Thursday, November 10, 2022

Hello Waldo; Hello November!

Well, here we are at November!! Oh my word -- how did we get here so quickly when sometimes the days seem to drag by?? As usual, I meant to post earlier and more often, but I screwed up. Some day I hope to catch up and be on a more timely schedule!
Anyway, Maddie was home the weekend before Halloween and said her radiology teacher said EXTRA points for students wearing costumes to class, so we quickly set out to find one. We found a Where's Waldo costume still in the bag from probably 12 years ago! Does that mean I'm a hoarder??? I don't think so, do you?? The only thing needed was a pair of glasses, and we found those at a party store and, and voila - her costume was ready. It was such an easy costume and looked so cute. Probably some folks don't even remember the Where's Waldo books, but my sons loved those and drove me crazy challenging me to find Waldo as quickly as they did! That never happened!
I also wore a costume that day to work at Jenny Craig. I was a baker! Another easy and fun costume that included my love for Disney! See Mickey on my apron!
We had 700 trick or treaters according to a neighbor who counted! That meant there was no candy left for me when I got home from work. Oh well, you know me, I probably had some chocolate hidden away; yes - of course, I did! Hahaha! Hope you all had a good Halloween too!

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Hello October; Hello Fall

Well, here we are - mid-October already!! The days and months are going by way too fast!
This past week, Maddie has been on her fall break from school. That did not mean no studying as she has two mid-term exams as soon as she returns - tomorrow and Wednesday in addition to a load of other assignments! College is hard! But, we did manage to have a few outings and some fun!
We went to the Outlet shopping one day -- it's weird to shop on a weekday as the outlet is usually crowded and it was so empty! So, it was strange, but nice to have the stores to ourselves! Corn mazes are popular around here! Do you see me?
One day we went to the movie, Lyle Lyle Crocodile! :) I've seen those books but have never read one! The movie was so good. We both enjoyed it and laughed and laughed. It was very touching too. So glad that we didn't think - that's a kid movie and not go see it. Plus, Shawn Mendes singing -- awesome!! :)
We also went to our local pumpkin patch known as Roca Berry Farm. For Halloween, they call it Roca Scary Farm. Wow -- that place has expanded sooooo much! Going on a nice warm Saturday may not have been the best plan as it was very crowded, but still lots of fun! An oldie but a goodie from 2011 at the Pumpkin Patch
And, of course, the weather is changing around here. This week some mornings are expected to be in the 20's with highs only hitting 50! But, next weekend maybe 80s! That's the way it is in Nebraska and I'm hoping for more warm days than cold ones. A couple more photos from the Pumpkin Patch!
Enjoy your fall - we know what is coming next around here and kind of dreading it!

Thursday, September 29, 2022

Fall Sunrise!

Enjoying some absolutely lovely fall weather and beautiful sunrises! Hope you're having great weather too! This is a photo with our lovely capital. Praying for Florida.

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Someone Really LOVES Chicken

Maddie has always loved chicken -- especially chicken nuggets, chicken strips and chicken sandwiches! She was one of the first to visit Chick-fil-A when one opened in town! She told me recently she ordered personalized license plates. I wondered, hmmm - what would they say???
Of course . . . CHIKIN. I think she needs to be a Chick-Fil-A influencer with those plates!!
Who wants to join us at Chick-fil-A??

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

End of Summer - Pool Pics Through the Years!

Dear Summer: How did you zip by so quickly?
It seems I waited forever for you and now you're gone - almost as fast as the years since Maddie was a little bitty girl enjoying the pool!!
Can you tell I'm very sad!
Thank you for the warm and humid days and nights that have made me long for cooler temps!
Summer frizzy hair days (and there have been too many to count) help me appreciate winter and low humidity!
Low humidity = better hair days for moi! And, as you all know, it's always about my hair!
It is now meteorological fall. Why did we have to come up with that term? Can't we just wait for "regular fall??" There are great things about fall too- most importantly - my less frizzy hair, sweaters, hot chocolate!! The pool closes next week -- bring it on fall! But, we will be enjoying the pool until the very last day!

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Happy End of August and Meteorological Summer!

