ABC Tag

Inspired (and tag by Beth) I thought it was time I do this.



A) Attached or single? attached



B) Best friend? Matt and Beth (can I have two? There are just some things one gets that the other doesn't.)



C) Cake or Pie? Do I have to pick? Good cake trumps bad pie, but good pie kicks a dry cake in the rear.



D) Day? Friday, I always look forward to date night and when I worked it seemed like Friday was more laid back because everyone was half checked out for the weekend already. Plus at the last place I worked we spent many a late Friday night calling psych hospitals. Apparently if you are crazy Fridays aren't your favorite day.



E) Essential item? My purse. I feel lost without it. I carry the one Rachel made for me and it is surprisingly roomy. Right now it contains my wallet, a camera, my phone, two packs of tissue, chapstick, hand sanitizer, lip gloss, sunglasses, a pot of bare minerals glee, and it still has room for more.



F) Favorite color? Green



G) Gummy bears or gummy worms? Gummy bears. Especially at Christmas when they carry the red, green, and clear assortment. That way I don't have to pick out the yucky yellow and orange ones.



H) Hometown? North Muskegon, MI



I) Indulgence? Ice Cream. Is it an indulgence if I have it everyday? Okay sometimes I run out and then wish I had it.



J) January or July? July. I like the winter but January is a let down month. You have to clean up Christmas and no more parties or fun earrings to wear. July is a little warm for me, especially here is KS but a swim is better than shoveling a driveway.



K) Kids? One



L) Life is incomplete without? My family.



M) Marriage date? May 31, 2003. No way was I going to be a June bride.



N) Number of siblings? Here we go. One full real sister, three step sisters, two step brothers, and two adopted half brothers. That makes nine of us and I am still the oldest.



O) Oranges or apples? I love the juicy oranges, but I hate dry one and mealy apples.



P) Phobias or fears? I am afraid of the cops. Who knows why. I hate when one drives by me. I am always sure he is looking to give me a ticket. Maybe it comes from the latest ticket where the cop followed me to check my license plate and found out I was 4 days expired.



Q) Quote? This is a new one I wrote in my scriptures a couple of years ago and stumbled onto again. I put it in 3 Nephi 11 (look it up to see why. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/11) Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. Winston Churchill



R) Reason to smile? Aidan



S) Season? Spring



T) Tag? Katie



U) Unknown fact about me? As a teenager I wanted to manage rock bands.



V) Vegetarian or oppressor of animal? I wish I could be a vegetarian. Heck I wish I could get Aidan to eat a vegetable.



W) Worst habit? Picking. I pick my callouses and pimples.



X) X-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasound. I like to see movement



Y) Your favorite food? My gut reaction is all of them.



Z) Zodiac sign? Taurus

And they are alive again

What a rollercoaster sea monkeys have turned out to be. I never emptied their tank hoping that maybe there were a few unhatched eggs in there. Sure shining there were. I hadn't looked at it since I wrote my they're dead post. But today I went to get something off the cabinet they sit on and there they were. Swimming around all different sizes. Probably ten of them happy as can be. So I fed them a little. I think last time I may have over fed them, but I doubt it since they were already dying off on me.

Apparently, their eggs hatch at different rates and these guys were just hold outs. But I tell you the tank was lifeless for days. Just thought I would give you an update. I would give you a picture but they are still too small to see real well with a camera.

Let me tell you about Thursday

We had big plans for Thursday night. But as usual with big plans they never go quite as you expect them to. We had tickets to see the Doobie Brothers and Chicago in concert live at this beautiful outdoor theater in Kansas City.

To tell the whole store let's go back to Wednesday night. On Wednesday night we had had some excitement. Tornadoes were ripping across Kansas and Matt was traveling. He was in the area that supposedly is more prone to such things. He had to sit in the hallway at his hotel. We also had tornado sirens going off here in Topeka. This was my first real threat of a tornado since we have moved here. So Aidan and I, without a basement, laid in the hallway under some blankets. They eventually lifted the warning and we were able to go to bed without harm. Thank God.

