Pictures from end of Nov - first 1/2 of Dec

The car was off to the dealership for some major repairs. Cell phone cameras are great. Read the last post for the details. (By the way, the car runs great now. Tonight Bruce discovered that when they checked the windshield wipers, they forgot to hook up the hose from for the washers. Hmmm, we didn't get much for our money!! I was fascinated by the way they moved the car around. Remember, it would run but wouldn't propel itself. That blue thing was way easier than pushing it by hand. Bruce went to Dallas and I got flowers again. Hurray for me. They are on the counter at my desk. Chenega Christmas party. I was giving the food table one final going-over. McDoles house to beautiful. I could live here in a minute! Here we are in the kitchen having a good time. Sheila and I were enjoying a few minutes after everyone ate. Bruce and I were two tired puppies! The dessert bar was a VERY popular hangout. This is a picture of the Neil Diamond concert. Notice that everyone is standing up clapping and singing. No pictures were allowed so I used my Sprint phone. Hmmm. The concert was at the Sprint Center and no cell phone pictures were allowed. What is wrong with that picture??

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

It has been almost a month since I've blogged and we have been BUSY. We are both about frazzled.

I'll fast forward through a bunch. Thanksgiving was at our apartment with friends and family. The Saturday after Thanksgiving Bruce and I went to the condo at the lake for a couple of really fun days. We did some shopping and had dinner with Mike and Donna David and their family. Mike and Donna purchased the Lake House Inn which is the local motel. Donna quit her job at St. Lukes and they are both living at the condo full time and loving it.

We did something every night the first week of December but I can't remember what. Friday December 5 was the first Christmas party of the year. We were invited to the home of Jim and Lisa Watkins. There were lots of old friends there so we did a lot of eating, drinking and talking.

The next night was my sorority Christmas party at Les and Barb Frans. I prepared three food items to take. Bruce and I were on our way to Costco in the Envoy when we heard a horrible noise from the rear end of the car. We had just gotten it out of the shop where we had the rear end serviced. The engine ran fine but the drive train was not engaged so there was no moving it. We called the tow service and a flat bed picked us up. The car spent the next week in the shop getting all the gears, the differential and something else replace - at the expense of the dealership!! Hurray for us. When the tech put the car back together after doing the original work, he either forgot a clip or didn't have it on right and the gears were all sheared off. We have a friend that is a mechanic at the dealership and somehow the dealership decided to do the right thing and admit to their wrongdoing. The car runs great now! Monday, December 8, we drove to Menlo, IA for Bruce's uncle Bernard's funeral. We left home about 7:00 a.m. for a 11:00 funeral. After the luncheon, we drove straight to Topeka, KS where our daughter-in-law was performing with the Shawnee County Choral group. It was an awesome performance. Joy was a soloist and did a great job. We were home and in bed by about 11:00 p.m. TIRED!

We had our first real snow and ice storm on Tuesday, December 9. That was not fun. I was supposed to go to a Pampered Chef party but it was canceled so we went to "taco Tuesday" with a bunch of friends at a restaurant down the road a little bit. Bruce left for a meeting in Dallas December 10-12. Wednesday night I went to a "girl group" Christmas party. Thursday night I did all the food shopping for Bruce's work Christmas party. That reminded me of some of the Quail Run shopping trips. Friday night Bruce got home at 6:00 and by 6:30 we were on our way to another Christmas party. Saturday morning we cleaned the apartment, Bruce did errands, and I did the rest of the shopping for his work Christmas party. Greg and Janet Nieto arrived from NE a little after noon. We had lunch and Janet and I ran out for one last shopping trip for the party. By 3:30 Bruce and I were at the home of Dana and Sheila McDole where the party was being held. You see, we can't have the party here because there just isn't enough room. Sheila and I prepared all the food and people started arriving about 6:30. A great time was had by all! I have pictures but I can't get the blogger to work right so will post them later. We had everything cleaned up and we dropped into bed about 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning we were all off to 8:00 church. After church Bruce and Greg took naps and Janet and I went shopping. Sunday evening we did nothing! Monday we worked and Monday night the four of us went to the Neil Diamond concert. It was FANTASTIC!! We bought our tickets from friends of Greg and Janet's. The belong to the Founder's Club at the Sprint Center so we got VIP parking, VIP entrance, VIP seating and access to the Founder's Club. WOW. Were we out of our league. We had food, drinks and our own private bathrooms. We were UPTOWN. We were on our feet dancing, clapping and singing for the entire two hours. If you ever get a chance to see Neil Diamond - do it! It snowed and iced here again and I skipped my Christmas party tonight. Instead I took a 1 1/2 hour nap and loved it.

