Back from "The Good Life in Nebraska"

You've heard of jet lag - well, I think I've had "road lag." We spent 24 hours on the highway between Wednesday and Thursday and then, another 6 on Saturday. Thank goodness for a comfy vehicle!



Our trip to Omaha was relatively uneventful. We spent lots of time with family "just hanging out." The Big Guy and I stayed with his Mom while his sister and brother-in-law got away for a few days. As the 24/7 caretakers, they need an occasional break so we encourage them to get away when we're around. It also gives us some one-on-one time with Mom.



We did get her out a bit to lunches, a couple of community concerts and even a few trips to the casino! She seemed tired but happy with her outings.



I dragged The Big Guy along to Half Price Books for a shopping spree. He hit the CD aisles while I gathered books. I was in my element!! (Love those dollar racks!) We don't have one of these stores near us so I stock pile when I get there. They're all around the country so if you see one, be sure to check it out.

There were family card games, dinners and chats with all the kids. All in all, we had a great time.






We did see something we had never seen there before - CORN in Iowa and Nebraska !!! (Imagine that!!!) Past visits have always been in early Spring or late Fall after the harvest. Now it's obvious why the Big Red are called Cornhuskers! It's EVERYWHERE !!

We came home to a big hole in the front yard. Those who were holding the fort down thought it'd be a nice surprise if they dug out a stump in the front yard. The stump got the last laugh and it's an ongoing project as of today! (Forty year old trees have had lots of time to grow DEEP roots!) We were definitely surprised!! No worries though, that work crew won't rest until they win the battle.

I found my scheduled blog posts had run but not necessarily in the format I'd planned. They did not date correctly and therefore didn't display correctly. Hopefully, you found them all and had a good read each day as I had some great Guest Bloggers help out. I have since gone back and corrected the formatting and dating issues. If you missed them, please duck back and have a good read.

"Onesiegate" struck over at Etsy while I was away! I only had one targeted listing suspended and, ironically, it is an actual Gerber-made product. The trademarked baby's head was clearly visible but the correct wording wasn't there. I have also addressed this issue since arriving home. (More on this later in the week!)

All in all, it was a relatively smooth homecoming. This is the first-time we've left someone here at home while we were gone and it did make a difference. I am, however, still having trouble getting back in the groove. I'm blaming the fact that we again hit the road on Saturday to attend Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA. I'll tell you about that great event tomorrow. It continues through next Sunday if you are in the area.

Now it's Monday and I still haven't unpacked!! Better get on that right now.

You KNEW I had to throw in an Iowa sunrise didn't you?

Pics from top to bottom: Crossing the Nebraska state line, Mom and me at a concert, b-i-l & "the learner's permit kid" entertaining themselves while waiting for lunch at a classy restaurant, our littlest Nebraskan, The Big Guy with his sister with that "soon-to-be" driver;

Road Trippin’ - Thoughts from the Road - Literally!

While on the road, I lived in hope that I might have the opportunity to use a computer and do a quick post. I made lots of notes to work from but, alas, I was internet free for the whole trip. Yes, I did feel withdrawal symptoms. So, here are few of those snippets I wanted to share from our first day on the road.

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As we were heading West, we passed from one radio station to the next as the miles fell behind us, catching interesting bits and pieces along the way.

Near Warfordsburg, in Western PA, police are looking for someone who stole money from a gas station clerk. Seems the customer complained about the high price of a pack of cigarettes so the clerk pulled $60 from his own pocket and bet the guy he couldn’t find a store selling them for less. The customer grabbed the cash and left. He hasn’t been seen again. Wonder if he took the cigarettes, too.

Moving toward Cleveland, we caught The Bob and Tom Show. (The Big Guy listens to them each morning on his way to work.) They did a modern day version of the old Who’s on First routine, calling it Baseball Maze Makeover. Basically, they made fun of the current steroid rumors and claims among the current players. Very clever!

Then there was the news of the stalker on the set of Dancing With the Stars - seems he believed Shawn Johnson was speaking directly to him personally through the TV and ESP!!! I firmly believe Shawn’s mind was filled with thoughts like “one-two-three-one-two-three-turn”.


Moving through Sandusky (Ohio) there was a new and creative twist on doing local mission work. A local church was offering to pay for anyone to do their laundry at a local laundromat during a specific time period one day. There weren’t any specific qualifications necessary. They didn’t have to belong to the church, prove residence in a specific neighborhood or even prove they were poor. They merely needed to show up with their dirty laundry. The give-away would start at a specific time and last “till the quarters run out!” Let’s get real, who’s going to go to the great effort of carrying their dirty clothes somewhere if they didn’t really need and welcome this type of handout? It was a self-limiting effort, too. They weren’t just handing out cash, they were literally feeding the machine once the customer loaded it. I love to see churches and other charities do something like this where I believe the truly struggling folks benefit.


