Okay, it seems that everyday our neighbor is doing something that makes DH say yet again that we should have NEVER bought this house.
He said that at first because the neighbors have 3 boys and they had their basketball hoop out in the street. It is in our homeowner's covenants that you cannot leave the hoop out in the street or anywhere in front of your house. It took almost a whole year of complaining to the HOA to get that finally out of the street... the hoop now lives on it's side next to their garage...where we still get to enjoy it's lovely view!
The covenants also say that you can't store your trashcans out where they can be seen and you can't keep a bunch of stuff laying around the yard. His garage sticks out from the house about 4 feet, so he keeps all his extra stuff & his trash cans there. Since we're the only ones who get to see it, nothing can be done about it either.
Somewhere we read that you are only allowed to have 3 pets (city ordinance or something...couldn't find it in our covenants). He has 4 dogs, 2 birds & a cat. Their one dog will get started barking at our dog and begin to dig under the fence or eat at the fence to get into our yard to get at our dog. The dog has broken the fence 3 times and once dug under our fence, got into our yard and then started barking at the dogs behind us and started tearing up that fence.
But here's the real kicker. Thorn in our sides. whatever! Their house has a two car garage. They own ... get this!... 10 cars! I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that they have only 4 licensed drivers (the middle son may or may not be of driving age...if he is not yet that only gives them 3.) Here's the list... GMC Yukon, Ford Expedition, Ford Explorer(tag expired), Ford Mustang, Camero convertable, 2 Impalas (one working, the other not), white mini van (work vehicle), vega stationwagon w/ flat tire, and this very old blue thing...don't even know what it is! Oh! And since there isn't room to park them all at his house, he parks one in front of our house at almost all times. He has even done repairs on the blue thing in front of our house... "welcome to our Auto Shop!"
His house is on the corner, so he parks 2 in the garage, 2 in his driveway, 3 along the side and 3 across the front that includes our front for one...sometimes 2.
I parked my car out front one day when his cars weren't there and left it there overnight. So he knows that it buggs us, but his excuse was that when he parked the Mustang on the side someone threw a rock threw the windshield. Hummm... wonder why? (wasn't us)
And we can't do a darned thing about them. There is no city ordinance that says how many vehicles you can have and there is nothing in our covenants that says a thing about them either. We've tried...we called the police, we called the HOA. The HOA guy was really nice about it and saying he would look up other subdivisions to see if any say anything that we can use against him.
We kinda think that he might be selling the cars, but they don't move all that quickly. We've only seen one of them for sale...it got replaced by 2.
He tried to sell his house & move about 2 years ago. But he's a carpenter and has remodled almost the whole house. So when he tried to sell it, he wanted to get paid for all his work and it was priced too high for our neighborhood. No one ever even looked at his house. Darn it!
So I need prayers that someone will want to buy his house (even though it isn't for sale currently)!
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
I'd hate to see her personal finances!
Well as you can imagine, this is another venting post.
I read an email today (must have been sent this morning as I checked my email pretty late last night) asking if I could transfer some money into one of the accounts I keep track of because she wrote a check and doesn't think there's enough in there to cover it.
How do you not keep track of how much is in the account? She's the only one w/ the checkbook right now and she's not keeping track? Lord help us!
No I can't transfer money into the account today...that account is a two signature and the other signature is in Boulder! And she didn't bother to tell me how much she needs transfered either.
Okay, I feel a little better now! Notice I'm on-line (we have dial up) so that she can't call me to get this fixed.
I read an email today (must have been sent this morning as I checked my email pretty late last night) asking if I could transfer some money into one of the accounts I keep track of because she wrote a check and doesn't think there's enough in there to cover it.
How do you not keep track of how much is in the account? She's the only one w/ the checkbook right now and she's not keeping track? Lord help us!
No I can't transfer money into the account today...that account is a two signature and the other signature is in Boulder! And she didn't bother to tell me how much she needs transfered either.
Okay, I feel a little better now! Notice I'm on-line (we have dial up) so that she can't call me to get this fixed.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Today I cried like a big old baby
I finished reading Harry Potter today and cried all the way through the last few chapters.
I knew someone was gonna die, but I wasn't expecting it to be him. And then when his picture was up on the wall, I lost it again 'cuz I knew that he was really gone. Although I was wondering why the painting didn't start talking yet...it must take some time after the funeral or something.
This book answered a lot about Voldemort, but the questions answered weren't questions I had...of course they are important to the story.
I'm guessing that Harry isn't going to need him for the next book. He's been told what he has to do and to let his friends help him. Which brings up another thing...
Harry needs Hermione because she's a bookworm and remembers everything she reads...so she's good at spells & stuff.
But what's Ron for?
OH! I had read a speculation about Tonks & Lupin on-line and thought that it was just rubbish...but low and behold! Sorry if that spoils something for you, but it's really a minor point.
I knew someone was gonna die, but I wasn't expecting it to be him. And then when his picture was up on the wall, I lost it again 'cuz I knew that he was really gone. Although I was wondering why the painting didn't start talking yet...it must take some time after the funeral or something.
This book answered a lot about Voldemort, but the questions answered weren't questions I had...of course they are important to the story.
I'm guessing that Harry isn't going to need him for the next book. He's been told what he has to do and to let his friends help him. Which brings up another thing...
Harry needs Hermione because she's a bookworm and remembers everything she reads...so she's good at spells & stuff.
But what's Ron for?
OH! I had read a speculation about Tonks & Lupin on-line and thought that it was just rubbish...but low and behold! Sorry if that spoils something for you, but it's really a minor point.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Half-Blood Prince!
It's tonight! It's tonight! can ya tell I'm excited? :D
I've got a copy reserved at my library. I wonder when I'll be able to go pick it up.
So for the next week or so I'm gonna have my head stuck in Hogwartz.
I've got a copy reserved at my library. I wonder when I'll be able to go pick it up.
So for the next week or so I'm gonna have my head stuck in Hogwartz.
How wrong is that?
