I like to make this the night before. I usually put it together while dinner for the current night is cooking. It also helps the flavors blend more, at least I think so.
Mostly Vegetable Lasagna
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1/2 large onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup portabello mushrooms chopped
2/3 cup yellow or red bell pepper strips
1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 tbsp butter
2/3 jar of low calorie marinara sauce
1 ounce prosciutto ham
5-6 no-boil lasagna noodles
1/2 container of low-fat ricotta cheese
1 ounce goat cheese
1/4 cup egg beaters
salt
pepper
Italian spice mix
1/4 cup low fat shredded mozzarella
Directions
1. Saute vegetables in the butter until onions start to caramelize
2. Drain the spinach and squeeze as much of the water out as possible
3. Mix the ricotta, goat cheese and egg substitute in a bowl, add a bit of Italian spice mix
4. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste to the marinara sauce
5. In a small loaf pan, ladle enough marinara to cover the bottom of the pan
6. Place a lasagna noodle on top of the sauce
7. Spread a thin layer of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodle
8. sprinkle about 1/4 of the sauteed vegetables on
9. Add a thin layer of spinach
10. Ladle marinara over the layer
11. Repeat steps 6-10, 3 or 4 times, ending with a noodle on top. Layer marinara over the last noodle then top with the shredded mozzarella
Wrap the pan in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.
Baking
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove the plastic wrap and place aluminum foil over the pan, tenting it a bit so it does not stick to the cheese. Place the loaf pan on a middle rack and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Nutrition (approximate based on MY ingredients, yours may vary!)
Calories: 286
Calories from Fat: 134
Total Fat: 14.9g
Saturated Fat: 8.3g
Trans Fat: 0.0g
Cholesterol: 47mg
Sodium: 512mg
Total Carbohydrates: 22.5g
Dietary Fiber: 3.5g
Sugars: 6.3g
Protein: 16.7g
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Monday, May 25, 2009
Memphis
I've wanted to go to Memphis for a long time and finally this weekend we went. We left about 3pm on Friday afternoon (its about a 4 hour drive) and stopped at Lamberts Cafe in Sikeston, MO for some dinner and oh was it good!
We made it to Memphis about 7:30 and checked into our hotel, which was right on the main street trolley line and just across the street from a cute little park
After settling in we decided to walk down to Beale street, which was aobut 7 blocks away. The weather was nice, not too hot and only a little humid.
Beale street was packed!
We walked around for a bit and had a couple drinks then decided to take the trolley back to the hotel. We stood at the stop for about 20 minutes(seeing the lights of the trolley at the next stop)before someone told us there had been a trolley accident, so we walked back to the hotel, being quite out of shape we were both tired and sweaty when we got there and went to bed.
Saturday we got up and had planned on having breakfast at the hotel before we left for Graceland, well the room the breakfast was in had too few tables and too little food, we got very little breakfast then headed to Graceland. It was sprinkling rain when we arrived but never did more than that.
We didn't have to wait too long before we were shuttled up to the mansion.
(oh, and someone proposed on the steps)
I enjoyed the tour and I think Matthew did as well.
We went back to the hotel for a bit, then headed to Sun Studio. We took the Madison trolley over there but got there 45 minutes before the tour started so decided to go get some lunch instead.
We went to Gus's (fried chicken) (Madison trolley back up to Main St., Main St. trolley to Linden)
which was packed! we decided to get our food to go, but that still took 25 minutes at least, then we went back to the trolley stop, where the first trolley passed us by without stopping. We had to wait 15 minutes for the next one and were hit up by a few panhandlers while we waited. We finally made it back to the hotel and ate and then decided to rest for a bit before doing anything else.
I wanted to see the Peabody ducks march at 5pm so we left the hotel about 3:30 and took the riverfront trolley loop and got off at Union and walked down to the Peabody thinking because we were over half an hour early I'd get a good spot to watch. WRONG! This is as close as I got to the ducks.
