on the chipmunks!! This last weekend, we spent time planting LOTS of flowers in all of our pots that we keep on the deck - all those pretty blossoms in different shades of yellow, pink, purple and blue!
And then to walk out on the deck on Monday morning to see EVERY blossom eaten off!!
I've noticed we've had an abundance of the cute little devils this year and seems like there is ALWAYS one eating at the bird feeder - which I don't mind - BUT LEAVE THE FLOWERS ALONE!!!
As I was leaving for work this morning, I noticed Glenn stalking our property with a gun in hand - hmmmmmmmm - suppose I should warn the chipmunks?
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sunday Fun!
Can it almost be the end of June and we haven't even taken the ATV out of the garage yet??
We took care of that situation on Sunday when we BOTH were finally home and had a chance to do some riding!! I packed a picnic - Glenn loaded the ATV on our new trailer and remarked how EASY it was to load and we were off!!
The weather was beautiful - hot and sunny with a nice breeze! We ended up about 45 minutes from home in an area we hadn't ridden yet and soon had the ATV loaded and were off and running!!
We had just started riding and turned a corner when we saw TWO big horned sheep right in the meadow beside us - wow - they have some magnificent horns!!
It felt great to be riding!! The roads were a little dusty because of the lack of rain but the mountains in the distant still sported some snow!
We stopped for a picnic in a wooded aspen setting and had fun watching this beautiful gray squirrel - of course he kept climbing higher and higher when I went over to take his picture so the next shot is one of those "FIND" shots where you have to really LOOK to even see him.
If you don't see him, he's almost dead center, a little to the right, sitting on a branch behind some leaves - he was actually in the open when I had the camera but moved at the last minute!
We took care of that situation on Sunday when we BOTH were finally home and had a chance to do some riding!! I packed a picnic - Glenn loaded the ATV on our new trailer and remarked how EASY it was to load and we were off!!
The weather was beautiful - hot and sunny with a nice breeze! We ended up about 45 minutes from home in an area we hadn't ridden yet and soon had the ATV loaded and were off and running!!
We had just started riding and turned a corner when we saw TWO big horned sheep right in the meadow beside us - wow - they have some magnificent horns!!
It felt great to be riding!! The roads were a little dusty because of the lack of rain but the mountains in the distant still sported some snow!
We stopped for a picnic in a wooded aspen setting and had fun watching this beautiful gray squirrel - of course he kept climbing higher and higher when I went over to take his picture so the next shot is one of those "FIND" shots where you have to really LOOK to even see him.
If you don't see him, he's almost dead center, a little to the right, sitting on a branch behind some leaves - he was actually in the open when I had the camera but moved at the last minute!We rode and rode - and we were at the top of this one mountain when we drove over the top to the other side and saw WHAT???? A junkyard - old cars, old trailers, junk upon junk on this road to the right with a sign that said Private Drive!! What an eyesore it was!!
We stayed on our road and went up a little further but soon found the end of the trail and had to come back down - Glenn decided that we would cut over to the private drive on the OTHER side of the junkyard as he thought that just that portion was private - I said no, let's not but he proceeded to anyway!
So we're climbing this steep, rocky, narrow path that really doesn't look like it's used much when I see at the top, a vehicle and a trailer house - yikes - this IS private and we're heading up their driveway!! After seeing all the JUNK below, I've having visions of someone coming out of the trailer with a shotgun, yelling that we're on private property and I'm sure Glenn is thinking the same thing!! He stops the ATV and cuts the engine - about this time I'm thinking - meth lab - crazy people - we may not get out of this alive - ha ha!!!
Well, there is NO place to turn around of course as we have the mountain on one side and a cliff on the other so Glenn does the next best thing - he starts backing - I of course had already jumped off and try to guide him - when he gets to a spot that the ATV won't roll over, I push!! I think we were both shaking in our boots by this time too and it seemed to take FOREVER to get down that path - luckily Glenn is an excellent backer!! And yes, we did make it back down in one piece and got the heck out of dodge!!! NEVER AGAIN, I tell Glenn...........
