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My mom is always making fun of me and how I try to do “hippie” things.  Now she also calls them “green” things.  What I find interesting aobut most “green” practices is that many people do them already simply because of the financial benefits. They’re frugal, which makes them “green” automatically!  I think this is where I fit in, for the most part.  I find many disposable things pointless and have had cloth napkins, handkerchiefs, etc for years.  Why continue to spend money on something you keep throwing away?  So, anyway I thought I would take some time now and again to talk about what I’ve been doing to do my part.

I’ll start with those basics – the cloth replacements for daily living.  Shortly after we got married, I told Jason that I wanted to buy cloth napkins, b/c it just made more sense.  So, while using our gift cards from our wedding, one of the thing we purchased was a nice daily-use china set and tablecloth, placemats and napkins.  Every couple of days or so, more often if they’re completely soiled, I throw them in the dirty laundry to wash come wash day.  It works so much better.

A year or two ago, I decided that I wanted to use handkerchiefs instead of kleenex – Michelle finds this disgusting! LOL!  Well, I had 1 or 2 that I already owned that I used at first.  I had a terrible cold and would have gone through an entire box in a day or two.  The first thing I noticed was that the handkerchief was so much more comfortable than a kleenex.  Especially after blowing my nose 100 times with that cold. A kleenex would have left it so raw.  I could’ve spent the extra $$ on lotion-filled kleenex, but the hanky worked just fine.  And the 2nd thing I noticed was that the hanky held up so much better than kleenex. Usually one blow and a kleenex has to be thrown away, b/c a hold has been blown in it.  The hanky was softer, kinder, and stronger.  At the end of the day, I throw it in the wash and pull out a new one.  A bought another pack of hankies within the week and haven’t looked back.  Come cold season each year, I’m so thankful!

So, 2 things that I’ve replaced disposable with reusable items. And neither was for “environmental” reasons per se, but that’s a great side benefit!  More things that I’ve done will be coming!

OK, did anyone realize that funeral homes kept online records?? I stumbled upon the Gay & Ciha (IA) site today and they have all of the “obituary” things, you know – like what’s on the back of the memorial cards you get at a visitation/wake, online back to fall of 2002!!! Gay and Ciha Obit Archive

So, I thought – do others also? Lensing (IA) also has quite a few back to 2002. Lensing Obit Archive

The others I looked at only had the current month’s for 2008.  But for the 1st two, if you’re doing research that MIGHT have something recent… it’s not a bad source.  Funeral Homes are always a good place to start when you need directions to a cemetery, etc. also.  Keep that in mind.

Have made some big discoveries lately – all which of course just lead me to more places for research, but oh well! That’s the fun of it.

First – the West Liberty Public Library has an INDEX of the WL newspapers dating back to the early 1890s or so.  The local genealogical/historical society went through all the microfilm and created an index of any birth, death, marriage records in the papers.  While you still have to go to the library to look at the actual images, this creates a plan so that you know what issue you need to look at. VERY helpful. Have made 2 trips already and the pre-work made the actual research so much easier. Every time I get home from a research trip, I find more that I need to go back to WLPL to look up, since I’ve been finding more connections et al.

Second – Have pinpointed 3 direct ancestors of mine that served during the Civil War (in addition to many peripheral relatives).  Now I just need to order the actual records from NARA. Did you know that those are as expensive as they are?  I will spend about $300 before it’s all said and done to get all 3 records.  So, needless to say, now that I know WHAT to do and HOW to do it, it’s a matter of WHEN and with what money.

Third – Jason’s grandma called us last night and wanted me to find an immigration record for her great aunt.  She had when they thought she came from Germany (sometime between 1919-1922), how old she was, etc.  She was needing to find where in Germany she came from, b/c they have to get a birth record (this woman is STILL alive, can you believe it?).  Anyway, I get on EllisIsland.org this morning and within 5 minutes I had the record of the aunt AND her mother, including pictures of the ship, etc.  Ended up she came from Poland, not Germany.  But it was so fast and so easy. WHY can’t immigration records from the 1880s be that simple?  So, now I have to direct Grandma to the citizenship/naturalization records, b/c that will probably be the best source material. I doubt they’d find any birth/christening records in Poland that survived both world wars.

