A week ago last Sunday I went to a 50th birthday party for Lester and was talking to Laura when she told me she had run into Steve Hoffmeyer, an old Laker. She said he was going to be having a party the following Saturday, the 13th. I called Matt over and told her to tell him. His immediate reaction was that we were going to crash Steve’s party. You see, there was an article in the newspaper (maybe the Journal) last year about Steve and the house he built on a barge that floats on the Mississippi River. Matt called to tell me to read the article and he sent it to a few family members. He started to harass Jim – trying to talk him into taking the boat on the river to Steve’s house because he wanted to see it. Well, needless to say, his harassment didn’t work and the issue was forgotten. Until, that is, Laura told him about the party.
So Matt and I agreed that we’d crash the party and that I would call Ron & Janet to see if they wanted to be crashers, too. Jim wasn’t too thrilled with the idea as he doesn’t know the Hoffmeyers and he felt kinda funny crashing a party where he didn’t know anyone. Well, Jim ended up going & Ron and Janet ended up wimping out.
Matt & Sharon came over to pick us up and we went out to dinner at a place on the way to the river. We were kind of winging it with the directions Laura gave us but when we drove down a farm road towards the river and I saw a huge bonfire, I knew we were at the right place. Anybody who knows the Hoffmeyer boys, knows that they don’t have a little campfire – it’s always huge tree trunks burning at least 10 feet into the sky. As soon as we parked I saw Steve so I went up to him and told him I hoped he didn’t mind us Zimmermanns crashing his party. Well, he didn’t mind at all and while I was talking to him, Joe Hoffmeyer, Danny Schultz and Mel Clore walked up. It was good seeing all of the old friends
We asked Steve to give us the grand tour so we walked on a bridge/gangplank over the water and onto the deck walkway that went around the whole house. The river was brown. The bugs were massive. The house was cool.
Steve told us he had a friend that floated the barge down from somewhere by Hall Street and it took him 4 years to build. It’s a 2-story with 4 bedrooms and Steve did a great job. The woodwork is beautiful and even though the water was brown, it was pretty neat standing out on the deck with the river flowing all around. He said he had to power wash the house at least once a month or there’d be bugs plastered all over it and if he left a light on outside, there’d be a huge pile of dead bugs on the deck the next morning. There was a tall post that Steve had marked when the St. Louis/St. Charles area was flooded earlier in the summer. His mark was about 10 feet above where we stood and he said that was where his deck floor was at the time. He said he’d take his john boat to get to his car that he had parked on higher ground when he went out. When we asked about taxes he said he’s battling the State and/or? the City of St. Charles now because they want to charge him but he says he’s on a national waterway so they have no right.
Matt asked about fishing and Steve said he caught big ones & he ate them. Matt was grossed out and Steve said he just cuts the brown/black? stuff off!
At one point when Sharon & I looked into the bathroom, the toilet water was brown and we thought someone had done a job and forgot to flush. As we were trying to skat outta there, Steve came in to show us the bathroom and the toilet didn't phase him. I realized a little later when I had to use it that it was river water. I just prayed the sink was clear & it was. After much thought, I'm pretty sure his " jobs" are going into the river. When I talked to Matt about this later, he said it's "the circle of life" Jeanne! All's I can say is "Steve is one rugged guy"! And all's Jim can say is "River Rats"!
We didn’t stay long because the mosquitoes were horrendous. It was fun popping in unexpectedly and knowing that being old “Lakers” made us welcome anytime.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Baby Shower for Jessica
The "Old" Aunts hosted a baby shower for Jessica yesterday and although they weren't all here, me, Janet & Jennifer did an excellent job and managed to come out looking pretty good. So what if we almost forgot to serve the cake and hand out the attendance prizes as everyone was leaving! We worked together as a team and helped each other remember what we were supposed to be doing. It's been quite a long time since we hosted a shower (probably Jessica's wedding) so don't laugh! It helped that we had a pre-shower meeting at Houlihan's to assign duties.