The place was packed (see a trend starting to occur here?). We left and went over to Rendezvous for dinner, which believe it or not was NOT packed and we got seated right away and had a nice dinner.
A little bit later we decide we want dessert and a drink so we head out to the Cooky Canuck, guess what....PACKED! So we wander around a bit and finally stop in a place called the Red Rooster. We have a couple drinks then wander back to the hotel to regroup. We did some research online and found this place called the Cheececake Corner, not wanting to walk anymore we got the car and drove there. Wow, amazing cheesecake and brownies.
. As we were leaving the fireworks on the riverfront (for memphis in may) started.
It's only 10pm but we call it a night.
Sunday morning we once again tried to have breakfast at the hotel, no luck. We went back to Sun Studio for the tour about 10am. We had a moonpie and a cup of coffee before the tour started. That is a great tour, highly recommended.
On our way out of town we drove by the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed.
On the way home we stopped at Perkins in Blythsville, Arkansas, one of Matthew's favorite restaurants and had lunch.
Even though it was incredibly crowded and we didn't get to do everything I wanted to do it was fun, but we've learned our lessons about going places on holiday weekends!
We made it to Memphis about 7:30 and checked into our hotel, which was right on the main street trolley line and just across the street from a cute little park
After settling in we decided to walk down to Beale street, which was aobut 7 blocks away. The weather was nice, not too hot and only a little humid.
Beale street was packed!
We walked around for a bit and had a couple drinks then decided to take the trolley back to the hotel. We stood at the stop for about 20 minutes(seeing the lights of the trolley at the next stop)before someone told us there had been a trolley accident, so we walked back to the hotel, being quite out of shape we were both tired and sweaty when we got there and went to bed.
Saturday we got up and had planned on having breakfast at the hotel before we left for Graceland, well the room the breakfast was in had too few tables and too little food, we got very little breakfast then headed to Graceland. It was sprinkling rain when we arrived but never did more than that.
We didn't have to wait too long before we were shuttled up to the mansion.
(oh, and someone proposed on the steps)
I enjoyed the tour and I think Matthew did as well.
We went back to the hotel for a bit, then headed to Sun Studio. We took the Madison trolley over there but got there 45 minutes before the tour started so decided to go get some lunch instead.
We went to Gus's (fried chicken) (Madison trolley back up to Main St., Main St. trolley to Linden)
which was packed! we decided to get our food to go, but that still took 25 minutes at least, then we went back to the trolley stop, where the first trolley passed us by without stopping. We had to wait 15 minutes for the next one and were hit up by a few panhandlers while we waited. We finally made it back to the hotel and ate and then decided to rest for a bit before doing anything else. I wanted to see the Peabody ducks march at 5pm so we left the hotel about 3:30 and took the riverfront trolley loop and got off at Union and walked down to the Peabody thinking because we were over half an hour early I'd get a good spot to watch. WRONG! This is as close as I got to the ducks.
The place was packed (see a trend starting to occur here?). We left and went over to Rendezvous for dinner, which believe it or not was NOT packed and we got seated right away and had a nice dinner.
A little bit later we decide we want dessert and a drink so we head out to the Cooky Canuck, guess what....PACKED! So we wander around a bit and finally stop in a place called the Red Rooster. We have a couple drinks then wander back to the hotel to regroup. We did some research online and found this place called the Cheececake Corner, not wanting to walk anymore we got the car and drove there. Wow, amazing cheesecake and brownies.
. As we were leaving the fireworks on the riverfront (for memphis in may) started.It's only 10pm but we call it a night.
Sunday morning we once again tried to have breakfast at the hotel, no luck. We went back to Sun Studio for the tour about 10am. We had a moonpie and a cup of coffee before the tour started. That is a great tour, highly recommended.
On our way out of town we drove by the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed.
On the way home we stopped at Perkins in Blythsville, Arkansas, one of Matthew's favorite restaurants and had lunch.
