Did you know this?

Maybe I didn't pay enough attention in science class, but I learned something Sunday about the roots of cypress trees. They apparently have to come up for "breath" so to speak on the ground around the base of the tree. This is a shot of some of the roots of one tree that Suzanne took. Weird, huh?

To me they look like old, gnarled fingers or phallic symbols. What do you think?

Silliness with a camera

Sunday afternoon while we were walking around the Arboretum, Suzanne wanted to go to the croquet "field" and jump around. She did indeed do some jumping, but then she came up with the idea of holding out the camera, spinning and taking photos of herself. This was her effort:


It looked like so much fun I decided to try it. My camera is old and slow, so I borrowed Suzanne's fancier model and came up with this:

I love how the background is blurry. I also love how you can see Deb and Suzanne in the blurry background. But I hate how my eyes are almost closed. And my double chin. But I'm proud that I didn't fall down. It was fun. I need to do more fun things like that in life. Silly is good.

More Arb pictures

As promised, here are some more pictures I took at the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine Sunday. It was absolutely gorgeous weather and I would have taken more photos, but my battery became exhausted before I was finished with my walk around the grounds.


This is the inscription above the door to the cottage that proprietress Robin lives in on the property. I love the sentiment.


This picture was taken from the bridge looking south.

The Arb in Autumn

We met for our monthly book club on Sunday at the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine. Robin, one of our members (it should be said she recently dropped her other book club because we're more fun), owns this gem of Sumner county. It's absolutely gorgeous any time of year, but fall is especially pretty. My carpoolers and I arrived about 3:45 and enjoyed a walk around the grounds before most of others arrived. Suzanne snapped this picture of the four of us on the bridge:

Me, Tara, Suzanne and Deb

We had a great time and I will post more pictures later. I was a bit sickly yesterday (not because of book club) and didn't do anything but sleep and sit. More to come, I promise.

p.s. the pumpkin bread turned out fabulously even though I didn't have all the ingredients. I improvised and still it worked. hooray for me!

Sunglasses and jacket weather

A thousand apologies to my Mother who gently reminded me that she's checked my blog 14 times and still I hadn't posted anything. This one's for you, Mom!

Here in the land of Kansas, we've been having some gorgeous October weather. It's warm and sunny during the days (hence the sunglasses), but there's just enough of a chill in the air that you need a jacket, too. The trees are starting to turn (I'll post pictures here soon) and I've pulled out my trusty down comforter to use at night. It's good sleepin' weather, I tell ya. I did break down and turn on the heat in my house Friday night. But I turned it back off Saturday morning and haven't turned it on since. I like this time of year when it's rather chilly inside my house during the day when it's warm and sunny outside. And as I sit here typing this, there's not a cloud in the sky and the day looks promising.

I've got book club this afternoon (yes, it's a different day than usual) at the Arboretum in Belle Plaine. I'll be leaving in a couple of hours to head down there with my carpool buddies. I'll post pictures later, but now I must head off to make some pumpkin bread to take with me.

Friday night is for margaritas

Last night after work, I met some friends over at Emerson Biggin's for a margarita. Yes, I only had one margarita, but it looked like this: It was a ginormous 32 oz. margarita. For $4.75! It's what I call the bargain of the century and it was very tasty. The reason for the get-together is that my friend, Sandy, who left the Eagle last year to move to Kansas City with her husband, Marty, was in town. Here's a picture of them: Also in attendance was Cheryl, a current work buddy, and her husband, Mike. It was their 12th anniversary. Here's to many more! They look really happy, don't they? I don't think the happiness was just about the beer and margaritas, either.It was a wonderful evening of laughter and good conversation. I stuck with one margarita, but I could have easily stayed 'til 2 a.m. and had several more. Let's do it more often, guys! So I can get more practice drinking and staying out late, because I'm clearly a wimp.

Sunday visit with Caden

Sunday morning I called Caden's (he's my great nephew) house to see if he was receiving visitors. His Daddy said he was so I went over. We played for a while (it's a shame that he doesn't get any attention from his parents) until it was time for him to take a nap. Here he is laughing at his Mommy:I can't wait to see pictures from Halloween, because he's going to be a cowboy.

After Caden went upstairs for his nap, I turned my attention to Copper, their labrador retriever. He's kinda jealous of that baby and just can't figure out why he's not allowed to lay on Caden's blanket, too. Andrew gave him a treat and he was very gracious and let me take his picture. I'm sure he's thinking: "Take the picture so I can have my treat."

