The New Water Cooler
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Tornadoes. Holy *kitten*. Tornadoes everywhere0
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Oh man. We are ok. Tornadoes hit Lincoln, and parts of Omaha. It’s bad. Might be worse than the tornado of 1974. I thought I had a bad day, never mind. Work sucked, but my home is safe and everyone I love is safe (for today)0
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More than 100 tornadoes hit parts of Nebraska and Iowa yesterday. So many homes destroyed. What a sad day for so many and calling for more tornadoes today. Hang on.0
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I was wondering about you and your home. I'm glad you are all safe. Was C in Lincoln? How bad is the damage at UNL? Stay safe with the next round. Do you know if your parents and sister and her family are ok?
Very windy here and blowing my deck furniture around. I put it up against the house to see if that would help. We leave Monday so I hope nothing happens here while we are gone.
I vacuumed out the car, wiped down the inside, and washed the inside mats. Russ will take it to the car wash tomorrow. I used Goo Gone to get off some old park passes on the windshield that gave us access in MN. The car is 8 years old but doing well. When I go on Medicare that will be 10 years with this car and I want to get a newer one.
I visited Sarah this morning. I converse with her but know that most of what she says to me isn't reality. Just spending time with her means a lot. John showed up after me. He has gone back to work during the week and doesn't arrive until 4:30 and eats dinner with her. He is a contractor and hasn't worked since she had her stroke. I'm glad he has gone back so he has time with his work partner and keeps busy. I'm sure money will be helpful too.
I'm taking a break and then I need to start sorting clothes to pack. I hate packing!!!!!0 -
Lincoln and UNL avoided major damage. It was very close to downtown. Caleb is safe but said it was crazy. A Northeast Lincoln business to a direct hit that trapped workers. All were recovered safely. Then the storms headed toward Omaha spawning so many twisters. Suburbs of Omaha took the brunt. (Waterloo Elkhorn and Bennington (my hometown) and Blair). The airport took a direct hit and then it bounced into Iowa and leveled a few small towns. All my family seem to have been spared. Amazingly no deaths reported yet. Great work to all the weather crew.
Almost trip time!0 -
I'm glad your family members are all ok. How scary!
Finishing packing, clean up around here and go to Traverse for an early dinner, car wash, and errands.
A bear came into our yard in the night (caught on outside cameras). He made the rounds of all of Russ' bird feeders. Knocked them down and ate the seed. He wandered into one of my perennials areas and then left. Good sized bear! Of course, I told Russ this winter that those feeders would attract bears. He denied we would have bears here even though others report and post pictures on FB every spring. The neighbor told him one was sighted nearby so then it must be true. What do I know? Anyway, we had a visitor and now all the feeders are put away until we return from our trip.
I will check in from our first hotel tomorrow evening. Packing up my computer now.
Have a great Sunday.
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Woah a bear!
Have a safe first leg of trip0 -
We had an easy drive today. Russ did all the driving so I will drive first tomorrow until we get close to Atlanta then he can take over until Macon. I don't like the traffic going through Atlanta. We arrived in KY around 3pm and checked in to our hotel. We decided we would only drive 8 hour days to offset my knee stiffness. We stopped at rest areas every 2 hours and I took a walk and did squats by the car to bend my knee and loosen up the leg. We went to dinner and are relaxing in our room. We will watch the KBC final competition at 8pm.
My brother's burial is scheduled for June 13th. My remaining brother will arrive at my house on the 11th and stay until the 15th.
Any more tornadoes come your way?0 -
No more storms, yet. Maybe later this week. 😞
Glad your trip is off to a good start. I am not great in the car.
Have a good dinner and night!0 -
I’m glad you were able to get things figured out with your brother for a date to come home for the burial. Maybe you’ll be able to reconnect a bit too0
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We are at hotel in Macon GA. Arrive in St. Augustine mid day tomorrow. We will take dinner to Jeff's and spend evening helping him with the kids. Karah goes to Atlanta tomorrow for work and doesn't return until Friday Eve.
My leg is stiff after day 2 of sitting in the car. Today was rainy so I didn't get to stretch and walk as much as yesterday. My digestion is slow with all the sitting. I feel like a fat cow.
Your weather calm now?0 -
Big wheels keep on turning, Proud Mary keep on burning. Rolling. Rolling.
Hopefully once you arrive you can work/walk out your stiffness0 -
We are here. At Jeff's now. Karah will return from Atlanta on Friday. The kids have grown and are way more social. Layney let me read books to her and she was copying my words.
Our rental is old but clean. Neighborhood has pretty homes and seedy homes. It will do for 2 weeks but I wouldn't rent it again.
Hope all is well with you in NE. Weather calmed down?0 -
So glad you have arrived! Awww, book time with Laney. I bet you love that.
