The One About Our Labor Day Weekend

Oh, yeah, I wanted to blog about what we did on our Labor Day weekend. I know that was way more than a week ago. I should be a bit more prompt about these things. But, hey this is my blog and I can write about things when I want to, right?

We had some fun plans made for the long Labor Day weekend. Some good friends we met while we were living in Singapore had invited us to spend the weekend with them in Chicago. It has been 7 or 8 years since I have seen my dear friend, Jackie, and I was excited to catch up. But then, our friends heard at the last minute that their son and daughter-in-law were coming for a visit. They don't get to see their kids very often so they, of course, opted to stay home and see the kids. We would have done the same thing. For sure.

So, we started working on Plan B. We both spent the day brain-storming possibilities. Hubby came home from work and said he had just thought of a great idea:

The Old Thresher's Reunion in the small SE Iowa town my hubby went to high school.

Not sure how to even describe this event. It's been going on for over 60 years (my grandpa used to take my cousin to it) and I think it began so farmers could get together and remember using steam engines for various tasks, like threshing grain. There are a lot of steam engines, tractors, cars, and trucks on display. There are exhibits how how things were done...lumber mill, making sorghum, displays of how running a household used to be "back in the day." I like seeing those things and remembering the stories my mom told me about growing up, about how her mother knew exactly how many corn cobs to put in the stove to bake a cake or a loaf of bread.

So off we went to SE Iowa. We saw these sights at Old Threshers:

I know, I took a lot of pictures. Here are a few more!

This is my favorite picture:

Hubby worked at Blue Bird Bus Company a couple of summers during the college years. Yep! He used to build school buses! (That would have been a few years after this bus was built....)


I really enjoyed seeing this event that I have heard my hubby talk about for a long time. He had always said we should go sometime when we didn't have anything else going on for Labor Day Weekend. I'm glad it worked out for us to go.

As a bonus to end the weekend: On the drive back north we were able to stop for short visits with both of our parents. 

I laughed at the contrast in our plans.... a weekend in the big city of Chicago .... changed to a weekend in small town Iowa looking at agriculture related things. We are diverse people, aren't we?!

A Move From Random to Hodgepodge

1. What do you do at the first sign of a cold? Will you get a flu shot this year?
I am amazed that I have not had a cold in a really long time. Two years maybe? That is not normal for me, but I'll take it! Believe it or not, I have never had a flu shot. Not planning on it this year either. But, back to the first question... when I feel a cold coming on I'll make sure I have Puffs Plus on hand and then feel sorry for myself and make sure everyone else around me does too. :)

2. What advice can you give about how to conquer fear?
Not a good question for me to try to answer right now, because I have no answer. I have the same question rolling around in my head. I actually wrote down a long list of Things I am Afraid Of late one night last week. Still battling with how to deal with that. I should hop around to all the others who have participated in this week's Hodgepodge to see how they answer this question.

3. Share two good things about your life right now.

1) My husband loves me.

2) Jesus Christ is my Savior and paid the penalty for my sins.
These are the things I cling to, especially in light of my answer to #2.

4. A hot fall fashion trend in 2011 is a return to sixties style...tunics with pants, shift dresses, pencil skirts, cinched waists, bold prints, high necklines and short lengths to name a few. How does this fashion trend fit with your wardrobe and personal sense of style? 

I would say that my personal style does not fit into any of the things listed here. Maybe I have finally reached the I'm Old and Look It Because My Clothes Aren't Up-To-Date Stylish. Sigh. At least I pay someone good money to make my hair not look quite as old as I am.

5. Were you involved in scouting as a kid? How about as an adult?

I was in Brownies, but never went on with Girl Scouts. I think that was because I was involved in 4H for 8 or 9 years as I was growing up.

6. Apple, pear, plum, pumpkin...your favorite fall flavor?
Pumpkin! I love pumpkin pie. But wait, I do live in Minnesota and Honey Crisp apples were created in Minnesota... those are the best!

7. What characteristics do you think are essential in a good teacher?
Kind, engaged, expects a lot from each student, firm in those expectations, willing to have a give-and-take discussion with a student... (don't EVEN get me started on my daughter's sophomore English teacher...She did NOT have these characteristics.)

