What Happened?

What Happened?

I was all set to head out to knitting last night. I was so excited to be getting out of the house and spending some time with my knitting pals. So what happened you ask? I was on my way home from picking up Emilee from school. Driving 50 miles an hour down Highway 1187 when the car just shut down. I was able to pull over safely and call for help. Scarlet is now at Longhorn Dodge being poked and proded...hopefully they will figure out what is wrong with her very soon. I am driving her "Mimi Me" as a rental car. Same color but about half her size...a dodge Caliber or some such thing. And the worst thing..no HEMI :( So, to all my buddies at knitting....One day I will make it back!!! I really miss you guys.

Lucy is still on lock down and not enjoying it one little bit. The good news is she is alive and well and not squished by a truck. I have started taking her out back for 30 minutes or so and playing with her...letting her run and exercise. She is doing a wonderful job of giving me "the look" and making me feel so sorry for her.

Is anyone out there? Let me hear from you!!

Hugs, Heidi

Gloomy Tuesday

Gloomy Tuesday Everyone,

We are expecting a cold front today and so gloomy Tuesday is upon me. How did my day start? Besides the daily morning drive to drop Emilee at school (and dealing with every idiot driver you can possibly imagine) my morning has been upsetting.

I came very close to losing my sweet Lucy this morning. We have been working so very hard to train Lucy to stay on our property. She is a year old now and we have been so consistant with her. Each morning she gets to roam our property and chase squirrels, birds or any other creature ready to take her on. She visits with the next door neighbors dogs, Sandy & Willie, and they run up and down the fence line. Ken and I check on her every 5-10 minutes to remind her that she is to stay in our yard. We want her to be a well behaved guard dog and so we give her some freedom to roam. To my horor, I was sitting enjoying my morning tea, when I heard the brakes on a large truck lock up. Next my neighbor was at my door letting me know that Lucy was almost hit. This meant that she crossed out of her yard and accross the next yard as well. So Lucy is on lock down for the time being and looking very sad at me as I type these words.

So, I have decided to relax with my tea and chocolate and think of happier things. What comes to mind? Hmmmmmm...all my friends in California that I miss so terribly. I miss Jennifer's laughing at my jokes and that amazing way she always makes me feel appreciated and loved. I miss Mary sitting accross the table from me and knowing exactly what I'm thinking or what I'm about to say and telling me how "bad" I am....love that!!! I miss Sandra's sweet self, smile and hugs...oh and the occasionally streaking too...not to mention our fart contests on retreats!!! I miss Tami...the doodle....her laughter is contagious and she has a heart of Gold!! I miss Barbee & Nancy...my two mom's (atleast I think of them that way) giving me support, advice and friendship....going to Scarlet's or just hanging at Nancy's...Gosh I miss those days...I miss Kathy and our tea times....we shared so much laughter and good times as we shared our "cuppa" tea. Many times she was the glue that held me together when I was missing my hubby. I miss Cathrine ...she gave me the most amazing gift...she taught me to knit and to believe that I could take some yarn & needles and turn them into something beautiful. She helped me to believe in myself and made it possible to stay strong through all those lonley days, nights and holidays when Ken was at sea. She opened her heart to me and made me part of her family.... All you ladies are my FAMILY and I am so grateful for each of you.

I hope you are all having a good Tuesday!!! Missing you all :)

Hugs, Heidi

The Car Wash

Howdy Girls,

Once again the African Queen has had an adventure simply by trying to complete a very simple task!! I decided to take the girls with me to get "Scarlet" washed. The girls being Emilee & Lucy. All was going just beautifully until Lucy kinda freaked out and tried to get into my lap. Now, I don't know how many of you have noticed, but Lucy is close to 40 lbs. now and doesn't fit on Mom's lap anymore (atleast not when I'm driving). Our typical "fun" ride through the drive-thru car wash soon became an adventure similar to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland. Lucy knocked the shifter into drive and we were OFF!! I almost shit my pants (sorry Nancy...excuse my language) when I realised we were speeding through the car wash at a very rapid clip and heading straight for the cement wall at the exit. I don't know what woke me up.....the wind in our hair or the car wash attendant whistling his ass off...trying to get me to wake the heck up and put the breaks on. I expected a lecture at the end of our ride from the Car Wash people..but the dude who dried the car off, just tried to keep a straight face while he finished the job and got us on our way. so.........has anyone else experienced this???? Come on...I know I can't be the only retard out there...

