Graduation 2008

Well, I paid another visit to the Champion residence yet again this weekend. If you recall this, the Champions' have had a busy weekend! Last year Tammy's son Tyler graduated. And this year, her oldest daughter, Tanya, graduated! There were so many people that showed up. Namely her friends and classmates. That was probably the bulk of the guests. The food was awesome!

We stayed long after the open house....at least all the close friends of Tammy and Steve, that is.
We stayed and watched Tanya open all her gifts and cards. There were several awards displayed that Tanya won because of her talents in either music or track. She loves both! She is also very accomplished in art. She can draw pictures of people, places, or whatever you ask her to do! She has a broad range of talent in that department.
I'm sorry that I don't have any photos......but I wanted to say, "Congratulations, Tanya! You will go far."

A Holiday Thunderstorm

On Sunday, right in the middle of the Memorial Day weekend, the weather in Omaha was very sticky and hot. If it wasn't for the calendar to reassure oneself, it felt like the middle of July. I believe the high for the day was 86*. The humidity was just an opening act for what was in store later in the evening. The main show was a very severe thunderstorm.
The wind began to blow very strong just about 7:30PM and I had just enough time to get outside to move all my potted flowers into the safety of the garage! Not long after that, the rain began to fall and the lightening and thunder were making their presence known as well. But it didn't last long. The storm passed through my neighborhood very quickly and by 8:15PM, I was able to step outside and managed to get a few pictures of the beautiful sky.

Looking westward just in front of my big Linden tree in the front yard.

Right before the sun peaked out from under the clouds.

The northeastern sky behind my house. The clouds with the storm are moving out!

The northern sky.

Just before the sun set for the night. (looking north)

Looking northeast again....almost dark now!

The view of the eastern sky from my deck.....love the purple!

Mother Nature always has a way of making things look so intriguing after using such brute force to create them. I noticed earlier in the day that while the temps were soaring right past 80* here in Omaha, the temps in western N.D., were hovering right around 53*! Amazing how they can vary so much from state to state. Over all, the holiday weekend, including today, Monday, turned out to be very nice! As of this writing, we have 72*! Perfect!

Happy Birthday Paige!

Last night I was over to my friend Tammy's house in honor of one of her daughter's, Paige, 10TH birthday! I still remember going to Steve and Tammy's when Paige was a new born! Time does slip past us much too quickly!
The weather had been stormy for 2 days and decided to give Omaha a break yesterday morning. The wind still hadn't subsided very much but Steve, Tammy's husband, was still able to do some grilling. He made a bunch of brats for all to share. Inside, there was store-bought macaroni salad, peppercorn-something-or-other salad and I had made Scalloped potatoes with ham. There were friends and family there from both sides. After enjoying brats, there was an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen! That is always the best part of the meal. And it never disappoints anyone!
Paige then opened her gifts, which mostly consisted of cards with money inside. Funny how times have changed so much that a give of money or gift cards from a local business is becoming the "hit of the party," so to speak. But as long as the recipients are OK with it they can use it to get something that you know they will enjoy! But a good time was had by all.

Another 40TH!

Last Monday was Teresa Champion's big "40TH" birthday! However, we celebrated on Friday instead. Tammy Champion, Teresa's sister-in-law, organized this special event. We all met downtown Omaha at Old Chicago. It's a bar and grill with a very fun atmosphere. Teresa's co-workers picked her up and drove her there. I met Tammy and her Mom Rose there a little early so that we could put some balloons on some tables and chairs. Tammy had picked up a couple different flavors of cakes from Baker's local grocery store. I was able to attend for just a short time only because I had volleyball that same night. But I still had fun! Happy Belated birthday, Teresa!

Teresa with her cakes and balloons!

Teresa

Teresa with one of her brothers, Kevin, from Salina, KS

Kevin and Teresa being cool!
Me, Teresa, Tammy and Rose(hidden)
A better photo of all 4 of us!

These guys were just sitting nearby so Teresa posed with them!

How sweet!
Teresa and some co-workers.

