Monday, October 24, 2005

Funny Blog

Since I'm sitting in FREEZING Chicago, with not a soul I know in the entire building I've spent most of my night shivering in front of the computer. I've read everyone's blogs, and noticed on Kyle and Melanie's (http://www.kylemelande.blogspot.com/) there is a link to Daily Dancer (http://www.dailydancer.com/).

Ummm...check it out if you get a chance. Hilarious...reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite!

Pumpkin Patch

As you can see from the photos, we had quite a day at Chester's Party Barn/Pumpkin Patch Saturday. We headed out in the morning with Matt, Robin, the boys and Julia. It's a pretty neat little set up. Pony rides, petting zoo, pumpkin bowling, pumpkin "chunkin", a giant maze in corn stalks, food, and fun! Perfect to get ready for fall and Hawloween. John got pretty serious about pumpkin bowling and roping a hay bale!

After the Pumpkin Patch, we were only about 10 miles from Okarchee, and you know what that means! Fried chicken at Eischen's!! So, we headed out there, met Arni and Nina, my mom and Bill and ate to our heart's content.

It was a beautiful day and perfect for being outside, though I got sunburned (figures)! But I think everyone had fun, especially all the good food.

I also spent a good portion of my weekend kitten shopping. No, Crazies, not for me so calm down! Robin and Matt have been thinking of getting a kitten for a while, and being the crazy cat lady that I am, I went with Robin to look. So Robin and I visited a few shelters and a few Petsmart Adoption centers to find just the right cat. We found her yesterday at Pets and People in Yukon. She's 9 weeks old, and she's all black with bright green eyes. Her name is "Elphie" (after Elphaba from the book/musical 'Wicked').

Anyway, it was a busy weekend, but a lot of fun. Friday night I spent the evening with my book club. We'd just finished up "Wicked" (ok--they finished it and I got close!). I always have fun at our monthly meetings--food and girlfriends! Our new book for next month is "The Girl's Guide to Hunting anf Fishing", although I hear it's not about hunting and fishing. Guess we'll see!

I'm in Chicago for a few days for a conference. I'm glad to have the opportunity, but I sure hate to travel by myself. O'Hare International Airport in Chicago is NUTS. Good thing I've had plenty of time to make my way around. Now I'm ready for hours and hours of lectures and panels on food quality and agriculture. You're all jealous, I can feel it....

John roundin' up the cattle....:) Posted by Picasa

The boys leading us all through a long maze through cornstalks. They are master navigators! Posted by Picasa

Mason riding the smallest pony--just his size! Posted by Picasa

John and Julia watching the pony ride Posted by Picasa

Robin and the boys picking the perfect pumpkin to take home. Posted by Picasa

Julia and I ready for our day at Chester's. Posted by Picasa

Here we are at Chester's Pumpkin Patch! Posted by Picasa

Sunday, October 16, 2005

The Weekend

Had a great, but busy weekend. Saturday I got up before dawn to head to the annual Race for the Cure. I'd like to say I volunteered to go (because I would have) but it was for work. It's probably my favorite event of the year as far as work events go. Lots of pink and lots of smiles. Anyway, I was done by 10:30, which is usually when I START my Saturdays! Then I ran around with Melissa for the afternoon before coming home to watch the Sooners play Kansas. Thank goodness we won--I couldn't take much more. Also--we had junk food night at the house! Chips and cheese dip, s'more cookies, Funyuns, Pringles, and homemade hot fudge sundaes! Not to mention Mom and her friend, Bill, came over and brought Earl's ribs and brisket. My stomach was STILL aching this morning when I woke up! Totally worth it though.

Many of you know that not only are we Sooner fans, but John has been a Notre Dame fan since before I met him. We've been waiting for a long time to see them back on track, and this season has been exciting. However, yesterday left John a little angry. Let's just say Notre Dame should have beat USC. That's putting it nicely. The ONLY good thing about USC is that they are keeping Texas from being #1. Texas sucks. And so does USC.

I love college football!

As you can see from the pictures, I did A LOT of gardening this afternoon. It was a perfect day outside--sunny, breezy, and about 75 degrees. I would have kicked myself for staying inside! And I did it all on my own. The first time Mary and Nikki helped, but it was all me this time. I think it looks good, and hopefully I won't kill the plants. But it was time for a new look. Maybe it will bring cold weather, since it's mid-October and still warm outside!

John's mom, Nina, had a total knee replacement surgery two weeks ago. Luckily, she's doing really well and is gaining strength every day. She was lucky enough to come home this past Saturday, and John has spent a lot of time keeping her spirits up. She still has a long way to go, but we have no doubt she'll be better than normal in no time.

Busy week still lies ahead. Faith is doing great, and she's a lot of fun. Brings a little excitement to our boring lives!

