~~ODNEAL FAMILY BLOG~~Port of Readlyn, Iowa

Here is a picture from my phone of the beautiful flowers that Bruce sent me today for our anniversary. The photo doesn't do them justice but they are gorgeous and I will take some pictures with my real camera when I bring them home from my desk. Everyone have a great Thursday! I have no idea why all of that turned out the way it did with the font and underlining, but it is late and I really don't care. Thank you all for the anniversary wishes on FB. May Bruce and I have many, many more. So we can bore you with more flowers!

Twenty years ago today I walked down the aisle and sealed the deal with my best friend ever, and soul mate for life. And I have to say that out of those, 17 have been pretty excellent. Yep, years 1 and 7 were trying at times for reasons we can't explain. But the whole year didn't suck for either of those-just certain times. We have some friends that say the same thing about those years. Odd, huh? And 1999 was what I will always consider the worst year of my life. Losing both of my parents 9 months apart was harder than any challenge I ever have faced my whole life. Thank you for being our boys and my rock that year. I'm still not sure how you put up with me and was there for me through all of that! I just want you to know that I enjoy being with you always, and I think this snapshot of last weekend is definitely us. On our houseboat, parked on a sandbar, and good friends surrounding us. What a way to celebrate our anniversary! May we have many more years of just enjoying ou...

These are just a few pictures of the Mississippi river at Lansing Marina and the start of the flooding. It appeared to be coming up about 1" per hour on Sunday. The normal shoreline rocks in the marina were under water and we literally had to walk the plank to get off the dock and load our stuff up. The city was supposed to cut power to the marina on Monday so we emptied out our entire fridge/freezer and brought it all home. Do you know how much work it is to fit everything from a full size fridge into your side by side at home that is always full also? Well, not much fun but somehow I managed it. Here's hoping that the river doesn't flood as much as early predictions and that all of our houseboats stay safe and unaffected by it. They even cleared out the marina office Sunday so I'm pretty sure there must be quite a bit of water in the parking lot by this time. I guess it just made me get a head start on my closing up weekend duties. Now I don't have to cl...

We again had a great time on our "3rd Annual Houseboat Float" weekend. The weather could have been a bit warmer and nicer but did not hinder our good time. Click on the collage and you can see the pictures better. And I know that I took many more of the trees and leaves, and the awesome food that we cooked, but either a demon took over my camera or I was way too far into my vodka and "thought" I was taking all of those awesome pictures of the food and trees! At least I know that when we are up in a couple weeks I will definitely snap some good leaf pictures. They are just starting to turn colors so I guess it isn't a total big loss that I don't have the ones that I thought I got this weekend. Maybe I had someone else's camera? Who knows. Everyone have a great Monday. I am looking forward to a normal week for a change. What is NORMAL? Just going day to day without having to plan something for the weekend for us! Excellent!

Homecoming this week at Wapsie. Tonight we had the pep rally and annual 'jersey auction". One thing nice is when your kid is a sophomore you get by pretty cheap if your "friends" (so called if they jack up the bids) play nice and you get out of there cheap. And we felt very lucky tonight that we did. We were willing to pay double of what it went for but I have a feeling the next two years will not be near as nice to us. Good luck Wapsie Valley Warriors against NE Gooselake for Homecoming and may we pull off a great WIN!!!! Everyone have a great weekend! We have our annual houseboat float where we will eat way too much and celebrate a bit too much also. I guess the diet and exercise program had better kick in come Monday!

Four years ago these two had an awkward first date together for homecoming and they are still together today. Through many football games, basketball games, family weekends, river weekends, etc. we got to know and love Taylor. And yep, not so much for us on the basketball games. You know how Bruce is! But anyway, I'm glad that you two still are together and that we parents all like you both together. At least I think so. Right Bill & Joyce? I guess I should also be very happy that our family didn't scare Taylor away! Yep we are definitely our own unique crew for sure! I am still mad at you both for Kyle lying to me last year however, and driving home from Iowa City for one night on your anniversary. And I thought he was the kid I could ALWAYS trust his word. Guess not. But on the serious note you two are both great young adults, and I know that you will make great decisions for your futures. Work hard and study much. But don't forget to have fun and enjo...

Haven't had one of these pictures in a while. Bruce and Gizmo were cuddling up and snoozing on the couch. When I went to take the picture Giz put her head up and moved. She was laying her head on his shoulder. What a baby! She is almost human sometimes I swear. But yep she loves us so I guess we will keep her. But she can quit coming in to wake us up every morning at 5 AM! Especially on the weekend when she is confused because we are home instead of at the houseboat!!! Hopefully she gets over that waking up business next month when we are home every weekend. I kind of enjoy my sleep every now and then! Happy Hump Day!