Even though it was incredibly crowded and we didn't get to do everything I wanted to do it was fun, but we've learned our lessons about going places on holiday weekends!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
VOTE
Friends, I am writing you this today in an attempt at education, because that is what I do and what I believe in. I am not trying to change your mind or make any decision for you, I simply want to try to make sure that you have all the tools possible to make an informed decision. My goal here is not to offend anyone or upset anyone, just to help inform. You are all my friends because you are intelligent, caring individuals who will do the right thing, given the chance.
In just a few short days you have the opportunity go to cast your vote for president of the united states. Over the past year, and past several months in particular, we have been bombarded with "information" from both sides of the debates. A lot of this information may have come from your friends via email, much like this one, that they received from their friends. The trouble is that a lot of the information received in such emails is misleading or downright false.
Before I get into specifics I want to say this, regardless of who you vote for, make sure your vote gets counted.
* know where your polling place is
* take proper identification
* know the polling place hours
* listen to and read all direction on whatever voting mechanism is used
* make sure that the confirmation on the electronic voting machines says the right thing before you confirm your vote
* don't be afraid to ask the election officials for help if you don't understand the process or the machine
* know what other issues are on your ballot besides the presidential election before you go to vote, many important propositions are on state ballots on Tuesday. Here are two sites for states I know I am sending this to, for others, just do a google search or check out your state's board of election website
o North Carolina http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/
o Missouri http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri/Default.aspx
* be prepared to stand in line, bring a chair if standing is a problem, make sure you have the time off work if you need to,most states have laws requiring your employer to let you vote here are some of the laws for each state http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200611/employees.html
Okay, on to other things. There are a lot of rumors going around about both candidates, some of which are hate filled and completely wrong, others are based in fact but have been twisted.
According to a 10/09 article on ScrippsNews "Ninety-four percent of adult Americans have heard at least one of the ridiculous and false rumors chasing John McCain and Barack Obama on the campaign trail, according to a Scripps poll.
Have you heard that John McCain was brainwashed while a prisoner of war in Vietnam? Or that he's become senile, or fathered a black baby?
And how about that Barack Obama secretly is a Muslim? Or he is the anti-Christ from the Book of Revelation? Or that he refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance?
About 19 of every 20 adult Americans have heard at least one of these six obviously false rumors about the major presidential candidates, according to a first-of-its kind national survey of 1,015 adults conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University."
Obama Rumors
http://www.fightthesmears.com/
McCain Rumors
http://www.johnmccainrumors.com/
I'll let you read both of those sites for yourself, and I really hope you will read BOTH, get both sides of the story.
If you have already voted, then thank you for reading anyway.
You are all free to harass me now for spamming you. And yes, I'll tell you who I'm voting for if you ask.
In just a few short days you have the opportunity go to cast your vote for president of the united states. Over the past year, and past several months in particular, we have been bombarded with "information" from both sides of the debates. A lot of this information may have come from your friends via email, much like this one, that they received from their friends. The trouble is that a lot of the information received in such emails is misleading or downright false.
Before I get into specifics I want to say this, regardless of who you vote for, make sure your vote gets counted.
* know where your polling place is
* take proper identification
* know the polling place hours
* listen to and read all direction on whatever voting mechanism is used
* make sure that the confirmation on the electronic voting machines says the right thing before you confirm your vote
* don't be afraid to ask the election officials for help if you don't understand the process or the machine
* know what other issues are on your ballot besides the presidential election before you go to vote, many important propositions are on state ballots on Tuesday. Here are two sites for states I know I am sending this to, for others, just do a google search or check out your state's board of election website
o North Carolina http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/
o Missouri http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri/Default.aspx
* be prepared to stand in line, bring a chair if standing is a problem, make sure you have the time off work if you need to,most states have laws requiring your employer to let you vote here are some of the laws for each state http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200611/employees.html
Okay, on to other things. There are a lot of rumors going around about both candidates, some of which are hate filled and completely wrong, others are based in fact but have been twisted.
According to a 10/09 article on ScrippsNews "Ninety-four percent of adult Americans have heard at least one of the ridiculous and false rumors chasing John McCain and Barack Obama on the campaign trail, according to a Scripps poll.
