My "Beauticians"

We had a grandgirlie weekend. They never cease to amaze us with their new ideas for fun! They're very creative. This weekend, it was baking muffins, riding their Barbie car, and doing acrobatics on the swingset. But Sunday morning, it was.......BEAUTY SHOP! They styled Johns hair 5 times. By the end, you could have speared a fish with his moussed hair! hahahaha Then it was my turn. Being hairless doesn't seem to discourage them at all. They washed and massaged my bald head. Hmmmmmmmm.....it felt great.

It was back to school today.......wore me out completely!! I'm used to being lazy, napping, staying up late (okay, so 10:30 is late for us), and sleeping in (hey, one day we made it to 8:30!). So it's a tantilizing tease til Summer Break.

Grandmothers are just "antique" little girls. -- Author Unknown

Smiling all the while....

Lori

Mississippi Eagles!

We're home from our trip. Oh boy, did we have a good time!!!! We spent most of our time in and around Dubuque because there was soooooooo much to do and see there. The first day alone, we saw 18 eagles!! They fly around like cardinals do here. We even saw a nest with an mama eagle sitting in there, popping her head up every couple of minutes. We went to a state park across the river from Cassville, WI, called Pikes Peak. It's a wonderful landing on the top of a high cliff that's perfect for eagle spotting!! That's where the picture was taken. It was truly awesome! It gives you a perfect bird's eye view of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers joining together. We shopped, visited a museum, and ate lots of good food. We stayed our entire time at the Hilton Garden Inn in Dubuque. We'd drive to our destinations everyday, but always return to the Hilton. It was the best place I've ever stayed at, bar none, other then our own home. They treated us so wonderfully!! Delicious Food! Wonderful beds! Clean, cozy room! Every luxury you can put in a room, including HDTV!! And the most wonderful, friendly staff you'll ever find! Good grief, I sound like a commercial......

We came home to snow.......it's a blizzard outside! Enough already!!!! We're just going to snuggle in and enjoy 3 more relaxing days before I go back to school.

"A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water." ~Carl Reiner

Live in the Moment!

Lori

Hitting the road...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! I had a ball! I found all my eggs and baskets--I got a jump rope, plastic golf set, Silly Puddy, and lots of chocolate bunnies--dressed up in my Easter dress, hat and gloves..........oh, wait.....that was when I was 10......nevermind.

We're almost all packed for our little adventure. My new luggage is dark red! I think I'll get a bunch of stickers that say "France","Australia", "Iceland".......you know, to look like I've been arounnd the world. hahahaha We're heading for Dubuque first. I grew up there so it makes it extra fun. Here's hoping the eagles are still around and haven't headed back to their lakes for spring nesting.

To my family, remember all those Easter family pictures at Grandma and Grandpa's? You know, those totally posed, Easter hats and gloves, standing in the driveway (or front yard) pictures? Don't ya miss that? I do........

Live in the moment......and linger in the past once in a while.
Lori

Anticipation.......

Only 9 hours til the start of Spring Break! Could I be any more ready?! That's the voice of all who work in a school system. In Special Ed, it's a much needed and awaited respice. We're in the middle of the "piled-high-to-the-sky" paperwork that's involved with special ed. It's like trying to teach while juggling 3 balls and reciting the U.S. Constitution all at the same time. Truly exhausting!! So today at 1:45 will mark the start of 9 days of doing whatever I want, WHENEVER I want!! Yeeeeaaaaaa! We've set up a lose agenda for our trip to the Mississippi River. So guess what we have to go out and buy tonight? Luggage! Can you believe it? After 36 years of marriage, we don't have a set of luggage....you know, nice matching, many pieces, luggage......like adults have hahahaha. We've never been much for traveling, never going more than an hour away. But now we want to travel a bit and not look like the Beverly Hillbillies when we do it. hahaha I'll let you know what color I choose!

Lately, I've been thinking about different moments in my life. My short term memory sucks, but I can recollect a time when I was a kid like it was yesterday. Go figure. I remember a day in kindergarden.....it must have been before Christmas because I had a gift for my Mom. Remember those hand prints you made in school with clay? It was all painted up and wrapped in Christmas paper I painted myself. It was probably the first gift I'd ever made and given to my Mom. We were standing in line, waiting to be dismissed and in a second....everything changed. I dropped it......... I picked it up and it was now "loose" and wiggly. My teacher said it might still be okay (what was she supposed to say, I'm sure she wanted me out the door with the least resistance so she could start HER break...I know the feeling), so even though that didn't make sense to me, I thought maybe it could be true.....maybe it WAS okay. So I went home and put it under the tree, feeling it everyday....probably hoping it would heal somehow before Christmas. I cried when Mom opened it. One little moment in my life changed so much. That's what happened to me last summer, but now I've experienced enough "living" to know that even though there are no do-overs, as long as I'm breathing, I'll get other opportunities to create endearing moments.

They're predicting a blizzard for tonight............but I'm ignoring it.

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. ~Charles Dickens

Live in the Moment!

Lori

It is.....what it is

I read an article yesterday in People magazine.....about Patrick Swayze. It was titled "His Brave Battle". But I know from experience, bravery has nothing to do with it. Fighting cancer isn't like fighting a dragon. It's fighting something that's growing inside us WITHOUT killing ourselves. That doesn't take bravery.....it takes an extreme will to live. I just want to keep living, and I'm sure he does too. It's like we belong to some secret club. I know exactly how he feels cuz I'm in it too. His prognosis for 1 year is the same as mine is for 5 years......I'm the lucky one. Who'd have thought I could say that last June....that I'm lucky. My perception has changed so much about things, it's amazing. His will too.

