Fending off the Floodwaters

I just got off the phone with my mom. She is currently slicing sandwich buns and making food to feed the dozens of college kids and community volunteers who are helping build a sandbag dike in their backyard. The Red River in Fargo, ND is expected to crest at record levels this week, and with more rain and snow on the way there is no telling when this will all be over. My parents live on the river, but should be OK. However, they have several neighbors in real trouble and due to overland flooding and other water outlets, the whole city is in some degree of trouble.

This emergency reminds me of 1997, when the same thing happened and I was able to be part of the largest community-wide effort to fill and stack sand bags I had known. We worked all day and night in freezing temperatures and snow/rain. I remember people from church showing up at a moments notice to move all of the basement furniture up to the main floor. It was renewal of faith in a teenager's perception of humankind.

This year it's worse and thankfully there are more volunteers to help. People are really stepping up and helping out strangers. They are cancelling schools and universities to free up volunteers and those volunteers are filling up buses as they're transorted to local areas of need. Check out this link to see some great pictures of the volunteer effort. I have been on my parents to get some pictures of what's been going around around their neighborhood, but they've been a little busy.

Keep the area in your prayers, and hopefully the levees will hold. We lost one city in 1997 when a dike broke. Hopefully Fargo will fare better a decade later.

Sandcastles out of cornstarch

My adorable, sweet, perfect children (gagging on the sarcasm) decided to take advantage of a distracted mommy and to create the biggest mess I've had to clean up to date. Lucas got into a barely opened box of cornstarch and spread it to his heart's content. When I first discovered the little angels, the mess was contained to the kitchen. It took about two second for them to spread the superfine dust from the back door to the front door. I am still cleaning up the chaos. It is on every bookshelf, tabletop, appliance, etc. Here are a few pictures of the darlings before things got really good. I figured I should put down the camera and wrangle up the snowmen. Oh, the pictures aren't blurry, the corstarch created a thick haze that took half a day to settle.

Here We Go, Bison!!

Anyone following the tournament may have heard about the NDSU Bison. This is their first year of eligibility for the D 1 NCAA Tounement and they made it!! Elena has a message for them!

Facelift

So, since I won't get a facelift (or the nose job I've wanted since I went on a date with a guy who told me my nose looks like a butt - a cute butt, however) I decided to give my blog a little tweek. Nothing too exciting, just a new name. It isn't like going from a buttface to a supermodel or anything. Obviously I was scarred by the lack of social grace this guy demonstrated, but a butt? Really?

Killing me with kindness

Today I have been smothered by the kind deeds of others and I feel like I should bake everyone cinnamon rolls. This morning I went to get my transmission checked out at a transmission shop. They didn't find a problem with the transmission itself, but they did a few other repairs that they saw. They didn't charge me a dime. Then this guy at Wal-Mart saw my overloaded life and took my cart and put it away for me. The lady at the car-rental place upgraded us and gave us an additional discount for the weekend. To top it all off, Drew is taking the kids for the weekend. They're off to Detroit to visit his family. I'm floating on a cloud. (I'm still waiting for someone's neck to start bleeding or head to fall off that would make Drew stay too late at work and cancel the bliss). I really should be baking and delivering goodies to everyone.
I guess making soup and cheesecake for a stake activity will have to suffice for now.

Protective Glass?

Driving to the store today, I was stopped at a red light. A car stopped in the intersection in front of me (perpendicular to my car). I proceeded to watch the driver dig for what must have been the Holy Grail of boogers. He did this without the faintest thought of the outside world. I think he found his hidden treasure.

I love watching other drivers because we all (with the exception of the booger hunt, for most of us I hope) behave like our cars are little bubbles that we can see out of, but no one can see in. I sing to the radio - like a full blown rock star sometimes. Of course the driver next to me can't see this because I'm behind my protective glass. He must be laughing at something else.

To those of you with tinted windows who think you're soooo smart, well - I hate to tell you, but they only help so much.

Ice, Ice Baby

Last week I took the kids to a "mommy and me" activity at the ice rink. They rough up the ive and let the kids go out and play in their boots. The kids had a lot of fun - even Lucas (we had minor tantrum episodes). When I was a kid every elementary school had an outdoor ice rink next to the playground and we would ice skate, play hockey, run around do whatever all winter long. I adore watching the kids enjoy the same type of activities.

The rink puts out balls and sleds and other activities for the kids to do.
They also put a little snow pile out on the ice for the kids to play in.

Hockey champs.