Every Evening and Every Day, Seem to Always Turn Out This Way

This is from a town called Colfax that is experiencing some nasty flooding right now.

Well, kids. Yesterday was kind of weird. At one point in the morning, I looked in the mirror and noticed HUGE dark circles under my eyes...No. Even worse than normal. I had actually slept alright the night before, so I wasn't sure what that was from.

Here is a junkyard under water.

Then in the afternoon, I found out. That's right. Stomach flu. I made it to the end of the day and rode my bike home, but then I was on the couch for the rest of the evening, with a lovely fever and feeling totally dehydrated from losing my lunch and possibly some other meals and snacks too.

Here is a sign selling land that is covered with water....So, river bottom.

I finally started feeling better closer to bed time, so I read My Antonia. The great thing about reading a book that was published in 1918, is that you see sentences like this: "'Very glad, very glad!' She ejaculated." without even the hint of a smirk. That's okay. I smirked enough for the whole world when I read it.

So, I'm feeling better today, back at work and still waiting for my damn computer to show.

She's So Heavy

Today was so awesome. Coadster and I just kept thanking each other for being so much fun. It was hot as hell and perfect for a day in the water park. We went on almost all of the slides, the lazy river, the largest water roller coaster in the world, spent a good deal of time in the wave pool, Coadster got a beloved corn dog and then we went to the best haunted house (in the form of a crypt) we've ever been to...And Coadster loves that spooky stuff, so we've been to a lot. My goal was to spoil the hell out of her and according to Coadster, I was a success.

Tomorrow, we're going to go shopping for school stuff. Since the Target store in Ames is flooded now, it looks like we'll be getting everything here and transporting it. In the evening, I'm helping my friend G. out. She has a date with a guy we call "the cyclist who doesn't wear a helmet" (we have nicknames for pretty much everyone). She's meeting him early for drinks, and I don't want her to have to worry about getting there or back and not being able to drink...Because there's no better time for a drink than a first date.

Saturday I plan on cleaning my house and helping Coadster pack. I have so much to do around my house and I'll have a few days to devote to it.

Saturday night we're still planning on having our girl night. Mr B. just texted me to tell me he was coming into town to see some bands and wanted to see me too, and I am so glad I hadn't already planned to go to that show. Now, I can make a point NOT to run into him. Thanks to my reboot last week, I've become a phantom to anyone who either can't be nice to me, can't stop playing games or both. It's amazing how much simpler my life is lately...Perfect.

All Aboard for Funtime

Hey, whaddaya know? I actually did get to blog tonight. Of course, I don't have that much to blog about anyway. I spent much of the day working on the details of our trip tomorrow and finishing up the last of the paperwork to get Coadster into school. It's so weird that this time next week, she'll be gone...That is, if the flood that overtook Ames, Iowa calms down enough for her to move into the dorms.

...But I can't think about that right now...I'll think about that tomorrow...Or next week. Whatever. Right now. I'm packing a few things up. I already gassed up the car and bought more sunscreen and I have tickets and Mapquest directions printed out. So, tomorrow, all I have to do is drive way too long but then mostly, play in the biggest water park I've ever been in, with one of my favorite people in the world. Nice work if you can get it, eh? I hope you all have as much fun as you can handle tomorrow too.

Go Ahead, Be Gone With It

Here is what all the rain looks like as it tries to get me on my screened-in-porch.

Dude. We got so much rain and flash flooding today it was sick. The basement at work even flooded and it didn't flood two years ago during the big one. I'm ready for some sunshine and clear skies for a while, but it looks like we're only getting a day off before it all starts again. The good thing is that all the swollen creeks and rivers look delicious - like liquid milk chocolate.

Other than that, I don't have much to report. I'm totally obsessing on my book right now. I just want to finish it, so I can get on with my life. I'm seriously thinking things like, "I don't really need to stop reading to make dinner, do I? Hell, we all just ate yesterday...." So, in the interest of preventing an intervention led by my daughters, I'm going to leave you to finish my book and become functional again.

It's Hard to Get By Just Upon a Smile

Here is a photo that Stinky took of the flooding Iowa River at sunset. It's the first one taken with my new phone.

