Busy, busy, busy!

     I'll start with Wednesday, July 21st. This was Chelsi's 21st birthday! I stayed up the night before and waited until she went to sleep and then covered the floor of the house with all kinds of signs saying 'happy birthday' in some way. I put them everywhere she'd go in the morning, like the bathroom and on the kitchen table. She missed the one in the fridge though!
     Once we got off work, we freshened up and decided to go to Gibbs, a local bar. Since I got off at 8 pm, the girls were already anxious to go. I quickly dressed while Allison made cupcakes for the birthday girl. Here are some pictures from our night! The first bunch is of the signs I made for her to pick up when she woke up. The pictures after are some from our crazy night!

     Once we got to Gibbs, it was all downhill from there. As soon as we walked in, all eyes were on us. Allison announced that it was Chelsi's birthday, and the free shots came pouring in. I had a glass of beer and a shot, and Chelsi had 9 shots and a beer! They just kept buying them for her! After I said no a few times, they stopped buying them for me. Out of the 9 shots Chelsi had, the one shot I had, and the two shots Allison had, we only paid for 2 of Chelsi's shots! The guys thought they were so cool. They were all about the same age as my dad, except for a guy named Riley from Minnesota, who was 22. He somehow made his way to our table, and it was fun listening to his accent when he talked. There is a picture with him in that I added so you could see what kind of guys we attract to the table. There is also a picture of the bartender! She was a lot of fun.
     When the night ended, it was time to put Chelsi in bed and keep an eye on her. I'll spare you the details, but the little champ woke up the next morning and went to work bright and early, as if the night before had never happened! Although her stomach hurt, she was a trooper and powered through the day. I did Kids in Parks with Jessica that day for some small children who wanted to go outside and catch bugs. After the day was over, Chelsi was feeling a little better. We decided to go play Mini Golf in downtown Beatrice. I have a bunch of pictures! Chelsi won, of course...

     On Friday after work, we went to the Gage County Fair. We parked fairly far away and decided to walk to the fair. We were not that impressed until we saw all the pigs, bunnies, sheep and geese. The rides were the usual. We got to see the geese and ducks being judged, and afterward I went up to a girl who was holding a large, white goose-looking thing with a big growth on its head. This goose sqwaked so loudly! I looked at him and asked the girl if I could pet him, and she said sure. As soon as I touched him, he looked right in my eyes and went "WAAHAA!" It scared me to death! Everyone looked and I just laughed. We also got to see lion head bunny rabbits, chickens with crazy mohawks, cows, pigs, and all those kinds of farm animals.

     The last picture is actually of cupcakes that were made to look like a corn cob. It was so cute! I couldn't resist taking a picture. The picture above that one is of a chicken with a crazy hairdo! The blurry white goose or duck or whatever it may be is the one who squawked at me. That thing won all the first prizes!
        On Saturday, Jessica and I were going to do Kids in Parks for "Sherlock Holmes- Unlock the Secrets of the Prairie" This KIP was for the kids to go on the prairie trail and find things that show animals live on the prairie. Due to the weather being so hot and the fair being in town, no one showed up. Therefore, when Chelsi came into work, we went to the Heritage Center and worked on replanting some osage orange trees against the fence row that had dried up and disappeared. I also began working on my butterfly brochure. Let me tell you a little bit about that. Here is a screenshot of my brochure in progress!

     I've begun a brochure that includes my photography of the native butterflies of Nebraska. It also includes the family that the butterfly is in, and a brief description of the size and physical characteristics of the butterfly. I had mentioned in an earlier blog that Chelsi was in the process of completing a coloring book of the native butterflies, and therefore her book will feature the same butterflies in my handout. I'm really excited to complete this brochure if time will ever allow me to do so. It's been so crazy since everyone came back from their vacations!
     On Sunday, July 25th, I went to the Freeman School all day. I had to dress up like a pioneer woman and sit there until people came. Well, I had the most people on this day than I've ever had! At the end of the day, 30 people came by to see me. There was a specific family, however, that left a lasting impression. A family of 6 daughters and a father walked from the Education Center to the FS to see me. They were all dressed up like how I was. When they walked in and sat down, I began talking about the history of the FS and the importance of it. They all say patiently and listened, they had to be around 15 or 16 years old. There were two younger ones who listened politely as well. Once I was finished giving my presentation, I asked them if they had any questions. The father pipes up and says, "I noticed you let a 'yall' slip out. Where are you from?" Embarrassed, I replied with a playful "Doesn't that give it away?" He then replied with "Well, the hand on the hip gave it away!" Even more embarrassed, I turned bright red and laughed. I told him I tried so hard not to give it away! He then asked me where I was from, and prompted the usual questions I tend to get when I accidentally reveal my Southern belle identity. Here are some pictures of the inside of the Freeman School.

