Happy New Year to all

It's all about the people! I've said it before, I'll say it again.

I've had a lovely, lovely 2007. I've been so fortunate, so lucky to be in the place I am in.... Ya, my company doesn't make enough for me to take a paycheck... or Kurt to take a paycheck. But, he has the family biz to keep us warm and in enough food to keep us chubby and happy! We'll get by.

Our friends just left. We had my girlfriend Gina and her hubby over for an early New Year's dinner and drinking party. Sheesh, this post would be really funny, or unreadable if I left all my drunken typing errors in here.... anyways... what a grand time! No photos... but, wow, what great friends we have. Gina's hub, the pilot, always travels to London or Frankfurt... sigh.. ya, I'm jealous. Just last week, he was wandering around the world's largest Christmas markt...in Frankfurt, enjoying all the German festivities that I so love.... but, he did bring us back some German Apfel schnaps... and ja, let me say... I'm toasty right now! 2 gin and tonics... 1 glass of Bailey's Irish creme... and um... 2 shots of SaurerApfel schnaps... wow!...
is it bedtime??
No? Good, 'cause the room is really spinning pretty fast right now.... I wouldn't be able to sleep anyways yet.....

Ahhh, a great year indeed!

I am so, so happy to have met in person our online friends, KD and MK, and his family... 'Hi, Werner!!' "Wie geht es Ihnen?!" Ahhh.... such a great year!

I'll be toasting to such fond, fond memories of '07, and looking forward to a rewarding '08!
Oh, you guys! Hugs to you all!! Love ya!
xxooxx
~Cee
=)

A Florida type Christmas

florida22
Originally uploaded by frau cowtown

305 photos were taken.... I'm working on getting more up. Those and our holiday festivity photos!

Fun stuff....

Christmas goodies!

Oooh, I love love my seltzer maker!

Now... I have to get used to the heavy iron taste of our well water... even though our tap water goes through the water softner.... it seems to me that the carbonation brings a bit of that "rusty" taste back out in my newly bubbled seltzer... hmmm....

But, a huge thanks to KD for the head's up on this nifty gadget!! Wheee! Yay, no more lugging home 2 liter bottles of expensive seltzer from the grocery store! Hooray!

Overheard

I am wandering the living room... and wondering aloud... "wo ist mein Vinter coat?"

Karl chimes in.... "Mom, you mean, wo ist mein Vintermantel?!" ;)

ja ja.....

That's mah boy! Getting an 'A' in Deutsch. sigh.... so what does he do? He registers for highschool Spanish.... sigh....

How will that help you get to Tübingen University??!

Back to the snow =(

Last day swimming this year

home tomorrow

Good morning from the pool

Pool side today

Yesterday busch garden with all the rollercoasters!

Tampa

Ah yes

Orlando

Vacation time

It's finally here.... vacation!

Goin' south for the winter!

G'bye ..... we're off to Florida for the next 9 days....

But, of course, I'll be blogging here every day with my Handy.... I'm just an addict!

Stay warm..... see ya at the airport!

icicles and jewels

icicles and jewels
Originally uploaded by frau cowtown

Monday night we in the Midwest were coated with an ice storm. Tuesday saw the schools closed, hooray for the kids, and the airport was shut down. But, what a sparkling wonderland it is outside today!

Oooh, wild

Wow, I learn how to play with paint tubes!

Now.... need a little design taste, and the page would look fun! haha

But, since time is at a premium these next 4 days before vacation.... this will have to suffice for now!

To-Do

• pack for the kids and myself
• get dogs ready to go to Mormor's house
• house ready for sitter
• finish Christmas shopping
• tie up lose ends at the martial arts studio
• belt testing for the the entire martial arts studio
• have teeth cleaned
• have hair done properly
• get to the accountant
• pay bills

Ack! Just a few things......

And how's your Monday shaping up?!

Bah we are home

Bleh

Houston to milwaukee

On the way home kids

Tampa to houston

Morning kids!

I love tampa!

No snow here!

cleveland to tampa

Heading to cleveland

Grueling

.....and boy does that look better than the 5 more inches of snow we're getting tonight on top of our 6 inches already on the ground... gah!

