Just a really pretty rose that Bethany bought that was sitting around our house and I felt compelled to take a picture of. I mean, of which I felt compelled to take a picture.

Meet Lucy

I know I've been away for awhile. I've either been uninspired or very busy. But I shall now try to update you. Let's see - first off, I'd like to introduce you to Lucy, a friend that sticketh closer than... well, very close. This has got to be the second best gift I've ever received in my life (the first is much smaller and doesn't photograph well... oh, and the trip to Madagascar, that was right up there, but this is definitely in the top 3) I got Lucy several weeks ago and let me just say, she was MADE for people like me. I could go on and on and on extolling her virtues. But I don't want to bore you too much. As I see it, driving requires your utmost and careful attention to at least 3 main categories: 1) staying alive (and promoting that idea for those in close proximity as well), 2) watching many and varied road signs, exit numbers, etc, and 3) following meticulously written directions. Well, what Lucy has done for me is virtually eliminated the need for my attention to be divided among the 3 categories as she takes care of the last 2, and I, therefore, can channel all my energy and mental capacity towards staying alive. It really is a beautiful things. I've driving in Columbus, OH twice with her with minimal difficulty and for those who know me well, you know how phenomenal that is. She has so many wonderful little features as well. She can find all sorts of things to eat and do in a particular place, always tells you how far to your next turn, and your arrival time is always displayed in the bottom left corner. When I drive that number gets smaller and smaller and when Dave drives that number gets bigger and bigger. = ) Okay, I don't usually beat it by that much, but I don't generally loose time either. Now I shall stop boring you with tales of Lucy. Oh wait, I have one more. I don't know if this will be even remotely funny in written format but it sure hit me funny. When Dave drives my car, he gets in on the joys of Lucy as well. He is very impressed by her ability to display exit number and I think overall he feels fondness for her. But a bit threatened as well maybe? One time we were driving and he said, "you know, it's weird, when I drive places, I'm used to looking at the map, getting the directions all figured out, and now... (picture slightly downtrodden expression, lip sticking out) ... Lucy's in charge." = I And I laughed and said... (picture female figure dancing with glee and joy) ... YES! LUCY'S IN CHARGE!!!" = ) = ) = ) Okay, you probably had to be there. Okay, I gotta run, I'm scheduled to head out of town to go see oh, a friend of mine, for the weekend. We're looking forward to a weekend in Cincy again. Talk to you all later.

real quick here....

I have lots to say but no time to say it in. So I'll try to get a real post on here one of these days. But for now, here's another picture. Are you sick of these yet? Well, there is a visible ring, so there ya go. Happy Robyn? = ) More later.

So yeah, sorry this has taken so crazy long and now that most of you know already... I am engaged as of Saturday! The weekend has been absolutely nuts and blogging hasn't been my top priority, so you have my apologies.... = ) Anyway, just wanted to let you know and we don't know details yet. And I'm way too tired to form any more rational thoughts. Have a wonderful day!! Oh, I wanted to post a picture as well, hopefully soon....

So...

Below are pictures of a quick little side trip to Louisiana last weekend. Had a fabulous time. Updating this blog is my reward for getting 5 things done on my list. I would die without a list. It anchors me to reality since I never know where I am - or something like that. So other than trying to get my list done ... not much is going on. Oh here's a happy tale. Elise - I was working on my whatever it would be flat tire. Number 5 or 6. Anyway, my tire had a leak and I couldn't keep it full. Actually, it was pulling to the right really badly all the way home from Ohio and I assumed it was the wind. Duh. Got home and it was nearly flat. Anyway, On Tues. I took it in to the place that does my oil changes and the like - they patch tires - and they said they couldn't see anything and I would have to take it to a tire place. So I took it to the Tire Barn today after work and guess what they did!! They fixed it. And guess what else. FOR FREE!! Ya, and Grandpa always said nuthin was really free. But today I found something that was. So, I WIN! And you, my friend, can go first in double jeopardy.

Oh, I'm really excited about a conference I get to go to tomorrow. The speaker wrote one of my text books we used in the social work program and she's an expert of sorts on understanding poverty and the hidden rules of lower, middle, and upper class. So I get to get paid to listen to her talk all day. And since I'm not in bed right now, I'll probably sleep through part of it. I think I had something else to say, but for the life of me, I can't remember what. So I guess I'll just say good night and sign off.

