A Case of Ding Dongs

T minus 36...

Hours, that is...until Trip #8 to Guatemala!

This trip will involve driving to locations in and around Guatemala City, twice a day, in order to feed hungry children.

After each feeding, we hope to do games, crafts and other fun activities - combined with a lot of loving and hugging.

Sounds fun, huh? I think so.

My oldest son will also be in Guatemala, but will be in a totally different part of the country. Which has me a little nervous, but it's his 4th trip, so he knows the area and people. And the language.

So, off for some last minute shopping...the Guatemalan lady that I will be staying with loves Ding Dongs...which cannot be found in Guatemala. So, I'm going down with a suitcase full of creme-filled chocolate cakes....

Customs will love that.

Peace....

Weekend in Review: Unheard Of!

This past weekend was special - it's the first 4th of July that I've been in the country in the last several years....Normally, my butt is in Guatemala during this time, so it was kinda' cool to be at home in the good 'ole U.S.A.!


Friday night, Hubby and I and Daughter headed out for some delicious Mexican dinner and then went to the show. We saw Toy Story 3 - which was pretty freakin' awesome. I loved it. And I cried. Couldn't help it. Of course, I'm the girl that cries during commercials on T.V...so it's not a stretch that I would cry during the movie. I HIGHLY recommend seeing this movie if you haven't already!

Saturday was my nephew's 5th birthday party, so we headed over to party with the family. My nephew is into Toy Story and Pirates - which is an interesting combination. I think just about every single gift he got was Toy Story-related. And we all got to wear pirate patches and pirate hats - aaarg, maties - it was fun.


Until the monsoon hit. We were outside, and the sky turned dark, the winds came, and then we were all soaked. I guess pirates would get soaked on their ship during storms, so we were just getting into character, I guess.

Saturday night was the night from hell for me. I finished up a book around midnight, and then turned off the lights to sleep. But sleep was elusive - it did not come. At 1:00 a.m., I gave up, got up, and took a sleeping pill, which eventually kicked in. I'm tellin' ya, though - insomnia sucks.

Sunday was the 4th of July - and we headed over to the Yacht Club in the morning for the Ski Show on the lake and games and a picnic. I had volunteered to bartend for an hour at the Tiki Hut, and so I was kept busy, whipping up Bloody Marys and Screwdrivers....I'm heavy on the vodka, so I had quite a bit of business. :) Hubby and daughter kept busy wandering through the crowd (there was at least 150 people there) and chatting with neighbors and watching the awesome Ski Show on the lake.



The children had some old-fashioned games - turtle races, egg races, sack races - and then we had a delicious picnic of burgers, cole slaw and beans. Yummy. And I had one of my Screwdrivers to top it off. Even better.

We got home around 1:00 pm and then all three of us - Hubby, Daughter and me - all collapsed for a nap. That is UNHEARD of in this house! We never take naps! Maybe there was some Xanax in the food or something....

Hubby and Daughter went over to Oldest Stepdaughter's house last night for the fireworks...being that I absolutely hate fireworks, I hibernated at home with the pets. My dog didn't seem to mind the Boom Boom Pow going on, but my cats? Different story. Now I know where the term "scaredy-cat" comes from. I felt their pain, as I hate the noise, too. I cranked up the TV and tried to drown it all out - but it was hard.

I eventually gave up and gave in, grabbed the dog, and went down to the dock to watch some of the fireworks over the lake. This is unheard of - ME, watching fireworks...but it was kinda' cool to sit there in the dark, with the dog, watching the reflection of the fireworks over the water...

The fireworks at the lake had just finished at 9:30 pm when the skies opened and the rains came...and it rained all night and has been pretty much raining all day today...but that gave me a good excuse to pull the suitcase out and get my packing for Guatemala done EARLY.

Yes, you read that right...EARLY. I am packed 3 days before I leave.

Unheard of.

But soooooo nice.

And - we had FOUR showings of the "old" house over the weekend - which, considering it was a holiday weekend, we were thrilled. Feedback has been very positive - so we're crossing our fingers that one of those showings will lead to an offer.

How was YOUR weekend?? Did you do anything unheard of??!

Peace.

Hubby's Shopping Trip

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Father's Day - and Hubby received some gift cards to Cabela's - a fabulous, giant sports store located here in Kansas City. Those gift cards had been burning a hole in Hubby's pocket...to the point that on Saturday, he couldn't stand it any longer.

He eagerly snatched up his gift cards and ran out the door to his car, hollering at me, "I'm heading to Cabela's - there's some boat thingies I need to get."

(Okay, he really didn't say "thingies"...I'm sure he used the technical words, but because I'm not a technical boat person, all I heard was "thingies.")

Anywho, he heads off, does his shopping, and then heads to the check-out counter, where he proudly hands the cashier his Cabela's gift cards when it came time to pay for his thingies.

The clerk says, "I'm sorry...I can't take those."

Hubby looks shocked....and says, "What do you mean, you can't take those??! That's crazy! Why can't I use my gift cards??"

And the clerk says, "Because you're not at a Cabela's, sir...this is a Bass Pro Shop."

Bwahahahahahaha.

In his excitement, Hubby went to the wrong store. And for all their supposedly wonderful customer service, the fine folks at Bass Pro Shop wouldn't accept gift cards to their biggest competitor, Cabela's. Go figure.

Peace.

Friday Fragments: The Summer Edition

A gorgeous Friday here in the Heartland, and I have nothing but fragments...

