Today, 1989

Proof

Ah. So my fears are completely justified.

May you take what you have....make the best of it

.....and, in the process, entertain yourself!

Focus Group

Today I went and participated in a focus group. We were tasked with giving our feelings about hazardous household chemicals....storage, disposal, general handling. We got to review and critique all aspects of an ad campaign that this firm is doing for the Iowa DNR. I think I was able to make some good points and the rest of the group was pretty cool. The campaign is supposed to come out in the spring! The best part?? We got paid $50 cash for our time and participation!

Booooo Y'all

Umbrella

Too bad, too because it has been raining felines and canines today.

Thanth Mither Dentith

I managed to look like a tard from 9:30am until around 3:30pm due to a double shot of novocaine, thanks to Dr. Dentist. Don't get me wrong, I am glad he numbed me because he needed to pry apart my molars and make sure I don't get a cavity in between there...however, the novocaine was .....a very lasting effect that made me unable to say words starting with F or P all day. Arg.

Wimp

San Francisco

I posted my pictures from the second part of our trip in my San Francisco album . We managed to see quite a bit in the few days we spent in the city. Sunday night we walked around a little and saw the beautiful sunset from a high hill before going out for Thai. Monday we went to the Ferry Building, Samovar Tea Room, Maritime National Historic Park, Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, the beach.....had dinner out at Pacific Catch (I had Mahi Mahi!).

Yosemite Nat'l Park

Becky and I flew out to CA for our great adventure! Our first stop was Yosemite National Park, which was unspeakably amazing. I posted tons of pictures, but of course, snapshots can not do justice. We stayed in some cute little tent cabins and hiked almost to the death but I would do it all again in a heartbeat! I was really proud to look back and be able to say I did it (I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to!). The first night, we merely settled in and tackled the mountain on the first full day. Joe and Deric had a cabin next to us and the four of us made it up to Vernal Falls and then continued on up to Nevada Falls. We went up on the Mist Trail and came back on the Panorama Trail.....all of it was breathtaking (literally!).

On the second day, we did a less intimitading trail called the Mirror Lake trail. Even the warnings about mountain lions didn't scare us as we made our way as far as we could go before coming to a place where the trail was closed due to a rock slide avalanche. It was at that point that we ran into a very unafraid deer that let us get within a few feet, which was a little nervewracking but also very cool. We were pretty tired out by the time we finished up and headed back into the bay area.

You can look at my pictures from the park on my picasa page: Yosemite Album

Hand-drawn Maps

As someone who loves maps almost obsessively and will, with very little invitation, draw you a map to/from/about anything.....I have to share this website with you. It's the Hand Drawn Map Association. I have been following this group and appreciating their findings.... check it out!
http://www.handmaps.org/index.php

BackBone State Park

Had a perfect day for the Backbone State Park hike today! There was a nice big group of new and old friends so that made it even better! I posted a ton of pictures from the day on my picasa album:

Fall Trip 2009

We managed to squeak in our Fall trip to Wisconsin for apples and general merriment. Decided on a day trip, which turned out to be very nice and sunny (eventually) but it was freezing cold! We have already enjoyed very much our bounty from the Sunrise Orchard and the dairy fresh cheese curds. Even though they were getting tired and ready to get home, they humored me while I found 7 geocache in the area. Two were in Prairie DuChien, 3 were in Pikes Peak State Park and another 2 along the highway on our way back. It was a good day! I posted pictures up on my picasa page. You can launch that album by clicking on the pictures posted here.

Square Hole

H.J. Watts' 1918 US patent 1,241,176 drill, based on the

Reuleaux triangle (Wikipedia), for drilling a (mostly) square hole.

Rainy Days

Anyone else getting tired of scampering through cold rain? Sorry, TX but we really are sick of rain up here. Trying to send you some has worked out but we meant, you can have it, not you can have it **too**..........drizzle. Makes it hard to get up in the morning and drag yourself from the warm cozy bed.

40 Yearth.

Oh deerhound!!

After work today, Coda and I went to the dog park so he could run and guess who we met there!! A dog that is about twice Coda's size...which for those of you bunnies that have met Mr. Coda in person can vouch .....is pretty hard to imagine! Unless the dog in question is a Scottish Deerhound! I loved him! He was only 14 months old and was very playful. His legs were so long, even Coda couldn't catch up to him when running! The owner told me that he still needed to fill out (put on muscle) so he would probably get heavier but not taller. He was an amazing animal!

The Scottish Deerhound is enormous!! ** PS the picture I originally posted was evidently not a Scottish Deerhound.....but, since that truly is the breed (so says the owner of the dog!), I went about finding what is (hopefully) a real Sc. Deerhound picture:

Image Source: http://www.greatdogsite.com/photos/gallery/Scottish_Deerhound/?index=3

Monday, you Clinger.

Here we go again....another pesky Monday.

First of all, yes, you are not going crazy...there has been a sudden burst of life on my blog. You see, ironically, when there are actually things going on in my life (translation: interesting things to tell and show)...I don't have time to blog! Then I do a ton of mundane updates when I am very bored. Go figure. SoI tried to take a second to put a few entries out here....in order, of course. Yes, I back-dated. *sigh*

Anyway...there are still a few things to go up but I guess another contributing factor to my binge blogging is that I primarily micro-blog all day with Twitter....so I feel like I've already announced things to my bunnies. Those of you non-Tweeties will just have to chomp at the bit as you wait for my long overdue entries here.....sorry in advance! I will try to do better. Maybe. Somehow.

Chicago - MLC Forum

Boyden

Mom, Kara and I jetted off to Boyden for the weekend. Ended up doing my typical catch up on sleep in between very helpful meetings and delicious meals. It was so fun to catch back up with Jamie and Heidi, who I haven't seen forever!

Sawyer August Wilmot

Welcome Sawyer August Wilmot!
September 9, 2009 at 10:41 a.m.
Proud Parents: Teresa & Jim W.
Weight: 7 lbs. 12 oz.
Length: 20 inches

Monday

IA convention season

Malcom is now behind us......lovely to see everyone and very helpful to be there in many ways.

Maquoketa Caves Hike

This was by far the most awesome hike so far! I can't believe I have never been to this amazing park until now. The full set of pictures are posted ....you guessed it...on my picasa page.

Maquoketa Caves State Park Hike

Decorah Canoe Trip

It is that time of year again! We camped up at Mike & Sarah's and took the canoes out on the Upper Iowa for a nice paddle-fest! I posted the pictures up on my picasa album.
2009 Decorah Canoe Trip

Indian Creek Hike

The Indian Creek Nature Center is dedicated to protecting the land we have, and restoring it to pre-settlement conditions. Staff and volunteers are always working on a wide range of restoration activities. Conservation projects vary with the season, amount of degradation an area has suffered, and the desired habitat. The Nature Center is reconstructing tallgrass prairies, restoring oak-hickory savannas, and improving wetlands and riparian habitats. Restoration activities include: removing exotic trees and plants; planting native trees and plants; managing controlled burns in appropriate areas; and, creating animal nest boxes and habitats.

My pictures from the hike are on my picasa album now!
Indian Creek Nature Center Hike

Here's something New.

Look ma, no glasses. Turns out after a few attempts by the eye doctor to find something that would be comfortable on my overly sensitive eyeballs while still adequately fixing my astigmatism and near sightedness.....and paranoia about having to clean and soak contacts.... bam! I have disposable contacts now that I wear about 59% of the time.

Joel Silverman

Joel Siverman from the Animal Planet trained this dog for commercials! We got to listen to his talk, demonstration and get our books signed at the Cedar Valley Humane Society's fund raiser! I postd a bunch of pictures from the event on my picasa album. It was so cool to meet him and hear about his career!

Chicago

Schmertman and I roadied over to Chicago this weekend to hang out with Sharon and Jackie at Jennifer's place. We ended up having a leisurely but amusement filled weekend. Even though it was on the chilly side, we tried out the beach (didn't stay long since it was pretty windy but the sand was nice!) To warm up, Becky, Sharon and I ran from lifeguard stand to lifeguard stand and looked for tumbled glass on the beach. After that, we spent most of Saturday downtown. Shopping, seeing the sights in Milennium Park and even geocaching! I put up some pictures on my picasaness. http://picasaweb.google.com/lisa.rae.007/ChicagoGirlsWeekend#

Defibulator

I know...you all probably just had the "big one" because I finally caught up on my blog. PSh....... Sorry about that! This weekend I am heading off again for Chicago with Beckster to hang with the girls in the Windy City. Catch you on the flipside!

My Waterloo Days '09

Went out to the Dragon Boat races at George Wyth State Park.....Got some good sun, fresh air....made fun of crazy looking people in the crowd while we waited for the various bracket to reset. It did suddenly cloud over before the final race so we left.  I wanted to go see Meredith/Jason and boys anyway.

Happy 30th, Meredith!!

