Animals we have encountered on our trip

 

This is Kelly's mother, Ann's cat.  The cat was previously owned and his name is Sox.  Ann told me though that she thinks the cat thinks his name is God Dammit because she is always saying to him, "God Dammit, stop it!  God Dammit, get out of the blinds!"  I thought this was hilarious and called him God Dammit during our time in Indy.

At the Elshoff Forest Retreat, the name we gave our accommodation in Evansville, had a mile long road that we drove on to get to the retreat.  A family of deer lived in the woods and ventured into the neighbor's corn for meals.  There were two babies with Bambi spots and two does.  We didn't see the bucks.

This gator lives at my cousin's house. He caught it in Florida, and despite being told that it lived in his house, I was not prepared when I turned the corner into his living room to come face to face with that! I admit I screamed.

 

This is Kevin and his partner, Larry's, little dog Edie.  She is the softest animal I have ever pet.

 

Driving to Bedford, IN we stopped for lunch in Orleans.  This little beauty was waiting for his master while he shopped.  A big Amish area.

This is little Ollie Pop! My niece's dog, Oliver. Our family finds him so tiny compared to our little Elliot.

My Aunt Lorene's chickens and the rooster wandered free in her yard. During the day they messed around in her dead flower garden and relaxed in the shade of an old parked mail truck.

Day 1 - travel from Florida to Indiana - Journal writings

12:35 PM - Cara's journal writings:

We are on the plane. For awhile there I wasn't sure we would make it. We arrived at the airport and hour and a half early to find a HUGE line to check-in. No kiosk check-in. Only two agents and two flights booked to leave 20 minutes of each other; Knoxville and South Bend. Now I will be honest and say that the last time I flew this airline I was on the flight that left first and I got to jump the line. This time, however, I was in the other line as Knoxville left first and so all the hundreds of people behind us got to jump in front of us. Which meant we had to stand, and stand, and stand, and suddenly I was transported back to that time at Universal Studios waiting in a line to be let in to watch a cast of teeny boppers sing. At least it wasn't raining.

Madison, Darcy and I are a row ahead and to the right of Kelly. We are behind the exits. The stewardess just had a talk with those seated in front of us about what to do in an emergency, which included removing the door and "chucking it on the wing of the plane". Or at least that's what I heard. She said she would need a verbal "yes" from all of them to know they were good with helping out. They all stared at her with blank stares so I piped up and said, "Maybe you should be asking the rest of us if we think they look like they could do the job." That got everyone to turn around and stare at me. I told them I was kidding. Jeez.

I did get a laugh as I made my way down the aisle upon entering the plane. I looked around at all of the faces staring ahead and said, "Knoxville! Anyone for Knoxville?" which was what we had just heard for the last hour. One guy started laughing. I told him I'd be here for the whole flight.

Darcy's journal writings:

I sit here in an aircraft writing to make my mom happy. Usually I write on my own, but this vacation is about family (and no electronics). I'm in the airplane now and my ears are popping and I'm quite hungry. Luckily the air people are coming around with drinks and food. My wonderful mom is buying me some M&M's and a drink. I sit here patiently waiting as my mom pays the lady.

Now that I have my delightful drink and food I feel a little better. I can't wait until we finally land because nothing excites me more than a 3 hour drive in a rental car...with no electronics. Kelly really wants us to play cards on the road, but I'm questioning her intent at "family fun". My mom has to drive so technically it's not a "complete family" activity. Maddy and I seem to be on the same page as a whole car ride with nothing to do will be endless, but by all means when were not stuck in a car electronics are COMPLETELY allowed.

The plane just started to lean forward and now I have to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, the seatbelt sign is still on. I question if the seatbelt sign will ever come off or will I have to wear yellow shorts instead of white ones!

Madison's writings:

It is cold on the plane.

Indiana update 2

The travel journal has been written in at various times and will be shared soon. In the meantime I now have Wifi access and shall try to get back to daily blogging. Maybe I'll be savoy enough to add photos!

Being in charge of the rental car and the driving has given me some confidence. I've never rented a car before and I found it so stress-free. I never worried about car trouble and just enjoyed all the driving through Indiana that we did. If it weren't so expensive I rent cars all the time!

I've always traveled with either a parent or husband in charge so I was apprehensive about this trip before I left. I told myself it was a great opportunity, and I did find that I could relax. Having Kelly as my partner in crime has been wonderful. She is adventurous, adapts well to any situation, jumps in to help with the girls, and is a great car secretary; texting for me, keeping me hydrated, and navigating. I also think knowing my way around Indiana and most of the places we visited was a help in everything too.

We are now on the last leg of our journey. We have eaten our way through Indiana on our way here so we think perhaps we will add in some exercise on this leg. The rental car has been returned and driving duties now fall to my SIS Susan. She has many things in store for all of us so stay tuned!

Email funny

Thanks to my two neighbors who don't pay attention to the list of forwarded names and who both send me the same emails daily!

How Children perceive their grandparents.

1. My grandson called the other day to wish me a happy birthday, and when I told him I was 62 years old he was quiet for a moment.  Then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"
2. After putting her grandchildren to bed, the grandmother changed into a ratty old robe, washed and curled her hair and covered it with a plastic shower cap, and then rubbed a white mask on to her face.  Hearing her grandchildren getting more rambunctious in the bedroom, her patience grew thin and she stormed into their room and gave them stern warnings.  As she left the room she heard the three year old ask in a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?"
3. A grandmother was telling her granddaughter about her own childhood.  "We use to skate outside on our pond in the winter."  "I had a swing made from a tire that hung from our apple tree in the front yard.  "We rode our pony into the woods and picked wild raspberries."  The little girl was wide-eyed, taking it all in, and at last sighed and said, "I sure wish I had gotten to know you sooner!"
4. His granddaughter was diligently pounding away on his computer when he asked her what she was doing.  She told him she was writing a story.  Her grandfather asked her what the story was about and she shrugged.  "I don't know.  I can't read yet."
5. A grandmother was quizzing her granddaughter on colors.  She would point to an object in the room and ask what color it was.  The granddaughter responded correctly each time, and the grandmother was having fun.  She pointed at her red sofa and asked what color it was.  The granddaughter looked at her, headed for the door, and said, "Grandma, I think you should try and figure out some of these colors on your own."
6. A grandfather and his grandson were entering their vacation cabin.  The grandfather told him not to turn on the lights so as to keep the pesky insects from coming in.  They loaded everything inside, but still a few fireflies entered behind them.  The grandson whispered, "It's no use Grandpa.  The mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."
7. My grandson asked me how old I was and I teasingly told him I wasn't sure.  "Look in your underwear, Grandpa," he advised me.  "Mine says I'm 4 to 6."
8. A six year old was asked where his grandma lived.  "Oh, she lives at the airport," he said.  "When we want her we just go and get her and when we are done with her we take her back to the airport."

Quick Indiana vacation update

We are right now on the third leg of our journey through Indiana. Our accommodation is a 4,200+ sq. foot forest retreat. Some information we found told us we can "watch the deer across the lake and the red-tailed hawks circle overhead or sit on the deck at night and count the stars." I haven't seen the mentioned wildlife, but the stars from the upper third story deck were amazing.

