snow legs

On my way to my HPC meeting Wednesday night, I had a flashback to driving in New Jersey. In that flashback I remembered how every day, driving on the Parkway, drivers would slam on the gas and then slam on the brakes. From twenty feet forward, to a complete stop. It was almost everyday that I couldn't wait to come back to the midwest.

And here I was Wednesday evening, on 131, not doing what had caused me great stress all those days in NJ. With all the snow and cold, drivers were being courteous, everyone was leaving plenty of space between them and the car in front of them, no one was driving like an idiot, everyone was going the right speed, no one was slamming on their brakes, everyone was paying attention. It was like a choreographed dance of the snow cars.

Bill calls that "snow legs"; what we need to find in order to drive safely through the winter. You may know the term as "sea legs" which we became familiar with on our cruise seven years ago. But here, in the winter, we need snow legs.

Who knew we'd be finding our snow legs so early? Of course after last winter, how did we have time to forget?

This leads me to my snowflake request of years past. I don't need them this year. However, if you have incorporated them into part of your Advent activities, or need something to do on a snow day, I will gladly accept them. I'm just not making my usual plea.

A Kentucky Tour

Like I said in my post earlier, Kim and I took a tour yesterday. Quota set it up and we were on a bus with about forty other Quotarians (and a few spouses).

We went an hour south to Old Friends, where former race horses go to retire. We got a tour of the facility and got to see many of the ninety plus horses they house there. We also got to pet and feed carrots to the horses.

I took pictures, so I'll have to post those once I get back home.

From Old Friends, we went to Midway. A small town full of southern charm along with train tracks that run straight down the middle of town.

We ate lunch there, I forget the name of the restaurant but I know it's in a picture, where we had Kentucky Hot Brown. If you don't know what that is I'll tell you. It's a piece of toast/bread (we never did figure out if it was actually toasted), covered with shredded turkey, diced ham, bacon, a rue with cheddar, mozzarella, and provolone, topped with a tomato and baked in the oven. It was delicious. This restaurant is also known for it's cobbler and we were all treated to apple cobbler a la mode.

From Midway we went to a vineyard called, Equus Run Vineyards. We got to sample a couple of their wines and then walk around and shop. The owner talked to us about her wines and her grapes. It was great; she was down to earth (she retired from IBM after thirty years to open the vineyard) and hospitable.

From there we came back to our hotel where we met up with other Quotarians to have dinner and ice cream. The local place to go for ice cream is called Graeters. I tried their Buckeye flavor.

In case you didn't know; there is a long running joke that between Michigan and any other state (in my case Indiana) the one thing we can agree on when it comes to sports and our universities is that Ohio State sucks, pardon my language. We have several friends who have lived in Ohio and have gone to schools in Ohio including my in-laws. But we are specifically talking about the Ohio State.

We also refer to Ohio as, "Land of Land". Have you ever driven through Ohio? You might agree. Especially after Kim and my drive down here Wednesday. We did not drive through the pretty side of Ohio.

So Ohio is the butt of jokes, at least around our house.

Which is why I surprised myself by trying the Buckeye flavored ice cream and then was shocked when I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that it may be my new favorite ice cream flavor of all time.

I know.

Okay, it could be my second because that Jersey Express with the chocolate fudge and peppermint that Hudsonville ice cream made a few years ago does take the #1 spot in my taste.

But still, second place. An Ohio named ice cream. Huh.

I told Shannon that statement because she had asked (or told me to) check out Graeter's. Her response is  very appropriate, "That is a statement with lots of research backing it!!!" How true!

My time is running short here at Panera where the lunch hour has arrived making it a busy place. Plus my laptop is going to die because I didn't bring my charger. I'll see if I can blog again while I'm in the expensive fancy hotel (wi-fi is free in the lobby I discovered). If not, you'll hear from me when I get back home.

What is that, falling from the sky???

It is actually raining.

While I know it won't last, and it certainly won't be enough to turn the grass back green from this shade of death, it is still welcome.

This is why I don't want to live in southern California, and why I didn't enjoy Savannah.

There was too much sun.

Yes. I know what I just said.

My friend Leah's mom pointed it out when she lived in San Diego. It never storms there.

It's not storming here right now, but the mid-west thunder and lightning are spectacular. It rarely stormed in Savannah. Sure, there might be the occasional lightning strike or thunder off in the distance, but it never compared to our electric storms that come rolling off the plains (or lake in my current case).


In fact, now the rain has passed. I better get out there and get my walk in before anymore rain falls...

Life in the Midwest

If you're not from the Midwest or have never had the pleasure of visiting our beautiful section of the country, you should know we are pretty friendly here. 

Neighbors help neighbors (I've borrowed sugar, our neighbor has borrowed Baking Powder, they've cleaned the snow off our driveway both when we've been home and out of town, we share plants, food and lots of laughter).

We say hi on our walks. Dogs and kids use everyone's yard as their own.

Today was no exception when a woman driving her car stopped to ask us directions. Glenn, Bill and I actually had no idea where she was going, so I ran inside and grabbed the iPad. I looked up the address she was searching for and went back to tell her how to get there. She was pretty close, but needed a dead-end street that she probably would not have found (and for whatever reason she didn't have a cell phone with her). 

