Yesterday was Miss Kat's first ever track meet. She ran in three events, the 800 relay, the open 200 and she ran the starting leg in the 800 medley relay. She was eager for us to get there to watch her, but we weren't sure we'd make it. (One of the drawbacks of working out of town is that we might get off work at 5, but we still have a 30 minute drive ahead of us. I realize that many commuters in cities have that amount of time to drive in the same town they live in, but it's a new experience for us.)
Anyway, we hurried as much as we could and got home right before she ran in her first event, the 800 relay. We first saw Miss Kat as she was in her lane, getting ready to run. I told Kev that it was her over there on the other side of the track, but he didn't think I was right...I was.
We stopped and watched her run. she came around the corner, running hard. Kev hollered "Go Kat." She heard him and turned to look. I then yelled "Go Kat, don't look at me." But she did. (After the meet, we had to explain that turning your head affects your time. She thinks were wrong about that, so I'll just leave it to her smarter-than-parents-coach to explain the dynamics of running and turning your head.)
She didn't do bad competing against 7th and 8th graders. But her legs are considerably shorter than most of the other girls we watched run. To stay competitive, she's either going to have to grow, or she's going to have to move those short legs really fast!
A nice surprise for me was seeing friends and people from home at the meet. There was a "Big E" corner with Faye and Frosty, Wes and Rhonda, Gayla and her Kevin, and Chuck and Gloria. And, I immediately felt bad, because I should have called my folks to come to the meet to watch. I'm just not used to being close to family who might be willing and able to watch my kids compete! So, Kev and I stood with the Big E group and visited and watched our little girl.
The funnest part was that everyone in the Big E group asked which house south of town was ours. We both turned to the south, pointed and said "That brown house right over there." Everyone replied, "Oh. Well, that's real convenient, isn't it!" Kev and I had to laugh. We knew their reaction, we've had it ourselves as we drove by the school heading south out of own. You can't see our house when driving from the south, but you can see it looking south from town. Of course, all these folks don't live IN Big E...they all live 15 to 20 miles out, so to be able to see our house from town and from the track meet was a novelty for us all. Hey, when you live or grew up in the boonies, little things like that mean something!
Ok, back to Miss Kat. Her 800 relay team took 2nd place. She didn't place in the open 200, as they combined all ages, 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade. I can't even tell you her time, she didn't stick around to find out. Her medley relay team took 4th place. Not bad. The relay teams have only worked on hand offs once. They need to work on that, it was obvious as they had bad hand offs every race. And, Miss Kat needs to learn how to use starting blocks, and she needs to learn NOT to look at those who are cheering her on. But still, it was her first ever track meet. She learned a lot and she had fun. That's the most important thing; having fun.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Andy came to town with my yesterday to order his tux for his Junior Prom. We're ordering him a 40 long jacket.
40 long...the kid is huge! He's bulking up, getting muscles and ripples in his arms. He's becoming a man in front of my eyes. This day was supposed to still be far, far in the future, not here, now. Where did the time go?
After getting his tux ordered, he drove home alone. And, I worried. I worried because he's still not familiar with Dodge. I worried becasue it's a 30 minute drive home. I worried because it was misting, and he might have an accident. I worried until he called me to tell me he was home and fine.
He's got one year at home with me before he sets out on his own. Will I stop worrying then? Cause right now, I dodn't think I will.
40 long...the kid is huge! He's bulking up, getting muscles and ripples in his arms. He's becoming a man in front of my eyes. This day was supposed to still be far, far in the future, not here, now. Where did the time go?
After getting his tux ordered, he drove home alone. And, I worried. I worried because he's still not familiar with Dodge. I worried becasue it's a 30 minute drive home. I worried because it was misting, and he might have an accident. I worried until he called me to tell me he was home and fine.
He's got one year at home with me before he sets out on his own. Will I stop worrying then? Cause right now, I dodn't think I will.
Friday, March 14, 2008
morning rush hour
Today has not been a very good day.
Kev and I usually get up at 6 a.m. I bathe, he eats and fixes breakfast. Then when I get out of the tub, he takes a shower and I eat. We take turns making sure the kids are up. Then we get our lunch and head out the door by 7:10 a.m.
But today, the alarm didn't go off. We woke up at 6:30. Yikes! So, he hits the shower, and I jump in a couple minutes later. (Hey, my first stop is always the potty...) Taking a shower together would save time, but he was done before I got in, so I just jumped in, showered and got out.
