NEWSFLASH! Kitchen Essential's ducklings leave the nest!

This was a National Geographic moment for me. Kitchen Essentials owner, Gretchen and her employees, have been guarding and protecting the mom duck (Daffodil) for the past month or so since she first started laying eggs in the store's planters out front. Please take a couple of minutes and watch this mother duck leading her ducklings against all odds (people, traffic, more people, and more traffic).

Dave News and Shower Review

First things first: Dave will be home sooner than we thought!! Definitely before Memorial Day weekend. Time is flying!







The baby shower went well. It took a couple of days for me to recover, not from the actual shower, but from the previous week of cleaning and working, etc. Carrie was thrilled with the whole thing, from the cucumber sandwiches to the presents. The gifts were wonderful, and I'm kind of jealous. The things they have now to help mommy and daddy are so cool now (I really could have used the monitors). It's so fun to see the tiny little socks, and the outfits are so darn cute!



My niece Jenny came down early to visit with the girls (and me) and she brought her little Luella along. I hadn't met Luella yet but by the time Jen and Lu left, I was in love! I used my new video camera to take some precious movies. When we went to Mike and Carrie's Saturday evening, Cassy was there with Corina and Carly. Carly and Luella are about the same age and the pool table was their stage. They put on a show for all of us, including Aunt Elaine, Sara Lou, and Great Grandma!

Those who attended included Great-Great Aunt Tommy, Great-Great Aunt Wilma, Great Aunt Elaine (and she is a GREAT aunt!), Great Grandma Harder, and Cousins Sara Lou (Harder-Harriger)with Hayley (4) and Hannah (2), Jenny (Harder-Thomas) and Luella (almost 6 months), and Karen (Morse-Winter). There were so many friends there too, all helping us celebrate the Little Man's upcoming birth day.















Luella and Carly
Aren't they sweet?

You might be the next person I visit!

Wouldn't you be surprised if I showed up on your doorstep? I'll be wearing a cap and holding a helmet so you may not recognize me right away. Yesterday, I took a late afternoon ride and rode 17 miles total! I rode to the Harley dealership, which was really satisfying, riding past my Rider's Edge Course and riding on Hwy 63, the very road that terrified me before. I just know that driver's steer clear of me when they see me wobble as I start out from the intersections. hehe Then I rode into Cedar Falls to end up at Kitchen Essentials, which had just closed (yes Gretchen, it was me at 5:36 peering in the front door).

Dave has worried that I will run out of gas on my travels. My tank is 2.5 gallons. The dealer filled it up when I bought it and I hadn't added any since so I thought maybe I should put some gas in, as I had 50 miles on the odometer. Premium was $2.01 a gallon. I was a bit surprised when it overflowed a little bit, since I only had put in .92 gallons. My receipt said $1.87! I can get used to that! I'm having fun but I can't wait to have my riding partner home.

Carrie has entered the stage in her pregnancy where she thinks she can do much but really can't. Add in the fact that she is nesting more and more, her nursery isn't done, and she's working full time. Laura and I are going over tonight to help her get some cleaning done. Mike is busy working on the rooms upstairs that need to be done before the baby is born! Sounds like Dave will be home in time to help out too. Yay!

Counting Down!

Well, yesterday I got some Official - Unofficial news about Dave coming home! Iowa troops will be the first to leave Iraq with the first group leaving within the 1st 2 weeks of MAY! The 2nd group will leave sometime in the last 2 weeks of MAY, more than likely home by Memorial Weekend! The Unofficial part of the news is that this being the US Army...things can change at any time. When I get a phone call from Wisconsin in with an American area code, I'll believe it! hehe Our FRG is busy planning a homecoming for the guys so they can know how much they've been missed.

REBEL RIDING: I love my Rebel! It is so much easier to manage while I'm gaining some skills. I haven't ridden due to weather being cold and about 4" of snow on the ground here. My route was really getting boring just riding in our little neighborhood so I decided it was time to venture out into the world. In the car, I scouted a route that I'd been thinking of, which was a good thing because I found a couple of things I'd want to change. That afternoon I waited until Laura got home (my back up) and told her which roads I'd be on and then took off. SUCCESS! I drove at least 4-5 miles on that trip, although it was very very windy and I learned that wind can be scary. When I got home and parked my bike in the garage, I WooHooed! That was so much fun.

