A newborn golden coin box turtle at the Chester Zoo in Chester, England.

A tiny infant veiled chameleon, Chamaeleo calyptratus, climbs the finger of a keeper in the zoo of Debrecen, Hungary.

Check out more zoo baby pictures here. http://www.boston.com/travel/gallery/zoo_babies/

Thursday Update

I am tired. I went to work at 7 yesterday and our Oracle system was down until 10:30 AM. That means that I wasn't able to enter the orders that I came in to enter. All I could do was prep the orders by checking the SKU numbers, account numbers and prices, so they were ready. I ended up stay at work until 5 PM. When I got home I went out to the garden and started to turn the soil to get it ready for planting. It is a lot of work and I got tired before I was finished with the whole thing. I hope it doesn't rain today so I can finish. Both Chris and Phil wer voted off Idol last night. The four that are left all would make a good American Idol winner. Although Lakesha had better keep up her good singing, she was slipping for awhile, but she came back strong this week.

Wednesday Update

I worked OT yesterday until 5:50 PM and I am going in early today for more OT. My Dad, Ilse, Dave and the dogs set out for Iowa last night. It was actually still afternoon in Iowa when they left. They need to get here by Sunday because that is when the movers are expected to arrive.

Tuesday Update

It is now official, my Dad and Ilse are moving to Iowa. I picked up the house keys from the realtor yesterday after work. Doug and I went over to check on the house and to see if there was any mail. There was actually mail for my Dad already. I accidently bumped one of the garage remotes when I was getting the house key out of the envelope and we found out there is a slight problem with the garage door closing. I also had a hard time unlocking the house. Doug figured out which key it was and didn't seem to have a problem. I hope my Dad doesn't have a problem with the key. The place looks a little different now that it is empty. It needs walls wiped down and a new coat of paint in a few rooms. But it is still a very nice little place.

Monday Update

Monday once again. I don't have much to say this morning. Yesterday was a beautiful day, a little warm, but beautiful anyway. Our pork steak bar-b-que was excellent. Everything was so good. We had a surprise visit from Mary. She brought some very delicious meat wraps. Johnny also showed up to see everyones reaction to his cheese cake. He makes the best cheese cake. By the time it was dark everyone was gone except for Wanda. We decided to have a fire. It was a very spectacular fire at that. It was kind of like a flame thrower for a while. We even had to move the grill farther away because we thought the side boards were going to catch fire. It was a good time.

Sunday Update

It is going to be another nice day. The sun is shining! Yesterday I spent the morning weeding the garden area and picking up more tree bark in the front yard. I think the owl knocks off bark everytime he takes off out of our tree. I also think he did a 'dirty bird' on my van. I have to wash the van today. In the afternoon Doug helped me start up the mower for the first time this season. And then I mowed the yard. I think it looks very nice. Today I am going to spread the weed & feed on the lawn. I also am going to make potato salad for supper tonight. Wanda plans on bringing a banana cake and muskmellon. Yummy.......

Saturday Update

We finally have sunshine. This should be a busy weekend. I have yard and garden work to do. Yesterday Tommy and I went to Menards and picked up some weed and feed for the yard. I will probably spread that over the yard later today. I need to get the weeds pulled out of the garden so I can put down the mulch. I also have some squash and eggplant seeds that I plan to get started. And of course I have all of the usual weekend things to do, laundry, house cleaning, etc.

Friday Update

It's finally Friday. Friday is good because it is the last work day of the week. But it is bad because that means Thomas will be leaving back to school today or tomorrow. He has to work at the HD this weekend , so he has to go back early. Yesterday Thomas bought a bookcase to put all of his textbooks in. He had to put it together himself. I really hope the sun comes out today. I would like to be able to mow the lawn this weekend.