Saturday, November 22, 2008 (part 2)

I promised pictures and here they are. Read the post just prior to this and you will know what we are up to! Is this a happy face or what? Bruce was not happy to see the camera.

Bruce, Melissa and I waited for Ryan, Tara and Amy at Baja 600. Bruce looks a little happier now. Amy, Ryan, Tara and Melissa at Baja 600.

After lunch Bruce and I went to Amy's apartment while the kids went shopping. We were waiting for the deliver of Amy's new bedroom set. We love it. Here is Bruce hooking up the tv.

We are home now sitting in our recliners like a couple lumps of coal!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

This week flew by totally undetected. Bruce was in Indianapolis for a meeting with his new company. The highlight of my week was dinner with Shirley and Ike on Thursday. Shirley is a friend from work and Ike is her son. Ike lives in a group home and is involved in a program run by Bethesda Lutheran Homes from Appleton, WI. I had the priviledge of meeting a wonderful group of people. The caregivers are nothing short of angels sent by God. They have a capacity for loving and caring for people that I have never encountered. One of the ladies was actually chosen as employee of the year and just returned from a week long event in Milwaukee where she was honored for her service. I can't properly describe how these individuals touched my heart but I know they are nothing short of wonderful. Last night we were joined for dinner by our nephew Ryan and his friend Tara from Chicago. Tara is just a doll and fit in like we had known her forever. Bruce waited at the airport and brought them home with him. Melissa and Amy helped me prepare dinner and the six of us had a great time. Of course we ate too much but oh well. We sampled a few bottles of wine from PRP. YUM. Ryan got a big kick out of the Meister's Cuvee. (My maiden name and is name is Meester.) Today we are meeting them on the Plaza for lunch at Baja. I'll get pictures! I have to mention our friend Chad Nieto. He is now a full fledged member of the Capitol Police force and is assigned to the Senate building. Greg, Janet and Lindsay were where for the ceremony. Greg actually got to pin Chad's badge on him. We are so proud of Chad. I'm just full of warm fuzzy feelings and I'm loving life. Bruce and I are just blessed beyond belief.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Wahoo. We survived another week of work! Bruce earned his keep this week. With the change to the new company, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong and he got to figure out how to fix it. He's really good at fixing. One thing we know for sure is that next week will be better! Bruce is going to Indianapolis to meet with his new bosses and to get trained on how to do things their way. This is the first time ever that I will stay home all alone - no kids and no Jazzie Girl. Melissa is going to Ft. Worth so I warned Amy that she is in charge of me! Bruce is such a wonderful husband that he sent me flowers to thank me for "putting up" with him during the last several weeks. It was an easy task but I sure appreciated the flowers anyway. Aren't they pretty? They smell GREAT too!

We got to spend a couple hours with our 15-month old friend Kyra after work today. We had some new toys to share with her plus some yummy new things to eat so we (well, ok me) were excited about the visit. We played with the new toys. We played chase. We played peek-a-boo. We played in front of the mirror. We ate lots of good dinner and then we took a nap. When her mommy got here she just knew we needed a picture so she dug the camera out of the closet and captured the moment.

Her mommy wasn't real excited about a 6:30 p.m. nap but oh well. Kyra gets to do whatever she wants when she comes to our house!! You will notice that EVERYthing is piled on the island because she can reach lots of things. She is such a joy. I talked her mommy into letting her come back Monday evening for a little while too. Hmmm. What can I buy her this weekend. Isn't my new rocker recliner nice. It's great for baby rocking. Bruce has one that matches but she hasn't warmed up to him enough to try out his rocker yet. After Kyra left Bruce and I met Shirley and Ike up at Spin Pizza for some dinner. Shirley is an amazing woman and we love spending time with her. Ike is Shirley's 25 year old son that we haven't seen in a long time. Shirley helped Bruce do all kinds of things to his computer so now it is running like a champ. I told you she was an amazing woman! Darryle is at the lake this weekend so we didn't get to see him.

