Well, this is rather scary...

Stormy being a "devil cat"...haha...caught her yawning and she ALWAYS closes her eyes. I can NEVER get her to keep her little green eyes open when I take her picture.

Mike is learning to play my flute :). Oh the funny things I do to him :). One day at the vet, the vet tech was looking at him and called him a FEMALE! Shall I say that he was VERY insulted. He's the smallest out of the three--even smaller than Stormy! No wonder she called him a female :). HAHA.

Ike is in dad's shoe box. This is his "dreamy eyes" look he gets before he starts to massage us (somehow he doesn't massage grandpa (dad)--no clue why). oh and he drools BIG time by the way...he's been traumatized by not getting enough milk from his mommy I guess.

Finally, my pic of me in the Hanbok. Thanks to Korean Presbyterian Church this summer for allowing me to try it on and getting a picture in it.
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So I FINALLY managed to log on here and crash the blog. I looked back and have figured out that it's been almost a YEAR since I've been on here! Now what in the world is wrong with me??? Hmm..must be too busy with my Neopets, Facebook accounts and playing the apps on Facebook. *sighs* Well, I'll have to get back into the habit of getting on here and crashing the blog.

Enough said about that. I've been BUSY since I've last written. *sighs* Can life EVER be NOT busy??? I would just LOVE to have one week where it was STRESS free and massages, massages, massages! Oh wait, I still have a gift certificate to get one...*writes note to self to schedule the massage* Well, where should I start about my updates? I guess with work and college--bleh.

Well, I'm STILL at the HORRIBLE regional center. This youth are DRIVING me INSANE!!! It's a mirace that I don't come home every day and wind up on 7th floor at Mary Lanning (psychiatric ward). The little things they do to push my buttons and manipulation that takes place is ENOUGH to drive ANYONE crazy! Oh and talking about my job--it's HORRIBLE! If I start going on about it, you won't hear the end of it. So let's just say that management is horrible and that the rules and guidelines that are established are NEVER followed--especially by upper management (unit managers). It's horrible! I'm currently looking for another job and hoping that something will come along soon!

I had a job interview Thursday (17th) in Omaha at DHHS. I was interviewing for the 3-midnight position of a hotline intake person. I would answer the phones about possible cases of abuse and neglect. I would work Tuesday through Saturday. Do I think I got the job? NO. Do I KNOW I ddin't get the job? Yes. Gut instincts are ALWAYS right. Plus on top of that, I either don't get interviewed or if I do, I don't get the job. So why should I think that I will get this one? I know that I didn't. I wish I did though. I see that it was posted on DHHS JobMart Thursday for the same postion I interviewed for. So that clued me in that I didn't get it. Oh and the worse part of the interview was that I had to take a Watson-Glaser test seeing how my deductive reasoning skills are along with critical thinking and other crap. I took over 2 hours to complete it and everyone else around me was done before one and one-half hours. I HATE tests! But the writing portion I did VERY well on. Sorry, but I'm just good at writing :). I'll keep everyone posted--but it'll be two weeks before I know if I got the job for sure (which I didn't). It would be in Omaha at Project Harmony if I got it. Anyone know where that is in north Omaha????

School--well, I tried grad school and hated it. I hated UNK. I know I said I loved it at first, but I quickly learned to hate it. Once again, I did not fit in there and didn't feel like it was a good fit for me. I did not get accepted into the counseling program--which was the best for me. I went back to Doane College in Grand Island and am finishing my second bachelors degree. I WAS supposed to graduate this month, but I had an extension on senior seminar, so now I won't be finished until January. But it's all good. However, I had a fall out with my teacher this term and I was pissed. Sad thing is that she said that I'm getting a B in the class because one of my absences was unexcused for her, but yet she said that if we notified her prior to class that night, we would be excused. That is what she said the first night of class. Well, I e-mailed her and told her I wasn't going to be in class for the reasons I gave her and she said it was unexcused. Needless to say, she didn't get the best evaluation from me. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. She could have done better.

Senior seminar is progressing nicely. After being VERY shy about writing an autobiography about myself, I did do it. Jennifer said she wouldn't put it in my notebook. So hopefully she'll remember that. I'm just really shy about telling strangers stuff about me I guess. But my senior seminar topic is on Adult Korean Adoptees and their experiences growing up in the United States. I sent out a questionnaire and had some responses. Now I need to compile those so I can start working on them. I have to meet with my stats teacher tomorrow to help me figure out the statistics. What the goal of this project is to put together a resource for parents who are contemplating adoption, especially children from Korea and giving them an overview of some experiences of adult adoptees. I'm also doing my other research on what's out there already and how I can fix this problem. Fixing the problem is what we called it, however, it's not exactly right in my case. But it's progressing nicely and I will meet with my adviser one more time. Otherwise, I've only met with her 2 times. Usually I depend on LOTS of help to get this stuff done, but so far it's working nicely in my favor :).