Thursday Update

I'm kind of tired and I don't have much to say. I still need sunshine. The steaks we had last night were very good despite the fact that it was raining too hard to grill them outside. I think I had too many onions and peppers on the side though. I had a bad tummy ache before I went to bed last night. The tummy ache kept me awake until around 11, that is why I am feeling tired. Last night they did not kick anyone off on Idol. It was a charity show and they said it wasn't right to send someone home on a charity show. They will add this weeks votes to next week and then the bottom two will be sent home. I hope it will be Lakesha and Chris.

Wednesday Update

I'm back.... Not much to write about though. It has been rather gloomy around here the last few days. I need sunshine! I can't wait for work to end today because we are having steaks ala Thomas tonight. I don't want it to rain tonight. Rain makes it tough to grill. mao is such a cute boy. Right now he is sleeping in the chair next to the desk with his right paw covering his eyes and his left paw is in the air. I guess it's too early for him.

Sunday Update

Yesterday was a good day. We got the Tool tickets!! Can't wait for June 19th. I cleaned up some more sticks from the front yard and cleared the branches and sticks from the garden area. Ashley stopped by for a short visit after she got off work at 3 and then I went grocery shopping. Chloe had planned to go to waterloo to spend the night with her friend Laura. Unfortunately, about halfway there she had a flat and had to change it and turn around and come home. She had supper with us and then we watched the movie Hoodwinked. Supper was Turkey Spaghetti and salad, it was very good. This morning I plan to clean up the leaves from the garden and patio.

Saturday Update

We now have the desk, coffee table, end table and 3 of the chairs that I purchased from work. Everything looks great in the house. It was very nice having Thomas here to help with the moving of the desk, it's a heavy one. This morning we are going to buy the Tool tickets! We found out that Hy Vee is no longer a TicketMaster outlet. Younkers is though. Seeing Tool is going to be quite the experience. I finally found where to buy a Roaming Gnome statue; see the Gnome Watch link on my blog. Mothers Day is coming up you know, hint, hint.

Friday Update

All of the kids were here last night. Thomas came home shortly after I got off work and Ashley came home after she got off work at 8. Speaking of kids, Jessica had her baby yesterday. Johnny said he is 10 lb. 3 oz. and they named him Aston Michael. He has a full head of hair. Mother and baby are both fine.

Thursday Update

Yeah, Sanjaya was finally voted off from Idol. I am so glad that America was not stupid enough to keep him around another week. We also watched the new show called 'Thank God You're Here'. There is usually one person who really stands out from the rest on this show. Not everyone is good at improv. I don't have anything else this morning, so have a good day everyone.....

Wednesday Update

Wednesday at last! This week is really dragging on at work. Yesterday felt like it should be Thursday or Friday. Uugh! Not much has been happening to write about. We are going to get a new desk for our computer. They are selling them at work. It will be nice to have an actual desk instead of a table. Last night Idol had a country music theme. Melinda, Blake and Jordin were our top favorites again. I really want Sanjaya and Chris voted off.

Tuesday Update

I can't think of much to say this morning. I feel bad for the families of the students and professors that were killed and wounded at Virginia Tech yesterday. It is too bad that gun laws are not tougher.

Monday Update

It's Monday again already. I'm not really looking forward to work. It's probably going to be another nice day and I would rather be working in the yard or something. The soups were very good yesterday. Sloppy Taco Soup was a new one for us. It tastes like you are eating a very good taco.

Sunday Update

It is feeling more Spring like outside. Yesterday was not too bad, I even went outside and did some work in the front yard. There is lots of small branches, sticks and bark all over the yard. I picked up quite a bit but there is still a lot to do. I also need to find time to get started on the garden. Mark brought us mulch last weekend that needs to get worked into the soil.

Thomas called me this morning and says he has to work all next weekend. His break starts on Thursday and he plans to come here and bring a load of his things from school home with him. Then he will go back and stay with Diedre for the weekend. It's hard to believe it is already time for him to start moving back home.

Tool

U.S. Cellular Center

Tuesday, June 19, 8:00 p.m.

