Carol's random babble

Well, it was a mixed bag. We didn't have any presents for her in the morning. I was too tired to make breakfast, so she ate at school. I worked a few hours and picked her up after school. We went to the bookstore at the mall, stopped at Sun Market and Deli for a soda and chips and then headed off to the Callender Heritage Library, where Curtis Michalek was promoting his book, Aluris: The Book of Annua . We got there after he did a reading, but he had books to sell. So we bought one and he autographed it to Cayla. We went home. I was planning to cook hamburgers, but we were expecting a UPS delivery and it hadn't come yet, so Kent wanted me to check it online. I checked, but there was no update. Then I heard something outside. Yep, a UPS truck. But he wasn't coming to our house - he was trying to figure out where he was. The truck was down the street, then it passed our place and turned around at the convenience store. He parked it in the neighbor's driveway as I was walk...

(This was posted on a forum I frequent) Calmness: I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following the simple advice I heard on the Dr. Phil show, I have finally found inner peace. Dr. Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you've started and never finished". So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of grey goose, a bottle of Kahlua, a package of Oreos, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos and a box of chocolates. You have no idea how freaking good I feel. Please pass this on to those you feel might be in need of inner peace. (Disclaimer: I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I do not drink alcohol or smoke tobacco,...

I was in labor with my second child. She was born at 9:15 p.m. - a healthy 9 lb 7 oz girl. The first few minutes were a little worrisome - she was born with the cord around her neck. But there was nothing wrong with her. Her name is Cayla, and she's wonderful. Happy birthday Cayla!

Fair Oaks students participate in Thinking Cap Quiz Bowl . The Fair Oaks fifth and sixth grade Talented and Gifted (TAG) students participated in the 2006 Iowa Thinking Cap Quiz Bowl on Nov. 8. Thinking Cap Quiz Bowl is a timed academic competition in which the students answer 100 questions on a variety of subjects including vocabulary, spelling, history, geography, current events, amth and the sciences. The 21 sisth-graders scored 1,223 points, which gave them eighth place among the 80 teams who participated from across the state. The 14 fifth-graders earned first place among fifth grade teams nad 12th place overall with a score of 1,201. The received a team trophy and were awarded a certificate and blue ribbon at a meeting of the school board. Cayla was the clicker during the competition and her team was No. 1 fifth-grade team in the state. The teams will compete in the National Thinking Cap Quiz Bowl which will be held in May. They receive a CD and send their results into the organi...

It's been an interesting month so far. I wrecked the Escort and it's looking like we're going to be lucky to get a couple hundred dollars for it, if anything. That's the "loss of use" amount offered by the other insurance company. They are claiming I'm 50 percent responsible for the accident when I was driving on a street with no stop sign for me, but their (15-year-old) driver had a stop sign. The amount for the car will probably go to the finance company. So, we won't be able to replace the car. Kent's car is still out of commission. Kent's still recovering from knee replacement surgery and has to go to physical therapy three times a week. I'm driving my niece's '92 Pontiac Grand Prix, which is a total gas hog. It's solidly built, though, which is better if we are in an accident. I signed up for NaNoWriMo but haven't written anything. The end of the month is coming up awfully fast. The Lifestyle editor at work has been ou...

Here's a review of my week so far: Saturday: I wrecked my car. Donna had to drive me home. I was on my way to work when the accident happened, and although I didn't think I was injured, I was a complete wreck mentally. Sunday: Big children's program at church and I teach a children's class, so I had to be there. Donna picked us up and took us home. This was after her first night on a new shift: 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Monday: Suzanna picked me up (around 3 p.m.) and drove me to town. We stopped at the tow yard to take pictures of the car. I got my check early (instead of Thursday) so I could put insurance on Suzanna's "spare" car, a 92 Pontiac Grand Prix. The insurance company for the other driver (who caused the accident) still isn't being very helpful about my transportation needs, and I needed a car desperately. I got to work late. Oh, and Amanda was home because she was sick. Tuesday: Kent had knee replacement surgery and had to be at the hospital at...

