LAKE REFLECTIONS

The Dog Days of Summer

Hi, Everybody.

We have had such a hot, dry summer, I am almost looking forward to the cool,
crisp temperatures of fall!  (That's not like me, so you know it has been HOT!) 
Today, we are finally getting some much needed rain.  In fact, we had so much
lightning and thunder with our rain that it blew out a transformer and we have
no water.  When we get it back, we are on 'BOIL ORDERS" until perhaps
next Tuesday.  What fun!

It has been so dry that some of the trees have already started to turn color.
Not as much as this picture might indicate, as I think part of the orange
looking stuff in the front is a reflection off the glass window where I took
the picture.   It won't be long, though, before  these Ozark Mountains will be
alive with color.  If you want to drive somewhere to see autumn in its
full glory, I would definitely recommend this area.

Paul and Nancy Stalkfleet recently made the drive down to see us. 
They live in Iowa City and had not been here since we moved into
this house.  We had a really nice, long boat ride on Friday and got
so sunburned that we went shopping on Saturday to avoid the sun.
We ate at a really good Mexican restaurant just at the edge of our
town Saturday night.  That's where the above photo was taken.

   

I've known Paul and Nancy ever since Suzanne was a toddler; in fact, Nancy
used to babysit for her when I worked at the Iowa City Sears store!  We've
watched each other's kids grow up and each other grow older.  (Notice I didn't
say OLD -- just OLDER.)   We've shared so many Iowa Hawkeye games and
bowl games with them.  GO HAWKS!

I assume you received my quick note a few days ago announcing that the
condo had finally sold!  We close on it next Friday.  The buyer is just writing
a check for it, so there were no delays.  His biggest concern was which
account to take the money from.  (Oh, to have such problems.)  They are
having all new furniture delivered on Saturday, so they want possession
at least by then.  The sooner the better for us.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that the deal included our pontoon
boat, so we have only one week left to enjoy it.  We are half afraid to even
use it for fear something could happen to it, so our boating days may be
over.  I loved that boat and enjoyed the heck out of it while we had it.

Here we are the day we cleared out all of our stuff from it.  So long, boat.

!

   

There's another thing we're saying goodbye to this week and that
is my hair.

It started falling out a couple of days ago.  Now it is falling out in
clumps.  I am not sure whether I will just ask Jerry to shave my
head now, or if I will hang on to it as long as I can to shorten the
long period of baldness.

I think it will only last 2-3 more days, so waiting is kind of silly.
It is a pretty messy, yucky situation right now, so it is probably
time for the clippers.  Or, we could just go for a fast boat ride
and just let it all blow away!  The boat ride would definitely be
more fun!  What a shock it would be to those boating around us!
I would love to see the expressions on their faces!  :-)

We still have the house listed, but no lookers, so I'm afraid it
could take a while to sell this place too.  Kansas City may
have to wait a while. 

By the way, we drove over to KC to look at that house I showed
you a picture of in my last blog.  I am sorry to report that it was a
pit.  If I were younger and healthier, I would not hesitate to take
it on and make it look nice again, but I am just not sure I want
to spend my energy in that way, and I know we don't have the
money it would take.  So, we will just keep looking.  We are in
no hurry.  Never again will we get ourselves in a two house
payment mess.

Well, I hope this finds you all well and enjoying the end of the
summer.  We are headed to KC Labor Day, chemo permitting.
I have my next treatment on Tuesday and last time that weekend
immediately following was pretty rough.  Perhaps that won't
be the case this time and I can go see the kids and feel real good
while I am doing it.  If not, I can lay on Rob's couch just as easily
as I can on my own.  My puniness will definitely not be contagious.

Take care and enjoy your holiday weekend.  Thanks, as always,
for your continued prayers and good wishes.

Love to you all,
Judy and Jerry

I LOVE NEW YORK, Part 3

I'm back, hopefully, with all the remaining photos. 

Several small things caught my eye on the trip and one was the way
in which they park cars.  Parking is at a huge premium (and price),
so they have had to come up with innovative ways to deal with it. 
Thus, the multi-level approach.  I also was surprised at how many
of the streets are still the old cobblestone.  It's cool.  It was fun
to walk around and see the small, close-up details of the city.

These photos were taken on Wednesday.  We met Niki at her work
and then did a little walking around SoHo and Little Italy while waiting
for her to get off.  Little Italy was restaurant after restaurant.  I have
never seen so many in one place ever!  The food looked wonderful,
but we had been invited out to dinner at Niki's friends that night, so
we were "just looking."

