Life Down On The Farm

Talked to Brian yesterday, he had spent the weekend in Minnesota with a friend, it was homecoming for her college so she invited Brian to come visit. He said he had a great time but now he needs to spend a weekend in Ames for once! "His team", the Dallas Cowboys, have been playing really well this season, and were undefeated, until this past Sunday when they lost by two points. Brian says that ruined his whole day...poor boy. He tells me classes are going well and he is already thinking ahead about going to class this winter...he had some struggles with it last winter because he didn't want to go out in the cold and ended up missing some when he should have been there. Now this year he lives even farther away from the college, so he thought maybe he should do something about making sure he makes it to class, so he went to speak with a counselor at the college about what he could do. Said she was really nice, he was impressed with how many ideas and helpful hints she had for him, and he is going to continue to see her as needed. She is also going to help him decide on a major...yippee! Hard to believe he is going to be 20 years old in a month, but he is just making me see how grown up he is becoming. I am proud of him! Becky has been wanting to go spend the weekend in Ames with him, but she has so much going on there is seldom a free weekend for her to go. After the play things should slow down for a week or two before speech starts (hopefully) so maybe she can go then. It is nice that they are so close to each other and want to spend time together...never would have thought that when they were little :o)

Becky is a member of National Honor Society and last week they had a meeting to elect officers. I am very proud to say that Becky was elected president! Go Becky!

Check out this link, it will tell you the estimated taxes you will pay with both Obama and McCain's tax plans. I was surprised to see that I would pay more with Obama, but I am still voting for him.

Well it's all over but the shouting...homecoming coronation was last night, and as usual, the games were the only interesting part of the evening. Becky was the referee, along with Blake, and no matter what the seniors did, they won. Bad referees...they cheat :o) But it was fun to watch the kids do the pyramid, bean bag toss, three legged race, pop bottle race and tug of war. I got some good pictures (with my new camera, thank you very much!) of Kayla in the tug of war and also a good one of Becky telling to crowd the seniors had won once again...what a surprise! Also got to listen to the pep band, they were really good. I was rooting for Haley to win queen, she didn't make it but she was close. I will go to the game tonight to watch the marching band, more pictures!

...that my daughters would go to school dressed as a giant whoopie cushion (Becky) and a hula girl with a coconut bra (Kayla)! It is Homecoming week, can you tell? Today was twin day, so each of them will have a "twin" when they get to school, ought to be an interesting day. Tomorrow is Wacky Wednesday and all I know so far is that Becky has a coonskin hat. Thursday is Pajama Day, Kayla of course has Hawkeye pajama pants to wear and Becky bought a pair of boys Batman pajamas. Friday is Spirit Day, so each will wear a football jersey...at least they will dress semi normal that day! I will get pictures and be sure to share them!

Need a used car? We got plenty! When everyone is home we have a total of 6 cars now...we got Kayla a car yesterday so now everyone has one, and Dan has two! Kayla had no idea we were even looking at cars for her, so she was really surprised that we got her one. Both her and Becky had show choir all day yesterday, so Dan and I left early to go to Onawa to look at a car for Kayla. Onawa was the place we got Becky's car and we were really happy with the service and the prices there, so decided to go back. Car dealers really don't have the "back row beauties" like they used to, so you really have to go to a dealer like the one in Onawa who deals exclusively in used cars if you want to get something a little older. We got there, drove the car, hashed out a deal and headed home with it...it is a 1995 Oldsmobile Achieva, light blue 4 door. Of course when I got home with it I hid it so that Kayla wouldn't see it when she came home. When they did come home I was helping Dan seed the winter rye, so I called the girls out there to help us and then told Kayla I had to go to town later, did she want to go along. First she said no, but then I told her she could drive so she decided she would go. I then asked her if she wanted to take my car or hers...her mouth fell open and she just stood there! It was really rather funny. Of course she wanted to see the car right away, but I told her she had to help finish the job first, then I would tell her where it was. We got done fast! The first thing when she got in the car was to adjust the seat and mirrors to her liking, after all, no one else would be driving it, it is her car! She talked about getting seat covers and hanging things from the rear view mirror (she and her friends...older friends who all have cars...all have the same thing to hang, but before she had no car to do it with...the excitement now!!) It is a nice car, no rust and dents or scratches...needs a radio and will need a muffler soon, but for a kid it is just perfect. Brian stopped on his way from South Dakota last night, and with his car we had four in a row sitting outside the garage...looked like we were starting our own car lot...or having a party:o)

Haven't had an update on the kids lately, so here goes :o)