Coach Allegedly Paid Player to Hit Boy
By ALLISON SCHLESINGER, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 56 minutes ago
A T-ball coach allegedly paid one of his players $25 to hurt an 8-year-old mentally disabled teammate so he wouldn't have to put the boy in the game, police said Friday.
Mark R. Downs Jr., 27, of Dunbar, is accused of offering one of his players the money to hit the boy in the head with a baseball, police said. Witnesses told police Downs didn't want the boy to play in the game because of his disability.
Police said the boy was hit in the head and in the groin with a baseball just before a game, and didn't play, police said.
"The coach was very competitive," state police Trooper Thomas B. Broadwater said. "He wanted to win."
Downs has an unpublished telephone number and couldn't immediately be reached for comment Friday. It was unclear whether he had an attorney.
He was arrested and arraigned Friday on charges including criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault and corruption of minors. He was released from jail on an unsecured bond.
The alleged assault happened June 27 in North Union Township, about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, authorities said.
The boy's mother asked state police to investigate her son's injuries because she suspected Downs wanted to keep the boy off the field, despite a league rule that required each player to participate in three innings a game, Broadwater said.
Eric Forsythe, the president of the R.W. Clark Youth Baseball League, said Downs had two daughters on the T-ball team.
League organizers investigated accusations against Downs before the T-ball season ended earlier this month but could not prove that he did anything wrong. If Downs is convicted of any crime, he won't be allowed to be a coach next year, Forsythe said. The league is not affiliated with Little League International.
I should hope not! What in the world was this guy thinking? Some people scare me.
By ALLISON SCHLESINGER, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 56 minutes ago
A T-ball coach allegedly paid one of his players $25 to hurt an 8-year-old mentally disabled teammate so he wouldn't have to put the boy in the game, police said Friday.
Mark R. Downs Jr., 27, of Dunbar, is accused of offering one of his players the money to hit the boy in the head with a baseball, police said. Witnesses told police Downs didn't want the boy to play in the game because of his disability.
Police said the boy was hit in the head and in the groin with a baseball just before a game, and didn't play, police said.
"The coach was very competitive," state police Trooper Thomas B. Broadwater said. "He wanted to win."
Downs has an unpublished telephone number and couldn't immediately be reached for comment Friday. It was unclear whether he had an attorney.
He was arrested and arraigned Friday on charges including criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault and corruption of minors. He was released from jail on an unsecured bond.
The alleged assault happened June 27 in North Union Township, about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, authorities said.
The boy's mother asked state police to investigate her son's injuries because she suspected Downs wanted to keep the boy off the field, despite a league rule that required each player to participate in three innings a game, Broadwater said.
Eric Forsythe, the president of the R.W. Clark Youth Baseball League, said Downs had two daughters on the T-ball team.
League organizers investigated accusations against Downs before the T-ball season ended earlier this month but could not prove that he did anything wrong. If Downs is convicted of any crime, he won't be allowed to be a coach next year, Forsythe said. The league is not affiliated with Little League International.
I should hope not! What in the world was this guy thinking? Some people scare me.
I finally figured out the key to great big blogs!
It was my resolution! Someone had set my resolution to only half way, so I had to scroll over to see the rest of these great bigl blogs.
Now my resolution is set at full blast and I can see everything! Yay!
Aren't computers wonderfully confusing? :D
Now my resolution is set at full blast and I can see everything! Yay!
Aren't computers wonderfully confusing? :D
Monday, July 11, 2005
ARRRGH! NOOOOO!
Firms to Develop In-Flight Phone Service
Siemens AG said Monday it has signed a contract with aircraft maker Airbus SAS to develop technology that would allow passengers to use their mobile phones during flights.
The German company will provide technology based on the GSM wireless standard for Airbus to integrate into the electronics systems used on its aircraft, Siemens said. The service is to be launched in 2006.
The companies plan to fit a base station, linked to the terrestrial GSM network via satellite, behind the ceiling panel of a plane. The base station will receive signals from passengers' mobile phones, personal computers and organizers.
Siemens said the technology will allow passengers to use their electronic devices throughout a flight without interfering with the aircraft's own equipment.
Shares in Munich-based Siemens, which is selling its handset business to BenQ of Taiwan, were up 0.8 percent at $74.40 in afternoon trading in Frankfurt.
Stock in the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co, Airbus' main parent company, was up 1.9 percent at $31.93 in Paris.
Personally I feel that cell phones are the most annoying thing on the planet. Yesterday someone's cell went off during the Church sermon...everyone shot the owner dirty looks. Why on earth would someone want to allow their use on planes. I find it extreemly annoying that as soon as my flight touches down that 50 or more cell phones pop out and are being used. Blech! I guess I should just be glad that I don't fly all that often.
Siemens AG said Monday it has signed a contract with aircraft maker Airbus SAS to develop technology that would allow passengers to use their mobile phones during flights.
The German company will provide technology based on the GSM wireless standard for Airbus to integrate into the electronics systems used on its aircraft, Siemens said. The service is to be launched in 2006.
The companies plan to fit a base station, linked to the terrestrial GSM network via satellite, behind the ceiling panel of a plane. The base station will receive signals from passengers' mobile phones, personal computers and organizers.
Siemens said the technology will allow passengers to use their electronic devices throughout a flight without interfering with the aircraft's own equipment.
Shares in Munich-based Siemens, which is selling its handset business to BenQ of Taiwan, were up 0.8 percent at $74.40 in afternoon trading in Frankfurt.
Stock in the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co, Airbus' main parent company, was up 1.9 percent at $31.93 in Paris.
Personally I feel that cell phones are the most annoying thing on the planet. Yesterday someone's cell went off during the Church sermon...everyone shot the owner dirty looks. Why on earth would someone want to allow their use on planes. I find it extreemly annoying that as soon as my flight touches down that 50 or more cell phones pop out and are being used. Blech! I guess I should just be glad that I don't fly all that often.
