Only two live plants left......

I have been trying to eliminate my "live" plants in our home. I figure that when I am in AZ Mark will not have time/remember to water them. I don't do such a hot job myself so I cannot expect him to care for them! I couldn't toss out my two favorites though. One is a Christmas Cactus and it is blooming right now. I am glad it is doing it a bit early as we will be gone for 3 weeks over the holidays and I was afraid I might miss out on these lovely blooms. The second picture is a bonzai from the Peterson clan in memory of my mom. I love this plant, worry that I will kill it, etc. So far, it is still alive..... If I can fit them in my car in the spring when I leave they will go with me.

Another November "first"

I just ran outside, IN SHORTS on November 28th in Iowa. I am positive I have never done that before. In fact, I usually stop running mid-October and begin doing taebo or chicometrics indoors. I hate to have to say it, but the naysayers on Global Warming are dead wrong. Each year gets weirder weather-wise. Now tomorrow is an entirely different story, but today was just remarkable. Almost 70 degrees which breaks the record from 1941. I know Global Warming is very harmful to our earth but it sure felt great today. :-)

That was the fun part of my day. Now we have to go unclog our septic tank, pipes, etc. After the holidays it started acting up and now Mark had to borrow the "tool" from our plumber and blow it all loose. A most unpleasant task. I will leave that to Mark and will fix him a cocktail and nice dinner when he gets it done. :-) Actually, we are going to grill chops so he will have to do that, too. I am beginning to see that Mark is not going to be all that "lost" without me here when I go to AZ.....

Camry named car of the year

This is great. It makes me feel really good about our car purchase!
Motortrend car of the year

Talking turkey....

The bird is in the oven right now. I always prepare it the day before, carve it, put in crock pot and cover with chicken broth. It makes for the most wonderfully moist meat on Thanksgiving Day and it is one less headache preparing for the rest of the meal on Thursday. We will have the traditional meal including mashed potatoes, gravy, sage dressing, veggie casseroles and pumpkin pie. Guests will include Matt, Kevin, Katie, Dan, John, Amanda, Lee and Sarah and her friend...can't think of his name. Matt maybe?? :-) Anyway, I'm preparing for 11 people. Happy Thanksgiving Day to daughter Megan and hubby Andy. Wish we could all be together tomorrow. Oh well, we will celebrate Christmas in Phoenix so that helps a great deal! Happy Holidays to all my family and friends.

Painting and cleaning.....

After painting several rooms at Megan and Andy's new home, I decided my old home could use some of that same brightening. I am also cleaning all the carpets. This house is like a Pacific Ocean of carpeting so it is a monumental task. All I have left is the basement and our bedroom, which is more square feet than I already have done!

My walls were mostly white /offwhite so I decided to go a bit darker. I chose "Bamboo" for the main area. It is a deeper tan but in some lighting it does have a hint of pink to it, but not too bad. I like it. Our bedroom was done in "Nacho Chip" which will take some getting used to....at first glance I thought it looked like a baby's diaper after eating too much pureed squash. :-( It is growing on me, though and I am not going to repaint it. :-) At least Mark will have clean carpets and freshly painted walls when I leave to be a granny nanny!

Political humor

Here is a funny YouTube video from the one and only Stephen.
Colbert on the dems win

Humor AND politics are my passion so from time to time I will post what I consider to be classics of both. :-)
P.S. My favorite YouTube videos so far, in no particular order:

Will Ferrel as Bush on Global Warming

Evolution of Dance

Sistah Love

Bea and Rock Turnin' On

Mama's Rap (Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews)

What a difference a day makes!

It is now almost a distant memory that Cyndy and I were sweating on the golf course this past Wednesday. Yesterday winter reared its ugly head and let us know that summer is officially over. Some places in Iowa had 9 inches of the junk. AZ is definitely looking more inviting today......

Iowa golfing in November....a first for me!

Unbelievable is the only way to describe Nov. 8th weather in central Iowa. The clothing we are wearing in the picture came off midway to the first green! Well, not ALL the clothing, but certainly the jackets. :-) I would have given anything to have been in shorts. Never dreamed it would get to nearly mid 80's when I left in the morning.

A school friend had sent me an e-mail telling about 1/2 price golf at Toad Valley near Altoona. I talked to Cyndy, she agreed to go and we were thankful we did! We had a great time in the beautiful November fluke weather. (Tomorrow the forecast contains possible winter storm warnings for Iowa!!) We were paired with two guys about Matt's age and we enjoyed golfing with them. They seemed to "appear" to have felt the same way. They were a bit apprehensive when they cursed after a bad shot,but we assured them that we have heard/said similar expletives while golfing so not to be concerned about that. :-) In fact, it was probably the next shot that I let out an un-lady-like comment! I am sure it was only once, though.........

Today is supposed to still be balmy, 65ish, but as I said it will all come to a screeching halt tomorrow. Oh well, not that long until a Dec. trip to the Valley of the Sun and seeing Megan 8 months pregnant! I am still excited, of course. I have gotten sick of hearing my sisters and brother always being called grandma and grandpa by loving grandchildren. It is time for us to recieve that special love, too!

Well, so much for playing hooky yesterday. Today I go back to painting the walls and if it gets warm enough I will rake leaves from the landscaping and flower beds this afternoon.

Our new purcahse

A new car is not a big deal to most people. But, to the Swanson's it is a very rare deal for sure. In our 32 years of marriage we have had only four cars. The Grand Prix was our last purchase which was nine years ago and 150,000 miles later! I have been researching cars for about a month and have had a yearning for the new Camry Hybrid on the market. Des Moines dealer told me it would be a three month wait for a Hybrid, as they are made only in Japan, shipped over here and sold out the minute they arrive. I was not willing to wait that long as we need it to drive to AZ for the birth of our grandson in January. On a lark yesterday I drove to Ft. Dodge Ford/Toyota dealer and they had the exact one I was wanting. White, fully loaded right up to the heated leather seats that I WON'T need in AZ. :-) I knew it wouldn't sit in the lot very long so they let me drive it back to the farm yesterday to show Mark and let him drive it. We both fell in love with it and bought it this morning. MPG are listed at 38 highway and 40 city, which is where the battery section kicks in the most. I also wanted the Navigation system, as I will be lost in the Valley driving around and know that this will be extremely helpful to us in locating Home Depots, restaurants, Babie R Us, etc. :-) It also has seven airbags virtually protecting everyone riding in the vehicle. Rated one of the safest cars for crashes and whiplash. We are going to try a new strategy of trading every 2-4 years, depending on mileage. The Grand Prix was a great car and caused us not one headache but with this Hybrid I cannot say that I will miss the old red flash!