Hotter here then Florida. Snakes were spotted this past weekend so we are opting not to swim in the lake that comes with our forest retreat.

We will hike the trail outside our front porch at dusk when the weather isn't as hot. Yesterday we spent a couple of hours at the local donut shop to eat donuts, drink coffee, and use their free wifi, something we haven't had yet on the entire trip. Unfortunately for us, Madison didn't hear that part and left the laptop back at our retreat. We tried to make do with phones and IPads, but had more trouble than it was worth.

The retreat, besides having over 150 different rooms, has intercoms everywhere so that we can communicate with each other no matter where we are. This morning we each took turns announcing various activities for the guests at the Elshoff Forest Retreat, although Kelly pretended we were all on the Love Boat. A lot if hilarity. Who knew how much entertainment a system like this could bring!

The bedding accommodations have been less than satisfactory, but with some changing of beds at various times during the night we managed to sleep. It is all an adventure and we refuse to let anything unsettle us.

New England trip 1989 - Part V

From Cara's memories + information from hostel books + few markings on memorabilia collected

I remember Trish telling us the story in the basement (not the kitchen) and she told us the building had once been a place to hold prisoners and she showed us some iron rings cemented in the wall.  I remembering then having to take a shower down in the basement after that story.  But in trying to research this hostel I found absolutely nothing but the names of the people who once ran it.  Kind of sad as I'm interested in it now more so than back then.

We left the hostel the next day and drove back to Armenia, NY to the Kildonan School to visit my friend Peter.  He was severely dyslexic and this boarding school is one of the best in the country.  Pete told us that Tom Cruise once attended there, but that he was now the most famous person.  Pete thought a lot of himself back then.  I remember picking him up in an area and driving around the school while he told us stories.  He showed us the town and then took us to a place for dinner.  We dropped him back at his dorm and went...to New Palz I believe as that is where we have marked our mileage at 74026.

The next day we were in Schenectady to drop off Maya at a classmate's house.  This family was to get her back to Syracuse so that we could continue on with our adventures.  We were sad to leave Maya, but promised to write to her of all the adventures she would be missing out on to get a school room/book education.  Pfft.

Our next stop was in Rochester, Vermont at the Schoolhouse Hostel, which no longer exists as well.  I have no memory about this place except that when we arrived the group from Seattle, the milk thieves, was also there.  We arrived there on Tuesday, October 10, 1989 and our mileage was 74274.  I do have a photo!

The thing about the hostels is that they were very cheap to stay in.  The first hostel was $7.00 for each of us a night.  This one too was $7.00.  You had use of the kitchen, but you had to bring your own food and had to clean up after yourself.  In the morning after breakfast the house manager assigned each person a cleaning chore as a way of giving back to the hostel.  I want to say that in this hostel we had to wipe down the mattresses.  A lot of it was cleaning and mopping of floors and kitchens.

Kim and I were traveling on the cheap and so most nights our dinner consisted of Kraft Marconi & Cheese and Kielbasa sausage that we fried up with butter in a pan.  Al K. and the ladies were horrified at our cuisine, and once they found out that our next hostel stop was in Stowe at the same place the group invited us to their table. We looked forward to seeing familiar faces and enjoying a decent meal.

The next day was a very adventurous one.  We first went into Montpelier and toured the Capitol building.  My little information in the book I made after the trip says that Montpelier is "a center for the insurance and granite-quarrying industries".  The State Capitol was built of "Barre granite in an impressive Doric style."  Which, of course, you can see from the photo below:

From there we traveled to Stowe to visit the Trapp Family Lodge.  Stowe is the city that the von Trapp family settled in after escaping the Nazi's in Austria.  They settled on this piece of property, built a 27 room house, and eventually started taking in guests.  The place burned down in 1980 and was replaced with the 96 room lodge that we visited.

We went inside and wandered around, but I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't the original home.  There is a lot of memorabilia from their life as well as their story.  Maria never cared much for the film and the truth was much different than the movie.  An illusion shattered.

The weather was cold as we headed to our next hostel, which was actually a ski dorm.  Because it wasn't quite skiing weather yet there weren't as many people there as they usually have.  It was a bigger place than our last two.  We got there before the group from Seattle.  Our cost was $6.00 for the night.  There were a few bikers, but the place was quiet until the group from Seattle arrived.  They too had been to the places we had visited that day and we were all surprised that we hadn't run into each other.

The Mountaineer Hiking Group from Seattle did not disappoint us in the meal area.  We all were given tasks in preparing this huge turkey dinner, and the women were trying to give us lessons in cooking.  In the end Kim learned how to carve a turkey from Al (or did she?).

Pic
Pic
Pic

We weren't the only invited guests that night.  A young, cute French biker named Gregoire was also at our table.  He spoke English, but with a heavy accent and was hard to understand at times.  Later after the dishes and the kitchen had been cleaned up, Al, Kim, Gregoire and I played cards and talked.  We taught Gregoire several card games and he taught us some French words.  I forget why he was here in the first place, but we enjoyed getting to know him.

New England Vacation 1989 - Part IV

From Cara's Journal:

• Sunday, 10/8/89 - Youth Hostel - Litchfield, Connecticut

We were  awakened this morning by the group from Seattle as they packed their van to leave.  All 12 of them were screaming and laughing and carrying on.  Maya and I went back to sleep, but everyone else got up.  At about 9:00 AM we couldn't take the noise from everyone else and we got up.  The lady under Maya, and her friend who slept under Kim (she was from New Zealand), came into the bunkhouse.  This lady looked about 75 years old.  She says to me, while Maya is in the bathroom, "Having a Sunday sleep-in?"

I didn't want to let her know that my Sunday sleep-in meant sleeping until almost noon and than reading the paper until about 1:00 PM.  Instead I smiled.  Then she pipes up with, "Boy, these beds certainly shake.  Was that you over me last night?"  I told her no but explained about the bunks being hooked together and all.  She didn't give a damn and walked outside.  Oops.

We were greeted this morning with the fact that the group from Seattle stole our milk which we had purchased yesterday and never opened.  Kim bought more and she and Maya consumed lots of boxes of cereal.  (When staying at hostels you are responsible for the purchasing and preparing of your own meals)  I had a box, but these two?  They were little pigs and ate like we hadn't eaten for days.

We were the only ones left in the hostel by now and we left at 10:00 AM for Hartford.  Before we left, however, Trish let us move our belongings into the house and bunks inside.  There is something to be said for late risers. We went into Hartford and toured Nook Farms.  It was an intellectual and literary neighborhood where Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain lived.

We toured both their houses.  It took about two and a half hours and was great.  Well worth the bucks.  The neighborhood was started in the late 1800's by two brother-in-laws who purchased the 140 acre woods to develop into a community.  Over the years it became a community of reformers and activists.  There were politicians, painters, writers, feminists, and spiritualists.  The Clemens (aka Twains) moved into the neighborhood to live near their friends the Stowe's.  Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in this house.

In the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe we learned about her life as the sixth of eleven children.  I haven't read Uncle Tom's Cabin, but I shall add it to my list to do so as she seemed an interesting woman, especially for her time.

From here we traveled to tour the Lourdes in Litchfield, a shrine modeled after the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France.  Why not get a bit of European history here in America?  It was 35 acres and included a grotto, stations of the cross, several small shrines and a pilgrim hall.

