Creative Connection

Well, I've been slacking for awhile now so thought I'd at least post about the last fun thing. Then over the next few days I'll get the bloggy blog caught up. I've been in Minneapolis the last couple of days for work but happened to be staying at the hotel where the Creative Connection event for women was being held. I popped into the market place today to see what was going on and got to meet Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman Cooks lady. She was very cool. Here are some pictures from the show and of Miss Ree. Sorry they are a little fuzzy, guess I was shaking with excitement!

My Big Sister

I have the best big sister in the world. She has been my best friend for as long as I can possibly remember. Well except for when she was in high school and had to share her bedroom with me, but even then, she was always good to me.

We've had some of the greatest times over the years, shopping in Prague, touring the tulips and the red light district in Amsterdam, eating strawberries under the Eiffel Tower, wandering the alley ways in Venice, bawling our eyes out after touring the concentration camps, lace and nutcracker collecting in Germany, chocolate and the salt mines in Austria, yodeling in the Swiss Alps....we have had some adventures. And let's not forget the great times (minus our crazy driver) discovering the small walled villages throughout Italy. So many things we have done and experienced together. She shares her life, her family, her church calling, her heart and soul with me and I love you Hippie Hippie dippy Karey Beary Bean Blossom!

Now is the challenge and adventure of a lifetime, she is fighting a brain thinger bobber that she has named Ned. It is nerve wracking as we wait to find out what course of action she has to get rid of the stupid thing, but I have no doubt that she will get rid of it. It may be a tough road, but there is so much love and support in her corner and I know that Heavenly Father is watching over her. So here is my good riddance to Ned diddy...

I hate that you have a name, and that you're even here at all,
Really, who invited you and what is your purpose for showing up now?
Why do you think that you have power to stay
and what is your plan at the end of the day?

You really should exit the same way you came,
You are not welcome you big piece of nothing
Take a hike, a taxi a raft or yacht
how you exit Dodge I really care...NOT!

Why do things like this happen to such good people like Karen
She's never done wrong and she serves others willingly
I have a hard time figuring this thing out
One thing I know without any doubt

It just one more test in a long line of many
I pray for a great outcome and for an easy journey
but should the road get tough and you need me, I'm there
I'll help you and love you and shoulder my share

But I say to you, just get rid of that thinger
he's really not needed, so don't let him linger
Snuff out old Ned and send the creepy thing packing
we need to get back to our silly wise cracking!

So I'm no poet, but you get the message!


I love ya tons! And I am there for you!

I Need to be Here...

February, Tahiti, going, check!

Doggie Updates

Typically beautiful morning walk with the dogs and a great time to update pictures. As always, this is the 3 dog circus, Sadie with the ball, Dira barking at her and Hoss just happy to be chasing the girls!

The 3 Amigos in a quieter moment. L to R Dira, Sadie and Hoss

This is Dira our Slovakian girl. She's gone crazy chasing deer and cats and what ever else dares to move in her line of site. She's a total loving sweetheart. I still haven't gotten all the Slovakian commands down yet, but we do have Kume' or come and she understands tummy rubs!

And this is Hossie Von Goosie, compare the picture to the right. I weighed him a couple of weeks ago and he is already at 60 lbs. He's still a puppy, still growing, still loves to "try" to sit in my lap and have his belly rubbed. Seems hard to remember how small he was when we got him. I do love my Hossie Boy. He is all boy and worse, he is all adolescent boy, I fear for Sadie and Dira!

Tessie and Booner are getting older and it is hard for them to go the full walk. Tessie eventually makes it but she goes at her own pace. She's still a trooper though and goes every single time. She's getting up there, probably 12 or 13 years old now. I think about when we got her, in Tucson during Rockies spring training. We had to sneak her into the hotel room with us, she slept in the dip between the mattress and the headboard and she too was just a tiny thing. We took her in a small cat carrier on the plane and she rode most of the way inside my jacket, she was a sweetheart then and she is still a sweetheart now.

It's super hard for me to write about Booner without getting all choked up. He has been my companion for 12 years now and I love him more than most people love their kids. I took him to the vet yesterday because he has had a bit of pain in his shoulders and he has stopped going on the long walks with us. He usually makes a short circle in the field and heads back to the house now. The Doc said it's arthritis most likely and just the aging process. He said that is "admirable" that Booner looks and feels as good as he does for his age. I wanted to cry, but waited til I got to the car, I can't bear the thought of not having him with me forever. They gave him some pain relievers to help with the pain and increased the thyroid medicine to help keep the weight off. He did a lot better on the walk this morning, so I have my fingers crossed that if he starts feeling better, he will keep walking with me. xoxo Booner!