Then, as I was walking over to D.d.'s, a man was out with his adorable little hound. He didn't have the dog on a leash (very common around here), but the dog wasn't listening. As I passed the man I said, "it looks like a game..." because the dog would stop and wait for the man to get about ten feet away, and then he (the dog) would take off running down the sidewalk. The problem I had with this is the dog kept crossing the streets that were perpendicular to the street we were walking along. It's a pretty busy street. I was so afraid the dog was going to turn and run out into that street. I was walking faster than the owner, so I caught up to the dog. He came running right over to me, so I let him sniff me and gave him a little scratch on the ears as I reached for his collar. The owner caught up and put the leash on him. That made me feel much better.

As for Cinco de Mayo, yes, we will be celebrating. No matter that we have no Mexican or even Spanish in our blood. It's basically an excuse to eat food that likely has nothing to do with that culture anyway. I'm making skillet tostados. I'm sure they're going to be delicious.

See? We even like to share holidays. 

the midwest and mexican food

Believe it or not, you can find good Mexican food in the midwest. Maybe that's not so surprising. The other thing that is not surprising is that I ate too much. Yes. It happened again. I guess the good news is that the last time I blogged about it was May. So once every five months is not too bad. We did get a walk in today and I got to do my yoga, sit-ups and push-ups.

Then we drove to my parent's house. There's a new Mexican restaurant in town, so we tried it out. It was good. Too good. I was very hungry when we got here, and I ate way too many chips and salsa. Curse the chips and salsa.

No. Don't curse them. They're too good. Curse my inability to say no.

Eventually I said no. It was just way too late.

Not to mention we tried the corn dip my mom was in the process of making when we arrived, and my sister brought "Halloween" cookies that we tried too. It is my own fault I feel this miserable. I stuffed myself like a Thanksgiving turducken.

It could have been the margarita that did me in. But I don't think so. I blame the food. And the water. I'm like a water buffalo.

Maybe it was the margarita...

This is what I had planned to blog about: I love the midwest. Some people think it's too flat. I don't. I understand the need the first settlers had to stay here. I love Michigan.

And I appreciate the flat plains that exist in Indiana.

I repeat: I love Michigan.

But I have always enjoyed seeing so many miles at one time just on the road. From 236th street (this takes you from the highway to the small town that is Cicero, Indiana) you can see the two water towers in Arcadia and the two water towers in Cicero as you drive in. I just think that's so cool.

When I was in Jr. and Sr. High, we would go to all the football and basketball games. As we would drive home, I would look out the car window and pick out the different towns based on our location and the light "pollution". It used to be easy back then. Each small town was easily distinguishable. Now, Indianapolis has enough lights to block out the small towns surrounding it.

It's just a sign of the times. Perhaps we'll regress as we learn to appreciate the night sky.

The midwest is in my heart and I belong to the midwest. It's just who I am.

five things that make me laugh

Dubuque, Iowa has to be one of America's best kept secrets. It's a lovely town. It is picturesque, quaint, and friendly. I have been out walking and took some photos. I walked down to St. Luke's United Methodist Church which happens to have been the first church built in Iowa (in 1834). The current building was built in 1896 and has Tiffany windows (according to the brochure; five large and ninety small Tiffany windows were installed by 1897, but two more were added in 1916 and two more by the 1930's).

As I approached the church, there was a group headed inside, so I asked if I could go in and see the windows. One of the women replied that she wasn't sure if anyone was in there. Just then a man walked out (I'm guessing the pastor) and she asked him if I could go in. Of course. He took me in, turned on the lights and then showed me how to turn them back off when I was finished. He got the brochure for me and told me to take my time.

I love the Midwest.

Here at our Central Area Meeting, we had a session today about laughing. Roseann (the Kenosha-Racine V.P.) gave the brief lecture, titled, "She Who Laughs, Lasts". She talked about the healing power of laughter. She told us that we all need to go on a laugh diet. To begin, don't let those people who are negative bring you down with them. Hold up your hand and tell them to stop. You're on a laugh diet and that you want to hear something good going on in their life. Whether they walk away or tell you something good, you'll be better off. Let's try it.

Also, she wants us to keep a laugh journal, or at least keep track of the things that bring us joy. She also gave us a homework assignment. To write down five things that make you laugh. Can you do it?

1. Bill, he makes me laugh and he helps me find the humor in every situation.

2. Hearing my mom and Bill's mom laugh. If he gets them going they're snorting and guffawing like crazy. Er, um. No, I mean they're very lady-like and gentile in their laughing... It doesn't make me laugh at all.

3. Juliette and sometimes Atticus. The way Juliette runs in circles to chase her toy, or the way Atticus chases shadows (often his own) on the wall.

4. Skylar, she's got some good jokes and anytime she laughs it can make me laugh.

5. When I get frustrated with an inanimate object and it's clearly operator error, and I finally figure it out, I try to laugh and if I'm not having an easy time of it, I'll think of what Bill would say. And then I can laugh.

Obviously, my friends can make me laugh. And watching a comedy, either a tv show or a movie can make me laugh. Hearing a joke sometimes can make me laugh, or groan depending on the joke. The youth can make me laugh, and we often laugh together in Quota. Oh yeah, that photo of me from Chandra and Jason's wedding makes me laugh.

Have you laughed today?