Home!
I survived my trip to Iowa and am home again. As some already heard it was really fucking cold. As in -17 overnight cold. And the first night there it was a full house so I had to sleep on an air mattress on the floor. In the basement. Air mattresses? Not good insulators. It didn't matter how many blankets I piled on top, I might as well have been sleeping on cold cement. So about 5 I finally got up, put on jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and my sweatshirt, wrapped up in two blankets, and laid down on the couch. I looked like a mummy (with my feet hanging off the end) but at least I wasn't shivering. Then most people left a day earlier than we did so I got to sleep in the upstairs spare bedroom the second night. Much toastier.
Quick note to myself, 93 flood, KS civil rights (that'll make sense to the rest of you tomorrow).
OK, now for the rest of this post. I have pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. And then some more pictures. And also, pictures.
First, I meant to post this one earlier. This is Christmas day (evening) at my paternal grandparents. They live in the same town as us so Christmas day up there is a tradition, although one that almost didn't happen thanks to the blizzard we were having. Doesn't it look cozy? When I wasn't taking pictures I was sitting riiiiight in front of the fire place with home made hot cocoa (not from a mix).
on the couch is brother Chris; at right, Dad
And this is my grandma's bird corner. She Really. Loves. Birds.
OK, so on to Iowa. First off, the trip up was really cool because when central Iowa got hit with Christmas Blizzard '09 they got rain first. And then the afore mentioned subzero temperatures. The result was that all the trees/bushes/power polls/etc were coated in ice. So all the trees looked like glass. I couldn't really captures just how cool it was in a photo because the photos just don't have the same sparkle, but they're still pretty neat and they give a general idea.
Oh, and in case you were all wondering what's in Iowa (because you totally were), the answer is not a fucking thing. Literally.
Except windmills. Lots and lots of windmills.
And a pretty OK sunset (with more windmills).
So this is the whole family.
back row: aunt Bretta ( Bella fucking Swan, and yes, she did bring it up again), uncle Todd, brother Chris, dad Dave, mom Tammy, Me
middle row: 'baby' brother Curtis, grandma Janice, grandpa Stanley, brother Carlin
front: cousin Sam
This is my grandpa* opening the mixer my mom got him and my grandma for Christmas.
This is my grandma opening the mixer my grandpa got her for Christmas.
This is my grandparents debating which one they should keep.
*BTW, yes my grandpa has a claw hand. He lost his fingers in a farming accident when my mom was still in high school. All of the joints in the index finger were still intact though so they were able to graft skin over that and he has a functioning grip. He still does wood working and in fact made some wooden decorations for my mom for Christmas.
And then, just because, I took pictures of the rad clouds on the way home (AGAIN with the fucking windmills).
One last thing because it made me very happy. I understood that 45 (and counting) pounds was a big number, and I know that I've had people, including someone on the bus, ask me if I've lost weight. I even knew that I had to get new pants (which are also starting to get a bit loose). But because I've been living with the slow change everyday it's been so gradual that I personally didn't 'see' it. Well I can now!
July 2009---January 2010
My goal (New Year's resolution if you want) is to be under 200 (at least) by the time I hit New York in March. That's only about 15-20 pounds (I haven't looked at a scale since Christmas cookie season began so I'm not sure the exact number) which I think is definitely doable.
And that's it for the massive Christmas picspam! I hope everyone had a great holiday whatever religion you practice (or don't).
Quick note to myself, 93 flood, KS civil rights (that'll make sense to the rest of you tomorrow).
OK, now for the rest of this post. I have pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. And then some more pictures. And also, pictures.
First, I meant to post this one earlier. This is Christmas day (evening) at my paternal grandparents. They live in the same town as us so Christmas day up there is a tradition, although one that almost didn't happen thanks to the blizzard we were having. Doesn't it look cozy? When I wasn't taking pictures I was sitting riiiiight in front of the fire place with home made hot cocoa (not from a mix).
on the couch is brother Chris; at right, Dad
And this is my grandma's bird corner. She Really. Loves. Birds.
OK, so on to Iowa. First off, the trip up was really cool because when central Iowa got hit with Christmas Blizzard '09 they got rain first. And then the afore mentioned subzero temperatures. The result was that all the trees/bushes/power polls/etc were coated in ice. So all the trees looked like glass. I couldn't really captures just how cool it was in a photo because the photos just don't have the same sparkle, but they're still pretty neat and they give a general idea.
Oh, and in case you were all wondering what's in Iowa (because you totally were), the answer is not a fucking thing. Literally.
Except windmills. Lots and lots of windmills.
And a pretty OK sunset (with more windmills).
So this is the whole family.
back row: aunt Bretta ( Bella fucking Swan, and yes, she did bring it up again), uncle Todd, brother Chris, dad Dave, mom Tammy, Me
middle row: 'baby' brother Curtis, grandma Janice, grandpa Stanley, brother Carlin
front: cousin Sam
This is my grandpa* opening the mixer my mom got him and my grandma for Christmas.
This is my grandma opening the mixer my grandpa got her for Christmas.
This is my grandparents debating which one they should keep.
*BTW, yes my grandpa has a claw hand. He lost his fingers in a farming accident when my mom was still in high school. All of the joints in the index finger were still intact though so they were able to graft skin over that and he has a functioning grip. He still does wood working and in fact made some wooden decorations for my mom for Christmas.
And then, just because, I took pictures of the rad clouds on the way home (AGAIN with the fucking windmills).
One last thing because it made me very happy. I understood that 45 (and counting) pounds was a big number, and I know that I've had people, including someone on the bus, ask me if I've lost weight. I even knew that I had to get new pants (which are also starting to get a bit loose). But because I've been living with the slow change everyday it's been so gradual that I personally didn't 'see' it. Well I can now!
July 2009---January 2010
My goal (New Year's resolution if you want) is to be under 200 (at least) by the time I hit New York in March. That's only about 15-20 pounds (I haven't looked at a scale since Christmas cookie season began so I'm not sure the exact number) which I think is definitely doable.
And that's it for the massive Christmas picspam! I hope everyone had a great holiday whatever religion you practice (or don't).