Linda's Sunflower

We took mom out to dinner tonight - to her favorite restaurant - Long John Silver's. Yeah, I know, it's greasy and fattening, but for some reason, it's her favorite place. She loves the fish and the hushpuppies. Here we are having a grand old time: I am currently reading "Hemlock Bay" by Catherine Coulter. I've read a few of her books, and this is looking good. Got this book for a quarter at a garage sale a few weeks ago. And a Tuesday quote: "You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him." -- Anonymous

Watching the Jane Fonda-Jennifer Lopez movie "Monster-in-Law". It's hilarious! Wanda Sykes, who plays the Jane Fonda character's assistant - is a HOOT! If you haven't seen this movie, you need to rent it!

I heard the other day that Donny & Marie Osmond have been signed to perform at the Flamingo Las Vegas beginning in September for 28 weeks. I even looked up the price of Airtran tickets (pretty good deal). However, Corby says NO. Not that I couldn't talk him into it, but we need to get some things done around the house, so I'll have to pass, at least for '08. Perhaps we can use next year's tax return for a trip to the neon sin city. Gonna have to have my "Osmond" fix one of these days!

We had a great time today! Left town about 8:45. Let's say we had a fun-filled drive to Manhattan. We got an eyeful of cows "doing it" in a field right by the highway! We all laughed our heads off. I've seen animals getting it on at the zoo, but never cows! Kaitlin and Kaleb cracked us up - and we made quite a few jokes the rest of the way to Manhattan. When your kids are little you ignore stuff like this, but with teenagers, it becomes quite an interesting conversation! After stopping at the dorm to see the boys room (it really wasn't too awful messy), we finally hit the Manhattan mall - for the first time. Pretty tiny and not too interesting. Kaitlin and I of course made our usual stop at Bath and Body Works. Wherever we see one, we stop and buy. We grabbed a pretzel for a quick snack since we knew we were taking the boys out to dinner before we left. The boys stopped at Best Buy to pick up Brady's TV (which had been repaired) while Corby, Kaitlin and I went...

It's been a really long week at work - depressing because of the job eliminations announced on Monday. Several of the folks who are losing their positions have very positive attitudes. Derl, Chris - you rock! May God bless you in your future endeavors! I had to run checks over to my "Party Lite" consultant tonight. I ended up getting almost $365 worth of Party Lite for $9.95! Thanks all for such a great party. I can't wait to get my goodies! Corby and I went to Leeker's when I got home. It's double $1 coupon week, so of course, I was loaded up with coupons. For those of you who don't shop at Leeker's - I know it's in Park City - you need to pay attention. They do double $1 coupons about every 5 or 6 weeks. I got toothbrushes for a quarter, Tylenol for .94 and some frozen goodies for $1 or less. I am definitely a coupon clipper! I've had to be with 3 kids. I don't think I'll ever stop. It takes a little time, but it's definitely wort...

I read this on another blog tonight, and I think it needs to be seen by as many people as possible, so I'm posting it here... From Maya Angelou : "Dear Friend: I am writing to tell you about my friend, Hillary Clinton, and why I am standing with her in her campaign for the presidency. I know the kind of president Hillary Clinton will be because I know the person she is. I am inspired by her courage and her honesty. She is a reliable and trustworthy person. She is someone I not only admire but one for whom I have profound affection. Hillary does not waver in standing up for those who need a champion. She has always been a passionate protector of families. As a child, she was taught that all God’s children are equal, and as a mother, she understood that her child wasn’t safe unless all children were safe. As I wrote about Hillary recently in a praise song: “She is the prayer of every woman, and every man who longs for fair play, healthy families, good schools and a balanced ...