My fridge is full of green stuff. Remember? I'm working on those summer sizes. I feel like a rabbit. I treated myself to one small....almost microscopic, really.......cookie. I have a sweet tooth that's absolutely insatiable! I will resist! I WILL resist!!

John and I have systematically been cleaning out stash spots and cupboards this past week. Good Grief! Why I save things I save, I will never know! So we're boxing up stuff we haven't touched since we moved here and shipping it to a local auction house. We no longer have 2 barns to hoard stuff in so it might take us a while to get used to pitching.......or how about, NOT bringing it home in the first place!! Now, that's a thought.......

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sue!

It's smelling greener everyday out there, isn't it?!

Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world. ~Virgil A. Kraft

Live in the moment!
Lori

Warm Spring Sun!

Doesn't it just put a huge smile on your face the first time you walk outside and smell spring?! That's what I smelled today.....along with manure on the fields, old dog doo-doo from folks that don't clean up after their "friends", and other "fresh" scents that float in the March air. We went for our first walk on pavement out here, even crossed the little bridge to the Russian Church camp for kids. The little cabins are just sitting there waiting for the arrival of a fresh batch of little campers. The water over the creek was almost touching the top of the man-bridge. Lots of melting snow flowing everywhere!

I'm on a mission....to fit into my summer clothes by the start of the summer clothes season. It's going to be a real challenge this year. It seems it gets harder and harder the older I get! Lately, when I look in the mirror (cladly dressed....), I don't see my Mother........I see my Grandmother!!!! YEW!!!

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~Robin Williams

Live in the Moment!

Lori

Gi-mungously Fun Weekend!

Is the weekend over ALREADY!! Oooooooh, we had soooooooooo muuuuuuuuch fuuuuuun! We did all that we planned........ate lots of deeeelicous food......drank a little wine.......talked our heads off........laughed til we hurt (never once wet our pants, thank goodness hahaha)........did some touring............and just had a wonderful time! Suzanne and Deb made us so comfortable and welcome, complete with robes and slippers in our rooms! Thank you, cousins, for a perfect weekend!

We went to the most wonderful indoor greenhouses in Chicago. It gave us all a little feel of Spring. To smell that wonderful aroma of summer flowers and feel 80 degree air was just what we all needed.

One request, Deb and Suzanne, I would like to be appointed guardian of sweet Zonie, should the need ever arise. I LOVE that dog!!!! And we have a lot in common. She's absolutely devine!

Here it is Monday already....back to the routine.....with lots of little thought bubbles floating over my head of a wonderful weeekend.

"Friendship is like a prism through which the many variations of beauty are revealed in our lives." -- Anonymous

Live in the Moment.....though I'm lingering in the past weekend {big sigh....}
Lori

Hair

Last night, I came home from school and washed my hair (well, not really MY hair......THE hair. hahaha). I whipped it off, plopped it into a sink of soapy water, swooshed it around, blotted it in a towel, shook it over the tub, then slapped it on the little stand. Ta-Daaa! Done! In the morning, I'll spend about 2 minutes tossing it around with a little brush, slap it back on my head, and I'm good to go! And by the way, I only have to do this once a week!!! Do you know how much time we waste on hair? All it took me was about 5 minutes total. When I had hair (and it was pretty short!), I spent at least 20 minutes a day messing with my hair--shampooing, conditioning, blow drying, and primping. I could have used all that time I accumulated to go to France, spent a summer at the South Pole, tour Africa! Now I put that time I save to good use.......I write this blog {....very big grin}

I'm planning my Chicago trip in my mind as I sit. I'm going to go to the store Friday night and pick up some good bread I found. Actually, it's not really a loaf of bread, it's more like breadlets....little pieces of bread dough put together in a circle, sprinkled with parmesan and olives (or dried tomatoes and basil!) and baked. It's a delicious carnival in your mouth!!! Of course, I was going to take it as a surprise......but now they'll read this and.......I never did well with surprises.....

Can you hear the birdies singing?? They're smelling spring (and each other!) and looking for love! The songs are lovely. I'm hoping our little oppossum can find someone.....he looks so lonely and sad out there in the morning. But then, maybe that's just how he LOOKS! hahaha

Time to get ready for work (and slap on my hair!)

Maybe if we all shut our eyes....WISH for Spring.....while crossing our fingers....all at the same time.......it will come! Let's give it a try, huh?

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.” George Washington Carver

Live in the moment!
Lori

Weekend too short......

I'm thinkin' Spring.......That's me, golfing (course my ball is in the sandpit!).

Who ever invented weekends made them way too short. It's hard to cram in everything you want to do into 2 lowly days. We did everything on my little list (including some detail cleaning) so I guess it was long enough. Like I always say, leave while your still having fun. Maybe it's time to change that to "don't leave til you've sat around a while being totally bored....." Did you hear that, Connie? New philosophy.

I'm getting my sea legs back slowly. I find if I move around a bit, it helps. I don't care how much I drag around now, as long as I'm walking tall come spring. And actually, I think spring is trying hard to break through the snow. It was almost 45 degrees here yesterday and it's raining right now! YES! Of course, you need spikes in your shoes to manipulate around the ice.

John's been car hunting all weekend. He's finally going to trade in the big ole' white van he drives for something more........attractive and useful for our needs now that we're "old". He keeps jumping from stationwagon to minivan. Wonder where he'll light. I'm letting him do this one on his own. I hate car shopping!

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is." -- Albert Einstein

Living in the moment (but wishing it was next Saturday!)

Lori