Random pictures for your enjoyment, or endurement, or something

The capital building

Mississippi River

Don't tell God, but I'm sorta proud of this picture. Okay, that's probably the dumbest thing I've ever said, but I tried to line it up so you could see the ledge and the waffle looking thing and then I was happy cause I think it sorta worked. Or maybe not. Who knows.

How could I be so dumb?

My WONDERFUL and AMAZING and SELFLESS and GENEROUS and CARING and COMPASSIONATE and KIND and EMOTIONALLY STABLE and FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE friend Bethany has ever so graciously agreed to drive me to the airport, even unto picking me up at an unmentionable hour late into the night. Words cannot express my gratitude. Where would I be without her? Probably on my way to Mexico in search of the Columbus airport.

(see comments on previous post)

P.S. It's true, she is financially responsible. She should write a book. I would buy it if I had any money on hand at the time.

still uninspired

So I thought I'd wander on here and say HI. I still don't feel terribly inspired. But why should that stop me from talking. Well, first off, I'm so crazy excited for my sister and crew having a girl that I could plant a begonia in the back yard!!!!!! Well anyway, for those few who don't know what I'm talking about, my sister, after having 3 adorable boys, just birthed one of the female variety. There has been much rejoicing in the streets. Now I know it's not at all about me, but can I just say that when Jenni told me all calmly that it was a girl, I just freaked out. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry or scream so I think I did a little bit of all 3 at the same time. I just could not believe it. Well then I was flying high and called my friend down south soon after that. I guess lately when I've talked to him on the phone it's been in the evening and I've been crazy tired and half falling asleep. He made the comment, "Jenni should have a girl every day! It's really fun talking on the phone." So then my overactive imagination started picturing it - one year, 365 girls, 3 years, over 1000 girls... Dr. Zielke, I'm baaaaaack. Okay, so it's not that funny anymore but at the time, it hit me really funny. And I'm guessing it would get old really fast. Okay, what else.... I worked so crazy much overtime last week that I have time off this week so I'm taking a little side trip down south. Yeay! Looking forward to that a lot. Okay, that's about all that's new with me. I just have to survive the next few really crazy days at work. Adios for now.

for your viewing pleasure....

My fabulous friend Sue who is usually in Russia, but we both managed to be in Indiana before Christmas.

These pictures are all out of order because I accidentally deleted a bunch of them in the posting process. So, we went for a walk on the lake Christmas day and it was snowing the sunset was really pretty.

I got some really blue candy canes for Christmas.

Happy New Year (is that unoriginal enough?)

Okay, I apologize to the 2 of my fans who have been clamoring for an update for a long time now. What can I say, life is crazy. = ) So anyway, I'm feeling completely and utterly unmotivated and uninspired at the moment and don't know where to start or what you want to hear. Christmas break was phenomenal - parts of it were phenomenally awful, but at least it was always phenomenal. Most of this feels like old news by now and most of you probably already heard the story, so anyway, I'll be brief. The plan was to head from Iowa up to International Falls the Friday before Christmas (that would be by air) and then drive from the Falls and get to Red Lake in the afternoon. We got up at 3 to drive to the airport and were dropped off there and standing in line for quite some time when were finally informed that all flights were canceled due to bad weather. So Dave's dad came back and picked us up and we loaded all the luggage back into the car and then started driving. The plan was to drive to Minneapolis to see if we could catch a stand by flight up to the Falls. So once we got there, we unloaded our obscene amount of luggage and dragged it for what seemed like miles - turned out we were at the completely wrong terminal so we were taking trains and such things to get to where we needed to be and after finally arriving at the desk, the lady told us there were other people in front of us in line and there was a slim chance we'd get on the flight. So Dave tried to get money back for our tickets which turned out to be a lengthy process and then we loaded up all our luggage and again dragged it the miles to the car. Loaded it all up and continued to drive for what seemed like 18 hundred years. The further north we got, we experienced some snow and nasty roads. And Dave thought the 502 was a cultural experience (for you Red Lakers). So anyway, we arrived in Red Lake at 3 in the morning, 24 hours after we got up that morning. When things got really miserable was when we were both so tired it was very difficult for one of us to stay awake to drive. But anyway, then we had a fun time with family and then I got sick Christmas eve and struggled with said illness for the reminder of the trip. It frequently felt as though a knife was lodged between my throat and left ear, in case anyone was wondering. Driving from the falls back to Iowa I felt very not well and yeah, I've had more fun on other days of my life. We spent time with Dave's family in Iowa and got to see Leonard and Twila which was fun. We were delayed one day heading back to Indiana due to weather and then when we finally did head back, we got a very flat tire in Chicago. Which seemed really fitting, somehow. Anyway, we did have a lot of fun despite all the unplanned adventure. And like I said, I'm feeling very uninspired, so maybe I'll just post some pictures and relieve you of having to read this any longer.

