Happy Birthday Jimmy!

Monday was Jim's 31st birthday! Time certainly
flies when you're having so much fun, doesn't it???!!! This is a picture of Jim's 1st birthday party. He wasn't exactly sure what he was suppose to do with that candle burning in his cake!! What a cute little bugger! Grandma Palma was there to make sure he didn't fall off the counter and big sister Barb was nearby to help with blowing out the candle.

Big sister was there to help with the candles! Yikes, that has been a few years ago. Cute kids, huh?

Jim, I hope you had a great birthday. Wished I could have been there to help you celebrate but the next time you're home we'll at least go out for supper to celebrate. Look for your gift in the mail soon!

We celebrated Jim's birthday for the year and next up is Barb's. Her's is September 5. Both of my kids were born on a Labor Day weekend. How appropriate!!! Barb will be in Bismark over the weekend playing ball. Hope you bring home a winner Barbie!!

So far this week it's been the week from hell! I'm so glad we have a long weekend cuz I think I'm going to need it!! Sleeping sounds like a great thing to do. I've had 3 new job orientations, interviewed 3 people for a teaching position we have open, tried to get a newsletter done (hopefully that will be completed tomorrow) answered numerous phone calls regarding the openings we currently have and this afternoon just before I left I opened another position. The next few weeks could be interesting!!

Our Head Start centers began classes on Tuesday and that always makes for a fun day at the Central office. There's always mix-ups with transportation, children not having their paperwork completed and the list goes on and on!! By next week everything should calm down and we can all get back to doing our usual work.

I've been anxiously awaiting some scrapbooking supplies I ordered so I can start working on my Colorado trip. They came yesterday! I promised myself I would finish the current project on the table but then after that I think I will work on some of the Colorado stuff. I'm currently working on pictures we took at North Pole, Colorado back in 1971. Barbie was a little thing and we stopped there after driving up Pike's Peak. My pictures aren't the best (I blame that on the camera) but it is memories! I suppose I'll spend the greater share of my long weekend at my craft table doing what I love best -- scrapping!!

I probably should go and find something to eat and go do a little housework tonight and then I can come back to the scrapbooking!! I'm addicted!!!!

Hope all are having a good week. Again, Happy Birthday Jim!

Catch you later . . . .

Picture Swapping Weekend

It was a picture swapping weekend! I got a call from my girlfriend Marilyn in the middle of the week wondering what I was doing on Saturday and would I like to come up and check out pictures with her and my sister. The big decision was made to meet at Marilyn's house around 11:30 on Saturday morning. I had already put my pictures on a CD so ran some copies for both Glee and Marilyn. I'm not sure I did it the proper way but I got the pictures and you can get copies from the CD's I burned! That in itself was an accomplisment! One of the pictures I got was this one of my sister and I on the trail at Chasm Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park. Chasm Falls is on the Old Falls River Road and the day we were there that road hadn't been open a real long time!! It was beautiful! I picked up a CD called Rocky Mountain Suite and love listening to it when I'm looking at my pictures. You can hear the water falls, the birds and beautiful music!! I also burned a copy of the pictures from my sister and Marilyn and put them all together and made a screensaver for myself out of them. It's cool! It's especially cool when you have the Rocky Mountain Suite playing in the background. The other picture is Marilyn an I on the same trail -- compliments of my sister. I promised myself when I went out this last time that I was going to get more people pictures than scenery. I did pretty good, but the scenery is so beautiful it's hard not to take a lot of pictures.

Marilyn gave us a tour of her home and fed us. We had a good time checking out each other's pictures. Always fun going through pictures. I go down memory lane every time I open one of the books I'm working on in my scrapbooking projects!

Saturday morning I met Marilyn's sister and brother-in-law and picked up some peaches she had bought. My charge for the delivery was a half-dozen peaches. Boy are they good. Thanks Marilyn!

On the 4th of July we took an early morning walk around Lily Lake -- Glee and I had our picture taken together. Isn't the sky beautiful? The lake wasn't bad either. From there we went back into town and out for a delicious breakfast at a place called "The Egg & I." Good food!

On my way home Saturday I stopped at one of my sister's neighbors that sell produce and got some great tasting tomatoes! I miss a garden!! I had some great meals over the weekend and all included tomatoes.

The rest of the weekend was quiet. Talked to my children. That's always a nice thing to do. Read, watched movies, NASCAR and did some scrapbooking. Oh, I also got some much needed housework done!