  Donna took us to church today. On the way home, we stopped by the tow yard to see the car. We couldn't get too close, but the car is behind the blue car. You can kind of see where the hood is pushed up and back (right side of picture). Hopefully, we'll be able to get better pictures tomorrow. 

I think my car is dead. I was in an accident today and it looks like it's totaled. This teenager crossed in front of me - I had the right of way - and my car hit hers. Her car is barely damaged, but mine is pretty bad. I'm wondering how I'm getting to church tomorrow - we've got this program that the kids have been practicing for all year. I don't know how I'm getting to work this week, or taking Kent to the hospital for his knee replacement surgery on Tuesday. It's all such a pain. So far, the physical pain hasn't been too bad, though. I started getting a headache within a few minutes, and I've had some muscle aches and pains. But so far it's not appearing serious. In the words of Roseanne Roseannadanna, "It just goes to show you, it's always something."

Linky (won't work for long) There are two local news stories listed, then the station's link for people who want to look up archived news. Headline No. 1: Des Moines Man With Alzeimer's Goes Missing Headline No. 2: Investigators Search For Missing Grinnell College Student Headline No. 3: Looking For Something? Not to make light of someone's distress over a missing family member, but honestly, you have to admit that having those three items together is a little ... odd.

After church today, I went over to Mom's because she wasn't feeling well enough to go. I asked her if I could do anything for her. She asked me to get her a couple of caffeine-free diet Mt. Dews. At the Kum & Go, I noticed a small piece of paper under the glass on the counter. It was printed on lottery ticket paper and said that a single $200.8 million Powerball ticket was sold at the Kum & Go at Second Avenue North and 22nd Street. Wow. That's the first big Powerball prize in my area, and it's a big one. The information said that the lump sum would be more than $95 million. Even after taxes, that is just a ginormous amount of money. And yet, I'm relieved that I didn't win. You see, our church doesn't accept tithing on lottery/gambling winnings. If I won a lottery prize and couldn't pay tithing, I wouldn't pass the temple recommend interview - I know one question is based on paying a full tithe. I'm glad this isn't going to be a barri...

Enrichment night fun So, last night was Relief Society Enrichment Night. It was sort of a getting to know you get-together. We paired off (choose a piece of paper from a bowl, each had a letter, we paired by letters) and spent a few minutes talking to our partners. Then we introduced our partners and told about what they told us. We did a craft of decorating small candles. My group used a piece of ribbon around the base of the candle, with a button to cover the place where the ribbon joins, and a sticker with a word like love, believe, create, pray, etc. The other group used beads to decorate their candles. I didn't get to see what they looked like. We then got into a circle and selected 18 Cheerios each (I think there were 18 of us there). Each person made a statement about themselves. If that statement could not apply to you, you threw one Cheerio into the middle (yes, on the floor). Some of the statements were, "I've never eaten sauerkraut," "I've eaten br...

The sign on the fridge in the lunchroom at work says that food will be thrown out at 5 p.m. on Fridays. I bought a package of Hot Pockets Friday night but changed my mind about eating them then. I left them in the freezer (at about 7:30 p.m. Friday) to eat Saturday night. When I went down Saturday night to get them, they were gone. Apparently the fridge had been cleaned Saturday morning and my food - which had my name on it - was thrown out. There is another frozen food item in the fridge, though. I think the sign on the fridge should be changed to say that people who leave their food in the fridge do so at the risk of it being randomly thrown out. Oh, and this is the same fridge that had a package of strawberries growing mold for a couple of weeks earlier in the year. Obviously, moldy strawberries are more valuable than frozen food.

