Happy Friggin' Friday everybody!!!

I don't know about all of you, but this Friday could not have come too fast.

It's nothing personal against Friday, it's not Friday's fault. I mean, it's not like Friday was dragging it's heels, not wanting to arrive.

No, the blame should rest on the shoulders of the rest of the week. Particularly Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday and Thursday have it out for me. I've, evidently, done something to tick them off. Because, whew doggie!, were they a b*tch.

But, that's all behind us now...Friday has come to the rescue!

The picture I'm posting today has nothing to do with Friday...or Wednesday, or Thursday for that matter. Nope, it's just a little snapshot I took while shopping with Inny Saturday afternoon/evening.

We hit every mall in the area I think.

No...wait....I think we missed one. Drat!

Anyway!

As we were walking around one of our outdoor malls, we walked past a store that was getting ready to open it's doors..but wasn't quite ready yet.

We literally walked by, looked inside....and then about 40 or so feet away, we both looked at each other...turned around and went back.

Take notice, the rest of the store is stocked and ready for the grand opening. But, I think they missed one important step!



Even the dog was naked.

What? :-)

Weekend Update: You Scream, I Scream, We all Scream for ICE CREAM!!!!

Friday night, we met downtown for tacos, and then back to our place to play cards.


I took some tulips from our yard. It was a gorgeous day, and I thought I'd bring some spring with me. :-)

Before we left, Nat brought out some ice cream for us to try.

Mmmmm...ice cream!!


This chocolate is rea.......

Whoah! Wait a second! What's the other flavor?


Tom seems to like it.


My reaction was a bit different.


Habanero chocolate ice cream. Not for the faint of heart. :-)

(look at Danny in the background of that last pic - giggle)

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: April showers bring.....

We have these tulips that come up in the strangest of places at our house. I'm still, after three years, trying to figure out the landscaping "plan" the crazy lady that lived at our house before us was using. But....some of the flowers that spring up here and there (there are new ones every year!!) can't help but make me stop and look. Such awesome beauty in some of the weirdest places. :-)

How can you resist.....

...this face???



Isaac is still sporting his winter "do".

Just when we think we'll give him a haircut, the weather dips down, and we hold off.

He doesn't seem to mind either way. :-)

Weekend Update: A bird in the hand is worth......

Last Saturday (April 17th to be exact) the "boys" and I spent the day eating, shopping and climbing trees.

Yep, you heard me, climbing trees.

Why?

Because, after we met for lunch, we did some shopping, then we all ended up back at casa de Mot and Nej.


We cleaned "spring" off the deck table, gathered up the playing cards, and headed outside. No WAY that "70 degree, almost no wind, even fewer bugs day" was going to pass by with us hanging out inside!!!!!

Nuh uh!

After a number of hands of canasta....Mot got up and walked into our side lot.

The boys followed.

I ran inside to get the camera. :-)

Why?

Because when I looked up, this is what I saw.


What are they looking at?


Look! It's right there, whatever it is!!!


Yup, there it is. One of Sam's retrieving dummy's. Apparently Mot had thrown it up in the tree earlier that day...and his OCD just couldn't let it stay.


"My OCD?? What ever do you mean?"

Now, do you think we all decided to wait until the thing came down on it's own?

Heck NO!!!

"Mot, there's a volleyball in the garage, that shouldn't get stuck."


"Oh sweet...I'll try that."


"Hmmmmm......now what?"

"I know! The crazy lady that lived in your house before you has pieces of rebar stuck in the ground EVERYWHERE. I'll throw up one of those!! It's plenty heavy to knock stuff out and not get stuck."


"Here we go!!!"


"I can't believe that stuck!!!!"

"There's a t-post stuck in your garden. It's twice as heavy as that rebar. No WAY it will get stuck, and it's heavy enough to knock the rebar down."




"Hmmmm...now what?"

Well......






"Mot!!!!!!! Your turn!!!"



"Thank goodness THAT didn't stick! But.....what about the other stuff still up there?"


"I'm getting more rebar!!!"


Success!!!!!

Do you see it there laying in the yard behind him?? The "dummy" that started it all!!!!

But...in case you've lost count....there is still a volleyball, a t-post, and 3 pieces of rebar in our neighbors tree.

Oh yeah....the tree is on the edge of property...it's not even ours. (giggle)


Apparently, all the excitement was too much for poor Sam. :-)

At last check, the volleyball has disappeared from the tree....but isn't in the yard. I think the neighbor lady (who I GUARANTEE was watching from a window somewhere in her house) saw that it fell and confiscated it. :-)

Weekend Update: Going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come...

Well...actually Overland Park...but that's close enough, right?

Last weekend was the annual regional Sweet Adeline's competition.

I'm a Sweet Adeline. Did you know that?

I purposefully get up in front of people and sing....with a group of others.

I started singing in the Lincoln, NE chorus while doing my college internship. The auditor our company hired introduced me to someone else who worked at my company (that I hadn't met yet). She sang in the chorus in Lincoln, and I started going along.

