My daemon...so to speak!

Here is something that my brother Kevin informed me about in his blog. It's something to think about...........check out this site and see what I've found about myself. I took the daemon test. Here is a chance for you to see if you agree with it.
http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/?47925

Blogging is in the "Air"

For anyone who likes to read them, here is another Blog site you may find interesting. It's actually one year old, but I never seem to think of mentioning it until now. Southwest Airlines has a blog! Doesn't it seem strange that a corporation would have one? But check it out : http://www.blogsouthwest.com . If you go to this, you can place a vote for your favorite blog site. The one thing you will have to do in order to vote is to create a log-in for yourself. Once you do that, you will receive an email to confirm that you signed up. Then you will be able to place your vote. Just go to the category on the left called "Best Corporate Blog". On the far right side is a vote button. That's all there is to it.
There are several other blogs you can read at the bloggers choice awards, as well. Please take a moment and vote for my other favorite blog! Happy reading!

The Visit

Well, after an extended absence from my on line journal, and somehow coming down with a very congested head, I'm ready to update all of you once again!

Dad and Beverly arrived in Omaha around 4 pm Tuesday the 17Th. After getting them set up at the camp ground, we drove to my place and I barbecued hamburgers. They had their little dog Bandy (see photo above) with them and she got acquainted with my two cats. Trouble (my orange cat) had a blast with Bandy but my gray cat Yoda, didn't care to have a dog around. It was rather entertaining watching all of them!

Wednesday and Thursday I had vacation days so that I could spend them with Dad and Beverly. We didn't go anywhere in particular but we went to eat at P.F. Chang's. They had never eaten there but did enjoy it. It's Chinese cuisine...very tasty! I ended up taking my van in to a local auto repair shop because my electric driver's side window wasn't working and hadn't been for about a year. So being I had Dad around with a vehicle, I asked him to follow me and I dropped off my van to have the window fixed. Then we went to eat breakfast at Village Inn. I ended up having to leave my van overnight due to the fact that the part had to be ordered.

We drove around Omaha and I showed them around different parts of town, we just hung out at their motor home and enjoyed the summery weather that we had been having. Thursday we picked up my van after running a few other errands. Beverly requested that we go to Gallery of Crafts, the store I used to work at, and do some shopping. She had some gifts to purchase. We also went to an RV dealer so that Dad could check on a few things for the motor home.

Friday I went to work. On the way home, I stopped and picked them up and we went to look a house that was available. There we met my real estate lady, Tracy, and my friends Trisa and Tammy. The house was a foreclosure property and needed some work. Over all it was kind of neat. But not for me.

Saturday after work, I stopped at the motor home and chatted a while. Then I attended my friend Trisa's Creative Memories party. Then it was back home and Dad and Beverly came over and we ate Popeye's Chicken. A lot of time was spent out on my patio lounging around my picnic table. The weather was very cooperative the whole week.

Sunday morning I went to work and this was the day that they were heading further north. But it was a rainy day so they had to deal with thunderstorms while they packed up. They made it to the Sioux Falls area for the night. But as of right now, I'm not sure just where they are. Hopefully they can come back again real soon.....AFTER I'm in a house! I loved my time with them. Here are a few more photos to share with you.

Parent locator #7....for Kevin

Dad and Beverly have been on the move for several weeks now. One of their last stops was in Wichita, Kansas. My Mom's sister Adeline Kihle lives there with her family. So they were able to have some coffee with them. They have since moved on to Kansas City, Missouri.
But, tomorrow they plan on driving north on I-29. Guess where that will take them? You get 3 guesses and the first two don't count. Anyway......
I should see them sometime in the afternoon. So now I'm going to be cleaning a little more than I normally do just for myself. But I can't wait to see them.

So I'll be taking some pictures of their mobile home and new puppy Bandy. My cats should love playing with her! I hope she doesn't have a heart attack when she sees them! Check back for more fun reports on their visit to Omaha.

Dad jinxed me.......and the van!

