Happy Birthday, DAD!!!

Celebrating Dad's birthday in Cedar Rapids at Aunt Linda's.

Mom, Aunt Linda and Uncle Dave had horrible Sinus colds. We had a wonderful Shrimp lunch at Red Lobster, and celebrated with Carrot Cake, Apple Pie and cupcakes from Kathy's Bakery in CR. It was all delicious, but so much! After the celebration, we rolled ourselves back to Des Moines since it was a Sunday.

Weston Trick or Treating in Altoona!

He was a really great Knight and kept the kingdom safe!

1st Place!!!

Not the best picture since it's a cell phone and my snakes are crazy, but you get the idea.


Yea!!! First Place, again. 3 out of 5 years! If I had been here on the 3rd year, I bet I would have won then too. Maybe.

Anyway, I got an awesome travel mug, a $10 Target gift card and bragging rights for another year. I am thinking of taking it easy next year... yeah right. :)


Happy Halloween!!! More pictures to follow soon.

Halloween is this Sunday. I am dressing as Medusa for work tomorrow. I am quite excited about it. I hope it works as I intended. I have super-glued my hands together more times than I can count. But I want to win. This is my 5th Halloween at Onthank, and I've won 2 so far, lost the 2nd year, and missed the 3rd year (and Weston's first) when my father-in-law passed away. I have a reputation to uphold. So far I know that my competition is a nurse, Al from Toy Story 2, and Trinity from the Matrix. I think I can easily beat them. It's the unknowns that I worry about. Tonight I need to finish my Toga, paint my nails Green and figure out my shoes. It's a high of 48 degrees tomorrow... so the shoes are the issue. Also... need to make the Famous Pineapple Spread (Dip) for the potluck. So much to do. Pictures to follow.

Hobbie the Hobby Hermit

Last night I made 1 Adult Cancer Bracelet, 2 children's Cancer Bracelets, these 2 Diamond Bead Bracelets (sorry that you can't see the amazing amount of Sparkle, hence our name for them), and 2 strands of a 3 strand Diamond Bead Necklace. In under 2 hours. I was on a roll... until my hands went numb. But it was worth it. I love the sparkle of the Diamond Beads, and I can't wait to see Jeramie, Zoey and Paisley's faces when they see their Cancer Bracelets. Planning on buying from a Wholesale Company and investing in the Cancer Bracelets as a way to raise money for Leukemia Research. Just call me Hobbie Hermit!

LIKES:

1. Making pretty things.

2. Tomorrow is Friday.

3. Picking up my Meds at Walgreens.

DISLIKES:

1. Flu Shot related stiffness in my arm.

2. Random Debilitating Exhaustion resulting in sleeping at one's desk.

Wendy's Big Score 2010

the color of hope

This weekend I made Cancer Awareness Bracelets.

Each bead represents a type of Cancer. Obviously there are some repeats.

Orange = Leukemia; Pink = Breast; Teal = Cervical & Ovarian; Yellow = Bladder & Bone; Dark Blue = Colon; Clear = Lung; Lime Green = Lymphoma; Black = Melanoma, and Lavender = General Cancer. I obviously couldn't represent every form of cancer. So I chose the ones that I know have a connection to the people around me. If I missed anyone, well, then it's Lavender for the misc. cancers and I am sorry. Also, I attached a Charm to each. Mine says "Believe." Mom's is "Love." Shannon's is "Hope." and Linda's is "Peace." Stores charge over $20 per bracelet. Are they giving the $10+ proceeds to charity? I hope so. If I decide to market these... My new brand will be called: MAD@Cancer (Mom's initials: Mary Anne Damon). Any interest?

Likes:

1. Having an impromptu Girls Night Saturday evening. Thanks Danell and Shannon!

2. The Amana Colonies in the Fall. I forgot to take any pictures, but it was a wonderful afternoon with the family yesterday.