General Admission Tickets: $49.50

Tickets will be available Saturday, April 21, 10:00 AM at the U.S. Cellular Center Ticket Office, all Ticketmaster Outlets, on line at www.ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at (319) 363-1888.

Saturday Update

I am excited, Tool is coming to the US Cellular Center on June 19. The whole family is planning to attend. I haven't been to a real concert in many, many years. Okay, now I don't have anything else to say that can top that.

1991 Green Jello
	1992 Rollins Band
	1995 Primus

The Terrace with The Flaming Lips and Failure in 1994	The Strand Theater with Psychotica circa 1996	Columbiahalle in Berlin in 2001

Red Rocks Amphitheatre with King Crimson in 2001
The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion with Tricky in 2001	First Union Spectrum with Meshuggah in 2002	US Cellular Arena with Tomahawk in 2002

Thursday Update

Enough cold weather and snow. I am ready for Spring to come back before all the flowers die. Yesterday was very busy at work as we took on even more tasks. We were short handed because a few people were gone. June and I had to take school customer service phone calls, answer consumer and schools emails, plus do our regular work. At least the time seems to go by a little quicker.

Last night Haley was voted off American Idol. The bottom three were Phil, Haley and Chris. I was really wishing that Chris would go last night. Maybe next week. Sanjaya really needs to go too.

Wednesday Update

I don't have much to write about this morning. All the kids are back to school. Chloe has three weeks left. Ashley has about seven weeks left. And Thomas has a week and a half until he comes home for another break before leaving to Oregan. This school year is going by very quickly.

Tuesday Update

Back to work. Work, work, work.

This is pretty cool, check it out.

http://zoomquilt2.madmindworx.com/zoomquilt2.swf

Monday Update

Yeah I don't have to work today! I did have to get up early to take out the trash though. Now I can't get back to sleep. Yesterday was a very good Sunday. The steaks were excellent and I love Ashley's Monkey Bread. She can make it any time she wants. Wanda brought Tiramisu, it was a big hit. Everyone left pretty early. Chloe left first because she was going to a show in Iowa City. Later when she returned she said it was a very good show. Doug, Tommy and I watched The Sopranos and then we watched a movie with Cary Grant and Jeanne Crain called People Will Talk. It was a good old movie from 1951.

Sunday Update

Yesterday started out feeling like a Sunday. That didn't last long because I did not have to get ready for company. Instead I watched Night at the Museum with Tommy. It was alright, but there really wasn't too much to it. It was also pretty predictable. Mark brought us some mulch for our garden in the early afternoon. It looks like good rich mulch. He says it will help grow big tomatoes. I did a little shopping at Kmart and Menards in the afternoon and then came home and made supper. We had hot dogs with mac-n-cheese. After supper Doug and I arranged the new desk area in the kitchen next to Thumper. Doug says Thumper is going to enjoy my company once the computer is set up and working. Next year I will need to get an LCD screen for that computer, it is better for my eyes.

This morning Doug and Ashley will be getting up early to go to Fort Madison to pick up Ellen at the train station. They plan to bring her back here to have Easter steaks with us. Grilled steak, it sounds so good. I'm already getting hungry.

Saturday Update

It is Saturday, but it feels like Sunday. Yesterday I did my usual Saturday grocery shopping. Except Thomas went with me instead of Doug. The rest of the day was spent washing laundry and dishes and making supper. We had lemon-pepper fish and mashed potatoes. After supper I made Lemon Creme Bars. I thought they would have more of a lemon flavor, but they are still good. We watched Curse of the Golden Flower last night. It was a very colorful movie, but I found it boring at times.

Friday Update

Yeah, I have the day off. It is Good Friday and that is just what I am going to have. Today is Zach Braff's 32nd birthday. He says he wants everyone to just be really nice to everyone you come in contact with. Like oddly nice. Ashley has to work all day from 8-4, I'm not sure what Chloe's schedule is today and Thomas just has a 10 page paper to work on. I hope to get some time to be with each one of them sometime this weekend.

