Wednesday Update

Yesterday was an interesting day at work. The elevator worked when I first got there in the morning. However, by first break you could only use the stairs and the elevator never started for the rest of the day. It is just as well, because even with the carpeting and wall covering pulled out it still smells really bad.

It took us until about 8:30 to get our IP phones working. Good news though, they originally told us our old phones would never be brought back because Armstrong Centre was switching to a new server and our company did not want the expense of switching our phone system. Armstrong Centre informed us yesterday that they are not getting the new server after all. We even found out we could log into the old phones, however not all of the functions are working.

I have to use the laptop for my main phone for now and the desktop for my other work. However, I can use both for whatever I want. So it is nice to have two computers to work from.

Tuesday Update

Today we start working back at the office. They have not opened the sky walk yet. And I guess only one of the elevators in our building is working. This makes me a little bit nervous, because before the flood every now and then one of the elevators would not work. And it wasn't always the same one. I am going to miss working from home because I won't be able to dress in my shorts and a Tool t-shirt any longer. Back to the dress code.

Monday Update

This weekend went by way too fast. It looks like this might be my last day working from home. Yesterday the gazette had an article that said some Armstrong Centre tenants will be moving back in Monday or Tuesday. I wonder if Art Mart will be coming back? Not this week because they were on the 1st floor, but some time.

We had lots of good food yesterday for Soup Sunday. Hot dogs, brats, hamburgers, chili, cole slaw, broccoli-tomato salad, creamy cucumbers, sweet corn (fresh from the Jordan field), chips and salsa. And for dessert we had a cheese cake that Jamie brought. Everyone stayed around until a little after 8 and then we bagged up the corn Wanda and Mark brought to us. We already had it blanched from when we cooked supper. We left it on the cob and vacuum sealed it.

Well that is all today. Have to take out the trash you know.

Sunday Update

Yesterday was a productive day. In the AM I spent about an hour and a half fertilizing and weeding the garden. I also mowed along the side of the garage and the back yard. The weed killer Johnny sprayed has killed most of the crab grass. Next year in early Spring we will have to put down grass seed.

Yesterday afternoon was a little more relaxed. I had lunch and did some reading. I also figured out the next 2 weeks menus and wrote the grocery list. Around 4 I went to the store. This was the first time since Monday that I had gone anywhere outside; other than the yard. I guess that is the only down side of working from home. I can live with that though, because it is so much more peaceful working from home.

I am finally going to post those pictures of Thomas & Diedre's house that I promised.

What a nice house.
What, two garages?
I'm so proud of both of you!!
Tired and happy movers.

Nice view from the back yard.

Stray cats that the neighbor lady takes care of.
The high school and it's wondeful wind turbine.
The first good harvest from our garden. Looks good doesn't it!

Saturday Update

I don't have much today. I will still be working from home on Monday. They are putting some pipes in the ceiling at work. I'm not sure what I will be doing this weekend. I do know I need to finish mowing the yard. I only got to the front yard so far. We are starting to get ripe tomatoes and I will be picking green beans soon.

Wednesday Update

Yesterday I worked from home. It was very relaxing. I did not have to hear the back and forth bickering of my co-workers. Mao also did not bother me like I thought he might. Talking into the headset must have made me look crazy to him. Working from home must have worn me out. I was very sleepy from about 7:30 on last night. I could barely stay awake to watch the Olympics. I did get to see Phelps win a gold medal. His Mom was very excited.

It is just a few days away from Thomas and Diedre beginning their teaching careers and I am very excited.

Monday Update

I'm back!!!

Mediacom brought us a different modem today. So far we have internet. But, as always that could change. Tomorrow and Wednesday I will be working from home. Highway Equipment needs their conference room for a sales conference. We still don't know when we get to go back to the office downtown. If the internet holds up at home, I might be given permission to work from home until we go back downtown. I hope that will happen so I don't have to drive so far.

Tonight is the 2 hour season finally for The Mole. I still think Craig is the Mole. I will probably be wrong though. It is so hard to pick the mole.

I'm excited for Thomas and Diedre; their first day of teaching will be this Friday. That is all for now. I might post more in the morning.

Tuesday Update

The weekend was very busy. It was also a very good weekend. I love Thomas and Diedre's new house. The kitchen and family room are a toss-up for my favorite room. We took pictures which I will post at a later time. I still don't know how to get them from the camera to the computer.

Small towns are so great. There is a small theatre with one showing a day at 7:00, they were showing Walle. The court house building is very beautiful. My favorite has to be the Aloha Fountain. It even has a real soda fountain. It reminds me of my childhood. Thomas also met one of his future students working there.

The local motel was cutting corners a bit too much. The air conditioner was not quite big enough to cool the room and the over head fan did not work. They also had unplugged the refrigerator and did not bother to let us know. We actually had to stop at Pamida to buy a fan to circulate the air in the room. It did help to cool the room.

Thomas and Diedre are settling in to small town living nicely. They are being given fresh vegetables on pretty much a daily basis. They especially enjoy the sweet corn. They are already planning their garden for next year. It sounds pretty impressive.

On Sunday we went to Justin and Jamie's new house. Also very impressive. I'm not sure how to describe it. There a lot of rooms, a nice bar in the basement and a huge back yard. I love the huge willow tree.

That is all for today's update. Have a great day and stay cool everyone.

Thursday Update

Yeah, this is my Friday. I have tomorrow off to go up to Eldora and help Thomas and Diedre with their new home. I can't wait to see the house. I just hope we will get some alone time with Thomas. I love small towns and it will be nice to get away for a day and also see what Eldora looks like. Yesterday Doug bought a new bed for Thomas and Diedre. Tonight Mark and Wanda are going to help us haul it home. After that we are all going out to eat.

