Random Stuff

Even when I am being random here I feel more comfortable with at least one photo per post.  This one goes back to June when Nicole and her family went to Florida to visit Nick's brother Mike.  Everyone had a lot of fun, on this day Nick, Andi and Mike and Nathan went fishing.  Nicole and Wyatt went to visit the animals.  There were shows and displays, I am told a good time was had by all..  I was given this picture of Wyatt and Nicole with some Macaws.  I knew better, but the first thing out of my mouth was "Is that bird alive."  The answer is "Yes, he just likes to play dead."  We already knew parrots have a sense of humor, this one is a bit much.

I finally swam in the new pool yesterday.  It took over a week for the water to warm up enough.  I like cool bath tub temperatures. I like the new shape.  We went from a round pool to an oval.  It isn't as big across but it is longer but it doesn't seem like it.  The pool really does seem bigger.  The pool is also about six inches deeper, so it is more fun for everyone who wants to be in the deep end so to speak. We will know Wyatt is growing for sure when He will be able to touch the bottom and have his face above the water.  Right now, it comes to his eyebrows.  I really am glad we decided to replace the pool after the storm.

I have been working for PDQ Notary for a year now.  I am so lucky to have found a part time job that I really like.  I get to do the best part of my old job and get paid for it.  My boss is great and lets his people do their job and appreciates what we do.  I hope I can keep on doing this until I can't drive to closings anymore.

Denny Stauth died a few weeks ago.  He was the best man at our wedding and was married to my friend Kay.  He was Ray's room mate when they came to Wichita to go to school.  We were close friends until he and Kay divorced and Denny went looking for something else.  Ray or I talked to him every now and then, but there wasn't a connection there anymore. Views and politics were just part of it.  We always felt that Denny could not relate to our place in life and we never got the sense that he was ever comfortable in any of the places he was at in his life.  It makes you think a bit more about your mortality when you are our age, but if we want to be in denial, we think about the fact that smoking did a lot make Denny's last years less comfortable.  If I wanted to be philosophical, I tell myself that no one gets out of here alive.  I haven't asked Ray what he thinks.

That is all for now. 

Down by the River

The men went fishing two weekends ago.  Theresa and I went out to eat and I then drove around Wichita for a while.   Theresa had not been to the Keeper of the Plains and Riverside Park.  This was the first pretty weather since all the rain, lots of people were out enjoying the evening just like we were.  The water was still very high, lots of the sidewalks along the water were covered making it difficult to go from one place to the next on foot, but it is fun to pretend we have a big river every now and then.  We also went to Central Riverside and North Riverside Parks.  I tend to forget how pretty the parks are.  We must do a family picnic one Sunday down there before the weather gets too cold.

School Days

Wyatt started second grade last week.  Andrea started pre-kindergarten today.  She had been on the waiting list for the program and Nicole learned she had a spot on Friday.  Yesterday was a physical and vaccinations and today it was meeting Mrs. Shipman and her class.  There was a little boy wailing like he was abandoned there.  I was afraid Andi would cry in sympathy, but she looked at him as if to ask. "What is his problem"  When we left, she was busy with an activity.  Wyatt likes second grade quite well.  There are a couple of children there that he has been going to school since he was in PreK.  Wyatt's teacher is Mrs. Marrs.  She is  very nice.  I don't remember my teachers being as nice as these ladies are.  

It is a ill wind

I have to start this post noting, that I have never been at home when bad weather strikes.The two tornadoes that passed within blocks of our house, I was safely away.  The same this time when straight line winds clocked at 89 miles an hour hit Haysville on June 27th.  I like to think this is a blessing since I don't have to experience the fear that goes along with being in these storms.  But there is this tiny part of me that hates having missed it all.

As a result, I have other stories to tell.  This time, Nicole and her family had come over for a swim, just as Ray was leaving for a meeting and I was going to a closing not far away.  It was overcast, but not stormy.  I didn't think much about the storm that blew in a bit later, it was windy and the power went out.  I did the signing by flashlight.  That was enough adventure for me.  Nicole called me part way through and asked if I was safe.  Of course I was, she said it was like a tornado outside.  I said we were OK and hung up.  I finished my closing and came home,  it took me three different tries to get to the house.  Trees were down blocking streets everywhere. 

Once I got home, it looked like a tornado had gone through, except the houses were still there.  Branches and trees all over the place.  Our back yard was hit worse than the front, because that is where our big trees are.  The grand kids came running out more excited than I had ever seen them.  This was the scariest thing they had ever lived through.

Their story told by their parents was that everyone was swimming when they notice a cloud coming in from the north.  Suddenly there was dust in the air, so everyone hurried out of the pool to go inside.  Before they could go the fifteen feet from the pool to the house, the wind hit.  My grand son Wyatt was banging on the patio door,  yelling "Let me in, we are all going to die."  The children went downstairs to the storm shelter.  Nicole and Nick stayed upstairs looking out the patio door.  Then the branches started coming down, making the loudest cracks and crashes.  I heard some of this after I got home, so I can imagine how frightening it was.  Just a matter of minutes and it was gone.

Our pool is destroyed, the patio cover has to be replaced and a corner of the roof of the house has to be repaired.  We are waiting for the insurance company to get back to us on what we will have to work with.

Nick, Ray and Andrew worked on cleaning up here and over at the Blomberg's house from Friday through Sunday.  We were lucky, a lady over by Nick and Nicole's had a huge tree come uprooted and fall on her house.  It will be interesting to see how that is repaired.  However, when it comes down to straight line wind or a tornado, I will take the wind.

Nicole's Birthday and the year of the amazing cake

Nicole turned 31 on May 9th.  We always hover between doing something fancy and just going home made.  This year the cake made everything great.  Nick had  been looking around for a nice bakery cake, but ran out of time to order one.   He saw a cake decorating book at Lowe's and decided that he could do this.  He arranged with Theresa to make a cake and he decorated it himself.  The base of the shoe is a cupcake.  Nick did all the decorating himself.  I assume Theresa coached as necessary.  The end result was this great cake. 

Graduation Cards

I made some graduation cards this year.  A friend asked me to make some for her along with the two graduates I had to acknowledge myself.  All of the cards except the one on the bottom used a step card design and cuts from my Silhouette Cameo.  I really like the flexibility that using designs from the Silhouette library offered me.  The step cards give you a real opportunity to have dimension and depth to the design.  The red cards used card stock and Konnichwa paper.  The other cards used gray and white card stock and a variety of the graduation paper available this year.  I am not certain why black and silver are the primary colors, but it looks good.  All of the cards except the swivel middle card have gift card holders which also provide space to sign the card.

The Princess

Andi likes to dress up like a princess.  I have to give her credit, unlike her brother who believed he WAS Spiderman for a couple of years, it is all make believe.  There are criticisms going around about little girls buying into the princess mystique.  I don't know that it is all that bad.  At Andi's age, I think I wanted to be a horse.  You tell me who dresses better.   Nicole made Andrea a new princess gown and got her a new tiara.  Now I know I am biased, but I think she is the cutest thing going.  She looks so much like her mother at the same age. 
There are times the Princess image goes against the Destructicon image.  She is just as likely to break the tiara as to keep it in good condition.  But then she is just a little girl, things will change.  I want to remember the times like this.