Slurpee celebrates 40 years of 'brain freeze'
By Theresa Howard, USA TODAY
Long before smoothies and Frappuccinos there was the Slurpee. The slushy, colorful 7-Eleven brand - and American icon - turns 40 today and is still popular for the same reasons it caught on back then: fun, variety, "brain freeze" and colored tongues.
"We've kept it fun with the interesting flavors we've had over the years," says Jim Keyes, 7-Eleven CEO. "At the heart of it, it's just a fun product that people enjoy."
Today, consumers can enjoy a free sample at 7-Eleven's 5,800 stores in the USA and Canada. The samples kick off a month-long Slurpee promotion that includes radio play of original 1960s Slurpee ads, retro 1973 cups, Coca-Cola-developed flavors Blue Blunder Berry and Gully Washer, free music downloads and a giveaway of four Mini Coopers in a Slurpee color.
Slurpee was born in Kansas at a Dairy Queen where owner Omar Knedlik served semi-frozen bottled soft drinks. When they were a hit, he worked with a Dallas company to develop the "Icee" machine that replicated that consistency in slushy soft drinks served at 28 degrees.
When a 7-Eleven manager happened upon an Icee machine in a rival's store, he saw potential and got them into three 7-Eleven stores in 1965. Within two years, they were in almost every 7-Eleven - renamed Slurpees for the noise they make through a straw.
"It hasn't changed a lot in 40 years," says John Ryckevic, a member of 7-Eleven's beverage team that helped promote Slurpee in its heyday. "You can't say that about a lot of brands."
Slurpee fun facts:
• Consumption. Since 1965, more than 6 billion Slurpees have been sold. They're now sold in 17 countries. U.S. annual sales alone are $170 million.
• The magic of the machine. Syrup, carbon dioxide and water are mixed under pressure in a freezing chamber.
• Building the brand. In 1970, Slurpee marketing included Slurp magazine and a dance step and song called The Slurp.
I haven't had one of these in a very long time. A Slurpee float is very yummy. Happy Birthday Slurpee!
Long before smoothies and Frappuccinos there was the Slurpee. The slushy, colorful 7-Eleven brand - and American icon - turns 40 today and is still popular for the same reasons it caught on back then: fun, variety, "brain freeze" and colored tongues.
"We've kept it fun with the interesting flavors we've had over the years," says Jim Keyes, 7-Eleven CEO. "At the heart of it, it's just a fun product that people enjoy."
Today, consumers can enjoy a free sample at 7-Eleven's 5,800 stores in the USA and Canada. The samples kick off a month-long Slurpee promotion that includes radio play of original 1960s Slurpee ads, retro 1973 cups, Coca-Cola-developed flavors Blue Blunder Berry and Gully Washer, free music downloads and a giveaway of four Mini Coopers in a Slurpee color.
Slurpee was born in Kansas at a Dairy Queen where owner Omar Knedlik served semi-frozen bottled soft drinks. When they were a hit, he worked with a Dallas company to develop the "Icee" machine that replicated that consistency in slushy soft drinks served at 28 degrees.
When a 7-Eleven manager happened upon an Icee machine in a rival's store, he saw potential and got them into three 7-Eleven stores in 1965. Within two years, they were in almost every 7-Eleven - renamed Slurpees for the noise they make through a straw.
"It hasn't changed a lot in 40 years," says John Ryckevic, a member of 7-Eleven's beverage team that helped promote Slurpee in its heyday. "You can't say that about a lot of brands."
Slurpee fun facts:
• Consumption. Since 1965, more than 6 billion Slurpees have been sold. They're now sold in 17 countries. U.S. annual sales alone are $170 million.
• The magic of the machine. Syrup, carbon dioxide and water are mixed under pressure in a freezing chamber.
• Building the brand. In 1970, Slurpee marketing included Slurp magazine and a dance step and song called The Slurp.
I haven't had one of these in a very long time. A Slurpee float is very yummy. Happy Birthday Slurpee!
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Tagged for 5 things....MEME
Okay, I wasn't really tagged but one blog I read said I could tag myself, hope you enjoy!
What was I doing 10 years ago: Living in TX and going to college at ASU.
5 years ago: Living in S. Korea, sweatting a lot, playing with DD
1 year ago: Living in CO, enjoying life.
Yesterday: worked in my garden, rescued my dog from the kennel after our trip, take DD & dog to park, tried to get dog into the groomer...but they're all full for summer shavings...dh doesn't want dog shaved yet as she's getting that shaggy cuteness.
5 Snacks I enjoy: potato chips, flavored pretzel chunks, doritoes, popcorn, ice cream
5 songs I know all the words to: Just 5? I learn all the words to my favorites quickly. I embarass my DD in the grocery store 'cuz I'll sing there. Tuesday in Frankenmuth MI at the brewery restraunt they were playing "We Are The World" DH & I were a little scared.
5 Things I would do with a $100 million: Wow, I would have to decide if this is where I want to stay...if so I would pay off this house. If not, buy a new house. Give $1 mill to my mom who always said when I wanted something "well I want a million dollars too, but I'm not getting it...so neither are you." not sure why I should give her that, but anyway. Give my Church 10%. Get a new car. Put the rest into some really good savings & investments so that I wouldn't have to worry about anything for the rest of my or DD's life.
5 Locations I would like to run away to: Back to Hawaii and stay there longer...I really want to see the volcanos. A beach resort...any beach. A nice mountain cabin. Germany & England to see where my & DH's families come from.
5 Bad habits I have: spending way too much time on the internet, procrastinating, not cleaning, not putting things back where they belong, not making decisions.
5 Things I like doing: spending way too much time on the internet, reading, watching TV, getting the mail, shopping
5 Things I would never wear: anything that makes me feel fat, skirts above the knee (just don't feel comfortable showing off my chunky thighs anymore!), a bikini, a thong, slutty clothes.
5 TV shows I like: Good Eats, Mythbusters, Extreem Makeover-Home Edition, Aprentice, 30 min Meals.
5 Biggest joys of the moment: Watching my dd play, learn, share her knowledge w/ others, becoming more comfortable with others. That's 4, my garden is #5.
