Painting the farmhouse: Part 2

Here are the latest pictures of the 2nd painting crew (Joe, me, Chris, Jim and Megan). We only have a little spot left back above the kitchen area. (By the way, Megan didn't drive the tractor but was in charge of lifting Chris up or down in the bucket. :) And let me say, she did an excellent job! )

We also painted the dining room! I'll put pictures of that on the blog when I get some taken. It looks WAY brighter. We still need to get a new light, but even with the old light, it looks bigger and brighter. The ceiling took 2 coats of paint, and the walls needed priming and then 2 coats. I also painted the little desk by the phone---a dark brown/black. It looks good. I've painted the "piano room" so now the next painting will be starting on the walls up the steps, then the bedrooms upstairs. My goal is to be done with the painting before I go back to teaching in August.

Happy Birthday

I don't know if they celebrate birthdays in heaven. The whole eternity thing makes me thinnk that they're not counting the days. But here on earth we can all send a little birthday wish to Grandma and just maybe she'll get it.

When I think of her birthday it turns to thinking about all she did for our birthdays. One year I asked for a pumpkin pie instead of cake because that was my favorite dessert. I think we even had candles.

Just curious, in honor of Grandma's birthday, what was your favorite dessert she made? Yes, try to pick just one and put in the comments!

Painting party at the farmhouse

We had a great crew painting the farmhouse on Saturday, which included Bill, Shannon, Eliza, Jason, Margaret, Payton and Brady, Joe, and Bob. Yes, I said BOB! Wow! There is dedication for you---he flies all the way from Bethesda to paint the farmhouse!! (Well, he might have happened to have a couple meetings in the area, but still, he could have just gone straight to his meeting.) He was a big surprise, to all of us except Grandpa, who knew he was coming. Joe told Grandpa that he was withholding beer from him from now on if he didn't fess up on his secrets! :) When I drove into the yard with Grandpa, I thought, "Wow, Joe's hair is looking alot like Bob's...Holy Cow! That is Bob!!"

I didn't do any painting this weekend (believe me, I've done alot inside already, with a whole lot more to come), but I was in the house cooking Shannon's birthday (swiss steak) dinner. (Sorry Cole, you missed swiss steak again...and maidrites and roast beef dinner too. )

The painters were so good and so fast, they got the house primed and 2 coats on most of the house. There's just some smaller areas that still need the 2nd coat. The house is looking so good already. It looks like new siding.

Next weekend, the Jim's are coming up to help paint. We'll finish the outside with their help and maybe be able to paint a room inside too. I'm hoping my partner in cleaning (Chris) will help me wash the windows because they got pretty dirty when we had to spray the house cleaner on prior to painting. Oh...and if we get all of that done, Joe said there's another post hole to be dug and cattle gate to be put in that has Jim's name on it. :) (Jim and Dave put one in last year.)

Thanks everyone for helping out!!

Whad'Ya Know? Not much, you?

What do I know....

For starters, Dave and I both got to talk on Whad'Ya Know this morning:) We didn't play the quiz game but Michael Feldman answered my question! You write them on index cards before the show and then he does 3 in each hour. I wrote: I am having my first baby in 3 weeks or so. Do you think I should have an epidural? He said he was a radio host but then talked to Dave and I a little and told me to go for it. I wanted to give a shout out back home so I slipped in that I was a tough Iowa farmgirl so I would be fine. Click here to read a synopsis - in the 33rd minute of the second hour or try to listen. I hope I don't sound too nervous!!! One of my college roommates actually heard it in Denver at her work this morning and knew it was me:)

Secondly, the baby is doing what its supposed to...head down and ready to go. I haven't had any signs of pre-labor but I am still hoping for a week early. We're trying to be patient....but now that school's out I'm pretty much going to be thinking about it nonstop!

Oh, and on the epidural question, Jim already alleviated my fears and yeah, I'll be taking some drugs:)

Hope I have some more to update you all on soon!

Herro from Okinawa

Hi everyone
It seems so crazy that I'm as far from home as I am. Laura is sure glad I'm here. (and Eric is too, I hope!) Laura is doing a lot better. She's still on pain medication, but each day she seems a little stronger. She and Eric took a 20 min. walk tonight, so that was really good. She has to go slow, but at least she can start to exercise and get some strength back. Her appetite has been good---she's a true Neary---not even a surgery stands in the way of enjoying a good meal. Friends have brought in 4 meals, and the one last night was so good---this person would make Martha Stewart look like an amateur.
On Sunday we went for a little drive along the ocean. It was really pretty. The Japanese houses are interesting to me. They're almost all apartment buildings, made of cement, with flat roofs, no yards, and clothes hanging somewhere. The Japanese people don't have dryers...and I have no idea how their clothes dry with the humidity. A lot of the houses don't have air conditioning either...and it gets extremely hot and humid here. That's probably why they don't notice that their freshly laundered clothes are not dry---because they're all sticky themselves!
The Air Force base is big...it looks like an American town with lots of houses that look alike. I'm pretty sure all of Emmetsburg would fit in the base...it's probably more like the size of Spencer or slightly bigger. Again, the houses are made of cement block walls...I guess they must be sturdy that way for typhoons. The Navy has a big base here, and Marines do too. They're very strict when you come and go off the base, and I have to show my passport and pass every time we come back on.
Next weekend if Laura is feeling up to it, we're going to one of her adult Japanese student's house for a party. This woman is wealthier and has her own single dwelling house. I'm anxious to see what it looks like. I think I'll make sure I eat a peanut butter/jelly sandwich before I go...as I'm not a big fish eater or eater of anything that swims in the water! No, I mainly like the 4-legged animals that walk around in mud or worse. :)
Speaking of 4 legged animals, you should see Barkley. He seriously looks like one of Joe's yearling steers with short legs. He has a much cuter face though. I've never seen a dog so happy to lay around all day. When he goes outside in the morning, he stays out about 5 mins., then comes back in, and assumes his natural position of sprawling out. Eric takes him for a walk at night, but sometimes Barkley acts like, "Are you crazy? It's hot out there." It takes alot of coaxing to get him up and out the door. :)
Well, it's about time for me to go to bed. It's crazy but I haven't really had jet lag. I lost a whole day in there somewhere, but when I got here, I went to bed, slept well that night, and have slept fine since. Laura keeps saying, "I can't believe you aren't tired." I can't believe it either. I'm sure I won't be that lucky when I get home. I'll probably still be groggy when we're painting the farm house on the weekend of the 20th. I'm looking forward to having a fun Neary weekend.
More later from Japan!
Terry

Another proud Neary

Emily took her nursing board exam on Monday and found out on Wednesday that she "PASSED". Yea! We knew she could do it. She starts her job at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines in two weeks.

Congratulations to Terry. Do I smell a Pulitzer?

Congratulations to Morgan. No surprise to us. We see a bright future for her.

Adorable picture of Abby. Post more pixs.

We hope Laura is on the mend.

Happy Birthday to all the June Neary Birthdays.

Love,
chrisandjim

Great Birthday Gift

Check this out. Nice of Abby to pose for this picture.

Published Author!

Just wanted to let you guys know that Mom is now officially a published author! She can't post this because she is currently in route to Tokyo so I thought I would brag about her:) She wrote an article to Our Iowa magazine and lo and behold, its in this months edition!! She was somewhat surprised because she hadn't gotten any notice in the mail and opened up her new magazine in the Los Angeles airport and there it was! Its a fun recollection of bean walking with her dad. Her first words were "Show me the money!"

Last notes, keep the prayers up for Laura. We'll keep you posted. And....HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOE, just one more year closer to perfection:)

Love,
Amy