Trip to Minnesota wrap up

Okay, so I did make it back from South Dakota and Minnesota but it was a LONG trip. The weather ended up being stormy so we had to drive 8 hours each way for a 2 hour meeting...that dang bank better sign the flippin' contracts! Any way, we did have a little fun along the way. This is my colleague Jon at the place we ate lunch in Fargo, ND - it was pretty good, you betcha!

On the road again...I was driving, fast like normal, defying the slow poke Minnesota farmers and country hillbillies, had a nice flow going when I saw a small sign at the side of the road that said ANTIQUES. Screeching tires and quick turn into the skinny drive way and we found this treasure.

Good thing we spotted this place, it was really cool and had a ton of things I would have loved to purchase. Super good thing we couldn't get stuff in the rental car, and I knew I couldn't get it in my plane, so I kept to the business of finding old spoons for my sista Bean Blossom. I asked the guy at the counter if he had any old spoons, he pulled out a huge box and told me to take my pick. A buck a piece for silver plated spoons...not bad, huh Karen? Here is a sampling of the what I got. Next time you see these, they will be shaped into bracelets.

We decided when we finally got to Grand Rapids that we deserved a nice dinner. $150 later we felt like we had achieved our goal. Great steak and hello, I've never had a popover before...it's a staple in these parts and I was a little torqued that I only got one.

Long story short, meeting with the bank went better than anticipated, but they still haven't signed the paper work, so I still have work to do. The trip back seemed to go faster, of course I drove most of it so that's probably why. We got back to Sioux Falls around 8:00 pm on Friday night, I checked into the hotel, walked the block to the grocery store, stocked up for my flight home in the morning, set a goal to get in bed by 10:00, everything is going according to plan except that I wake up every 2 hours to make sure I'm not over sleeping, man I hate that!

Up and at the airport by 6:30, YEA! Pre-flight, fueled up, loaded up and ready to go. There is fog on the ground from all the rain during the week. A lesser pilot wouldn have waited, me however, I was on a mission to get home before the thunderstorms built up in Denver. 373WD cleared for take off and take off I did. It was a nice flight home, smooth and quiet. I got to Denver safely and just before the thunderstorms started to build. It was a fun and confidence building trip for me. As always, I had a special co-pilot taking care of me.

Leg #3

Yesterday was the flight from Lakeville to Sioux Falls. The flight should have been an easy 1 hour and 10 minues...right...it was a long, hot, sweaty, bumpy, slow because of head wind 2 hour flight. I didn't know I could sweat that much! It was so humid it was ridiculous. I was literally drenched when I finally landed, and it wasn't my best landing which made me unhappy. I was supposed to be on the ground long enough to pick up Jon (my colleague) and then head on up to Aberdeen. The weather wasn't supposed to get any better, so I hangared the Whiskey Girl in Sioux Falls and we drove 3 hours to Aberdeen, yuck! The best thing is that Jon is really interesting to talk too, we had a lot of business stuff to catch up on and there were some huge fields of sunflowers along the way.

Our meeting went really well with our business partners in Aberdeen, I was expecting a really hard day since we had just fired 3 people from their shop that they all seemed to really like. Well they got over it pretty fast and the day went better than expected. I wish I'd have known that so I wouldn't have tossed and turned and worried all night. I was pretty wiped after the meeting and the 3 hour ride back. When we got back to Sioux Falls, I walked across the parking from my hotel to the mall, got a massage and when I came out had to wait about 45 minutes for a beautiful lightening storm and then a torrential down pour of rain. The rain eased long enough for me to run back across the parking lot. I was drenched when I got back to my room. A hot shower, a little blogging, a funny half hour of Will and Grace then it will be good night Irene!

Tomorrow a day in the office catching up, Yee Haw!

First Stop - Lakeville Minnesota

A beautiful flight into Lakeville yesterday. The young guy at the FBO at the airport let me take the crew car, an old Mitsubishi Gallant, for some exploring. I found the lake! I also went in search of the Mall of America but I guess I really didn't want to spend my time at the mall, cuz I never did find it.