HI friends! I really do have the best intentions of blogging more - but how is it the month gets away from me ??? I don't know - except time is flying! So, here's the August update! And it's the end of meteorological summer with meteorlogical fall to start tomorrow! I knew summer would zip right by and it's been so hot, I'm looking forward to cooler temps, but I sure don't want to see meteorological winter coming up so fast! ;)
So, in August, Maddie moved to Omaha and started at Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She's in the health sciences category and her major is Radiologic Technology. It's a two year program for an Associates degree with a third year resulting in a focused area and a Bachelor's degree. It's her third year of college, so she's a junior. Her apartment is right on campus and that makes getting to classes easy and fast. She has a very nice roomie who is a nursing major. The campus is SO DIFFERENT than Univ of Nebraska at Kearney! Kearney has a lovely spread-out campus with a big fountain, outdoor seating areas, a football/sports field and complex and in a lovely city where it takes about 5-10 minutes to get anywhere. Methodist is in the middle of a busy city -- the campus is at a busy midtown intersection. Definitely takes longer to get places, but there are more shopping and eating places, so those are all a plus. AND - it's only about an hour away from me! Nice to be close to Mommy! :)
In addition, Omaha has a thriving Newman Center (Catholic Organization for college students). They have a new dorm and she plans to live there next year as it is not far from Methodist. They are having way more activities in the first two weeks than the Newman Center in Kearney had in 9 months, so that's providing a nice bit of social activities. So far, S'mores Night; a trip to the Omaha Amazing Henry Doorly Zoo; outdoor movie; BBQ and I'm not sure what all is coming up next. I think they should do a Lip Sync contest - and/or karaoke - wouldn't that be fun?? Maybe I can be the Activities Director!?!!
I'm still working at Jenny Craig Diet Center and enjoying that. Also walking a LOT! You'd think the house would be totally organized and cleaned up, but I often go out for a walk instead and chat with one of my sisters. We are all missing Connor who moved to Jacksonville, Florida. He'll be gone for his birthday next week and I don't know if he's ever been away for his birthday (sniffle, sniffle)!! I hope he goes to the beach to celebrate.
Rickster is doing ok and planning to attend his high school reunion next month. It was postponed due to lack of interest last year and year before due to Covid. I hope he has fun, but doesn't see his high school cheerleader girlfriend!! Hehehehehe!
Our favorite photographer took these awesome photos of M for her half-year birthday in June. Her full year birthday is right before xmas and that's a tough time due to cold and snow for photos! ;)
Hope you all Have a great Labor Day Weekend!!

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

July Update

Well, here it is the end of July already!! I just had a feeling that summer would go by fast and it sure is -- way too fast!! As usual, it got HOT, really HOT and HUMID here - but you know I do love summer, so I haven't minded too much. But -- of course -- my hair has been a disaster! Isn't it always!!! :)
Summer time is pool time, am I right? It's been a bit different this summer with me working part-time 3 days a week and Maddie being in class 3 mornings a week and studying a lot! Her class ends with the final final tomorrow! Two finals - one for lab and one for lecture! She's killing that class and I have a learned a little going over review questions with her! Her goal was an A and she's getting it! In other news, she went to the nearby outlet mall one day to meet her new roommate. She said they had a good meeting -- even though they couldn't find the Scooters that is right in the middle of the outlet mall and we've walked by it loads of times. But, anyway, her roomie is from Omaha and a nursing major. Maddie is a radiologic technology major so I think it will be a nice blend of two awesome majors. My roomies in college (back in the dark ages) were all nursing majors.
Wait -- did I tell you that she's transferring to Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing and Health Sciences in Omaha?? No -- well she is! She planned to stay in Kearney and do the program at the UNMC (Univ of Neb Medical Center) in Kearney, but they required more prereqs so she would have had to have another whole year before she could even start the program. She looked around and found the program at Nebraska Methodist and applied there. She was accepted (competitive to get in) and decided to go there since she could start the program right away.
Even though she loved Kearney and hates to leave her friends there, this seems like a very good fit and excellent program. Bonus- she'll only be an hour away instead of 2 hours. Classes start at the middle of August. She'll be living in their housing (see above) - apartments just across the parking lot from the classroom buildings. She is excited and we are thrilled for her!
In other news, We took Jane (oldest granddaughter) mini-golfing one day! So fun and guess who got a hole-in-one?? Moi! Go me! We also introduced her to Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A -- yes, we are good influences! We saved McDonald's for another day!
Maddie and I also made a couple meals with the help of Hello Fresh! Yummy!!! Seems like pork tacos are a favorite of Hello Fresh and ours too. This was a sheet pan chicken and roasted veggies dish! We LOVED roasted carrots -- who knew how to make those??? Not me! But, now I know. I see a lot of roasted carrots in my future!
Frannie has demanded our attention a lot of the time and although she hates her leash, she does like going for a walk! She actually runs away when we get the leash out. Weird dog! She's getting a shorter haircut today as running after bunnies in the yard has resulted in lots of little nettles or some such getting stuck in her fur and a nightmare to comb out. Am afraid she's gonna look like a naked mole rat when she comes home later. I think she was laughing at us the last time she had a haircut! I have a feeling we're gonna be laughing at her later today!
Well, I guess that's July for you! Hoping to post more, but as you can see, I'm not always successful! But, here's a fun photo of me shopping. WHen I don't have an assistant (Maddie) with me, I take photos and send to her for approval!! HA HA -- she thinks I'm crazy!!
Hope your summer is going well! Enjoy every minute! xoxo