Signature Planes at Southwest Airlines

Would you like to see something interesting? Have you ever seen just how an airplane is built from the ground up?
There is a fast-time version of how one of our Southwest Boeing 737 airplanes was made. It happens to be one of the theme (just click on the little arrow to see Shamu) planes that we are known for. By theme, I mean that the exterior paint jobs have a special design on them. For example, Shamu, which honors the Sea World cities that we fly to. There is a picture of Shamu across the entire airplane. We have several that are dedicated to either a state that we serve or individuals within the company. Our latest dedicated planes honors Illinois. It's called "Illinois One." We serve the Midway Airport in Chicago and because it's one of our busier airports, we now have a plane dedicated to our large "family" in Chicago.
Just click on http://www.blogsouthwest.com/ and scroll to the bottom left corner. There you will see a box entitled "Southwest Media Center." Click on the airplane with an eagle on it. You will first, have to agree to not copying info, etc., before you can view the video.

Just thought you might be interested!

Lutheran Laughables

I have to share some common facts (?) that were printed in the monthly newsletter from my home town church, Zion Lutheran Church, in McGregor, ND. If you happen to be a fellow Lutheran, you will understand just how comical this is! I sat and giggled as I read it. It brings back memories of the days when I still attended church in McGregor and helped my own Mom get the communion ready for the services. Nothing was locked up!

You know you're Lutheran when.....

• ..... it's 100*, with 90% humidity, and you still have coffee after the service.
• ..... you hear something really funny during the sermon and smile as loudly as you can.
• .... donuts are a line item in the church budget, just like coffee.
• ..... the communion cabinet is open to all, but the coffee cabinet is locked up tight.
• ..... all your relatives graduated from a school with "Concordia" in the name.
• .... when you watch a "Star Wars" movie and they say, "may the force be with you" and you respond, " and also with you."
• ....it takes ten minutes to say good-bye!

Does some of this sound familiar? ;)

God Bless Home Delivery!

I remember as a child having the Schwan's Ice Cream truck come into our yard on a monthly basis. Mom always made sure to have on hand some of our favorites. These would include but not limited to: Root Beer float bars, ice cream bars, chocolate ice cream, vanilla ice cream, push 'ems, ice cream sandwiches, and single serve pizza's, just to name a few. Thankfully, we had a chest freezer in the basement of the house that had ample space for all these goodies.
I remember coming home from school many 'a day, especially when it was warmer outside, and heading right for the freezer to grab a snack from Schwan's. One of my all time favorites to this day is Chocolate Marshmallow Ripple Ice Cream. I love marshmallow in or on anything and this is the best combination of flavors ever thought up! (Next to peanut butter of course!)
After I moved into my house, I couldn't wait to get myself a chest freezer so that I could have the "Schwan's Man" come to my door. Side bar; growing up, whenever my siblings or I happened to notice the big yellow truck approaching, we would always yell to Mom that the "Schwan's Man" was coming. Even though we were given a sticker to put on the calendar as a reminder of our next day of delivery, we all would forget until we saw the truck. So Mom would have to scramble to get the current catalog and try to figure out if we needed anything in particular.
Recently I purchased a small Frigidaire freezer. It's the perfect size for me and has plenty of room for my Schwan's products. Need an idea of just how small? Even in it's box, I was able to adjust the rear seating bench in my van and it slid right in! My van is great for hauling things, but that's another story. I was able to unload it and get it into the basement myself. It now sits alongside my washer and dryer. A perfect trio of appliances!
Over time, the products available from Schwan's has increased ten fold. I haven't tasted anything from them that I didn't like. The quality of their food is well worth the extra money you may spend and it comes right to your door on a pre-arranged day and time of the week. Ordering in advance via the Internet is nice as well. There is a better chance that the products you choose will be available and you save yourself the awkwardness of having the "Schwans' Man" wait on you while you try to narrow your choices down from the vast selection in the catalog.
I highly encourage those of you that have never tried their food to do so. You'll never buy grocery store ice cream again!