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Here's a random photo. This is a picture of my dad when he was about 2 and my nephew's adorable, sweet little girl. Isn't it just insane how much she looks like her great-grandpa? She's even named after him.

A Little More Randomness

1. It's a little before 8pm and our neighbor is mowing his yard. What's so strange about that? It's practically dark outside. But then he does have headlights on his riding mower, so I guess that's okay. (ha) The thing is, he seems to start his yard-work when it's just beginning to get dark. It doesn't matter what time the sun sets, he'll be out there right as it's getting dark. And he's does more than just mow. In the year we have lived here, we've seen him lay tile for a patio, mow, garden, lay sod and even cut down huge pine trees all in the dark. At least we have something to entertain ourselves with in the evenings.

2. This afternoon I walked out to the street to get our mail out of the mailbox. I was noticing how crunchy dry the grass is (it hasn't really rained here for about two months), and then I noticed how dry the pot of geraniums by the front porch was. So, I set down the mail and turned on the water. As I reached for the hose, the plastic connection of the spray-wand cracked and spewed stale, musty, stinky water all over my hair, glasses and shirt! Ew. It smelled awful! (I did manage to get the flowers watered.)

3. Remember this post ? In Random Thing #4, I talked about my plans to cut up and grill a whole turkey. I did that for dinner tonight. It worked, but boy oh boy was it a chore! First of all cutting up a turkey is nothing like cutting up a chicken. That thing was huge and hard to keep under control! I thought of this scene from Everybody Loves Raymond as I was wrestling with it:

I'm just glad that didn't happen!

I managed to get it cut apart, but couldn't get the breast cut in half and it wouldn't fit on the grill, so I just roasted it in the oven. I put the rest of the turkey pieces on the grill and brushed italian dressing on them. It took quite a while, but I liked the end result. It was a bit messy. I managed to get spattered with grease.

Between the stinky water and the grease, I was a mess. Needless to say, as soon as supper was over and the kitchen cleaned up, I took a shower and spent the rest of the night in my jammies. (Hanging out in my jammies is the best!)

And that, my dear blog readers, is a day in the life of... entertaining, huh? :)

Never Forget: September 11, 2001

Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

I Haven't Fallen

I'm still here. I haven't fallen. I just am having writer's block. Common excuse in the Blogging World.

For tonight I think I will just try a list form.

1. I had a dentist appointment this morning. For some reason I was anxious about the appointment. Maybe it has to to with the fact that 6 months ago I had to get a crown on a molar and that wasn't the most fun experience in the world. Also, the dentist? Not my favorite personality. Thankfully I only had to put up with him for about 4 minutes. Seriously? I should correct myself and say that I had a dental hygienist appointment this morning. I hope she gets paid as well as the dentist. Oh, and I had no cavities. Yay! (But my teeth hurt. Ugh)

2. I am oh so very thankful for the beautiful sunsets we are blessed with being able to see from our house every single night. I love that they are different every single night. God is so creative and I think He must have fun painting a new one every single night.

3. The soybean field next to our house is slowly turning yellow. Fall is coming. Which means winter is next. Sigh.

4. I have a turkey in the fridge thawing out. No, I'm not getting ready for Thanksgiving already. Hubby got it free last year and I finally remembered it was in the freezer in the garage. My plan is to cut it up like I would a chicken and grill it and baste it with Italian salad dressing. I hope it works.

5. After all that turkey is grilled, I think I'm going to have to find some recipes to use it all up. Any ideas out there in blog land?

6. We had three or so days of a mystery beep in the house. It took us that long to narrow it down to the correct smoke detector. There was no pattern to when the beep would sound. At first we thought it was a CO detector, then a smoke alarm in the hallway. We had both of them dismantled and sitting near us in the living room when we heard the beep again! Grrr. It turned out to be the smoke detector in the guest room that I didn't even know was there. (The smoke detector, not the guest room. I knew the guest room was there, silly.)

7. We had a fun Labor Day weekend. Our original plans were to go to Chicago, but we ended up at an Old Threshers Reunion in southeast Iowa. I'll write more and post pictures soon. Intrigued, aren't you?

