Off to KY

We are off to Kentucky, we will return in a couple of days.

We hope that you enjoy the rest of the holiday season.

Christmas thoughts

Christmas was hectic, as usual, but full of cheer. I didn’t time things very well this year, as we had to leave Grandma’s before everyone even got there. However, we received many, many nice gifts and spent quality time with the fam (even though it was brief).

The best news is that when we got home from our travels, our house was still in order. No doggy “punishment” for being gone all day and not feeding them on time. We are so proud of our brood! A big "thank you" to Grammy Judy for the "peace offerings". Bella and Ginsy are enjoying them as I type this.

The day after tomorrow, we are headed to Kentucky for the 4th round of X-mas. The kids are staying home with a sitter (thank you Uncle Ron!). Hopefully, they’ll go easy on us and we’ll have some R&R time with my Dad and Cathy.

I hope that this message finds you and your family as warm, contented, and full of joy as we are right now.

-The Prelogars
(Nico, Goldie, Ginsburg, Bella, Venus and Jack)

Bathroom Update

The bathroom is completely finished and functional. We are actually using it. This is a picture of the vanity area.

Left: Here is the toilet... The seat, vanity, and mirror are all a dark wood. Unfortunately, they look black here. I also think that you can see some of Nico's handy tile work in this picture.

Below: The shelf next to the shower. I haven't added towels to it yet, but it should be highly functional.

Ice and Finals

We are safe and have power. I’ll post ice-storm pics soon. Now we have to get through FINALS!

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are headed up to my Mom’s house for Turkey morning and afternoon. We will spend Turkey evening and night with Nico’s Dad.

As some of you may know, Nico heard back from his interview in Detroit with General Motors. He told me that he thought he “nailed” the interview, and he did. They made him a solid offer, so I guess that we are headed to Detroit this summer. His official start date is June 16, so that give him plenty of time after graduation to get settled into a new place.

House update: The toilet is in and plumbed! The mirror is also up. Hopefully, I’ll post pictures soon. We need to get on the ball if we are going to get this house ready to sell in a few months. Any one want to help?

Job Shadowing, Interviews, classes and more...

Greetings!

All is going well with us. Nico just got back from his interview in Detroit with General Motors. He should hear back from them in a few weeks. He thinks that he “nailed” the interview. He also thinks (and I agree) the job sounds perfect for him and his skill sets. Right now he’s taking a make-up Accounting test (blah).

Next week I start job shadowing the local FCS extension agent. I’m really excited about it. This is my opportunity to find out if Extension is right for me.

I just found out that I will be teaching three classes next semester: FCS 100- Career Management in Family and Consumer Sciences (1 credit hour); FCS 230- Consumer Education and Personal Finances (3 credits); and WS 399: Global Issues in Women’s Studies (3 credits). I will also be taking 14 hours next semester (that includes hours toward my thesis). So, between taking classes and teaching, I will have approximately 0 hours of free time. I’ll post our schedules in the next few days.

House update: The vanity is in and plumbed! I’ll post pictures soon. Hopefully, we’ll be out of the guest bed and into the master in a few weeks.

If you have extra $$$ check out the auction for senior Italian Greyhounds (like Bella, only older). My friend Holly works really hard to make sure that the owners of older dogs have the care and support they need to keep our four-legged friends healthy for as long as possible. She’s also the one that has given me all of the doggy nutrition information. Ginsburg is virtually allergen free (no more obsessive licking and flakey skin).

B-day

Happy Birthday to me. Happy Birthday to me. I had a very lovely birthday. Happy Birthday to me!

I got so many greetings, phone calls and cards today. I am truely loved!

-Goldie

Home Improvement

We’ve been busy, if you hadn’t guessed.

Last week was the Career Fair. Nico went (in his cute brown suit with tangerine shirt and tie) and mingled with potential employers. He scored two interviews and looks like he may have more in the works. He celebrated on Friday by hanging out with his guy friends.

Saturday we powerwashed the East side of the house and the front (south). Then we went a little powerwash-happy. We did the entire back deck and it looks AMAZING! It's like a whole new backyard.

Saturday night we went over to our international student's house. He and his roommates cooked us dinner. It was very nice. On Sunday, we got up early and put a primer/sealer on the areas that we powerwashed.

