Dating Montage

Lucky ladies that find these guys!

Rick's Thrill Ride!

Each year on the day after Thanksgiving there's a phenomena called Black Friday - where everyday normal people turn into crazed shoppers. Guess what? It's happens at Lowes Motor Speedway too! NASCAR teams bring their merchandise to the race track for some end of the race year deals. To encourage buying, Lowes Motor Speedway offers shoppers a chance to drive your own vehicle around the racetrack for 3 laps when you spend at least $50. I knew Rick wouldn't pass it up - in fact LMS probably could have told him, he needed to spend 3x that and he would have jumped on it. Of course you need to sign a waiver and they gave you a set of rules - but it didn't take long to realize that rules were meant to be 'bent'. On paper you weren't supposed to go over 70mph. The official on pit row told us that we would be driving at least 90mph. In reality, 90mph was the speed going into the high banked turns. And it was over 100mph on the straight-aways. I was in the back seat screaming my head off, the dogs were shaking and Colson was laughing his head off in the front seat watching Rick live out a fantasy. I was happy for Rick. I'm sure he'll be back.

A Trip to be Thankful for!

The week of Thanksgiving, Rick and I took a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit our daughter, Katie, and her fiance, Colson. We drove the 15 hours over 2 days to get there. We've done this before and it is a beautiful drive through Kentucky and Tennessee, and of course North Carolina. There were several memorable moments during the trip so I'm going to post the events of the trip over a few days.

Today I'll start with going to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Katie wanted to take her dad there for his birthday, Nov. 24. If you check out the website http://www.nascarhall.com/ it looks really cool! Race cars, memorabilia, interactive features and there's a restaurant too. You can purchase your tickets online to save yourself from waiting in line. When you pull into the parking garage there's a sign for early bird parking - park before 9:00am for only $7. There's only one problem....this place doesn't open until May 2010. So I took a picture of Katie and Rick standing under the sign 'Opening May 2010'. Katie is giving the 'thumbs up'.

It was pretty funny if you were there. We were all so excited temporarily.

I LOVE A PARADE!

... especially the kind of parade that evokes the image of 'Americana'! Every year on the second weekend of September, the city of Marion, Iowa hosts a series of events as part of the Swamp Fox Festival. The festival includes a variety of activities with music, food, a craft show, a 5K run/walk, golfing, picnicking and a parade!
The Swamp Fox Festival draws it's name from Marion's namesake, Revolutionary War hero, Francis Marion. I don't know how long the festival has been in existence but what I do know is the parade meets all the expectations of parade-goers!
There is a stream of wacky vehicles, clowns, a shower of candy being tossed from parade participants, a marching band, political candidates passing out leaflets and the Shriner's Foot Patrol!
We attended the parade this year to watch my 77 year old mother-in-law ride her bike, along with others from the Marion Physical Therapy office. Weather permitting, she rides her bicycle several miles a day so riding the length of the parade route was a piece of cake for her and her side-kick, Pansi. Pansi is her 2 year old Yorkie that sits in the front basket and watches the world go by her.
The weather was perfect for the parade. We had a great time and here are the pictures to prove it!

Canoe Adventure 2009

CANOE ADVENTURE 2009

Wow! I can't believe it's been 2 1/2 months since I posted anything! Somebody say something! It's hard to remember when and what I've posted when I also have a facebook page. Do you want to be my facebook friend? Invite me! My husband can't keep any of these things straight so he calls it Spacebook. Our family canoe trips have been resurrected. 15 years ago we did the trip on the Maquoqeta River and at times there would be 35 canoes. This year there were only 11 canoes afloat. The picture is from August 15 - a family canoe trip on the Upper Iowa River. We came upon a small pool that was fed by a cold stream. It was 35 degrees in that thing! As the canoe got closer to it my feet could feel the frigid water on the bottom of the canoe. Most everyone took turns getting in the cold water - just for the fun of it. Why not?? We were all pretty silly that day. Rick and I dumped our canoe once - and I lay the blame totally on him. We started going underneath a tree branch that was laying out across the river and I leaned way back. i.e. Rick didn't and the canoe went sideways in the rapids until it went over and soaked us, all our stuff and the 2 little girls, Lucy and Daisy. We didn't lose anything like others did that also dumped their canoes. Kyle and Jessica lost a cooler (which I'm pretty sure was empty at that point). Casie and Brecke dumped their canoe and Brecke lost her purse (on a canoe?) and her diabetic paraphernalia. They replaced her meds at Walmart that night so all is well. It was a great trip and I hope we can do it again next year!

