Linda's Sunflower

Loved the colors I picked out. The first ones. Didn't have to change either color. They power-washed the house tonight & will start painting tomorrow. It's becoming reality! This is the first big-update we've done of the house since we moved here in May of 2000. Yay! Pictures to come...

The new siding is finally complete. They hauled off the dumpster today, and are going to paint our "test" colors tomorrow. Anxious to see if I like what I picked out. If not, we can change it. Our dear, dear friends and neighbors, Paul and Tokeah, are moving to Rochester, New York. Tokeah got a great promotion with Cargill. I am so excited for them, but also, so sad to lose our best neighbors! July 4th will never be the same without them.

Another wild day at work...no explanation necessary. Got home around 5:30 & they have started putting our new siding up, at least on the north side of the house. Waiting to hear from our contractor about the guy who is going to treat our termites, and the guy who is going to "build" our new front door. Excited about the changes going on. Maybe we'll see some big progress by this weekend!

What a crazy week at work...enough said. They started working on the new siding on our house on Wednesday. Lots of craziness going on. Big dumpster on the driveway, and lots of trash going into it. They were out here at 7am this morning. We left around 11:30 for our Saturday running, and they were gone by the time we got home around 3:15. I met Melody and Diane for pedicures (FUN!) and then we went to Target and Dillons before heading home. Had tacos/taco salad for dinner and now we're watching the Royals, who are tied at 5 against the Detroit Tigers. GO ROYALS!

Our new siding is being installed... Busy day. Unfortunately they found termites. It's gonna be costly folks! Pictures to come...

Back to work today after a week of furlough (furcation). Talked to our sister-in-law Debbie tonight about some of Corby's family members. Can't post the conversation here! Hope is on vacation until Wednesday, so it's me against the world at work. All is fine though. Royals are ahead 2-0 right now. They are kicking some booty over the last month or so. GO ROYALS!

Corby & Kaitlin had a great time at the Rascal Flatts/The Band Perry concert last night. They enjoyed their 5th row seats! Woke up early this morning, so while Corby took Mikey for a walk, I watched an episode of NCIS. I'm about mid-way through season 7 now! I need to get through season 10 before season 11 starts in late September! Kaitlin originally planned to work today, but decided she'd rather go to breakfast and shopping with us. After breakfast at Cracker Barrel we got gas at QT and headed down to the Eagle so she could grab her work and bring it home. We went to Home Depot so I could get some paint swatches and decide on the colors for our new siding. Then we went to Target and Dillons. Corby is mowing the yard. With 15" of rain in the last few weeks, it's been hard to find a time where the yard is dry enough to mow. Kaitlin mowed the front on Tuesday, but we still had a lot of standing water in the back yard, so she was unable to mow it. I finished ...

My last day of furcation...darn it, it sure flew by! * Slept in * Stopped at the liquor store my younger sister manages & picked up some goodies * Took my older sister lunch from When Pigs Fly * Home again so the cable technician could come and fix/set up our new HD boxes. Old one went out on Tuesday and it's been a hassle trying to get things taken care of. Let's say the Cox customer service sucks! * Cable guy got everything going, and even enjoyed Mikey. At one point he was in Kaitlin's room working on her HD box and Mikey curled up next to him. * Took Corby down to the Eagle to meet up with Kaitlin so they could go to eat and then to the Rascal Flatts/The Band Perry concert. * Back home to a very quiet, peaceful evening. No TV yet, though I may turn on the Royals soon. They've been playing some kick-ass baseball the last few weeks. * 14 yr old boy missing in the Big Ditch. After all the rain the rivers & ditch are swollen and unfortunately some teena...