8. I love our king size bed. We've had it for a bit more than a year. I love the size, I love the comfy-ness of it. When we travel I sincerely wish I could bring our bed with us. :)

9. I don't love that dear, sweet, wonderful, loving Hubby snores. It does keep me up sometimes. But when I find myself getting frustrated, I think about how it would be if he wasn't there anymore. I'd rather have a snoring hubby than no hubby. I posted this video a couple of years ago, but I think it's worth a re-post. Watch it.

I Forgot a Really Cool Thing...

As I was writing the post yesterday about my wonderful weekend with old college friends, I totally forgot a really cool thing Chuck and Carol did for me.

Back in May Chuck and Carol represented the Ohio Pork Producers (they are hog farmers in Ohio) and attended an event with Guy Fieri (a Food Network star). I was excited for them and followed Chuck's comments on Facebook leading up to and during the event. I thought that would have been a fun thing to do.

Last week when we saw each other, Carol pulled Guy's cookbook out of her suitcase. They had gotten a copy of it for ME and had it autographed for ME! How cool is that? I think it was the sweetest thing someone has done for me in a long time. Thanks so much, friends!

Did they know how much I love cookbooks? I'm so excited to cook through this!

What a Weekend

I seem to be having this trend of writing weekend recaps. Maybe I should title them, "What I Did on My Summer Weekend." That's original and snappy.

Anyway.... I had one of the best long weekends I've had in a really long time. Last Thursday morning I packed up my suitcase, pillows and all, and headed to The Big Cities. Why? To spend a couple of glorious days with my old college roommate, Carol. (Well, not to say she's old.... she's only 16 days older than me.) We roomed together in lovely dorm-life for 2 years.  I will say she made dorm-life so much more tolerable. Carol listened to me talk and talk and talk and talk. Yes, I talked so much she would fall asleep in the middle of one of my epic stories. She was (as is) good at listening. She and I were both involved in a Christian college group. We prayed for each other. We supported each other. We had fun together.

It had been 9 years since I last saw Carol. Her hubby had some meetings in The Big Cities the end of last week and asked me if I would entertain his wife while he was busy. I jumped at the chance.

We had so much fun together. It was great to catch up on each others lives and kids. It was fun to shop together. It was fun to eat meals together. It was just fun to be together. It was truly a gift for me.

Carol left the sweetest comment on my previous post. (I am a bit slow at writing my recap...) I want to copy it here, not because I am bragging, but I want to remember what she said. (I have been printing out my blogs into a book form after each year and I don't print the comments.)

I had a blast visiting with my dearest college friend. Sharing stories and pics makes the years go pleasantly by. I learned that she has a deep love and admiration for her husband and he cherishes her. Her children bring her great pride and joy. Caleb & Amanda, Megan & Zach can rise up and call her blessed. Her deep love for Jesus has gotten stronger over the years and she sings His praises everyday. We laughed. We cried. We shopped. (MOA, IKEA, Crate and Barrel-LIKE!!!) "Friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them....the welcome never ends....a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.". Love you. Thanks for the good times. -Carol

These are words I will cherish.  Carol, they are just exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

(Okay, wiping away my tears now...)

Here's a picture of the four of us:

Old friends are the best!

Sadly we had to say good-bye to them Friday night because they had a flight out Saturday morning. I sincerely hope it's not another 9 years before we see them again.

Saturday morning was filled with getting our cars worked on. Maybe I should rephrase that. Saturday morning was filled with Hubby getting our cars worked on. I showed up with his car about noon, only to be told that it would be 1 1/2 hours until lunch. This was not happy news to me, because I didn't have any breakfast. The free popcorn just didn't quite cut it. But I took it like a trooper with hardly any quite a lot of grumpiness.

Blessed lunch finally came around 1:30 pm. Supper was at 4:00 pm. Crazy? Yes! We met my parents for a quick early supper. They happened to be in the area for a wedding and I thought it would be nice to at least see them for a little bit. And it was nice to see them, except for the whole eating another meal two hours after we had finished lunch. Needless to say, Hubby and I split a meal for supper.

As if the weekend hadn't been good up to that point, it got even better. I learned that our former pastor, Dan, was preaching in a town that wasn't too terribly out of the way for us (50-60 miles extra? Is that too much?), so we decided to worship at that church. I think it's been over three years since I have heard him preach. It felt just like home. Worshiping with Dan was such a treat. We used to sing on the same worship team, so hearing him sing next to me was just perfect.