5 Favourite toys: My computer, my newest purse, my slicer, my gardens, my sewing machine
5 next victims: well I don't want anyone to be mad at me either and I only know about 4 other people who blog and two of them had this on theirs already...so no victims yet.
What was I doing 10 years ago: Living in TX and going to college at ASU.
5 years ago: Living in S. Korea, sweatting a lot, playing with DD
1 year ago: Living in CO, enjoying life.
Yesterday: worked in my garden, rescued my dog from the kennel after our trip, take DD & dog to park, tried to get dog into the groomer...but they're all full for summer shavings...dh doesn't want dog shaved yet as she's getting that shaggy cuteness.
5 Snacks I enjoy: potato chips, flavored pretzel chunks, doritoes, popcorn, ice cream
5 songs I know all the words to: Just 5? I learn all the words to my favorites quickly. I embarass my DD in the grocery store 'cuz I'll sing there. Tuesday in Frankenmuth MI at the brewery restraunt they were playing "We Are The World" DH & I were a little scared.
5 Things I would do with a $100 million: Wow, I would have to decide if this is where I want to stay...if so I would pay off this house. If not, buy a new house. Give $1 mill to my mom who always said when I wanted something "well I want a million dollars too, but I'm not getting it...so neither are you." not sure why I should give her that, but anyway. Give my Church 10%. Get a new car. Put the rest into some really good savings & investments so that I wouldn't have to worry about anything for the rest of my or DD's life.
5 Locations I would like to run away to: Back to Hawaii and stay there longer...I really want to see the volcanos. A beach resort...any beach. A nice mountain cabin. Germany & England to see where my & DH's families come from.
5 Bad habits I have: spending way too much time on the internet, procrastinating, not cleaning, not putting things back where they belong, not making decisions.
5 Things I like doing: spending way too much time on the internet, reading, watching TV, getting the mail, shopping
5 Things I would never wear: anything that makes me feel fat, skirts above the knee (just don't feel comfortable showing off my chunky thighs anymore!), a bikini, a thong, slutty clothes.
5 TV shows I like: Good Eats, Mythbusters, Extreem Makeover-Home Edition, Aprentice, 30 min Meals.
5 Biggest joys of the moment: Watching my dd play, learn, share her knowledge w/ others, becoming more comfortable with others. That's 4, my garden is #5.
5 Favourite toys: My computer, my newest purse, my slicer, my gardens, my sewing machine
5 next victims: well I don't want anyone to be mad at me either and I only know about 4 other people who blog and two of them had this on theirs already...so no victims yet.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
My summer vacation... ;o)
We got back from our family reunion trip last night. Here are the details...
July 1st: I couldn't sleep (never can before a big trip...too worried about oversleeping) so I got up at 4:45AM after looking at the clock all night. We were already packed and I had already taken care of the rabbits, so I got to read my book and try to calm myself down.
We left the house at a little after 7am, were supposed to leave at 6:45am, but who's counting? We had to stop by the library to drop off some books and then headed to the dog kennel to drop off the dog. The dog was scared out of her mind, poor thing.
Everything else went smoothly, I had printed out our boarding passes at home and the luggage check-in is self-serve now! YAY! Now if they could only train all the idiots ahead of me in line on how to use it somewhere else. he he
Security went pretty good. We stopped at terminal B on our way to terminal C to get some cinamon rolls for breakfast...yummy. Find out that our plane is delayed. So we get a dirty plane to go to Michigan on... someone had dropped a part of a banana in front of DH's seat...ewe!
Get to Michigan, get our rental car.... I didn't know they still make cars without power anything!
Start driving from Detroit to Frankenmuth and get stuck in construction traffic.... can you believe they had the road down to one lane for the holiday???
We finally got to our hotel (yes we booked a hotel) and then tried to find DH's sister's MIL's house. I should have looked her up on yahoo... sorry to my family but they are all horrible at giving directions. We ended up giving up and going over to my other SIL's house that I had directions from yahoo for. DH said he could have found her with a blindfold cuz her house backs up to his old school.
Just about everyone is there and the rest showed up soon after. Some were going to camp out so we go over to play with their bonfire. Got sufficiently smoky and head back to our hotel.
July 2: On our way to see some sites we noticed that the Glockenspiel (scroll down a bit on the linked page for the info) was going off, so we stopped there and watched the entire story of the Pied Piper, then we went over the covered bridge to see the May Poll then we head over to DH's grandmother's house . I'm not kidding here, this is really DH's grandmother's house. (Yes, I know that I posted the info on that link, but it's all true!) Although the current store clerks have no idea about it's history. DH's great-grandfather built the house, then his grandparents and their sons lived there with "grandma" until she died. After the boys grew up and got married, some of them and their new brides also lived in grandma's house including my in-laws. Since DH's grandmother passed away in the 1070's the house has changed hands quite a few times and has had it's interior completely changed to accomidate the gift shop. The main staircase has been removed, and the upstairs was made into an apartment. I will probably write the entire history of the house down and send it to the store for them to use if they like.
After that we tried to visit DH's other grandparent's place, but that's now where the elementary & highschool are built. His uncle's house, also on the farm, is now the school admin building. Since that was a bust we went to the park where DH's dad built a turtle for the kids to play on and a bridge. I wasn't able to find an on-line image of either of those, but I can post them after I get our pix back.
After that we headed over to the reunion. We actually got there "early" (on time for me but early for Lutherans ;o) so I helped a tiny bit with some of the set up (I helped my niece cover two tables...whoo hoo!) It didn't take too long for the others to begin showing up though. And soon 11 of MIL's 12 grandchildren, all of her kids and their spouces, all of her siblings and quite a few of their families had showed up. It was very nice to see everyone that I knew and meet all the cousins that I've never met before. We ended that day by the campfire with smores, fireflies & fireworks.
