Tuesday, January 30, 2007

So, how was your trip?

Gee, I thought you'd never ask! Let me tell you all about it...

It all began one dark and very cold morning (Wednesday, Jan. 24 to be exact)... I snuck away from my sleeping Felisa, enjoyed a hot shower, dressed, and drank a cup of coffee. Forgot to load my suitcase (isn't that what husbands are for?) so Ron brought it down for me. We headed for the airport. No traffic. (Because it was 5 a.m. perhaps?) Kissed my man good-bye, wished him a good weekend with his mom and the kids, went to check in. So far, so good. I'm on vacation. All by myself. (Can you hear me singing it!?!)

A Review of the Flight:
* First problem... Starbucks is on the outside of the security screening area. And outside, non-secure drinks are not allowed.
* Second problem... WHAT is THAT? It is big and loud and it's blowing jets of air at people? Because why? Is it going to hurt? Further research (asking the TSA security guy - he says it is blowing air to detect explosives. I get an A+ from Security Guy because I correctly deduce that the machine is looking for explosives dust and particles that are blown off of the offending passenger.) and more research (wikipedia says it is known as "the puffer") shows it to be safe. Want to see a picture? Click here. That way you won't be surprised on your next trip through security. (Yes, I know. I don't get out much!)
* Third problem... I realize about halfway through my first flight that I forgot to drink my yogurt. The yogurt which I had put into my jacket pocket on the way out the door. The yogurt I was planning to drink on the way to the airport because it wasn't allowed past security. Well, I managed to smuggle it onto the plane anyway. Oops! Oh, and I forgot to turn my cell phone off as well. I'm surprised we didn't crash!
* Fourth problem... After landing in MSP (that's Minneapolis-St. Paul for those of you who also don't get out much!), we waited a few minutes to deplane (standard for those of us stuck in the back of the plane. Livestock class we used to call it!). While we were waiting, the airline workers were servicing the plane - gassing up, unloading and loading luggage, etc. - and it sounded like they were sawing a hole in the side of the plane. Hmmm. Glad I'm transferring to another plane for the next leg of my trip!
* Fifth problem... Idaho is really, really far from Virginia. How on earth am I going to be able to drive out here this summer? We could fly but 4 or 5 tickets... yikes, that's a lot of money. Hmmm. Will have to think about this one for awhile.

A Review of the Scenery:
* High Desert... Reminds me of Pueblo because there are mountains, but they are farther from the town (unlike Colorado Springs where they are right next to town). I've never seen much of Pueblo other than what you see driving through town on the interstate. Driving through Boise reminds me of Albuquerque. Similar environment - brown. Stores and houses along the road also seem similar. Lots of wide open spaces - you can see for miles! Unlike the claustrophobic east coast where you can see about a block or two away and that's it.
* Mountain Home... Reminds me of being back in the midwest. Small town. Seems almost like going back in time. The rush-rush of the rest of the world hasn't made it to Mountain Home yet. Which is good. Mom said it is like going back to the midwest as it was 40 years ago.

A Review of the Food:
* Jack in the Box... Yes! Yes! Yes! I still love those Bacon Cheddar Potato Wedges. A heart-attack in a box but oh so delicious!
* Sonic... Mmm-mmm-good.
* Papa Murphy's Pizza... if we had one here at home, I would be there at least once a week. Possibly every single day. Yum.
* Marie Callendar's... delicious chicken fried steak. And for the price of two slices, we brought home an entire Banana Cream Cheese pie. Which we ate everyday. Even ate it for breakfast on Saturday! What?! I was on vacation! It's okay to eat pie for breakfast on vacation.

A Review of the Night Life:
* Arts After 5... Apparently it happens once/month. This month's theme was quilts. Oh my goodness. Those were some AWESOME quilts! About 10-15 businesses participate each month, with each business hosting a different artist. What a great way to see the town, check out all the shops. Shopping, Art and Good Company. Sounds like a good combination to me. Next month is Art and Chocolate in case you'll be in the area...

And on that note, I would like to say
Happy Birthday Mom!

and thanks for having me. The "scouting trip" was a success.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Mountain Home, ID - Set your watch back 30 years

I saw that on a t-shirt and how true it seems.

Standby for more later...

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Evidence Found


So Ron was cleaning up a bit while I was gone cropping today and he came across written evidence of my obvious naivete. Obviously I had absolutely no idea what I was asking for!

Friday, January 05, 2007

She's what???

So I'm slaving away in the kitchen... in the background are the sounds of Bella and Felisa playing Little People... I have learned to ignore the "Help"s and the "Mommy"s when they are playing Little People because it is all part of the game. Then Bella said something that caught my attention...

"Help! Help! I'm killing my husband!"


She's what? Killing her husband? Holy Cow! Where did that come from? So I listened more closely for a minute. Turns out what she really said was, "I'm calling my husband." Apparently she wanted to Felisa to bring the husband (and only the husband) to save the mini-van from toppling over the cliff.

Whew- that was close!

Life Would Be Boring...

I was just thinking how boring my life would be if I was organized. If I always know where everything is, I would miss out on the pure elation and the funky happy dances that I do when I find something that has been missing, something that I have been actively (and fruitlessly) searching for.

This time it is the roll of film that was in my camera on the first half of our Big Trip . I have been looking EVERYWHERE for those pictures! I was 99.9% sure I had gotten the film developed but couldn't find the envelope of pictures anywhere. I even stopped by Eckerd the other day on the off chance they were still sitting there waiting to be picked up. Highly unlikely since I developed all my trip pictures in August, but hey - I'm desperate!

I have been unable to start my scrapbook of the trip (my perfectionism rearing its ugly head again!) because I didn't have those pictures. I finally decided the other day that I could add a "Deleted Scenes" section to the end of the scrapbook when (and if) I ever found the missing pictures. Not my preferred way of doing things but oh well. I have a crop tomorrow - 8 hours of work time away from the distractions of home, and I didn't want to waste it. Hence, the deleted scenes solution. Forward progress could be made.

So here I am getting ready to go to the crop... loading my paper, looking through my memorabilia, and OH MY GOSH! Could it be?!? Alleluia! It IS the missing pictures! Woooooo Hooooooo! Happy Dances all through the house. Pure joy and elation! Life is good!

See... Life would be boring without that!

P.S.
Ron found the missing stamps. You'll never guess where they were. On the counter. Where we store our stamps. I probably would have bought more stamps before I thought to look there. Good thing Ron decided to pay a few bills, an act which required stamps. Thank God for Ron. He keeps me out of the looney bin (admittedly, a VERY tough job!).