Because I lived 1 hour north of Omaha, and Lincoln was another hour south of Omaha....I just couldn't keep it up very long. Driving that far on a Tuesday night....paying for the gas money and dues and such.....it wasn't in my "I'm only an intern and am working here for free...and free doesn't pay the bills" budget.

A number of years later.....I started singing with the Omaha chorus. It was before my shoulder surgery, and besides going home and going to work, I really didn't have much of a social life....and wasn't able to do allot of the things I really wanted to. (try kayaking, biking, shooting, etc...with a bum shoulder...doesn't work so well)

Anyway...a couple of years ago, I stopped singing with the chorus. It takes up quite a bit of time....and I wanted to concentrate more on my other 2.3 million hobbies. I enjoyed singing with them so much....but it was time to take a break.

Even though I stopped singing with the chorus, I continued to sing with my quartet.

Every year, choruses and quartets from around the region compete to see who gets to represent the region at international competition. Our regional bracket is held at the Overland Park Convention Center, in Overland Park Kansas.

I left on my drive south after work.


A little road fuel! :-)


Daniel (our GPS) gets bored driving to Kansas from our place. Notice how straight (i.e. boring) the road is. :-(


Hello! My name is Nej...and I'm bored.

Friday was a pretty busy day. Not much time for pictures. :-) We ate breakfast, went down to the convention center for the competition briefing....then came back up to the rooms. The girls went out to eat, and I stayed in.

Did a little relaxing, a little last minute note cramming.....



The competition was that evening. We placed 8th! In the top 10!!!

To say we were happy was an understatement. Especially when you factor in who we were competing against, and how new of a group we are!!!! :-)


The buffet in our room was FULL of gifts from Omaha and Lincoln chorus members. The support we get from them is wonderful!!!

The next morning, I got up and went to the gym. After I got back and showered, I took off again, this time headed for the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens.

They were hosting a landscape photography class I had registered to take.

After the class, I wondered the grounds for a little bit.

About 15 minutes into my walk, I realized that we were a little more south than Omaha....and things are starting to bloom.

And I was without my allergy medicine. So, I quickly walked back to the car. Will have to visit again when the place is in full swing!!!!! :-)

















On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at Half Price Books (of course), and Starbucks (again). :-)

I made it back in time to watch the Omaha and Lincoln choruses perform. They did soooo well! Lincoln placed 2nd in the small chorus division. Omaha placed 1st in the mid sized chorus division, and 2nd overall.

After the competition ended, I went out to eat with the Omaha chorus....then headed home.

The drive home took forever, it seemed, but it was nice to sleep in my own bed.

Weekend Update: Our newest Annie Oakley

My niece's birthday is on April Fool's Day. 8 years ago, my brother-in-law dropped my nephew off at the door saying they were headed to the hospital. I thought he was kidding. I mean, it WAS April Fools.

:-)

I'm glad they weren't. She's one heck of a kid! They both are!

A number of years ago, Mot was cleaning a turkey he'd shot earlier in the day. Lauren came down to our house to see what was going on. For as young as she was, there was no fear in walking right up to that dead turkey to get a closer look.

Later that night, we smoked the bird, and invited my sis and family down for dinner. As we're eating, Lauren says "is this Tom turkey?"

She had it all figured out!

A year later, Mot and Lauren were driving somewhere. Mot asked her if she wanted to go hunting with him when she grew up. She was excited. They passed a field full of snow geese, and he told her that those birds were something they'd be hunting.

She thought about it a minute, and told him she didn't want to. When he asked why, she said "because I think I want to be a snow geese when I grow up."

Who can argue with that logic?

Fast forward to the beginning of 2010. Lauren and Inny come over to our house so the new puppies can play. Lauren, very specifically, said she had something she wanted to talk to Uncle Mot about.

Turns out she wants to go hunting, and wanted to make the request official.

Fast forward to the 2nd of April. Mot and I took her out for her birthday. We first went to Cabelas - she told us her camo sweatshirt was too small....so we needed to get her some more. Then, we went to his parents property so she could shoot a shotgun and rifle for the first time.

Happy birthday uncle Mot and aunt Nej style. :-)

The shotgun intimidated her after that first shot...but she's still excited to try it again.

The rifle, on the other hand, was right up her alley. The kid's a damn fine shot!!!








(must stay hydrated...it was windier than heck that day!)


Lauren standing by all the broken clays she was shooting at. Of all the shots she took, she only missed one. Not too shabby!



After we finished shooting, Mot's dad took her for a quick spin around the property.





She slept on the way back to her house. It was a full afternoon.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Our baby is growing up!

Nearly 6 months old now.


Growing like a horse.


Stubborn as we are.


Smart as heck.


Very protective.


But still all puppy!

What a goof!

(she was running like heck when I took this picture...the minute she saw me...she had to look over and smile for the camera....she's a ham!)