July 3: Sunday Church was held at Memorial Park with a special service honoring Military, Police & Firefighters. It was long and hot...we found out afterward that MIL had a nice spot in the shade that would have made all the kids happier. Oh well! If we ever do it again (they do it every year) we'll know better. After Church we had lunch with the family. Boy I don't think that restraunt was expecting anything as big as us! he he After lunch, I talked DH into the obligartory trip to Bronner's Christmas Store That place is HUGE! They even have a snack bar inside so you don't have to leave to go eat! But I'm glad that we ate before going because it didn't smell too good. There's one room with a HUGE Hummel cabinet that holds over 1000 Hummels and then in another part of the store there are even more Hummels on display. My mom would be in heaven there as she is a HUGE Christmas fan. After spending at least 2 hours in there and still not seeing everything I came out with... a rabbit! he he :D But I found the perfect gift for my Mom, they don't have it on-line yet...but she'll love it.
After that we headed over to SIL's house for swimming and more bratwurst for dinner. Then DH & DD went to catch fireflies and play at the school playground. After that we went to see the fireworks.
July 4th: We first went and played put-put golf. DD & I tied at 42 and DH got a 40. Then we drove by the houses that DH's family lived in and to St. Lorenz Lutheran Church where DH was baptized and the cemetary where his grandparents are all burried. The Church was open so we took a self-guided tour of it...DH knew where everything was anyway ;o) across the street from the current Church is the location of the very first Church in Frankenmuth and a replica of the log cabin Church that served as the parsonage, school for indian children and dormatory. There is also the first cemetary with replica wooden crosses and the final resting places of the town's founders. Check out the Church History link!
We had lunch at the Bavarian Inn and I got the try the World Famous Chicken dinner (for lunch you can order just the chicken w/o all the fixins.) I kinda think the big dinner might have been better as you get the mashed potatoes & gravy with it and my lunch only had the chicken. SIL says that she likes Zehnder's chicken dinner better, it's the same chicken recipe as both places are owned by the same family. Oh well.
July 5th: We went to the Frankenmuth Historical Museum and ran into some folks who know DH's family. So they had to chat for a while. We had our lunch at the Frankenmuth Brewery, which wasn't much to write about. And then we headed for Detroit. We got back to Denver very late and then there was a problem with the luggage. We got home way after 11pm.
Today I picked up our dog from the kennel and boy is she glad to be at home! She was so tired that she was sound asleep when DH got home and he had to wake her to get his greeting!
I hope that everyone had a great Independence Day!
July 1st: I couldn't sleep (never can before a big trip...too worried about oversleeping) so I got up at 4:45AM after looking at the clock all night. We were already packed and I had already taken care of the rabbits, so I got to read my book and try to calm myself down.
We left the house at a little after 7am, were supposed to leave at 6:45am, but who's counting? We had to stop by the library to drop off some books and then headed to the dog kennel to drop off the dog. The dog was scared out of her mind, poor thing.
Everything else went smoothly, I had printed out our boarding passes at home and the luggage check-in is self-serve now! YAY! Now if they could only train all the idiots ahead of me in line on how to use it somewhere else. he he
Security went pretty good. We stopped at terminal B on our way to terminal C to get some cinamon rolls for breakfast...yummy. Find out that our plane is delayed. So we get a dirty plane to go to Michigan on... someone had dropped a part of a banana in front of DH's seat...ewe!
Get to Michigan, get our rental car.... I didn't know they still make cars without power anything!
Start driving from Detroit to Frankenmuth and get stuck in construction traffic.... can you believe they had the road down to one lane for the holiday???
We finally got to our hotel (yes we booked a hotel) and then tried to find DH's sister's MIL's house. I should have looked her up on yahoo... sorry to my family but they are all horrible at giving directions. We ended up giving up and going over to my other SIL's house that I had directions from yahoo for. DH said he could have found her with a blindfold cuz her house backs up to his old school.
Just about everyone is there and the rest showed up soon after. Some were going to camp out so we go over to play with their bonfire. Got sufficiently smoky and head back to our hotel.
July 2: On our way to see some sites we noticed that the Glockenspiel (scroll down a bit on the linked page for the info) was going off, so we stopped there and watched the entire story of the Pied Piper, then we went over the covered bridge to see the May Poll then we head over to DH's grandmother's house . I'm not kidding here, this is really DH's grandmother's house. (Yes, I know that I posted the info on that link, but it's all true!) Although the current store clerks have no idea about it's history. DH's great-grandfather built the house, then his grandparents and their sons lived there with "grandma" until she died. After the boys grew up and got married, some of them and their new brides also lived in grandma's house including my in-laws. Since DH's grandmother passed away in the 1070's the house has changed hands quite a few times and has had it's interior completely changed to accomidate the gift shop. The main staircase has been removed, and the upstairs was made into an apartment. I will probably write the entire history of the house down and send it to the store for them to use if they like.
After that we tried to visit DH's other grandparent's place, but that's now where the elementary & highschool are built. His uncle's house, also on the farm, is now the school admin building. Since that was a bust we went to the park where DH's dad built a turtle for the kids to play on and a bridge. I wasn't able to find an on-line image of either of those, but I can post them after I get our pix back.
After that we headed over to the reunion. We actually got there "early" (on time for me but early for Lutherans ;o) so I helped a tiny bit with some of the set up (I helped my niece cover two tables...whoo hoo!) It didn't take too long for the others to begin showing up though. And soon 11 of MIL's 12 grandchildren, all of her kids and their spouces, all of her siblings and quite a few of their families had showed up. It was very nice to see everyone that I knew and meet all the cousins that I've never met before. We ended that day by the campfire with smores, fireflies & fireworks.
