the tech

have been having annoying computer problems since we installed the SecureIt virus control our internet provider offers. then we got FastTrack internet & still annoying problems. the computer locks up continuously, can only turn it off by holding power button in long periods of time. on my way home from work today, Kevin calls with the familiar ? "where you at?" as in how close to home am I, since if I answer the phone, I am in the vehicle (no cell phones allowed in the barns. cell phones are one of the many things that carry germs, pestilence & disease & hogs must be protected from them at all costs.) I had just went thru Ravanna. (about half way home). he had called the online tech, they had sent a real tech to the house, Kevin had to leave for work & the kids were home, but he was wondering when I would get there. I got home, the tech left after awhile, the online tech took over, I had to converse with him a bit, he was yelling into the phone, & didn't seem able to hear my responses, so kept yelling into the phone repeating himself.
does the computer work better? it's only locked up once since we had the exorcism performed, but really haven't been on it that much. I took a nap, conversed with the kids, & brushed MyScene & Bratz hair while Katie dressed them for some adventure. this doesn't sound like a big deal, but just the MyScenes & Bratz are probably easily 50 dolls. easily. when you drag in the regular Barbies (they've moved to the garage most of the time) it is waaaay over 100. she has all her own dolls, + her big sisters dolls + a big shoebox of parts in the top of the closet I can't get rid of, I have this idea of building monstrous horror movie Barbie dolls someday...
oh, people, go eat some pork. we had a reassuring email today from the parent company...and I honestly can't remember the name of who I work for, it was Premium Standard Farms, then Continental Grain, then maybe something else, now Murphy Brown/Smithfield or Smithfield/Murphy Brown....anyway, there is a link...porkfacts.com or something. common sense tells you that most diseases are transmitted by undercooked/raw meat/ or contamination with undercooked/raw meat/juices, etc. you don't get the flu by eating meat. you get flu by getting sneezed on, snotted on,coughed on, kissed by diseased people.
I think the whole problem here is that the world is prepped for THE SUPERFLU. like the 1918 avian flu. I know personally that a health care worker in IOWA has been preparing for the inevitable SUPERFLU for a couple of years, planning meetings, scenerios, stockpiling supplies, training, etc. maybe everyone is too ready for it, & have to pounce on each flu since it could be the one. yeah it's sad that babies, old people, & people with compromised immune systems die from the flu. we're all going to die eventually. and the flu vaccine...they can't prepare in advance for a flu that doesn't exist yet. takes time to grow the vaccine. I don't get the flu shot, altho they offer them free at work so we don't get the pigs sick.
kj is out on the town. he is a teenager now, coming & going all mysterious like. he usually does tell me where he thinks he is going & what time he thinks he will be home.
emailed my fave photographer about setting up SR pictures next month. one of kj's classmates has already had her SR pics done! found them on the website when I was looking at the proofs for Katie's dance pictures. glad that jogged my memory,. Jody is getting ready to move to KC the end of June, so she can do the pics if I get my shit together quickly.

kevin's been busy

he has worked cows with his dad, put a new handle on the storm door, a new seat on the toilet, changed oil in vehicles, been to the bank...

sunday...

katie came home exhausted from her sleepover, ate pizza rolls, drank a pepsi, & crashed in her daddy's chair.
I had my alarm set on pm instead of am...it's been this way for a week or more, but I've woke up the other mornings...I had to run out of the house, pick up Curtis & drive ridiculously fast to make it to work...
"Waitress" came on after "Journey to the Center of the Earth" went off on HBO, just listening to it, it sounds kind of tragically funny. she hates her husband but doesn't tell him. she saves $ to run away from him. she's having a baby but she's not really happy about it & it's no big deal. KJ & Corey changed channels.
laundry is caught up...as in washed & dried, anyway...

