Linda's Sunflower

Shock, shock, shock! I've certainly been open about my support of Marie Osmond on Dancing with the Stars, but I must say, seeing Cheetah girl eliminated last night was a shock! I thought either Marie or Jane Seymour would be leaving. I guess it goes to show you that there are not only a ton of Osmonds out there, but tons of Osmond fans! So, I'm still rooting for Marie! We didn't have many trick-or-treaters tonight. When we first moved to Park City, we would have tons. I guess most folks now take kids to their churches, etc. Corby will be going back down to Oklahoma this Friday afternoon to sign some paperwork for Charles. Charles is getting all of his affairs in order, as his health deteriorates. It's sure hard to see someone you love dying of cancer. We lost my dad in 1994, and Corby's mom last year, but both were sudden and unexpected. While it's hard to deal with the shock when you lose someone like that, I think it's harder when you see someone sufferin...

Yes, I'm another year older as of Friday. But when you get to be my age, what's another year? Hey, it beats the alternative! I didn't do much celebrating on Friday, since it was my late Friday at work. It was nice to get a phone call from Brandon, wishing me Happy Birthday. Of course, I had given him several subtle reminders earlier in the week, though he said he didn't need them. We had a family celebration last night at Chili's. Here are some pics: With my older (need I stress that OLDER-hey at least I have a couple of siblings OLDER than me!) brother, Terry and my sister-in-law, Sandy ...my older (yes, another older one) sister, Rhonda ...my mom - okay, my mom has her mouth wide open, but this is the only pic I got ...my baby brother Mike, and my sister-in-law, Diana ...my best friend, Melody (I look a bit stunned here) I didn't get pics with Corby, Kaitlin or Kaleb, because my camera batteries died after these pictures. My little sister Marilyn had to work a...

My favorite "Dancer with the Stars" - Marie Osmond - made it another week! I was worried that this might be her last week since her scores were so low last night. I hope she comes back next week and dances her legs off. More power to her and Jane Seymour - the oldies. Gotta be proud of those OP's! Thank goodness they finally let Mark Cuban go. He was excitable and happy to be there, but didn't show much with his dancing as far as I was concerned. GO MARIE! (Though I think Cheetah girl or Spice girl is going to win)... Kaitlin was late getting home from work tonight. She was supposed to get off at 8, but at 7:45 they had a huge order - 2 baskets overflowing with groceries - and the couple spent over $500! It took 25 minutes to get thru their order, get it bagged, and get it in their Suburban. Don't know about you, but I've never spent $500 on groceries all at once before. (Never have $500 hanging around you know!) You can finally tell it's the fourth quart...

Is anyone else out there enjoying this cool weather? I love this time of year when you can sleep with your windows open and it's downright chilly! Especially when you are having hot flashes! Here are a couple of pictures of our United Way Kitchen basket. Chris is busy arranging the items. I took these pictures before we shrink-wrapped it. We had a lot of boxed appliances that wouldn't fit in the basket. All-in-all, I think it turned out great! I watched Dancing with the Stars tonight - at least the first part of it. Did you see Marie Osmond collapse right after her performance? Scary! I'm glad she was okay, and thought she did better than the 21 score she received. Oh well, guess I'm prejudiced since I'm a long-time Osmond fan! Hopefully she won't be the one voted off this week. I chose to start reading my Debbie Macomber book. I haven't read much, but it's starting out good. And we have actress Lauren Bacall to thank for today's quote: "I think...

I guess most of us who work Monday through Friday wonder why weekends seem to zip by. I know I would gladly work four 10-hour days to have a 3 day weekend, but that will never happen, not at the ol' Eagle anyway. We've spent most of the weekend running errands and doing chores. Corby and Kaitlin did some baking yesterday. Corby baked a great coffee cake, and Kaitlin made pumpkin cookies. It was our Sunday to bring treats for our Sunday school class, and the coffee cake is one of our favorites. The best part - it's really EASY to make. Even I can make it...that is when Corby will let me near the kitchen! HA...Anyway, here's the recipe: CREAM CHEESE COFFEE CAKE Makes one 9x13 pan 2 pkgs. cream cheese 2 pkgs. crescent rolls 1 cup sugar 2 egg yolks, separated from whites (keep whites) 1 tsp. vanilla 1 cup walnuts or pecans (we prefer pecans) 1/4 cup sugar Take 1 pkg. crescent rolls; separate, flatten out and lay in bottom of 9x13 glass dish. Mix cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, v...