     When those nice people left, I went to tidy up the classroom because things had been moved and messed with. I looked down on one of the slates sitting on the desk, and a girl had drawn a picture of me with chalk. I thought that was really sweet of her!

     After I finished up at the FS, I had to change back into my SCA uniform and grab a spray bottle and towel. It was time to walk the entire prairie and clean off the wayside signs. It was so hot and sticky, but I got the job done. When I got home that day, I was worn out and ready to hit the hay.
     On Monday, July 26th, I spent all day at the FS again. However, I only had two people- both older girls and both really snotty and uncaring. I tried my hardest to talk to them but they were more interested in their cell phones than they were in the history. I thought to myself, why even come here if you don't care? Once I completed my time at the FS, I came back to the EC and worked on my brochure. Since Jesse was gone for the week, I didn't have much to do outside other than the occasional task. 
     Tuesday was finally my day off! I had worked 7 days in a row, 8.5 hours a day and was ready for a break. I relaxed and really didn't do anything on this day but be a vegetable and enjoy my laziness. Boy was I in for a rude awakening the next morning!
     BAM BAM BAM BAM!!!!!!!!! "Katherine? Katherine! Allison's on her way to the house to tell you and Chelsi that you're late for the field trip!" I shot up out of bed, looked at the clock, and it was 8:01 am. Jesse had put both Chelsi and I on the schedule for 9:45 that day. I heard banging on Chelsi's door as I darted around my room attempting to get ready as quickly as possible. Chelsi and I set a new record- we were both out the door and to the car by 8:06 am. Neither one of us were very happy. We got in the van with the Youth Conservation Corps kids and headed to Omaha to see the Midwest Regional Office to see how everything happens. I was still frustrated because no one had told us to be there at 8 am, and was really tired. I tried to pay attention. 

     The first lady who talked to us informed us that the Midwest Regional Office has a silver-level rating on the LEED program. LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system that creates buildings that were designed and built using strategies intended to improve performance in metrics such as energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.
     It was pretty interesting getting to see all of the work they put into that building to make it LEED certified. For example, they have two retention ponds that hold water that comes from the roof and slowly allows it to go back into the river without disturbing any ecosystems or causing erosion from runoff. Though I was tired and she spoke in a monotone voice and didn't seem too interested in what she was telling us, it was still pretty neat to be able to go into a LEED certified building for the first time.
     Once we finished talking with this woman, it was time to take a walk on the bridge that connects Nebraska to Iowa. We got a cool picture of us standing in both Iowa and Nebraska via a line on the bridge. We got some pretty funny looks during the process but we had fun. It was a really pretty bridge that everyone liked to run on. Especially older men with no shirts on. They loved the bridge and were everywhere!

     Lunch time was just around the corner. We went to Old Market and walked around for a few hours before it was time to return home. Allison La Duke, Chelsi and I had delicious Italian creme sodas and Italian food at a place called Spaghetti Works. Yum! It was so good. Back into the heat we go- some shopping had to be done before we headed back to Homestead. It was hard to believe that this trip might possibly be my last trip to Old Market. 
     When we got back, Jesse felt bad for not telling us about the time change, so he let us go home. I couldn't wait to jump into the shower or brush my teeth! I felt really dirty and gross from the day. It was time for a much needed nap.
     Yesterday was a crazy day! The morning began with me helping Susan run errands, and then we had to load these huge corn huskers into the park ranger truck so they could be taken to Glenn's house. Susan had acquired these huskers in Lincoln the day before from an elderly couple who had them stashed in their barn. She was then going to take them to Glenn, a volunteer here at Homestead, to clean them up and get them ready to be put on display. Question of the day: why is it that anything that looks cool and is really old weighs like 100 pounds? These things weren't even that big! We had to unload them from the truck and set them on the grass in front of Glenn's house. Woah, was that a task. We got them out and were carrying them when all of a sudden Susan begins setting one down... ON MY ARM! I panicked and drew my arm back from the husker, and she let go as well. I now have a mark on my arm from where she set it down. Oh well, we got the job done and it was time to head back.
     When I got back, I took a GPS and walked the prairie to map the wayside signs again. It was so hot! I had to make sure the accuracy of the GPS was on target because apparently people had been complaining about the GPS units. I completed this and just wanted air conditioning! I sat down for a while because I was dripping with sweat and everyone was commenting on how red my cheeks were. I managed to stay inside for the rest of the day. 
     After work, I immediately took a shower. I hung out with Blake and we went to Back Alley Eatery to have dinner. Then he took me on a drive out to see the sunset. It was an awesome night! Today after work I am going to drive to St. Louis to see the Arch! I'm excited. I hope once I can come back I will be able to add pictures to this blog and make it more informative.