Today we're back to chilly temps and a freeze warning for tonight. I'll need to drag Mr. Cherry Tomato back in off the porch and cover the flowers. I'm ready for it to warm up and stay warm. I haven't been blogging very well lately as life has become pretty darn busy...

 

Last Friday I went with some friends to the Michael Buble concert. *swoon* It was such an awesome concert and I highly suggest seeing this man live. He's such a great performer and entertainer - and of course his sultry voice makes it all the better. Ahh, Michael. Manda and family then stayed with us that night and then for awhile on Saturday. I got in my "time with the kids (3mo and 2yr)" and hope to see them all again sometime soon. It is always great to see them.

 

Yesterday we went patio furniture shopping as the DECK IS DONE! *happy dance* Dan did an awesome job on it and we will now have to have people over for cookouts. We picked out a neutral set of four chairs and a large glass table. We then also got a really nice umbrella and a side table. We had to carry everything to behind the house and then Dan carried the glass top up the stairs alone as he didn't want me to hurt my back. I'm hoping "Superman" isn't feeling any pulls or tweaks today.

 

Lastly, Dan has jury duty starting today through next week. *smirk* Poor guy.

 

Received via email from Angela...

 

1. Do you like blue cheese?  No
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? Um, No
3. Do you own a knife? Steak AND Butter
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? Cherry
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Just dentist
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Pure Beef only
7. Favorite Christmas movie? "Silver Bells" claymation
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Diet Coke
9. Can you do push-ups? No
10. What kind of car do you drive? Ford Edge
11. Whats your favorite piece of jewelry? Wedding Ring
12. Favorite hobby? Reading and Stitching
13. Whats your favorite store to shop at? Michaels
14. Do you have A.D.D.? No
15. One physcail trait you hate about yourself? Weight
16. Middle name? Ann
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment:
 1) Go Cubs  2) Too much work to do  3) Buble on Friday!
18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday: Nothing
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Diet Coke, Skim Milk and Water
20. Current worry? Personal
21. Current hate right now? Having to be patient
22. Favorite place to be? Wrigley Field
23. How did you bring in the New Year? Board games
24. Where would you like to go? Germany/Austria or Egypt
25. Name three people who will complete this? Unknown
26. Do you own slippers? No
27. What shirt are you wearing? Long sleeved green striped
28. What year would you go back in time to and why?
  Any prior to 2003 as I miss my father
29. Can you whistle? Yes
30. Favorite color? Shades of green and mauve
31. Would you be a pirate? No
32. Do you sing in the shower? No
33. Favorite girls name? Caroline
34. Favorite boys name? Jack
35. Whats in your pocket right now? Keys and 35 cents
36. Last thing that made you laugh? Dan "sneezing"
37. Best Halloween costume as a child? Rabbit
38. Worst injury you've ever had? Falling off motor home
39. Do you love where you live? Yes
40. How many TVs in your house? 3
41. Who is your loudest friend? Liz
42. How many dogs do you have? None.
43. Does someone have a crush on you? DH, I hope.
44. Whats your sign? Scorpio
45. Do you have kids? No.
46. What is your favorite candy? Lemon Drops
47. Favorite Sports Team? Baseball, Cubs; Football, Chiefs
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? Proud
49. What were you doing at 12AM last night? Sleeping
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? What time is it

It is currently 68'F, blue skies, light breeze and just plain beautiful. I decided this morning that I just had to get out and go do something - so I took some flowers out to Resthaven cemetary and put them on grandma and grandpa's grave and cleaned up the headstone. The flower vase was pretty moldy but after a quick roll around in the grass it looked much better.

 

After that I headed to Walmart for some flower shopping! Our front porch now looks swept and like summer. We'll have to get a "bird guard" into the hanging basket before too long or it will be claimed by one of the many wrens we have around jockeying for living space. Sitting out front with my hands in the dirt and putting flowers (yellow doronicums, red impatiens, violetas and some vinca vine) together in planters and just smelling the earthy smell. It can be so good for the soul.

 

Dan is currently putting finishing touches on the deck and I'll have to take photos soon. I'm so proud of that man, he's done such a great job.

 

And now... some photos of our front porch. Enjoy!

 

 

 

No, I'm not catholic - but I still welcome such an amazing and kind soul to "this side of the pond." We had the honor of listening to him in St. Peter's Square when we visited Vatican City on our Italy trip in March of 2006 and the amount of compassion and warmth one man can share with those around him was unbelieveable.

 

Welcome to the US and Happy Belated Birthday (April 16th).

 

 

 

Found this list over on DaffyCat's blog and thought I'd give it a look over...

 

Look at the list of (100) books below.

- Bold the ones you’ve read.

 

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

 

 

   

 

 

Finished part 3 of the EMS Rose Sampler during the 15 inning Cubs game last night. On to Part 4!

 

The weather is all icky here in the midwest. I understand that April showers will bring May flowers... but enough already. I'm ready for sunshine and time outside. The cloudy weather always gets me down and motivation for anything and everything goes out the window. So bring on the sun.

 

In other news - my acid-reflux appears to be completely under control. I really think that upping my water intake, taking Papaya chewables and watching what I'm eating has really helped. No more burning in the chest and burping like mad. That phase of my life was just plain horrible. When something makes you feel like you are dying of a severe heart attack and have such painful burning in the chest it can really emotionally wear you down. I'm so glad to have found relief.

On Friday night Dan and I went to see a hockey game downtown along with a few of his co-workers, some friends and my mom. Having been to only one game before I had little idea of what was going on. It was still nice to get out and see a game - and we might have to plan another in the future.

 

On saturday the weather was beautiful. Not much house work got accomplished as neither Dan nor I wanted to stay in the house. We did get it aired out and spring is definately on the way! Our daffodils are starting to poke out and might bloom this week! I'll get photos whenever they decide to bloom. That night we went out for Tricia's birthday - to a piano bar. I'd never been to one before and the guys were awesome. There were two pianos and the guys would take requests from the crowd. I didn't even know the place existed... and it was about 3 blocks from work. *chuckle* The east side of Des Moines is changing alot and I will have to explore it a bit more!

 

And then came today, Sunday. I rushed out to put together rose bouquets to deliver down at work to co-workers who donated money to the Children and Families of Iowa donation drive. Special thanks to my mom and Kay. =) Then it was back home... as Stephanie stopped by with little Dylan! (our nephew) Dan and I hadn't seen him since Thanksgiving and just having him here made me tear up. He's grown up so big! (7 months old now) He's standing by himself and babbling. He's got a couple of teeth that are starting to poke through and is so easy going and calm. What a wonderful little man. I hope to get together again in the near future. What a little blessing!

 

      

I feel the most healthy as I have since last November. Knock on wood - but I have no head cold, no major pain, no major acid-reflux and other then the migraine yesterday my headaches are tolerable. My fatigue is so much better as well. I think it might have been that Irish air.

 

Life in the health department is good. :)