Have to post one again. I haven't seen near as many this year as usual but I did get this picture of one on the feeder the other day. I thought it was too cool for them but they are still around. Don't you just love their little beaks? I can't get enough of them. Wish my flowers were still in full bloom because that is what they really love around our house. Oh well. Just happy that they are still coming around this late in the summer. Oh yeah, fall is almost here isn't it? I'm not ready for that. Except for the football. That I love!

I seriously do not know what I will do this week and how I will watch EVERYTHING that I want and need to. Tomorrow night.........Glee, Dancing With The Stars first elimination, The Biggest Loser, NCIS Los Angeles, and maybe Detroit. How in the world can I catch parts of these and figure out if I like any of the new ones? Well obviously I will HAVE to be flipping between Glee and The Biggest Loser because I am a die hard fan of both and don't usually miss an episode. Elimination of DWTS I can find out on the internet after the fact. And basically nowadays you can pretty much watch full episodes of most shows via the web so I think it will be okay. I just hate that so many of my favorite shows start this week. And a couple of new ones I wanted to check out. Too much stress! And this coming from the girl that used to "hate" TV and think it was stupid! Boy have times changed now that I'm older! Everyone enjoy premiere week. I have too much to do and too many s...

I couldn't stand it anymore so today I finally cleaned Kyle's room (hadn't really touched it since he moved out), and since I was upstairs I just had to tackle Tyler's room also since I was there. I didn't snap a before picture but this photo shows what a teenagers room should/could look like every day. I did manage to strike a deal with him because I asked him to make his bed every morning for a month and it would make him feel better everyday that he came home to a clean room. So he challenged me to a deal that if he does make his bed every day for that month (okay maybe it was a week) I would buy him a new PS3 controller. So of course I agreed. I know that I feel good everyday having my bed made and I think it just makes anyone feel good walking into a clean room. Hopefully Tyler will feel the same. I guess now all I have to do is figure out if I told him a week or a month before I have to get the checkbook out for that controller. Oh well. I love the clean room ...

We had dinner at Bill & Joyce's tonight and it was wonderful. Bruce helped them with their kitchen and such earlier this year and they thought they had to have us over for dinner. It was excellent I will say although totally unnecessary. So anyway, Joyce wouldn't let me bring or make anything to bring over so I made up this basket of stuff to give to her/them. I just picked up a basket and filler at Wal-Mart. Add a bottle of wine, loaf of bread, a candle, and some deer sticks and sausage and you have a pretty decent gift basket. Oh, and I sprinkled some Dove chocolates with carmel on the top. YUMMM!! I think this is a great idea if you have somewhere to go and want to bring something for your hosts. I had fun making it up and will definitely do it again. Although we don't find ourselves in a position much to need a host/hostess gift as we really never go anywhere. Oh well, I still had fun doing it and I think Joyce really got a kick out of it. That was tot...

Okay so it is a picture of Tyler's this years football season button, but my gosh is this really my "baby"? Man how he has grown up. But it is football season and oh how he LOVES football. I'm glad we have 3 years left to watch him play but very sad about after that! Maybe college ball? Who knows. One can always hope and dream. I'm guessing he for sure will be a coach sometime in his lifetime. Rather it be HS, college, or maybe even pro. I guess the 24/7 ESPN has paid off because he definitely knows the game. Did I mention how he LOVES football? Everyone have a great weekend. We are off to Clayton Ridge (Guttenberg) tonight to watch some exciting football! Let's just hope it isn't too exciting because I get a little worked up when it is a close game! Good luck WV Warriors!

Sometimes when you see a really bright orange clearance sticker on a cute tank top with a fish on the front (for the river of course), just maybe you should check out the original price on the tag before getting all excited and purchasing said items, and then realizing how really the tank tops you just purchased for you and your sister in law weren't a very good deal at all. Especially if they don't even fit. Can someone say Goodwill bag? Enough said! At least they were very cheap to begin with in my own defense.

Finally went through some pictures of last weekends BBQ weekend and made a slide show. Smoke On The Water was again this years " Favorite Choice". Everything looked great and they did an awesome job. I was their support staff (as I named myself). And apparently it took a lot out of me or someone slipped me something, because by 7:30 or so Saturday night I was sleeping peacefully on our houseboat. I missed the band and excitement of "the Bruce dance" I guess, but I sure felt a heck of a lot better than anyone else Sunday morning! Maybe it had something to do with eating hardly NOTHING all day long? Gee........I wonder. Enjoy the slide show! **Hit the X on the super poke pet thing and it will go away so you can see the text! Sorry!

So finally remembered to take the camera to Ty's game Friday night and snap some pictures. We won 45-0 and Ty had 3 TD's but one was called back. I don't know what his class will think when/if they ever lose. They haven't lost a game since grade school. Wouldn't that be awesome if they never did lose one? I think our varsity team will be a force to be reckoned with when they are juniors and seniors. Not saying that the varsity team currently isn't. They haven't lost this year either. Love football season but sad to see summer almost over! Go Wapsie Valley Warriors!

