it takes a village said... Norman Rockwell Version: My children and nephew go to Granny's. They look cute in their matching Golden Bears windbreakers and hats. Faces shiny and new. Eyes sparkling with the delight of spending time together with their Grandparents and Auntie Mary. Creative and culinary juices flow freely as they create their own homemade pizza masterpiece. Elbows off the table, inside voices, fork on the right, knife on the left and manners that, even, the likes of Emily Post would have been proud to witness.
Reality: Our rugrats came running into Granny's home, tearing off their jackets, kickin' off their shoes and the remnants of lunch still stuck to their chins. The squeals of their "no Ritalin" day reverberated through downtown Whittemore. Faces shoved into their pizzas...eating like coyotes and a "snot bubble" contest to ring in the new allergy season.
Is that the school soccer league?? I bet not cause it's Easter weekend...people forget we live in a judeo-christian society...oh well...I hope they play well!!!
Betty,Eli, Liam and Don looked really cute yesterday...looking good is "half the battle!" right? Don's pizza was the best, he put on the most sauce and covered it all with lots of oregano, and then said "I have the most sophisticated pizza!"
I went to the gas station pizza place and bought the raw dough...2 lg. pizza doughs on trays $1.99 each!
Mary just called and wanted me to tell you all that she is at the Pub right now with Mom eating a Pub burger and onion rings. Mom is having grilled chicken and onion rings. And her best friend from high school, Shelly Nichols, cooked it. P
I got a cool bike (first one that is not a hand be down), a football and kicking tee, a light saber, a plane and helicopter, a coloring book, crayons and pencils with my name on them.
If you call me BM I will smite you with my light saber.
I feel a little bad for my mild criticism of Dana Altman yesterday. He seems like such a stand-up guy. I'm sure none of this has been easy for him. Also, the Arkansas papers are saying that the Athleteic Dept. wasn't totally forthcoming about some of the problems they're having.
Mary, you made my Lean Cuisine lunch seem totally unsatisfying.
Happy Birthday Michael!!!! You look like you're having so much fun in the picture.
Sounds like the kids had fun making pizzas last night.
Jude is OBSESSED with the movie Cars. When I get him out of bed in the morning or after nap the first words out of his mouth are, "Cars movie." I used to be greeted with a cheerful, "Hi Mama!" Yuo can imagine the battle that takes place a few times a day over this movie. Sometimes he'll opt for Toy Story, but obviously, I'm trying not to let him watch movies all day.
Happy Birthday Mikey!!! from the Ortegas Em, Ty loves Cars. His most notorious imaginary friend is named Lightning. Lightning drew a GIANT stick person and T-Y on the kitchen wall. It's three feet tall.
It's three feet tall from the bottom of the drawing, which is two feet off the floor. It must have been Lightning - Ty would have to have stood on a chair or something to draw that. Like the one right by the door there.
Oh, Em, I was going to say yesterday that there's nothing like a man who can say, "I was wrong." (re Dana Altman, but really, in life in general you just can't beat that warm glow of righteous satisfaction mixed with irritation because now you can't be bitchy about whatever it was.) I think too that there must have been some stuff that hadn't been disclosed up front, but that was his way out when he realized that the culture there wasn't a good fit for him. Can you imagine the Jesuits screaming "SOOO-IEEE"?
AOL says that April 24 is Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day. Get ready! (It's also the feast of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, who loved pigs-in-a-blanket and was known as the "poor man's lawyer" until he gave up his practice and became a Franciscan, after which both pigs and blankets were a little harder to come by.) By the way, this Saturday is No Housework day. I'm all over it.
Just spoke with Mary Ellan. She and Mary are picking up a free wheelchair so they can go see Osama at the High School. She has called the school and they will have special wheel chair seating with Mom alongside her.
Leave it to Mary Ellan to break her foot JUST in time to secure FRONT ROW seating when Osama is in town! :-<>
Ty's 4, he'll be 5 in July. He tells great stories. I wrote one down and made a book, it's about Aliens. It's really funny. After a repelling alien invaders he throws a wooden nickel into the Alien's mouth and it turns into a quarter, and then he uses the quarter to buy a gumball. He was telling my parents a story last weekend and I'll have to make it into a book, also.
Happy Easter Everyone! I'm headed back to Omaha with my kids and husband! The kids flew into Omaha yesterday from L.A. and Chicago and then drove straight up here! We had a great dinner at Sarah's (thanks Dad!) and then a stop at the Whittemore pub!
I've not been home home really since March 16th except for a weekend!
I want to say thanks to the Milbrath's for letting me stay at there house during my classes, they were great and the food was great! Also, thanks to Mom and Dad for letting me stay here since my surgery...they have been wonderful...the help and the food has been great....THANKS!
Barry'O didn't have time to eat in Algona, he was only there for an hour, or so...but his "guys" were there for a few days prior...I told them about Sarah's and they told me 3 other people had already mentioned it! I bet they ate at Sarah's.
Do ya'll like my name for Barak? Barry'O...it's less confusing!
Who mowed already? Shame on you. Don't you know about global warming? You're supossed to wait till it aboslutely needs it. I watched my neighbor mow yesterday and she left huge clumps everywhere. I saw her mowing the same spot this morning in an effort to be rid of the clumps.