Found out that the Cedar Rapids library has a digital archive of ALL Cedar Rapids newspapers from 1857-1977, plus all of the city directories through 1995, plus more resources up to date through 1998 and it’s all FREE and all available ONLINE! WITH a search engine! For anyone doing any family history research, what a goldmine! I’ve been finding obituaries and articles about a lot of my family – many of whom live in Cedar County, NOT Linn County (where Cedar Rapids is). So, for anyone interested, be sure you check this out Cedar Rapids Digital Archive

On a similar note, I’ve been making great progress lately, thanks to actually having a plan and using a research map.  Have made a ton of connections and found lost people through the census records, because I actually started keeping track of where I was looking and for who.  Spent one whole day in May researching cemeteries in IA and another in July researching cemeteries in IL.  Too much fun! Have found people that I didn’t know had migrated where and when they did, which has led to more census and newspaper research.  Can’t wait to take the new baby to his/her first cemetery expedition!

OK, I’m a dork and I know it. But I cannot wait for this next installment.

OK, normally I hate sports. All sports. Why have sports? But I LOVE the Olympics!  From the opening to the closing ceremonies, I love the Olympics.  This Olympics’ opening ceremonies were really beautiful this year.  And so far I’ve been able to watch Mike Phelps win one gold, plus a bunch of other qualifying heats for gymnastics, swimming, basketball, sculls, fencing, etc etc. I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!

My mom was finally able to get back to work last week. The water is receding, but the clean-up is a mess! Mud everywhere.  Some bridges were being opened in Iowa City last week, but there are still traffic situations with closed streets and bridges.

…I’ve been thinking about starting a new ministry at church. And I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but I’m still trying to put the pieces together.

I want to start a group that makes items for babies in the NICU at area hospitals and for families who can’t afford items.  These would especially be things like preemie hats and layettes and blankets, but also some for newborn sizes.  Even isolator covers and positioners. And unfortunately, even burial items for those little ones.  And then I want to take it a step further and buy disposable cameras to give to those parents with babies in NICU and to buy teddy bears for those mothers to take home.  Your arms feel so empty when you have to go home.

And lastly, I want to do something I don’t know if anyone has done: I want to buy teddy bears to give to doctor’s offices, so they can give them to their patients who have lost a child to miscarriage, ectopic or molar pregnancy.  It’s such a dark, empty time and no one seems to recognize your status as a mother.  It helps when you just want to hold on to something and cry and to know someone understands.  And in those cases, there’s almost never something to take home.  Just that empty feeling.

Well, I’ve found patterns and I have the idea. But now I need to talk to Pastor at church and see if people would be interested in joining me or in donating items/money.  And I need to find contacts at area hospitals… Geez, I have a lot to do yet.

The Sutliff Bridge is gone. I cannot believe it, but the eastern portion of the Sutliff Bridge washed away and the other 2 sections are under almost 2 feet of water.  Go to Kcrg.com and do a search for “sutliff bridge” to find pictures. It’s unbelievable.

The Coralville Reservoir crested during the night at 717 feet, lower than projected.  But the outflor is still very high and while the IOwa River is projected to crest lower than they thought, it will still be higher than currently.

The University abandoned its Arts Campus (Hancher Auditorium, etc.) in favor of trying to save the power plant.  19 buildings are flooded, including 2 dorms.

The Coralville strip was under 5 feet of water yesterday and all road service between East and West Iowa City was being restricted to one bridge.  Residents were being told to stay on their side of the city.

The University told all non-patient care employees to stay home.  And for staff involved in patient care at the hospital, if you were stranded with no way to get in (roads closed, etc.) they were willing to bring you in by helicopter AirCare or a National Guard blackhawk helicopter.

