Monday, October 31, 2005
A Rainy Halloween......A Wet "Boo!"
Yeah.......it was a cloudy and drizzily day.....with the drizzles becoming larger drops as the day progressed. But.....you know, it was rather nice. I did some house cleaning, some laundry, and then a bit of shopping for food at the Supercenter here in town.
Nothing special went on today.......OH!!! Yeah....I re-connected with an "old" USAF friend whom I had not heard from in a while.....however, this time I finally have his email address!!!!! Yes...Bill, if you read this.....now the entire world knows this, so it is time for you to write!!! He and I were stationed together for a couple of years in Omaha at SAC Headquarters on Offutt AFB. Time passes and now there is no SAC....it has been phased out. But.....we did have fun there!! This "old man" lives in central PA....and we have had a hamburger together...literally....every few years when I would take my hs band to Washington D.C. He always met me Gettysburg when we would make a stop there for lunch and a tour of the Battlefield. It is time we got together for more than a hamburger......right?????
Even though we had our outside lights blazing tonight.....we had only about 10 young ones who rang our doorbell for treats. AMAZING!!!! No one EVER comes up here on the hill to Buford Heights!!! Oh well.....now I have LOTS of candy left so I can gain weight! The last little fairy knocked on the door around 8pm......Emily Goldsmith. She IS a cutie....and made such a good little fairy in her blue wings and dress. Seems like yesterday when her daddy was at my house in Eldon as a teenage friend of Michael's...and a band student of mine. UGH.......am I EVER getting old!!!!
Speaking of old.......my right arm has been throbbing ALL day. Suppose it is the rainy weather, so I took a couple of pain killers and some dark red medicine tonight. STILL painful.......oh well, such is Life.
And soooo, another Halloween has passed. Life is Good.....and I hope for all of you, also!!!
Nothing special went on today.......OH!!! Yeah....I re-connected with an "old" USAF friend whom I had not heard from in a while.....however, this time I finally have his email address!!!!! Yes...Bill, if you read this.....now the entire world knows this, so it is time for you to write!!! He and I were stationed together for a couple of years in Omaha at SAC Headquarters on Offutt AFB. Time passes and now there is no SAC....it has been phased out. But.....we did have fun there!! This "old man" lives in central PA....and we have had a hamburger together...literally....every few years when I would take my hs band to Washington D.C. He always met me Gettysburg when we would make a stop there for lunch and a tour of the Battlefield. It is time we got together for more than a hamburger......right?????
Even though we had our outside lights blazing tonight.....we had only about 10 young ones who rang our doorbell for treats. AMAZING!!!! No one EVER comes up here on the hill to Buford Heights!!! Oh well.....now I have LOTS of candy left so I can gain weight! The last little fairy knocked on the door around 8pm......Emily Goldsmith. She IS a cutie....and made such a good little fairy in her blue wings and dress. Seems like yesterday when her daddy was at my house in Eldon as a teenage friend of Michael's...and a band student of mine. UGH.......am I EVER getting old!!!!
Speaking of old.......my right arm has been throbbing ALL day. Suppose it is the rainy weather, so I took a couple of pain killers and some dark red medicine tonight. STILL painful.......oh well, such is Life.
And soooo, another Halloween has passed. Life is Good.....and I hope for all of you, also!!!
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Sunday......but, not a day of rest!
Up and off to church with the 1st Lady....and then a quick stop at the local grocery to pick up the STL Post Dispatch....my Sunday vice! After a cup of hot Fr. Roast on the patio, then it was off to crank up the lawn mower and I quickly finished the mowing that didn't get finished yesterday.
I swept off the patio.....it was covered, literally covered with leaves. I put the leaves in the wheel barrow and with dripping hose in hand, I took them over to my "burn pile" and amid the very gusty winds, I lit the pile of leaves and limbs. Sprinkling the yard around the burning pile, I kept careful watch of the burning leaves, attempted to keep my aging body out of the smoke, but as all of you know.....that is not possible, since smoke ALWAYS follows beauty!!! So, I came away from the task smelling like I had read the paper and had coffee on top of the burning pile of leaves.
Then......another cup of coffee amidst the blowing smoke that decided to STILL follow me to the patio....and before long the 1st Lady was callling for my opinion and assistance. Yep......she had decided to change furniture......removing the dining room table/chairs to the patio room which is almost one wall of glass overlooking the patio. BUT.....the furniture there had to be moved elsewhere......and then to not have an empty dining area after the removal of the table/chairs, we had to take two winged back chairs from the bedroom to use in the empty space!! She evidently forgot......this is SUNDAY....a day of rest!!!!!
Of course, when moving furniture, everything thing must be vacuumed (sp?) and dusted!! Soooo, before long it was late afternoon and I could see the day rapidly darkening into early evening.......damn this loss of Daylight Savings Time!!!!!
Just as I was about to fix a wonderful little salad with cabernet, the phone rang and it was a fellow "Creeker"....the other Cedar Creek RV owner that lives here in town!! His truck had stopped at Cherokee Pass....six miles south of town......and he was pulling his 37' foot 5er!!! So, he asked me if I could go and pull his trailer back to his house with my trusty truck........and being the wonderful good guy that I am, I immediately jumped in and after picking him up at his house, we went out and brought back his rv to his house.
Then......back to the kitchen and with my knife in hand, I cut up and fixed a super salad for Sunday supper. And soooooo, the day is now closing.....and I am NOT rested! How WILL I ever get thru this week.....since I have nothing planned?????!!!!! HAHAHA.......a week with no meetings, no commitments, and an already mowed lawn.
Mark......only 7 days before the reunion begins!!!!! Andrew and Laura...CONGRATS on your new purchase...I'm anxious to see it!!!! How was your week, Uncle Mike???
Soooo, Life is GOOD.....and I hope for you, also!!!
I swept off the patio.....it was covered, literally covered with leaves. I put the leaves in the wheel barrow and with dripping hose in hand, I took them over to my "burn pile" and amid the very gusty winds, I lit the pile of leaves and limbs. Sprinkling the yard around the burning pile, I kept careful watch of the burning leaves, attempted to keep my aging body out of the smoke, but as all of you know.....that is not possible, since smoke ALWAYS follows beauty!!! So, I came away from the task smelling like I had read the paper and had coffee on top of the burning pile of leaves.
Then......another cup of coffee amidst the blowing smoke that decided to STILL follow me to the patio....and before long the 1st Lady was callling for my opinion and assistance. Yep......she had decided to change furniture......removing the dining room table/chairs to the patio room which is almost one wall of glass overlooking the patio. BUT.....the furniture there had to be moved elsewhere......and then to not have an empty dining area after the removal of the table/chairs, we had to take two winged back chairs from the bedroom to use in the empty space!! She evidently forgot......this is SUNDAY....a day of rest!!!!!
Of course, when moving furniture, everything thing must be vacuumed (sp?) and dusted!! Soooo, before long it was late afternoon and I could see the day rapidly darkening into early evening.......damn this loss of Daylight Savings Time!!!!!
Just as I was about to fix a wonderful little salad with cabernet, the phone rang and it was a fellow "Creeker"....the other Cedar Creek RV owner that lives here in town!! His truck had stopped at Cherokee Pass....six miles south of town......and he was pulling his 37' foot 5er!!! So, he asked me if I could go and pull his trailer back to his house with my trusty truck........and being the wonderful good guy that I am, I immediately jumped in and after picking him up at his house, we went out and brought back his rv to his house.
Then......back to the kitchen and with my knife in hand, I cut up and fixed a super salad for Sunday supper. And soooooo, the day is now closing.....and I am NOT rested! How WILL I ever get thru this week.....since I have nothing planned?????!!!!! HAHAHA.......a week with no meetings, no commitments, and an already mowed lawn.
Mark......only 7 days before the reunion begins!!!!! Andrew and Laura...CONGRATS on your new purchase...I'm anxious to see it!!!! How was your week, Uncle Mike???
Soooo, Life is GOOD.....and I hope for you, also!!!
Saturday, October 29, 2005
What a varied and interesting day!!!!
A beautiful day.....clear blue sky and warming temps helped to make this a great Saturday in October. This morning after most of the grass had dried, I cranked up the lawn mower and got my exercise by pushing it around the yard for almost three hours. Cutting the grass to a new low height for the season, I managed to chew up a lot of the leaves which have already fallen.........of course, within a few short hours, the lawn was almost covered with more "falling leaves".....a favorite melody of mine from the middle of the last century. UGH......my age is now very, very evident!!
This afternoon I was involved in a an almost three hour conference call with friends from around the country as we worked on a project that we are all very interested in completing!! And.......we are almost finished with it.....which will bring us to a new start for many others! No more can or need be said.
This evening.......WOW!!!!! We attended the wedding celebration of the daughter of our friends here in F'town......a wedding which brings together two different cultures and two completely different religions. She is Christian and he is a Muslim from Turkey. They both live and work in Chicago, but the wedding and celebration was on the lawn of her parents home. Many of his Turkish friends from Chicago and some friends from Turkey were here for the event.......and what a great evening it was! The music....the dancing....the party......the joining of people from the two cultures within the white tent made for a most fun-filled and warm-hearted celebration!! Why can't the peoples of the world all be like this????? There are just tooooooo many closed minds to the ways and lives of other peoples and cultures and religions.........no tolerance for other people's beliefs!! It is a damn shame........soooo many people with closed minds miss out on soooooo many wonderful things about Life!!!!!!
I could go on and on and on and on about what I have just written........I have experienced sooooo many wonderful times in my travels around the world with sooooo many wonderful people in all of the 41 countries that I have visited! Very, very few people can travel throughout the world and not return home without having changed as a human being.........without having had your eyes and your ears and your minds opened to see and to hear and to understand that Life is Beautiful no matter where you are or to which race you belong! Complete tolerance of all peoples and their ways of Life is what everyone needs to possess.
I could explore and discuss this forever because I feel soooooo very, very strongly about this!!!!
And sooo, my Life is GOOD.......and I hope the same goes for all of you!!!
This afternoon I was involved in a an almost three hour conference call with friends from around the country as we worked on a project that we are all very interested in completing!! And.......we are almost finished with it.....which will bring us to a new start for many others! No more can or need be said.
This evening.......WOW!!!!! We attended the wedding celebration of the daughter of our friends here in F'town......a wedding which brings together two different cultures and two completely different religions. She is Christian and he is a Muslim from Turkey. They both live and work in Chicago, but the wedding and celebration was on the lawn of her parents home. Many of his Turkish friends from Chicago and some friends from Turkey were here for the event.......and what a great evening it was! The music....the dancing....the party......the joining of people from the two cultures within the white tent made for a most fun-filled and warm-hearted celebration!! Why can't the peoples of the world all be like this????? There are just tooooooo many closed minds to the ways and lives of other peoples and cultures and religions.........no tolerance for other people's beliefs!! It is a damn shame........soooo many people with closed minds miss out on soooooo many wonderful things about Life!!!!!!
I could go on and on and on and on about what I have just written........I have experienced sooooo many wonderful times in my travels around the world with sooooo many wonderful people in all of the 41 countries that I have visited! Very, very few people can travel throughout the world and not return home without having changed as a human being.........without having had your eyes and your ears and your minds opened to see and to hear and to understand that Life is Beautiful no matter where you are or to which race you belong! Complete tolerance of all peoples and their ways of Life is what everyone needs to possess.
I could explore and discuss this forever because I feel soooooo very, very strongly about this!!!!
And sooo, my Life is GOOD.......and I hope the same goes for all of you!!!
Friday, October 28, 2005
FAST......the day went!!
WOW.....where did this day go????? I heard the 1st Lady in the kitchen rattling pans, the mixer whirring, and then the closing of the oven door.....sooo, I decided to check the time. DAMN.....it was 6:30AM!!!! Yep, she was mixing and cooking some of her famous muffins........but not for me and her, but to take when we visit Mike this afternoon.
Sooooo, as I was up, I turned on the tellie to catch the news........and then, to WAIT on the news from Washington. By 9:30, I was in the kitchen stirring up some things for our late afternoon dinner: 4 very thick rib-eye steaks with slivers of garlic inserted into the meat, a big fresh salad was needed so I marinated the tomatoes for three hours, sliced up the fresh mushrooms for the broiling of the steaks, fried bacon, and then put the steaks in the oven. Before leaving TheHowserHouse, I baked some French bread to take. All in all, it turned it out to be a very good meal this afternoon along with a great visit.