Our lawnmower was stolen over the winter!...All of our neighbors have mowed...the grass was really high, so Mike hired our neighbor to mow ours...maybe he knows something sbout the missing mower! So, Monica why don't you use a non-gas mower instead of that riding carbon footprint?
Cathy, whadayah think about your boyfriend, Jack? Pretty exciting stuff how he saved the world in a day and now he's gonna go and save his former girlfriend in China(?)...in a day! :-<> Wow. He's somethin'!
Okay - after seeing the first episode of this season's "24" I became a fan of the show. Outlandish as Jack's deeds are it has some entertainment value.
But, the most ridiculous notion in the show is the behavior of the CTU computer geeks. Refusing to do thier job because his/her love interest has shown some feelings for a field agent. Fighting like junior high kids over ticky-tack infringements. Setting thier work aside (saving the world) to settle a score with another computer geek.
All the while Jack is out risking life and limb, waiting for a satellite link that he's not getting because one of the geeks is off pouting.
I can't help but wonder if these people ever eat a sandwich or go to the bathroom? And, whadup with the President who was almost killed, that day, and in an induced coma? Once they took him out of the coma(to help save the world) yah never saw him as much as sip on a glass of water, eat a meal or take a Tylenol? No wonder he looks like crap. Well, aside from the near death thing.
As lucky as Jck is...how unlucky is it that moments after e saved he world and took on 6 terrorists, single handedly (sp?), he receives a phone call requiring him to go and save the love of his life in the country that held him prisoner for two years. This is the same country he was released from 24 hours ago! Sigh.
Zach has not made it back yet. But he was on the front page of the paper with a huge headline. He donates $250 to the free health clinic for every birdie he makes and then AEGON(a big employer here in town matches it) Last year it came to over $30,000.
Parental Quandry: Yesterday I took the kids to the Skate Park here in Algona. It's a nice addition to the town. Ramps and rails for the kids to bike/skate/scooter on. The kids had a blast.
Problem was there were some sophmore age kids (about 5)who used every bad word in the book and some I never heard before. Other than that it was probably 15 kids ranging from age 8-12.
The older kids weren't bullying or anything. Just shouting obscenities at each other and some of the younger kids who probably thought the older kids were cool.
I thought about asking the older kids to not swear. I didn't. Because if they refused what was I gonna do? Both Eli and Liam skated up to me at one point (seperately) and commented on the language. I said, "Yes, I hear them swearing. These kids are losers."
Should I have asked them to clean it up? I had determined that I would if they had directed anything at my kids but they didn't.
Our bishop retired effective 6:00am this morning due to health reasons. Everyone's in a tizzy. I probably wouldn't have said anything to the swearing kids but maybe if someone asked them nicely they would quit and if they didn't, you could just say to your kids well, that was their choice but you sure wouldn't want ever to hear of them acting like that. I think they will be and are exposed to profanity all the time, but they are young enough that they can take a good lesson from it ("I don't ever want to be that jerky") that will help them resist that particular peer pressure in the future. You might take the opportunity to mention that sometimes teenagers feel they have to talk like that to be cool, but it's not, and certainly not in front of younger kids, or ladies, or whatever.
Tom, I have asked kids to quit swearing before. I think if you do it nicely most kids will respect your wishes. I just explained that there were lots of little kids around and they don't need to hear that kind of language.
You could always pretend to know one of their parents.
My very good girlfriend has a one year old German Sheperd. When she and her husband are at work...they place the dog in, "doggy daycare." Now, that's okay...I guess(?). However, IF she is AT HOME and has to work on the computer she will bring the dog to daycare so it doesn't feel lonely while she's otherwise occupied.
In her defense...she is a wonderful Mom. :-) I told her that I was gonna, "poll," the family. She said, "Fine...they'll think I'm a caring person and a good dog owner." I jokingly (sorta) told her you guys would think she was, "cookoo!" ;-)
If she can afford it, why not? But she should just admit to herself that when she's working at home she puts the dog in doggy day care so she won't have to deal with it. Nothing wrong with that, she has work to do. At least the dog's having fun with his pals. Unless she's whining about not having enough money all the time, she doesn't need to justify it. What I don't like is parents who put their kids in daycare when they're not working. I don't mean nursery school, and I don't mean people who work from home and need uninterrupted time. I mean people who prefer to pay someone else to spend time with their kids because they don't want to.
The bishop's retirement was no surprise. He's got a wierd diesese that makes life painful and didn't even do any confirmations this year.
By the way... Emily you may be interested to know (if you don't already) that Linda Besch's mom is in Rochester with an anyurism of some sort.
Nance - if your friend has $30 a day to burn on doggy day care I'm sure I can think of more services she really needs. I cannot even begin to comprehend all the implications of what that kind of thought would mean if she were a mom.
Our (former) bishop has polymyalgia rheumatica. I don't know exactly what it is, but "polymyalgia" basically means "everything hurts," and he is in pain of one sort or another almost all the time. We all figured he was going to take early retirement, but this came very suddenly. I guess he asked Rome a few months ago, and once they announced it publicly yesterday at noon Rome time, 6:00am our time, he was officially done. He's 67. Right now the official retirement age for clergy is 75.