Dug up a lot of my dying, summer flowers to plant some fall ones. Lots of purple flowers, white and red. They look good so far! Posted by Picasa

Spent the day planting fall flowers...here is my "purple and white" flower bed. I have little purple flowers around my new favorite white ones! Posted by Picasa

See....they love each other! Posted by Picasa

Sunday, October 09, 2005


I came home the other night to find this--the two together curled up on the bed! They are getting used to each other, and even kind of like each other! Or maybe it was just the warm blanket I brought out since it got cold this week... Posted by Picasa

Sunday was a GORGEOUS day outside. Perfect 72-degree weather, not a cloud in the sky. So I opened some windows and Max was happy to sit in the warm sunshine and cool breeze all afternoon. Faith, on the other hand, was terrified of the outdoors! Posted by Picasa

Easton likes Faith, but he's more of the intellectual, computer-type. He was showing me some awesome games on the computer. He has amazing skills! And, look how handsome he looks in his new glasses! Posted by Picasa

Our nephews, Mason and Easton came over the other night to play...Mason LOVES to play with Faith. She's just his size! Posted by Picasa

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Good Things Are Happening!!

Well, we have great news--John got a promotion of sorts! It's not in his department--he's actually moving departments, which is a move up. He beat out 79 other people in his interview to get his new position as a Field Claims Representative. Not only is it great news for his future (finally we have some proof that all that hard work for a degree paid off!) but it's great news for us because John gets a company car! And a laptop and Farmer's will Wi-Fi our house for free.

He will be able to set his schedule, work from home part of the time and travel quite a bit. Which is great for him because he's been miserable stuck at a desk for two years. In case you haven't noticed, he is a little active and has a hard time sitting still for 8 minutes a day, let alone 8 hours.

Anyway this is a huge blessing that we weren't expecting. In fact, this offer came after he'd been offered even ANOTHER position he was supposed to start on Monday! Can you believe it? He's done so well at Farmer's every department wants a piece of him....heehee. I am so proud of him and can't wait for him to start this new challenge.

We are loving having Faith in the house. She is so cute, albeit taking more risks and making us chase her around! She's so fun to pick up and hold--almost like a stuffed animal. She and Max are doing better together than we thought they would, but they are starting to rough house. If you can imagine, Max weighs 23 pounds and Faith weighs .8 pounds. I know it seems like an unfair advantage, but Faith has claws and Max doesn't. One of these days she's going to get him and he'll leave her alone.

We made a trip to the vet yesterday because Max had been sick for a few days. $80, 2 prescriptions, and 2 hours off work later and the vet said Max is just stressed from the new kitten in the house. GGRRR!!! I guess I understand--Max has been the only for so long and now we bring in this new little thing, but still. Stress as a cat who lays around all day and gets fat? We should all be so lucky. I complain but I love Max a lot!

Everything else is going well. Notice I'm focusing on the good things in life and not the very sad end to Oklahoma's domination over Texas. Boomer Sooner--we still love the crimson and cream!

Also--I was reading my friend Sara's blog where she commented on the show "Lost". So, I wanted to comment too--this is absolutely the most exciting show this season! And those of you who know me know I am a TV connoisseur. This is the show I look forward to the most each week! CSI has kind of begun to run it's course, Desperate Housewives is a little cheesy so far this year, and there are no sitcoms worth watching anymore. So if you haven't tuned into "Lost", grab the first season on DVD, get caught up and start watching! It's addicting...

Saturday, October 01, 2005


Max is checking out his new little sister, Faith. Updates to come on how they feel abut each other. So far, so good! Posted by Picasa

Faith fits in the palm of John's hand! Look how tiny she is! Posted by Picasa

Faith prancing on the couch Posted by Picasa

Have a little Faith

And a LITTLE Faith she is! Welcome to the newest member of our family, baby Faith. She is an 8-week-old black and white kitten with sky blue eyes and she is very sweet. Hasn't quite found her "meow" yet, but you can tell she's trying!

We have been thinking about getting a kitten for a while. I know I've said Max does not like other animals, but I've been thinking for a while that he gets awfully lonely because we're gone a lot. Maybe he needs a friend...

Suprisingly, we've made it through our first night unscathed. Max seems to be a little caught off guard, but he hasn't tried to eat her. Which is a true accomplishment....his head is bigger than Faith's whole body!!

The hardest part will be keeping their food separate and making sure they don't eat each other's. Faith and I have been resting all morning, trying to get Max to come sleep with us on our big ol' bed. I didn't sleep well last night, because Faith was sleeping between me and John and I was afraid one of us would roll over on her and crush her!

Also--Faith has claws, so I bought a cardboard scratching post to try and keep her from scratching the couch. However, Max seems to think I brought it home for him. He scratches on it for hours, and he doesn't even have claws! Then he sits on top of it when Faith comes near, and pushes her away when she tries to scratch! Hopefully they will end up falling in love--Faith already wants to cuddle with him, we just need Max to open up to her.

So, finally some excitement with the Andersons! What does everyone think about the name Faith? That was the name the shelter had given her, and I kind of like it. It fits her....but I'm still not sure about it. Let me know what you think!