July 3: Sunday Church was held at Memorial Park with a special service honoring Military, Police & Firefighters. It was long and hot...we found out afterward that MIL had a nice spot in the shade that would have made all the kids happier. Oh well! If we ever do it again (they do it every year) we'll know better. After Church we had lunch with the family. Boy I don't think that restraunt was expecting anything as big as us! he he After lunch, I talked DH into the obligartory trip to Bronner's Christmas Store That place is HUGE! They even have a snack bar inside so you don't have to leave to go eat! But I'm glad that we ate before going because it didn't smell too good. There's one room with a HUGE Hummel cabinet that holds over 1000 Hummels and then in another part of the store there are even more Hummels on display. My mom would be in heaven there as she is a HUGE Christmas fan. After spending at least 2 hours in there and still not seeing everything I came out with... a rabbit! he he :D But I found the perfect gift for my Mom, they don't have it on-line yet...but she'll love it.
After that we headed over to SIL's house for swimming and more bratwurst for dinner. Then DH & DD went to catch fireflies and play at the school playground. After that we went to see the fireworks.
July 4th: We first went and played put-put golf. DD & I tied at 42 and DH got a 40. Then we drove by the houses that DH's family lived in and to St. Lorenz Lutheran Church where DH was baptized and the cemetary where his grandparents are all burried. The Church was open so we took a self-guided tour of it...DH knew where everything was anyway ;o) across the street from the current Church is the location of the very first Church in Frankenmuth and a replica of the log cabin Church that served as the parsonage, school for indian children and dormatory. There is also the first cemetary with replica wooden crosses and the final resting places of the town's founders. Check out the Church History link!
We had lunch at the Bavarian Inn and I got the try the World Famous Chicken dinner (for lunch you can order just the chicken w/o all the fixins.) I kinda think the big dinner might have been better as you get the mashed potatoes & gravy with it and my lunch only had the chicken. SIL says that she likes Zehnder's chicken dinner better, it's the same chicken recipe as both places are owned by the same family. Oh well.
July 5th: We went to the Frankenmuth Historical Museum and ran into some folks who know DH's family. So they had to chat for a while. We had our lunch at the Frankenmuth Brewery, which wasn't much to write about. And then we headed for Detroit. We got back to Denver very late and then there was a problem with the luggage. We got home way after 11pm.
Today I picked up our dog from the kennel and boy is she glad to be at home! She was so tired that she was sound asleep when DH got home and he had to wake her to get his greeting!
I hope that everyone had a great Independence Day!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Are they all this way?
I finally convinced DH to see a chiropractor. We were at our local fair and they had a chiropractor booth set up, so he walked in and set up an appointment. The first appointment they kinda talked to him, the second appt they did a "full assessment" of his situation and did an adjustment. The third appt they wanted me there too and did a FULL SCALE SALES PITCH!
I likened it to the sales pitch you get when a water softener sales guy comes to your house. They first tell you how bad your water is, then tell you how your water will kill you, then tell you how their water softener will solve all your problems, then tell you the price of the most expensive model. Oh that's too high?, well we have this one too which isn't as good but it will work, oh that's too high? well there's this one too which isn't nearly as good as the other two but... you get the picture.
The chiropractor's sales pitch started out with the owner telling us how the whole medical community is terrible and only treating symptoms and how that doesn't really get you well (DUH!) Then he tells you how this dr found out that if your nerves in your spine are pinched they can cause heart disease & cancer. Then he tells you how humans are doomed from birth because we are designed to birth squatting, but most US births are laying on the back and mess up the baby's spine. Then he tells how wonderful he is and how his practice will fix everything that ails you, but it will take time and committment. If you aren't committed, he won't even take you. Then he tells you how much it's gonna cost.
Then a different dr goes over DH's x-rays and admitts that DH isn't really all that bad. He could probably do with just the regular program for 4 months and then switch to the wellness plan or the maintence plan. Dh says he can't do 3 days a week. So dr says well could he do once a week or once every other week...DH says maybe, but after seeing the price decides no.
Then tonight (the sales pitch was last night) they call us back. I was cooking dinner, so I looked at the caller ID and decided to not answer it. After about 9 rings DH hollers for me to get the phone and I tell him who it is...does HE want to answer it? And he says "No I don't want to talk to them." The phone continued to ring, it might have been 12 or so rings in all. Pretty determined to reach us, huh? note: the underlined portion above... I thought they weren't going to take us if we weren't committed? Then why are they calling us back?
So my question to you and all who have tried chriopractors is are they all like this? It's not that we don't want to treat DH's back, there is a problem that needs to be addressed. It's just we didn't like this particular set up.
I likened it to the sales pitch you get when a water softener sales guy comes to your house. They first tell you how bad your water is, then tell you how your water will kill you, then tell you how their water softener will solve all your problems, then tell you the price of the most expensive model. Oh that's too high?, well we have this one too which isn't as good but it will work, oh that's too high? well there's this one too which isn't nearly as good as the other two but... you get the picture.
The chiropractor's sales pitch started out with the owner telling us how the whole medical community is terrible and only treating symptoms and how that doesn't really get you well (DUH!) Then he tells you how this dr found out that if your nerves in your spine are pinched they can cause heart disease & cancer. Then he tells you how humans are doomed from birth because we are designed to birth squatting, but most US births are laying on the back and mess up the baby's spine. Then he tells how wonderful he is and how his practice will fix everything that ails you, but it will take time and committment. If you aren't committed, he won't even take you. Then he tells you how much it's gonna cost.
Then a different dr goes over DH's x-rays and admitts that DH isn't really all that bad. He could probably do with just the regular program for 4 months and then switch to the wellness plan or the maintence plan. Dh says he can't do 3 days a week. So dr says well could he do once a week or once every other week...DH says maybe, but after seeing the price decides no.
Then tonight (the sales pitch was last night) they call us back. I was cooking dinner, so I looked at the caller ID and decided to not answer it. After about 9 rings DH hollers for me to get the phone and I tell him who it is...does HE want to answer it? And he says "No I don't want to talk to them." The phone continued to ring, it might have been 12 or so rings in all. Pretty determined to reach us, huh? note: the underlined portion above... I thought they weren't going to take us if we weren't committed? Then why are they calling us back?
So my question to you and all who have tried chriopractors is are they all like this? It's not that we don't want to treat DH's back, there is a problem that needs to be addressed. It's just we didn't like this particular set up.