The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful - and we left a little sunburned, a little sore from riding but with smiles on our faces!!
Discounts Just A Phone Call Away!!
My home phone bill was getting out of hand - yes, we still have a land line because cell phone coverage is pretty sketchy out here and we also have a fax machine AND our internet is tied to our landline!!
So I called up CenturyTel and calmly told them our phone bill was just too high and could they do anything about it? Sure they said - they transferred me to a "specialist" who looked at our account and said she could give us a $20 a month discount, as long as we signed up for another year with them - duh, they are our ONLY choice where we live so that wasn't too difficult a decision!! $20.00 a month - Woo Hoo!!!
At the end of the conversation, the gal asked me about "bundling" and I told her we had Dish and she suggested converting to Direct TV as they were having this great promotion price - it all sounded great AND the best thing was is that it included DVR on our upstairs TV also - during football season, it would SURE be nice to watch a recorded program upstairs while Glenn is downstairs watching sports!!!
I told the gal to call me back in a couple of days and proceeded to check out Direct TV online - it all sounded just like she had told me!! Glenn and I talked about it and decided if there wasn't any charge to quit Dish, we would go ahead and switch but he said to check with Dish FIRST and see if they would be willing to match their price!!
So I call Dish - give them my story about Direct TV's fantastic price and they connected me to a "specialist" and she said - how would a $20.00 a month discount sound to you??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? A discount for JUST calling??? I said absolutely!!! After she put the discount on our account, I proceeded to ask her about DVR for the other TV in our house - what would that charge be to do that??? Here I had just gotten my discount and now was about to spend it again!!
She said she would check and came back on the phone a few minutes later and told me - no charge to upgrade to the whole house DVR and in fact, you're paying a $7.00 extra charge to have a SOLO DVR unit so when we install the new one, you won't have that charge anymore!!!! Now I'm up to a $27.00 discount a month!!!
The tech came out Saturday - installed our new unit downstairs - and we now have DVR on both TV's at ONE FANTASTIC PRICE!!! Let's see - that's $47.00 a month savings - wonder what I should spend that on?????
So I called up CenturyTel and calmly told them our phone bill was just too high and could they do anything about it? Sure they said - they transferred me to a "specialist" who looked at our account and said she could give us a $20 a month discount, as long as we signed up for another year with them - duh, they are our ONLY choice where we live so that wasn't too difficult a decision!! $20.00 a month - Woo Hoo!!!
At the end of the conversation, the gal asked me about "bundling" and I told her we had Dish and she suggested converting to Direct TV as they were having this great promotion price - it all sounded great AND the best thing was is that it included DVR on our upstairs TV also - during football season, it would SURE be nice to watch a recorded program upstairs while Glenn is downstairs watching sports!!!
I told the gal to call me back in a couple of days and proceeded to check out Direct TV online - it all sounded just like she had told me!! Glenn and I talked about it and decided if there wasn't any charge to quit Dish, we would go ahead and switch but he said to check with Dish FIRST and see if they would be willing to match their price!!
So I call Dish - give them my story about Direct TV's fantastic price and they connected me to a "specialist" and she said - how would a $20.00 a month discount sound to you??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? A discount for JUST calling??? I said absolutely!!! After she put the discount on our account, I proceeded to ask her about DVR for the other TV in our house - what would that charge be to do that??? Here I had just gotten my discount and now was about to spend it again!!
She said she would check and came back on the phone a few minutes later and told me - no charge to upgrade to the whole house DVR and in fact, you're paying a $7.00 extra charge to have a SOLO DVR unit so when we install the new one, you won't have that charge anymore!!!! Now I'm up to a $27.00 discount a month!!!
