Introducing...

Taylor Rae Regier

Friday, May 25, 2007

2:21 p.m.

7 lb., 4 oz.

20"

Another birthday!

I know Jan is spending her birthday in Denver with Jeff and Shannon. She will become a grandmother next month and we're all so excited for the entire family!

Confused?

I have a rose bush that usually blooms with white roses. This year, they are blood red. What happened?

I'm posting these photos for Lesley, my friend from England. She is a phenomenal gardener and I think I'm correct when I say she has a special affinity for roses. The first is the usual color. This photo was taken last summer.

The second is what is blooming right now. They are beautiful, but what happened to the white ones?

Baby birdies

These baby birds were hatched in a nest built in our Christmas wreath that was mounted on the garage. Yes, the wreath was left on the garage until way after Christmas. Okay, it's still up. I was going to take it down several weeks ago and I noticed the mama robin up there. I figured there were eggs, so I left it alone. This photo was taken a few days ago. I didn't see the babies today, but I'm not taking the wreath down until I know they've flown away. :o)

Twenty-six years ago

We were so young, and had a great deal of growing up to do, but we did it together.

Happy Anniversary Honey!

'Tis the season!

Peony bushes

The peonies have burst forth these past few days. I love to bring them inside, but enjoy them just as much as a sea of pink in the back yard.

This purple iris came from Angela's mom last year. I'm surprised it bloomed already, but I just love it.

Yellow iris - I bought these at a garage sale several years ago. They are really big and smell like grape pop.

The weigela bush

The backyard garden is a sea of weeds with a few flowers mixed in. It's just overwhelming to think about the work, but it will get done. Eventually. You know what they say about "one year of seeds, seven years of weeds"? Is that cumulative? So, I have 2 years of seeds, so 14 years of weeds? I hope not - or I'm doomed...

Birthdays Keep Coming!

Abbie is 11 years old today! Hope you have a wonderful birthday - we'll see you soon!

It's Greg's Birthday!

Jury Duty

I got the postcard a little over a week ago - Jury Summons. I don't mind serving on a jury, I look at it as my responsibility as a citizen, and take the duty seriously. It just came at a bad time. Angela's about to give birth any minute and I have many hours scheduled to work this week if I'm not in Sioux City being Auntie to the new baby. :o)

However, neither reason is dire enough for me to be excused. So I went to the courthouse this morning and joined the many other citizens fulfilling their obligation to this responsiblity. It took less than an hour for a 6-member County court jury to be selected, and I was NOT one of them. Whew!

Now I'm just waiting for the phone to ring so we can meet that baby!

Mother's Day

Me with the kids. Yes, I am the shortest person in our family...

The Lott grandkids - Nick, Hannah, Sara, Jessica

Brothers snuggle time?


Lott family photo

My Birthday Boys

Okay, after a rather sad blog post earlier this morning, then singing "Borning Cry" in church, it's time to light things up a bit. Today is Tucker's and Max's birthday. :o) Yes, I got them some presents - new toy mice with feathers, and they love them. No, I didn't make them birthday cake, though I did think about having Wyatt, Garett, and Grace over for a birthday party. They do love the "TITTIES!" - that's what Grace screams when she walks in the house, and the cats scramble to find a piece of furniture to hide under. Yesterday when I visited the kids, Grace came to me and said, "I go Tammy's house, Tucker Max." Yes, she came home with me for the afternoon. Tucker was the courageous cat and allowed lots of petting and snuggling and Grace was delighted. Tucker was tolerant. He's a good boy. Max hides. He's a smart boy. :o)

For My Mom

There is a lot going on today: confirmation at church, Mother's Day, my kitty boys' birthday, and the tenth anniversary of the day my mother died.
That day seems so long ago, yet so fresh. I didn't sit vigil next to her bed for hours, but I was there with her when she passed away. She fought it, struggling, until I told her to go, go see Grandma and Grandpa, and she would get to see Arlan again. She seemed to relax after I said that, and slipped away a moment later. The last words she heard in this world were "I love you".
There is much more about that day in my heart, but I'm not ready to write about it yet. For today we just remember she didn't want to leave us, and we will see her again.

Belated Anniversary Wishes!

Yesterday was Tonita's and Daniel's 21st wedding anniversary. I thought about it several times during the day, but never when I had computer time. So they're getting belated wishes from us!

More Dental Drama

Yeah, more trouble with the root canal tooth. Had to have another repair done today on the "fake" part. Jessica told me to tell him, "This has reached the point of ridiculousness. Just pull it!" I had to laugh.

Then, I went to the office. There was a woman in the waiting room who I've known for several years. Her adult daughter was in the exam room with a root canal tooth gone bad, and the dentist was trying to pull it. (he didn't do the root canal - a Boston dentist mucked it up.) Anyway, she was really in pain, and we all heard her yelling, then crying, then SOBBING. Yes, sobbing. I felt so bad for her, and so much did not want to walk down that hall myself. They finally decided to take her to surgery later in the afternoon and pull the tooth under general anesthesia, and she and her mother left.

