Thanksgiving Journey Day 5

Wednesday afternoon, Michael, Ryan, and I headed to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport to pick up Brock at 5:00pm.  It was about a two hour drive.  Then we went to check in to the Residence Inn and went out to eat at a place called The Marketplace:

When the bill came and the waiter asked how we wanted it split, I jumped in and said, "You can put it all on one, and he's paying" and I pointed to Michael.  It is amazing how often this works!  I encourage you all to try it next time you're out to eat with someone =)

Throughout the day we kept getting updates about my mom and her flight status'.  She had hoped to fly out standby all day, but with no seats available she wasn't able to get on an earlier flight.  Her expected flight was on an hour delay out of South Bend.  When she finally boarded the plane, they sat on the runway for an hour and a half.  Needless to say, Carol missed her connection at O'Hare, and since it was the last flight out for the night, had to get a hotel room and didn't come in to Arkansas until Thanksgiving morning. 

Ryan and I went to bed for the night, while Michael and Brock went back to airport to pick up Kelly at 9:00pm.

Thanksgiving Journey Day 4

Michael's here!

And so is a cute little chipmunk!

Ryan, Michael, Dad, and I went back to Branson to go zip-lining.  

We did a total of 7 zip lines and 3 hanging bridges.  On one line, none of us made it all the way across.  Ryan got the closest, about 5 feet away.  So he turned around and pulled himself in backwards hand by hand.  Dad did the same method from much further away.  I stopped REALLY far from the platform.  My dad yells to me that I need to turn around and pull myself in hand by hand.  As I'm doing this, and have moved all of about 8 inches, the guide zips out to me, wraps his legs around me, and he pulls the both of us in hand by hand.  Michael is the last to arrive, and again, he doesn't make the platform.  So the guide throws a rope out to him that Michael grabs, and the guide pulls him into the platform. 

This is us with our tour guides Kyle (on the right) and Dakota (on the left).

After zip lining we went to Reeds Springs, MO to try the "Best Pizza in Missouri" as hailed by USA Today.

We took the pizzas home so Teri could enjoy them too.  After inhaling the pizzas, Michael, Ryan, and I, turned around and headed right back to Branson to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Imax.

Thanksgiving Journey Day 3

As luck would have it, there is a Lambert's Cafe right here in Springfield.  So Ryan and I went there for lunch.

It was VERY exciting!  This kid throws rolls across the restaurant at people.  You must catch it to eat it.  Some of them hit the floor, or fall short the person who it was meant for, but overall this kid has really good aim.  And I love his suspenders...

 After lunch we headed down to Branson, MO.  We started off by going to the Titanic Museum.  Upon entering you were assigned an actual passenger on the ship.  I was Sarah Sage, the eldest child in the Sage family.  The Sage family was the largest family on board the ship.  There were two parents and nine children, and they were traveling third class.  Sarah made it onto a life boat, but upon realizing none other of her family members did, she got off of it to go find them.  None of the Sage family survived. 

After that we went to the Hollywood Wax Museum.  See facebook for more photos!

We tried going to the Veterans Museum, but we arrived less than 30 minutes before it closed so they wouldn't let us go through it.  As it got darker we ended up driving through a festival of lights.  It was like Washington Park in Michigan City, except they charge $10 per car in Branson.  We had dinner and then went in search of the World's Largest Banjo that we kept seeing signs for.  We finally found it!

 

 But the whole reason we were in Branson for the day was because we all had tickets to The Shanghai Theater's production of the Acrobats of China.  Michael, Teri, and Tom all came down and met us at the theatre for an 8pm show.

There were no pictues allowed inside expcet this one!

Thanksgiving Journey Day 2

Today was a rather long day of boring driving.  We took 60W all the way from Paducah, KY to Springfield, MO.  It is flat, deserted, and long. 

Of course I had several fun photo opportunities planned for the day:  We were going to see a tiny tiny church in Bardswell, KY, go to Lambert's Cafe is Sikeston, MO, go see the largest ball of hair at some barber shop in Charleston, MO, and then end with the world's largest fork in Springfield, MO. 

Well the day was very overcast and it rained sporadically.  I figured it wouldn't be a very good picture to go stand out in the rain next to a tiny church, so I took that off the list of activities.  Then we were supposed to go to Lambert's Cafe.  This place is hailed as a restaurant where they throw rolls at you.  Well we passed it about an hour after we left Paducah, after we had eaten breakfast, so we weren't hungry, so we took that off the list also.  

Finally, one destination that didn't involve us eating while full, nor standing in the rain:  the World's Largest Ball of Hair.   According to the website that I use to find all these fun locations, this ball of hair was featured on CNN in 2007 and was 167 lbs at that time.  We pulled up to the barber shop, and were severely disappointed.  The place was so small, run down, paint chipping, and not open.  I did get my picture taken outside of the place, but I don't really believe that huge ball of hair is in there somewhere...

