Bright and early this morning Kayla and I did a 5K race in Storm Lake. Kayla ran and I walked, but I am proud to say I made it the whole 3.2 miles! My time was 56 minutes, Kayla left me in the dust at 32:24 minutes. Needless to say, I am very proud of her! My goal was to finish, preferably not dead last, and I was not last, there were 5 people behind me...two of which started out ahead of me! I first started walking earlier this summer so that I could do the 5k at the Marathon to Marathon next summer, but then this one came up, so before I gave myself a lot of time to think about it I just sent in the registration...then I knew I had no choice, I had to go do it. It was fun...after I was halfway through I knew I was going to make it and I did enjoy it then. Kayla wasn't sure if she would be able to run the whole way or if she would end up walking with me, but she ran all but about 1 block...she is ready for cross country meets now.
August 31, 2008
On the way home from Ames last night I listened to the Iowa State vs South Dakota State football game...it was the opening game of the season for ISU. It was a very exciting game, lots of turn-arounds for ISU and lots of open running yards. The final score was ISU 44 and SDSU 17, so we kicked their butts! I had fun listening to the game, but Brian was there and said it was really exciting to watch. I had a hard time deciding which thing I wanted to listen to on the radio, because Barack Obama was doing his acceptance speech on another station...I wanted to hear that too! So, I switched back and forth between the two, good thing I was alone in the car or I would have driven everyone else nuts.
Everything is finally back to normal at our house. Brian started classes today and the girls are in the full swing of classes so things are on schedule again. Kayla is having a good time in cross country and running farther every day, Becky is looking forward to her first performance as band major and Brian is looking forward to some fun classes (mostly political ones). It is good for everyone to be back in the school mode and know what is going on from day to day...for the most part anyway! Soon it will be time for harvest so Dan is constantly running around trying to get things done before it is time to work on the combine...never seems to be a loss of things for him to get done, and if he has any down time I have a list too :o) I am looking forward to fall, my favorite time of year.
Today is mom's birthday and since I know she reads this blog I just want to say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" and many, many more. She is a great mom, grandma and great-grandma and we all love her.
Get in the car to go home last night and there is a text message on my phone from Becky..."ask Kayla about her big news". So I call Kayla and her big news is that she has now joined show choir! Apparently they needed another girl and the teacher thought Kayla would be good, so Becky and Haley convinced her to do it. So that is one music thing. Then, after I picked Kayla up from cross country I had to take her to her band lesson in Storm Lake...she takes extra lessons because she really, really wants to get into All-State band this year. So music number two. Friday night is the first football game of the season for L-M and the marching band will be playing during half-time...with Becky as the Band Major (and Kayla on the clarinet of course)...neither of them think they are ready yet, but I am sure they will do fine. So with that being music thing number three, it is a musical week at our house!
Dan and I went to an auction today, he went for the farm equipment and I went for the household stuff. Brian met us there since it was only about an hour from Ames and there was apparently some unique farm stuff Dan thought Brian might like to see. Most of the stuff I saw was plain and simple junk. Boxes and boxes of junk, plus old console televisions, broken chairs, a baby crib that was most definately unsafe, a moldy bassinett, old toys that looked dangerous...the list goes on and on. The auctioneers started out high on most stuff and ended up asking for a dollar just to get rid of it. The farm equipment was well used as well, and the prices they were getting showed that. There was an old car that Brian had his eye on, but we were there for four hours and they were nowhere near the cars, so we gave up. I am guessing it lasted well into the evening, there was a lot of stuff to sell. But it was fun to go since I love auctions, and it was nice to see Brian.
When we came home of course the dirty laundry was still waiting and the dishwasher needed to be loaded, but Kayla had made some bars for church tomorrow, so that was a help. I decided the laundry would still be dirty tomorrow, but Kayla and I did get the house cleaned (Becky had to go to work, so she got out of it). It is always a good feeling to get the clutter picked up and everything back in order. Dan went into town to help Scott bale and then work on the tractor and Kayla is going to a friend's house to watch movies, so I will have the evening to myself...love that!
Whatever was causing the smell in my car is now hanging partially from the bottom of the front of the car. Yes, I do know what the "thing" is, but I am not going to tell. I am going to take the car through the car wash in the hopes it will get knocked out this time. I called Dan to tell him it was finally discovered and he said "it is on the front left of the car isn't it?" How did he know? The garage floor where that part of the car was parked last night was covered with maggots this morning after I left!!!