Have you heard that John McCain was brainwashed while a prisoner of war in Vietnam? Or that he's become senile, or fathered a black baby?
And how about that Barack Obama secretly is a Muslim? Or he is the anti-Christ from the Book of Revelation? Or that he refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance?
About 19 of every 20 adult Americans have heard at least one of these six obviously false rumors about the major presidential candidates, according to a first-of-its kind national survey of 1,015 adults conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University."
Obama Rumors
http://www.fightthesmears.com/
McCain Rumors
http://www.johnmccainrumors.com/
I'll let you read both of those sites for yourself, and I really hope you will read BOTH, get both sides of the story.
If you have already voted, then thank you for reading anyway.
You are all free to harass me now for spamming you. And yes, I'll tell you who I'm voting for if you ask.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Homeless problems
I was recently in Portland, Oregon, staying downtown in the Hilton. Portland is a great city, very friendly. I had a couple of hours free and did some walking around, I was stunned by the sheer number of homeless people. It was quite chilly the day I was out walking, enough so that I stopped and bought a hat and gloves because I had only a sweatshirt on. I was ashamed of myself for doing this, because within a few blocks everything from children to the elderly were sleeping huddled in doorways, in the cold damp close the the river. The situation makes me sad on many levels, some of these people may have a choice about being on the street, others do not. It makes me sad that we as American's can sit around and let this happen. Sarah Palin or the RNC or whomever has spend $150,000 on CLOTHES in a few short months and there are children going to sleep hungry and cold on the streets of America right this very minute. This is not just a problem in Portland, it just happened to be the city I was in when my eyes were opened. I don't know what I can do about this problem, but I sure will be finding out. One thing is for sure, I will NOT be voting more of the same kind of people back in office. I want a president who was not raised with a silver spoon in his mouth, one who understands what its like no go without. I've been terribly irritated with the labels of "republican" and "democrat" lately, what they are supposed to stand for and what the candidates really stand for. Obama will raise your taxes, yeah if you make over $200k a year, or are a large corporation, damn straight, that's the way it should be. Take that money and put it into some "new deal" plans that's exactly what this country needs, not tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas. We need to look out for our own for a change.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
our fragile bodies
my body has always not quite worked the way it should. I am "double jointed" which really means that my connective tissues don't make things stay where they are supposed to stay. This has been an issue with a lot of joints in my body. I have significantly hurt my neck 3 times in my life. When I was around 13 or 14 I sprained my neck learning to roller skate (never did learn, later at age 20 broke my arm doing it). When I was 16 I dislocated my neck washing my car (long story in and of itself). Then when I was 18 I was in a car accident where I got side whiplash. All of these things later led to a herniated disc in my neck. C5/C6 for those of you who know anything about the body. I've lived with pain for years, and have done various things ranging from mild to quite extreme to help me live with that pain. I have decided, after some of my issues, including numbness and weakness in my hand, became worse, that its time for surgery. It's schedule for about 5 weeks from now and I'm am totally freaked out. My neck is hardly hurting at all lately, its kind of like when you schedule a haircut appointment and immediately your hair starts looking awesome. I will post more of my journey to this surgery and after as things occur. I'm going to be quite busing in the meantime, I am out of town 3 times within that 5 weeks.
Monday, October 06, 2008
THE SCREAM!
I sleep like a baby. Meaning I wake up screaming several times a night. I have what the medical community likes to refer to as "night terrors". Read more about night terrors here but basically it means that the person who suffers from this is dreaming, but thinks they are awake and usually sees/experiences something that is extremely frightening that will make them react in a variety of ways, from fighting, to thrashing about to screaming.
My particular version manifests as screams brought on by the terror some someone or something standing over my bed. Yep, about 2 out of 7 nights (sometimes more, sometimes less, this is an average) I "wake up" think in there is someone/something standing over my bed...looming over me, and I start screaming in reaction (wouldn't you if you woke up to some one/thing standing over your bed that you didn't recognize?)