Darn it, as much as I want to keep up with this blog, it's hard. Working full time, reading, Facebook, Twitter, life. I guess blogging takes a back seat. Anyway, I've read quite a bit over the last 3 months...so here goes: MAY 2013 books: Don't Go - Lisa Scottoline (Kindle) Fly Away - Kristin Hannah (Kindle) Sea Glass Island - Sherryl Woods (Kindle) Wind Chime Point - Sherryl Woods (Kindle) Not Quite Dating - Catherine Bybee (Kindle) Taking Eve - Iris Johansen (Hardback) Not Quite Mine - Catherine Bybee (Kindle) Born to be Wilde - Janelle Denison (Kindle) Savin' Me - Alannah Lynne (Kindle) JUNE 2013 books: Drive Me Crazy - Marquita Valentine (Kindle) Just One Kiss- Susan Mallery (Kindle) Four to Score - Janet Evanovich (paperback) Angel Baby - Leslie Kelly (Kindle) Home to Whiskey Creek - Brenda Novak (Kindle) 12th of Never - James Patterson (hardback) Starting Now - Debbie Macomber (hardback) Two of a Kind - Susan Mallery (Kindle) JULY 2013 boo...

Just realized it's been almost a month since I posted here... Life gets too crazy... APRIL BOOKS: 1) Reflection Point - Emily March (Kindle) 2) The Wanderer - Robyn Carr (Kindle) 3) Sand Castle Bay - Sherryl Woods (Kindle) 4) The Other Woman - Brenda Novak (Kindle) 5) Big Girls Don't Cry - Brenda Novak (Kindle) 6) Coulda Been A Cowboy - Brenda Novak (Kindle) 7) The Key Is Love - Marie Osmond (hardback) 8) Alex Cross, Run - James Patterson (hardback) 9) Far From Perfect - Barbara Longley (Kindle) 10) The Difference A Day Makes - Barbara Longley (Kindle) All except for Longley were favorite authors. March, Carr, Woods, Novak & Patterson didn't disappoint. I enjoyed reading the books by Longley as well. Enjoyed reading Marie Osmond's book honoring her mother and mothers everywhere. She was also very open about her son's suicide. I'm also ahead of my goal on book reading on Goodreads.com.

The week began with a bombing at the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15 that killed 3 people and injured over 170. Two bombs went off a block apart, near the finish line. An 8 year old boy and two young women lost their lives. Wednesday night there was an explosion at a fertilizer facility in West, Texas.  It leveled blocks of homes and business around the plant. They are still counting fatalities and injuries, but upwards of 20 people were killed, most of them first responders to the fire that was originally reported before the plant exploded. The week ended with authorities releasing photos of 2 suspects in the Boston bombings late Thursday afternoon, which escalated into a shootout with the police in Watertown, after they had killed a police officer at MIT Thursday night. One of the suspects was killed, the other one escaped, setting off a massive manhunt and shutting down the entire city of Boston for the day on Friday. Finally, Friday evening the second suspect was captur...

Kaitlin gets out of classes around noon on Tuesdays, and since I was off work again today, we decided to make a trip to the Kansas Star Casino. Had a fun afternoon, and she won more money than I did (losing most of it), while I didn't win a darn thing. No matter what tho, it was fun spending the afternoon with her!

We took off early Saturday afternoon for Newkirk, Oklahoma and the First Council Casino. Met up with Corby's brother Doug & sister-in-law Debbie. Had a great time visiting, gambling, drinking, gambling, eating and gambling! WAS SO MUCH FUN! We didn't win big, but won enough to play on for a while, and didn't lose too much! Our niece, Megan, is getting married in June. Kaitlin and I are hoping to go to her wedding shower next month, as long as it's not the same weekend we're headed to KC. Was great seeing Doug & Debbie again! It's been far too long!

I read 14 books in March...I'm well on my way to my 2013 goal of 125 books! 1) To Have & To Kill - Mary Jane Clark (Kindle) 2) Sea Glass Winter - JoAnn Ross (paperback) 3) One for the Money - Janet Evanovich (paperback) 4) Three Sisters - Susan Mallery (Kindle) 5) Two for the Doug - Janet Evanovich (paperback) 6) Three to Get Deadly - Janet Evanovich (paperback) 7) Stolen - Daniel Palmer (paperback-ARC received from Facebook contact with author) 8) Helpless - Daniel Palmer (Kindle) 9) Everything But A Groom - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) 10) Everything But A Bride - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) 11) Everything But A Wedding - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) 12) Everything But Christmas Eve - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) 13) Everything But A Mother - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) 14) Everything But A Dog - Holly Jacobs (Kindle) I have to say the BEST book I read last month was Stolen by Daniel Palmer. I am a fan of his author father, Michael Palmer, and have been following Da...