Yesterday afternoon we put the house color over the primer. It looks much improved.

Just so that you know we haven’t forgotten the bathroom, I’m including pictures of the tile.

The vanity light fixture

And the light/exhaust fan and crown molding. Next we install the doors and base trims, after those Nico says that we put in the real important stuff like the vanity and toilet.




Wow, it will be really nice to have a functioning bathroom. Maybe we'll even move back into that bedroom. Praise God!

Busy!

As you can imagine, we are busy!

We have been going to our classes and working on the bathroom. The shower is almost installed and the tile is in! Yay!

I’ll post pictures soon.

More details to come. Hopefully, this weekend I will have time to write up all the things that have been going on.

Assistantship, work and school

School started this week!!!! We are trying to get back in the groove.

I gave my notice last Friday at my job. I'm outta there in a week.

I have a part-time assistantship in FCS for both this semester and next.

The FCS department has really gone out of their way to include me this semester. I'm really fortunate to have so many people encouraging me. Other than that, I'm really liking one of my graduate classes and the other two are going to be "okay".

Nico's classes "seem alright". That's about all you can get out of him. He's secretly excited about his welding class, but he doesn't show it much.

Well, work has been hectic and I’ve been prepping to… teach my class!

I am not teaching the course that I told many of you about, instead I’m teaching a 1 credit hour class in the FCS department. I’m really excited about it, but a little nervous at the same time.

The madre is coming down this weekend. Our big plan is to head to Eureka Springs on Friday and not return until Monday. We are planning on mother-daughter bonding time and much needed spa treatments. Nico is going to Topeka for an SCCA race. He leaves Friday morning… anyone want to watch the kids?

School starts on Monday. Nico’s taking 12 hours and I’m enrolled in 9. We are going to be crazy busy this semester.

Well if you can’t tell, I’ve been really busy.

Nico left for Chicago early, early Tuesday morning. This was his last trip for the Firestone internship. Much to his pleasure, they ended with a bang: an autocross. Of course, he was totally in his element and shined like a star. If they don’t want to offer him a rock star job, they are out of their minds.

I’ve been dealing with a whole other set of issues. I am not sure that I want to stay at my job. I am not enjoying it and the company has definite issues. They are totally unorganized and in the midst of major changes. I’ve been working until 5:45 or 6:00 every night. And I’m salaried. :(

On top of the icky job situation, the University offered me a position to teach a 1 credit hour course. I accepted, but am hoping that they have more courses for me next semester. It’s really too bad that I turned down the Career Services assistantship. But, I didn’t know that I was going to stay here for my graduate work. Hindsight is 20/20.

The weather has been really miserable. We are frying down here. But that’s the Midwest in August!

There is some good news… our neighbor sold her house. She made a nice profit. Looks like the housing market here isn’t doing as bad as the rest of the country. Hopefully, we’ll be in the same boat in a year or so.

More later…

Update and Mattress Shopping

Well, I've been super busy with work and haven't had much time to post. Hopefully, things will calm down around here and I can keep the blog updated.

Today, we searched for a new mattress. Not a lot of furniture stores in Pittsburg. But we had some victory. Our new "guest" bed (which we will be using until we get the master bedroom back) will be delivered Monday. Yay!

Here is a fun picture...

Is this a bloodthirsty hellspawn or a doggy engaged in rough play? You decide.

Cars and Careers

Nico is furiously working on his car tonight. He's supposed to leave for Iowa tomorrow for an SCCA race. If he has to take my car, I may be stuck at home all weekend.

He had it running Wednesday night. He was so confident in his work that he drove it to Firestone yesterday morning (all the way to Joplin). It did well on the way there, but it died coming home. He was able to get it home, but the fuel pump is all clogged up with yucky gas. Hopefully, He’ll get it all squared away tonight.

Last night I found out that I did NOT get the Women’s Studies Instructor position that I applied for. I am more than a little disappointed but I understand their reasoning (had to pull from pool established before last semester ended).

I am still scheduled to take 6 hours of Graduate classes in the fall. I’m looking forward to them, but know that between that and work, I will be uber busy.

