LaurenandLloyd.com

where our wasted time becomes your wasted time

Lauren

Goin’ Camping – but not me

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Grandpa and the boys headed out of Dodge today for a camping and fishing trip. I was a little envious of them, but I’m glad they’ll have some good bonding time together in a manly fashion.

Side story: The reason I am envious is that Lloyd and I have never been camping as a married couple. For all of my obsessing over fire and tiny campers, we have acknowledged that camping is only fun if you are the kid and the adults have done all the planning and preparation. “Wheee! I slept outside in a tent and now I smell bacon cooking! Wheeeee!!” vs. “Seriously? Did you not pack ANY coffee? Grah! – I hope a bear eats us. No – just you.”

There were so many adults preparing for this journey, I took it upon myself to be the documentor. Documenter? They had everything needed for a three-hour cruise one-to-two-day camping trip. Tons of food and a spare set of dry clothes. The fly in the ointment is that there is a ban on fires around here since it’s so dry, so no campfire. 🙁

That should me my supervillan name: The Documentor!

Since they are going to be fishing from a boat, sunglasses and safety vests are in order. Here is Jacob sporting the awesome look of Grandpa’s clip-on shades. He is a riot, as is Charlie. I love my nephews.

Rico Suave

I have had an awesome time with my family, but sadly have to head home on Monday. Lloyd and/or Brad, please don’t forget to pick me up tonight. Er, early tomorrow morning. 😀 (Check the Amtrak schedule.)

Be vewwy vewwy qwuiet….

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Yep, that’s an old drawing. I’m recycling the picture from 3 1/2 years ago. Hi, dead Pfennig. A new mean cat is about to explode kittens all over your house. Sorry.

My stomach has been trying to kill my throat the past week, and my voice is paying the price. (I’ve been off my medication for a month. First it was just laziness and not refilling the prescription, then it was thinking that I had this GERD thing beat. Nope. I suspect it might be the yoga. I’m bending over and dumping acid into my esophogus. Oh, the quandry!!!)

Lloyd is visiting his folks this weekend so I am having a voiceless 48 hours and gettin’ stuff done. I think I have a real shot at getting the house clean in a Lloyd-is-a-robot-maid kind of way!

What are you doing today?

Pfennig’s about to roll over.

Happy Memorial Day!

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Lloyd and I went to a little town on Sunday to help with a parade (tomorrow’s post), and it was pretty cool going by the little towns on the highway on the way there. I was so impressed with their flag displays for Memorial Day!

This was in Utica. The photos don't do it justice.

Beautiful and touching.

This is just west of Seward.

I am thankful to be in a country where we have such freedom, and am grateful to those who paid the ultimate price to make it possible.

Denver Airport: floor

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I don’t remember when this was, but It one point, I had to spend a lot of time in the Denver airport. A little later, Lauren and I were there together. I drug her miles through the airport to find this section of the floor.

I wish I would have taken pictures from floor level. Then you could have all of the frustration that I had when I first walked across it and wondered what in the world was going on.

I even wish that you could have had the few minutes of frustration that Lauren had before I took her up to the second floor to look down on the tiles:

Maybe I could have used photoshop to make them look all ground-levely

You’ll have to take my word for it and feel frustrated on your own.

Imagine you're one of those ladies.

Omaha on a Saturday

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Saturday morning we drove Charles to the airport so he could go get his family and bring ’em to Nebraska. He was flying on standby, so we just left him at the airport and hoped for the best.

Then we walked around the Old Market for a while. They were having their Farmer’s Market and the place was hoppin’. There was some boy playing Star Wars songs on his violin, a guy wailin’ on his sax, and a brave young girl just standing there and singing all by herself. (She was too close to the sax guy, so it was hard to hear her.)

After walking around, Lloyd decided he was hungry and bought us some breakfast burritos from a ‘stand’ that was really just a screened-in porch. I felt a little like we should have also got some free malaria vaccinations.

Is this to keep bugs out or very tiny thieves?

After eating, we managed to run into the only two people we know in Omaha – Mark and Beth from the uke group. They had very nice cameras and were out and about taking pictures. I had to shamefully discuss how we haven’t gone to uke group in years, but maybe life will settle down soon.

Next we went to one of the many antique stores. There is a rambling one that has a new feature: They set up a room with old wooden theater seats and they run movies all day – for free! Granted, it was Star Wars Episode 1, “A Slow, Painful Death”, as Lloyd subtitles it – but it was free! (We only watched a little.)

It was hard to get a picture.

Next stop: Lloyd’s bookstore. I got a picture of him in his natural, yet dying, element.

One day he'll be reaching for a Kindle.

That was about it for the day. Lloyd slept in the car while I walked around the snooty mall (where they had a shrine to Steve Jobs in front of the Apple store) then it was home to be nappin’ by 3:30!

A perfect day.

I had nothing to leave but a tear. Er, not that, either.

Awesomest Bed Ever

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When I was little, my sister and I shared a bed. That worked out great until I rolled out onto her assembly of plastic horses that were grazing on my side of the bed. I woke up to the pain of being *(here’s where I realize I don’t have any idea how to spell squere. Skewer?) skewered by dozens of pairs of plastic equine ears.

One of the bedrooms in the parsonage had two closets, so it was an obvious choise to make a bed that would divide the room into two areas. It was magnificent! In my memory it was as big as a castle, but in reality it was just the size of a bunk bed. It had enclosed ends, and then each bunk was enclosed to make Lauren’s Loft and Keren’s Cave. At the bottom I had two drawers and one open cubby, some mirror tiles to make my side of the half-room look bigger, and I forget what the other side had.

I loved my loft. I had an envelope taped to the top brace where I kept some Secret Money. I also had an umbrella that I’d use to reach out and turn off the light.

The only scary memory was the first time the cat realized she could climb the ladder to find me. Nothing scars you for life like the scrabble scrabble of claws ascending.

Thanks for the awesome bed, Dad!