I don't agree with Lisa about the doggy daycare. It's a dog, not a kid. If it were me, I'd spend it on a cleaning lady instead, but that's me, not her. Or imagine having $30 a day to spend on clothes, or your house, or your yard, assuming spring ever comes. Or sending even $30 a week to feed starving children in Uganda. But it's her money. What do you suppose a person needs to set up a doggy daycare? Sounds like a pretty lucrative racket.
Let's see, 4 dogs a day at $30 each, expenses other than initial setup can't be more than $20, you could clear $100 a day having only 4 dogs around and you could still run a home-based business of some sort with your computer and afford to get rid of any dog who starts fights or poops inside or otherwise makes it a hassle.
Ed what's the scoop on this new race? Will it be big? Couldn't they think of a more creative name? I'll be gone that weekend or else I'd come, just because it's the first. Oh, yeah, and I hate car racing.
The Corn 250? They couldn't come up with a better sponsor than corn growers? No wonder everyone thinks Iowa is such a hick state. Wouldn't the Prairie Thunder 250 sound better?
Cotton growers in the South are switching to corn because they think it will be a more lucrative crop. Green gold. Maybe Iowa's just trying to hold on to that identity before Arkansas starts calling itself the "Corn State." But still, that name's pretty unimaginative.
I think it's really funny and she and I were laughing about it. I told her that I was gonna take a family, "poll," and she laughed. :-) She even brought doggy treats, to share, on her dogs Birthday...now THAT'S a dog lover! She's very, "into," her dogs feelings and she's also a wonderfully loving friend. She's as good with dogs as she is to people. :-) The daycare is very well run and they have several dogs that attend. They even write you up a little dealey-o during the dogs first week as to what friends they have made and what they did all day. Next time I'm in the cities I'm gonna go over there, with her, and check this place out. Who knows...maybe, Algona could use a doggy daycare in Woodlyn Hills!
The Iowa Corn 250 is listed as the "Ethanol IndyCar 250" on some sights (such as ESPN), but the Indy Car sight has it listed as the "Iowa Corn Indy 250". They aslo have a logo with a little kernal of corn with checkered flags. So I guess that is the name.
Every year in our First Eucharist prep classes we have a session wherein the kids make posters with Eucharist symbols cut and pasted on their posters with their names written on them. This class was a month ago. I called the parents of any kids who missed that class to let them know about the posters and where they could come to pick up materials to make them, because they hang on the ends of the pews where the family sits on first Communion weekend. Guess what I'm doing right now - making posters for the three kids whose posters aren't madeand whose parents never got the stuff, and who didn't come to the practice session. (I still have to put curly ribbon on all the posters so I can hang them). They will be beautifully colored, painstakingly cut out and neatly glued and they will look like they were made by a cranky middle-aged teacher lady, instead of the joyfully messy, chaotic posters of second-graders with things like "I (heart) Jesus" or (this year's favorite) "My first drink" written on the chalices. I fully expect two of these parents to call me at a quarter to 5 on Friday, or better yet, Saturday morning at home. One parent will not bother and will arrive two minutes after mass time (we'll be waiting) with a kid in jeans and a dirty shirt. Stupid parents.
Those aren't good recipes. C'mon! I do not like anchovies on pizza, but maybe copy off the rutibega (?) pastries my mother made at Easter and make potato-anchovie-cheese pastries.
Actually you could make some kind of cheesy hash-brown potatoes with chopped anchovies in them and it might be kind of good. Or really strongly-flavored hors d'ouvres with hummus, cuke slices, feta cheese and anchovies on bagel chips or crackers or little petas.
Joe K - No, we couldn't find it so we always go to Sandy Beach Resort. Old style housekeeping cabins in Gull Lake. It's of a dying breed sure to be torn down soon for condos.
I'm partial to Sandy Beach because it feels like an old time resort. The cabins are about 50 years old but clean. You are right there on the lake. You can rent a boat from the resort for about $150 a week. Nothing more than a dingy with a 15 horse motor but that's all you need for fishing.
Eh hem...Tom must be trying to keep this our little secret. I'll share. The cabins are older, but very clean and well-maintained a fully supplied. Each Cabin gets a grill, picnic table and 3 adirondack chairs. Directly in front of your Cabin is about 30 feet of grass and then, an awesome beach. There is a laundry facility, video game room (rainy days) and fish cleaning houses. SBR, also, features a NEW basketball/tennis court, ping-pong, shuffle board, swing sets and other lawn-game activities that you can, "check-out," for free. Additionally, they have water toys that can be used free of charge...our group uses them a lot. The Main House has a general store/gift shop. Oh! And, all the TP yah want for FREE! Now is this a Resort...or, what? The cabins vary in sizes and prices. Our cabin is probably medium-sized. It sleeps 6. One bedroom with a double and one with two twins and then, a hide-a-bed. Our cabin runs about $1200/week.
Okay, I'm done. Did I mention that my family has been going there for 36 years? Our group consists of, like, 10 cabins and 40 people...but, I'm not exactly sure. Bloody Mary's at 9am and Happy Hour at Noon. All this being said, I may be a bit biased. :-)
I know the kids swearing conversation is days old, but I'm with Monica. If you ask older kids nicely, and at the right moment (like not in front of 12 of their friends), and treat them respectfully, (don't wag your finger at them) they usually will try to clean it up, especially if you say something about little kids being around. Zane likes to go to the skate ramp, too, and those big kids zoom around him, but if he approaches one of them, they usually take the time to at least respond before zooming off. I've never seen a bullying incident at the skate ramps. Think about how you would act when you were 13. Trying your first cigarette from your friend's mom's purse behind the bleachers? Is that what came to mind? Scary to be a parent.