Kaitlin's one year old cat, Muffin (or Muffy as we've taken to calling her), LOVES ice cream. What cat doesn't? Corby got some ice cream tonight, and Muffin sat on his lap while he was eating. She kept pawing at the bowl. Of course, she knows he always lets her lick the bowl, so she was waiting for her turn. She finally got her chance... My friend, Chris and I went shopping on our (extended) lunch hour today. We were buying items for a themed basket we are raffling off to raise money for United Way. Our group's theme is KITCHEN items. I intended to take some pictures of us shopping, but I guess our hands were too full, or we were just having to much fun to remember I had a camera with me. I'll take a picture of our finished, shrink-wrapped basket on Monday and post it then. Hopefully the basket will turn out nice. Our items include a crock pot, George Forman grill, kitchen towel set, gift card and some other goodies from Williams Sonoma, cookbooks and a Longaberger ...

We still haven't gotten to see Cooper, Corby's brother Doug's 1 year old grandson, but my sister-in-law Debbie e-mailed me some pics today. Doug and Cooper are very close. Aren't these pictures adorable? Nothin' cuter than a one-year-old with his PA! Now Debbie I want to see some pictures of Cooper with Grandma!

Nothing exciting going on in our house today. Well, we did win $7 in the Powerball drawing last night. Since I spent $5 on the tickets, we made a big $2!!! WHOOPIE! Kaitlin and I did some Walmart shopping today, much as I hate to go there. She needed some jeans for work, and believe it or not, she'll wear their $16/pair jeans. We raised our kids to believe that you don't have to wear name brand clothes to be cool. Now, they don't wear crap, but they're okay with Target, Kohl's and Walmart clothes. Kaitlin wear her Rascal Flatts t-shirts (she has 11) most of the time anyway - HA! She has to wear shirts with collars to work, so she has an array of polo shirts, but other than that, she's a country girl! Probably why she bought that big ol' truck! Corby finally got Kaleb's car running again today. We took it on a test drive to Newton. Thank goodness we went before the storms hit! Other than that it was pay bills, laundry and cleaning house! UGH! Today's...

It was a typical B-U-S-Y Saturday! Started out the day by going to Leeker's for the free Pancake Feed! Kaitlin had to be there at 6am to help get the tables ready. She's experienced at working Pancake Feeds as she helped Corby and Kaleb at the Boy Scout feeds in past years. We did all of our errand running, and visited mom. We took her winter clothes to her, and some other things she had been asking for. We had a nice visit. Also had to make a Sam's run - needed dog & cat food, and other necessities. Tonight Corby and I went out with our good friends, Cindy & Jerry, and their daughter and son-in-law, Megan and Mike. We ate dinner at El Rodeo, and then went to the Looney Bin to see The Sandman, a comic hypnotist. Now, I don't know how much of it I believed, but the 4 women and 4 men he "put under" did hilarious things! We originally wanted Megan to go up on stage, but after seeing what he did, we're glad she didn't. It would have been too uncomf...

Here's all I saw of Corby for the last 2 nights. And Kaleb's car STILL isn't fixed! I think at this point it will be waiting until the weekend. I finally got a picture of Kaitlin in her truck. Our neighbors tags are still on it - their last name is Heck. Cute tag, huh? My youngest brother (he'll be 43 in December) is in St. Francis Hospital tonight. He's been having pain in his back and after having blood tests done they determined he may have an infection of the pancreas. They are giving him an antibiotic by IV, and running more tests. Get better soon Mike! Corby fixed potato chowder for dinner tonight. I would call it soup but it's so thick and delicious, yum! He puts corn, bacon and cheese in it. I think it would be a big seller at a restaurant! Now, if we could only afford to open one! Today's quote: "We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery." -- H. G. Wells

