Casey had basketball practice Saturday and Keith & I went to watch. Actually it was a scrimage. Her team won both games they played. She is a really good player, always on the move. She is getting so she doesn't want her picture taken, but I got a good one. Chrisy and Cayla were there and Cayla is always ready to have her picture taken! She got a little bored when the second game started and she and Grandpa went and did a little grocery shopping. Casey will play at the half time of the varsity high school game Wednesday (last night) but the roads were so bad and Keith wasn't home, so I didn't go, but I called and told her I would go to the next one.

Flat Tire

Well, Thursday was a really busy day at work. I usually get off work at 4 on Thursday, but I was there until 5:15 and had to get home, feed the chickens, and back to Etta's for dominos club at 6. As I pulled out of my parking space at work, I had the radio on but the car seemed to be making a noise, so I shut off the radio and the thump, thump made me realize I had a flat tire. Of course Keith was in Toledo. First I called Etta to let her know I would be late and then planned to call AAA. She told me to call Mike that he was in Bryan and would help me. I called and he said he could be there in half an hour and I said I would call AAA and see if they could get there sooner. But, it would take them an hour so I called Mike and asked if he minded. He said he would come, I tried to call AAA to cancel the call, but my cell phone wouldn't work so I went into the pizza shop (I was in their parking lot) and asked to use their phone. I must have dialed wrong, because I got a sex call!!! I hung up right away and told them if there was a charge for that to let me know. Their phone rang and it was the sex call!!! The young girl working there listened awhile and laughed before she hung up! Anyway, I got ahold of AAA and canceled the call and Mike got there. It was getting dark, so we decided he would just give me a ride home, and I left the car there with the pizza shop's permission and would come back and take care of it in the morning. Keith said to just call AAA that's what we pay for. So Mike & Etta, Keith & I met for breakfast and then Etta took me down to Zandra's for my haircut and then to Bryan. I called AAA. They came and changed the tire. I talked to Keith on the phone and the guy recommended that I at least by two new tires, the other one in front was dry rot too. So Keith had me take it to Wal-Mart to get four new tires. He talked to them on the phone, because I don't know anything about tires. Anyway, Etta had work to do at the shop and I did not want to stay at Wal-Mart for three hours, so I asked her to take me to JoAnn's. They were to call me when they were done. Over four hours later, I called and they said oh they had been done for probably an hour!! Anyway, JoAnn wanted me to stay for supper, so I called Keith and he and Mike came when they got home from Toledo and we went out for supper. Etta had went to some play in Fort Wayne. Anyway, I left home at 7:30 am and didn't get home till around ten pm. Wasn't really how I planned to spend my day off and it was pretty expensive, but it was good to spend some time with JoAnn.

I am back in my office!!!

It is so great to be back in my office! I have been in a cramped little space in the main library while the water damage was repaired, new carpet laid, walls painted and new ceiling tile installed. It just feels so good to be back. Today was my first full day in my office. I went a little crazy taking pictures, and some are not so good. My camera flash seems to reflect on everything. I really like the "coffee bean" wall. The loon picture above the chair pulls the blue from my chairs and the brown from the wall together. Just wanted to share the pictures.

Cold-but Beautiful

I took this picture yesterday from my bedroom window. It is really beautiful outside. But I will enjoy it from the inside. It was 15 degrees below zero this morning with a windchill of 28 below!!

Water Damage at Work

After Kevin and Sarah left Sunday, I asked Keith to take me over to the library where I work. The director had called to let me know that the ice melting on the roof had no where to go and the drain froze up so it came through the roof into our offices. The first picture is of the hallway where all the ceiling tile got soaked and fell in. The next two are of my office. Only one or two ceiling tiles fell in, but water ran down my one wall and the carpet was soaked and a lot of the papers on my desk were ruined by water. The last picture is of what you saw when you stepped off the elevator. The ceiling tile in the lobby fell in and they had put buckets everywere to catch the leaks. All the ceiling tile needed to be removed and all the carpet torn up. The smell was awful. We had to move all the offices to the main library (very crowded). We had to pack up all of our things and empty all the desks so that they could tear up the carpet. Just what I needed with end of year, W2s, 1099's etc. All things considered things are going pretty well. They came in Thursday and sprayed for mold. Friday they did some painting. While it was torn up, I had them paint one of my walls as an accent. (Coffee Bean). They will be starting to lay the new carpet Monday and hopefully they will get the new ceiling tile in so that we can move back in sometime next week. This happened in the middle of an over $400,000 project on the first floor. Some of the water went through and stained the new ceiling tile and freshly painted walls downstairs, but this has all been repaired. I will take my camera to work again and take some pictures of my office when I get moved back in.

Sunday December 28, 2009

As Kevin mentioned in my last post, they started home the day after the Whitman Christmas. Here are some pictures of Libby with Grandpa and Libby with me we took that morning. Also one of Libby at the table while we had lunch before they left. We really hated to see them go home. It was a fun visit getting to know Libby some more. She grows so much and changes so much between visits. But we are lucky compared to Sarah's Dad and Candy.

