Southwest Airlines Omaha Christmas Party 2009

Last night I attended our Southwest Airlines, Omaha Station, Christmas party. I actually had a hand in organizing the event. We decided to go back to the same place as last year. The Holiday Inn Ameristar. We cut down on the expense of employees gifts this year, but everyone still received something. Our meal was delicious consisting of the same menu as last year.

We had our Operations Supervisor organize our evenings entertainment. He booked Arthur Fratelli. He was hilarious! He did some magic tricks involving some of our own employees, he had many jokes and stories to tell, and also did some juggling in between the tricks. I actually assisted him briefly, using my cell phone. He asked 3 different questions of our group and had 3 random people write down answers in the form of numbers on a pad of paper. For example, he wondered how much money we all thought he made doing his job. Then, he gave me the pad of paper and I was to use the calculator function on my cell phone to add these 3 numbers together. Once I did, he had me say out loud what the total of these 3 numbers was. My answer was 2,942. He then proceeded to untuck his shirt from his pants! I asked if I could switch from calculator to camera on my phone! (hee hee!) He said, "No, very funny!" with a look of raised eyebrows that seemed to send me a message of "Behave!". Then after he untucked the outer garment, he opened it to reveal an inside t-shirt that had the numbers 2,942! OK, I was impressed! He had no idea what numbers were going to be written down! It matched my total on my calculator! Everyone loved it! He did numerous other tricks as well that involved the assistance of someone from our group.

Here I am posing with the funny man, Arthur Fratelli.

I also walked around to take random pictures of employees at their tables or mingling with others throughout the night.

It isn't hard to figure out who the strong man is here!

Dennis, center, retired from SWA during the last year. He came for our party. It was fun to see him and his wife again!

Juggling golf balls.....

Juggling an apple and a head of lettuce. He had them each take a bite out of one or the other while continuing to juggle the other items. The apple had dropped to the floor so he ripped the lettuce into smaller sections. He hoped they didn't have to bite on the item that was already eaten!

Lindsay, celebrating her birthday the same day as our party, was one of his assistants.

The evening was very fun. We laughed a lot at Arthur Fratelli. I had many more pictures but just couldn't put them all in this post. Once the entertainment was over, we handed out gifts to the employees and people then went their own direction. Some went to the casino to try their luck and some went home. All in all, another successful holiday party.

A Baby Shower

One of my co-workers, Cari Gottschalk, is soon going to be a Mother. Her friends gave a baby shower in her honor today. I actually know them as they have been former Tastefully Simple hostesses for me. There were many people there....about 25 I think. I was a little bit surprised at the lack of Southwest employees there. But what are you going to do? Their loss....
The theme of the shower was that of a western, southern Texas, cowboy idea. Very cute! The invitations were our clue to that effect.
The baby is a boy, obviously. So, the tables had been set with blue and brown plates, matching napkins and forks, and centerpieces consisting of sunflowers and wheat sticking up from a quart jar with handles.
The food table was over the top with variety. All of it a western theme as well. It too, was decorated to match the guest tables. Straw bales, ropes, and matching centerpieces like the tables were set in strategic places amongst the food. The food selection included brisket with BBQ sauce, home made bean salsa and chips, pinwheels, a vegetable tray with dipping sauces, and BBQ beanie weenies to name a few. I know I've forgotten some things. The dessert had 3 flavors of cup cakes and 2 flavors of cheese cake and a choice of caramel, chocolate or strawberry sauce.
After playing a couple of games, Cari opened her gifts. She and her boyfriend Jason had registered at Target. So it was easy to find something they would need.

The huge food table!


Some of the place settings and centerpieces, and the gift table in the back.

Dessert table.

Cari opening the gift from me. She had help from Miley, 3, whom was a guest.

Cari, Tonya, Cari's Mom Pat, Sue. Tonya and Sue gave the shower.

Cari's Mom lives in Texas and many of her family came from her home town of Broken Bow, NE. It was a very nice party. I've known Cari for over 13 years. She and I both work for Southwest Airlines. It was fun to be a part of a huge stage in her life.

They have named the baby Jaxon. I'm excited to meet the little tyke! His birthday is supposed to be in early March. I personally hope it's late February! (wink wink!) Time will tell....Congratulations Cari and Jason!

Family Time for Christmas 2009

On Wednesday I packed up all my stuff that I had drug into Dad and Beverly's house and got ready to drive to Kevin and Susan's. I was going to spend a couple of days with them. We also were planning our postponed Christmas celebration for Thursday. Dad and Beverly were going to be driving there on Thursday. All the gifts were still left to be opened. I brought several with me from my house that had been waiting to be opened as well.

After school on Wednesday, Abigail wanted to show me how much she has learned to play the alto saxophone. I passed mine on to her when she started in band classes. Here she is performing a song for me.