Ethan is really getting to be a "big boy"...they grow fast!  He has such an amazing sense of humor too, I mean....he is genuinely funny!
Ethan and Alex wrestling around. Amazingly...even though all parents say, "it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt!" there were no injuries this night!  Well.....except when Ethan made a running leap onto the couch and racked his shin on the couch frame.  He was fine though.
The caption is.... "raaaaawr"  because we were being Tyranasaurus.  He tricked me into reading a really hard to read book about dinosaurs.  He was a little frustrated about me going "steg.....a......luff....a..........saurus?"  but then it turned into a game of what dinosaurs eat.  

Never a dull moment!  

Dinosaurs eat celery!  Dinosaurs eat grapes!  Dinosaurs eat pizza!
Granted..he was probably filling his pants, but when Alex hides in the curtains, it is really amazingly cute.

"I'm in my beaver lodge!"

Also note:  Meredith is going to have baby #3 in a few weeks!! June 18th!  Can't wait to hold little baby boy.  Benjamin!

Brooke/Ryan's

San Antonio

Ok, I didn't take this picture....but trust me. Just the sight of those quarries in San Antonio made me so happy.  So, so happy.  I was treated to a personal private tour of several of them, how about that!  The full set of pictures from the weekend of adventure in the great state of Texas are on my picasa page...and Alaina's page.    Here are a few of my favorite pictures though...from downtown, Riverwalk......and of course, Mike-a-paloosa.  Mikestock.  Mikefest.  Whatever we're calling it..hehahah  Met some great people and very much enjoyed the ones I already knew ahead of time *grin*

One thing we did was geocache in Live Oak, TX.... and what a time it was!  Super hot and muggy but we had good success.  Anyway...this is the nutshell recap (pretty lame, since I barely told anything)....but but....I'm tired! Go look at the pictures, bunnies.

My Pictures:  http://picasaweb.google.com/lisa.rae.007/SanAntonio#

Alaina's Pictures:  http://picasaweb.google.com/Alaina.Readman/20090522SanAntonio#

Nelson Dewey

Sarah came over on Friday to pack up the car for our camping trip in Wisconsin. See, we were supposed to start camping on Friday but skipped out there because it was raining. We used the time to shop for gear, try out the new Old Chicago restaurant.... stay up too late. Haa! Imagine!
The weather was perfect for camping! We snagged a cliff site and lugged our gear out. We saw eagles at close range! Of course, you can't beat eating in the fresh air. We didn't even put the flap on my tent....so we slept in the open air! It was a little chilly but in the good way. Aside from cold noses, we were toasty and comfortable! We spent the days hiking and geocaching! On our way home, we crossed up at Prairie Du Chien, checked out La Riviere park for more hiking and geocaching....then came home on the Iowa side. Lovely day for green rolling hills, sunshine and singing along with the radio. It was perfection.  I love the area there and Sarah was fun company  *grin*  We saw a [dead] snake, scarlet tanegers, woodchuck....did I mention eagles!?

I posted the pictures on picasa! http://picasaweb.google.com/lisa.rae.007/NelsonDeweyCampingTrip#

H1N1

Several weeks of very busy Public Health worklife........  the outbreak of the new strain of Influenza A made for a very exciting time.  All of the latest info comes from the CDC surveillance.  We are crossing our fingers that the massive spread will somehow stay out of our jurisdiction. So far no positive cases so that is a relief but we are ramping up in every way so we can prepare. 

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm

The Iowa Department of Public Health is also a good source of information!

http://www.idph.state.ia.us/h1n1/

Girlie's Weekend

Amanda, Alaina and Becky came over for the weekend....whee! We ended up shopping downtown CF...tried out the new restaurant called My Verona.  Had a nice walk around the Prairie Lakes because the weather was so beautiful!  We even went to the Springs, Sprockets & Pullies exhibit at the museum.  That night we played games and laughed.  And laughed.  After meeting on Sunday we had an excellant dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Amanda & Alaina got on the road then and Becky and I went on a geocaching adventure. When we got home, we found out that our little walk was 5 miles! It was eventful too because we saw horses....several geocache (including the birdhouse one that was AWESOME!!) and got plenty more fresh air.

Thanks for coming girlies!

I posted a bunch of pictures on my picasa page  http://picasaweb.google.com/lisa.rae.007/GirlsWeekend#

End of Session

This weekend was the last session for the semester. Overall, it was a pretty laid back weekend except for the driving.  Listened to their presentations and finished up some material left for lecture.  Simon and I went out to Palmer's for lunch on last time of the semester and I headed over to Iowa City for Rohan's birthday.  After a drizzling start to the weekend, it was actually sunny and beautiful on Saturday afternoon. We grilled out and the kids played in the yard.  

I did post a few of my pictures on my picasa album.  4/18 Iowa City

Dream Big

Sproooiiiing.

Travis & Julie's Wedding

Julie and Travis had a beautiful wedding day!  The ceremony and reception were beautifully decorated.  They had a chorus singing from the balcony during/after the ceremony! The reception was in the newly remodeled Elk's Club ballroom....here they are cutting their cake!

Laney was hilarious. She seemed to be in such a good mood with all of the festivities and just about threw her head back laughing when everyone was clapping. She was all smiles.

All of the kids were cute.  We did the chicken dance, the hokey-pokey...the whole she-bang. My feet hurt and my sides hurt from laughing but it was such a fun night.

A nice picture of my brothers chatting up while they waited for their dinner. They look happy here but really they were more upset than the kids.....well, that's debatable I guess. Hard to wait but the food was delicious! 

Footprint Book

Here is a sample page from Ethan and Lisa's footprint book!  I had footprints/paw prints on one side and the actual foot picture plus the animal in full on the other side.  It was just a little 4X6 photo album like you can buy anywhere but I put a cover page on it and then we cut out the footprints and animal pictures I had printed out .....and made Ethan's footprint book!  He was so excited about it. It was probably the most rewarding thing I did this week!  There were even some quiz pages that had a footprint and then you had to choose from 4 animals to answer the quiz about which animal made the print. 

I wish I would have gotten a picture of him while we worked on it because he was so excited.  Almost too excited to go to bed that night as it turned out..........adorable.

Iowa State

GIS Seminar: Lisa Swanson 
Mar 30, 2009 12:10 pm-1:00 pm
526 Design

GIS Seminar
GIS Applications in Environmental Health
Lisa Swanson, Environmental Health Officer/GIS
Black Hawk County, Iowa

Abstract
Environmental health comprises those aspects of human health, including quality of life, that are determined by interactions with physical, chemical, biological and social factors in the environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing, correcting, controlling and preventing those factors in the environment that may adversely affect the health of present and future generations.

The Black Hawk County Health department utilizes geographic information systems (GIS) to manage geographically based data pertaining to environmental health such as water quality, environmental contamination, visualizing distribution of resources, tracking chemical application for vector control, disease prevention, stream-lining workflow, environmental assessment and permit/licensure management. Projects from the department will be presented along with general overviews of other applications of GIS, demonstrating the power and challenges of using GIS technology as a tool in environmental and public health.

Birthday Pie

I know...you're thinking.....that's not pie!   Very astute of you.

Every year (and when we feel like it in between) my friend Tracey and I have what we call our "pie date" for her birthday.  As you can see by the picture....what we meant this year was, "omelette date" because we both had breakfast for supper.  It was fun to catch up and celebrate her birthday (belated as usual by the time we found a time/day that worked).  

3-30 to 4/3

I have so much travel and meeting and calling and everything that I won't know where this week went.......

Monday: Iowa State

Tuesday: meetings

Wednesday: Des Moines for ISAC meeting

Thursday: EMA meeting

Friday: Des Moines for Collaborative meeting

Saturday: Julie's wedding

Sunday: Muscatine special meeting

Scamper

We had gotten a light sprinkling of snow the day I went over to meet Scamper, Meredith and Jason's new pup.  Ethan was so excited.  They both seem to do really well playing with Scamper and she is such a sweet little thing.  In these pictures she is in her bed because she had an....accident.  Learning the rules of being in the house!

At one point, I was standing in the kitchen with Meredith and Ethan says (from the other room) "I'm so happy...I'm playing with my pet, Scamper!"

After meeting Scamper, the big excitement was taking action shots of the boys jumping.  Ethan got some impressive air!

Oh....we also played the "shove a pillow up your shirt and run around like a crazy" game.  Alex was just so cute....notice his after-supper-Buddah-belly!

When Meredith took Scamper out on the porch, you could see perfect little puppy foot prints leading out the yard....which caused Ethan to come up with the idea of making a footprint book. All on his own!  We planned it all out and we're going to make it this week.  I love when they are so curious and excited about things that catch their interest. I'm looking forward to the project!

Happy Pi Day

Don't be irresponsible.....no rounding up to four, people!

Stitches!

Poor  Tyler......he banged his head and got 3 stitches on his noggin.  Got the picture from Janet's facebook (hm, is that stealing?).  Her date is wrong....I mean, he wasn't even born yet and what not. But he had a hard week.....good thing healthy little boys heal fast!