Becky now refers to herself as a hot commodity because she gets so many letters, every single day, from colleges wanting her to come there. Yesterday alone she got 10 letters! ISU and South Dakota State have both offered her Honors Programs and automatic scholarships if she comes there. She hasn't even applied at Briar Cliff and they offered her $9000 a year, every year! It amazes me how much these colleges are willing to offer to get her to attend, I am guessing I will not have to be paying a thing for her education...woohoo! Brian of course could have gotten all these offers as well, if only he had applied himself when he was in high school...he is learning the hard way that he should have done that, and he will learn even harder when he has to pay back the student loans! So far she is leaning towards ISU, but she is also having her high school transcripts sent to Morningside and Northwestern this week...so who knows where she will end up. Briar Cliff is a definate no because they don't have a band, "How can you be a music major at a college with no band?" Of course, she has to graduate first, she found out she is one credit short on her requirements for social studies, so somehow has to fit that in before the end of the year. Her plan is to take it independently...but she has no free class periods so I am not sure how that will all work out, she is hoping to take it at the same time she is taking independent yearbook. I think any college will be lucky to get her, but then again, I am a little prejudiced!

Sometimes life decides you are having it too easy, and comes along and smacks you upside the head...that happened to me last night! Dan and I had gone to the fair and kept smelling burnt oil in the car, but since Dan had just changed the oil we assumed it was just some excess burning off...WRONG!!! When he changed the oil he forgot to put the oil cap back on...by the time we came home last night and pulled in the garage the car was smoking when Dan opened the hood. Most of the oil he had put in was now spewn all over the engine and probably the road from our house to Spencer. Of course, the cap was long gone, no idea where it fell out, so now I can't drive my pretty new car...I have to drive Dan's truck to work...grrr! Hopefully I can find someone in Storm Lake that has an oil cap in stock...if I have to "keep on trucking" for tomorrow I may end up riding my bike to work :p

Went to the Clay County Fair tonight and saw the Beach Boys! It was fantastic!!! We had really great seats, right in the center of the stage and only about 50 feet away. They sang for about an hour and a half, although did say a couple of times that they needed an intermission so they could go take a nap. I figure they have to be in their 60's, but they still sound as good as they did when I listened to them 30 years ago. There were only 2 of the original band, but the new guys sound just as good as the old ones. The one guitar player was younger, I am guessing in his 30's (and rather hot) and boy could he play the guitar...he was amazing. The other guitar player is the son of the lead singer (Mike Love). The only drawback of the day was that it was sooooo cold!!!

Saw basically the same as we see every year at the rest of the fair, got mini donuts of course and walked through all the buildings, but didn't see a single thing that I wanted to buy...which is probably a good thing! It is always interesting to go and see the people walking around...world is full of strange and different folks!

Final score ISU 5 and Iowa 17. ISU hasn't won at Iowa since 2002, so I am not surprised they lost there. But next year we will get them, just wait and see :o) ISU is still ahead in the CyHawk Series, so in the big picture ISU is the winner...I will cling to that!

It is halftime of the ISU vs IA game and so far it is a very low scoring game...0-3 in favor of Iowa. I have been listening to the radio and watching the updates online, it rained in Iowa City so the field is wet and all the players on both teams are having troubles with that. I really wouldn't mind losing if the score can stay the same as it is now! I have also been doing laundry (during time outs of course, since I have to go to the basement to do it)...I think I only have 2 million loads today, instead of the usual 3 :o) Also getting the house cleaned, so it is a busy day. Will update with the final score...GO CLONES!

As some of you may know, tomorrow is the big football game of Iowa State vs University of Iowa. There is a guy at work who is an Iowa alumnus and therefore has a tendency to wear a lot of Iowa things and talk about Iowa a lot. So, of course when I started working it was a big deal that I was a big ISU fan...my desk has an ISU mousepad and an ISU cup holding pens and I sometimes wear ISU shirts on Fridays. So today I wear my shirt that says "Beat Iowa", really I can only wear it one time a year, and this is it. But, and I am not surprised by this, it is being made a huge deal that I wore it...the Iowa guy is offended and making sure everyone knows it. Never mind that some of the Iowa shirts he wears offend me and I say nothing, he is making a big deal out of my shirt. Luckily I brought another shirt to work with me, so I will just have to change to keep the peace in the office...sigh.

Last night I sat down and tried to get a handle on the girl's schedules..darn near impossible! Between the two of them they have FFA, play practices (at different times), band lessons in Storm Lake, jazz band, show choir, cross country practice and work. All this, plus they go to school and have to find time to eat, shower, do homework and sleep in there too! No wonder they are often gone by 6:30 in the morning and home well after dark. Often they complain about being so busy, and I tell them to give something up, but there is no way they are going to do that! Now Becky needs to find time to start applying for scholarships for college...can I request more hours in the day?