Saturday night with Zach

This past weekend I went to Ellinwood to visit the family. I had a babysitting gig on Saturday night with Zach, my almost-six-month-old nephew. I went over to their house and got instructions and then Zach and I headed off to church so I wouldn't have to get up early on Sunday morning to go. It was a mostly uneventful hour we spent at church. He slept through the first half and then woke with a start. Almost immediately his bottom lip came out and he started whimpering. So I quickly (and pretty deftly considering I'm not very practiced) made a bottle for him. After he ate and I got back from communion, he burped really big and then spit up a little. OK, quite a bit. Mostly on me. Sorry I don't have any pictures of that.

After a 45-minute stop at my sister Teresa's house so she and my niece, Katie, could play with him, we went back to his house and I got him ready for bed. Once he was in his jammies and had his bedtime bottle, we read the book "Guess How Much I Love You". His legs and arms were going nuts the whole time I was reading it -- maybe he'll be an avid reader like his Daddy. When the story was over, though, he went right to sleep. It was about 8 o'clock and he was out for the night. He was so funny when he was lying there right before drifting off holding onto his right foot with his right hand. Once he fell asleep he still had the right leg a little up in the air. He looked so cute, I had to go get the camera and take this picture:Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby?

Lunch date

Last Friday I got a text message from my niece, Katie. It said that she was coming to Wichita and could I have lunch (basically). She had the day off from school, so she and her boyfriend, Frank, were coming to town to shop and goof off. I met them at Red Lobster (their choice) and we had a nice lunch. Once they actually got there, that is. They took a couple of wrong turns and were about 30 minutes later than I expected them.

I snapped this picture of them after we had lunch:They ended up going to the zoo and having to dodge raindrops. Well, at least they got to see me!

Sunday night club

A little over a year ago, I started meeting Kathleen and Janette, a couple of friends from college, for dinner on Sunday night about once a month (give or take, depending on schedules). After taking a couple of months off this summer when everyone was so busy, we started back up again this past Sunday. Laurie, another college friend, joined us. We usually meet at a different restaurant each month, but this time we went back to where we went the first time we did this, Texas Roadhouse. The only real requirement is that the restaurant serve alcohol, so it's pretty much wide-open. Kathleen is very good about ordering an exotic and usually extremely tasty drink each time we go out. One of her favorite drinks was the Nutty Uncle she had at P.F. Chang's. My favorite would have to be the cranberry Long Island Iced Tea I had at Logan's Roadhouse. I dream about them sometimes, they were so good.

We're generally a server's worst nightmare because we come early and stay late. We do try to tip accordingly so we don't get kicked out too quickly. Sunday we were treated like royalty by our server, K.C. He even serenaded us with a song after Janette accidentally touched his butt! Turns out he's a student at Friends University and is a member of the Singing Quakers. He wants to be a country singer when he grows up (he said he'll be 21 in a couple of weeks). His a capella version of Rascal Flatts' "God Bless the Broken Road" was really very good. Unfortunately I didn't think to snap his picture.

But I took this shot outside when we were leaving: Laurie, Kathleen and Janette (as pictured) -- thanks for the laughter. It always makes my week when we get together!

Weekend visitors

This past weekend I had some visitors. It's been a while since my cousin, Jason, and his wife, Heather, have been to visit at my house. Let's put it this way: this was two-and-a-half year old Madisyn's first overnight stay here. I took this picture of the three of them when we were eating brunch on Sunday: On Saturday evening before we went out to eat at Famous Dave's (a big hit with all of us), we asked Madisyn what she wanted to eat and she said, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" So she had the chicken fingers. The news from their house: they're having another baby in April! Congrats to all three of them.

Another shot from the restaurant:

Vincent turns 3

My little friend, Vincent, turned three last week. I went over to their house for the celebration (complete with cupcakes -- yum!) on Thursday. In the background you can see his one-year-old sister, Libby. She was waiting patiently for her cupcake. Vincent also has an older brother, Joseph, 4. There's never a dull moment around their house! Here he is blowing out his three candles:

Book report

Well, I finished the book "What Remains" by Carole Radziwill last night. Overall, I really liked it. I feel sorry for her losses (first her best friends, John Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, followed by her husband, Anthony Radziwill, three weeks later). It's a tragic story and when I read the part of the book when her husband dies, I cried. Not just a few tears, but a lot of them. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but I don't think so. It was heart-breaking. (Don't worry I won't spoil it for those of you who want to read the book.) Here is one thing that struck me: After JFK, Jr.'s plane goes down and the bodies of him, his wife and his sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, are recovered, Carolyn's mother wants Carole (the author of the book) to go with her to the meeting where they'll decide what kind of service they will have for John and Carolyn. She is told by some people that she must not go -- that it wouldn't be appropriate for her to be there. It's not her place in the family. Huh? Even if she's been asked to go by the woman who lost two daughters in this crash? That didn't make any sense to me and I don't think it did to the author, either.