Promise

Hugs

Gin and I hanging on the couch. Apparently, Gin has no sense of personal space either. It was a special moment. Actually, I think I was in his normal spot and so he choose to just cuddle with me instead of give up his end of the couch.

Happy B.day Pookie

Happy Birthday Brooke! It was fun to see you all on Sunday!

Teaching Debut

After one false start due to the snow cancellation....I finally made my teaching debut! My students are pretty cool. The class is small enough that it is possible to spend time helping the slower ones and actually talk to them about their projects one on one basis.  There are a couple of students registered for the course that didn't show up.  Anyway, the course name (have I mentioned this yet?) is "Geographic Information Systems for Health Professionals".  Most of the students are in the Masters of Public Health program or Public Health Adminstration.  We finish up April 18th so we'll see how the mini-semester pans out.

We (Simon and I) finished up just a bit early so we had a nice work lunch at Palmer's Deli. yum!

I was happy for the wiggle room because I had tickets for a comedy show with Nick and Nate...and planned to meet up with Tina/Chad and some of their friends. We laughed quite a bit.  It was a nice relaxing cap on the weekend after being stressed for so many weeks on end.  I hope you all had a good weekend too!

Po-Po

Did you know that if you come around a curve and rapidly gain on a car occupied by a State Trooper, you will most likely....make that "definitely" find yourself having a conversation with said Trooper on the side of the road.  And........I get to send $80 to Hardin County.  There was one thing amusing about the whole thing.......  he gave me an envelope stamped with the address I need to send it to.  How nice was that?  Of course, I have to put the stamp on it...so technically my ticket cost me $80 and forty some cents.  Sigh.

Atlanta - CDC Graduation

Sunday afternoon I hopped the plane to Atlanta again.  It made for a long evening but I made it to the hotel by about 10pm and settled in. A few of the other fellows were in town already so I met up with them and caught up a little.  Monday was the day those of us that presented went to the CDC and set up our presentations....ok, that was a mini-disaster because I couldn't get in at the last minute, but it turned out that we weren't going to practice our presentations orally anyway so the biggest disaster was that I had to pay $30 for a taxi ride back to the hotel (my choice, rather than sitting in the lobby waiting). When I got back to the hotel, the guys had finally arrived and I had a good time getting teased and talking to them while we figured out what to do for supper.  There was a "networking" reception with the incoming class so we decided that since we were "big guy on campus" we were going to meet up in the lobby and walk in all together in a group.  Also, we were laughing pretty hard at the quote book by that point and nobody was super anxious to go to the reception anyway....so any chance to stall.  After a while though, the smells of the appetizers sped up our progress towards the reception.....  and it was good! It was fun to talk to and observe the incoming fellows as they tried to figure out what was going on and attempted to be "cool" about introducing themselves and mingling.  Of course, our group had spent the last year together and had all kinds of crazy inside jokes and shared experience.  I think most were really feeling it that it was our last "hoorah".

After the reception, we went to a very interesting establishment called Fire of Brazil...which is a Brazillian steak house.  I will post a few pictures of that....because words cannot describe the meat sweats that the guys were experiencing after eating something like 3 lbs of every kind of grilled meat imaginable........as it was shaved from a skewer by the waiters.....tableside. Eeeh!

Michael and Tim were filled with glee....can't you tell?

Our class after graduation.

Happy Birthday Alex!

Alex turned 2!  He loved his new little drum....carried it around 

and knew just what to do with it. A musician in the making?

Mmmmmm, frosting!

Ethan was hilarious...helping and bargaining to try and 

convince Alex to let him play with some of the new toys.

Hiking Palisades II

Mark, Josh and I (the meet up gets low turn out when it's in the high 20°s and snowy) met up for a nice winter hike at Palisades. It was our second trip down there and we were hoping that there would be less ice so we could go further.  The good news is that we had a gorgeous day and proper walking sticks (except Josh....sorry Josh).  But there was still enough ice that we didn't attempt the big hill.  We saw some coyote tracks!   

Geocaching

Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day, in perfect timing because I planned to spend the afternoon geocaching down by Toddville.  It was only 30° but the sun made up the difference.  Unfortunately I found out that the park closed at 4pm so I had to run back quicker than planned but still it was a good 3 hr hike almost.  There were plenty of snowshoers and cross-country skiiers on the trails. I managed to find 8 caches before I headed back home. The only downer was that I didn't meet up with the other cachers that were in the area. I guess there wa a reception problem and even if they had gotten my message, they were very hardcore and had been in the area starting at 7:00am......meaning they had moved on by the time I got down there.  Anyway, it was a great day.

Coda is a Model

Click on the picture to have a look at the gallery of Coda's proofs.  We went and helped Mariah get an assignment done.....the pictures she took turned out so cute!  Coda is hard to photograph that's for sure, but some of his smiles are so great. I'm glad to she is letting me use the proofs!

Victoria Wildfires

I'm worried about the wildfire situation in Australia. Wildfires in general are just crazy.  Even though a meeting I had today reminded me of how surreal our summer was here....F5 tornado followed by an epic 500  year flood.....but still.  Mother Nature is a force to be respected!

If you click on the picture, you can see a breathtaking (and not in a good way) album of pictures from the wildfires. Unimaginable.

Smiles

AWOL

Yes, bunnies. I know I have been scarce. Look, things will get better. I have a due date on Monday (turning in my presentation slides for EPHLI graduation) so that will be one less thing. Nevermind the nagging stress that I do have to follow through and GIVE the presentation but that's not until the end of the month.

I teach my first class starting Friday (eeeh!) the 13th (EEEEH!!). I am excited for this really. The class is small, I have all the arrangements squared away. Simon and I are on the same page as far as goals for the course work. I have one last conference call with him today about it. The syllabus is set. I have the software and my hotel arrangements. It is a Friday night/Saturday class and I have to make 3 trips down (every other week they have lab time on their own to do homework, etc and my involvement can be done online).

I need to groom Coda up nice because Mariah is using him as a photography assignment so we are going over to her class studio to get his picture taken. I'm excited to have some good pictures of him in all of his cuteness. Hopefully they come out good.....and I can have copies. Hmmm, Mariah?

Embiggen

Saw this today and I have to say it made me genuinely pleased.  This little button to zoom the picture, was labeled Lisa-style.  I just hope it doesn't fulfil (one of) my petpeeves.....which is a popup that is suposed to be zoomed in that is actually the same size as the original image.

Update on Coda

Coda is back to his normal self again.  Thanks to the advice of my favorite vet and the effects of a pampered lifestyle, he was really only down one day.  Here is a picture I took on my cell phone (hence the poor quality) of Coda taking a nap this weekend.  As a joke, I bundled him up and even gave him a pillow, figuring he would get up but he just settled in and took a long nap that way. He is hilarious.

Hm...yah, Chocolate.

Solution to my crankiness?  

Cranky

You know that kinda day (week).....(month) where you feel like things are getting away from you?  Yah....me too and it's making me cranky.  

Do Good

Your result for The Great Minds Advice Test...

Do Good Works

33% Mother Teresa, 25% Franklin, 17% Freud, 17% Wilde and 8% Leonardo!

Your life advisor is Mother Teresa. She has the philosophy of living life by a spiritual commitment for the benefit of the masses.

With this in mind you may be well served to do more charity work and live your life simply with regard not to self gain but to do what is best for those that are less fortunate than you.

Remember to greet each person you meet with a smile. Love of others is your goal.

Take The Great Minds Advice Test at HelloQuizzy

Prankster

Your result for The 3 Variable Funny Test...

the Prankster

(48% dark, 35% spontaneous, 21% vulgar)

your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | LIGHT Your humor has an intellectual, even conceptual slant to it. You're not pretentious, but you're not into what some would call 'low humor' either. You'll laugh at a good dirty joke, but you definitely prefer something clever to something moist.

You probably like well-thought-out pranks and/or spoofs and it's highly likely you've tried one of these things yourself. In a lot of ways, yours is the most entertaining type of humor because it's smart without being mean-spirited.

 HelloQuizzy

Ukiyo-e

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Simple, Progressive, and Sensual

15 Ukiyo-e, 13 Islamic, 8 Impressionist, -8 Cubist, -20 Abstract and -2 Renaissance!

Ukiyo-e (浮世絵, Ukiyo-e), "pictures of the floating world", is a genre of Japaneseand paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries. it mostly featured landscapes, historic tales, theatre, and pleasure. Ukiyo is a rather impetuous urban culture that has bloomed in popularity. Although the Japanese were more strict and had many prohibitions it did not affect the rising merchant class and therefore became a floating art form that did not bind itself to the normal ideals of society.

