What a Crazy, Happy, Sad, Eventfilled, Blessed Life

I last updated on July 20th, it had been a crazy couple of weeks and things just didn't change much.  The guys were running out of supplies at Robert's house and it was decided that we needed a new trailer. We have an 8 foot trailer but apparently the first trip from Effingham to Greenup with 16 foot 2x10's was not a fun one, for the guys or our little trailer. It about killed the trailer. With Robert's profession as well as his love for cars, a car trailer just made since. We craigslisted away and Robert and I came up with the same one, right in the budget I had set. We called, it was still there, so away we went on Thursday evening, the 24th to get the trailer. The trailer was just what we wanted, it was at Edwardsville and so we had left my office as soon as I got off work. Highlight of the night though was going to Taco Bell in Edwardsville. There were two women in line ahead of us, they both ordered for about twenty people. That was the START of the problem. Then we ordered. Several others came in and ordered and left with their food. After 20 minutes, Andrew got up and went to ask where our food was, at that time, I started visiting with one of the others in line. I told her my main concern was we were three hours away from home with a brand new trailer, nobody was thrilled about what time it was going to be when we got home. At 8:00, the 30 minute mark, I stood back up and said it's time to just get our money back and go. The lady that had been behind me said, "Oh no, you get your money back, but you get your food.", She TOLD the lady at the register, "You give them there money back and give them their food, they aren't from around here and they will have a bad impression of Edwardsville.". Our food came up about the same time, so I sent the guys to eat while I got our money back. As soon as Robert had ate so he could drive, we loaded up and headed home. I really like sweet people, but I think I like sweet, pushy people even better!

On our way home, we received heartbreaking news. Ken Beaumont had passed away. He has had a very long battle with cancer and even though it wasn't actually cancer that finally caused his final breath, it was still the primary reason he was in that position. Ken is one of those people that I hated to see him go, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt where he is. Ken was a big supporter of Robert. He was a mechanic so they talked the same language and I think he enjoyed getting to visit with Robert. If you remember Robert putting his car in the ditch to save a turtle; he was on his way to Ken's to look at tools. I have a story to tell you though of something that happened later this week and I know Susie didn't even think about it. I won't go into too much detail because I didn't ask either one of them permission and it was something that just happened as natural as any other day. The Lord keeps working though. The day after Ken's funeral, Susie came to work. That day, one of my other coworkers had tragic news. The next morning, Susie was taking steps to comfort that coworker. As I said, not too much detail but enough to say, Susie's faith in God gave a wonderful testimony that morning and I know that was not even on her mind.

On Sunday, we got to go to our first Brickyard 400, I have to admit what I normally do during NASCAR races on Sunday afternoon; I watch the start, sleep through a big portion unless there is a ruckus about a wreck, and wake up in time to see the last 30 laps or so. The guys were both really excited about the race and I was excited for them but really wasn't sure I wanted to sit 3 hours and watch the cars turn left, turn left, turn left, turn left. I love going to dirt track races, they are short and you either see a lot of near misses or someone getting crunch. Two weeks before Indy, Kyle Busch was hanging upside down in his car, that's a bit much for me. Anyway....The race was really uneventful. Danica broke her back axle and was right in front of us when she couldn't get her car to do anything but smoke. Robert blames me for no wrecks, because I had prayed for such and Jeff Gordon won, which I am not a big Gordon fan but he made history in that he has won the Brickyard 5 times and he is from Indiana which meant the crowd loved it. I am sure there were many people there who had been involved in his growing up, that would be neat for both Jeff and them. Here are some pictures:

All the pace cars from the previous Brickyards were right in front of us.

Honoring the active duty military present

Someone arriving by helicopter, just thought it was cool.

That brings us into this week. I have had a crazy week with computers, I have to get a class in on our new server, I am planning on starting that it September. I found a 5 day class in Springfield, the only downside was the $2800 fee and that was just for the class, no meals, or rooms. I found a $200 class online that I could download but if you just watched it and didn't download it, you get it free. Guess what I am doing??  It's Server 2012 and it is kicking my butt, mainly because we have a Hyper V terminal set up in it and I am just not used to having to deal with it. I am sure I will get it though and a year down the road, I will feel much better about the stupid thing......maybe won't even call it stupid.