My next big ride was last week when I decided to go see my friend Julie. It is a very easy route but I had to cross busy Ansborough by University. I had a light, was first in line and very confident. When the light turned green, I started out and for some reason, the bike killed halfway through the intersection! Squelching the panic, my reliable Rebel fired back up and away I went, kinda wobbly but I made it through. Julie and Sara made me promise to call them when I made it back home. hehe

Lastnight, Carrie and I, Julie and Sara, had dinner at the Hong Kong together. Julie and I have tried for so long to arrange it but it took the girls to plan it and make us do it! We had a great time talking of babies (Julie has granddaughter Jordan) and 2 year olds. I guess that will be primary conversations from now on, "Look at my perfect grandchild!" followed by the 2" thick package of pictures!

Will it be Grandma, Grammy, Mimi, MeMaw, Gamma? I really don't care what he calls me, just as long as he loves me!

Does anyone know what's wrong with me?

I must be crazy.....The first day the temperature reached 50+ and I heard motorcycles, I got antsy. In February, I went to a motorcycle show with Dave & Elaine. It got me pumped up to ride again. I sat on quite a few bikes (including a Harley Sportster) but the one Dave H. showed me that really got me excited was the Honda Rebel. Cute and sassy, it's a great bike to learn on and get my skills and confidence built up for riding with Dave when he gets home. I have been looking online and in the paper but they are hard to find. After saving up a bunch of my paychecks, I bought a 2009 Honda Rebel, black of course!

Laura watched me take my first ride...not very far but I rode around the circle down the block. She came out with me the next day too. I rode a bit longer then. One time, I took off and went around the corner and saw Jim Olson walking Willow so I stopped to talk. By the time I finished my route and turned the corner back on Lovejoy, Laura was halfway down the block. She said I was gone too long and she was coming to get me! I thought that was pretty sweet, she was worried about me.

I still have the Harley, which now has bags and a windshield. Dave is going to ride that until I decide how I feel about riding myself. So far, it's a real rush!!

Other than that, I've been very busy with work, working extra days. Busy with FRG - Family Readiness Group, our support system for families with deployed soldiers. Busy trying to relearn how to piece and quilt. I've got a baby quilt to make!! Busy with Thelma's house going on the market. All of that plus the regular day to day stuff.

Carrie's shower is coming up in April, and before that happens, she wants the nursery to be all done....ACK!!

Laura graduates May 15th with her Animal Science degree and is actively searching for employment, hopefully in that area. She didn't want to work with pigs though...I wonder why?

Last but not least, we are preparing for Dave's return. He is in Tallil now and has a job he enjoys much more than his other job. We still don't have a definite date for their return but when we do, I'll be shouting from the rooftop!

I leave you with a few pictures....

Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do....

Last week is a blur! I worked 2 extra days, did a month's worth of paperwork, errands, groceries, and bought a car. Hmmmmm...that part was really fun and a learning experience. This is the 4th car I've bought by myself when Dave has been gone. This time, I got some sage advice from my brother Dave and a few articles about what NOT to do when buying a used car.

So here she is....Lucy, our new used 2006 Buick Lucerne CXL!

It's a bit dirty but that's because we have such wonderful weather and melting.







This picture is one Dave sent me. A friend of Perry's gave Dave a UNI flag and wanted some pics of the guys with it. Dave is wearing his spiffy new flight suit. Double click on the picture to see it bigger.

I'm Back!

And I'm going to be a grandma of a baby boy!! I'm sure the majority of you have heard that Carrie's expecting, is due June 20, and today, she is 5 months along. She's just delightful as a pregnant woman. After the ultrasound last week, finding out baby is a boy, I think Mikey is getting excited about the baby. I'm so proud of those two.

Dave and I are counting time until he comes home. He should be back in the US by the end of May but not home 'til mid-June. He did have a nice 15 day leave over Thanksgiving. One week after he left for Iraq, him mother passed away so he came back on emergency leave. He says it was his mom's way of getting him back home for Christmas. Now, he wants to come home and I want him home. Just a few more months now.

Laura is in her final semester at Hawkeye and will graduate in May with an Animal Sciences degree. She hopes to get into grooming but will start out with anything animal related until that happens. She and Maggie are here so I'm not alone. That's a good thing.

I just got back Tuesday from Minneapolis where I went with Gretchen to the Minneapolis Mart, a market for retailers and lots of very cool stuff. There's some really awful stuff too but we ignore that stuff. It's fun to help pick new things out for the store. It's a bit different at this economic time although we believe the kitchen biz will be just fine.

I'm not getting much of the stuff done that I had planned at the beginning of this deployment. Some things got in the way. Hopefully, it will got much better and I will have something to surprise Dave with when he gets home, as if a grandbaby isn't enough!