Now Kent says he's leaving for good in October after he gets his disability check. He's got knee surgery coming up on the 25th. That was his original plan - move to Kentucky to live near his Internet friend and her family: husband and two young children. Then he decided he would go down there and come back here every month to get his checks. He also talked about moving to Florida or Oklahoma because he has Internet friends there. But now, he says, he's going to Kentucky for good. We'll see. He'll probably change his mind six more times before the end of the month. And now I'm thinking of what "wild and crazy" thing I can do. Not like moving to be close to Internet friends, but more like traveling or something. I don't know. I feel like the girls and I deserve an adventure. So, I'm keeping an open mind.

Back to Flash Fiction Friday - I clicked on Home to see what else Laurie's got going on in her life. And she has a blog entry about an author she likes. So I go check out the author's site and I'm signing up to promote an author whose book I haven't even read yet. (But I'm planning to!) So, here goes: I joined Hal Spacejock's Support Crew I didn't pay anything, I didn't sign anything, and I didn't read the fine print. Just like Hal! No space pilot can exist in a vacuum (hah!), and behind every successful pilot there's a talented and dedicated support crew. Hal Spacejock is one of the least successful space pilots in the history of the galaxy, and a worldwide support crew is needed just to get him off the ground. Join now for free Hal Spacejock goodies! | Join the team | - - - - - - - - - | Hal who? | Hal Spacejock ... Après moi le wreckage Just from the little I read on the author's site, I am thinking of the Retief books by Keith Laum...

I started a new blog for creative stuff. Yeah, I'm still planning to sign up for National Novel Writing Month despite two years of not finishing. Last year, I don't think I even got started. But, I had a lot on my plate, so to speak, since I had just started writing a series of articles at The Messenger . This year I've got those 43 articles under my belt and in my past, so I can do some "fun" stuff for myself. In aid of that, I am participating in Flash Fiction Friday . My first entry. It's a bit over the 250-word limit (by about 275 words!) but, hey, it's the first time I've done this. ;-)

I'm sitting outside on a swinging bench with my feet on a folding chair, in the shade. My laptop has a wireless connection, and I can be outside and online at the same time. Since the storm a few days ago, we haven't had the air conditioner in the window. I finally tried putting it back in today, but it's not working. :-( So it's actually cooler outside than inside now. Of course, I'm on battery power, which doesn't last that long. But I'm cooler than I would be inside. Yay!

I suggest reading the previous post before this one. ;-) One more photo and a few observations: When the power is out, every sound is significant. There is no "white noise." It really helps to have the flashlight at hand when the power goes out. It also helps to know where the matches and candle are (I did!). Amanda tried to reassure Cayla when she was freaking out by saying that Heavenly Father protected us. Cayla and I said a prayer of thanks later (after Amanda was asleep). The tree trimming guys and MidAmerican crews worked through the night and into the day. People from town worked all day getting trees and debris out of the way. This shows the wind direction in a cornfield south of town.

Last night, as I was leaving work, I chatted with the two Messenger drivers for a couple of minutes. One of the men said he was hoping this area would get more rain. Now, this follows a couple of weeks of really hot weather, especially the past few days, with heat indices around 100 or so. But, you should still be careful what you wish for. We got hit. Bad. Not a tornado, but really intense winds. We lost one tree and part of another tree. First tree - this one won't make it. I'm guesstimating that it has a trunk diameter of about 12 inches. The second tree should survive, but it will take some time to recover. The branch is probably 20 feet away from our home. We heard a sudden whooshing sound and the rain hit. I went to close windows. I had been playing on Kingdom of Loathing . I went back to the computer and soon, the lights flickered and went out. I had the flashlight already. It was around 12:30 a.m. I asked Kent to help me get the air conditioner out of the window, becaus...

