Linda's Sunflower

Didn't have a very good week, but don't really want to go into it... On Monday I went across the street to Cox and got the box for digital cable with DVR. LOVE the HD channels on our new TV, and got a good deal on digital for 2 years! We sure are enjoying the new TV! I think I sold the old big screen too! Brandon came home for the weekend so we could shop for a suit for him. K-State is having a Career Fair on February 8, and he wanted to dress up and hopefully get some interviews. We ran around all day Saturday and did buy him a suit, shirt & tie at Penney's. Also got him a winter coat for a clearance price of $19.99! Here he is trying the suit on - still hadn't cut tags off at this point. (Can you tell he doesn't like to pose for pictures?) Ate at Abuelo's after our day of shopping... then went home and watched KU beat K-State. UGH! I think the Shockers are playing much better than the Wildcats right now! At least they beat Bradley yesterday ...

Got a big surprise at work on Tuesday: Was named Employee of the Year for 2010. I shared the honor with 2 people from the newsroom - it was a tie! I'm extremely proud and feel very lucky because there are a lot of GREAT people at The Eagle! Won some money and a paid day off. YAY! Thought hard about what I might want to spend the money on. I really want to buy a Canon Rebel camera and get into photography more. But as the week wore on, I decided to buy a new flat screen TV for the family instead. After doing some research, and shopping around, we bought a 46" Sony Bravia yesterday at Ultimate Electronics! I am going to call Cox tomorrow and get digital HD TV set up, as well as a DVR. We are finally "getting into" the new TV technology! LOL! Today has been spent with Corby installing a new kitchen sink, faucet and garbage disposal. It's been a mess, and an all day project. Wish we were rich enough to pay others to be our "handyman", but at le...

Kaitlin's friend, Lydia, who spent a week with us, went back to Manhattan on Thursday. The girls had a great time during her visit! I know Kaitlin misses her... Thursday, Kaitlin and I had lunch together at The Beacon. Things were hectic at work this week with my layout assistant gone 3 1/2 days. Her grandfather had a bad stroke late Wednesday night. After surgery he was holding his own. I'm hoping she is at work tomorrow, as I have to take mom to a 2:30 doctor's appointment in Derby. That pretty much takes up the whole afternoon! Kaitlin bought a couple of puzzles at Michael's last week, and already finished one of them: Cinnamon relaxing on the steps of the deck: Abby & Muffin licking cheese queso off Corby's fingers (yes they are crazy!): and we finally put up the Christmas decorations. Well, Kaitlin put them up for me! Thanks hon! Yesterday was a good day for Kansas basketball teams. The day started with K-State beating Texas Tech, 94-60. KU b...

Here's is President Obama's speech from the memorial service in Arizona tonight. "To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow.  There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy pull through. As Scripture tells us: There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. On Saturday morning, Gabby, her staff, and many of he...

We had several inches of snow between Sunday afternoon and Monday night around 6pm. Note I said - several. But you would have thought we had about 10 inches. I don't understand why it's so hard for people to drive in snow. I saw people in ditches and people off the side of the road. Yes, it was a bit slick, but with a bit of caution and not tail-gating, I had no problems. The bitter cold moved in last night, so school was cancelled today and was just cancelled for tomorrow. I guess they don't want kids standing out in this bitter cold since it's windy. Glad I don't have to worry about a babysitter on snow days!

The Chiefs lost to the Baltimore Ravens today in the first round of the playoffs. They started out pretty well, and lead at one point 7-3. But the Ravens scored a LOT in the second half and ending up winning 30-7. It's disappointing, but the Chiefs end the season 10-7, and that's much better than the last few years. So, we must look forward to next season! KU is beating Michigan at half-time, and I'm pretty confident they will end up winning. But the big news today is: TA DA - IT'S SNOWING! I love snow - as long as it's not a blizzard. They keep changing the amount of inches they think we will get - was 2-5, now they're saying possibly 4-8 inches. The snow is supposed to last until 6pm tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. Today, I put Project Life together - getting ready to start printing pictures and documenting 2011...

I originally took this picture to show off mom's fascination with bracelets (yes, she wears all of these at once!)... but after looking at the picture a second time, it made me think about all the love she's shared with those two hands: changing diapers, bandaging skinned knees, cooking dinner, hugging, hand holding, etc. She was having a good day today. They had an Elvis impersonator perform on Thursday, and the staff made sure she was front & center. He sang a song directly to her, and after the performance gave her a kiss and an autographed picture. She's still in seventh heaven! I got Becky Higgin's PROJECT LIFE in the mail yesterday! YIPPEE! I did this last year - documented our life for 365 days. I still have a bit to catch up on at the end of the year, but this system really works. If you're interested, go to Amazon.com and search for it. I believe both of the designs are on back order at this point, but I'm sure they will be back in stock...

