out on the highway and we cringe, waiting for the sound to follow.... there it was the BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Not one crash, but 4 booms right in a row.... Oh man, that sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.... And, of course, I'm never one to miss an opportunity when it comes to driving and Karl. Sure, he's only 12, but those 4 years are going to go by fast.... and I tell him... "See how fast, a split second, and your life can change! Don't you ever mess around in a car! No radio switching, cell phone talking, goofing with friends! You keep your eyes on the road and your head in the game. Always!" God, then I realized I had better call in to 9-1-1. After 6 rings... I'm informed that, "thank you, but the police and ambulance are already on their way." Sheesh. A bit unsettling way to begin dinner. Of course, ever the busy body I am... I have to go investigate.... I'll see what's in the paper tomorrow... I hope for the best... but, it is a 55mph highway out there... and at least 1 car was down in the ditch.... sigh....

Now, the rest of the dinner and evening pictures from the deck......

Well, when the belly is bigger than the boobs, it's really... no, really, time to get serious..... sigh, have we heard all this before???!

Hey, but who has the feed bag on??! hahahahah, nice pose!

Can you guess the next sequence of events?

*smoooooches ya*

Ahhh, our sweetheart.... come on, pull up a chair, have some beer and a hot dog with us!

(disclaimer....) *no animal was given any alcohol* ;)

And, now I suppose it's back to work..... bah!

wondering if....

... those hair restoration creams and goos and sprays are really all they claim to be. Ya know, you spend good money, put your faith in their slick advertising, rub it all over your head....




...OH, Fantastic! Outstanding!! The goo really does work! But, of course. Afterall, they say it's all natural!