So, I went to church today. After church was over, I went out to the car to unlock it nad open the windows, so Mom could sit in it. I went back in to get the girls, and when I went back out and opened the front door, the armrest fell off. Then the car didn't want to start. I did try moving the steering wheel back and forth , but the key just didn't want to turn forward. I finally got it to go, and took Mom and Cayla over to Mom's. I had planned to leave both girls at Mom's, have lunch and then go to work at 2 (special request by our publisher, to finish details on a project). Since the car was acting up, I left Mom and Cayla at Mom's and drove Amanda home. When we got to Coalville, the "low fuel" light went on. So, I had lunch and called Donna's hoping someone could help me get gas money. Suzanna made the offer. Yay! I went into work - drove the Chrysler - and was there from 2 to 5:45 p.m. I went to Donna's to pick up Jessica's sleeping bag for...

Kent, Amanda and Cayla came home today. Kent decided to leave last night and drove all night. They got here around 7 a.m. I stayed home a couple of hours before gong to work. Cayla was going to feed her hamster, but got distracted. Some time later, I reminded her to feed the hamster. She went in her room, and came out upset. Her hamster had escaped because when she got distracted, she forgot to put the lid back on the aquarium. So, we waited until we knew where the hamster was, and Cayla eventually caught her. I went to work, but stopped to get our mail first. Amanda got a birthday card from Kent's dad. The only problem is that he didn't put his (new) address on the card or envelope. So, even though I was going to nag her to write a thank-you note, I don't know where to send it. We knew that they were going to move, but haven't heard from then since. Maybe I'll send a letter to the old address and hope they've got a forwarding order at the post office. The new s...

I semi-finished that project at work. There is more that can be done, but with stuff that we have on CDs, so not with big, heavy, dusty old books. I've also got lots more writing to do. If I really put my mind to it, I could probably finish my last three articles this week. Well, one has to be done by Saturday morning, but the other two could be done next week. Maybe. And, it's Amanda's birthday. I called at 8:04 p.m. (the time she was born) and Michelle told me they were on their way home. What?!? Kent had called me at work and said they would be leaving in the morning. At least, that's what I think he said - we had a tornado siren going and I had to hang up so I could go down in the basement. We didn't have to stay long, luckily. Once during a bad storm, we were down there for about an hour. Rain was coming in through a couple of cracks in the walls/foundation and backing up in a drain, producing a horrible smell. Today wasn't so bad, except for the fact that ...

Yeah, I was too tired to post last night, plus too busy. I worked 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., went to lunch. Returned at 2:30, worked til 6 p.m., went to supper. Came back at 7, worked til 10:30. Went home, started a load of laundry, fed the cat, checked my e-mail in case Kent or the girls e-mailed me (no, but I had to deal with an e-mail issue from someone on a Yahoo group I moderate - the moderated member had posted the same thing four times in just a few minutes). Took a shower, had something to eat, went to bed. Somewhere in there is took out the garbage and brought in my sodas, which I forgot to do when I got home. Which meant that I had to wait til one was cold (put in freezer, luckily didn't forget to get it out.) My muscles and joints hurt. I need to call the doctor's office about that. I also need to ask them if you can get tetanus from a cut received in a dusty storeroom while working with rusty staples. No farm animals up there, which is a classic source of tetanus. But, I...

What a lame post title. Whatever. I was up at 6 a.m., at work around 7:45 a.m. Left work 4 hours later. I forgot to mention, I left the car at the mechanic's and walked from there to work, about 4 1/2 blocks. So, of course, walked back. Went home, washed a load of laundry. Why? Because the project I'm working on requires me to be in a hot, dusty room with a bunch of dusty, falling-apart books. These books are old newspapers bound in book form. Which I'm ripping apart so we can get copies for this project. So, I did a load of laundry, did some research for my project, e-mailed the information to my work e-mail address, got something to eat and went back to work, thinking I would be working on tomorrow's newspaper. No. Was told I would continue working on the project. Fine, except I had asked for a fan and it wasn't there, plus I had showered and changed into the regular clothes I wear to work. When I was working on the books, I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. So, I ...