So far, three out of three photo ops have gone bust.  So we got back on the road, in the overcast and rainy weather, and continue driving amongst the barren land.  Then all of a sudden, I saw the most coca-cola vending machines I've ever seen in one location.  We pulled over, and took some pictures. 

 Then we got REALLY desperate, and saw up the road some weird horses in front of a bank.  We were desperate for pictures, so we took some there too. 

 Upon finally arriving in Springfield, we easily found the World's Largest Fork.

**********************************************

We ended up arriving at my dad's girlfriend's house, Teri.  My dad was not home, so Teri entertained us for about 2 hours. 

I had explained to Ryan that my dad has hair halfway down his back, that he wears self-made dangley earrings, and some other pertinent information he needed to know about King Tom.  When my dad came through the door though, he had cut off all his hair, and there were no earrings in sight!  Made me look like a liar!!!

So the four of us drank and were merry for the evening.  Dad was on his best behavior, and only said a couple inappropriate things (such as, to Ryan, "I'm an adrenaline junky - that's why I love sex!").

Thanksgiving Journey Day 1

Ryan and I left this morning from GA, headed into TN, and ended up in KY for the night.  Upon crossing the TN border we went to Ruby Falls in Chattanooga.  Ruby Falls is a waterfall INSIDE a cave!  We got out of the car and paid to enter, not realizing it was a 1.5 hour tour! 

It was really  neat though.  Along the way to get to the waterfall, there are a couple "formations" to keep you entertained.  Just like when you look up at clouds and you can see shapes in them, someone saw certain formations made out of the rock:

Of course the grand finale is so tall that I couldn't fit it all in one picture:

We went to the Cracker Barrel for lunch.  Then I drove while Ryan slept, and then Ryan drove while I slept.

We knew we would be staying the night somewhere around Paducah, KY since it is the halfway point to where we're going.  There is an outdoor ice skating rink in downtown Paducah so we went ice skating in 50 degree weather!  Ryan is definitely not so comfortable on ice skates, but I appreciated the effort while I skated laps around him =)  Since we were already downtown we wandered around until we found a place we wanted to eat.  We ended up eating at the Whaler's Catch.  They had this huge upstairs outside deck kind of similar to Matey's in Michigan City, but we ate in the warmth of the heat inside.  The food was phenomenal! 

Now we are situated at the Country Inn and Suites for the night.  Overall, the day was AWESOME and one of the most fun I've had in a LONG time!

Coming Soon

Fear not faithful readers, Ryan and I are leaving for a week tomorrow.  I'm sure there will be PLENTY to blog about =)

The schedule is to take two days to drive to Springfield, MO where my dad and his girlfriend live.  We will be staying with them from Sunday until Wednesday morning.  Yes, Ryan is going under trial by fire meeting and living with King Tom!  Michael is flying in to join us on Monday morning. 

Then on Wednesday we will head to Springdale, Arkansas for the next couple days for the big annual Bulger family Thanksgiving.  Mom, Brock, and Michael's girlfriend are flying in at various times on Wednesday. 

In other news, Ryan and I have officially finished the beginning square dance lessons.  We completed 12 weeks and are now eligible to go on to the next level of classes starting right after Thanksgiving. 

Also, I have a job interview scheduled for the Monday after Thanksgiving at Marietta Middle School.  It is part of a charter school system in Marietta, GA and I will be interviewing for a contractor position of Title I math support specialist.  Today, I sent in all my official paperwork to the state of GA to get my GA teaching license. 

Ok, I'm over it

I've officially gotten tired of doing NOTHING. 

I have nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to see, and no one to talk to.

I volunteer a maximum of 4 hours a week, and I tutor 2 hours a week. 

I have tennis lessons for 1 hour a week, which ends this coming week, and I have square dancing for 1.5 hours a week, which also ends this coming week.  

So for about 9 hours a week, I'm booked.  Other than that, I have absolutely no where to be at any time during the other 159 hours a week. 

The cycle of doing nothing perpetuates doing nothing.

If it's a really exciting day, I go tanning AND work out. 

Otherwise, I've got nothing. 

I have nothing to blog about, and I have nothing to talk about. 

The high lite of last week was Galea calling me and needing math help over the phone.

Square Dancing

After embarrassingly having our square moved to the front of the room since we kept messing up, the caller, Ray, continually reminded the class that square dancing is progressive.  You have to be at class in order to learn the moves taught that night, because the following week builds more moves on the previous ones.

When I learned that Ryan was going to be in Montgomery last week, and he is in Orlando this week, I emailed the Square Dealers Club and tried to gracefully bow out.

Hi Angie,

I wanted to let you know that Ryan and I are not going to be able to complete the lessons.  We've already missed 2 weeks due to his work schedule and it looks like we would be missing this week and next as well.  Unfortunately, he has been traveling a lot lately!