I have had these night terrors since I was a kid, they have changed in nature however, and I'm not sure how common that is. When I was a kid it was spiders, on me, in my bed, ever where. I'd often find myself awake with the covers torn off the bed and in some cases the mattress on the floor (had to get all the spiders off). Sometime between my late teens and early 20's it changed over to the "looming figure". There was some conjecture at some time that the asthma medications I was on as a kid caused these issues, however, I have not been on any of those medications in well over 20 years.
My boyfriend of 11 years gets pissed off when I wake up up screaming, I would too to tell you the truth, its terrifying to be in the room when someone starts screaming for no apparent reason, and a logical reaction to fear is anger. I don't blame him, but he also knows there is nothing I can do about it. I'd love to not have these issues, its terrifying and my heart pounds and I am in a sweat, its very real fear I experience, just not to a real thing. Sleeping pills do not help, in fact the deeper I am sleeping the more likely I am to have an episode.
I also have a physical problem with my neck that causes me a lot of pain and numbness. I also have some fears of sleep deeply rooted in the asthma of my childhoold (if I go to sleep I won't be able to breath and I'll die, therefore I can't go to sleep (yeah, i know its fucked up, i'm sure you have some hangups from when you were a kidd too)). Due to these two things I don't sleep well, hardly ever that is, very occasionally I'll take a nap, or get to sleep in the wee hours of the morning and sleep deeply and dreamlessly. That is what I crave. I love to sleep despite all of my issues, or maybe because of them. Do we love most what we get so rarely?
Photo: THE SCREAM! by 7E55E-BRN
My particular version manifests as screams brought on by the terror some someone or something standing over my bed. Yep, about 2 out of 7 nights (sometimes more, sometimes less, this is an average) I "wake up" think in there is someone/something standing over my bed...looming over me, and I start screaming in reaction (wouldn't you if you woke up to some one/thing standing over your bed that you didn't recognize?)
I have had these night terrors since I was a kid, they have changed in nature however, and I'm not sure how common that is. When I was a kid it was spiders, on me, in my bed, ever where. I'd often find myself awake with the covers torn off the bed and in some cases the mattress on the floor (had to get all the spiders off). Sometime between my late teens and early 20's it changed over to the "looming figure". There was some conjecture at some time that the asthma medications I was on as a kid caused these issues, however, I have not been on any of those medications in well over 20 years.
My boyfriend of 11 years gets pissed off when I wake up up screaming, I would too to tell you the truth, its terrifying to be in the room when someone starts screaming for no apparent reason, and a logical reaction to fear is anger. I don't blame him, but he also knows there is nothing I can do about it. I'd love to not have these issues, its terrifying and my heart pounds and I am in a sweat, its very real fear I experience, just not to a real thing. Sleeping pills do not help, in fact the deeper I am sleeping the more likely I am to have an episode.
I also have a physical problem with my neck that causes me a lot of pain and numbness. I also have some fears of sleep deeply rooted in the asthma of my childhoold (if I go to sleep I won't be able to breath and I'll die, therefore I can't go to sleep (yeah, i know its fucked up, i'm sure you have some hangups from when you were a kidd too)). Due to these two things I don't sleep well, hardly ever that is, very occasionally I'll take a nap, or get to sleep in the wee hours of the morning and sleep deeply and dreamlessly. That is what I crave. I love to sleep despite all of my issues, or maybe because of them. Do we love most what we get so rarely?
Photo: THE SCREAM! by 7E55E-BRN
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Hell, Damn, Shit
I'm really annoyed and freaked out both right now. Some of this is really personal so if you are reading this (yeah right, I know no one reads this) and you don't want to know personal stuff, stop now.
So anyway, I was on depo-provera shot for like 8 years, then my doctors find out that I don't drink milk and that I am vitamin D deficient so they take me off of it and since then I have been on about 6 different birth control pills, all with some blah side effect that made me change.
