Our Memorial Day Weekend

Well, we went to my Grandparents' over the weekend to clear off downed trees from a major storm they had a couple of weeks ago, and repair their roof. What really surprised me was that the trees were not just blown over; they were uprooted. It was totally weird. I have one pic from the visit of my grandpa reading to my kids. It was really sweet.
We had some fun when we finally dragged ourselves to home, sweet home. Our street flooded!!! We got into our driveway one minute or less before the huge downpour happened that flooded our street. As we were trying to get the kids in the house and the car in the garage, a bolt of lightening struck the street just a house or two up from us. It almost deafened me, it was so loud!! We had to fish a few cars out of the water because the drivers were complete morons and ignored all of the people (like us) standing on our porches trying to wave them back! I got a lot of pics, and they tell the story better than I can. The whole flooding lasted about an hour, maybe a little more, but the rain lasted way longer. Enjoy!
The Almighty Liz

Here are the pics of my Granpa and Erik and Jonni. A definite Kodak Moment.

Here is the run-off drain. That whirlpool there. Yeah, that's it.
The first moron of the day. Oh, and that trash can there? That's ours, and it totally floated away while John was pushing a car to safety. It got all the way down the street, but luckily one of our neighbors snagged it before it could get away forever.
As you can see, there's not even any sign of the sidewalks anymore.
The flooding got within about eight feet of our front porch.
A better wide-shot of what was our street, that turned for a brief time into our river.

This is the car that wouldn't fit into the garage. Let me remind you that this car is in our driveway at this time. And our driveway has a very steep grade. Everytime someone tried to conquer the river (and the trucks did okay), our car would bob up and down like a cork. It was GREAT! (little sarcasm there)

Our neighbors embraced the inevitable, and broke out their boat!!

They paddled up and down several times, to the cheers of all the neighbors!
They were hilarious. This is John (in red) standing on our mailbox. The guy in black is one of the many neighbors that helped fish out cars.

John again. See how high the water was? And he's not even in the middle!

Today's Adventure

Edited because John insists even though we are in a big tearing hurry. But I had to rest first from my adventurous morning, and thought to myself, as long as I'm sitting, I may as well tell all my blogger family aaaaaaall about it. It started a couple of weeks ago;
We moved. Y'all know that already. We moved to a different state, and our licence plates on one car expired this month, and the next car expires next month, so it's time to switch over and get registered in our new state. In Illinois, this is no big deal. Go to the Secretary of State's office, give them some money, maybe fill out a form, and you're done. Not so in my new state. You need your car title, proof of insurance, proof of residency, a property waiver from your county, an emissions test and a safety inspection, and an up-to-date licence. So a couple of weeks ago, I tried to get a safety inspection for the car that is expired. It failed. A new windshield and $200 later, I went again today. We passed, hallelujah. So after a quick lunch, I gathered all the stuff I needed, for the car and a new licence since I'm up for renewal next month anyway, and I need a licence with my married name on it, so in addition to all the car stuff, I need my original ss card, my marriage licence, and my original birth certificate. I really felt like a walking filing cabinet going into this place. I left Erik at home with John over John's lunch hour, hoping to get it all done before he had to go back, and not have to watch a three year old while I was there. I took John's car, and not the car I'd been driving around all day. I got to the Licence Bureau, and settled down with my number to wait. Only ten minutes, though, not bad. I stepped up to the counter. Let me just insert here that everyone working in the office looked uber grouchy. I told the lady that I had a couple of things to do. First, I needed a new licence. She immediately asked if I had my birth certificate. I answered in the affirmative (let it be known here that I called the office before I even started a few weeks ago, because I was NOT going to go and not have some crucial document they needed), and she was disappointed, but returned with 'Well, do you have your ss card?', to which, again, I answered in the affirmative. Again, she was disappointed, but told me she couldn't help me, I'd have to go stand in line in another part of the office. That cheered her up a little. 'But,' I said, 'I just moved and need to register my car and get new licence plates.' Again with the round of inquiries into my possession of proper documents, to which I answered in the affirmative to all, and was greeted with depression, until we got to the car safety inspection, to which I remembered, to my dismay, that although I had gotten the inspection, I had left the document in the other car! The lady was positively gleeful in telling me that she couldn't do a thing without it, and called 'next!' to the line standing behind me. I refrained from glaring at her with much difficulty, and went to stand in the line for my licence. I went through much of the same battery of questions and complete gloom when I had everything in order, and this lady had to issue me a licence. On the plus side, I now have legal representation with my proper name. No more hassles because of that, yay!
So I ran home to get the car safety inspection form, and Erik since John now needed to get back to work. Off to the Bureau with my three year old after all, but at least I only had the one thing to do now. Got my number and waited. Only eight minutes this time, and Erik was only slightly bored with their pamphlet display. Step up to the counter, and again the Spanish Inquisition, but I had everything this time! Total depression on the part of lady #3 helping me, and we got started, only to come to an abrupt halt when she saw that the title to the car was only in John's name, not mine. She told me ecstatically that he would have to sign me onto the title, or come in himself. 'I guess you can't get this done today', she sang, but I glared and said that my husband worked in town, so I was going right then to get him to sign the needed papers, and I'd be back in twenty minutes. Out to the car I went, loaded up my very patient three year old, and whizzed off to John's office. I called him on the way, so he met me in the parking lot, signed at the X, and I was on my way back to the Bureau in under five minutes. Almost exactly twenty minutes later, I got myself yet another number and sat to wait. 11 minutes this time. (all in all, not bad for a government run office) I was greeted by lady #4 by the usual, and I swear she will not be able to recover from her sadness in having to help me at any time today. 15 minutes and a VERY sqirrelly Erik later, I had my plates in my hot little hand, and I beat it out of there with no regrets to go home to put Erik in bed for a belated, but much needed nap. The good news is that this state is much cheaper than the last, and I won't have to do this again for two more years, huzzah!!! Except when the other car expires next month. But maybe I can just get a new car before that happens....
The Almighty Liz