Today is the last day we can work from Mt Mercy. We still have not found an alternate location and it looks like we won't be able to go back downtown until the 18th. They are looking at Highway Equipment out by the airport and if that doesn't work out a place in North Liberty. I'm not too thrilled about either place.

Sunday Update

I am sore today because yesterday I trimmed the evergreens out front and also cleaned the gutters. Up and down the ladder too many times. Today I need to fertilize the garden and do some clean up in the basement. I'm not looking forward to cleaning the basement. But, it needs to be done. Mao has been very confused ever since Tommy brought some of his things up from the basement. Every night before going to bed, he has to take me to look in both rooms at the boxes. What a silly little cat.

Thursday Update

Tommy is coming home today. I can't wait to see him. The only boxes I have are rather big and his books that I have been packing are very heavy. I hope he doesn't mind too much.

It looks like our next temporary work place will be on the edge of Marion at Involta. It is off of Hwy 13 a few miles north of Walmart. Those of us living in Marion are happy about it. The rest of my co-workers have been complaining so much that our supervisor had to send an email stating there would be no more complaining as the move was not going to be for that long.

Tuesday Update

Chloe paid us a visit yesterday afternoon and stayed the night. I'm so glad I was able to see her for a little bit. We didn't do much last night. Salad with chicken strips for supper. After supper I washed dishes. Then at 9 we watched The Mole. I think Craig is the Mole. Hopefully it won't rain today and the temp stays down, because I need to mow the lawn. It was just too hot this past weekend. Random thoughts coming out again. That is all.

Monday Update

It was a very good weekend, although too short as usual. It also rained too much and now we have water in the basement again....

Friday night we watched a movie "in Bruges". I really enjoyed it. Saturday morning I planted some flowers I bought at the Hy Vee garden center. They were marking down everything during the last week of the garden center. I bought some wave petunias and two different colors of small carnations (yellow and pink).

Saturday afternoon I went over to my Dad's to get the boxes for Thomas and Diedre. It took three hours, because everything with my Dad takes forever. He wasn't sure what he wanted to unpack and he left a lot packed. Mostly because Elsa has way more ugly pillows, blankets and sheets than the two of them will ever need. What took the most time was getting rid of all the bubble wrap, paper and styrofoam peanuts that was inside every box.

Sunday was great because Thomas and Diedre came over at about 2:30 and stayed for supper. The Mongolian beef turned out very well. It was way too hot outside, so we ended up cooking everything inside. Diedre also enjoyed the key lime pie. We had a good group; Doug, myself, Thomas Diedre, Jamie, Hunter and Johnny. Mark and Wanda didn't get back from Florida until around 7:30, so they did not show up. Everyone was gone by 8, so the rest of the night was pretty quiet. It was a good thing, because Doug was not feeling too well again. He relaxed and I washed all the dished from supper.

The rain just never stops this year. It is raining again right now. I hope it is done before I have to take the trash out. Well that is all for this update. Have a wonderful Monday everyone.

Saturday Update

Not much going on here. Yesterday Doug gave me a scare. I called at lunch as usual and he told me his back was really hurting. He was lying on the floor trying to find a comfortable position. Later when I called back he said he had passed kidney stones and his back was better. Although he did have a restless night and I think he my not be finished passing the stones. I hope he gets back to feeling better soon.

This afternoon I will be going over to my Dad's to help unpack more of their boxes from the move over a year ago. The empty boxes will go to Thomas and Diedre for their move. Fun times.

This morning I fed Mao and went back to bed. A little while later he was meowing like crazy. When I finally got up again, I went to the basement and found out what he was trying to tell us. There was water in the basement again and he would have gotten his feet wet on the way to his litter box. He was very relieved when I moved it to the landing.

Friday Update

Yeah, it's Friday!! Happy three day weekend Thomas!

I don't have much to update about. It rained very hard for a while last night. I had started watering Wanda's garden before I found out it was going to rain. At least I didn't have to water mine. By the time I got home I had received a warning from Thomas about the rain, plus the sky was looking very ugly.

Other than going to work, this has been a very lazy week for me. With the central air broken you don't really feel like doing much. I do have to contact my Dad to get some more moving boxes for Diedre and Thomas. If he hasn't already cleaned his gutters, I will probably be asked to help with that. Plus, I will probably have to help unpack some of the boxes he has in the basement. Sounds like fun doesn't it.

Monday Update

The birthday party was a huge success. Lots of Chloe's friends showed up. Jamie, Justin, Johnny and Hunter also showed up. Almost everyone ate the turkey burgers, which really surprised me. I think they were surprised how much they liked them as well. After eating, everyone watched Chloe open her birthday gifts. Chloe was very excited and happy with everything. Then we sat on the patio and talked until dark. We had a fire and Ross brought the makings for S'mores. We ended up talking on the patio until almost midnight. I was so glad I did not have to go to work today. Chloe said it was her best birthday ever.

Happy 20th Bobo!!

Saturday Update

I can't wait to give Chloe her birthday gifts. I think she is going to love them. I wrapped all but one gift yesterday. We are still waiting on something for the main gift. Hopefully it will come today. Otherwise we will have to wrap it anyway and give that part later.

This morning I am cleaning Thumper's tank so I can start using the new filter we bought for him. I hope it helps keep the tank clean. I wanted a canister filter, but they are just too expensive. This one will go inside the tank and work in as little as 2 inches of water.

If the weather permits I will try the new mower and see how I like it. Funny thing is we probably did not need to buy it, because after we got home from Sears Doug figured out what was wrong with the old one. Oh well, Tommy and Diedre needed a mower anyway. Now if we could just get the air conditioner guy over here to take a look at our air conditioner we would be doing well. Hope it doesn't get too hot and humid today. Chloe might have to sleep on a couch in the cooler part of the house.