As you can see from the picture above, we had quite a spread of delectibles! Once again, Janet went over the top and brought some really good stuff. Jennifer also brought an awesome edible fruit arrangement that everyone raved over.
We played a a few games---match the celebrity to the baby names, guess the baby food and guess the chocolate bar in the diapers. Another good competition! Jessica looked as cute as ever and is filling out very well. We're all looking forward to the big day on October 31!
Monday, August 4, 2008
It's the Principle
In early spring I bought a double knock-out rose bush that I’ve been wanting since last year and my big sister Barb said were so great. Jim & I visited a few nurseries until I finally bought one from Koenig’s Nursery because it looked the healthiest and it would have red flowers. I very seldom buy anything but annuals each year because I always split my perennials or get free stuff from other sources so I really splurged and spent almost $40 on this one bush. I was told that it would flower continuously ALL summer. I picked the perfect spot where it would get a lot of sun and would be up-front & center so I could show it off. Six weeks after it was planted it had loads of flowers on it and I was very happy.
When those flowers faded, nothing happened. I did some research to see if I was supposed to deadhead and found out I could but didn’t have to. Thinking it might help, I did. I fertilized it. I watered it. Nothing happened. It was over a month and nothing. The more I tried the more I got pissed off. I finally convinced myself that the nursery sold me a regular rose bush and I got ripped off. Then I was really mad.
So one Saturday morning I dug the bush up, put it in the original pot that I bought it in, searched around to find my receipt and took it back to the nursery. I went inside to voice my complaint to a young guy and he immediately got the manager. She asked if I had it with me and I led her out to my car. I pulled it out of the back seat and plopped it on the ground where she started to inspect it. First, she told me they go through a dormant period. When I protested, she looked closer and said there was new growth on it. When I told her that there were no buds and it had been almost 2 months, she inspected closer until she found a teeny tiny spider web and pointed it out to me. She said it had bugs. She also said it was diseased. I argued that it did not have bugs and was not diseased. She asked if I had the yellow paper that was given to me upon purchase which stated their return policy. We argued a little more and she again asked about the yellow paper with the return policy. When I told her no I didn’t have the yellow paper and what was their return policy she said “WE DON’T TAKE THEM BACK!”
Needless to say, by this time, I was really worked up and very angry. She turned on her heal and was walking back into the nursery when I yelled that I would never come back and I’d tell all my family & friends never to come there. She said fine and walked into the store. I plopped the rose bush back into my car & spun my tires which threw gravel in the parking lot. I was fuming as I called Jim and told him what happened. He said that his brother told him before that Koenig’s were jerks about taking things back but he hadn’t believed him. I went back home, took the damn rose bush and replanted it in the same spot. After I calmed down, I told Jim that it would probably do good now since it had caused me so much grief.
It’s got blooms on it again, but regardless, I will NEVER go back to Koenig’s Nursery again and if you’re my family or friend, you won’t either!
When those flowers faded, nothing happened. I did some research to see if I was supposed to deadhead and found out I could but didn’t have to. Thinking it might help, I did. I fertilized it. I watered it. Nothing happened. It was over a month and nothing. The more I tried the more I got pissed off. I finally convinced myself that the nursery sold me a regular rose bush and I got ripped off. Then I was really mad.
So one Saturday morning I dug the bush up, put it in the original pot that I bought it in, searched around to find my receipt and took it back to the nursery. I went inside to voice my complaint to a young guy and he immediately got the manager. She asked if I had it with me and I led her out to my car. I pulled it out of the back seat and plopped it on the ground where she started to inspect it. First, she told me they go through a dormant period. When I protested, she looked closer and said there was new growth on it. When I told her that there were no buds and it had been almost 2 months, she inspected closer until she found a teeny tiny spider web and pointed it out to me. She said it had bugs. She also said it was diseased. I argued that it did not have bugs and was not diseased. She asked if I had the yellow paper that was given to me upon purchase which stated their return policy. We argued a little more and she again asked about the yellow paper with the return policy. When I told her no I didn’t have the yellow paper and what was their return policy she said “WE DON’T TAKE THEM BACK!”
Needless to say, by this time, I was really worked up and very angry. She turned on her heal and was walking back into the nursery when I yelled that I would never come back and I’d tell all my family & friends never to come there. She said fine and walked into the store. I plopped the rose bush back into my car & spun my tires which threw gravel in the parking lot. I was fuming as I called Jim and told him what happened. He said that his brother told him before that Koenig’s were jerks about taking things back but he hadn’t believed him. I went back home, took the damn rose bush and replanted it in the same spot. After I calmed down, I told Jim that it would probably do good now since it had caused me so much grief.
It’s got blooms on it again, but regardless, I will NEVER go back to Koenig’s Nursery again and if you’re my family or friend, you won’t either!
Monday, July 14, 2008
I'm One Lucky Girl!!!!
Today I returned to work after being on vacation since 2:47 PM July 3.
At approximately 2:18 PM today the power went out at JCI HQ.
Here's a rundown of my vacation time:
We started out Saturday with a poker party when the out-of-towners (Barb, Butch, Janice, Joyce, Scott, Devon & Madison) arrived. It was nice to have the whole family together. Before we started the poker game we had the competition I (and Barb, I guess) finally came up with. As you know, Barb & I found prom pictures of the "original 7" when we were looking in Mom's trunk. I displayed them on a dry-erase board with the categories of best dress, worst dress, best suit, worst suit, best hair (girl), worst hair (girl), best hair (boy) & worst hair (boy). I got in trouble because I included Jim and didn't think to ask the other in-laws for their pictures (sorry Janet, Sharon, Scott, Butch & Parvez). I didn't forget to include a banana sticker on Barb's dress! There were ballots that everyone filled out and Barb & I tallied the votes amidst a tremendously loud audience! I'm not sure who the winners (or should I say losers) were but I'm pretty sure Joyce got all the votes for worst hair! It was loud, chaotic, hilarious & fun - a perfect Zimmermann competition! The poker game started shortly after and Jennifer kept Matt in line with a few punches & chokes!
Sunday me, Jim, Joyce, Scott & the girls went to the Science Center to see Monsters Alive exhibit and Dinosaurs Omnimax. It didn't cost much which is lucky for Devon who felt dizzy & sick in the Omnimax. We went to Ronnie & Janet's afterward for a delicious Italian roast beef Janet prepared along with some excellent potato salad made by Ron. It wouldn't be a family vacation without a few descriptions of the food! Another poker game ensued and I ended up doing pretty good.
Monday morning we (me, Jim, Ron, Janet, Janice, Matt, Sharon, Scarlett, Jessica, Mike, Joyce, Scott, Devon & Madison) left for Lake of the Ozarks for 3 days. We had a great time and didn't even get kicked out! Although Janice went skiing and I went torpedoing nobody got seriously injured. Madison & Devon both got up on skis for the first time and did very well. There are many stories to be told about the trip to the Lake but I won't go into them or this blog would take forever. I'll include the ones I can remember in my travel journal if you'd care to read it sometime.
Thursday morning we checked out of our luxury penthouse suite & Matt & his gang went home while the rest of us went back out on the boat for a few hours. We got home early evening and ordered the pizza that Joyce & the girls had been longing for. Angie & Brian joined us and we had a good time.
Friday we had the Mandel party which turned out to be - you guessed it - LOUD! It was really loud before they got here but it's amazing how Celeste & Laurie can up the decibel by 50%. Another poker game ensued, along with some ping pong, shuffleboard & video games. It was another good time and a late one since I stayed up with Janice because she had a 6AM flight.
Saturday we went to Matt & Sharon's house for a scrumptious dinner of lasagna (Sharon makes it the best!), salad, garlic bread & ice cream cake. It rained for a short time which cooled the temperature down enough for Matt to fire up the pit. We were much more subdued as we sat around the fire pit and the week came to an end.
The Smiths left Sunday morning at 10AM but had to return to claim a couple of forgotten items. The vacation was great but our big sister & twin sister were missed.
I'm lucky to have a family that I enjoy being with (well, most of the time), that I get excited about seeing (well, most of the time) and that can get along (well, most of the time). I'm lucky to have a husband that I have fun with and love, that enjoys being around the family (well, most of the time) and who is a good sport when being teased by the family. But I'm really lucky that the power went out at JCI and I get to ease my way back into the whole office world again.....
At approximately 2:18 PM today the power went out at JCI HQ.
Here's a rundown of my vacation time:
We started out Saturday with a poker party when the out-of-towners (Barb, Butch, Janice, Joyce, Scott, Devon & Madison) arrived. It was nice to have the whole family together. Before we started the poker game we had the competition I (and Barb, I guess) finally came up with. As you know, Barb & I found prom pictures of the "original 7" when we were looking in Mom's trunk. I displayed them on a dry-erase board with the categories of best dress, worst dress, best suit, worst suit, best hair (girl), worst hair (girl), best hair (boy) & worst hair (boy). I got in trouble because I included Jim and didn't think to ask the other in-laws for their pictures (sorry Janet, Sharon, Scott, Butch & Parvez). I didn't forget to include a banana sticker on Barb's dress! There were ballots that everyone filled out and Barb & I tallied the votes amidst a tremendously loud audience! I'm not sure who the winners (or should I say losers) were but I'm pretty sure Joyce got all the votes for worst hair! It was loud, chaotic, hilarious & fun - a perfect Zimmermann competition! The poker game started shortly after and Jennifer kept Matt in line with a few punches & chokes!
Sunday me, Jim, Joyce, Scott & the girls went to the Science Center to see Monsters Alive exhibit and Dinosaurs Omnimax. It didn't cost much which is lucky for Devon who felt dizzy & sick in the Omnimax. We went to Ronnie & Janet's afterward for a delicious Italian roast beef Janet prepared along with some excellent potato salad made by Ron. It wouldn't be a family vacation without a few descriptions of the food! Another poker game ensued and I ended up doing pretty good.
Monday morning we (me, Jim, Ron, Janet, Janice, Matt, Sharon, Scarlett, Jessica, Mike, Joyce, Scott, Devon & Madison) left for Lake of the Ozarks for 3 days. We had a great time and didn't even get kicked out! Although Janice went skiing and I went torpedoing nobody got seriously injured. Madison & Devon both got up on skis for the first time and did very well. There are many stories to be told about the trip to the Lake but I won't go into them or this blog would take forever. I'll include the ones I can remember in my travel journal if you'd care to read it sometime.
Thursday morning we checked out of our luxury penthouse suite & Matt & his gang went home while the rest of us went back out on the boat for a few hours. We got home early evening and ordered the pizza that Joyce & the girls had been longing for. Angie & Brian joined us and we had a good time.
Friday we had the Mandel party which turned out to be - you guessed it - LOUD! It was really loud before they got here but it's amazing how Celeste & Laurie can up the decibel by 50%. Another poker game ensued, along with some ping pong, shuffleboard & video games. It was another good time and a late one since I stayed up with Janice because she had a 6AM flight.
Saturday we went to Matt & Sharon's house for a scrumptious dinner of lasagna (Sharon makes it the best!), salad, garlic bread & ice cream cake. It rained for a short time which cooled the temperature down enough for Matt to fire up the pit. We were much more subdued as we sat around the fire pit and the week came to an end.
The Smiths left Sunday morning at 10AM but had to return to claim a couple of forgotten items. The vacation was great but our big sister & twin sister were missed.
I'm lucky to have a family that I enjoy being with (well, most of the time), that I get excited about seeing (well, most of the time) and that can get along (well, most of the time). I'm lucky to have a husband that I have fun with and love, that enjoys being around the family (well, most of the time) and who is a good sport when being teased by the family. But I'm really lucky that the power went out at JCI and I get to ease my way back into the whole office world again.....
Monday, June 9, 2008
When will I ever learn.....
This past weekend Jim & I had to go to Meagan's high school graduation ceremony at the St. Charles Convention Center. Everyone knows how boring graduations are and there were 600 seniors graduating! I passed some of the time by practicing my text-messaging skills and sent about 5 or 6 short messages to friends. As hard as I tried, I couldn't figure out where the punctuation marks were! I wanted a few !!!!! and still have no idea where to find them on my phone. I admit I'm a novice when it comes to text messaging and it was quite obvious when I observed the young girl in front of me typing her messages with lightning speed. I bet I could beat her on my computer keyboard though!
Anyway, I was anxious for the ceremony to be over because I had plans to go to Debbie's community pool with her and catch some rays. The only sun I've gotten so far this summer is when I'm outside gardening (which is a lot) and it's hardly noticeable. I finally got out of there and left for Debbie's around 1:00. I even made a sandwich to eat on the road so as not to waste valuable afternoon sun time. When I got to her place I was very impatient and kept telling her to hurry up because she was dawdling.
We got to the pool around 1:45 and it was hot. We found a couple of lounge chairs, spread our towels out and began basking. I decided to use an accelerator on my legs (because they take forever to tan), a sunblock 4 on my upper body & a 45 on my face. We had a very nice, relaxing time just talking and cooling off in the pool periodically. We had to sneak to drink our beers because we messed up and brought bottles and Debbie was paranoid we would get in trouble. We had only brought 4 beers and ran out so we made a quick run back to her place to get more which Debbie poured in plastic containers because she's such a chicken. When we got back (within 5-10 minutes, tops) I noticed I was getting a little red so I started using the 4 sunblock on my legs & 45 on top. We stayed until around 5:00 and I went back to Debbie's to sober up a little before driving home.
After I got home & cleaned up, Jim & I went to a school picnic to meet some friends. While we were sitting there talking I felt my legs begin to catch fire! I suffered until the picnic closed but as soon as we got home I ran a cold bath and laid in there soaking my poor, red legs. It felt so good! Needless to say, I had a miserable night's sleep. I had to sleep on my back (I'm usually a stomach-sleeper) because it was the tops of my legs & hips that were so sore. I woke up a few times and put soothing lotion on before trying to get back to sleep. I'm hoping I won't peel.....
Anyway, I was anxious for the ceremony to be over because I had plans to go to Debbie's community pool with her and catch some rays. The only sun I've gotten so far this summer is when I'm outside gardening (which is a lot) and it's hardly noticeable. I finally got out of there and left for Debbie's around 1:00. I even made a sandwich to eat on the road so as not to waste valuable afternoon sun time. When I got to her place I was very impatient and kept telling her to hurry up because she was dawdling.
We got to the pool around 1:45 and it was hot. We found a couple of lounge chairs, spread our towels out and began basking. I decided to use an accelerator on my legs (because they take forever to tan), a sunblock 4 on my upper body & a 45 on my face. We had a very nice, relaxing time just talking and cooling off in the pool periodically. We had to sneak to drink our beers because we messed up and brought bottles and Debbie was paranoid we would get in trouble. We had only brought 4 beers and ran out so we made a quick run back to her place to get more which Debbie poured in plastic containers because she's such a chicken. When we got back (within 5-10 minutes, tops) I noticed I was getting a little red so I started using the 4 sunblock on my legs & 45 on top. We stayed until around 5:00 and I went back to Debbie's to sober up a little before driving home.
After I got home & cleaned up, Jim & I went to a school picnic to meet some friends. While we were sitting there talking I felt my legs begin to catch fire! I suffered until the picnic closed but as soon as we got home I ran a cold bath and laid in there soaking my poor, red legs. It felt so good! Needless to say, I had a miserable night's sleep. I had to sleep on my back (I'm usually a stomach-sleeper) because it was the tops of my legs & hips that were so sore. I woke up a few times and put soothing lotion on before trying to get back to sleep. I'm hoping I won't peel.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)