Back home this evening......I have spent over two hours reading the latest news on the events that finally happened in D.C. The events of this week......which are an accumulation of events over the past 4 plus years......have all come together in one swift swoop within a few quick days. It was bound to happen....at least that is my opinion. The war deaths, the Meirs nomination, and the Libby indictment....and still more to come!! 2000 deaths of our men and women are 2000 deaths too many........it is time to systematically pull our troops out of Iraq. I feel like I am living the late 60's and early 70's all over again. This is a war that we should never have started and now it is time to carefully extract our men and women out of there!
Soooo......Life is Good....and I hope for all of you, also.
Sooooo, as I was up, I turned on the tellie to catch the news........and then, to WAIT on the news from Washington. By 9:30, I was in the kitchen stirring up some things for our late afternoon dinner: 4 very thick rib-eye steaks with slivers of garlic inserted into the meat, a big fresh salad was needed so I marinated the tomatoes for three hours, sliced up the fresh mushrooms for the broiling of the steaks, fried bacon, and then put the steaks in the oven. Before leaving TheHowserHouse, I baked some French bread to take. All in all, it turned it out to be a very good meal this afternoon along with a great visit.
Back home this evening......I have spent over two hours reading the latest news on the events that finally happened in D.C. The events of this week......which are an accumulation of events over the past 4 plus years......have all come together in one swift swoop within a few quick days. It was bound to happen....at least that is my opinion. The war deaths, the Meirs nomination, and the Libby indictment....and still more to come!! 2000 deaths of our men and women are 2000 deaths too many........it is time to systematically pull our troops out of Iraq. I feel like I am living the late 60's and early 70's all over again. This is a war that we should never have started and now it is time to carefully extract our men and women out of there!
Soooo......Life is Good....and I hope for all of you, also.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Yep.....just as I discussed last night!
ANOTHER oil company posts record profits........and while you and I continue to pay record prices for gas/diesel just to exist!!! The headlines below are from CNN online.
"Exxon Mobil posts largest quarterly profit ever
Gain of $9.92 billion is the largest quarterly profit ever for a U.S. company"
I close now before I embarrass myself with the language I might use here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Later......
An uneventful afternoon: Lunch with the 1st Lady as she didn't have any school this afternoon; a quick trip to Farmington to get my graying locks trimmed (what few locks there are); a bit of watching the talking heads on the tellie discussing the Meirs withdrawal of her nomination for Supreme Court Justice; and then a bit more watching of the tellie this evening.
Soooooo, not much of interest in today's life in TheHowserHouse.
However.....Life IS Good......and as always, I hope it is for all of you, also.
"Exxon Mobil posts largest quarterly profit ever
Gain of $9.92 billion is the largest quarterly profit ever for a U.S. company"
I close now before I embarrass myself with the language I might use here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Later......
An uneventful afternoon: Lunch with the 1st Lady as she didn't have any school this afternoon; a quick trip to Farmington to get my graying locks trimmed (what few locks there are); a bit of watching the talking heads on the tellie discussing the Meirs withdrawal of her nomination for Supreme Court Justice; and then a bit more watching of the tellie this evening.
Soooooo, not much of interest in today's life in TheHowserHouse.
However.....Life IS Good......and as always, I hope it is for all of you, also.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Time for a change(s)........
A lazy morning.....mucho coffee....along with the daily readings of the papers. Frost was on the herb garden.....not the pumpkins cause we don't have any. The Basil is gone.......a long wait for next spring begins today....and I DO love it fresh....suppose I could try to grow it in a smaller pot in the window???? Food for thought...???
I realized that I HAD to do something for the family room......the one that has all the furniture on one side of the room due to the remodeling of the garage. Well, it will be after the Holidays before the contractor can begin the in-house remodeling, so we will live with some "patched" holes in the wall until then. BUT.....the room is driving me nuts.....can't tolerate such a place .....one that is totally unorganized. Soooo, with a bit of moving and then, more moving.....and then some more thought and some more moving, I put the room back together. Mucho cleaning: use-to-be-cream carpeting, 20+ imported beer steins that I brought back from my dozen trips to Europe were dusty, and then the throw rugs had to be washed.
Well, the deep cleaning is not done, but it will not happen until after the make-over.....and then we can get new carpeting,etc., etc. Anyway.......it is more liveable right now.
This entire process took much longer than I anticipated it would. Then I went and filled up the truck with diesel.......$2.89 a gallon.....a real bargain!!! Took $82.00 to fill it......DAMN!!!!!! And just today I read that ConocoPhillips posted a 89% increase in profits during the 3rd quarter.
All of my students were here for their lessons after school today. They are all really working.....and improving each week. And......that makes it enjoyable and fun for all of us!
Sooooo, the evening is gone......and Life is Good! And.....I hope for all of you, too!
I realized that I HAD to do something for the family room......the one that has all the furniture on one side of the room due to the remodeling of the garage. Well, it will be after the Holidays before the contractor can begin the in-house remodeling, so we will live with some "patched" holes in the wall until then. BUT.....the room is driving me nuts.....can't tolerate such a place .....one that is totally unorganized. Soooo, with a bit of moving and then, more moving.....and then some more thought and some more moving, I put the room back together. Mucho cleaning: use-to-be-cream carpeting, 20+ imported beer steins that I brought back from my dozen trips to Europe were dusty, and then the throw rugs had to be washed.
Well, the deep cleaning is not done, but it will not happen until after the make-over.....and then we can get new carpeting,etc., etc. Anyway.......it is more liveable right now.
This entire process took much longer than I anticipated it would. Then I went and filled up the truck with diesel.......$2.89 a gallon.....a real bargain!!! Took $82.00 to fill it......DAMN!!!!!! And just today I read that ConocoPhillips posted a 89% increase in profits during the 3rd quarter.
All of my students were here for their lessons after school today. They are all really working.....and improving each week. And......that makes it enjoyable and fun for all of us!
Sooooo, the evening is gone......and Life is Good! And.....I hope for all of you, too!
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Autumn is here to stay!
Wow.....what a great cool(temps) day!!! Not the wonderful blue sky, but the cool breezes that blew all day and kept the leaves falling from the trees. And yeah....the leaves are turning rapidly now. It doesn't look like it will be a brilliant autumn with blazing colors.....I think many of the leaves will have already fallen. But....it is wonderful to drive down the hill that I live on and enjoy the overhanging limbs with their fall colors.
This is one of those days when I didn't do tooooo much. Made a quick, well it was supposed to be quick....trip to SuperWalmart for some groceries. I wandered up and down each of the food aisles and when I arrived home it was more than hour later than when I left. I should have known.......the total bill was more than I had planned on spending!
I spent some time thinking about this little blogspot today. Keep wondering why sooooooo many people from around the world check into this site each day.......I guess to see if I am still alive!!!??? Why is anyone interested in TheHowserHouse, especially if they have never even met me during my Life. Now.....this is not to say that I don't enjoy writing this few words each evening.........because I sure as hell do enjoy it. It just keeps me wondering.............why???
The 1st Lady NEVER reads this........perhaps she thinks it might embarrass her???? Oh yeah....she DOES hear about it from various other readers, so she knows a little about this, but not on a daily basis. Right now she is preparing her plans for the classroom tomorrow..........a nightly ritual for her. She IS a perfectionist as an educator in the classroom.........and she expects the same of her students. Perhaps she just doesn't want to take the time to wander thru all of these nonsensical thoughts! Why do you????????
Just finished watching the weekly episode of "The Amazing Race"........really glad to see the teams leaving the country and giving them a chance to experience life in another country. It will make everything a bit more even for all of the teams......tooooo many variables when in a foreign country. I always become jealous when I see them having the opportunity to travel to countries that I haven't visited.
The violated garage of mine???? Yep.....each day it gets a wee bit closer to being repaired.......all of the drywall is up and now it is "mud" time and then.....the final painting. And.....oh my God.....it will then be time to try...TRY...to put everything back in the proper place, hmmmm........don't believe there was a proper place for EVERYTHING! Our family room which shares a wall with the garage.....well, it is a MESS. We had some changes made to the wall, which means that all of our furniture is bunched together.....and "is a MESS"!!!!
WELLLLLL....have I said enough crap tonight?????? Do you have any questions to ask of me????? Oh yeah....I did spend a bit of time in TheHowserHouse (rolling).......I hadn't run the gennie for a couple of months, so I had started it up and let it run for an hour+. Turned on the furnace so their would be a bit of a pull on the gennie......make it work some.
And soooooo, so far - so good!!! Life is GOOD......and I hope for you, also!!!
This is one of those days when I didn't do tooooo much. Made a quick, well it was supposed to be quick....trip to SuperWalmart for some groceries. I wandered up and down each of the food aisles and when I arrived home it was more than hour later than when I left. I should have known.......the total bill was more than I had planned on spending!
I spent some time thinking about this little blogspot today. Keep wondering why sooooooo many people from around the world check into this site each day.......I guess to see if I am still alive!!!??? Why is anyone interested in TheHowserHouse, especially if they have never even met me during my Life. Now.....this is not to say that I don't enjoy writing this few words each evening.........because I sure as hell do enjoy it. It just keeps me wondering.............why???
The 1st Lady NEVER reads this........perhaps she thinks it might embarrass her???? Oh yeah....she DOES hear about it from various other readers, so she knows a little about this, but not on a daily basis. Right now she is preparing her plans for the classroom tomorrow..........a nightly ritual for her. She IS a perfectionist as an educator in the classroom.........and she expects the same of her students. Perhaps she just doesn't want to take the time to wander thru all of these nonsensical thoughts! Why do you????????
Just finished watching the weekly episode of "The Amazing Race"........really glad to see the teams leaving the country and giving them a chance to experience life in another country. It will make everything a bit more even for all of the teams......tooooo many variables when in a foreign country. I always become jealous when I see them having the opportunity to travel to countries that I haven't visited.
The violated garage of mine???? Yep.....each day it gets a wee bit closer to being repaired.......all of the drywall is up and now it is "mud" time and then.....the final painting. And.....oh my God.....it will then be time to try...TRY...to put everything back in the proper place, hmmmm........don't believe there was a proper place for EVERYTHING! Our family room which shares a wall with the garage.....well, it is a MESS. We had some changes made to the wall, which means that all of our furniture is bunched together.....and "is a MESS"!!!!
WELLLLLL....have I said enough crap tonight?????? Do you have any questions to ask of me????? Oh yeah....I did spend a bit of time in TheHowserHouse (rolling).......I hadn't run the gennie for a couple of months, so I had started it up and let it run for an hour+. Turned on the furnace so their would be a bit of a pull on the gennie......make it work some.
And soooooo, so far - so good!!! Life is GOOD......and I hope for you, also!!!
Monday, October 24, 2005
A few more words.......without any "orange"
Ha!!! Are you blinded by the orange of the pictures??? All of that was totally unplanned by 1st Lady Grandma and Ava.......just coincidence. Blogger has implemented a new way of posting pictures.....and mine came out a bit larger than I anticipated. Guess I will have to find out a way to make them smaller......a computer guru, I'm not!!!
The rest of my day went by quickly. Spent a bit of time later in the afternoon preparing an Italian dinner for the 1st Lady and myself. A tomato-mozzarella cheese-celery salad marinated in a balsamic vinegar dressing, tortellini with bacon and flash fried chicken tenders covered in an alfredo sauce, freshly baked garlic bread, and vino to compliment the meal........yummmmy!!!!
This evening I spent some time sifting through messages on a couple of RV websites.......reading some that interested me and that I thought I needed to know more about. Then a bit of time working another project that I have going on right now. And now.......my eyes are watering from overusage.......and I'll soon have to close this lappie up/down and try to get my book finished.
Oh yea!!! I did have a phone call from the ASST. Principal at Osage High School. Really interesting to hear of his new experiences as the asst prin. versus his past life in education as the hs band director. Quite a change for him!!!!!
Sooooo, LIFE IS GOOD......and I hope for all of you, also!
The rest of my day went by quickly. Spent a bit of time later in the afternoon preparing an Italian dinner for the 1st Lady and myself. A tomato-mozzarella cheese-celery salad marinated in a balsamic vinegar dressing, tortellini with bacon and flash fried chicken tenders covered in an alfredo sauce, freshly baked garlic bread, and vino to compliment the meal........yummmmy!!!!
This evening I spent some time sifting through messages on a couple of RV websites.......reading some that interested me and that I thought I needed to know more about. Then a bit of time working another project that I have going on right now. And now.......my eyes are watering from overusage.......and I'll soon have to close this lappie up/down and try to get my book finished.
Oh yea!!! I did have a phone call from the ASST. Principal at Osage High School. Really interesting to hear of his new experiences as the asst prin. versus his past life in education as the hs band director. Quite a change for him!!!!!
Sooooo, LIFE IS GOOD......and I hope for all of you, also!
