LIL' MISS ERIN

While shuffling through a pile of unfiled paperwork, I came across all my Christmas cards from a couple months ago. Here is a lovely (scanned) photo of Erin and her family: husband, Dick, and sons Will, 14, and Thomas, 10.

Erin hasn't changed a bit. Still as gorgeous as ever!!

Erin Maureen............ CALL ME!!!!!

BAGHDAD CALLING

So, I'm out having lunch with a friend today and my phone rings.

It was Mikey in Baghdad calling to check in!!!!!!!

He hadn't heard from me in a few weeks, so he thought I died. I told him I was just buried up to my butt in snow!!!!

He will be home the first part of June for a couple weeks and said he will be making a trip through Iowa!!!

It was sooooo good to hear from him! Everyone leave him a comment and say "hi"!!!

A NOTE FROM TOM

Hi,

Little bit of snow and cold up there. You guys have had a rough one. 80 today.

Here’s one of daddy and Donelle goofing around.

Keep posting more snow photos, we like to see those this time of year........

TOM

IOWA WINTERS (Thanks, Mary Jo!)

Dear Diary: Iowa Winters:

Aug. 12 - Moved into our new home in Iowa . It is so beautiful here. The hills and river valleys are so picturesque. I have a beautiful old oak tree in my front yard. Can hardly wait to see the change in the seasons. This is truly God's Country.

Oct. 14 - Iowa is such a gorgeous place to live, one of the real special places on Earth. The leaves are turning a multitude of different colors. I love all of the shades of reds, oranges and yellows, they are so bright. I want to walk through all of the beautiful hills and spot some white tail deer. They are so graceful, certainly they must be the most peaceful creatures on Earth. This must be paradise.

Nov. 11 - Deer season opens this week. I can't imagine why anyone would want to shoot these elegant animals. They are the very symbol of peace and tranquility here in Iowa . I hope it snows soon. I love it here!

Dec. 2 - It snowed last night. I woke to the usual wonderful sight: everything covered in a beautiful blanket of white. The oak tree is magnificent. It looks like a postcard. We went out and swept the snow from the steps and driveway. The air is so crisp, clean and refreshing. We had a snowball fight. I won, and the snowplow came down the street. He must have gotten too close to the driveway because we had to go out and shovel the end of the driveway again. What a beautiful place. Nature in harmony. I love it here!

Dec. 12 - More snow last night. I love it! The plow did his cute little trick again. What a rascal. A winter wonderland. I love it here!

Dec. 19 - More snow - couldn't get out of the driveway to get to work in time. I'm exhausted from all of the shoveling. And that snowplow!

Dec. 21 - More of that white shit coming down. I've got blisters on my hands and a kink in my back. I think that the snowplow driver waits around the corner until I'm done shoveling the driveway. Asshole.

Dec. 25 - White Christmas? More freakin' snow. If I ever get my hands on the sonofabitch who drives that snowplow, I swear I'll castrate him. And why don't they use more salt on these roads to melt this crap??

Dec. 28 - It hasn't stopped snowing since Christmas. I have been inside since then, except of course when that SOB "Snowplow Harry "comes by. Can't go anywhere, cars are buried up to the windows. Weather man says to expect another 10 inches. Do you have any idea how many shovelfuls 10 inches is??

Jan. 1 - Happy New Year? The way it's coming down it won't melt until the 4th of July! The snowplow got stuck down the road and the shit head actually had the balls to come and ask to borrow a shovel! I told him I'd broken 6 already this season.

Jan. 4 - Finally got out of the house. We went to the store to get some food and a goddamn deer ran out in front of my car and I hit the bastard. It did $3,000 in damage to the car. Those beasts ought to be killed. The hunters should have a longer season if you ask me.

Jan. 27 - Warmed up a little and rained today. The rain turned the snow into ice and the weight of it broke the main limb of the oak tree in the front yard and it went through the roof. I should have cut that old piece of shit into fireplace wood when I had the chance.

May 23 - Took my car to the local garage. Would you believe the whole underside of the car is rusted away from all of that damn salt they dump on the road? Car looks like a bashed up, heap of rusted cow shit.

May 10 - Sold the car, the house, and moved to Georgia . I can't imagine why anyone in their freakin' mind would ever want to live in the God forsaken State of Iowa

MORE FREAKIN' SNOW!

Well, the kids missed their NINTH day of school due to snow today.

This is what I think about it all....

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I hope you all get lots of huggin', lovin', and smoochin' today!!

BARACK WINS!!

Barack Obama won the very unscientific Anamosa Class of 1981 election poll by a narrow margin.

From all indications, it appears our class somewhat follows the national train of thought, at least as far as the Democrats are concerned.

Thanks to everyone for voting!!!!

There will be a new poll very soon, so check back and vote again!

(picture courtesy of CNN.com)

I AM SICK OF SNOW!!!

It is snowing like crazy again. So far, I think there is, like, 4,927,863 inches of snow in my front yard.

Predictions are for more snow on Thursday. There is a 2-hour delay for the kids at school - AGAIN!! Yesterday, too. And, if they go two hours late, they will probably get out three hours early.

I miss Denny Frary. Joe Winters and his rug just ain't the same.

FUNNY SITE

This is a link for a very hilarious site about celebrities. Hope you're not offended easily. If you are, then don't click on this site.

THEY SAY LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE (Oh, God, this cracks me up!)

WARNING: From this link, you can click on other YouTube videos. Do so at your own risk - or enjoyment.

TIED UP

As of right now, we've got a tight race going.

There are two more days left to vote!!