All tolled, I was in the chair for only 15 minutes or so, and the tooth was fixed. No way I was asking him to pull it.

When he got done, he told me there was no charge for the repair today and I told him thank you.

Then I said, "Thanks for not making me cry."

He replied, "Thanks for not making ME cry." :o)

Belated Birthday Wishes

Things have been so crazy this month that I'm playing catch-up on my Happy Birthdays. Ben turned 13 on the 12th, and Leslie's birthday was the 2nd.

Prom Remembered

During my spare time this week, I've been working on some scrapbooking, putting together pages about my high school years. I don't have many photos, and many of the mementos I kept have no meaning because I didn't journal about why I kept them... So my high school scrapbook will be lean, but I will have saved what little bit I do have.

Last night I put together 3 pages, and two of them were about my Junior Prom. As I worked, I looked at the dates to document that on the pages, and realized that my first prom was held 29 years ago today. Yikes!

Prom was pretty simple back then. My dress was a Gunne Sax (I LOVED that dress, and I still have it!), I think I paid $60 for it, which was quite an investment for me. No special jewelry, no fake nails, and I did my own hair. Greg was my date, and wore his suit and his platform shoes.

We had a delicious dinner in the courtyard at the Camelot Inn, then danced downstairs. The theme was "Grand Illusions/Come Sail Away" from the Styx Album. The album cover was recreated by an artistic classmate as a wall mural and was incredible.

We went to a party after, then had breakfast at a friend's house.

What fun - but you couldn't pay me to be in high school again! :o)

Never borrow from your brother...

I've been going through old scrapbooks and photo albums this week and rediscovering some childhood treasures. This particular art piece came to me from Alan, a.k.a. "the Greatest" (and he obviously had some help from Tonita - the comments surrounding the beautiful sketch).

I had borrowed his winter gloves for some reason or other, I don't remember, but it was only for a few minutes. He must've needed them while I had them on... I found this "anonymous" note in my room shortly after.

How can a girl help but feel special when her siblings go to so much effort to communicate with her? :o) I'd like to say this was a one-time event, but Alan must've gone through a phase of needing to draw my picture. There are a few more. I'll share those in the near future.

Easter wishes

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter holiday full of worship, celebration, family togetherness, and lots of chocolate! (Except for Sara and Angela - I don't wish you any chocolate. :o) )

Wonderful Last Night

We went to Omaha and saw Eric Clapton at the Qwest Center last night. A much different concert from Bob Seger. Mr. Clapton is not one to interact with the audience much, a "thank you" after several songs, but that's about it. He just got up there and played. Oh, did he play. This man doesn't just play his music, it flows from him. You don't just listen, you absorb it.

I didn't know most of the songs he played during the first half of the concert, but it didn't matter. It was great music.

Then he played "Wonderful Tonight" and the rest of the songs were old favorites. He played "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out", "Layla", and then the encore songs were "Cocaine", which lasted over 10 minutes, and "Crossroads" where he was joined by Robert Cray.

Robert Cray opened for Clapton, and I enjoyed his set just as much as the rest of the concert. I'll be looking for some of his music to buy.

I'm put up a short video on YouTube of the first couple minutes of "Wonderful Tonight" - you can watch it at the bottom of this post. The photo above is what we saw - we were sitting way up high...

Even though this concert was much different from what I expected, it was still awesome. I am so glad to have gone. The lady sitting next to me agreed that there aren't too many artists we'd pay this much to see, but Clapton left no hesitation.

I did think of one more - Peter Frampton. I'll be looking for him. :o)

Beauty, sweetness, wonder

Isn't this an awesome photo? A little while ago, I was working in the den and could hear a cardinal chirping away out front. I figured it was on the power lines, but went to look. He was bouncing around in the magnolia tree. I took this looking sideways out the front window so I wouldn't scare him away. He was plucking petals off the flowers, and trying to pull the buds off the branches.

This little guy was snooping around the trunk of the tree. I think I saw him out back yesterday, nibbling dry grass near the driveway. I took his photo through the storm door, but then did venture out to see if I could get a better photo. He didn't run too far, but didn't want to pose anymore, either.

Last year Greg found a bunny nest in a depression in the yard - wonder where they'll be this year?

Finally, the tree is pretty much all bloomed. The flowers usually get either frozen or hailed upon. We're supposed to have heavy rains tonight, but it's not going to be hot enough today for hail.

Blooms burst forth!

This was the magnolia tree on Sunday afternoon...

This is the magnolia tree today (Wednesday):

After the flowers fade, it will be thick with dark green leaves.