Cross Country

Tomorrow, bright and early, I launch into a week long cross country adventure in the Whiskey Girl. I will be flying to Lakeville, MN which is the airport circled on the map. It is just south of Minneapolis, the big yellow spot on the map. The first leg of the flight I will be stopping in Yankton, SD for fuel and a potty break, then on to Lakeville. The total flight should be about 4 1/2 hours. I am seeing a client who is very unhappy right now. In fact, the only way I have a shot at saving the deal is to be there in person on Monday morning....it's a huge deal, so I'm going. The rest of the week looks like this...

Lakeville to Sioux Falls, where I pick up 2 colleagues and then it is:
Sioux Falls to Aberdeen - Aberdeen back to Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls to Grand Rapids, MN - Grand Rapids back to Sioux Falls then next saturday
Sioux Falls to Denver

It will be about 15 hours of flying time for me, but otherwise it would have been triple that in a car. So I jumped at the opportunity to build some cross country time. The weather looks pretty good for the whole week so I am PUMPED!

I will take pictures and try to keep you updated as I go, 373WhiskeyDelta, cleared for take off!

The Camera Caper

Last weekend I was at the airport, doing my flying thing and soaking in the jet fuel. I took these pictures while they were moving Joe's 2 planes around. The Red one is the Sea Fury and the yellow one is the Mustang. I love the bright colors on the planes almost as much as I love the planes themselves. Of course the beautiful blue one is my Whiskey Girl and she's #1 in my heart.



This is Ryan, his dad has a plane in the hangar next to Joe's. Whenever I am at the hangar and Ryan is around, he is my constant shadow. I took him flying one day and we both like rocks. He brought a bag full of rocks he had picked up to trade me, I'll have to get a picture of my cooga. He told me the other day that I'm the most fun girl he ever knew, he's 7. He's told me some other things that would make his dad turn green, but he's a little boy so what do you expect? So what does this all have to do with a camera?

We'll when I got home from the airport and went to download pictures, I couldn't find my camera. I torn my car apart, dumped out my flight bag and sent Bruce in to look around the hangar with no luck. I had gone back in to the hangar last night for one more fruitless search and was pretty devastated that I had lost all the pictures AND my camera when Joe pulled up to my hangar. He asked me if I had lost my camera, duh, yeah! Well someone had found it and given it to Joe. I assumed that I dropped it in front of my hangar or something. Joe gave me the phone number of the guy who had found it so I called him and left a message thanking him for getting it back to me. I guess they had turned it on and saw the pictures of Joe's plane, that's why they brought it to him.

Turns out the story has a bigger twist and a lot more luck to it. The guy who found it called me back today. He hangars a few rows over from me and happened to be driving home. He spotted the camera (in its case) laying in the middle of the road at a very busy intersection where I would have turn to leave the airport, probably a mile from my hangar. He stopped and picked it up. Of course my name or nothing was in the case so he had no idea, except for they recognized Joe's beautiful planes. The guy had never met Joe, just admired the planes from afar like a lot of people, you see, Joe is a legend at the airport. The restaurant is decorated with pictures and trophies and memorabilia of Joe's flying career. He's just a great guy that is very much admired. So taking the camera back created the opportunity for this guy to meet Joe, he was totally gobsmacked. After thanking him, I told him that both Joe and I would be at the hangars on Saturday this weekend and that he should come over and hang out for awhile, the guy was giddy...almost as giddy as me getting my lucky red camera back. And now you know the rest of the story!

Updates

Sorry, but I just haven't been much in the posting mood lately. It is hot here, not as hot as Hurricane, but in the 90's and we are a heck of a lot closer to the sun. In the evening when it cools off and you want to be outside the friggin' mosquitos eat you alive, so it makes me a little irritable. But the fun part of the day is turning the hose on and watching Hoss. He loves the water and he loves dragging the hose around, mostly with the water shooting into his mouth and up his nose, there is a lot of coughing and snorting, I guess I should get some pictures or videos, it's pretty entertaining, at least to someone who lives isolated on a farm and rarely sees another (talking) person.

Anyway, I am still alive an kicking. Working like a fool, loving the pay but hating the hours and the stress right now, did I mention that we let the 3 sales people go this week (lack of performance) and now I am pretty much the national sales force until I get some people hired, no pressure....I did sign a huge deal today, Yeah for me! Bruce even took me to dinner to celebrate, at the local steak house, filet mignon, yum!