I am finding it hard to keep up with my blog...and every time I vow to do a better job, I just don't. Anyway, here are my February reads: 1) The Single Daddy Club: Jason by Donna Fasano (Kindle) 2) The Single Daddy Club: Reece by Donna Fasano (Kindle) 3) When Summer Comes by Brenda Novak (Kindle) 4) Barefoot Season-Blackberry Island #1 by Susan Mallery (Kindle) 5) Guilt by Jonathan Kellerman (hardback) 6) The Power Trip by Jackie Collins (hardback) 7) Deadly Stakes by J.A. Jance (hardback) 8) Touch & Go by Lisa Gardner (hardback) 9) Don't Fire Them, Fire Them Up by Frank Pancetta (paperback) 10) Purple Cow by Seth Godin (hardback) Enjoyed the Single Daddy Club books, by an author I'd never read before... Novak and Mallery have quickly become two of my favorite authors! Kellerman, Collins and Jance's books were great, as usual. Gardner continues to be THE premier author of psychological thrillers! I received the last 2 books for a committee tha...

is in the books... wow, what a game! Ravens were pretty much kicking the 49'ers booties until the power went out in the 3rd quarter. Since the announcers were so terrible during the delay, we took to Twitter and laughed our heads off at all the posts. My favorite commercials were the Budweiser Clydesdale and Dodge "God Made the Farmer" ones... And after a valiant comeback attempt by San Francisco, the Ravens ending up winning. Congrats!

I read 12 books in January... 1) A Home of Her Own - Brenda Novak - Kindle 2) Stranger in Town - Brenda Novak - Kindle 3) Perfect Fit - Carly Phillips - Kindle 4) Stalked - Allison Brennan - paperback 5) Private: London - James Patterson - hardback 6) Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn - hardback 7) Sage Green - Jill Gregory - Kindle 8) Larkspur Road - Jill Gregory - hardback 9) California Sunset - Casey Dawes - Kindle 10) California Wine - Casey Dawes - Kindle 11) Purple Cow - Seth Godin - hardback 12) The Single Daddy Club: Derrick (book one) - Donna Fasano - Kindle Several authors new to me this month: Flynn, Gregory, Dawes, Godin and Fasano. Truly enjoyed both Jill Gregory books. I had heard a lot about Gone Girl, and when I was able to get the book before Christmas for about $4 from Amazon, I went ahead and ordered it. Wow, what a story! I would highly recommend it, but be prepared for a pretty sick, twisted ride. Purple Cow was an interesting take on how to look for n...

Techically, Mikey is Kaitlin's dog. She bought him from the Humane Society, pays for his vet bills (mostly) and buys his food. He loves her, but he adores Corby. Because Corby gets home from work before Kaitlin gets home from work and/or school, he usually takes him on his daily walk. On the weekends, he knows we're in and out, and he expects his walk first thing in the morning. Today, he was so fully of energy that he was barking at Corby before we even got out of bed. Only because Corby let him back in the house around 8am. He's a really good dog, though occasionally he does get into the trash can and string trash throughout the house. But that is rare, and usually when we do something stupid like leave scraps or something in the trash we know he would like. He's a great watch dog too. He warns us if anyone is near the house. Pity the poor person who would try to break into our house!

Corby had another fainting spell about 1am Saturday morning. He wasn't feeling well and got up to throw up in the bathroom. As I was getting up to follow him he went down. I hollered for Kaitlin while grabbing a wet washrag to put on his face. He was only out for maybe 20-30 seconds when he came to. Kaitlin was on the phone to 911 and hung up before they answered. Of course, they called right back to make sure everything was okay. After he got sick in the toilet and rested in the rocking chair for about 30 minutes, he seemed better, so I got him back to bed. However, he didn't feel well all day, so we made him stay in the rocker or laying on the couch all day. I am not sure whether he had a stomach bug, or whether he ate some bad queso for dinner. We had the queso on Monday night (New Year's Eve) and I had told him on Thursday night that we should probably throw it away, but of course, he went ahead and ate it on Friday night before I got home from work. Hoping it was more ...