Yeah....I AM still around.....
Monday morning......and I am about 48 hours behind in discussing TheHowserHouse doings!! Let's see....where do I begin????
We returned last night and I just slept in this morning. WAAAAYYYYYY behind on my daily caffiene intake and I can really tell it.
Saturday after posting from TanTara.....the resort I do NOT like and have felt that way for 30+ years. Anyway.....attended a few sessions during the afternoon and then walked back to our dirty, little Estate housing. The 1st Lady was reading down on the boat dock below our housing unit, so I joined her for a bit sun and quiet in this cove. Then she sent me on a mission back to the Outlet Mall to pick up a couple of more items for Christmas gifts. When I returned we got ready and joined the rest of the Bd members at Michael's Steakhouse on the Lake.......and had a wonderful meal with great conversation and many laughs!!! Perhaps I overdosed just a bit on my dark red medicine which I was able to obtain at the Steakhouse.........The 1st lady thought she should drive back to TanTara that evening......but it wasn't necessary!!
It was not possible to meet a couple of former students and now, friends, for a few drinks. Things just didn't work out for me to meet those commitments......for those of you who were expecting me.......my deepest apologies!!!!!!
Sunday.....we checked out, stopped at Panera's and had pastries and coffee there. Then we went to Eldon and spent a few hours visiting with my mother who manages quit nicely to live alone at the age of 92......the EverReady battery just keeps going and going.
Then it was off to the East to the Moser Estate outside of Washington, MO. We spent about three hours there with Dr. Jeni, Darrel, and their two daughters, along with Mike's daughter Rachel who was visiting them for the weekend. Ava continues to grow.......as babies normally do.......and Meghan continues to amaze me with her natural artistic abilities at age 5!!!!! VERY unusual for a little girl of this young age to be able to draw and write with such artistic flair!!! I am IMPRESSED!!!! It will be fun to see how this all plays out as she becomes older and has more instruction available in art.
Then......back home last night!! And now......another week begins which is busy, busy, busy with plans each day. WHERE is my RETIREMENT???????? Hmmmmm........
More later..........
We returned last night and I just slept in this morning. WAAAAYYYYYY behind on my daily caffiene intake and I can really tell it.
Saturday after posting from TanTara.....the resort I do NOT like and have felt that way for 30+ years. Anyway.....attended a few sessions during the afternoon and then walked back to our dirty, little Estate housing. The 1st Lady was reading down on the boat dock below our housing unit, so I joined her for a bit sun and quiet in this cove. Then she sent me on a mission back to the Outlet Mall to pick up a couple of more items for Christmas gifts. When I returned we got ready and joined the rest of the Bd members at Michael's Steakhouse on the Lake.......and had a wonderful meal with great conversation and many laughs!!! Perhaps I overdosed just a bit on my dark red medicine which I was able to obtain at the Steakhouse.........The 1st lady thought she should drive back to TanTara that evening......but it wasn't necessary!!
It was not possible to meet a couple of former students and now, friends, for a few drinks. Things just didn't work out for me to meet those commitments......for those of you who were expecting me.......my deepest apologies!!!!!!
Sunday.....we checked out, stopped at Panera's and had pastries and coffee there. Then we went to Eldon and spent a few hours visiting with my mother who manages quit nicely to live alone at the age of 92......the EverReady battery just keeps going and going.
Then it was off to the East to the Moser Estate outside of Washington, MO. We spent about three hours there with Dr. Jeni, Darrel, and their two daughters, along with Mike's daughter Rachel who was visiting them for the weekend. Ava continues to grow.......as babies normally do.......and Meghan continues to amaze me with her natural artistic abilities at age 5!!!!! VERY unusual for a little girl of this young age to be able to draw and write with such artistic flair!!! I am IMPRESSED!!!! It will be fun to see how this all plays out as she becomes older and has more instruction available in art.
Then......back home last night!! And now......another week begins which is busy, busy, busy with plans each day. WHERE is my RETIREMENT???????? Hmmmmm........
More later..........
Saturday, October 22, 2005
UGH!!! I REALLY dislike TanTara Resort!!!!
Ok.....no cell service here, well that is we are on extended service so I cannot get online and post with "extended". We left the stick and brick yesterday morning, arriving in Osage Beach around lunchtime. Went to a really cool little French cafe, however, the sandwich I had was sooooo dry with sooooooo much bread that it really angered me......hmmmm, is this that wonderful sign of "aging" and becoming cantankerous(sp?)???? Anyway, the 1st Lady's lunch was very good, she said, and so it wasn't long until we went to the Outlet Mall.
Shopped, not till we dropped, but just almost. By that time, it was after dark and time for dinner. Hmmmm.......is "eating" ALL I ever discuss????? Could be!!! Hahaha. Anyway, we went to the City Grill and it was very, very good. Contemporary menu and the Tenderloin I had was super!!! Even the choice of dark, red medicine was a great choice and helped to smooth out the tired feet from all of the shopping.
THEN......we got our Tantara room, and it was horrific!!! There were dead bugs and cobwebs on the lampshade, only two lamps in the little room and one of them had a dead bulb......besides the dead BUGS. Sooooo, I called Housekeeping and read the riot act......(aging???) and before long the Latinos were there and sweeping, changing the bulbs, polishing, dusting.......all at 10pm at night!!!!! I even got to practice my rusty, rusty Spanish.....hahaha. Sure the pronunciations were laughable to them! Anyway......if I ever have my choice, I will NEVER stay at Tantara again........I have always disliked this place anyway.....and this trip certainly didn't change my opinion of the place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh for TheHowserHouse that rolls!!!!!
Oh.....I didn't mention the fact that the head of our bed was right NEXT to the head of the bed in the next room in the little "estate cabin" and every time the guy in that room snored we could hear him......I could even hear him "tinkling" in his bathroom in the middle of the night. Sure glad they didn't decide to get all snuggily and go at it during the night!!!!
This morning the board all had breakfast with the Supt. The buffet was ok......nothing special. Did see an old time band parent.....her daughter graduated in 1982 from Eldon......played Bass Clarinet for me. The mother is a waitress in the Big Bear Restaurant here. Went to a couple of sessions and it is now lunch time.........may cut it short this afternoon and go over to the tiny, cobweb covered little room and get my novel and read somplace. We have a dinner to attend this even that is for the F'town group given by the company that we had install new heating and a/c in the Middle School last year. Then hope to see a couple of former students tonight for a few drinks!!!!! That may be the best part of the entire weekend!!!!!
Sooooo, will close this for now.........will not get to post tonight, as like last night. Life is Good......even with little bugs...literally....now and then! And, I hope everything is good for all of you, too.
Shopped, not till we dropped, but just almost. By that time, it was after dark and time for dinner. Hmmmm.......is "eating" ALL I ever discuss????? Could be!!! Hahaha. Anyway, we went to the City Grill and it was very, very good. Contemporary menu and the Tenderloin I had was super!!! Even the choice of dark, red medicine was a great choice and helped to smooth out the tired feet from all of the shopping.
THEN......we got our Tantara room, and it was horrific!!! There were dead bugs and cobwebs on the lampshade, only two lamps in the little room and one of them had a dead bulb......besides the dead BUGS. Sooooo, I called Housekeeping and read the riot act......(aging???) and before long the Latinos were there and sweeping, changing the bulbs, polishing, dusting.......all at 10pm at night!!!!! I even got to practice my rusty, rusty Spanish.....hahaha. Sure the pronunciations were laughable to them! Anyway......if I ever have my choice, I will NEVER stay at Tantara again........I have always disliked this place anyway.....and this trip certainly didn't change my opinion of the place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh for TheHowserHouse that rolls!!!!!
Oh.....I didn't mention the fact that the head of our bed was right NEXT to the head of the bed in the next room in the little "estate cabin" and every time the guy in that room snored we could hear him......I could even hear him "tinkling" in his bathroom in the middle of the night. Sure glad they didn't decide to get all snuggily and go at it during the night!!!!
This morning the board all had breakfast with the Supt. The buffet was ok......nothing special. Did see an old time band parent.....her daughter graduated in 1982 from Eldon......played Bass Clarinet for me. The mother is a waitress in the Big Bear Restaurant here. Went to a couple of sessions and it is now lunch time.........may cut it short this afternoon and go over to the tiny, cobweb covered little room and get my novel and read somplace. We have a dinner to attend this even that is for the F'town group given by the company that we had install new heating and a/c in the Middle School last year. Then hope to see a couple of former students tonight for a few drinks!!!!! That may be the best part of the entire weekend!!!!!
Sooooo, will close this for now.........will not get to post tonight, as like last night. Life is Good......even with little bugs...literally....now and then! And, I hope everything is good for all of you, too.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
EARPLUGS, PLEASE!!!
Oh my God.......I had no idea it would be this bad!!! The contractor and his help are finishing the garage red0.....and in the process are starting the remodeling of the interior of the house because the garage wall and the family room wall are the same.......soooooooooo, hammering, sawing, removing of windows, and the locating and rewiring of the tellie cable running through the wall is now occurring!!!!!! EGADS.......what a job!!!!!!! AND.....just think......the REAL interior work has not even begun. I may have to move out of the house....hahaha.....as we plan to knock out walls, install new ones, replace the kitchen cabinets, new flooring, etc., etc., etc. And all of this will not begin until after the Holidays......snow in the house??????? Who knows!!
More later.......I am needed for information as to where wires need to be run.....
CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!! I had a huge amount written about the remainder of this day and some philosophical thoughts about why I am writing this for unknowns.......finished it up.....and pushed "publish" .....and NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!!!! DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And now, all of my creativity has been deleted and my thoughts are barren and sterile and I am pissed!!! Soooooo.......I am signing off for tonight. Tomorrow we will be at TanTara Resort and they do not have wireless internet except in their busy lobby.....otherwise it is $15 for five minutes, so I will hope to have cell phone service. DAMN.....am I ever pissed!!! I should have learned my lesson about this sometime ago.....this is not the first time this has happened.......oh well....such is life
And, Life is Good (except at this particular moment)......and I hope it is good for all of you, too!!!!!!
More later.......I am needed for information as to where wires need to be run.....
CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!! I had a huge amount written about the remainder of this day and some philosophical thoughts about why I am writing this for unknowns.......finished it up.....and pushed "publish" .....and NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!!!! DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And now, all of my creativity has been deleted and my thoughts are barren and sterile and I am pissed!!! Soooooo.......I am signing off for tonight. Tomorrow we will be at TanTara Resort and they do not have wireless internet except in their busy lobby.....otherwise it is $15 for five minutes, so I will hope to have cell phone service. DAMN.....am I ever pissed!!! I should have learned my lesson about this sometime ago.....this is not the first time this has happened.......oh well....such is life
And, Life is Good (except at this particular moment)......and I hope it is good for all of you, too!!!!!!
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Another day in the stick and brick....
A gorgeous day.....could it be the last???? Rain, storms, a cold front approaches from the north and our great autumn days may become history. I spent as much time as possible on the patio and in the yard.....enjoying the VERY warm temperatures.......tomorrow should be different.
Our across-the-street neighbor came over this morning for a bit of time. We had a good discussion about several issues in our community.....but I don't think we solved anything!! HAHA.
This afternoon I gave 5 private music lessons.......it is always enjoyable to work with these students/adults and to see how they progress in only 7 days time. I look forward to Wednesday afternoons ........I always feel like I have been helpful in their pursuit of learning how to play and/or sing for the rest of their lives.
Well.....the St Louis Cardinals are finished for the year. They just couldn't pull it all together during this last final league championship series. Really hate this!!!!!!
Soooooo.....another day in the Life of TheHowserHouse. Life is, as always, GOOD......and I hope for all of you, too!!!!
Our across-the-street neighbor came over this morning for a bit of time. We had a good discussion about several issues in our community.....but I don't think we solved anything!! HAHA.
This afternoon I gave 5 private music lessons.......it is always enjoyable to work with these students/adults and to see how they progress in only 7 days time. I look forward to Wednesday afternoons ........I always feel like I have been helpful in their pursuit of learning how to play and/or sing for the rest of their lives.
Well.....the St Louis Cardinals are finished for the year. They just couldn't pull it all together during this last final league championship series. Really hate this!!!!!!
Soooooo.....another day in the Life of TheHowserHouse. Life is, as always, GOOD......and I hope for all of you, too!!!!
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
A VERY lazy day......
Yep.....the above says it all......I was just damn lazy today. Went back to never-never-land after the 1st Lady left for school.....and didn't wake up until 9am!!!! THAT is terrible!!! Soooo, a beautiful autumn day greeted me as I opened the glass doors to the patio.......and that is where I remained for most of the morning.....with coffee cup in one hand, and my latest reading novel in the other. I feel sooooooooooooo guilty.
