After'mas 2012

 

After'mas is the feasting and opening of gifts a few days after Dec. 24 - 25. Go to http://djhollydaze.blogspot.com/ to view the video.

Holidays

New tree downstairs. I got the idea for the big bow from the decorations at Kohl's this year. 

Thanksgiving

Festival Night

Dorothy, Lori and I took a Girls Night Out for the SugarPlum Festival. We started with the wine tasting booth nearest the door and wound our way throughout the Albrecht Museum looking at the jewelry, art work, food and, of course, holiday wreaths and trees. We were tempted to buy our own trees at $150 but advised the Sugarplum ladies to remove the "buy now" price so that the bids might go higher.

We detoured to the lower level to take a look at donated art and works created by Missouri Western students. I had to talk Dorothy down from buying a Japanese painting from the 1700s.

 After finishing our tour of the vendors and tasting all the wine offerings, we went to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner.

Sugarplum Trees

When Dot and I met at Walmart a few weeks ago to start our project, we each had our own visions of Sugarplums dancing in our heads. But inspiration and cooperation resulted in our agreement to purchase a four foot tall tree in an urn and a dozen small, golden, bird ornaments. Our plan was to let the theme of the tree evolve as we made additional purchases.

Hobby Lobby's advertisement of 40% off Christmas floral and ribbon, inspired me to grab an assortment of red and gold colored stems, picks and ribbon to get us started. Then Dot invited our niece Lori to get a matching tree and join us in the project. Dot also suggested that each of us select decorations on our own without consulting the other two. We decided that what we didn't use on our Sugarplum tree, we could use ourselves. My advice to all was to look for glitz...to which Dot responded with a theme suggestion we all loved...."Puttin' on the Glitz."

After two decorating sessions, my craft room was covered with glitter and hot glue residue and the two trees were covered with Dot's big white flowers, Lori's sparkly stems and my gold florals. Beautiful!

However, neither Dot nor I were satisfied. We separately arrived at the same conclusion...we needed more glitz!!

So, we each purchased more stuff and met for a third time. Since niece Lori was busy painting at her new house, we didn't tell her that we were adding glitz to the trees. She had been a little worried earlier that we were putting on too much stuff but Dot and I are certain she will like what we added. I hope others like our trees enough to bid $$$$ for them to benefit the Albrecht-Kemper Art Museum.

Missouri Western Homecoming

Homecoming went fine until rain cancelled the parade Saturday morning. However, events that started on Thursday continued smoothly throughout the week-end because Missouri Western staff members moved quickly to adjust plans....and provide umbrellas.

Distinguished alumni (including ME!!) were recognized Thursday at a dinner held in the alumni center at the University. My family....Kelly, Rodney, Andrew and Adam (and their friends Elizabeth and Heather).... made a special trip from Kansas to attend. Sister Dot, Bro-in-Law Barney and my long-time friends Joyce Edwards and Mary Elder were there along with Council member Joyce Starr, her husband Francis, Mayor Bill, and city manager Bruce Woody and his wife.

Friday evening, university president Bob Vartibidian and his wife Laurel invited the Distinguished Alum to dinner at their house prior to the bon fire on campus. We bonded over pork loin and cheesecake. (OK...we had some cocktails also.) By the time we arrived at the football field for introductions, we DA (Distintuished Alumni) had become a real GROUP.*cheers*

We all met at Norty's Saturday morning for breakfast. *yum* Several people checked the weather radar on their cell phones as we ate, so we were aware of extreme conditions in our area. But we forged ahead....onto a shuttle....to the staging area of the parade. We got off the bus and huddled under umbrellas while rain drenched us, the Homecoming royaly in their tux and formals, the cheerleaders, and the floats. When lightning flashed, the police and the university agreed that the parade had been rained on and we were disbanded.