I started sponsoring a child from Korea also through Holt. She's 14-years-old and lives at the Il San Center. I just wrote her a letter and am going to send her a picture of me in a hanbok. Oh yeah! That reminds me, I got to try on a Hanbok at the Holt Family Picnic this summer. I'll upload it on here. Anyway, I'll send out her letter tomorrow and I hope she will respond. I told her that I was adopted from Korea and that I would like to continue to learn about the culture. So we'll see! But other than that, I've only received one report on her. But I will get 3 a year. So it's all good :).

Well, I don't know what else there is to put up here. I think you all know about me searching for my birth mother and her being found, but she doesn't want anything to do with me. So yeah. If you don't know about it, let me know. I can tell you the story, but I think you all know. Sorry I don't remember. Been over a year since the search was completed.

Well, I better get running and compiling my questionnaire responses. So I will talk to you all later! I'll see if next time it's not almost a year before I crash the blog again. I might even upload some cat photos on here :). I LOVE my kitties!

Happy Snow Day from Nancy

We're home today, hunkered down from the snow and glad that we have jobs that don't require us to go out in this weather. Hope everyone is staying safe and warm.


I have enjoyed the stories on our blog--the trip to Florida is quite a contrast to today's landscape and Aunt Marge's trip was a nice summary of Saunders County. Niki's cooking post reminds me of Julia Child's book that I read recently. Nice job, everyone!!


I haven't posted for awhile, so here goes..............


Connie and Tim introduced us to the Duncan Ribfest and it's always fun. This year was especially so since Tom was a vendor; all the Bulls thought his ribs were the best, of course.

This was taken at a wedding reception in July.







Heather sent some pictures in the fall and I told her I'd post them for her.
Don't the Talbott's make a nice young family?

Grandchildren are grand!!

Tucker likes to read and was generous with his first birthday cake.

I went with mom and dad to OK City in June. Theresa was her typical Chamber of Commerce host and we saw the Lion King, rode the boat through downtown and got to visit Matthew.

Debbie and I did the Lincoln Marathon again this year and once again, she beat me, even with a hurt foot. I was in better shape this year, but still can't keep up with her. After doing a half, I'm especially impressed with Niki's full races. You go, girl!

I've written about the Meyer Ladies' Day Out in the past; this year we went to Art Chicks, a cafe in Louisville. Women come to dress in classy ?!? clothes, eat a ladies lunch and dance to 60's music. Great fun!

Stan and I got to go to the K State FB game and met some friends before the game. One of the group is not a Nebraska native. Can you find her?

I often get teased about tilting my head in pictures. Can you find the one who has the most fun with my quirk?

Suh being introduced.

The big screen is impressive.

At the ESU Christmas party, we played Christmas Trivia against the Board. We're laughing because we're getting beat so badly.

I got to have a meeting at the Durham Museum in November and was lucky enough to be there when the tree was being decorated. I appreciate how the museum has preserved the train station's past with the statues of people as if they're there to travel. Being there reminded me of the time we went to meet Grandpa and Grandma Bull. It seemed that we were there late at night and I remember badgering mom and dad to let us buy a Mad magazine. Does anyone else have that memory?

At the ESU Christmas party, some employees decorated tables for the meal and others with less creativity and nice dishes brought desserts. I made a chocolate trifle :)

The Geneva Chamber has a festival of tables and this is a friend and her sister's. The theme was Favorite Things and this one was Godiva at the Ritz. Lovely, lovely....

This is a friend and her daughter (a classmate of Alex's) who did Shoe Love is True Love.

Since I've started writing this, it's snowed several more inches and Stan's gotten the call that there's no school again tomorrow. Stay warm and safe everyone!! Love, Nancy

The everyday (from Niki)

Every time I read Aunt Marge's story below, I find it more interesting, more heartwarming, and more special. Dad and I were talking about it at lunch last week, and we decided it's pretty much impossible to follow-up with anything nearly that big. So, I'm swinging the opposite direction. To the simple. The mundane. The everyday.

I've been into food research and cooking the last couple years, especially finding ways of incorporating organic, natural, and start-from-scratch eating wherever I can. One of the things I really wanted for my birthday was a pasta maker. I figured it always looks so fun and easy on Iron Chef so how hard could it be?

