chicken king

It's County Fair time!

Now that we are back in the Fin, I get to work the MK booth at our county fair. I worked this morning and it was hotttt. It was also "Senior Day" so most of the leads I have are for older women. So many of them were so sweet, I can't wait to call them and be their Mary Kay lady :)

Best part: This morning was the 4-H poultry judging. I saw a high school senior, who looked like he was way too cool, proudly wearing his "Hancock County 2007 Poultry King" sash. It was green with sparkly gold letters. Hee Hee!

are you done yet?

I just brought in an absolute harvest from my tiny little veggie patch.

11 cucumbers
3 brandy wine tomatoes
2 green peppers
3 pints of cherry tomatoes

and there are 7 watermelons ripening

When we planted the garden I picked plants that I love to eat. Then I became pregnant. I now have the worst aversion to tomatoes and cucumbers.

I think the garden fairy will be leaving veggies on my neighbor's steps!

bridge walk!

It's been 20 years since my family walked the Mackinaw Bridge on Labor Day. So we decided that we're doing it this year:)

I was seven when I walked, Mason was almost 4 and he rode the whole five miles on my dad's shoulders, and Susie was an infant (8 months) and rode in the baby backpack. I have two memories from that walk: I really wanted to swim in the lake, and I could see Mason's Mickey Mouse underwear.

We are driving to Troy Saturday morning, and driving with my parents to Mackinaw City. We're going to have lunch at Cunningham's, because we always have lunch there. And then we'll drop our stuff in St. Ignace and go to the Sault for the afternoon. We want to eat dinner at the Antler's - because we always tell stories about eating there as kids, and it's time Jocko sees the giant moose head and the Bunyan Burgers for himself. We're also going to the Locks, because they're cool, and Jocko has never been there (I was shocked by this - I thought every young Michigander had to see the locks by the time they graduated from high school).

Sunday we're hanging out on Mackinac Island, along with about a million other tourists. I have never been more excited for fudge. And Monday is the Bridge Walk. Susie and I might not walk - we may just decide it is too hot, and go shopping instead. And then on Tuesday we'll head home.

I'm so excited!

out to dry

The river has receded and we were able to go downtown for breakfast this morning. J's office is still closed, but he was able to pick up his laptop and has been hiding in MY office and catching up :) The HVAC system at his building is out, and the security guards told him that if he didn't check out in 20 minuted they were going in after him - and they weren't kidding. He said it was incredibly hot and humid in the building, he was sweating when he came out to the car.

Yesterday we tried to go downtown, but the river was still way too high - we saw a few cars brave the water, but we weren't foolish enough to try it. I did take some pictures, but they don't look like much unless you know what the area looked like before the river rose.

What I really wanted to see was our old house. It was downtown, just a few blocks from J's office, and the news crews had been filming from nearby. That house was not in a flood plane, I am sure no one had flood insurance. We passed by the house today and the curb was full of soaked items. We recognized a few of the things as an old workbench from the basement, and some old cabinets that were hanging above the workbench. Then there were a lot of wet boxes, but no carpeting because we ripped it all out and fixed the wood floors when we lived there. The street looked like Sanford and Son had moved in. J and I couldn't stop talking about what we would be dealing with if he wasn't transferred a few years ago, I'm sure we would have still been in that house.

Nothing else has been going on. We've been contacting local friends to see if anyone needs any help. We helped some neighbors disinfect toys that were in the basement and J helped carry some wet carpet and padding out to the curb. That's the extent of damage we've seen in our neighborhood and among our friends.

wanted: one ark

Our county is underwater. We are safe and sound in our home, but J is home for the day because the Big M is closed. It is closed because there is 5 feet of standing water on Main St.

Here comes the craziest part - the Blanchard River, which runs right through downtown and snakes through the rest of the city, is not expected to crest until 8pm TOMORROW. I cannot begin to imagine how high it will be.

We aren't supposed to drive today, but I need milk, plus I really want to take some pictures, so we're going to venture out and I might have some exciting shots for you. Maybe. We'll see if the police send us back home.

ETA:
The river is now scheduled to crest this afternoon, and the word on the street is that our power and water will be going out shortly. J's office will be closed tomorrow, and they will be assessing the need for essential personnel for Fri - although they'll most likely be working from remote locations. We're going to take some pictures in our subdivision this afternoon - a few of the streets are really high, and some of the backyards have turned into lakes. But we are fine, and Zippy is completely unaffected.

i want, i want, i want!

* a croissant, a really fresh and yummy one
* a big cup of hot cocoa, with a huge pile of whipped cream
* chocolate dipped strawberries
* french toast

I'm really having a bowl of frosted mini wheats.

ETA: The craving for a croissant became a monster. The monster actually climbed into my car, drove to Panera and purchased a delightful croissant. I was able to restrain the monster on the way home and enjoyed the carbi-goodness at home.

i wonder...

Does an Orange County Choppers bumper sticker, on the rear window of your sea foam green, Town&Country minivan, make you tough?

odors

I know it's just a part of being pregnant, but this heightened sense of smell is really distracting. I seem to have an odor of the week. Last week it was baby poop, nope, no babies in my house, and I still could smell it, blech. The week before it was asphalt - J says that's probably because of the recently finished roof, but he couldn't smell it. And this week the smell is ham. Not just any old ham, I feel that this is the smell of lunch meat that you let sit in the fridge too long and I can smell it everywhere! But it kind of makes me think of Hamwinkies.

the great return

I'm back. Let's see, since I last blogged Mel and Kobe came to hang out for a few days, my garden has been going crazy, I went to Dallas for a week for MK, and I found out I'm pregnant.