Speaking of work, the new job is “okay”. I’m trying to stay positive, but I got a little frustrated today. I really hope that I’m able to put all the pieces together soon. Like I told Nico, not only do I want it to be a good fit for me, I want to be a good fit for them.

With the summer I’ve had, I’m forcing myself to go to church on Sunday. I don’t want God to forget about me. :)

More later…

Update on my Dad

My dad's doing well. On Friday he had a massive heart attack. I booked a flight Friday night and was in Kentucky by Saturday night. His aortic artery was 100% blocked, and his symptoms were not "normal" heart attack symptoms so he didn't seek medical attention right away. He was within twenty minutes of dying.

My dad is extremely lucky for so many reasons. It seemed as if God had orchestrated everything. My step-sister who just passed her EMT training rushed to the house and started taking his vitals. She then called my other step-sister who works for two cardiologists. Between the two of them, they saved his life. He had to have numerous things done to him including a helium balloon that pumped his heart, a temporary pacemaker and 4 stints in the one artery. He’s lucky the young cardiologist tried this aggressive procedure before opening him up. Because he avoided getting open heart surgery, he’ll not only be recovering faster, he’s likely to live longer.

I flew back yesterday, arriving at 9:00 p.m. We didn’t get back to Pittsburg until 11:30. Needless to say, I was pretty exhausted when I went to work this morning.

As of my phone call with him tonight, he is doing well. He is home and resting (but reluctantly). He's going to have to stop smoking and that really frightens him.
-G

My dad has had a massive heart attack, I’m on my way to Kentucky.

Screenprinting and carpooling

I had a good day at work today. I am still not sure what I’ll be doing as I spent most of my day in Screen Printing. I never would have believed how complicated some of the images/processes can be. All-in-all, towards the end of the day I felt like I had a good understanding of the basic concepts of the department. Tomorrow I "visit" with another department: Sewing.

Carpooling is not fun. Even though I had a good day, Nico got stuck in traffic on his way from Joplin to Pittsburg and was almost 40 minutes late picking me up. I’m glad I packed a novel in my lunch bag.

It must be locust season, because the dogs have caught (and eaten) more locust in the past few days than ever before. They have also come across several toads… that is hilarious. They make them foam at the mouth and I’ve heard that they can be hallucinogenic for dogs. Great, my dogs are tripping.

First day on the job

Today was REALLY long. I got up at 5:30 so that I could be at the Occupational Health Center at the hospital when they opened. I called on Friday and I thought they said they opened at 7:00 a.m. I told my *new* boss that I would get my drug test and be at work by 8:00. Well, Occupational Health doesn’t open until 8:00 and with us sharing a car, it became a major chore to get us both to work.

Nico picked me up at 5:00 p.m. after a long hot day in the factory. They’re showing me the ropes by having me work in the different departments for my first couple of days. If you know me, you know that I have NEVER done manual labor before. Sufficed to say, I am exhausted. When Nico picked me up it was pretty clear that we both had rough days.

The doggies were so happy to see us when we got home. They were in full-on freak out since no one had been home with them all day. I will admit, I seriously missed my “cuddle time” this morning.

Well, I gotta go. We just finished cooking and eating dinner and now we’re going to sit on our butts for a while. Hopefully, I post more about the new job tomorrow.

Off to Work

We worked on Audis all day yesterday. :( Unfortunately, We didn’t get them going.

But that's okay 'cause I’m headed to my new job. We’re just going to carpool these first few days.

Reflections on Friday the 13th

Yesterday was especially “far-out.” I guess Friday the 13th had both good things and bad things to offer.

This week I’ve been working on my SSLS 888 final assignment. I was about ¼ of the way done when yesterday morning I decided to review the specific instructions. What I realized was that I had completely done the wrong things. I was researching and writing about topics that the instructor did not want in the assignment. Basically, I had to scrap almost everything and book it to the Library for more research materials. I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. working on it. Then I got up this morning and finally finished it around 2:00 p.m. Whew, at least it’s finally done and the course is over.

While I was working on my paper, I got a phone call from the company I interviewed with and they wanted to offer me the job. I decided to take it. I start Monday (right after my drug test). Yay, employment!