Susan and the girls went back to school after their Christmas break on January 4TH. So they were all in school but Kevin had another week before he had to go back himself. Because I would be there during the day with Kevin, we were put in charge of our holiday meal for Thursday night. We planned it, shopped for the groceries and then began the preparations before Susan and the girls got out of school.

We had decided on fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green been casserole, whipped jello salad with strawberries and whipped cream on top, and a vegetable salad that Beverly made. We also would be having some lefse that I had made and brought with me. Dessert was an Angel Food birthday cake that Beverly had made for Suzanna's birthday, which was December 30TH. It was going to be a good old fashioned feast!

Dad and Beverly arrived at Kevin's about 2:30PM. When the girls were getting out of school, Kevin and Dad went to pick them up. Even though their schools are within blocks of their house, a ride home was in order due to the below zero temperatures. Kevin and I had picked them up the day before in my Escape. They didn't know who's car to look for and were surprised to see me! Today, they were in for another surprise, not expecting to see Grandpa's car!

Once Susan arrived home she helped me in the kitchen. I fried the chicken, Susan and I peeled the potatoes and she cooked and mashed them. I made gravy in the chicken pan with all the good drippings, she made the green bean casserole and Kevin and I had made the whipped jello salad earlier in the day.

The table with all the food that Susan, Kevin and I prepared.

Abigail, Suzanna, Hillary....home from school and swim class and ready to eat!

Susan and Beverly putting the candles into Suzanna's birthday cake.

Ready to blow out the candles! 12 of them this year! Wow!!!

After we finished eating, we went down stairs to commence opening gifts. Here is their pretty tree.

Kevin and Susan's Christmas tree.

The entire family had discussed and agreed earlier in the fall on what to do for the girls for Christmas. They liked playing the Wii game system when they visited their friends. So we thought instead of getting individual gifts for them, to go in together and get this for them.

It was evident by their reactions just much they couldn't believe what they had gotten! And they loved it! There were tears and even a "happy dance"! Along with the console, we gave them extra gaming accessories and some games. They had other presents from other relatives that had been put away until they had opened this gift. They were more games still, and a gift card to use for their choice of games.

The girls were ecstatic over their gift! Our family chipped in and bought the Wii game system for them.

Kevin, Beverly, Dad and Abigail. The blur is Hillary.

Hillary (Abigail in the chair)

Suzanna

After gift opening, it was late enough that the girls had to go to bed. They still had school the next day. And Dad and Beverly and I would all be going home. Kevin had to work part of the day on Friday as well, which required a drive to MT.

Susan and I returned to the kitchen to clean up the mess from supper. We left the mess because we wanted to open gifts before it got too late. Everyone was tired and had a full stomach from all the food and had gone to bed before we finished washing the dishes!

It was a great time being with family for Christmas 2009, even if the calendar showed January 7TH, 2010! It felt like December 25TH, 2009! But we missed Cathy! She stayed in Oregon for the holiday as she had traveled back to the midwest twice during 2009.

I'm anxious to find out how the girls are doing with their new present, the Wii!

Visitors at Dad's

It was a nice leisure day, having slept in. Well, sort of. I didn't get to Dad and Beverly's until roughly 11PM the night before. We sat up and chatted. Even though I was in bed by 1AM, I couldn't immediately go to sleep. My mind was still racing with thoughts of my house, the impending weather in the forecast for Omaha, my cats, and my friend that would be caring for them, etc. I had a rough time getting any sleep at all so I decided to just get up at 8:30AM.

The house that Dad and Beverly moved into last fall didn't have a garage. So that's in the process of getting built. I bundled up and went out in the falling snow to get some pictures for you.

The walls and roof are on. The doors need to be installed and some insulating still needs to be done.

The back section of the garage will actually have a huge storage area, the length of the garage, built in. So even though you could currently park 8 small cars in the garage, that will soon change.

This will be where the storage area will be closed off from the rest of the garage. It will be the length of the garage. For now, there are coolers that have food from the freezers on the farm until it's finished. They are trying to keep things out of the way for my cousin Joel, whom is building the large facility.

I was able to pull into the garage right behind Dad's car. And the door in the background goes into the laundry room of the house. At the very top center of the photo, you can see a small lighted section of the roof. That is where it stills needs to be closed in as well. Snow comes in there if the wind is blowing it just right.

Later in the day Dad and I drove to the post office and grocery store. The temperature was quite mild for ND in January. 15* above zero! Not too bad! And it was actually warmer than it was back in Omaha, which is rarely colder than ND!

Beverly had invited her son and daughter-in-law, Dennis and Julie, and my Aunt Penny to come by for supper later that night. So I helped Beverly prepare the food which included boiled potatoes, steaks, corn, cauliflower, and Cherries in the Snow salad. Penny brought Dirt Salad and Whipped Jello Salad. Yummy! We also had some Lefse that I had made and brought along with me. We had fun visiting and laughing at each other's stories. It's always fun to see friends and relatives on my various journey's back to ND.

The Cold, Long Drive Northward

As I drove north out of Omaha today, it was evident, the closer I got to SD, just how much snow had fallen from the Christmas blizzard in the area. Underneath all the overpasses, the snow during the blizzard, had drifted all the way across the interstate. You could visualize just how deep the drifts had been across the roads. It was piled up quite high next to the large concrete pillars that supported the roads above each overpass.
Before I left Omaha, I had to shovel my own driveway once again. During the night another 2-3 inches had fallen. It was the very fluffy snow. The kind that almost looks like the snow you would see on a TV show that doesn't look quite real. A slight breeze would have caused a small blizzard. And the forecast for the Omaha area was for more snow during the middle of the week during my absence. My next door neighbor was kind enough to agree to cleaning it off if said snow did actually occur. One of my friends would be coming by to care for my cats and I wanted to make sure she didn't have problems getting in and out.

I was able to use my video camera while traveling along the interstate. Sorry if it's a little bumpy or makes you dizzy. That's what happens when I can't constantly look at the screen to make sure it's steady! But it shows how full all the ditches are from the snow..........and that was what I was striving for.





From what I was told the brunt of the storm dumped the majority of the snow on Minot, ND. Roughly 2 feet from one storm! It was 9:30 PM when I drove through Minot but just a glance around the city showed signs that some major plowing had taken place. The piles and mounds of snow in parking lots and some of the ditches was unbelievable! I wish I had turned around and drove through the Wal Mart parking lot. Those piles were huge! But even as I continued on, I saw others that were just as impressive. Right along Highway 2 traveling west past some car dealerships, they had piles larger than life as well.



It's been many years since I remember having this much snow in one season. I believe I was but a youngster and one storm filled in the driveway on the farm. It was as high as the over hang from the garage. We couldn't even get out of the garage without climbing over the massive drift! I may have been in grade school at that time. So you know it's been a while! But even since I've moved to Omaha, this has been a record year for snowfall. The cold weather has been worse than normal as well for Nebraska. While I was on vacation, I had been told that some of our flights were even cancelled a couple of days in a row due to the cold! Really??? I've been in this business for over 21 years and that's the first time I'd heard of that being the reason. However, we always have 5 airplanes stay overnight and our heaters may have had a hard time keeping up with the cold. (doubt it, they heat better than some furnaces!) Who knows!

As I drove northward, the temperatures were slightly warming as I got closer to Tioga, my destination. It was above zero when I got to Dad and Beverly's. And it was below zero in Omaha. Strange! But I was in for some cold during my stay. And I was prepared. Bring it on!

Christmas Postponed

Today I was finally able to travel to ND to have Christmas with my family. I actually was scheduled to be at my brother's house on Christmas Eve. Mother Nature decided she didn't want families together for the holiday. She wreaked havoc on the roads with a monstrous blizzard that crippled the Midwest. Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and parts of Iowa were all affected. The blizzard came through Nebraska on Christmas Eve day. The winds started blowing and the snow began falling leaving behind snowfall in varying amounts. Omaha ended up with 14 inches. Further north from here parts of SD received 16-18 inches. The storm changed directions moving northeasterly and then proceeded to move to the northwest. ND was hit a day or so after Omaha. Minot received 2 feet when all was said and done. I had to relent and made the decision to just stay home. If I hadn't I may have ended up in a hotel along the interstate somewhere between Omaha and Dickinson!


I spent a quiet Christmas at my own house with my two cats. In a way, it was nice to be home and not have to be anywhere on the poor roads. I had a nice warm fire and did next to nothing on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Except to shovel a couple of times, I didn't even venture out of my house until Monday morning after Christmas. Still, I wasn't happy that I didn't get to go "home" for the holiday. It was the first year in several that I was going to be able to spend it with Dad, Beverly, Kevin, Susan and the girls.

I spent a total of 6 days at home. Some of that time I utilized to sort through some old mail, clean, cook a lot of meals and catch up on TV shows that I'd recorded. Sometimes a person needs to do that! You know I did too! I was still scheduled to work on December 31ST and January 1ST. Then my official vacation would start. I rearranged plans with Kevin's and Dad's to go to ND during that time instead. I would leave Omaha on the 3rd and return here again the 8TH of January. By doing it this way, I would still be able to attend my company Christmas party on the 9TH of January. (We hold it after Christmas for various reasons.)

So that was the plan. I had to mentally plan out my days before I left and decide what I would need to take care of before doing so. Laundry would have to be done, Christmas decor could be put away then instead of after I returned, gifts would need to be packed up as well as all my baking that I wanted to take with me.

I normally take the first week of January as vacation. It's typically still busy from the Christmas holiday at the airport and more years than not in the last 7, a snowstorm comes through that week as well. And storm it did while I was gone. Omaha got a total of 5 inches more. My neighbor had agreed to clean off my driveway for me while I was gone, if needed. He did. One of my friends was coming over daily to tend to my cats.

OK, Christmas has officially been postponed for the Moberg family. Ho hum. And so it goes.