The tech came out Saturday - installed our new unit downstairs - and we now have DVR on both TV's at ONE FANTASTIC PRICE!!! Let's see - that's $47.00 a month savings - wonder what I should spend that on?????
Monday, June 20, 2011
Becky's 40TH Year Class Reunion!
40 years ago I graduated from high school - 40 years!!! In reality, if you would ask me I would say probably 25 to 30 years ago because that's what it feels like!! But it's not - it's 40 and that just seems impossible to me!!
There are a lot of classmates that are still in the area which makes it nice for the planning!! So a big thank you to Sandy, Sharon and Judy for planning the get together!!
Cocktail hour was at 5:00 and we were meeting at the Moorhead Community Building - I actually had butterflies in my stomach when we walked over to the building - dumb I know!! But as soon as I saw some of my friends, my face broke out in a smile and I didn't stop smiling all evening!!
All in all, it was ONE great time!! Was there a good turn out?? NO - out of the 40 graduates, we've lost 4 already and 14 showed up for the reunion! This picture is of the girls (minus one who came later) as we were talking outside!!
Here's a picture of all of us - 11 girls - 3 guys!!
And here's a close up of the 3 guys who came!
We all had a ball - talking and laughing and just catching up with each other!! Our catered meal was great although I don't think I even tasted it as I was too busy talking!!
There are a lot of classmates that are still in the area which makes it nice for the planning!! So a big thank you to Sandy, Sharon and Judy for planning the get together!!
Cocktail hour was at 5:00 and we were meeting at the Moorhead Community Building - I actually had butterflies in my stomach when we walked over to the building - dumb I know!! But as soon as I saw some of my friends, my face broke out in a smile and I didn't stop smiling all evening!!
All in all, it was ONE great time!! Was there a good turn out?? NO - out of the 40 graduates, we've lost 4 already and 14 showed up for the reunion! This picture is of the girls (minus one who came later) as we were talking outside!!
Here's a picture of all of us - 11 girls - 3 guys!!
And here's a close up of the 3 guys who came!
We all had a ball - talking and laughing and just catching up with each other!! Our catered meal was great although I don't think I even tasted it as I was too busy talking!!
Sandy read a poem she had written for the occasion and we played an OLD cassette tape from our last spring concert! Ah, memories..................
I was glad I made the effort to fly in for the reunion - who knows how many may not be with us the next time we get together!! Thanks for a great time everyone!!
I was glad I made the effort to fly in for the reunion - who knows how many may not be with us the next time we get together!! Thanks for a great time everyone!!
Back To Iowa!
3:30 am last Thursday morning was early - darn early - when am I ever going to learn to quit booking these early morning flights? I guess the nice thing about driving to Denver at that time is that there isn't any traffic and you get to see the sun rise!!I knew this was going to be a good flight - no delays - no sitting in Row 1 again!
Caribou Coffee was first on the agenda while Glenn got a breakfast sandwich to share - and then it was off to the gate! Only to hear the disappointing news that the stewardess had car trouble and the flight would be delayed - GRRRRRR - not happy!! An hour later we FINALLY got to board - I walked up to the attendant and gave her my boarding pass (this trip had been booked for a couple of months) and she immediately said "Oh, you can't sit in those seats - we'll have to rebook you" - she put our passes to the side and typed in something and printed out new passes and handed them to us - "You're in Row 1". This just can't be happening AGAIN - but it is - and we're in the first row again - now it wouldn't be so bad if these were the types of planes that actually had FIRST CLASS but they're not - what you get for sitting in the front row is more leg room of course - but NO lap tray so you get to hold your drink in your hand - and your backpack can't go under the seat in front of you because there IS no front so it HAS to be put up with the luggage!! And I musn't forget to mention the WALL that's in front of you!! Oh well - I'm getting good at this now!!
