I'm back in Mississippi!!!! And, boy, am I beat - too tired to write a full post, but I'll try to start posting (and blog-hopping, of course), tomorrow. The hawk pictured above is one that I spotted on the 9-hour drive from Tulsa, today. He had just gobbled down his dinner. He was actually saying, "Yummm," but his meal looked pretty disgusting to me.I decided to bypass this lovely pink bathroom, when I filled the car with gas in Dumas, Arkansas:
Big mistake. Note to self for future road trips (y'all can benefit from this bit of self-advice on important fuel levels):
Gas tank - Keep as full as possible.
Bladder - Empty when the possibility arises, because you never know when the driver is going to be too busy counting hawks to remember to pull over at the nice little tourist information center in Lake Whatever, Louisiana and every subsequent opportunity for relief will involve an irate farmer and/or a citation for indecency. This can make the last hour of driving extraordinarily painful.
Stomach - full is good; enough to keep from seeing spots, stay conscious and remain in the correct lane is okay.
More later!
Bookfool in need of a shovel (to dig out from under the mess hubster made in her absence)
Welcome,welcome home!!!! So glad you are safe and reasonably sound at home. I know about coming home...I was with my Dad for 5 months..when I came home my lovely, beachy retreat room was painted storm cloud gray..YIKES! I'm used to it now but what a shock. We missed you!
ReplyDeleteSo good to see you posting! We miss you here in the blogosphere!!
ReplyDeleteWelcome Home!!!!!!
ReplyDelete1000 miles?? Where the heck did you drive? I'm pretty sure it's only 600+ from Lincoln to Fort Worth and that takes about 9-10 hours. I could be wrong, though. Off to Google Maps...
Hi Joemmama!
ReplyDeleteThanks, it's good to be back, although it's also temporary. I'll be driving back and forth to Oklahoma for about 6 months. Sounds like you went through exactly the same thing. My living room is a dove gray, though, and at least I chose the color (we'd already painted our hallway that gray and liked it). The mess is what's shocking! I missed you, too!!
Nat!
I totally missed any posting you must have done from Canada, darn it! I'll have to see what I can find. I've missed you!
Les,
Thank you! I was driving back and forth between my hometown and Oklahoma City (4 hours, round-trip) to take my mom to chemo. She had three days' worth of treatment, although we did spend the second night in a hotel. But, still - that was 8 hours' worth and then I drove to Tulsa, spent the night, and headed the remaining 500 miles home. I'm really tired of the car, but I have to say Oklahoma City is a fabulous place to entertain yourself while your mom is getting poisoned; I had a pretty fun time in OKC. :)
So glad you're back! You were extremely missed :) And you just had to go and out do my hawk photo, huh? ;)You have to go check out eBay, there's new poppets up! I snagged me a green one with little white snowflakes! I think she still has some left. And there's cinnamon smelling poppets.
ReplyDeleteHi Chris!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, I've missed you, too. It was a long 3 1/2 weeks and I've still got another 5-6 months of driving back and forth to Oklahoma, ahead of me.
On the hawk - you would have loved to be in the car, buddy. He was sitting on a road sign and I pulled off onto the shoulder and snapped him up on the sign. I knew the lighting was bad and they probably wouldn't turn out well, if only because I was shooting through the windshield, but then he spotted his lunch and dived down beside my car!!! Ohmygosh, what a lucky moment! He was on the passenger side, so I just rolled the window down, stretched up and snapped. Cool, or what? Wish you could have been there!
Thanks, I just snagged a green poppet. I was in need of a green one. Now, where the husband buried the rest of my poppets is beyond me. Poor things. At least Violet was spared, since she went with me to OK. :)
Welcome back! Great header, by the way...
ReplyDeleteStephanie
thewrittenword.wordpress.com
Thank you and thank you, Stephanie!!!
ReplyDeleteLOL, glad you're home and that things (might) soon get back to some sort of normalcy for you. Good luck tunneling out from under hubster's mess!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back!!! I'm glad you are still with us and had a safe trip. I can't wait to see what other pictures and fun things you have in store.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! And great new about the Eldest!
ReplyDeleteAndi!!!
ReplyDeleteI missed you!!
We're making progress on the tunneling, but it's going to take all week to get the house marginally livable, I'm afraid. Messy husbands need supervision. :)
Normality is also going to be on vacation, for a while, but I'll be back and forth -- and at least I'll know what I'm in for, this time. I'm fortunate to have a mother who is keeping her sense of humor. We laughed a lot, watched some movies when she needed a distraction, and tried not to think about how incompetent I am in the kitchen. The word "leftovers" sent my mother into peals of giggles. It was great.
Hey Nikki!
How've you been? Thanks, I'm glad to be back. I've got a few pictures (didn't do a whole lot of photography) and lots of stories. I hope to post, tonight. Gotta do some serious cleaning before fetching the kiddo. :)
Lynne,
Thank you! And, yeah, isn't that terrific? Eldest actually got to choose between three jobs. I don't think many people can say that, these days. We're definitely counting our blessings!
Ooh, I see you read Powers by LeGuin while you were in Oklahoma. Have you read Gifts yet? I've been wanting to start that series. It sounds great. Nymeth did a great review of Gifts not too long ago that really had me interested in it. It sounds a lot like the Tales of Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card. If you liked it you may want to check that series out. It starts with Seventh Son.