Monday and Tuesday, November 10 and 11

Wine! Wine! Wine!! Monday night was the wine dinner at Joe D's. It was raining outside and it was COLD. For two cents I would have stayed home but I didn't want to welch out on my reservation. My friend Diane and I declared ourselves ready and Bruce drove us back to the Center to meet our van and the rest of our group. Seven of us piled in the van and off we went. About 30 minutes later we arrived at Joe D's in Brookside. We arrived to find out that the wine dinner was just for our group of 10. We started off with an introduction of the wine we were about to enjoy. A representative from D'Arenberg winery talked a few minutes about Australian wines and introduced our wine somalia. We started with a nice glass of champagne. Well ok, we started with a few glasses of nice champagne. It seems that the other end of the table wasn't wild about the wine so my end of the table had to drink everything. Our first course of food was a scallop on a bed of finely chopped seafood in a yummy creme sauce. The second wine was a light and fruity white wine that I REALLY liked. The food for that course was a jambalaya croquet with a piece of really nice meat that I thought was pheasant. NOT! I was chowing down when the waiter announced that we were eating rabbit. I thought I would throw up on the table. So much for that. I had to drink more wine. Then we had a buttery Chardonnay that I didn't like so I traded Diane for her fruity wine and she drank my Chardonnay. Unfortunately I can't remember what we ate with that wine. Shiraz was next and again I loved it with the veal and potatoes. Dessert consisted of a very delicate cup of chocolate custard and and another cup that had some kind of a creme in it along with a very dark red wine. We were instructed to put 1/2 of the chocolate custard on the creme and then chug the rest of the chocolate and chase it with the wine. During all of this food and wine we were busy talking, laughing and getting to know each other. (This was the first time Diane and I had gone out with this group.) Diane and I decided that our end of the table had the most fun. I could give you a better description of the food and wine but I forgot my menu on the table. (Imagine that). Our wonderful driver was waiting outside for us and he drove us safely back to Olathe. Bruce (the best husband ever) was waiting to drive us home. Diane spent the night because she lives 30 miles south of Olathe and it was too late to drive home (the wine had nothing to do with it!!) Tuesday morning we got up early, exercised and went out for breakfast. Diane went home and Bruce and I went Christmas shopping. We enjoyed our day together. We met my sorority sisters and their husbands for tacos about 5:30. Three of us gals went to see Secret Life of Bees. What a movie! We had a very full 27 hours.

Weekend of November 7-9, 2008

Another weekend has come and gone. For those of you that are keeping track, we have LESS and 22 months to work!! YAHOO. Friday night Bruce worked until 8:00. I had the pleasure of spending the weekend with my 15-month old friend. We were really having a good time and her mother decided to return! I told Mommy that she needs to plan to stay away awhile longer next time. Saturday Bruce and I explored Kansas City. The Sears outlet store was a real disappointment. The City Market, however, was great. We came away with all kinds of fresh produce and some yummy bread. Next stop was Planters where we gathered bulk tea leaves and spices. I had remembered hearing about a gourmet chocolatier so I googled Kansas City chocolatier and found Christopher Elbow Chocolates. What a treat. Every chocolate is handmade and hand painted. We bought a box as a gift and had it shipped to a lady that has really helped Bruce with his job. The two of us split a cup of liquid peppermint chocolate. It was SINFUL! We also enjoyed a couple pieces of the candy. Next on the agenda was JC Penney's outlet where we scored some toys for Kyra and a couple pair of slacks for me. Saturday evening we had dinner with old friends from church. Sunday morning worship service was especially wonderful because all kinds of original members of the church were there including Greg and Janet Nieto. After a delicious brunch at First Watch we went to the apartment to look at Greg and Janet's house plans. (BTW, the basement is being dug as I write.) Amy called and said she was bored so she came over for the afternoon. The three of us went to Sam's and bought two new lazy boy chairs for the apartment and a slip cover for the couch. The pink chairs are going to Bev's house and the couch looks like brand new. We are pleased with the outcome. Melissa joined us for tater tot casserole. After dinner, Melissa and I exercised while Bruce and Amy watched. Hmmm, what is wrong with that picture. Today everyone is back to work but it is kind of a Monday/Friday since tomorrow is Veteran's Day! Thank you to all of the veterans that have served our country!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Bruce, Melissa and I drove to the Lake of the Ozarks last night after work. We stopped in Cole Camp, MO and had dinner with John and Chris Adams. It's been a long time since we've seen them and we had fun catching up. They have sold their beautiful place in the country and will be moving to Colulmbia, MO the day after Thanksgiving.