So, I did go out to the rolling HowserHouse and do some clean-up in the needed places: the kitchen, the fridge, and the "throne room". Then......back to the stick/brick and my book......and some more coffee!!!
Later today, I watched some of the news shows. Then as the 1st Lady had to be in Farmington for a dinner meeting, I fixed one of my favorite one dish meals: brown rice cooked in chicken broth and when done, I add about three chopped Roma tomatoes which have been salted and peppered about 3-4 hours before the rice is done,....and I also added some freshly fried bacon(3 strips), and some out-of-my-herb-garden fresh Basil, Parsley, and Thyme.....and then some shredded cheese on top of all of these tasty ingredients....a quick stir and the cheese melts.....and it goes down sooooooo easy with a glass of my dark red medicine. And....I always eat way more than my body needs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am now finishing off my evening cup of hot tea as I write this.......waiting for The Amazing Race to begin.
Well, I thought this was the weakest hour of The Amazing Race that I have seen......yet!!!! Perhaps it is because it just seems soooooo easy for them to find the clues, follow the instructions, etc., etc. The teams do not have the language barriers to overcome, the taxi rides, the transportation from one country to another......all of these are not only the difficult issues the teams must face, but they become the fun things that they encounter. How well I know from personal experiences around the world!!
Sooooo.....Life is STILL GOOD....and I hope for all of you, also!
So, I did go out to the rolling HowserHouse and do some clean-up in the needed places: the kitchen, the fridge, and the "throne room". Then......back to the stick/brick and my book......and some more coffee!!!
Later today, I watched some of the news shows. Then as the 1st Lady had to be in Farmington for a dinner meeting, I fixed one of my favorite one dish meals: brown rice cooked in chicken broth and when done, I add about three chopped Roma tomatoes which have been salted and peppered about 3-4 hours before the rice is done,....and I also added some freshly fried bacon(3 strips), and some out-of-my-herb-garden fresh Basil, Parsley, and Thyme.....and then some shredded cheese on top of all of these tasty ingredients....a quick stir and the cheese melts.....and it goes down sooooooo easy with a glass of my dark red medicine. And....I always eat way more than my body needs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am now finishing off my evening cup of hot tea as I write this.......waiting for The Amazing Race to begin.
Well, I thought this was the weakest hour of The Amazing Race that I have seen......yet!!!! Perhaps it is because it just seems soooooo easy for them to find the clues, follow the instructions, etc., etc. The teams do not have the language barriers to overcome, the taxi rides, the transportation from one country to another......all of these are not only the difficult issues the teams must face, but they become the fun things that they encounter. How well I know from personal experiences around the world!!
Sooooo.....Life is STILL GOOD....and I hope for all of you, also!
AHHHH....time to post some "catch-ups"!!!!
Friday……
Beautiful morning…AND day!!!! Finished throwing a few more things into TheHowserHouse…like OUR pillows….and then hooked her up and drove away. It is such a LONG way to Sam Baker State Park……..all of 38 miles!!!! So, in less than two hours I was backed into our reserved site and the umbilical cord was attached, slides were out, awning out, and the patio set up. Yep……..an easy change of scenery. I had a bite of lunch, drove up to CG #2...signed in and picked up my site paperwork, and returned to TheHowserHouse and spent most of the afternoon sipping a fresh pot of Fr Roast coffee and reading a book.
The 1st Lady arrive about 5:30pm…..I already had the charcoal lit and turning gray and soon the hamburgers with baked beans were ready. Of course…..you know me….I had my dark red medicine to wash down the burgers and beans. By the time we ate it was beginning to cool down rapidly and so we took a quick walk around this campground…..eyeballing the sites we liked…..and returned to our home on wheels. With no trouble I managed to get the tellie going and with the antenna I picked up the ONLY station available down here in the forested valley…..Cape Girardeau….which is NOT my favorite channel as far as news reporting goes!!! Anyway…….I read a book for about three hours and I finally finished it!!
The night became pretty cool as the clock ticked off the hours and by EARLY morning I had to get up and turn on the furnace. Soooo…….
Saturday….
Went back to sleep after turning on the furnace…..and before long I was back up and turning on the coffee maker. Another incredible, gorgeous day arrived with such a clear blue sky with no clouds. The steaming cup of coffee really tasted good as the air had the chill of the night still hanging around the FILLED campground. Smoke soon was rising from the different camp sites as families and senior citizens began to light their fires to rid the morning of the coolness.
We had breakfast at the outside table and then decided to take a walk. Followed the bicycle pathway almost 2 miles up to the other campground here in the state park. It is the older of the two and the sites are closer to each other than the cg we are at. Like ours, this cg is full also…….EVERYONE likes to be out in their tents and RVs at this time of the year……..WOW…can’t imagine anyone not enjoying this!!!
So, after a small stop at the Visitors Center to use the facilities, we walked back the 2 miles to our cg. The 1st Lady put on her face…..and we were off to Patterson, MO…..a very, very small community about five miles from here. Even tho it is sooooo small, there is a really neat little “Tea Room” there completely decorated in the Victorian style……and it just oozes atmosphere. I had eaten lunch there a couple of times last year while on the campaign trail, but I wanted the 1st Lady to enjoy a lunch there, sooooo…..we did!!! VERY good, but they seem to have down-sized their menu which was disappointing. However, if you ever stop there order the Coconut-Walnut cake……..OH MY……it is die for!!!!
We decided to drive on down to “Old Greenville”……a community that was completely moved after the building of the dam which created Wapapello Lake (sp???). The foundations, the sidewalks, and the tree lined pathways are still there, but all the buildings were moved in the early 1940’s. But….our main objective was to check out the Corps of Engineers campground there……..couldn’t believe it….they have 110 sites and the cg is exceptional!!!!! We must spend a long weekend here sometime…..it is right beside the river which becomes the northern edge of the Lake…….a great place to enjoy and let the time disappear.
While there……I had moment of panic!!!!! I discovered that for the second time in my Life…..I had left my camera bag hanging on the chair in the tea room!!!!! Where else did this happen????? In Firenza (Florence), Italy a few years ago…….after I had taken toooooooooooo much of my dark red medicine!!!!!!!!! And that time……well, it was a loss of over $300 worth of camera!!!!!!!!! So, we hurried back to Patterson….and walked in just as they were closing, and the ladies working there smiled and said….”We know why you are here!!” Yep…..they had kept it for me……I had met all of them last year while campaigning for State Representative……..WHAT a relief!!!!!!!!
Back to the cg we came to recover from thought of am almost losing a second camera the same way as before!!! Well……..when we parked in front of TheHowserHouse and as I was walking around the truck, I looked down and there was a fresh cigarette butt….with the ashes still attached…..laying on the ground. I told the 1st Lady that this was unusual as someone must have been in our site/area. She thought it must have been some of the older kids who are here with their families……but I thought it rather strange…..????
It wasn’t 30 minutes later when I came outside to sit in the sun…..reached over to put my coffee mug on the little table and there…………….there was a pack of Marlboro cancer sticks!!!!!!!!! SOMEONE HAD BEEN AT THEHOWSERHOUSE!!!!!! It was like Goldilocks and the Three Bears………..except I didn’t leave any porridge! Sooooo, the mystery deepened as the day progressed……..I asked around to others close by our site if they had seen anyone stop at our place, or walk through our area, etc., etc. NOPE……no one saw a thing.
Finally, the guy across the street said he had seen a Cadillac drive by slowly 2 or 3 times but didn’t notice that they had stopped there. In my mind I began to think it might have been son #2, Jeremy/Jay……..it was just like something he would do because he ALWAYS leave his used butts on the ground and oftentimes leaves his pack of cigs and forgets about them. Hmmmmm……????
We went on with our afternoon…..gathered some firewood for an outside fire….and enjoyed the evening as the full moon came up right over the trees in front of TheHowserHouse!!! BEAUTIFUL!!!!! We started the fire…..enjoyed it for a couple of hours in the moonlit night and then watched a bit of tellie news and read the rest of the evening away.
Sunday……
Up earlier this morning…….we got ready and went up to the state park café…..a really neat little stone building overlooking the Big Creek flowing by. The back room is delightful in the fall mornings as it is all French doors ALL AROUND two sides of the room so the view is spectacular!!!! We had a delicious breakfast there and returned to TheHowserHouse for the rest of the beautiful morning. And then…….The Marlboro Mystery entered it’s last phase……….a brown Chrysler Seebring convertible pulled up…..and I was correct…….Jeremy was here from Evansville, IN. He had come down yesterday with a neighbor but we were gone sightseeing and he didn’t realize he had left his pack of cigs, as I suspected.
So we talked, we walked, and then we drove down to the “Old Greenville” area so he could see it. Stopped on the way back at a couple of flea markets along the roadside and then returned to the cg. Jeremy soon departed as he wanted to watch the Cards play at our stick and brick, and then he had to return to Evansville as he had an important campaign business meeting in the morning. Then he has to fly over to Wash DC for a couple of days of meetings at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters. A busy week for him….as usual.
Late afternoon, the 1st Lady left for the home stick and brick……with things to do to prepare for teaching this week. I had a quiet evening in the cg…….I believe there were perhaps 4, maybe 5 rigs left after the mass exodus from the cg during the afternoon. It was VERY quiet…..and VERY nice as darkness settled over the park…..and the bright moon came up again.
I read, listened to the Cards, and watch a bit of the tellie prior to turning in for the night.
Monday……..
A WONDERFUL morning with a guest for “coffee in the park”!!! Yep…..an individual who has played a big part in my Life……from being a former student in the 80’s, to becoming a band director and then becoming my associate band director here in the high school, which has then led to the two of us becoming very good friends….he drove down to spend the day with me at the park. We had several hours of great conversation….and finally, some time whereby we didn’t have to watch the clock which allowed us to do some “catch-up” of our own.
We had coffee, talked, went around the huge park (his first time there) for a brief tour, and then grilled some burgers before I had to pack things up and head back to the stick and brick. A really good day!!
This evening, I had to be at the monthly Board of Education meeting for several hours……quite a bit of discussing to do there. AND….the CARDS won!!!!!! Wow…..thought it was all over after last night!!!
Then tons of emails concerning the Cedar Creek RV Club doings……..still have many to answer this evening, or perhaps in the morning when my mind is better suited to thinking and answering them.
A few pics will be posted in the morning…..so keep checking.
LIFE IS GOOD…..and I certainly hope for all of you, too!!!
Beautiful morning…AND day!!!! Finished throwing a few more things into TheHowserHouse…like OUR pillows….and then hooked her up and drove away. It is such a LONG way to Sam Baker State Park……..all of 38 miles!!!! So, in less than two hours I was backed into our reserved site and the umbilical cord was attached, slides were out, awning out, and the patio set up. Yep……..an easy change of scenery. I had a bite of lunch, drove up to CG #2...signed in and picked up my site paperwork, and returned to TheHowserHouse and spent most of the afternoon sipping a fresh pot of Fr Roast coffee and reading a book.
The 1st Lady arrive about 5:30pm…..I already had the charcoal lit and turning gray and soon the hamburgers with baked beans were ready. Of course…..you know me….I had my dark red medicine to wash down the burgers and beans. By the time we ate it was beginning to cool down rapidly and so we took a quick walk around this campground…..eyeballing the sites we liked…..and returned to our home on wheels. With no trouble I managed to get the tellie going and with the antenna I picked up the ONLY station available down here in the forested valley…..Cape Girardeau….which is NOT my favorite channel as far as news reporting goes!!! Anyway…….I read a book for about three hours and I finally finished it!!
The night became pretty cool as the clock ticked off the hours and by EARLY morning I had to get up and turn on the furnace. Soooo…….
Saturday….
Went back to sleep after turning on the furnace…..and before long I was back up and turning on the coffee maker. Another incredible, gorgeous day arrived with such a clear blue sky with no clouds. The steaming cup of coffee really tasted good as the air had the chill of the night still hanging around the FILLED campground. Smoke soon was rising from the different camp sites as families and senior citizens began to light their fires to rid the morning of the coolness.
We had breakfast at the outside table and then decided to take a walk. Followed the bicycle pathway almost 2 miles up to the other campground here in the state park. It is the older of the two and the sites are closer to each other than the cg we are at. Like ours, this cg is full also…….EVERYONE likes to be out in their tents and RVs at this time of the year……..WOW…can’t imagine anyone not enjoying this!!!