People that chose Ukiyo-e art tend to be more simplistic yet elegant. They don't care much about new style but are comfortable in creating their own. They like the idea of living for the moment and enjoy giving and receiving pleasure. They may be more agreeable than other people and do not like to argue. They do not mind following traditions but are not afraid to move forward to experience other ideas in life. They tend to enjoy nature and the outdoors. They do not mind being more adventurous in their experiences. They enjoy being popular and like being noticed. They have their own unique style of dress and of presenting themselves. They may also tend to be more business oriented or at the very least interested in money making adventures. They might make good entrepreneurs. They are progressive and adaptable.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Sick Pup

Last night Coda started to concern me because he was acting really aloof and very out of character. He wouldn't relax and was very restless.  He stood in the middle of the living room and stared off into space but then when I asked him to come over, he did but was very distressed. He would lay and immediatly stand back up...sit, then immediately stand back up.  Repeat.  And, the worst part was that he kept looking at me with those puppy-dog eyes (literally!) as if to ask me to make it stop.  I walked him around a bunch outside.  Nothing.  I felt him all over, looking for a sore joint or muscle or something that would explain his discomfort.  

Later, I walked him around for a long time outside, thinking that maybe he ...well, needed to "go" but couldn't.  Constipated tummy parts can be painful, I figured...so walking around seemed to be a good help.  No dice.

Later, I walked him around some more with the same results.  Well....things went a little too smoothly in the night. Twice. Poor baby.  Anyway, without giving you any details, but he has had fecal distress all day.  He has been able to hold it but still, it's been a rough day on the boy.

After talking to the vet, we have come to this conclusion.  Coda has some large intestine problem that was causing him to have bad cramps (hence the "I can't lay down" discomfort) and his bottom issues are probably his body response to that irritation.  Dr. Smith said to put him on a fast for 24 hours and then slowly start giving him boiled hamburger mixed with cooked rice.....bland and no fat.  If he is still having issues (which he is so far) by tomorrow night, he's got to go into the vet.   Cross your fingers!

Inauguration

Did you watch?

Satellite image courtesy of GeoEye

My Sunday Mtg

I miss having meeting at Grandpa & Grandma's....but times they are a'changing.  This is the last group picture session we did...I was able to do some cropping so you could see people better.  It's a good picture of mom/dad and G&G!

LaVern & Evelyn, who are having their 66th wedding anniversary this month. Isn't that amazing!

Jessie (who rides along with me), Double-A, me, Aunt Karen (who was on a visit!) and Kevin (pretty fly for a white guy, huh!)

Typing Test

168 words

Oven Mitt

When is an oven mitt more than just an oven mitt?

When it is a slipper. Don't you judge me.

PS - it was an experiment and the results are in.  

Your hand is a drastically different shape/angle compared to your foot.  

Dad's Good Idea

So for those of you that don't know my dad, this will be less funny.  But my dad (bless his little heart) is hilarious.  He is always coming up with ideas for how things should be or inventions and what not.  Yesterday I stopped over to drop of something my mom needed (she was planted in a chair with flu/migraine).  So when I was there, dad is quiet but then goes "you know, someone should start a business where you just call them up and they bring you whatever you need."  Tape? Chocolate?  Milk?  Toilet paper?  Construction paper?    Because sometimes you need something and are just so lazy (or busy with other things) that you would just hire someone to bring it over.  We had a little laugh about it because....come on. Are people really that lazy and unprepared (I say yes....as one of those people, I can say we are).  

Tonight, I came over to bring supper (mom is still under the weather).  Afterwards, we were talking about how we were still hungry because I underestimated the amount of pizza we were wanting.......and we started talking about what sounded good.  Apple crisp!  More pizza!  Donut holes!  Granted.....none of these ideas are healthy or even needed, but of course.  What comes up, but dad's idea from yesterday.  Clearly he has been thinking it through though because he was starting to work through some of the logistics.........  in his words:

Potential Issues:

- you'd have to have lots of things on hand for faster service

- after hours requests for things you don't have on hand

- "guys that call you up for something and then rob you"

Preparation?

- Gun permit

Only my dad.  heahah

PS - Yes, you nerd.  That is the Planet of the Apes font. I downloaded it today. Wait....that makes me a nerd!  Gah!

US Airways 1549

Source: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/01/15/citizen-journalists.html

Wow....can you imagine?

Brrr

Not to be "that guy" that always talks about the weather....but this is a screenshot from just a few minutes ago.  The actual temp is MINUS 24!!  The windchill puts us close to negative 30-40. That is crazy talk!  Not sure how cold it got overnight but this brings a whole new meaning to cold snap!

Another 7+ inches

Looking down the sidewalk in front of my house.  Look at my little apple tree! Good thing she is hearty because there is about 2.5 feet of snow around her right now!

And that's all the meter-reader person could see of the meter.....can you even pick out that there is a meter buried under the drift?!  

Yep.....here's the little path I shovel through the yard so that the mailperson doesn't have to walk the long way around.  Somehow this snow is only about a foot and a half deep here since I have been just piling the snow on either side.

We're running out of space to put it! At least this last batch (unofficially, the web said 7.3") was all nice and fluffy.  Partly due to the temperature, which has been hovering between negative something and about 4°..... chilly!  But the snow was really pretty, I will say that.  When I got home last night, I shoveled enough to get from the garage to the house and when I got up this morning, you couldn't even see that I'd done anything.  The snow was up over the bottom step!

Kent Park Hike

Yay! My trekking poles arrived from REI just in time for the hike tomorrow!  This time we are going to Kent Park. I am planning to take my GPS and my camera.  Another lesson learned from last time is that you don't need to bundle up like you're about to trek across the Arctic.....I was so hot when we finished the hike last time!  Way over dressed!  Since we got snow today, I'm hoping the trails aren't too tricky. Looks like it will be a new set of people so I am looking forward to that.  Andrea and I have PetPals in the morning so she may come with me......we'll see what she decided in the morning.  

Click here to check out
The Iowa Corn Desert Hiking and Adventure Group!

Hey Bunnies.

I haven't been blogging much these days due to my......stress levels.  And traveling to Green Bay for New Years but that part is another entry.    Ok...the stress is due to having loads of things pulling me in all directions. (see bunny picture, that's how I feel....bedraggled but still huggable).....I will make a bulleted list.  These are pleasing, easy to read and help me to focus on be stressed.

• I found out on Wednesday that the 10 week class I'm teaching (on the side) is starting on Feb 13th instead of Feb 27th......the only reason I found out is that I was working on the syllabus with Simon and he "remembered" to tell me suddenly.  "they do that"
• I am scrambling to put together a new database for our "big daddy" health department stats...and the managing coordinator is very....detail oriented in a "let's have a weekly meeting to get our arms around this" type manager.  The bad part is that she is more fun to work with compared to her lackey.......  **shriek**
• I have 3 due dates in rapid succession for my fellowship.  Next Monday my final paper about my personal development (warm fuzzy) is due.  The following Monday my final project paper is due (breath of fresh air) and then Feb 2nd, my presentation slides for graduation are due (pass out).  Pause while you read that and feel sorry for me.  
• File taxes.

Now....while that all sounds like a lot, I seem to be taking it in stride.  As is my way.  I will now make a list of things I am looking forward to.... (please don't start thinking, hey! why is Lisa making time for this list when she needs to be making progress on the list above??).  Do not go there.

• Kent Park Hike on Saturday
• Laney's 1st birthday party on Sunday
• Going to Schmertman's for a scrapbooking extravaganza  1/16 wknd
• Kaatz is coming to visit the weekend after that!!
• I even have a pie date with Tracey before the month is out!
  
  

Laney is 1

Laney on the day she was born.  

A few months old....looks like Tyler has lost 

that "being a big brother is fun" feeling!

Love this video.........

And here is her official 1 year old pictures. I can't believe it.

Oregon 400t

Yay!! The great "GPS replacement" project has come to a close. After long debate, I went with the Oregon 400t....painstakingly shopped....painstakingly waiting for it to arrive.....

I picked it up directly from FedEx (I can't wait on the driver!).  I got to set it up and play around with it a bit last night. I even loaded geocache and customized it.  I'm so pumped to use it for geocaching since the unit does paperless and has all of the detail info transfered, including some of the log entries! Day and night between this unit and my previous one.  

As soon as my City Navigator drive gets here, I will also be able to program it to give me turn-by-turn driving directions.  Also exciting!!!

Family Time

3 yr Old

So I was sitting in the chair, checking email and a little car, manned by a 3 year old pulls up beside me.

Tyler: Would you like to shake my hand?
Me: Yes, I would!
Tyler: [reaches out his hand]
Me: [shaking Tyler's hand]
Tyler: How 'bout my other hand?
Me: Of course!
Tyler: [shaking my other hand, grinning]

Tyler continues on his way, talking zoom and laughing at Coda, who follows him around constantly. What a cute age.

Winter Full Strength!

Some pictures from Saturday....wow.  We got so much snow this week and the dipping temperature never did come up.  We faced even more snow that night (after these pictures if you can imagine!) and it was blowing so fiercely that the temp stayed below zero to the extreme that we didn't have meeting this morning! Dangerously cold to be out.  I can personally vouch for how quickly it freezes your nostrils to inhale deeply outside!

Rrr.

