Sister Cities Restored

Tonight I was voted President of Sister Cities in Elkader. Then two board members (Frederique and Andrea) and significant others went to Spring Lake Inn for peel and eat shrimp.
I'm very excited about the position.

to the rescue

Trish is re-releasing her Splash cd and wanted to do a whole new cover by herself. On Monday she called me, freaking out. She had two days to turn our a three panel digi pack and no ideas. Over the course of four trips to Strawberry Point in the last three days we managed to put together a design I am very happy to have my name on. It is mostly pink and bath related. Not only was it fun to do what I love with a friend, Trish has the latest Indesign and Photoshop and O M G it is flippin fantastic. Makes me cry to go back to my CS2.

Win it!

As part of the upcoming trip I am really wanting to get an ergo baby carrier. In my latest mom blog followings I see "Pieces of Me" is having a give away in any style you want!!!
I'm totally entering this.
http://www.makingmyamericandream.com/2010/03/ergobaby-carrier-review-giveaway.html

Now that's what I call church

A few weeks ago I had a dream I was at church with my favorite people of faith. We were all drumming and sharing conversation and food. We met once a month on a Sunday afternoon. When I woke up I e-mailed Richard to tell him about it. "This one was at your home and you were sort of leading it." He was not as excited about my dream and told me people have approached him several times to do a home based church and he just doesn't feel led to it.

Fast forward to this Sunday when Trish (Richard's wife) calls together a get together for the Spring Equinox. We drum, feast on potluck, Richard sort of leads, we have a basket of collections for whatever you want to give and have an exchange of goods. Perfect. Jason and Sadie are so into it they suggest doing it at their home with everyone next month.

Blamo, there you have it. If you dream it, they will come.

A nice man with few teeth installed a new furnace for us

New Furnace= 1/2 the size, filters, 95% efficient
Old furnace= Large, No filter, 40% efficient

Dollar Surprises

Link has figured out how to move from sitting to his belly and how to scoot backwards (when trying to go forward). He also is in love with cords. I often find my computer unplugged. Today we heard a drash from upstairs. He had stuck his hand through his crib, grabbed the lamp cord and was knocking stuff all over with it.

Today we took a trip to Dollar General in town. I wanted to see if they had any St. Pat's stuff since I am behind and was asked yesterday to be in the parade. Instead I found these items knock off kinder eggs. I think Kinder eggs are limited in the US due to chocking hazard, but the US version's yellow case is way big. Not exactly the same, but it made my day.I also found these items. One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing toy animals dressed like other animals. If I want a rabbit, I will buy a rabbit, not a duck or chick dressed like one. Easter is prime time for animals dressed like other animals. I have no opinion about dressing up real animals.

Awesome deal

Today we went to Cedar Rapids and I wasn't completely prepared for everything we were going to do. We went to the mall and when there I love to visit Lane Bryant to see if they have any deals. I didn't have any of my coupons or gift certificates so I wasn't sure if I would get anything. However, I found on the sales racket a $50 blue velevet jacket for $6. Then I found a skirt to go with it that was $50. While I was in line with my $56.00 merchandise the person in front of me handed me a left over coupon she had. Spend $75 and get $25 off. So I quickly grabbed some earrings and a hair clip which totaled $75.96. So, in the end my jacket actually cost $.96 and came with free accesories.

What an awesome feeling

Its sunny out. I kicked ass so much at volleyball that the neo-natz told me I was 'rockin.' The sun is shinning and I drove home with the widow down and the radio playing my favorite songs. It is so great when you find a radio station you like. I am so happy Decorah's station reaches its little tenticals down here. I also like bluegrass on Postville's station.

Hamburger Helper

Hamburger Helper is our lazy go to when we want a semi-home cooked meal on a day when we are not motivated at all. It is inexpensive, but it needs some tweaks. First of all the instructions call for 1 lb of hamburger. We find 1/2 lb is plenty and still meaty enough for my dad. We also add at least 1/2 cup less liquid. It usually calls for water and milk in different quantities, however the amount they call for usually leaves it too soupy. Our final trick is to add some vegetables while cooking. Spinach, peas, onions, peppers, etc. They all work. It's kind of like pizza, trying to get all food groups in one dish.

