Chasing Windmills

Happy Spring!

Following are photos I took at the Kiewit Family Day this past January. While on tour of the work site (before the yummy BBQ and winning our new TV), we were able to witness the rotors added to a windmill tower. A truly amazing sight considering the towers stand approximately 340 feet, and the diameter of the rotors is 253 feet. Most interesting to me in these shots is the comparison to the size of the men in the photos. Talk about ants.











For more info about and to view more photos of Kiewit Pacific's Pine Tree Wind Project (Farm), click on the title of this blog entry.

Yummy Blog Candy at Crafters Kitchen

Jak Heath over at the Crafters Kitchen has a boatload of Blog Candy she'll be giving away in a few days: 85 rubber stamps, paper, ribbons, and more! Click on the title of this post and it links directly to her blog so you can see all the great stuff she's giving away!

More blog posts coming from me...I promise!

More Photos of Jewely

The same shot as yesterday's,
just larger for a better view!
Photo snapped: 3 Feb 2009

Here she is basking in the sun behind the computer
- a favorite place of hers to lounge.
Photo taken: 21 Dec 2008

A bit closer up...
Photo taken: 21 Dec 2008

Well, Whadda Ya Know?

I recently learned a piece of exciting information about the newest member of our family.

As you see here, she is a beautiful Tortoiseshell cat in shades of black and gold. Notice her paws: the front left is gold, while the right front is black. Her back left paw (not shown) is black, while her back right paw is gold. I just think that's so cool. She is perfectly balanced, but not symmetrical!

Her eyes are also golden and usually, very serious. We "inherited" this sweet, affectionate kitty when we lost my dear, former brother-in-law, Art, and she needed a good home. Originally, she was my former mother-in-law's cat. When Grandma passed away, she lived with Grandpa till his passing, then with Art. I had heard her name many, many times over the years, and even "met" her during my visits to Grandpa.

But until yesterday, I'd never seen her name spelled out and mistakenly assumed it was spelled: J-U-L-I-E. When she came to live with us, I began calling her Miss Julie-Jewels because she is such a jewel of a cat. Loving, well-behaved, well-mannered, never a bother!

Yesterday, Pine showed me the Christmas card Grandpa had written her in 2001. In among the other treasures contained in his handwriting, there it was...the CORRECT spelling of her name: J-E-W-E-L-Y. Grandma & Grandpa obviously saw what a jewel of a kitten she was when they brought her home some eight years ago.

So, it's now official, she is Jewely, a.k.a., Miss Jewely-Jewels, Baby Girl, Sweet Girl, and who knows how many more names she'll earn over the coming years!

Happy Inauguration Day!!

President Barack Obama's Inauguration was amazing! I would have loved to have been in Washington, DC, again to see his swearing in and hear his speech in person, although I know I had a better seat in the comfort of my living room.

If you'd like to read Obama's Inaugural Speech in its entirety, click on the title of this piece above ("Happy Inauguration Day!!") and it links to another page with the full text of his speech.

The ceremony and celebrations were wonderful, and now the real work begins.

It's up to each one of us!

Too Good to Be True?

The company Floyd’s now working for, Kiewit Pacific, held its annual Family Day on Saturday, January 10th. Floyd, his mom, and I drove 15 miles up Jawbone Canyon and parked our car in the business office area. Then we rode on a school bus to different areas of the Pine Tree Wind Project. We were able to see 64 of 80 windmills that they’ve already put up including watching them put the rotor on a tower. (Read all about that in a future blog entry.)

Next, we were treated to a wonderful BBQ which included barbequed tri-tip, pork, or chicken; macaroni and cheese; potato salad; coleslaw; baked beans; cornbread; rolls; and frosted brownies for dessert. YUM-O!

After that, the raffle began. Each person received one raffle ticket upon arrival, and only one prize was allowed per family. They were giving away $5,000 worth of prizes including electronics, tools, gift cards, and toys. We sat and watched Floyd’s co-workers winning all sorts of things. Next was one of the Grand Prizes: a Sanyo 32” flat screen TV. I heard them say One-Eight-Eight and flew out of my chair and up to the front. 188 was MY number! It seemed too good to be true. But it was! I won the TV! Tooooo Coooooool!

Me & my TV

Do You Believe in Santa?

"Santa in a Box" by Teresa Kogut, pccrafter.com

The following was submitted by Jodi Tatum to the HugClub Newsletter, pccrafter.com

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid.

I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted. "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars.

That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, and the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker.

He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood on it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down.

"Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."

The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it. Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby. Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes.

That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team. I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.