Big progress on the house this week too! The west side has all of its walls on the inside moved to where they are supposed to be, all but just a little of the sub floor is also down on that side. Friday evening, they put the new plywood on the outside, this is a big thing because when they started this wall was actually at three different heights, no it wasn't supposed to be and now it is not.
There will be windows of course, and they are framed in on the inside, but they aren't putting the windows in until they have the other half of the house done.

So today, Robert is going to work, Andrew and I are tackling cleaning the house, making tomato sauce and then starting more work on our yard. I was so glad to get the front looking better but we have to keep going. Because of what August is already looking like, we are going to Terre Haute tonight to celebrate my birthday AND to buy a winch for the new trailer. This will bring us one step closer to at least moving Robert's cars to the farm. I am hoping that happens in the next couple of weeks!

Happy Saturday everyone, hope you have a Blessed day!

 

Livin' the Dream

A series of events in the last 14 days has shook our world to about crazy. Nevertheless, I still feel I am "livin' the dream". Last Monday, the 7th of July, we started our cooling program. Normally two of the craziest weeks of the year. Last year, I spent one of the two weeks working out in the field, taking applications. It is always good for me to be reminded what the ones doing that job have to go through. This year, I ended up spending 7 days in the field in the Edgar county. Coming face to face with the people that I am helping is priceless. I had one older client who I got to have quite a visit with about family and heritage and how there are just some things in life money can't buy. I had another lady who came in on a Wednesday. She was telling me about going to Bible Study that night and said they were studying how to be a Mary in a Martha world. She laughed and said unfortunately most of the ladies in the group were beyond those years and were Marys even if they didn't want to be. She told me I was probably one who needed a study like that. I told her I would thoroughly enjoy that study because yes, I always am heading a million different directions but I learned a long time ago that if I started out my day spending time with God, it was easier to know he was there all day, every day. I got to spend time with a couple of clients that I had gotten to know through phone conversations and even one family that may benefit from meeting one of our other fieldworkers. Yes, it was a great 7 days. I wish I didn't have other work piling up at my own desk because I was out there, I would LOVE to get in the habit of working out in the field more. On the downside, I prayed daily that God would let everything else in the ERBA world go smoothly while I was detained. He didn't think that was the best idea so we had some long distance computer repairs as well as not one, but two computers being purchased. Still wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Thursday I traveled to Springfield for a meeting. As an added bonus, I had been texting with my sis on the way up (don't jump to conclusions, I have a hands-free and talk-2-text). Anyway, I just asked if there was any chance she could meet me for lunch and she said YES!
That was a great day! Then, just to top the day off, I found out I won the drawing at our local boutique and got a $25 gift certificate. ( the vest in the picture below is ONE of the things I got)

So, Friday I came back to work to find my desk so piled full I couldn't see any sign of wood. Job Security, I suppose. I finally turned it into two huge stacks on my spare table and started tackling jobs one at a time. My work is definitely cut out for me this week. It really did feel good to be home.

Then we started a weekend of Family. Mom and I went to Charleston yesterday to the antique tractor show. My Uncle Kenny was as mom says, "selling his fleas" there, and so we visited with him for a while. Mom and I also went out for dinner, which with all the craziness mentioned above, the last couple weeks of Mom time had been reduced to phone calls and seeing each other at church.

Today, we got to have lunch with three of my cousin's and their families. My cousin, Lila, is home from the DC area. I don't believe I had seen her since Robert was little. We have an odd family, when I was younger, she was more like an aunt to me because of the age difference in Mom's family. Lila's daughter Chris is just a year younger than me. Anyway, it was funny because today, I felt like we were closer to the same age than ever. Robert got to spend time with a couple of his cousins, one he had never really met and one he had met once. I LOVE feeling like we have family again. I SO miss family. It truly was just a perfect day.