Stay tuned, I'll get back on track here as soon as I cool off.

Spreadin' Their Wings

It's an annual event at the Sleepy Turtle, a pair of peach birds feather the same nest next to our chimney, lay a few eggs, and then begin the daily trek to find enough food to feed everyone. If everything works out ok, the eggs hatch and soon we see the beaks of starving babies and hear the cry of the adults as they gather food for the chicks, they grow quickly and soon the babies are so big that they barely fit in the nest. By this time both parents are flying many trips each day to get food.

Then it happens, the day comes that it is time for the babies to spread their wings. You can tell by the sound the adults make that it is time. Today was the day, 3 baby birds were officially booted from their comfy nest. It is an all day ritual, first they boot them from the nest, usually to the windowsill. Then to the deck, the babies do everything they possibly can to avoid the inevitable, they hunker down in a corner together, try to fly back up to the windowsill, walk around and try to nap, they call to the parents because they are hungry, but the parents sit just far enough away to coax and prode and scold them into flying.

A stormy day for flying...

Cleared for take-off

The brave one

The solo pilot, with Sizzle in the background

And as the sun was setting...

The babies launched into a wobbly formation and flew off (finally) with their parents. What a beautiful thing to witness.

Happy Independence Day!

It's the 4th of July, Happy Independence Day! Thanks to all those who have served and who are still serving. Out here on the plains it was a wild day. The weather was pretty severe with a tornado watch, then lightning and thunder, then the hail---the biggest hail we've seen in these here parts, some were the size of golf balls, bet our metal roofs look really good now...the garden is pretty sad-all the flowers and most of the veggies...gone.


These are pictures I took between waves of the storm (the colors are not re-touched). Lots of clouds, wind, fog, hail, rain, lightning and thunder. Our fireworks were compliments of Mother Nature, the best kind and the greatest blessing is all the rain.

Saturday's Adventure

Saturday was garage sale day, I picked up 3 very old and very cool plates.

I also found 2 high stools and a cool old bright yellow step stool for my craft room. That will be a separate post after I get the painting done.

Next we headed on a drive to Elbert to check out the antique stores, that was a bust, but we found a garage sale sign that took us out through the country and we happened on a huge Alpaca farm. Probably at least 200 Alpacas, very cool especially with all the babies.


Then...driving down the road we found this...

Not even sure what to say about it except that it looked pretty real.

When we finally found the garage sale, it was a bust. The ride was great though and it was a fun adventure. A super fun day topped off with grilled hamburgers and the trimmings. Complete with strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Craft Room

My visions of my craft room are beginning to take shape. Today my dad, with the assistance of my mom, built the center piece to the room, a 4x8 foot table that is 40 inches high.

Next I am going to frame up a sheet of peg board on the wall and then maybe finish the room off with a wall of shelves along the back wall. It needs some bright paint on the walls as well, but I am really happy with the table. I will post new pictures when I finish the table with a favorite poem in vinyl. I am super excited that it is finally taking shape.

Here are the builders after they finished all the hard work.

Pancake Fly-in

Lately I've been hanging out at the airport a lot, flying, learning about the engine on my plane and soaking up all the knowledge and comraderie that I can. I am loving it as it feeds one of my passions. I've been introduced to a number of different pilots and planes and without a doubt, I am in my element. This is a part of me that flies solo (excuse the pun) and in the past I have resisted because I felt that it took a lot of time away from home, especially when I spend at least one full weekend day either flying or just hanging out, but it is something I need, so I am making that shift in my world. I work most week days, sometimes I blow off a friday to get my life done, but it hit me a couple of weeks ago when I was running through the grocery store at 9:45 p.m. trying to do a month's worth of shopping before the store closed at 10:00 that I need to balance life out better. So to that end, I am building in the time for me to do what I need to do in order to be happy and not feel like life is steam rolling over me. I must say, it is definitely working. That's not to say that everyone at home is happy, or that everything at home is getting done, but I think most everyone will find a way to adjust. There, I feel better....