WHAT?!

I logged into my husband's hotmail account (he never checks his email-I do it for him) and saw this;
Mail order Latin Brides! Just click here for the woman of your dreams!
Seriously? People still DO that?!
The Almighty Liz

I Forgot....

.....a picture!! One of Jonni and her teacher. We adore Mrs. H. She is the best teacher that ever lived.

The Almighty Liz

Jonni's Kindergarten Graduation!

Well, for the record, I think Kindergarten graduation is a little....silly. BUT, Jonni was way excited, and really loved it, so I will say no more except to quote the immortal Mr. Incredible:
"They keep thinking of new ways to celebrate mediocrity, but when a person is genuinely special....!"
So, the ceremony lasted about 45 minutes, so not too painful, as far as these things go. Unfortunately, I was not sitting close, and could not get any good pics. So all of the pics I have that are good, are the ones we took when we got home. In addition to her diploma, she also relieved the Principal's Award, which only 6 kids out of three classes received. Go Jonni!
The Almighty Liz

Jonni wanted a picture with our cat.

An awwww picture.

Just stunning, isn't she?

They really do like each other!

And their true colors, lol!

My Anniversary Weekend

Hello all! Once again, I apologize for the scarcity of posts and also, once again, the reason is the same; I was sick. Some stupid horrendous head cold. But mostly all better now!
So, John and I had our 7 year anniversary this Monday past! I can't believe it's been that long! Looking back (pardon me whilst I wax philosophical), I do believe our life together has been happy and productive. Two awesome kids, a great job for John, a terrific town to live in, and best of all, a stellar marriage. I sure do love that man. ;) Sorry no pics, we forgot our camera everywhere we went.
We got rid of the kids for the weekend to celebrate, and besides the obvious ;), we did a ton of stuff! It was so fun! We saw Wolverine, we went to the Temple, we went hiking, and to the zoo, and slept in, and stayed up late, and went out to dinner and just had an all around blast. I really feel like we re-connected too. I hadn't realized how distant we had gotten from each other!! Just with the everday mundane things like parenting and running a household. We always do a weekly date, but we need to amp up the quality I think. I would really like to maintain this awesome closeness we recaptured this weekend. It's sublime!
So what do all you experienced married people out there do to maintain your friendships with your spouses? Enquiring minds NEED to know, lol!
The Almighty Liz