Here are some pics from the weekend. If you click you can see them better. The geese "v" I wasn't sure would come out since I was taking it blind into the sun. I couldn't believe how good it came out when I uploaded it. And they filled in our cove and favorite camping sandbar which really stinks so I had to take pictures of it when we went by in the pontoon boat today. On a busy weekend there would be 20-30 runabouts in there, and now it is just sand. When we went by later on the Perfect Day for a ride someone had put a volleyball net up in the middle which is perfect until the water comes up even a foot. Then it will all be under. Not sure what the Corps of Engineers was thinking when they filled this in but we are all hoping they open it back up next spring like they did last year. Everyone have a great week. We sure enjoyed our weekend at the BBQ cookoff. Well I think we did anyways. Let's just say I crashed a bit early! Pics to follow!

This is a grouping of our campfire last Sunday night at the river. I know anyone that stops by my blog must get tired of all the river pictures, but according to the stats (which I just realized I could even get! DUH!) in June noone hardly came to my little blog, and in summer traffic increases considerably. So apparently people like seeing all of my river pictures or something. Winter is always pretty boring on this site so I think this winter I will start just picking a topic for each blog post and post pictures only when something exciting happens in our little town or neighborhood! Good luck with that to me! The bottom left picture is our good friend Kevin that has made this blog a "FEW" times, but he threw me this time. We at first didn't realize this was a wig attached to a visor. NICE! We just needed to add some "weekend at Bernie's" glasses and he totally looked the part. So once again we are heading to the houseboat and it is the 2nd annual...

Bruce and Louie always seem to be fishing rather it be on the sandbar when we are out with the houseboats or when we are docked in the marina. Bruce got a nice walleye off the back of the houseboat, and Louie got a very nice bluegill fishing in the marina. Oh, and how could I forget that "HUGE" fish that he caught and it wasn't even as big as his thumb! In its defense it did look like it had been through quite an ordeal since it was missing part of its tail. Poor thing! At least he was able to throw it back in and maybe its tail will regrow. Do tails regrow on fish? I guess I don't have a clue. Better ask one of the kids or Bruce. Second thought I'll just ask Louie! He knows EVERYTHING! Or finds out if he doesn't. Looking at these fish pictures does remind me of the great feast we had with them on Monday night. We definitely eat way too good when at the river. It just isn't the same cooking frozen fish in the winter. Oh well. It only lasts ...

This is a picture of our campfire Sunday night on the sandbar. We had an absolutely wonderful weekend at the river like usual. Great times and food once again with friends and family. It is sad to think that very soon the boating season will be done for the year. Hopefully we can get at least a few more of these bonfires in before we winterize the boats for the year. Wednesday is our Monday this week and I have to say I kind of am looking forward to going into work. I must be ill???? What was in that restaurant food today on the way home from the river? It must have made me crazy! Have a great week.

This is Bruce's new trailer/money maker. He is like a kid with a new toy even though it probably means more work for him on a regular basis. Not that he was going to stop anyway, but at least now he can haul tops without having to worry about the weather. And when the "baby" moves away to college we have plenty of room to haul all of the stuff instead of having to cram it all in two vehicles like we had to with Kyle. And also I'm thinking plenty of friends and family won't mind that we have an enclosed trailer if they need it. Funny how that works out, huh? And on another note the next time that we move I won't have to borrow a truck from work! Score! I think anyways!!!!

An apology to my SIL Sharon for only posting pictures that you sent me as of late! How cute are these two characters however? And the holiday weekend is upon us, and I know that we won't get to enjoy their company this weekend. Or Tyler's for that matter. Cole & Ash are still up in the air at this point. But we have an extended weekend and cannot wait. It's like a "mini vacation" for Bruce and I before fall actually hits. Hoping y'all have a great Friday and weekend. Wishing our kids would be joining us but you never know what boat motor Bruce can make fall off this weekend. Hopefully not the houseboat motor or we seriously will NEVER sell it!!! Have a great day and weekend!

My brother Rick slapped Cole on the back on our family weekend and we had to get a picture because you can obviously see just how hard he slapped by this picture. Finger prints and everything. If I would have been Cole I think I would have "seriously hurt" my uncle Rick! But Cole must have had enough in him that he acted like an adult (seriously insane adult in my opinion), and took it like a man and didn't react. So Cole, Mom & Dad are so sorry that you had to endure this pain but we thank you for not egging (kicking his ass-hard!) Uncle Rick on! I think I owe you! Everyone have a great Thursday. Looking forward to our 4 day weekend. Hope everyone has great plans, too!