We're off for a weekend in Tampa, Florida bright and early tomorrow (5 AM early) .... flying first through Cleveland oHIo! Unfortunately for us, we're not going to be poolside working on our tans... rather we'll be beating on each other. It's MMA training time again! I've got my brand, spankin' new grappling gloves... royal blue leather.... mmmm....

Photo journals as we go. See ya at the airport! Have a splendid weekend everyone!

More for the set

Meitingen 17
Originally uploaded by frau cowtown

Wonderful! I'm so overcome with emotions now. I've sorted through and added about 50 more photos from Germany.

Yes, I suppose this could be boring for most, but for me, I'm smiling inside.

sigh....... =)


The set is here, and yes, new photos are mixed in... I have to keep them in the order I shot them!

november treescape

november treescape
Originally uploaded by frau cowtown

The late autumn skies are indeed lovely. The banner, this and some others I'll post on Flickr later were shot while driving to work.

I drive by this tree on the round trips to schools and work. I so admire the black silhouette form against the rolling countryside backdrop.

Happy Thursday everyone. Have a lovely Stamtisch gentlemen 'cross the pond! ;)

thanksgiving eve

thanksgiving eve
Originally uploaded by frau cowtown

The dogs are happy as can be! Oh Boy! Snow!!

I'm already enjoying my most favorite time of the year! More photos and stories to follow!

My fat, bamboo knitting needles arrived yesterday! Hooray, just in time for my comfy chair, my wool and some chunky needles!

The house smells like bacon, it must be breakfast time!

It begins

End of the year, crunch time

2 days away from my favorite holiday of them all! Thanksgiving weekend! As you may know, the tradition goes..... It's a feast day. Now, it's ok to have bacon, liver sausage, chips, oreo cookies and egg nog, spiked, of course! Hmmm, see a trend? Salted fat and sugared fat! Yummy! We'll make our Schulenburg's famous, homemade, 3 inch thick crust pizza to last us the 4 days..... Ahhhh! Nowhere to go, games to play, movies to watch. A rest before the crunch begins.

Amazon is our friend. We're busy preparing for Christmas.... since we have 2 trips to Florida planned before then. In 2 weeks we fly for our final MMA training session for this year. A weekend at the founder's estate on the Gulf of Mexico. Ahhhh. Then it's back home for 4 days and we fly out again on our own family vacation in Orlando for 8 days. We arrive back home December 23rd. Christmas Eve with my siblings and mom..... Christmas day at Kurt's parent's home with all 30 vonS's. Phew.... A whirlwind to usher 2007 out the door.... and bring in 2008!

Times here have so incredibly busy. Energy is back... the flyers 'round town are being replaced. Keep the momentum going.... I'll need to follow up with many phone calls... keep the bodies coming through the door. heh.

Today, I'm mailing off what I hope is all the proper documents needed to finally get my Irish citizenship... sheesh. I've been working on this since early 2005.

Have a good Tuesday!

Phew....

That was one long week....

I've recovered. The laundry has been cleaned. 13 back to back loads. Ok, so it just felt like that many!

The children.... oh right, I have kids. Gah! Thank goodness they were off on school holiday most of the week....

Lots of new systems in the works. Lots of new faces coming in for intro lessons. Lots of people not showing up for intros... (more phone call follow-ups), lots of flyers to switch 'round CowTown with the correctly printed ones.

Lots, and lots

hmmmm. I'm beat. Had 7 little dragons to teach tonight.... seven, 3 year olds.... ack! A half hour was enough for me.... noone got stickers at the end of class. First time I've done that. Oh well. Noone was good enough or listened well. Sheesh. That shocked them. They all didn't know if they were supposed to leave or not.... No sticker.... what to do?! I turned their little ritual upside down. Tough. "Next time", I told them, "we'll listen better, and get our sticker reward." I'm such a grouch, 'eh?!

update: So I haven't really recovered. My brain is feeling just as scattered as this post!

day 5

The meltdown.

It was inevitable.... nothing 2 Franziskanner biers couldn't fix though!