Also, can you please give a message to Al and his wife for us?  They were going to be our angels at class tomorrow night, but like I said, we will not be able to make it.  I know Al's wife doesn't come every week, and I don't want her to make a special trip out to class thinking that she has a partner all set up.

Thanks Angie!  We've really enjoyed the lessons and meeting all the people.  We are definitely bummed that we can't commit the way we know a student needs to be able to.  Maybe next time when your lessons start up again?

Thanks,
Courtney

But they would not let us quit.  We are the youngest people in the lessons, and apparently they love us! Here is the response I got:

Dear Courtney and Ryan

I discussed your email with Louis (President of KSD).  We would like to propose something to you, we think you are a super couple and would love to have you finish lessons and join our club.  I understand the difficulties of having to travel due to your job, my job requires the same.  What I would like to offer to you is getting some angels to meet maybe on the weekend and help you keep up with the class when Ryan has to travel.  We could have 6 angels work with you and Ryan an hour or two.  I think  you are doing such a great job in class and with a little extra help we think we could keep you up with the class.  I don't want to pressure you to continue if you think the demands of Ryan's job will continue to keep you out of the Thursday nite class but if we could help you a week here and there we think we can make it work.  Also, if you can come to class when Ryan is gone that would help keep you up with the class.  Let me know if you are interested in this option and I will start working on a place and angels to help. 

Angie

Then, Angie and I got this email:

Courtney & Angie,

Good morning ladies!  I live approximately 3 miles from the Community Center in a sub-division called Howell Farms.  We have a clubhouse that is available most any time.  As President of the homeowner association (L), I have the keys and can used it when needed.  It’s a great place for us to meet.

Louis

So after all these emails, Ryan actually made it back in time for Square Dancing last week.  And it looks like he will be back from Orlando just in time this week.   So we tried to quit, but they would not let us, and onward we square dance.  Do si do baby...

Bingo in GA is BOOTY!

I took Ryan to bingo last night.  I geeked him up about fun it is, I showed him my bingo bag and all the different colored dobbers he could choose from.  I showed him my lucky trolls.  I gave him hints about changing your luck, like if the color you're using isn't winning, change colors.  Or if the lucky troll you have out isn't being lucky, get another one out or rub on a different one. 

I told him that it's kind of expensive...like $25-30 per person, but that each game's prize is $100 minimum, with some games even being worth $300, $500, or $1000.  I told him we would be playing for about 3 hours and that there would be around 30 games.  I showed him all the fun ways a person can get a bingo (it's not just straight lines anymore folks!).  I told him the people are vicious, and if your cell phone goes off you get screamed at by about 4 different grumpy old bingo-ers.  I told him that people yell at the caller if the numbers they want aren't coming up.  I told him that if you yell bingo when you really don't have one (on accident) the whole room goes "No!  It's a coverall!" or something of the sort.  It was fun to reminisce about the fun I've enjoyed at bingo halls over the years...

But that's where the fun ended.  We got to the VFW, bought our packets, and chose a seat.  I explained how the number on the tv monitor is the next number being called, and the blinking number on the bingo board is the last number that was called.  There were five games on the menu.  FIVE!  That's it, only five.  I thought we would be out of there in about a half hour to 45 minutes and I was disappointed.  I was even more disappointed when TWO HOURS later, we were still there. 

This was the absolute slowest bingo caller I have ever experienced.  We played 5 games in 2 hours versus about 20 games in 2 hours in South Bend.  I was playing games on my iPhone in between each number being called.  It was that slow.  It was awful!  Someone's cell phone went off, and I got all excited thinking "Here come the fireworks!" but NOT ONE person yelled at her.  Not one!  In fact, the room was eerily silent the entire evening.  No one was chatting with their friends, like they do in South Bend.  If I needed to tell Ryan something, I felt like I was a freak of nature for speaking during the 2 hour silent bingo. 

No one ever yelled at the caller, there was no smoking allowed, and children were allowed to be there!  It was the strangest bingo experience I've ever been a part of - and NOT in a good way!!!  Phooey...

Mon/Tues/Wed

Ryan got off work around noon on Monday.  We went out to lunch at Pure Taqueria, which is one of the places I took Kelly when she was in town visiting.  (Side note: Ryan used to tell his friends that we met at Pure, because he was embarrassed to say we met on eHarmony.)  After eating we went outside and sat on the fun furniture in a little court yard type place to enjoy the beautiful weather.  Across the street there is a bike shop called Out Spokin, and we went there next because Ryan is in the market for a mountain bike.  Then Ryan took me to pick up my car from the shop, and then we both went back home. 

