Hello out there!!

Just wanted to let you all know that I am still around. Been busy as everyone is. Classes, preparties, parties, building of buildings.
I have decided that I am not as smart as I thought I was. Classses are taxing.
I am gearing up for a Preconference at Tri-conference. We are presenting a Wondering about Wireless. Hope it goes well. I did finally finish teaching my spring classes for CE and one at the public library in town. I think I am ready for vacation, or how about spring break. But then I will be writing papers. APA style, haven't quite got a grasp on that yet. Anyone out there an expert? Let me know. Later, R

I stand corrected:) Ha Ha!

Oops! Old age is setting in. Debbie reminded me that Luke and Laura were on General Hospital. She is so right! Silly me.
“One life to live” was also a soap that I watched, guess I got them confused. Ahhh! the memories, they must be fading.

Fav show

Just thought I would let you all know that I love the Gilmore Girls, unless Lorelai and Luke do not get married. (Must be something about the Luke name. I remember in years past I got hooked on Luke and Laura. It was on One Life to Live. At that time in my life I had daycare in my home and everyday at nap time I drifted off into the land of soaps. I thought Luke was hot. In fact I told Bob I thought he would look cool with curly hair, of course he had nothing to do with that).
Oh well back of GG. I got hooked on watching them when I was in Mexico for a week. It was on about 3 times a day. That was it. Now I can watch it on Monday night, Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night. I guess I am a romantic at heart. Some of my earlier shows that I enjoyed were: Whos the Boss and before that Moonlighting. Do you see a theme here. Cool woman gets rough guy. Kind of makes me think of my life. ................................................. Ok I was waiting for the laughter to stop.
I always relate to the libraian in the Mummy and the rough tough romantic lead. See same theme. I am not sure where I am going with this. Just what is popping into my head.

Oh yes I really wanted the Seahawks to win, since I have been to Seattle twice. Oh well there is always next year. Maybe the Broncos or KC Chiefs might make it to the Superbowl.

Other stuff!

I wanted to let you know that I did do something more than just sitting in front of a tv during the break. I did go and see the "Chronicles of Narnia" with the ladies at work. I really liked it, so I decided that I needed to read the 7 volumes. I started and only got to number 5, in fact I am in the middle of it. I am not sure if I will be able to finish. I am officially in the Master's program at the School of Library and Information Management at ESU. Last weekend was my first class, by Sunday afternoon I was zonked. I have decided that I need to become a "deep thinker" I am certainly lacking in that department.

Eureka! Number 7!

I remembered the 7th movie we watched. I saw a commercial and thought that was the other movie. It was the Dukes of Hazzard! I must admit it was a little weird seeing the new people in the show. I think my favorite was Burt Reynolds.

Years ago we spent many a night watching the old Dukes of Hazzard. My boys must have really enjoyed watching the show. (and learning evidently) Later on, years later, in Alex's high school yearbook someone had written that they had fun playing "Dukes of Hazzard." Oh yes, this cleared up the mystery of the pinto returning home one night non the worse for wear. Poor pinto, bob drove this car 90 miles a day. Even after the "Dukes of Hazzard" incident the pinto just kept going and going. Just wait Alex, fun times ahead!!

Got one!

One of the movies was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (I kept thinking of Randi, since she loves Johnny Depp and thinking why?) I know its just me.
Oh yes I also thought of the first movie and compared this one to the first Chocolate Factory. If I remember right the first time I saw the first Chocolate Factory was during the first year I was married. Wow way back then. I was baking the Thanksgiving turkey dinner for my family at my house. Ah the memories!!

Christmas Past!

Well another Christmas has come and long gone! I didn't feel too bad till I read everyone's blog. Oh well:)
We went to the Holt Christmas at Bob's moms and enjoyed a great meal. Played pitch, I won 2 out of 3 games, which doesn't usually happen. Arthur finally won one game and then we could quit. Funny guy!
At the Holt Christmas all of the truckdriver brothers brought everyone calendars, either small ones to stick in your car or some trucker calendars to hang on walls, Hmmm maybe I can send them to grandkids. Since their rooms are all clean now!! (See Randi"s blog) Funny grandma!!

We did watch quite a few movies, 7 in all. Let's see, Mr and Mrs Smith, (had a hard time, kept thinking of Jenifer Aniston) sniff!, oh yes, Sky High, Kirk Russell (Hubba Hubba, liked him since the early Disney movies), Fantastic Four (twice now once with Mistie and Connie at Pat's house), Stealth, (Bob picked out this one, it was better than I thought it would be), The Island(Kevin picked out this one, it was a good scifi), Great! I can only remember 5 of them. I will try to remember later. Guess they weren't that good.

Last week I did go and see the Chronicles of Narnia, it was a really well done film. Now I have decided to read the series. Finished the first one and now I am starting the second in the series. Thought I had better get all of the fun reading done for now. Starting in January there will be no fun reading at my house. Acckkkkl!