I need to start a support group for people addicted to purses...I could be the leader. I have always had a thing for purses, whenever I go shopping I have to at least walk through the purse aisle, and I often end up buying a new one...I seldom use the same one for more than a month. It has gotten so bad that Kayla tries to drag me away from the purses whenever we go anywhere! But really, I never spend more than $10-15 on a purse, so it was not a big deal...until last night. I was in Spencer by myself looking for a pair of black pants for work (the zipper on my one pair broke and it is cheaper to buy then repair) so I "happened" to walk through the purses in Penneys. Normally there are none there that I like as they are usually huge and expensive. But this time, I saw one and fell in love with it...I just had to have it...but it cost $30 on sale, way more than I usually spend. I walked away, bought my pants and continued on down the mall, still thinking about that purse. I browsed in a couple of other stores, looked at work clothes and purses and still knew none compared to the one in Penneys. Long story short, I went back to Penneys and bought it. I think it is beautiful and I love it, which is a good thing because for that price I am going to have to use it for a long time :o)

Kayla ran in her second cross country meet last night, and did a good job. It was a very hilly course so she took 24 minutes to do it, which I think is pretty darn fast for three miles! The first meet she did it only took her 21 minutes, and was the second place on her team, but she was a little slower on this one. She has been having a lot of trouble with her knees hurting, so has been wearing a knee sleeve on one, I have to get her a sleeve for the other one now. Going to the doctor is not an option now, because the doctor would just tell her to stop running and she really wants to finish the season. I think it is just mainly that her knees are not used to running and will get better over time...they have improved she says since she started, so I hope they continue to do so. I haven't been able to go to any of the meets yet because they start at 5 and have been quite a ways away (Spirit Lake and Estherville). I will get to go to the next one which is in Sioux Rapids, so I am anxious to watch her...and cheer for her loudly!

This year the L-M high school is doing "Oklahoma" for the fall play. Both the girls tried out, Becky wanted a main part and Kayla just wanted a small part. They both got what they wanted, kind of. Becky got a lead part, she will be Ado Annie, the girl who can't decide which boyfriend she wants, she thinks she only has one solo. Kayla is in the chorus, she was a little disappointed, but is glad she is at least in the play. They start practice Monday already, so with that and Becky's working and FFA stuff and Kayla's cross country and band practices it is going to be a busy next couple of months!

Best political quote this year "Does the McCain group think just because they have a female Vice Presidential candidate all the women will become Stepford wives and vote for him?" 

Tonight I joined the new fitness center in Albert City...for a month anyway! I can pay on a month to month basis, so until I decide if this is really something I want to do I will pay that way. I figure now that the days are getting shorter it will soon be impossible for me to walk in the evening (dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home) so this way I can walk on the treadmill and not have to put out all the cash for my own at home! There is a good variety of machines there, so I have no fear of getting bored. Now that Kayla is into running she thought she would like to join too so she can run on the treadmill and keep in shape during the "off season".

Kayla had her first cross country meet tonight and did really well. Her run time was 21:54 which is great for a first time runner. She had a hard time keeping up and not walking during practice, so everyone was really surprised when she did so well at the meet. She came in 32nd overall, and was 2nd on her team. I don't know who was more surprised at her time...the team or her!

Becky was measured for her graduation cap and gown today...seems way to early for that but apparently they do it early so there is plenty of time to get everything ordered. Seems impossible that she should be doing that already, but I guess the time is coming faster than I want it to. Can't stop her from growing up, she gets college letters in the mail every day. Got one today from Briar Cliff telling her they would give her a scholarship of $9,000 a year just because she did so well on her ACTs. But, even though Briar Cliff is on Rebecca Street, my Rebecca will not go there because they don't have a band. Hopefully other colleges will offer her as much money!

Brian is doing well in school, has a speech class that he is really enjoying. He keeps surprising me by always cleaning his house...never cleaned his room when he was home! He thought about coming home this past weekend, but then decided that although there was not much going on in Ames, there was even less going on in Albert City! Hard to believe, but he has been in his new apartment for a month already...he really likes living there more than in the fraternity house, although he does stop by the house to visit from time to time.

Dan has been crazy busy lately, he has work to do for several people and never seems to have enough hours in the day to get it all done. Most nights it is well after dark before he comes home, I am used to that during harvest, but this is a little early! I guess it is better to be busy than to not have anything to do though. Since it is the beginning of the month I have been busy at work too, so that makes the day go by faster...which is always nice. So everyone is busy and happy and life is good at my house :o)

The allergy season has officially started, for me at least. I sneeze and sneeze, sometimes I think I am going to sneeze my head off! My nose constantly runs, so I am always wiping it and blowing it, so it is a lovely shade of red...I rather resemble Rudolph! My eyes water and itch and are bloodshot, I look like I spent the night in the bar. I love this time of year because fall is my favorite season, but until the frost comes I will be absolutely miserable. I am good as long as I stay inside with the air conditioning on, but some days it is not necessary because it is not that hot, so we open the windows...and that does me in! Many times when I wake up in the morning my eyes are crusted over and hard to open...all this after tossing and turning all night because I can't breathe. Gee, I paint a pretty picture don't I? The joys of the season.