Today, I got up at 4:30 a.m. ( so I could get a walk in with the dogs) in order to be at the airport by 7:00. This is the annual Kelly Airpark Pancake Breakfast fly-in. My buddy Joe (the guy with the WWII Planes) flew down with me. He had never been in my plane, so I was super excited to fly with him. We got to Kelly, a quick 25 minute flight and got in line to land with about 7 other planes, that was thrilling! As soon as I landed, I heard someone say over the radio (Rich, my friend at Kelly) "Nice Landing Ann" which made feel pretty darn good. Here is a picture of my plane on the flight line, yep its the pretty blue and white one N373WD.

I heard there were between 40 and 45 planes there, all different kinds, which means all different kinds of people, most of them looking at planes and talking about flying. I met up with Pete, the sales guy for the new carbon fiber Super Cub, it's the smaller yellow plane. He took me up for a test flight and it was SO MUCH FUN! Much different from my plane, it has big balloon tires so you can land it anywhere and we did, right out in a pasture in the middle of a bunch of cows. Then we turned around and took off the same way. How awesome is that to just land a plane anywhere? It would be too fun to have one of these to just tool around the desert in. The price is only a measley $163k...The big yellow beast on the right is a T-6, great plane and awesome to just look at.

I wish I would have taken a picture of Rich and Dana, the hosts of the breakfast, friends of mine and all around quality people. I fly with Rich, he's been my instructor for a few years now and this week we are going to be working on crosswind 1 wheel landings...woohoo! I can hardly wait.....

After we finished with breakfast, I got to show off my plane to people walking around looking at all the planes, I was a pretty proud gal to say the least. Then Joe and I hopped back in and flew with all the rest of the Saturday flying Yups back to Centennial. It was like flying in a beehive there were so many planes, not my idea of a great time, but it all worked out. Then we just hung out and tried to discover the true meaning of life...it was a beautiful morning.

Hossie is growing up!

I can't believe how much he changes and grows everyday. I swear you can see him getting bigger. He loves his belly scratched so any time I sit down by him, he jumps in my lap(that's getting kind of comical) and lays on his back. He talks and groans a lot which makes it pretty entertaining for me. He also loves the water and loves to play with the hose while I'm watering. I guess it is kind of like kids, all of our dogs have different personalities, but Hoss is the character of the bunch and a ladies man!

Great Saying for Today

"Life is tough...but it's much tougher when you're stupid."
John Wayne

Pretty much sums up my week....

The "real" highlight of the weekend

I didn't know it until I got there but the weekend also brought a huge air show to town including the Blue Angels. Just my perfect luck that all the Blue Angels were staying in my hotel! I was diggin' it and hung in the lobby just to watch them walk on by. Fact, there is one chick pilot in the squadron, she is one sassy, lucky gal Wow! It was AWESOME!

And yes, I did talk to a couple of them....

Bead and Button Show

This past weekend in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was a lot of fun. The show was a little overwhelming it was so big and my eyes were pretty much bugging out by the end of the first day. I also took some time to walk around in the city, there is beautiful architecture and history. Crazy me though, I didn't take my camera so no shots of the buildings.

So the 3 things I did suck into was something called Steam Punk, the pictures are a form of that called Steam Punkery and the key is bead punkery, all are mixed mediums of polymer clay or beads and crazy mechanical components. There we're a lot of different takes on this so these pictures are only a small sample, it was quite extravagant and whimsical.




I also bought a soldering gun for making my own framed charms and a metal punching/riveting ensemble. Once I do a couple of those, I will post the pictures.

All in all, I didn't spend as much as I surely could have. The classes ran from about $100 for the basics up to $1000 so I really just took in the free demos and asked a lot of questions. Would have been a fun thing to have some girlfriends at, but I ended up cruising it alone. I stayed until some guy started stalking me around the floor, then it was time to hit the city and take in the big air show. It was a really fun weekend!

Another Perfect Ending

Unbelievable again tonight!

Sunset in Colorado

After an awesome thunder shower, this was the sunset from our back deck tonight. The sunrises and sunset have been pretty spectacular for the past couple of weeks.

Memorial Weekend

To all those who have served, are serving or are yet to serve...you are the best and deserve all our best. I am so grateful that there are people dedicated and willing to give up everything to keep us free. Extremely thankful to those family members and friends who are currently serving, be safe, be brave and come home soon.

Big Day at the Vet

Big Hoss got his 12 week booster shots, a deworming and a microchip at the vet this morning. It was all good until the microchip, then he cried and it broke my heart. But the dog biscuits seemed to cure it all as did the belly scratching afterwards. He is 19 lbs and doing great! Love my little Hossie Boy!