Whitman Christmas & Four Generation

These are pictures taken at the Whitman Family Christmas December 27th. First is the four generation picture of Keith's mother, Keith, Kevin and Libby. Next is a picture of cousin Kraig holding Libby, then a cute picture of Chloe (love her haircut) and Aunt Christy holding Libby.

We had a good time there and lots of good food. Kevin and Sarah went home that afternoon. We had a fun visit with them. Kurt's left a little earlier than we did as Cayla had to go to her best friend's birthday party.

Our Christmas with our family

I am posting quite a few pictures from our Christmas. The first is of Kevin helping Libby open one of her gifts as Chloe and Cayla wait patiently to open one of theirs. There is one of Kraig and Casey clowning around. One of me with Libby and Kraig, one of Sarah with Libby, one of Libby as our centerpiece with Kurt, Kevin, Keith and Christy, and one of Aunt Christy with Libby. We had a wonderful Christmas with our family. It was a fun time of togetherness and we went through some of my scrapbooks and reviewed our Christmas together since 1995. (That's all I have done so far) It was amazing to see how our family changed every year. We are truly blessed to have each other. Happy New Year to you all. I will try to post the Whitman Christmas tomorrow.

Christmas Day 2008-Gingerbread House!

Keith & I stayed home Christmas Day and had a relaxing holiday together. In the afternoon, Kurt called and they stopped in on their way home from her Grandma Mavis's. They had been without electricity for awhile the day before and the kids made us a gingerbread house! It is really cute and yummy. I am posting pictures of it and one with the kids. I will try to post something everyday to get caught up, but this is really the busiest time of the year for me at work and doing the cemetery bookwork. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

Great Job Kraig

I went to Kraig's basketball game last night in Butler. Kraig made two baskets during the game. His team is improving with every game. I will post pictures later. He has his last game tonight in Auburn and I will be going. The first picture is of Kraig shooting one of the baskets that he made. I was a little late and you can't see the ball, but take my word for it, he made that basket. The next picture is of him dribbling the ball down the court and the last is of the coach and his team. His is seated on the far right.

Chicken Update

Keith got home from Zanesville just before I got home from dominos last night. The chicken was in the coop before I got home. He said he just called "Mildred" and she went in, but I'm not buying it!!

Not a very good chicken catcher

Well, I thought you might all need a laugh today. Picture this......I was all ready to leave for work this morning and thought I better go out and check the chickens and give them fresh water. I had my dress coat on and went to put my snow boots on. One was wet inside, so I put one on and one of Keith's (size 14) boots on. I didn't want to get my feet wet as we have pretty deep snow in the back yard. Well, I went out and opened the door on the coop thinking they were all out in the fenced in area. I should have counted because when I opened the door, out ran a hen. Here I am in two size boots!! Anyway I went and got the net Keith uses to catch them (kinda like a fish landing net) Here I am running around the backyard trying to catch the hen. Without much luck I am afraid to say. I tried for over half an hour. Then I went in and called work to explain why I was late. They said it was a very original excuse!! I went back out and tried again. Then gave up, called Keith and went to work. Maybe she will be hungry and more cooperative when I get home. Wish someone would have been there with a video camera. We could have made $10,000 on Funniest Home Videos!!!

Kraig's basketball game December 3rd

These are pictures from Kraig's basketball game at Garrett, Indiana. I rode over with Kurt's family. In the first picture, Kraig is stealing the ball, in the second, he has the ball (he is #52) and in the last he is guarding his man. The teamwork continues to improve. They won their first three games, but unfortunatley lost this one 33 to 21.

Thursday I had a really sore throat and did not go to work or even get out of bed. Friday I don't work, but only went to town to get Mom some groceries and came back home and really took it easy. Saturday I went with Etta to the Craft Show at the Fairview school and it was the library Christmas Party at the country club. Had a nice time. Keith auctioned off baskets for the United Way at the party and we made almost $600 to donate. Today (Sunday) Keith left at 1:30 to go to the auction site in Zanesville. A five hour drive. I called Kevin and talked to him after I got done wrapping Christmas gifts. Then Kurt and his family came over and I talked them into staying for supper so I didn't have to eat alone. They went home around 7:30 and I called Keith at 9. I think I am ready for bed so I will talk to you all later.

Hen's first egg??

Keith brought this little egg in the other day. We have been getting three eggs almost every day and we have five hens. They have a pale green shell as they are Americana chickens. So one of the other two must have just started laying and this was it's first effort. It is so small only a little bigger than a robin's egg. We had a good laugh about it. Haven't decided how to cook it yet!!

