Linda's Sunflower

Corby and I had a fairly normal week. We went out to eat at Abuelo's on Wednesday night. We've been trying to eat out (or eat take-out) once a week - that's our limit. We ate at Abuelo's because we had a gift certificate for a free entree when purchasing one. So I was a cheap date Wednesday night! Next week we are going to TGIFriday's with my best friend Melody. Again, we have a coupon for buy one entree, get one free. Corby will be the cheap date this time!We spent the weekend in Manhattan with the kids. Since the twins both started at Dillons this afternoon (orientation to start), we decided we better head up for a visit before their lives get so busy with school and work that they wouldn't have time for mom and dad. Brandon had to work Saturday 10-7, but we stopped at Dillons on our way in town to give him a hug and visit for a couple of minutes. We spent the afternoon with Kaleb and Kaitlin. Our first order of business was to find some black work pants for b...

I smoked my first cigarette when I was about 12 or 13 years old. My older sister and I were visiting our cousins in St. Louis. They were all a little older than me, and since June, my cousin who is my sister's age, was smoking I decided to try it. No big deal. I think I smoked half a cigarette. A couple of years later my dad caught me smoking downtown. I don't even remember where I got the cigarette, but he happened to drive by the intersection where a friend and I were hanging out. I remember coming home on the bus to my mom waiting in the kitchen. She asked me if I had anything to tell her. For the life of me, I had no idea what I was supposed to tell her. She told me that dad had seen me smoking. I'll never forget what she told me. She said "I can't tell you not to smoke, because you've grown up with a mom and dad who smoked." (At that point my dad still smoked, but mom had quit several years before). She did ask me not to smoke in the house. I was neve...

What is the deal with toes? You all know I had a toenail removed about 6 weeks ago. Now - I have either a severely bruised toe or a broken toe. All because of Muffin. I was getting milk out of the fridge this morning to put on my Great Grains (with pecans-yum!) cereal. I turned around and ran into what felt like a brick wall. But - it wasn't a brick wall. It was Muffin. Our stout cat. Here's my toe - at least for now. Who knows what it will look like tomorrow? And - aren't you glad I cropped out my big toe? Didn't want to gross everyone out...

Kaitlin's computer did NOT bite the dust. Her brothers - who plan on being computer engineers - figured out the memory had gone bad. So, after buying some new memory, she's back up and running YEAH! Kaitlin had an interview at Dillons on Tuesday afternoon. She ended up turning down the job. It wasn't for a cashier, but for the salad bar. She thought that would be okay until the manager told her that she couldn't guarantee her any time off at the holidays. She went ahead and accepted the position, but called me to discuss it. We decided that it would be really hard on her to stay in Manhattan for the holidays - especially since she is a freshman and is adjusting to life away from home. I didn't want her to miss coming home, and she wasn't too happy about it either. So she respectfully declined the job. She is in a position to NOT have to work - she's gotten enough money from scholarships, grants and loans to be "unemployed" her freshman year. She st...

The phone rang at 9am this morning. It was mom. She was looking for her white jacket and couldn't find it. She remembered she took it with us yesterday - chair shopping and to lunch. We concluded she had left it at Long John Silver's. After calling to confirm that's what happened (it was), I picked it up and took it to her. Thus - I was able to get this picture of her in her new chair... Other than that, today has been fairly relaxing. Corby had the laundry separated for me by the time I got home, and I have the last load in the dryer now. I've gotten bills paid, filing done, and am now working on the Sunday crossword. Corby is grilling flat-iron steak for dinner. We're having homemade fajitas. Yum...lunch was some of our fresh home-grown tomatoes with cottage cheese, sugar free jello and a banana. I wish it would just rain and get it over with. The air is so thick with humidity it's hard to even step outside. Today's music is Nickelback, and today's quo...