3. My second to last class of Tai Chi is tonight!!!!

4. Cheesecake! My friend Adam brought me homemade cheesecake for my lunch!!!

Dislikes:

1. Weston's horrible sleeping patterns on Sundays. It does not make for a good week.

2. Lean Cuisine's Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach. It had too much spinach, not enough seasoning. And it is not a friend of my tummy.

3. Uncle Dave is in Germany... so not liking the high Terrorist Threats right now. :(

It's the Weekend!

This picture of Weston was taken at Spring Lake Park in Cherokee, Iowa, on September 11th. It was the Iowa/Iowa State Game and we were visiting Scott's Mom and Sister. Weston was bored in the apartment, so Aunt Carol and I took Weston to the park. And he was so cooperative while I played with my camera. I love this picture of him. He looks so calm.

Likes:

1. Today is Friday. And it's a Bye Week, so no Hawkeye Football this weekend, time to rest and be away from the tv.

2. HuHot tonight!!!! Goodbye cravings!

3. ValleyFest is tomorrow in West Des Moines. It is the premiere marching band competition in Central Iowa. And I'm a Band Geek!!!!

4. We're headed to Cedar Rapids Sunday to see Uncle David off to Europe for work. Then we're headed to the Amana Colonies with Mom and Aunt Linda for Octoberfest Fun!!!

5. I got my test results back from my diabetes appt and I am doing so well!!! My A1C (which is the fool-proof way to tell if I've behaved over the last 3 months) went down from 7 to 5.9!!! And the doctors are usually happy with a 6.5! Yea!!!

Dislikes:

1. Dad isn't feeling too well, plus work, so we won't see him this weekend.

2. Uncle David leaves for Europe. Always a little scary.

Not too many dislikes today. Just the way I like it!!!

... for the game at hand

New rule: If I have nothing to Post, I will post a previously un-blogged picture and my likes and dislikes for today. Because there is one thing I learned from Lowe's... For every problem, offer a solution. Basically work in harmony, for every negative give at least one positive. So... here goes:

This picture was shot on September 5th. We were in Clinton working on Mom and Dad's house, deciding what of our childhood we wanted to donate or keep. (Kept surprisingly little.)
It took tons of pictures before we figured out how to shoot Paisley so that her big, beautiful blue eyes were open. But it was so worth it. So... this is our niece and Weston's cousin, Paisley AnneMarie Damon, age 17 months.

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Likes:

1. Mom is doing so well that she and Aunt Linda spent yesterday shopping (!!!!) at the outlet mall in Williamsburg, and then they went to the Riverside Casino. They were gone almost all day! Just like "old times." (tear. happy tear.)

2. Chai Tea Frappucino with a shot of Sugar Free Vanilla from Starbucks. It makes me amazingly happy. And it tastes like frozen Thanksgiving.

3. Also, I like that it's Thursday and that means a night with Shannon!

Dislikes:

1. How no one really knows that October is Domestic Violence Prevention Month, but everyone focuses on Breast Cancer Awareness. Why can't we focus on both?

2. And Lab Vampires, aka Phlebotomists. Today, a Vampire drew 2 1/2 large tubes of blood from the little vein she found in my hand. It hurt then (she had to keep pushing it in further to keep the flow) and it still hurts like a b#?%"*h now.

Sorry...

For those of you following... I have been so bad lately. I had a really great post going about our Sept 19th trip to Adventureland, complete with pictures. One minute it was there, the next all I had were the pictures. :( So, it's been hard for me to jump back on the wagon.

So... for now, all is well. Mom is doing so great. She went shopping today at the Outlet Mall near Cedar Rapids, she spent a week with Dad in Kansas City, and they visited us in Des Moines last weekend. We're going to try and walk through the Amana Colonies on Sunday. For more on Mom, join her Carepages, it's like my 2nd Mom-centric blog.

For now, I need to get going, but I will come back and put up lots of pictures! ASAP.

Thanks for hanging in here with me.

Carrie Underwood Make-Up Tutorial by Kandee