At about 10:00, I got up from my paper to grab a snack and noticed this little guy on the wall. He's a Brown Recluse and he totally freaked me out. I snapped this picture before I smooshed his hairy ass! I was creeped out for the rest of the night.

Nico didn't have a good day yesterday. He had major issues with the crown molding in the bathroom. He got the bathroom cleaned, the lights put up, and the outlet covers on before the crown molding retaliated.

The really bad part of his day happened last night. Nico’s truck got smashed while he was visiting a friend. He was not in the car, so he didn’t get hurt. He didn’t even see who hit him. He was able to drive it home, but it’s pretty much totaled. Okay, let’s be honest, the truck was on its last leg. But he really, really loved it and is heartbroken about its condition.

Maybe he should start working harder for that Yaris. :)

Interviews, Pet Nutrition and Yaris

Well this has been an exciting week. I had my job interview on Tuesday with a local manufacturer. They immediately asked me for a second interview. I did that yesterday, but haven’t heard from the company yet.

I’ve been working on my final project for SSLS 888 and investigating animal nutrition. I’m working with a really nice lady (Holly) from Holistic Hounds. We’re thinking that Ginsberg’s “grass allergy” might actually be an allergy to corn, which is in so many of the conventional kibble brands.

Other than the allergy, my main concern is that they are getting a bunch of chemicals and junk they don’t need. I mean, we try to eat as much organic and/or natural foods as we can afford, why wouldn’t I want the same for my animals?

Holly has suggested a regime for each animal that is not too expensive and that optimizes their health/longevity. I don’t think that it’s going to be any more expensive than what we have been feeding them. Yay, green dogs!

Nico’s now obsessed with the Toyota Yaris. He went with our friend Jim to buy one on Tuesday and now it’s all he can talk about. He’s even offered to get rid of two (non-functional?) Audis in exchange for a nice new Yaris liftback. I told him that we can’t consider getting any more cars until one of us has a full-time job and I have a new master bedroom and bath. I was hoping that would motivate him to finish my bathroom, but I’m thinking it probably won’t.

Speaking of the bathroom, all of the paint is up. The ceiling is all textured (sand, not popcorn) and now we are ready to install the shower and tile the floor. I can see an end in sight!!!

I have to go walk the dogs before I head uptown to unload the food co-op truck. I always enjoy the time I volunteer for the Co-op. :)

-G

P.S. Enjoy this picture of the "kids" playing...

Funeral and home again

Yesterday was Grandma Ruark's funeral. It was a nice funeral, but very hard to see my brother and sister so torn up. I returned home from the funeral last night absolutely exhausted.

This morning, Nico left for work around 7:30 and I promptly started in on the bathroom. In between spackling and sanding I’ve been job hunting.

Actually, I thought that the spackling was all completed, especially since we had put on a layer of Kilz primer. However, when I came home yesterday, I found that Nico had been filling small holes with large amounts of spackle. Sometimes he just needs to accept thing as “good enough” and not fret over the tiniest details.

My job hunting energy is renewed because I have an interview lined up for Tuesday afternoon. It is for a position I applied for over a month ago. I’m hoping that the position is promising. If not, I’ve inquired about another position and am considering applying for yet another. This is the first time all summer I’ve felt is if I might have options.

The good news is that we are starting to dry up. It’s as if the monsoon season is over. The bad news is heat has replaced the monsoon!

Another loss

My step-father called us an hour ago and told us that his mother passed away. Jenna is pretty upset. We are staying here for tonight, but Mom should call us in the morning and tell us when she wants us home. I’m not sure if Nico will be able to get off work for the funeral and that would be a real shame.

Jenna and I had been having a good time. We were planning on going to a cookout for the 4th and then later this week going to Eureka Springs. We’ll have to do these things some other time.

This has not been an easy summer. I lost one step-grandma right before Father’s Day and now another one before the 4th of July. I hope that their souls find peace and serenity.

Boring the kid...

Today is the first day that it has not rained on Jenna and me. Every time we try to plan something, the monsoon comes. We have watched a ton of movies. We have big plans for craft projects tomorrow. Jenna wants to make patchwork hobo bags and I’m all for getting our creative juices flowing.

Maybe I’ll snatch some crafty photos tomorrow!