Today I have asked Doug to help me dye my hair. I have never done it myself before. I just want all the gray out. I am very nervous, I don't want it to be too far off from my natural hair color. I hope I choose the right color.

Thursday Update

Yesterday was better at work. June was still stressed though. We are so busy that the time does go very quickly. One more day before my four day weekend. Yeah!!!

Yesterday I got home and while I was standing in the day kitchen talking to Doug, I heard someone walking into the room. I didn't turn to look because I thought it was Ashley. Before I knew it Thomas was hugging me. He didn't let anyone know he was coming home last night, so it was a suprise. Doug and the girls thought he was coming home on Thursday and I thought he was coming home on Friday. They has just been told by Thomas yesterday that he was coming home Thursday instead of Friday. What a little sneaky sneak.

We decided to go to Pizza Ranch for supper. The food was very good. I especially like the chicken, potatoes and salad bar. The pizza is good too. And they have very good ice cream, not rice cream like the Metro Buffet. I wish Chloe would have been able to come along. But she had to have her chat with Ross.

Watch the video "Bee Sting Song". It is my great nephew Zion singing.

Wednesday Update

Yesterday was crazy busy at work. Besides our regular duties we have now taken on some of the things the school customer service department used to do. It will take a little getting use to. I'm happy that I have a four day weekend coming up. I will be on vacation Friday and Monday. Thomas will come home on Friday, so we will have all of the kids here for a few days. Easter Sunday we plan to grill outside, I hope it will be nice that day.

Monday Update

It was a busy weekend. Saturday morning was kind of lazy. In the afternoon, Doug and I went shopping at Theisens and then we planned to go back to Marion to grocery shop. After Theisens we stopped at the Aldi's on Blairsferry. When I got out of the store the sky started looking very dark in the west. As we drove towards Marion the darkness followed us. Just as we got close to Fareway it started pouring. Doug dropped me off at the door. While I was at the checkouts the carryout boys were coming in with soaked pants. Doug picked me up at the door and we went to Hy Vee. It was still pouring when I got done shopping, so Doug picked me up at the door again. When we got home we were putting groceries away and there was a big boom and a flash of lighting. Ashley and I were startled. I even held my hands up to my face like I was shielding it for some reason.

Okay, that was really boring.

Saturday evening Mark and Wanda came over to help with carrying the old sectional couch out to the garage. The old flowered couch from the living room is now in the day kitchen. We had lemon pepper fish and mashed potatoes for supper on Saturday around 9. It was a very late supper.

On Sunday we had baked potatoe soup (yummy) and pork and noodles (also yummy). Wanda brought her famous bagel dip. Only Mark and Wanda showed up for soup. Ashley was here and Chloe was at a show in Iowa City. I will end this before I put everyone to sleep. Yawn........

Saturday Update

We got our new couches yesterday. As Chloe says, they are friggin' huge. They give our living room a new look! Mao likes to sleep on them and also on the old couch that we moved to the other side of the room. Yesterday I said goodbye to people I have worked with for years. It would have been my last day of work if I had not accepted to stay on. There will be around 15 people left when I go to work on Monday. Doug, Ashley and I went to Carlos O'Kellys last night for a co-worker farewell gathering. It was fun and I saw lots of people who I worked with years ago that had also come back to say goodbye.

Thomas is in St Louis until Sunday morning. Yesterday he went up in the arch. Last night it was his turn to drive the van and everyone convinced him to make a wrong turn and they ended up going over the brige to the bad side of St Louis. Thomas said they new it the moment to got off the bridge and he turned around and headed back immediately. When they got bad to the hotel the group one talked into going karaoke. He said it wasn't bad and was fun.

Check out my new video and news links on my blog. Have a great weekend.

