A week of change.

Sometimes, it seems like things hit you all at once.

My old trusty Geo died this week. Actually, died might be a strong word for it-it started choking at intersections and after you’d come to a complete stop. The verdict was that we’d need to replace the whole exhaust system. Add this to the fact that the tires were on their last legs, and we decided rather than pour money into a 16 year-old car, maybe it was time to upgrade.

So here’s my new ride:

Then, on Thursday, our cat, Puppy, took a turn for the worst and we had to put her to sleep. She was old, so it wasn’t a total surprise. But still, it’s not much fun to say goodbye to a pet. Here she was, a couple of years ago when I had to bandage a cut on her foot.

Hopefully we’ve had enough change for a while, and things will settle down.

Please, Donate Blood.

Because I can’t any more. I’ve tried three times in the last couple of weeks, and every time my pulse has been too high. This is upsetting to me-donating blood was something I really think is important and felt good about doing.

Blood is in especially high demand right now because of flooding in the midwest.

I promise-it’s a relatively painless procedure and you’ll feel great about yourself when you do it! What are you waiting for?

My new favorite blog.

I love this blog….

The Pioneer Woman.

I love the food porn-no one does an online recipe like the PW.  Seriously. Go look. Right now.

I also love her photography blog. It’s clear, concise, and I’m picking up a lot of neat tricks to try in Photoshop Elements.

By the way, I will be writing a post soon on my thoughts on my journey with ECT very soon. I’m not finished with the treatments yet, but have had some peaks and some valley since I started that I’d like to touch on.

Wind Turbines.

I should go take better photos than these, but I was driving by and didn’t have my fancy camera, so phone snaps will have to do for now.

Here’s a photo of a wind turbine I saw this weekend at the powwow. I thought the juxtaposition of the modern and the old was really interesting.

Here’s a Wikipedia article on wind farms. Here’s one on wind turbines. I’m a big fan of wind energy, partly because there are no losers in the whole process and being from Kansas, I’m pleased any time farmers find a way to make their farms make money, even if it’s a non-traditional money-maker.

They’re storing pieces to several wind turbines at a vacant lot just outside of town. Every time I see a section of one of these suckers, I’m floored at how big they seem. Here’s a photo that shows the parts to a stem of a turbine-the red circle denotes where a couple of men were working to give you an idea of size.

You’ll notice-there’s a lot of water in this photo. We’ve had a lot of flooding here recently, and this is an area that often floods.

Here’s a photo of the blades.

It’s Powwow time again.

Once again this year,  we traveled to a wind-swept patch of prairie outside LeRoy, Illinois, for the Grand Village of Kickapoo Powwow. As usual, it was thought-provoking and very entertaining.

Some photos…this was by far the cutest sight of the day. I’m assuming this was a father dancing with his two little girls. I wish I’d gotten a better shot. I also think this might be the man I took photos of that I posted last year.

Another one of him dancing alone…

These are photos of the head man dancer.

It was a beautiful day, and I can’t recommend pow wows highly enough as a relaxing way to spend a day honoring the true pioneers.

Ted Drewes.

Sean grew up in St. Louis, and Ted Drewes was something he grew up with. I discovered it some time later after we started dating. And good thing, too, because it’s just the best frozen treat ever.

We visited on a recent trip to The Lou, and the excitement was such that I was unable to take a straight photo…

I always get the hot fudge sundae. It’s the perfect topping to set off the super-smooth texture of the frozen custard.

We’re just going to pretend that it was diet friendly, okay?

Not-so perfect day for baseball.

Sean and I decided to take in another St. Louis Cardinals game, and this is just the beginning of what we got:

Notice the looming storm clouds? Yep, it rained. A LOT.

We were fortunate enough to be sitting under an overhang, though, so we didn’t get too wet. The game was just as awful as the weather, though, as the Cards got trounced 14 to 4, with 9 of those points coming in the first three innings. So the game was pretty much hopeless from the get-go.

We also were fortunate enough to take in Eddie Izzard live on Friday night. He’s incredibly funny-catch him live sometime if you get a chance.