I sense a trend...

... all the fans clamour for an update and then someone humbly acquiesces to their pleading and then the fans whine because the update didn't contain enough juicy details. All I have to say about that is, get used to disappointment people! (I mean that in a really friendly, unsnotty way) So, real quick here, to update you on my life - 2 things stand out in my mind that for some very strange reason, I'm going to tell you. The first is that (and I have no idea why I'm admitting this to cyberspace) I think for the first time since I have no idea when, last weekend I was in my pajamas for 48 hours. I didn't leave the house from Friday night till Monday morning. I did a bunch of running around on Friday so I wouldn't have to on Saturday. Then church was canceled Sunday morning due to ice all over. Oh, they weren't the same PJ's by the way. And also, lest this paint a picture of one lounging about doing nothing, that was not at all the case. I was busy the whole time, just didn't leave the house. I sorta feel like I've been on a dead run since before Thanksgiving and I'm so ready to relax a bit. Every day and evening has been packed full and then I sleep a little bit and get up and do it again. Ah well, I'm sure everyone is running around in a million directions right now. I'm so excited to be heading up to Red Lake in a week! Oh yeah, the other thing I wanted to mention is that I can make fudge and my sister can't. tee hee. Okay, in all honesty, if she used the recipe I do, she would have no problem - it's worked many times for me. But you know, she's just so good at everything so I felt like pointing that out. That was one of the things I did over the weekend and then I took some into work this week and the ladies went on and on and on and on about how amazing it was. It was actually Sondra's recipe, so hail to the great fudge goddess. Oh, I am so very tired. Last night we had the annual Christmas party for all the families we serve (at work). Today and tomorrow were/are also work parties. And Tomorrow night some of us are going to Ft. Wayne to help a friend celebrate the end of her scholastic achievements - she's graduating college. Oh, today for the work shindig, we went out for lunch and I ate a monte cristo. Okay, I've never had one in my life. Probably everyone else in North America knows this already - but what an odd experience that was! I mean it tasted good, but it was like an elephant ear with meat. And I guess for those of you not from the Midwest, you probably have no idea what an elephant ear is - fair food - fried dough with sugar -very good. Anyway, I've just never had a deep fried, powdered sugared sandwich before. Have all of you? Okay, I'm now going to end this boring, rambly post. Don't expect to hear anything for a long time - I'm going to be freezing myself into into a solid block of ice. Merry Christmas!!!!

It's like this...

