Taking a new path....

That's right, to get to our garage you can now take a new path. My summer project has been working on this path to the garage. The grass doesn't always grow too well, and I was able to create a planter along the side. It is a path of river rock, and then the planter has some hosta and woodchips. I like to work outside so this was my little project. It is not finished, I am waiting for perennials to go on sale, or someone to offer me some for FREE! I could have choose to fix the one garage door or the railings on our deck, but of course I did this project. (the top picture is looking towards our driveway and house, the second picture is from the house looking towards the garage and backyard)

Is it hot where you are? My computer is reading 91 degrees, unsure what the heat index is. It is a scorcher and humid. We finally decided to turn our air conditioning on, mostly for the dogs. I currently have a sore throat, me and the AC does not mix too well, considering I am in the heat for most of the day. The AC does feel nice, but my throat is screaming for relief.

Josh is still busy with sports camps and umpiring. I am busy working and keeping the yard all in tip top shape, we have lots of branches fall. We need to have a fire soon, so lets get together and have some s'mores. Notice how I did not say keeping the house in tip top shape, I would rather mow the lawn than wash the dishes or do the laundry.

Tailgating in July!

I really need to write more often then I wouldn't have posts that turn into novels. Our 4th of July activites started out on the right foot. We headed up to the Cedar Rapids Kernals baseball park for the slow pitch flood relief softball game. It was a celebrity event, however I do not watch channel 2 or Fox news, so the "celebrities" were just people to me. We met with Laura and Joe and got some beers and ballpark goodies, but learned to find out that only 10% of the concessions were benefitting flood relief. There was a band called the "Large Midgets" who played a bunch of cover songs. Then it was time for the game, Josh was the umpire, but really it was all more for show, he just played the part, he even pretended to throw someone out, but he let them back into the game. I don't know where that is alllowed. The game ended in a tie, so that lead to a chicken dance off, which then also ended in a tie, everybody wins!

After the game we had made some plans, we were all going to meet up with our friends Jen and Chris. However they were at Kirkwood watching fireworks, and traffic was not so great. The traffic leaving the Kernels stadium was horrible, Laura and Joe were not moving so they decided they would be going home. We however were still on our way to meet our friends some where on the south side for some supper. They had not yet eaten.

We pulled into the Ruby Tuesday's parking lot, it was just after 10pm. We asked how leniant they were about their 11 pm closing, and at the time it seemed as if it would be ok. We ordered some beers and waited. Then the waiter came back and we put in our order as it was approaching 10:30. I just got the salad bar and Josh got a burger and the salad bar. Chris and Jen were still stuck in traffic. We then went to the salad bar, and Josh's burger comes out of nowhere. Then all the sudden I hear them taking up the tongs for the salad bar. I run over there and get another plate of green peppers, cucmbers, grapes and croutons, I am weird. Then the manager comes to our table, he is all in a apologetic mood. He says that he will take 10 bucks off our meal becuase they were taking the salad bar up to quick, he also says that if we need to anything to contact him and tells us his name. The waiter on the other hand was not having it, our friends were still stuck so we ordered their food. It came quickly, so we called them again to see where they were, still stuck. We told the grumpy waiter to box up the food. Finally it was just at 11 and Chris and Jen pulled in, the manager was no where to be found, and the grumpy waiter would not let them in the door. So we ate the last of our food, downed the last of our beer and grabbed the boxed supper. I had to ask for napkins and a to go cup of water. So we ran out of the restuarnt and proceeded to the next party.

Time to tailgate! We met Chris and Jen at the cars, where they were seated with beverages in hand. They come prepared. So we pulled out our chairs and decided this is where the party was at. We had more fun chatting and hanging out in the parking lot than we would have had in the restuarant. We were free to do what we wanted. The weather was great, almost too cold for the summer, definetly too cold for the 4th of July.

It is something to work on the 4th of July, but wouldn't you try to get out of working it you are going to have an attitude about it? For all our waiter knew we could have left $20 as a tip. However he chose to be all grumpy and still serve us. I guess we will never go there again. Another thing, there is never anywhere to eat in Cedar Rapids. We will go to baseball and hockey games during the week and the restuarants always close at 10 pm. Our schedules don't allow us to eat before the games and event food never qualifies as supper. I guess we were spolied by restuarants that stay open until midnight.

Oh well, hope you all had great holidays and are enjoying the 3 day weekend. One good thing about it all, we didn't come home to find the cops on our doorstep.

All Bark and No Bite

Josh picked me up from the gym last night, and we traveled across town to make it to the concert. As we approached the area we noticed people walking away with their chairs. We missed the concert. One would think that a rock band would put out a decent concert, but it was over by 9:20. So we were thirsty and headed back to Iowa City for a cold one. We went to Sam's Pizza and had some Bud Light Limes.

We got home at about 10:30-45ish and turned on the tv to find Animal House on, so we proceeded to watch that. I was sitting in the chair which faces to the outside window. All the sudden a bright spot light was shining into the window. I thought oh crap, a car is headed for our front window. The light shut off and it was a police car. I yelled to Josh "There is a police car outside" So We both got up and went to the front door, and to our surprise the cop was walking to our front door.