More severe weather tomorrow! Yikes. Seriously.0 -
I hope your town is spared. Stay safe.
Russ and I went to the Anastasia State Park yesterday, walked the beach and took a nature hike in an ancient dune area. We also went out to lunch and then to Jeff and Karah's for dinner last night. We had tacos/taco bowls from a neighborhood place and ate at their house. It was hot and humid so the kids played with the hose in the front yard to stay cool.
Today we all met at the beach and spent a few hours playing in the water, getting sun, walking...The kids love it when Jeff takes them in the ocean to ride the waves.
We are giving them a night off from having us around and relaxing at the rental. We will have a Cinco De Mayo dinner at their house tomorrow Eve. Not sure what daytime plans are for Russ and I. I would enjoy a day at their pool but we will see.
My ankles have been swelling in this heat and humidity if I am active. I have put more steps in since getting here than I was able to do prior to knee surgery. The incision looks good and I am keeping lots of sun screen on it. Still icing and using the cane if I will be in precarious situations or walking on difficult surfaces. I walked on the beach just fine these past two days. It actually feels good like I am working some dormant muscles and they are waking up. My knee doesn't hurt at all it is just the swelling when I haven't given it a break in a while.
I hope you are having a good week and weekend. What's new?0 -
Glad your visit is going well and that you are feeling good with the increased activity
Have fun!0 -
We did a 1/2 mile hike today on a boardwalk to some dunes and the Matanza River. We didn't see anything interesting but the shade and boardwalk path were nice to get exercise. My knee felt good. I used my walking sticks for balance so I can make it far enough. I could have gone further if the trail had been longer.
We relaxed this afternoon after doing some errands. I needed stronger sun screen and a gift bag for Layney's birthday present. We went to Jeff and Karah's for Cinco de Mayo dinner and had fajitas, pico, chips, beans and rice. We took the ingredients for Margeritas. I haven't had a cocktail since before surgery other than one glass of wine last week.
I put my feet in Jeff's pool and the water is pretty warm. I hope to spend more time there this week.
Happy Monday tomorrow. How is work going? Are you in your new position?0 -
I went to the Y this morning and rode the bike and walked on the treadmill. Then we went to Walmart and Barnes and Noble. I wanted to buy a couple of cute books for the kids and we wanted a lightweight small cooler for the beach/pool. The one we brought in the car for drinks, snacks, lunch is too heavy and too big to lug across the sand.
We went out to lunch at a place we saw. Nothing to write home about but we are going to try their breakfasts which look very good.
Every day is sunny and 80's. Are you expecting any more horrible storms/tornadoes?0 -
Storms moving in this evening. We are hopefully on the edge of the worst part. But hail is still likely. Ick. Oh and I just found out this weekend that Caleb’s car took a tree branch during the last round and his windshield was blown. Not sure why he waited to let it be known. Bernie was figuring out a place to get it fixed. Then Caleb decided he would do it. I asked Bernie if he had an appointment, he said y, and I said get your place booked. If he wanted to do it he had over a week.0
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I’m glad your knee is doing so well!
Our new boss started today. I suspect it will still be awhile before things change too much. All the work we do still has to be done.0 -
So our neighbor to th west built some weird and ugly retaining wall and fire pit thing in his backyard. But I am pretty sure he is over the property line. We have a nice vinyl fence that I put up years ago and we made sure to be inside the boundary and his installation is right up next to the fence. It’s going to be interesting when Bernie points it out to him. They hired a different neighbors kid to do it and Bernie talked to him one day and mentioned the property line and the kid was like I didn’t think of that stuff. This is going to be something0
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Spring baking championship finale! I like these three0
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We went out to try the breakfast at the same place we had lunch yesterday. Nothing special...I had the lemon ricotta pancakes and bacon. Russ had eggs Benedict. If we go back I will get the veggie omelette. We have breakfast in our rental but felt like a treat. We went home after and got ready to go to the beach. We took a beach umbrella provided with the rental, our new small cooler packed with snacks and drinks, and the folding chairs in a bag that Jeff lent us while we are here. It was a gorgeous day! It really is a beautiful, clean beach her and the sand is so easy to walk on with the tide going in and out and packing it down. I don't usually go in the ocean but I went in up to my thighs and let the huge waves crash in to me. The water is so warm but it felt good since the sun is so intense. I layered on the 70 SPF sun screen today and it worked very well. I also sat under the umbrella when I wasn't walking the beach or in the water. Perfect day! We are picking up sea food take out and eating at Jeff's house tonight. They have treated us to two-three meals and we've only provided one.
I think it is going to be a volatile season of weather nation wide. We are predicted to have a drier summer with higher temps. We shall see what that means in northern MI.
Poor C with his car. I hope it gets fixed satisfactorily.