I love this tree - it was a birthday gift many years ago, and has grown from being a stick, to a tree almost as tall as the house. Those flowers mean Spring is really here. Yea!

Happy Birthday wishes!

It's the first day of you-know-what!

It is a dull, grey, damp day here, but warm, and the birds are singing. I'm not complaining.

Crane-watching

We spent a lovely day driving the backroads south of the Platte River between Alda and Gibbon. The annual migration of the Sandhill Cranes is beginning to peak, and we enjoyed the birds and the river. Sunshine and 60 degrees made it perfect birdwatching weather. Here's a link to more information about the cranes, and the place where we started today: www.cranemeadows.org
We took a minute or so of video, but the wind was blowing too hard to hear the cranes. Sounded a bit like "cooing". We saw a few do the "dance", too. It was very cool!

The Platte River (it's pretty when it has water in it!)

The crane in the middle of this photo is "dancing".

My new blogs

I've been reading several food/cooking blogs and cross-stitching blogs lately and decided to go ahead with my own. So here they are:

http://livedangerouslywhileeating.blogspot.com/

http://stitchingintheheartland.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

T.

Happy Birthday day - again!

He keeps arguing that he is 3, but I got him to show me 4 for the picture. He's really not sure what this all means, but is having fun with it. Treat bags went to preschool, and his Grandma is picking him up this afternoon. Happy Birthday, buddy!

Has it Sprung?

“One swallow does not make a spring, nor does one fine day”

(quote by Aristotle)

We all want to believe that Spring has arrived and will stay for a few months. I think she's just visiting, teasing, and will go away, laughing at our disappointment. Everyone will be cranky when she goes, but we'll welcome her back with delight when she returns, whether it is to tease again, or to stay for good.

This photo is my magnolia tree, taken this morning. It'll be blooming soon, then when the flowers fade, the leaves come on. It's gotten big enough to screen the entire North side of the front deck, offering a haven for those little birds who sing and flitter about, driving the cats crazy as they watch through the window.

I'm really aching to get some gardening going, but I do know better. Today I will clean up some more of the dead brown leavings from last summer, and bide my time until the bulbs come up. The hyacinth started up in January, then winter finally showed up and I'm worried they won't bloom now.

I do plan to have a small vegetable garen this year, in addition to my herbs, so there is lots of work to do to prepare for that. And I may be getting a small gazebo soon, so there will be a new area to landscape around.

Another birthday day!

Rock and Roll Never Forgets

Oh. My.

Bob Seger live. Along with The Silver Bullet Band, he made everyone feel 30 years younger last night. (The gentleman sitting next to me first saw Seger in concert in 1971 - I was 10 years old!)

This was by far the best quality performance I have ever seen in concert. I clapped, cheered, danced, sang along, and was even moved to tears.

When Seger says "Let's ROCK AND ROLL!" he means it. No flash, no dazzle, just great music, and he performed the songs just like we knew them from his albums.

I can't even choose a highlight moment, there were many. "We've Got Tonight" made me cry - it was a beautiful rendition. Then right after that he sang "Turn the Page" - I thought Greg was going to cry, too. :o)

I know this is a gushy post, but I can't help it. Truly one of those "someday" things that was so worth the 4-hour round-trip drive and the $$$ spent and having to get up at 6 when we didn't get to bed until 1:30. We always will be glad we went.

Wild Hogs

This was one of the funniest movies I've seen in awhile. I like to think my dad would have enjoyed it. The Harleys, the leather, John Travolta. Okay, I liked John Travolta - Dad would have liked the bikes, though. :o)

I liked this movie more than "Ghost Rider", though Nicolas Cage has better abs...

Um - yeah, I recommend "Wild Hogs" if you're just looking for a fun movie - not one with any deep, society-changing wisdom. Enjoy!

Edited 3/8 to add: I watched it again tonight with Greg. This movie was just as funny the second time, and I saw a few things I'd missed the first time. Go see it!

How have I been blessed?

This has been a trying day, and all I want to do is whine about it. Instead, I decided to list what has been a blessing to me:

Healthy kitties - naughty, but healthy. :o)

Hugs and kisses from Wyatt, Garett, and Grace.

Sunshine and decent temperatures outside.

Helpful people on the phone.

Looking forward to the Bob Seger concert tomorrow night!

Greg is on his way to being well, Jessi loves her new job, Nick is fine, and there is no need to dwell on the negatives. :o)

See?!

Oh, sorry, you can't see! There is too much blowing snow to see! This was the view out the front door at 6:45 this morning. Yeah, I just stuck the camera out the door and pushed the button. :o)

Snuggled in for a Snow Day - at least until I have to go to work tonight. Good news on the horizon, though. Forecast high for one week from today, 59 glorious degrees. Perhaps Spring is on the way, after all! Yea!