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteI read Powers to review for Estella; it's my first Le Guin book and I liked it but I'm not normally into epic-type novels. It was very good, but a little too slow for me. Not sure if I'll read any more of that type, but thanks for the recommendation!
Wow! That's a long drive to and from for the chemo treatments. Must've been exhausting for both of you! My brother was lucky and was able to have a portacath so he got his chemo 24/7. I suspect that's only an option for certain treatments.
ReplyDeleteI've never really visited OKC. We've driven through on our way to Texas, but only stopped for gas and food. Glad you had fun!
Glad you are home and able to post again. Good to know that your mother is able to keep her sense of humor; I know it is difficult for all involved, but humor helps!
ReplyDeleteLes,
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a long drive. We spent the second night in a hotel because we were both flattened.
My mother is going to get a port, but the medical people have been dragging their feet for so long (she did attempt to move her treatment, but their financial policy was too scary and we all agreed the OKC doctor is worth the drive - he's kept her alive for 17 years, after all) that they decided to go ahead and just get her started. I think she still has to go in to have the chemicals put in her port, though - can't remember.
OKC is pretty nice, really, for such a large city. I've always liked it and felt fairly comfortable when I've been there. If I lived there, I'd hang out at Panera. I got loads of story material in just a few visits.
Jenclair,
ReplyDeleteThanks. It's good to be home, although I have sooo much cleaning to do. I need to get off my butt and do some more. Gotta at least get this place bumped down from "major fire hazard" to "marginally frightening".
A sense of humor is such a great thing when you're facing a deadly illness. We really had a good time, believe it or not, in spite of what my mom has to deal with.
I'm so glad you're back; I thought you'd be gone for much longer, and it's a relief to see you posting again. I hope all is well with you and the family now.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, girlfriend! I hope the news from Oklahoma continues to improve.
ReplyDeleteYou're a good daughter. Better than I'll ever be.
Bellezza,
ReplyDeleteI'll be back and forth between Oklahoma and Mississippi for about 6 months. My sister lives near enough to Mom that she can help out, but I'm needed to drive my mom to chemo. Hopefully, we'll get DSL up and running in her house, when I return!!!
Cupcake,
Thanks, so much! I really think it's going very well, considering all my mother has been through.
Aw, shucks. I love being called a "great daughter". It makes me all glowy. Surprise of the month: of all the things I whipped up, my mother was most fond of the easiest . . . cucumber sandwiches! How cool is that? LOL
I love Panera (most of our region's November write-ins were there)! I love cucumber sandwiches! I love having you back, dear heart!
ReplyDeleteI didn't post a lot from Canada since my dad has a really ancient computer that took ages to load anything. I couldn't even open Google Reader on it. And blogs ... let's just say I ran out of patience and gave up. I did post some pictures though when I got back. I finally downloaded Picasa just so I could make a collage! :P
ReplyDeleteBonnie,
ReplyDeleteI love Panera, too. I got a basket-load of great stories, just from sitting around watching people and listening as they hollered into their cell phones. And, that broccoli-cheese soup is to die for on a cold day.
Thanks! It's great to be back. Congrats on finishing your Nano book!!!
Nat,
That was exactly my situation - I had to do my emailing from Burger King (they had the only consistent wireless signal that I was able to locate). I ran to Tulsa to get a hand-me-down computer from my in-laws and was working on getting my mother set up for DSL (but I'll have to finish that when I get back - the computer was missing a driver). My mother had Windows 98 and dial-up. Her computer kept locking up. The one day I managed to get online (after an hour), all I got was the banner for her dial-up service, not even the full page would load. Her monitor must have weighed 50 pounds. It was ancient!
It's so good to be back to a normal computer and DSL. I did notice you didn't post from Canada. I'll have to look further, though. Hubby really buried the house good, this time.
Isn't Panera a great restaurant to hang out in? We have a couple here in Lincoln - one's just a few shops away from my store. I love their Asiago Cheese bread and their soups. Yummmmm.
ReplyDeleteOh, oh, oh!!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! I've missed you bunches! And those certainly are the rules of the road and portapotties are just yuck!
Welcome back!!
cjh
Welcome home, Nancy! A pink port-a-potty! Haha
ReplyDeleteLes,
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah. I love Panera. Their soup is incredibly soothing on a cold day. I don't think we have any at all in our area, even in Jackson. I'll have to look. A friend in New Hampshire had suggested taking my laptop to Panera for the wireless, if I happened across one. Wow, was I glad he said that. I wouldn't have known where to go, otherwise - checking email really helped pass the time.
CJ,
I missed you bunches, too!! Thanks so much for wahooing in my absence. I'm a little overwhelmed, today, so I may have to do a Wahoo Thursday, which is always totally weird. But, whatever works, right? LOL
Yep, you've got it. There's good reason I decided to skip the pink bathroom. LOL Yeeeeuck. But, I did sort of regret it, during that last hour of driving!
How do they pronounce Dumas, Arkansas?
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah, can you beat that? I thought it was pretty cute. I've never seen a pink port-a-potty, before. I still didn't want to use it. Maybe if they could decorate it with bright flowers and remove the smell . . .
Bybee,
Not the French way, I'm sure. I've always heard it pronounced "DOO-muss".