A Time For Everything

There should have been a post today, but as I mentioned in my last post, I was out of town this past weekend and I need some time to write all about my trip to Austin.

Thanks for your patience!

Here's a preview:

...short lived though it was.

But by the time you're reading this, Sonshine will have come and gone. I was gonna post this last Monday, but random things conspired to make me forget. Oops. :0)

But spending five days with my beloved Sonshine was wonderful. He did let me know, in no uncertain terms, that Texas was, sadly for me, no longer a place he wished to live. I'd been holding on to hope that he'd eventually move "home." But home for him is now across the Sound from Seattle proper. Of course, him being there and the Brown Eyed Girl being in Colorado gives us good reason to visit two very gorgeous geographies.

Any who, time with Sonshine is always prized so we spent five days mostly talking, but we also did puzzles, played some games, and just generally hung out. We even took him out to eat for his "half" birthday.

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On a sad note, my Dallas Stars just couldn't get through the Western Conference Final to the Stanley Cup Final. I have been soooo sad and disappointed for them. For me now, though, hockey season is over. I have had no desire to watch the Stanley Cup Final. (Nor listen to my podcasters break down what happened!) I just hope the Eastern Conference Champs, the Florida Panthers, win the Cup.

On a muuuuch sadder note, one of the NHL's favorite veteran players and hugely popular Dallas Star Joe Pavelski says he's retiring. My heart cracked a little when I heard the news. He's 39 now and that's considered old in hockey years. He'd defied the aging curve up until the last month or so of hockey, but it seemed to have finally caught up with him. I hoped he stays with us one more year playing in the bottom six, but that remains to be seen.

There were tears in the dressing room and tears across the Stars fan base at his loss. We're hoping that if he doesn't accept another one-year player contract, he takes a job in Dallas Stars management, consolation prize though it be for him.

* * * * *

And finally, Happy Birthday Dad!

Today would have been his seventy-seventh birthday.

This is my first picture ever of Buc-ee. I was introduced to the beaver at the Madisonville (TX) store by my dear friend Michelle. I don’t think either of us expected things to turn out this way—me dragging DD all over the southern United States to visit every Buc-ee’s there is. :0) But I think she’d get a kick out it.

Any who, day one (Saturday) was mostly about travel. But we planned a visit to the Memphis Zoo to get some physical exertion after seven hours in the car. And the Memphis Zoo is awesome. So if you’re ever in Memphis and have the time, visit their zoo.

DD and I had an awesome experience with a lion... We got to hear the lion roar! And it was just the most amazing thing to watch him and to hear him as it echoed and vibrated in the air. It was just more incredible than I can really describe.

Check this out...same critter, two different perspectives:

On Sunday, we hit the first of two Buc-ee's locations with lunch with a friend sandwiched between beaver sightings. We also traversed the bottom section of the Appalachian Mountains which was both a surprise and very beautiful. We weren't on roads with any kind of steep drops, but they were very windy and very narrow and so just a little anxiety inducing.

This doesn't do the scenery justice, but here you go...

We also got to experience Atlanta traffic at rush hour and, yowza, it was more harrowing than cutting across the Appalachians!

We passed the Olympic Torch Tower which was actually not the official Olympic Torch Cauldron from the 1996 Olympics.

Monday was our trip to the World of Coca Cola Museum, lunch with another friend, and two more Buc-ee's visits.

The museum was fun and we got to taste all kinds of Coke products from around the world. I took some pictures, but am just sharing this:

Tuesday was another looong travel day with a stint through Dallas traffic at rush hour to cap it off. But we had fun and made it home in one piece--obviously.

Now to turn my attention to my friend's visit. She arrives tomorrow and *we're going to hockey game together!* Her team is on town playing my team, so that should be a lot of fun.

I'm very excited. :0)

Take care and catch you in a couple of weeks.