Today I went into work a little early and got out some job openings and then took off for Waterloo with Bill to pick up a load of food. We have a food giveaway on Saturday. Waterloo had a lot of fresh produce but at the present time DALH doesn't have a place to store much of that kind of stuff. We did bring back dozens, and dozens, and dozens of eggs. Everyone will get 2 dozen on Saturday. That will be a treat for all our clients. Sounds like ham will be offered too. Breakfast!! I was lucky and found some shampoo for our hygiene product program at work. We loaded that all in the trunk of my car for delivery tomorrow morning. I also picked up a couple of other things but cases of shampoo was the biggie!!

Long weekend coming up -- Labor Day. How can we be that far into the year already? Time sure has a way of flying by. The advertisements on the radio lately have been about getting your house and car ready for winter. That I don't even want to think about. Although I've started a list for Christmas giving and have asked for the same from my family.

I have 2 important birthdays coming up. My son's is August 28th and daughter, Barb, celebrates September 5. Barb gave me some ideas for a gift but Jim hasn't come up with anything yet! Oh well, he has a couple days yet!!

I better go do something constructive around here. Thinking about turning on the air for a couple of hours. It's getting real warm in my 'craft' room!! Miss the tree outside the window!!

Hope your week is going the way you want it too. Take care all.

Later . . . .

Family

It's been awhile since I've been on-line. Lots of things going on. I've been complaining that I've either had guests for the weekend or gone away for the last 5 -- had a friend tell me I was lucky to have somebody and someplace to go! Guess I should count my blessings. It still doesn't get my housework done.

Eons ago my family got together for a family reunion. My sister graciously volunteered to be the hostess. It was a particularly warm weekend but we had a great time. Jim & Mandy brought their new game. They made it! Jim constructed it, painted it, etc., while Mandy did the art work. It was a great job guys, and looks terrific. We all had a good time playing with it. We have the picture of the man and his game! Jim is a Cub fan (can't you tell). The families that came to the picnic are all from Minnesota. It would be my dad's side of the family and the only ones left are cousins. It was Mandy's first time with our extended family and she did great! Glee and I have been talking and are trying to get a date pinned down to get togther with our children and just have a nice lazy weekend. I'm sure Jim's new game and some different card games we all like will be included.

Both my family members and Glee's were able to attend. Brother Mark wasn't able to make it. Hopefully in another year all the Baade offspring can be there. We take turns hosting the reunion between Minnesota and Iowa. Next year it's in Minnesota. That's my nephew Mike sitting in the swing. I think he was waiting his turn at baggo! Mike is an elementary school teacher at Postville Elementary and the head basketball coach there. We're hoping to see him and his team on the floor of the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines this coming March. How cool would that be???

Nothing real exciting happening in Dubuque. We had Summer Fest last weekend. They close off the downtown main drag and bring in bands and a number of food vendors and the traditional beer wagon. The group I volunteer with had a food stand. We sold hamburgers and cheeseburgers on Friday noon and later that afternoon. Sounds like we did fairly well for our first outing in the hamburger business. It was a beautiful evening to be out and about. The rest of my weekend was fairly quiet. I caught up on some housekeeping items and did some scrapbooking.

I'm working on Barb's first years of her life and finding that we took quite a bunch of pictures. At the present I'm working on pictures we took when we visited Royal Gorge, Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods and the Air Force Academy in Colorado. I knew I liked that state! Brings back some nice memories.

I've been working at the reception desk at work some these past few weeks. My clerk decided she wanted more time off this summer so we cut her hours back to 10 a week. She works Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00 - 1:00, so when she's not there I take the desk over the noon hour. It's an education. I can't believe some the needs out there in our communities. Makes a person wonder what will happen this winter when it gets cold and the prices of our goods and services continue to go up, up, up! We're currently working on budget items for the coming year. Hope we can squeeze out an increase for the Crew!!

I'm looking forward to the weekend. Nothing special planned. School will soon start around here. I have some errands I hope to run. Sweet corn is still out there so hope to get some of that, along with some homegrown tomatoes!! Love 'em.

Hope all are having a good week. Hang in there -- only a couple more days until the weekend gets here!!!

THEY'RE ENGAGED!

The happy couple! Jim proposed to Mandy over the
weekend and I wanted to share these pictures with you all. Jim planned the whole surprise for Mandy . . . he got a hold of both sides of the family and invited them to a surprise engagement party at Mr. C's in Omaha. He gave her her ring at one of the local parks and then brought her to Mr. C's to be surprised by the rest of us! And she was surprised! It was a great evening for all of us. I met most of Mandy's aunts and uncles, her grandparents, her mom & dad and their spouses. It was great!