When I got home I realized I did not have my cell phone.  It had to be one of three places:  Pure, Out Spokin, or the car place.  Ryan called the car shop and asked them if there was an iPhone there, and they said no.  So I hopped into my car and drove back to Pure. I knew FOR SURE that I had my phone while we were sitting outside on the fun furniture.  When I got there I looked all over the bench – under it, around it, on it… but there was no phone.  So I went into Pure and inquired about anyone turning in a missing iPhone and they said they had it!  In the mean time they had called Kelly, in Indiana, to try to get a hold of me.  WHEW!  Random acts of kindness ROCK!

While I was gone on the mad hunt for my iPhone, Ryan noticed that my car was leaking oil in his garage.  Do you know what he did?  He took my car back into the shop the very next morning, while I was still sleeping, to have them look at it.  When he got back, and I woke up, he asked me what my schedule was for the day.  Well Papa’s Pantry called and asked if I could come in and cover the office from 12:45-4:15pm, then I tutored from 4:45-5:45, and then I had tennis from 6:30-7:30.  Do you know what he did?  He told me to take his car for the day so that he could wash and wax mine.  My car has never been waxed in its life.  He is so good to me!

Working in the office at Papa’s Pantry was interesting.  I answered the phone, greeted the clients who had pantry appointments, and made photo copies of their driver’s licenses.  I’ve never worked in an office before; it was fun.  I got all dressed up like I actually had a job!  And I had plenty of time to read the book I’ve been reading, Schooled, by Anisha Lakhani.  It is about an Upper East Side Manhattan private school teacher who makes diddly squat during the day for her salary, but charges $250/hour to tutor.  

Speaking of tutoring, when I went to my tutoring appointment, after 15 minutes the girl was like “Ok, that’s it.  That’s all I have to work on.  There’s nothing else we can do.”  So I asked her to get out her textbook.  She informed me she doesn’t have a textbook.  They are doing 9^th grade math, and she is only in 8^th grade, so there is no textbook.  Upon hearing this, her mom came over to suggest various things to do and they got in this huge parent/adolescent fight and mom ended up walking away saying “I’m done with you”.  We spent the rest of the time going over missed problems from some past homework assignments she had.  

Then I went to tennis, and the actual coach, Mark, was there tonight.  There was me and Cameron, of course, but then there were 3 other people too.  Punam, a girl who appeared to be around my age, Drew, some adult male probably in his 40s or 50s, and then John, another 16 year old or so kid.  Although my playing time got cut down slightly since we went from 2 students to 5, having 5 people pick up balls goes amazingly faster!

Today at Papa’s Pantry for my regular shift, there were 3 appointments scheduled.  One lady had 8 people living in her household, one lady had 7 (and 2 dogs), and the other lady had 4.  They get to shop for one week’s worth of food for their entire household.  I was swamped.  They all cleaned the shelves!  I’ve never had to ask the next client to wait until I can re-stock the pantry before they come shop, but I had to do that after every appointment today.  Then I stayed an extra hour stocking the main pantry with new donations.  It’s kind of addicting… I didn’t want to stop but we close at 4:30 so I had to.  Perhaps I will go in on random days to help more with in-take of the donations.  

Ryan left this morning for Montgomery... it's my first day in the house without him.  As you can see by the time stamp on this blog, I'm enjoying being the night owl that I am!

End of October...

My car is in the shop, AGAIN.  It was shaking so bad upon idling that it seemed like it was having a seizure.  It should be done later today. 

Friday night Ryan and I did two things... first, his friend Colin was having his 34th birthday party.  There was a room reserved just for this group at a bar called Mazzy's.  There was a pool table, a couch, several high top tables, 2 TVs, and an outdoor deck.  We were there from about 7:30-10:30.  Then everyone left Mazzy's and went to the costume party at Amy and AT's. 

I ended up ordering the bee costume that I really wanted online and paid for overnight shipping to get it here by Friday.  It came about 5:15 Friday night, and we were leaving at 7:00pm.  Here's that costume:

BUT being that this was the first time I was going to spend any actual time with Ryan's friends, other than Saturday mornings at tennis when I'm barely awake and not showered, I figured I needed to cover up a little bit more.  So I added a bra, and replaced the stockings with black leggings:

As you can imagine, Ryan was constantly getting fondled and groped all night by his friends.  His hat says "I'm nuts about baseball" and the back of his jersey says his name is HUNGLOW.  And of course he plays for the Yank These team.  It was a fun night, and I was the DD.

Some other costumes worth mentioning:

Snooki (in the future, 5/6 months pregnant) and the Situation.

And, Tiger Woods and Elin:

I decided not to renew my monthly lease for the basement apartment, and moved in with Ryan and his cousin Grant.  Today is my first official day here as a tenant =)  Ryan will be gone for 4 days this week in Montgomery, and then next week he will be gone for three days to Orlando.  I think this will be a nice transitional period where I can ease into having room mates again, while still having alone time and down time for myself.  Here goes nothing!