Kent and the girls are visiting friends of his in Kentucky. His friends drove up and took them back with them Saturday (left here around 1 p.m. Saturday and got there around 3:30 a.m. Sunday). Comet and I don't know what to do with ourselves. She doesn't understand where everybody is. I'm staying up way too late, which is a usual behavior for me, but I think it's for a different reason this time. But, I'll go to bed now. I've got a huge project that must be done soon.

My elvish name is Celebriän Anárion . My hobbit name is Orangeblossom Baggins of Bywater .

We live in a small town in north-central Iowa. Although I've got a short drive to town to go to work, church and shopping, there are advantages to small-town living. Last night we saw a deer walking across the street from us. Just casually strolling through one yard, across the street and into another yard. I often see rabbits in our yard or in others' yards. Tomorrow there will be a Fourth of July parade - right down our street. Tomorrow night, the fireworks will be going off directly overhead. They are set off about a block away from our home. It's the most awesome show. ;-) If we were to move into town (to save traveling time and gas), I would miss the little things like this.

Gary A. Trusty 56, of Fort Dodge, passed away on Monday, June 26, 2006. Memorial services will be Friday, June 30, at 1 p.m. in the chapel of the Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home with B. J. Thomas, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, officiating. Friends may call from 12 noon until the time of the services at the funeral home. Survivors include his brother, Pat Trusty of Phoenix, Ariz., and a niece Emily Marie Trusty. He was preceded in death by his parents Donald and Rose Marie (Walsh) Trusty. Gary Alan Trusty was born on May 3, 1950, in Fort Dodge. In the early 1950s, Gary was one of three children to undergo the University of Iowa Hospital’s first open heart surgeries on a child, to repair a hole in his heart. This event influenced the rest of his life, which ended with heart failure. He attended Sacred Heart School and graduated from St. Edmond High School in 1969. Following his education he enlisted in the U.S Navy in 1969, serving until his honorable discharge. ...

Cayla played this tonight - and won. ;-)

The girls and I went to church. I taught the Priesthood lesson in the Old Testament primary manual because the oldest boy in my class turns 12 next month. Our bishop came in and talked about the priesthood. There were only 2 kids in the class - Cayla and the boy who will turn 12. (It would have been pointless to teach that lesson if he wasn't there, right?) ;-) After church, we took Mom home and Cayla cleaned her kitty litter box. Well, okay, her cat's kitty litter box, if you want to get technical about it. Then I took Cayla over to Donna's to spend the night. Donna is going to take her over to Mom's later for an overnight there. Kent had a roast cooking when Amanda and I got home. We had lunch, then I took a nap. I had a horrible headache all day, which was still there when I woke up. Kent wanted to go to Culver's for supper. We had never been before. I liked the onion rings - easier for me to eat than the rings from Sonic. And the lemon smoothie with strawberrie...

Cayla found the Mario Live video on Albino Black Sheep and shared it with Amanda and me. Before she went to the site, though, both the girls did the Mario Brothers music with their voices. It reminded me of Amanda's first movie experience - at the age of about 2 weeks, we took her to a movie - Super Mario Brothers . We figured it couldn't do too much harm if she cried during the movie, and we were right. ;-) Actually, her first movie experience was before birth - I went to Jurassic Park with my mom.

As I was walking to my car this morning to go to work, I startled a baby rabbit. I got a few pictures before it got away.

It's been not too bad of a day, other than a headache. Amanda gave me a cute purple bear that says things when you squeeze its tummy - "Happy Mother's Day," "I love you Mom" and "Thanks for all you do Mom." Cayla gave me a card that she made in school. It has lines cut out and cupcake papers folded three times are inserted. Each cupcake paper has something written on it - it's like coupons of things she will do for me. Amanda didn't go to church today - she said she wasn't feeling well. I changed her password so she couldn't go on my computer. (I never mentioned, but I've got my own laptop now! and we've got a wireless network!) Cayla had a special part in sacrament meeting today. The primary kids sang the first verse of "The Dearest Names" and "Love is Spoken Here." For "Love is Spoken Here," Cayla, Natalie D. and Tracie S. sang the second verse while the rest of the Primary kids sang the firs...