The grounds were very beautiful, full of the fall colors and blooming trees.  We spent some time wandering around and then decided to take the walk of the cross.  This was a steep hike up, up, up the hillside, and as we passed some of the people hiking, many of them were praying and carrying rosaries in their hands.  I was too busy remembering to breath to do any praying, but the view from the top was gorgeous.

We ate lunch at a Subway where the boy behind the counter used his bare hands to make the sandwiches, and then we headed back to the hostel.  It was only 4:15 when we got back so Maya and I decided to take the hike that was behind the hostel.  We had been told that there was a 360 degree turn that showed a spectacular view of Connecticut countryside and that the trail was three miles long.  Kim chose not to go so we left her behind and started out.

The trail was called the Apple Hill Trail and it had been traveled quite a bit judging from the well worn path.  Being the expert hikers that Maya and I are, we figured that if we got off this path the view would be up over this hill to our left.  We found what we thought looked like a path and we took it.  We climbed over barbed wire and found ourselves at the bottom of a huge hill.  It looked exactly like the hill that Julie Andrews starts out on in the beginning of The Sound of Music.  It was huge and I thought I would never get up the thing.  Maya ran up it to show-off, and I let her.  She needs the exercise to climb up and down those 112 steps at Syracuse.

Sure enough at the top of the hill we found a spectacular view.  There was a wooden tower you could climb up to see the view, and it was a view to see.  We also could see the path that we should have taken to get here.

We left down that path.  The grass was very high and the going rough.  We came to the path we had been on earlier, and I chose to keep going.  We did and we came to a fork in the road.  A sign said, "Apple Hill Trail" with an arrow to the left and "Laurel Hill" with an arrow to the right.  At this point Maya began quoting Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken.  I decided, however, to take the more traveled one as I preferred the name Apple Hill Trail.  We trudge on for awhile until we came to the bottom of a huge hill just like the one Julie Andrews sand on in the beginning of The Sound of Music.  Yep.  That's right.  We had gone in a circle.  I guess Robert Frost knew what he was talking about.  Maya kept saying, "I told you so!" and quoted the poem over and over.  I told her that Connie would be proud of us hiking through the countryside quoting Robert Frost.

We finally made it back to the hostel to find Kim had tried to follow us, couldn't find us, had tripped and fallen, and then given up on the damn hike.  She sat in the car since the hostel didn't open until 5:00 PM.  She didn't think she had missed much.  We told her she had.

• 9:00 PM - Youth Hostel

We have all gathered around the kitchen table to hear Trish speak.  Her topic is the history of the building we are in at the moment.  One of our biker friends (most of the people traveling through youth hostels are bikers, which makes us feel very unhealthy as we pass them in our car) Mary Ann, had asked her about it earlier, but Trish said, "Yeah.  Could you wait until later when everybody is here?  I don't want to have to repeat it 80 times."  Okay, a slight exaggeration as there aren't 80 beds in this hostel.

It turned out though that the hostel was full, all the beds were filled.  Luckily, we were inside tonight as it was freezing once more in Connecticut.

***And that is the end of my journal.  I shall have to continue on with my poor memory and photos in the next phase, which will have to be done when I return as my scanner has now broken and ended my tale, so to speak.

New England Trip - Part III

From Cara's Journal - Saturday, 10/7/89 - mileage 736?? - 9:00 AM - Albany, NY

We've had a great night's sleep in our expensive bedroom with the leaky bathroom faucet and the furnace that heats up the room to 100 degrees, and we are now ready for more adventure.  As usual Kim is the driver and she is heading to Amenia, NY.  Although Pete (a summer co-worker of mine who attends boarding school here) won't be thee we thought we could get a look at the school so we aren't wasting time on Monday driving around.  We've eaten at a coffee shop in a service area and made our potty runs so we won't have to stop again.  We should be Amenia in about 30 minutes.

mileage 73920 - 5:00 PM - Litchfield, Connecticut - Bantam Youth Hostel
We have now come to our last stop for the night.  The trip here was full of the adventure we'd been seeking.  Amenia is another small, quaint (and I stress the word small, no AAA pop) town.  There is a hotel but for three people we would have to rent two rooms at $35 each.  I believe it is the only hotel here, but that isn't a problem as we are planning on staying in New Paltz Monday after dinner with Pete.  We found the Kildonan School that he attends, and we drove around, parking once to walk.  It is confusing because the school is so spread out over so much territory, and we didn't know what was what.  We did find the lacrosse field and I took pictures in case they lock Pete up and we can't see him.  I can at least show him pictures to prove we were there.

We left Amenia and spent the next several hours searching for our youth hostel.  Once again we had not eaten since breakfast and tempers were coming to the boiling point.  We all have different temperaments - Kim gets cranky, Maya gets whiny, and I just start fading.  We tried to the follow the map in our hostel book, but we were getting nowhere fast.  We finally stopped at a tag sale (we don't know what these are, but Connecticut has lots of them) and asked an elderly couple for directions.  Here is the conversation:

Kim:  "Excuse me?  Could you tell me where the AYH is please?  Do you know?"

Man:  "Youth Hostel?"

Woman:  "Oh, you know Fred, it's right by Hazel's house."

Man:  "Hazel's?"

Woman:  "Yes.  Right there by Hazel's"

Me: (whispering)  "Ask them where the hell Hazel lives!"

Man:  "Oh, yeah, down my Hazel's!  You need to go out here and turn left.  Then turn at the first street on the left and the place is on your right a bit up the road."

Kim:  "Ok thank you."

Woman:  "It's down past Harrison's lumber."

Me:  "Thank you."

Kim:  "Okay, thank you."

Maya: (snoring) as she slept through the entire conversation

We followed the directions a few miles down the road and then a few more miles down the road until we finally pulled in at Popeye's Ice Cream Place and asked for directions.  The kid who gave us the directions lived next door to the hostel (he might have been Hazel's son for all that I know) and he promised his directions would get us there.  They did and we were dismayed to see that we had driven past the sign about four times.

When we started on this vacation the plan was to stay in American Youth Hostels.  Kim had had some experience with them and her mother helped us get a membership.  Our information about hostels told us:  they are supervised by resident hostel managers; they are located near many attractions; they have common rooms to meet new friends; they have kitchens to cook in; they have mattresses, pillows, and some have blankets.  We brought along bedding just in case.

The hostel manager running the Bantam Lake Youth Hostel, was named Trish, and she was a ding-dong.  She was very nice, friendly, and good at her job, but what a ditz!  We were put into the bunkhouse (where the heat wasn't working) in a sparse, cold, dusty, cobwebbed room with five bunk beds.  Maya and I weren't sure if we were in the army or a concentration camp; however, we chose the former as there was toilet paper in the cold, dusty, sparse bathroom.  We have been promised a room inside the house tomorrow as we are booked for two nights here.  There is a group from Seattle here, ten women and one man in their 60's and they leave tomorrow so we get their room.  The hostel has a sitting room, a kitchen, a dining area, and a huge basement that looks like Dr. Frankenstein's headquarters.  The shower is located in the deepest depths of the basement.  Good thing I got in that 45 minute one yesterday.  It doesn't look like this place will have hot water either so I just may have to forgo the shower tonight. (Oh, I hear gasps!)

