High Hopes

9-2-11 hopeful brain

I found myself humming this song yesterday..... weird how songs pop into our brains like that, so I went and searched Youtube so I could remember the words.

This one I liked, because it looks like my elementary school class.



Or this one is nice too! Enjoy your long weekend and think of  the "worker ants" that made America great, and their unions which helped fight for better working conditions in the U.S. all those years ago. I don't get why the current Tea Party isn't for the working middle class? Something to ponder.

Welcome September

9-1-11 surprised brain
WHAT is it really the first of September? It was 100 degrees again in KC yesterday, it sure still feels like August!

Can you tell I’m feeling lazy about blogging lately? Glad Ann has been able to fill in extra for me. I’m not sure why I’m feeling uninspired to write…. I guess not so much excitement this time of year, and after our trip to Colorado there is just pretty much work deadlines in my life for the first part of September.

My broken toe is finally feeling OK and I’m able to walk on it now without whining. The last few weeks were interesting because of that. I found it was actually kind of nice being forced to slow down my pace of activities, sit more with my feet up, and start to get into the autumn mind set. Now if only the weather would cooperate.

I’m looking forward to visiting my parents over the upcoming holiday weekend. I must be weird to think this, but none the less, I like being back in my childhood home with Mom, Dad and Greg.... this is still my favorite place to be on the planet earth. It’s a place I can relax and feel unconditionally loved and cared for. Greg too enjoys his time there.  Now when the rest of the family joins us there, the energy level shifts a bit to more fun, silliness and mayhem at times. This too in its own right is enjoyable, but for total relaxation, I prefer having Mom and Dad all to myself.

Next week, I will be giving two presentations/training. One at the Fall Iowa Cancer Registrars Association meeting, and the other is teaching College of Public Health Students about the State Cancer Registry. Once this is over, I am happy to know I have some fun activities planned in mid- September.

Stay tuned.... I may not post every day and you will also hear more of Ann's travels this summer. Happy September!

Wednesday GUEST blog

8-31-11 celebrating brain
Happy Birthday Molly! More from Ann today ~judy

Love Me Some Iowa State Fair – Part Two

So what’s the draw to the fair? Food, livestock, competitions, vendors, talent show, gadgets and drum roll please ….. entertainment!

The highlight for me, Maroon 5 with frontman Adam Levine and Train with frontman Pat Monahan. Yes, I’m a bit obsessed with Adam, but dang, he had me with “Moves Like Jagger”. He’s a bit quirky but a fantastic singer and dancer. He termed his Friday night shows as “Friday Night Whitey’s”, the band dressed in white. As a groupie, I got decked in white with purple lashes, sportin’ black and white western boots. (I got the boots from Larry the shoe guy that I wrote about in April). Extra special for the evening, I’ve been Tweeting to Maroon 5 daily to win VIP tickets and wow, won tickets the day of the show. I passed them on to Paige, daughter of my concert buddy Sue. Did I say great show, best ever!

          

Train was equally as good and I became a Train “angel” overnight. Their current song “Marry Me” is fantastic with a pre-arranged live proposal, which was awesome! Their tour is insane, and he was under the weather last week. Here’s a shout out to Train and hope Pat is feeling better.

           

Then there’s Ms. Jackson. What a great show and awesome seats. Judy can attest that I was on my feet the whole show. She was fantastic!

           

Done gushing, the free shows were dyno-mite as well. With three stages, I was able to see Tonic Sol Fa (acappella group), Hairball (hair band), The Oak Ridge Boys (Opry inductees), The Band Perry (excellent), Ying Yang Twins (rap) and to close out the fair, Paul Revere and the Raiders. And one can’t leave the fair without see the one-man band Bandaloni . He’s awesome, sings and plays at least 5 instruments at the same time.

           

For some, the fair means beer beer beer. I just don’t understand how one can drink so much beer just to be drinking. Well, I’d rather waste my calories on something sweet, peppermint ice cream and pineapple whip. I did have 2 corndogs, 1 gyro and with the ice cream, my belly was full. Wow, I do have some control.

Lastly, I enjoy going to the fair with my friends. Sue and Judy went with me to the concerts. Thanks for going with me guys!

          

Then there’s Nat and Lexi, Drake travel buddies, from Kansas City. We have a tradition of a full day at the fair, and that we did. We go out for breakfast, then to the Market, then quick shopping (this time at the spice store) and got to the Fair at noon. Yep, we got our list done by 7 pm, rode around in the tram then sat outside the grandstand to hear a little Reba and people watch outside the Depot, staying until midnight. Yep, 12 hours at the fair and reloaded for 3 hours on Sunday. I love these girls to pieces.

           

I report, you decide if “you love me some fair too”.
           
Chat Later

That Girl, Ann Marie

Tuesday GUEST Blog

8-30-11 resting brain
Ann's had a more active life than I have had lately, so I'll let her fill you in for a few days. ~ Judy

Love Me Some Iowa State Fair – Part One

Taking a break to chat about the Iowa State Fair and yes, I’ll report, you can decide, if you too “love me some fair”. So what’s the draw to the fair? I’ve been pondering this and the only answer I can come up with is that it’s a sample of the best and worst of people in one area. I’ll be positive and chat about the best and since I have a few more words n’ pics to share, I’m splitting this post in two.

I’ve been a faithful “fair-goer” for the last five years. I go more for the entertainment (free stage) and less for the food (cheapskate). I try to go 5-7 of the 11 days to catch the acts on the free stage. This year I got there 6 of the 11 days and other than the weekend, most of the days was after work, 6-10 pm when the admission is $5 ($10 on Friday-Sunday).  
           