.... I had every intention of posting, but life is totally crazy right now. I know, that's just the nature of December and all. But at the moment I'm trying to work 11 hour days to make up for some time off last week, which was very worth it, by the way. But I'm just sorta wasted right now. And I'm in the middle of putting up a very odd looking roommate with my tree but she's talking on the phone right now and I'm interior at hanging beads so here I am. Let's see - I had a really nice Thanksgiving break. Then I came home and life has been nuts. The thing I did want to mention was the Amish play I want to Friday night. I think I've mentioned before that my roommate bought season tickets and I inherited some from a friend. So we've been going to these mediocre plays for awhile and this was the last one - "What Christmas." I'd have to say it was by far the best so far, but I'd also have to say that that would not take much AT ALL. My roommate and I were tired so I think things seemed funnier than they really were. But we laughed a lot throughout the evening. First of all, we didn't leave early enough so we were sorta scrambling to get to the play in time after eating our 5th Threshers Dinner of the season. Okay, so it's nearly sold out and this particular theater - oh my - they absolutely PACK you in like sardines. There are these long long long rows of chairs smashed together with little to no walking room in between rows. So as fate would have it, we're sitting smack dab in the middle of this hideously long row and we are some of the last people to sit down. Oh boy - so we start the trek - pardon me, excuse me, sorry about your foot, oops, hope your toe's okay - oh blood, gross... Okay, so at one point I totally lost my balance and I was inches from this older lady who was sitting down and I knew if I didn't do something I'd end up in her lap. So I just put my hand out and "fell" upon her shoulder. And I'm standing there trying to regain my balance and apologizing and still leaning on her. And she was so friendly about the whole ordeal. But when I got to my seat I laughed till I cried. I'm sure you had to be there. It's just one of those really odd things... Then once we got seated I was looking around and realized that the average age in the building was probably about 87. There were seniors there by the dozens and there we sat. Another thing that was interesting about this play - in the past we've been sort of surprised by some of the content of these plays - nothing terrible, but just not what you would expect from a "Round Barn Theater." Well, this particular play had very little questionable content, but at one point one of the actresses yelled, "WHAT the H**L ... " and there was this collective gasp in the audience. We thought that was pretty funny considering previous plays there. And then at the end of the play, there was this fake snow everywhere. It just poured from the heavens and then I looked at the lady sitting next to me and after checking her pulse, I saw that there was this white stuff just piled sky high in her hair. And then I lost it again. And I was covered in the stuff but for some reason hardly any of it was landing on my roommate - how does that work? Anyway, the whole evening was just very funny. Probably unlike this post and for that I apologize. On the way home, we went to 2 stores and shopped till 1 in the morning and that would be when I started my Christmas shopping. The following day which would be Saturday, I continued the endeavor and there was this nasty snow and ice storm here that day. When I went to drive home, my car had been parked for a couple hours and the ice was so thick I couldn't get it off for anything. I was spraying de-icer but it was doing nothing. Some nice soul came and helped me eventually. And the defrost was useful as well. Okay, I think that's all I have to say now. I'm going to resume decorating the very very odd looking tree. Merry Early Christmas!

More stuff to thrill and bless Rhonda

Here's what they did...

Here's what I did....

.... Because Mennonites aren't supposed to leave the kitchen. Actually, I preferred the kitchen this morning to raking leaves. So they raked and I made some food and used my tablecloth from Madagascar which I thought Rhonda might like to see. I guess that's all for now.

alarm clocks, cranky restaurant patrons, and other items that will thrill and bless you

Okay, now I shall tell you why my new alarm clock is indeed a dream machine just like it states on the front. 2 things - first of all, it KNOWS things. I plugged it in for the first time and voila!! the exact and correct time is displayed! I let out a startled yelp. Okay, I was pleasantly surprised. The other exciting feature - well, you know when you are setting your alarm - if you want to get up 15 minutes earlier than the morning before, you have to go through the whole 60 number (or I guess 45) to get back to 15 minutes earlier. And when setting my alarm, I frequently go one hour or a few minutes past where I want to be and then have to sit there and go through the whole thing again. Sometimes several times on a bad day. I'm sure I've wasted hours of my life doing that. Well, this new little friend of mine has this fancy shmancy dial like button - one way is forward, one way is backward, and there you have it. It takes seconds to correct accidentally jumping ahead too far. I'm sure it's not nearly as exciting reading about it as it is actually experiencing it. But lest you think the new little guy is completely angelic, let me tell you, he does have a bit of a mean streak. It will randomly throughout the night and early morning hours, burst into this very highly annoying static noise. So we're going to have a little chat about that and then hopefully moving the cell phone will help that as well. Okay, that's my pilgrimage with my new alarm clock.