Those cabins sound so cool. I bet the kids love it (until they're about 16 and then start making noises about staying home at a friend's house for the week because they have to work or go to practice or something. Don't let'em. They'll thank you later.) I liked all Vonnegut's books but they're all sort of run together in my head now. The one image I used to love was the guy caught in the Chrono-synclastic Infundibulum (or something like that) who used to appear suddenly wearing a suit with question marks all over it. But now some guy on late-night infomercials is wearing that suit. Can you commit a sacrilege upon an iconoclast? That would be one if you can.
Tom, I ripped off your sweet potato pastry idea and served rutabaga puree in puff pastry shells for Easter with toasted chopped pecans and a sprinkle of raw sugar on top. They went great with duck and lamb. People liked'em.
Yah, my brother and sister's kids are 14 and 16. Actually, they love going to the cabin and hangin' with their homies. Of course, at times they get bored...but, we keep 'em busy. The next oldest child is Eli and then a gaggle of them down to a newborn. :-)
My nephew (16) wasn't able to go (last year) because of football practice...and, he was bummed. We were too.
134 comments:
Happy Birthday Mike
Did you get a new bike?
Cake, ice cream and fun
Hop, skip and run
No longer a little tyke!
Happy Birthday, Mike! We love you! :-)
Happy birthday, Mike!
Great to see you at St. Pat's day... you were awesome at throwing necklaces to the 15 people watching the parade.
Hey,
It's snowing!
And the wind chill is 7.
For your convenience... :-)
it takes a village said...
Norman Rockwell Version:
My children and nephew go to Granny's. They look cute in their matching Golden Bears windbreakers and hats. Faces shiny and new. Eyes sparkling with the delight of spending time together with their Grandparents and Auntie Mary. Creative and culinary juices flow freely as they create their own homemade pizza masterpiece. Elbows off the table, inside voices, fork on the right, knife on the left and manners that, even, the likes of Emily Post would have been proud to witness.
Reality:
Our rugrats came running into Granny's home, tearing off their jackets, kickin' off their shoes and the remnants of lunch still stuck to their chins. The squeals of their "no Ritalin" day reverberated through downtown Whittemore. Faces shoved into their pizzas...eating like coyotes and a "snot bubble" contest to ring in the new allergy season.
Post script...Betty was at Granny's too. She was an angel! :-)
Speaking of ....
There was a coyote that wandered into a quizones inside the loop in chicago:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/325903,CST-NWS-coyote04.article
Have a wonderful 5th birthday Mikey.
Hope it warms up for you so you can try out all those new toys.
Love, Monica and family
Saturday Sean and Tom have their first soccer game of the season at 8am. It's forecasted to be 13degrees out.
boys will be boys! isn't that what they say?
happy b-day mikey!
Barry Collier. That's the name of the former Butler coach who moved on to Nebraska. He's now the AD at Butler.
Is that the school soccer league?? I bet not cause it's Easter weekend...people forget we live in a judeo-christian society...oh well...I hope they play well!!!
Betty,Eli, Liam and Don looked really cute yesterday...looking good is "half the battle!" right?
Don's pizza was the best, he put on the most sauce and covered it all with lots of oregano, and then said "I have the most sophisticated pizza!"
I went to the gas station pizza place and bought the raw dough...2 lg. pizza doughs on trays $1.99 each!
Mary just called and wanted me to tell you all that she is at the Pub right now with Mom eating a Pub burger and onion rings. Mom is having grilled chicken and onion rings.
And her best friend from high school, Shelly Nichols, cooked it.
P
happy birthday Mike. Big Mike. can i call you Big Mike? How about BM for short?
Mary, you're out and about. That's great. Are your armpits feeling better? Maybe you need to lower your crutches a notch or two.
Mikey,
happy bithday to you
you live in a zoo
you look like a monkey
and you smell like one too.
Thank you everybody.
I got a cool bike (first one that is not a hand be down), a football and kicking tee, a light saber, a plane and helicopter, a coloring book, crayons and pencils with my name on them.
If you call me BM I will smite you with my light saber.
Who are Gigi and Nick?
I feel a little bad for my mild criticism of Dana Altman yesterday. He seems like such a stand-up guy. I'm sure none of this has been easy for him. Also, the Arkansas papers are saying that the Athleteic Dept. wasn't totally forthcoming about some of the problems they're having.
Mary, you made my Lean Cuisine lunch seem totally unsatisfying.
Happy Birthday Michael!!!! You look like you're having so much fun in the picture.
Sounds like the kids had fun making pizzas last night.
Jude is OBSESSED with the movie Cars. When I get him out of bed in the morning or after nap the first words out of his mouth are, "Cars movie." I used to be greeted with a cheerful, "Hi Mama!"
Yuo can imagine the battle that takes place a few times a day over this movie. Sometimes he'll opt for Toy Story, but obviously, I'm trying not to let him watch movies all day.