I chose today's Saturday Scavenger Hunt word: Treat. I got a new treat this week - a phone. The screen on my old phone was cracking, and I was up for a new one. I got an LG phone. It is so, so nice. It has a full keyboard, so texting is a million times easier. Since you all know how much I hate to talk on the phone, you can understand how what a treat that will be for me.

Here are some trees surrounded by the Iowa River.

As I've said before, I love dorky ring tones. I found a site where I could send free ringtones to my phone. So, I have some new fun ones:

My girlfriends: "Milkshake" by Kelis - changed from "These Boots are Made for Walking" by Nancy Sinatra.

My guy friends: "The Banana Splits Themesong" by The Banana Splits - changed from nothing. I didn't have one for guys before.

My Family: "Insane in the Membrane" by Cypress Hill - changed from "Crazy Train" by Ozzy. Everyone in the world is crazy, but my family is my kind of crazy.

My daughters: "Wild World" by Cat Stevens - changed from "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N Roses. Stinky picked it and Coadster was happy with it, because it's one of her favorite Cat Stevens songs.

General ringtone for anyone else: "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley - changed from "Synchronicity II" by the Police.

So, that's my treat this week. For next week's word, I'm choosing Tara at Eclectic Spaghetti. Give us what you got.

It's Too Hot to Handle, So I Got to Get Up and Go

Here is a picture of some clouds and the countryside.

Kids, it just turned July and I can't say that I'm all that sad to say goodbye to June. It certainly wasn't all bad. I had some really great times and wonderful experiences. It was just rollercoastery and I'm more of a slow and steady girl (again, more emphasis on the slow and less on the steady). Last month just plum tuckered me out, is all.

Hopefully, we won't have any more flood drama, but I'm not counting on July to be all that very restful either. Here's how It's shaking out right now:

4th of July weekend - Right now I don't have a lot planned. I may stop by Billy Mac's farm on Dane Road and see some bands in the afternoon and I've tentatively planned to watch fireworks with K. and her boyfriend on Friday evening, but other than that, I'm totally open.

The weekend of the 11th - My wedding date is supposed to come back to town for the Euphoria Fest in Lone Tree. I'm taking a a half day off on Friday. I'll go for a while on Friday night and then camp out there on Saturday night.

The 16th is my birthday - I'm not sure what I'm doing for my birthday. I usually like to celebrate it for at least week. I really am that goddamn special. So, I might celebrate a little during Supper Club on Wednesday and then invite anyone who wants down to the Dublin on Thursday night. I'm taking Friday off work, so my daughters and I will go see a total girl movie matinee that day.

My girl crush at another wedding.

The weekend of the 19th - is my girl crush's wedding. I don't think I need to tell you what kind of crazy dance party will be happening there, do I?

The 25th of July - is when we leave for our California road trip. I'm sure I'll write more about that before we leave, but we won't be back until after the first week in August.

I sure didn't schedule any good resting or napping time, did I?

And the Beat Don't Stop and We Talk So Tough

My friend T. giving me a hug on her birthday.

Well, this weekend turned out much differently than I expected. It was good, but as they say in Ottumwa, just diff'ernt. On Saturday afternoon, we watched my niece and nephew. My sister's friend's husband (got that?) is an engineer for the railroad and fell into the Cedar River by Columbus Junction when the railroad bridge he was on collapsed from damage from all of the flooding. Needless to say, he's in critical condition in the hospital here, and so we babysat my sister's three year old and five year old so she could be there to support her friend.

Of course, I didn't even think to get my camera out and take pictures of my niece and nephew being all adorable. We watched Night at the Museum. I had never seen it before, and I thought it was pretty good. My nephew was really into it and my niece was really into coloring on pink construction paper with pink and purple markers. Having teenagers, I forget how different it is to have younger kids. It's been over ten years since I've had a three year old and a five year old in my house all day. It takes a lot out of a girl. I don't know how my sister teaches at a grade school all day and then comes home and entertains her kids all night (with the help of her husband). I think I might have to develop a meth habit to have enough energy for that.

I went out late on Saturday night. I needed some alone time after my girls went to their dad's house, but then I went to the Dublin for one beer. My friends J. and D. were going to go to Joe's Place because they were having guest bartenders from a bar called the Wig and Pen. The Wig and Pen was pretty much ruined from the flooding, so I don't know what their employees are doing now for work every day. Instead of going with them to Joe's, I left and went to the Picador where my friend T. was celebrating her birthday. C. was in town from Fort Madison, and I got to talk to him for a bit before he left for a party.

My friend J. was getting ready to go home and so I asked him for a ride and he kept saying no. Which he always does. In most cases with him, no usually means yes. When we got to his car, he acted like he wasn't going to open the passenger door and just leave me standing by myself in the parking lot. Of course, he finally did and we laughed most of the way home about how both funny and sad it would have been if he had driven off and left me.

All of a Sudden That Ole Rain's Fallin' Down

Here is a picture of a guy carrying his bike up a bunch of stairs at the North Hall Parking Ramp.

Tonight was great, but by being so great, it meant that I had so much fun that I didn't leave myself much time to blog.

We went to someplace called Rick's for supper club. I had never been there before. It didn't have much ambiance, but it was okay in other ways. My friend K. texted me and told me that she and some other girls were at my beautiful friend S.'s house hanging out in the backyard and asked me if I wanted to stop by after I ate.

It was just starting to thunder when I got there. We moved the table and chairs into the garage, lit a bunch of candles and watched the rain, all safe in our shelter. My friend S.'s friend came over. He was so brave to hang out with a bunch of loud bawdy dames, and he not only held his own, but told some amazing stories. Very impressive. He was from the Southside of Chicago just like me, so I know he came by his shit talking honestly. Lord knows, I love a good story teller.

Tonight was one of those nights that just happened without any planning, and even though all that rain could mean very bad things for us in Iowa, we still respected the storm for its power and appreciated its beauty.

The Kind You Don't Take Home to Mother

Here are some pics from the bathroom at IC Uglies. My lesbian friends call it the girly bar.

Work today was REALLY challenging. They had a phone team call 1300 students to reschedule orientation due to the flood. They were only able to speak to 400 of them and the other 900 students called us today, in addition to all of our other calls. It was insane.

Luckily, my co-worker John was here today and he gave me more shit than ever. He made fun of me every time I messed up answering the phones. After you say the same thing over and over for eight hours straight, it's easy to start sounding either drunk or like Mush Mouth from The Cosby Kids.

It has to be the cleanest bar bathroom I've ever seen.

Apparently, I'm feeling random again tonight, so on to the next totally unrelated subject. My girls have been watching I Love the New Millenium on Vh1. I thought it was weird when they did I Love the 90's a while back, because they were talking about 5 years ago like it was ancient history. But we're still living in the new millenium, so what do they do when they get to the end? Start saying, I Love Five Minutes Ago? or I Love Right Now? Remember last weekend when Get Smart came out? Yeah, I feel super nostalgic about that shit.

Who doesn't like a good PMS poster in their bathroom?

Lastly, Stinky just cut her bangs, but she made the mistake of cutting them too short and they go straight across her forehead. Coadster told her she looked like Rick James in the "Super Freak" video. I'm sure nobody's surprised that both my daughters know that reference, but how many years of therapy do you think they'll both need for being exposed to that kind of cheese at such a young age?

Everyone is Helpful, Everyone is Kind

Well, I didn't have my camera on me this morning when I went to relocate sandbags, but I did use my phone. The quality definitely suffers, but at least I was able to document the clean-up a little bit. This first pic is of the railroad bridge between EPB and the main library, for any of you Iowa Citians or ex-pats. You can see the water reaches right up to it. It has gone down some, so I don't know how high it actually got.

This is partly how we moved sandbags. We formed what we used to call a bucking line when I was in the California Conservation Corps. and used to buck wood from a crib to a bonfire. We then deposited the bags into a loader, which in turn dumped them into trucks that took them to flooded areas South of here.

It was great how much help we had. I know some of the athletes at our school have had their run-ins with the law, but today there were plenty of football and basketball players to make up for those other assholes.

This is a photo of the passing line. These bags of sand came out of the engineering building and were not only heavy with sand, they were also wet, so they were gross too. They left weird brown patches on our forearms and Coadster joked that we all looked like people who didn't know how to apply our quick tan lotion correctly.

There were also some who joked about how there really wasn't any flooding South of us and that this was all a ploy by the University to get people to remove all the sandbags for free. I'm sure CNN and all the other news websites were in cahoots using old pics from other floods, right?