While visiting mom last weekend, she complained about her chair and how uncomfortable it was. I sat in it to test it out, and she was right - it was in BAD shape! This was a used "lift" chair we bought about 2 years ago. The motor went out in it, which wasn't really a problem, since she doesn't truly need a lift chair. However, it had gotten quite uncomfortable for her. So, Corby and I had a plan today. First on the agenda was to rearrange her room. Since she is now sharing a room, she has complained about not having enough space. Her roommate Delores is a very nice lady, but like everyone, sometimes you just need your own personal space. We made a fairly minor switch today - we switched the location of her chair and her dresser. This put her chair near the door, and her dresser next to the chair of her roommate. This gives her a little more breathing room. After we made the switch, we took her furniture shopping to buy a new chair. We found a great one for her, at a...

Baby girl just left to head back to Manhattan, and my tears are flowing. I almost think it was harder to say goodbye from home than when we left Manhattan last week. She came home Thursday afternoon, after being bored with her brothers and not having anything to do. Her friends don't arrive in Manhattan until around the 22nd - since they are all living in the dorms. She hasn't gotten a job yet, so doesn't really have much to do. The boys play a LOT of video games, and she seems lost. I know this is a rite of passage - and everything will be fine. Once she gets a job & classes start, she'll be so busy she won't have much time to think of home. I think back to my childhood. The only one of my 4 siblings to go to college was my oldest brother, but he attended WSU, so didn't leave home. However, he did join the Air Force after college (where he was in ROTC), so he left home in his early 20's and didn't return home until he'd spent 20 years in the Ai...

I read 9 books in July: Almost Dead - Lisa Jackson. I've read several of Jackson's books, and really enjoyed this one Death by Latte - Linda Gerber Death by Denim - Linda Gerber (my niece turned me on to Linda Gerber by sending me the first book in this series (Death by Bikini), which I read in June. Good, quick reads! Take Two - Karen Kingsbury, who is my favorite Christian author Prairie Tale - Melissa Gilbert, yes, Half Pint from Little House on the Prairie. Very good read! Swimsuit - James Patterson w/Maxine Paetro - the WORST James Patterson I've read Midnight Sons, Vol. 2 - Debbie Macomber. Macomber's books are ALWAYS good! Black Hills - Nora Roberts. Didn't read many of her books until the last year, but I am enjoying them Fire & Ice - J.A. Jance, who continues to be one of my favorite authors Now it's on to August, where I'm on my second book already. However, you'll have to wait until next month to see my list.

I started this year out with good intentions - Project 365 - a scrapbooking project that would detail something, a picture, a receipt, a note - about each day of the year. However, around the third week of March, the project came to a screeching halt. My life was consumed with all the red tape that goes along with a Medicaid application (for my mom). That literally took almost two months. In May we had a graduation party and graduation for Kaleb and Kaitlin. Late May we spent a weekend in KC. Early June we spent a weekend in OK. The rest of June and July were spent enjoying the kids and making plans for their move to Manhattan. I have now resolved to start the project back up again. Here's a picture of my last entry, with a "catch-up" entry at the bottom of the page. The next few pages of the book are pictures of the graduation party, graduation, the KC trip, the OK Rascal Flatts concert and the Keith Urban concert. It will start back up with Aug. 1 and the kids' mo...

Today marks the beginning of our empty nest. We couldn't really count yesterday since it was spent moving the kids from here to here After a few tears (me and Kaitlin) and lots of hugs and kisses, we headed back to Wichita last night. Our original plans were to spend the night, but we got everything done and felt like it was important for the kids to have the first night in their new "home" alone - without mom and dad. I'm not sure Kaitlin agreed - she's not only going to miss mom and dad, but her pets. Here are a few pics of the inside of their house - their rooms aren't completely put together at this point, but you get the idea. The boys rooms are all about their electronics - TV's, video game systems, etc. Kaleb's room Brandon's room Kaitlin's room Their kitchen - it's mostly put together. I am so glad we all have cell phones and text messaging. It's so easy to keep in touch with each other. Their internet is not up yet - they'r...