Saturday, August 25, 2007

"The End Justifies the Means" does not include losing sleep in airports far away from home....

Once upon a time there were two sisters, Mandi and Maggie. They hadn't seen each other for many years and were very excited about their planned reunion. It was to begin in the Denver airport....that was until the Evil United Airlines undertook their wicked plot to keep the sisters apart.
Sister Mandi did her best to wade through the vicious onset of mishaps such as missing bags, tornado warnings, and lightning storms, but was unable to evade United's evil plot. She unwillingly spent 40 hours on planes and in airports en route to Bismarck, ND.
Sister Maggie arrived nearly uneventfully to Bismarck, albeit 18 hours before her sister would reunite her. Amid the tears of bitter disappointment she got off the plane, ready to navigate the maze of baggage carousels, only to find that there were a mere two of them. Sighing with relief, and feeling very self-conscious (after looking around) that she lacked her cowgirl boots and bleached, flipped out locks, she proceeded to make hotel reservations and arrange for a shuttle to pick her up.
She went outside to wait for the shuttle, which wasn't hard to recognize, considering she was the only person sitting in front of the tiny airport. (You don't have to pay to park there...) The van pulled up and Reese Witherspoon from Legally Blonde got out and daintily hoisted her suitcase into the back. They engaged in conversation on their way back to the hotel, as she told Maggie she'd lived in Bismarck all of her life and that she loved it but maybe was thinking about going to Fargo, ND to go to college! (Maggie sensed fear and insecurity in her eye-liner rimmed eyes when she mentioned a bigger city)

After a sad night alone, the sisters were once again reunited in the scenic Bismarck airport. They are once again happy and have begun a campaign to stop other sisters from being kept apart by Evil United.

The End.


Interview with one of the sisters: "North Dakota residents are certainly friendly! I wonder, though, at the luck of Mandi's destination, because every time I answer the question of destination with a confident "Minot, ND" I am met with a strange look and the question, "What are you DOING in Minot?" Apparently nobody goes there. :) I don't know why. I mean, every girl I've met so far has had lovely bleached hair and an IQ of about 10! Seems like a great state to me..... "

But, you know, we're the epitome of normal so we're thinking that no splash will be heard in Minot, ND upon our arrival.

Chillin' in North Dakota

I know, I know, WHO chills in North Dakota?


Mandi, Phil and family are moving to North Dakota from Germany. This required a preview trip to scope out housing, etc. Aunt Maggie was invited to join Mandi for a week in Minot to accomplish these tasks.

It didn't take long to get a feel for the place....beginning with "Da Udder Place" in the middle of town.... This is their new house! It is still being built, we met with the builder today and talked light fixtures, flooring, paint, etc.
Predicted finishing date is November 1st.
Minot....dry, brown, flat. The feisty little orange mobile is our rental car. Mandi skillfully wheeled it down off the highway to hold the camera so we could procure a scenic photo (see top). We made quite a scene for this un-touristed town, and even got a few hill-billyish whistles.... We decided to stay indoors after that. ;)


Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Normal? Not even in the same zip code as normal.....

This was at 7:30 in the morning....
Um, new meaning for "eat your eyes out"? Maybe?"Kids! Aloha! Baby Handsome...." Hey, Mom.....would you mind if I nibbled on your freshly harvested zucchini? Thanks.
Zucchini!

And yes, we're always Plumb Tuckered out at the end of the day.....







Happy 35th Anniversary!

July 29th was Mom and Dad's Anniversary...the big 35. In their honor I assembled a little quilt. It is made of a block for each of their children. (thank goodness they had 10 of 'em, it gave me a lot to work with) Here's to some awesome parents!







Kick back, insert your face into your trusty old reading glasses, and enjoy your stay!