Unfortunately, a town about 2 hours from here got hit badly, especially the campus of K State.

Thursday morning we woke up to a normal looking world with a roof still over our heads and proceeded as usual. Matt came home just in time to go back out the door to the concert. The weather was looking bad, but a call to the theater assured the concert was still on. As we were driving out of our neighborhood we heard the sirens going off. We turned on the radio. Conditions were optimal for a tornado to hit our neighborhood. We decided to keep going because what could we do at home but get blown away.

We got to the concert and found our seats to be as far back as they could be but they were also right at center stage. It was actually quite nice. Aidan was so excited to see Chicago. He was dancing and jumping and clapping his hands. (he is a big Chicago fan from way back) Please excuse the stupid sideways baby. It was my first video.

Anyway, the Doobie Brothers came on and did a great job. Just as they were finishing the rain began. We waited 50 minutes in pouring rain and lightning with our ponchos on huddled with the rest of the audience under the covered walkways. Aidan was still awake. When Chicago finally came on the rain was still pouring. But I couldn't stand to be crowded anymore and neither could Aidan. So we stepped out and put Aidan under my poncho and we danced. Aidan then fell asleep. He didn't get to hear his favorite song, 25 or 6 to 4. But I had had enough. Wet and tired we headed out to our car, which was parked on grass which was now a muddy mess. The lightning was flashing, the road was a river, and I was wearing white pants.

Once safely in the car we had a fairly uneventful ride home. The lightning was beautiful. When we got home the house was still there but our bikes were moved. We found two notes on our door.

At first blush I was thankful that all of these people were looking out for us and our stuff. Then I read more carefully. First of all they only took our bikes ( the ladies husband told me that). I think the "misc. stuff" is the kid trailer on the back of one of them. We do have a couple of other things outside such as boxes of college text books, a table, Aidan's tricycle, Aidan's ride on toy, two strollers, a snow blower, and two air conditioners. Stuff that we are either giving away or had nowhere else to put. Since the incident I have been looking at the neighbors. Most of them keep their bikes outside, maybe a lawnmower, a kids pool or other kid toys. The only thing was that Matt had mowed the lawn and unchained our bikes and forgotten to chain them up again. But as my mom said "It doesn't matter, people aren't supposed to take your stuff." Amen. So I crammed Aidan's tric in the storage shed, put his ride on toy in the fenced in back yard, moved the strollers closer to the house and chained up the bikes.

The ladies husband did come over and say that the kids were taking the bikes down the road and she yelled and them and they dropped them and left. I guess what is bothering me is that somehow the note infers it is my fault that items were stolen. ( also their are spelling mistakes in the dumb thing)I do not believe that to be true. I walk by stuff left in yards everyday. I never take it. It never even occurred to me. I never look at peoples stuff and say oh that is nice, how about I make it mine. Never. I know that outside is not the ideal place to keep things. But with the down size it has become necessary for some things to go outside. Other things, such as the table and air conditioners are being sold or donated and awaiting pick up. I want to live in a safe neighborhood and all and I think we do for the most part. But I did not bring criminals here and I will not be blamed for them taking my stuff.

Okay, I have gone on long enough. Sorry. Just one more thought. I am disappointed in the criminals' attitude. It just goes to show that kids these days don't follow through on anything and have no stick-to-tiveness. They have no drive to succeed and be good at anything. I mean one little yell from some lady and they dropped the bikes and ran. Shameful. If you want to be a criminal for a living at least be good at it.

P.S. called the officer that left the note like he asked but he never called back. Don't know what that is all about.

They are dead

Well, they are all gone. My sea monkeys are dead. Not a single little swimmer is left. I am going to redeem my two year guarantee and get more. I should have known as the numbers dwindled that it was coming to an end. It was so exciting watching them grow. Now I have to start all over again and hope it works out. I am going to write a heart wrenching letter to the company. Maybe I will get some sea monkey medicine for free. I just want them to know that as a 32 year old woman I can handle this, but what if Helena's sea monkeys tank had not leaked and her sea monkeys had grown and she had gotten excited and then they died. What would a 4 year old do? This could affect her self esteem, her feelings of worth, her outlook on life and death. Do you think that will get me any exta bonus items? I am not exactly trying to play the system, but hey if the truth gets me a little something extra then so be it. So tomorrow I will write the letter. I will let you know how it all works out.

