JustLisa

I am taking a break from dusting (something I hate!!) to update those of you who get worried when I don't post for awhile.

First, I broke my own comments when I got too busy with work and the holidays to clean the spam from them. I have to decide how to proceed from here. I can pay to upgrade my MT and utilize the new antispam features or I can take time to install something totally new. I will probably pay to upgrade MT because I surely do not have extra time lying around. Now for the rabbit story....

How hard is it to wrap the crackers up when you are done with them? I can do it but you cannot seem to. Is this another special skill I possess that should be on my resume?

This is my friend Lisa and her new puppy.

He's so cute. And sharp little teeth as evidenced below. Todd always wanted his eyebrow pierced. ha!

Hard to believe Dozer used to be that small. Here he is almost four years ago when he was just a little guy. Puppies are just so sweet.

What a fun day today turned out to be. We were supposed to be at a ball tournament all day but it was cancelled due to rain. Ended up with some of the kids' friends over and some of our friends over. Made tacos for 11 people and just had a really good time. I love it when our house is full of happy people. Todd likes quiet but after all these years he's getting used to my philosophy of the more, the merrier. When all the kids were around the table tonight, I asked him if it'd be cool to have a bunch of foster kids and have the table filled with kids like that every night. Even all the kids thought that was a crappy idea. heh.

Took this picture which would've been really nice if not for using my camera phone instead of my real camera. I knew if I got up and got the real camera, people would scatter. Yay for smiling people no matter how blurry. (no, I'm not drunk. I just like happiness, ok?!)

Back when I was first married to C's dad and thought playing Betty Crocker might be the secret to a happy marriage, I used to have a big garden and I'd snap beans, shell peas, husk corn, can tomatoes and pickles, etc. in the summer heat. Then I got real and discovered sweating in a 100 degree kitchen made no one happy.

For some reason I began to miss gardening and the satisfaction of eating something I'd raised myself. This year we planted a small garden behind the new garage. Mostly it's a pepper patch. I think there are 18 plants bearing 5 different varieties of peppers. 4 cucumber plants, 1 acorn squash, 4 eggplant and 10 tomato plants keep the peppers company. The acorn squash was mine alone and it was so beautiful. Someone/thing stepped on it right as the squash began to take shape so no squash for me.

The eggplants and rainbow peppers were acquired by Christopher but I don't believe he's even seen the garden since the first watering. They are looking a little frail from this godforsaken heat but the peppers, Todd's peppers, they are coming on like gangbusters back there. Cucumbers and tomatoes are also producing a bumper crop. This will be my third weekend of slicing, dicing, and canning. Today I am trying a refrigerator pickle recipe. It's over 100 degrees outside so pardon me if I don't heat up the kitchen by boiling insane amounts of water.

My grandma used to make the best sweet pickles but the process was like being chained to the kitchen. I think they took 7 days and I remember we couldn't go anywhere or do anything because there were cucumbers in various stages of the process every day for what seemed like forever. The end result was so good that I'd eat a quart at a time while watching cartoons.

My aunt gave me the recipe in my grandma's handwriting when grandma passed but I wasn't gifted with her patience. 7 days is just too long to baby a pickle along. Maybe when I get to be a grandma I'll give it a go. Right now I doubt my boss would understand if I told him it was time to take the plate off the pickles in the crisper and stir them around.

Lucy in the grass

Lucy went back to the gun club today to try her hand (nose?) at finding quail. She did awesome again and everyone was amazed that Todd could shoot over her already. The only time I can see the puppy in her is when she gets tired. She doesn't have the endurance of the older dog but she sure has the enthusiasm.

Northern Iowa is getting snow. We're getting thunder and lightning. Weird way to start a year.

After some gorgeous 50+ degree days, we are back into the deep freeze. I hate it when we have a dog who refuses to acknowledge temperature or elements. Rain, hail, sleet or snow - the mail will be delivered and Lucy will demand to play frisbee.

Here she is looking super cute in her new sweater. hahahaha

I've been thinking about this lately. Do shallow people ever truly love anyone but themselves? And really, do they even love themselves? What happens to them as they are growing up to make them that way? As I take more time to support the school and various kids in their sports and church activites and whatnot, I see people from all age groups who are so busy being righteous and judgemental and well, shallow, that they miss out on life and the wonderful people in it.

