ah spring!

marty came for a 4 day mini vacation. we went to atchison and weston and stopped at riverwood winery on the river road. it was recommended by our data entry clerk and resident sage at PRT, lisa polson. we tasted their line and mart bot 3 bottles to take home. who knew we had this interesting stuff.

there were alot of empty store fronts in weston and atchison. the recession is hitting the heartland too. my favorite shop "missouti bluffs" is still doing well. we had a nice lunch at the weston cafe.

we went to lawrence so cory could pick up stuff he left behind for break. the shops on Mass. street were quite busy. lots of buzz with KU in the ncaa brackets and ranked nearly the whole BB season #1. we ate well while she was here. freestate brewery in lawrence, garozzos and hereford house in overland park.

i took mart to "1/2 of 1/2". it's a store that has closeouts, end runs and god knows what but it is always cheep. it is an old furniture store that is just a huge space with clothes racks. it is a bit of a local phenom. you never know what you'll find. there are snags and tears, bad buttons and zippers and some perfect clothes. the stock changes all the time. it's kind of like tuesday morning for clothes... bit seedier tho. she said i could have dropped her off and she could spend the whole day! needless to say she shipped a box of finds home.

the weather was typical of kansas for marts visit. grey skies and 45 temps. after she left the temps were in the hi 60's and sunny for 2 days. i did sustained yard work yesterday.

but now is the first day of spring. we have snow falling. 1 inch already on the ground and more in the forecast. monday is expected to be in the 40's and tue in the 60's. the kids will be off the walls on monday with the end of spring break and wacky kansas weather. god, i love kansas!

it's been forever

ok so the surgery to get rid of the gall bladder was a success. i now have a bullet proof gut. at least everything i've tried to eat is great. even the margaritas that had been plaguing me forever are good to go!

the semester is half over in 2 days....that means 8 weeks till summer and even less till cory's college graduation! after 5 years it looks like it will be over for a while. he's still thinking of teaching so school will go on and on. he has taken a job for the summer at camp wekeela. it is a summer camp in hartford maine. he will be counselor/land sports guy. the kids are from 6-16 years old. the parents pay a fortune to send kids to camp. check out their website at http://www.campwekeela.com . i've read that this kind of summer camp is recession proof...who knew! he'll be gone from mid june to mid august. kids can go for up to 7 weeks. he's really looking forward to it!

it means that i'll be in kansas for the summer. no france, no spain, no seattle! i may have to get some work done around here. my bathroom is in an unfinished state and has been for 4 years. the basement needs a makeover since cory will be living there next year paying rent. good thing i like to paint!

spring break is 2 days away. marty is flying down for a few days and we've got a really fun class for sat nite. cory, marty and i are taking a cooking class from the culinary center of kansas city. it's 3 hours. it's hands on and called "julia and me". we cook Coquilles St. Jacques and Crepes and other stuff. it should be an adventure! not sure what else we'll do but bbq and seeing the sights will be in there.

i'm starring to look forward to spring. the weather has been in the 60's for the last few days and the tulips and narcissus are peeping out of the ground. there is a bit of snow forecast for friday...just when you thot is was safe to put the down coats away!