OLD FRIENDSHIPS - revisited!

I just spent the most wonderful weekend in Galena, IL with seven classmates from high school! Yep, that's me second from the left! We rented a condo together in the Eagle Ridge Resort neighborhood (great for families if you're looking for a fun getaway!!) We all brought coolers full of indulgences, ie; beer, wine, cheesecake, seven-layer bars, chocolate orgasm-like bars, frozen daiquiri makings, and lots of other munchies that are really bad for us and we ate them all up with passion! HUGE passion.

My girlfriends from high school are the coolest bunch of women on the planet! Can't share what all we did during the weekend, let's just say it was a BLAST and that what happens in Galena, stays in Galena!

I came home with a new appreciation for long-term friendships. These gals have known me since I was about 4 yrs old in some cases, and others for at least 35-40 years now! There are very few secrets among us all and we shared sooooo many good times as we grew up, experienced the teen years together, and became mothers. I cherish these friendships more than ever before. I LOVE YOU SOWODS!!!!!

When I returned home I was exhausted and tried to take a nap on my daughter's bed. Here are just a few of the lines she shared with me as I lay resting and trying to catch a quick nap, "I can pull the skin down over my knee with my toes, mom, look" and "decorating with duct tape is fun, have you ever tried it? you should mom!" and "my legs are longer than your legs, hey let's measure them together and check it out again" and "smell this, it smells like a hamster cage mom" (a cedar storage trinket box), and "I wonder if hamsters think about who their siblings are?" and "have you always had these?" (pointing to the freckles on my arm). Suffice it to say, I did not get a catnap taken, bless her heart. I pulled my lazy self back up out of the bed and headed to the kitchen to re-live the weekend and made myself a cold strawberry daiquiri.

Headed out to the patio to find hubby and son making dinner!! Wonderful end to a super weekend! They made grilled Iowa ribeye steaks and grilled zucchini/vegetable fritters with salsa - they are great guys!

June in Jars!

My friend Nancy and I spent several hours yesterday making Strawberry Freezer Jam . . . 35 batches of it! We ended up with over 75 pints! This is going to taste sooooooo good next winter on toasted English muffins. A fresh taste of June strawberries from north of town preserved for months in my freezer will really hit the spot come January. We've got a couple in the fridge now, too, to top an angel food cake, or ice cream, or to be blended into frozen daiquiris or to top a summer cheesecake! Great year for strawberries! YMMMM YMMMM GOOD!

High Tide Heels!

New shoes for Iowa women! The new look for fashion-conscious women in the Midwest flood zones. I'm waiting for them to come out in chartreuse!

We Love You Grandma Gie!

Please visit Happy to be from Iowa's blog for a wonderful tribute to our Grandma Gie who passed away Sunday at 2:30 a.m. I was fortunate to spend several hours with her on Saturday, with the last couple of hours from 8-10 p.m. holding her hand, she holding mine and my arm. My husband and I sang song after song to her as she rested peacefully. As we were singing some of her favorites, (Edelweiss, Let there be Peace on Earth, You are my Sunshine, Lorena, etc) we heard a third voice joining in . . . it was Annabelle, the woman in the bed on the other side of the curtain in Grandma's room! She and Grandma had known each other for about 75-80 years, they lived on the same gravel road in a small town in Iowa and raised their kids together. It was a beautiful evening and one that I will never forget. Bon Voyage Grandma Gie - you'll be greatly missed! (NOBODY, I mean NOBODY, can make potato salad like you did!)

I'm Voting Republican - WATCH THIS VIDEO!
Just kidding, but seriously, it you watch the video it pretty much puts into very clear reality what the Republican platform stands for in November - anti-gay, anti-women, pro-war, bad for education, horrible for environmental issues, and on and on. I truly do not understand a Republican vote this December, it will take America back many steps.

If you haven't already, GO REGISTER TO VOTE TODAY!