The Friendly Confines

Michelle and I spent a picture perfect summer day with some friends at Wrigley Field yesterday. We sat in the fifth row right behind home plate. The Cubs beat the Pirates 5-1. The video shows Ronny Cedeno hitting into a double play but allowing Mark DeRosa to score in the bottom of the 4th inning.

TV COMMERCIALS

My favorite TV commercial is the Subway one where a dorky-type guy is ordering a reuben sandwich and notices that the counter guy's name is Reuben. He then makes a big deal about the name of the sandwich being the same as the guy's name - etc. etc. Usually I tune commercials out after seeing them several times, but this one makes me chuckle every time. If you haven't seen it, watch for it.

My worst one is for Detrol (apparently a bladder control medicine) and is about a teacher in the classroom who has to "go" and when she finally gets to the lady's room, the little silhouette lady from the bathroom door jumps down and walks with her and convinces her she needs Detrol. This one makes me gag!

So . . . what commercials do you like or not like?

Ada

Speaking of Dolls

I was husking some sweet corn the other day and had some faint memories of making dolls out the husks and silks. Was this a common thing, or just something I did in my little girl days?

Bragging Rights

I have to do a little bragging here. Jake called and announced his plan to take some college courses starting this fall. He took his placement tests this morning, and I would like to share that he is following the Klopfenstein tradition of excellence in writing skills, with a score of 99 on his writing test. So this fall he will be teaching the teledata apprenticeship class two evenings a week, and attending Heartland Junior College one evening a week. Wonder if he will still have time to serve on the Stanford village board?? He will be busy this winter, but Malissa is super supportive of him furthering his education.

In The News

Our local police chief was featured on the NBC Nightly News "In Their Own Words" segment last fall talking about his battle with Alzheimers. Some of you may have heard that he has been in the local news again recently.

Apparently there was a wild fox roaming the town in the middle of the day. Since the neighborhood has a lot of children, the police officers made a judgement call to shoot the fox. Unfortunately the chief's bullet ricocheted off a metal swing set and went through the window of a home day-care. Thankfully, no one was injured. The incident didn't have anything to do with the alzheimers, just poor judgment and poor aim. After a review he was given a reprimand and reinstated.

On a more positive note, there was a very good story on Spencer's faith journey featured on PBS' Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. He has a neat testimony of how this disease has affected him spiritually. My handsome hubs got his name mentioned and some screen time in the PBS report, so I thought I'd pass it along the link (hopefully it will work).

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week1146/profile.html

Have a great week-end!
Shelley

Grandparents, Aunt, Nephews and Nieces Trips

In October, 1999 Mom, Dad, and I went to Williamsburg and Monticello with Andrew. It was a great trip with him as he was about fifth grade at the time and a real history buff. Since money doesn’t sit in his pocket long, he bought a bag of plastic soldiers that both Mom and I tried to discourage him from doing so. However, he spent hours in the car and hotel those few days playing with those plastic soldiers so they were well worth the few dollars he spent on them.

In July, 2006 Mom and I took the four girls (Mary Lee, Haley, Lauren, and Lindsey) to Nashville for a short trip together. We did the Aquarium, a cave, and the Imax while there and had a pretty wild Uno match in the hotel. For them the biggest attraction was the mall where we learned that even though they could roam the mall together on Thursday evening while we were there, they had to have an adult chaperone with them on Friday night. I’ve never spent so long in two stores (Abercrombie and American Eagle) in which not one thing would fit me and yet had so much fun watching them shop and try on things. (The memory of that is much more pleasant two years later than at the time when I was so tired I could barely stand up.)

Next week is an overnight trip with the two youngest grandsons/nephews. We’ll be doing some Nashville sites on Monday and Tuesday. In addition we’ll probably get in some games of Phase 10 or Quiddler or some other new game. Hopefully with two digital cameras we’ll have some pictures to post by mid-week. I can’t wait to see everyone.

HOLLYHOCK DOLLS

Some of you may remember making "hollyhock dolls" as children. We have a couple stalks of hollyhocks in our yard, so this morning Grace and I made a couple dolls from them. Yesterday was a very busy day and we didn't have time to take pictures, but here is one picture of this morning's creations.