Happy Saturday, bunnies.  I am getting an oil change, helping mom organize....Who knows what else will come up. I am invited to Chad/Tina's for a little get together but since it is a bit of a drive, I'm not sure if I will go or not. I have some shopping to get done.... and I should stop to see Grandpa/Grandma too since I am actually in town.

The Damage.

Here is the view from inside my neighbor's garage today.  

No meteorologist.

Remember how I said I was no meteorologist!?!  Well.....turns out I'm not judger of depth of snow either.  By the time I got home last night we already had something like 4 inches, nice and fluffy but it was downpouring (if you can use that expression with snow).  So by the time I went to bed, the snow was even with the bottom step of my front porch.  By the time I woke up for work this morning, it was about 6-8 inches but with drifts that were about a foot (I measure this because when Coda walked out in it, his belly was rubbing on the drift!!).  So the first and most obvious concern is.....will my car clear this?!  I shoveled out around my garage, thinking if I could get going on it, it would just blast through and I'd take care of it later when I get home.  Ok....the problem with that plan is that when you take a little Pontiac Vibe and it becomes high centered on snow (which is where I was by the time I was at about the sidewalk level)....I mean, all of the .....yah. It was bad. So my neighbor man finally noticed my dilemma and came to help shovel out the tires.  Finally, with him using the manual transmission and me pushing, we got it out onto the street and proceeded to finish clearing out the drive entrance.  

But that was all this morning.  Skip to present.  I just got off the phone with "a guy" that I am going to give "money" to if he will "plow" out the drive.  Before "I get home".  This makes me feel giddy and guilty at the same time.  I mean....think of all the kids in Africa that don't have someone to plow out their driveways.....wait.  Anyway, at this point, I will pay him twice what he charges (thirty greenbacks....singles.....dough-lar-ays......buckaroos).  To me, it is so worth it!  Otherwise I would have had to park in the street and shovel up toward the house.  Considering how sore my arms are after just digging out my car this morning...I think the prospect of shovelling 6-10" off when I get off work tonight was a pain!  

See inset.    YES, you silly head....it is real.  And humorous to me that the weather channel has an "aches and pains" index.  Today it is "9, very high"......  

Wull no kiddin.  

How was yours?

Mine was fine....I had a non-exciting day at work, followed by a decent evening, followed by pizza (woo!) and then a bit of work on my fellowship project. We're supposed to get crazy amounts of snow/ice but they keep backing off the "hit" time, so who knows what will really happen. Every time I look at the radar it doesn't even look too bad but I'm no meteorologist.

Today.

I am in a very strange mood.  Weird mood.

Zany-hyper-giddy mood.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with staying up until 4..something Am.

And being happy.

Hope all my bunnies are having equally good days!

Love those British Journalists.

So on my way home from work, I usually listen to BBC World Service. I love that they have a different style of journalism, which is a little bit subtle, but the more you listen, the more you will appreciate it. For those of you without XM, you might be able to catch it online but anyway....the point of the story is that I heard a clip there today that made me laugh out loud. Two actually, but the first one was out loud and the other was just a grin and silent chuckle.

They were talking about how the Italian government was "going into the cheese business". The story is how there is a bailout happening to save the struggling Parmesan cheese industry there. Of course, they had all the interviews with nice Italian accents about how the couldn't "eht de pahstah widout da Parmesan, eht wousent be so good." So in one of the transitions, the announcer says, "The financial downturn, which has been grating on the cheese industry for some time now has finally....." GRATING!?! Oh, BBC, how I love you and your wiley ways.

Later on, in another segment, there was another play on words (which, as you read earlier, made me grin and silently chuckle). That one, as it turned out was not as memorable but nevertheless... I felt like sharing it with my little bunnies on this cold night.

UPDATE: you can catch this programme (like how I spelled it their way!) at

BBC World Service: World Update

Other Programs

Dream Kitchens...

I know....this is almost a link for my other blog...but when I saw this spot light on "open kitchen storage for small kitchens" I almost flipped.  I have a small kitchen!   If you love to look at kitchen stuff enough to read a blog about it, you will enjoy this link.  It may make it onto the other blog later, so excuse that :)

Kitchen Spotlight: Open Storage in Small Kitchens

Palisades-Kepler State Park

Saturday was peaking at 40 something degrees... nice and sunny.  I was so happy to see that because there was a hike planned at Palisades-Kepler State Park and I was so ready for it.  I did bundle up pretty good because down in the woods, I figured it would be windy and colder.  Turns out when you hike up and down hills, you don't really need layer upon layer....lesson learned for winter hiking! That was some exertion!  Also, note in the pictures below that some of the trails were a bit treacherous with the ice and snow, so I picked up the smallest log I could find and used it as a walking stick (or ice poker, or slip-slower-downer).  Lesson #2 learned for winter hiking...I need some walking sticks.  Mark brought his (purchased at REI) folding walking sticks. They are very similar to what you would use cross country skiing (wish I still had mine!) but lighter, foldable and had little compass in the top handle part.  Cool!  Here are some pictures from our hike (thanks to Mark, since I forgot the memory stick for my camera and didn't want to lug that thing out anyway since it is largesque)....Lesson #3, I may need to get myself a small point-and-shoot type digital cameras that fits in my pocket...for just such outings. I could use a smaller one for geocaching anyway.

Me (excuse that I have many layers of clothing on), Lori holding Callie and Mark.

Lori showing off her skillz at controlling a dog while navigating a slick stone staircase in the woods.

There's my huge walking stick!  And.....notice by my face that it was slippery-as. I am surprised to announce that I never fell once!  Actually, none of us did!  I hiked with my MeetUp group for about an hour.  When they left, I pulled out the GPS and proceeded to try to find a few caches on the opposite side of the park from where we were hiking earlier.  I got to see a really beautiful stretch of trails that were not nearly as steep.  I am definitely going back to this park.  Next time, I will bring my camera FOR SURE!!!  Anyway, I was not very successful with the caching....I found one easily.  The  next one was a multi puzzle cache, where I found the first one, did the calculations and headed out to find the final stage.  I don't know if it was the hills or my fatigue from hiking all afternoon, but I could not for the life of me find it.  Finally I realized I needed to give up and start heading back before the sun was down.  Ask I hiked back toward where I left my car (completing a loop, I didn't go back the way I came), the GPS noted that I was within 250ft of another cache!  So...I figured, ok, I can see how close I am to the parking lot, even if it gets dark, I can find my way back.....so I decided to go for it.  Not probably the wisest thing considering that as soon as I left the trail/road area it was a pretty steady decline.  Well, the 250 was pretty much downward, therefore, I found myself on a creek bed at the bottom of a ravine.  The thing about a ravine is that it is sometimes easy to lose your satellite lock....which is what happened (sats must have been low in the sky by that point anyway.....sigh).  Anyway, once I got down there, the arrow was bouncing around and other times not even moving.  So I hiked down and up for nothing....except that it was beautiful.  I was sooooo tired by the time I got back in my car.  All that fresh air and sun and adventure did me good! 

My new Blog

I started a new blog....it's a sort of cool website library. I have boat loads of new favorites that I suspect you all will like too! I will try to be really consistent with my tagging so you can just look at the postings that interest your particular hobbies. Whether it be recipes, cool photography, nifty gadgets, weird paper goods, scrapbook ideas, interesting clothes....etc. I intended to start showcasing my picks....and hopefully you'll discover something new too!

Don't forget to add yourself as a follower!

http://fromthemtometoyou.blogspot.com/

Analog Email

Dear Cute Overload.com

Extreme close-ups of hamster babies sleeping or nibbling on cheese......baby kittens that fall asleep in unlikely places....a monkey on a dog's back.  These are all things that do not take the place of true happiness.  Brown sugar and cinnamon pop-tarts, now there's happiness!  Sleeping in...happy!  I could turn in a video of my niece waving with both hands while grinning...there's your cute overload.  Anyway, I thought you need a slap to the face.  [backing up a little and getting a run at it......SLllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!].  Iksnay on the amstershay.  Also, I hate the name of your website.  Nevermind how I know what the content is of said site........  ::sheepish griN::

Yours truly (and only moderately cutely),

Lisa

Cell Reception Map

Love it.

68% Geek

Dear Nerds

Dear Nerds & Gamers,

I am happy that you can now wash your hair with L33t shampoo.  I hope the directions will compile without a Hygene Fail error.  Remember.  If hair = clean then end else repeat.  Love, 

Lisa

Interior Camouflage

I need this today.....just to blend in.  

Have a little snooze at the desk.....nobody the wiser!

Check out more of the cool art/invisibility pictures

on Environmental Graffiti

Nothing New.

Anyone thinking that a strange sense of humor is acquired later in life....say in college.....nope. I have been amusing myself forever. Here is some early evidence.

Polaroid + Naked, laughing 5  year old + plastic garbage can 

+ clear bowl (head sized) = Turtle

Too complicated.

