Gene's birthday

Well, Gene is now 70 years old! On Saturday, we gathered 5 other couples to celebrate at a bed and breakfast at Lake Wabaunsee. The old stone fence you see, is very typical in this limestone rich area. The fences are much admired and protected. I prepared and served a prime rib supper, and everyone spent the night. During supper, Crystal stated that "her face hurt from laughing so much". Our hosts even commented that they'd never had such a jolly group before! We watched Jeremiah Johnson, again, while the guys recited all the lines from the movie. I don't know if their wives were impressed or appalled. It cracks me up! We stayed up too late, then lost an hour of sleep with the time change, so it was a very tired group the next morning. While our guests slept in Sunday morning, I took my coffee out to the hot tub and watched the geese, ducks and fog on the lake. Reminded me of similar mornings at Rainbow. And 10 years later, Andy STILL can't hang with the big boys! It really was a good time, and everyone was so grateful for the opportunity to spend time together. Seems like the only time we see each other anymore, is for weddings and funerals and you don't really get to visit much at those events. A good time was had by all!

Sunday night, out of the blue, we got 7" of snow! We were expecting rain! But by Thursday, the temp is forecast to be in the 70's. Kansas weather, go figure!

The band is playing a 2 hour Irish show this Thursday for St. Patrick's Day in Chapman, KS. Then back to Chapman Saturday night, to play the American Legion. Did I tell you, I bought a snare drum? It's pretty fun and adds an often needed background rhythm. We're considering selling an old banjo and buying me a mandolin to learn; we'll see...

That's all for now!

Love, Joan

Girl's Weekend

Girl's Weekend plus Alan for 24 hours. Every year we invite Alan, with tongue in cheek as he considers himself "one of the girls" (he lived with Maureen and Cheryl when I married Kurt). And this year he actually showed up! He tried to surprise us, but weather and delayed flights forced him to spill the beans. We had a great time, as usual.

On Sunday, we went to services at Cheryl's Presbyterian Church in Redondo Beach. This is a sign in their parking lot! Apparently, every year there is a lot of competition to raise the most money and win this coveted parking space. Cracked me up!

We're having our upstairs bathroom spiffed up, the same couple that painted the exterior of the house and rebuilt our wood deck are doing it. Paint, taller vanity, new sink and faucet, stain my cabinet and level the floor in anticipation of new flooring. I really dislike the mess/disorder, but I've been wanting to do this for a long time.

My band has been recording. As soon as we get a final mix on a song, I'll see if I can't download it so you can have a listen. For me, this CD will be a marketing tool, and the boys want to sell them at shows. We'll be playing a 2 hour Irish show again on St. Patrick's Day in Chapman, KS (very Irish town, we played there last year). Today is my day to work the phone and get some shows booked for the spring/summer.

That's all for now, love you all!

Joan

Just saying HI

This little guy is not one of our local birds, Gene finally found him using Google and he's a Spotted Towhee. An out-of-towner.

Yesterday on my way to feed the horses breakfast, the thermometer on the car read -1. This morning it was 12, so we're headed in the right direction! By Monday, we're forecast to have a high of 61! I smell spring!

Gene and I had a date night last night, supper and an evening listening to a 3 piece acoustic band (sound familiar?) called The Waymores. 2 guys and a gal, and they were fabulous! Really tight harmonies, I could not have been happier. They're out of Nashville and all 3 are actually songwriters for "the beautiful people". We'd never heard of them, but went on the reccomendation of a friend, and now, I'm a fan!

That's all for now, just wanted to check in. Looking forward to seeing some of you next week, and I'm looking forward to wearing just one layer of clothes!

Joan

FYI

Hello to you all! Just an FYI, Mark Chrisco's oldest daughter, Clara, who is about Paige's age, has just been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. She had a small cyst on her lower back which grew to be about the size of a walnut and turned black and blue underneath. They had it removed and tested and found it to be a very rare and fast growing cancer. She is taking a leave of absence from USD to undergo treatment. She has had a PET scan and the good news is that it doesn't appear to have metastasized. Ron and Gena are with them to help take care of their other daughter. Jane has asked for everyone to keep them in their prayers.

Hope all is well with everyone and that we all stay healthy:)

Love,
Janelle

More weather

The freezing mist finally turned to snow last night, about the same time the electricity went out. I had gone to check on the horses and when I came back, I thought it looked a little dark at the house. We waited an hour, had a glass of wine by lantern light, and finally cranked up the generator. You got to love a generator! About 3 hours later, the power came back, but it flickered on and off all night. This morning is bitterly cold and windy. While feeding horses this morning, I was completely covered except for my eyes (need to find my ski goggles) and had trouble just standing on the ice. The horses were all fine, wearing a blanket of snow on their backs, and happy to see me. K-State is closed again today, in the 15 years that I've been here, I've only known them to close the university once, so this is a big deal, 2 days in a row! And I'm not going to work again. Made oatmeal raisin cookies yesterday, considering bread or a cake today...

Joan

Snow Day

Actually, this photo is from the last snow storm. Today we're getting freezing rain/mist and it's really slick! I decided not to go to work, I can do my stuff later in the week after the storm is finished. The rain/mist is due to change over to snow later today, then Tuesday/Wednesday is when we're forecast to get about 8-9" of snow AND wind, which will make our temps drop to an expected -20degrees. Did I mention that the wind also blows up big snow drifts? I told Gene, the older I get, the more attractive winters in Texas look...He went out this morning to put another big round bale of hay out for the horses, and the hydraulics on his tractor were frozen. Eventually, he got things thawed and I'm sure the horses were happy to see new hay.

Since I'm home, I think I'll bake biscotti. Just seems like a good idea. Will keep you posted.

XOXXX, Joan

Mammoth!

Hello to you all! Here are a few pictures of our weekend in Mammoth. The girls and I went and had a "girls only" weekend since Ron was in Vegas for a company function and Ryan was in a show. We had a great time. The weather was perfect and no crowds! The snowman was HUGE and there was one at every lodge. Paige smacked her head pretty good on a faceplant, but other than that, no injuries. I did feel like I needed a shotgun however to keep the boys at bay. It was pretty funny! Love to everyone:)