I LUV Roadtrips!

I've been looking forward to our family roadtrip to Colorado all summer, and a couple weeks ago, we finally took it!  It wasn't exactly what any of us were expecting...  Instead of the whole family heading west, we (we being me, my sisters Robyn and Wendy, and Wendy's 4-year old Elena) found ourselves heading out on our own.  But oh what fun!  I had a blast!

We'd always meant to take a roadtrip on our own someday, but hadn't ever gotten round to it.  Elena ended up being an awesome traveler...even without medication of any kind!  Well...maybe there was a little medication, but it was near the end of trip and the poor dear was throwing up.  And...I didn't really mean to go into all that.

Anyway, there are a few highlights to come, but that's all for now folks!

Let the River Flow

Last Sunday I was invited to sing with the worship team at a local church, and one of the songs we sang was entitled: Let the River Flow.  Although the song had nothing to do with rivers...it seemed an interesting choice considering the recent behavior of the muddy Missouri river that borders our county.

Let's just say it hasn't been minding its boundaries.

Although miles and miles of farmland has been flooded, the major populated areas of Doniphan county have escaped disaster so far.  Many people predicted that this years flooding would be worse than the infamous '93 flood, but somehow it wasn't!  Some experts said that the river carved down into its bed as the water barreled south...crazy huh?  Crazy awesome!

Capturing the Elusive Sponge

     Not long after moving to the Isle of Lewis, I developed feelings for the queen of tea accompaniments, the Victoria Sponge.  The Victoria Sponge is amazing.  I wish I could translate the texture, taste and aesthetic beauty of this wonderful dessert into a description worthy of its splendor, but all I can think to say is that it's amazing.  It's perfect when made by experienced hands, even if those experienced hands are supervising.  That's right, back on Lewis, I successfully baked a Victoria Sponge under the careful supervision of a master.  It was...yeah...amazing.

     Anyway, back to the story.  I decided I'd make this dessert for my family last month, so after taking another look at a tested and tried recipe given to me by the best sponge makers on the island, I gathered my supplies.  It didn't take me long to find some holes...  Caster sugar?  What is that?  Obviously something that Americans don't see the point of.  Which would account for my never having met a cake worthy of the Victoria Sponge on this side of the pond.  Once I decided to just use regular sugar, I realized that we didn't have any self-raising flour handy, but I'd already set my heart on making it that second, so I used regular flour with some baking...soda?  powder?  Something along those lines.

     So, I made my cake.  I could tell fairly early on that it would not be the kind of sponge I was used to hogging at various music nights, and tea breaks on Lewis.  Here's the finished product...

     Well, it was spongy.  Like, dish spongy.  The taste was ok, and made it edible, but good grief what a let down.  Some people decided to forego the pleasure of my sponge...  Smart kid.

Carrying on a bit of fishing...

I haven't been fishing in many many moons.  I mean, it's quite possible that I haven't fished since I turned 16.  That's 10 years ago!  Now, it's not like I've been longing to go all this time, I haven't been pining after quality time with a fishing pole.  I clearly remember not being very successful, and quietly & patiently waiting for fish to bite isn't exactly up my alley.

However, in spite of my history (or lack of history) with fishing, I decided to head out with my dad and sister this weekend.  Guess what!  I caught some!  In fact, I was the first one to reel one in.  I'm 78% sure that my success was due to the trail mix I brought along.  I think that snacking helped me relax, and kept me quiet.  I am 100% sure that the trail mix made the experience more enjoyable than a food-free fishing trip would've been.

New Dentist Digs

Today I went to the dentist, and sometime in the past two years, they moved to some impressive new digs!  Exciting, I know.  Just look at the waiting room reception area...that is indeed a handy iced tea dispenser for waiting patients.  Probably unsweetened, but in this neck of the woods (my mother excluded), I believe that's just fine.

I was in a bit of a rush this afternoon, so I didn't have time to get home and brush my teeth after my yummy lunch of peppercorn steak over rice with the grandparents (their treat!).  Ever the problem solver, I made a hasty visit to the CVS across the street from the dentist for a cheap toothbrush and toothpaste, and managed to walk in exactly on time!  I was feeling pretty good about my quick thinking until I walked into their equally lovely restroom to brush my teeth.  They had a basket full of colorful, good quality toothbrushes, travel sized toothpaste tubes, and floss there for the taking!

So I took one of each and stuffed them in my purse.  After the ordeal that followed, I don't feel guilty at all.

I once suspected that I had bipolar disorder

Circa 2008

The suspicion was short-lived, however, and I have since come to the conclusion that I'm just bad at making tough decisions...and sticking to them!

Luckily, these days I'm not suspecting bipolar disorder, but maybe just a dash of schizophrenia.  A tad?  Since I've been home, I can't seem to get a handle on the girl I was before I left.  I'm finding it difficult to understand her and some of her decisions completely, and in addition to being mildly baffling, this is also a bit scary.  What if, 3 years from now, I'm in the same position, and I can't understand why I felt so strongly about following a path I'm about to choose?  Whew...  I usually end this train of thought right here, so...

That brings me to a funny little paragraph I found today while I was looking through one of the many boxes of stuff I stashed at mom's house while I was away.

On the first page of an old blue Peter Rabbit journal, I found this gem:

This is a storybook I wrote in my spare time.  I wrote all these storys from the insporation of all my animals.  My sister Robyn was writing about her cat sugar.  So I am grateful.


Come again?  Seriously, who was that?  I have no idea... but I suspect that whoever it was would probably be mortified that her future self would post it on a blog.  Sorry lil Jennifer.

The Ness Melodeon Band World Tour!

So I mentioned a few trips taken during my "blank blog" period in the month before I made it home to Kansas, and the Ness Melodeon Band World Tour was the first of the trips.

South Africa & America!

Technically it was the Ness Melodeon Band Highland tour (2 nights in 2 venues), but Fios, the weekly paper in Ness, publicized it as the World Tour and the title stuck!  However, in the end, the trip lived up to our expectations.  As you see above...

The band rented a big van...

And the two stops were Poolewe and Beauly, two very picturesque highland towns.  We had an awesome time!  I was a groupie, and mostly just hung out with the band, danced at the ceilidhs and took pictures.  Our accommodation at Poolewe was definitely an adventure though, and I will never forget my night's stay in the Poolewe hotel.  And thanks to me, neither will you.

Apparently the hotel went bankrupt after our reservations were made, but decided to honor them anyway...which was lovely.  The room however was a little less than lovely.  It was FREEZING because the heat wasn't turned on, and the hot water was really really temperamental.  So temperamental that we had no idea that we even had hot water until 20 minutes after we turned on the hot water tap!  Nothing (no, not even freezing cold water) came out of the faucet for the first 20 minutes.  Luckily we forgot to turn it off, so we were surprised with torrents of hot water when it eventually did work.  When I say "we," I mean my roommate Lesli.  Lesli was the lucky girl to get sprayed with uncontrollable, boiling hot water.

Anyway, even though the room was freezing, the hot water was temperamental, and the shower was in the main bedroom...with a glass door, everything paled in comparison with the roll top bath.  I will never forget you lovely roll top bath.  I mean it.