Went back to work today after 3 days off...tried to find my desk, but by the time I left, no luck! LOL! Had a hair appointment after work. I've started scheduling them every 4 weeks, my hair seems to grow faster as I get older. Needless to say I need to "keep the color coming"! Kaitlin is going to house/dog sit for my brother Terry and his wife Sandy this weekend. She and Lydia went out this evening to get their house key and get instructions on their dogs. They have 2 miniature schnauzers and my niece, Michelle, also has 2 miniature schnauzers. I think they are going to have their hands full! Kaitlin is an animal lover, so I'm sure things will be fine. I'm by myself at work tomorrow, my assistant is on vacation tomorrow and Monday. I think I'll have a couple of busy days...  

My last day of vacation...boo hoo! I got some R&R in, so that's good. And I only have to work 2 days this week, that's good. And I got laundry done today, that's good too. What's even better is I just found out that an award I won at work a few months ago entitles me to a day off with pay, so I can count that this week. I'll also use my birthday holiday (so I don't forget to use it in October) - which means I'm only using one day of vacation for my three days off this week! AND I'll get another day off w/pay after my 35 year anniversary in November! YIPPEE!!!! Kaitlin got off work at 2:00, so we ran to Office Max and used our 20% off everything in the store "sack". I bought an accordian file to use for my 2011 paperwork, and Kaitlin bought some fluorescent printer paper. I intended to buy printer cartridges, but they don't carry Kodak ones. We also looked at pens - we BOTH love all kinds of pens - but managed to get out of the store w...

Enjoyed day two of vacation...goofed around most of the morning, and then decided to clear out my CD leather case... Matched up just about everything, but have some CD's without cases and some cases without CD's. Hopefully I'll be able to match everything up once I check and see what I have at work. Next on the agenda - I'd like to alphabetize my CD stash. I have some money to spend on I-Tunes, but can't decide what to spend it on. Kaitlin's best friend, Lydia, is coming tomorrow for a visit. She'll be here about a week. She's not sure when she has to head back to Manhattan to help with students moving back in the dorm. Shockers played Drake tonight and won 82-63. YAY!

Today's vacation day agenda: * washed boys' bedding, bath rugs * put up yesterday's laundry * did yesterday's dishes * paid bills, balanced checkbook * Corby went to work after 10 days off * placed my January Stampin' Up order with Sandy * took care of a couple of work e-mails * Dinner at Cracker Barrel * Started reading my first book of 2011 "The Scarpetta Factor" by Patricia Cornwell * Listened to the newest Zac Brown Band CD * Kansas State beat Savannah St. 92-61 Picture of the day: We bought three of these little cat beds when we went to KC in early December. One is in the garage for Sugar, the second was on the scrapbooking paper container you see to the left in the picture, the last one was up in the living room. Muffin & Abby would take turns laying in the one on the container, as well as the one upstairs. But this morning, after Muffin got down and left the room, Abby jumped up and stole her place! When Muffin came back, she st...

I read 75 books in 2010, much less than I would have liked. There were a couple of months that I only read 4 books, which is unusual for me. But I did have some stressful times at work, and for some reason, I read less when I'm stressed. Here's my 2010 list: JANUARY: Trial by Fire - J.A. Jance Bed of Roses - Nora Roberts Forbidden Falls - Robyn Carr Vanishing Act - Fern Michaels Not My Daughter - Barbara Delinsky No Time for Goodbye - Linwood Barclay Blindman's Bluff - Faye Kellerman Angel's Peak - Robyn Carr FEBRUARY: Bad Move - Linwood Barclay Bad Guys - Linwood Barclay Lone Wolf - Linwood Barclay Stone Rain - Linwood Barclay Poor Little Bitch Girl - Jackie Collins Winter Garden - Kristin Hannah MARCH: Sacred Sins - Nora Roberts Moonlight Road - Robyn Carr Big Girl - Danielle Steel Worst Case - James Patterson w/Michael Ledwidge The Inn at Eagle Point - Sherryl Woods Flowers on Main - Sherryl Woods Harbor Lights - Sherryl Woods Too Close t...

I'm going to try to do a better job of blogging in 2011. Other than that, I didn't make any resolutions...mainly because I usually don't keep them. Here's how our January 1st went: * visited mom and took down all her Christmas decorations * Stopped at Adv. Auto, looking for shocks for my tailgate, no luck * Went to Lowe's, looked at new kitchen sinks & faucets, ceiling fan for Kaitlin's bedroom, and new track lighting. * Ran down to work to do Sunday's Hot off the Press (news lost it out of the folder) * Ate Popeye's for lunch * Did the boys' laundry * Played SkipBo with the kids * Watched football * Ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans and black-eyed peas for dinner * Watched some of the Rose Bowl, TCU beat Wisconsin * Kids went bowling with Brady at Northrock Lanes * Finished CROSSFIRE by James Patterson Today's agenda so far: * Packed up the boys, they headed back to Manhattan * Went to Walmart with Kaitlin to pick up a ...