Your regularly scheduled blog post will return next week. DD and I are visiting new beaver dens…

Last summer, I'd planned / hoped to have DD and my March Buc-ee's Road Trip fully funded by December 31st 2023. Well, that didn't happen, buuut...it will be fully funded* by the time we hit the road. And I'm not counting any of the money from Mom's house. I've also got a line item in the personal budget to fund next year's trip starting in March.

* I won't have 100% of the money in hand, but once I finish a proofing job, I will. It's just that I probably won't finish the job and get paid until after our trip.

And not only is there a line item for our Buc-ee's Road Trips, there's also one for my annual road trip to visit my family. I'm excited to stop going into debt while taking these trips.

* * * * *

I watched this a couple of weeks ago and I highly recommend it. It's a bit sad and a bit bittersweet and hit a little too close to home, but it's really, really cute just the same.

The tag line is "It's never too late to chase a dream." It spoke to me...does it speak to you?

Anyway, the main character, Martha, became a cheerleader as a senior in high school but had to immediately drop out to care her mom who'd gotten sick. Fifty years later, she herself gets a cancer diagnosis. She decides to forgo chemo and move to a retirement community as she never married and doesn't have children.

One of the rules of the community is that you have to join a club, but there are no clubs of interest so she's encouraged to start her own. She ends up starting a cheerleading club with seven other senior women. They encounter a variety of obstacles but eventually overcome, and the journey is a lot of fun and amazing.

If you check it out, let me know what you think.

* * * * *

Remember all the to-doing I was doing and going to do? Well, less of that is happening now. We implemented some changes at the office, so I'm working till five these days. It took a few days to adjust, but now I'm handling the extended hours pretty well, but yoga and cooking and cleaning lost their time slots, so now I've got re-think things. I'm not keen on shifting all the cleaning to the weekends, but I may not have a choice.

I did start to do yoga on the non-Hinge Health days (for the hips/bursitis) and that seems to be working well. It's not the every-day yoga practice I was going for, but it's a good compromise. And to be honest, I was having issues remembering to yoga on the weekend afternoons when we're all home and hanging out. And even if I remembered, it would have been weird to put whatever we were in the middle of on hold so I could do yoga for twenty minutes. :0)

* * * * *

And last but not least--I got my car back! It was in the shop for 2.5 weeks getting fixed. Did I mention I got rear-ended right before Christmas? Well, I did, and now it's fixed and it's soooo nice to be back in my own vehicle.

Hope you're well. Back in a couple of weeks. Take care.

My annual trek to Omaha to see my family was good...

I took a different approach to the actual driving portion of the weekend which was to just not hurry. I really love the scenery of the mid-west corridor or this section of the fly-over states.

Farmers' fields in the plush bloom of being just about ready for harvest feeds my soul. The sky, usually a crisp blue, was blocked by hazy air most of the way this year due to heat and wildfires. But I hit a stretch of road and sky between Holton, Kansas and Nebraska City, NE with the clear blue that brings me so much joy. I rolled down all the windows and enjoyed the view along with the "cool"--only mid-80's that day!!

The actual visits are uncontrolled chaos. There are toddlers and elementary-aged kids along with young adults and, really, just A LOT of bodies in a very small space. My step-mom says next year we're dividing up the visits. Half the fam on Saturday, the half on Sunday. I am very okay with that. :0)

Mostly we sat around chit-chatting and getting caught up on one another's lives. And then there's always some delicious food. This year, spaghetti, pulled pork, and fajitas.

Also--my brother James arrived home from boot camp/tech school on Thursday evening. So the whole crew was there.

One of the highlights of my trip was visiting my dad's grave during daylight hours. I've always gone at 5am on my way out of town. This time I went Sunday morning around sunrise. And it was lovely and I'm doing that again next year.

Another bonus of going to the cemetery while it was light out was seeing deer, but more importantly, actually seeing the pinwheels I leave behind. As an extra special hello, there was a bit of a breeze, and I managed to catch the whirling pinwheels on video.

Hope your three-day weekend was relaxing.

And now that Labor Day is behind us, it's time to for me to get back to work and back on track with exercising and eating right and all the other things that have taken a back seat to surviving the heat.