Wow.

sigh....

I was totally unprepared, had my head wrapped in systems and stuff of the week... and before I knew it, no intros showed up.... I had to teach class.

Ja.

It was a bad scene. Thankfully, had other instructors there to pass off the ball... I was ready to lose it.

Gah.

1 more day.

Too bad I couldn't get a Franz to go....... I'd keep on drinking.

*sigh*

Day 4

They're all beginning to blur together... which is why I wanted to jot down the different things.

Yesterday, we went to a few more businesses... have nearly exhausted all of them. We printed up more flyers with the correct phone number and handed out in the grocery store parking lot. I had an interested dad with his 2 kids. Got his name and number. Fine for follow-up. Joe at the other door, handed out flyers, VIP passes, and set up an appointment for today at 5. We also have 2 others coming at 6pm, as well as the other mom who signed up 2 days ago... she's coming in Friday to pay at 5:30. Oh, that reminds me... I have another dad who signed up last week... he's also coming in at 5pm to pay for his first month. He signed up last Sat.

Aack!

But, I must say, in all honesty... my phone is ringing more. Perhaps all the MMA flyers are being seen. Hmm, although, wrong number....???

I'm much more at ease with shaking hands. That's ever so important in sales, 'eh?! "Hi! I'm Carolyn CowTown from Cowtown's MMA. I'm going around to introduce myself and to meet other local businesses. Do you have any flyers or cards I can display at my school for all my students and their parents? I see you have a small waiting room, can I display some of my flyers as well?" Much to my surprise, a good 8 or 9 out of 10 owners are friendly, approachable, and have said yes to the flyers/posters being hung at their place or displayed on thier counters! How cool is that?!

I'm working on getting more systems in place. I need my lead sheets/cards. Pads of them so I can fill them out in the car, at home, at the studio... when someone calls me. I have a system for the programs and pricing. This was given to us at various seminars that we've done in the past and have finally printed it up and put it in its binder for use during the 15 min parent's orientation conference. Aack. The office could be a bit roomier.... ( no pressure Kurt!) I think I will move those belts out of there next week......

Today we'd like to go back to the grocery store lot for another 1/2 hour. With the somewhat warmer weather, kids off from school.... there's quite a bit of activity out there for us! We also need to finish looking over the scheduling of classes for next year. We need to juggle the year 1 MMA students and the new year 2 MMA kids come Jan 1st!

Ok.

Time to wrap up and make notes on what we need to do today! Joe's walking across the deck right now too! Back to work!

Day 3

Was feeling completely spent this morning. However, a jog/walk and a few cups of coffee changed the chemicals around and we had another productive day.

Visited a few more businesses, worked more on taking the reins and doing the talking myself. We made some phone calls, had our meeting with a prospective student tonight, and Joe did the presentation, they signed up and opted for the paid in full. Wow! I was amazed.

I had a pretty exciting and well-behaved bunch of Dragons. I was even filmed teaching my class... aack! ;)

We made some more short films after the following class! Hopefully those will turn out and with luck, they will be up on the internet! Eeeks!

On a down note... all those flyers and posters that we put all over town.... all $110 worth of printing.... turns out I missed the phone number error. OH MY GOSH! So, I suppose now we have to get more made up and cruise around re-supplying them. Amazing. Ack! Oh well, oh well.

Anyways, we have another scheduled appointment tomorrow at 6pm and Friday at 6pm. We also have some neat programs in place for Saturday. A presentation for our top students to try out for a leadership team.

So, a bit earlier end to the day tonight. Finished up with dinner at 8:30pm... some at home time with the family now!

Day 2

Introductions to 20+ more businesses.... I'm getting the hang of how this is done; the networking, shaking hands, leaving flyers, taking cards.... sigh.

I'm tired.

Up managing the household at 6am, try to keep things running smoothly, doing the MMA biz 'til late at night.... last night, rolled home at 9:30 PM.

Set 3 appointments last night.

We'll have to follow up today.

Training seminar week

Day 1.

We picked up our collegue from the Chicago airport Sunday evening. Today was intense business training as I learn how to network around town. We work nonstop... 8am until 10 pm.