Lucy's Birds


Originally uploaded by justlisaw.

Last year Lucy was just six months old when bird season rolled around. She got several quail but no pheasants. This morning she got her first pheasants and two more quail.

I demanded some credit too because I cleaned the kitchen really well this morning. Took apart the range hood and the stove and scoured the tiles. I figured if I cleaned it up reallllly good, they'd come home with something to make a mess with. I was right!

Immigration officials raided the Swift plant in Marshalltown last week and I've since thought quite a bit about how I feel on the issue. As always, my thoughts are scattered and I have trouble bringing them together for a solid conclusion.

Let the dogs out this morning and the sun was barely beginning to light the eastern sky. The moon was hanging low in the west and everything in between east and west was a deep shade of blue. For a minute, everything seemed right with the world. Then the boy with the toe thing started yelling. This morning was the first time the toe has been wet since Dec. 15. It didn't go well.

Now we're in the deep freeze at a few degrees below zero. Doesn't bother me. I've got two scarves, a really cool hood/neckwarmer, a huge Starter jacket from Goodwill (joke to go with that to follow later), really nice gloves that I've managed to keep away from the kid, and a pair of waterproof thinsulate lined boots. Then there's the underneath layers. Soft cotton camisole, long sleeved cuddlduds, turtle neck sweater on top. Merino wool blend long johns off the clearance rack at Scheels under the heavy jeans. One of my best investments. $39 long johns on clearance for $4. Mens xsmall. Guess that's not a popular size. Now if I could just come up with a purpose for the flap in the front. ha!

People bitch about the snow and cold but it's so beautiful. Call me crazy, but I think the world looks a little warmer when it's wrapped in a soft, white blanket. It's perception, people! See the beauty and dress in layers.

The Starter jacket came from Goodwill. $8. It's one of those super poofy, half zip deals with the hood. Has my favorite college team on it which is where the joke comes in. People laugh and say I got it so cheap because it's the Cyclones and if not for me coming along, they'd have had to give it away. That is a funny joke BUT right behind it was a Hawkeye coat. Same price. So stuff it!

I took Lucy on our morning jaunt to the lake. The thermometer on the Suburban said -7. Even that is good because it keeps the snow crisp and sparkly. It's just beautiful. Absolutely stunning.

I was reading this post and I find I just can't let it go. I don't know about the rest of the country but speaking of what I do know, the Walmarts around Iowa directly reflect the neighborhoods that surround them. The Walmart in the poorest area is not only dirty, it's scary. I went once and noted that the number of shoes on the floor in the shoe department far outnumbered the shoes actually in their boxes on the rack. The second time I went there, a man actually grabbed my crotch from behind as he walked past. Never went again.

One went up in the newest part of Des Moines' suburbs and had to clear a ton of opposition first. The developers and residents of the area did not want a Walmart going up in the midst of the high end stores. Walmart agreed to make the store blend in well architectually (sp?) with it's surroundings and they did a bang up job of that. If not for that hideous sign, you'd never know that's what it was. You can read the official press release here.

The inside is very clean and the employees seem happy to help. Important to also note that the shoppers spending their money inside are also different. I call them "foo foo folks". They aren't very friendly and they dress pretty fancy for a Walmart run, but they don't throw stuff down and expect someone to pick it up for them.

I am sure that there are some lazy Walmart employees and I bet some managers could care less if the bins stay organized but I'd wager my money on it being more the customers than the employees.

I've been trying to generate interest in saving for Florida vacation rentals. Our friends Rod and Gayle are in Vero Beach and come back to Iowa every summer. Why, I do not know. ha! I guess it's a little hot and humid down south in the summer but still...

We've only been on three vacations together and two of those were close to home in the midwest. I want to go somewhere where spanish moss hangs from trees and there is an ocean with pretty beaches and blue water. Our first vacation together was to North Carolina and included our only ocean experience. That was about 30 minutes in Virginia Beach and it looked like a never ending version of our lake. Most people I know go to Florida for Orlando or Disney but I want hammocks and palm trees and most importantly, quiet. I've never seen white sand and blue water. In Virginia the water was muddy and it wasn't quiet at all. The roar of the waves was deafening and the squealing kids were even worse.

This one looks nice and look, blue water/white sand. Private beach and dolphins! Anyone want to go with me? Never hurts to dream.

