In Cary

So, here I sit in my childhood home in Cary. I am in my old room - the girls are sleeping with my mom in the guest room. It's funny - the only thing that is the same about my room is the wall color. It is Peppermint Pint. I remember what a big ordeal it was, choosing paint. My dad cautioned that I needed to choose wisely since this paint would be on the walls for a long time. He wasn't kidding! I wish I could remember how old I was when we painted it this color. I haven't lived here in 16 years, so I would say it has to be 25 years that we have had the same color! The furniture is all different and used to belong to departed family members. The furniture that I had growing up came with me to our first or second house. Of course, my room looks smaller than it did when I was a kid. I loved my room and used to spend lots of time in here. As an only child, if there weren't neighborhood kids to play with, I had myself. I used to have a little table in here and I would write notebook after notebook. My "boom box" purchased with babysitting money used to sit on my dresser.

I also used to spend a great deal of time in the basement. The basement is awesome and big. I always wished that it would have been completely finished, but it was perfect for me as a kid. One half of the basement had the washer and dryer, as well as an additional fridge and two freezers. Coming from an agricultural family, we always had half a steer or meat from a hog. The rest of that room was storage and my dad's workbench. They also built a cold room when I was a kid where we kept food and some beverages. The other half of the basement felt like it was all mine! There was a desk and a bookshelf. On the bookshelf was a set of encyclopedias that were my uncle's when he went to college. There was a couch that I remember from our very first house. There was a corner table with - wait for it - an 8 track player. My favorite thing to do was to roller skate throughout the basement, jamming to an 8 track. There was also an unfunished bar and I stored my toys behind it. Somehow, my dad was also able to find a big classroom sized blackboard. That was in the front of the bar and I had all sorts of chalk of all colors.

There is a nice bathroom down there too. That is where everyone showers. When I was younger, it was a huge shower. It reminded me of a locker room shower - you could fit 6 or 8 people in it! Will and Melissa had a similar shower in their house in Urbana. Right before my 7th grade graduation, my dad redid that bathroom. He did a great job! I wish he lived closer so he could come do work on my house ...

What a walk down memory lane! I should sign off and fall asleep listening to AM 780 like I always used to.

Back home

Well, we made it back home around 3 on Thursday. The kids were super glad to see their rooms! They ran right in and jumped on their beds! I was most glad to see the shower. We unpacked, did laundry and generally got caught up here at home.

I was also glad to get my tooth fixed - whew! They took off my old filling, cleaned the tooth, and then were able to recreate the missing part of the tooth with something. I have no idea what it was! I can tell you that something they used smelled like acrylic nails. My mouth is still sore, but I can drink now using my whole mouth not just the right side.

Everyone shared their pictures yesterday. I am anxious to dig through them and get them posted. I need to figure out something fun to do with all of those pictures. Any ideas?

The vaca blogger at work

The last sometimes is the best

This will probably be the last post I make from Lake of the Ozarks. We had a great day today! After we got the boat serviced at noon, we decided that we were going to cruise the lake. We did that for quite awhile and then found a great place to anchor up and swim. The kids and grown-ups swam all afternoon! Jenn and I were able to sneak up to the top deck and take a nap. It was exactly what I needed! We cruised a bit more in the late afternoon before we came to dock in the marina. We had a nice supper and started packing. I am using my time now to upload pictures and check some email.

At supper, we all went around the table and said our favorite things from the day. It was really nice. Here are the things I will miss from the trip:

• Bloody Mary's after breakfast every day - thanks Chad!
• Taking turns cooking - food really does taste better when you don't have to work for it!
• Swimming every afternoon
• Swim suit and shorts as my uniform
• Ice cold beer and frosty wine from the cooler
• Watching my kids play with their cousin

I am looking forward to some things at home:

• A nice hot shower!
• Clean clothes - although I still just want to wear athletic shorts and t-shirts every day
• A trip to the dentist - who would have thought I would have ever wanted that!

We are very thankful to Pam and Dave for this trip. Pam is right - we will take the memories with us.

Pictures

Here is the most comprehensive group of pictures thus far:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60995&l=baae3&id=731091130

Last full day on the lake

Well, we survived another night at Lake of the Ozarks. We had some generator and propane alarm problems last night so there was beeping on and off all night. Add in another thunder storm and some of us are tired :) But the tooth fairy made it through just fine.

We are parked at the marina right now to get those problems worked out. We are finding a nice cove to swim in this afternoon and then spending the last night at the marina. Where we parked for last night was very beautiful but snake infested, we found out. So, we will be a bit more selective this afternoon.

Here are the meals on tap for today:

Breakfast - Dave and Lisa = hashbrowns, bacon and sausage on the grill, coffeecake from the 4-H cookbook and banana bread
Lunch - Dave and Pam = hot dogs and brats
Dinner - Chad and Jenn = pork chops, beans, garlic bread


Tomorrow will be leftovers before we leave around 1o. One Dave wants to get back in time for guitar and the other Dave wants to get home to mow.

Well, gonna finish my Bloody Mary before the Pina Coladas are done. More later ...