Well, I managed to make a colossal mess and practically ruined the stove top, but it was dang good. Matt and I both agreed it was waaaay better than the store stuff. Granted it took me an hour and a half, but I’ll get faster and cleaner (hopefully) over time. It’s totally worth it though and we’ll never eat regular pasta again. Here’s the play by play:

Step one- Make a well in the flour and add eggs. Just like on TV!

Step 2- Mix, knead, and cover your entire counter top with flour. (So much so that you show up to work the next morning with white stuff all over your brown pants from the edges of the counter you missed cleaning).

Step 3- Roll out dough. Also known as the Most! Fun! Thing! Ever! Seriously, it’s like play-dough for grown-ups.



Step 4- Make sauce. The goal next summer is to grow all these ingredients fresh or get them from the farmer's market.

Step 4a- Saute onions and garlic in olive oil.


Step 4b- Add tomato puree, parsley, and other spices.


Step 5- Boil pasta. I have no pictures of this because, FYI, fresh pasta really expands and water was boiling everywhere - all over the stove, rolling onto the floor, and making a giant smelly, steamy mess.

Step 6- Arrange awesome birthday flowers and balloon from my mom, dad, and sister as the centerpiece of the table.

Step 7- Plate, garnish, accessorize and enjoy!
Now that I have the basic concept down, I plan to experiment with whole wheat, the spaghetti setting, and (dun dun duuuuun), ravioli.

So that's a glimpse into my everyday. I know everyone has a random everyday story they should share. It doesn't have to be picture-filled or particularly earth shattering, but I promise it'll make a great blog post. Who's next? :o)
Niki

A Journey into the Past - Aunt Marge

Forty-five years ago I was a happy farm wife with a part-time dream job..."Society Editor" for the Wahoo newspaper. My job was to make any necessary corrections in spelling or grammar in the news items sent in from 'reporters' (local women) in each town in Saunders County. Then I chose a 'lead story' from those items and wrote a headline for each column.
But circumstances decreed that I must leave my dream job and go into the business world at Western Electric Co. And I told myself that some day I would visit each of those communities that I had come to feel such a part of. Well, the years went by and I didn't do the visits, but one day I mentioned to son John what I had always wanted to do. And John said, "we will do that! The time came Sunday, October 25th. We had hoped for a bright sunny day, but it was dark and chilly. 'Oh well...it's going to be interesting anyway." And it was. I am including population numbers from a Year 2000 road map which, of course, is 9 years old...but that gives you an idea of the size of each town.

We left at 1pm via the interestate to the Mahoney State Park exit and took the back road to Ashland, (pop. 2262). Went west from Ashland to Ceresco (pop. 920), and from Ceresco west to Valparaiso (pop. 563).

North to Touhy (no pop. lisited!). John took the picture of the tavern and told me that he would say he had to drag Mom out of the tavern so that she could admire the big beautiful Catholic church that overlooks the tiny town.

From there we went north to Highway 92, and on into Butler County until we came to a sign that pointed north to Bruno and Abie. We took a gravel road to Bruno (pop. 112) and Abie (pop. 108).We backtracked 5 miles, then went 7 miles east to Prague (pop. 346). From there we went north to Morse Bluff (pop. 134). Then east on a gravel road parallel to the river to Cedar Bluffs (pop. 615).

Now we turned south, to Colon (pop. 138).

We continued south and turned west on gravel to Malmo (pop. 109). We continued south to Highway 92 and headed east to Wahoo, the County seat.

But before we reached Wahoo, we came to the Starlite Ballroom. Boy! something was going on here! Hundreds of cars crowded the grounds with license plates from as far away as New York...honest! And from California and Texas, etc., etc. The signs on the Ballroom told us it was hosting the Big Joe's TV Polka Fest.

We continued on our way, coming to Wahoo (pop. 3,942). John said he was going to take my picture in front of the Wahoo Newspaper office...and here it is. I said I would treat him to a bite at the Wigwam Cafe, but, alas, it was closed. So we settled for the Dairy Queen and we refreshed ourselves (John's treat) for a last leg of our journey.

Now we were in home territory and reached Yutan (pop. 1,216). But look! someone has updated the population sign which now reads 1,218. 
We went north from Yutan to Leshara (111) and turned east. We crossed the Platte River and we were in Douglas County, almost home.

No, the sun didn't shine, but the open road for my chauffeur and guide made it a happy day for me.

NOTE from Sue...I've been struggling with this all afternoon, and the pictures just don't seem to want to land where I want to put them!! So, enjoy the story...You all know the sequence the pictures should be in anyway!.... Be sure to click on the picture of Marge standing near the newspaper stand to see the reflection of the fellow in the window!