I'm sorry....but this watch is way too complicated.  Who the donk would use this watch!?  Click on the picture to see the full webarticle about it.  I think it would be easier to just open the window, look at the sun and estimate the time.  Quicker probably too.

Typos make me Happy.

I know, there is something seriously wrong with someone that finds such giddy, snide pleasure in finding typos....but check this out.  It was wrong all day on the XM radio screen.  I took such snide pleasure that I went to the trouble to make s screen shot and circle it.  Who is the screw up now!?! ehahah don't answer that.

Hypothetically...

Hypothetical....of course.

Well, I'll be.

The forecasters were right. It is going to snow.

Now, here's hoping they were wrong about the amount.

Looks like we have about 1.5 inches....but I think they

threatened up to 4 inches total. Ugh!

Dear Allen Wrench,

Dear Allen Wrench,

Because of you, I do not need any real tools.  I am thankful for this.  Because I have no real tools.  Ok, that's not entirely true. I have some tools but because of the "girly" size of these tools, they clearly are not considered real tools.  Anyway.  I am constructing an entire bookcase using...you! I mean, the little manual says I will need a hammer and a level...but it's just you and me, baby.  Cheers!  Love, Lisa

Congrats!

Best Wishes to Aubrey and Brian, who tied the knot today!

Bonus Saturday

Don't ask me why, but today felt like an extra.....since the holiday fell at the end of the week, it felt like the weekend already happened.  This morning it felt so good to sleep in.  Since I had my huge IKEA bookcase mom/dad's van, I had to arrange to get it to my house today.  When I got up, I went and picked up a really happy Coda, grabbed lunch.....came home.  Coda played in the yard while I ate my sub (it was 40° today!).  Mom stopped over in the course of her errands and we went for a walk with Coda in an area where I knew there were some geocaches (remember trying to find them, Andrea!!  The wasp infested ball park fence post!?). We managed to find 2 out of 3 caches and had a nice hour long walk through the park and along the levee system. Now, with the evening stretching out in front of me....I have baked some oatmeal....Coda and I are kicking back. Actually he's snoring next to me while I mess around online. Here is the put together bookcase....I probably won't hoist it up on another table but, wish me luck putting it together!  

Baked Oatmeal:

3 cups whole oats

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

2 cups milk

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1) combine and mix well

2) pour into buttered (I don't butter) 2 quart or 9x13 pan

3) bake at 375° for 25 minutes

You can make your own modifications like adding nuts or fruit. I have tried adding bananas and apples. It is alright...I still like it plain best.  I usually add cinnamon.  It's a good recipe for nice hot comfort food for breakfast.  Or supper!

Thanksgiving 2008

While Monique and Jessica braved the 20° weather and floated in the hot tub .....for a long time, I might add........   we played games and chatted. It was really nice to see Doug & Helen's place. they are so fun to be around.

Here are some of the family pictures snapped quickly as everyone headed out.

Carrie, Rohan, Monique and Alana

Uncle Dave and Irina.

Doug, Helen, Jessica and Sean with Aunt Alice.

Mom and Dad + stray daughter.  Yours truly.  Yes, I was washing things up in the kitchen when I was called up for picture duty...don't you judge.

The ones that weren't there were missed!  Brooke & Ryan + kids stayed back in Iowa.  Also Grandpa & Grandma didn't make the trip up this year. It was fun to video chat with them a couple time during the day via Skype.  It was sort of comical as grandpa talked to who ever happened to be pacing through the dining room.  It was a fun day!

Gobble Gobble.

Ok bunnies....do it right.  You can take a nap later.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Flocking Together.

Everyone is someone else's weirdo.  

Isn't that great?

Sick

Please bunnies....cross your fingers that I am over this bug by tomorrow......I'm running out of things to burn and for crying out loud when I eat something I want it to stay in! I'm hungry (of course nothing sounds good).........I am on Day 3 so far of not feeling-goodness.

One Word Answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? close

2. Your significant other? future

3. Your hair? down

4. Your mother? chennith

5. Your father? dad

6. Your favorite thing? nature

7. Your dream last night? nothing

8. Your favorite drink? DtCoke

9. Your dream/goal? accomplishment

10. The room you're in? bedroom

11. Your fear? loneliness

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? together

13. Where were you last night? sick

14. What you're not? tall

15. Muffins? cinnamon

16. One of your wish list items? travel

17. Where you grew up? Iowa

18. The last thing you did? facebook

19. What are you wearing? sweatshirt

20. Your TV? none

21. Your pet? Coda

22. Your computer? laptop

23. Your life? full

24. Your mood? mellow

25. Missing someone? yes

26. Your car? Vibe

27. Something you're not wearing? raincoat

28. Favorite Store? Anthropologie

29. Your summer? short

30. Your favorite color? Brown

31. When is the last time you laughed? today

32. Last time you cried? yesterday

FOUR PLACES I GO OVER AND OVER: Gmail.com, Walmart, Kwik Star, work

FOUR PEOPLE WHO E-MAIL ME: Brooke, Teresa, Shuvi, Mom

FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS: Stir-fry, JimmyJohns, applesauce, grilled cheese

FOUR PEOPLE THAT ARE IT:   wait....what?  This is a secret.

21 Pointers

Shared with me

...which I now will share with you.

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO . Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR . When you say, 'I love you ,' mean it.

FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.

SIX . Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE . Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN. . In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN . Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN . When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

FOURTEEN . Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson !

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship..

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.

Here Come the Ninjas.

Monday.

Back on my throne.

Happy Monday, bunnies.

Meh.

High-aaaaaaah!

Nothing takes an intruder by surprise quite so effectively as a Ninja trained guard owl.

Think about that.

Ahem...they got me back.

Font Conference

Yah, here I go.

No, this isn't going to be one of those sappy "I am turning 30 tomorrow" type entries. Yah, you know the type....no, I'm more of a silver lining type gal. Therefore I will dedicate this entry to the good things that happened in the 29th year of my life. (which is rapidly vaporizing..aaaaah).

Well....let's see. If I try to remember last November.....which seems like it was just a few months ago! We were all out in Colorado for Thanksgiving. I was really into a weird Brandy Carlisle song, which I had stuck in my head the whole trip. We went to Pike's Peak and Casa Bonitas. Met some new cousins that trip.

Laney was born in January....so Tyler became a big brother and we all fell in love again.

In February I started my CDC fellowship with the Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute and started an experience that changed my professional life. I met so many incredible people and started on a project that would impact my work and personal development. I made memorable trips to Atlanta, Phoenix/Grand Canyon, Saint Louis. I'm still working on my project and will be for the next couple years no doubt...but its been quite a ride.

In the summer, we took our family vacation to the Table Rock Lake. Along for the trip were Carrie/Rohan and girls, dogs, mom/dad. We floated in the water, tubed, played games, celebrated Alana's birthday, shopped, saw the Shanghai Circus.....good times!

Had some noteworthy trips for camping and hanging with the girls. I miss Shuvi, Becky, Sarah, the other Sarah, Jackie, Sharon, Amanda, Alaina.....its just a good thing we are easy road trips apart!

It was nice to have Aunt Karen home for a visit. Especially with grandpa having hip surgery. Actually....almost all of my grandparents had health issues and came out ok...which is good....a relief. Grandpa Swanson had a major scare with his gall bladder but has bounced back to normal. Grandpa Eicher just got done with another surgery to fix where his muscles did not heal as expected....I think that's going ok so far. Grandma's back is hopefully getting better. They are moving to an apartment when their house sells.

I snagged 41 geocaches from all over the place.....Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa...Started a few groups for Iowa cachers...met new friends. Took my friends and family out for treasure hunting!

Meredith and Jason moved back to Cedar Falls. It has been nice knowing they are in town again. I even ran into Jason at Wal-Mart. That would have never happened when they were in Des Moines! The boys are so cute and their little minds are so incredible. We have had a few good times getting together with Tyler/Laney and Ethan/Alex. It has been nice being able to take walks with Meredith and take the boys to the pumpkin farm.

You know, there are other details I could go into...but let's just say that new things this year have been good. Really good. I just hope my 30th year is just as good!

Kansas, 2008

Fall in Kansas, beautiful sunsets!

The cheering squad for the hardcore volleyball players. It was cold and windy, maybe we should have been jumping around too!

Played games, of which my favorite was Ticket To Ride...hm, I think I need that one.

We even bundled up and went on a hayride. Daniel (or a werewolf of London) jumped out to scare us, but we silly-stringed him!

Tyler Turns 3

Results Watch

My soapbox

I am not a flaming liberal by any means....but I do find myself on a soapbox of sorts these days. I can't tell you how many conversations I have been a part of or overheard where unfounded and clearly misguided "facts" are cited. Someone even told me that we should not vote for Obama because he is a Muslim (he is not). Ok....this was my breaking point. I have long since advocated informed voting....in other words, researching your candidate (and his/her opponent). To be clear, talking to co-workers, listening to talk-show opinions, absorbing your parent's views....these are not what I mean by research. I mean, read the candidate's views/positions on all of the issues. Not the top three....not the ones that make it into the heated headlines. If you read through Obama or McCain's plan and you have a concern about a particular issue....that is one thing. If you have never read through either candidates plan, then you will find I will not talk politics with you. And, it is also something I will point out.......either way, it is ultimately not in our hands....thank goodness for that.