For complete information and some amazing pictures, go to:

www.press-citizen.com  and www.kcrg.com (KCRG in downtown Cedar Rapids is still streaming live 24 hours on their website and are running on generators.  It’s a testament to their determination to get the news out. They’re operating on no teleprompters, very low light conditions, basically handing a camera to anyone who can hold one to go out and get footage and bring it back).

PLEASE – the national news is not covering Iowa City/Coralville (as of yet anyway), so if you want to see any of this, you must go to these local websites.

As so many people have asked me how my parents are doing with the flooding that is happening in Iowa, I thought I’d add something here. Prayers are welcome!

Where my parents’ house is located is high enough and far enough from the river that they’re ok.  But their paths to/from Iowa City/Coralville may soon be cut off (or at the very least restricted immensely).  So, t hey are not in danger of evacuation, but people they work with or people we know may be.

Iowa City/Coralville:

The city held a special council meeting to establish rules for evacuation. They’ve never had to have this before!  At this time, some areas of IC and Coralville are being evacuated (Bill & Cindy- the area we saw under water this last weekend has a mandatory evacuation now for those residents).  But more evacuations are threatened. For more information on that, click here:

Conditions will worsen, more evacuations to come

Dubuque Street, one of the main accesses into downtown IC and to the University campus has been closed and the water is so high you cannot even see the median. City park has been closed. Water is in Mayflower Hall, as well as North Hall. Hancher Auditorium and the Schools of Art & Music have been vacated by faculty. 1st Avenue in Coralville (one of the main arteries to Coralville from I-80. The other is the mall exit) is closed.

River, reservoir continue to rise; no end in sight

My mother this morning, at one point, drove through over a foot of water to get to her office. She told me by email she’ll need to find another way home tonight, because they’ll have the road closed by then. (This was Iowa Avenue)

Parkview Church, think Willow Creek but smaller, had been using what was left of their parking lot as a base for sandbagging operations. The water is now 1/2 foot up the wall around the church and the parking lot is gone. They’ve moved their church offices to the east side of town and another church is hosting the rest of their VBS this week. Weekend services are being held in West High School until further notice.

Not much left over water at Parkview Church

East of Iowa City:
I-80 will be closed tonight just east of West Branch (my hometown). The 2-lane highways around the closure have been closed since Tuesday. Rochester (little village) is sandbagging around their church, hoping to be able to use it as a shelter for displaced residents. In ’93 the water never reached that high, but this year they’re not sure. My parents’ church just about 5 miles west of Rochester has offered their building, if needed.
If we were going home this weekend, we’d have to detour!
UPDATE: Residents of Rochester have just been asked to evacuate IMMEDIATELY.
Update to I80 closure

Cedar Rapids (about 25 miles North of IC):
The entire downtown area of Cedar Rapids is flooded and without power. Residents of several neighborhoods have been evacuated, with more to come. KRNA and KHAK, 2 radio stations located downtown, are off the air due to the power loss. Local ABC and CBS affiliates will most likely be forced to leave their buildings downtown soon as well. 4 main bridges into the downtown area are under water and this morning a railroad bridge collapsed. Internet service will soon be lost to most of Eastern Iowa due to flooding of the Qwest utility building downtown.

University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City is also preparing for an influx of patients from Cedar Rapids, because both St Luke’s and Mercy Hospitals there may need to evacuate patients because they have no power.

I-380 west of Coralville has not closed yet. Another 2 feet though and it will as well.

For complete information, see the Iowa City Press-Citizen website: as well as the local-ABC affilliate KCRG TV 9 website

Prayers are the best we can give when we’re so far away. REmember all of those in this area, in NE Iowa (WAterloo and Cedar Falls are also experiencing evacuations), western Iowa (the Scouts who lost their lives) among those still affected by the tornadoes in the area (IC is under a Tornado watch tonight again).