I got my clothes out, got dressed, then put the make-up on and brushed my teeth. We decided that we'd just grab something for breakfast in Dodge. The kids were up, all moving pretty well. Until I decided to change my shirt. When I pulled my shirt off, my lens fell out of my glasses. Great. Found the lens, and fortunately, the screw was still in the frame.
It was until I handed Kev the frames, then it fell out. Great. There we were, crawling on the floor. Me, blind as a bat, wearing my pants and a bra, Kev annoyed but fully dressed. We found the screw and I set about finding the eyeglasses screwdriver.
I've seen it in the past week...somewhere. It was a place that I remember thinking was a good spot for the screwdriver, somewhere easy to remember and someplace logical.
But, wherever it is, it wasn't logical this morning and I couldn't find it. And I looked. I looked in the bedroom, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, in the junk drawer, in the drawers to the end tables...I looked...still wearing my pants and no shirt. (I can't express how much my kids enjoyed that!)
We gave up. Kev tried screwing it back in using the blade on his pocketknife. We were both getting frustrated. Me, because I couldn't see and Kev because this was taking too much time when we were already rushed. Of course, he couldn't get the screw back into it's hole. So, we decided to go ahead and leave for work. I got a shirt on, blindly grabbed my coat and purse and we headed out the door.
But, wait! We didn't have our cellphones! Crap. So I ran back upstairs, grabbed the phones, and out the door we went. I put on my one-lens glasses and tried to see. But, that made me nauseous. I knew going without them completely would make me even sicker--I'm that blind. So, I rode to town with my eyes shut.
we got to town, and stopped by Dillons, the grocery store, to grab two things. Breakfast and an eyeglass repair kit. I went in with one eye closed, just to be able to see enough to navigate. I'm sure the other early morning shoppers were wondering about the strange lady with one eye squinted shut running around the store.
We each got 2 donuts and the kit. Once in the car, Kev tried to put the screw back in the glasses. He dropped the screw. He got mad.
We decided to run to his clinic and then he'd try to find the screw in the seat and we'd go into his office to try screwing it together--over a desk.
It was rough going, and we were both stressed. I was now late for work. But, he finally got it in and I ran to work with my breakfast. Breakfast consisted of the highly healthy and non-fattening donuts and to wash it down...a Dr Pepper.
I can tell you now, that so far, the day hasn't gotten much better. But at least I can see.
Kev and I usually get up at 6 a.m. I bathe, he eats and fixes breakfast. Then when I get out of the tub, he takes a shower and I eat. We take turns making sure the kids are up. Then we get our lunch and head out the door by 7:10 a.m.
But today, the alarm didn't go off. We woke up at 6:30. Yikes! So, he hits the shower, and I jump in a couple minutes later. (Hey, my first stop is always the potty...) Taking a shower together would save time, but he was done before I got in, so I just jumped in, showered and got out.
I got my clothes out, got dressed, then put the make-up on and brushed my teeth. We decided that we'd just grab something for breakfast in Dodge. The kids were up, all moving pretty well. Until I decided to change my shirt. When I pulled my shirt off, my lens fell out of my glasses. Great. Found the lens, and fortunately, the screw was still in the frame.
It was until I handed Kev the frames, then it fell out. Great. There we were, crawling on the floor. Me, blind as a bat, wearing my pants and a bra, Kev annoyed but fully dressed. We found the screw and I set about finding the eyeglasses screwdriver.
I've seen it in the past week...somewhere. It was a place that I remember thinking was a good spot for the screwdriver, somewhere easy to remember and someplace logical.
But, wherever it is, it wasn't logical this morning and I couldn't find it. And I looked. I looked in the bedroom, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, in the junk drawer, in the drawers to the end tables...I looked...still wearing my pants and no shirt. (I can't express how much my kids enjoyed that!)
We gave up. Kev tried screwing it back in using the blade on his pocketknife. We were both getting frustrated. Me, because I couldn't see and Kev because this was taking too much time when we were already rushed. Of course, he couldn't get the screw back into it's hole. So, we decided to go ahead and leave for work. I got a shirt on, blindly grabbed my coat and purse and we headed out the door.
But, wait! We didn't have our cellphones! Crap. So I ran back upstairs, grabbed the phones, and out the door we went. I put on my one-lens glasses and tried to see. But, that made me nauseous. I knew going without them completely would make me even sicker--I'm that blind. So, I rode to town with my eyes shut.
we got to town, and stopped by Dillons, the grocery store, to grab two things. Breakfast and an eyeglass repair kit. I went in with one eye closed, just to be able to see enough to navigate. I'm sure the other early morning shoppers were wondering about the strange lady with one eye squinted shut running around the store.