We have met a few of the people from Washington.  Their leader is a man from Boston.  His name is Al Kenney and he is very friendly.  The ladies are in the kitchen cooking this huge meal and Al told us that they do this every night.  He said it's like having eleven grandmothers.  After dinner Al played cards with us until 10:00 pm.  We taught him how to play Euchre and he had beginners luck, winning every game.  Maya didn't know how to play either so it made the teams even.  It was a nice first evening...that was until we stepped outside on the way to the bunkhouse.  Bitter cold!  We froze just walking the three steps to the bunkhouse so you can imagine how it was inside.

We had a heater that plugged into an outlet, but the only outlet was in the light socket above our bunks and it already had the fire alarm plugged in to it.  I could just see the damn heater catching on fire and we wouldn't be warned in time because we unplugged the smoke alarm.  Lucky for us, the decision had already been made for us.  One of the ladies sharing our room had plugged in the heater.

When we had been choosing our bunks earlier in the day Maya made the statement that "heat rises" so we all chose the upper bunks.  Unfortunately two women bikers had the bunk the farthest from the door so we were left with the ones directly next to the door, which was broken and wouldn't close all the way.  Kim was against the wall that the door was on, and I was in the bunk right near the door.  We put Maya the farthest away because she had this horrible hacking cough and we didn't think she should be exposed to the clean, cold Connecticut air.

Lights out at 10:30 PM in this hostel so we traipsed over at about 10:20.  Of course everyone was already in their bunks and sound asleep.  Al was also staying in our bunkhouse and he hopped in bed and was out right away.  We messed around in the bathroom, hopping around to keep our blood circulating and giggling.  Finally we knew the time had come and we would have to sleep.   Kim and Maya had women sleeping under their bunks so we had to hoist Kim into her bunk so not to disturb or step on the women below her.  She climbed into her sleeping bag and was out.  I climbed into my bunk, told Maya to turn out the light, and then told her to climb into my bunk to then crawl over to her bunk.  She followed these instructions only she climbed on top of me to get to her bunk; lots of laughter not to mention jostling and jiggling of the beds.  These bunk beds were put together with thin metal tubing that would bend if a rock was thrown directly at it.  If you sighed the entire bed shook.  Maya's bunk and my bunk were hooked together so that every time I moved, Maya's entire bunk moved and vice versa.  The women below Kim and Maya never moved.  I thought they were both dead, frozen, since they never moved, and Maya and I were moving every 15 minutes while we tried to fall asleep.  This made us laugh even harder into our pillows, the beds shaking.  Maya coughed.  The beds shook.  I blew my nose.  The beds shook.  It was a riot, but we finally calmed down and tried to sleep.  We couldn't and we couldn't talk either so we wrote plots in our heads.  Then Maya had to tell me her plot and we got to laughing again and the beds shook.  We just couldn't win.

We decided we really had to try our best to sleep.  I was lying awake thinking, and I kept hearing this scratching noise.  I was sure it was Maya tapping her hands or scratching the mattress trying to make me laugh.  I ignored her, determined not to laugh.  Suddenly Maya says out loud, “What the hell is that noise?”  I burst out laughing because I had thought it was her!  We listened and I leaned over to listen to the woman under her bunk.  Sure enough it was coming from her.   She wasn’t frozen dead!  She was making this weird snoring noise that sounded like she was taking in air and then puffing it out.  I was sure her cheeks were full of air as she puffed out because it was such a loud noise.  I got to laughing so hard that I started crying, and Maya couldn’t understand what I was saying.  Then the lady started coughing and wheezing and chomping her lips together.  She was so loud that Maya started shaking the bed on purpose so that she would wake up and stop it.  I’m amazed we even got to sleep.  We can hardly wait until tomorrow night

New England trip - photos & journal - Part II

From Cara's journal:

• Friday, 10/6/89 - mileage 73426 - 1:02 PM - Interstate 90 - Service Station

We are once again on the road heading for Cooperstown.  We are on a mission: locating Dr. Ferne Price's name in the Hall of Fame.  Apparently she, in her youth, played on a winning softball team that earned a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  It is in the Women's Division on the second floor.  We shall find it!  The countryside is very much like yesterday; beautiful and full of color.  I am riding in the back seat so that I can work on this journal.  Kim is driving and Maya is navigating.  My, what experiences we are sure to have!

•   mileage - 73??? - 3:00 PM - Cooperstown - Hall of Fame

God damn New Yorkers!  We must have payed $4 in tolls alone in just two hours!  What do they do with that money?  Signs around the construction sites say, "Helping to rebuild New York!" but I've yet to see anybody working toward that goal.

Cooperstown is a quaint town, much like Salem, Indiana.  The population is 2,300 and its biggest draw is naturally the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Before we set out on our mission to the Hall of Fame we drove through Cooperstown and tried to find a hotel room without any luck.  The town of Cooperstown is certainly raking in the dough.  I wonder why a Holiday Inn hasn't taken advantage of this booming tourism, but perhaps zoning laws don't permit it.  We have decided to find lodging in Schenectady or Albany as Cooperstown is beyond our budget.  We won't have long in the Hall of Fame as we want to find a room before dark.

• 8:30 PM - Albany - Quality Inn - $74.80

I'm not sure, but I think we have just learned some major lesson on our travels - that of making reservations before we reach our destination.  But first things first...  We paid the admission into the Baseball Hall of Fame and listened to the guide at the entrance babble about floors and ballplayers; however, being on a tight schedule, and not too concerned with most of his drivel, I asked him, "How do we get to the Women's Division on the second floor?"  He looked at us like we were these three liberated, male chauvinist women before giving us directions.  When we reached the Women's Division we saw why he had given us that condescending smile. 

The Women's Division consists of one lousy little glass plated exhibit.  There are pictures of women teams in the 1920's and a few articles talking about these women and what baseball, or softball as they call it, meant in regards to women.  While Maya and I stood before the exhibit staring into the glass searching for Ferne, Kim wandered around the second floor in searching for more information on women to no avail.  Returning to the lone exhibit, she immediately located "Price, Laferne" on a big board of names inside the glass.

We took pictures of everyone pointing at the exhibit and Laferne's name (which we did not know was Laferne).  The picture we took of her name probably won't come out because the flash bounces off of glass.  Oh, well, we did our best.  I purchased a Hall of Fame pin and a pack of greeting cards as souvenirs for Laferne.  Our mission had been completed.

We toured the rest of the Hall of Fame at a quick, yet informing, pace and left after an hour.  I took pictures of Maya and Kim outside the Hall.  A woman in a car asked if I'd like to be in the picture, but I had visions of her taking off with my camera and the pictures of Laferne, and so I ignored her.   

After the H of F we traveled to Schenectady to find a room.  Maya, who hadn't eaten anything all day and who voiced this fact aloud quite often, had found our bag of food and was in junk food heaven.  Kim was still driving, and I was now the navigator.  In Schenectady, after paying another fortune in tolls, we found that all the inns were full and not even a stable was available for us to sleep in.  We traveled on to Albany where a cheap hotel was located.  It was full. As darkness was descending and tempers heating up, we bit the bullet and paid a fortune at the Quality Inn, the only hotel available. 