Well, I started yet another new one a couple weeks ago, this one at my request, its a progestin only "mini-pill". I haven't been able to sleep, I am having off and on severe "groin pain" (told you it got personal), I am so jittery I have to move some part of me all the time, tap my fingers, move my foot, something. I have tingling almost all over my body. I feel like crap and it scares the hell out of me. I took one about 6pm today, I'm not going to take anymore and really really hope this goes away. If not then something bad is wrong and I don't want to think about what it could be. All of this is giving me panic attacks which is making all of the above worse.
So anyway, I was on depo-provera shot for like 8 years, then my doctors find out that I don't drink milk and that I am vitamin D deficient so they take me off of it and since then I have been on about 6 different birth control pills, all with some blah side effect that made me change.
Well, I started yet another new one a couple weeks ago, this one at my request, its a progestin only "mini-pill". I haven't been able to sleep, I am having off and on severe "groin pain" (told you it got personal), I am so jittery I have to move some part of me all the time, tap my fingers, move my foot, something. I have tingling almost all over my body. I feel like crap and it scares the hell out of me. I took one about 6pm today, I'm not going to take anymore and really really hope this goes away. If not then something bad is wrong and I don't want to think about what it could be. All of this is giving me panic attacks which is making all of the above worse.
Monday, September 01, 2008
There and Back Again
Apparently this is turning into a travel blog, I only post when I travel, but I am not consistent even then. Oh well, no one reads it anyway. We left for Walnut Grove, Minnesota a little after 4pm on Wednesday to go camping for the weekend. Here we are crossing the Boone bridge,
just getting started, its about a 10 hour drive. It got dark pretty quickly, but the drive was not bad. We had planned to stay over in the Comfort Inn in Mason City, Iowa, but when I called about an hour out, they were completely booked. I called the Country Inn there and they said they had 6 rooms left. We arrived in Mason City about quarter til 12 right about the time a huge storm was getting ready to let loose, the lightning was streaking across the sky like crazy. There were 2 other people waiting to check in when we got in, and their computer was acting up, so it was 12:30 before we got to our room, just ahead of the rain. We slept well, got up about 9 and headed out again.
.It was a dreary day, but other than a heavy mist it didn't rain on us
It took another 3 hours to get to Walnut Grove, we got there just after 12:30 on Thursday. Matt dropped me off and picked up John and they went to get the camper we were borrowing for the weekend. I sat in the sun and got a bit of work done while waiting on them to come back.
While waiting on them I heard a commotion at the campsite across from us, where Jim and Carol were staying. I went over, it was a baby mouse. This thing was TINY! barely had its eyes open. 
Carol wouldn't come near it, Lynn and I finally took it out in the woods, hoping it would find its nest. Matt and John came back with the camper and lunch.
More nature at lunch, a chipmunk rushed Matt and he screamed like a little girl. Then I found a Cicada which hadn't come out of its shell yet.
It took us awhile but we finally got the camper setup.
by that time the Cicada had come out of its shell
It later got stepped on, I didn't take a picture of that.
Later that evening we sat around the campfire for awhile then headed off to bed. A board was missing in the camper where one of the seats makes into a bed, so I slept on a smaller than twin size "bed". Every time I turned over during the night I felt like I was on a spit. It was also cold as a witches' tit! We froze our asses off all night. I actually enjoyed the push the button shower, at least it was hot!
Friday was relatively uneventful. We went into Tracy to get groceries and to the hardware store to get a board so I didn't have to play turkey on a spit again. Came back, attempted to make some pizza pudgie pies.
Burned the first batch, Mark made his perfectly on the first try of course, we ate the burned ones anyway and made some more. Took a walk down to the lake with Charlotte, 
Amabelle was already down there swimming with Carol and some of the cousins. 
Oh, I almost forgot all of my "injuries". I had smashed my finger trying to get a cast iron dutch oven out of the truck on Thursday evening. Friday, after getting the board for the bed, I was trying to get it in place ans cut my finger just above the cuticle, that hurt like hell. Then while building a fire for the pies, I shoved a splinter under my fingernail. That was the extent of my injuries, Ama burned her hand and fell once, a few of the other kids had minor falls but overall no major injuries to anyone. John and Ellen had to go to his 45th class reunion Friday night so we were left in charge of the dog.
