Linda's Sunflower

I'm not doing a very good job of keeping up with my blog. Had a busy weekend with family. My niece, Lenore and her husband, Daniel were here visiting from Germany. They came over on Friday night, along with my brother & sister-in-law and my best friend, Melody. We had a really nice evening of snacks and chats! Saturday was a fun day! Daniel did a book-reading and signing at Watermark Books for "Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten" -- the first book he's illustrated. Lenore was his Vanna White - showing the illustrations as he read the book. We had a lot of fun, and several friends and family members purchased books and got them signed. Daniel also did a buffalo illustration inside the cover for everyone! Here is Westley, the son of a co-worker as he watches Daniel draw in and sign his book. 17 of us went out to Abuelo's afterwards to celebrate! Mom enjoyed the afternoon and evening! Sunday, Kaitlin and I met Lenore, Daniel, Nick, Terry & S...

It's been a busy few weeks. Work has been crazy, and down time has been rare. We are fully into the new season of TV shows. Last night we watched our favorite show - CRIMINAL MINDS. Quite an episode! The new show "The Defenders" with Jim Belushi was on afterwards, and we really enjoyed it. Reminded me of one of my favorite shows from a few years ago "Shark". Looking forward to a couple days of vacation next Monday and Tuesday. I REALLY NEED IT!

Things are still crazy at work, probably won't settle down until after the first quarter of 2011! We had a nice birthday celebration for Marilyn and Nick at Olive Garden yesterday afternoon. Isn't Marilyn's KU piggy bank cute? I found it at the Dollar Store, and got me a K-State one found this cool plastic mug too Mom and Mike enjoyed sitting next to each other and visiting The cats have been lazy, as usual Sugar is still sticking pretty close to home after her "11 day road trip", though she did bring home the carcass of a baby bunny last week, and she has since lost the break-away collar and tag.

It felt so good to get out of town yesterday, even though it was just for the day. Corby had to work, so Kaitlin and I rented a van (we had a free upgrade from an intermediate car and the van was the only thing they had) and headed up to Manhattan around 9am. Once we headed east from Salina, there was a slow-down of traffic due to a one car accident. Not sure if they blew a tire or what, but it was a Taurus wagon filled to the brim with junk, and when we finally passed it, it was facing west in the eastbound lanes! Once we got to Junction City, there was another slowdown in traffic - tons of cars headed to Manhattan for the Wildcats first football game of the season! (They ended up beating UCLA-YAY WILDCATS!) Traffic moved pretty smoothly, so we were soon at the boys apartment a few blocks from campus. We watched some of the game on TV before heading out and about. Did some shopping at the mall and got Brandon some polo shirts and slacks for work. We had a very nice visit, and I took...

Don't get me wrong, I love my job. Most days. Just not today.  

I read 6 books last month: 1) A Summer in Sonoma - Robyn Carr. Carr has become one of my favorite "light romance with substance" authors. I'm glad I found her! 2) The Shadow of Your Smile - Mary Higgins Clark. It was okay, but not up to her normal suspense standard. 3) Who Loves You Best - Tess Stimson. This was the Target "book of the month". The first page kind of blew my mind. I am no prude by any means, but it kind of surprised me that it would be a Target pick. It was one of those books that you kind of wonder why you continue reading it, but once I got about halfway through I was into the story and it turned out to be a pretty good read. The fact that there were boy/girl twins (infants) in the story helped! 4) Game Over - Fern Michaels. This is supposedly the last book of the Sisterhood series, but...I'm not sure it's the end :-) 5) Private - James Patterson. One of my favorite authors and one of his best books in the last year or two....