Twitter Craze

Ok, so I'm trying to find out what this craze is about with Twitter. I found out, while in St. Louis, that I'm not up on the latest and greatest thing: Twitter. My colleagues use it and say it's pretty good. So, I guess I'll give it a shot.

Until next time . . .

Back to civilization...

....or so the way we think civilization should be! I spent the last two days working from St. Louis. Let me just say that going out of town helps me to respect and love living in the country so much more. I do have to say that there are perks and advantages to living in the city; i.e. MORE THINGS TO DO=shows, musical events, nice restaurants (not fast food). But, that all costs money to attend and would get a little old.

All-in-all it wasn't a bad drive. I had to get up really early and be on the road by 5:30 am on Tuesday, but it was a good day. I have to say I was nervous once I got to all those Hwy and Interstate interchanges, but God is a great pilot. I got out on the road Tuesday morning thinking, "oh my goodness, I am driving to St. Louis all by myself." That was a humbling and maturing thought. I forget sometimes how old I am and that I am responsible enough to do these type of things. Anyway...nice drive, productive meetings, made it home all in one piece; without getting lost in Downtown.

Oh, and I must blog this....my boss got the biggest kick and this is probably already on Twitter. Sorry blogger buddies, I wanted to be the first to tell the story but Twitter got the scoop...I ate Sushi and there are pictures to prove it. Probably not a big deal to some, but sushi is not something on the menu of a country town or home cooked meal for that matter. Well, if it were on the home menu it wouldn't be cooked! :) But, I have to say it was very good and will definitely be eating it again.

Well, I best be getting back to work. Have a wonderful day!

Until next time . . .

It's Mushroom Time & Cattle Working Time

Yummy, Yummy! It's mushroom time again. This time every year marks the time when those yummy little mushrooms pop their heads above the soil. Pain in the tail to find, but oh so good. Unfortunately I haven't found any myself, only my mom and dad. But, fortunately they shared those little critters last night. I could founder myself on those suckers.

Another beautiful spring day is in store for today. This weekend promises to be pretty as well, with scattered thunderstorms. Springtime marks for many things: fertilize the pastures, new green grass, new baby calves, and CATTLE WORKING time. We are to have a busy day tomorrow; working 29 mama cows and their new babies. The mamas will each get a new fly tag (propels pesky flys), wormer (gets rid of worms), and lepto (protects them from aborting their calves). The cute little babies will get a dab of wormer as well, along with black leg (helps with foot rot and a disese they can get in their blood/legs), rougrow (promotes growth), and the little boys will become 'its'...aka they'll be castrated. This provides for a yummy feast for the Ben & Tucker, the labs. They patiently wait by dad during this process because they know that a feast awaits!

Cattle Working Tid-bit:
1. Wormer = twice a year (Spring & Fall working)
2. Lepto = once a year (prior to breeding)
3. Fly tag = once a year (usually during Spring working)
4. Black leg = once during lifetime (when babies or small calves)
5. Rougrow = once during lifetime (when babies or small calves)
*NOTE* any heifer calves we plan to keep for cows do not get this vacination as we grain feed our heifers.

Cattle working day is usually a bit stressful. Tempers and mouths tend to flair on this day. You never know how the cows are going to act; they do indeed respond to weather changes. Our cattle are very gentle, but when they have little ones they can be extremely protective and get a little ticked off and impatient. Thus, causing them to paw and snort at you, and on occaision try to run over you. All-in-all though it is a very fun, family day though.

That is my bit of useless information for today. A bit of good information is that it's FRIDAY!!!

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the weather! P.S. It rained on Easter so according to old wise tails it will rain for 7 Sundays. This is the 3rd Sunday. We'll see...

Until next time . . .

Nothing much better...

Other than getting a new pair of shoes or a new cute purse, do you know something that is very uplifting and spirit pumping for women? Well, I'll tell you because I just experienced it. No not that, get your minds out of the gutter!!!! LOL

Many of you know I have struggled with my weight for a long time; well, my whole life. If you didn't know it you do now. Anyhow, I have been really working at it and for the first time in my life I am becoming successful with it as I have lost about 35 pounds and they are staying off. Long way to go though. Well, that's not the exciting part; it is, but not what I want to tell you.

On with the story....I needed a pair of shorts I could wear in public. Haven't worn shorts in public really for a while, just capris. I thought now is the time. I need to embrace life and take charge. ANYWAY....I saw a pair of cute shorts: violet, blue, white, mostly blue plaid shorts, but they were the wrong size; a size I haven't tried on in at least 3 years. Mind you it's only a size smaller that what I am wearing, but nonetheless it's smaller. I picked them up and thought what the heck. Might as well see how far I need to go before I can wear them. So in the dressing room I go-I hate those things because I know just as soon as I go in there I'm coming right back out, not being able to wear anything I've picked out, and now I'm hot and sweaty. But, in there I go. I start putting the shorts on. So far so good; I actually have room in the hips..impressive. Then, the true test..."will they button AND zip?" HOLY MOLY ladies they would!!! And, I had room to spare!!! I didn't even have to unbutton them to take them off. I was so excitied and absolutely on Cloud 9.