This is what our creative cook, Robin, whipped up for us ... male and female
meatloaves.  They started out to be a little more anatomically correct, but
their time in the oven was kind of hard on the details.

And this is our creative cook, Robin.  The meal was actually quite delicious
and she was a very entertaining hostess.

Her made-from-scratch cake was yummy!

She is a lead singer in a girl rock band -- a take off on the Motley Crew.
She had a gig on Friday night in Manhattan and I believe they performed
this week end at Staten Island.  She is very talented and quite a character.
She is from a very large Mormon family and grew up in Glenwood, Iowa,
with Niki as one of her best friends since childhood.

She and Niki have a great time together, as you can see.

They have a little act of their own that they shared with us.  They are
both a little nuts, but fun and cute.  :-)

Thursday was our last full day of the trip.  Our plan was to do the
Liberty and Ellis Island tours as well as the Staten Island Ferry,
and then finish up with a Harbor Lights Cruise of Manhattan that
evening.  We made it to all but Ellis Island and the Harbor Lights
Cruise.  By the time we got there and had our chance in line, the
cruise tickets were sold out.

Bummer. 

My daughter Suzanne's in-laws live on Staten Island, so I had heard a
lot about this ferry.  It was free of charge and a really nice ride.  I'm glad
we got to do it.  Mayor Juliiani proclaimed that the ferry should be free
after he got so much support from those on Staten Island during his election.
It was his way of saying thank you.

We were running too late to check out Ellis Island, so we didn't get
to see that.  I am sure it would have been very interesting though.
Liberty Island was beautiful.  It was so cool to see "Lady Liberty"
from all angles and to learn about her history.  She gives you
goosebumps.

In lieu of the Harbor Light's Cruise, we checked out Grand Central Station.
We ended up having dinner there in the only really nice restaurant in the
station; the rest are fast food-type places.  We had a wonderful meal here
at the Oyster Bar.  Very fancy and pricey, but it was our last night after all.

We were all pretty tired from a week cram jammed full of non-stop activities,
so we ust returned home after dinner and got packed for our journey home. 
I don't think either of us were ready to leave, but you gotta do what you
gotta do.   :-)

We had a good flight back to Kansas City, and we convinced Pam that
she should spend the night with us at Rob's before heading back to
Glenwood.  (Rob and his group were in Colorado on vacation.)
She did that and then Niki arrived for a long-scheduled trip to Glenwood
on Tuesday, so they got to spend some additional time together.

We had a very sad thing happen in the family just before we left for
NYC.  Kelly (Pam's daughter) and her husband, Hugh, were thrilled
in recent weeks to learn that they were going to have a baby.   She
was going in to her doctor on that Friday we left for a routine ultra
sound to make sure everything was OK.  She is 39, so they were
taking a few extra precautions.  She learned at that time that the baby
had not survived.  We all felt sooo bad for them both.  They, of course,
were devastated.  She ended up having a miserable weekend and
miscarried on her own.  Kelly needed to feel the love and support of
her family, so she, too, flew to Glenwood from London that following
week, so Pam had both of her girls home.  Our thoughts were, of course,
with them the entire week.  We had a good time, but always in our minds
were on her and Hugh and of the horrible experience they had gone through.
Our prayers are still with them.

Jerry and I spent a day or two in Kansas City checking out real estate
and areas of the city before actually returning home.  Here's one we
found that we really liked.

We are a very long way from being able to buy a house, so
it is silly to look at individual places at this point, but this one really
tripped our trigger.  The price was so right and so was the neighbor-
hood, yard, location, etc.  It was a lovely area in Lee's Summit called
Lakewood.  It had 2600 SF and seemed to be perfect.  The owners
have moved and I no longer have their phone number, so this is kind
of history; however, I am sure there are others that we would like just
as much.

We FINALLY had an offer on our condo yesterday, and it turned out
to be an insult.  Yuck.

We are asking $208,000 for the condo -- less than what we have in it. 
In addition, the buyer can also purchase the garage for $15,000 and
the dock slip for $15,000  (the prices we paid, which are now higher). 
We also decided to sell the pontoon boat and boat hoist -- both for
$20,000 (also less than what we paid).  So, adding all together,
that puts the total package price at $258,000 -- our package price
was $250,000, and we would have been willing to negotiate on that. 
The offer came in at $207,000 for EVERYTHING -- the condo, garage,d
ock slip, boat, and hoist.  What a joke!  We want to sell it not give it away!
We were so disappointed.  So, we are back to square one.