Must get back to GH
I think Gigi and Nick must be Gillian and Nicholas.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Do any of you watch the show House? The song at the end last night - that was Lucinda Williams.
p
Do any of you watch the show House? The song at the end last night - that was Lucinda Williams.
p
We L-O-V-E House!
Had dinner, with the peeps, and our kids used a fork and didn't blow snot bubbles! Go team! :-<>
Happy Birthday Mikey!!! from the Ortegas
Em, Ty loves Cars. His most notorious imaginary friend is named Lightning. Lightning drew a GIANT stick person and T-Y on the kitchen wall. It's three feet tall.
It's three feet tall from the bottom of the drawing, which is two feet off the floor. It must have been Lightning - Ty would have to have stood on a chair or something to draw that. Like the one right by the door there.
Oh, Em, I was going to say yesterday that there's nothing like a man who can say, "I was wrong." (re Dana Altman, but really, in life in general you just can't beat that warm glow of righteous satisfaction mixed with irritation because now you can't be bitchy about whatever it was.) I think too that there must have been some stuff that hadn't been disclosed up front, but that was his way out when he realized that the culture there wasn't a good fit for him. Can you imagine the Jesuits screaming "SOOO-IEEE"?
AOL says that April 24 is Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day. Get ready! (It's also the feast of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, who loved pigs-in-a-blanket and was known as the "poor man's lawyer" until he gave up his practice and became a Franciscan, after which both pigs and blankets were a little harder to come by.) By the way, this Saturday is No Housework day. I'm all over it.
Barok Obama is in Algona today. Do you have a question for him?
Tom
Just spoke with Mary Ellan. She and Mary are picking up a free wheelchair so they can go see Osama at the High School. She has called the school and they will have special wheel chair seating with Mom alongside her.
Leave it to Mary Ellan to break her foot JUST in time to secure FRONT ROW seating when Osama is in town! :-<>
I wonder if George Dubayah knows he's here?!
Osama bin Laden?
Ask him if he will donate some of the $25MM to the Algona Food Pantry and if not if he promises to get it funded once he becomes a big shot.
Grace, quite an imagination on that one. How old is he?
Bisenius is pitching right now on TBS.
Oh, I can't take it any longer..."Who the heck is Bisenius?"
Anonymous' question regarding Osama...ask Mary Ellan! :-<>
Q-What did the Polish-Italian guy do?
A- He made an offer he didn't understand.
Nance, Bisenius is a nephew and granchild of people from Whittemore that some of us were friends with.
Ohhhhhhhhh, thank you! :-)
Was listening to NPR this morning and they did a story on Barak Obama. They were reporting from Algona Ia.
I heard that too Ed.
Who is going home this weekend?
Ty's 4, he'll be 5 in July. He tells great stories. I wrote one down and made a book, it's about Aliens. It's really funny. After a repelling alien invaders he throws a wooden nickel into the Alien's mouth and it turns into a quarter, and then he uses the quarter to buy a gumball. He was telling my parents a story last weekend and I'll have to make it into a book, also.
Grace~ That's way cool. :-)
So how was Barack Obama? Any reports? Was anyone impressed or disappointed?
Mary and Mary Ellan are, "in the know!" I haven't heard.
From what I heard they were both impressed. Said he was natural, easy going, seemed genuine, eloquent, made some jokes...
P
OH.
Mom thought he was average looking and Mary thought he was a hottie.
p
Ha! I was just gonna ask!!!! :-<> :-) He looks tall...wonder if he's tall?
Was he articulate?
now THAT was funny.
Tom
In the process of creating paychecks. The minimum wage has increased from $5.15/hr to $6.20...yay me! Not. :-(
Happy Easter everyone!
Bawk! :-<>
Pat~ I emailed you Dee's number. :-)
Happy Easter Everyone!
I'm headed back to Omaha with my kids and husband! The kids flew into Omaha yesterday from L.A. and Chicago and then drove straight up here!
We had a great dinner at Sarah's (thanks Dad!) and then a stop at the Whittemore pub!
I've not been home home really since March 16th except for a weekend!
I want to say thanks to the Milbrath's for letting me stay at there house during my classes, they were great and the food was great!
Also, thanks to Mom and Dad for letting me stay here since my surgery...they have been wonderful...the help and the food has been great....THANKS!
Dumb Waitress update: She is convinced that Abe Lincoln was black and I found myself arguing with her about this. Then suddenly I felt dummer for it.
Tom
Today was a 1st for me me,I mowed while it snowed.
Barak Obama is on David Letterman tonight I think. Maybe he will explain why he didn't at the best resturant while he was in town.
Barry'O didn't have time to eat in Algona, he was only there for an hour, or so...but his "guys" were there for a few days prior...I told them about Sarah's and they told me 3 other people had already mentioned it! I bet they ate at Sarah's.
Do ya'll like my name for Barak? Barry'O...it's less confusing!
No bc I think of Barry Manilow.
p
Who mowed already? Shame on you. Don't you know about global warming? You're supossed to wait till it aboslutely needs it. I watched my neighbor mow yesterday and she left huge clumps everywhere. I saw her mowing the same spot this morning in an effort to be rid of the clumps.
