No, no......I shoulda said 'Meet you in FOUR hours!!'

But I said 'two hours......'. What WAS I thinking?!?!
So he visited and looked around.......and I wandered.
First to the park. Great park with absolutely noone in it....of course it was 96 degrees out, most folks had the sense to be inside where it was cool.
*chuckling*
NOT ME!!!!

And then there was the fountain down from the park that caught my attention.....
And VOILE'!!! Union Station. Gosh it was a beautiful old building.......
I'm a sucker for buildings of the old type....of any type? LOL
I peeked inside--but didn't venture too far cuz there was this 'mammoth THING up the hill that I had to investigate......
The outside alone was enough to keep my attention and bring more than a few smiles.
Gotta love the architecture--well, I do anyway. But I think I'm eternally trapped by the passion of that era.

I'd guess there are worse things to be trapped in, eh?

Is there a doctor in the house? ;-)

It's a long ways from here---to up there!
I'm talking a whole LOT of steps and a whole LOT of walking.......
But well worth the journey.......even if it's 96 in the shade....IF you can find shade......
It's an awesome place.
Very sombering--very much a quiet reflection kind of place.
The views were HUGE.
Just the right scale, putting everything in perspective.
I needed to go back to see it in the evening, methinks--it's got awesome lighting to it.
And a powerful view all the way around.
And a whole LOT of steps.

And as for the 'doctor in the house'........

Wellllllllll......actually there WAS a doctor in the house when I finally met up with the Brit for lunch. *blushing*
Apparently the 'doc' was a bit concerned.

"Ma'am.....I'm a doctor and you're acting a bit strange here--are you feeling alright? Do you need some help?"
Oh---now HOW can someone give me a line like that and expect that I'll NOT take it and run?!

"Well, doc--folks tell me I've always been a bit strange acting...LOL.....but I think I'm just overheated and I'll be fine as soon as I get hydrated again. It's 96 degrees out there and I just spent a good two hours having an adventure in the sun......but thanks for askin'! By the way--are you enjoying the conference?"

LOL Yes, he was a conference goer.

And yes, he ate his entire meal watching me from the corner of his eye. *chuckling* Hey, turning bright red and fanning yourself in a eating establishment makes for darn GOOD service!!
I didn't have to wait more than a minute for a refill on that green tea with mango juice!!
;-)

I'm such a good martyr..LOL

Talk about putting colour in MY world!!! ;-)
So he's 'sorry' we didn't get to the zoo.....and he's sorry he 'spent the weekend selfishly'.
I had to pause on that one cuz I wasn't sure if I was suppose to exhonorate him from responsibility or go for the gold! *snicker*

Well, gee--the 'suffering' I go through so the man can enjoy himself!

Yes, I had to 'forsake the zoo'.
*hand to forehead* What a horrid time of it I had with no zoo!
Alas......that left me with having to find alternative 'fun' to have whilst he visited with kindred hobbiests and had a grand time learning and meeting new people and having FUN of his own.

*snickering*
I did manage to tell him "Oh the sacrifices I make for YOUR happiness!!" LOL He shoved my shoulder (cuz he's kinda like that sometimes) and celebrated that *I* had adventures of my own of the GRAND kind!
Crown Center..... Complete with a Friday night outdoor concert and wonderful green tea to drink whilest being entertained all the way around.
AND there was a fountain for the kiddos to play in......ummm....and some adults..... :-)
Fun fountains outside of the mall that had the most FUN shops this 'adult' could ask for. Saturday they even had clowns! It was a mass of red nosed kiddos.....LOL
No, I didn't get a red nose, dangitall!
BUT--I got 'toys' from what had to be the coolest store IN the whole city!! Okay, well, maybe the coolest for grownups who aren't gonna grow up (like me)?
With THE hugest crayola wheel--the photo on top is one angle of the wheel, this is another of the same HUGE wheel.
There were a whole lot of angles....LOL I oughta know, I think I all but laid on the floor to see 'em. :-D
AND they had tubes FILLEd with crayolas---AND a crayola wrapping machine......and every kind of crayon under the sun.
I was in heaven. LOL
Okay, okay.......so the mall had other fun spots. Wonderful toy shops and gift shops and all sorts of nifty places to wander around in and look at.
TOO many, in fact.
I suffered my way through the couple of hours that I was there....
It was a tough job to entertain myself while he spent time having his own brand of fun...but I survived.
And I snagged a (errrrrrr.....) couple crayons, a t-shirt that proudly boasts "colours outside of the lines" AND I got a nifty keeno pirate magnet!