Friday, June 24, 2005
What a great idea!
Turning to goats to stop wildfires
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Move over Smokey the Bear. In California, thousands of goats are helping prevent wildfires.
From hilly San Francisco to more rural settings, California landowners, business and officials have hired the voracious animals to devour the grass and brush that fuels wildfires.
Last year, more than 5,500 fires blackened over 168,000 acres in the most populous U.S. state.
"Goats are just another tool in the toolbox for California and we try to use as many tools as possible," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Michael Jarvis said in an interview last week.
Goats are munching on vegetation that is thriving throughout the state after an exceptionally wet winter.
Some herds are doing double duty: preventing fires and protecting homeland security.
Bob Blanchard, a rancher in Cayucos, California, near the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, said his herds of Spanish meat goats devour brush around the plant and on the rugged hillsides under high-voltage power lines.
"Fire safety is one part and plant security is the other part. The security people there want to be able to see over the whole area," Blanchard said.
His herds, ranging in size from 300 to 700 goats, are working under a 10-year contract with Diablo Canyon owner PG&E Corp.
Diablo Canyon spokesman Jeff Lewis said, "The goats give us a good firebreak under the transmission lines and we don't have to rely on any insecticides or controlled burns."
Three shepherd dogs are assigned to each herd to foil attacks by coyotes or cougars looking for a meal.
Goatherds have been deployed in urban settings as well.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission hired herds from Goats R Us, of Orinda, California, to keep the land around the city's 13 reservoirs tidy and to chow down on dried flammable brush, PUC spokeswoman Maureen Barry said.
"Did you know that goats once grazed on Russian Hill before it was built up?" Barry asked. "Well, now they're back and the city is getting excellent results."
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Move over Smokey the Bear. In California, thousands of goats are helping prevent wildfires.
From hilly San Francisco to more rural settings, California landowners, business and officials have hired the voracious animals to devour the grass and brush that fuels wildfires.
Last year, more than 5,500 fires blackened over 168,000 acres in the most populous U.S. state.
"Goats are just another tool in the toolbox for California and we try to use as many tools as possible," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Michael Jarvis said in an interview last week.
Goats are munching on vegetation that is thriving throughout the state after an exceptionally wet winter.
Some herds are doing double duty: preventing fires and protecting homeland security.
Bob Blanchard, a rancher in Cayucos, California, near the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, said his herds of Spanish meat goats devour brush around the plant and on the rugged hillsides under high-voltage power lines.
"Fire safety is one part and plant security is the other part. The security people there want to be able to see over the whole area," Blanchard said.
His herds, ranging in size from 300 to 700 goats, are working under a 10-year contract with Diablo Canyon owner PG&E Corp.
Diablo Canyon spokesman Jeff Lewis said, "The goats give us a good firebreak under the transmission lines and we don't have to rely on any insecticides or controlled burns."
Three shepherd dogs are assigned to each herd to foil attacks by coyotes or cougars looking for a meal.
Goatherds have been deployed in urban settings as well.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission hired herds from Goats R Us, of Orinda, California, to keep the land around the city's 13 reservoirs tidy and to chow down on dried flammable brush, PUC spokeswoman Maureen Barry said.
"Did you know that goats once grazed on Russian Hill before it was built up?" Barry asked. "Well, now they're back and the city is getting excellent results."
Oh Yeah! I wanna read this one...NOT!
Novel Written by Saddam to Be Published does this man need anymore money???
I wanted to get this up fast before they figure out their mistake!
Doctors Shouldn't Use Defibrillator Models
By ASHLEY M. HEHER, Associated Press Writer 17 minutes ago
WASHINGTON -
President Bush' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> President Bush met Friday with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to discuss political and military strategy at a time when U.S. public support for the war is waning, lawmakers are pressing for a timeline for U.S. withdrawal and televisions are flashing with unsettling pictures of deadly violence.
I noticed the goof when I tried to roll over the headline and it came up with the Bush stuff. I wonder how long it will be before the figure it out and fix the link???
By ASHLEY M. HEHER, Associated Press Writer 17 minutes ago
WASHINGTON -
President Bush' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> President Bush met Friday with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to discuss political and military strategy at a time when U.S. public support for the war is waning, lawmakers are pressing for a timeline for U.S. withdrawal and televisions are flashing with unsettling pictures of deadly violence.
I noticed the goof when I tried to roll over the headline and it came up with the Bush stuff. I wonder how long it will be before the figure it out and fix the link???
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Parking meter fun....
I bet these folks are wishing these folks were in the same town!
Luckily the first group didn't have to pay.
Luckily the first group didn't have to pay.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Bunnies bunnies everywhere!
Oh! I'm in heaven. This is my favorite time of year... when all the bunnies are out! =:3
Yesterday, DD & I watched the bunnies frolicking near her Gym. There had to be at least 10 of them running around all looking so cute. There were 4 babies.
Today I was going to the mailbox and noticed that one was "splatted out" (that's what we call it when a rabbit is laying down with his back legs straight out...it means they're very comfy) under a tree. As I passed him, he kept his eyes and ears on me, but wasn't bothered enough to pull in his back legs. After I passed, I looked back and saw that he had gotten up and was scratching in the dirt (to soften it up) and then (gosh, how to describe this to non-bunny watchers?) he flopped head first and twisted into the dirt...however the dirt was on a sloap and he flipped right over. Picture a dog rolling over. But that of course was not what he wanted, so he dug again and flopped again. It was so cute! =:3
And I'm not sure, but I think that I found a bunny hole in my rose garden. I hope the owner doesn't get too upset with me for filling it in. "Sorry bunny...even though I love that you're here, you can't have a hole in my rose garden. There's a really nice spot near the roses but not in the garden that you can have though."
Yesterday, DD & I watched the bunnies frolicking near her Gym. There had to be at least 10 of them running around all looking so cute. There were 4 babies.