I'm all alone....

kevin's @ work, kate is spending the nite @ mackenzies, & kj & alisha went to winston to see diamond...he called me a little after 10 to tell me he was just leaving over there...
I did let Sasha run outside a while, the chores, lost Sasha's blue leash somewhere, did laundry, unloaded/loaded the dishwasher, change my sheets, watch Jurassic Park III, put a video of katie dancing today on my facebook, & make myself kraft deluxe mac & cheese.
I didn't look thru the old letters & pictures aunt mary sent (& wants back) since I've had a headache...or finish up the badge order to send in...or set a date for a may planning 4 awards ceremony meeting & get notes out for girl scouts...or clean house...

dancing on the princeton square....

today was community wide garage sale day in princeton, & keeping with last years tradition, The Dance Studio performed. sigh...katie's very first dance performance last year was "Picture to Burn" with Zane on the square...I had to work that Saturday, too, just like I did this year, so took a late lunch, sped to princeton, watched my baby dance, then back to the wonderful world of hogs.
today's performance was the clog dance to Redneck Girl that she is doing with Rylan & Mackenzie @ a dance competition at Worlds of Fun Memorial Day weekend. check out the video on my facebook! (deb dailey)
kate's mom & dad, grandma janet, great grandma marie, grandpa lije, & lije's friend jo came to see her, her friend moriah & family were also there, because THE BAND played after the dancers....corey, josh, levi, & paul.

Beauty & the Beast

It was magical & breath taking...my son was crazy old Maurice, (& the egg seller, & a member of the mob...), his mom, little sister, grandma Janet, grandpa Lije, & great grandma Marie were audience members...& I was so proud! Every year it amazes me that my son gets up on the stage in front of people to perform...
Katie would also like to act. Her time will come.
Now KJ has some down time, the rough draft of his term paper is turned in, so he just has to make sure his sister gets to Princeton for her dance this afternoon, so I can meet them there, do her hair, cheer, & rush back to work...

Living History Farms

we went here years ago when Koren was a huge fan of Pochontas & KJ was small enough to be packed around by his dad when he got tired...and we returned on April 30 2009 for the 3rd & 4th grade field trip.

It was cool because
a]I love anything historical
b]I love taking days off work
c]the kids had learned a lot about Indians & early settlers in the area
d]all of the above

there's a lot of walking, & most of us eventually started some mild complaining, all 19 of the 4th graders were there, + Mrs. Stark & Miss Kay, & a good showing of parents.

We toured the 300 years of farming: Indian Village, 1850 farm, 1900 farm; & the town of Walnut Hill: the druggist, newspaper, church, doctors office, blacksmith, general store, bank, millinary, lawyer, back then, your druggist was actually a chemist, he not only missed chemicals to make beneficial medicines, but he also mixed paints, toothpaste, cologones, perfumes, etc. you could go to him for health advice & he'd make your medicine. no doctor's visit necessary unless it was something he couldn't make a remedy for. they didn't have to list ingredients until 1906, so they made tooth powder out of talcum powder & crunched up bugs,etc. many of the over the counter patent drugs were addictive, but they didn't understand back then that you could become addicted to medicines.

Victorians believed in balance. they didn't like taking medicines unless they had to. They had formal parlors for company only where they displayed their finest furnishings. the back parlors were the 'living rooms' where children played games & mothers sewed the families clothes. children were seen & not heard. families made their own entertainment....singing, playing musical instruments. They also never left the house with out a hat. My favorite tour guide quip was "That's just the way it was then."

many jobs could be learned by years of apprenticeship: law, medicine, druggist, blacksmith. you could 'read the law' with a lawyer, & when you felt ready, take an oral test with a judge, & he could make you a lawyer. there were few women lawyers in Iowa, starting out in a small town, many lawyers lived in their offices.
the lawyer was also the real estate agent!

the newspaper office put out a newspaper, but their profits came from printing sales bills, ads, funeral notices, etc. typesetting was a very lengthy & messy process!

at the bank, we learned how to test for counterfeit coins (all modern coins would be considered counterfeit by the pioneer standards, since they are all very light). we saw pennies, two cent pieces, & 3 cent pieces.

when we went thru the log cabin, she was taking lunch out of the fireplace...cornbread & chicken stew. smelled good!

the blacksmith was a repair man, fixing farm equipment, etc.