When it came time to go to bed last night, I was so exhausted and had that feeling I'd sleep really well. It's another night that we'll just never know who could have slept thanks to dogs. Yesterday I counted six unknown dogs roaming loose around our neighborhood at different points of the day. Always in packs of two. One set of two are identical pups that wander through every other week or so but the other four are new and seen with increasing frequency.

Apparently they are going to come around in the night too and get the neighbors outside dogs barking which makes my inside dogs bark. Let me tell ya, my two huge dogs barking at 3AM is not something anyone wants to wake up too.

I have to jump up and check that there aren't dogs after our rabbit again. Tonight I'm worried about the cat. He didn't come home from his evening prowl around the house. The other two times he's done that, I've found him waiting on the doorstep at midnight. So far tonight he's still MIA.

I guess I should take one more look outside for the kitty then try to go back to sleep for a couple of hours. Blech.

My car is on it's last legs. Came down the hill at school the other night and realized that the lights on the dash for traction control and antilock brakes are on because it really means it now. They are broke. It needs $700 in engine work and now it's not even driveable around town in the snow. Doing a car search online tonight to see if they have any Rivieras near me. Of course not so let's move on to mustangs, shall we? If I do a search on just Iowa, there's not much that interests me. It seems you can list your car there for free though.

Looking through the numerous car reviews and am now even more convinced that I really do need a 2007 Mustang in the fastback coupe edition I think. It's gonna have to be something mighty special to replace my Buick. They don't have any Riviera reviews but they do have lots of other makes/models. I think they stopped making Rivs in 2000 so it's hard to find current info on them. I love mine so much, even in it's old broken down condition.

Em played basketball today about 30 mins away and afterwards we went on to another town to get some supplies at Walmart. Funny, every time I go into a Walmart now, I check to see if it's clean. This is a very small store and was pretty clean considering how many people were crammed in there.

Got home late this afternoon and fixed some macaroni and cheese for a friend at the nursing home. Em and I took it out to her and then visited some other folks there. One of my favorite ladies wasn't out for supper so we went back to her room. She was just having an off day and didn't feel like coming to the dining room. We looked at some pictures with her and talked some about how things were when she was young. She's 94 years young now. She told us how the girls wore bloomers to basketball when she was a young girl. I found this picture to show Emily what she meant. Em said she didn't know how anyone could run in those. I wonder more about those shoes. I wish I had time to go out there and record stories of all the people who are still able to recollect their pasts. It's quite fascinating.

Cat update: Bucky is home and totally wiped out. He flopped down in such a way that it looks like he's dead and has been sleeping that way for hours. Must have really been busy expanding his territory.

Iowa has passed an increase in the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. That is good for employees but may be the death of small businesses already struggling to make payroll. I guess it's also going to be bad for head start as it will raise some above the income guidelines. According to the small business blog, the first mandatory sick leave ordinance goes into effect in San Francisco and Senator Edward Kennedy is pushing for a federal sick leave law.

All of these things are good on some levels and not so good on others. Most things on the federal level seem to be restricted to small businesses with 15 employees or more, but still, I agree with this opinion piece "Don't Kill the Golden Goose".

On the other hand, why don't small business do a better job of keeping up with wage hikes in the larger industries?

Millionaire Dating? Are there really millionaires who haven't been snatched up already? I suppose there are probably some computer geeks who've made lots of money and don't get away from the computer long enough to have a social life.

I think that site would be more interested if it only had single millionaires instead of thousands of men and women looking for a sugar daddy/momma. I wonder how many poor folk give up on trying to find money and hook up with each other on that millionaire site.

It's amazing to me how many lonely people there are in this world. One trend I've noticed is that too many women think they have to go the sexy route to get a man. Browse the photos and you'll see what I mean. Yuck! Ladies, don't do that.

I just found a guy claiming to make over 2.5 mil annually and describes his housing situation as "Can get a little crazy sometimes". Maybe it means he travels a lot.

Watching this struggle of a game and reading about Soap Operas. I had no clue there was a soap called Ugly Betty. Is that a daytime thing?

I don't watch soaps anymore but I remember once my friend Robin was going to be gone and wanted me to watch Days of Our Lives for her. I swear to God, there was a scene with a woman and this baby and the woman said to the baby "You want another moon pie, Elvis?" or something like that. It was definitely a moon pie and definitely Elvis. I went to the cast page and don't see that lady or any boys named Elvis. I think that had to be over a decade ago so the baby is surely 40 or 50 by now. HA! Seriously, does anyone remember that?