It's the kind of book that makes me glad for the type of family I have -- a simple, no-nonsense group of folks whom I love and who love me (at least I think they do). There are no pretenses. At least I don't think so. Sure, we have our differences. But I still love them even when they don't agree with me :-)

Under the weather

I have to admit I've been feeling icky for the past week or so. I felt so icky that I stayed home from work Tuesday because getting out of bed seemed to take a lot more energy than I had to spare. I did drag myself out, though, and went to see the doctor. Or in this case my doctor's physician assistant (who has a broken ankle from tripping over her cat). She did all the appropriate questioning and listening to the heart and lungs and agreed with me that I have a sinus infection. I get these about once or twice a year, so I'm very familiar with how they feel. After the appointment, I filled the prescription at the grocery store (where I proceeded to spend $46 on groceries because it took FOREVER to fill the scrip) and then went home for a much-needed nap.

Yesterday I was back to work and feeling a bit better. Late in the day I succumbed to the pressure of the headache and took a couple of Excedrin. Note to self: don't take Excedrin after 2 p.m. I don't drink a lot of caffeine (only coffee in the mornings and not much of that) because, well, it's a long story. The good news is that the Excedrin wiped out the headache perfectly, but led me to only get three hours of sleep last night. Ugh. I'm so tired I could sleep standing propped up against a wall somewhere. It didn't help that I had to be at work at 6:30 this morning for a drive replacement on one of the systems.

On the up side, the lack of sleep afforded me some quality time with the book I'm currently reading:

I'm not sure how I feel about the book yet, but it is a true story. Written by Carole Radziwill, it chronicles her life as the daughter of a middle-class family in Suffern, NY (that 'burb is actually mentioned on the "Sex & the City" series, FYI). She grows up, gets a job at ABC News and falls in love and marries a Polish prince, Anthony Radziwill (he's also the nephew of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis). It's all very idyllic and after they marry they are best friends with John Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. But Anthony has cancer and it all really falls apart when John-John and Carolyn die in a plane crash and Anthony dies from cancer three weeks later. It's a heart-breaking story (isn't everything connected to the Kennedys?) but it is almost equally hard to put down. It's like a train-wreck and I feel like I'm one of the "tragedy whores" she references in the book.

I've always been fascinated by all things JFK. My parents have a well-worn copy of a book called "Six Days in November" or something like that and I have read it repeatedly throughout my life. I wasn't born yet when JFK was shot, but I've read about it over and over again and looked at the pictures in that book more times than I can count. I probably originally ran across the book when I was dusting those built-in bookshelves in my parents' living room and I think I must have sat down that day and at least looked at the pictures. The picture of a very small JFK, Jr. saluting his father's casket as the funeral procession passes is one of my favorites. After looking at that book I remember asking my Mom about what she was doing when it happened. She didn't hesitate at all when she answered. With four small kids at home (my brother, John, was probably eight months old at the time), she was doing ironing or some household chore and they broke in to whatever she was watching on TV (most likely a soap opera) with the chilling news. I have since visited the "grassy knoll" and Sixth Floor museum in Dallas with my friend, Lucy, who's from England and has visited me many times. On her first visit (which was also her longest visit) her top three things to see were: the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains and the grassy knoll. So we went. It tells you how truly captivating JFK and his life were if a gal who's my age (minus six years old when he was shot) and lives five thousand miles away had the grassy knoll among her top three sights to see on her first trip to the U.S.

Once I finish the book I'll let you know what I think. Until then I'll just be glad I'm not related.

Lazy Days

I don't have any pictures from my action-packed weekend. Mostly because I didn't have an action-packed weekend. I spent most of the time sleeping (one of my favorite things to do on a fall weekend) and getting caught up on television premieres I'd missed during the week.

One of the highlights of premiere week was the new show "Dirty Sexy Money" on ABC. I can tell it's going to be a guilty pleasure. I love Peter Krause from "Six Feet Under" fame and am looking forward to seeing him in this role. We'll see how it plays out, but for now I'm in.

Last night's premieres of "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters" didn't disappoint, either. I think both shows have set the stage for some exciting stuff this season. And I'm looking forward to the return (on October 12) of "Men In Trees" one of my favorite new shows from last year.

I'd like to give a shout out to my friend Kathleen for allowing me to join her and her walking buddy, Carolyn. I've been walking with them (when they're walking and I'm available) for a 2.4-mile walk three times a week. Kathleen's husband, Dave, also joins us when he can. I'm a Sunday, Wednesday, Friday walker. The first time I walked with them I literally thought I was going to D-I-E. But I survived and it's gotten easier. The scale has even budged a little bit and that always makes me feel good. Last night I was really not looking forward to the walk, but I went (after forcing Kathleen into making me to go) and am so glad I did. I look forward to Wednesday when I get to go again. Thanks ladies (and Dave), for making the walks seem more like gossip with friends than like exercise!