A great Saturday

It was a good day.  I drove to Independence, got a couple boxes of contacts, got a haircut, and went to WalMart.  I came home and set off a couple of flea bombs, (yeah, I'm having trouble kicking the damn things.)  Then, I drove to Oak Grove, picked up my BFF Tammy, and went to grab some lunch.  We had a GREAT time, talking and eating, and we had a martini!  LOL

We cruised around and talked, then went to visit another friend.  Around 7, I took Tammy home, and headed to Mom's to pick up the dogs.  Since Arick was home, and Sadie was in the house with him, there was no need to bring her here (I'll sleep better without her telling me it's time for a walk,) I just grabbed Hawkeye and came home.

I haven't heard from the girls tonight.  I assume that all is well.  Kevin is good.  I heard from him a few times.  He hasn't heard from the girls either.  *sigh*  I wish I could just kick back and enjoy a night alone, but I miss my girlies, and they're having too much fun to call home.  That's a good thing, seriously.  I'm just lonely.

All-in-all, it was a great day.  Perfect weather (probably the last 80's day this year) and perfect company, make for a perfect day.  I got much accomplished, and tomorrow, I'll clean house...literally.  I hope that tomorrow night, at this time, I'll be surrounded by family, watching Desperate Housewives.

Time for bed.  See ya later, sweet patater!

Friday night in a quiet house

My husband is in SW MO, at the Maple Leaf festival.  My girls are in Branson, MO with my parents.  I am here.

I could have gone to either place.   I was invited to both.  The problem is, I can't afford a kennel for Hawkeye, and he can't go with us.  Plus, from now until Christmas, I am "on call" to work on Saturday, and I never know until Friday afternoon.  Anyway, here I am, dog sitting.

I picked up Sadie at Mom's house on the way home, and the dogs are having a blast, barking, running, and sniffing.  Pretty much what I do when I have a friend over.  Sadie will "speak" quicker than Hawkeye, but he will "shake hands" while she looks at me like I have worms crawling out of my eyes.

I'm glad for the company, really.  I'm lonely around here.  I have big plans for tomorrow, though. Yeah, tomorrow brings great plans.  Those plans will last a bit over an hour.  Then what?  Yeah, I'll be posting a lot this weekend.  I'm lonely.

*sniff sniff* Is anyone out there?

Even MORE random pictures

Here is even MORE random crap.  Aren't you excited?  I got some fun cloud pics (almost my favorite subject matter) on the way home today.  It rained and stormed a bit over the past few days.  I love it.

OK, gotta go watch Survivor.  Remind me to tell you about the Wednesday night Natalie story.  LOL

Random pictures

Well, AOL stole my entry from yesterday, but gave it back today, in a fit of guilt.  Here are some random, left-over pictures, the kind that I often feel the need to share, as I transfer to empty my memory card.  I understand how boring these things may be for you.  Sorry. LOL

Natalie, the Photographer

Kevin bought a low-end digital camera at a garage sale a bit over a week ago.  It has minimal settings, but it came with all software, cables, etc.  I still had the 16mb memory card that came with my camera, and rechargable batteries, so we got a great kids camera for a $10 investment.  I was just hoping that one of the girls would take an interest.

The first day, they were both interested, especially Natalie.  The second day, Natalie played with settings a bit, then went off to do something else.  A couple of days later, she asked some questions about it, and I helped her find certain settings, and suggested tips (leave the flash off if at ALL possible, go for a lower ISO, etc.  She wanted something to shoot, but didn't find much of interest.

Tonight, after a day of overcast, gloomy skies, I saw the sun trying to peek out as I drove toward the house, so I called home to tell Kevin that Natalie should get her camera ready for a great sunset.  When I got home, I grabbed my camera and joined her on the deck.  She took several pictures (that card won't hold many) and I brought her in to show her "what comes next."  I introduced her to Photoshop, and a few saturation and color settings to play with.  She went overboard on a couple, but she cropped out things that should be gone, and enjoyed herself.

Here are her pictures, and I'll let you guys decide if there is a little "photog in the making" in this house.  I think she shows promise, and she seems to have an eye for what she likes.  That's really all it takes.  You have to see what you like, and find a way to capture it.  After she gets a feel for Photoshop, I'll teach her to reign it in, and use it for small adjustments, not as a crutch for bad photography.

Sheesh, I've been working my job too long!

Regional businesses

I was talking on the phone with a friend from Texas.  He stated, "Yeah, I just got back from Kroger..."  I laughed out loud.  Kroger?  I hadn't heard that word in a long time.  It made me stop to think about regional differences in franchised businesses.  Those of you from other regions, weigh in on this one, will you?  Those of you who live nearby, what do you remember from other parts of the country, from visits or living there?

Kansas City Metro

Groceries- Price Chopper, HyVee, Hen House, Thriftway

Convenience/Gas-Quik Trip, Caseys (there are others, but those are the main ones.)

Fast Food-McD's, Hardees, Taco Bell, KFC, Sonic, Wendy's, Burger King, Arbys. (I'm sure I've missed a ton, but I know that some of these don't exist in other areas.)

What do you have in your area, and what part of the country are you in?  Do you miss something that you know from another region?

A much better day

I woke to the sounds of thunder and rain, and went to wake Natalie up for school.  Yup, I said "school."  She had to do a Saturday detention for not turning in a book report on time.  She does her work, but she's very unorganized, and frequently loses papers between getting to school, and the teacher asking for them.

I dropped her off at 8:50, as instructed, and new she'd be done at 12:00.  My phone rang at 11:30, and she told me to come get her.  There was an electrician working, and he needed to cut power to the school.  Only in this little town.

After that, the girls and I headed to WalMart.  We ate lunch at the deli (love those tator wedges!) while browsing.  Then, we bought some of our favorite junk foods, to have a rainy, girlie, party day.  We got Tostitos and spinach dip, Fritos and bean dip, different soda 2 liters, and ice cream.  I highly recommend Mocha Mudslide ice cream.  Yummy.

It finally stopped raining, but I think we'll see more before tomorrow.  Kevin said that the golf tournement is about done, and going well.  He's been cooking in the food stand all afternoon.  I'm glad that THEY have sunny skies and perfect temps.

Hawkeye is all better.  I threatened Kevin's life, if he ever gives him that kind of crap again.  Today, the poor dog can't even beg a tiny piece of bread crust.  I'm not chancing ANY trouble.

Well, off to watch Nascar pre-race stuff.  Later, I'll flip between the race and COPS for a while.  We also have free Cinemax this weekend.  Maybe I'll find a good movie. 

Have a fabo evening, my friends.