I haven't watched any of *my* soaps for so long that I barely recognize the actors playing now but if you click a character in the character list, you can read their history and who played that character. I used to watch As the World Turns with my dad on his lunch hour when I was a little kid. He called it "watch the world go 'round". When Todd worked nights and was home days, we'd watch it on my lunch hour. Now my lunch is usually at my desk or I use it to do laundry or something. Watching hot soap guys sounds better,huh?

For my single friends, Free Online Dating. I've never tried online dating but I've made tons of good friends over the years through that I know online only. Some of them have found love online. The internet is such a normal part of life now that online dating isn't the taboo that it used to be. (Really, mom. ha!) No credit card required to sign up.

CouponChief.com has an ever expanding selection of coupons and deals. You can search by category, item or by store. Several good Best Buy deals today. All vacuums on sale! I am addicted to vacuums. We have four and none of them work to my liking. I need a Dyson pet hair but they're too much, even on sale.

Procrastinating? Still time for Valentine's Day flowers. Chocolates are always good, too.

We have a lot of cellphone conversations around here. Not just *on* our phones but about phones. The kids want one, Todd wants a new one, and I'd like to chuck mine into traffic. Wirefly is a site with new cell phones and plans. Searching our zip code brings up carriers in our area and from there I can look at phones and rebates.

I cannot believe Razrs are free now with new plans. I never liked them but Todd sure did. At the time, they were way too expensive for our budget so he took a lesser Motorola. I think the Razrs seems awfully flimsy but then again, I'm pretty hard on a phone. I run on the trail and the phone will fly from my pocket and bounce along the trail. The newer, thinner phone styles seem like they wouldn't survive a concrete bounce so well. I miss my old LG phone that I retired for my newer Kyocera.

I wonder how Wirefly works with existing customers and getting the phone activated. We go to our local US Cellular store and have get the plan, the phone and all activation taken care of. Found my answer in the resources section:

Carrier Approval. If your order includes a new wireless account, then your application for service is automatically submitted to the carrier you've chosen for approval.

If your cell phone order includes a contract extension from your current cell phone provider, then your information is submitted to confirm that your account is eligible to receive a discount on a new cell phone.

Maybe when Todd gets closer to contract renewal, he can find a phone he likes better. By the time my contract is up I'll be attached to my Kyocera and not want a new one. Am I the only parent who thinks little kids do not need phones? I get accused of being the only one.

We have had the same insurance company for years and never bother to shop around. Our agent is a friend of ours and we can count on him to take good care of us. My beautiful car is a deer magnet and has been annihalated by the four legged creatures on two occasions. Both times an adjuster came right over and told us to take it to the body shop of our choice.

If you are not happy with your car insurance or just looking to save some money, it pays to shop around. If you are in the UK (United Kingdom) and want to compare insurance rates, insure121 lets you research and compare car insurance, home insurance and even
pet insurance. The luck we have with pets, it might be worth our time to investigate insurance on them.

Don't know what the deal was but Dreamhost has it fixed now. Thanks for those who reported it.

We've now had four night of storms and rain. The rain is incredible and really hurting the farmers who need to be in the fields right now. Actually, I think most farmers are generally done with planting by this time.

We went around the lake last night where the water continues to rise. 15 years ago, the lake was out of it's banks and Christopher was conceived. There was still water everywhere when he was born the next summer. I hope we aren't setting up for a repeat of that... neither the water everywhere or a new baby are wanted 'round here. Unless it's a visiting baby who leaves. heh.

I used to get emails that I should enable comments again. I did that and about four people consistently comment. Maybe I should start political blogging so people will get pissed off and bash me in the comments. ha!

I really dislike this time of year. Cold rain. Good for nothing but making mud. Spring rain at least makes grass green and sleepy things wake up and grow.

Looks like we'll have rain all weekend so guess I'll do something fun like put away summer clothes and pout.

We are under a snow advisory for tomorrow. Nothing spectacular like the original 8" forecast but we may see some nonetheless.

That jolt you felt in southern Iowa this afternoon was when Eva signed up for the Air Force. Maybe it was only me who felt it. I'm very proud of her for making a very responsible, adult decision but who can't help but be a little terrified given the state of the world today?