Last night Kayla had her first official cross country practice at school...and she drove herself there! Since she has her school permit she informed me there was no reason for me to make two trips to Laurens, she could just take my car and drive herself. I had to think about that one for awhile...after all it is a new car and she is also a new driver! So I let her do it, she left about 6:30, Dan and I went into town to take a walk, called home at 8:00 and Becky said she still wasn't home. Granted, that really wasn't a very long time since practice started at 7:00...but I was a little nervous. By the time we got home though, she was there, safe and sound. I asked her how it went driving by herself for the first time and her response was "just like when I drive with you, only I was a little more crazy!" Funny:o)
I called the financial aid office at college today to see what the status was for Brian's aid. Talk about an exercise in frustration! They didn't see that I had faxed in the necessary forms so they hadn't done anything with it yet...the very same forms I faxed in last Friday, then called to make sure they got there Monday morning! Suddenly they have disappeared and now I have to fax them again. But this time if I put them to the attention of Sharon they will surely get processed...in three to four weeks!!! Never mind that the first tuition payment is due in two weeks, or that his rent payment is due the first of the month...just fill out ANOTHER form to set up a payment plan and they will refund the money I pay just as soon as the aid comes in. Doesn't matter what day classes start, things are processed in the order received...great, his was originally sent in April, but those records are missing as well! I think these people are trained to make getting aid as difficult as possible so people just give up and pay for everything themselves. There are days that I think I need a college degree just to figure out all the stuff to put a kid through college. I should say I am lucky though, they actually talked to me and gave me information, if I get ahold of the wrong person they won't tell me a thing because of all the privacy laws. Never mind that I am the one paying all the bills, they will only talk to Brian...even though he has told them repeatedly they can talk to me also. I will just have to make him start taking care of this stuff on his own.
Some sort of critter has crawled up somewhere under my pretty new car and died. The smell is almost unbearable, it is getting hard to drive because when the car warms up the smell gets worse. At first we thought maybe something was smelling bad in the garage, but today when I came out of work at noon and got in it, after sitting in the hot sun all morning, I was darn near knocked over from the smell! It has gotten worse, because now you can smell it just by standing near the car. I made Dan look under the hood today because there was no way I was going to find some animal dead in there, but after looking everywhere he still couldn't find anything. We figure eventually the smell will go away, after whatever it is has completely rotted away, but it is horrid now and I hate to think I am driving around with some animal stuck somewhere. I am going to take it through the car wash tomorrow, and not look back when I leave just in case something gets dislodged!
For those of you not in on the story, I did not want anyone at work to know it was my birthday this year before the day, and that upset some people. The day has come and gone, but some people are still wondering about my choice. I believe I have my reasons, and although they really don't need to be stated here, I will do it anyway, with the hopes everyone can move on.
So the fact that I was upset over having my picture in the paper for my birthday is apparently bothering people so I guess I will state my case...again! Like I have said in several previous posts, I did not want my picture in the paper because that is just not something you do when you work for the paper. I did not want my picture, my name or anything else, I just plain didn't want the attention. That was the main reason I didn't want anyone at work to know the date, because they would want to do something, and I didn't want everyone to see my picture and tell me they saw it, and on and on. I am just not the type of person who likes that much attention.
It had also become somewhat of a game at work, Hannah asked me repeatedly when my birthday was and I always told her I didn't have birthdays anymore. We just went back and forth and it was up to her to try to figure out a way to find out. Of course, she could have easily asked John since he has all that information from when I first was hired, but that would have been to easy. Kayla was the one who eventually spilled the beans...guess I should have told her what was going on.
I guess my biggest thing is, what does it really matter what the reason was? All that really matters is that I didn't want to make a big deal of it this year, and some people thought that was wrong. Excuse me, but I am allowed to have my own opinions and wishes and I would think people would understand that. I don't know what else to say about the subject, I just hope people can move on and get over it. My life, my choices.
I have become addicted to the Olympics, much to my surprise. Normally I don't really care on way or the other, but since the press has been giving so much coverage to the Iowa gymnast Shawn Johnson, I decided maybe I should watch once just to see what the big hoopla was all about. Since we live in the middle of nowhere, our TV reception is not good, but I bought two of those HD boxes we will need when the stations switch to on high definition in February, and now we can get channel 4 and watch the Olympics.
Shawn is fun to watch and I find myself rooting for her and also the other USA gymnasts to beat those Chinese! Granted, the gymnastics are usually on later at night, so my bedtime is severally messed up, but I can't turn the TV off. I have also become addicted to watching Michael Phelps in swimming, I really want him to win gold every single time so he can have the record for the most gold medals at one Olympics. Of course, he is usually on later at night too!
I never really cared other years, but this year I find myself watching every chance I get. The girls watch too, so if someone goes to bed early there is usually one of us who saw the whole thing and can keep everyone updated.
Go USA...go for the gold!