I often get down in the dumbs with my weight struggles like so many people do. But, if this does't motivate me I don't know what will. And, I'm here to tell you that if I can lose 35 pounds (which I have never in my life been able to lose that much consecutively) anyone out there can do it. I've got a long way to go, but I feel that I'm on the right track.

So, that's my useless tid-bit of information I had to share for this bright and beautiful day.

Until next time . . .

Springtime Weekends and Country Living!

Spring just happens to be my favorite time of the year. Everything is new and fresh again; not to mention bright and cheery. Springtime on a farm is wonderful for so many reasons...the hayfields and pastures turn a bright green as well as all the trees, you can hear birds singing for ever, oh the spring peepers (frogs), and the new spring calves. We have little charlois/angus baby calves bouncing like crazy. I enjoy watching the baby calves. I can step out my backdoor and see them sunning on the hillside behind the house. MMMM country living!!

Springtime also marks for spring vaccinations for the cattle. I helped dad and our neighbor work about 68 head of our cattle on Friday. Needless to say, after a few hours I looked pretty rough as I was splattered with fresh pooy and I didn't smell too hot either. LOL But, I can't say that I mind working cattle. I know, I'm nuts.

I walked outside Saturday to a concert in the sky...aka the birds were singing a beautiful song. Don't know what it would be called exactly other than 'tweeter whistlin' tune'. All I know is that is was refreshing. Also experienced this weekend something very common to Springtime in the Ozarks: scattered thunderstorms. I was sitting in my house Saturday night and out of nowhere .....BOOOM, rattle of the windows, and a crack of lightning, followed by a sudden downpour. It did this off and on throughout the night and a little over 1 inch of rain. It was a good soaker rain. Even though I'm not particulary fond of thunder and lightning, I love spring showers and thunderstorms. Everything is just so much greener after a rain like this.

Anyways...that's about all the tidbits and useless information I have for one day.

Until next time . . .

Oh the weather outside is...

...you thought I was going to say frightful! No, it is simply delightful. If only I were out there. But, I guess being inside in order to pay the bills isn't so bad either.

Not much to blog about today. I still have a few more days to blog about regarding my trip. I will get back to those, I promise. Just been a tad bit on the busy side. Although, I did find a bit of time today to change my background. Thanks to my wonderful friend Sara who found this awesome site for backgrounds, I was able to find something I like. It was a little hard to choose. But, today I was feeling black and red (my favorite color combination next to brown and sea foam blue) today.

Well, back to the grindstone. Have a splendid day!

Until next time . . .

LPA Highlights Days 4-5

*Note* I uploaded the pictures small to get them all on the blog. To see them in more detail click on the picture and they should open to a full screen. Happy viewing*

Good morning fellow bloggers. I had a few moments this morning so I thought I'd get started on talking about Days 4 & 5 in exciting Paris, France. Obviously I am not documenting every single thing as that would take a very long time. I kept a journal of my trip and I think each day took about 7-10 pages; handwritten. So, you are getting the highlights. I'm sure if we talk in person you will get a fuller story of everything. Anyway.
-Pic: Paris Train Station-

Day 4 (March 21): We are on our way to Paris, France this morning; via the Eurostar Train. I don't remember how early it was, but we left early to head off for the station. Our train departed a little past 9 I think. I didn't realize it prior to going into the station, but we had to go through UK Customs to get on the train; which means I got an additional stamp on my passport. I was so excited to have that stamp. The train ride out of London and across France to Paris was about 2 hours long; not a bad trip. I did, however, sit behind an English couple that were fighting one minute and flinging curse words, and the next they were lovy dovy; discusting. After arriving in Paris, we took our bus to the hotel; located in the business district. Then, it was off to the city, via the Metro (Subway). We were in and out of so many subways it was terrible. You want to talk about a rush...try getting 48 people on a subway during rush hour-which is all the time on the Paris Metro. When the doors open, you had best be ready to get on or off because they are only open for about 30 seconds. I have many memories of the subways during this trip. They are stories within themselves. But you don't want to hear about subways, this is Paris-the romantic city of light! Back to the tour. We went to the Louvre on our first day in Paris. We only had a little over an hour; very disappointing, but we went. It would take one years to see everything in the Louvre-over 300,000 masterpieces-and we had 1 hour. What does everyone think about when you say Louvre? Yes, the Mona Lisa, so that's where we headed first. She was just as pretty as I remember. I was surprised because we could actually take pictures of her this time and not lose our cameras, so I snapped away being unsuccessful in getting 1 plain shot. After the Louvre we met back together with the entire group for more walking and more subways, touring the city, finally heading to dinner. We ate at Flam's; a type of flat pizza made with goat cheese. After dinner was the best part...time to go to the Eiffel Tower. I didn't get to go up it in 2006, but this time was different. The lines were really long once we got up to the first stop. It was amazing. The city is beautiful from up there and just knowing that I was in/on the Eiffel Tower and not just looking at it-OH! The worst part was going up the next leg of the flight. I really don't get scared of heights, but my knees were litteraly knocking as we were flying up over 900 feet above the city on a needle! But the view, the feeling, the rush of being on the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. After going up the tower we all went on a boat ride on the Seine River; seeing the sights of Paris from the water. This is really one of the best views because alot of the history of the city is located on the banks of the Seine. After the boat ride it was back to the hotel; yes, via the subway.