Thursday Update

Wow, so much happened yesterday! At work the vendor we had for the break room came and took everything away. The coffee machines, the good water machine (hot & cold), pop machines and candy/chip/assorted snacks machine. There was rumor our company was going to take away our refrigerators and microwaves. It looks like that was just a rumor.

Our new 22" LCD monitor arrived yesterday. As Chloe would say, it is frikkin huge. We also got our new phone batteries. These were very badly needed. My phone would shut itself off anytime I talked for more than 5 minutes. And Doug would keep his phone plugged in most of the time just to keep a charge. When I got home yesterday, Doug told me they will be delivering our couches on Friday morning. That means we will need to move our other couches tonight. We need to move the old couch from the day kitchen outside. We are getting rid of it, probably a garbage pickup. We are moving the main couch from the living room to the day kitchen and the couch by the windows will go against the wall closest to the closet in the living room. We are going to have lots of seating in the living room now. We also have to clean behind the couches. That should be interesting.

Wednesday Update

This ia a crazy week at work. About half of the people at our site will have thier last day on friday. So there is the excitement and anticipation of the people who are leaving. And the dread and anticipation of the people who are staying. It is also our quarter end week, which is always crazy by itself. The IT people have been moving some old servers and equipement out of a storage room and they have put about 5 old computers and monitors by the exit door. Other than that, there is no sign of us moving, even though our lease for the space we are in is up on Friday. Crazy!!!

They finally delivered Chloes bed after 5 yesterday. They came in and set it up in about 5 minutes. We put it up on the bed lifts and it is really up there. She is so excited about her 'Princess bed'. They were also suppose to delivery Ashley's mattress, but it wasn't on the truck. I called Lededa to find out what happened. They said they didn't know what happened, because the Sweet Dreams mattress was on the ticket for the warehouse. The lady from Lebeda said she was sorry and that she would upgrade us to the Regal mattress. Now Chloe and Ashley have matching mattresses.

Tuesday Update

It looks like we are going to have another warm day. It is 60 degrees this morning. Yesterday I brought home a HP All-in-one: fax, copier, printer, scanner. We need some cords and an ink cartridge before we will know if it works. If nothing else we hope the fax and scanner part work.

Today Lebeda will be delivering Ashley's mattress and Chloe's Princess bed. Chloe is very excited, we got 7" bed lifts so her bed will really be high. She likes the idea of sleeping way up there and being able to store things under the bed. That's all I can think of this morning. Everyone and a wonderful and safe day.

Monday Update

I am really enjoying our new mattress pad. We should have bought one years ago. I slept like a baby last night and I couldn't get out of bed this morning. I stayed in bed an extra 45 minutes this morning. Also, my knee that has been hurting for weeks has started to feel better.

I love the weather we are having. Right now it is 61 degrees. Yesterday we hit a record high of 79 degrees. Doug says Al Gore is probably saying yipee, because of the global warming thing. I'm just thinking the groundhog was right.

Yesterday we had chili, chili dogs and white chili. We couldn't keep Wanda out of the white chili, she loved it. The regular chili was also very good. Ashley will be on Spring break later this week. It will last intil the Monday after Easter. I don't have anything else to write about and besides I am running late.

Sunday Update

Well we went to Lebeda and bought Ashley a new 'Sweet Dreams' mattress and Chloe a new 'Queen Regal' bed (mattress, foundation and frame). They will be delivered on Tuesday. I hope they like them. We are not happy with the mattress for ourselves that we are finding in our price range, so we have decided to wait. Instead we bought a dream puff down alternative mattress pad and two dream puff pillows. I slept very well last night.

Saturday Update

We ordered the new couches yesterday. They should be delivered sometime the second week in April. I'm so excited. They are soft and cozy, and they really look nice. Here is a picture of the couch. This picture doesn't really do much justice. Today we are going to do some more mattress shopping. There are so many decisions to make. We are also very excited because early next week we will have a new 22" flat screen monitor. Yeah!!!!