Today is my birthday and I am turning 30 for the 13th time. For those of you who are mathematically challenged, that means I am 42. I really don't mind telling my age, after all, getting older is better than the alternative! I brought donuts to work today, and no one even questioned why, so I think I am in the clear. I know a few people here know, but I think they have forgotten about it. I really don't want a big deal to be made about it, I definately don't want my picture in the paper! That is just not something you do when you work for the paper.
Apparently Becky did go into work...but she was not happy about it!!!!!!!!
...I thought it was a good idea to have kids : p Becky called me at work today to tell me she doesn't feel well and called into work sick. They told her to find a replacement and she couldn't, so decided just not to show up for work. Wrong answer! She hates her job, but still, she needs some form of income because I refuse to pay for all the stuff she wants to do all the time.
Becky had her senior pictures taken yesterday, they turned out great! Of course she had lots of clothing changes and lots of poses, so we are having a hard time picking which ones we want. It is great that we can see the pictures already, for Brian we had to wait...and as Becky says, "I like instant gratification". If you are curious to see them, send me an email and I will give you the website address and password...can't have it out there for just anyone to have!
Went to the Thresherman's show today, I had to work two shifts in the Svenska Stuga (swedish house) and Dan and I walked around between my shifts. It is always an easy job to work in the stuga, all I have to do is sit in front of the fan and answer questions about the place. I have done it enough years that I know most of the answers to the questions people ask, but the most frequent is still if I am Swedish. I say no, I just married one. One little girl today asked if it was my house and a little boy wanted to move in!
We saw a lot of tractors and implements, I walked through the crafts and the big house with all the quilts. I took three quilts out this year, one from each of the kids. Of course we had to go through the barn and see all the animals, I went back later to buy some kittens but they were all sold by the time I got there.
I think the best part of the show is just watching the people. You see everything at an event like this...women in dresses and high heels to men in loin clothes! Always interesting.
Kayla spent the weekend with a friend at the lakes, and Becky had to work today, so this was the first year that I was in the Stuga by myself. I am used to having the girls walk around with me since Dan is not much for the crafts or doll house, but I guess I had better get used to it, won't be long and they will both be gone.
As a side note, trying to keep my birthday a secret at work has failed. Someone spilled the beans and now they will all know on Monday. I hate the attention I am going to get, but nothing I can do. I really have no reason for not wanting it public, but it is MY birthday after all, so if I want it private I thought I should have that option. Oh well.
Ever since Brian's graduation I have said as soon as I knew the day for Becky's graduation I was going to call US Bio and reserve the room again. Well, since Brian's, US Bio was bought out by VeraSun and the policy has changed. I can still reserve the room, but in case of something going wrong at the plant, I may not be able to use the room that day. So they tell me I have to have a back-up place just in case. Now tell me, how am I supposed to get invitations printed when I don't know for sure where the reception will be held? I am beginning to think I should just have the party at our house, it would mean a lot of cleaning and trying to find room for all the people, food and the "shrine to Becky" but I just might have to do it. Graduation frustrations starting already!
August is the month to celebrate at our house, seems to be the month with the most birthdays and anniversaries. Tomorrow is Kayla's 15th birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYLA!!) then we also have Dan's sister Linda and his nephew Jonathan, my mom Bonnie, and my nephew-in-law Chris for birthdays...and I have to admit, my birthday as well. Then we also have anniversaries for my brother and sister-in-law Jeff and Deb and nephew and niece-in-law Chris and Angie. Plus, we will be having a new great-nephew, Chase, in August soon too! That is a lot of celebrating to be done :o)
Interesting fact: Kayla is the fourth generation girl to be born in August in my family. My grandma was first, then my mom, then me, then Kayla. I keep telling her someday she has to have a daughter in August to carry on the tradition.
With all the birthdays and anniversaries in August, and with school starting in August, it can get to be a busy month.
Kayla wanted a bike for her birthday, so she got that last week. Tomorrow she will get a card (I got her a really fun one) and of course chocolate cake! This weekend we are going out for pizza with the family to celebrate, and she will spend a day with her friends too, so she will have a good time. She got her school permit a few weeks ago, so can drive herself to school...if we ever get her a car!
Lucky for me, mine is not a milestone birthday this year so I don't have to worry about people doing things to me. When you get to my age a birthday is just another day on the calendar, and that is fine with me. So far no one at work knows it is my birthday next week, and I fully intend to keep it that way!
So to all of you who are celebrating in August I say Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary...and many more :o)
Since I am on a quest to lose weight, I have started walking to the post office every day to get the mail for work. It is only three blocks, but every little bit helps. Today was especially helpful...I found a $100 bill lying on the sidewalk near a vacant lot! No one was around anywhere, so I just picked it up and figured it was my lucky day :o)