Dinner was finally eaten at Burger King and we settled down to enjoy our money's worth of the hotel.  I took a 45 minute shower.  Kim enjoyed a hot bath.  We all watched Planes, Trains, and Automobiles on our free Showtime Channel.  Needless to say, all this was not worth $75.  Yep, our first lesson was a costly one.

Cara's scanned old photos - vacation #4 - New England

In my vast searching of the KelCar travel logbook (NO I HAVEN'T FOUND IT DAMMIT I THREW IT AWAY) I ran across a few journals of mine.  One was a journal I started five months after Madison was born.  I planned on writing down things about our lives so that she would have something to look back on.  I wrote one entry that I never finished.  And then I wrote another article that had nothing what so ever to do with Madison and our lives, but instead was about my childhood Thanksgiving holiday.  Perhaps I was describing these for Madison?  The rest of the journal was empty.

The second journal I found was from my trip through New England in 1989.  This was a trip that I took with my friend Kim where we stayed in youth hostels around New England.  I'm not sure how the idea of the trip came about, but I think it had to do with our parents pushing us to get out and do some traveling before our summer jobs kicked in.  I, of course, decided to write down our adventures and photograph things at the same time.  Unfortunately, I was too tired at night to write things down in the journal so it too is mostly empty after the first few days.  Oh, if only I had had my blog back in the day!

I figured I would post this old trip while on my new trip just in case I can't find any Internet connections.  Enjoy!

Part 1 - New England trip 1989

From Cara's Journal:

• 10/5/89 - mileage 73105 - 10:30 AM - Smith Home

We are just beginning our travels.  Our plan is to drive to Syracuse today to pick up Cousin Maya for further adventure.  I'm sure she is looking out her dorm window, waiting with bated breath for us to arrive.  We shall spend the day and night at the university and leave tomorrow for Cooperstown.  As we leave, our first planned destination is the Harrisburg Post Office where Kim will pick up the Priority Mail package Connie has sent (four days ago, I might add) containing her resumes.  From here we will head north on 81.  Kim is sad to be leaving - much crying.  I am ready to hit the road.

• mileage 73108 - 10:45 AM - Smith Home

We have arrived back where we began.  The post office handed Kim not only her Priority Mail Package, but the entire bundle of mail for 306 Fireside Dr. - all of this without asking for a show of identification.  As I sit waiting for Kim to play mailman, I smell something burning.  Lois (Kim's mother) and Kim don't smell anything, but Kim does mention that the car isn't acting right.  Lois' helpful suggestions is "to pull in to a garage if it acts strange."  We will forge on.

• mileage 73140 - 12:45 PM - Smith Home

We have now managed to travel 35 miles without ever leaving Harrisburg.  We have spent the last hour in the waiting room of General Tire, about a mile from the Smith home.  We did make it to 81, even traveled 16 miles, before Kim pulled off the road because the brakes had failed for an instant.  We made it back to General Tire and they have just finished telling Kim that we've been driving with the emergency brake halfway in the "on" position.  How this is possible is beyond me, but I'm very relieved it wasn't anything major.  We've been told that highway driving will cool down the brakes.  We have returned to the Smith home to report, have said good-bye for the third time, and we are now on the road once more toward Syracuse.  I certainly hope Cousin Maya isn't still looking out her dorm window.

Kim has been nervous and upset over the car business; however, she has just requested her sandwich from the cooler, which is a great sign.  Throughout this mess I have been annoyed at the delay, but have refrained from speaking as I know all about the tension inside of Kim (right Little Magnum, wherever you are now?).  Instead I have had my head buried in a romance book with a hot, half-naked hunk on the cover.  Just a touch of some reality.

The countryside is breathtaking.  All I think about New York is what I see on TV - big cities, but New York is so much more.  Fall is definitely here.  The colors are beautiful.  The leaves are changing, and as we drive through the mountains bursts of reds, oranges, greens and golds are popping up around us.  This is the scenery you see in the movies.  Beautiful!

• mileage 73420 - 5:30 PM - Syracuse University - Maya's dorm

We have arrived at our first stop!  Cousin Maya was not at the window, but lopping on her bed watching television and eating some nasty Italian dinner she called a "snack".  She has, by of greeting us, shown amazement that we reached Syracuse.  She felt we would get lost, thus she has not packed.  She is also skipping her class tonight to spend more quality time with Cousin Cara and Buddy Kim, claiming that the Spanish class is "worthless because she knows everything all ready".  (Kim and I, who traveled to Mexico with Maya and her Spanish refuse comment)  Maya showed us a little of the campus on the way to dinner at Archie's Pizza and Friendly's Ice Cream.

Life in the coed dorm at Syracuse is hustle-bustle.  Under the pretense of writing a book tentatively titled, "College Dorm Life USA", I interviewed several students on the second floor of Day Hall.  The following is an excerpt of my research:

     My station is Room 231, Day Hall.  I have the door open so that I may entice wandering students into my interviewing room.  Of course the fact that Maya has informed many of my pending arrival has brought most students down to 231 to meet me.  The males on the second floor, and one who resides in the nearby engineering dorm, were very easy to talk with one on one.  They had no problems answering my questions, were not afraid of revealing too much, and did not withhold any information.  I was told by a female student that this male cooperation was because the guys were hoping to be laid.  A nice compliment that I'll file away, although I don't agree.
     The females, of whom Maya hadn't made many friends with, regarded me as an outsider.  Only one female stood long enough to be interviewed.  The others blatantly ignored me or chose not to divulge "good gossip" with someone outside their tight group.
     My best interview was also my first one.  Lee (to be known as Bruce in the book) was friendly without pretending, and interested as well as helpful in my research.  He was of average height with dark hair and a cute face that sparkled.  Lee (Bruce) had a great sense of humor and took my questions seriously, whereas most of the interviewees answered my questions spitefully.  The greatest thing about Lee (Bruce), however, was his sports knowledge of basketball.  He knew the Evansville Aces well, had watched them play, and enjoyed the talents of Scott Hafner.  He was a Celtics fan.  All in all, I found Lee a charmer and see that Maya has found a decent friend.
     My next interviewee was Bill, a hulk of a kid who thought he was much more.  He was cruel to those around him, a thief, and your geniune "let's party" type of college student.  He wore his black hair in a ponytail and let everyone know he was here to set the rules.  I got the impression he did have a sort of control over others around him, mainly the engineering student and my next interviewee Tim.
     Tim, despite his mild following of Bill, was honest in most of the questions.  I was invited to his room and was asked to sign his piece of carpet, an honor.  He had music talent, a sense of humor, and would make a good friend after shaking off that reject of the hippie era.

That is just a small part of my research and perhaps more will be available if I do take it upon myself to finish my tour of dorms.  Showering was available with hot water.  Maya's roommate's bed was comfortable, and the night passed peacefully except for some snoring and some talking in the sleep.  The Cubs won and the series is tied 1-1.  I got to see Knots Landing, and I'm looking forward to our next day's adventure.