Day 5 (March 22): Rise and shine on another early day. We started the day with a bus tour of the city. The bus tours usually run about 3 hours with stops at certain places in between. We drove up the Champs Elysees and went around the Arc de Triomphe, drove past Concorde Square, the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Opera House, where Princess Diana died and her memorial,
-Pic: Notre Dame Cathedral-
-Pic: The Opera House-
-Pic: Memorial for Princess Diana (Flame) and she was killed in the tunnel beneath this road at the location under the flame-

and so much more. We made a stop at the Trocadero Square where there is a brilliant view of the Eiffel Tower. This was our only place to do any souviner shopping in Paris :(. While we were here mom and I had a chocolate crepe! And, much to my surprise I ran into my tour director from my '06 tour; Pascal. That was so awesome! Plus he is a beautiful Frenchman! He remembered me, but not my name. That's ok because he greated me with the usual European greeting of a hug and a kiss on the cheek. OOlala. The ladies in my group were so shocked! I was just flabbergasted. They couldn't get their cameras out fast enough. Paris is beautiful and I loved being there, but seeing Pascal was really the highlight of being back in Paris-except for going up the Eiffel Tower.
-Pic: Palace of Versailles-

So, back on the bus, but a different bus with a different group. Some of us were staying behind for free time in the city and the rest of us went to Versailles, France (just outside of Paris) to visit the Palace of Versailles. This was the home of King Louie XIV and Marie Antoinette, as well as a few other Louies before the 14th. This is a magnificent place. It is huge! Unfortunately since it was so early in the season there were no flowers blooming in the gardens, but still they were pretty. I had been here before, but we didn't get to see the King's private chambers and all the chandeliers were down for restoration the last time. So, this time all the chandeliers were up in every room as well as the Hall of Mirrors. It was pretty in '06 without them. And, this time with them all up the room just glistened.

-Pic: Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles-

We drove back into the city to meet our guide. We had a bit of free time so we went on a walking tour with our guide. She took us to Notre Dame for a walk through. While we were there I was trying to point out the Hunchback and much to my surprise this voice came from behind and said in english with a fine french accent, "Is she trying to do my job?" I turned around and it was Pascal AGAIN!!! Oh my goodness. The ladies had to get our picture together this time! It was great!

After this walking tour we headed back for the underground, Metro, to meet up with the group for dinner. This was our last night in Paris so after dinner we all called it an early evening; 9:30 instead of the usuall 11pm. We had to pack up and get ready for a long bus ride to Lucerne, Switzerland the next morning; which 5 am was going to come soon.

More tomorrow on my adventures.

Until next time . . .

LPA Highlights Days 1-3

Hello Fellow Bloggers. As promised I am posting pics and highlights from my trip: London, Paris & the Alps (LPA). I am going to post them by days and country to simplify things a bit. I know the pictures definitely don't do these places justice, but I
hope you enjoy them.

Ok, so in this first pic (Day 1-March 18), you can see that we are sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. The day started out a little hairy, as our flight in Springfield, MO was way delayed and I had to rebook us for a later flight from Dallas to London. There was one more flight out of Dallas and there were only 20 seats remaining; I took 12. The flight ended up being full. My group was so thankful there was another flight otherwise we would have spent the night in Dallas. Anyway, we made the flight obviously. It was a very long flight from Dallas (9 hours). But we arrived in London, England on my 30th birthday (March 19). Someone from my group passed a note to the fight attendant, who then passed it on to the captain. As we were taxing on the runway at Heathrow Airport the Captain came on and wished me a Happy 30th Birthday. It was the coolest thing!