Our lawnmower was stolen over the winter!...All of our neighbors have mowed...the grass was really high, so Mike hired our neighbor to mow ours...maybe he knows something sbout the missing mower!
So, Monica why don't you use a non-gas mower instead of that riding carbon footprint?
I compost and recycle almost everything.
I'm jst kidding about the mowing. I'd be out there doing it if it was 15 degrees warmer. I love mowing.
We're under a winter storm watch today and tomorrow. I find this a ridiculous occurrence, after Easter.
P
We are too. :-<>
Monica,
Has Zach Johnson made it back to CR?
Cathy, whadayah think about your boyfriend, Jack? Pretty exciting stuff how he saved the world in a day and now he's gonna go and save his former girlfriend in China(?)...in a day! :-<> Wow. He's somethin'!
Okay - after seeing the first episode of this season's "24" I became a fan of the show. Outlandish as Jack's deeds are it has some entertainment value.
But, the most ridiculous notion in the show is the behavior of the CTU computer geeks. Refusing to do thier job because his/her love interest has shown some feelings for a field agent. Fighting like junior high kids over ticky-tack infringements. Setting thier work aside (saving the world) to settle a score with another computer geek.
All the while Jack is out risking life and limb, waiting for a satellite link that he's not getting because one of the geeks is off pouting.
STUPID!
Tom
I can't help but wonder if these people ever eat a sandwich or go to the bathroom? And, whadup with the President who was almost killed, that day, and in an induced coma? Once they took him out of the coma(to help save the world) yah never saw him as much as sip on a glass of water, eat a meal or take a Tylenol? No wonder he looks like crap. Well, aside from the near death thing.
As lucky as Jck is...how unlucky is it that moments after e saved he world and took on 6 terrorists, single handedly (sp?), he receives a phone call requiring him to go and save the love of his life in the country that held him prisoner for two years. This is the same country he was released from 24 hours ago! Sigh.
Can't wait to watch the next season. ;-)
Oops, my "insert" button was pushed.
Zach has not made it back yet. But he was on the front page of the paper with a huge headline. He donates $250 to the free health clinic for every birdie he makes and then AEGON(a big employer here in town matches it) Last year it came to over $30,000.
Kurt Warner is from here also.
As is Frodo.
Parental Quandry: Yesterday I took the kids to the Skate Park here in Algona. It's a nice addition to the town. Ramps and rails for the kids to bike/skate/scooter on. The kids had a blast.
Problem was there were some sophmore age kids (about 5)who used every bad word in the book and some I never heard before. Other than that it was probably 15 kids ranging from age 8-12.
The older kids weren't bullying or anything. Just shouting obscenities at each other and some of the younger kids who probably thought the older kids were cool.
I thought about asking the older kids to not swear. I didn't. Because if they refused what was I gonna do? Both Eli and Liam skated up to me at one point (seperately) and commented on the language. I said, "Yes, I hear them swearing. These kids are losers."
Should I have asked them to clean it up? I had determined that I would if they had directed anything at my kids but they didn't.
Tom
a little something for the Manning fans:
http://glumbert.com/media/peyton
Our bishop retired effective 6:00am this morning due to health reasons. Everyone's in a tizzy.
I probably wouldn't have said anything to the swearing kids but maybe if someone asked them nicely they would quit and if they didn't, you could just say to your kids well, that was their choice but you sure wouldn't want ever to hear of them acting like that. I think they will be and are exposed to profanity all the time, but they are young enough that they can take a good lesson from it ("I don't ever want to be that jerky") that will help them resist that particular peer pressure in the future. You might take the opportunity to mention that sometimes teenagers feel they have to talk like that to be cool, but it's not, and certainly not in front of younger kids, or ladies, or whatever.
Yeah, I guess this is the setup for next season when Jack will be a prisoner of the Chinese again. But isn't there an hour or two left in this 24?
Jack Bauer can go 24 hours without eating, drinking or peeing.
Apparently, he's not the only one! :-<>
BREAKING NEWS:
Larry Birkhead is the biological Father of Danielynn.
whew! close call!
Which one was he?
Jack Bauer is enormously relieved.
Tom,
I have asked kids to quit swearing before. I think if you do it nicely most kids will respect your wishes. I just explained that there were lots of little kids around and they don't need to hear that kind of language.
You could always pretend to know one of their parents.
Cathy, what's the deal with the bishop?
I'm not done with you yet.
they're talking 6-10 inches of snow here in Madison before it's all over.
School is cancelled in Algona, Iowa! WooHoo! :-)
Hey - its snowing here. What gives?
Taking a Poll:
My very good girlfriend has a one year old German Sheperd. When she and her husband are at work...they place the dog in, "doggy daycare." Now, that's okay...I guess(?). However, IF she is AT HOME and has to work on the computer she will bring the dog to daycare so it doesn't feel lonely while she's otherwise occupied.
What do y'all think of that?
~nms
Oh and doggy daycare is $30 per day. :-)
I'm just glad she has a dog and not a child. The Wise One
Do they teach the dogs anything at Doggy Day Care? Like fetching a beer or a cigar? Otherwise it's not worth it.