I haven't blogged in a while, blah, blah, blah. I'm just doing a quick update, found out I had four links in the sidebar that went to the same 404. Oops. Got that fixed, have to message someone and go to bed. I think I have to work like 12 hours tomorrow, and I'm tired just thinking about it. So, good night.

It's probably a good thing that I didn't post this on Sunday, because that title expresses how I felt. Before I went to church, Kent said that he was nearly out of cigarettes and that he would have to start using the Commit lozenges. He said it matter-of-factly, and I believed him. I had planned to ask Mom to borrow money, but wanted to wait until the next day so she could check her account and make sure how much money she had. But that wasn't good enough for him. When the girls and I got home, he started complaining about not having cigarettes and stomped off toward the bedroom with the cordless phone (he was on a phone call - probably with an Internet girlfriend). I tried explaining about waiting til Monday morning, but he acted like I was stupid for even thinking that. I exploded. I threw the computer chair on the floor, screamed obscenities at him and slammed the bathroom door. I was going to drive right back to town and ask Mom for money for his stinkin' cigarette...

and on to more ... I'm working on purses for Amanda and Cayla. I'll post pics later of how far those are done.

Kent had a doctor appointment at 3 p.m. today, so I left work and drove home so he could have the car. It's now 5:22 p.m. and, guess what? He just drove up. I called the doctor's office just before 5 p.m. and they couldn't tell me if he left or now "because of the privacy laws." So, I'm going to be later to return to work than I planned. I had to call and Barbara isn't pleased. :rolls eyes:

Cayla and I went to "Arti-Gras" at the old Carnegie Library building Saturday afternoon. Cayla colored a mask on the back of a paper plate and got her face painted. I knitted and took pictures of Cayla. She danced with a Mardi Gras boa and balloons while a man played the keyboard.We both had a good time. The knitting thing goes back to Friday evening. She was supposed to go on a sleepover, which was cancelled. To ease her disappointment, I suggested that she spend the evening at Grandma's, and I would get her something for knitting, since she's been wanting (desperately) to learn. We looked at a kit on clearance at Target, but decided to try Hancock Fabrics. One of the salespeople at Hancock Fabrics helped us - a lot. She made suggestions about what size needles to get, and even showed us how to get started. I decided to get my own set of needles and yarn, and got started Saturday morning. Before I took Cayla to Arti-Gras, we went to Hobby Lobby and looked at yarns. I...

Cayla is learning to knit, and I'm going to learn, too. I just got her a pair of needles and a skein of yarn at Hancock Fabrics, and one of the salespeople taught her to cast on and knit. Then I dropped her at Mom's while I went to work. When I picked her up 4 hours later, she had five rows done! (She did other stuff, like talk to Mom and watch TV and so on.) She's trying to knit a scarf. I got myself needles and a skein of yarn, too, but haven't started yet. It's going to be hard to catch up with my crafty kid.

Yeah, it's my birthday. I'll get myself a present on Thursday, when I get paid. But, in the meantime, I did get a pair of shoes and a sweater from my mom and a tote bag with funky material swatches from Sandy Mickelson at work. Sandy and I share the same birthday (though not the same year). I won't lie - I'm 45. I'm not ashamed of my age - it's part of me. The only problem is when I feel that I should have accomplished more with my life. But, I'm not dead yet - there's still time. So, Happy birthday to me. I should probably start baking my cake now ...

Ever have one of those moments when you can't remember the name of something, so you try to describe it? On Saturday, I let Cayla go to my sister's house, and while she was there, my niece Jessica was trying to explain desk spindle to Cayla. The only problem was that she didn't know or remember the "technical" term for it, so she tried to Google it with a description of stabby message desk thingy. I was able to tell her the right name, mostly because it came up in a conversation at work the day before. And, I couldn't think of the right name at the time, either.