We had another warm day here in Africa but expecting a cold front overnight and into the week...atleast those geeks on the news say we are. We shall see!!

Ken and I have now successfully drained and re-filled our hot tub :) Emilee reported that it was getting "yucky" so we had to be responsible, once again, and clean it out.... In the old days...before we had the kids living with us....we may have left it "yucky" a bit longer. I've heard that a little "yuck" is no big deal. Apparentley Emilee does not agree.

Business is good...keeping me very busy...but I do hope to get to knitting Thursday night...cross you fingers girls!! I really NEED the time away and Ken is home that night to keep the kids in line.

Over & Out....Heidi

Lazy Saturday

Lazy Saturday Everyone!!

Since Ken is off this weekend, we didn't see the need to get up until around 11am.

Believe it or not, it is in the 70's this weekend and we are loving it!

We did manage to get a couple of things accomplished before leaving for our favorite bi-weekly trip to Mariano's for Mexican food. Ken & Kenny took the Christmas tree out in the meadow and planted it right next to last year's tree. They should each grow to approximatley 40 feet. They look great! Then Ken and I struggled with both vacumns trying to get all the needles vacumed out of the carpet..that was fun...NOT!!! I shall try to remember to snap a picture of the tree outside to share with y'all.

Now, to tell everyone how Emilee's birthday trip to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro was. Overall I would give it 4 stars and we will definitley go back again and again. Since it was Emilee's birthday, I made a reservation in the Bistro for lunch and a birthday cake. It started out very nicely, until we wanted our drinks re-filled. Our waitress seemed to have better things to do and we had to convince her that keeping us happy would be to her benefit. She never quite got that concept down. The food was very good and I definitley felt like I was getting my money's worth. The cake was so cute and they sang Happy Birthday to Emilee (who loved all the attention)...not sure where she gets that from? Anywho, after cake we asked for one last round of drinks before we were going to commence shopping downstairs. I spilt my ice water and somehow managed to not let it drip into my knitting bag or my shoes. The best part was that our waitress just stood there and watched it happen and didn't even try to help me clean it up. I had to raise my voice a notch and ask her if she could possibly see her way clear to helping me out. She disappeared and came back with a stack of linen napkins for me. After handing me the napkins so that I could finish cleaning up the mess, she walked away and never came back. Once I finished cleaning up all the mess and made sure I spoke to all the guests around us so that nobody would slip and fall, I asked to speak to the Manager. She was completley shocked at what had happened and had to place her hand over her mouth as she laughed in horror at what her waitress had wanted me to do. In the end, I did not have to pay a dime for our adventure in the American Girl Bistro....as it should be. I imagine that our particular waitress can be found drying cars at our local car wash.

I am on the lookout for more firewood as my supply for the winter is dwindling a little too swiftley. I will have to fire up the old tractor once again and haul in some more. Possibly if I have a few pieces of See's Candy I may have the energy to do so. The cardinals are back and the sparrows are doing a beautiful job at spreading the bird seed all over the place (which pleases the doves)!! Ken and I have already started planning our garden for the spring. Since we had such success with our first garden, we know we can grow just about anything.

Would appreciate any comments y'all have! That means you need to click on "comments" and type something :) I would love to hear how you girls are doing and, of course, how much you California Girls are missing me.

Hugs, Heidi

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope all of you had a safe New Year's Eve!! The Koehler's spent a quiet evening together at home. Ken had the day off so life was great!! We invited a neighbor of ours over to share supper because he was all alone and Ken and I both know what it is like to be alone on holidays. He loved my lasagna!!! I decided it was best to allow him to think I actually cooked it myself...LOL courtesy of Mrs. Stoufers....sshhhhhh!!

I have been down with a horrible head cold for the past 4 days or so...YUCK!! I finally found the key...Sudafed Sinus & Headache...it's the bomb!! I was having a difficult time eating my See's Candy with all that congestion :) Oh, courtesy of all my wonderful friends/family I received (5) 1 lb. boxes of See's Candy for Christmas. Can y'all say WIDE LOAD??? I actually gave one to my paper lady as a gift...so that leaves me with only (4)...

Today is also Lucy's 1st Birthday!!! She is getting so grown up. Lucy celebrated by chasing the neighbors cats and eating the left over Ham Bone from Christmas Dinner. Happy Birthday Lucy!!!

The picture of the day is my favorite from Emilee's Birthday on the 21st. Tomorrow I will share with all of you our adventures at the American Girl Boutique & Bistro in Dallas!!

Happy New Year!! Love, Heidi