She still has one friend who enjoys playing

Elliot's favorite character when playing Barbies with Darcy

Summer sports update

1. Wimbledon - I've said it before again and again, but no one does it better.  While I hated playing tennis myself I love to watch it, and the fine British people of Wimbledon certainly know how to put on a great show.  I love the history.  I love the tradition.  I love the crowds of people that sit outside to enjoy it all.  To me Wimbledon is tennis.  I've been to the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, and while it is full of memories and memorabilia, I want to visit Wimbledon for everything that tennis was, is, and will be.
2. Women's Final - Yeah for Serena Williams.  While she may not be the most gracious athlete, I love her for her determination and love of the game.  What she has accomplished since blood clots in her lung, foot surgeries and near death has been remarkable.  To add a 5th Wimbledon singles win to her trophy case after all of that.  Priceless!  She came out with sheer steel on her face, and while she faltered at one point, she rallied, put herself back together, and showed the world why she is the best in women's tennis.
3. Men's Final - Oh, my, but how I do love me some Roger Federer!  He took the place of Andre Agassi in my heart after Agassi retired and he hasn't let me down since.  I love how peaceful he appears.  No tantrums.  No whining.  Just serenity, guts, determination, and the power to win.  The things he has done in tennis is phenomenal; 17 grand slam titles, 7 at Wimbledon alone.  Arguably one of the greatest athletes of all times.  I couldn't be happier for him. (And of course I know him through Twitter, people.  He even follows moi!)
4. Andy Murray - I don't know much about Murray other than he resembles the other tennis Andy in whining and nonsense, but I left the match (figuratively) with a much better impression then I thought I would.  He had quite a bit of pressure on his back with being the first English (although he really is Scottish) male to reach the final in 74 years, and instead of lying down on the tennis court and letting Federer run all over him, he stepped up to the plate.  He took the first set and hung in there through three more giving Federer something more than an easy run.  And his tearing up at the end during his interview had me even tearing up.  I hope we see more of him in the finals in the coming years.
5. NASCAR - Can't talk summer sports without the racing.  Yeah to Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his win a few weeks back.  Thrilled for him to get the monkey off his back by winning one after a drought of 143 win-less races.  And yesterday's Coke Zero 400 was just nuts there in the end with several drivers getting in wrecks that pushed them out of the winner's circle, including Earnhardt Jr.  Tony Stewart, the winner in that race, said he pretty much won by avoiding ending up in the wreckage.
6. Tampa Bay Rays - Started out with a bang and has now hit the wall before the break with several players out hurt.  Sound familiar?  Welcome to the Tampa Bay Rays.  With a 164 million games to play during the season I just don't get fired up by the losing, the injuries, the turmoil.  Eventually the injured will return.  Eventually the bull pen will start pitching correctly.  Eventually they will start winning in time to make the playoffs.  I hope.
7. NBA - I just have to talk about all the trades that have happened in the last few hours.  My least favorite?  Steve Nash leaving the Phoenix Suns to play for the L.A. Lakers.  I love Nash and thought the Suns were a good fit for him.  Now he will play for the Suns' rival.  Let's hope he doesn't start wearing name brand clothes, classy shades, and tons of jewelry around his neck.  I like the "golly gee" Nash best.  Lots of trading going on in the pro basketball world.  Jason Kidd to the Knicks?  Ray Allen leaving the Celtics to join the Heat?  Only one not traded is still grouchy, whining Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic who wants to be traded so badly he might just buy his own team.
8. LeBron James - And another Kudos to the big man, LeBron for finally winning his championship!  I like King James.  I always have.  Yes, yes, he was stupid for the whole press conference TV thing when he left Ohio, but he was given bad advice.  He is still a nice, respectful, young man on and off the field and I respect that.  I also think he is the best.  Now he has proven it.  First time I've watched the playoffs and finals in years.
9. Mike Wallace - The wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers is still refusing to join his teammates in workouts until he has a trillion dollar contract, which the Steelers are not planning on paying.  Wallace, who can certainly run like the wind down the field leaving all others in his dust, believes he deserves a long term contract worth tons of money.  He is to receive 2.7 million this season if he signs his restricted free-agent tender, but Wallace believes he is worth more.  So he isn't coming to work.  Legally he can do this up until November 13 at which time his money drops considerably.  Look, I get it, but you aren't the only team member and you certainly aren't the only wide receiver the Steelers have who can catch the damn ball.  The thing that really gets me in this whole situation is that the Steelers cut loose Hines Ward because they had so many young'ens in the position.  Get to work and let your lawyers do the talking.  You have an obligation to your teammates, your owners, and your fans, and by not going to work?  You're really hurting yourself in the long run.
10. Adrian Peterson - Another NFL player arrested?  This time Minnesota Vikings Peterson for refusing to leave a bar.  This is starting to get old.  Can't these guys party at home in their mansions?
11. More Saints woes - I'm suppose to feel bad for suspended coach Sean Payton now that he has lost his wife too?  She filed for divorce recently and one blogger was boo hooing poor Payton's rotten life.  Uh, and who is responsible for all the woes that are falling down around him?  He should have been doing his job of leading a respectable team instead of a bunch of defensive killers for hire.  Want to redeem yourself?  Come back stronger and better next year and look into some therapy on this off season.
12. Tour de France - I only know about this race because of my husband.  When we were dating he actually took his bike to France and followed the tour around the country for two weeks.  I'm a Lance, no I do not believe he did drugs, Armstrong fan so I feel very out of the loop with this years' crop of buff bodied, sweaty men.  But I'd admire their determination.
13. The Olympics - Can;t wait.  Love them.  So looking forward to watching and cheering with my family.  And they are in London.  My favorite city that I've never been to, but plan on getting to someday.  Yeah!

Sunday's simple thoughts at 2 AM

1. I have got to exercise.  Not only for the lowering of my cholesterol and getting my middle aged overweight body into some kind of shape, but so I CAN SLEEP.  Either that or I need drugs.
2. I'm not sure that I will have wireless access on my vacation.  OMG!  I wonder if they have cute, little Internet cafes in southern Indiana?
3. We ran into Madison and Darcy's preschool teacher yesterday, and after taking up her time with babbling, I wondered why everyone in the world couldn't be as sweet as that woman.  Peace would certainly prevail if we all were.
4. Money, money, money.  I wish I had more of it.
5. While watching Wimbledon Saturday morning and cheering for my Twitter gal Serena Williams, two Jehovah Witnesses came to my door.  Holy Cow!  Karma?  Irony?  You betcha!
6.  I would go outside and swim in the hope of getting sleepy, but one, I shouldn't swim alone, and two, I would worry about creepy animals inside and outside of my screen.
7. Without the Internet access how will I blog?  I must spend today writing ahead, but I have to rack my brain and creativity for things to blog about each day as it is let alone jumping ahead.
8. A former Steelers player and IU alumni, Antwaan Randle El is going to announce his retirement from football next week.  He was the wide receiver who threw a touchdown pass to Hines Ward for a trick play in Super Bowl XL.  I need to find a place in my Steelers room to retire my "Go to El" shirt.
9. My house is too small, but if it weren't then I could do some cleaning of it while not being able to sleep.  I feel so ready to get things done at 2 AM. 
10. The dog comes to me when he has important things to say.  Now I have the worry of who he will go to while I'm gone added to my list of things to worry about that keep me up at night.
11. I love playing Scramble with friends even though I'm not that great at it.  I find it calming.  I play ten games at a time with my friend's husband.  He and I are a match.  Sometimes he wins and sometimes I win.  Right now he is on a boat somewhere in Alaska, and I don't have anyone to play with me.  I need my calm back.
12. I love Twitter.
13. Why are the years going by so fast?  I can remember that they use to drag on and on.  I want those times back.
14. Do people really try to count sheep and it works?