So, now we are winding down and gearing up for the coming week, I get to have the yearly wonderful MAMMOGRAM tomorrow. Ironically, last year when I had this done, basically a year to the date, I was very anxious because in the 12 months before that, not one, but 2 of my first cousins had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Lila was one of them (she fought and won, and is doing well). Anyway, I'm going to put that plug in there, Mammograms are important, just because you avoid having one doesn't mean cancer won't be there. Make your appointment, get it done. Yes, your life depends on it!

Next Sunday Andrew finally gets to cash in on Father's Day. Our first live NASCAR race. And yes, I will just tell you, I am rooting for one of the unpopular ones. I like Kyle Busch. I think he has grown up a lot and everyone deserves a second chance, I also like the M&M car better than the other two and I am kinda thinking it may the M&M's turn to run. We shall see.

Yes, Life is an adventure. I get up every morning and thank the Lord for the day; good, bad, or ugly--he planned that day for me to grow in grace, spread His love and be just a little step closer to an eternity with him. Today is the day that the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!

Happy Sunday!!

Robert, Megan, and Michael...long lost cousins.

our family,

My cousins: Don, John, Kathy, Larry, Lila, Nancy, Megan and Michael.

Happy 4th!

So, we had this last minute chance to get away for a couple of well earned days off. We chose Land Between the Lakes/ Paducah KY. We love it down there, always so relaxing.

 We had all had a crazy June so just the drive itself, taking the two lanes down, was a nice chance just to breathe.

at Miss Patti's Settlement.

 At the Elk and Bison Prairie:

 Back to Miss Patti's for Dinner:

The Krispy Kreme Cruiser : http://locations.krispykreme.com/krispykreme-cruiser

Murals in Paducah

Robert in the train simulator

On our way back

What all we really did: Friday, First stop was IHOP--Robert's one request, two meals at IHOP--then we went to Miss Patti's, went to the Elk and Bison Prairie, visited a general store and antique place that was really cool and had just about every imaginable soda pop that is still being bottled (sorry to my friend looking for Tip, I looked, no go).  Went back to Patti's for dinner, went back to the hotel for a nap and then to the drag strip to see the drag races. We got there though and there was a dirt track across the road, so guess where we ended up? It was the 4th so we saw fireworks at the races.

On Saturday we went back to IHOP, then took a tour of Broadbents Gourmet Foods, they cure bacon and hams there, the place smelled WONDERFUL!! Brought home Ham, ends for green beans, as well as some bacon.  We then drove back to Paducah, took in downtown, and the train museum and then headed back for home. We stopped in Mt. Vernon for dinner. We had all these places that we thought sounded good, all of which were closed. I don't really ever want to stop to eat in Mt. Vernon again. We ended up at Chili's. They have changed their menu and none of us were impressed. We ended up eating overpriced hamburgers. The trip as a whole was wonderful though.

Pics from Kansas City FINALLY!!!

Our view from our hotel room

The Stuart Hall sign that, in December 1983, shown through an Amtrak train window, as we were parked there on our way to march in the Rose Bowl Parade. Things like this sure give me time to reflect, remember and appreciate all that my life has been.

Andrew at the Aquarium, our "date night" amid my conference.

THE BEST FOOD IN KANSAS CITY (and it wasn't BBQ!) The Jerusalem Cafe, where, as we found out, one of Andrew's long lost cousins works!

Andrew and Grandma Virginia at the Walt Disney Museum in Marceline MO.

Love this picture, she always wants to go someplace when we come, this was just about 15 minutes away and just right.

We ran out and snapped a picture, the tree is dead (and a grandson came and planted "the son of the Dreaming tree on the land)  but it was what Walt Disney called his "dreaming tree" The Tree of Life at Disney is patterned after this tree. Imagineers came to Marceline to study it.

