2012 - Week One - Let's Do This I'm starting off 2012 with a positive surge of energy and eagerness because I know this is going to be a great year! This year, although I don't set new year's goals or resolutions, I am looking forward...
Week Fifty - Gifts This week's post is all about gifts. First I'll start with the gift of an amazing husband who cares for me way more than I could ever deserve. This past week, my laptop that I use for doing my job...
Week Fourty Nine - Lessons Learned One of the things I have learned about blogging over the past years, is that the very thing that you most want to write about generally keeps you from writing. That thing is called life. When I get busy,...
Week Thirty - Rabbits Reborn and Sharing the Game of... This week has been a long one. Scott has been in Africa all week and does not get back until Wednesday. Although I have missed him greatly, I have been able to accomplish much with the quiet house...
Week Twenty Nine - Missions and Mittens Scott left for Uganda yesterday on his first mission trip, ever. He will be gone for 10 days and is part of an all male (testosterone rich) group of coaches and active guys. He was excited, nervous,...
We made it back from Jacksonville in one piece, rested and ready to get back to school and work. Ebby had a great time hanging out at the hotel most of the time, since most of Florida’s beaches are not dog friendly. Scott was able to read while watching the colorful beach characters and I made it to a couple of knit shops and scored a couple of skeins of Mini Mochi yarn for a pair of socks. The best part of the whole weekend was the dinner we enjoyed at Ruth’s Chris where we celebrated our anniversary. The menu consisted of seared Ahi Tuna, grilled Mahi Mahi, and yes, there was plenty of melt in your mouth steak! Of course we had to get a doggie bag or we would never have heard the last of it. So I will leave you with a few photos of Ebby enjoying her Ruth’s Chris steak. Enjoy! (she did)
I thought this would be a fitting post for my Dogs on Thursday entry, so…
Apparently, Ebby has decided to take a long weekend and head for Jacksonville, FL. She is exhausted from watching all the chaos of finals week for her parents and needs a break. She will need a driver and some stimulating company, of course, so we have decided to go along for the ride. We are all looking forward to a little R&R and some different scenery. Photos to come…
Things around here have been so crazy that I have been unable to post this years collection of images from the Polka Festival. Now that the mid-terms are over and the grandson has returned home I can finally turn my attention to more entertaining subjects. Ebby enjoyed the trip to Dallas.
Ebby and me at the Mississippi border.
Closeup of the Chihuahua with an attitude!
Ebby and me at the Louisiana Border
Ebby and me at the Texas border.
The trip back was another story. There were three of us, Me, Scott, and our three year old grandson William in the front cab of our little truck for the 14 hour trip back home. Ebby lived in my lap the entire ride back. All is well though. We made it home without incident, unless you count the first hour in the truck when William turned to me and basically lost all his orange juice he had taken in before we left. It was a mess, but we survived.
This year my dad and I competed in the King and Queen Dance again. There were 21 couples competing this year and we didn’t even make it past the first cut. We had fun though and the couple who won were far superior dancers and will represent the festival well in the year to come.
Pardon the No Smoking sign, the moment was right so the photo was taken.
It is so wonderful for a daughter to be able to dance with her father!
Are we having fun yet? or Will this song ever end?
My Daddy and Me!
All the contestants are positioned around the dance floor.
Here is the video of our 2009, meager attempt at stardom…
On Saturday, we went to the parade as usual, but the parade was a huge disappointment this year. Not only did it start about an hour late because of an inadvertently parked train across the intersection, but there were bands included in the floats that had absolutely NOTHING with Czech heritage, except perhaps that the members were residents of the greater Ennis area. These bands were beyond metal in flavor and there was not a polka to be found. Sad, really. If Ennis wants to do something to promote the Polka Festival in the future they might want to try updating the website and begin thinking “nationally” again. They are, after all, the National Polka Festival. Ok, rant is over… The best part of the parade for me was seeing Ebby all decked out in her costume. She is truly a Czech/Mex dog! Ha Ha
This is why the parade is late!!
Am I handsome or what?
Nana, William, Bryan (my son), Sara (his wife), and Ebby waiting for the parade
We will not be attending this festival next year (or probably for a few years to come), mainly because we want to go visit some other festivals in other parts of the country. Now that I have my supply of costumes, we can dance in style throughout Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Ohio, to name a few. Stay tuned here for updates on our adventures to a polka festival near you.
Last weekend we were going to go to the beach, but the threat of tornadic activity and the torrential downpours kept us home and inside. This Thursday, we were able to make the trip, even with the threat of more rain. Our objective was to try out our new tent and enjoy the sand and surf. We thoroughly tested the tent and it withstood both the wind and rain well. We had never set up this tent before and we did have to set it up in the rain, not something I would recommend if you have never set up a tent before.
Our camping experience is pretty extensive and we were able to get it up with few issues. After we got settled in, we were talking about it and decided that it would be a great idea for couples who are thinking of getting married to go through setting up a tent together as part of their pre-marital counseling. Anyway, this tent is huge. We have always had backpacking tents, i.e. ones you can’t stand up in. So it was a refreshing change to be able to freely move around inside the tent.
Friday morning, the rain had ceased and it was quite cold before the sun came up. Ebby had no problems finding a warm place to await the sun’s arrival.
We packed up the beach stuff and headed for the beach on Friday morning. Ebby had a ball!
She was a little concerned by the waves, but soon got the hang of running on the beach with her mom and dad. She really loves to run and if you check out the bottom photo you can see that sometimes she even knows how to fly. Enjoy
Well, it is time for my Dogs on Thursday post again and I have been promising photos of Ebby’s kroj. I made the pattern up from scratch and tried to make it match my costume as much as possible. It was a lot of fun to put together and made me think of sewing doll clothes. She is such a ham and she really doesn’t mind looking goofy for her mom. She will be attending the National Polka Festival with me in May and we will have photos. Until then here you go:
