Alone, all alone....So Alone.....

Mom, Dad, and the boys were in Iowa this weekend getting some of the floors in that house re-finished, so I was home alone Thursday and Friday. They left Thursday afternoon, and they won't be back until tomorrow evening. So far, Sis and I have managed to host two wild parties and attend one. There's another this afternoon starting at 2:01. Why the '01', I don't know, but that's when it starts.

We watched Return of the King, extended edition yesterday, completing another thing on my 2009 To-Do List. And two weeks ago I watched a Meteor Shower (which was cool!). Now I want to learn double-dutch jump roping and square dancing.

Well, I'm sorry this is so short, but I have to go get ready for that party....
~Kiwi~

This past Weekend

Last weekend was a lot of fun, but over waaay too quickly! I wish there was just one funny story to tell about, because an itinerary would just bore you guys. Hm....
As I mentioned in my last post, we had friends Miranda, Abbie, and Rachel over for the weekend. We biked along the bike trail Saturday afternoon, then over to the farm market for donuts. We also watched selections from the Talent Night, and all of the latest Pride and Prejudice movie.
Sunday we introduced them to some friends from church, but it was really empty that day. I don't know why. Because the girls had to leave by 4:00, we didn't go to volleyball, and just played Blitz and talked for a while after lunch.
Then we decided to take a walk. Dad suggested we walk past KK, SS, and Jumbo Shrimps' house to see if they were back from vacation. We strolled up to the corner and saw their van parked in the driveway with all the bikes on it. They were back! Then Sis and I hatched a mildly evil plan. That family had never met or seen pictures of Miranda, Abbie, or Rachel. What would be their reaction if three complete strangers walked up to them, greeted them by name, and asked how their vacation was?
We planned to find out.
So our friends went over to the driveway after I pointed out Kirsten, and said 'hey Kirsten!'
Kirsten's face was priceless.
Then Rachel asked how their vacation went, which, I'm afraid, kinda freaked poor Kirsten out. Sis and I appeared then, laughing. I'm glad Kirsten is a good sport! Some people, I'm sure, would not have found it funny. What I found particularly hilarious was that Short Stuff had been picking stuff up out of the car and just stayed in there until Sis and I walked up! :) So we stood talking for a few minutes before continuing on our stroll.

We also stopped by the park and made a video to say 'hi' to the people Sis and I know back in Illinois. It was a disaster. It turned out awful. Have you ever tried to say something coherent when there are four people picking on ever word you say, and making everything you say sound silly? And interrupting you every sentence?
Oh, it is hard. Impossible would describe it better. *shakes head sadly* I already am unhappy about the way I sound on camera, but when I'm fumbling for words, laughing, and being teased.........

Okay, on to something happier! ;D
We had a good weekend, and I can't wait to do something like that again! there were lots of pictures taken, and I'll post some of them on here or my photo blog once I get them on the computer.

I'll post again later this week, I promise! There will be some extra time Thursday and Friday that I plan to set aside for blogging.
And 5 "Good Friend" blogger points go to Zazzamarandabo, the only friend to comment on my last post. :) Thanks for the comments, Zazzy. (Can I call you Zazzy for short? Or just Big Z. No, not that. I'm still trying to break the habit of calling you Skittles. :)

Later, folks!
~Kiwi~

Sports/This Weekend

This was supposed to be posted day and day and day ago, but I kept getting interrupted *cough* by other people wanting on. *ahem*

Sports:

These past two weeks have been full of sports. Volleyball on Sunday afternoons and church softball Monday evenings. Plus Cubs games on TV. Volleyball has been entertaining the past two weeks. Last Monday it was hot and sticky, with barely a breath of wind when we started playing. Then, two games into the afternoon, it started to storm. There was lightning and thunder far in the distance, and it started to sprinkle. After a minute or two the rain started pouring down. Who in their right mind would leave the party?? We played in the rain for a good 20 minutes, and then slowly strolled to the shelter of the tree (smart people, huh? standing under a tree with thunder withing hearing distance....), then to our cars. I was drenched.

"When I walked out in the downpour with no raincoat
I got soaked down to the bone from head to toe

Without my raincoat

Anywhere I may go

I get wet somehow"

This past Sunday, volleyball was cool, too. It wasn't one of my better days, and I ate sand (and the ball) several times, but it was still okay. We usually play a few rounds of practice until enough people arrive to form teams. Once we had enough, this time, there was an extra person on my side of the net (left over from the practice). Surprisingly, the other team chose me to even things out! So my question is, did they specifically want me, because they 'know' I'm good (yeah right), or did they just call me over because they already had a really good team anyway? Hm....

The church softball games are over for the summer. Our C League team won two games, and the B League made it to the play-offs! Last Monday night was the deciding game: win this one, and 'we' were going to the Championships! The score was 2-2 in the second inning. Slowly but surely we gained run after run, until the final score was something like 5-2. We were going to the Championship!!
The Championship game started out slowly and badly, the score being 8-1 in the second inning...the other team had the 8.