An unwelcome visitor

The other day I was catching up with a blog I read.  She wrote an article about how she had found a rattlesnake in her backyard, and because she had two dogs that roamed the backyard, her vet recommended she take her dogs to snake training.  I was laughing at her description of her two dogs and how they both reacted differently to the training.  The blogger lives in Utah, and I shuddered to think of finding a rattlesnake in the backyard.  We have giant, black snakes that live under my neighbor's bushes and having them inside my pool fence, let alone my yard, causes me great stress.  But seeing a rattlesnake in my yard?  Might as well just shoot me now.  And it could happen because we have them here in Florida.  The fact that I am still alive means that I haven't seen one thus far that wasn't living behind glass.

Recently one of those black snakes crawled through our open screen door (thanks Darcy) while Tom was outside cleaning the pool.  He happened to look up just in time as the snake came slithering through the door all "hey there, neighbor, what's happening?"  Now my husband is just like my brother when it comes to any icky animal that slithers or crawls on more than four legs; he acts like a girl.  He must have shrieked because I wandered outside about that time, probably lured by the noises coming from his body.  The snake had curled into a ball on the other side of the pool from where I was standing.  Tom was trying to poke him with the pole that has our net for scooping out icky bugs from the pool on one end.  The snake, not appreciating being poked with a pole, suddenly lurched out at Tom, his mouth opened and a terrible hissing noise coming from its mouth.  At that point I was inside the house watching Tom through the window while the dog whined and scratched the door knowing that his master was out there alone fighting off a dangerous predator.  Eventually Tom got the snake to curl around the pole enough that he could toss the snake out the open screen door.  It gave both of us nightmares for days.  I distinctly remember saying at the time, "Give me a lizard inside my house any day!"

Here in the part of Florida where we reside we have brown anole lizards that roam pretty much everywhere we have walkways, shrubbery, and trees.  They peek out of our mailboxes, they peer in at us from our window panes, and occasionally, when doors get left open, they come inside our houses and hang out for awhile.  The first time that one of the lizards got inside our apartment when I first moved here I screamed so loud and attacked it with a broom that I was sure the downstairs neighbors would call the police and report an intruder.  All I succeeded in doing was to knock its tale off, which if you don't know, keeps on moving after it is unattached from the lizard body.  I think my head separated from my own body at that point because I don't really remember much after that.

Now that I am practically a native I find that the lizards don't bother me so much.  I got over them around the time my co-worker would pick them up and attach them to her ears like earrings. I respect that they eat cockroaches and spiders and try not to step on them when I wander outside.  I keep my dog, who thinks they are outside just for him to chase, from killing them.  I understand that they are a part of this paradise we live in and I leave them be.  I do not, however, like them in my house.  They don't like being in my house either, but sometimes (when doors are left open) they wander in to look around.  They then lose their bearings and end up trapped, and when anoles are trapped they change body color to match the things around them as to blend in so no one will notice a moving four legged reptile on the wall above the TV.

While watching said TV the other day I realized that we had a visitor who was enjoying the same program along with me.  He was almost as gold as my wall and if he had only stayed still I probably wouldn't have noticed him.  I did, however, know we had a lizard in the house because Darcy had come running in from the Steelers room the day before, jumping on one leg, arms flailing around in the air above her head, eyes wide, screaming, "THERE IS A LIZARD IN THE HOUSE AND IT IS IN THE SAME ROOM AS I AM!"  I thought he might keep her from watching television every day, but apparently she too knew he wasn't going to cause much trouble because after running through the house she went back in the room, one eye on the TV and the other on the lizard.

The problem with having a lizard in your house is that eventually he needs water and tends to gravitate toward areas where he might find water.  The second problem with having a lizard in your house is that you eventually forget he is even in your house.  Eventually of course those two problems collide.  Ours happened a couple of days ago when Darcy came running out of the bathroom naked, dripping wet from her shower, her arms flailing around in the air above her head, screaming, "THE LIZARD IS IN THE BATHROOM!"  I was sitting on the couch reading a great book at the time and so while it registered, it didn't really register.  I promptly forgot about it.

We have two bathrooms in our house.  One is attached to the master bathroom.  The other is in the hallway.  I rarely use the hallway bathroom because most of the time it is full of the girls' clothes and hair, and wet washrags and towels; all of it on the floor.  Also it is the bathroom where the dog can open the door, and he does that anytime I go in there to sit down on the toilet.  "Hey!  Whatcha doing in here?"  But occasionally I use that bathroom, mostly when I'm too tired to hike the five steps down the hall into the other one.

Yesterday happened to be one of those days.  We were hurrying to get out of the house to get Madison to the mall to meet her friend when I realized I should probably pop into the bathroom because the mall is a good thirty minute drive.  I was sitting on the toilet when I noticed that the roll of toilet paper hanging next to me was depleted.  Annoyed, and muttering to myself about how hard it is to replace the toilet roll, I leaned down to the stand where the extra rolls of toilet paper are kept.  Of course there was only one of those left, and so I had to lean really far over to pull that roll up the pole.  I brought it around the front of me so that I could position the roll properly so that the paper comes off the roll forward instead of underneath, and when I went to start the roll I found myself staring eye to eye with our visiting anole lizard who had changed his color almost transparent.  He was attached to the toilet paper as if he were hanging on for dear life and his eyes were bulging out of his pea size head and he was practically screaming, "THERE IS A HUMAN IN THE BATHROOM WITH ME!"

I, of course, sensing his terror did what any human would do in this situation.  I screaming loudly and threw the roll of toilet paper out the door which the dog had just opened to see how things were coming along with me.  He, of course, did not realize that his favorite toy was attached to the toilet paper roll and instead watched it fly by him, turning back to me to say, "Seriously?  Was that necessary?  I was just concerned about how long you were in here.  I thought you guys had somewhere to be."  And then Darcy was in the doorway with her hands on her hips, "I told you the lizard was in there!"  And then the toilet paper roll was back in the bathroom and the lizard, taking advantage of all the shrieking, jumped off of it and scurried behind the toilet.

In came Madison to the rescue.  Years ago she took it upon herself to capture all of the lizards that happened to wander inside, using the net from her fish tank and a piece of paper.  Now that the fish are gone she doesn't have her net and so she used what was handy, a large cup used to rinse the dog during his bathing.  She dumped the cup over the poor, scared lizard and used a piece of paper to secure the top so that he couldn't hop out.

She then carried all of this outside.  Kneeling down, she put the paper down and lifted the cup.  No lizard.  He was inside the cup arms and legs stretched out to hold on to both sides as if he were Spiderman.  Gently she tapped the cup and out popped our lizard.  He blinked in the sunlight, his head moving left and right, and then he scurried across our walkway shouting over his shoulder, "Thanks for the hospitality, but your house is too noisy for me!"

Connie foot update

For a few weeks now the home health nurse has told Connie that the wound was closed. I didn't believe it until I finally saw it a few days prior to our appointment with the Foot God. The wound looked closed and was scabbing, but until I heard it from his majesty's lips I wasn't getting excited.

