Trip part 1

OK, ok, I'm finally getting with it!

Trip

We started out bright & early about 4 am. Stopped @ QT for a top off of the tank & filled our mugs & the girls got a drink. They were snoring before we even hit the interstate.(of course Kayla had stayed up all night long....)
All went well til we were nearing Miami, Ok on I-44. It was foggy & still rather dark. We saw a city type truck & they waved as we passed by. Odd I thought.
Then traffic was slowing down, then slower, slower.....dead standstill. We were sitting there for almost 20 minutes when finally Jeff got online via mobile broadband & contacted the Highway Patrol. Seems there was a semi on fire up ahead. Great.......So we sat & sat & sat & sat & sat some more. Eventually , folks were getting out of their cars & gathering to talk on the roadside. We were making sandwiches from the cooler in the trunk & the kids were still snoring away. After almost 2 hours of sitting, we finally started to move.














As we neared the Miami exit, the accident revealed itself. Seems a semi pulling a car transport full of new cars hit the concrete barrier in the fog & lost control, it rolled on its side taking the trailer with it, & caught on fire. We never found out the fate of the driver, or if there were any other injuries. Anyone out there knows, it'd be much appreciated.
The rest of the trip goes pretty smooth, various stops for drinks & potty breaks earned Jeff the nickname of Peepot & Abi the name of Peebody.
We made it into Michigan & still burning daylight.Cant imagine how good time we'd have made without the 2 hour stop. We were trucking along pretty good, thinking wed see the exit we needed for I-196, when Jeff noticed the "Welcome to Kalamazoo County" sign.



Whoops. He'd missed his exit some ways back. So we turn around & manage to make it back to our motel we'd reserved.
When we got there, there was a misunderstanding of the price. Seems they'd jacked their rates. Hmmm, must have something to do with the owner being under house arrest for smuggling illegals in from India. LMFAO
We get to our room & all seems ok til we open the roll away bed. Not only is there a condom wrapper shoved inside it but the mattress is torn & looks like someone wiped their ass across it.
Just a forewarning; don't stay at the Flat River Inn
(Flat River Inn & Suites. Flat River Inn & Suites 1104 West Washington Greenville, MI 48838. Phone: (616)754-3668. )

Other things we encounter are the fact its not too terribly clean & both nights that we stayed, when we awoke in the morning, I had a headache & Jeff felt sick. I also had a throaty cough. Kayla couldn't seem to get woke up for awhile. We're thinking there was a mold issue there as there was evidence of prior water damage in the room. Jeff put a call into the Montcalm health dept. hehehe

So Sunday morning we headed over & grabbed the boys & took off for Holland. There we saw the Nelis Dutch Village & Windmill Island. The kids had a really good time, we plunked down a bit of cash & walked all over. It was fantastic, a little cliche but very quaint. :)

Afterward we went out for Chinese. Mmmmmmmmmmm

After dropping off the boys we went back to the hellhole motel & got everything packed for a very early am departure. We all crashed pretty early.

bright & early we took off, still half asleep for Sault Ste. Marie. Going over the Mackinac bridge was awesome, if a little daunting, 5 mile suspension bridge, longest in the US.









While looking for a bathroom, I noticed a sign near a little rustic restaurant that offered rooms for as low as 20-40. I mentioned it to Jeff & we decided to go inside & check it out. They showed us a room, it was fairly charming, a little outdated, but CLEAN. big priority. We went ahead & reserved a room.

We went on our way & soon came to Sault Ste. Marie, driving around a little we finally found the docks.Jeff went in & bought the tickets for the Soo Locks tour & me & the girls took the opportunity to snap a bunch of photos. It was a nice 55 degrees or so at this time.

When he came back, we looked around the shop & office a little & in the gift shop, then went to find food. We found a BK up the way & Abi was determined to save her fries for the Seagulls. LOL We wore our BK king crowns while eating too!