Friday Update

So I went to June's retirement party at the Chrome Horse last night. I would say about half of our already small group of co-workers came to the party. Actually, probably not even that many. At least half a dozen people who showed up were ex-co-workers. And at least four of them were from years back. The table I sat at and the table next to me pretty much consisted of the people I go to lunch with at work. Although a few of the ex-co-workers sat down to chat at our table for a while. I also met June's husband and son.

A least the party was in a separate room from the rest of the bar. It still got very noisy and very smokey. I drank two glasses of mountain dew and two slices of supreme pizza while I was there. They do make a very good thin crust pizza. It was fun, but I really couldn't wait to get away from the smoke, it really dried my eyes out. When I left around 7 I smelled so much like smoke that I couldn't hardly stand to be with myself in the van. I rolled the windows down to try and air it out while I drove. Shortly after I got home I showered to get rid of the smell. Well isn't this an exciting blog post. I think I am done now. Have a good Friday and a great weekend.

Thursday Update

I don't have much today. Yesterday, in celebration of the first day of Spring, Doug grilled brats, turkey burgers and chicken outside. It was a yummy supper. Doug has been doing some measuring for when we get new furniture. If we get the couches that we really like, they may not fit through the door. I hope they will, if we get them that is. Why can't we have wider doors.

Today after work I have to go to June's retirement party at the Chrome Horse. I'm not looking forward to it. I feel really uncomfortable going into bars. Especially one that seems like it is a biker bar. Who would know a little old lady likes to hang out in biker bars. I guess it is because her son is one of the owners. Wish me luck.

Wednesday Update

Yesterday when I got to work they had a sign on the door that our Outlook email was down. That kind of slows down our day since a lot of our work comes from our email. We still were able to keep pretty busy until they got the problem fixed. We had lots of yummy treats for June's birthday. There was my cheese and crackers, a Coffee Cake and brownies from Panera, a cinnamin bundt cake and a veggie pizza from Hy-Vee. When I went to lunch I saw something sitting on the give-away table. I went over to look and it was a Palm V. I made sure it was supposed to be given away and then I took it. Doug is now very happy with his new Palm.

Tuesday Update

Yesterday was wierd at work. They are moving more of our servers and things were not working correctly. Outlook kept shutting down or not letting us send or read our emails. When we did receive our email it was about three hours late. Some of our reports were unavailable or not updating and Oracle was not figuring sales tax and running super slow.

When I got home yesterday Diedre was visiting. She chatted with us for a while and I sent some of Lauren's French Onion Soup home with her. After Diedre left we went furniture shopping again. We saw a couch that we really like at McGregors. The covering is made of microfiber and looks like the leather on a bomber jacket. It is realy soft and comfortable. One of our top contenders. We still haven't made any final decisions on couches or mattresses.

Today is my co-work June's birthday. We are all bringing in treats (yet another food day). I am bringing in cheese and crackers. Well, that's all I have for today.

Sunday Update

Not much to update about today. Let's see, yesterday Ashley stopped by after she got off work at 1. Then I went grocery shopping and came home. Went to the new Furniture Row by Menards and got overwhelmed with all the beautiful furniture. Then went to Slumberland to get overwhelmed again. For supper we had corned beef and cabbage; one of Thomas' favorites (sorry). I went to bed before 11 and then woke up this morning just before 8. Wow, I actually slept in for a change.

Saturday Update

I am so glad the weekend is here. Last night we couldn't figure out what to do for supper. So, since it was just Doug and I, we decided to go to Culvers. When we got to Culvers we thought about it a minute and then decided Pizza Ranch sounded better. We paid for the buffet, got our table and we were going for our drinks, when Doug said he saw Dawn. So we talked to Dawn for a while and then we ate. She was with her youngest daughter and her daughter's friend. The chicken and pizza is very good. They also have a nice selection at the salad bar. I wasn't impressed with the fish and I did not try the soup. The soup was clam chowder and I'm not real crazy about clams. They also have good ice cream. Needless to say we were very stuffed.