We just got back from Joliet where we met Drake and Michelle and had lunch. Now we're heading for the couch(s)! It was a good, fun-filled weekend.

Home again

Jerry and I are back home -- and to reality -- after a long, much-needed weekend in Chicago. We had a such a fabulous time! We ate dinner on Navy Pier, took a boat tour of the city from the lake and river, walked around Wrigleyville during a game (didn't have tickets but still enjoyed the Cubs fever), rode the "L", saw Wicked and saw Jimmy Buffett in concert. The best thing about the weekend was that there was always something to look forward to. Friday night after the play, I was a bit sad that it was over. But, no worries because the concert was still yet to come. Today, however, I'm a bit let down as I look forward to unpacking, doing laundry, and getting ready for another work week. Oh well...

DAY TWO AT G&G'S HOUSE

Well, I thought I already sent this, but apparently I didn't! So here goes again. This morning Heat and I drove to Joliet, had lunch with Drake and Michelle, then brought Grace and Owen home with us. We spent the afternoon playing in the tent, the pool, the slip & slide, doing kitchen table crafts, making haunted houses in the basement, going to the park this evening, etc. Right now the kids are watching a movie with the idea tht that will "slow them down" a little; however, Owen is making Nathan laugh louder than I've ever heard him laugh! It's been a good day and we're looking forward to tomorrow. I'll send more pictures -- if I'm still able!

DAY ONE AT GRANDMA & GRANDPA'S HOUSE

We've been having much fun with Heat and Nathan. Since Ang never sent the pictures of the bean fields as promised, we walked across the street and took a couple here. Unfortunately, after dinner, Nathan fell on the kitchen floor and the result is a "fat lip". He recovered quickly and was ready to go to the park and walk around the block. Don't worry Mom and Dad, he's tough and if we mention it he just says "I'm ok".

Sorry, but I'm going to bore you all with pictures documenting our weekend.

Bush in Peoria event now over

Kathleen and I are quite tired, but excited having seen the President today in Peoria campaigning for our local young 26-yr-old candidate for US House of Representatives.
My previous post was removed by me due to a request from SS. Not sure why, as the post was very positive and nothing confidential or "classified", for sure. They threatened that if not removed, my name would be removed from the Volunteer Help List and I would not be allowed to attend the event. Now it is over and not a drop of rain, mild temps, and an over-flow crowd of 1400 or so @ $500 per head. A surreal atmosphere, a great meal, fist-class accommodations, etc. Kathleen worked on flower prep and she and I both were on the food-serving line. We were allowed to go inside the air-conditioned main tent for the entire program and saw and heard every word of the Pres.' 25-minute talk. We also got to eat the full meal, backstage. What a deal! He is a MUCH better speaker than the press would want you to think -- very inspiring. And, of course, many, many accolades about the young man he came here for.

I am told the SS had "Google Alerts" on this event for several weeks. With our Blog being registered with Google, our main Posts are all available for the whole world to see. Googling key words of any post will cause that post to come up on a Google Search! I think my words of SS, the young man's name, the amount of ticket sales, etc. trggered their concern. Security was indeed extremely tight today, as well. The candidate has requested no photos to be put on the internet. Email pics might be OK, however. No video cameras were allowed. All in all, a very unique experience. Tomorrow morning, you can read the Peoria Journal Star and read of the account, and also his website, if you are so inclined.
Cleve & Kathleen

What next?

Recent web surfing revealed the following:

Don't Get Taken For A Ride--
Some drivers will do anything to get a free tank. Classic scam: The customer leaves a credit card at the cash register, pumps gas and peels out just in time for the attendant to discover the card doesn't work. In this environment, always make customers prepay and authorize the cards before a drop gets pumped.

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Genesis 6:5

I'm doing it!

After much thought and prayer, I'm starting a business--Bonny Blue Babywearing! I'm so excited about it. I've barely slept in days because I'm constantly planning. We've been busy getting paperwork together, looking for material suppliers, and planning classes.