This week here will be very light, if non existant.....

I'm busy learning!

And now, I'm tired.

--------------
So, recap.
Printed up flyers and made contact with the owner of copy shop in town... handed out VIP pass, have a prospective, very interested potential student to speak with tomorrow. Spoke with 6 other businesses around the town, introducing ourselves, and asking to help each other by posting business cards and/or flyers... the businesses all very positive and happy to meet me, they will display our flyers for their customers. Handed out 1 VIP pass to each biz owner.... good for 1 month of lessons. No strings attached. (our program will sell itself once the student begins training with us!)

Working on the intro sales "script". Have it memorized so I can present it naturally, not pushed or too "used car salesman-like" Naturally, will need more and more practice. We have another full day of events planned.

Joe was present for 3 of our classes tonight. WOW! The excitement he generates! The structure, the discipline... absolutely incredible.

Time for bed. I'm wiped!

Moose lodge weekend

Pictures to follow before our busy consultation week

A tween

Sweetie Pie turns 12 today!



And some early shots from a long time ago..... Now it's official, as she was born at 11:55am!



Happy Birthday, little 'lee lee'!!!

Love,
Mom

Ug - Boo

This is my least favorite holiday.... let's see.... we'll load the kids up with donuts at school parties, then we send them out in the 'hood to beg for yet more sugar. Are they ever hungry for dinner? Of course not. I'm supposed to bring a dozen donuts to Kai's classroom today. Ha! I seriously contemplated a veggie tray with ranch dip. I said to him this morning, "you know, Kai, if any mom has the good sense (*snort*, ya right!!) to send in diet pop, please chose that....."

And then I had the good sense 12 years ago, to say to the doctor and Kurt, "Hey, let's have a baby tomorrow!" Keep the party going I guess. Pizza and birthday cake. So, the induction was scheduled. 12 years ago I walked around in the rain with a knee-high Batman, collecting chocolate and sugar bits while the whole way through the neighborhood my water bag was slowly leaking. Every step meant a little more amniotic fluid trickling down my legs! Hahahahah! There's a treat for ya! And don't tell me that was TMI (too much info!) It's trick or treat day afterall!

I was Kanga from Winnie the Pooh, and I certainly had Roo, the BIG bulge under my brown, rain spattered shirt!

Ya... so it's easier these days. Drop the big boy off at his friend's neighborhood which connects to the neighborhood where Calli's and her friend will be wandering for a few hours, while I take my Kai over to yet another neighborhood with my girlfriend and her son!

At least it's not raining today...... yet.

So tell me, boys 'cross the pond. Did you guys go T or T'ing as kids? Is it done now? A curious mind wants to know!

My new favorite color

I can tell my tastes are changing... I'm eyeing a new color palatte these days. On my trip to IKEA last week, my cart was full of brown's and greens....

I was going to get the Gilbert chair in the oak veneer this trip, and happened to find it in the bump and scratch section of IKEA... there is only 1 teeny tiny scrape out of the right side near the underneath! And, for $20 off, I can live with it!
And, I've noticed I have a napkin obsession! These were some I bought during my reds & oranges kick.....

I have loads of fabric too! I think I'm hooked on their fabrics... I bought myself a replacement sewing machine after the puppy chewed through my old one's cord some months back. No excuse now... I'm going to make some new curtains!

Bonding with the boy

... as we do our German homework! Hahahaha

So, yes, we finally have foreign languages in middle school.

Me: Slow down, erase this.... you're not the best English speller, and your German isn't any better. That's S-C-H-L-E-C-H-T!

Him: Aaargh, why are there so many letters in this little word?!

Me: Welcome to German!

Oh this is great fun! I ask him every day how his 1st period Deutsche Lektionen are going. The first day the kids all had to select a good German name as their own.
"What?! You have a perfectly respectable German name already!"

Karl says "yes, the German teacher noted that, but thought I'd enjoy another name too".... So, he tells me, he is "MATT-HI-AS"

hahahah, I chuckle. That'd be "Mah-TEE-us" Silly boy.