Today we plan to go shopping for mattresses and maybe a couch. Ashley's bed needs a new mattress, Chloe needs a complete new bed, Doug and I need a complete new bed and we plan to give our old bed to Thomas, again. Don't worry Thomas, our newer old bed is better than the other old bed we gave you.

Friday Update

It's Friday, yeah!!!! It has been a long freakin week at work. It has been fairly busy, just dragging though. Just two more weeks before most of the people at our site are gone for good. I think most of them are excited about it. They are just a bit nervous about finding a new job. Next Thursday after work I am going to June's retirement party at The Chrome Horse. Not sure how I feel about going to a party at a bar. I know I will leave when my co-workers start to get uncomfortably drunk. That probably won't take too long for most of them. Some are already obnoxiuos without even drinking. Speaking of drinking, I hope everyone stays away from the green beer this weekend, it is an unnatural color to see in the toilet.

*** Anyone Up For A Little Test? ***

Its quite simple. Just place the states where they belong.

Wednesday Update

Yesterdays weather was beautiful. I hope everyone had a chance to go out and enjoy it a little bit. When I got home from work I went out to the front yard and picked up some of the larger branches and sticks that were left in the yard after the ice storm. Now I need to go out with a rake and get up all of the smaller stuff. And there is a lot of smaller stuff! While Mark, Wanda and Matt are in Florida, we will be plant sitting for three of thier plants. Mark brought them over last night. There is a hyacinth (with lots of babys), a flowering shamrock and another one with flowers (I don't remember what it is called). They are all very nice, I hope I don't kill them.

Tuesday Update

I like that it is staying light longer in the day. It makes me feel more like having a life after work. I don't really do anything differently, it just feels better. Althought, yesterday would have felt better if I wouldn't have had a headache from the time I woke up to the time I went to sleep.

Wow! Electronic filing is great! We filed my taxes last week and I already got my state return.

Chloe got a mood ring in the mail, she was very excited.

What the Mood Ring Colors Mean

• violet blue - happy, romantic
• blue - calm, relaxed
• green - average, not much going on with you
• yellow/amber - tense, excited
• brown/gray - nervous, anxious
• black - cold temperature or damaged ring

Monday Update

Weekends go way too fast. Yesterday we only had Mark and Wanda over for supper. Now we have a whole lot of soup to eat. I put some in the freezer and Ashley said she will take some back to school. That still leaves us with quite a bit of soup. Oh well, they are both delicious and I have food for lunch all week.

I don't have much else to say. I didn't do much this weekend. A little grocery shopping on Saturday. I baked brownies Sunday morning and then cleaned the house. Thomas is back at school and Ashley spent the night last night. Have a good Monday everyone.

Other cats named Chairman Mao.

Chairman Mao likes bubblewrap... he also likes mice.

---

Mao flies over the Eiffel Tower

Mao visits the pyramids at Giza

Boy, I can *really* whiz on the clean laundry before she has a chance to put it away now!

CHAIRMAN MAO

Chairman Mao:
Chairman of the Bored
*RIP 8/25/05

Chairman Miaow: Mao is the Chinese word for cat.

Mao-Mao, his nickname is Chairman Mao.

Saturday Update

It is Saturday morning and everyone else is sleeping, including Mao. It looks like Chloe got back from the concert in Des Moines all right. She went to see The Plain White Tees. They sing Hey There Delilah, which is one of my favorite songs. I don't have much planned this weekend. Probably a little grocery shopping today and the usual laundry and cleaning. It is still better than working. Unfortunately, Thomas has to work this weekend, so he will be in Waterloo most of today and tomorrow and then he starts school again on Monday. I'm not sure what Chloe's work schedule is this weekend. Ashley works on Sunday until 8 PM. This weekend starts Daylight Savings Time. Don't forget to set your clocks tonight when you go to bed.

