Our Trip In Pictures

As the main purpose of our trip was to spend some quality time with The Big Guy's mom, our activities pretty much consisted of visiting with her for a few hours in the daytime, breaking for dinner, visiting again in the evening until bedtime and going home to my s-i-l's for a bit of rest before repeating the routine the next day again.

We did, however, catch a few notable moments along the way on film (or should I say, in digital images?)



The Missouri River ON the parking lot of the Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa. We found the roof of their garage a great vantage point to see the flooding in the area. The road we normally go into Omaha on (I-29) was closed the entire time we were out there due to the flooding. I suspect it will be closed for sometime to come as the roadway itself and its underpinnings has been damaged by being submerged for so long. It made for some rather congested traffic on I-80 which was already under major repair construction in that area.


We did manage to squeeze in an exciting sports event while we were there. The advantage to going to see a 5/6 (year old) ball game is that they keep them short - 4 innings only - no outs, no score, everybody on the team bats each inning (no matter how many pitches it may take) . The other biggie was, they played at 8:30 in the morning when it was only in the high 80s (before the day's heat kicked in!) I think she's gonna be a star!!



Sunrise somewhere over Central Iowa. (I almost slept through it completely as we got up and on the road at 4:30 a.m. that day.)






Outside temperature (on blacktop) stopped in a traffic jam (for over 2 hours) on I-80 in Des Plains, Illinois on the way home. (The "official" temp in Chicago at the time was 100.) Don't you always wonder what the problem was when the jam suddenly breaks and there is no evidence of any apparent reason at all as you move on ?

It was really WAY TOO HOT to do much of anything but sit in the airconditioning for the entire time we were away. We were in the midst of that 2-week major heat wave the Midwest experienced. (Unfortuantely, it folowed us back home and attacked the East Coast, too, just as we got home!)

So, there you have it, folks, our ENTIRE travelogue. Hope you enjoyed it while in a cool room.

Back on line and finally cooling off!

Well, I'm finally back on line. At least for the moment. I approach the computer with caution each day as our internet service has been extremely fickle. I think I was going through withdrawal today!! Late this evening, we finally got connected again. Service went out part way through me working on this post on Sunday night and, while we regained pieces of service, I could not access Blogger at all dince then. Keep your fingers crossed for us, that we'll stay connected from here on in.

I hope y'all have had a good week. For numerous reasons, I just haven't been able to post quite as often as I want to lately. Life keeps getting in the way and it has been really frustrating. This is a new week and I hope to get back on my old schedule of about 5 posts a week. Please wish me luck!

The Big Guy has found some unique ways of keeping cool!
(That's the freezer pack from a cooler.)

We've all just been trying to stay cool lately. The heat here has finally broken some. We're still hotter than normal but at least we're down below 100 on a daily basis although the humidity has been very high so it's still somewhat oppressive outside. Our temps are still running about 10 degrees above normal and this has gone on for over three weeks now. I wonder if we ever will get used to this sort of weather.

While holed up inside, I've done some creating.

This is one of my newest designs and has already proven to be a popular shower gift!! In fact, I've even had a tween request a special design based on this for herself. I'm calling it the "Babe of the Month" and it can be ordered for any month. It's in my Etsy shop now.





I've actually been producing quite a bit of merchandise for the last week or so. Some were for specific orders, some were gifts I needed and there's been lots of leftover pieces that have found their way into my etsy shop. I had neglected the shop for a few weeks and it seems
happy to get some attention. I've still got quite a few to add in the next few days, too. Won't be too long and it will be time to get busy adding holiday merchandise. Christmas is, actually, just a little over 5 months away!!


The hot weather did prove inspirational and gave me a few ideas for some summery outfits. This onesie is now in my Etsy shop. (You'll have to come up with your own bottoms, though. these are just plain red shorts.)




We've got a new addition to the family coming soon and she's already being called a priness so I designed a special outfit for her. The pants are plain in front but have the word "princess" across the bum!



I showed it to a few folks who liked it so much, I've also added this item to the shop.





This onesie has been in my shop for a while, but a customer wanted to expand on the theme for a more complete shower gift, so i added a matching hat and some socks to complete the look. I'm always open to such ideas and concepts. Many folks have requested extras to match a particular item. The onesie is still available in the shop.





This is just a small sampling of all the new items I've been working on. there are still more that are now in the shop and more to be added each day. Please stop by and see what's new!

Hot !!! Hot !!! Hot !!!

They say ladies don't sweat they glow. Well my glow is rather drippy today!Baby, it's hot out there. Not just HOT, but really HOT. I mean, really really HOT !!!!

It's just too warm to do much of anything but loll around in front of the air conditioner vents and drink cold beverages. Not lucky enough to have AC? Find the coolest shady spot you can. Pray for a breeze and slurp something cold.
I'd try splashing some water on me, but then I'm haunted by images of the Wicked Witch of the East crying, "I'm melting!!!" Besides, I'm already pretty damp.

Yep! That's about how I felt after venturing out on an errand today - like a wet spot on the floor!

This heat wave began Sunday and hasn't let up yet. Night time temps have only dropped into the 80s so there really hasn't been much cooling at night.(It's almost midnight and we are still at 91 degrees!) Tonight they're hoping we will actually dive into the 70s and may only reach a high in the mid-90s tomorrow. One can only hope.

I fully expected to post here on Sunday night after a busy, very full weekend, but I dealt with the sweltering temps that day with frozen margaritas consumed at an 8-hour long party. I wasn't much into writing that evening! (I wasn't really noticing the heat so much though!)

Monday was another full day of celebrating and by then the heat was really getting to us. I really haven't done much. The heat has simply zapped all of my energy even indoors.

We're keeping our fingers crossed for tomorrow. I'd love to be able to cook for dinner again. It's just been too hot to generate any heat in the kitchen and waaay too hot to bother with the grill outside. Even when we do get the meal prepared, it's simply too hot to eat.

Here's hoping y'all are staying cool!!!