Yes, you read that right. It only took 4 years, but in March we should have a little bundle. And Jocko and I are super excited :)

I was freaking out, because I have no idea what is "normal" and my doctor ordered an ultrasound to make sure I was still pregnant. Of course I was, and we even got to see the little heartbeat, and there's a fuzzy picture of a peanut on my chalkboard, so that's what we're calling baby until it's here - Peanut:)

sometimes...

...living in an agricultural county has its benefits.

Picked this morning mmmmmmmmmmm.

aha!

I grabbed a clean dishrag out of the drawer yesterday and found a petrified chunk of cheese attached. The cheese became embedded in the dishrag, and when it was laundered a chunk came off and landed in the lint trap. Now, that makes sense.

I think it's time for new dishrags.

the lint trap

Today, in the lint trap, I found a hard, orange blob. Upon further inspection I realized it is/was cheddar cheese.

I don't understand.

i was going to...

...post pictures of my garden - I have three baby tomatoes!
...post a picture of my new garden-gnome entrance mat - I bought it at Targ&t yesterday when my little sister came to hang out with me :)
...take down and put away the tent that was drying in my backyard - it's been there for a few days, it was super dirty and wet after camping.
...grill hot dogs for dinner.

But it's raining. :(

Oh well - Happy Friday!

hooray!

My mom is coming to spend the night! She'll be working in Columbus tomorrow and is coming for tonight and tomorrow night - I love it when she comes over :)

In other news - my birthday was Sunday, J and I chilled out - we had been to a crayfish boil on Sat and need to recuperate, and eat ten tons of food! I'm getting an i-pod for my birthday, but I'm a bit worried about using it with our PC. Any thoughts?

Oh, one more hooray!, I'm going camping this weekend with Meris, Al and Adrienne. it's our annual A-Team Extravaganza. This year we are going to Pittsburgh, to camp at Ohiopyle, and visit Falling Water, the Frank Lloyd Wright house. I am too pumped!

emma

Emma is my buddy (she will tell you that I am her *best* friend). I babysat for her before we moved to Indy, and her mom, Holly, is my very best friend in the Fin. Emma is five and I took her to kindergarten evaluation - she thought this was extra special because I wrapped up a pair of froggy sunglasses for her to open - which she wouldn't take off for the rest of the day.

A few weeks ago she came to spend the evening with us, and she drew me this picture.
Emma is on the right, playing with Zippy - see Zippy's cage? The oval is Zippy's tube and the circle is her food bowl. I am on the left, and I'm cooking - you can tell because of the circles. And Jocko is watching ESPN, illustrated by a box with three happy faces (duh!).

Jocko loves this picture because Emma gave him hair :)

yee-haw

I woke up very early this morning (ok, so maybe it wasn't really early - but it was early for me) and I thought "Hmmmm, I am sick of bananas for breakfast. I'm hitting the drive-thru." I tried the cinnamon roll thing at McD's - yeah, not so good. And I tried the iced coffee - ok, but no 'bucks. But all was not lost, because I also ordered a hashbrown (I was thinking ahead), oh fried-potato-goodness, how I love you!

At any rate, the combination of the early morning, caffeine, and an enormous amount of refined carbohydrates has me more than a little giddy.

Hee, hee!

monday, monday

Let's see... today I have, cleaned, cleaned and cleaned. Why? Because we worked outside all weekend, so nothing was done inside, and we generated a metric ton of dirty laundry. The garden beds around the house are looking good, some of the plants needed to be cleaned up, and a nice layer of mulch was laid. Now it stinks like mulch (I find that it smells a bit vinegar-y), but it looks purtty!

We also picked a company to replace the roof, and I picked the roof color. We decided to replace and enlarge the skylight in the entryway, and to add a skylight to our bathroom. We also bought everything we need to replace the gutter behind our garage, as it is currently MIA. Unfortunately that project won't be completed until the roof is replaced, and right now it looks like the roof will be scheduled for August. Why can't they just squeeze us in this weekend? We have a ranch, they won't even need extension ladders.

Oh, my favorite part of the weekend - I bought some vegetables to plant in my "farm." A few tomato plants of varying sizes, sweet peppers, watermelon, and some seeds. And we bought manure and peat to help the soil :) The pants aren't in the ground yet, because we are still under frost-advisory until this coming weekend. So everyday I get to haul my little plants out to the deck and give them water and love. I promise to take pictures once the farm is set up.

Happy Monday!

erika = awesome

Erika has finally named my blog :)

I will be sending her good vibes all day long, in acknowledgement of her completion of the daunting-task-that-is-naming-the-blog. Hmm that just might be a run-on sentence. OH well.

Jubilation! The blog is named!

one year

Last year May 1 fell on a Monday, it was also the day of my first post; so today is my blogiversary. Hooray!

This is the first time I've ever successfully kept a record of my life for more than 3 weeks, and now I am addicted. So, just as a quick recap, here are the highlights of the past year:

* one house bought, one house sold
* 15 pounds lost and re-gained :(
* trips to Dallas, Muskegon, Zeeland, Houghton (yes, you are still waiting on pictures), Pittsburgh, Maine, Troy
* one visit from Mel
* five wedding receptions
* one list of 101 things-to-do that needs to be posted
* one million hours spent catching up with dear friends

I'm so glad we're all blogging - I love our virtual couch :)

kristin

I see you commenting on blogs here and there. But I see no blog of your own. I think this calls for some pin-number action.

So Kristin, PIN NUMBER, make a blog :)