So, after a small stop at the Visitors Center to use the facilities, we walked back the 2 miles to our cg. The 1st Lady put on her face…..and we were off to Patterson, MO…..a very, very small community about five miles from here. Even tho it is sooooo small, there is a really neat little “Tea Room” there completely decorated in the Victorian style……and it just oozes atmosphere. I had eaten lunch there a couple of times last year while on the campaign trail, but I wanted the 1st Lady to enjoy a lunch there, sooooo…..we did!!! VERY good, but they seem to have down-sized their menu which was disappointing. However, if you ever stop there order the Coconut-Walnut cake……..OH MY……it is die for!!!!
We decided to drive on down to “Old Greenville”……a community that was completely moved after the building of the dam which created Wapapello Lake (sp???). The foundations, the sidewalks, and the tree lined pathways are still there, but all the buildings were moved in the early 1940’s. But….our main objective was to check out the Corps of Engineers campground there……..couldn’t believe it….they have 110 sites and the cg is exceptional!!!!! We must spend a long weekend here sometime…..it is right beside the river which becomes the northern edge of the Lake…….a great place to enjoy and let the time disappear.
While there……I had moment of panic!!!!! I discovered that for the second time in my Life…..I had left my camera bag hanging on the chair in the tea room!!!!! Where else did this happen????? In Firenza (Florence), Italy a few years ago…….after I had taken toooooooooooo much of my dark red medicine!!!!!!!!! And that time……well, it was a loss of over $300 worth of camera!!!!!!!!! So, we hurried back to Patterson….and walked in just as they were closing, and the ladies working there smiled and said….”We know why you are here!!” Yep…..they had kept it for me……I had met all of them last year while campaigning for State Representative……..WHAT a relief!!!!!!!!
Back to the cg we came to recover from thought of am almost losing a second camera the same way as before!!! Well……..when we parked in front of TheHowserHouse and as I was walking around the truck, I looked down and there was a fresh cigarette butt….with the ashes still attached…..laying on the ground. I told the 1st Lady that this was unusual as someone must have been in our site/area. She thought it must have been some of the older kids who are here with their families……but I thought it rather strange…..????
It wasn’t 30 minutes later when I came outside to sit in the sun…..reached over to put my coffee mug on the little table and there…………….there was a pack of Marlboro cancer sticks!!!!!!!!! SOMEONE HAD BEEN AT THEHOWSERHOUSE!!!!!! It was like Goldilocks and the Three Bears………..except I didn’t leave any porridge! Sooooo, the mystery deepened as the day progressed……..I asked around to others close by our site if they had seen anyone stop at our place, or walk through our area, etc., etc. NOPE……no one saw a thing.
Finally, the guy across the street said he had seen a Cadillac drive by slowly 2 or 3 times but didn’t notice that they had stopped there. In my mind I began to think it might have been son #2, Jeremy/Jay……..it was just like something he would do because he ALWAYS leave his used butts on the ground and oftentimes leaves his pack of cigs and forgets about them. Hmmmmm……????
We went on with our afternoon…..gathered some firewood for an outside fire….and enjoyed the evening as the full moon came up right over the trees in front of TheHowserHouse!!! BEAUTIFUL!!!!! We started the fire…..enjoyed it for a couple of hours in the moonlit night and then watched a bit of tellie news and read the rest of the evening away.
Sunday……
Up earlier this morning…….we got ready and went up to the state park café…..a really neat little stone building overlooking the Big Creek flowing by. The back room is delightful in the fall mornings as it is all French doors ALL AROUND two sides of the room so the view is spectacular!!!! We had a delicious breakfast there and returned to TheHowserHouse for the rest of the beautiful morning. And then…….The Marlboro Mystery entered it’s last phase……….a brown Chrysler Seebring convertible pulled up…..and I was correct…….Jeremy was here from Evansville, IN. He had come down yesterday with a neighbor but we were gone sightseeing and he didn’t realize he had left his pack of cigs, as I suspected.
So we talked, we walked, and then we drove down to the “Old Greenville” area so he could see it. Stopped on the way back at a couple of flea markets along the roadside and then returned to the cg. Jeremy soon departed as he wanted to watch the Cards play at our stick and brick, and then he had to return to Evansville as he had an important campaign business meeting in the morning. Then he has to fly over to Wash DC for a couple of days of meetings at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters. A busy week for him….as usual.
Late afternoon, the 1st Lady left for the home stick and brick……with things to do to prepare for teaching this week. I had a quiet evening in the cg…….I believe there were perhaps 4, maybe 5 rigs left after the mass exodus from the cg during the afternoon. It was VERY quiet…..and VERY nice as darkness settled over the park…..and the bright moon came up again.
I read, listened to the Cards, and watch a bit of the tellie prior to turning in for the night.
Monday……..
A WONDERFUL morning with a guest for “coffee in the park”!!! Yep…..an individual who has played a big part in my Life……from being a former student in the 80’s, to becoming a band director and then becoming my associate band director here in the high school, which has then led to the two of us becoming very good friends….he drove down to spend the day with me at the park. We had several hours of great conversation….and finally, some time whereby we didn’t have to watch the clock which allowed us to do some “catch-up” of our own.
We had coffee, talked, went around the huge park (his first time there) for a brief tour, and then grilled some burgers before I had to pack things up and head back to the stick and brick. A really good day!!
This evening, I had to be at the monthly Board of Education meeting for several hours……quite a bit of discussing to do there. AND….the CARDS won!!!!!! Wow…..thought it was all over after last night!!!
Then tons of emails concerning the Cedar Creek RV Club doings……..still have many to answer this evening, or perhaps in the morning when my mind is better suited to thinking and answering them.
A few pics will be posted in the morning…..so keep checking.
LIFE IS GOOD…..and I certainly hope for all of you, too!!!
Thursday, October 13, 2005
A busy day both in cyberspace and on the home front..
Yeah......the morning, as well as much of the rest of the day, were taken up with messages arriving from, and leaving for....cyberspace. A bit of an earthquake within the Cedar Creek RV Club......some events from early on and some from yesterday all came together to make for a spasming of the members across the nation today. Believe I forgot to mention that I was appointed the Missouri Director of the Cedar Creek RV Club....which I accepted......a couple of weeks ago. Anyway....the lappie was smoking today with emails coming and going across the country.......and it basically boils down to the organizational structure of the club.....it needs repairing!!! With the national and Canadian membership growing rapidly...on a daily basis....a few necessary changes in the organizational chart needs to be changed....and quickly! We'll see......
The rest of the day, between emails, was taken up by finishing the wash job on TheHowserHouse and loading a few necessities for the weekend. I will be "down in the valley" for the weekend and probably without cell phone which means NO updates on this blogspot. Hope I can survive.......and all of you readers, also. The weather looks perfect for the weekend......even if it does get a bit warm during the day.
The 1st Lady will not be down there as long as I will......she will join me tomorrow evening and she will return on Sunday. I will bring TheHowserHouse back on Monday.......in time for the monthly school board meeting.
WOW.....doesn't seem like it has been a month since the last one????!!!
Sitting here watching the Cards in the 4th inning.....they need to get moving as they are behind right now. the 1st Lady is at her Sorority meeting.....a twice a month happening for her.
I seem to be getting quite a few calls pushing and pulling me to enter the political race(s) once again. First....the calls have been coming in for me to run for Alderman from our ward in the spring city elections....and then, more calls and arm twisting for me to run again next year for State Representative. Well, it is much appreciated that I am thought of as being capable to do the job, but.......BUT...that side of my Life has changed....and I am ready to travel quite a bit more after the 1st Lady retires in the spring. There are toooo many things to do around the next bend of the road, or in the next country the plane lands in, to have to be pinned down to meetings and a "job". Besides......my time gets shorter for this Life with each and every passing day........hmmmmm, that always get me to thinking about what I will be doing in the next lifetime. I know I was an Asian and also an Italian in previous lives, as well as being an explorer ....hence, my love for traveling in this lifetime!!
Sooooo, I will close for tonight. Life is Good.....and I hope for all of you, also!!!
If you don't think BIG........nothing BIG will ever happen in your Life!
The rest of the day, between emails, was taken up by finishing the wash job on TheHowserHouse and loading a few necessities for the weekend. I will be "down in the valley" for the weekend and probably without cell phone which means NO updates on this blogspot. Hope I can survive.......and all of you readers, also. The weather looks perfect for the weekend......even if it does get a bit warm during the day.
The 1st Lady will not be down there as long as I will......she will join me tomorrow evening and she will return on Sunday. I will bring TheHowserHouse back on Monday.......in time for the monthly school board meeting.
WOW.....doesn't seem like it has been a month since the last one????!!!
Sitting here watching the Cards in the 4th inning.....they need to get moving as they are behind right now. the 1st Lady is at her Sorority meeting.....a twice a month happening for her.
I seem to be getting quite a few calls pushing and pulling me to enter the political race(s) once again. First....the calls have been coming in for me to run for Alderman from our ward in the spring city elections....and then, more calls and arm twisting for me to run again next year for State Representative. Well, it is much appreciated that I am thought of as being capable to do the job, but.......BUT...that side of my Life has changed....and I am ready to travel quite a bit more after the 1st Lady retires in the spring. There are toooo many things to do around the next bend of the road, or in the next country the plane lands in, to have to be pinned down to meetings and a "job". Besides......my time gets shorter for this Life with each and every passing day........hmmmmm, that always get me to thinking about what I will be doing in the next lifetime. I know I was an Asian and also an Italian in previous lives, as well as being an explorer ....hence, my love for traveling in this lifetime!!
Sooooo, I will close for tonight. Life is Good.....and I hope for all of you, also!!!
If you don't think BIG........nothing BIG will ever happen in your Life!
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
A day of cleaning TheHowserHouse
Yep........I spent most of the day in the great weather.....using some elbow grease as I washed the outside of TheHowserHouse....the rolling one! It had many dead nasty little buys on the front end which I picked up....not my choice.....as I went to and back from Branson a few weeks ago. Just hadn't taken the time to clean it up. Luckily...I had waxed this front end cap a couple of times and so the bugs wiped right off without having to really rub very much. I also washed, by hand, two other sides.........only one left to go in the morning.
It actually was a bit dirtier than I had thought it was going to be.........took me longer as I usually use my extended pole washing brush, but it wasn't taking off the mud and crap, so it was cleaned by my talented little hands. As I said.....one side left....the side that is in the sun, so will get up early in the morning and get it done before the hot sun reaches it. Then......do the windows....and check out the interior.....and then load a few things for our weekend trip.
Just a relaxing weekend trip to Sam A. Baker State Park to enjoy the fall weather with a stream rushing by and leaves falling around us.........a good time to hike/stroll and to do some reading out in the sun.
Had my private students this afternoon for their music lessons. They really are doing quite well.......a better bunch of students than I have had for a few years. Makes it much more pleasant to hear correct notes.....right??
The 1st Lady and I watched the Cards win tonight! Hope they keep doing what they've been doing!!!!!
Sooooo, until a bit later..........Life IS Good....and I hope for all of you, also.
It actually was a bit dirtier than I had thought it was going to be.........took me longer as I usually use my extended pole washing brush, but it wasn't taking off the mud and crap, so it was cleaned by my talented little hands. As I said.....one side left....the side that is in the sun, so will get up early in the morning and get it done before the hot sun reaches it. Then......do the windows....and check out the interior.....and then load a few things for our weekend trip.
Just a relaxing weekend trip to Sam A. Baker State Park to enjoy the fall weather with a stream rushing by and leaves falling around us.........a good time to hike/stroll and to do some reading out in the sun.
Had my private students this afternoon for their music lessons. They really are doing quite well.......a better bunch of students than I have had for a few years. Makes it much more pleasant to hear correct notes.....right??
The 1st Lady and I watched the Cards win tonight! Hope they keep doing what they've been doing!!!!!
Sooooo, until a bit later..........Life IS Good....and I hope for all of you, also.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Yeah....I'm alive and well!
Hmmmm.......what happened last night??? I think I fell asleep around 11pm....and therefore, no posting last night....HAHAHA!!!! You know....I don't really think that is toooo early to fall asleep, is it??? I actually got caught up in the 9pm tellie series: "Medium". I LOVE this show!!! The family, including the two main characters, are soooooo real in their day to day living on the show!!! And......all of this is based on a real perosn who does work for the police in Phoenix.......GREAT show!!!
Yesterday.......well, a relaxing morning and then I took to the yard and finished mowing, as the weather predictions are a bit moist for the next couple of days. You know....I do really enjoy working in the yard, trimming, taking care of the plants and flowers, etc., etc. It is very relaxing and gives me some great time to think.....yeah, I said "think". A lot of things get solved and accomplished when I am mowing the yard and puttering around out there. Give it a try......give it a chance to work for you!!