I drove to Ankeny Saturday morning to meet Barb and stay there for the night. We left her house around 3:45 and made our way to the big city of Omaha. Neither of us were sure where the supper club was, but with Jim's directions we got there around 6:00 p.m. Jim had requested that Barbie get some flowers for Mandy so we picked them up earlier in the afternoon and brought them along. Mr. C's is a great place for a party! They have a beautiful courtyard, which we used later in the evening to take pictures. What a lot of new material for my scrapbooking! I've already ordered engagement stickers for some new pages for Jim's book! We took lots of pictures of the newly engaged couple but also took the time to get some of the family as well. Aren't we a happy looking bunch?!!

I've been busy the last couple of weeks. I think I've seen more of my family this past month than I have for the past year. Jim was here for a night when he came in for his dad's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame - Umpires. He brought me a turntable for my stereo set. The next weekend he and Mandy were both here. They had a birthday party in Farley to attend and I got to babysit the dog! It was a good experence after me and Odie got to know one another. He's a cute dog!!! The next weekend Barbie was here -- we shopped, rearranged furniture in my spare bedroom, shopped, and spent Sunday with my sister and our families at a family reunion with our Minnesota relations. Jim & Mandy joined us. We had a great time even if it was really warm!!! Keeps me out of mischief.

Sounds like another warm weekend coming up. I got a 'new' air conditioner during the last bout of hot weather and noticed tonight that the one I have is making real strange noises! Hopefully they will go away, and the unit will work. I don't think I'll get through another weekend without air.

Stay cool all! Until next time . . . .

Are you warm???

Are you trying to stay cool? Me too! I thought maybe looking at some of my 'cool' Colorado pictures would help. Like I've said before, I love waterfalls and thought this was a cool picture. We were going up Old Falls River Road and spotted the water tumbling down the mountain. I couldn't resist getting a picture of it. I don't know if it makes you feel cooler, but it is pretty.

Jim and Mandy were here last weekend (July 22). One of Jim's friends had a birthday party and they decided to make a weekend of it in Dubuque. It was great having them here. They brought Odie so he and I got to know one another. I went out of town on Friday and Jim & Mandy beat me home. When I walked in Odie wasn't real happy to see me, but we made friends before the weekend was over. I 'dog sat' on Saturday night. Odie was well behaved! We even took a couple of walks together. He's a sweet dog.

This weekend we had a family reunion. My sister was the hostess. Barbie came home for the weekend this time around. She came in on Friday night. This past week was the Dubuque County Fair and, as usual, I helped park cars. It was a hot one!!! Tuesday night we got rained out -- I got soaked but it was so warm that it felt good!! Wednesday night wasn't bad at all, but Thursday and Friday afternoons made up for it. I worked my usual 8 hours at New VIew and then drove out to the fairgrounds every afternoon. I told the gang I had to leave early on Friday but could work for a couple of hours -- and that's what I did!! Fortunately I beat Barbie home and was able to get my shower in and look halfway human when she got here. We went out for supper and did a little shopping before we called it a night. Our mission for the weekend was to transform my spare bedroom. We picked up new curtains on Friday night. Saturday morning we did some quick errands and then got down to some serious shopping. I found a new/used TV stand and found a nightstand/table for the bed. We spent some time in the shoe store -- I have shoes to match a lot of my outfits! Cool! Barb's a good shoe shopper! Thanks kiddo! We came back and changed the room around. I know we moved one bookcase at least twice and maybe more. On Friday night already I noticed that my air conditioning wasn't working as well as it should be, but chalked it up to the hot, hot weather. By Saturday night it was apparent that something was wrong. We lived through it and headed up north Sunday morning. Jim & Mandy were able to come in from Des Moines for the reunion. It was nice having my kids there with me!! It was also extremely hot, but Glee & Ron have central air so we all enjoyed that too! I got home around 10:30 Sunday night and basically had no air at all. The unit ran but nothing but hot air was moving. I had a terrible time sleeping but around 3:00 a.m. finally got some sleep. I drug the fan into my bedroom and directed it toward my bed and crashed. I spent Monday at home waiting for the repairman. It was warm and I didn't have much ambition to get anything done. They finally got here at 5:30. What a wasted day. I could have gone into work and spent the time in the air conditioning. The new unit is working fine. It took most of the night to cool my place down but it's comfortable now.

Another picture of Colorado to help you think cool thoughts. There was a lot more snow in the mountains this time out than in 2000. Does that make you think cold!!! Hopefully we won't hve to deal with as much snow as we have heat so far this summer. But snow can be beautiful . . . so I had to share this picture with you also.

Gotta run. Work is calling. Stay cool.