We're headed to visit Brandon in Manhattan this weekend. I can't believe his freshman year at K-State is almost over. We'll be headed back up mid-May to move him home for the summer. It will be great to have him home for a few months. I still miss him - but not as bad as when he left last August. You get used to it I guess. Now come August of 2009, when we have an empty nest, I'll be boo-hooing for a while! I have friends who say "you'll love the freedom of having no kids at home" and friends who say "you won't ever get used to an empty house"; so I don't know how we'll react. I am currently reading "Hold Tight" by Harlen Coben. He's one of my favorite authors. I know I say that a lot, but I have a lot of favorite authors. What can I say, I'm a book-a-holic! And I think we need a friendship quote/lyric today, in honor of two of my friends whose positions are being eliminated and are facing the daunting task of findin...

I've told my kids since the day they were born that "life isn't fair". It's been our family motto for years. Unfortunately, a good friend of mine found out yesterday that life isn't fair. Her position at the Eagle has been eliminated and she will be looking for a new job. I've been at the same company for 31+ years, and I've lived through layoffs before - let's face it folks - these are LAYOFFS! I think the business world is way too scary now. Gas at $3.50/gallon (and rising). Milk at $4/gallon. It goes on and on. The cost of living continues to go up, our salaries don't - and we are eliminating positions AND outsourcing to other countries. I am so NOT a GWB fan. He's done nothing to stop the flood from drowning hard-working Americans. Something HAS to be done. People - you HAVE to vote come November! Anybody has to be better than what we have now! And C - our hearts go out to you! You know who your friends are. We're here for you! And ...

Thanks to all of you who came to my Party Lite show this morning. I think we had a fun time - at least I did. And I'm getting a bunch of freebies due to all of you. THANKS AGAIN! And thanks to Corby for fixing us some goodies to eat. He was also very helpful with cleaning the house and getting everything ready. We did our normal errand-running after everyone left, and made it back home around 5:30pm. This is what we saw off the back deck... I've never been on a hot air balloon. It looks like fun - especially on a beautiful day like today - but I am scared of heights. Have any of you ever been on a hot air balloon? What is it like? I better get busy. Got tons of laundry to do, and want to get some of it done tonight. Happy weekend, ya'all!

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here, but suffice it to say that I had a TERRIBLE day at work! I made a huge mistake costing the company some revenue, and I feel awful! I certainly didn't need anyone to get on my butt, because I was kicking myself for the better part of the day. I know, I know, I'm human, but this was a BIG human mistake! I hate to admit that I'm human! HATE TO MAKE MISTAKES - ESPECIALLY BIG ONES! Okay, that's it. I'm having a margarita and trying to relax now. I'm done with being human for a while!

Nothing like getting home from a long day at work and being told by your 17-year-old daughter "MOM, WE HAVE TO GO TO OLD NAVY TONIGHT!" Her black flip flops fell apart today, and we just HAD to go her some more tonight. I don't know about you, but that didn't sound all that important to me. However, Corby and I hopped in her truck and went with her. Yes, she could have gone by herself, but she wanted some company, so off we went - probably 10 miles (or more) to Old Navy on N. Maize Rd. They have cheapie flip flops 2 for $5. (She probably used $5 worth of gas to get there-LOL!) We found her a couple of cool t-shirts on sale, so it wasn't a total "FLOP"! And then of course we had to try out the new Baskin Robbins across the street. I didn't get anything (can you believe that?) but she got some Jamoca ice cream in a cup and Corby got a Mocha Iced Cappucino. I drove her truck home so they could enjoy their treats. And speaking of her truck, we had to tak...

Corby is fixing baked chicken for dinner, but along with that we will be having fresh green beans and new potatoes. Boy, that brings back memories...My mom's mother - Grammy - - as we called her, divorced my mom's dad when mom was around 6 or 7. That was back in the 30's folks. Single parents were rare back then. Grammy was a wonderful grandmother. Mom was an only child, so we were her only grandchildren. For those of you in the older generation (my age and older) I would imagine you remember Buck's Department Store downtown. Grammy worked at Buck's until they closed - in the 70's if I remember right. After that, Grammy went to work for Woolf Brothers, another exclusive department store downtown. Grammy was a great saleswoman in both stores, raised a great child (MOM!), managed to save a tidy sum of money, and spoiled her grandchildren. Now, sometime in the late 40's or so she began seeing "Wilbur". For us kids, it was always Grammy and Wilbur - j...