We each got 2 donuts and the kit. Once in the car, Kev tried to put the screw back in the glasses. He dropped the screw. He got mad.
We decided to run to his clinic and then he'd try to find the screw in the seat and we'd go into his office to try screwing it together--over a desk.
It was rough going, and we were both stressed. I was now late for work. But, he finally got it in and I ran to work with my breakfast. Breakfast consisted of the highly healthy and non-fattening donuts and to wash it down...a Dr Pepper.
I can tell you now, that so far, the day hasn't gotten much better. But at least I can see.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
my poor ring
I wear two rings all the time. The sometimes come off when I'm cooking something really messy, and the sometimes come off when I put on lotion. But, for the most part, I wear them 24/7. One ring is my wedding set. The other ring is a sapphire with two diamond chips on either side that Kev got me for our 5th anniversery. That's about all the jewelry I wear. Both rings mean a great deal to me.
Last night, I took off my sappphire to apply lotion, and it was feeling tight. Once it was off, I immediately saw WHY it felt tight. It was smashed in on one side, smashed in so it looked like a crooked oval. No wonder it felt funny!
On sunday, as I was vacuuming the stairs, it fell on me. I started vacuuming from the top and I guess as I got farther down, I pulled on the hose a little too forcefully and pulled the vacuum down on me.
I pinched my pinky finger, in fact, it has a nice bruise under the nail. I thought that was the only damage, but now, I'm guessing that my poor ring took the brunt of the damage.
Being me, I tried to pry it open again. It didn't work, so I'll have to take it to a jewler.
Sometimes, I'm such a dork.
Last night, I took off my sappphire to apply lotion, and it was feeling tight. Once it was off, I immediately saw WHY it felt tight. It was smashed in on one side, smashed in so it looked like a crooked oval. No wonder it felt funny!
On sunday, as I was vacuuming the stairs, it fell on me. I started vacuuming from the top and I guess as I got farther down, I pulled on the hose a little too forcefully and pulled the vacuum down on me.
I pinched my pinky finger, in fact, it has a nice bruise under the nail. I thought that was the only damage, but now, I'm guessing that my poor ring took the brunt of the damage.
Being me, I tried to pry it open again. It didn't work, so I'll have to take it to a jewler.
Sometimes, I'm such a dork.
Monday, March 03, 2008
weekend work and weekend food
Saturday was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the temperature was in the high 70's and no one had to work. Well, I did have to run to Dodge to take Andy to the eye dr. and had to go to the grocery store...and I had to stop at Orschlens and take another long look at the baby chicks. I resisted the temptation to buy any for another day.
But, Kevin and I ran down to the farm to get some left over lumber that Dad had in the grainery. The grainry looks like a 2 room house. Wooden construction with a tin roof. It was built with my great grandfather and my grandad in the 1920's. They used it to store wheat in. When they stopped using it for grain, it was used to store feed for the farm animals and later for storage. There's old saddles stored there and even my great grandfather's wagon bows--those hooped things that held the canvas top on his covered wagon. Most of the saddles are rotting now, as they are exposed to the weather and have been since the tornado. I keep telling Kev that we should clean out the grainry rooms, put in a wood burning stove, fix the roof, put windows in, and make it our weekend getaway.
He just rolls his eyes and makes a feeble attempt to humor me...as usual.
But it is a neat building and is solid. Anyway, when Grandad had to tear down the house after the tornado, he saved quite a few of the 2 x 4's and stacked them in the grainry. That was the wood that Kev and I picked up on Saturday afternoon. Now, these 2 x 4's are unique. They are old and are probably a hard wood. Possibly oak. Maybe something else, but they are darker than modern 2 x 4's and are much heavier. In fact, they measure a true 2 inches by 4 inches. Today's 2 x 4's are 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches. Don't ask me why...that's a guy question.
So, we loaded up ump-teen 2 x 4's. We had to leave some, as those on the bottom 2 rows had severe termite damage. You noticed it before picking up the boards, as you could see the trails. But, when you picked up a board, you immediately noticed how light they were. No termites were there, we checked. This was old damage.
We also loaded up some bridge timbers and some grainry planks. Grainry planks are 2 x 6 boards that are tongue and grooved on either end, and finished on one side. This would allow them to lock together and keep wheat from getting between the planks. The smooth sides also contributed to smooth flowing grain. We hope to use these for the floor of my chicken house.