In my last post, I mentioned that Corby and the twins were headed home from Oklahoma. Well, they made it halfway home, and then Kaleb's car broke down. Yes, the car he just bought a week ago. Corby thought it might be the fuel filter or the fuel pump. They managed to get the car started and at least get it off I-35, just south of Tonkawa. So, I had to make a mad dash down there to pick them up, as the twins were scheduled to work at 5pm. We left the car in the parking lot of a Conoco/Dairy Queen. Corby and I both took today off work and went down to retrieve the car. Corby rented a car "dolly" from United Rentals, and we towed the car home with Kaitlin's new truck, which ran like a dream! She wasn't too happy that we needed to take the truck, since she spent last night washing it and getting it "chick-ready"!!! So, this morning we took off in her truck for Oklahoma, while they took off for school in our van! WEIRD! Corby worked on the car this afternoon,...

We visited Grandpa Charles in Oklahoma this weekend. Brandon and I came back late last night, but Corby and the twins stayed overnight. They'll be home soon. Charles seems to be taking care of himself. We talked a lot about what options there are to treat the cancer - none really. It is inoperable, and even though they could try radiation and chemo, they told him that it might kill him due to his fragility. So he is opting for living the rest of his days as pain free as they can keep him, alone with his two dogs, Chunka and Mouse. There is no timetable, it could be swift, and it could drag on. We just want to make sure he gets the care and pain medicine that he needs. They think the cancer could be a result of his fighting in the Vietnam War - Agent Orange. He is resigned to his fate, but also is determined to fight as long as he can. He is so skinny, but his spirit is strong! He was so happy to see the kids! WE LOVE YOU CHARLES! We didn't get to see Doug and Debbie and their f...

It's reported that Garth sold out NINE - count 'em - NINE - shows at the new Sprint arena in KC. That's 18,000 tickets, 9 nights, $31 a ticket - over $5 MILLION!!!!!!!!!!!! My brother and sister-in-law, Mike & Diana, managed to get 6 tickets. Diana was just a tad bit excited. I wish we could go, but November is a busy month at the ol' Eagle, and it's hard to get time off. Favorite Garth memories anyone? Mine is Brandon, about 3 years old, playing one of those electronic Playskool (I think) guitars - singing "Friends in Low Places". I've got a picture (somewhere) of him standing in front of the TV watching a Garth concert and playing that little guitar. I guess one reason I like Garth is that he's never gouged his fans on ticket prices to his concerts. Let's face it, he could have charged $100/ticket in KC and still sold out 9 shows! That would have amounted to over $16 MILLION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now you know why I think Garth rules!

Tonight we got to enjoy Kaitlin's singing with the Concert Choir in the Heights Vocal Music Concert. They spent this past Monday in Winfield, performing at Southwestern College. We got to hear the songs they performed there. They sang three songs: 1) Music Spread Thy Voice Around, 2) Shenandoah and 3) Laudate Pueri. They also sang "Joyfully Sing with Pleasure" with the Mixed Chorus. Corby joked that we never know any of the songs they sing in these concerts, though tonight we did know "Shenandoah" and "Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be?". There are a lot of talented singers at Heights, and we're proud that Kaitlin is singing with the Concert Choir. Kaitlin also got the keys to her "new" truck tonight, though she doesn't officially get it until tomorrow evening. Our neighbor needs it to drive to work tomorrow, but they are headed to Texas after work. Since Kaitlin has to work at 4, and none of us will be home before they leave town, the...

This is our niece Megan, with her baby boy Cooper. He turned 1 year old a couple of weeks ago. We haven't seen them since this picture was taken last Thanksgiving. Megan is the daughter of Doug, Corby's older (not by much) brother! Here's grandpa Doug with Cooper! And here is grandma Debbie with Cooper We are hoping to see Doug and his family this weekend when we go to visit Charles. I want to see that adorable baby who is now a whole year old!