1. A cramp in my leg was my wake-up call this morning...ACK! I hate that. I kicked up my jogging a little yesterday on the treadmill, and I think this is the result. I won't be jogging today - as I am doing good to limp today.

2. I love the 99-cent Sonic sundaes after 8:00 p.m. Hot fudge is one of the best foods ever invented.

3. I played Boat Bunko the other night...picture four pontoon boats with 20 wild women, and you get the picture. Lots of fun, laughter and good times. I had the most wins of the night - that NEVER happens, so its worth mentioning.

The ladies of Boat Bunko in Winnebago....

4. I leave for Guatemala in one week...frantically getting last-minute things ready for my family to carry on without me for 10 days. We'll be feeding orphaned children in Guatemala City - I hope to have some amazing stories when I get back of how this mission trip has touched me.

5. Still waiting to hear from the lab on my 3 moles that were removed last week....praying for good news....

6. Went and watched 17-year old son pitch the other night...his new coach has "tweaked" his curve ball, and it's not as effective as what his "old" curve ball was. Baseball is 90% psychological - son is now struggling with his pitching, and it's hard as a Mom to watch. I can't wait for this summer season to end so we can kiss this coach goodbye and son can get back to his old routine and his old curveball, which was VERY effective.


7. I love Top Chef on Bravo TV...as well as the Real Housewife series...my guilty summertime viewing pleasures....

8. "Wipeout" on ABC makes me laugh...

9. Was driving home the other afternoon, and a Mama Deer and her baby fawn were on the side of the road. Because I take my camera everywhere, I managed to snag a photo. The fawn was too cute - but has a tendency to sometimes stand in the middle of the road, according to neighbors' reports. The fawn needs to learn an important lesson about cars...and deer...before it's too late.


10. Am I the only non-Twilight fan in the country? I struggled through the first book, gave up in the 2nd book, and haven't even picked up the 3rd or 4th books...I won't be watching the movies.

11. I AM reading a series of books now by the author Randy Wayne White...his "Doc Ford" books are pretty awesome. I'm in Book #3 right now - and there's 17. Yikes. I need to get going on that reading!

Have a great Friday, everyone!

Going Psycho at Chipotle

So, I was out running errands yesterday - it's one of those days when I need to pick up a prescription, buy some birthday cards and gifts, yada, yada, yada - and it's time for lunch.

My choices come down to McDonald's, Taco Bell, or Chipotle.

No brainer. I choose Chipotle - fresh, farm ingredients and made to order burritos- it's just about my favorite place in the world. My tummy perked up when I thought of Chipotle, and it was cheering, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Chipotle, please!"



So, I hop into Chipotle around noon, thinking that it will soon be pretty busy but I should be a smidgeon ahead of the rush.

When I walked inside, I was immediately struck at how long the line was. Wow. That's unusual, I think. But the line usually moves pretty quickly, so I head to the back of the line and do what any red-blooded American does when forced to wait...I dig out my cell phone and immediately bury my head into the world of texting, emails and Facebook statuses. Whatever did we do when we didn't have such hands-on entertainment at our fingertips?!?!

I lose track of time, but at some point, it hits me....

"Hey.....wait a minute....why haven't I moved?!"

Sure enough, I look up and realize the line hasn't moved one little bit. On a normal day, we're doing the "Chipotle Shuffle" - constantly shuffling our feet as we move ever closer to the front of the line. But there's no shuffling going on today. The line is stopped. Dead in our tracks. What's the deal??!!

Deciding to investigate this curious anomaly, (and besides, what else do I have to do? I've got nothing but time), I swing my eyes to the front counter to see if I can determine what the hold-up is...

There are two ladies standing there...and the manager is behind the counter, stacking up a huge pile of burritos. And I mean, HUGE pile of burritos.

Well, this is interesting...How many burritos did those two ladies order? Are they THAT hungry?

The manager then takes picks up a burrito, takes a magic marker and scribbles on the foil what kind of burrito it is, rings it up at the register, tells the blonde lady how much it is, brunette lady hands over the money, change is given back, and the manager places the burrito in a sack. It's important to understand this little scenario, because - I kid you not - it is then repeated 32 times.

THIRTY-TWO freakin' times!!!!

These two imbeciles had ordered 32 burritos for their lazy-ass coworkers back at the office, and proceeded to pay for them - individually - at the counter. ONE AT A TIME.

I know this, because I watched four burritos go into each bag - and there were 8 bags at the end of the entire drama. And math was never my forte - but four x 8 = 32. (Right??!)

By then, ALL eyes in the restaurant were watching this unbelievable tableau...and ALL eyes were shooting daggers at these ladies who had chosen the oh-so-busy time of NOON to come in and place 32 individual burrito orders.

ACK!!! ARGH!!! Curses!!!!

By the time this was all done, the line behind me stretched OUT THE DOOR of the restaurant and down the block...and it was now 25 minutes of standing on my part...and there was NO FREAKIN' WAY I was going to leave without a burrito of my own, because I had now invested 25 minutes of my OWN time standing there!!!!

There was not a sound in that restaurant as those two ladies gathered up their 8 bags of burritos and quietly slinked out the front door.

I'm going back to Chipotle today for lunch to meet a girlfriend. And I swear to God, if those ladies are there - there will be a scene the likes of which you've never seen.

I really don't want to be on the 10:00 news tonight as the lead story: "Psycho Lady Goes Nuts Inside Chipotle - Screaming 32! 32! No More 32!"

Pray for me.

Peace.