*hand to forehead*
Ohhhhhh the suffering I endure in the name of HIS happiness!
;-)

Note to self(righteous)

There are cases where our ancient enemy, rationalization, has stepped in and has justified conduct which was really wrong.
The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons when we really didn't......

....This odd trait of mind and emotion, this perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one, permeates human affairs from top to bottom.
This subtle and elusive kind of self-righteousness can underlie the smallest act or thought.
Learning daily to spot, admit, and correct these flaws is the essence of character-building and good living.

An honest regret for harms done,
a genuine gratitude for blessings received,
and a willingness to try for better things tomorrow will be the permanent assets we shall seek.

It's always somethin'......LOL
My argument was "I just DID a fourth and fifth step!"

His argument was--"Do it anyway."
I hate it when he has a point.

Am I more 'intolerant' of others?
Yep.
Am I less loving?
umm....can I pass on that question, please?
Are there things I know I could be doing differently?
PASS, PASS, PASS!

"If that's what you believe G-d wants you to be doing........"

Arrrgghhhhhhh.........
I LOATHE when it's put to me that way....mostly....sorta.....

Actually, I rely on things being challenged--and it's not required that I LIKE something to do it.

I looked at my tenth step.
I know how well I can sell pork to the Rabbi, dangit.

Self-righteousness sounds 'icky'.....LOL Can't it just be a case of "oops.........."?
Yeah, yeah.....someone'll be looking at my tenth step and I know what they'll find.......cuz I already know.
Cuz it's there.
LOL I LOOKED FIRST!
(and I'm not ashamed to admit I looked for wrong motives!)
Hmmph?
*hanging head and going to the corner*

I'LL OWN IT!
Geeze........

The innerworkings of step eleven

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace--
That where there is hatred, I may bring love--
That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness--
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony--
That where there is error, I may bring truth--
That where there is doubt, I may bring faith--
That where there is despair, I may bring hope--
That where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted--
To understand, than to be understood--
To love than to be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.
Amen.

Every once in awhile I'm sorely reminded of what it is that I'm working on.

It's not that I'm unfamiliar with that 11th step prayer or the inner workings of 'brotherly love'.
I've learned a whole lot. When I look back to where I was--even I'm amazed at where I am, today.

I'm also clear that I'm not done--I've not arrived. I'm still journeying.

And someone's gonna help me be 'unmad' at Mel Gibson.
Cuz stupider things have come outta my mouth..............

It's a human quality to look for love before giving it.
Thus many of us search intently for signs of love.

Too many of us are searching, rather than loving. Truly loving another means letting go of all expectations. It means full acceptance, even celebration of another's personhood. Not easy, but so rewarding, to ourselves as well as to the one who is the focus of our love.

Darn reading fairies take all the joy out of nurturing and watering and making some unloving thoughts grow!
Hmmmmmmmmmph!

The further adventures of Mikey the chipmunk....

Nope--we haven't purchased poisoned peanuts. LOL NOT that the Brit hasn't tried to 'gingerly' approach that being a possibile solution to what he sees as a problem.

PROBLEM!??!
I don't see any problem here. :-)

So we're sitting on the patio, late evening cuz that's the only time himself can join me without inducing some sort of asthma attack from the humidity.

Over scurried Mikey to the vacinity of the birdie feeder--which met with my happy:
"Helloooooo Mikey!!"
Oh....and his frown....he can be such a grumpy Brit!

Himself went on about poor litle Mikey digging in the flower garden and how we've tried some garlic/dried blood mix which was completely ignored and how we've hug bags of crystalized fox urine (yep......fox urine--we couldn't locate coyote so I went for the next best thing! LOL)...and still we have Mikey the chipmunk returning for his evening meal.

"Well, HELLO.....he's INVITED, dontchaknow!"

That only brought me more grumbles--he's sooooooooooooo cranky sometimes! *rolling eyes*

And that's when I had to slump down IN the chair while I tried hard NOT to laugh--- cuz I'm thinking I'm gonna get in HUGE trouble. Yep....there under the tree was a second chipmunk. Which I just HAD to point out, elsewise himself was gonna think I'd finally lost it completely!

He slumped, but for different reasons I'm thinkin.......
And the pointed at me and told me "No. Don't do it. I know what you're thinking......."

"MIKAELAH!!" I shot straight up in the chair and waved and pointed....... "LOOK, honey..........Mikey has a girlfriend!!"

"No. ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Helllloooooooo Mikaelah!!"

"This will never do........you've named her already......"

"Uh huh.......Honey....did you meet Mikaelah? Mikaelah, meet the 'happy to see Mikey has a girlfriend' Brit!!" (*snicker* ........if you name 'em, they become personal in their relationship to you, dontchaknow! HE knows that....that's what I'm thinkin' he was hoping to avoid.)