"Oh whatever!" was his usual response!

He had forgotten much since German summer school - oh, 3 or so years ago... but it was quickly coming back to him with my help! Now he's excited about seeing his teacher in the hallways so he can say a quick German phrase in passing! He asks me, "how do you say "See you later", again. I forgot".

Which has lead me to a decision here.... Stay tuned for a surprise!! You'll know it the first time you see it here! ;)

The incredibles

Off to a costume party

Hahahahah! The pictures are waay funnier after enjoying 4+ beers! hahahah

More tomorrow.... I'm tired! .... and Bob there has these awesome, incredibuns!!! Wooot! What a cute ass! And you know he alwasy wanted to wear red tights!

My loveable superhero!

=)

King Heinrich

heinrich2
Originally uploaded by frau cowtown

Konig Heinrich who was king at the time 1000 years ago.

The town's local area brewery made his bier again, and bottled and kegged it just for this year's one thousand year celebration that we were a part of!

Town restuarants had it on tap, you could buy the bottles at the Getrankmarkt and of course, it was a huge part of the week long festivities!

We brought 2 bottles back. Last night I decided it was time to open them and enjoy our last sample of them. Oh the memories. Can you imagine? The aroma after I opened the bottles, the taste.... Summertime in Germany came rushing back to my memory. =)

Just wait 'til your kids are using the 'net!

Who thought it would be a good idea to have kids?

Oh. Wait. That would be me......


So Karl's machine is messed up.... I, taking pity on the boy, tell him "go ahead, mess up ...use my computer while I'm at work..."

There we go! That was a mistake... I'm loaded with viruses. In less than 3 hours the kid got my machine f*ck'd up. Lucky for me, Kurt's home from work today, working here... so he could spend another 3 hours ridding my computer of the crap....

It's no wonder when I called home last night... 7:30pm... "hello children, you now have 1/2 hour left for showers.... and I know no one has taken theirs yet... so GET ON IT!" Otherwise I have no hot water for my 9 PM bath. Oh, but instead, they tell me... "Um, mom, there's this really bad movie on YouTube... it's from Germany... you should see it!..." Great! Karl's downloading German movies and viruses to my computer...

Rrrrrr, rrrrrr, rrrrrrrr... grumble, grumble.... Oh, and I'm typing this from Kai's computer... since he has the good sense not to let anyone else on his machine....

Checklist - or "a peek into the mind of a middle school girl"

As I'm cleaning off my desk I come across a piece of notebook paper with Calli's

"Checklist Supplies 4 Skool" Now, it would be neater to just scan this and see the layout.... it's not like I would do.... start at the top and finish at the bottom. No. She's much more arty than I. Takes after her daddy!

But, I do love the contents so I must put them down here for posterity!

Koolness:

• clothes lot of it
• some shoes
• hats
• accessories
• earrings/jewelry
• maybe makeup
• some Bags!!

_______________________________________________

Prep:

manicure deoderant (with 3 underlines!)

hair done

Pedicure

Brush teeth & hair!

_____________________________________________

Misc.

hair accesories

schedule 4 skool

good looks

cell phone

SMILE!!

___________________________________

Make Sure:

good looks

deoderant Brushed

teeth/hair!

smile, cell phone, coolness and schedule!! and Homework!

______________________________________________

School Supplies 4 Class:

Mom has a Checklist!!

_______________________________________________

locker:

some stuffed animals, magnets, a mirror, photos, skool stuff, organization, feather & sparkles around mirror

ETC!!!!!!!

______________________________________

Get advice & Tips from Karl 'cause he's had experience !!!!!!

__________________________________

#1 rule

Be yourself & have fun w/ it!!!

_________________________

And now, you too can be ready to look kool, have fun and be organized for Middle School!

Happy, happy birthday Cousin M!!

Wheee!

As we're driving home tonight from the dance at the middle school.... Calli's 2nd date with T.... I remembered it was your bday!

Hope you're going to have a splendid weekend! Heading to the city at all?!

Have fun!

I love these shots of you from the wedding!

in todays paper

in todays paper
Originally uploaded by frau cowtown

Does it get any better than this?!
Martial arts and Octoberfest!