Eat Shit

Tonight I went with my family to the fire fighter's spaghetti dinner in Fayette. (It was really good by the way. The type of spaghetti I was craving during pregnancy.) Amber was working because she is a volunteer member of the team. She also told me that this week Amber was singles out and picked on by some firefighters. She came home crying.
While talking to mom about this I realized I also did that this week. I came home crying after volleyball. Not because it was hard or we lost or anything, but because this one girl on my team treats me like I am a horrible volleyball player. I wouldn't feel bad if she was better than me, but she is not. I dread going to volleyball tomorrow because I don't know what to say if she starts bossing me around. I joined the league knowing I was an average player. I will leave the team thinking I suck.
My mom then started talking about her work environment which she has spent the last 10 years. If there is one negative thing my matriarcy has passed down, it is the feeling of helplessness in situations where we are treated like dog meat. Although it could be seen as a "turn the other cheek" type of behavior, this type of behavior could lead Amber or maybe one of our offspring to feel helpless in times of immense brutality. The women of my line all seem pretty tough, but we can be walked on by nearly anyone.
Somebody please lend my your guts.

My current wish list

1. 1 year old socks for Link
2. kindle
3. a really good fish fry

Frugal Passions

So, I have a new passion in life. Being frugal. I love saving money as much as I love getting stuff. This is kind of weird coming from me. My mom and I used to argue about shopping. She is the "bargain table hoarder" and I am the "buy only when you need it" type of person. Once we went shopping together and I bought only what was on my list and she bought only things that were on sale and our final bills were both between $70 and $75.
Now that I have found a new found love for saving I have not turned into my mom, but what I think is something better. I still only buy what I think I need, but I do wait for sales or do bulk or other helpful things.
Recent things I have done include:
1. Making use of my library. I did not renew the magazine subscription I know the local library carries. I deleted almost all the books off my amazon wish list and either put them on my library wish list (most books have to be ordered from another library) or looked up the authors and are following their blogs instead of buying their books.
2. Reducing clutter of cds, books, and dvds, etc. I put all these items on amazon and ebay AND I put a sell shelf by the door in our house. Some people ask why I have a shelf with prices on it by the door but I have sold so many things from that shelf in the month it has been up, I could not be happier with the idea. I sold to my sister-in-law, mommies group, friends at Bryce's birthday party, even the energy inspector.
3. I am using the internet to learn how to fix things myself and how to shop. For example, I recently watched a shared video on how to shop sale cycles at the grocery store. I started a spread sheet and am starting to see some patterns. By the time Spring is over, I should know most rock bottom prices on groceries.

Gasp, Splash

I am writing from the kitchen counter while Lincoln joyfully splashes away in the sink with his dinosaur squeeze toys. Another development in Lincoln's world, besides his ever-growing love of waving, includes gasping. He makes the most hilarious noise while breathing in. Can't type and no word for it, so I'm calling it a gasp, but he does it all the time, just for fun.

Sister Cities

I was elected to Sister Cities Board a few years ago. Kathy, the President at that time, was having meetings about every other week to tell us about all the things "she" was doing. I got burned out and bored. We all did. So at a meeting at the end of the year Frederique was elected to President in somewhat of a conspiracy. Since his election over a year ago we have had one meeting, definitely not enough. Of those meetings they were only cat fights between Frederique and Kathy. Then Ed, the creator of Sister Cities passed away a couple weeks after Link was born. I was alone with the two and it has been a mess. Although one less meeting is nice, I have some ideas I want to get together (Algerian Labyrinth, Grants) and I want the program to work. The state rep came this month asking for us to get it together.
Later that week Ed's widow, Ruth, stopped me at the pharmacy and asked that I consider running for President. I am honored and excited to do it. The only thing is, we need to have a meeting. And with Frederique's leadership it is not going to happen. So I am calling the meeting and hopefully Frederique will not be upset. So we will see what becomes of my role in Sister Cities. Tonight my family went to dinner at our pastor's home where we talked about the meeting, I am planning on nominating her to the board. Bryce could probably post and tell you about the food. It was good.

I've been doing a lot of hanging out with friends and big jobs these past few weeks.
I don't really feel like writing at the moment.

At the coffee shop

Listening to old ladies talk about the movie "Dear John" and how it compares to the book.

One said something like, "I went through World War II, I know what that's like."

Another said that a family member won't read books by Nicholas Sparks because they're all sad.

They are very entertaining.

Now they are discussing whether to pronounce the 't' in 'often.'

Put it out there

I am having one of those weeks were everything I am putting out into the world is coming to fruition, quickly and without much thought. Yipee.

Recent Happenings

Link got two new teeth (top)
Joy and Chris spent the night Friday as a stopping point between here and Des Moines
The Hoskins came home to snowmobile. Lewis met Link for the first time. (He has been stationed in Iraq since before Link was born.
We had a fabulous lasagna dinner at Amy and Rex's home.