Day 2 (March 19): So our first official day in exciting London, England is day 2 of the tour. We headed off right away for a walking tour of the area of the city where our hotel was-Dockland area. Then, we are off to the Tube (London Subway). Notice the picture that says 'Mind the Gap'. Well, that is a warning sign located at the edge of the platform. On some of the subway stops there could be anywhere from a 2" to a 6" or better gap that you had to set over to get onto the subway. As soon as the doors would open a recording would say (in a British accent) "Mind the Gap". We got used to hearing this.
We were in the subway quite frequently, too. On our Day 2 walking tour we saw sights such as the Tower Bridge (above with me in it). All my life I thought this was the London Bridge, but it isn't. It is the Tower Bridge. The London Bridge isn't anything spectacular at all. It looks like a normal bridge. We also saw the Tower of London (located in pic next to Tower Bridge). The Tower of London once was home of Henry the VIIIth..I am Henry the VIIIth I am, Henry the VIIIth I am I am...Now it houses the Crown Jewels of the Royal Family.

On the evening of Day 2 we walked to a busy tavern area where we had dinner. Our first meal in London was something that England is noted for: Fish-n-Chips; which is fish and french fries. It was yummy. On our way to dinner mom and I spotted a London phone booth. So, we had to stop for a photo op. I'll break right here and say my mom had an awesome time and I am so thankful I was able to experience this with her.

Day 3 (March 20): This was another early and busy day. We were guided all around the city seeing site after site. We had a local guide the morning of day 3. He rode the bus with us as we toured the city. We had a stop in the theater area of London to do a little shopping; only had 15 or so minutes. Our first time off the bus and one of my ladies got lost for about 30 minutes. VERY stressful, especially when they told me I had to stay and find her and then make my way back to the hotel. But, all was well. After about a half hour of trying to figure out what to do I spotted her and we were off again. Remember I mentioned something earlier about the Royal Family? Well, after we found my group member who was lost, we made our way to Buckingham Palace. Although we were unable to go it, it was still a sight to see. We were able to witness a changing of the guards while here. Not the guards in front of the Palace, but guards who were on duty down the road. They are on 24 hour duty and have a parade after every shift change. London Police ride their horses in front of the guards going off duty (who are also on horses) and guide them in front of the Palace, where they solute the Palace and are then officially off duty. That was very neat to witness. I was still trying to relax my self from the stressful event of losing someone and didn't get to completely enjoy this part, but it was still fabulous to see.


Here we have Westminster Abbey. I would have loved the opportunity to go inside, but do to time contraints we weren't able to. This is one where a picture just doesn't do justice to the beauty and magnitude of a building.

After being given free time in London, the ladies in my group and I went on a walking tour of London. I bet we walked more than 5 miles on each day while we were here. On our walking tour we visited the National Gallery; houses art by Van Gogh, Monet, and Rembrandt just to name a few. We carried on to the London Eye (looks like a Ferris Wheel). We were all able to get tickets to go up in the London Eye; where we had spectacular views of the city. The Eye is located right across the Thames River from the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben (notice in picture with the Eye, Me, Big Ben). It was wonderful. After having an afternoon of free time we all joined back together for dinner. And, when I say all I mean my group of 12, plus a group of 36 (20 high school FFA students and 16 adults). We had dinner at an Indian restaurant and enjoyed curry chicken. Hot, but yummy. After dinner we opted for the Jack the Ripper walking tour. This took us across London to the very spots were Jack the Ripper left his victims. Very interesting.

Back to the hotel and time to pack up. In the morning we leave for Paris, France via the Eurostar Train. More of my travels tomorrow.

Until next time . . .

April Fools!

Well, in honoring the time old traditions of classical April Fools jokes I thought I would conduct a survey. I don't know if it is because I am getting older, don't care, or just can't think of a good one, but I am blank on April Fools jokes this year.

The best April Fools joke that I played on someone was about 10 years ago; yes I can remember that far back! I was in college and working at Crossroads Music (now Hastings). I had recently been promoted to a seniority position; days working 7 am-3 pm. Hey, a highlight and perk at 19. I was the opening supervisor with the opening manager, Jonathan. Well, just so happens that we were the only two scheduled to work this beautiful spring day. Knowing how nervous he was to be opening manager and be in charge, I decided to be a little ornery! It was just before 7 and I drove into the Harp's parking lot so he couldn't see me, but oh I could see him. I called and made some lame excuse (typical teenager excuse) that I was feeling sick and couldn't make it in today. Like I said I could see him. He was stunned at first and tried to get mad, but then became sympathetic. I couldn't help it that I was sick..cough, cough. He was talking sympathetic, but I could see his reactions via the windows! Too funny. He finally wished me get well and said he would figure something out. Well, to end it all up...I said, "if you would like, I can call Teri (store manager) and let her know the situation, and oh that I so got you on an April Fools joke!" He could have killed me! He asked me where I was and I told him to look out the windows. He started looking and looking, then spotted me as I was driving into the store parking lot. Wonderful laugh.

Ok, so maybe not the best joke, but it was perfect for the one I was pulling one on; and the only one I can remember.

So, what have been the BEST APRIL FOOLS JOKES played on you or that you have played on others?