Follow all the political fun at CNN or FoxNews or MSNBC.

Facebook to Co-Sponsor War on Terror

After successfully sponsoring several of the presidential debates, Facebook is spreading its wings once more, announcing today that it would become the official co-sponsor of the United States' war on terror.

In snagging the coveted anti-terrorism sponsorship, the popular networking site beat out two of its rivals, MySpace and YouTube, who had also vied to co-sponsor the global struggle against Islamic extremism.

While the announcement of the collaboration between the Defense Department and Facebook took many in diplomatic circles by surprise, some intelligence experts characterized the move as a win-win for both partners.

"For Facebook, being named co-sponsor of the war on terror adds to the prestige and luster of their brand," said Tracy Klujian, editor-at-large for Antiterrorism Monthly. "For the Defense Department, teaming up with Facebook makes the war on terror seem hip and fun."

At a press conference at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert Gates explained how the U.S. intended to use Facebook to fight terror: "Right now, we have thousands of bad guys out there who are addicted to jihad. We want to get them addicted to Facebook instead."

Starting this week, Gates said, Facebook will roll out two new quizzes which it hopes will be popular among potential terrorists: "Are You a Jihadist?" and "What Supervillain Are You?"

Mr. Gates said that by signing up thousands of jihadists to the social networking site, Facebook is hoping to net the biggest fish of all: Osama bin Laden.

"If bin Laden starts wasting as much time on Facebook as most Americans do, al-Qaeda is finished," he said.

I LOVE IOWA

Why I Love Iowa

It's winter in Iowa

And the gentle breezes blow,

70 miles per hour

At 52 below!

Oh, how I love Iowa

When the snow's up to your butt,

You take a breath of winter air

And your nose is frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful

I guess I'll hang around,

I could never leave Iowa

Cause I'm frozen to the ground.

HOLY CRAP

You guys are amazing! As of 11:15 p.m., we have had 91 clicks on the website and 14 clicks on ad sites with an average of .58 cents per click. Thank you so much!! This is so cool.

(OK, so 91 people clicked on the site today, but y'all didn't vote in my election poll - minus "the glove" (Mitt) - but he withdrew after I posted the poll, so I was not allowed to take him off since votes had already been cast.) It's entirely anonymous and all in fun, so please vote.

JOKE OF THE DAY (Courtesy of Brett Atwood)

One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me and my brother, who is four years older than I am. I was maybe a year and a half years old and had just recovered from an accident in which my arm had been broken, among other injuries.

Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news and my brother was playing nearby, in the living room, when I brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water.

After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing EVER!!'

My mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up, then says, "Did it ever occur to you that the only place that baby can reach to get water is the toilet??"

Y'ALL MUST BE CLICKING!!

Y'all must be clicking on the ad links because we raised a whopping $4.46 sense so far today! We had 74 visits to the website and 10 clicks on ads (as of 8:20 p.m.)!!! If this is all we ever make in one day, that's approximately $133.80 per month!! Also remember that this comes out to about 45 cents per click. Imagine the money we could raise for charity if we had 100 clicks per day!! Keep it up!

And, please submit ideas for where to donate the money for February! (Keep in mind that I won't get paid from Google until mid-March.)

Update: As of 10:36 p.m., we are up to 95 site visits and 12 clicks on ads!! Whoo-hoo!

MAXINE'S LIVING WILL (courtesy of Karla Bonifazi)

(Karla adds: "Got to love that Maxine. I wasn’t going to send this one along, but by the end I was laughing so well, I just had to share the joy! Happy Winter to you all, especially those of you that are NOT dealing with all this crappy Iowa snow. Admit it, you miss it!
Karla")

Last night my sister and I were sitting in the den and I said to her, "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle to keep me alive. That would be no quality of life at all, If that ever happens, just pull the plug."

So, she got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine.

She's such a bitch.

Anamosa Class of 1981

Hello, everyone!

You may have noticed that I changed the layout of the Anamosa Class of 1981 blogsite just a little. As you see, I have added some GoogleAds along the right-hand side of the page. These ads are free to place on the Anamosa Class of 1981 website, but the good news is that there is a profit to be made from them.

I realize that some of the ads are irrevelent to items you may need. Some of them, however, are for Iowa Hawkeye sporting goods, sports tickets, apartments, etc. Since I am the administrator of the Anamosa Class of 1981 blogsite, I am not permitted to click on them in order to make money. (Google has my ISP address and will shut me down if I try.)

You classmates, however, CAN click on them. Depending on the Google rating of the ad, the number of page impressions on the Anamosa Class of 1981 blogsite each day (121 yesterday and 58 so far today), and the number of clicks on each ad determines the amount of money to be earned.

If each one of you who reads this blog on a daily basis would click on just one or two ads, the money would add up quickly. I would like to donate this money to charity each month that I get paid. I would gladly take suggestions for what charity to donate to each month. It's a small thing, but just one more way for the Anamosa Class of 1981 to help!

So, take a moment or two each day, click on an ad, and let's raise some money!!

Keep sending me stuff and thanks for reading the Anamosa Class of 1981 blogsite!

FEBRUARY 6, 2008 BLIZZARD

Eight inches already. 12-14 expected.

IS ANYONE UP FOR A CLASS GATHERING?

This winter is getting old and tiresome. I am sick of snow and ice and sleet and having the kids home from school!

Anyone interested in some kind of fun????

Stupid groundhog saw his stupid shadow. Six more weeks of this stupid stuff.

Anyone have a condo in Cancun I can rent for a week?

(OK, like I can afford that... how about we just all go to Hatcher's house and hang out?)