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Well, Hello Summer!

Hello friends!! Summer has now officially started with the summer solstice today. It's definitely here and has really heated things up around here!! Woohooo! Temps have been in the high 90s and 100 last weekend and this week too! Where do we live anyway?? Nebraska -- it really shouldn't be THIS hot THIS early, but that happens! Of course, when it's not scorching hot and humid, we've been having crazy heavy thunderstorms - like water in the basement storms! UGH.
Anywhoo -- we've been to the pool a few times! The water has been COLD even with the high temps, but it should be warming up nicely with all this heat! Who can resist a choco taco??? Have you heard of these??
Cutie-pie Helen - now a year old already!!
And the two grandsons - having fun in the pool!
Maddie is taking a summer class. Oh my word - there is a ton of work involved. It's a 4 credit hour class and is a 10-week class. During the normal school year, classes are 16 weeks. Sooooo . . . that means 16 weeks of work poured into 10 weeks. She has class on Tuesday and Thursday and lab on Wednesday. It's Anatomy and there is SO much to learn and quizzes basically at every class. Wow -- she's working hard at it!! It's half over this week and goes til the end of July.
In other news, I got a part-time job! I'm working 3 days a week at a Jenny Craig Diet Center! I've used the program previously and lost 20 pandemic pounds last year. It's a lot more involved than it looks from the customer side and I'm enjoying it. The manager and clients are all very nice and it gets me out of the house and out of the Rickster's projects. More updates to follow!! Xoxo

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Spring Blooms!

Happy Happy Tuesday! I wanted to do a quick update and some photos from University of Nebraska Kearney! Maddie took photos of her sorority sisters and it happened to be when some of the trees were showing off their beautiful spring blooms!
We had a weird winter and spring with not much precipitation and then really hot weather and then really cold weather, so all of blooming trees were -- to put it simply -- freaked out and unsure of when to bloom! When they finally did bloom, some blockbuster rain storms came through and knocked the blooms down (boo hoo), so it was a really short blooming season!
That's the weather in Nebraska -- if you don't like what it's doing, wait 5 minutes and it will change! These are from the lovely Harmon Park located near UNK campus! Love Kearney and UNK!

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Where did April go???

Hello, Hello Friends! Oh my gosh - I've gotten SO FAR BEHIND on blogging. So sorry to any of you who try to check in and read up on what's going on. I don't know what my problem is . . . I guess I've had a serious case of writer's block. I promise (again) I'll try to do better and will attempt to add in some posts about our quick Spring Break trip to Disney soon. The castle never disappoints!
But first, since I have a few photos from Easter, that's what we're doing. We had brunch at my son's house. I made 2 quiches and blueberry muffins! I am the designated Quiche Queen! Although the blueberry muffins were a big hit, I really love chocolate chip muffins more. But it's true, they can be messy especially with little hands, so I saved all the chocolate chip muffins for Maddie to take back to her dorm. Ok, I admit it, I kept a couple chocolate chip muffins at home for me!
Look at how adorable my own kiddos are -- they are really not kiddos anymore and even Maddie is out of the teen years! All three are so sweet and helpful - I just love them so.
AND -- look at the whole fam. Rickster was home recovering from surgery, so missed the photo op. He's feeling much better. Look at Philip's tribe! And now there are 6 kiddos. I guess I can't really call them The Littles anymore. Jane is almost as tall as me. Some say she's taller and that I was on my tiptoes, but there is no proof, so let's say I'm still taller. She is 12 and the oldest and little baby Helen will turn 1 at the end of May. They are so much fun! Dorothy (now 6) attempted to teach me how to play chess. Total fail on my part. I suggested checkers instead -- that's more my speed! No matter, we were so happy to get to spend a chilly and windy Easter with them! Hope yours was special too!