Pics of Hannibal

We've been having a great time here in Hannibal; we headed downtown this evening and had a wonderful dinner on the "Mark Twain" riverboat. Here are some pics of our day:













We are here for one more day, then head for home. It's been nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of work, but all good things must come to an end eventually!!

Graduation pics and a bunny

Here are finally some pictures of Christopher's graduation ceremony. Here is the main stage; graduation ceremonies for the past few years are now held on MSU's campus in their Student Center:

This is my Uncle Fred; he chose to sit in an 'unoccupied' area:


This is right after they started to proceed in; Chris is in the 3rd row back; 2nd from the end (his girlfriend Crystal is right next to him in the gray robe; guys wore the blue and girls wore the gray)



Sydney showing me her Teddy Grahams:




The very end - if you look real close, you can see the caps that some threw into the air:


I was unable to get any pictures of him actually accepting his diploma, but I think Billy did so maybe I can get some of those on here eventually as well. On another note...yesterday I saw this cute bunny sitting on my front porch:


We have seen 2 in our backyard chasing each other; I think they live under our neighbor's shed.

Billy and I head up to Hannibal, MO tomorrow for a 3-day campus minister's conference; although it sounds boring to some, at least I will be away from work for a few days!!

Just another one of them phone calls...

Man: Yes, I would like information on how to obtain a license for public speaking?

Me: Um...a license for what?

Man: A license to be able to speak publicly.

Me: I don't believe you need a license to do that; just what are you wanting to do?

Man: Go down to the square and speak.

Me: Well....I guess as long as you don't disturb any businesses or break any ordinances, you should be okay.

Man: You see, I believe I have a solution to a problem and want to speak about it.

Me: I suggest you call City Hall and make sure there aren't any city ordinances that say you can't do that before you try.

Man: Okay, sounds like a good idea! Do you have the number??

And they say the full moon doesn't affect people!! Bah Humbug!!!

He Did It!!!

This is our son Christopher walking out from the Graduation ceremony last night; the girl in front waving is his friend Crystal. This was actually in our newspaper today. More pics to come later!!

Banquets and Graduation parties

The band had their annual banquet last Tuesday; here are some pictures:
Chris playing with the Jazz Band (he's in the green shirt on the 2nd row)

Our food for the evening was catered by Fuddrucker's:



I KNEW he was still alive!!
Getting awards for jazz band.
The seniors gave the band director a framed poster of SpongeBob...apparently his favorite character.

Then....we had a graduation party for Chris to CELEBRATE that he made it through 4 LONG years of High School!!!


A local store made the cake for us, but Ashley made her good sugar cookies and decorated them.

At first no one would eat them because they looked so nice! (but that didn't stop me!!)

Chris enjoying all the attention.......




...with his new "girl" friend Crystal! (I think he really likes her.)


Our Great Aunt Doris with Annabella


Here is Sydney with the son of one of my 2nd cousins....so that makes him Sydney's 4th cousin?? His name is Addison. (not sure why she made that face, but it had been a long day and no naptime!!)

A "Taken-By-Sydney" pictures....this is one of Crystal's shoes.


Before the party, we went to some garage sales of a nearby neighborhood; don't they look cute in their shades???

He received some really nice 'monetary gifts' which will help him until he can get a job (hopefully soon!). All in all it's been a great day, but I'm ready to call it a night!

One of my Mother's Day presents was a book from my hubby called "Red Green's Duct Tape Is Not Enough". We used to watch that show on PBS many years ago; not sure it's even still shown here. Anyways, there is a section in the book about when it's not a good time to laugh:

• When you're meeting your new boss.
• When the Judge asks if you'd been drinking.
• The first time you see your girlfriend in a bathing suit.
• When the auditor asks if you declared your full income.
• When someone you're hoping to inherit money from drops their teeth.
• When you've been threatened by a motorcycle gang.
• When someone you're married to stubs their toe.
• Anytime in church or anywhere that nobody else is laughing.

It's a fairly funny book and even mentions a movie he made called "Duct Tape Forever!". Guess I'll have to see if that's available anywhere.

I had to put a sign on the coffee maker today at work; apparently someone has been pushing the 'brew' button more than once, and it makes the pot overflow.....all over the counter...the floor...and it's happened twice in the past 2 days. I'm really thinking about putting a camera in that area just to catch 'whoever' is doing this, and at the same time catch whoever keeps making messes in the microwave, and leaving their dishes in the sink for someone else to clean.

I have felt very OLD this week with all that's been happening. Caffeine did not help me at all today, and at 9:30 p.m. I am already very SLEEPY. Stress is not my friend but it creeps up on me every once in a while and says "hey.....wanna hang out for a few weeks?". I think I will try to kick it and say 'get lost'. Yeah...I'll try that and see if it works.

What A Monday

Our son Christopher was involved in a car accident Monday morning. He is okay thankfully, but can't say the same about the car:


Yep...we only had ONE more payment to go and it was paid off. Now we get to settle up with the insurance companies. The other driver is okay as well. (she was driving an SUV and didn't receive quite as much damage.) However, the laptop we had bought Chris as a graduation gift that was in the car wasn't so lucky. My brain is tired.