To be continued.......

Just bleh

It's been a very blah couple of days. its gray & gloomy & rainy & I've just generally felt like crap. Met up with an old school friend Sunday. that was really nice. WOW, she had changed! But it was still the same Joyce.A little older, a lot wiser, but the same sweet wonderful Joyce inside that she always was. I cant believe we let so many years come between us. Our kids could have grown up together. I am a little sad over that. But there is no time like the present right?
I have also connected with a few other friends too. Cheri, & Bev. It's like meeting them all over again. Cheri's daughter just turned 13 . Nice to connect over teenagers. it's weird. As well, Joyce's daughter is about to turn 13 too. We also each have younger children about the same age. it's strange those little coincidences. I am meeting up with Cheri this weekend for Alex's birthday party. We have been talking thru email a good bit of late & its amazing how much she has changed, funny how time makes people grow up, huh?
I know Ive grown & changed a lot. Bev is different too, yet still Bev. It's nice to have that link to the past be reopened.
But my best best best friend , lives far away. She's the one I can pour my heart out to & I love you Courtney, & not in a "I wanna crawl in bed with you' kind of way.LOL
Anyway, enough sappy shit, I'm tired, I'm sore & i need a shower. Toodles!

The way we were....or my past comes back

I think about my past a lot. I don't know why. I don't think Id want to go back into my past & I don't really want to change much of anything. If my past changed, it would change who I am now. Although I cant help but wondering how things would be different if I had done this....or not done that. Well, you get the picture.
IF I could change 'em...
1) I would have stood up to that stupid Janie when I was a little kid
2) Id have told my mom about the school spanking I got
3) Id have had my parents stay together-this is a double sided one. I like my mom as the free thinker she is & she was kind of a meek mouse when she was with Dad. On the other hand, maybe her life wouldn't have been so hard, & still be hard.
Actually, this one has the potential to change more things than anything else, so don't know...
4) Id have told my mom about the creep next door & the guy down the street.....:(
5) Id have slapped the shit out of Maureen Brauner & Shannon Willsey when the opportunity presented itself. Is it sad that this still bugs me? lol
6) Id have done better in school, stayed more focused & asked for help when I needed it, gotten Mom involved or been vocal as hell over it.
7) Id have kept in better touch with school friends. A lot of wasted time without some of them in my lives. I'm very happy I have the important ones to me back in my life (Joyce, Lanette, Bev,Cheri, you know who you are).
8) I would have joined the military. Seriously. I had serious thoughts of doing this & I really Wish I would have. many opportunities would have opened up for me if I would have.
9) Wish I would have wised up in 2000, when I was pregnant with Abigail. This really doesn't need further saying, but I would have still had my girls, but not the emotional trauma I went thru, that I NEVER got an apology for.
10) I wish Id have handled my divorce differently. Nuff said there....
11) I wish Id have jumped on the job that Janet offered me. 35K a year would go a long way for me.
I always thought Id be further along in my life than I am now. Makes me a little sad to see I really don't have much to show. I have my girls though, & they mean the world to me, for those 2 reasons alone, I wouldn't change things.

Reminiscing

Getting sentimental sitting here reading about Christmas gifts. My grandma, without fail every year, sent us a good sized box of gifts, she usually didn't get their names right but I loved every word she wrote. She was the most practical person i ever knew. Never threw anything away & even folded her trash to make less to throw away. I have soo many memories of spending summers with her. I can remember countless days of sitting under her hand made large dining room table that my grandfather made & playing with paper dolls she had painstakingly cut out with me from Sears & JC Penney catalogs. I would be entertained for hours. I remember spending hours admiring her paintings & watching her paint & design them. I was utterly fascinated. She sparked a lifelong interest in art for me. I intend to take back up my pen & begin to draw again, id love to paint as well. She used to sit for hours & tell the most interesting stories of her younger days, the things she had experienced. I'd give anything for more time to listen.