Cat Video

New York

Well, the girls hit the big Apple and it was less Sex in the City"ish" and more Metamucil in Manhattan like. We had a good time and our room was a block from the site of the Twin Towers. We had a Hudson River view and a view of Ellis Island.More later...but thought you would like the photos. The first few are of us in North Carolina...the second stop on our tour of the East with Shannon working and Lavonne playing. She did notice a Merrill Lynch Bull statue and did a complete colorectal exam to see what was messing up the markets. She also found a sign that prohibited profanity. That was a very quiet place for her.

Big Wind

I know, you saw the title, "big wind" and thought immediately that I had been eating beans. But, oh no, it is not me this time. The wind came in front of a storm while we were trying to land at Omaha. The plane circled for about an hour over Lincoln, NE and then landed in Omaha. The storm blew through with sustained winds of 100 to 115 mph. We lost power but no damage to our house. A few trees in our beautiful neighborhood lost limbs and we lost a few trees. Those who parked their cars under the trees lost them as well. We were blessed with no dammage. So, we did what all good Midwesterners do...we got out the chain saw and helped our neighbors. Then we took off and found a burger king open on the far south west part of the city and bought 25 burgers then brought them back to the neighbors ...as none of us could get into our refrigerators and we only had gas grills to cook on. The burgers were a hit.
We have power back and all is well.
Oh, I did throw in a photo of some of the trip to New Hampshire and Maine. Next up is New York City and Virginia Beach.

Floods

I have been trying to write and not think of it as a "to do " list thing. But, the blog gets neglected when the schedule gets full.
We came home from a great visit with Dad in New Mexico and the rain had been coming down for days. There was 10 inches one week at Steamboat Rock Iowa. All the rivers on the east side of the state were swolen and as we drove up to Steamboat to check on Sharon each river crossing showed a river way out of its banks. Some were 10 or more feet above flood stage. The hotel I stay at in Iowa City is flooded and friends in Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls are up to the second story in flood water.
That makes me think that the tiny irritations I suffer each day are so minor. It helps to put things in perspective. If you wake up breathing you have another day to get it right.

Angels Camp 2008

Angels Camp in Spring is magical. It is made more so by Tiffany, Jesus Marcos and Aunt Betty. We ate more than we should, fed Aunt Betty junk food (always fun) and talked and laughed off at least a part of the injested calories. Ok only a fraction.
JM, the cutie is almost a year old and he is quite the charmer. He does not say much but Dada and "what a gem that Aunt Shan is". I tried to teach him to say Mama but he has a stubborn streak...I wonder wher he gets that?
Mark came up and we had a great time talking about politics and religion (I say this with amazememt as we are such polar opposites...he is such an Hillary fan (she says dripping with sarcasm) and I think Obama might be the man). Still we did have a great visit. Grant came by just in time to give us a hug before we headed out.
Robert, Tiff's hubby is a sweetie. He bought a new truck and had Father Alex bless it.I want him to come here and bless my water heater. Do they do that or is that just a little petty to ask for another year aout of the old beast installed during the Nixon years?

Spring

We finally had a bit of rain in our corner of the world (that was not frozen when it hit the ground). It is clearing out some of the gunk and sand from winter. Maybe it will green things up. You cannot understand how important spring is to the psyche of a Midwesterner if you live in a place where it is green year round. We get crazy about the first green leaf that sprouts out of the ground. Sure a deer will come along before a day or so and eat the little sprout. But...it was green.
So, I sit here and dream of warmer days and have my winter clothes sitting in the front bedroom waiting to be put away and replaced by the tubs of shorts and t-shirts.
My Mom hated this time of year for other reasons (a divorce and car accident and loss of family members)...I do not hate it but I just keep waiting for the green time to come.

Friends in Paradise

We are back in the midwest and not adjusting well to the cold and wed early spring late winter weather. But, we had a wonderful St. Pats day with frields in des Moines then spent a bit of time at a golf shop MOnday evening to try to omprove our game with new drivers. I think I should just use a shotgun to blow the ball down the fairway but they say that is not legal..so I will buy a new driver and try to make peace with it and my irons. I have one club that is held together with duct tape and it is my favorite. I am getting it fixed but I am really worried that removing the duct tape will alter the clubs accuracy. What's a golfer to do?
The photos are of our golf buddies and Lavonne and Sharon on the course in Maui.