Today I was going to the mailbox and noticed that one was "splatted out" (that's what we call it when a rabbit is laying down with his back legs straight out...it means they're very comfy) under a tree. As I passed him, he kept his eyes and ears on me, but wasn't bothered enough to pull in his back legs. After I passed, I looked back and saw that he had gotten up and was scratching in the dirt (to soften it up) and then (gosh, how to describe this to non-bunny watchers?) he flopped head first and twisted into the dirt...however the dirt was on a sloap and he flipped right over. Picture a dog rolling over. But that of course was not what he wanted, so he dug again and flopped again. It was so cute! =:3
And I'm not sure, but I think that I found a bunny hole in my rose garden. I hope the owner doesn't get too upset with me for filling it in. "Sorry bunny...even though I love that you're here, you can't have a hole in my rose garden. There's a really nice spot near the roses but not in the garden that you can have though."
Okay, I'm a sucker!
I got pulled into the RunAway Bride interview tonight. Did you see that?
"Now undergoing psychiatric treatment Jennifer Wilbanks is confronting the issues she says turned her into the "Runaway Bride". An avid marathon runner, she now admits she's been running from her problems most of her life."
At one point toward the end of the interview that we saw, Jennifer said that she had a choice of a bottle of pills or the bus ticket. She says that she chose to "not play God" that day.
I'm thinking that if she had taken the bottle of pills - there wouldn't have been a NATION WIDE MAN HUNT costing so much money. And her poor fiance wouldn't have been a suspect in her dissapearance. What a selfish........ (you can fill in that blank!)
Even Katie Couric felt that she wasn't getting the whole story and doesn't know if we ever will. Not that I really care about why she did it. I just hope that she uses all the $$ she's making off this to pay for all those people who were out there looking for her sorry ....
"Now undergoing psychiatric treatment Jennifer Wilbanks is confronting the issues she says turned her into the "Runaway Bride". An avid marathon runner, she now admits she's been running from her problems most of her life."
At one point toward the end of the interview that we saw, Jennifer said that she had a choice of a bottle of pills or the bus ticket. She says that she chose to "not play God" that day.
I'm thinking that if she had taken the bottle of pills - there wouldn't have been a NATION WIDE MAN HUNT costing so much money. And her poor fiance wouldn't have been a suspect in her dissapearance. What a selfish........ (you can fill in that blank!)
Even Katie Couric felt that she wasn't getting the whole story and doesn't know if we ever will. Not that I really care about why she did it. I just hope that she uses all the $$ she's making off this to pay for all those people who were out there looking for her sorry ....
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Tom & Katie revisited...
While surfing on BlogExplosion I came across this blog and had to LOL
Gay Man Seeks Young Girl For Fake Relationship
Tom & Katie’s registry.
‹ snort ›
The more preposterous an event, the lower it registers on my radar.
Tom Cruise’s purchase of relationship with Katie “Most Irritating Smile Ever” Holmes is barely pinging the bottom of the scale, but this was too priceless to pass up.
· David Sedaris - Santaland Diaries
My many appologies to the author of this blog & post as I'm too computer illiterate to link to your blog.
Gay Man Seeks Young Girl For Fake Relationship
Tom & Katie’s registry.
‹ snort ›
The more preposterous an event, the lower it registers on my radar.
Tom Cruise’s purchase of relationship with Katie “Most Irritating Smile Ever” Holmes is barely pinging the bottom of the scale, but this was too priceless to pass up.
· David Sedaris - Santaland Diaries
My many appologies to the author of this blog & post as I'm too computer illiterate to link to your blog.
I must be lame
No one's been posting comments here. I should get a counter so I can see if anyone is actually looking... gotta get some help for that though.
So it's just me typing into cyberspace... la la la la lah!
Today I was the cleaning feend (can't find the word in my dictionary to spell it right!) I pulled out the vacuume and did the whole house. I also cleaned the upstairs bathrooms. Although I feel so hopeless with the bathrooms. I was scrubbing in my shower for what seems like hours and I still can't get all the dirt out. I was using all kinds of chemicals too...so while there is still dirt, it's clean dirt! :D
I think I messed up the powerhead on my vacuume too. It was sounding & smelling funny by the time I got to the last room. I should take it to the vac doc. I think I got a lemon powerhead to begin with.
Ya know, except to get the mail I haven't been outside to enjoy our beautiful weather. I should go do that!
Right now I'm reading a really good book. The Queen's Bastard... it's a historical fiction that is assuming that Queen Elizabeth (the virgin queen) had a baby and all that goes along with that. I'm only about 6 chapters into it and it's one of those "can't put it down" books. I like this kind of stuff anyway...the historical fiction that is. I usually do a bunch of research afterward to find the real story.
The local library will be proud of me when I finish the reading program. We sign up for them all the time because we're always reading and if they want to give us free stuff for doing it...why not?
Well I hope that you're having a good day...even if you're not looking at my blog!
So it's just me typing into cyberspace... la la la la lah!
Today I was the cleaning feend (can't find the word in my dictionary to spell it right!) I pulled out the vacuume and did the whole house. I also cleaned the upstairs bathrooms. Although I feel so hopeless with the bathrooms. I was scrubbing in my shower for what seems like hours and I still can't get all the dirt out. I was using all kinds of chemicals too...so while there is still dirt, it's clean dirt! :D
I think I messed up the powerhead on my vacuume too. It was sounding & smelling funny by the time I got to the last room. I should take it to the vac doc. I think I got a lemon powerhead to begin with.
Ya know, except to get the mail I haven't been outside to enjoy our beautiful weather. I should go do that!
Right now I'm reading a really good book. The Queen's Bastard... it's a historical fiction that is assuming that Queen Elizabeth (the virgin queen) had a baby and all that goes along with that. I'm only about 6 chapters into it and it's one of those "can't put it down" books. I like this kind of stuff anyway...the historical fiction that is. I usually do a bunch of research afterward to find the real story.
The local library will be proud of me when I finish the reading program. We sign up for them all the time because we're always reading and if they want to give us free stuff for doing it...why not?
Well I hope that you're having a good day...even if you're not looking at my blog!
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