Where are the memories?

I was looking at my bloglines and checking out the Get Fuzzy and then looked down and saw my blog, Holt Family Memories, and I thought where are the memories? It has just been a very busy last couple of months. Thanksgiving just passed and now it is almost time for Christmas. Can't seem to get in the mood, Wonder why? May be because some people are far far away. In fact I haven't even sent the Christmas box yet!! But I will this weekend after payday.

It is very cold here in Kansas, but we do have some beautiful sparkling snow. I love the snow, it is the crunchy kind. I like it because when you walk you can dig your feet in and not fall. (unlike the ice kind)

Last week was fun. I was going shopping with my friend Brenda. It started out with a dead battery, then a two hour waiting period on the turnpike because of a wreck. And then all I wanted to do was get my tires balanced and rotated. Oh well $664.00 and 4 hours later I left with 4 new tires. Not sure how that happened. I am sure that when I went in the store the tire guys said, cheeching! Bonus! tonight boys. Oh well. We did have fun shopping anyway. Later in the week in the morning my windshield wiper flew off so I had to scrape the windows. Not fun.
Oh yes and remember when I took the GRE will it needs to do to Emporia so I can enroll in the Library Science program, well they hadn't gotten it yet so I told them I could fax the results that I had gotten to them. Well guess what? I can't find my results. I am sure I put them in a safe place, just not sure where. Good thing is that I have really cleaned my house and office looking for them. But they did let me enroll as pending enrollment. So next spring the fun will begin! And why am I doing this?

Well hope everyone has a wonderful day! R

Shopping or a Museum!!

Last week I went to Aurora, Co to a "Disaster for Libraries workshop." (now when I said that in front of a few people they were amused, you know who you are) But I did have a lot of fun. I was able to go up early and spend time with by brother, Rusty before he had to go to work. And then in the evening I went with my sister-in-law Cathy, my nephew Brian and Juli from work to the Cherry Creek mall. We ate at the California Pizza Kitchen and then went shopping. Ok now I have to tell you. Color me backwoods Kansas folk! Or would that be plaine folks from here in Kansas! Anyway we went to Nieman Marcus and I thought wow look at those prices. I told Cathy I feel like I am in a museum. Shirts, $330.00, skirts $400.00 and shoes were, Get This! $650.00. Then we just strolled over to Sacs Fifth Ave. I walked right up to a cute little leather vest with a little bit of fur for only $1300.00. More museums!! Ha!! After this I was need of some serious chocolate. Cathy took us to Stephanies and we bought a few boxes, the one I bought was called the "Denver Mint" Get it? (dark chocolate filled with delicious mint.) Oh by the way Brian did ditch us for the big compfy chair and big screen TV, I think there was a basketball game going on.
Next day went to the Disaster workshop, it was interesting and they did some hands-on activities. Juli and I stopped by Office Max and Sam's and then the World Market. I mentioned to Juli that Cathy had a card for Cosco's, boy she got excited so I called Cathy and she took us there. Then in the evening we went out once again. This time we went to downtown Denver. It has changed a bunch from when I had lived there. We ended up eating at the Hard Rock Cafe. Good food, grippy salesperson. I think we made her made because we messed up the t-shirts, oh well. We wanted to make sure we got the right size. We ended the evening at Barnes and Noble and bought a few books. I got one for mom and dad, the new Trent Lott book, Herding Cats. They couldn't find it in Mississippi, since they don't have any stores yet. I think the highlight of the evening for Juli was when Cathy took us to Cosco to do some shopping. (we don't have one here in Kansas yet) Well hope all is with you today, take care!!

New Blogger

The blogger bug has bit again. Yippee!
Nicole has decided to try her first blog. As she begins the kids decide to cause a big noise. Ha! I am laughing hysterically because I do remember those fun days.
Nicole welcome to the wonderful world of bloggerland!
http://holtdream.blogspot.com/

Waiting:)

I am sitting at Arthur and Pat's house waiting for Bob to quit talking. He helped Chad pour cement today. A small payback for him helping us frame up our shop. We still owe him big! Oh yes the shop is done except for the garage doors. Bob has one almost done. Yeah!
While Bob was helping Chad I was over at Pat's working on the computer. Seems like when I go somewhere I always have to clean out files, defrag, download new software, update drivers, get rid of spyware and popup ads. Hmmm, maybe it is because people think I am computer geek. I guess I don't mind doing it. It's so much fun!
Oh yes everyone have a safe and happy halloween.

Been a while!

