Bad Week

last week was pretty bad here in the Iowa City area. I'm sure all of you have read or seen the info about the Sueppel family tragedy. I really don't have much to add here, except to direct you to Side Notes for a wonderful writing she found through State 29 that he found on the PC site.

Yesterday I went across the street from my house to talk to a friend. She works at St. Mary's and does a lot of the singing during services. She is not handling it very well. We talked and I gave her a long hug. Told her if she needed to talk again, come on over. She knew the family. Doesn't understand how someone can snap like that, and has come to the realization that it could possibly happen to any one of us.

That is a frightening thought. I may sound like a fool to some of you, but I put my trust in God's grace and pray for strength everyday. I know that there but for the grace of God go I. I know, sounds corny, but that is what works for me.

That's all for now. Hope this week goes better.

JUST A LITTLE NERVOUS

So, once again eastern Iowa has been "graced" with another coating of the white stuff. This time it came down first as very wet snow. Now, it is starting to fluff up and the wind is picking up.

I have cleaned my driveway twice so far today just to stay ahead of the build up. And as usual, the city road cleaners dump a six inch pile of snow at the end of my driveway. Joy.

My reason for my being nervous, you say? Well, a couple weeks ago we woke up to the sound of the power pack on the computer beeping. Seems we lost power in the middle of the night. Not only that, we only lost one "leg" of our power. That means only half of our house had power coming to it. I know that doesn't sound so bad, but the half that went out was the one with the furnace on it. So my husband calls the power company and actually talks to a real live person and tells them our problem. The next morning, the repair crew came out and hooked up what I call "the box" to the house, so now we have power to everything in the house.

Still don't know why I'm nervous? The power has been blinking on and off several times in the last hour and a half. It's still snowing, with the winds whipping around, we are still hooked up to "the box", and I am just praying that the power doesn't go out.

The one saving grace? I have a generator in my garage. ;-)

To quote a comercial that has been playing on the radio in the state of Iowa:
"It's cold. It's real cold. And now that the holidays are over, winter just isn't cute anymore."

Update: the power blinked twice after I hit publish post. AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!

A concern for my hair

So, last week I get a call from a friend of mine I don't hear from alot unless something is going down. She is going to the La James school of cosmotoligy in Iowa City. She asked me if I would be one of her, how should I say it, guina pigs.

I am getting my hair highlighted at 1 on Saturday afternoon. Now, I don't do a lot to my hair. No perms or colors so there shouldn't be a lot of trouble there. The thing is, I think I am like the second person she will be working on. I'm a little nervous, but I am sure it will go well............
I hope.

Oh, I just read that Side Notes took a spill on the ice. Hope your head is feeling better.

Damn it! My spell check isn't working. Please forgive.

GARY DIETRICH 1934-2008

If you have ever driven through Mt. Vernon, or if you live there, you will know of a grocery store that has been in the town for many years. In 1971, it was named Dave and Gary's. Then, later in 1981 Gary became the soul owner and changed the name to Gary's Foods.

It is unusual in this day and age to find a small grocery store in a relatively small town that is surviving, but this one is. Gary sold the store to his children in 1999 and they are keeping it a running success.

He was very well thought of in Mt. Vernon. Known as one of the "best business men you will ever meet". That is what a Mt. Vernon banker said at Gary's visitation last Friday at St. Jude's in Cedar Rapids. BTW, He was a charter member of St Jude Catholic Church.

Why am I talking so fondly of this man? He was my uncle. The youngest of four boys and one girl on my fathers side of the family.

He had a wonderful sense of humor. Always kept you on your toes as to whether he was pulling your leg, or not. Was very lucky at cards, and just an all out wonderful person.

It was so wonderful to see all the people who came to the visitation. The line was long, and the words from people where very heart warming. I learned some wonderful things about him that night. The funeral was a lovely Catholic mass. They have a very contemporary sanctuary that made you feel welcome.

I went to the internment at the cemetery in Marengo. Boy, was that cold. Leave it to Gary to have his funeral on the coldest darn day he could find. ;-)

So if you find yourself driving through Mt. Vernon, stop in at Gary's Foods. Grab a soda or some snacks. Check out the deli and say hello to Denny or Becky, my cousins. Lucy, Gary's lovely wife might be there as well. Pay honor to a man who, without a college education, created a business and reputation that shall last for years to come. I love you Gary. Rest in peace.

MERRY CHRISTMAS HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Just thought I would do something real quick so it doesn't say Happy Thanksgiving on the top of my page anymore.

Let's see, we have had a very very white Christmas this year in Iowa. We had a wedding to attend the Saturday before Christmas. We took pictures using the grooms camera. After the wedding we drove to a party and ended up staying a little later than we should have. Nasty snow storm that night. I walked to our car about five minutes after my husband and his prints in the snow where almost completely filled up with snow. Driving home to Tiffin from Iowa City was a bit tricky. We had friends who live in Mt. Vernon follow us home and stay overnight. Fun times.

I found out the middle of the week before Christmas that a dear cousin of mine, Brenda, was delivering Christmas baskets to her neighbors and she dropped dead. Her daughter found her. She was already turning blue when she found her. I wonder if someone had been with her...... Anyway, she was three years younger than me. Always so full of life and energy. Really sent me for a bit of a loop. She lived in Utah, so I couldn't make it to the funeral. I haven't talked to her in a while, but I do have some wonderful memories of our times together.