For those unfamiliar with babywearing, it's the practice of using a carrier to "wear" your baby on your body so you can carry them as much as they need while keeping your hands free. I'll be offering consults on how to choose from and use the various types of carriers, and I also make and sell ring slings. Here's a picture of my first sling:

REMOVAL

The post from CK has been removed. Please don't ask any questions or mention the upcoming event. Just trust me on this. - Ada

We are babysitting this weekend with Nathan, Heat, Grace and Owen. Should be fun and busy.

Ada

Regarding groceries...

Maybe better read the first post I wrote to have this make sense!

Now on to the grocery store...usually Walmart. I hate getting groceries. I consider it a cruel practice of self-denial. I walk in the door and on the right are cookies and cupcakes. Can't have that. Down the center aisle are sales on potato chips...can't have that. Down the ice cream aisle...shouldn't have that. Over to see two nice red steaks in a package...25 bucks...can't buy that. And so it goes...
I walk out with a gallon of milk, a box of Cheerios, maybe a bag of apples, and my staple snack, a bag of popcorn. Lunch meat and bread if we need it. Maybe another reason I'm in a bad mood by the time I reach the poor, innocent check-out girl...so off I drive to the fast food drive-thru...I know it doesn't make sense!

"Be Nice?"

I was scrolling back reading some of the previous posts and comments, and came across Ada's explanation of her Walmart shopping experience. I have a tendency to be quickly frustrated with sales clerks in general. I don't know if it's because I don't know these people and think I will probably never see them again or what, but I don't always show my usual restraint and I can get pretty snotty and short with people - which prompts Dave, if he knows I am heading out to do some shopping, to say, "Be nice!" Isn't that awful that he knows somebody might be about to get the bad side of me!

Here's my latest shameful story: I was in line at drive-thru at Steak n Shake and it was taking a looong time. Too long for my patience level, besides the guilt that was building knowing I had no business even buying fast food, again! When I finally get to the window the young gal handed me my sandwich, then turned around and talked, finally handed me some fries, turned around and talked, then finally got around to getting my drink, which she slightly spilled when putting on the lid. By this time, I was getting riled, and I thought, "I'm not taking that sticky glass, I'm going to make her wipe it clean..." Just then she handed it out the window and between her hand and mine, the glass fell straight down to the pavement! Oh, boy! Now just as she was trying to apologize, I said dramatically, "Oh, just forget it!" And I rudely pulled away.

I felt bad about it for days.

By the way, I still choose Walmart.

PRISON RIOT - GERBILS

The Pantagraph had a large front-page article w/pictures about the Pontiac Prison Riot 30 years ago today. It was a major riot with deaths, injuries, fires, etc. Quite the news at the time. We remember it well, as 30 years ago on this day, we were driving to Pontiac to buy Angela some gerbils complete with cage, an exercise circle, tubes to crawl through, etc. for her 10th birthday. As soon as we left Minonk and headed east, we could see the smoke and eventually flames and wondered what in the world the big fire was. We had the radio on and soon heard that there was a riot and fire at the prison. Funny how some things stick in your mind and anytime I hear any reference to that prison riot I think about Angela and her gerbils. And, by the way, she raised gerbils for quite awhile and when all the babies got big enough, we took them to the high school and fed them to the snakes in the biology lab.

Tall Corns

As we drove on Northtown Road a few days ago, Nathan said, "Mom. Tall. Corns." So tonight we walked a block over to stand by some corn to see just how tall it actually is. It really is amazing, when you think about it!

HIGH WINDS - TREE DAMAGE

We awoke this morning about 7:30 to the sound of very high wind gusts and shoved each other out of bed to see what was going on. Looking onto the deck we noticed the hibiscus plant had blown over and the lattice was flopping around. Looking our the front window, we saw our mulch blowing around the drive and yard, the trees bending waaaay over, and one tree had snapped off and was on the ground. (I guess if the beetles won't kill it, the wind will!)