Fixed a great salad last night, but my eyes were bigger than our appetites so there was some left over, and neither of us are very good at eating left-over salad.....yuk!! It gets a bit limp, doesn't it??? Finished off my dark red medicine, so will have to get a refill......but may have to wait until I can return to St Louis as there aren't any good "pharmacies" down here that work for me........my is Bodega Norton from S. America.
Oh yeah.......yesterday I decided to turn on the furnace to check the system out. Wellllllll, the first time it worked beautifully......and then I was in the other end of the house when the second cycle began and I heard this horrific noise.......sounded like some rocket getting ready to head for deepest space. Couldn't figure out where the sound was originating and kept moving rapidly to the other end of the house and, as you know by now.....it was in the laundry room and it WAS the furnace. A terribly loud noise...........sooooo, I shut it off as quick as I could! Called the heating and cooling guy that installed our new system less than two years ago.....at a high cost, as most of you know........and he said he would be there within the hour!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that??? And....he was! Of course, just like going to the dentisst when your tooth hurts and when you get there ....it stops hurting.....soooo, the furnace didn't ever make that dreadful off-to-the-moon lift-off sound again!!!! Hmmmmm........of course, if it is going to have a problem, it won't happen until it is snowing, sleeting, and the temps are below 10 degrees, will it??
Soooo, enough chatter for now.........time to get my fat ass up and get another cup of that delicious French Roast coffee to get my day off to a great start. More later.......
And NOW, IT IS LATER.....
Yep....another day has passed......and it was a cloudy and rather dreary one at that. Spent most of the day inside....after walking out to the city lake and back....twice. It is right at 1 mile out there from the stick and brick......sooooo, right at 4 miles today!!
Did a bit of reading today.......will have to get my genealogy papers out and prepare for the darkness and dreariness of winter days. Love to do the research, however, once I get going on this, I just never want to stop and put everything away........like the 1st Lady always wants me to do!!
Dinner tonight......a Mexican dish with the accompanying dark red medicine. Then.......as The Amazing Race began on the tellie.....the buzzer went off and I took out of the oven my spice cake with pecans. It was really good......if you don't mind me saying so myself!! HAHA.
Soooo......the day has passed.....Boston Legal is almost complete......and it is rather humorous...!! Loved it tonight........salmon fishing in Canada.....isn't that a great idea????
Until tomorrow.....Life is GOOD.....and I hope for all of you, too!!
Yesterday.......well, a relaxing morning and then I took to the yard and finished mowing, as the weather predictions are a bit moist for the next couple of days. You know....I do really enjoy working in the yard, trimming, taking care of the plants and flowers, etc., etc. It is very relaxing and gives me some great time to think.....yeah, I said "think". A lot of things get solved and accomplished when I am mowing the yard and puttering around out there. Give it a try......give it a chance to work for you!!
Fixed a great salad last night, but my eyes were bigger than our appetites so there was some left over, and neither of us are very good at eating left-over salad.....yuk!! It gets a bit limp, doesn't it??? Finished off my dark red medicine, so will have to get a refill......but may have to wait until I can return to St Louis as there aren't any good "pharmacies" down here that work for me........my is Bodega Norton from S. America.
Oh yeah.......yesterday I decided to turn on the furnace to check the system out. Wellllllll, the first time it worked beautifully......and then I was in the other end of the house when the second cycle began and I heard this horrific noise.......sounded like some rocket getting ready to head for deepest space. Couldn't figure out where the sound was originating and kept moving rapidly to the other end of the house and, as you know by now.....it was in the laundry room and it WAS the furnace. A terribly loud noise...........sooooo, I shut it off as quick as I could! Called the heating and cooling guy that installed our new system less than two years ago.....at a high cost, as most of you know........and he said he would be there within the hour!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that??? And....he was! Of course, just like going to the dentisst when your tooth hurts and when you get there ....it stops hurting.....soooo, the furnace didn't ever make that dreadful off-to-the-moon lift-off sound again!!!! Hmmmmm........of course, if it is going to have a problem, it won't happen until it is snowing, sleeting, and the temps are below 10 degrees, will it??
Soooo, enough chatter for now.........time to get my fat ass up and get another cup of that delicious French Roast coffee to get my day off to a great start. More later.......
And NOW, IT IS LATER.....
Yep....another day has passed......and it was a cloudy and rather dreary one at that. Spent most of the day inside....after walking out to the city lake and back....twice. It is right at 1 mile out there from the stick and brick......sooooo, right at 4 miles today!!
Did a bit of reading today.......will have to get my genealogy papers out and prepare for the darkness and dreariness of winter days. Love to do the research, however, once I get going on this, I just never want to stop and put everything away........like the 1st Lady always wants me to do!!
Dinner tonight......a Mexican dish with the accompanying dark red medicine. Then.......as The Amazing Race began on the tellie.....the buzzer went off and I took out of the oven my spice cake with pecans. It was really good......if you don't mind me saying so myself!! HAHA.
Soooo......the day has passed.....Boston Legal is almost complete......and it is rather humorous...!! Loved it tonight........salmon fishing in Canada.....isn't that a great idea????
Until tomorrow.....Life is GOOD.....and I hope for all of you, too!!
Sunday, October 09, 2005
A Sunday.....but not one of rest....
At 8:30am we were at the early church service.....Methodist. A quick stop at the local grocery store for some needed items, including the Sunday St Louis Post. Then.......coffee with the morning paper, AND....the talking heads programs on the tellie. I always enjoy the Sunday morning news discussion programs!!!! Later.....it was out to the garage to do some touch-ups on the walls and ceiling from my artistic endeavors this past week.
No rest....remember: then it was off to the yard to do some mowing.....not the entire yard....but just the longest grass section(the part the 1st Lady had fertilized soooo much this spring). After the hour of pushing the motorized mower around through the tall, wet grass.......it was time to light the fire. Yep.......there had been a stack of tree limbs and brush and dried weeds that needed to be burned. HOWEVER.....I have had to wait until October to do this here in town.....legally. A quick dash of gasoline on the pile.....and then a few matches and the neighborhood was enveloped in blue, woody smoke from the burning pile. But.....it burned down and the long hose that I had brought out to put out the small fires in the neighbors' yards....should they have jumped over to their grass......well, it was not necessary to hook it up. YEA!!!! No lawsuit......!!
Then....a mid-afternoon Sunday dinner created by the 1st lady......and it was a successful, tasty dinner........with a couple of glasses of my dark red medicine to help the day! A quick clean-up in the kitchen.....and it was back out to the yard to do several other tasks.
As the day cooled down.....it was time for a late afternoon cup of Vanilla Nut coffee......ummmmm...good.....on the patio as I watched the ballet dance of the waving plumes on my decorative grasses. The remainder of the evening was spent watching "Troy".......with the 1st Lady's hunk....Brad Pitt. It was just ok.......might have been better on a larger stadium seating theater with their huge screens. Soooo......
Another day goes quickly into darkness.........Life is Good, and I hope for you, also!!
No rest....remember: then it was off to the yard to do some mowing.....not the entire yard....but just the longest grass section(the part the 1st Lady had fertilized soooo much this spring). After the hour of pushing the motorized mower around through the tall, wet grass.......it was time to light the fire. Yep.......there had been a stack of tree limbs and brush and dried weeds that needed to be burned. HOWEVER.....I have had to wait until October to do this here in town.....legally. A quick dash of gasoline on the pile.....and then a few matches and the neighborhood was enveloped in blue, woody smoke from the burning pile. But.....it burned down and the long hose that I had brought out to put out the small fires in the neighbors' yards....should they have jumped over to their grass......well, it was not necessary to hook it up. YEA!!!! No lawsuit......!!
Then....a mid-afternoon Sunday dinner created by the 1st lady......and it was a successful, tasty dinner........with a couple of glasses of my dark red medicine to help the day! A quick clean-up in the kitchen.....and it was back out to the yard to do several other tasks.
As the day cooled down.....it was time for a late afternoon cup of Vanilla Nut coffee......ummmmm...good.....on the patio as I watched the ballet dance of the waving plumes on my decorative grasses. The remainder of the evening was spent watching "Troy".......with the 1st Lady's hunk....Brad Pitt. It was just ok.......might have been better on a larger stadium seating theater with their huge screens. Soooo......
Another day goes quickly into darkness.........Life is Good, and I hope for you, also!!
Saturday, October 08, 2005
A Beautiful Day!!
October is GREAT......it has always been my very favorite month of the year. I suppose it is because by this time of the year I AM sick of the heat and humid weather which we are cursed with here in SE Missouri. But.....that is behind us for 2005 and the cool, dry weather has arrived......YEAH!!!
Puttered around the house this morning......the 1st Lady decided to fight the calories and fat grams and join one of the local gyms, so off she went to pay her dues and jump onto the workout machines. Let's see if this works for her.......???!!!!!
Early in the afternoon we headed up to Farmington and had a late lunch at Appleby's. The Perfect Margarita was the best part of the entire luncheon..........I tried the Chicken Parmesan. It was just ok.......toooo much of the marinara sauce of which the specific flavor of their recipe (or from the can) just didn't turn me on. As I said, the Margarita was the highlight of the meal!!
Then it was off to a furniture store.....the largest in the entire area. Do you think we could find some contemporary furniture there........of course not!!!! It was the same old stuff that 99% of the furniture stores carry everywhere........disappointment set in!!! We are looking for some new things for our family/entertainment-room-to-be......i.e...sofa(s), lamps.....the entire room needs and will have a new make-over following the Holidays, so I don't want to wait until then to begin making decisions....and then having to make these $$$$ decisions at the last minute!!!!!! THAT is not my style of doing things.
After that, it was off to Lowe's.......looking at new cabinets and appliances for the make-over in the kitchen area. NOTHING at this smaller Lowe's......nothing that we liked in the styles of possible cabinetry(sp?). Again, we want an up-dated look and not the same styles that are seen in most places........hmmmmm, it seems to me that MANY trips to St Louis are in store for us in the next 2-3 months.
A quick cup of coffee to go and we headed to the local movie house.......and saw "Flightplan". It was ok.....not completely predictable......but some questionable ( in my mind) things in the movie set/scenes that seemed a bit of sync with the surroundings and with the locale. Oh welll.......sometimes I get tooooo critical about things being realistic....or should I say NOT being realistic enough in a movie. Jodie Foster.....well, she was in one of her usual type of characters.........an intense part in the movie........is she typecast for all of these types of films??? But......she did ok.
Oh.....this morning I made some reservations for the upcoming weekends. We are going to Sam A Baker State Park next weekend with TheHowserHouse.....hope the weather is similar to this weekend!!!!! The following weekend we will be at Osage Beach at TanTara for the Mo. state School Bd. Convention. The next weekend we will be here for the marriage of the two cultures in the Hanner family. Danielle is doing her best to spread goodwill and diplomacy throughout the world!!!!
On Veteran's Day weekend I made reservations for TheHowserHouse down at Memphis, TN for the three day weekend. We haven't really spent any time there.....other than to drive thru the city in the traffic jams on the way to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and to New Orleans. Sooooo, thought we would see the sights and eat some of the BBQ during the weekend.
Thanksgiving is still up for grabs. If the Hanners are still down in Miami, FL.....we might fly down there for the holiday weekend.......will have to decide quickly to get reservations.....always a BUSY weekend in the airports. We haven't been down there since this past Easter.......yeah, I know......sounds like bragging, but it is just the truth. We do love Miami sooooooo much!!!!!!! Great food, great atmosphere, great eye candy on the beaches, and great Latino music!!!!!! It all blends together sooooooooooo perfectly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first weekend in December I believe we will be in Nashville. The 1st Lady has a science educator's convention there for a about 3-4 four days, so think I will go with her and see the sights. They have a great blues bar there in a neat little "alley" with other clubs throbbing with great music......NOT just C&W.
Soooo, when do we shop for new furnishings for the stick and brick??????? Hmmmmmm......
Oh well......Life IS Good......and I hope for all of you, too!!!!
As I say so often: If you don't think BIG.....nothing BIG will ever happen!!!
Puttered around the house this morning......the 1st Lady decided to fight the calories and fat grams and join one of the local gyms, so off she went to pay her dues and jump onto the workout machines. Let's see if this works for her.......???!!!!!
Early in the afternoon we headed up to Farmington and had a late lunch at Appleby's. The Perfect Margarita was the best part of the entire luncheon..........I tried the Chicken Parmesan. It was just ok.......toooo much of the marinara sauce of which the specific flavor of their recipe (or from the can) just didn't turn me on. As I said, the Margarita was the highlight of the meal!!
