February 2012

February started out with a heavy, wet 10 inches of snow on Saturday the 4th.  Not wanting to miss our exercise, Sharon and I suited up with our boots and parkas and went for a 1-1/2 hour walk around town. The wet snow caused many branches and trees to break. Fortunately we didn't lose any from our two hack berry trees.

The week of February 6 was spent moving all the furniture and file cabinets out of our south office into our north office to make room for new paint, carpet and tile flooring. I had to move into one of our small empty cubicles for two weeks, which was very challenging.

Every weekend was spent working on the ongoing remodeling project in the basement and by February 26 the ceiling and lights were done and the entertainment was very close as well.

On February 19 we celebrated Hannah's achievement of making the Dean's list at UNL! She and Derek joined us for lunch and we made three kinds of Indian curry chicken over rice. Way to go Hannah!

Entertainment center getting closer.

Ceiling and lights done!

Working on the ceiling.

Thai yellow curry, Thai red curry and Kashmir curry sauces.

Hannah celebrating her Dean's list achievement.

Office empty and ready for remodel.

Feb 4 snow

Indoor track at Concordia where we have been running.

January 2012

Getting Back In The Groove

I have been slacking off big time since the new year on blog posts. A combination of being very busy, and lack of diligence.  I will try to recap the month as best I can starting around Christmas 2011.

December 23 several of us from the class of 1980 gathered at the Doug & Vikki (Hughes) Gremel residence. There were about 11 of us who spent an enjoyable evening remembering fun times from the recent and not so recent past.

Christmas was a fun day with all the kids and their significant others over for a fun feast. The weather was in the 50's so we decided to make rosettes in the garage in the late afternoon. All the kids joined in and many fried rosettes were consumed by all.

I took vacation from after Christmas until January 3 and spent one day helping Derek and Hannah paint at Derek's house in Lincoln. The rest of my time off was spent diving head long into remodeling the basement stairway ceiling and family room. The family room project included new paint, new ceiling tiles, an new built-in entertainment center and lights.  I made pretty good progress the first week then spent as many weekends as possible working on it. I also decided during this week that I was going to start up a serious diet and exercise program. Eat less and exercise more - not too complicated.

On January 9 we were forced to break down and buy a new kitchen sink, faucet and disposer since the old faucet was leaking badly. I was disappointed that the faucet only lasted 9 years but I guess you get what you pay for. The new sink installation went well and Sharon loved the way it looks! A winner!

January 17 - 20 was spent in Toronto, Canada attending the EDIST tradeshow at the Hilton Hotel in Markham.  The trip out went without a hitch but my return on Friday, January 20 was delayed and complicated by a blizzard at Chicago O'Hare. After a 6 hour delay I was able to catch a flight to Omaha and then ride a shuttle to Lincoln where my vehicle was parked. It was a long, grouling day of travel.

The week of January 23 was spent attending the DistribuTech show in San Antonio, all my flights were on time which was nice.  The weather in San Antonio was pleasant and the Riverwalk was beautiful.  On Thursday an old friend and his wife, Randy & Ann McConnell met me at my hotel for dinner. We had a great visit.

The month ended with us selling our piano to make room for a game table in the remodeled basement family room. It was a bittersweet experience but the buyer's paid us cold, hard cash!!

The Alamo

Starting the basement remodel project.

The beginnings of the entertainment center.

Class of 80 at the Gremels.

Cool frozen groundwater on Plum Creek.

My new diet. Veggies, protein, whole grain and vino!

New sink installed!

Starbucks in O'Hare.

Chicago O'Hare Blizzard

After almost 3 hours in the plane, the airport is closed.

Peter's Steakhouse in Toronto.

Making rosettes on Christmas day.

The Riverwalk in San Antonio.

Basement stairway project.

Christmas dinner.

Weekend Before Christmas

Friday, December 16, 2011

Had another very busy day at the office, Sharon worked late so I made a bean dip for Jason's graduation party.  While at Wal Mart I noticed the guacamole dip had about 50 ingredients, none of which were avacados.  Even thought the avacados at Wal Mart weren't the ripest, I decided it would be better to have real guacamole in the bean dip even if it meant a bit more work.


Saturday, December 17, 2011

Today was Jason's graduation from UNL.  Sharon had to work at Habitat so I went solo, bean dip in hand.  It was a nice gathering of Jason's family and friends, as well as Annie, Hannah and Derek.  After spending an hour or so at the party, I decided to run out to see Sharon at the Habitat store.  Just so happened she was about to take lunch so we went for a walk around the shopping center.  We stopped at the chocolate store and also went to the steak & seafood store.  While at the meat store, we were given a sample of smoked shrimp, which was very good.  I stopped by Trader Joe's on the way home for a few bottles of 2-buck Chuck and made a couple of pizza's when I got home.

When Sharon got home we were visiting in the office having a glass of wine when out of the blue she became very sick to her stomach.  She spent much of the night and all of Sunday very sick and sore.  We think maybe the little shrimp sample she had was the culprit.


Sunday, December 18, 2011

With Sharon being sick all day, I spent the day nursing her, attending the Kettenburg Christmas celebration and also golfing 5 holes! It was around 54 degrees and sunny.  Hannah, Annie, Derek, Jason and Johnny all went to play frisbee golf down at Plum Creek Park.  By evening Sharon felt good enough to sleep upstairs again and I slept on the couch so as not to disturb her rest.