Catch you Thursday!

Hope you're enjoying your three-day break from your usual labors.

As I have done for at least five years now, I went home to Omaha, NE to visit family. Actually, today, the Monday of Labor Day, is the day I'm making the ten hour trek home.

I look forward to getting home, but I have to admit that the drive back home is tougher than the drive to Nebraska. Mostly because I'm driving south the whole way and since it's usually bright and sunny, as this time of year is wont to be, the sun is shining directly into the car through the front windshield. I have to take care to consume enough non-caffeinated liquids. Especially once I hit Oklahoma.

More about the trip and the fam later.

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The March 2024 Buc-ee's road trip itinerary has been altered and mostly finalized. We're re-routing from our original Buc-ee's destinations in Tennessee and Kentucky to the two in Georgia and the two in Alabama we didn't realize existed the last time we...went to Alabama.

We'll also be hitting the Memphis Zoo (and a staying at a hotel in Memphis as a way point) and the Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta as well meeting a couple of friends of mine, one in Huntsville, AL and one in Atlanta, GA respectively for a meal.

It's going to be a four-day whirlwind of driving...

* * *

Speaking of Buc-ee's...Finance Buzz is offering positions to taste-test Buc-ee's snacks. So DD and I signed up. Chosen Buc-ee's Bud-ees receive money to offset their expenses.

*fingers crossed* that one or both of us get selected.

Still speaking of Buc-ee's, there's a new one being built juuust south of the I-35 split/rejoin which is juuust north of Hillsboro. It should open sometime in 2024. I pass that location at least four times a year on my way to and from the fireworks store which is probably another thirty minutes south of Hillsboro.

* * * * *

Our new air fryer...

Why oh why did it take me sooo long to break down and buy one? And we've already decided we need another so we can cook two things at once. :0) It won't take me as long to buy the second one though.

The best things so far cooked: tater tots (!!!) and breaded ravioli.

I've even cooked pork chops and burgers in it and both were good. My technique and the timing both need adjusting for even better results although the burgers were pretty good. Pork chops were a little tough, so less cooking time me-thinks.

And thats it for today. Enjoy the rest of your day/weekend! See you Thursday

Ideas are a little thin on the ground this month--I've been focused hard on a few projects, so I'm just going to drag you on a trip down Memory Lane. :0)

Here we go...

Puck Soup Live Show in Deep Ellum in 2018. 

My first cruise December of...2014 I think.

Red Rock Canyon ~ October 2017

A view of the game from one of my first live games...

Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Naomie Harris.

221B Con in Atlanta ~ April 2016

Visit to Seattle to see Sonshine before deployment ~ September 2015

Icicles on the front porch ~ December 2013

A stop during my visit to Nashville ~ July 2013

Marching Band Program ~ Pyramids Along the Nile ~ Fall 2012

Visit to OKC / Moore, OK ~ August 2012

BBC Robin Hood Fan Friends Gathering ~ June 2012

First visit to the USS Lexington way back in I don't even know. Kids were all at home. Sonshine was in elementary school...

* * * * *

Lots of fun times to remember, but many more to look ahead to. DD and I are planning and working to fund our next Buc-ee's road trip. Tennessee here we come.

Have a great weekend.

Y'all should know my love for Buc-cee's by now. If you've never been there, you don't know. If you have, you may not harbor the same feels, but you understand. I hope you do, anyway.

I spent New Years Eve, as I have for more than a decade, selling fireworks. Well, less selling for me these days and more catching up with friends and playing cashier.

If you don't know, Buc-cee's is a mecca of gas pumps, delicious food, clean bathrooms, tourist tchotchkes of all kinds of varieties including Buc-cee's own merch...

I collect magnets, even from Buc-cee's...

For a bit more info, here's a post regarding one of my first trips to Buc-cee's. Now it's a destination unto itself. DD and I are hoping for a Buc-cee's centric road trip during her spring break.