Tom
In her defense...she is a wonderful Mom. :-)
I told her that I was gonna, "poll," the family. She said, "Fine...they'll think I'm a caring person and a good dog owner." I jokingly (sorta) told her you guys would think she was, "cookoo!" ;-)
If she can afford it, why not? But she should just admit to herself that when she's working at home she puts the dog in doggy day care so she won't have to deal with it. Nothing wrong with that, she has work to do. At least the dog's having fun with his pals. Unless she's whining about not having enough money all the time, she doesn't need to justify it. What I don't like is parents who put their kids in daycare when they're not working. I don't mean nursery school, and I don't mean people who work from home and need uninterrupted time. I mean people who prefer to pay someone else to spend time with their kids because they don't want to.
The bishop's retirement was no surprise. He's got a wierd diesese that makes life painful and didn't even do any confirmations this year.
By the way... Emily you may be interested to know (if you don't already) that Linda Besch's mom is in Rochester with an anyurism of some sort.
Nance - if your friend has $30 a day to burn on doggy day care I'm sure I can think of more services she really needs. I cannot even begin to comprehend all the implications of what that kind of thought would mean if she were a mom.
Our (former) bishop has polymyalgia rheumatica. I don't know exactly what it is, but "polymyalgia" basically means "everything hurts," and he is in pain of one sort or another almost all the time. We all figured he was going to take early retirement, but this came very suddenly. I guess he asked Rome a few months ago, and once they announced it publicly yesterday at noon Rome time, 6:00am our time, he was officially done. He's 67. Right now the official retirement age for clergy is 75.
I don't agree with Lisa about the doggy daycare. It's a dog, not a kid. If it were me, I'd spend it on a cleaning lady instead, but that's me, not her. Or imagine having $30 a day to spend on clothes, or your house, or your yard, assuming spring ever comes. Or sending even $30 a week to feed starving children in Uganda. But it's her money.
What do you suppose a person needs to set up a doggy daycare? Sounds like a pretty lucrative racket.
Hey - anybody interested in going to the innaugural Indy Car race in Iowa this year, the Iowa Corn 250?
It is in Newton on June 24th.
Let's see, 4 dogs a day at $30 each, expenses other than initial setup can't be more than $20, you could clear $100 a day having only 4 dogs around and you could still run a home-based business of some sort with your computer and afford to get rid of any dog who starts fights or poops inside or otherwise makes it a hassle.
Ed what's the scoop on this new race? Will it be big? Couldn't they think of a more creative name? I'll be gone that weekend or else I'd come, just because it's the first. Oh, yeah, and I hate car racing.
The Corn 250? They couldn't come up with a better sponsor than corn growers? No wonder everyone thinks Iowa is such a hick state. Wouldn't the Prairie Thunder 250 sound better?
Will Danica be there?
Tom
Pat, have you gotten any $5 bills in the mail yet? I just mailed mine today.
Cotton growers in the South are switching to corn because they think it will be a more lucrative crop. Green gold. Maybe Iowa's just trying to hold on to that identity before Arkansas starts calling itself the "Corn State." But still, that name's pretty unimaginative.
Anyone watched Friday night Lights? the tv show. I heard viewer are begging for the second season.
I think it's really funny and she and I were laughing about it. I told her that I was gonna take a family, "poll," and she laughed. :-)
She even brought doggy treats, to share, on her dogs Birthday...now THAT'S a dog lover! She's very, "into," her dogs feelings and she's also a wonderfully loving friend. She's as good with dogs as she is to people. :-)
The daycare is very well run and they have several dogs that attend. They even write you up a little dealey-o during the dogs first week as to what friends they have made and what they did all day. Next time I'm in the cities I'm gonna go over there, with her, and check this place out. Who knows...maybe, Algona could use a doggy daycare in Woodlyn Hills!
The Iowa Corn 250 is listed as the "Ethanol IndyCar 250" on some sights (such as ESPN), but the Indy Car sight has it listed as the "Iowa Corn Indy 250". They aslo have a logo with a little kernal of corn with checkered flags. So I guess that is the name.
Anyway - you should all go. It will be fun.
Only if Danica is going to be there.
Yes Danica Patrick will be racing along with Sara Miller (who has been racing long than Danica but gets no play because she is ugly).
Danica will not get into a crash and will finsh 9th. As always.
Joe S. paid me.
P
In an effort to broaden my culinary abilities, I bought some anchovies yesterday. Anyone have a favorite recipe with them (besides salad dressing)?
I think I might do that dried bread salad thing, what's it called?
Pizza
Oh and the dried bread salad thing (Rachel Ray makes it) is called...(((drum roll)))...Bread Salad! :-<>
You could use them to make Worchestershire sauce.
Please don't invite me for dinner
Every year in our First Eucharist prep classes we have a session wherein the kids make posters with Eucharist symbols cut and pasted on their posters with their names written on them. This class was a month ago. I called the parents of any kids who missed that class to let them know about the posters and where they could come to pick up materials to make them, because they hang on the ends of the pews where the family sits on first Communion weekend. Guess what I'm doing right now - making posters for the three kids whose posters aren't madeand whose parents never got the stuff, and who didn't come to the practice session. (I still have to put curly ribbon on all the posters so I can hang them). They will be beautifully colored, painstakingly cut out and neatly glued and they will look like they were made by a cranky middle-aged teacher lady, instead of the joyfully messy, chaotic posters of second-graders with things like "I (heart) Jesus" or (this year's favorite) "My first drink" written on the chalices. I fully expect two of these parents to call me at a quarter to 5 on Friday, or better yet, Saturday morning at home. One parent will not bother and will arrive two minutes after mass time (we'll be waiting) with a kid in jeans and a dirty shirt. Stupid parents.