Hi everyone,
Been a while since I have blogged. I kept thinking I need to post something but nothing outstanding came to mind. The crisp cool fall air is here. Bob came home the other night and turned on the furnace. Must admit it feels better in here in the house.
I talk to Mom and Dad quite a bit. They are working on thier house in Mississippi. They have a new roof and now they need the shingles put on. Wish I was closer so I could help. Not sure how much I would help considering I am afraid of heights. Ha!
I have been studying quite a bit so I can take the GRE, in fact I am going tomorrow at high noon to take the test. I am really apprehensive. My brain is only so smart. Just hope that the results do not reveal that I am an idiot. Guess if the scores are really bad that would be a sign I should drop the whole Masters thing.
Signing off for now. Ronda

Jerry

This fall is really going fast. We have a few days of nice cool fall weather and then it warms up again. In the last month Bob's cousin Jerry passed away. Jerry was a "special" person. He always was pleasant and was always full of questions. He always wanted to know if we were going to work tomorrow. How are Alex and Kevin? What day do we have off? Or he would ask about Cororado:)
I remember he was always thirsty for pop, but he would settle for water. His mom, Aunt Rosanna, would get onto him and say "Jerry you have had enough." (I think he was thirsty because of the medication he was on) So after not getting anything to drink he would continue with questions once again. I just had a thought, his thirst for water coincided for his thirst for questions. Jerry was a blessing to all of us. His innocence was refreshing. Jerry will be missed during the Holt family gatherings.

Done with vacations!

We just got back from Jonesboro. We had a great time. Best part I got to see Reagan with my own eyes. She is really a doll. I was “Reaganized", I just wanted to squeeze her, and she was so cute. Reagan is at that age where everything is an adventure and she sees everything with new eyes. She loved the lights from the disco ball at the wedding reception and she wanted to simply just follow the lights and dance around. Reagan is definitely a living doll. Sad to say I didn’t take one picture, which is so unlike me. Hopefully Debbie will send some. Hint hint!!

Leaving!!

After we realized how big Katrina had gotten we started gathering and packing. I wasn't sure what mom and dad wanted to take. Medicine, important insurance papers, a few clothes; I think we all kind of went in shock. My dad wanted to take some new tools that he had just bought. I think my mom thought that he was loading all of the tools so she didn't take much. My dad did take the very old portraits of relatives and I think my mom picked up a few things. And of course they loaded some coolers with the food from the frig. At one of the stops mom noticed how empty the truck was and said we could have brought more but by then it was too late. Oh well.
Now one of the reasons that we had went to Mississippi was because my dad had some overhead lights and electirical wire that Bob could have. He had also mentioned that he had a big stainless steel sink, all of this for our big shop. On Saturday they had loaded Kevin's truck and then here comes the Big Sink. Alrighty then it was a big sink, we strapped it down and it was as long as the truck bed. It has three sinks that are attached together. BIG, did I say big. It was big, when I get the pictures back I will post them on the blog. To say the least when we were going down the road we got quite a few double takes. I wonder what everyone thought. "Looky there! There goes a guy who is taking the Kitchen Sink with him!!"
Dad decided to take the back roads. A few other people did also, but definitely not as many as there would have been on the main roads. We followed dad down the road, I kept looking through the back window just thinking that there was one big, huge, hurricane coming. When we stopped to get gas the other people were in a daze also, most of the them had no destination. Town after town they had stopped and there were not any hotel rooms to be had. At one of the last stops we made after we had entered Arkansas, the gas station attendent had told people that they would probably have to go to Little Rock for a hotel room. I felt bad for them. But alas as the days went by, I realized that they were some of the lucky ones.

Vacationing with Katrina

Ok in my last blog I said that we were going to visit my mom and dad in Mississippi. We left on Thursday evening and drove all night. My mom and dad live between Picayune and Kiln. We arrived about 12 the next day. We visited some and then went to Gulfport to one of the casinos and had some of the best seafood that I have ever eaten. It was an all you can eat buffet, and we got our fill on shrimp, crab legs, muscles, and of course dessert.
After we ate we each took $20.00 to play the slot machines. I ended up winning my 20 back; I think Bob lost about 10. Kevin was the big winner; he had 50 to the good when we left. When we left, dad drove us around Gulfport and showed us all of the buildings that he had helped build.
The next morning we got up and drove into the French Quarter, walked around, took a few pictures. We stopped at lunch and had some shrimp Po’boy sandwiches. Walked around some more and left about 3. As we drove home we noticed the police were setting up the barricades by the roads. Originally we were going back the French Quarter, but decided against it.
After we got home dad and Bob decided to take a nap, so mom, Kevin and I decided to go to the gulf and do some swimming. We drove on along I-10, found a spot and walked along the beach and started walking in the water. We walked for about 15 minutes and the water hardly was over our waists. We did swim but there was oddness about the water. The water was very hot and had a sticky consistency. We started picking up shells and they had hermit crabs in them. Thought it was best to leave them. We went home and got dad and Bob and went out to eat again at Ryan’s in Kiln.
The next morning when I got out of bed I turned on the T.V. and all of the stations was reporting that Katrina was a category 5. When mom and dad woke up I told them about Katrina and we decided it was a good time to leave.