A short while later, Jerry checked Pantagraph.com and saw a short article about the many downed trees due to high wind in Gridley. So, of course, we had to go scout around (just like we have to chase the fire sirens from time to time) and there were certainly many large limbs and complete trees down on almost every street in town. The city crews were busily involved in the clean-up. Our pictures show one tree on the corner of 5th Street and Center Street (next to Old Jack Taylor's house) and one in our yard. Can you guess which picture is our tree. So . . we saved it from the beetles, but the wind got it! Go figure!

No pointed toes!

I've been thinking about the comment mom made some time ago about me walking with my toes pointed out, just like Grandma, her and Alice. I didn't think it was true when she wrote it, but recently I noticed when I walked past my grandfather clock, the reflection in the glass proves that it is true! Horror! So today as I walked in a hallway at work, seemingly alone, I forced my feet to walk straight. It didn't feel right, but I kept going. Then, right when I turned a corner, I tripped trying to walk that way, and someone saw me. I didn't fall down, just stumbled a bit, but still felt silly. Double horror!

Since we're talking milk. . .

In recent weeks you may have seen the new milk carton design either in stores or in the media. Stores and dairies like it because it is more stackable and will allow for less cost in transporting the milk. While watching a news clip about the new carton the reporter said the new design will save .20/gallon.

My friend (not Renae for those who know her) and I had a disagreement as to whether this was a significant savings or not. We figured this would be 5% on a $4.00 gallon of milk. One of us said 5% savings on a staple was huge and one of us said it was not much of a savings for the consumer.

So, what is your opinion? Is a 5% savings on milk significant?

The Price of Milk

WOW--did I ever get a rude awakening today. For months I've read how the price of dairy is skyrocketing, but I've been able to get a gallon of milk for $2.99 until about a month ago; even then it varied between $3.29 and $3.69. Well, this past week the grocery near our house put milk on sale for $3.08, and I found out why--it was the setup leading to the fall. (Actually the rise.) Because, starting tomorrow, a gallon will be $4.88! Do the rest of you in other areas pay that much for milk? I'm going to have to get Andrew to quit guzzling it, starting tonight!

Erin and Thomas Frankie

Here's a very cute picture of Erin and Thomas. I think they are an adorable couple and appear to be very happy. Thanks to Barb for sending me the pictures.

WEDDING PICTURES

Barb send me some snapshots of the wedding so I could post them here. She said she's send more when they get the "real" pictures but I assume that will be awhile. I don't know why two of them are so small. #1 is the wedding; #2 is Bonnie and Lauren, #3 is the pretty tables, and #4 is Erin and Larry.

Off on an Adventure

Whitney (#2) left today for a 1-month stay in the Philippines! She has an internship with a company there that manufactures items for some large retail stores here. The owner booked a flight on Monday . . . for TODAY, so we've had a whirlwind week getting her ready to go! She's so excited and ready to greet the world. Right now she's flying over Alaska. Makes me remember my adventure to Antigua that resulted in a 7-year stay!

BEETLE UPDATE

Just wanted to update you on our Japanese Beetle problem. We had five trees damaged plus a couple bushes and the roses. The bugs have eaten many of the leaves - they eat all the solid leaf but leave all the veins, so the remaining leaf looks like lace and turns brown. So we have large areas of this "brown lace" in our trees. They especially like Birch, Linden, and crabapple trees - we had some of each. Others they don't bother at all. Spring Green sprayed them quite generously - and as of now, there's not a bug in our yard! We will be checking every day to see if they will need a second spraying. The problem is quite prevelant in out neighborhood.

I'm having lunch tomorrow with six of my grade/high school classmates. Doesn't that sound like fun? I'm looking forward to it.

Erin's Wedding

Last Saturday, July 12 was Erin and Thomas' wedding. It was held in Bloomington at a Nazarene Church. They attend Twin City Bible Church in Champaign, but wanted to get married in Bloomington, so the Nazarene church was rented.

Erin was a beautiful bride in a gorgeous white bridal gown with a train. Her bridesmaids wore red dresses. She had 5 attendants, Bonnie was maid of honor and Lauren was a bridesmaid along with 3 of her friends. The church was full with about 250 guests.