Mikey hasn't been in his home watching television and eating popcorn all this time!!
He's got a girlfriend!!!

Himself is not discussing the possibility of relocations via a trap (which is what his next plot is because poisoning Mikey OR Mikaelah is out of the question!).
I say the fox urine is doing it's job.

Yesterday Mikey had a hole in the garden--and he came up within ten inches of that lovely fox urine packet.
Today the hole is mysteriously covered up---gone.......
Now, I checked with himself and he's assured me he didn't cover the hole--he left it as he was 'instructed'.
Which means...............I'm thinking Mikey didn't want some fox crawling in the hole behind him so HE covered it up. *nodding* Mikey's smart like that!
Hey........If I opened my door to fox urine, I'd close the darn door too!

The Brit STILL wants to talk relocation for Mikey AND Mikaelah.
Something about....oh..... 'not believing that Mikey truly IS watching television and eating popcorn at night'..... and questions about 'how many babies chipmunks can have in one go' is driving his brain, apparently.

Mikey wouldn't do that!!
He's a gentleman and a scholar!
They're SHARING the popcorn while they watch television! I'm sure of it!!
:-)

And just for fun........

Cuz obviously I took a photo or two.
More lake.........surprise, surprise!

And the beach--well, it's the beach that we actually walked on--small, but it counts!
*snickering* Iowa driftwood......gimme a break.......LOL It qualifies--sorta.......
And the light pole in the boatramp parking lot. (impressive, eh? LOL)
Actually, I took it for the sign atop that indicated the water level during the flood of 1993.

It got a bit 'deep'......

We went to the LAKE!!

It's not like it's the firstest time we've been--and it's not like it's the only lake in the vicinity...cuz it's not. But it's a nice lake! And it was a really nice day out. AND we rented a little boat to take us around the lake. :-) AND I got to be CAPTAIN!! (for about two minutes--til I got near another little boat and shrieked in panic! LOL)
We saw lots of water. (there's a surprise!)
And we saw woodyhouses! (no woodies--but that's okay cuz they were probably out eatin bugs.....that's what woodies do!)
And we saw turtles. Course, YOU can't see turtles cuz they peeked out and dove under and peeked out again. One of these days I'm gonna catch one of those creatures...LOL At LEAST on camera!
AND we saw mudcranes......at least six. NONE of which would remain posed long enough to get a decent shot, but there you have it--we at least saw them.
It was a nice jaunt around the lake.
Methinks he's glad he didn't listen to me when I suggeseted a paddle boat. LOL
We coulda made it around the lake and back in time for dinner.....Tuesday next week.....LOL

Who knows.......

Sometimes you just start out and see where the fingers take ya--leastwise I do. LOL

Strange thing, being on vacation with no real plans. I'm accustomed to taking time with objectives attatched to them. Ya know, like heading to Boston to see the girl find dry land after nearly 30 days straight on some little boat. THAT was a vacation and a half. This is simply 'time off of work'...leastwise it seems that way. But that's not a 'bad' thing!!

We'll be heading out for Kansas City at the end of the week--maybe then it'll feel like more of a 'vacation'? Dunno.....I do know that the time from work has been welcomed, though the Brit tells me he keeps thinking it's the weekend. LOL I'm not confused yet--I still know what day of the week it is.
And I've been good. I've not rung work once (though they've rung me, most times apologizing for hitting the wrong auto-dial on the phone! HA!!)
I am thinkin' I need to go in for training tomorrow, though. (I can hear the boo-ing and hissing before I even mention it to himself--I'm sure he'll feel justified! I'm also clear *I* feel justified in my thinking as well! If I want the teams to see value in the training, don't ya think that showing up for it from my own vacation would validate it for some folks?--this is my rationalization and noone is allowed to mess with it!) I won't know what tomorrow will bring until it gets here. (which is 'new age' talk for 'I'll show up and you can't stop me!' LOL)

Kansas City was on our agenda before the Brit was offered and took a part time job at a local factory.
Now, I'm not seeing him being the 'factory type'--he assures me he can do all sorts of things.
I'm assuming this is true--this is a man who smeared ketchup on his french toast this morning ('Eggy toast', he tells me) so nothing ought to surprise me!
Perhaps he'll be pleased and entertained. I'm not seeing it, but that's probably my limited vision when it comes to 'thinking outside the box'. I'm pretty convinced I wouldn't enjoy factory work--but he's definitely not ME!

So he'll trot off to do four hours of work tomorrow and I'll eagerly await news of his experiences......and thank G-d that I get to be doing what I do. I might whine about wanting to DO widgits for a living--but I'm pretty convinced that I'm just whining!