Maybe no big change at work for you is good?0 -
Another storm system through and safe. Weirdly we were without power for about five hours this morning, not from the storm but a hassle nonetheless.
I think I read something somewhere about salt water being good for healing. Maybe you just needed salt water therapy to kick your recovery over the finish line
So casino gambling became legal in Nebraska recently and Columbus has been building one. It’s on the west side of Columbus not all that far from where I live. I had hoped it would be not that big of a deal, but they are almost finished and this morning the sheer velocity of the crazy amount of lightning from where it is just made me sigh. It’s definitely going to be a thing.0 -
Is it a huge casino? They can attract a lot of travelers since rooms and food may be cheaper so they are enticed to gamble. They draw bus loads of seniors. We had them in MN and in MI. There is one on the reservation in our county but it sure doesn't seem as busy as it was 40 years ago when it was newer.
Yesterday was a beach day until our umbrella that provided shade started leaning and falling due to high wind. It was a beautiful, hot day and being on the beach was wonderful. We took walks, read and people watched. I like walking in the waves.
This morning we went to visit the fort in downtown St. Augustine that had been there since the 14 or 1500s when the Spaniards landed and built a fort to defend the land they claimed. It has quite a history and is part of the National Park system. Since I had the senior lifetime pass we both got in on that. The average height of men at that time was 5 ft 5 inches! They would sleep two to a bed or on wood platforms side by side. The rooms were dark and a little stinky from the ocean, the rocks that the fort are made of (shells in the mixture). I bought two cute books for the FL grandkids for Christmas since it will be the history of their state.
It is in the 90's today, so Russ and I drove down the coast to Flagler Beach for lunch on a shaded outdoor patio. I had a pomegranite Margeritas and feel sleepy now that we are home. I will snooze and read in the AC. Later we are going to Jeff's and grilling burgers. I am going to wear my swim suit and take a change of clothes so I can cool off in his pool before or after dinner.
I went to the Y again yesterday to ride the bike and walk on the treadmill. I will do so again tomorrow. That will be 3 times this week, once last week and I will go on Monday or Tuesday next week before we head to Charleston on Wednesday.
Time for my snooze. I hope all is well.
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90’s? That’s really warm!0
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Well the moisture built up and we had a downpour this morning. I was at the Y and getting done with my work out but didn't want to go out in it. The winds are high too so I stayed and walked on the treadmill until I could get to my car.
I took a dip in Jeff's pool with both grand kids watching. They seemed amazed I could swim and Miles yelled inside the door to his Mom, "GiGi's swimming". So funny. We had to change plans from grilling burgers because Jeff's grill was out of propane or his torch was not sure. We ended up going to a burger place close by.
Russ and I are relaxing in the rental today. I iced my knee, ate a breakfast he cooked and then took my shower. Depending on the weather we will take the kids out for ice cream later.
Do you have plans for Mother's Day? Nothing as of yet down here. I did tell Russ I want donuts from one of the donut shops close by on Sunday morning.
Well I'm a blob on the couch!
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The kids are ice cream monsters! They ate their own and then wanted to drink their parents' milk shakes. I had Creamsicle ice cream in a waffle cone. It didn't have the orange and vanilla flavor that I remember as a kid but it was good.
Hoping good weather for a pool day at their house tomorrow and then seafood or BBQ dinner after Layney's nap. Russ is in to bird watching so he will go on a hike at a trail in the morning. I will relax.
Sunday, Mother's Day, will be beach day! Russ and I are planning our visit to Charleston and deciding what we want to do with the one whole day we have there.
Well happy weekend!0 -
I love ice cream so much! I remember eating this amazing blueberry ice cream on the one vacation Bernie and I went on before the kids to Maine. I usually want chocolate but that blueberry was something. I also love good soft serve twist. I want ice cream now!
Glad for a Friday0 -
In the winter I crave chocolate ice cream or those with chocolate in it. When the weather is hot, I really enjoy ice cream with fruit in it or flavored with orange, strawberry, cherry, or lemon. More refreshing I think.
Russ is off on his hike and I'm still in my pj's. I'll be glad to be done with this rental. Not cleaned to my standards, old and dated. On top of that, a queen bed and we are use to a king. I knew about the bed and figured we could handle it if I didn't have to deal with stairs to enter unit, go up and down to bed, etc. The tub is a little scary for me. No grab bars and slippery. Russ has had to help me get out so I don't fall. My surgical leg still makes me feel like I'm not totally stable and coordinated so standing on a wet tub floor and raising the other leg freaks me out. Hopefully our place in Charleston and Asheville are better. I know there are king beds in both.
Are you going to brunch or seeing family for Mother's Day? Have you had any contact with your sister or niece?
Happy Mother's Day! (in case I don't check in tomorrow)0