This morning Bruce and I went to the RV shed and picked up some things we will need for the winter. Later the three of us went leaf peeping in the boat. It is absolutely beautiful here today. The birds were enjoying the sun even more than we were.

These pictures were all taken along the bluff just west of us. We've never been here while the leaves were this pretty so this was a real

treat for us.

This morning I talked to my brother, my dad and my friend Bev Henning. Since we've been back to work it seems like I have a hard time keeping in touch with friends and family. Speaking of that, we had finalized plans to take Alex, Joy, Melissa and Amy on a vacation to Riu Placar in Mexico February 15 - 22, 2009. All of us are excited!

This is really the first day is a long time that we didn't have something on the calendar and I am enjoying it immensely. This evening we are going to Shrimp Daddy's for some good cajun eating.

Weekend of 10/25-26/08

What a great weekend we had! Friday was a rainy day but we checked the weather in Topeka and learned that it was not raining over there so we drove over to see our grandson's band perform at the high school football game. Here is what the sky looked like on the drive - beautiful. We arrived at the football field just in time to see the band leave the field. Hmmm. It seems that because of all the rain, the band performed BEFORE the game so they didn't have to be on the field after it was all torn up. Joy, Alex, Bruce and I opted to go to Old Chicago for a beer instead of sitting at the game in the freezing cold wind. A good time was had by all. Saturday morning Melissa, my friend Diane Carter and I went to the Junior League Holiday Mart for some heavy duty power shopping. GREAT FUN. The convention center was packed with hundreds of vendors catering to women's wants and needs. After the shopping we met Bruce at First Watch for a yummy late lunch. Then came the fun part. Bruce and I got to spend a couple of hours with Miss Kyra Johnson. She is the 15 month old daughter of one of the air traffic controllers at work. At first she was afraid of us: It wasn't long and she started moving about freely - right toward the phone. She really likes her milk.

And then came the best part of all--she decided she likes me! We hope she comes to visit again and again.

Saturday night we went to a sorority birthday party to celebrate the "0" birthdays of Pat Maas, Lisa Wilms and Barb Frans. We laughed until we were all about sick. Being back together with my sorority sisters is wonderful. Sunday afternoon Bruce, Melissa, Amy and I went to the Louisburg Cider Mill for some good old-time fun. It was WINDY. Can you tell? After the cider mill we found a new little winery so of course we had to stop in and sample the goods. A few bottles found their way into the car and I'm thinking we'll probably find out way back to the winery. We grilled a couple of t-bone steaks our friends Greg and Janet Nieto gave us and had a nice dinner and settled in for our Sunday night tv shows. Our weekend just couldn't have been any better.

Tribute to Jasmine

A Tribute to Jasmine “T.D.” Hoover (T.D. =The Dog)

Witten by Bruce Hoover

"Jazzy Dog” joined our family in the fall of 1997. She was an orphan from the Independence, MO Animal Shelter, the same city where DeAnn and I were married only 6 years prior. She came to us as a very frightened little girl with ring worm. Our great friend Kari Swan DVM assured us the ring worm was not an issue and before long, Jasmine was healthy and working her way into our lives. I, of course, said “okay she can stay in the house (she was so small and fragile); but, she would not be allowed on the furniture or our bed”. That lasted about 4 hours and I gave in. I did need some sleep and she did stop crying once she snuggled in!

We took off that weekl with our new, 26 foot travel trailer for the Great Smokey Mountains. Jasmine seemed to adapt well to life on the road and eventually logged some 65,000 miles in the three RVs we have owned during her lifetime. I have assembled a few photos of “the best puppy ever”. Please allow me to share these with you.

"Jazzy” had many friends. Here she is with one of her “Grandmas”-- Shirley B.

Gene and Shirley Birlingmair, Lake of the Ozarks, MO, took an early role as Grandparents. They too had dachshunds before and had been well trained by the “hard-headed Germans” that doxies are. One can only serve a doxie, they are quite the independent thinkers. Here is our royal puppy at the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM. It was during this stay that Jazzy and I went over to Gene and Shirley’s rig next door after dark when she just plain disappeared. I knew I was a dead man as how do you find a nearly black dog in the dark of the balloon field amid 4,000 motor homes with their generators running? I ran up and down the rows and in the distance I saw something in the row just behind us and about 100 yards down. Thank God, it was her! The Royal Blanket, for the “Queen of the Known Universe”, from another “Grandma”-- Shirley Mae Henderson and “Grandpa” Vincey, Rapid City, SD.