I've had kind of a rough week after my chemo treatment on Wednesday.
This is not going to be a real easy 6 months if the first week is any
indication.  So, adding the lousy offer to already feeling crummy, it
was not our best weekend.

I am hoping the yucky feeling of the chemo will go away in a day or
so, so that I am feeling good again by the time the next one rolls around.
I will deal with the treatments one day at a time.  I am hoping that we get
a legitimate offer on the condo real soon,

The doctor is a little concerned about how I am going to be able to
handle this chemo treatment, so she has asked that I not travel out of
the state for the next six months.  She doesn't want a Minneapolis redo.
That's like telling me not to put beans in my nose!   I'll have to see what
I can negotiate.  :-)

Not much else to report.  Jerry's working in the 102 temps today, the
poor guy.  He tolerates the heat well, which is very fortunate because
it is darn hot.

Stay cool and take care.

Love,
Judy and Jerry

P.S.  As always, your prayers are appreciated.

I LOVE NEW YORK, Part 2

I'm back with photos from Tuesday through Thursday.  Our trip had to end on
Friday, darn it.  (Be sure to also check out Part 1 as long as you are here!)

Before I get started, here's a photo that should have been included with
the Mexican restaurant shots from Monday night.  This is Niki's friend,
Robin, with Pam.  You will see more of Robin later.

Here is Niki waiting for our Subway train to arrive.  This was our only
Subway trip.  Too many steps and too much walking for Pam.  It was
interesting to do it once, but I much prefer being out in the sunshine
and being able to see where you are and what's around you.

Tuesday was our sightseeing bus tour day -- postponed due to Monday's rain.
We saw all kinds of things, including many of these T-shirt shops.  They just
kept getting cheaper, but we worried that they would fall apart when washed
at that price.

Our bus took us all over Manhattan -- uptown, downtown, midtown, etc., etc.
One of the most beautiful areas was, of course, Central Park.  What wonderful
foresight to designate that area to nature.  It went on and on with playgrounds,
lakes, huge rock formations (rocks were brought in from elsewhere), and all
kinds of lovely landscaping and flowers.  It was full of people, and I would
guess it is that way all the time.  It is such an oasis in the middle of all the
traffic, chaos, cement and steel.

The architecture in the city is fascinating.  So often amid all the
huge skyscrapers, you will find a very old, small and short church
that doesn't seem to fit in at all.  This is one example.  It is also
an example of the many times we saw scaffolding set up around
the buildings (teal colored canvas).  NYC buildings must all be
inspected once every 8 yrs, so with so many buildings, you
become very accustomed to seeing scaffolding such as this set
up around buildings of all sizes and types.

Our uptown tour took us through Harlem.  It was far different than I had
expected.  I am sure there are some less attractive areas that we didn't
see, but downtown Harlem was really quite nice, clean and inviting.
The Apollo theater is to the left just ahead of our bus.

There were some really nice parks, including this one that paid tribute
to Duke Ellington.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art sits right in Central Park.  We didn't
have the time to go inside.  I'll do that on my next trip.  :-)

It seems as though everyone is selling something, and this creative
person found a way to sell ice cold water to those of us on the top
deck of the double decker buses!  She just raises her pole and then
you grab a bottle!

 

This button and threat signifies your entrance into the "fashion district." 
Everything seems to be in districts ... the meat district, the financial
district, etc., etc.  In such a large city, I am sure "districts" are very
helpful and eliminate the need to run all over the island.

This is Madison Square Garden.  It looked more round than square to me.

We got our first close-up look of the Empire State Building from
the bus tour.  Wow!

The above was part of our bus tour.  It is the MUSEUM OF SEX.
Again, we didn't have time to go inside.  Perhaps on my next trip.

This is the Flatiron Building.

These are some of the remaining 9/11 notes.  That whole horrible event
was very much on my mind during the trip.  How terrible that must have
been for those people.  Every time I would see a plane on approach to
JFK or Laguardia, it would remind me of that awful day.  We drove
right through "Ground Zero" and that was really an odd feeling.  By
the way, New Yorkers do not refer to it as Ground Zero.  It is still the
site of the World Trade Centers to them.

Wall Street was just about how I had it pictured ... a wall of tall
buildings surrounding you.

This was taken by Pier 17 and the Southside Seaport Museum.
It looked like a really fun area, but we were just riding the bus
not hopping on or hopping off. 

