Grass-carrier Wasps

I have finally figured out what it is that nests in my windows. The Grass-carrier wasp. Who knew. Check this out. http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/node/144 I truly enjoy cleaning my windows each spring. Call me a weirdo, I'm fine with that. But it is so satisfying to look out into our woods through sparkling clean windows. I spent the better part of yesterday doing just that. The kitchen, family room and mudroom are all finished. That only leaves about 10 more rooms and the basement! Every year there are these nests in some of my windows. None of my neighbors have ever seen or had these nests in their windows. I had searched google before trying to determine what these critters were. Perhaps I was not as specific in my search terms because when I searched it again this morning this link came right up. At least I finally know that it is nothing to be concerned about. But how gross. Every year. I almost can't stand it. Here's a post from awhile back that sums it all up.
http://bishand.blogspot.com/2008/04/this-is-not-right.html

Precious

We spent the day with our little Audball yesterday and Grandpa got to read her bedtime stories. There's a particular book (not this one) titled Knuffle Bunny that has a cartoon picture of an old man with glasses, a mustache and no hair that Aud likes to point to and call Appa, her term for Grandpa. She waits and waits for that picture and when the page is turned she points to Appa faster than you can begin reading. Way too cute. Rick is the best storybook reader. We look forward to lots of bedtime stories, not only with Aud, but with Dos as well

Boycott Blago

I cannot believe that a judge allowed Blagojevich to be a contestant on The Apprentice. Anyone who watches this show with him on it should be considered an accomplice. The next thing you know he will be crying that he can't get a fair trial. This guy is a crook. Plain and simple. Please do not line his pockets by watching this show. It is embarrassing enough to live in this state, now this? Really? My prediction is Donald will fire him quickly. Too much hair competition.

A True Team Effort

This is Kati doing Amy's makeup while Lauren fixes Amy's hair while Corinna sews Lauren's hair. Yes, I did say sew. The girls have to have their hair sewn in for every competition. The bun form and hair comb are sewn into the hair with a plastic needle and fishing line. This prevents anything from falling out of the hair and onto the ice creating a hazard during a skate. I have sewn so many buns over the years and I don't miss it one bit. Another huge hazard is a blade to the arm or any part of the body. Lauren got the blade to the arm during practice 2 days before they competed. Fortunately no stitches were needed but it looks like she tried to slit her wrist. Kati P. slipped and fell on the ice outside of the rink and twisted her ankle the night before competition. And three girls fell with what we assume was some sort of flu. All in all they managed to pull it together and skate their best skate of the year. They had their highest score of the year at Nationals but it wasn't enough to medal. Fifth place. Missed fourth by just more than one point. I thought with all the obstacles they faced in the weeks leading up to Nationals they had a tremendous skate and I am so proud of them all. That concludes the 09-10 competition season. They still have to skate a few exhibitions between now and the end of the school year so it's not over yet. But to think we've been doing this for 10 years and the next is Lauren's last makes me sad. I can't imagine not watching her skate anymore. She always gets kudos from everyone for her presentation because her smile and posture are outstanding. Everyone thinks so, not just her mom. She says it's because she loves what she does so much that she can't help but smile. Awwww.

Here's all the pics, mostly of the team getting ready for competition but interesting to see them all prepare.

IllinoiSkating Nationals Minneapolis March 2010

Lauren said that Coach Audrey gave the most moving speech to them before they skated. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Maybe next time she should make them cry before they do their makeup!

Life's Been Good To Me So Far

That song will forever remind me of two things. The first is my many summer vacations spent in upstate New York with my cousins, forever listening to The Eagles and Joe Walsh, drinking beer in the bandstand and down by the river, running back and forth between Aunt Jean's and Grandma's house, sleeping on Grandma's porch, brown bread, molasses cookies (my father's favorite) and so many other great memories. These were truly some of the best times of my life. While we only saw the NY cousins in the summer we are a close knit bunch despite the distance between us.

The second is when my brother Kenny bought his Moped. It was the coolest thing. His was actually yellow, if I remember correctly. My other brothers teased him relentlessly and came up with their own lyrics for this song that included "My Moped goes 45, I lost my license, now I don't drive!" Not very original, I know, but funny as hell at the time. The teasing in our family is still relentless. We will never grow up, at least I hope not.

Off to Minneapolis for Nationals tomorrow. Go ILLINI!

Numb Thumb

You may as well just paste the big L on my forehead now. I just bought Super Mario for Wii and Rick and I played for the first time last night. Well, my left thumb is completely numb this morning. I recall the same thing happening when I first played Mario Cart. When the kids were little, they would go to bed and Rick and I would stay up all hours of the night and play Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda. But this is so much better since we can both play at the same time. I have to say that Rick is not much of a team player. He is always pushing me around and seldom breaks my bubble when I die. If he does manage to break my bubble he almost always dies in the process. He needs a bit more practice. Not tonight, though. It's ladies long program tonight. And those skaters are amazing.

Good Riddance

I honestly thought that once Lauren was skating in college that there would be less drama. Silly me. With girls comes drama. End of story. Last week a girl on the skating team quit. Three weeks before Nationals. Just up and quit. That leaves the team with no alternate since the only alternate we had is now skating the drama queen's spot. She was obviously not a team player and always one to blame someone else for things that went wrong during a skate. That's not to say she was always wrong but there are more diplomatic ways of handling such issues. Diplomacy was not one of her finer traits. The girls seem to skate well under pressure so providing no one gets injured between now and March 5, IllinoiSkating should still kick some butt at Nationals. And to the girl who quit I say this - Don't let the rink door hit you in the ass!

Onto the next rant......

Tiger Woods shut up already! I am sick and tired of his drama too. My Grandma Rose used to tell us girls if you don't want to get pregnant keep your legs crossed. So in the spirit of Grandma Rose I say to Tiger - Keep your dick in you pants!

We had a great weekend including attending Barb's 40th birthday party. Of course it was supposed to be a surprise but surprises are so hard to pull off. I found out during the party that each day when her kids would get up in the morning Barb was drilling them about the possibility of an upcoming party. Really? Shame on you Barb. Check out the pics.

Barb's 40th birthday Feb. 2010