Jasmine made friends with the Hendersons in Coolidge, AZ during the winter of 2003-2004. We parked our 34 foot motor home just up the street from them and Vince and Shirley quickly adopted Jasmine and eventually DeAnn and I. The three of us attended their 50th wedding anniversary in Rapid City.

Jasmine especially loved the deer jerky treats that Vince would share with her and he too enjoyed our little dog with the big heart. Here you see them enjoying some quiet time in our motor home.

Her Grandma, Darlene (DeAnn’s Mom) knitted her a sweater to wear on those chilly AZ mornings and on our treks to South Dakota and Iowa.

DeAnn’s Dad, Harold Meester, was no match for Jasmine as she worked her way into his heart as well. The Meesters are at their home in Watertown, SD.

Jasmine loved her “licky”. She would play with it and lick it for hours on end.

As you can see, she was truly an entertainer. Following my retirement we had the good fortune to take a number of fabulous trips with Lynne and Woody Barlow, Eureka Springs, AR and their cat Jack. "Jacky Man” was a small kitten when we began traveling with the Barlows. Jasmine mentored him and now Jack sort of thinks of himself as a dog. They liked playing together. Jack would run at Jazz and jump over her at the last second. One evening we pulled into a beautiful campground along a river about dusk. As we began hooking up our coaches we soon discovered that Jasmine was missing. Woody grabbed a light and ran to the nearby river, the four of us searched for her to no avail and feared that either she had fallen into the river or became disoriented in the nearby woods. Later, we discovered her safe inside of Lynne and Woody’s coach enjoying JACKS FOOD! Thankfully, the Barlows were prepared and had more food for Jack, as you can see he really likes to eat!

Here, Uncle Woody shares a treat with Jazzy. Yes, she was a beggar. You may also notice over Woody’s back is Jack looking on … perhaps a bit jealous??

Speaking of begging, Jasmine really loved Charles, AKA “the Cookie Man”. They both delighted in sharing and eating a few cookies of an evening. Charles and Myrna Drost are great friends from Saskatchewan. We always have to drive by their Arizona home as Myrna loves the sound of our diesel!

As we all know she REALLY LOVED her “Mom”. Here they are sleeping on a visit to my Mom’s in Iowa a few years ago. As you can see, Jasmine was always alert and ready to protect her Mother!

Whenever there were gifts to open, Jasmine was always there to assist with the paper removal. She would never bother presents until you picked them up and made the first tear in the paper. Then she knew that was her cue to begin tearing away at the paper with her teeth! She was always ready to help out …

Jasmine was always a part of our family gatherings. Here she is with our son, Alex, his wife Joy and our two grandsons, Michael and James. To my left are our daughters, Melissa and Amy.

Jasmine loved to travel and to be out exploring … Here she is hot on the trail of a varmint! She had a tremendous sense of smell and could dig after a critter or find a treat in one of your pockets.

Here we are at Bagnal Dam, overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks. One day while walking near the lake, Jasmine went into the water and swam after a couple of ducks swimming nearby. I had her on the retractable leash and she swam out to the very end of the leash!

Here we are ready to hit the road... Jasmine always got excited when she heard the diesel and would keep running into the motor home as if to say, don’t go off without me!

Jasmine and her Mom enjoying a hike northeast of Phoenix, AZ. Note the carrier; she always seemed to enjoy riding next to her Mom.

Jasmine after a hard day of travel.

Here you see Jazzy and her cousin Craig Denman canoeing on Flathead Lake, MT. Craig and Connie Denman and their family all live in the Kalispell, MT area.

Jasmine and her Dad, resting after a full day at the 2007 Indy 500.

Jazzy Dog was even a supporter of Kansas State!

Jasmine and her Dad enjoying the Bluebonnets in the Texas Hill Country.

Jasmine was also an avid boater; she only asked to be out of the wind if it were a bit chilly.

But most of all she enjoyed basking in the Arizona sun. She could always be found lying in the sun coming through a window or actually being in the out of doors.

Jasmine left this world on October 15, 2008, at the age of 13 or 14 following a steady decline in health beginning with losing her hearing, becoming nearly blind, from Cushing’s disease and eventually liver failure. She has left an incredible void in our lives that only time can heal. She will always remain in our memoires.