Above is Chinatown.  Below is the United Nations Building.  It was late
enough in the day that they had taken down all the flags.

We were supposed to tour the inside, but the rainy Monday cut into
our touring time, so we just saw the outside of the U.N. Bldg.

This is the Rockefeller Center.  It was a cool area, as was the Rockefeller
building itself.  We went to the top and the view was magnificent!

Since "dancing is my life," I was sorry we didn't get to go inside
to check out the Radio City Music Hall.  That's another thing on
my list for the next trip. 

We got up to the Top of the Rock just in time to see the sun set.  The
following shots are just a few I took of the amazing view.  I wish it had
not been so hazy.  The camera exaggerated it to some degree.  It was
still very beautiful.

We also went to the top of the Empire State Building.  The haze was
much better on that trip.  If you go to NYC and do the Empire State
Building, I will give you a little tip.  The wait to the top can easily be
two hours or more, unless you have an EXPRESS PASS.  Zanny
told me about the passes, so I purchased three of them.  With our
passes, we were on top of the building in less than five minutes
from when we walked in the front door.  We were treated like
royalty!  It was such fun!  They cost extra but it is well worth it.

Niki works for a clothing designer in Soho.  The designer and her
seamstresses actually design and create the clothing in the back
room while Niki sells the unique fashions in the front of the store. 
I found several things I liked, but the price tags were way over
my limit.

I am afraid I am going to have to split this up into yet another part as
I still have a ton of photos left to share with you!  Part 3 may take a
day or two to create as I have my first round of this new chemo formula
tomorrow.  I have no idea how it will affect me, so I will just say that I
will try my best to get it posted as soon as possible.  I still have Robin
to tell you about, so that's good motivation to make a quick return to
blogging.

I hope this finds you all well, staying comfortable in the heat, and
enjoying the end of your summer.  Take care.

Love,
Judy and Jerry

I LOVE NEW YORK!!!!

Our first glimpse of the city after landing at LaGuardia. 

Niki had arranged for a car to pick us up.  The driver was dressed in an all
white Hindu-type suit; he had a very long beard and an embroidered cap. 
You don't see folks dressed like that in Glenwood, IA, or Laurie, MO, so
this was our first introduction to the many cultures that make up the city.

Sorry to make you turn your neck, but my rotation attempt didn't work.
Anyway, this is Niki's abode.  She and two room mates have all three
floors.  She lives somewhere in Brooklyn.  As many times as we drove
to and from her house, I don't think I could get to it on my own.

This is Pam calling home to let the rest of her family know that we made
it safe and sound. Niki doesn't get off work until 7:00, so we arrived a
little before she did. She had left the keys in the mail box.

Most of their furniture has come from "stoop sales" or from feebies set
out on the curb for anyone to take.  I would love that!  That would be
more fun than garage sales!

This was my bedroom.  It was also the kitchen!  I had visitors at all
hours of the night, but it was kind of fun.  Some of the visitors never
saw me standing!  I would just roll over to chat with them and then
go back to sleep.  Niki's roommate, Max, was on a strange schedule,
as he prepared his dinner anywhere between 11:00 pm and 1:30 am. 
We would visit while he cooked.  The first night, he brought some friends
home with him and they partied in the kitchen (my bedroom).  I was so
tired, I didn't bother to talk to them that night.  I just slept right through it. 
I am sure they got a kick out of my snoring.  :-)

Pam slept upstairs in Niki's room and Niki took the couch
in the living room, so we all had nice, comfy places to sleep.
I think mine was the most fun.

 
Our first night was spent in Brooklyn Heights along the Promenade. 
We had a wonderful Italian meal at this neat little sidewalk cafe.
It was such a beautiful night and the lights of Manhattan almost took
our breath away.  It was awesome.  (We saw our first and only rat
that night.)

Pam and Niki on a park bench in the Promenade.

Here are Pam and Niki at the Gershwin Theater Sunday afternoon. 
My son, Rob, did a very nice thing for us ladies.  He bought us
tickets to see WICKED.  It was such a fun and cute show.  That
was definitely one of the highlights of our entire trip.  Our seats
were in the third row, so we could even see the spit flying from
the performer's mouths.  What a fun afternoon.  Another dream
come true for both Pam and I.

Lo and behold, when we left the theater and walked a half block or so,
we ended up right on Times Square!   People, taxis, bright lights, noise,
commercial ads plastered everywhere, etc., etc., but I LOVED  it. 
Wowsers!  What energy and excitement.  People from all over the world,
cram jammed everywhere,  It was sooooo cool!