The one thing I love about these kinds of experiences, is how they bring people from all different backgrounds together. So that the Middle Eastern engineering professor is cracking jokes with my high school aged daughter who is warning a college student wrestler from Las Vegas how heavy the next bag is. I just hope all this work actually does some good.

Ice Age Heat Wave, Can't Complain

Here is a picture of my reflection in the windows on the backside of Halsey Gym.

So, this will be another one of those quickie posts. I think my natural disaster hangover is finally lifting. I slept way to much the last two days, but I'm going to try to change that starting tomorrow. I am finally old enough to realize that being in denial about negative emotions I have will only come back ten fold and bite me in the ass later. So now I try and let myself feel that shit, until I'm back up and laughing and otherwise acting like a total dork ass. Coadster and I also went to a movie, because as I've said a million times, escapism is one of my favorite coping mechanisms. We saw the M. Knight Shamalamalama movie, The Happening. All I'll say about it, is that the premise was way more interesting than the actual movie.

Tomorrow I have to get up early. I think Coadster and I will try to go down and help load our unused sandbags onto trucks so they can take them to communities down river who are now eating the same shit sandwich we were just served up for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the last couple of weeks. I hope it helps them.

Okay, that's all for now, kiddies. We'll see how sore I get from lifting sandbags and if I'm able to type tomorrow night. Have I admitted to you that I have no upper body strength before?

The Tide is High

Okay, kids. I promised you flood pics and now I'm going to deliver. Like I said, we aren't as soggy as Cedar Rapids. Most of our flooding (at least for now) is contained to right by the river. They are predicting that the water could reach the Pentacrest by next week sometime.

Here are some National Guard guys talking to the kids who just found out their dance camp was canceled. They were showing them what their C-rats looked like.

Here are some more guardsmen. I haven't been this close to that much camo since the tornado. I still have total respect for the work they do during natural disasters.

The finally gave up on securing the student union and moved the sandbagging efforts over to the University Services Building and the brand new Communications building. I know that lots of people spent most of the day moving books out of the library and into the Old Capital too.

Here is the student union. See why they gave up?

Here's a big ol' pile of sandbags not doing any good and an unnecessary sign letting everyone know that whatever sidewalk used to be there is now closed.

Here's a family taking their kids to witness all the water by the laser center.

Danforth Chapel next to all the sandbags that probably won't save it.

If you look to the back of the photo, you can see the old Art Building about halfway engulfed in water.

Okay, that's what I got so far. The only good thing that's come from the flood, is that they closed the University down for a week and that means I get a week off with pay.

Jordan's Water is Chilly and Cold

Here's a view from the inside looking out.

Okay. All this flooding is getting really annoying. At first they closed roads and we had to maneuver around, then they did some evacuations and now, especially in Cedar Rapids, it's out of control. There was a photo on one of the news sites, of someone driving a boat through the downtown area. They're electricity is off, so they are only supposed to use water to drink. Whacky, isn't it? We have so much water, it's messing with our supply and now people have to try and conserve it.

Today at work was a lot of dealing with frantic parents. We had one of our first Summer orientations and it was chaos from the git. We could still use the parking lot we had reserved, but no one could get to it, because they closed almost every road leading to it. Then they kept threatening to close the student union. They finally decided to close it for real at 5 pm today. Ugh. The bad news is, it's still raining and the river isn't supposed to crest until maybe Tuesday next week. The good news is, that the raining and storms are supposed to finally calm the fuck down after tonight.

Coadster went to the river to fill sandbags today and she's going back again tomorrow. I might try to bring my camera to work tomorrow to get some flood and levy building shots for you all...As long as I'm not in the way. I remember all too well after the tornado how annoying it was to have people stopping by to gawk at our devastation without ever asking to help.

I texted my friend H. today to see if she needed anything. She lives in one of the evacuation areas. She told me that she was okay right then, but that she could really use a beer. I promised to buy her a hundred beers during the wedding festivities this weekend if she wanted. Again, I'm always there for my friends when they need to self-medicate during bad times.

Just in response to some of the comments so far, Iowa City isn't that bad. Most of the worst of it is in Cedar Rapids. Here, the areas closest to the river have been evacuated, but it shouldn't be anywhere near like it is in a couple of other towns. The girls and I are totally fine. Thanks for your concern.