My Gourmet Wife!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Sharon worked at Habitat today, a gourmet cooking and gift store she got hired at last month. She really enjoys the atmosphere and the people there. I like that she gets good discounts on cooking gadgets & stuff.  Wednesday evening she came home in a mood to cook - I love it!  She scored some little cooking pans that are made for baking little appetizers of all kinds.  She decided to make shrimp scampi with two kinds of cheeses on them and I grilled some asparagus. YUM!  After a quiet meal with Christmas music playing in the background we settled in to watch TV and of course I fell asleep in the chair....again.  It was an enjoyable way to spend a dark, long, cold winter evening.

Yet Another Recap

December 6, 7 & 8, 2011

The week was busy at work and also at home.  Had a two-hour city council meeting on the 6th which included extensive discussion about the possibility of a new economic development director.  Wednesday evening I assembled a Barbie Princess Castle for our friends, John and Tina Maroquin.  They are both real busy and wanted to keep the Christmas present a secret from little Mollie.  Tina offered me cash which I of course refused, and John did bring me a nice bottle of Australian Merlot for my labor!


Friday December 9, 2011

Sharon worked in Lincoln until 5:00 so I caught a ride to Lincoln with my boss and met Sharon for dinner at the Oven.  After a nice feast of chicken korma, we headed over to the Lied Center to watch Annie and her boyfriend Jason perform in the UNL marching band's year-end performance.  They had an awesome performance before a packed house. I was reminded once again of the excellent acoustics in the Lied.


Saturday December 10, 2011

After an early, chilly walk outside, Saturday was spent working on various projects around the house and making another batch of grilled pizza crusts.  With the weather moderating a bit I was also able to scrape most all of the snow off the walks and driveway.  Annie & Jason came to do laundry and Jason hung out with us while Annie worked.  Sharon, Jason and I watched the move "The Help" and I fell asleep before it ended as usual.


Sunday December 11, 2011

Sunday was a welcome day off for Sharon.  We enjoyed a long but intense walk outside to start things off.  I made omlouettes and Sharon made rasberry scones for breakfast - yum!  The day was filled with getting lots of projects done and also paying a visit to the Christmas tree farm.  We almost bought a small one but didn't quite feel we could justify $60 for such a small tree that would only be up for a couple of weeks. Next year we hope to be better organized earlier in the season.  Sharon got the office totally cleaned and organized to we can start the process of messing it up all over again.

Nifty Fifty

Friday, December 2, 2011

Woke up Friday morning achieving some sort of milestone from what they tell me - 50 times riding this beautiful blue ball around the sun!

Sharon was so thoughtful about this year's birthday.  Knowing I have a desire to get back into drawing and painting, she was able to find one of the paintings I did for someone in 1980!  Apparently I was commissioned to do this acrylic painting for the Hick's back in the day.

Sharon also made arrangements to try to find me a studio space to rent but after I looked at it, decided it would be way too much work.  Awesome presents!

Friday also happened to be the LWS Christmas party.  The company put us all up at the Embassy Suites in Lincoln for the night, with dinner at Wilderness Ridge Lodge - very nice!  I happen to know the sales manager at the Lincoln Embassy Suites and asked him if he could pull some strings for an upgraded room.  He was able to bump us up to the Presidential Suite!!! Thanks John K!

I took the afternoon off so Sharon and I went to Lincoln early.  After checking into our amazing suite at the hotel, we got some coffee and the paid a surprise visit to Ben at Bailey Lauerman.  Ben was thrilled and we had a great time touring the agency and meeting his creative team, including a brief visit with Jim Lauerman himself.  I told Jim that back in the early 80's I painted some of the billboards for his campaign for Lincoln Airport Authority while employed at Imperial Outdoor Advertising.

After seeing Ben we decided to take in a movie.  We watched the new George Clooney flick, The Descendants, very good.  After the movie we went back to the hotel and had a drink with Leanne & the gals, and also the LWS group.  Had a very good meal at Wilderness Ridge then it was back downtown to Brewsky's for Leanne & my joint birthday party.  Ben and Hannah met us there and we had a lot of fun.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Awoke in our huge suite to a drab, rainy morning.  Managed to walk down to Starbuck's for latte's, then back to the hotel for breakfast.  Then the snow came... and came... and came.  Sharon was scheduled to work at Habitat so I caught a ride home with a coworker.

I spent the day scooping and cooking pizza crusts.  Sharon had a precarious drive home in the snow but made it safe and sound - thank God. We watched "Return to Me" and had a nice evening.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Sunday was "Let's Get the House Decorated for Christmas NOW" day.  We de-junked, cleaned & rearranged the house, and changed out all the fall decor for winter.  It was a huge amount of work but we knew with Sharon's work schedule we had to do it or it simply wouldn't get done.

Celebrated our accomplishments with a glass of wine and a mushroom and onion pizza.

New Pole

Monday, November 28, 2011

Seward County Public Power installed a new laminated wood pole on Highway 34 today.  The work is being done by a contractor from Grand Island and the project will connect the Ash Street substation to the Bee substation. There will be a total of 9 laminated wood poles on the new line. I went out after lunch and took some photos of the installation and will also be taking photos the next couple of days.

In the evening I attended the country club board meeting. We had sent out a letter asking the members to attend and the house was packed! Good meeting overall with some very positive feedback. It was a later night than I wanted because I had to discuss some city council stuff with Charlie Schumacher as well.