bead and button mini

No - this isn't Milwaukee and we aren't at the Bead and Button show. These pics were taken in the studio of Cristina Leonard before her and Anne Mitchell departed for Wisconsin. Anne lives in Tuscon but stops at Cristina's studio on her way to the big show in Wisconsin - making more cool things to sell!







Cris has more hammers than Home Depot.





Even though I couldn't make it to the show in Milwaukee, I had my own little bit of fun in Cedar Rapids. During a quiet period at Bead Haven yesterday, I got out hammers and made a few fun pieces. My 'Whatever' bracelet was made for the Bead Star competition - which made it into the finals but I won't hear where it placed for another couple of weeks. The other two disks were made yesterday. The pics aren't the greatest - if you can't read them, the one on the left reads 'One Day At A Time'. The disk on the right reads ' Singing My Own Song'. I love hammers! At Bead Haven, you can experience the joy of metal and hammers during the 'Metal Forming & Acid Etching class'.

Mother's Day

In case you haven't read my 2009 Mother's Day Tribute - here it is again.

All That I Am.

While watching television one night, a commercial appeared for a product I don’t even remember.What made the commercial memorable is the comment made by the spokeswoman. She said, "Everyone thinks about their mother." While it may not be a true statement for everyone, it definitely applies to me.

I think about by mom a lot. I love my mom a lot - for reasons that would fill a book. If you ask me to describe my mother I would start with ‘cute’ and probably use some words like sweet and funny. But if you want to get to the nitty-gritty of what makes my mom so special you need to get beyond her physical appearance. She is honest and respectful. She has a wonderful sense of humor. She continues to expand her knowledge of all things - from politics to horticulture, from knitting to American history. She is an interesting person and a great friend. She gives freely of her time to all her children and grandchildren. She never asks for anything in return and we could never re-pay her for all she does. She is very independent, which can be a blessing or not. (Sometimes she wishes for someone in her life that could lift some of the burden of living alone off her shoulders - take out the trash, clean the gutters, cook her a meal – someone to go to dinner with, go to the movies, or take a road trip with. As her children, we can try to help in some of these areas but it’s not the same as a true companion.) Her mother loved her deeply. She loves her children deeply. I love my own children deeply. See the pattern here? But there are mothers who love their children and cannot show it the same way as my own mother has.

What makes any mother the way they are? Their upbringing? Their relationships? Their life experiences ? I’ve met people who describe their mother in ways that are not flattering nor positive. Their mothers have been labeled as cold, distant, and abusive. They have been called crazy, controlling, and accused of favoring one sibling over another. I’ve thought about it and it comes down to what I suspected all along. Abraham Lincoln was right. He said " All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my mother." While I owe my mother a lot, there are some that think differently about their own mother. What makes a person act in a way that makes their children suspect to their love. Maybe your mother was raised in an atmosphere lacking physical contact – she may feel uncomfortable hugging. Maybe your mother was a neglected child left to her own devices and now she may want to be involved in everything her kids life. If your mother was raised in an abusive relationship, the cycle can be hard to break and your generation may need to be the one to break it. Whatever the situation, knowing where your mother has come from in her life will help you to understand where you’re going, either together or by yourself.

So back to my mother – in my eyes, she’s the perfect mother. I can only dream to be like her in many ways. And I’m sorry for repeating myself but Abraham Lincoln was right. "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my mother."

My mother.....isn't she cute?