The cop says there has been a complaint of a dog barking. We were like uh, WHAT??? Then asked what time this complaint was called in. He estimated it was about an hour ago. We said we had just let the dogs out to go to the bathroom. Halen our older dog never barks, but Kona is a good watch dog and will bark if she hears a noise, last night she barked to tell us to let her in the house, maybe 2 barks. The cop continues saying that this is not a priority call and that is why it took so long to get to our house, he said it with a smirk on his face, like this is a joke. At the time the cop showed up Kona was in her kennel for the evening and Halen was asleep on her blanket in the bedroom. We could have easily said we did not have dogs. Serioulsy a busy holiday weekend and someone has to call us in. I really hope no one was driving drunk, on fire from a sparkler, or in dire need of the police.

So in the morning I called Jolene our neighbor, and asked her about this. She said Kona was barking at maybe 10ish when we were not gone. Keep in mind she barks at a noise, it is the 4th of July lots of fireworks in the area. She could have heard a noise and just barked for a while. We also discussed who possibly could have made this complaint. Most of the neighbors either have or had had a dog. There is one single man who lives behind us, we all believe it was him. The next time he revs his motorcycle I think I will call him in, the police have nothing better to do.

Anyway...HAPPY 4th of JULY! Josh and I went out to the Coralville parade this morning. It was a long one, lots of great entries, and even though we were at the end of the parade route and surrounded by kids we managed to get a little pot of candy. Then we met up with Kara and Ava for lunch, but had a hard time finding a place open. We ended up dining at Panchero's downtown. That Ava is getting older by the minute.

Otherwise Josh and I have been lounging aroud all day, enjoying a day off. We are headed to Cedar Rapids this evening. There is a slow pitch flood reflief softball game at the Kernals Stadium. Josh is going to umpire and we are going to meet up with Laura and Joe. There will also be live music, food, and fireworks. Should be a good time.

Well this post is plenty long, so I wish you a safe and happy holiday, will catch you tomorrow!

Independence Day Eve

I write from the gym. Where I have just been delivered my supper by the best husband in the world. Also I was hoping to get out of here early as Josh and I are trying to make it to the free Guess Who concert in Coralville. However someone did call and ask if we were closing early due to the holiday, I said no. So sounds like someone is coming to work out late. Which leads me to my pet peeve. There is this one lady who waits until 8:20-8:30 to come work out, the gym closes at 9. Even the gym owner commented on how she makes it a point to wait until 8:30 to come work out until close. The problem is, especially in the summer, there is no one else here, there might be 2 people here after 6:30. AHHHH why can't she come earlier, I have things to do. Or maybe I should quit working here, becuase she is open until 9. Also for some reason there are more people here than normal, maybe it is b/c she is closed tomorrow, or do they secretly know I wanted to go to a concert that started at 8? Isn't a blog the place to complain and whine?

I just found out that there was another plane crash in Iowa City. I just caught the tail end of the details, but something about it catching on fire and the people would be lucky to be alive. It happened in the area behind the old Menards, which is where the runway is. I also just saw a blurb that the man who played Bozo the clown died, he was 83 years old. That Bozo had quite the show. Not the best of news, so all of you stay safe and don't play with fireworks! Have a happy 4th of July.

Fountain Pop

While I enjoy a fountain pop from time to time, either a Dr. Pepper or Mr. Pibb will do. I think I encountered fountain pop's #1 fan. I just went to Casey's to get my delicious Dr. Pepper, when I noticed the refill cup in the hands of the guy behind me. He had a 64 oz thermal refill cup, it was gigantic! I commented to him and he said "I wish I would have purchased the 100 oz cup." He went on to say that his beverages last about 2 days and stay cold. I also noticed that he was a Diet Pepsi drinker, maybe that is part of their culture. I am surround by the Diet Coke culture and am familar with thier behavior. Usually a Diet Coke never sits around for that long, all the D. Coke drinkers I know can consume the pop/soda in 4.5 minutes, give or take 3 seconds.

Today is HOT! I should be drinking water to keep hydrated, oh well!

SHOES!

I am now going to start keeping my shoes in the gutters outside the house. The dog just chewed my second pair of new flip flops for the season, she chews the straps completly. They were on top of the washing machine. This dog is expensive. So I will take donations for a new pair of shoes. OK just kidding...but seriously where will this dog not be able to reach my shoes!!

Also Josh has 2 pairs of the same style of shoe which she has not touched. My feet must be so delicious smelling.

Funny how one minute the dog is doing something funny and the next she is doing something bad.

Happy July!

Hope you are all enjoying the first day of July. It is quite warm here in Iowa, in the 80's, but it is not raining. The forcast for the 4th of July holiday sounds good for us as well, sunny and 70's. We are not sure what we are doing for the holiday, as the saying goes "do I have to know right now?"

Our puppy is crazy! While many people have kid stories, we have dog stories. Last night while cooking supper Kona started barking at something in the kitchen. We have a pizazz pizza cooker, however we use it to cook our french fries (that way we don't have to use the oven) well last night we were having some Ore Idas with our meal. The machine spins a tray while cooking the food. Apparently Kona didn't like this and got mad and started barking repeatedly at the thing. I then picked her up so she could come face to face with the machine, she sniffed it out (almost stealing a hot fry) and that was that. I guess she just wanted to meet the pizzaz. She is smart and knows when there is a foreign noise in the house. This is our second pizazz, we had just received it from our neighbor Jolene. Our first one had bit the dust, so this was the first time Kona has seen this in use.