Gateway

I was so very tired last night that I didn't take the time to post the happenings of the day. We left Crystal Lake, IL about 7 AM on a beautiful, sunshiny day. We found the traffic to be surprisingly cooperative and were on our way to Missouri in no time.

We lost our sunshine pretty early on, but didn't run into any inclement weather. It was a long day. We were, however, just blown away by the beauty of the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi River crossing. Jim was particularly taken with seeing the Arch and Busch Stadium as we crossed the river into St. Louis.

Missouri is a lot of flat grasslands. But after awhile, we drove into the Ozark Mountains and enjoyed the change of topography. We are constantly amazed at the changes in scenery as we drive across this country.

We had a great room and a good dinner at the restaurant next door. We were both tired and had a good night's sleep, awaking early this morning. Once again, we were on the road by 7 A.M., passing through Missouri, Oklahoma and most of the Texas panhandle before arriving here in Amarillo late this afternoon. We ran into a huge rainstorm early in the morning, but found sunshine soon after. We were buffeted by really strong winds all day long. The forecast is for strong winds and perhaps rain or snow through New Mexico tomorrow. I guess we'll just wait and see.

We have had a really nice dinner at a real Texas steakhouse. It was a really fascinating place with all kinds of Texas memorabilia and me without my camera. It was a fun evening with really good food.

And now, I'm ready for another good night's sleep. Tomorrow is another long day and then Wednesday we arrive in Henderson. Gretchen called today and says she can hardly wait to see us. Ditto for me!

Until we arrive in Nevada,

~Hippo Hugs~

Another Great Day

Balmy temperatures (55 degrees), sunny skies, good company, good wine and good food. What more could anyone ask for?

It has been such a delightful day for Jim and I here in Crystal Lake, IL with our daughter, Paige. We started the day with breakfast at IHOP. From there, we came back to our hotel so that Paige and Liam could swim in our pool.

Then it was on to my birthday treat from Paige, a wine tasting at a small local winery. It was a really charming place with good wine.

We actually talked Jim into buying an iPod Shuffle for his walks. Jim just doesn't buy things for himself, so this was a cause for celebration.

We had a wonderful fondue dinner at a Melting Pot Restaurant. What fun!

All this and I'm married to this man.

Tell me I don't have a wonderful life!!

Today's Word:

Aggregate - A total considered with

reference to its constituent parts

It's My Birthday!

It is, really! I am 64 years old today. Although 64 isn't quite as exciting as 60, it has been a very good year, and I anticipate the coming year to be even better if that's possible.

We left Maumee, Ohio this morning at 8:30 and arrived here in Crystal Lake, IL about 12:30, just in time to meet our sweet Paige for lunch. How wonderful it is to see her and spend the afternoon and evening with her.

After lunch, we went back to her house and met her dog, Boomer. Boomer is a 120 pound Great Dane. He and Arlo are pretty good buddies, and they both seem to like Jim.

So, you may ask, how did I celebrate my birthday? I'll admit it wasn't my usual style of celebrating. You see, I shared my celebration with Paige's buddy, Liam who was ten on Wednesday. His choice of parties was at the....

That's right, we celebrated with Liam and 25 of his best friends at a bowling alley/video game arcade. After fifteen minutes, Jim turned to me and said, "I know for sure now why I retired." I cannot remember when I've heard so much squealing, giggling and just plain yelling. As you might guess, they had a great time.

Paige and Dad sharing a moment and a slice of pizza.

Paige signing Liam's bowling pin. Each birthday child is given a pin for all his birthday guests to sign. Did I mention that there were four other parties going on at the same time as Liam's? I have never seen a more organized and fun group of people as those who ran these parties. Not only did the kids bowl, they were led in dances like the limbo and the cha-cha. There was a shouting contest, which, by the way, Liam's group won, and other organized activities. When the bowling was over, Liam and all his friends went into the laser tag room to play. I was invited, but wimped out. Gretchen is very disappointed in her mother as she thought me playing laser tag would be a great birthday post.

The birthday boy and girl!!


After the party, we went back home to watch Liam open his gifts and share some wonderful Chinese food and wine.


Tomorrow promises to be a funfilled day with a wine tasting, swimming at our hotel and a fondue dinner. Stay tuned.

Today's word:

Reconnoiter - To make a preliminary inspection of, especially in

order to gather military information.

~Hippo Hugs~

On The Road Again

I felt better as the day went on yesterday and by bedtime thought I might survive. I managed to finish my packing and get my nails and hair done, considering the way I felt, a great accomplishment.

By 7:45 this morning, the car was all packed and we were ready to leave Western NY. Here are a couple of pics of how it looked out our living room window as we were about to depart.

We went about 1-1/2 miles to the local gas station when I realized that I had forgotten my sun glasses. The pumps were very busy so instead of pulling and getting gas, we turned around and drove back home to get my glasses. Consequently, when we arrived at the pumps about seven minutes later the gas price had risen 6 cents . Can you believe that?

Added to the swirling snow, that wasn't the greatest way to start our day. I'll admit, we were a little concerned about the snow. Driving toward Buffalo, NY and Erie, PA in February can be a treacherous journey. However, six miles down the road we drove out of the snow and into blue skies and sunshine. We had smooth sailing all the way through NY, PA and Ohio. That's lake effect snow for you.

I have a great story about lake effect snow. We usually know the difference between area wide and lake effect snow and are in the habit of saying, "Oh, it's only lake effect." I guess we say it a lot because Paige told me when she was about 18 years old that she always thought it looked like regular snow and and felt like regular snow and couldn't figure out what was different about it.