The Giant Stuffed Hamburger

A couple of months ago, Robert comes in and tells me that Adam texted him an requested a special meal for his "Welcome Home" dinner. He wanted a Giant Stuffed Hamburger.  He told me this evening as he we were gathered around the dinner table eating it that it was the very first meal he ever ate at our house. He proceeded to tell us a long list of foods he remembers eating here, and only here. Adam was my resident eater, he always fed my ego as I fed his stomach. When he left for the service, I honestly had to adjust because my own two guys wouldn't eat leftovers, Adam loved raiding my fridge. Anyway, I posted pics of the hamburger on FB and have some interest in the recipe.

Giant Stuffed Hamburger

3/4 c crushed Nacho cheese Doritos                     8 American Cheese slices
3 eggs                                                                    1/2 c dill pickle chips
2 TBSP mustard                                                    1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 tsp salt                                                             1 medium tomato, sliced
1/4 tsp pepper                                                        1/4 cup butter   
2 lbs hamburger                                                     1 TBSP chili powder
2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce                               
                                                                               
Mix Doritos, eggs, mustard, salt, pepper, hamburger, Worcestershire sauce. Divide into 2 parts,
one slightly larger, pat out into flat circles, I use a dinner plate, covered with wax paper to judge size.  Make the bottom one all the way to the edge, and the top one about an inch less in diameter.  Layer onions, tomatoes, pickles and cheese on bigger half and cover with smaller half, press seams together. Melt butter, add chili powder and baste the hamburger. Grill or broil for approx. 10 minutes, until no longer pink. I use a King's Hawaiian Round Loaf, it is the perfect bun for this.

Here is the finished product:

I have never tried broiling it, I have always grilled. This is what the basket I use looks like, I imagine they are still pretty easy to get ahold of:

One more thing about this recipe. When I was a teenager, I lived by Seventeen Magazine. I don't know if Seventeen still does it, but every month, they had recipes for one meal. Every month, I would make that meal. I admitted today that I have a binder with every single one of those recipes ripped out and in it. So, from one generation to the next, this has been a hit.

And I can't forget a picture of our guest of honor for the night!

(totally disregard that Robert had just got home from work and stripped his Midas shirt off, leaving an oil covered t-shirt).

We lost count a long time ago of how many meals Adam had shared with us, looking forward to years and years of more to come though. Welcome Home Other Son.

NEUAC 2014

I had been anxiously awaiting this last week's trip to the National Energy and Utility Affordability Conference. The conference itself did not let me down. I only had two workshops that were not what I expected and I think I just didn't get as much out of them because we had went through the same processes, one was on propane. I was really wanting to move beyond last winter's fiasco because I felt like the State of Illinois handled our situation amazingly, as did our clients. That one and the one that I went to that our own deputy director ended up being the main speaker. I knew he was doing part of it, but he pretty much explained how we do things, and I am sure, by all the questions that were asked that some people got a lot out of it. So, eventhough I didn't learn much in that one, I did feel proud to know we have our act together.

I met so many people this year! This is the first time I had ever went to conference by myself. It forces you to interact with new people. I met people from California, Washington State, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, Missouri (including the LIHEAP coordinator from the county I am sitting in right now!), Michigan, Oklahoma, Washington DC, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Florida.  I had many great discussions with these people.

I guess two of my favorite workshops was one on outreach strategies and then a plenary session on generations. I am bringing home material that I can share with the field staff if they would wish to grow themselves. All in all, fantastic conference and just what I needed to get my "umph" back.

To top it off, I got to take Andrew with me. He enjoyed the World War I Museum, Union Station and Crown Center.

Tuesday evening was my "vacation" evening, we went to the Sea Life Aquarium at Crown Center and then I put him in charge of finding us dinner. He found a place called Jerusalem Cafe. It was AMAZING!! Then, get this, we are putting pictures of our food on facebook and Andrew's great aunt says, "my granddaughter works there." Really??  Out of all the restaurants in KC? How funny is that?  We asked our waitress and Michele wasn't there that evening. The next morning, I was friended by Michele, relation I have never met but really, how cool is that??