Whew. OK. Just venting.
Those aren't good recipes. C'mon! I do not like anchovies on pizza, but maybe copy off the rutibega (?) pastries my mother made at Easter and make potato-anchovie-cheese pastries.
I want a good recipe though.
Anchovy smanchovy...icky!
I think they're best down the garbage disposal. I would give it up. Isn't a "good-anchovy recipe," an oxymoron?
~nms
Dick Cheney- Good news. We're getting 100 Brazilian troops to help us out.
George Bush- Great! How many is 100 brazillion?
That one made me laugh outloud.
Actually you could make some kind of cheesy hash-brown potatoes with chopped anchovies in them and it might be kind of good. Or really strongly-flavored hors d'ouvres with hummus, cuke slices, feta cheese and anchovies on bagel chips or crackers or little petas.
Or you could have an anchovy-eating contest and the last one to puke wins....a tin of herrings in cream sauce!
Tom and Nance, do you go to Lost Lake Lodge near Brainerd?
Joe K - No, we couldn't find it so we always go to Sandy Beach Resort. Old style housekeeping cabins in Gull Lake. It's of a dying breed sure to be torn down soon for condos.
Ellen - here is over 200 anchovy recipies:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/find/results?search=anchovy&x=23&y=12
Tom
Shut up, Tom. That's not true!
Oh and Sandy Beach Resort is, technically, in LakeShore...near both Brainerd and Nisswa. :-)
The 2 resorts are about 6 miles from each other. Here's a map...
http://maps.yahoo.com/dd_result?newaddr=7965+Lost+Lake+Rd&taddr=1314+Sandy+Point+Rd+sw&csz=Lake+Shore%2C+MN+56468-2524&country=us&tcsz=Nisswa%2C+MN+56468&tcountry=us
I'm partial to Sandy Beach because it feels like an old time resort. The cabins are about 50 years old but clean. You are right there on the lake. You can rent a boat from the resort for about $150 a week. Nothing more than a dingy with a 15 horse motor but that's all you need for fishing.
Tom
Eh hem...Tom must be trying to keep this our little secret. I'll share. The cabins are older, but very clean and well-maintained a fully supplied. Each Cabin gets a grill, picnic table and 3 adirondack chairs. Directly in front of your Cabin is about 30 feet of grass and then, an awesome beach. There is a laundry facility, video game room (rainy days) and fish cleaning houses. SBR, also, features a NEW basketball/tennis court, ping-pong, shuffle board, swing sets and other lawn-game activities that you can, "check-out," for free. Additionally, they have water toys that can be used free of charge...our group uses them a lot. The Main House has a general store/gift shop. Oh! And, all the TP yah want for FREE! Now is this a Resort...or, what? The cabins vary in sizes and prices. Our cabin is probably medium-sized. It sleeps 6. One bedroom with a double and one with two twins and then, a hide-a-bed. Our cabin runs about $1200/week.
Okay, I'm done. Did I mention that my family has been going there for 36 years? Our group consists of, like, 10 cabins and 40 people...but, I'm not exactly sure. Bloody Mary's at 9am and Happy Hour at Noon. All this being said, I may be a bit biased. :-)
I liked Kurt Vonnegut's books. I even liked the movies based on his books.
Jim - it looks like the Carolina Hurricanes just couldn't do it this year without your support.
I know the kids swearing conversation is days old, but I'm with Monica. If you ask older kids nicely, and at the right moment (like not in front of 12 of their friends), and treat them respectfully, (don't wag your finger at them) they usually will try to clean it up, especially if you say something about little kids being around. Zane likes to go to the skate ramp, too, and those big kids zoom around him, but if he approaches one of them, they usually take the time to at least respond before zooming off. I've never seen a bullying incident at the skate ramps. Think about how you would act when you were 13.
Trying your first cigarette from your friend's mom's purse behind the bleachers? Is that what came to mind? Scary to be a parent.
Those cabins sound so cool. I bet the kids love it (until they're about 16 and then start making noises about staying home at a friend's house for the week because they have to work or go to practice or something. Don't let'em. They'll thank you later.)
I liked all Vonnegut's books but they're all sort of run together in my head now. The one image I used to love was the guy caught in the Chrono-synclastic Infundibulum (or something like that) who used to appear suddenly wearing a suit with question marks all over it. But now some guy on late-night infomercials is wearing that suit. Can you commit a sacrilege upon an iconoclast? That would be one if you can.
Tom, I ripped off your sweet potato pastry idea and served rutabaga puree in puff pastry shells for Easter with toasted chopped pecans and a sprinkle of raw sugar on top. They went great with duck and lamb. People liked'em.
Yah, my brother and sister's kids are 14 and 16. Actually, they love going to the cabin and hangin' with their homies. Of course, at times they get bored...but, we keep 'em busy. The next oldest child is Eli and then a gaggle of them down to a newborn. :-)
My nephew (16) wasn't able to go (last year) because of football practice...and, he was bummed. We were too.
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