I’m trying to wrap up my SSLS 888 class. My final project is due at the end of next week. Nico’s been working on the bathroom and devoting all of his other time to Firestone. He did surprise me with new tires. Yay employee discount!

Noteworthy websites: Doggy Quilts and Global Girlfriends

Jenna’s here!!!

Yesterday we did some shopping around the big metropolis that is Pittsburg. Needless to say, we probably stopped by all the shops and it took us about two hours. After that we rented some movies and did manicures and pedicures.

We’ve been walking the dogs everyday, but it hasn’t been much fun (for us) because the park is waterlogged. The dogs don’t seem to mind!

Today, we are going to work on the bathroom and then I get my haircut. Nico’s working so we’re on our own. I hope that I’m not boring the kid too bad.

Here is a supercute picture of Jenna and Bella sleeping together this morning. Adorable!

We've got lots to do today, so we'll have to post later.

-G

Aunties Came for a Visit

Today, the aunties came for a visit. They brought with them Grandma, cousin Carolyn, cousin Reed and my sister Jenna. I had a very lovely visit with them.

Jenna will be staying with us for a week or two. I’m excited to have her here, but I wasn’t expecting her so soon, so some of my previous plans may need to change.

Well, I have to go to bed now. Jenna and I have to figure out what exciting things we will be doing these next few weeks. One of our first priorities is figuring out what we’ll do for the 4th of July holiday. I think Nico will have to work, it may be a girls-only holiday.
-G

Back from RENO!

Well, I’m back from RENO!!! I had an absolute blast, but I was exhausted by the time I got home on Sunday. I’ve spent the last two days getting groceries, cleaning house and doing laundry. Sometimes I really wonder how Nico would live if I wasn’t around…

The topic of the conference was “America’s Cultural Kaleidoscope: Challenges and Opportunities.” I was already interested in diversity and multi-cultural studies, and this conference reinforced those interests. Since it was the AAFCS conference, I was also able to attend workshops on “foods that heal,” “public deliberation” and integrating diversity into workplaces and classrooms (of course).

Well, I’ve got to go. I have to finish cleaning up the house. My mom and “the aunties” are coming for a visit tomorrow. I’ll post more about the Reno trip later.

Memorial Services and other updates

Well, I’ve had a heck of a week. My Granddad’s wife, Marilyn, died on Wednesday the 13th. My Dad and his brother were coming to town for Father’s Day, so I was already planning to go to KC for Father’s Day. I didn’t realize that I would spend most of the week trying to get things in order so that I could be gone all weekend.

Her memorial service was yesterday (Monday the 18th) and it was a very nice service. She had been sick for a long time, but I never realized how sick she was because she was only 68. Way too young. The nice thing that came out of all of this was meeting my Granddad’s only living sister and two of her children. My dad also had another cousin in attendance. It was nice to finally meet these family members. The seeds were sown for a McClellan family reunion. I would really love to if they had one.

I’m exhausted and I have LOTS of homework for my SSLS 888 class. I leave tomorrow morning for Reno for the AAFCS annual conference. My Granddad also goes in for surgery tomorrow to remove his melanoma. With the surgery and everything, this trip will be bittersweet.

Nico’s home this week and he’s going to take care of all the animals and hopefully work on the bathroom project.

Hopefully, my next post will be good news about my trip.

The Flood is Back!

I just woke up and my first thought was OMG, I slept until 10:00? My second thought was it’s raining really hard, must be why I slept so long. Then I realized, we had a big flood yesterday and the ground’s totally saturated…hmmm. Then I looked outside.


Looks like the flood is back. Here is a veiw of my street and the field across from us.

Below is a picture of my driveway and the roundabout.

Looks like I won't be going anywhere any time soon!

Long night...

I’m very tired today. It all started yesterday. I spent most of yesterday working on my AAFCS project and Nico tried to get as much done around the house as he could because he knew he was leaving for Chicago this morning. We stayed up kinda late because he was trying to pack for his trip. His flight was scheduled to leave at 8:15 this morning. These quickie commuter flights don’t have arranged seating, so to ensure that he had a seat he needed to be there an hour early, so now we’re talking 7:15 a.m. It takes two and a half hours to get to the airport, so he left here at 4:00 a.m. We set our alarm clock and the cell phone alarm for 3:00, just to make sure we didn’t miss it.