So, tonight I went out to eat with my wonderful friend Patti and it was quite theatrical. I'll just give you the highlights. So, apparently the restaurant had just been busier than it had been in months, and frankly, they just weren't prepared (as overheard by manager to patron). So there was this couple sitting close by and when there food came - oh my - the displeasure was readily apparent and quite venomous. He stated that they had waited an hour and the food was not what they ordered and he wasn't about to eat it, etc. etc. Someone came out to talk to them, followed shortly thereafter by the manager. I think in the end they got the food for free and ate it in somber contemplation of the fact that life here on earth is not as it should be. What followed was the manager perusing about the restaurant apologizing for the terrible service and handing out free stuff. Now, can I just say, I realise when you go out to eat you are paying for a service and have some expectation of what that service should look like. And I can see having a civilized discussion with the powers that be if that service is excessively flawed. But there is something that really gets on my nerves about people who are really cranky and obnoxious about restaurant food and service. I mean, for Pete's sake - it's FOOD people. Here in North America there isn't exactly a shortage. In light of eternity, will it really matter if you didn't eat exactly what you wanted or had to wait a little longer than planned. In 5 years will it matter? Will it matter tomorrow? I mean, there are some things in this world worth getting all bent out of shape over, but in my very humble estimation, this is not one of them. But I'm sure you will be happy to correct me if I'm wrong. What do you think? Oh, I almost forgot. So when we were paying and preparing to leave, the waitress brought back the little book thing with the bill and my credit card was um, NOT there - not at all even a little bit. So we got her attention and told her and she started frantically searching all her waitress pockets. And it wasn't there either. And the kid close by cleaning tables was amused by all the drama. So she goes to the back to look for my credit card. The kid comes back and starts asking if she found it and saying how bad it would be if she lost it and he didn't see it back there anywhere. Fun stuff. Then she eventually comes back with it and tell me she dropped it on the floor in the back and someone picked it up. I can't say that's ever happened to be before in a restaurant.

In other news - I'm so glad it's Friday and I'm looking forward to the fact that I don't have a lot to do tomorrow. Last weekend I was all excited about the 3 day weekend, but I just ran around like a chicken the whole time. Or talked on the phone. To my sister. Anyway, this weekend I don't have as much to do and that makes me happy. I've been compulsively making lists and running around madly for what seems like a long time so tomorrow I think I'm going to find a spot on the ceiling and stare at it for a long long time. Okay, well, I think I'm going to provide you some relief from my boring thoughts and go to bed or something. Hope your weekends are off to a wonderful start!

some random tid bits

So, my alarm clock has finally given up the ghost. It's let me down the last 2 mornings. That's when I started getting suspicious. Oh well, the thing really didn't keep good time anyway - it would get over eager and within a day or week or so of setting it, it would usually be about 10 minutes fast. I don't know how love I've had it, but I think the one I had before it was pink and white. I bought its successor tonight at Kmart (not Walmart, Sheldon). sniff.

Today I went to a visit and they weren't home and I stood outside in the pouring rain and got completely and utterly drenched. That probably was not interesting at all, but I told you anyway.

This week is much less frantic at work. That's nice. So I actually have a free evening and I'm sitting at the computer dwindling my life away...

I thought I had more exciting news, but I really don't. Oh, here's an update. I think in my last post I was all excited because I had Friday off and I had a long list and I was going to get my list all done on Friday and then have the rest of the weekend to relax? Yeah, well, you know when I actually got my list done? At about 1:30 Saturday morning. That's right. But there's no way I was going to leave cleaning till Sunday so I was cleaning the bathroom at 1 in the morning. Oh well, I did get a lot accomplished this weekend. My room is more organized than its been in years. Okay, I'm feeling boring now so I'm going to go. Hope you are all having a fabulous start to your week!

Happy Fall!

This last picture was my attempt at being artsy - Anyway, thought I'd drop by and say Hello. Myself and a couple friends went to Ohio last weekend to visit friends who used to live in town. We had a great time (I realize that was a terribly uncreative sentence, but I'm very very tired so don't expect much). Saturday afternoon we went biking on this trail and the scenery was quite pretty. The only thing that wasn't pretty was that one of our bikes had very little air in the tire and was a bit large for any of us to successfully maneuver without a great deal of physical exertion. So we rotated that bike and it was sort of like circuit training or something. On the way home, there were these cop cars with lights flashing in the middle of the road. So can I just say - animals are SOOOOOOOO DUMB!! Anyway, we get up to all the excitement and here there was a deer sitting on all fours in the middle of the road. Then the poor (but very dumb) animal tries to move and here all 4 legs are broken and he's shuffling alone but can't stand up at all! Now I think animals who chase moving vehicles are really dumb, but at the same time, it was quite a pathetic sight. There was a very beat up looking vehicle and a girl watching the deer and crying... just like a scene out of ... I guess I'm not sure. Anyway, while I'm on the subject of dumb animals, yesterday I so nearly hit a cat while I was driving about. The thing was just barreling for my tires. HELLLLLO!!! What is with these mammals? It's like they stop and ponder, "I've lived a good life, I'd make a tasty stew, yeah, lets go for it!" I slammed on my breaks, closed my eyes, and waited for the thud, but the stupid thing must have missed my tire by inches. Okay, that is all my animal stories. In other news, I worked enough overtime on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week to take tomorrow completely off and I can't describe to you how happy that makes me. Tuesday I worked about 12.5 hours and that's just a little long in my humble opinion. I think that's all for now.