"Bring your Lederhosen" Prost!!

Freising

freising04
Originally uploaded by frau cowtown

I just dropped in somewhere amoungst my 1872 Germany photos and was instantly hooked! I added some more up.... after I figured out what town this was! A day trip we took to Freising, the north of Bavaria!

start your Monday off right

Sure, these have probably been around the 'net, and you may have read them... but I found them laugh out loud-able, so here they are.

These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
___________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

___________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you shitt'in me?
_________________________________________
ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Uh.... I was gett'in laid!
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Now whose death do you suppose terminated it?
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Guess.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to wo rk.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people. Would you like to rephrase that?
_________________________________________
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
_________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him!
______________________________________

And the best for last:
ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law

.....now, get back to work!

Peeking ahead will not speed his departure!

Kelda spayed

kelda spayed
Originally uploaded by frau cowtown

She crashed on the couch yesterday evening when I picked her up from the vet's.

This morning she's all puppy again, bounding around and playing with Tabi (who was very nervous yesterday wondering where her puppy was)

I hope these stitches are in tight!

As seen over at KD's place

I'll do my part.... 'cause this global warming is making CowTown a really wet town these past few years....And wetter means more humid and buggy in the summers, more snow in the winters! gah!

Hahahahaha

Karl, a father?!

Oiy!

Today is the day Karl brings home his baby for 3 days.

Heh... this is the baby program portion of his 8th grade health class.

The infant simulator is a lifelike, life-size (20 1/2 inches) vinyl baby weighing 6.5 pounds. It is anatomically correct and available in both sexes and five different ethnicities. An internal computer simulates an infant crying at realistic, random intervals 24 hours a day. Intervals can be adjusted from 15 minutes to 6 hours for a normal, cranky, or particularly easy to care for baby.

The "parent" is given a non-transferable key attached to a hospital bracelet on his or her wrist that must be inserted in the Baby for a specific length of time to simulate feeding, bathing, diaper-changing and comforting. Care sessions last from 5 to 35 minutes. If the "baby" has been properly cared for, it will coo to signal the end of the session. If it is neglected (allowed to cry for more than one minute) or handled roughly (dropped, thrown or struck), tamper-proof indicators on the computer will alert the instructor. A drug-affected model, smaller in size, has the additional feature of simulating tremors due to withdrawal from a mother's drug addiction during pregnancy.

So, for 3 days and 3 nights we'll all be enjoying a crying baby and a crabby Karl.

Oh joy!
Just call me granny!

An interesting question to ponder

Kurt asked it of me yesterday afternoon as we toodled around towns looking at bigger wood burning stoves.

Where would you like to be, or what do you see for yourself 1 year from now?

One year. That's not very long.

So for me.... I've kinda got the travel bug out of my system for awhile. I still have 2 flight trips left for this year. As we talked about my different thoughts, it boiled down to skinnier and richer.

I'm interested in eating, living healthier, and as a result naturally I expect 20 pounds to come off. I've been reading a lot about different foods, healthier foods for the whole family. We all need simpler, better foods for us! The local, organic foods and produce around town are appealing to me. And cousin M, I will be writing later to get that awesome recipe you had for those chili nuts at the wedding this past summer!

Richer. As opposed to taking a big ol' $0.00 paycheck each and every month from the karate school. For all the energies Kurt and I put into this school, we need to be making more than Zero! Zip! Zilch! So, I personally, want to make some money at this job of mine!

Yes, I talked about still longing to be fluent in German.... I'd like to learn how to spin wool into yarn, learn to play the accordion, have more time to create and knit and sew... but, for the next year, my head seems to be on those other top 2 things.

So, think about it. Where do you see yourself one year from today?!

a cold

School's back in session, so naturally, I'm affected by all the new germs running around. Ah so.

We've been putting our energies lately into the martial arts school. Seems the summer doledrums have continued into the fall.... phones are quiet. Classes are quiet. A bit depressing if you let it. So, we continue our trek up the down escalator! Only now we've picked up our pace a bit. Lots of plans in action at the moment.... we shall see where they'll take us.