There was some modern lumber there also, some 2 x 6's that someone stored there. I think we almost have enough wood to frame the chicken house. My chickens will have a great home made with recycled lumber. Those 2 x 4's, from my grandparents house will probably last longer than I will. You just can't get good solid wood like that these days. It feels a little odd to be using lumber from a house that I loved to build something as utilitarian as a chicken house...but Grandad was nothing if not frugal and he would approve.
*****
One of my online friends gave me an idea of a new way to cook venison steak. I'm always looking for a simple, creative way to cook venison, especially since that's about all the meat we have left at the moment. She said she marinates it and then fries it up with onions and garlic.
On Sunday, I adapted her recipe. I roasted some garlic (a first for me,)then sauteed it in butter with mushrooms and onions. Then, I fried the steak, which I had marinated in Italian dressing. As it was close to being done, I added the garlic and mushrooms. I'm not normally an adventurous cook, so was nervous and anxious to try it out on my family. Kev and Andy declared it "delicious" and "as good as what Bob might cook." High praise indeed. It was good. Not gamey, not tough, flavorful and tender. Miss Kat didn't like it, but she's like "Mikey"; she hates everything! Our meal was topped of with mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese and toasted french bread. No dessert, I ran out of time! Still, I'm proud of myself for finding another way to cook venison that I enjoy eating. It's definitely a meal that we'll have again.
But, Kevin and I ran down to the farm to get some left over lumber that Dad had in the grainery. The grainry looks like a 2 room house. Wooden construction with a tin roof. It was built with my great grandfather and my grandad in the 1920's. They used it to store wheat in. When they stopped using it for grain, it was used to store feed for the farm animals and later for storage. There's old saddles stored there and even my great grandfather's wagon bows--those hooped things that held the canvas top on his covered wagon. Most of the saddles are rotting now, as they are exposed to the weather and have been since the tornado. I keep telling Kev that we should clean out the grainry rooms, put in a wood burning stove, fix the roof, put windows in, and make it our weekend getaway.
He just rolls his eyes and makes a feeble attempt to humor me...as usual.
But it is a neat building and is solid. Anyway, when Grandad had to tear down the house after the tornado, he saved quite a few of the 2 x 4's and stacked them in the grainry. That was the wood that Kev and I picked up on Saturday afternoon. Now, these 2 x 4's are unique. They are old and are probably a hard wood. Possibly oak. Maybe something else, but they are darker than modern 2 x 4's and are much heavier. In fact, they measure a true 2 inches by 4 inches. Today's 2 x 4's are 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches. Don't ask me why...that's a guy question.
So, we loaded up ump-teen 2 x 4's. We had to leave some, as those on the bottom 2 rows had severe termite damage. You noticed it before picking up the boards, as you could see the trails. But, when you picked up a board, you immediately noticed how light they were. No termites were there, we checked. This was old damage.
We also loaded up some bridge timbers and some grainry planks. Grainry planks are 2 x 6 boards that are tongue and grooved on either end, and finished on one side. This would allow them to lock together and keep wheat from getting between the planks. The smooth sides also contributed to smooth flowing grain. We hope to use these for the floor of my chicken house.
There was some modern lumber there also, some 2 x 6's that someone stored there. I think we almost have enough wood to frame the chicken house. My chickens will have a great home made with recycled lumber. Those 2 x 4's, from my grandparents house will probably last longer than I will. You just can't get good solid wood like that these days. It feels a little odd to be using lumber from a house that I loved to build something as utilitarian as a chicken house...but Grandad was nothing if not frugal and he would approve.
*****
One of my online friends gave me an idea of a new way to cook venison steak. I'm always looking for a simple, creative way to cook venison, especially since that's about all the meat we have left at the moment. She said she marinates it and then fries it up with onions and garlic.
On Sunday, I adapted her recipe. I roasted some garlic (a first for me,)then sauteed it in butter with mushrooms and onions. Then, I fried the steak, which I had marinated in Italian dressing. As it was close to being done, I added the garlic and mushrooms. I'm not normally an adventurous cook, so was nervous and anxious to try it out on my family. Kev and Andy declared it "delicious" and "as good as what Bob might cook." High praise indeed. It was good. Not gamey, not tough, flavorful and tender. Miss Kat didn't like it, but she's like "Mikey"; she hates everything! Our meal was topped of with mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese and toasted french bread. No dessert, I ran out of time! Still, I'm proud of myself for finding another way to cook venison that I enjoy eating. It's definitely a meal that we'll have again.
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