However, the alumi stadium tailgate party was still on, just at a different location...in the student union building. Any student on campus was invited to have hamburgers, hot dogs and chili. Oh, yes, those folks at the university know how to tailgate. Again, we Alum had a time to bond before we went over to the stadium to be introduced before the football game.

What a great week-end. I had so much fun!!

Go St. Jo!

Governor Jay Nixon came to the groundbreaking ceremony for Boehringer Ingelheim's new warehouse. Later, Boehringer had an open house for their new corporate headquarters located here in St. Joseph.

The Farmer in the Dell

Despite the drought, my tomato plants look the best that they have for several years. I have "harvested"only three ripe tomatoes so far this summer but I see many green ones maturing. Maybe I'll get some in September.

Trails West!

Another Trails West! Patron Party. This one celebrated the 20th anniversary of Trails West!. I wore 11 buttons from the past and my original tee shirt from 1993. I have posters for every year of the festival dating back to 1994. Those from 1996 on are signed by the artists who created them.

Sister Dot and I went Saturday afternoon to check out the crafts and artist booths and eat festival food. I had Greek chicken and salad, Dot had bbq pork. We finished by sharing a funnel cake, Dot's first....but probably not her last.

Visit to the Prison

I attended the anniversary of the Puppies for Parole program at the Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, the prison located here in St. Joseph. Going into the prison was scary. The outside (up close) is imposing and surounded by barbed-wire topped fences....just like on tv.

After the ceremony, we were able to talk with the offender-handlers about their puppies and their participation in the program. All the young men I talked with said they felt fortunatate to have been accepted as trainers as only 24 out of approximately 1800 prisoners are selected.

Each puppy has two handlers and shares a cell with them 24 - 7. The puppies are trained over a three to ten week period, depending on the problems the dog has when it enters the program. The St. Joseph Animal Shelter selects animals that have severe behavior or physical problems but that show potential to be a good pet.

One of the puppies at the ceremony was a huge, pure-bred Golden Retriever had been brought to the shelter by a family who couldn't care for him. He had been chained outside and had little interaction with humans. Now he is ready for a loving home. During the speeches, he stretched out on the floor real comfy, unfazed by the applause that set several of the other dogs to barking.

Women of Excellence Lunch

My table at The Women of Excelence lunch today.
Joyce Edwards, Maggie Johnson (Joyce's grand daughter), my niece Julie Kirschner, my sister Dorothy Tietz, my friend (former student and retired teacher) Nancy Lamar Pease, and me.

First Blossom

Two years ago, I purchased three hybrid roses at a bargain price and plopped them in the back 40. The deer or rabbits nibbled one young bush to nothing within a few weeks, but the other two held on throughout the summer and the mild 2011 winter. Now the surviving two bushes are both about three feet tall.

 

Mothers' Day

Barney, Dorothy and I had bruch at the Country Club. Afterwards, Dot and I looked at videos that she had made. Barney watched golf.

Sold!

When I went to pick up the two pieces I entered in the Albrecht-Kemper Membership Exhibit, I learned that both had been purchased.

While I am happy that others enjoy my art, I kind of feel like I have given up two of my children.

The butterfly is a watercolor. The crocus is a digitally altered photo of flowers in my front yard.

Sister Dot won a Third Place award for one of her entries.

Membership Exhibit at the Albrecht

 Sister Dorothy and I again entered artwork in the Albrecht's annual membership exhibit. The day we took our pieces to the art museum, we stayed and had lunch at the AKMA Cafe.

Dorothy won Honorable Mention for her 2-D watercolor "Blue Baritone." I thought her butterfly deserved an award too.

I entered a watercolor butterfly entitled "Moment" and a digitally enhanced photo of crocus from my front yard, "Good-by Winter."

Gina entered a watercolor of daisies.


After the awards ceremony, we went to Foster's Martini Bar so that Dorothy could buy the traditional winner's round of drinks for our group, which included Russell, Gina, Barney, and me. Then we went to Boudreux's for dinner.