Sea Monkeys

I just wanted to let you all know that I got sea monkeys. I already love them. I have 8-10 of them. I had some when I was younger. Some friends and I bought some at a slumber party. Each week at church we would hand them off. Well, one week somebodies little sister knocked them over and that was the end of my sea monkeys.

I have them sitting up on a file cabinet and I only let Aidan look at them when I am holding them. I make sure they get sun and that I talk to them each day. Unbelievabley they have two year guarantee. They can grow to be 3/4" long and reproduce. Did you know that the female can reproduce with a male or by herself?

Disappointingly Matt won't look at them. I am so excited and he says "I don't believe they exsist." I am not sure how that works because they are in the tank. I am thinking about ordering the executive tank which apparently looks more grown up. They offer a variety of products. I am not sure all of them work. They have vitamins and emergency medicine (in case the little ones get sick and you can get it to them in time). They have these things called diamonds which they can play with. Do they need to play? Do they play in their natural environment?

The one thing that I don't understand is that you never have to change their water. You have to add more as the water evaporates but never clean it or anything. Matt asked what happens to their poop. I don't know. I would assume they eat it. Which is gross, but who knows.

For more information on my new pets www.sea-monkeys.com

"Peko" a little boys wonderland

Whether or not I like it, Topeka or is a little boys wonderland. We have more fun things here for him than I realized. At the edge of our subdivision is a railroad track. We have never actually made it to see a train there but we always hear them and if we look through our neighbor's carport we can see the train. Aidan always says "Take train Peko". (I have corrected him I don't know how many times, but it is like how he calls Helena Anie. I say Helena and he says Anie and we both know who we are talking about.) We did however see a train at the train station one day after we had lunch with Matt. It was a big long freight train with one car after another that looked just the same as the one before. But don't for a minute think we could leave before we saw the last car.

There is also a zoo and a Train at the park that the zoo is in. Now the Zoo is no huge fabulous thing but it takes about an hour to walk through and has all of the favorites. Lions, Zebras, Elephants, Giraffes and a petting zoo. We haven't done the train yet, but I think this week we will because there is also a play ground of giant cement animals to crawl on. Although we are supposed get up to 100 degrees this week. Whose idea of a joke is this? I honestly thought this only happened in June in places like South America.

Then across the street from our subdivision is Forbes Field. It is an airfield used for military planes mostly and it has a military air museum there. Very exciting stuff.



Then there is Heartland Park. Which is a raceway that is across the street from our subdivision. They had some sort of thing going on there this weekend and you could hear the drag racing. I am not a race fan, but maybe some day we will go. It is one of those things about it being so close you have a hard time paying to get in to see it. Sort of like living by the football field. Why go in when I can see the score board?

And one of our most favorite places is Lake Shawnee. Here in KS there are apparently not many natural lakes. So they have made them. ( I think part of it is that they have to train all of the army corp of engineers here or something.) My dad says they do this in Idaho as well. Lake Shawnee is beautiful. There is a walking trail most of the way around it. There is plenty of fishing spots for Matt and Aidan. (even a heated area for winter fishing) There are peddle boats that we tried out on Saturday. ($3 for a half hour)

Aidan and I have been exploring the trail and finding playgrounds and geese and checking out the water. I like to go across the dam and look at the spillway. When we cross the dam we can see the road way down below and Aidan likes to look for trucks down there.

(Sorry some of these pics are blurry. I was taking them at dusk with the night setting on. But you get the idea.)

Okay I think I like the place well enough to stay. Besides where my eternal companion is is home. I just hope home never goes any farther south because I am a Swede who will "melt like butter" if it gets any warmer.