Visit Kevin's & Kraig's Basketball Game

I went to Kevin & Sarah's Friday. We had a busy fun day. When I got there it was around noon, so we went out to eat and then shopping for a Christmas tree. We took the tree home and it was time for Libby to eat, so Sarah fed Libby and Kevin and I went to Target shopping. He had some shopping to do for his family. Then we went home and Sarah got to go shopping by herself. Kevin made carmel corn for a surprise for her while she was gone. Then we ate supper, watched movies and ate carmel corn. In the morning, they decorated their tree. I had a great time. I went home after lunch so that they could have some time together this weekend. Keith and Kurt had tables at the gun show in Fort Wayne this weekend, so we were both spending time with our sons.

Kraig had a basketball game at Butler tonight. They won 26 to 22. It was a good game and I was impressed at how well the team handled the ball. Kraig played most of the game. I am looking forward to the next game. He really hussles out there on the floor.

Kraig got his first deer

Youth season for muzzle loaders for deer started yesterday. Kurt and Kraig came out and went hunting, but no luck even though they saw 16 Kraig couldn't get a good shot and with a muzzle loader you only get one shot. They came back this morning. About 8:20 Keith & I heard a gun shot. In less than 5 minutes, Kraig called and asked me to come out and bring my camera. We walked back to the woods and took some pictures. He had also called Christy and she and the girls were soon here. They had to go check in the deer and I hurried and printed some pictures for them. I had been scrapbooking all weekend and my color ink cartridge wasn't too good. The girls stayed here while they checked in the deer. After they left, Keith & I went to Defiance as we needed a new pressure tank for the well. It would kick in way too often. I also picked up a color cartridge at Office Max. We got back around two and Keith went to work in the basement and I went to work on supper. I printed and 8 x 10 of Kraig and his deer, matted it and framed it before they got here. I think he really liked it. I also printed one for him to take to school and for Kurt's and each of us to take to work tomorrow. We had invited Kurt's for early Thanksgiving. I fixed roast beef, potatoes, onions and carrots, deviled eggs, tossed salad, veggies and dip and jello. We had chocolate ice cream cake for dessert. We had a fun evening and I laughed so hard I cried at some of the stories Kurt & Christy were telling. By the way, the deer was a button buck.

Short Visit With Kevin

Last night we went to see Kevin. He is working in a bank in Angola for a couple days doing some training for them. Keith & I went to his motel and picked him up. Then tried to decide where to eat. Kevin had some coupons for a Mexican place across town but we ended up just down the road from his motel at what used to be the Herb Garden and is now Timbucktoo's. The food was good and the company even better. Then we went to the outlet mall and did a little shopping. Got a few things for Christmas. Keith had bought a pie today at Sauders in Archbold and brought it along. I took some plates and silverware and we went back to Kevin's and had a piece of pie, coffee and some more conversation. We hated to leave, but all had an early day ahead of us. Kevin will be going back home tomorrow afternoon. Before we left home to go, I threw my camera in my purse and planned to get some pictures, but never thought of it again until this morning when I got my car keys out of my purse! So no pictures. Kraig had a basketball game in Albion last night at 5 p.m. but there was no way we could do both. We will make his next game December 1st. I talked to Kurt yesterday and he told me Kraig is the captain of the basketball team. Congratulations Kraig. We are always proud of you!!

Happy Birthday Chloe (8) and Mom (95)

Sunday was my Mother's 95th birghday and my granddaughter, Chloe's, 8th birthday. It was also Christy's parent's 40th wedding anniversary. Busy day. I went to church with my mother. My brothers, Byron and Denny, and my sister, Kay, two of her kids, Pat & Mark were also at church. The whole church sang Happy Birthday to her. After church, I took my Mom to Rita's for lunch. Keith went to his mothers as Linda, Tonnya, Courtney and Alexis were there. I went after lunch. They were just sitting down to lunch and Tom & Mary were there too. I had already eaten, but had a little beef and noodles and some homemade applesauce. Then Keith & I went to Kurt's for cake and ice cream to help Chloe celebrate her birthday. One of the things we got her was a Cloe Bratz doll. I think she liked it. We stopped at the chinese place in Butler on the way home and ate supper. When we got home it was really dark and I said how late is it? It felt like 10 or 11. It was 6!!! We were pooped. I don't like these short days. Go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. Kraig has his first basketball game tonight, but Keith has an auction and I have a Business Women's meeting. We will try to make most of his games. Hope you have good luck tonight at the game Kraig.

Casey in Peter Pan

Keith & I went to the 7th & 8th Grade Choir's Peter Pan at the Eastside Junior & Senior High School. Casey was a lost child. They also had elementary students from Butler & Riverdale in it. In the first picture Casey and her friend from school, Morgan (in the pink) stand in line as everyone exits the auditorium. We took her some flowers from Kurt's & us. Had never heard of them doing that, but Kurt's family went on Thursday night and they weren't prepared as they had never heard of taking flowers either. He asked us to take some and I was glad we did. Then there is a picture of her with each of us. You were not allowed to take any pictures during the play. Rats! Hard for a scrapbooking Grandma. They all did a good job. They had Peter Pan, Wendy etc. hooked up to wires so they could fly. She has another performance tonight. Break a leg, Casey.