In order to get everyone on the same page, I will tell you that I had the van's front brakes replaced back in 2004. Last summer, the back brakes were taken care of. All of which were done at Midas. I've been taking the van there ever since owning it and living in the house on Washington Street. They have a life time guarantee for as long as you own the vehicle.
OK, on the way to work on Monday morning, I noticed, upon arrival into the employee parking lot, a very high pitched "ping" sound. But as soon as I stepped on the brake pedal, it stopped. I had planned on getting the oil changed any day so I just decided that I would take it to Midas that afternoon.
As soon as I left the parking lot that day, the noise persisted. I knew that it was my brakes. It was so loud that I could hear it over the noise of driving on the interstate! But the noise stopped about half way to my destination. Thank goodness!.....I was tired of listening to it!
The guys in the shop greeted me as I walked in the door and proceeded to let me know that they had already pulled up the history of prior work that had been done. (More than likely to make sure that the brakes had actually been worked on at a Midas store.) The front brakes ended up needing to be replaced but not the rotors. They also took the rear tires off and cleaned up the brakes there as well. And the oil was also changed.
Now, back up to Easter Sunday. I had given Dad and Beverly a call to see what they were doing for the day. In our conversation, I mentioned to him that I would be paying the van off this fall. It's an exciting event for me because it will be one less payment I'll have to worry about. So Dad made sure to mention that once I have it paid for, I can use the money for repairs! (....all together now.....JINX!!!!) I really can't complain. This van has been a very good vehicle. (....all together now........JINX!) I haven't had to make very many repairs of the large variety, if you will.
So, Dad, thank you for helping me get started on yet another minor repair! ;)


P.S.
One other thing that I was informed of after taking the front tires off....I will need a new cv boot. It's leaking oil around the rotors. Need I say it...?

A "jeweled" party~

Several weeks ago,(the night of my birthday in fact,) one of my girlfriends, Dee, hosted a jewelry party at her home. The company advisor that she had show the jewels is from Lia Sophia. Check out this link. http://www.liasophia.com/
Now, before you get any preconceived notions on just how nice or (on the contrary) how cheap this jewelry is, you really have to see it first hand to know how pretty some of the pieces are.
It's very reasonable and it all has a life time guarantee. If anything happens to it, it would be replaced. Incidentally, it's very reasonably priced.
I, as a former employee of Gallery of Crafts, have several items of beaded jewelry. So I thought that this party probably wouldn't be something I would need to attend. But I kept an open mind and went. If for no other reason than just to see my friends! I ended up winning a door prize. A pair of earrings. After browsing the catalog, I chose a very unique piece. It's a necklace with a suede feeling chain, that holds a charm. It's almost 3-D looking. There are different colored gems-mainly light blues, auburn and gold. The stones rest in a square box molded out of antique gold metal. Hanging from that is another smaller box with the same stones. You truly need to see it to appreciate it. The earrings I won happen to match close enough that I can wear them as a set!
From Dee's party, Lisa(another one of my friends), booked a party. This one was just the other night. Well, because I had seen a catalog previously, not to mention the actual pieces in person, I knew exactly what others had caught my eye. So after narrowing it down from several items, I chose another necklace. It has greens and purples for the main colors of the stones. No charm, just a beaded necklace with many sizes and shapes of stones. And it just so happened that I won another door prize! I chose earrings that have one gold 3 sided loop and hanging from it is a silver box. Very shimmery! And they will go with just about anything! I will show you all the pieces whenever I see you next!
Ironically, many things I saw reminded me of my own Mom's jewelry of which I have many pieces. The style, that was so popular many years ago when Mom was a young teacher is back. I saw necklaces that also reminded me of my Grandmothers'. Some of which were crosses. The antique looking black metals mixed in with rich garnets or blue sapphires. I can't believe how styles go full circle. But it's definitely another one of several reminders to me of just how old we are all getting to be! Scary I have to say!

Memories?!?!

This photo (see below) was taken one night when my two cats weren't getting along so well. It reminds me a lot of when I was little and my younger brother, whom I'll call "Kevin", used to run past me and smack me on the arm. It didn't matter what I was doing or where I was standing or sitting. Of course I couldn't just let him get away with it. The chase was always on at that point! Until Mom couldn't take the noise and yelling anymore.

So let me do a small narration on behalf of the cats for you.
Trouble(orange cat): "I'll just just sit here for a minute and pretend that I don't see him. Then I'll attack!"
Yoda(gray cat): "Oh great....now what's he going to do? He better get off my spot on this couch or else!"
Trouble: "Aaaa-neey minute now....not yet, not yet..."
Yoda: "That's it....(notice the ears are back..) I'm outta here! He's too annoying!"

Basically, that's how it goes with these two. Trouble gets bored and takes off after Yoda. Yoda gets mad and growls and hisses at Trouble. After a little race around the townhouse, Trouble finally gets distracted by one of their toys or whatever I happen to be doing! On it goes.....like two siblings! I'll call them "Sandy and Kevin."