Weekend over:(

Wow the weekend is over, wish it was Saturday, oh well. I finished Eleven on Top. When I was reading this book I kept thinking poor Stephanie, her life is so dismal. Even Lula and Grandma's lives looked a lot better than hers. Now I bet Janet E. just writes just one more, to make it an even dozen. What do you think?

Bob finished the siding on the shop, he only has the soffits to finish. Now there has been much discussion about how to put them up. But I think we finally have it figured out. We kept asking people if they knew how to do soffits and no one knows. So I guess it's safe to go ahead and put them up and no one will know if they are not done right. Right!

Next weekend we are going to Mississippi to visit my mom and dad. It will be good to see them. Bob, Kevin and I will travel on Thursday night, stop somewhere to sleep and then finish the trip on Friday morning. This will be the first time that Bob has made a trip down to the gulf. I think we will go to New Orleans and maybe swim in the gulf. Of course Bob may not want to swim with his broken ribs. So I guess he can watch or maybe look for shells, Ha Ha!

The next book I am going to read is titled Eventide, it is about a town called Holt, Colorado. The library director, Micaela, where I work ordered the book since I am a Holt and I am from Colorado. Clever huh! I will let you know what it is like. Now my new strategy is that I will read when I walk on the treadmill and at night when I can't sleep (except tonight I am blogging). Then the rest of the time I am going to really study for the GRE. I need to take this test before I can enter the MLS program at Emporia University. Now why am I doing this? Oh yes so I can go back to school and acquire a Masters of Library Science. What am I thinking!!

Bucket vs. gut!

I know I have not talked about loosing weight much. Wonder why. Oh yes I remember now, it is because I am in that place where I want to say enough. BUT I have made a resolution not to quit this time. So if I have a bad eating week that is ok. I will have a better one this week. I have lost about 15 lbs. but I keep thinking that this is just a drop in the bucket. I guess I just want the bucket to get smaller. Ha! No I think I meant for my gut to get smaller, yes I am still doing my sit-ups. I average about 30-35 every other day. Fun stuff!!

Bangkok Tattoo and Stephanie

“Bangkok Tattoo” was quite an "enlightening" book. The setting of the murder mystery was located in the unseemly side of Bangkok, Thailand. When I was reading the book I tried to think as a Thai would think. But I kept going back to the way of American thinking. The book did go into some detail about Buddhism and the influence that it has in Thailand. When I was in Okinawa last year I talked to a few of the enlisted men there. Most of them loved Thailand. Now I know why. Now I can say this with little conviction. After I finished the book I got to thinking that maybe Thailand is not as bad as the author portrayed. What I mean is that if someone in Thailand read a book about the unseemly side of America I am sure they would have a horrid impression of our way of life. So actually I suppose there is good and evil in all countries. It was one of those books that stay with you for a few days.
I am now reading the new Janet Evanovich book, “Eleven on Top”. I am about half way through. This is the 11th of the series. In this book Stephanie Plum has quit being a bounty hunter. But I think the “bounty hunter” has not quit her. The characters are still funny and after 11 books they are like family to me. In fact this morning as I read while I was on the treadmill I was feeling a little like Rex, Stephanie’s pet hamster. He was walking in his wheel and here I am on the treadmill. Well better go for now.
Love to all, Ronda

Busy! Busy!

The last few weeks have very eventful. Let's see, on a Monday poor Kayl hit poor Tristyn's head and his tooth fell out. Then on Tuesday my father, fell when a scaffold broke and thankGod nothing broke on him. He did have to stay in the hospital over night but he was only bruised inside. Then on Wednesday my husband Bob fell from a 8 ft. ladder and broke number nine and ten ribs on his left side. Then to top it off on Saturday I opened the top of my closet and it was full of mold. I thought this would make a great biology experiment. Whew! Then of course we had to clean it up with bleach water and repaint the closet with kilz paint. I kept thinking "thank you Lord, everything could have been much worse than it was". Isn't it funny how a person can have peace in the chaos.
The next week was much calmer, I did go to Overland Park for a conference at Johnson County Community College. We gave a presentation on our adventures with a wireless mobile lab. I went with the reference librarian. We had a great time. This was the first presentation that I had ever done. It was good experience. The title of the presentation was "Judy and Ronda's Excellent Wireless Adventure". We went with the theme of "Bill and Ted's ExcellentAdventure". We included mpeg files from the movie and all of our headings were pretty "Excellent".
So far this week has been good. We did go out and work on the shop and I am holding the ladder for Bob. I told him "Do not get on the ladder unless I am with you". Does he listen No! of course not. OH Well gotta love him.