Weekend, Fun Start.

The weekend started on Friday and I had the idea to make some chalupas for dinner. So Tee and I went shopping for a few things we needed, but I wound up adding too much water to the beans turning them into a gross looking pile of beans. Despite how they looked, they tasted just fine, but for some reason we couldn't stop laughing at how much a little water made refried beans look like crap.



On Saturday Tee and I made the trip up to Independence after the Hawkeyes loss to Northwestern, for her little brother's Birthday. After some hotdogs and brats, Tommy opened his gifts which were some Star Wars action figures and Chicago Bears stuff like a football, Walter Payton vintage team shirt, and wall pennant.



On Sunday the local Catholic Church had it's annual Fall Festival. There was turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole to go along with homemade pies. There was plenty of food even though there was a line of people waiting that stretched down the hall and out the front doors. The church had blackjack and bingo downstairs for adults and games upstairs for kids which included a cake walk. Tee's little brother and sister dominated the cake walk winning all four times they played.

Independence Weekend

I spent my 4th with Tee at her parents' house in Independence. The festivities began with a parade down mainstreet. It featured tractors, semis, local businesses, and the high school marching band.







After the parade, Theresa's brothers and sisters played in a volleyball tournament. Bad news for me was I didn't get to play, but the good news was that left plenty of time for me to visit the food stands. I had a brisket sandwich, a hot dog, and Tee and I split a funnel cake and some pork ribs.

On the 5th, we headed back down to IC for barbecue at our place. I grilled up some chicken boobs and brats. We played Polish Horseshoes, Ladder Ball, Guitar Hero, and find the cat brains. It was quite a scene.







Sunday, we went back to Indee and saw a movie with the family. Little one's went with mom to see Wall-E and the older ones went with dad and us to see Hancock. A nice ending to a great weekend.

Flood 08 - Get Some!

As I made my way back from a wonderful, rain-free, day at Adventureland with the kids who worked hard all year to earn a free trip to Iowa's home-grown amusement park, I received the call that would flip my easy-going life completely on it's ass.

With two weeks of seemingly non-stop rain, water began forcing it's way into neighborhoods and businesses in Iowa City on Thursday evening. Many cities to the North had already experienced flooding that exceeded 500 year flood plans, so I guess it was just a matter of time for Iowa City and Coralville.

The University of Iowa Apartments, where I live, ordered a mandatory evacuation of it's residents on Thursday afternoon. We were all supposed to be out no later than 4pm on Friday. As it turned out, the flood waters entered the hawkeye apartments even sooner than expected. So by noon on Friday many apartments were inaccesible.

Luckily, Theresa had secured temporary housing for us offered by the University in Hillcrest, one of the many residence halls, despite an hour long wait in a line. As soon as I got into town, I learned that Tee's dad and brothers were ready to come down with a trailer to haul our stuff to safety.

We all worked from 8pm to 4am to get most of our stuff out of storage and our apartment. Tee's dad and brothers moved it all their place in Independence in two trips from Iowa City--a roundtrip of about 140 miles. And it was fortunate that they were willing to make the extra trip that night because the next day our storage was flooded.

As I write this huddled under the lofted bed where Tee sleeps quitely, I know that it could have been a lot worse for us, if it weren't for Tee's dad and brothers willing to jump into action for us when we needed it the most. Hillcrest may not be the Marriot, but it's dry, safe, and home for now.

The following pictures were taken Friday, June 13th, 2008.

In the picture below, is the road that leads into our storage.



The Walgreens Theresa worked at is right on the other side of those trees you can see under the bridge. Our apartment complex is to the left of the picture.



Here's the Sonic UP the street from our apartment.



I'll post pictures of our apartment as soon as I can. Stay tuned flood fans!

Memorial Weekend in Minnesota

Theresa's cousin had her wedding this past weekend so we joined the Reiff caravan and departed for Elk River, Minnesota. We stayed at the elusive Holiday Inn, which features an indoor waterpark, that Mapquest said was one place but really was another.

The wedding was held the next day. It was a small, intimate affair complete with inside jokes that I didn't get but I sat patiently in the comfortably-padded pues through the entire service. Back at the hotel the reception began with a social hour, slowly followed by the appearance of the bride and groom and a chicken dinner.

The highlights were an excrutiatingly awkward toast by the best man, an alien themed restaurant complete with an extremely creepy alien, and a trip to the Mall of America (both shown below).



That alien was like 7 ft tall and really creepy as he walked around staring at people...



family time at the Mall of America a monument to American consumerism

Communion Anyone?

We drove up for Tee's little brother, Tommy's 1st Communion this past Sunday.



Afterward, the family gathered for food which featured the best potato salad in the state (sorry no picture).



The giant kickball was from us, but the weather didn't let us try it out like I wanted.

How Good Is Ruby Tuesdays?

Tee and I went Ruby Tuesdays this past weekend for her mother's birthday. Actually, the whole Reiff gang went ice skating then to dinner. Tee and I smartly passed on the ice skating but partook of the dinner.



Ruby Tuesdays was fantastic. It's was a pretty swanky kind of place, but not too fancy. I had a sirloin that was amazing and Tee had the shrimp pasta. They also have a salad bar which has some dynamite pasta, broccoli, and potato salads that I have been craving ever since. Even my cherry coke was out-of-this-world.

We had been to a Ruby Tuesdays in Mississippi, but it was crappy. This place was like a whole different restaurant. We had great time on top of having a great meal.

Turkey Day 07!

Tee and I went to her parents house this past Wednesday and spent the night to spend Thanksgving with the family.

Turkey Day 07 was a real good time. I played board games, Xbox, and ping-pong. I watched football and saw my Packers beat yet another unassuming team. All this in addition to enjoying a great turkey dinner and homemade pies.

This Past Weekend...

This past weekend Tee and I got out of the house, actually we got out of Iowa City. Friday, we took a drive up to Indee and took in some high school football, visited some folks, and played some games.

Saturday we took a drive into the ‘Loo after having breakfast at my favorite place, Arianna’s Cafe. It's a great restaurant that serves homemade style food at great prices. I had the “Dan” special which is three eggs, hash browns, bacon, toast, and one large pancake. It’s actually a combination of two separate items on the menu, but people in the “know” call it the “Dan” because it’s what I always get.

In Waterloo, Tee and I saw the Kingdom on the UltraScreen at the newly remodeled Crossroads theater (awesome movie by the way), bought her youngest brother Tommy a birthday gift, and got some practice at the Airline Highway batting cages. Afterward, we went back to Independence to have dinner at Tee's parents house. After dinner, we went over to the Grover’s (Tee’s sister Kate and her husband's house) where we played a little Xbox.