Then it was off to a furniture store.....the largest in the entire area. Do you think we could find some contemporary furniture there........of course not!!!! It was the same old stuff that 99% of the furniture stores carry everywhere........disappointment set in!!! We are looking for some new things for our family/entertainment-room-to-be......i.e...sofa(s), lamps.....the entire room needs and will have a new make-over following the Holidays, so I don't want to wait until then to begin making decisions....and then having to make these $$$$ decisions at the last minute!!!!!! THAT is not my style of doing things.
After that, it was off to Lowe's.......looking at new cabinets and appliances for the make-over in the kitchen area. NOTHING at this smaller Lowe's......nothing that we liked in the styles of possible cabinetry(sp?). Again, we want an up-dated look and not the same styles that are seen in most places........hmmmmm, it seems to me that MANY trips to St Louis are in store for us in the next 2-3 months.
A quick cup of coffee to go and we headed to the local movie house.......and saw "Flightplan". It was ok.....not completely predictable......but some questionable ( in my mind) things in the movie set/scenes that seemed a bit of sync with the surroundings and with the locale. Oh welll.......sometimes I get tooooo critical about things being realistic....or should I say NOT being realistic enough in a movie. Jodie Foster.....well, she was in one of her usual type of characters.........an intense part in the movie........is she typecast for all of these types of films??? But......she did ok.
Oh.....this morning I made some reservations for the upcoming weekends. We are going to Sam A Baker State Park next weekend with TheHowserHouse.....hope the weather is similar to this weekend!!!!! The following weekend we will be at Osage Beach at TanTara for the Mo. state School Bd. Convention. The next weekend we will be here for the marriage of the two cultures in the Hanner family. Danielle is doing her best to spread goodwill and diplomacy throughout the world!!!!
On Veteran's Day weekend I made reservations for TheHowserHouse down at Memphis, TN for the three day weekend. We haven't really spent any time there.....other than to drive thru the city in the traffic jams on the way to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and to New Orleans. Sooooo, thought we would see the sights and eat some of the BBQ during the weekend.
Thanksgiving is still up for grabs. If the Hanners are still down in Miami, FL.....we might fly down there for the holiday weekend.......will have to decide quickly to get reservations.....always a BUSY weekend in the airports. We haven't been down there since this past Easter.......yeah, I know......sounds like bragging, but it is just the truth. We do love Miami sooooooo much!!!!!!! Great food, great atmosphere, great eye candy on the beaches, and great Latino music!!!!!! It all blends together sooooooooooo perfectly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first weekend in December I believe we will be in Nashville. The 1st Lady has a science educator's convention there for a about 3-4 four days, so think I will go with her and see the sights. They have a great blues bar there in a neat little "alley" with other clubs throbbing with great music......NOT just C&W.
Soooo, when do we shop for new furnishings for the stick and brick??????? Hmmmmmm......
Oh well......Life IS Good......and I hope for all of you, too!!!!
As I say so often: If you don't think BIG.....nothing BIG will ever happen!!!
Friday, October 07, 2005
NO down time today.....hardly.
Yeah.....a busy day that kept me on the go most of the time. In fact.....I even jumped out of bed earlier than the norm. Then....after my required cupS of Fr. Roast, I was off to Sam A Baker State Park....about 39 miles south of town. Needed to check out the sites and determine just exactly which ones I can get TheHowserHouse into without taking out a tree, signpost, or crunching a corner of the RV. Sooo, a slow drive through each of the two campgrounds there with pencil and site maps in hand, and I was soon on my way back home with the much needed details of each cg.
Then.....it was a quick lunch of fruit and oatmeal....HEALTHY!!! And.....another quick change of clothes and I was soon in the garage putting on the REAL paint on the walls and ceiling that I had primed this week. This didn't take quite as long as I anticipated, even though after the ceiling dried I discovered that I had missed a few small spots...........white on white is difficult to determine if it is totally covered or not!!
A brief 30 minutes for coffee outside on the patio and then I realized the sun had left the patio and I was tooooo damn cool in my short sleeved shirt to remain outside.......CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?????? Now please do not think I am complaining......I was just not attired in the correct seasonal clothing. Soooo, another quick change.....and then the last cup of coffee before the 1st Lady returned home from her classroom/science lab.
Then we were off to go see Mike for the evening. A good visit.....and we were home by 8:15pm. Ahhhhh, a chance to sit down, surf the net, read the RV forums, check out the newspapers that I didn't get to spend much time with this morning, and as soon as I finish this little post, I will curl up with a cup of hot tea and my novel and perhaps.....just perhaps, I may come close to closure on this book!
Possible frost this evening.....so I moved my Basil plant in closer to the wall of the house. The rest of my herb garden is pretty well protected so I didn't cover it up. I fear for my lovely Butterfly Bush.....but, it IS toooo big to cover for protection......sooooo, my dear little Monarchs may lose their aromatic purple blooms tonight!!!! A bittersweet night........love the cool weather and the frost will bring out the colors of the leaves, but my flowers will be damaged, perhaps fatally.
Tomorrow........a day of whatever comes to mind.......with a planned trip to Farmington to have dinner and catch a movie......and then.....who knows??????
Sooooo, Life is Good (as always), and I hope for you, also!!!!!
Excuses are for losers.........Solutions are for winners in Life.
Then.....it was a quick lunch of fruit and oatmeal....HEALTHY!!! And.....another quick change of clothes and I was soon in the garage putting on the REAL paint on the walls and ceiling that I had primed this week. This didn't take quite as long as I anticipated, even though after the ceiling dried I discovered that I had missed a few small spots...........white on white is difficult to determine if it is totally covered or not!!
A brief 30 minutes for coffee outside on the patio and then I realized the sun had left the patio and I was tooooo damn cool in my short sleeved shirt to remain outside.......CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?????? Now please do not think I am complaining......I was just not attired in the correct seasonal clothing. Soooo, another quick change.....and then the last cup of coffee before the 1st Lady returned home from her classroom/science lab.
Then we were off to go see Mike for the evening. A good visit.....and we were home by 8:15pm. Ahhhhh, a chance to sit down, surf the net, read the RV forums, check out the newspapers that I didn't get to spend much time with this morning, and as soon as I finish this little post, I will curl up with a cup of hot tea and my novel and perhaps.....just perhaps, I may come close to closure on this book!
Possible frost this evening.....so I moved my Basil plant in closer to the wall of the house. The rest of my herb garden is pretty well protected so I didn't cover it up. I fear for my lovely Butterfly Bush.....but, it IS toooo big to cover for protection......sooooo, my dear little Monarchs may lose their aromatic purple blooms tonight!!!! A bittersweet night........love the cool weather and the frost will bring out the colors of the leaves, but my flowers will be damaged, perhaps fatally.
Tomorrow........a day of whatever comes to mind.......with a planned trip to Farmington to have dinner and catch a movie......and then.....who knows??????
Sooooo, Life is Good (as always), and I hope for you, also!!!!!
Excuses are for losers.........Solutions are for winners in Life.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Falling temps......OCTOBER WEATHER!!!!
This afternoon the temps began to fall and they are continuing as I write(an old cliche).....and I LOVE it!!! The past few months have brought long stretches of intense heat and humidity.....and finally we can look forward to having the windows open, fresh air sweeping through TheHowserHouse, and some of "October's bright blue skies".......YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! I only wish we could leave the stick and brick and take TheHowserHouse for a roll down the highway this weekend.......but, alas.....it is not to be. There are commitments to keep.....and this is our fault......the sites in Sam A. Baker State Park that will accomodate our rather lengthy rig have all been reserved!!! DAMN!!!
Soooo, tomorrow I will put on the "real" paint in the garage, having finished with the primer on the 1st half late this morning. Before the intrusion of the red Cadillac into the side of our garage last winter, the walls were a rather dark paneling.....and now with the new drywall going up, the walls will be virgin white...which are much brighter and illuminate the garage much better. THIS I LIKE!
With the end of this project in sight....I THINK......we now have to get busy with plans and details of the make-over remodeling inside the stick and brick. Knowing how long this garage has taken, I do not look forward to wearing a hard hat inside my home for as long as it will take to complete.....UGH!! I hate hats....at least on MY head!!!
I spent a bit of my afternoon with some hand trimmers......going around the low plants and trimming back some of the long grass and/or weeds. Perhaps I won't have to mow tooooo much more if the cooler temps stay with us. Of course......guess what happens next: leaf raking! Oh well.....it is also fertilizer time for the lawn.....(May put some on top of my head.....might help increase the number of hairs up there???).
And soooo, Life is Good....and I hope for all of you, also!!
Success comes in Cans.......Failure comes in can'ts!
Soooo, tomorrow I will put on the "real" paint in the garage, having finished with the primer on the 1st half late this morning. Before the intrusion of the red Cadillac into the side of our garage last winter, the walls were a rather dark paneling.....and now with the new drywall going up, the walls will be virgin white...which are much brighter and illuminate the garage much better. THIS I LIKE!
With the end of this project in sight....I THINK......we now have to get busy with plans and details of the make-over remodeling inside the stick and brick. Knowing how long this garage has taken, I do not look forward to wearing a hard hat inside my home for as long as it will take to complete.....UGH!! I hate hats....at least on MY head!!!
I spent a bit of my afternoon with some hand trimmers......going around the low plants and trimming back some of the long grass and/or weeds. Perhaps I won't have to mow tooooo much more if the cooler temps stay with us. Of course......guess what happens next: leaf raking! Oh well.....it is also fertilizer time for the lawn.....(May put some on top of my head.....might help increase the number of hairs up there???).
And soooo, Life is Good....and I hope for all of you, also!!
Success comes in Cans.......Failure comes in can'ts!
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
An artist with a paint brush....I'm NOT!!!
French Roast Coffee, the morning newspapers via internet......all enjoyed outside on the patio on a beautiful blue sky morning in October! WHAT could be better????? But, as always, all good things must come to an end......and after a relaxing morning and 2-3 cups of coffee, it became time to get to work.
So, I swept out TONS of drywall and drywall mud DUST that had gathered on the floor of the garage.....and began a test of my artistic ability.....UGH!!! The contractor has finished one-half of the garage...as he cannot get to the other half because of ALL of the "must keep" items that are living out their lives in the garage. Sooo, I have to get the finished half painted so all of our "must keep" things can be shuffled to the painted side and then he can finish the garage.
Hmmmmm, I just do not like painting......ANYTHING. But, I tried to store my dislike and began putting on the primer paint. WOW....did the drywall ever soak it up quickly......I used a lot more than I had anticipated using, and for all of you smart-asses, I dropped VERY little paint on the plastic drop sheeting. But, after finishing the walls, I began on the ceiling with the LONG pole and paint roller.........and, sad to say, I did do some splattering......on ME! So, after doing as much as I could this morning in the finished half, I washed and washed and washed out the paint brush and roller........and then began the task of getting the paint washed off of my studly, muscular body...AND out of all 67 hairs on the top of my head! (Yeah....just joking......I have approximately 100 hairs on my head) Now...tomorrow.....the REAL paint goes on......My God...another day of exploring and exposing my artistic talents!!!
This afternoon....well, it was back to more of my talents.......but this time it was doing something a bit more comfortable to me: teaching my five private students in TheHowserHouse School of Music. Most were well-prepared and it is always fun to see the progress they make from week to week.
This evening.......emails and online reading. Sooooo......
Until tomorrow....for me Life IS Good....and I hope for all of you, also!!!
If you don't think BIG......Nothing big will happen!!!
So, I swept out TONS of drywall and drywall mud DUST that had gathered on the floor of the garage.....and began a test of my artistic ability.....UGH!!! The contractor has finished one-half of the garage...as he cannot get to the other half because of ALL of the "must keep" items that are living out their lives in the garage. Sooo, I have to get the finished half painted so all of our "must keep" things can be shuffled to the painted side and then he can finish the garage.
Hmmmmm, I just do not like painting......ANYTHING. But, I tried to store my dislike and began putting on the primer paint. WOW....did the drywall ever soak it up quickly......I used a lot more than I had anticipated using, and for all of you smart-asses, I dropped VERY little paint on the plastic drop sheeting. But, after finishing the walls, I began on the ceiling with the LONG pole and paint roller.........and, sad to say, I did do some splattering......on ME! So, after doing as much as I could this morning in the finished half, I washed and washed and washed out the paint brush and roller........and then began the task of getting the paint washed off of my studly, muscular body...AND out of all 67 hairs on the top of my head! (Yeah....just joking......I have approximately 100 hairs on my head) Now...tomorrow.....the REAL paint goes on......My God...another day of exploring and exposing my artistic talents!!!