If the stores themselves weren't enough, the billboards are amazing as well.

Anywho, on the drive to the store and home again on New Years Eve, I saw at least a dozen Buc-cee's billboards -- each way! I got a good chuckle both directions. Some were tried and true slogans that I've seen often, but there were a couple of new ones. Specifically: "Brisket. Beavers. Bathrooms. XXX Miles."

I couldn't get pictures since I was driving and alone. I Google-searched, however, and found a few images. Hopefully they'll garner at least a smile if not a giggle. Have a great weekend. Catch you Monday.

God save the King...

* * * * *

Now the road trip...

As I usually do, I traveled north to Omaha to visit family over the long weekend. The trip probably wouldn't have happened had Mom not died, but she did and I was able to go. Not that I'm glad it happened at the expense of her life... But I am still grateful that I got to go.

DH had hoped to go with me this year, but inevitably something work-related and something he can't do remotely or push off comes up. Honestly, I don't mind. 

I enjoy the long drive by myself. My soul is fed by the time alone and the beauty of the countryside I drive through on my way there and back. The open plains filled with cattle or with fields of lovely growing things are so beautiful to me. The last stretch from the Nebraska border into Bellevue is especially wonderful because Highway 75 is two lanes and the fields and homes are right there.

My family is a chaotic, weird, wild, redneck-ish mass of people. I love them all. I like some of them way more than others...

The last two years, I met new babies, Christine in 2020 and Mayson in 2021...here we are this year. Christine took way too long to warm up to Auntie Jen (hence the face), but Mayson settled right into my arms as if no time had passed.

This year, I met my de facto new sister-in-law, Ally, and new niece, Ana. By all accounts, Ally and my oldest younger brother are destined for marriage. My oldest younger sister and Ally are already besties. Ana and Christine are close in age, so a new cousin and built-in playmate.

Here is Ana and me...

Overall, it was a good trip and good to see and mark the growth of all my nieces and nephews and to meet and welcome Ally and Ana to the family.

Much as I love the drive, one of these days, ten hours in a car just won't be feasible. But not this year and hopefully not next.

Hope you had a lovely and relaxing weekend.

Talk to you soon.

* * * * *

P.S. Two things...

A. I'm going to work on getting back to two posts a week. I'm finding more things to share than what Monday only posting allows for... There may be some misses here and there, but that's the goal. There will definitely be two this week.

B. I'm working on a way to automate getting this blog to those who receive via email. Right now it's been a very tedious process. But it may mean that you might see a post twice. Not sure which one as that depends on when I work out the kinks and launch. I apologize in advance.

Okay, it really happened before I left, but I didn't realize it until I was halfway there.

So I stopped for the night in Neosho, MO--roughly halfway between Fort Worth and St. Louis--and discovered when I went to take a shower, that I'd forgotten to pack underwear! What with all the duplicate lists I had, I missed this one key item of apparel. Luckily for me there was a WalMart across the highway from the hotel I stayed in, so the issue was easily rectified.

There's some very lovely countryside between here and St. Louis...the eastern part of Oklahoma is mostly cattle country as far as I could tell and I enjoyed the beauty of the Ozarks as well. The foliage had barely, and I mean barely from green to yellow, started turning, but it was so so lovely.

Here are a few images...

My first couple of hours on the road Wednesday morning was filled with low, low clouds and then some rain.

And then some beautiful canyon-like passages in the last couple hours before hitting the outer edges of the city.

My roommate was arriving via Amtrak and I timed my arrival to pick her up. Actually I arrived a little early because, as it happens, the Enterprise Center is right across from the Amtrak Station. :0) Despite not being a fan of the Blues by any stretch of the imagination, I am a hockey fan. I visited the fan store, because of course I did. They didn't have much that wasn't Blues specific, not even hockey pucks, which was a bit disappointing. I did end up buying a cat toy so that Karma could literally tear up the Blues.

They did have some lovely statues out front however...

And that's it for today...more about the actual conference on Monday. Have a great rest of your week.