In the meantime, it's been a day of memories and reflection for the two of us.
We made a trip to my old hometown--third time he's wandered around in the town where I grew up....it's always an adventure with tales to tell.
It also brought us to talking about the journey he and I made to get to where we are.
It's not one of those 'boring, everyday, girl meets boy' kinda stories. I'm not real sure how unique we truly ARE--but we sure FEEL unique and bizarre.
I KNOW we're bizarre.....LOL
There ARE worse things to be..........I think..............

We figured out that we somehow missed 'the day of his arrival anniversary'.
I'm chalking it up to missing memory cells.
I have black spots on my brain from various escapades during my lifetime--they have to come in handy for something!

It's been three years since the man moved his life from everything and everyone he's ever known to make his home in Iowa.
He missed the date just as I did.
But neither of us missed the magnitude of that decision.
I hope we never let that one get by us, even if we misplace the date--let us not misplace the HUGEness of that decision.

Kansas City on Friday, methinks.
There's a zoo waiting for me there!
And parks and fountains and a botanical garden and--oh yeah.... a national model show he's been anxiously awaiting to attend.
Gives us a reason to get in the Jeep and just get the heck outta Dodge for the weekend!
*chuckling*
I never really NEED a reason........but it sure looks less selfish if I say it's about him......LOLOL

Upgrade/Anniversary

This used to be home to a shoe shop. The owner had been there most of his life, ran the business and knew just about everyone who lived in the area--or their family......cuz that's how long he'd been around.

Posh little eatery now--take a number and stand in line to get in the door. Never had to wait to get in Jim's shoe shop....LOL He'd be shaking his head, no doubt. He drank with my father quite often so I'm feeling confident in actually knowing that he'd be shaking his head in amazement.
The flowers have changed --majorly. I opted for a photo of the flowers that I knew and passed on some exotic lily looking thing. Even the flowers are a bit more posh. What's up with that?! Going back to the town you grew up in is a strange experience......
All of the buildings have been redone--a few opted to save the faces of what made them great buildings to begin with. I remember ooohhhing and ahhhhhing that piece of stained glass a whole lot growing up. It belonged to the reality/insurance folks who lived in that building as long as I can remember.
Of course, it's not a reality/insurance place anymore--but bless the owners hearts for saving the frontage and the stained glass.
And no one--not any of the places we stepped into, had the heart (or the absense of brains) to remove the tin ceilings. These were taken in what used to be the corner bar where (you got it) my father drank quite frequently. The insides have all been changed--it's a very nice bar and grill that serves wonderful battered and seasoned french fries that made the journey worth it!

Actually--even without the battered and seasoned french fries the journey was a worthy one. There were stories to tell and memories to share.
AND--The Brit and I managed to find our anniversary gift to ourselves.

We started the tradition when we got married--we decided to purchase something as a couple versus for each other singularly. It's been a kept tradition..and it's a kinda a cool tradition!

For the last two years we've purchased a steam train for our layout. It's not exactly the 'traditional' kind of wedding anniversary gift, but what's traditional about any of 'the us'?!
This year--yep.......and really nifty train with sounds and smoke!
We're excited!!

I'll haffta get a photo of the cutie!
Cuz like the tin ceiling--it's a keeper.

QOTW 7/30

How many blogs do you read daily? And I mean religiously every day.

Uh oh..... *going to count*

YIKES.....Nine blogs.

And one discussion board.
And one recovery board.

Oh my.....
LOL

At least I get a variety?

Wreath construction 101

Sometimes I pick the worst times to get an artistic streak. It's only 95 actual temperature, 109 with the heat index..... Needless to say, it was uninterrupted work. ;-)
And I ended up with a pretty cool wreath!
That lights up nicely, btw.
Which, of course, hangs over the refinished table (which will have to be 'good enough' cuz it's officially outside and I'm NOT redoing the darn thing again!)
Gotta put the chairs back and we're ready, set--go.
But who's gonna sit outside in this heat beside me?!

Ummmm....me and himself. LOL Cuz he'll feel like he needs to since I made pretties!
He's RIGHT!! *snickering*

Yep--WITH suntea, thank you.
And lots of star ice! :-)

Stay grateful......

In summer I am very glad

We children are so small,

For we can see a thousand things

That men can't see at all.

BEACH TIME!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
Nothing like a good toe-dippin' in the sea after a hard day's work!
:-)

Suppose to be off at two, got outta there a bit after five....and came home to walk on the beach! ;-)

Gotta love vacation!!

Gotta love a fella who delivers!

:-)