Tuesday, March 21, 2006

The snow-plough man:My hero

We have snow! I am not sure exactly how much we got, but it was more then we’ve had for several years now, and it was sticky too. It was a out-right blizzard yesterday. Today was bright and sunny, so we have all been out enjoying the snow. We made snow houses in the biggest drifts, and I made the most wonderful snow-woman. Jeremy kept getting stuck in drifts and even lost his boots once. He is so cute! The snow itself was not really that deep, but it was so unbelievably windy yesterday that it drifted and made very deep piles of snow in various places. One of those places was our lane; the snow was drifted about three feet deep at the bottom of our lane. We girls and Dad started to shovel the lane this morning, and we knew it would take us a very long time to shovel all of that snow. But! The snow-plough went by just then. Oh, we were so hoping he would take pity on us and plough our lane, and guess what- he did! We are forever in the debt of the snow-plough man.

This last weekend we remembered the anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war three years ago. I honor the memory of those soldiers killed in this war, and say thank you to all those laboring for a free and safe Iraq. Three years, 2000 American dead, and people are already saying we should get out. When did Americans become so spineless? We must stay the course!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Home

First let me say, I love my family, my home, and Nebraska!
Next let me say, we had a very exciting time.
Well!
Jen and I got home last night at 8:30pm after a four hour delay at the San Antonio airport. So we got the whole “airplane experience”, delays and all. Jen ordered a bloody Mary on the plane just to see what it tasted like but I am pretty sure that it wasn’t alcoholic. It still tasted terrible though. Our plane had about fifty seats and went up to 37,000 feet so we could see the ground for almost the whole way there and back. Neither of us got airsick and we each had a window both ways.

Here’s what I think about Texas:
The land is a bit ugly because of all the brush; and every Texas plant has thorns. It’s dry and hot. It must have got up to 90 at least once while we were there. And here in NE it’s 30! It was a bit of a shock coming home to such cold weather. It was very interesting to see all the wild cactus- it grows like a weed all over people’s yards, and everywhere else too. But I’m not saying it was a bad experience to see this different country; it was educational, and therefore fun, right? Everywhere we went there were lots of dirty Mexican restaurants, tons of Hispanics and heaps of Air Force men and women in uniform.

We visited:
The Alamo: Because the anniversary of the fall of the Alamo was that weekend, there were re-enactments, displays and demonstrations, and many many people.
The riverwalk: We went on a boat tour; it was just beautiful. Very pretty.
Lackland AFB: The museums there were not to good- they were small and not quite finished- but we got our pictures taken by an airplane.
Ft. Sam Houston: The Medical museum was very nice, big and informative. Some of the medical tools made us cringe though. The leech container comes to mind.
The four missions: San Juan, San Jose, Concepcion, and I forget the other one. These neat buildings are about 250 years old. Jen and I liked San Jose the best.
Institute of Texas cultures museum: Was so big and had so much info there as no way you could read it all. It was interesting to see all the other cultures that came to Texas early on before it was overrun by Hispanics!
Assembly of God church on Sunday: Grandma and Grandpa helped build it. The church service was very different from what I’m used to. That was the first time I’d ever heard anyone speak in tongues.

We probably could have gone to more places but Grandma and Grandpa got a nasty case of the 24 hour flu, and then Jen got it too. We were staying with Grandma and Grandpa in their RV at the Teen Challenge San Antonio camp- Teen Challenge is a 13 month religious program that helps drug addicts and criminals start a new life. G&G have been there all winter helping to build a women’s dormitory and a all-purpose building.

I am still trying to catch up on everything that accumulated while we were gone. Mercy! So much to do. Jen and I were so tired last night after that stressful delay (The United employees told us first that our flight left at 1:11pm, then 2:40pm, then 3:15pm, then 2:40pm, which made us panic, then finally 5pm.) we just slept like rocks. Anyway….the only souvenirs we bought were three matching “Mexican” skirts for Mom and us girls. Otherwise souvenirs were too expensive. Plastic bowie knives were $6! Jen brought the boys some hot sauce(They had some for breakfast this morning) and I gingerly broke off a piece of cactus and brought it home as well.
What happened in the news while I was gone?