Of course, we had to get in on the BBQ contest. We had ate at Gate's before but heard there was an ongoing feud between Gates and Arthur Bryant's. We ate at Gate's again on Tuesday eveningSo, we were going to meet a friend of mine from IL one evening for dinner. We decided to try out Arthur Bryant's. Let me tell you, that place is so fast paced that they actually made me nervous just getting our order but I ordered the exact same meal I had ordered two nights before at Gates. Arthur Bryant's BBQ is definitely my favorite.  Yesterday before we left town, we decided to try Jack Stack. This place wins hands down for decor but I wasn't impressed with the service or the meal. I ordered what was  supposed to be a burnt ends dinner with a cheesy corn cake. Andrew ordered the same thing except with fries and baked beans. When our meals came, his had BBQ sauce on it, mine did not. The girl asked if we wanted BBQ sauce on the side, we said yes, she never came back. My "corn cake" was more like cheese soup with corn in it, I don't know where the "cake" part was supposed to fit in.  Anyway, really disappointed. And on top of everything else, it was by far, the most expensive.

SO now we are on to today. We are in Brookfield MO, we got here yesterday afternoon and spent the evening with Andrew's Grandma Virginia. We are leaving in a few minutes to pick her up and go see Marceline MO, the hometown of Walt Disney. We will head for home after lunch.


I will add pictures to this later,

A New Chapter

So, today is the day, the first one of "our boys" is getting married.I actually started feeling sentimental yesterday morning as I walked by the church that today holds the grand event. Many have probably already heard this story, but today, you are going to hear it again.

We were living in Olney, IL but coming to church at Hidalgo (our "home" church). We would also come up to AWANA every Wednesday night. Robert had friends in school at Olney, but who he considered his two "very best" friends were Garrett Birch and Tanner Parr. They both went to school in Newton. We had been looking for a house to buy for a couple of years, in Olney, mind you. I didn't want Robert pulled out of school. However, on our way home from our church's AWANA Christmas program, Robert states, "I wish we lived in Newton.". I was working at Greenup which was a 40 mile drive for me, so the thought of moving to Newton, (20 miles closer to Greenup) let alone it being "moving home" for me, actually sent chills. Robert, Garrett and Tanner had already discussed the fact that there were two 6th grade classes with Tanner being in one, and Garrett being in the other. No matter which class Robert would end up in, he would be with one of them. He told me this that night. I need to back up and say, Robert had about three real friends in Olney and a bunch of people who beat on him on a regular basis. He was just not that happy. So, the next step was to look for a house, the one I had loved for a lifetime just happen to come on the market and the rest is history. So, quite seriously, I owe a lot to Tanner and Garrett, I don't think they will ever realize what they did for Robert.


Garrett has stayed a close, true friend to Robert all of these years. I don't even remember what we were doing but Garrett was with us and he was texting Meredith. I finally said, "Garrett, is she the one?" He got this really goofy grin on his face and said, "Yeah". A while later, Meredith was going to school at SIU and Garrett hated it. I was seriously afraid he was wanting her to be closer to home because he missed her and I was thinking he needed to let her get her education in too. Garrett and I talked about it one day though and he explained to me that he worried about her because he didn't feel like she was safe, I think that was the day I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that THIS day would come.

I have gotten the chance to get to know Meredith a little and understand completely what Garrett sees; she is a sweetheart and I feel privileged to get to be in their lives. I am looking forward to lots of happy days for and with this couple.

I started this before the wedding and time got away from me. The wedding was just gorgeous and absolutely perfect. Today the kids on on their way to their honeymoon. I am sure Meredith needs the breather, I think she about stroked out several times during the past few weeks, once on Friday it was because Robert hadn't picked up his tux yet. I thought the funniest part of that was Robert having to deal with a woman other than his mother stroking out on him!

So, to Garrett and Meredith, I pray you have a wonderful, happy life together, somehow, I know you will.

Garrett and Tanner making Christmas cookies at our house

Robert's High School Graduation

Robert, Brian Emmrich, their teacher and Garrett at thier College Graduation

And a few more from the wedding.....

Tanner and Robert both clean up pretty nicely

Getting announced at the reception

Garrett and Meredith and wedding party, the place was absolutely magical!

Me and MY honey ;-)