Friday Update

I am sad, Doug is very sick and I can't do anything about it. He has a sinus drip which is making his throat sore. It also makes him cough which makes his TMJ flair up. He is wheezing and has a hard time staying asleep. Chloe is also sick, but I don't think she is as bad as Doug. Speaking of Chloe, she had her hair dyed PINK yesterday. Sorry Thomas, I stole this picture from your blog.

Yesterday I got an overhead projector for Thomas from work for $0.00. He was pretty excited and now Diedre wants to know where hers is. I hope they have another one to give away. If not, I will have to try and find something else good for Diedre. The picture below is not the exact model, but it looks pretty much the same.



Today they are having a job fair at work for those people who are being let go. I might try and find time to wander around myself. Who knows, maybe I will find something that I would rather be doing.

Wednesday Update

Yeah!! The computer doesn't hate me anymore. Yesterday morning I wasn't able to connect to the internet. And I am terrible at fixing it. Anyhoo, I'm just glad that I can do my regular routine this morning. That is, check all of the blogs, update my blog, check my email, sign up for freebies and play Mahjongg if there is time.

Thomas will be returning home from Cedar Falls sometime today. Mao and I are happy that he will be back for a few more days. Last night, after Chloe came home from class, she shut off the front light and Mao looked very sad. He knows that means no one else will be coming in the door. Doug and Chloe both have a sore throat, I hope I don't get one too. I already have kind of a sinus thing. Have a wonderful day everyone!!!

Monday Update

It's Monday again already! We had a very good Soup Sunday yesterday. Both soups were delicious! Jamie and Lauren brought Guitar Hero and it was fun to watch the kids "rock out". Chloe made it back from Chicago. She had a really good time, even though Zach had bombed out on her plans. Today Thomas is driving up to Cedar Falls to spend the night. He has to work on Tuesday until 10PM, so he will be staying until Wednesday morning. Not much happening weather wise today. That's good. Have a wonderful day everyone.

Sunday Update

Yesterday was a wonderful day. We went to Ting's Red Lantern for Ashley's birthday lunch. It was yummy and I have some leftovers for lunch today. After lunch, Thomas took Ashley to Target and bought her gift. She got a nice jacket and the funny thing is it had pumice stones in the pocket. I think it is a message from the sweat shop in Indonesia where it was made. After they got back home we had Ashley's birthday Grasshopper Pie. It was delicious. Chloe left for Chicago around 12:30 yesterday, so unfortunately she did not go to lunch with us. It sounds like she go lost on the way to the show and was a little late for it. She said she had fun though. I hope she has a safe trip back home today.

Today we are celebrating three birthdays. Ashley (3rd), Wanda (5th) and Johnny (7th). Doug is making Fish Chower and Lauren is making Full On Chicken and Vegetable Soup. Thomas is here on break, Ashley work until 4 and hopefully Chloe will be back from Chicago. It should be a really fun time. Jamie and Lauren are bringing Guitar Hero I & II.

This is my favorite Post Secret postcard ever!

Happy Birthday Basher!!!!!

Friday Update

We got some snow overnight and the wind is blowing pretty strong. I didn't bake anything yesterday, But Ashley did. She made a Baked Apple Pie Bread mix that we had in cupboard. I will definately make something today. Yesterday Chloe was gone most of the day. First to class and then to work. Ashley drove in at around 1:30 and we went grocery shopping. Then we went to Target to get her a birthday gift. She wasn't having much luck finding anything. She decided on a nice green polo shirt, undies and a red paper lantern. I hope the road conditions get better this afternoon, Thomas is supposed to drive home. Drive carefully....

Thursday Update

I have today and tomorrow off from work, yeah!!!! I will probably bake something today. I hope most of the nasty weather passes by us. I am sick of Winter and very ready for Spring. The wind was very strong when I woke up about an hour ago. But, now it looks like it has died down a bit. I don't have much to write about today. Oh, we did have some very yummy chicken chow mein and egg foo yung last night.