In Toledo, we were entertained by a radio commercial for a piano sale! A local store there had prepared a parody of Peter Cottontail that went something like this:
“Here come’s Peter Cottontail,
Looking for a piano sale,
He needs to learn an Easter song,
…”
And ended with something to the effect of ,
“Peter played his Easter song,
Everybody sang along…”

**This one took our award for creativity on this trip!

A billboard near LaGrange advertised a popular motel chain and across the bottom had the words “Free wifi and smart breakfast.” My road weary eyes saw that as “Free wife and smart breakfast.” My imagination then took over with visions of traveling businessmen taking advantage of the free “wife” feature. Among other services, maybe she would lay out his clothes for the day while he showered and then trot right over to the lobby to bring him back something from the “smart” breakfast bar. By the way, exactly what is a “smart” breakfast?


Near Chicago, another sign advertised the “Déjà Vu Gentleman’s Club.”
What is the déjà vu factor? Does this mean the dancers used to be young and good looking or are the current dancers daughters of the old dancers? Possibly, they just assume if you’ve seen one of these dancers, you’ve seen them all!

Okay, we were getting quite road weary at this point and soon stopped for the night in Davenport, Iowa.

Finally home!!!

We’ve finally made our way home! (A day late.)


A passing snow “event” prevented our setting out on Sunday. With accumulation forecasts varying from 1“-3’’ to possibly 15” (“give or take 50 miles North or South”) , we figured we’d just hang out with the family in a warm, dry house for an extra day or two. The Omaha area only got a light dusting that never really coated the streets but there were 10” amounts nearby and parts of the Interstate were closed in Iowa for several hours due to white-out conditions. Leaving Monday morning, we found lots of snow-covered scenery but clear highways.


Today, however, was another story. We drove in varying degrees of snow flurries, snow showers and light snow that created a white out effect but never really coated the roadways for, oh, about 450-475 miles! We left Elkhardt, Indiana at about 6 a.m. and within a half hour were driving in a light snow. We pretty much continually had some form of snow all the way to Frederick, Maryland!


This pic was taken somewhere in Ohio this morning and is basically what we saw most of the way home today!!


Our friends and family are now referring to this as "The Franz Syndrome." Supposedly, it is a new national weather phenomonen. Wherever The Big Guy and I go, the snow is sure to follow! We're now 0-3 in the roadtrip department. In November, we drove home from Omaha and hit snow from mid-Indiana through Western Pennsylvania and we even brought snow to the Carolinas earlier this year!!

Do you think anyone will let us visit in the future ?

More Bits'n' Pieces

Just a few more items I plan to post in http://www.splashin.etsy.com/ within the next few days.

The little school box holds some humorous “gag” type items (life saver, rubber band, etc.) that signify the various roles a teacher fulfills in our children’s lives. It makes a great “end of year” gift for

a favorite teacher. (The shop listing will include more details.)






The tray is wood and is coated with a polyurethane finish that can be wiped clean with a damp cloth.





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Facebook ???


I’m still a little stymied with the Facebook thing. Maybe I’m too old to learn this new trick. As I said yesterday, all suggestions for how to do Face book are welcome! Everybody keeps telling me I should “Twitter,” too. (I’m sooooo confused!) I’m still just learning my way around this blog thing.

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Upcoming Roadtrip --

We’re making plans to do our semi-annual drive West to visit the in-laws. It takes us about 20-22 hours actual drive time to go from home to Omaha, NE. We generally stay in a hotel at least one night each way although we did prove to ourselves once that we can do it in a day if necessary. (Actually, The Big Guy has done the straight through thing twice!) The first day is pretty grueling but we try to switch drivers every 100-150 miles and make frequent pit stops. We generally arrive by lunchtime the second day. While it is a long drive, it doesn’t do us in completely and we‘re usually ready for a full day of visiting when we get there. I’ll be totally computer free on that trip so I haven’t yet decided what to do about the blog. I’m thinking of preparing posts ahead of time that will automatically post each day. Have any of you done that? How has it worked for you? The other possibility is to have a few guest bloggers but I’m not sure just how that works so I need to do some research. Any thoughts on this issue?

Hope you're out there keeping the creative juices flowing this week!