Friday night we sat around the fire, drinking beer and shooting the shit. It was not nearly as cold as the previous night.Saturday I decided to cook breakfast over the campfire when I got up (well it was about 10:30 before I started cooking). It took me half an hour to get a fire started because the wood we had was green. Finally got it going, and cooked some sausage in a cast iron skillet. That was fine, other than the fact I almost died from the smoke inhalation. Then went to put the eggs in it, they were frozen. Well, only two frozen, the rest were just very....cold. finally got that made, and ate, along with quite a bit of ash. Jen and I then took some of the kids and the dog down to the lake for a walk
We saw some interesting 'artwork" on the benches.
Lucky Ama got a piggy back ride on the way back to camp.
Jen and I then went into Walnut to go to the liquor store. The lady there told us we smelled like camping. Got the booze (long island ice tea, Margarita, 3 kinds of beer and mike's hard lemonade). Came back, had lunch (don't remember what) and started drinking (yeah, it was about 2pm). None of us got really drunk but we pretty much drank solid the rest of the night.
Mark and Matt played some beanbag toss
They won, Mark always wins at games.Did some more campfire sitting Saturday night
Sunday we got up about 9 and started packing up. We left to take the camper back to Cottonwood about 12:30. We stopped at John and Ellens to work on their PS3 and computer, then headed back to the campground to say goodbye to everyone.
We got on the road a little after 3 heading back to St. Louis. 10 hours of corn fields
bean fields
and wind farms 
later we got home about 1am. We didn't unload anything, we went directly to bed. It was nice to be home.Monday, July 07, 2008
weird
well didn't land until almost 9:20 mountain time (10:30 central), so almost an hour late, then the got my bag, the car rental guy was weird, and the car a long walk, they free upgraded me from a economy to a caravan (that's a VAN). then the weird car guy left his "lunchbox" in the car, he called me and i Had to turn around and bring it back to him. GPS sent me some weird way to the hotel, but then, you can't really call it a hotel. Its obviously old 70's (or earlier) apartments converted into "suite" hotels. dirty. smells. dark. scary back of building where my "room" is. one internet connection is wired and in the kitchen. bed has two small lumpy pillows. ick. So i called the Marriot and have a reservation for there for the rest of the week, too late to change tonight. so i'll get a few hours sleep and then check out of here tomorrow and go to training and checkin to the marriot after that. hopefully they won't give me any greif about checking out early.
ugh, its after midnight my time now so i'm going to get some sleep.
ttfn.
more tomorrow.
ugh, its after midnight my time now so i'm going to get some sleep.
ttfn.
more tomorrow.
On the road again
Training starts at 8:30 tomorrow morning, I really hope everything is not over my head.
My backpack is coming unsewn around the back zipper this makes me very sad, I love this backpack. Guess its from stuffing too much stuff in it to travel.
That's all for now, more later.
I sent this from my blackberry, so forgive my typos
-Kristi
Saturday, June 28, 2008
St. Louis Flooding
I drove downtown today to take a look at the flooding. The water is up to the bottom steps of the arch, and has covered the street along the river (lenore k. sullivan blvd).
Washington Avenue is partially flooded as well. (This is from the top of the 2nd street parking garage looking towards downtown)
The park ranger I talked to said he didn't see what the big deal was, that in '93 it was over halfway up the steps to the arch. This picture was taken standing about halfway down the arch steps looking towards the Poplar Street Bridge (downriver).
Apparently a muskrat burrowed under the levee in Winfield last night and caused it to break, the quickly built a second barrier but it broke as well, Winfield is now flooded. Many other towns upriver are flooded now or in danger.