Have I mentioned the storm yet?

We had terrible thunderstorms and a tornado watch yesterday evening and when we went to bed it was still raining pretty hard. That said, at 2:30 a.m. someone starts pounding on our front door. It’s our neighbor. He’s up because his house is FLOODED. The creek at the end of our street is all the way up, over the street and into our yard. He woke us up because Nico’s truck, which was parked on the street, was filling up with water. Nico had to wade in knee high water to get in his truck. Thank GOD it started and he parked it in our driveway, which is higher up than the street.

Since it was only a half hour before he was planning on getting up, he just stayed up. I stayed up for a while checking the ceiling (previous leak sites) and the basement. God Bless the sump pump. It ran all night, but kept the water level low enough that nothing in the basement was ruined. Nico left at 4:00 and I went back to bed for a few hours. I’ll be crashing early tonight, but I bet Nico crashes even harder!

Boring update.

Well, I finished up my short course on “Energy, Economics and the Environment”. All-in-all it was pretty informative. Since it was aimed at teachers, they showed us some activities that we could do with children. The main topics were basic economic terms, energy, forestry and water. We made paper and played with playdough. Like a total goon, I loved it.

Nico worked all day and I worked on several projects. I’ve been working on research for my Foundations of Education class and my AAFCS Conference project. I spent about two hours combined in the PSU library and the public library. For Foundations I’m researching Title IX which I only thought applied to girls in sports, but I was wrong. It prevents all types of gender/sex discrimination in education.

After my jaunt to the libraries, I worked on our bathroom. I’ve got joint compound up on most of the sheetrock. Nico’s pretty good at conservation of building materials. Unfortunately, in his effort to waste as little as possible, he’s made me some really interesting joints for me to patch. Since it’s a bathroom, it will get glossy paint and that leaves no margin of error for the ol’ spackler (me). I’ll get it done, but it’s going to take me some extra time (and TLC).

I’m trying out a new recipe for dinner (well actually, after dinner) it’s Rocky Road No-Bake Cheesecake. I found the recipe at my new favorite website (thanks Summer!) www.kraftfoods.com.

Nico doesn’t have to work tomorrow, so hopefully we’ll get a lot done on the bathroom. Wish us luck!

Summer school and more

Summer classes started today. I’m enrolled in a course called “Energy, Economics and the Environment” for one credit and “Foundations of Education” for three credits. I’m really excited about both courses because they touch on my two favorite topics: environmental issues and gender issues/women’s inequality. Hopefully, I’ll still be just as happy at the end of the semester.

Nico heads back to Chicago Monday morning for more of his internship. As soon as his plane lands, he heads to the race track “Heartland Park” in Topeka. A few days after he gets back, I fly to Reno for the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Annual Convention. I’m presenting a poster on the founder of FCS and ecofeminism.

We’ve already gotten a lot done on our new bathroom. Plumbing’s all been checked and the sheetrock is all up! Yay!

It sure seems as if our summer is all work and no play. More later…
-G

Our House, in the middle of our street...

Deconstruction of the old closet...

Framing for the new bathroom...

Learning all about Italian Greyhounds...

The job market in Pittsburg is relatively slow, so I have been using my free time to learn all about Italian Greyhounds. Since we've had our little adopted princess, Bella, we've had many questions about her. I'm learning a lot from Iggyplanet.com.

They are such a neat breed of dog, but boy can they be high maintenance. Now that I'm educating myself, I'm learning how to deal with all of her little "quirks". Iggy Planet has been a lifesaver!

I'll post more later! But in the meantime, here's a picture of Bella a.k.a. "The Stinker-belle" in her favorite blankie:

Brief Update

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. So, I guess that I better get everyone (ha! like anyone reads this) caught up.

I graduated from Pittsburg State University on May 18th! Yay, undergrad is done!

I start my graduate classes on June 4th. I've already gotten the book, but haven't started reading it yet. Shame on me! However, I have been looking for a job so that's been taking up alot of my time.

Nico is doing his internship with Firestone. That's taking up alot of his time.

Here's a cute picture of Bella (Italian Greyhound) and Ginsburg (Weimaraner) after a long day!