Like a good planner, I scout out the Grandstand acts in March to see if there’s a show or two that will get me to pay $50. Last year was the first time in 20 or so years that I forked out the cash, buying tickets for Kris Allen (American Idol) who was touring with Keith Urban (HOT!). Let me say, this was a great show. Keith Urban is one great singer and guitar player and love Kris Allen for being himself.

This year, double headliner Maroon 5 and Train caught my eye as well as Janet Jackson. Then there’s the “free stage”, hometown acts, oldies but goodies and up and coming acts. Once the acts are announced, I plan my days at the fair to see most of them. Most years, the acts are very good, if not great. Then there’s the occasional “record breaker”, the largest “Drop-Stop n’ Roll” sponsored by the State Fire Marshall. Darn it, I did not make it out for this one. Yes, the record was broken and what an awesome photo.

The must see’s include Jack’s Cookbook stand in the Varied Industry Building, the array of vendors selling the “latest gadgets”, the Butter Cow, the Cakes in the Elwell building, the Bill Riley Talent show, the big “pumpkin” as well as the big animals. Lastly, the food mmmmmmm must have a corndog, gyro, apple dessert and pineapple whip. I’m not into fried foods that much so I limit myself to just the corndog.  Here’s a compilation of pictures and let’s see what I got done in 6 days. Yikes, do I love the fair or what!

Chat Later

That Girl, Ann Marie

Balanced Weekend

8-29-11 satisfied brain
I had a great weekend which felt full, yet balanced with the right amount of some fun, some productivity, some physical activity, and some relaxation. Friday night we went to the movie “The Help”. It was a good movie, but darn- I had just finished reading the book, which I liked very much….. so when it came to watching the movie, half of my brain was busy comparing the two, so I felt like I didn’t enjoy the movie as much as everyone else. I never know if one should even bother going to a movie if you have read a book, or do you read the book after seeing a moving? I will say, the movie “The Help” did a great job at covering the book.

I did some work further on my “Fudge” artwork piece for my KC neighbors. It’s a pixel project which is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together, but not knowing what the puzzle is a picture of yet. I’m making it up as I go along.

Had some “girlfriend” time this weekend- lunch at a wonderful Greek restaurant called “Never on Sunday”…. Really best Greek food I have ever had, at a reasonable price. Then we did a little shopping. We discovered the Halloween decorations were already out at Von Maur. One of the little independent local shops we were at is interested in selling my peace art!

We didn't buy the witch hats, but 3 out of the 4 of us bought new jeans!

Greg and I did a 2.5 hour outdoor house project, trimming more bushes….. that pretty much wore me out, so the rest of Sunday was resting and relaxing.

Today is the first day of Kindergarten for my nephew Brennan out in Pennsylvania.

Short and sweet for Friday

8-26-11 autumn brain
This week, I found this on the ground beneath my front yard maple tree.
There is no sign of any  other leaves turning on the tree. I guess this one was the early bird- trend setter, and the other leaves kicked him off the tree. I know I'm ready to enjoy some nice autumn weather.... bring it on!

Thinking of everyone out on the East Coast preparing for the hurricane. Be safe!

Drunk Blogging

8-25-11 pondering brain
Two non-drinkers meet at a bar, one a progressive, the other a conservative. One had just been at the mall after work, the other just got out of an acupuncture treatment. Each had one drink. Which one was drunk?

It sounds like a joke, but in reality it was my life Wednesday night. Ann and I met for dinner at Saints in Beaverdale. We did talk politics since I was in the news yesterday with my Letter to the Editor.

I had three phone calls during the day: two from church friends giving me a thumbs up, one from a total stranger from Clarion Iowa, an elderly man, just wanted to “tell me thanks” for my Letter to the Editor.

Ok, I don’t claim the understand politics and I don’t have the answers to how the government should be run….. But two things I know for sure:
1.  I know Jesus, and I know of his love, compassion and forgiveness, and I don’t see that in most GOP politician’s policies, even when they feverishly wave the banner of Christianity.

2.  AND I know our Government is not perfect, but which other country do you want to live in? Everyone needs to pay for all the benefits you get from living in our US society. Security, roads, clean air, safe foods to eat, and we have to pay for the two wars (some of us didn’t agree with); and we have to pay for health and drugs of the elderly (some of us didn’t agree with)…… WHAT do you want to do without?
 Everyone says they want a smaller (limited) government which doesn’t interfere with individual freedoms and happiness (except those who what to control who we love and what we do with our bodies). But, no one wants to pay for it..... shouldn't everyone pay the piper, if you want to dance along in this wonderful country of the USA?

Sure, I agree,  let’s make people work for their welfare check…. I’m for that. The CCC and WPA back in the 1930’s put people to work and our country got some wonderful National Parks because of it.

I learned about one such National Park in Colorado at Grand Junction during our vacation, where the 23 miles of road around the rim of this awesome mesa and canyons were build thanks to US putting unemployed people to work during the 1930’s. . Unemployment in the 30’s was more like 25%, during Reagan in 1982 it was 10.2% now it’s 9.4%, ....  so what is so historic about today? What's all the fuss about?

We had deficit 10 trillion during GW's years and not a peep from my GOP friends then. Even Dick Cheney told Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill  "deficits don't matter" when O'Neill warned of a looming fiscal crisis. If it didn't matter in 2004, why does it matter now?..... Why now all the fuss when Obama is President and not when GW was President?

I'm just asking?
I don’t understand the irony or hypocrisy of it all!