"This is not what I want
This is not what I planned
And I just have to say
I do not understand!
Something is really
(Something's not right)
Really wrong,
And we've got to get things back where they belong!
We can do it!"

Then our team went off with a 'Bang!' with Alex's 3 run homer in the second. After that there was no stopping them! The final score was 17-9....We won! Hooray and all that! Rejoicing in the streets!
The sad thing is that the ball games are over for the year now. :( I do wish I could have gone to more.

This Weekend:

More rejoicing! Miranda, Abbie, and Rachel are coming up on Saturday morning! We're going to do some bike riding on Saturday afternoon, and then Sunday afternoon we might go to the gardens here in town. Volleyball would be fun, too, but they have to leave by 4:00, so we'd only get an hour's worth of playing in before rushing back here. And some of the people from church will be roofing, and that may cut down on the volleyball-ers considerably.
But anyway. I can't wait 'til day after tomorrow! It's been the greater part of a year since I last saw them!

And on that note, I leave thee. Farewell.
~Kiwi~
p.s. Grandma won the 20 points. Sorry Aunt B. :)

Greener Grass in Greater Gilman (say it 5 times fast...I dare ya)

Last Saturday was our family get-together. It was because my cousin, Josh, was up from Arizona, and most of us haven't seen him in years. The last time my family saw him was 10 years ago, and all I remember of that was him saying "I used to toss you up in the air" or something like that.
Anyway, I woke up at 4:30 (against my will), lay around in bed until 5:30, and then we drove almost non-stop until we arrived at 11:00. So no, it was not 6 hours (as my father so kindly pointed out in a comment on the last post), but it sure was a long time!
Once there, we met Josh and his wife and his two cute little daughters. I wish I had had my camera out sooner; by the time I got it out, the girls were down for a nap. But Dad got some good pictures that I'll have to put on here once he gets them loaded.
I also saw three sets of aunts & uncles, my other cousin who I haven't seen in 2 or 3 years, I got to hold my month old second cousin, and stuffed myself with good food. And then right before we left, our host started a hay rack ride. We didn't get to go on the four-county tour he had planned, though, because we had a 5 hour drive ahead of us. But the four-street tour was fun, too!
Here are some pictures: Once again, I am unable to straighten them. I don't get it!!! I turned them in the folders, so they were right-way up! Hmph. But here they are anyway.
Second-cousins.
more relatives.More second cousins....

Josh (a sideways view ;)

We had a great time. I think it was probably worth the 10 hour drive. We didn't get home until 11:00 that night, and I had to shower, so according to my calculations, I was awake for about 19 hours straight. Yikes! That's a long time! I was tired in church the next morning. Very tired.

Oh, by the way: guess what! I'm a second cousin again! His name is Zachary Paul. and he's adorable. But I don't have any pictures of him to put on here.

Okay, I'm being forced off the computer by Someone, so I'll talk to y'all later.

'Bye!

~Kiwi~

Credit for the title goes to my Aunt B. and my Uncle L, BTW.

Just a Few Things to Say

I don't have much to say today. Er, I'm not going to say much. I could probably go on and on, but where's the fun in reading a rambley post? See, I've started already. *zips mouth shut*

I have a few blogs to introduce y'all to today:
Lady Florimel with "Rose of Venice," "Above Rubies," and a new one "Kiwi and her Pictures."
Lady Florimel and Jumbo Shrimp are currently working on a story, which is being posted on Rose of Venice. Above Rubies is a group blog, authored by Queen Lucy and some of her friends. Go check both out! I'm enjoying them. Rose of Venice may be available for only a short time, because I was talking with Florimel last night and she said she may block out the general public. And I take waaay too many pictures and do nothing with them, so I'm sticking the majority of them on my photo blog.

There was apparently some controversy surrounding my last post. (the one about Jordan's Kilt) Yes, Caleb, I know, it is slightly more skirt-like than kilt-ish. But that is through no fault of my own. One of Jordan's conditions was that I was to have no help at all, not even a pattern. So I looked at a picture of a kilt, then made it the best I could. Caleb gave me a link to a kilt site, which shows the entire pattern. Whow. Sewing an kilt the correct way looks reeeeaaally difficult! But thanks for the link. Next time I make a kilt.....

Two posts back I put up a picture and challenged y'all to guess what it was. Alayne came up with the correct answer! It was raindrops on a car window. Queen Lucy came up with the same answer, but (sorry!) I had specified that the first answer won. So 15 points to Alayne!

This weekend should be an interesting one. We're traveling aaaallll the way to Des Moines, IA on Saturday morning. My uncle Leslie is having a BBQ at his place for the clan. We're leaving at 6:00 am (like that's gonna happen!), will be there by 12:00 pm, hang out for a few hours, then come home....the same day. Ugh. I'm glad I'm getting to see family again, but 12 hours in the car???

Jordan's ordering me off ("Get off! Right now!!!), so I'll wrap this one up. I'll try to have a post scheduled for Saturday.
So long.
~Kiwi~