The family has been talking a lot about vacations lately. We're all set for Florida again this December, but we're going to sit down and have a lively conversation about things to do and places to see for the future! Should be fun. I've been hooked on the rocky coast of Maine and Canada lately. I sent Kurt the link to this interesting island yesterday.... Just a short ferry ride from Maine for spectacular whale watching! He also did some searching for fun family type trips! These would be beautiful for hiking! Or, an adventure on the other coast....

So, life is full. Calli has a boyfriend. They're "going out" ... even though they haven't had a date... that's Sunday, I guess they like the grown up term..."going out" ... =) He's a nice boy, one of our karate students as it turns out! Karl is actually keeping up with school so far. His favorite subjects being science and social studies (history) just like his mom! And, yes, he's keeping his good grades..... for the moment. Little Kai and I took an outting yesterday to the store and other errands. My! It was great fun to hang out with just him! What a great little bub he is! A sweet kid!

Well, happy weekend!

Waiting for the kids to come home

KD Thought his bier was expensive

one bottle, 7 dollars!

4mos old Kelda

Have you noticed my bitching has stopped? Finally, since about the beginning of September she's grown up! ... meaning, she has quit peeing and pooing on the floor whenever she felt the need! GAH! She's a regular enjoyable bundle of puppy energy.

She is such a good girl. She's been sleeping through the nights, no messes in her cage, and today I left her out, free in the house while I was gone for 7 hours. I came home and found nothing chewed up, and no messes at all!

Hooray!

Oh, and that horrid "Puppy Breath" that people just rave over and say they love.... BLECH, she doesn't have that "puppy breath" smell about her anymore. Gawd, it was horrible... smelled like she rolled in pee and let it dry all over her! hahahah, no wonder when we first got her, I kept giving her baths and wondering why I was doing such a poor job at not getting the pee smell off her! hahah, goofy me, that was the lovely "puppy breath"!

So, while we're on the subject of gross things....

I was in the city today, taking care of mom this morning.... and before I left she told me she had a few things of mine to give me since she was cleaning up all her piles and piles of papers and other odd-ball items that have collected over the past 40 years. This is what I brought home with me.....

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Other than it's late, and my hair's in need of scrubbing.... the color is pretty much the same now as it was when I was just a wee tot!

Gah, the things my mother saves.......

Hahahahahah, Good thing it's Friday!!

Prost!

Guess where i am

The beginning of our walk

Image1
Originally uploaded by frau cowtown

As I've noted... September is the best month in CowTown!

And so on this lovely Saturday afternoon, we took the dogs for a 4 mile (6.4 Km) walk through a nearby park. It's the Morraine Hills State Park. There are plenty of trails through prairie, woods, bogs, wetlands, and around lakes.

The entire set of photos can be found here!

It really is a beautiful park!

Can you hear it?

Listen!

I don't hear anything!!

Woohoo, that quiet means school has started again!

And, let me tell ya, having 3 kids underfoot for 12 weeks... this house is in serious need of picking up.

So, I'm back at it!

Farmer's Market

Saturday morning and we decided to take our 10 AM karate class for their morning jog around the town square with a stop on a grassy patch to do some moves for the crowd that gathered! Perfect time to hand out flyers and just say "hello, and good morning" to the people..... something that Americans just don't do anymore....

After classes were over, Kurt and I took a stoll with our wallets! Oooh, the yummy local cheese bread, Butterkäse, local red wine, and a handmade soy candle... that was our take today! The homemade cheese comes from this local dairy... I also stopped at a booth that has a CSA, Community Supported Agriculture. I've read about this over at Mac's place. So, this local farm is informing people about their season subscriptions for fresh, local, organic veggies, with an option for local cheese and eggs as well, each week for the family! I'm very interested in this idea! This farm's website is Salute Farm!

And now for this long weekend... we have some more major cleanup and organization at the CowTown Haus!

Date nite

Rack em up chicago

Back to chicago

Oh are we sore....

Lunch break

And my legs are jelly

Morning kids! we are across the river from manhattan. call you soon.