Spent Christmas day with my husbands family. Are there any families out there that aren't going through some kind of crisis at the moment, or are they just hanging around me. It was a nice time, but lets just say not everyone was in attendance.

This Sunday we are having Christmas with my family that got cancelled because of snow last weekend. Just found out tonight that a good friend of ours is in the UIHC. He evidently broke his leg a few weeks ago in a fall and didn't have it checked out. His kidneys shut down. He is on dialysis to get all the toxins out of his blood. Complicating things is the fact that he has had heart failure and he had Polio as a child. Going to go see him Sunday morning before going to family Christmas.

I have a party to go to on New Years Eve. Really looking forward to that. I guess that is it for now. I'll sign off and wish all of you a happy and joyous new year.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We here in eastern Iowa are getting our first taste of winter with a possible accumulation of 3 to 4 inches of snow.

I am heading out to Williamsburg to my parents house tonight. I, being the one to prepare the turkey, kind of need to get up early to get it started. My hubby is staying home and sleeping in our own bed because of his back. Makes sense.

I got the job of doing the turkey with my family several years ago because I watched Good Eats on the food network and learned about brining. My 22 pounder is now sitting in a concoction of vegetable broth, koscher salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, garlic flakes, and other herbs to give it tenderness and flavor. It works great!! You should try it sometime.

Anyway, I also do the dressing. (stuffing is evil!) ( to understand that, please check out Good Eats on the Food Network web site). One with meat and the other without. We have a family friend who is a vegetarian.

I also bake bread. Well, I have a bread machine. Well, actually I have three bread machines. They are all the same brand DAK. They don't make them anymore, but I think they are the best bread machine out there and they make really large loafs. I make a French bread that calls for two egg whites beaten to soft peaks. Really great bread.

So, I'm getting ready to gather all of my food. The turkey is in the brine inside one of those orange coolers you see at work sites. Dressing is done and ready to transport. Bread is baked and in a zip lock bag. I am also taking along a few movies that we might watch, some music, and clothes of course. No computer, you say? No Internet access at my parents house. Hey, they just got cable for the first time in there lives since moving to town a little over a year ago.

I think I've rambled enough. I hope everyone has safe travel and a very nice Thanksgiving.
Think about all the things you have to be thankful for and don't eat too much bird. ;-)

SNICKERS 1988-2007

I grew up on a farm where the cat was a bigger deal than the dog. Not that we didn't have dogs, we just had a lot of cats and we all really loved them. I always said I would have one of the farm cats as a house cat when I moved away from home.

The spring of 1988, a cute little calico kitten was born in a litter of about four. As soon as I saw her, I said, "That's Snickers and when she is old enough, I'm taking her home." Thankfully, she survived her first 11 weeks on the farm and I brought her home to a "big sister" named Katrina. They got along quite well. A few years later, we got a pure bread cat named Meetawn
(mittens, with an Asian sound to it) Three cats in the house, that made things interesting.

In the summer of 2000, we moved into our own home. The day before we moved, Katrina laid down on the landing of the stairs of the old place and curled up and dyed. I was heartbroken, but she looked so peaceful and content, I was comforted by that.

Now Snickers got sick about 2 1/2 years ago. I nursed her, took her to the vet, gave her antibiotics, bought special food so she could gain back weight, everything. She bounced back. She wasn't as roly poly as she used to be, but her eyes where bright, she was playing and eating and very happy.

Two weeks ago, Snickers finally hit a wall. I had been feeding her baby food for quite some time because she couldn't chew because of the lose of teeth. Now she wouldn't even eat off my finger. She would lay under my dresser in the bedroom and I would check on her to see how she was and give her water. Touch her, brush her, let her know how much I loved her.

Then this week she lost control of her hind legs. I tried to make her comfortable, but she kept dragging herself downstairs. Finally we laid her over the heat vent next to the kitchen table. One of her favorite places. I turned the heat up so the furnace would run and keep her warm.

Her paws were cold, and her breathing was shallow. I laid there with her for several hours on Thursday. Making sure she knew I was there, petting her gently, and again letting her know how much I loved her.

I had to go run some errands and do some work in the afternoon. I thought she might be gone when I got back. When I came back into the house, she didn't seem to be breathing, then she stretched. I bent down and was there with her as she finally let go. She would stretch and do a silent meow. She did that three times and then she was still. She was gone. Off to a yard full of catnip to roll in, grass to chew, and her sister to play with.

Now, you people who don't/didn't have a special relationship with a pet might think I'm a little too sentimental. I never thought of her as a person. She was always a cat, but she seemed to know things that people around me never could sense. When I was down she would cuddle with me. If I was sick, she would lay in bed with me to keep me warm. Or keep her warm, didn't matter. Her purring was a comfort. She loved to play, and was rather insistent in the morning about being fed.

That is why I included this little video. I hope it works. never done this before. It was sent to me be Side Notes a few weeks ago, and it really makes me think of my little Snickers.
I miss you Snickers and I love you very much.