Flying into Omaha and seeing all the flooding was hard to describe!! You couldn't tell where the Missouri River even was SUPPOSED to be because of all the flooding around it - water everywhere you looked!! On the route that we usually take from the airport, you could see the green signs sticking up above the water with just a little bit of the wood post showing !!
We got our rental car and headed a different way up to Onawa - fields and fields of water - homes with only the roof showing - it was very humbling!
On the interstate, we could see Glenn's moms' home - the driveway was almost covered with water but the water has NOT reached the house yet - we're praying it doesn't!
We spent the afternoon with relatives and then headed over to Patty and Leonard's place where we spent the next 3 nights. It's always fun to stay there and hang out with them, although Leonard was working a lot and didn't have much time to spend with us this trip!!
Thursday was one of those GREAT days that you rarely have - Patty and I spent the entire day just TALKING!! No kids around - no grand kids around - just her and I!!!! It was fun to just visit and visit through coffee, lunch and happy hour!! We all headed to Jim and Brenda's that evening for a fantastic steak dinner and spent the evening laughing and catching up!
Saturday I visited Cheri's store in Soldier - it's such a cute place and I even bought 3 tops and a darling jacket!!
And before I knew it, it was time for my 40th Year Class Reunion!! Stay tuned for the next blog!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Oh, Those Tasty Aspen Trees!
I was looking out the window when I got home from work today and saw a couple of deer eating away at the grass - the next time I looked, one of them was climbing up on the log pile!!
Sure enough, he just wanted a bite of that aspen leaf!!
Sure enough, he just wanted a bite of that aspen leaf!!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Parkers' Baptism Day
Parker was certainly happy on his Baptism Day!! He even posed well for pictures!!
A couple of outside shots before we headed to church!!
There we met Jaime, Jessi and the 4 kids (Gary had to work and Brad was out of town) and also Robby's mom Bev and her husband Mike! We were a little disappointed to hear that Evan and Kylan were too old for nursery and there was no Sunday School during this service!! YIKES!! Luckily, Mackenzie was willing to stay in the nursery so we just had the 2 boys to keep quiet during church - and they did great!!
Once again, we tried to get a picture of the 6 grand kids - this was the best of the lot - but no matter, they're STILL the cutest and best grand kids around!!
Jaime and Jessi were Parker's sponsors - they even color coordinated their clothes!!
Back to the house for a yummy lunch and a special cake for Parker!! It was fun watching Aleah and Mackenzie play together for a little bit!! They'll be special cousin friends some day!!
Robby and Jill opened their gifts and we spent the afternoon visiting and watching the kids play outside!!
I love this picture of Evan throwing up dry mowed grass in the air! Carefree - happy - smiling!!
And then it was time to head back to the mountains - sad to leave the kids but happy to get home where there are relatively NO mosquitoes!!! Thanks Robby and Jill for a great weekend!!
A couple of outside shots before we headed to church!!
There we met Jaime, Jessi and the 4 kids (Gary had to work and Brad was out of town) and also Robby's mom Bev and her husband Mike! We were a little disappointed to hear that Evan and Kylan were too old for nursery and there was no Sunday School during this service!! YIKES!! Luckily, Mackenzie was willing to stay in the nursery so we just had the 2 boys to keep quiet during church - and they did great!!
Once again, we tried to get a picture of the 6 grand kids - this was the best of the lot - but no matter, they're STILL the cutest and best grand kids around!!
Jaime and Jessi were Parker's sponsors - they even color coordinated their clothes!!
Back to the house for a yummy lunch and a special cake for Parker!! It was fun watching Aleah and Mackenzie play together for a little bit!! They'll be special cousin friends some day!!
Robby and Jill opened their gifts and we spent the afternoon visiting and watching the kids play outside!!
I love this picture of Evan throwing up dry mowed grass in the air! Carefree - happy - smiling!!
And then it was time to head back to the mountains - sad to leave the kids but happy to get home where there are relatively NO mosquitoes!!! Thanks Robby and Jill for a great weekend!!
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