The reception was held at Miller Park Pavilion with Hors D'oeuvres first and then a sit down dinner for 250 people. Everything was very good and the room was nicely decorated.

They are in Colorado on their honeymoon this week. Thomas is from Mahomet and graduated from the U of I (as did Erin) this spring in Engineering.. He will go to Grad school in the fall. He is a very nice young man and a devoted Christian. Larry and Barb and the girls really like him and Larry considers him as a son he never had. Erin has a job in Rantoul as a second grade teacher. They will live in Urbana.

Keith and I are resting up this week. We hope to go to Colorado sometime in September.

Car parts??

First, I want to say thank you to Ann and whoever else was involved in starting this blog. I have learned a lot about the Klops through the blog and I definetly know more of what's going on in the "bloggers" lives than I would have known otherwise. Now, if only more Klops would post and share.....we would know even more.

The end of last week I did something for only the 2nd time in my adult life, and it has caused another time of reflection for me on what "work" is all about. In January 2004, I walked out BSC (Bloomington Seating) after 9 years in employ there. I started there as a young kid building seats and left as Quality Manager. I learned so much there, including many life lessons about the right and wrong way to be a "boss". I came to JCI C'Dale (Johnson Controls Cottondale AL) as a Quality Engineer with no one reporting to me, and left after 4 1/2 years with 36 engineers and auditors reporting to me.

My team, both day shift and night shift threw parties for me as I left. Day shift had a potluck and night shift took me to Ruby Tuesdays. Several of my engineers told me that they could not have survived in the company if it were not for my leadership. Many of them (females and one guy ) actually cried during the speech I gave at the party.

Just so you don't think I have a big head, this is where the reflection part comes in. I DID NOT DO ANYTHING!! Most days I came home depressed at how I "suck" at my job. We could not fix anything, quality got better and then worse without anything happening, battles were fought, won and lost every day. I often came home feeling like a failure at my job. Now I am wondering....was I really a failure. Sure, I couldn't keep leather seats from having wrinkles, couldn't make the production lines run faster, wasn't willing to "massage" data to make numbers look better than they were, BUT....I knew all my employee's, their cares, their concerns, their spouses names, the illnessess they or their family had, and I was willing to listen. I could tell when they were distracted, didn't feel good, or had a lot of stress going in in their lives. When I focused on my people, I did find that quality did get better too!! I found it funny when one of my most hardened employee's, sailor mouth and all, would remind me with the sailer's tongue that I would be late for church on Wednesday night if I didn't leave on time.

The decision to leave was very hard for me, not because of the job, but because of the people. I was able to make the "job" decision very easily. It took about....not even as long as it took for the person to tell me about the new job. Then, however, I remember my team and how fractured they were when I took over as their leader. That made it hard. But God said go, so here we go.

I moved to a new JCI plant called JCIM (Johnson Controls Injection Molding) in McCalla Alabama. It's about 2 miles closer to the house, but takes 5 minutes longer to get there due to the route speed limit. Today was my first day and I got to meet my new team, as frustrated and fractured as they are. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds with them and seeing how God allows me to impact these folks lives as they impact mine. Isn't that what its really all about? Relationships that result in our ability to share God's love. I sure hope it's not all just about car parts!!

EDK (sorry so long, just started typing and out it came)

Worldwide Klopfenstein Family Reunion--2008

The above map pinpoints the various locations in the USA of attendees at the reunion. There were 290-300 in attendance from 25 states. Note the point in upper northwest Washington, to California, Florida and to New York. A family friendship evolved quickly and I'm lonesome for some who became fast friends! Like it or not, there are Klopfys in almost every state. I enjoy tracking the unknown family members.
[Map setup by Joey and Mary (Klopfenstein) Medlen!]

Cherries

Thought I'd share the results of my labors on Saturday. My friend and I picked 30 lbs of tart cherries Saturday morning. She made two cherry pies and I made almost 32 half-pints of jam. (The jar in the back right is just under half full.) We also have several bags of frozen cherries to make cherry sauce for pancakes or cherry pie later. The orchard also had a cherry cake recipe I would like to try.