Well hello there.
Wondering where I was?
Yeah, me too.
So last week was a somewhat unexpected jaunt to the Midwest. I flew out Tuesday night for the Hoosier state and returned back in Vegas last night (after what can only be described as The Longest Day of Traveling Ever. You know you are in an airport too long when you start to make friends. Which I did.)
Anyways, while I'm not going to disclose the reasons for the trip, I will share with you some of the more colorful details:
-- I left a gloriously sunny 85-degree day in Vegas to find myself in 103 heat index weather. What? After sweltering for two days and watching my normally-straight hair curl into weird peaks and valleys of frizz, the temp then plummeted fifty degrees. It was 60 and chilly for the rest of the trip. My verdict: the weather in the Midwest is weeeee-ird.
-- Speaking of weather, the world's loudest thunder storm hit on Wednesday night. I'm talking boom, crash, the-house-is-going-to-fall down-thunder. I felt like I was eight again and seriously considered sleeping in my closet. (it just felt safer). Instead, I tucked my blanket around my chin and burrowed in. Scary stuff.
-- All of that water flooded most of the rural roads my parents live by. On my way out of their subdivision, I encountered a giant lake in the middle of the street. I'm happy to say all of Southern Nevada's Flood Control commercials popped into my brain at that moment ("Turn Around - Don't Drown!") and I promptly took another way out. Sadly, this added about 35 minutes to my trip, but hey, at least I didn't stall the car.
-- I saw a deer. Scared the life out of me.
-- In a matter of 90 minutes while mowing my parents' gigantic lawn, I managed to spray myself with dog mace (thought it was bug spray), see a snake, and be a delicious host for mosquitoes. I feel lucky on that last one - while I walked away with only a few bites, my very-Irish sister (read: pale skin + red hair + sweet blood = the Joel Robuchon of bug dining) suffered more bites than we could count. And in her typical ultra-sensitive skin manner, her bites immediately flared up to the size of half dollars.
-- When I told my mom I saw a snake, her first comment was, "You didn't hurt it, did you?" (I knew she was going to come back with some variation of "Did you bring him over so I could see?" "Was he cute?" or "Is he okay?" This is just my mother.) I was just trying to get my heart rate down to its normal level and my mother is concerned I'm not being a gracious host to the slithering creature.
And finally, I just have to share this last story, since I think it describes my mom to a T...(sorry, Mom, but it's too cute not to share.)
About two weeks ago, a terribly storm ripped through their area. My mom was at church when it hit, and it was so bad the priest let everyone leave early. She was anxious to get home to my dad, but found tree branches and roads washed out with each new direction she turned down. She finally was able to cut through several different roads, but as she was driving in the rain, winds, and thunder, she noticed a giant snapping turtle stranded in the middle of the road. Instead of just gunning the car home and getting out of the storm (like 99% of us would have done), she stops the car, gets out, and grabs the turtle by the back of his shell. He's craning around to bite her and she's yelling, "I'm trying to save your life!" She managed to drag him back into the swamp safely, get back in the car, and then went on her way.
Honestly? How can you not love a person who would do that? As she said with a shrug as she retold the tale, "You know...they are all of God's creatures."
Aw.
Love you, Mom and Dad.
Wondering where I was?
Yeah, me too.
So last week was a somewhat unexpected jaunt to the Midwest. I flew out Tuesday night for the Hoosier state and returned back in Vegas last night (after what can only be described as The Longest Day of Traveling Ever. You know you are in an airport too long when you start to make friends. Which I did.)
Anyways, while I'm not going to disclose the reasons for the trip, I will share with you some of the more colorful details:
-- I left a gloriously sunny 85-degree day in Vegas to find myself in 103 heat index weather. What? After sweltering for two days and watching my normally-straight hair curl into weird peaks and valleys of frizz, the temp then plummeted fifty degrees. It was 60 and chilly for the rest of the trip. My verdict: the weather in the Midwest is weeeee-ird.
-- Speaking of weather, the world's loudest thunder storm hit on Wednesday night. I'm talking boom, crash, the-house-is-going-to-fall down-thunder. I felt like I was eight again and seriously considered sleeping in my closet. (it just felt safer). Instead, I tucked my blanket around my chin and burrowed in. Scary stuff.
-- All of that water flooded most of the rural roads my parents live by. On my way out of their subdivision, I encountered a giant lake in the middle of the street. I'm happy to say all of Southern Nevada's Flood Control commercials popped into my brain at that moment ("Turn Around - Don't Drown!") and I promptly took another way out. Sadly, this added about 35 minutes to my trip, but hey, at least I didn't stall the car.
-- I saw a deer. Scared the life out of me.
-- In a matter of 90 minutes while mowing my parents' gigantic lawn, I managed to spray myself with dog mace (thought it was bug spray), see a snake, and be a delicious host for mosquitoes. I feel lucky on that last one - while I walked away with only a few bites, my very-Irish sister (read: pale skin + red hair + sweet blood = the Joel Robuchon of bug dining) suffered more bites than we could count. And in her typical ultra-sensitive skin manner, her bites immediately flared up to the size of half dollars.
-- When I told my mom I saw a snake, her first comment was, "You didn't hurt it, did you?" (I knew she was going to come back with some variation of "Did you bring him over so I could see?" "Was he cute?" or "Is he okay?" This is just my mother.) I was just trying to get my heart rate down to its normal level and my mother is concerned I'm not being a gracious host to the slithering creature.
And finally, I just have to share this last story, since I think it describes my mom to a T...(sorry, Mom, but it's too cute not to share.)
About two weeks ago, a terribly storm ripped through their area. My mom was at church when it hit, and it was so bad the priest let everyone leave early. She was anxious to get home to my dad, but found tree branches and roads washed out with each new direction she turned down. She finally was able to cut through several different roads, but as she was driving in the rain, winds, and thunder, she noticed a giant snapping turtle stranded in the middle of the road. Instead of just gunning the car home and getting out of the storm (like 99% of us would have done), she stops the car, gets out, and grabs the turtle by the back of his shell. He's craning around to bite her and she's yelling, "I'm trying to save your life!" She managed to drag him back into the swamp safely, get back in the car, and then went on her way.
Honestly? How can you not love a person who would do that? As she said with a shrug as she retold the tale, "You know...they are all of God's creatures."
Aw.
Love you, Mom and Dad.
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