Pam and I are both big David Letterman fans, so we were really
tickled to see his theater, the Hello Deli, and the building where
he tosses things from the top floor just to see how they splat.

One of the fun things along Broadway were the purse vendors.  We
checked out each and every one of them.

See the red on hanging on the right front corner?  That one is now mine.  :-)

We ate at Letterman's favorite pizza place Sunday night -- Angelo's. 
It is on the main floor of the Sullivan Theater where he tapes his
show.  Niki said it was one of the best pizzas she had ever had!

I don't know what this guy's deal is.  He apparently just sits in this
parking space on Broadway and uses his car as his office.  He had
his computer running, a bouquet or two of flowers, and seemed to
not even notice the thousands and thousands of people who were
looking at him.  Weird.

I could not believe the amount of garbage in NYC!  There are
apparently no alleys for storing the trash, so it all goes out in front
of the store or whatever, right on the sidewalk.  It is everywhere! 
No wonder they say there are four rats to each person in the city!

There are so many other fun things to look at, I guess you kind of
become oblivious to all the garbage.

Pam has had an extremely rough time for the last few months, so
walking was not an easy thing for her to do.  It was pretty essential
to being there and seeing things, but there were times she
just had to sit down and catch her breath.  That's what she was
doing when these last two photos were taken.  She was having a
glass of lemonade at Maxie's.  We then joined her for a piece of
cheesecake for only $8.95 a slice.  Yikes.

She was a real trooper, though, and very brave to have even
tackled the trip after all she has been through.

This is Bart, Niki's "main squeeze."  He is not a native, but he has
been in NYC for several years.  He builds things for special events.  For
example, if Victoria's Secret, Inc., is having a fashion show, they will call
Bart to build the runway.  He has a cool warehouse/loft type living space
where he works and lives.  It is one of those places like you see in movies.
That is one of my favorite things about Manhattan, just about everywhere
you look and everything you see, you have seen in some movie or TV show.
Again ... it is sooo cool!

We sort of lost Monday since it poured down rain all day.  So, Bart took
some time off and we all went to lunch together.  (That's my new red purse
on the table.)  We then went to see Hairspray, the movie.  There was such
a line to the theater on Broadway where Hairspray was playing that
we thought we should check it out.  It was so-so.  We were very glad we
had chosen Wicked instead.

I found the retail world in NYC very interesting.  There is mile after mile of
little "mom and pop" stores, intermingled with a McDonalds, Target, etc.,
every now and then.  There are lots of restaurants with various ethnic cuisines
and lots of food stores.  The unique part about ther food stores is that you
cannot buy all of your groceries in one spot.  You go to a produce store for
your produce, a meat store for your meat, a bakery for your breads, etc., etc.   
No big supermarkets like we have around here.  You can only buy as much
as you can carry as very few people have their own cars. 

The traffic is terrible and so is the price of parking, thus, cabs, subways,
trains, buses, etc., are the way people get from place to place.  Cabs can
add a great deal to the cost of your evening.  (They charge by the minute,
so if you get stuck in traffic, you can really get screwed!)  We figured at
last $50.00 (and sometimes more) just to get to and from Manhattan from
Brooklyn. We usually hired a car, as they charge by the trip, not the mile
or minute. The Subway is cheaper, but Pam didn't do so well with all the
walking and steps they required; besides, they are dark and dirty and you
can't see where you are.

On the rainy night, after the movie, we went out for Mexican food with
Bart and Niki's roommate, Mara, and NIki's friend, Robin.  I will introduce
Robin in Part 2.  She is quite a character.

Well, that gives you an idea of our first three days ... Saturday, Sunday and
Monday.  I think I will stop there and put the next three on a separate (Part 2)
Blog so this doesn't get so big that those of you with dial up connections cannot
get it open!

I hope I am sharing this so that my enthusiasm for the city comes through.
I thought it was a wonderful place.  Sure, up close you see the trash,
graffiti, disrepair, filth, etc., etc., but all that just added to the ambiance
for me.  From a distance, it is magnificent! 

I am too old to live there now, but I can sure understand why Niki
wanted to be there and why she is enjoying it so much.  My sites were
always set on California when I was a kid; I never gave the East coast
a thought.  I never made it to California either, but knowing what I know
now, I would definitely have added the Big Apple to my dream places to live.

I'll be back in a day or two with Part B.  I hope all is well with each of you

Take care.

Love,
Judy and Jerry