Mother's Day

I've had a really nice Mother's Day weekend; Friday evening Billy & I met up with 8 other couples and our pastor & his wife for a short marriage retreat at a camp near Everton, MO. We had lots of laughs, some tears and got to know some of the other couples better. We returned about 2:00 on Saturday afternoon.

I then went to see a movie with my Mom and sister, and we met up with Billy at Zio's for dinner. Good food and good company! Danny's mom was also in town for just the day, so they went there as well.

Today we enjoyed a nice Mother's Day program at church (including a slideshow that my daughter Ashley put together!) then ate at Buckingham's for lunch. (I think it was one of the least busiest places in town) Went to visit my mother-in-law, then got in a nice LONG nap!! So I've had a very nice relaxing weekend!

This week begins some of the graduation banquets, one being the band banquet on Tuesday evening. Still hard to believe it's all coming to a close. Pray that Chris can find a job soon, the price of gas is KILLING us with 3 cars! (I think carpooling will be in order for this week!!)

Here is an Anita Renfro video they showed this morning for all the Mothers; enjoy!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM

Happy Mother's Day!!

Observations of my day...

I had the day off today due to Harry S Truman being born. Working for the State does have it's advantages at times!

After going to the doctor to confirm that I have a bunion on my left foot (yep...not ashamed to say I have a bunion....), I decided to head out and find some things I was needing. Here are just a few of my observations of the day.

1) Some employees at Michael's are NOT very helpful. I'm not saying they are all like that, just this one. I tend to not return to stores where I wasn't helped. (especially when I actually NEEDED it!)

2) The mall was quite busy today; ever had one of those 'automatic-flushing' toilets flush while you were still SITTING on it??? Yep...I have.

3) I did get to see my mom, eat at Chik-fil-A and taste a sample of their new chicken. I also got to see lots of people eat. I think it's funny to see how older married couples react to one another. (I mean OLD married couples...like for 50yrs or more!!) It surprised me just how many of those older couples eat at Taco Bell.

4) I DID get help at Payless Shoes, and it was nice!! (but ended up not buying anything)

5) I stopped at Wal-Mart to try and find a couple more things on my list. I only had 2 small items so I went through the 'self checkout'. As I was checking out, I looked behind me and a lady with a CART-FULL of stuff was placing stuff on the belt. I think they should have a 10-item limit for those things.

6) I was still looking for one item (a cookie cutter in the shape of either a graduation hat or rolled-up diploma) and had heard that maybe "Julie's Chewies" might have them. I have never been there before. They didn't have the cutter I wanted. I did want a cookie though so I bought a cinnamon one. (they were out of the macadamian nut and snickerdoodle) It was good.

7) On the way home I stopped at a Vacuum repair place to see about replacing my extension wand that had broke. I had never been there before, even though the shop had been there for over 30yrs. (it was called "Fred's Vacuum Cleaner Hospital") It was VERY warm inside and somewhat dark. I would have never seen the lady sitting behind the counter if she hadn't spoke to me first. After I showed her my broken vacuum wand, she called a young man to come out and see what he could find. He walked out the front door. I thought 'where is he going?'. The lady told me sit if I wanted to because it could be a while. So as I was sitting there with my back to the counter, I looked around me. There were vacuums of all kinds, and accessories to go along. Then I looked at the floor. It looked as if it hadn't been vacuumed in over a year. (say WHAT???) The young man came back with a wand that belonged to another brand of vacuum, but thought it would work. He compared it to mine (which he hadn't thought of taking with him...wherever he went..) and decided it wouldn't work. So he looked in a box of parts (that was IN the same room) and found one that might work better. It did, and I do like it better than the old one. Once I left I noticed that there was a 'workshop' next to the main building. So I guess that is where they keep all the spare parts.

6) I went home to change and then headed back out to pick up our 2 international students for a 'store-run'. Yep...once again I headed to Wal-Mart.

I noticed that people who buy alcohol don't seem too happy. It was CRAZY there for a Thursday evening. I wondered if there was a snowstorm forecasted or something. As I was standing in the frozen food aisle watching the cart of one of the students, I had a total stranger come up to me and tell me I was a very patient person. I don't know if he said that because all I do most of the time when I take the students is follow them around and give advice on which cereal tastes the best. (well..not really) OR...did he think that was my cart and I was patiently waiting on the 50 OTHER people in the same aisle to get out of the way so I could get through!!

I did end up with a couple of items to purchase, so once again I went to the 'self-checkout' line. The lady in front of me was dressed quite nicely, and was buying some sort of fruit drinks and some of those "grandma's" cookies. She paid for the fruit drinks, then scanned the cookies. She paid for these with one of those "EBT" cards. It wouldn't go through the first time, so she tried it again. (I think it was because she couldn't get her long polished fingernails to hit the right numbers) Now don't read this the wrong way; because I've always wondered why people have those 'accounts' and buy stuff like Grandma's cookies no matter HOW they are dressed, etc. That's all I'm gonna say.

Once we got out of that mess (over an hour later), I went to the BSU for "senior mugging" night. It was fun. I've had a very FULL day. Now it's back to work tomorrow for one day before the weekend. YAHOO!