This afternoon....well, it was back to more of my talents.......but this time it was doing something a bit more comfortable to me: teaching my five private students in TheHowserHouse School of Music. Most were well-prepared and it is always fun to see the progress they make from week to week.
This evening.......emails and online reading. Sooooo......
Until tomorrow....for me Life IS Good....and I hope for all of you, also!!!
If you don't think BIG......Nothing big will happen!!!
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Why....WHY do I write this little page of personal thoughts???
I began looking backwards this afternoon.....thinking......YEP, I did say THINKING. Well, perhaps.....reflecting might be a better word in this particular case. How and why did I begin exposing my thoughts to the entire world a few months ago??? It will soon be six months of publishing these thoughts that run thru my aging mind........and to my great surprise I DO enjoy doing this!
So, again why did I begin this nightly expose(need an accent mark over the e)?? I DO remember that my good friend Goldie encouraged me to write a blog.......at that time I wasn't even sure what a "blog" meant.....hahhaa. NOW I know...... I know that I decided that I wanted to keep my friends and family updated on our daily doings while traveling down the road this summer.....and on later trips, also. Sooo, we purchased this great little lappie, and ever since then it has been on my lap over several thousand miles as well as here in our stick and brick. I had NO idea that these little thoughts would cover the entire world in the span of just a few minutes after I pushed the "publish" button.......and, believe me......they DO go all over the world.
I continue to hear from past students, old friends, and family who say they are "addicted" to this site!! WOW.....I would never have thought that my aging thoughts would be of interest to others........even those who have no idea WHO I am. Are they just nosey????? I check each day/night and see that I have some of the same readers......whomever they might be.....and they return almost daily. All I can detect is where their internet service is coming from......not exactly their location and certainly no one's name is given out.
Soooo......why do we become so interested in other's lives that we check each day to see what has happened in their lives???? All of these things were going thru my mind today......and, you know: I don't have any answers to these questions. Hmmmm..........
I do know that as long as I can, I will continue to express my thoughts and relate my activities.....at least MOST of my activities.....hahaha. Soooo, I end this little bit of nothingness.......nothing has been discovered by these thoughts.....I know nothing more about why I am doing this that I did this morning.......
And so, Life IS Good.....and I hope for all of you, also!!!
Mark of Omaha......I am soooo looking forward to your visit!!! How many years has it been??
So, again why did I begin this nightly expose(need an accent mark over the e)?? I DO remember that my good friend Goldie encouraged me to write a blog.......at that time I wasn't even sure what a "blog" meant.....hahhaa. NOW I know...... I know that I decided that I wanted to keep my friends and family updated on our daily doings while traveling down the road this summer.....and on later trips, also. Sooo, we purchased this great little lappie, and ever since then it has been on my lap over several thousand miles as well as here in our stick and brick. I had NO idea that these little thoughts would cover the entire world in the span of just a few minutes after I pushed the "publish" button.......and, believe me......they DO go all over the world.
I continue to hear from past students, old friends, and family who say they are "addicted" to this site!! WOW.....I would never have thought that my aging thoughts would be of interest to others........even those who have no idea WHO I am. Are they just nosey????? I check each day/night and see that I have some of the same readers......whomever they might be.....and they return almost daily. All I can detect is where their internet service is coming from......not exactly their location and certainly no one's name is given out.
Soooo......why do we become so interested in other's lives that we check each day to see what has happened in their lives???? All of these things were going thru my mind today......and, you know: I don't have any answers to these questions. Hmmmm..........
I do know that as long as I can, I will continue to express my thoughts and relate my activities.....at least MOST of my activities.....hahaha. Soooo, I end this little bit of nothingness.......nothing has been discovered by these thoughts.....I know nothing more about why I am doing this that I did this morning.......
And so, Life IS Good.....and I hope for all of you, also!!!
Mark of Omaha......I am soooo looking forward to your visit!!! How many years has it been??
Monday, October 03, 2005
Another day that quickly disappeared......
Well.....at 7:23am I was awakened by the doorbell ringing.....a VERY unusual happening at TheHowserHouse. Not that I didn't need to come alive and welcome the day, but a melodic ringing in the recesses of my foggy mind is certainly NOT the way I usually greet the day! Anyway.....up I jumped and into my shorts/shirt and padded to the front door......without my glasses. Now for those you who don't know me......as my body has aged, it is becoming very difficult for me to see without those two bifocal lenses sitting on top of my every-lengthening nose. Sooooo, as I opened the door my eyes went into a very tight squint.....not only adjusting to the sun's ray's sho0ting into the open doorway, but in an attempt to focus on the human that had awakened me. It was the contractor who is re-doing my garage..........to tell me that I can begin to paint the south half of the garage as the drywaller had completed his job. Soooooo, guess what happens to my free time this week........
I quickly pushed the correct button ( I have THAT button memorized) to begin the coffeemaker and then did my morning duties. Then......the deeply dark French Roast coffee that is sooooo good in the mornings!! After reading all of my daily newspapers, email, and other daily readings, I decided that the house needed a good cleaning. Sooooo, changed the bed, and then began to vacuum and dust TheHowserHouse of the stick/brick kind. Soon it was past lunch.....and then it was time for a bit of a rest and some meditation time.
During the afternoon, I went out and seeing this wispy, fluttering cloud around my butterfly bush, I grabbed the camera and took a few pics of the many, many Monarch butterflies flitting around. There were well over 100 on, and around, the aromatic bush of purple blooms. I am putting a couple of the pics online again tonight......yeah, they look much like last week's, but ........so be it. Who could have ever guessed that this old man would find joy in watching these colorful butterflies enjoy the blooms??? They reminded me of young children in the classroom who just cannot sit still........always moving around!!!
Fixed a chicken and rice casserole for dinner......turned out really very good and tasty!!! May have to do this one again sometime......sooooo easy to fix and sooooo easy to eat. Also......had to take some of my dark red medicine with the meal.
Then it was off to our new Super WalMart for some much needed items......among them are two gallons of paint primer for the garage!!! Back home again......and some surfing on the web along with a couple of important phone calls(more on this at a later date).
Soooo, until tomorrow.....Life IS Good, and I hope for all you, also!!
I quickly pushed the correct button ( I have THAT button memorized) to begin the coffeemaker and then did my morning duties. Then......the deeply dark French Roast coffee that is sooooo good in the mornings!! After reading all of my daily newspapers, email, and other daily readings, I decided that the house needed a good cleaning. Sooooo, changed the bed, and then began to vacuum and dust TheHowserHouse of the stick/brick kind. Soon it was past lunch.....and then it was time for a bit of a rest and some meditation time.
During the afternoon, I went out and seeing this wispy, fluttering cloud around my butterfly bush, I grabbed the camera and took a few pics of the many, many Monarch butterflies flitting around. There were well over 100 on, and around, the aromatic bush of purple blooms. I am putting a couple of the pics online again tonight......yeah, they look much like last week's, but ........so be it. Who could have ever guessed that this old man would find joy in watching these colorful butterflies enjoy the blooms??? They reminded me of young children in the classroom who just cannot sit still........always moving around!!!
Fixed a chicken and rice casserole for dinner......turned out really very good and tasty!!! May have to do this one again sometime......sooooo easy to fix and sooooo easy to eat. Also......had to take some of my dark red medicine with the meal.
Then it was off to our new Super WalMart for some much needed items......among them are two gallons of paint primer for the garage!!! Back home again......and some surfing on the web along with a couple of important phone calls(more on this at a later date).
Soooo, until tomorrow.....Life IS Good, and I hope for all you, also!!
Sunday, October 02, 2005
A relaxing, restful day.
Oh yeah.....the title says it all for today's activities by this aging man. Managed to drag myself up and watched the "talking head" shows this morning while having coffee. Later in the morning, I went and purchased today's St Louis Post.......I always read this one from cover to cover on Sunday's....PLUS, we can get the local tv guide for our entertainment schedule....hahah!
So.....just where did my day go??? Well....had several phone calls on the house phone...the cell was giving me some difficulties today......checked out the property and surveyed all that I own.....and then watched a bit of the tellie's no-brainer shows during the afternoon.
The 1st Lady returned around 7pm from her "working vacation" at her mother's house. Sooo, I popped some brownies into the oven and before long I was putting more calories into my body.....which I DO NOT need. But.......I do like my "Sunday evening brownies"!!!!
Lots of interested citizens of the world have checked out this blog today.....hope they are keeping up with my Open Book Life. Some days are more interesting than this one........of course, Sunday IS supposed to be a day of rest, isn't it??? Does that mean I have to WORK tomorrow.......egads!!! Not me....!!!
Soo, good friends, Life is Good at TheHowserHouse, and I hope for all you, also!
So.....just where did my day go??? Well....had several phone calls on the house phone...the cell was giving me some difficulties today......checked out the property and surveyed all that I own.....and then watched a bit of the tellie's no-brainer shows during the afternoon.
The 1st Lady returned around 7pm from her "working vacation" at her mother's house. Sooo, I popped some brownies into the oven and before long I was putting more calories into my body.....which I DO NOT need. But.......I do like my "Sunday evening brownies"!!!!
Lots of interested citizens of the world have checked out this blog today.....hope they are keeping up with my Open Book Life. Some days are more interesting than this one........of course, Sunday IS supposed to be a day of rest, isn't it??? Does that mean I have to WORK tomorrow.......egads!!! Not me....!!!
Soo, good friends, Life is Good at TheHowserHouse, and I hope for all you, also!
Saturday, October 01, 2005
WHAT a Change.....A VERY Busy Day!!!!!!
Wow....has this day ever been an "0n-the-go" day!!!! I was in St Louis by 7:30 this morning......and guess where I was sitting??? In Starbucks having a cappucino and a muffin....where else would I be at this time of the morning????? Then I went to meet my granddaughter and her grandfather.....and off we went to her 8:15am soccer game. What FUN!!! Those little kids really get involved in the game......and do a damn good job of offense and defense......it was a really fun 45 minutes!!!!! Rachel does really well....today she was a goalie, and she defended that goal successfully several times when the ball and the opposing team came charging toward her!!! Her team....Orange Crush......won the game 2-1. SURE glad I got to watch her play!!!1
Then it was off to Barnes and Noble for an hour of browsing......not NEARLY enough time, but I needed to make another stop at the shop where I can get my dark red medicine.....World Market. Great prices there on all kinds of medicine......red, blush, and white. Haven't been there since before we went out west last spring......so, I was needing to pick up a few "prescriptions".
Then.....I was off to Sparta, Illinois to attend the Sparta Band Festival.....both parade and field show competition. Of course, I was cheering and applauding for the Edwardsville, IL high school band. They are really, really very good and seeing them made this old band director feel really good........the Asst. Band Director is a former student of mine who is in his second year of teaching. Andrew Gipson who graduated from F'Town HS in 1999, finished his degree at Southern Illinois Univ. at Edwardsville and after student teaching at the HS there, he was offered the position of Asst. Band Director. We hadn't been together since sometime last spring.......and it was really great to spend a few short hours, and dinner, together today. As I believe I have written earlier, he is getting married next summer and this old man will be his "Best Man"......kind of chokes me up when I think about it.
So....after winners were announced....they lost the Grand Championship by next to nothing......I hit the road and came back here thru the countryside......crossing the Mississippi in the dark of night. Took about an hour and 20 minutes to get home.
Now......will have to lay this body down. Life is good....and I hope for all of you, too!!!
Then it was off to Barnes and Noble for an hour of browsing......not NEARLY enough time, but I needed to make another stop at the shop where I can get my dark red medicine.....World Market. Great prices there on all kinds of medicine......red, blush, and white. Haven't been there since before we went out west last spring......so, I was needing to pick up a few "prescriptions".
Then.....I was off to Sparta, Illinois to attend the Sparta Band Festival.....both parade and field show competition. Of course, I was cheering and applauding for the Edwardsville, IL high school band. They are really, really very good and seeing them made this old band director feel really good........the Asst. Band Director is a former student of mine who is in his second year of teaching. Andrew Gipson who graduated from F'Town HS in 1999, finished his degree at Southern Illinois Univ. at Edwardsville and after student teaching at the HS there, he was offered the position of Asst. Band Director. We hadn't been together since sometime last spring.......and it was really great to spend a few short hours, and dinner, together today. As I believe I have written earlier, he is getting married next summer and this old man will be his "Best Man"......kind of chokes me up when I think about it.
So....after winners were announced....they lost the Grand Championship by next to nothing......I hit the road and came back here thru the countryside......crossing the Mississippi in the dark of night. Took about an hour and 20 minutes to get home.
Now......will have to lay this body down. Life is good....and I hope for all of you, too!!!
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