Canada Recap
Okay, so the blogging day by day while in Canada broke down when I actually prioritized sleep over blogging :)
So Monday was no Whales. Tuesday: went to sessions, some good, some not so good. Went to vendor fair and lunch, got some cool stuff. Left that early (saw everything already) and Pierre and I went walking around downtown for a bit, then drove over to the botanical garden. Turns out the garden is a 1.5 mile hike down a hill, we didn't go.
We did meet a nice young man, singing in the park, his name is Sean Wesley, he told us he made it to the top 60 on Canadian Idol this year before being kicked out (we agreed its rigged).
I then dropped Pierre off on campus and headed back to the hotel, but got distracted. Parked and walked up the pedestrian bridge over the river and took some pictures, then went to the hotel to pick up Christine. We then got stuck in traffic and were too late for the closing ceremony.
So we headed back to the hotel for an hour or so then went down to Officer's Square for the closing dinner. We were looking forward to the lobster, but turns out its COLD and is not as fresh as it should be. Christine was a little put off by the whole lobster thing. We ate, watched the changing of the guards then went off down to the Snooty Fox where we had a few drinks and called it a night.
The flight(s) back were not as bad as the ones to get there, at least I knew about the whole bag thing this time, which I had to do in Toronto. We had lunch at Tim Horton's in Montreal airport where the menu was all in french, but boy do they have good doughnuts. We had to do Toronto at a brisk walk to make it in 50 minutes but we did it without many issues. Got back to St. Louis about quarter til 5, got my back super fast and Matthew picked me up and headed home.
Overall it was a good trip, tiring, but we learned a lot. I'm home for a week then I head out to Salt Lake City for training.
So Monday was no Whales. Tuesday: went to sessions, some good, some not so good. Went to vendor fair and lunch, got some cool stuff. Left that early (saw everything already) and Pierre and I went walking around downtown for a bit, then drove over to the botanical garden. Turns out the garden is a 1.5 mile hike down a hill, we didn't go.
We did meet a nice young man, singing in the park, his name is Sean Wesley, he told us he made it to the top 60 on Canadian Idol this year before being kicked out (we agreed its rigged).
I then dropped Pierre off on campus and headed back to the hotel, but got distracted. Parked and walked up the pedestrian bridge over the river and took some pictures, then went to the hotel to pick up Christine. We then got stuck in traffic and were too late for the closing ceremony.
So we headed back to the hotel for an hour or so then went down to Officer's Square for the closing dinner. We were looking forward to the lobster, but turns out its COLD and is not as fresh as it should be. Christine was a little put off by the whole lobster thing. We ate, watched the changing of the guards then went off down to the Snooty Fox where we had a few drinks and called it a night.The flight(s) back were not as bad as the ones to get there, at least I knew about the whole bag thing this time, which I had to do in Toronto. We had lunch at Tim Horton's in Montreal airport where the menu was all in french, but boy do they have good doughnuts. We had to do Toronto at a brisk walk to make it in 50 minutes but we did it without many issues. Got back to St. Louis about quarter til 5, got my back super fast and Matthew picked me up and headed home.
Overall it was a good trip, tiring, but we learned a lot. I'm home for a week then I head out to Salt Lake City for training.
Monday, June 23, 2008
canada, no whales
had breakfast in the hotel, no weird pancakes
went to good session on wikis and another on downloading.
had a very quick lunch. got on the bus for whale watching, rode 2 hours to St. Andrews, got on the boat.
it was VERY foggy.
Didn't see any whales, much of anthing actually, except for herring and salmon farms.
came back (2 hrs on the bus, i took a nap), had a snack and a drink and am now going to bed. Not going to edit photos tonight, too tired, so the ones I uploaded are SOOC.
went to good session on wikis and another on downloading.
had a very quick lunch. got on the bus for whale watching, rode 2 hours to St. Andrews, got on the boat.
it was VERY foggy.Didn't see any whales, much of anthing actually, except for herring and salmon farms.
came back (2 hrs on the bus, i took a nap), had a snack and a drink and am now going to bed. Not going to edit photos tonight, too tired, so the ones I uploaded are SOOC.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