McCain/Palin

Obama/Biden

To make it easier, there are sources where you can look at the candidates side by side even.

Compare the Candidates

Tape 5

Happy Halloween!

Good Riddance Week.

As the lights go down in the city....I am wondering where the week went. Actually it is not surprising because I was playing catch up....but wow.  If I can just make it through tomorrow, I will be home free for a relaxing weekend.

I have been up to my neck in catching up on schtuff from last week (emails mostly and committees that had activity while I was gone).  And trying to solve a nagging project bottleneck that had a deadline....sigh!  And! (yah, I am on a complain rant)......I have had something every night this week.  Not that they were bad things...I had fun but at the expense of my "to do" list at home.  I did get the leaves all cleaned up and flowerbeds winterized on Tuesday.  w00t.  And I paid my speeding ticket this afternoon......what else did I accomplish.  Hm.  Oh! I had an outing with Mariah, saw grandpa & grandma Swanson, exercised.  Finished getting Tyler's 3rd birthday present.  Which brings me to the "what I'm looking forward to" part of this entry...... 

So tomorrow is Friday and I am going out for "pie" with Tracey.  By which we mean supper.  And girl talk.    And then Tyler's birthday party is on Saturday. Can't wait!  Better go, I'm baking!

Tuesday.

PSA

Dear Bunnies.

Do your research on the candidates.  Vote!

It is important that you know what you are doing this time.

Please do not get your facts from an email your neighbor 

forwarded to you from some ranting idiot's blog. 

(if you were thinking..hey, this is a blog...well then touché )

Oh, and don't try to draw me into a debate....

I already know who I am voting for.

Again, this is important....so I will repeat the keyword.

Vote!

(if you are old enough)

It does matter.

PS - I wrote this in Verdana, so you would realize I am serious.

Ughhhh!

What an ordeal.  I finally arrived at home (as in....on my homeland soil) at 2:00am Saturday morning......I'll back up and tell you how it went down.

Not the plane.  The plane didn't go down.   Meh.  Ok.

So after not getting very much sleep all week (especially the last night).  I made it to Minneapolis before all craziness broke loose. Or should I say, no flight craziness happened...what happened was more of the waiting I'd already done for 1.5 hrs......because my 10:30 flight didn't board until 12:30am and then didn't actually take off until a little after 1:00am.  Le'sigh. I did manage to keep myself (or allow myself to be) entertained though so it wasn't so bad except for the fact that I wanted to go to bed so badly.  Plus, mom and dad were having to pick me up since I didn't have a car there.  Ick, what an ordeal. This morning, however, I did get up and manage to get to Pet Pals for the first time in what feels like ages.  Thank goodness too because it was a really fun group of kids.  Once Coda was sufficiently tired out, we left and I ran some errands with mom.  I even went over to mow Aunt Gloria's lawn and stayed conscious all afternoon with no nap!  [pause for shocked expression to receed]...I know, I know.   Shocked, right!   

Saint Louis

Below: This is Kiener Plaza which was right across the street from our hotel...it was really pretty at night, but the pictures I took at night didn't come out very well....the old Capital and the Arch make a nice background for the fountain.

  Below:  This is the view from the Busch Stadium entrance. You can see the two towers of the Hilton (where we stayed) and the Arch nearby.

  Below:This is the Jefferson Museum at night, which I snapped on our way 

back from walking through the Forest Park.

Below:  Rob Blake (chief of the Environmental Health Services Branch of CDC), William (El Paso), me, Tyler (Memphis), Bill (Oklahoma)

Arch.

Hey bunnies. I am so proud of this picture I took today. We walked over to see the Arch since it was such a sunny day and we didn't have anything fellowship related until the afternoon. We even took the tour up to the top (click the picture to see the album I am building as we go, I have been adding to it daily). Even though I'd been here before, it was still fun to get up that high and have a look at the city.

It is a definite perk that we are staying at the Hilton downtown because there is so much to see and do here. We have found some great restaurants within walking distance. It is a little sad that this is our last big trip together since next time we will all be together will be our graduation. Too much to see and do before then, so no sense dwelling on it. For now, I need to get some sleep since we are getting up early enough to meet at 7:00am for breakfast before the 8:00am session. Yipes!

Shaun Lunt

Check out the photoblog ...a tribute to the life and

photography of Shaun Lunt and his amazing Alasakan adventures.

Greetings Traveller.

Here I sit, finally in my room for the night.  After spending most of the day in the airports....meh.  This was gruelling because of the fact that I went to bed so late that I didn't get very much sleep....ugh.  But I did have a good thing or two happen.  While I was sitting on my outrageously long layover in Minneapolis, I ran into Eric Wilcox!  He was on his way home from convention and hunting in Minnesota.  Our flights were at neighboring gates. I left at 4:10 and he left at 4:50.  So that was a fun diversion from people watching and messing with my Facebook account. I had an uneventful Metro ride to the Hilton, where I was met with this sight:Pretty, right!  Some of the other fellows were in early too, so we walked over (past the lighted building in that picture) to a little restaurant near our hotel.  I had a club sandwich and some homemade potato chips.  The other guys were more creative......meatball sandwiches, pasta dish....pork chops. I think we will be going there again, so I will try to branch out a little.  

I better go to sleep now since some of us are getting up to see some sights before sessions start tomorrow at 1:00pm....so I aim to do a little bit of lookin' around when I get up.... G'night bunnies!

Aw Snap.

Even error messages are getting hip. Happenin'.....coolio.

Capacity of a Day

As usual, I think I have crammed too much into one day. Not that I really have that many activities but given my affinity for wasting time....there is only so much that can be done.  Ok, I slept in, not going to apologize for that one given my crazy sleep schedule. I think I got 9 hours and it was more than any two nights put together that week....so hurumph.  Ok, then I brushed and washed Coda.  Made some toast.  I'm doing a load of laundry.  In an hour or so I need to mow ...have been waiting for it to get dry enough but it was foggy and still until almost 10am...no drying that way!!  Hopefully mowing won't cut into my little meet up with Meredith+family and Brooke+family.  I have been looking forward to it soooo much.   We are supposed to meet once the boys are up from their naps and order pizza.  Carrie+family are in town and I'm not sure *when* I'm going to see them since I still have to pack and stop at Wal-Mart somewhere in there.... You see, I hop a plane tomorrow for Saint Louis.  Oh, and I need to do some finishing touches on my project before I leave so that I can have printed copies of my project in hand.  Yipes!  To top it all off, my flight leaves at 11:00 so I have to miss meeting.  Once I get on the plane all will be right because there's no more cramming in.  Then I am at the mercy of the institute and our fellowship activities don't even start until Monday at 1:00pm or somesuch.  I am really excited about this trip because I remembered to gather some geocaching and we'll be at the Hilton downtown...lots to see and do.  All for now....later bunnies.

Too close to Home.

Picasa Power-Nerd Users?

Click this Logo to read the article:

Lifehacker reader Gil writes about a whole bunch of neat features in the Picasa 3 Beta's "Experimental" menu we totally missed in our screenshot tour of the photo manager's new features. The most wonky among them is a color search tool, which, as Gil points out, is only so helpful without percentage scaling. On the more useful side, "Show duplicates" helps you weed out carbon photo copies, and you can save searches and compile tagged photos as albums. Hit the link for a screenshot roundup of the not-quite-ready-for-primetime features.

Quarters.

Brett called me today to ask how much money I'd lost in the Coke machine downstairs. You see, at work, we have to go down several floors to use a vending machine, so it is like an outing...which we often will do in groups of two...like the buddy system. So at least twice, Brett has been with me when the machine ate my money. It got to be a joke because the stupid thing was so finicky. There is a big pad of paper to leave a note for the machine people if you have lost money....well, that pad was 3 sheets full by the last time I checked, nobody had been reimbursed. So anyway....today Brett went down and a quarter got stuck. This is typical. But Brett was thinking....not me, machine...not today.... because he whipped out his little pocket knife and tried to pry it out. What he did was loosen what was several dollars worth of change stuck in the machine because he said when he wrenched it around a few times all of a sudden all these quarters came out. So he went around and reimbursed people (us first of course). I have $4.00 in quarters sitting here in a neat little pile. Hooray for vending machine justice!

Morning Officer.