We arrived in Erie, PA about 11:30, just in time for lunch. My elderly Aunt and Uncle live in Erie and they were able to meet us just off the highway for lunch. They have been such an important part of my life and I love them dearly. It is bittersweet to be with them these days as their health is deteriorating. My Uncle is 84 and my Aunt, who is blind, is 80. She asked me today if I could believe she was 80. My answer was that if I was going to be 64 tomorrow, she had to be 80. She was just 16 when I was born, and happily gave up her position of baby of the family to me. In many ways, she was a second mother to me. It was very precious to spend the lunch hour with them today.

And so, here we are. Tucked in our snug hotel room, me blogging and Jim watching Pat Summit vying for her 1000th victory for Tennessee girls basketball. Jim is really impressed with her. She is an amazing coach.

We had a good meal at Red Lobster and spent a half hour in the hot tub. Now I'm ready for a good night's sleep and tomorrow we see our Paige(y). Can hardly wait.

Today's Word

Hyperbole -a figure of speech in which exaggeration

is used for emphasis or effect, as in this book weighs a ton.

~Hippo Hugs~

I apologize

I'm still committed to Wednesday Writings, however between a horrible stomach bug which attacked me with a vengeance and trying to pack to leave for Nevada tomorrow, I just cannot muster up the energy to write anything at all.

I'm hoping I might get a chance to post on the road. If not, we'll be in Henderson by next Wednesday.

Until then Hippo Hugs.

Today's Word

Capitulate - To surrender, especially on certain terms.

Monday Musings

Where oh where do I start? I guess we'll go with first things first! That being that our buddy :

Punxatawney Phil

saw his shadow this morning and we will have six more weeks of winter. That is opposed to his not seeing his shadow which would have meant an early spring, about six weeks from now.

I guess that news is second only to the big story in the last quarter of the Super Bowl last night when...

Santonio Holmes caught the winning catch for the sixth Super Bowl title for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game was pretty quiet during the first half, but that fourth quarter was a lulu. I was rather disappointed in the commercials this time. Dorito had a couple of funny ones and, of course, the Clydesdales were charming as usual.

Although we are Pennsylvania born and bred and were rooting for the Steelers, my heart was softened by Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald played some pretty brilliant football. Jim told me that he had seen an interview where he said he hadn't cut his hair since his mother's death. It was a really touching story, thus a place in my mother's heart for him.

Here are a couple of pictures from our exciting Super Bowl party.

Just what can I say about these two guys? We all felt that the 3D glasses didn't quite work for us. Jason kept wearing his in hopes that something would "jump out at him". Jim, on the other hand, put his on his head as he never gets to do that with sunglasses. Again, what can I say?

This weekend was my Scrapbook Getaway. It was great. We go to a local hotel where they give us a special rate and a conference room. Everyone brings food and snacks. I ate entirely too much and won't even consider stepping on the scales for at least a week. It wasn't all eating and scrapping. They had a hot tub so there were times for sitting and soothing too.

These gals are very neat scrappers.

I met some new gals this time.

Some pages were all pictures, some other things. Linda was doing her baby's first birthday, while Laurie was making recipe books for her daughters.

I made cards for part of the time. And then started my flower mini.

I also spent some time organizing some pictures and trying to decide just what I want to take with me to Nevada. Well, I also need to ask Jim just how much "stuff" can fit in the car. I don't want to take up all the space.

Speaking of Nevada, only three more sleeps until we leave. We will spend one night on the road between here and Chicago and then two whole days and nights with Paige. I can hardly wait.

Now, I must leave you and go prepare for my endoscopy which will take place in just two hours. Hope I don't sleep for eighteen hours after this test like did the colonoscopy. I think this is the end of tests for awhile----at least I hope.

~Hippo Hugs to all.

Today's word is:

Auspicious - Promising success.

Wednesday Writings from Pam

Not long ago, Pam over at Country Mouse, City Mouse posted this picture on her WordlessWednesday page. She had us all wondering what on earth it was. Turns out it is a picture of a kiln at the cement factory in her hometown. I was fascinated with the picture and decided that I would write about it. That thought led me to commit myself to Wednesday Writings from Pam. We'll see how it goes.

The Kiln

I wake early in the morning, just as the sun is peeking over the horizon and for a minute or two I am happy, peaceful even. It's only when I get out of my bed and go to the window that I see it, and my heart and soul are filled, once again, with dread.

I wonder, will I ever be free of the haunting sight of that specter of death? My friends say, "Petra, it's only a kiln. It is nothing. I can't hurt you. It's a kiln, nothing more. You must get over it. Put the past behind you. Move forward with your life."

The words come easily to them. I know they love me; care for my well being, want the best for me, desire my happiness. And in my head, I know what they say is true. It is just as they say, a kiln, a drier for the cement factory. The factory that supports many families in this town. It is not a bad thing, it is not evil. It cannot hurt me. Every day my head tells me to turn away, to smile, to see it for what it is, a cement factory kiln. That is my head. My heart and soul is another thing.

You see, my friends didn't live in the camps. They didn't watch as the soldiers separated crying children from their mothers. They didn't stand by as the guards beat the old and lame who could not walk fast enough or work hard enough. They didn't go to sleep hungry in the lice infested straw of a freezing barracks night after night. And most of all, they didn't see the hopelessness in the faces of the hundreds of human beings as they marched to the furnace where they would soon become the smoke coming from the ovens of death.

Today, I'll try again. I'll look out that window and say, "Petra, forget it. Put it behind you. It's only a cement factory kiln." And who knows, maybe today will the day I can really begin to believe it.

I hope you'll forgive me it this little writing seems heavy. I think I posted before that Jim and I have just seen the movie Defiant. It is still very much in my thoughts and when I saw this picture, this is the story it conjured up.

Have a wonderful day. Next Wednesday I'm thinking of something lighter to write about.

~Hippo Hugs~