My tootsies are tired! (no, these are not my actual tooties - didn't figure you'd want to see my bunion)...It was a very busy day...let's see...here's a run-down. *Got up at 7 with the twins. They had to be at Heights by 8am for the ACT test. (They said it was easy. I hope that's reflected in their scores when they arrive!) *Left home at 8:30 after my shower, reading the paper and working the puzzles *Arrived at Walmart at approx. 8:55 am to pick up Rhonda's prescriptions. The pharmacy doesn't open until 9, so I picked up a few necessities while waiting. *Stopped at Quik Trip for hot chocolate (it was COLD out!) and breath mints. *Stopped by Rhonda's to drop off her prescriptions and the KU t-shirts for Marilyn & Mark (who will pick them up there tomorrow) and to visit for a while. *Went to visit mom. Had a good visit. She had several phone calls from friends, a "happy week" card from me, dinner with Mike & Diana last night, a visit fro...

Father, my last blog was a few days ago. I resolve to post more often in the future. (Can you tell I was raised Catholic?) I guess nothing monumental has been going on. Work has been very crazy. KU's win was a GREAT thing for the state of Kansas, but as I've lamented in the past, it's a pain to deal with something that big when you're in the newspaper business. Our sports folks have been doing a great job, and we will be having a special commemorative KU section in this Sunday's paper. Along with that, we've been selling T-shirts and posters since Tuesday at noon. Needless to say, it's been a madhouse! I heard tonight that Bill Self has agreed to a long-term KU contract. YIPPEE! I'm taking a much-needed day of vacation tomorrow. I plan on sleeping in a bit, but other than that I want to RELAX! Corby and I have reservations for SUMO tomorrow night. He's never been there, and I was so impressed when I went there about a month ago that I definitely wan...

This picture says it all! That 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie and send it into overtime will be long remembered!

Now THIS is spring! I love this weather. It would be nice if the wind would calm down, but hey, I'm not complaining... Had to go to Border's today and pick up a book for the twins. They are taking the AP Calculus test at Heights the first of May. If they pass the test, it counts as college credit. YIPPEE! Anyway, their teacher told them about this study guide that would be really helpful, so Corby and I ran out to Border's to get it since the twins both had to work today. We got the last copy. It was 19 bucks! Pretty cheap if it helps them pass a test that will give them college credit! Spent the rest of the day getting some things done around the house - both inside and out! I also got Brandon's federal and state taxes done. Got the rest of our taxes done a few weeks ago, but he forgot to bring his W-2 from Dillon's when he was home for spring break, so I had to wait until he sent it to me. Thank goodness he's getting a little bit of money back this year. Belie...

KU has made it this far, I have to root for them to win the championship! Corby was reasonably calm during tonight's game. Of course, when they went ahead by 28 points early on, I kept warning him that North Carolina wasn't going to roll over and die. And boy, did they come back and make it a game! KU finally settled down and took care of business. Bill Self made a comment after the game that they went "brain dead" for a while. Yep, they did! Poor Roy Williams. NOT! Now it's on to the championship game Monday night. I have a feeling Monday is going to be wild at work! It's always fun working at a newspaper when there is something this big going on!

It's been a busy week. Heights Concert Choir performed at Friends University last night. Kaitlin had to go to practice Monday night and all day Tuesday. Since she had never been to Friends, I drove her Monday night so she knew where to go on Tuesday (she's directionally challenged!). While she was there Monday night I took the opportunity to do some shopping - not one of my favorite things! I had planned to meet her and Corby at Quizno's for dinner yesterday before the concert since Kaitlin had about 2 1/2 hours to kill. Unfortunately, I ended up having to work late, so she got to have dinner with just her daddy! The concert was AWESOME! Honestly, I am only usually interested in her portion of the concert, but this was quite enjoyable. There were several groups that performed: Friends Concert Choir, the Derby High School Madrigrals, Cowley County Community College, the Friends Singing Quakers, the Friends Choral Union, and then there was the Choral Connections Festival Chor...