Dear Officer,
Yes, I was going fast but I was in a rage. Oh, that sounds like I was being irresponsible...so let me rephrase. What you didn't see was the lady in front of me turning from the middle of 3 one-way lanes and nearly causing us all to hit her. What you did see was me topping the hill, coming over the bridge at a goodly clip. I'm not going to go into some sob story here....but I was running late because I had a run in my tights and at the last minute had to change (and also I over slept) and after all of that, Coda was being stubborn about coming back into the house....Yah, Coda is my dog. Ok, officer, seriously now. What are we talkin'......hand slap, be on your way? What? you're going to ticket me?? But, didn't you hear what I said about the tights? Ok fine. And yes, thank you for "doing me a big favor" (your words, not mine) by reducing my ticket from 45 to 35mph in a 30mph zone. Really, it softened the blow. Are you sensing the sarcasm? Because I'm laying it on pretty thick. Drive safe.

Lisa

PS - your uniform was nice.

Time-lapse, Tilt-Shift

The North Wind Blew South from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Fall Foilage Trip '08

I love the Fall. Just got back from our annual camping trip in Wisconsin..... and we had perfection for weather. We tried out a new park, Nelson Dewey, which was amazing. Jackie and I are definitely interested in going back. The sites were all surrounded by woods so you didn't really have to deal with neighbors. Another cool thing about this state park is that I took a ferry to get there. I was giddy over this for days. The alternative is to drive an hour south and cross at Dubuque or an hour north to cross at Prairie DuChien. I took the road of adventure, paid $12 and barely controlled my glee.

Mom & Dad drove up for the day, so we had them along too as Brooke/Ryan/Tyler/Laney, Jackie and I went about road tripping. We tried to geocache but the satellites were too low on the horizon and I couldn't get a 3d fix so close to the cliffs. We did drive up through Wyalusing, stopping at the beach, on our way to Cabela's in Prairie DuChien...you're welcome Ryan. Hehe

On Sunday after meeting, we headed up to the hills/orchards for the annual stop at Sunrise Orchards. Humina. We got apple cider donuts so fresh they steamed up the package....and cider and apples and honey...and apple slushie. The ride to and from the orchard was beautiful!! I remembered where there was a geocache on Hwy 171 because we had found it last year.... so we stopped on our way back down and dropped the trackable I had been holding onto. It was on a hilltop with a gorgeous view!

I posted some pictures on my PICASA PAGE.

Dear Loess Hills

Dear Loess Hills,
Although this Fall is slipping away quickly, I just wanted to write and let you know I plan on coming over soon. GPS and I want to hike around and find things if that's ok with you. Please hold onto your Fall foilage as long as you can until I can get there. You are wonderful and amazing. I am enclosing a picture that was taken by a friend* that I am sure you remember. Anyway, hope all is well. I will give you a heads up when I am heading your way. I might bring a a friend or two. Lots of love from the east,
Lisa


*© July 1998. Golden Hills RC&D, Inc.

It's a good thing.

Monday-Tuesday Black Hole

This is exactly how I feel today. For an already extra busy time, it was more stressful than I originally imagined to tie up 2 days for the GIS conference this year. Yesterday after the workshop part of the conference I was still able to jet early enough to get back into the building and get some work done. Today, after the last meeting, I hurried back only to find out that the hub was blown and we had no internet....I took one glance at my inbox (heaped with things that need to be handled, two days worth...actually 3 because I didn't get some of my Friday stuff one) and my desk (heaped with stuff someone wanted to move and decided that Lisa should be the one to sort it out)............and I thought to myself. Self, you better get out of here. So I did.

It has been one of those chilly and damp Fall days that begs you to take a nap. I went to the store on my way home and got a few things so I could have a nice hot supper. I thought, oh! I will make a burger on my little grill. The meat counter guy (who is waaaaay too nice, IMHO) tried to get me to buy the super special burgers....which have cheese and bacon mixed in. They looked scary to me, so I made some comment about how I was low maintenance and liked them plain. He said, "you like bacon?"....to me this is an odd but general question. When I said yes, he took that to mean that I was up for trying the crazy bacon burgers and gave me that. I didn't have the energy to fight him on it. Meat counter peer-pressure! You won today, Meat Counter Boy....but next time......watch your back.

Weekend Festivities

What a perfect Fall day! After meeting and a nice home-cooked meal, the urge to take a nice nap in the sun was overwhelming. By some miracle, this urge was resisted and we (Mom & Dad in tow) set out to do some geocaching. We did find 3 out of 4, so the trip was a success.
Later, Meredith called when her boys were up from their nap. We had been talking about taking them out to visit the pumpkin farm. Ethan was so excited...there's really nothing like those simple pleasures when you're 3 years old (almost 4!)...they were adorable. If you click any of the pictures below, you can see the rest of the snaps from our outing.

Fluffier and Fluffier.

Weekend ...so far.

Yah....I'm sweepin....move along, Ben Franklin.

--------------------

So after the relaxing evening around the fire,

two things became clear to me.

1) I need to get a lot done today, since I am actually in town.

2) I am very excited about camping next weekend in Wisconsin.

--------------------

This morning at the crack of....well, I was gonna say dawn, but 10:30 is late morning for some people...... Anyway, I got up this morning and went for a nice long walk with Coda. We met up with Teresa and her dog Bosco so it was a nice little outing for all. I could see that it was going to be a good day weather wise, so I tucked the mission "work in the yard" into the back of my mind. Later, after hanging a bit more, I was down to business. I mean.....I swept out the garage, threw things away...basically went Medieval on the place. Got'er all cleaned out and things put back in, only this time in an organized fashion. I believe I am all ready for winter as far as the garage goes....well, there is really no point to that statement. But anyway, the point being that I can use it again for the car instead of my special big shed.

--------------------

After the garage project, I mowed the lawn up all nice and picked up the odd sticks/pine cones that tend to be strewn about the back edge of the yard. With that all nicely tidied up I decided to haul the recycling back to the center. I am appreciating the fact that my new car seats lay flat. I used the back end quite a bit this weekend.....and while it is significantly smaller than my SUV (duh), the fact that the seats lay down really helps.

--------------------

I had a nice drive across town and stopped by to say HELLO to grandpa & grandma since I was actually in town. Had a nice chitty-chat before coming on home. Now, having had supper....here I sit, updating you all while Coda is curled up on his blankie....snoozing.

--------------------

I am really hoping it doesn't rain as Meredith and I are planning to take her little boys to the pumpkin farm tomorrow..... hope, hope hope..... have a good night, my bunnies.

Dear Campfire,

Dear Campfire,

Thank you for being here on a moment's notice. You really helped tie the evening together. Yes, it is true that I needed you to help me dispose of the extra wood that was taking up space in my garage....I still sincerely loved that you spent the evening with me. Your warmth and spark really were quite enjoyable. I hope you didn't feel used when I started poking those marshmallows in your face...I didn't mean anything by it. I was sad to let you go to sleep but I could see that you were dying down, so I just left you there to go into complete rest. I will check on you in the morning but you looked completely burned out. Sweet dreams! Thanks for the wonderful evening!

Love, Lisa

Go-go gadget stilts!

It is like a scene from StarWars in here...the work men are putting up new ceiling tiles (stage 352 of 583 things they are working on). It is very amusing to see the men walking around on their stilt legs....and even more amusing to say "excuse me" and walk between them (much to their shagrin I'm sure) as we attempt to carry on business as usual...whatever that is! At the moment, I am using Carla's workstation because I don't have a network cable run to my workstation (STILL NOT HOOKED UP!! Aiieeeehh!). Therefore, when Tina is in the office, I am displaced or filing or staring at the wall. Displaced is better because I can still get work done. Le'sigh. I can't wait until the construction is over!

Autumn...how I love thee.

I love this season. Seriously. This was on my morning net'jog this morning....enjoy! Makes me want to road trip in a big bad way. To those of you living outside of the 4 seasons....too bad for you! Feast your eyes!

LISTING OF TOP FALL TRIPS I am craving our camping trip to Wisconsin.....not this weekend but next weekend. I am sure the leaves will be beautiful although these things are hard to get the timing just right. Looking forward to visiting the orchards, geocaching, sitting around the campfire....and freezing my buns off! Wheee!

Made up Wordlets

As you know, I have a zest for word-craft...or making up my own words/expressions.....so you will understand why the donk this was funny to me. And so true! IMHO.

Tab Mania

I spent the day down in southern Iowa at a meeting...which was killer on more than one level. I had to get up early enough to meet the others are 7:00am. No, that was not a typo. Brutal, right? I did manage to nap on the way down (1.5 hours)...as much as you can while riding in the car with 3 co-workers that is. I then sat through a 6 hour meeting where the state health department people spoke about highlights and updates of various programs. Put the getting up early together with my mild cold (and cold medication)...it was really hard to stay awake. I proceeded to take another 1.5 sorta-nap on the way home. Also difficult. Anyway, I was thinking about how it is really going to be a hectic day tomorrow as I catch back up. It is really annoying having to cover for Carla...not because of what I'm doing but because of how much time it takes from my day.....anyway, this xkcd reminds me of me. Although I get a lot done in the day, especially in my ultra-in-the-zone-modes...I am constantly keeping up with my tabs via Reader (nerd!) and little notifications (nerd!). Is it bad that a day out of the office and this is what I miss?! sad..... Anyway, this comic is teh Ha-Ha.