Sunday 20 June 2010

Busy Weekend


I missed blogging yesterday. I've come to the conclusion that I just don't have enough to say to blog every day, so I won't!

I had a busy weekend, the weather was cooperative. I have a large pool of standing water at the bottom of the hill in my backyard. There were a couple of ducks as well. Can hardly wait for the mosquitoes.

Saturday, Erin and I went to the Farmer's Market. I was going to buy a cute charm made from a Scrabble tile. I had set it down to get money out of my purse when a women reached around me and grabbed it. Really rude!!

Saturday went to a Kernels game with Emily and family. It was a nice night with fireworks after the game.

Sunday Emily, Grady, Sarah, and Nathan and I went to Toy Story. It was just as good as the others. Very cute! We saw the 3D verson, but I don't think the 3D added that much to it.

As usual, I didn't do any house cleaning. So sad!

Friday 18 June 2010

Gotta Love It

The weather has been the big story here today. Two storms with very impressive clouds and lots of rain and some damage to roofs and trees but no tornadoes or injuries to people. Here's some representative video of the clouds.



You gotta love the Midwest!

Thursday 17 June 2010

Another New Job

I have another new job. I worked at one place for 26 years and now I'm on my fourth job since 2000.

I'm again a working as a nurse practitioner at county public health agency. It's nice to get away from hospital nursing's irregular hours, weekends and holidays and the endless micro management by email.

Right now I'm working mostly in the STD and immunization clinics. People are helpful and friendly, the pay and benefits are very good. Maybe this will be my last job.

Tuesday 15 June 2010

My New Toy

I got my iPad today. It's so cool, just like a giant iPhone without the phone. Having fun figuring it all out.

Sent from my iPad

Monday 14 June 2010

Today's prompt: What are the five best bands

Today's prompt:

What are the five best bands you've seen play live?

The Lettermen
at UNI 1970, before Richard

Peter, Paul, and Mary (twice)
in the 80's, once with kids, once without

Simon and Garfunkel (twice)
1967 Coe College in Cedar Rapids after their first hit Sound of Silence
in St. Paul, MN, reunion tour 2005

I'm so BORING!

Sunday 13 June 2010

Wet Sunday


OK, enough rain already! Still hot and humid. My yard looks like a jungle, it never gets dry enough to mow. My hibiscus loves it, thinks it is living in a tropical climate. Guess that's life in Iowa.

Spent my day thinking about cleaning house and finding reasons not to, watched a movie, A Serious Man, ho hum.

But the highlight of the day was the return of True Blood, just love that show, so much better than the Twilight series.

Saturday 12 June 2010

Running the Flood

Today I walked in a fundraiser to raise money for flood recovery. If you're not an Iowa person, you may not recall that in 2008 the Cedar River flooded the city and surrounding areas with record setting water levels. So much damage is still apparent even after two years. It as dark and cloudy but the rain stayed away until the walk was over. The air was very warm and humid. But any pounds I sweated off were replaced by the big breakfast we had after.

I'm very fortunate that my neighborhood is on a hill safe from the flooding.

Friday 11 June 2010

I spent the day at a meeting about strategies

I spent the day at a meeting about strategies to combat resistant gonorrhea. Aren't you glad I decided to blog every day this month!

Thursday's bog prompt-

If you could go back in time and meet your 16-year-old self, what three things would you tell yourself?

1. You will marry the love of your life and your life together will be good

2. You will find a job/profession that you love.

3. You are not fat and don't smoke so you won't have to go through hell when you're trying to quit at age 37.

Thursday 10 June 2010

Good News: I won this jade plant today at work


Good News:
I won this jade plant today at work. It was part of a raffle for Relay for Life. I never win stuff.

Bad News
I burned the back of my throat eating a beet that was hotter than I thought. It really hurts! Ibuprofen!

Wednesday 9 June 2010

Today's blog prompt: Japanese lore


Today's blog prompt:

Japanese lore suggests that if you fold 1,000 paper cranes, your wish will come true. What would your wish be, and what would you be willing to do 1,000 times to get it?

My wish would be to have Richard back and I'd do just about anything to make that happen. I guess that's more a fantasy or a dream than a real wish.

Tuesday 8 June 2010

It's really depressing to read all the stuff

It's really depressing to read all the stuff on the oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf. The pictures of the oil coated birds just break your heart.

Poor President Obama. First he inherits a tanking economy and now this. I really don't know what people expect him to do to fix this, I'm not sure that it's fixable.

Interesting...

Monday 7 June 2010

I Want One


Have you seen the new iPhone? So extremely cool!

Check out the FaceTime app.

Sunday 6 June 2010

Exercise

Walked a 5K today. It was a promotion by Weight Watchers. No fee, no timing, and no tee shirt.

It was a beautiful day and a lot of people turned out. Oddly it was held in a cemetary which really was a beautiful setting with all the Memorial Day flowers and very little traffic.

Saturday 5 June 2010

Saturday


Cloudy and hot and humid today. I went to watch Grady play soccer since it was his last game for this season. He scored a goal but keep in mind these are four and five year olds.

Then to the first farmers market of the season, got some new potatoes and beets and a monster cookie and a kolache. That was my excitement.

Friday 4 June 2010

Thursday 3 June 2010

Pomp and Circumstance

I have big plans for the weekend! I'm attending my grandson's preschool graduation. Each graduate gets 4 guests and I'm fortunate enough to be one of them.

About 32 years ago I attended my son's preschool graduation. He was not one to enjoy group singing and he stood with his back to the audience while the group sang. I have a picture somewhere....

Wednesday 2 June 2010

My Favorite Poem


Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
by the incomparable Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.
And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.
Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.
No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.
I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.
And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.
But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.
You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!



Tuesday 1 June 2010

When I Grow Up...

I'm trying to blog every day this month, so far so good. NaBloPoMo is offering " writing prompts" to give, we, or is it us, bloggers food for thought. Today's is:

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I never had a clue about what I wanted to be when I grew up until after I grew up.

I liked science in elementary school. I remember having a chemistry set, but most of the experiments required heating something with a candle and my mother hid the matches. I also remember making some type of barometer with modeling clay and ink, real ink like for fountain pens, the kind that stains permanently. It didn't end well.

When I went to college the first time at age 18, all my friends were going to be teachers so I thought why not and graduated with BS in biology, teaching. The best thing about college was all the fun I had and meeting Richard.

We got married, he became a teacher, and I had the kids. Richard was a great teacher, it was his life's work and he was very good at it.

Eventually in search of a "mindless" job to get me out of the house, I got a job as a CNA in our small local hospital. I was inspired by the nurses I worked with to eventually go to nursing school where I found my life's work. Better late than never!

Today I started a new job as a nurse practitioner in public health. I'm excited to be excited about going to work and doing something new. I haven't felt that since Richard died and I guess that's a hopeful sign.