Monday we saw him. The wound is closed, but Connie is to continue with the boot for awhile. He trimmed the dead skin around it and she can now wear a dry, small piece of foam over it for protection. He is making her some inserts to wear in her tennis shoes that will protect her feet since she still has the bone issue and the neuropathy. She can finally start some PT at home and put full weight on the foot as long as she is wearing the boot.
Connie asked if she could drive and he shrugged. He wouldn't recommend driving with the boot, but since it is on her left foot and not her driving foot he guessed she could. "Just let me know when you will be on the road so I can stay off of it," he said, guessing perhaps that she does drive with the booted foot.

She returns to see him in a month and we go from there. The nurses were quite excited and gathered around the door to watch him work and catch a glimpse of the "healed" wound, and Connie made sure to tell the full waiting room that she was healed to "give you all some hope" as we wheeled her out.

What will it be?

When I attend my family reunion each summer my husband, taking advantage of my absence, purchases something. Sometimes it is big (refrigerator) and sometimes it is small (stripes on my car), but usually it is something. One summer while checking in with him via telephone, he casually asked what I thought about having a white van. Because he mentioned it to me before purchasing, I was able to put my foot down. This summer he has started mentioning items before I've left.

Tom: (on phone) "Guess where I am?"
Me: "Victoria Secrets?"
Tom: "Home Depot. I'm looking at carpeting."

Now carpeting has been high on my list of home improvements since before we got the dog. After two children, numerous children friends, and a dog all peeing and pooping and spitting up on it, the time has come to replace it. It isn't high, however, on Tom's list. He has things not even on my list placed higher than carpet so I spend every few weeks coming up with ways to raise it. My newest weapon has been to put it in his head that the nasty, filth in the carpet is causing the dog's allergy. (Hey! It could be; don't judge.) So far he has alluded my attempts, but now that I'm getting ready to head out of town his mind is searching for something to spend money on and somehow (he does love that dog) he lit on new carpeting.

Tom: "I thought while you were away would be a good time to replace the carpets."
Me: "Uh...while I'm gone?"
Tom: "That way no one will be here. What color were you thinking? Blue? Yellow?"

Yes! Yes, new carpeting is like jewelry on my wrists and fingers, but not with him doing the choosing and me not being around while it is installed. I made it clear that this was not something I was onboard with and he hemmed and hawed, telling me they weren't busy and I could pick it out before I left if I didn't want him to do it. I tried to explain that I wanted to be around while my furniture would be moved and my belongings picked over.

Me: "Can't we just do it in August after the kids go back to school?"
Tom: "Why? I can have a guy out to measure this week."

I got a bit frantic, and he got the message and left Home Depot. A few days later TS Debby came through flooding areas and Tom made the comment that now we wouldn't be able to get carpeting in August because they would all be too busy. That is my other problem: get things when Tom wants them because otherwise...

A few days later he announced that while we were gone he was planning on replacing the fan in Madison's room. Several months prior the roof had leaked through her ceiling fan into her room, and while the fan still works, it only works semi-quietly on one speed. Madison asked him not to do that while she was gone. Apparently the two of them had done some fan shopping already and his choices were not her choices. She asked him to wait until she could pick out a fan, but none of us believed him when he just smiled.

Luckily, on Sunday all of us got saved. Madison and I had spent over an hour on our hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen grout with toothbrushes and the tile with rags. Every time I clean the floor something gets ends up getting spilled or broken afterward, and this day was no exception. A few hours later while Darcy was at the kitchen sink she realized she was standing in water. Upon inspection we discovered that the kitchen faucet, another purchase made while I was out of town, was leaking.

Tom crawled under the sink griping and groaning. The faucet, a source of irritation since we got it (wrong color, leaky, sprayer issues), had popped the clamp that held the sprinkler and faucet tubes together. He worked for about 45 minutes until he finally gave up, declaring the faucet a "piece of shit".

Tom: "I'll get a new one tomorrow. What color do you want? Stainless?"
Me: "Well...are we planning on replacing the sink?"
Tom: "Not tomorrow."
Me: "I'm just thinking that I want to replace the sink with a stainless one and then a stainless faucet."
Tom: "I'm not replacing the sink until I replace the countertops and you said you wanted carpeting before I did that. So what color faucet?"
Me: "White. Our sink is white."
Tom: "I'm not sure they have that, but I'll look. You sure you don't want stainless?"

Yes. Yes, I would like stainless, but not on a white sink which is what he bought when I was on vacation to replace the first broken faucet (which was white to match the sink). But he listened, found me a white faucet, and put it in last night. It is beautiful with a built in sprayer and there are no leaky drips after you turn it off. And better yet he griped about the cost enough that it makes me think he might hold off on any purchases while I'm away. We hope...

Dr. Internet

When talking to my mother, if she has a problem of some sort I tell her to "look it up".  It drives her crazy.  "Look it up where?" she asks frustrated.  "The Internet," I tell her as if she is a moron.  Does she seriously not know that the Internet has all the answers?  To all the questions? 

Recently my freezer started producing frost around the ice maker and the top of the freezer.  I spent considerable time cleaning out the ice container and chopping all the frost off of various places that it has accumulated.  The next day it was right back again.  I mentioned it to the husband who accused us all of leaving the door open.  Now granted that had been my first thought when I saw the frost.  So I had rearranged things in the freezer and found a box stuck behind the bottom drawer that I thought might have been our issue, but then I realized that my freezer makes a warning beeping noise if the door is left open.  So out the window flew that theory.  I let him think that was the problem though because he was sure it was, and I let him clean the frost and yell at all of us to close the door.  A few days later I pointed out to him that the frost was back again.  Yeah, he knew.

Last night I pulled out the refrigerator manual for an answer to our problem.  It had many answers to many problems just not the one we needed.  "Why are you bothering with the book?" Tom asked me.  "Look on the computer."  The manual said, "Go to our website for more answers."  Silly me.  Of course!  I turned to the Internet.

I looked up "frost in the freezer" and found that the cause is usually a bad gasket.  Tom studied the gasket and found that right in the very spot we were getting the frost the gasket was pulled slightly looser than the rest of the gasket.  I could stick my pinkie finger through it.  The Internet suggested putting an "on" flashlight in the refrigerator, closing the door, and if we could see light through the gasket that was our problem.  What fun!  Tom did as I read, sticking the turned on flashlight in the ice container.  I turned off the lights in the kitchen and WHALAA!!  a light shining through the part of the gasket that is not sealing.  We had solved one part of our problem.

I then googled "repairing a refrigerator gasket" and read aloud the answer which had to do with taking out the old gasket, buying a new one that fit our refrigerator, sticking it either in the dryer or in warm or cold water (depending on the site) to loosen it and then reattaching it to the refrigerator.  Only on one site did it suggest putting in some sticky foam in the corner of the loosened gasket.  Another option suggested readjusting the door.  We went with that one first.  It didn't fix our problem, so Tom stuck Kleenex in through the slit and we went to bed.

The next day the frost was still there, but not as bad.  Apparently Kleenex, something the Internet hasn't obviously tried yet, works wonders in a small way.  We left it that way for the weekend before Tom got some foam to replace the Kleenex. We are staying with that for the time being while he decides whether or not to tackle the replacement project.  Whatever he decides I will be behind him with my trusty Internet and helpful advice.