Well, I suppose I should say something...

... but I don't know what. Tonight myself and friend and neighbour went for a walk around 5:00. Well, the posted time for trick or treating was 5 - 7. And they say we're socialists up in Canada? Here they actually tell you what night and time you can go trick or treating! But I digress. So in our little community, it was like walking amidst hoards of trick or treaters. There was basically no traffic and, well, it was rather entertaining. But it sounded like a better story in my head.

So, I just have to say that boys and girls are very very different when it comes to food. Here's an excerpt from a recent phone conversation that probably also sounds much better in my head. I was asking him about various eating habits and he was saying he's pretty easy to please and doesn't require a lot of variety. So I say: How many items to you have in your fridge right now? And he says: Three - milk, orange juice, and mayo. And I say: YOU ONLY HAVE THREE ITEMS IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR???? And he says (as though it's common knowledge that the refrigerator police have recently issued a 4 item limit): Well YEAH, cause I just ran out of spinach! Okay, I don't know if you find that funny at all, but I did. On the other hand, I have a lot of things in the fridge, but sadly, most of them can be proceeded by the words rotten, stale, or moldy. It's a very very bad habit. I think - this is it! I'm buying healthy stuff and I'm actually going to cook. So I buy it, stick it in the fridge. Then I come home from work tired and cranky and eat cereal for supper. sigh. Okay, well, I know this didn't say much, but now you've heard from me. Oh yeah, one more thing -- I have a sweater that says "Knit in Mongolia, finished in China." Is that weird? Oh, and one more thing - while talking to my adorable nieces on the phone the other day: (loosly translated phone conversation with 5 year old)
S - Are your kids home?
R - Do I have any kids?
S - Um, I don't think so, but maybe you should look around just to make sure!
R - (laughing a lot) - Okay, I'll have to check.
S - (laughing now as well) I just made that up just now!
(ya don't say!) Well, I have been looking around, but I haven't come up with anything so far.

Since a couple people are clamoring for an update...

... let's see - as far as my life goes, well, there's work, there's not work, there's sleep, which is what I should be doing now. There was a very good trip last weekend to spend some time with a guy named Dave. We had a lot of fun hanging out in Cincinnati and stayed with his grandparents. So here's some pictures. good night.

If I don't get comments on this post, I'm closing my account and never blogging again.

There's a bug on the windowsill (somewhere I'm sure)

* Yesterday I very heartily stubbed the bottom of my toe and got a blood blister. I thought about posting a picture of it to see if it would draw as many comments as Robyn's baby. But I don't like disappointment.

* Tonight some friends went out for supper. We laughed till tears were streaming down my face. And we couldn't stop. And more and more things were funny. But to try to explain them here would not be funny at all, so it's not a very interesting story.

* I got some insurance papers that indicated what my medical bills might be regarding my ER trip. And I'm very bitter and disillusioned with the American health care system. Basically, you pay money 2ce a month for insurance so that when you actually need them, they can do their very best to not have to give you anything. I saw a bumper sticker recently that said "Our national health care plan: Don't get sick!" And it made my little Canadian head smile. But I'll stop before I start making people mad.

* I really like my co-workers a lot. We have some of the best times at work. Today we laughed and talked a lot. Oh yeah, and did some work. It's great to work with friends.

* I'm very very tired and slightly cranky, so I'm going to go to bed now. Hope everyone is having a great week!