Tales of the Pumpkin

Okay, I originally started this post way back on 5/29 when one of my coworkers came into work a wee bit late because her car had a flat. This made me think back to the time I had a flat tire. It was when I was in high school. But then I realized I did not have the right photos to go with the post. I called up my brother who is 26 years and still speaks in sarcasm (hmm, does that run in the family?!) I asked my brother to email me the appropriate pictures, but of course he didn't have any, couldn't take any, and their scanner was broken anyway... so I got my own photos while I was visiting at the end of June and have saved this post until now.

But before getting into my original intent of this post, I thought I would also give you that update on the end of my trip that I'd been mentioning for so long. I sure am glad I have something else to post about at the same time because now that I look back on what I've already written about my vacation, I realize what I have left is not all that exciting.

So, my last day in North Dakota mom, dad, and I all get up at the insane hour of 3 AM since my flight departs at 4:40. My brother works a job from 4 PM until midnight and he still wasn't home when we left the house. I saw barely a glimpse of him the whole week I was there! So I went through security at the airport, boarded my flight to Minneapolis and dozed. Got into Minneapolis just fine, but then the flight I had to my next stop before ultimately arriving home could not land because of thunderstorms. When we finally touched down I had about 2 minutes to get on my last flight. Naturally, the gate I landed at was no where near the one I was departing from... so I began my hurried trek through the airport to get on that last flight and get home. I paid attention to no one and nothing save the signs directing me to the gate I needed. Then, suddenly I felt my Crocs stick to the floor, my upper body starting projecting forward and downward at the same time and I found myself taking a skid, head first, into the airport floor. No, I did not trip on something on the floor and therefore cannot sue the airport for negligence in having dirty floors that tripped me up. I tripped over my own feet - the darn right one to be exact!

I ended up skinning up my forehead, messing up my right knee, and bending my glasses out of whack. I didn't even have time to look around to see how many people witnessed my intimate tryst with the airport floor, I just picked myself up and trudged on. When finally arriving at my gate I saw the door was closed. The screen still showed my flight leaving at it's regular time, so I was sure I had missed it. I stood anxiously behind a group trying to get rerouted to New Orleans to find out how I was going to get home. This gave me enough time to think about my plunge and how horrendous I must look - red from rushing through the airport, up since 3 AM, head skinned up, glasses all cockeyed... Finally the airport lady asked me where I was headed. When I told her my destination, she said that my flight had been delayed. Whew! Wish I would have known that before spilling myself in the middle of a big city airport! I did eventually make it home a couple hours late and spent the rest of the weekend resting up for a fun and exciting work week!

Now back to the original intent of my post... Like I said, a coworker had come in late because of a flat tire and that made me think back to the time I had a flat tire.

I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but when I was in high school and my first year of college I drove a 1980 Ford Pinto. And it was orange. It was 'The Pumpkin-Mobile.'

My dad bought this car brand new for my mom and it was the car she learned to drive on. It was also the car I learned to drive on since my mom had moved on to better vehicles since then. This car is almost as old as I am and my dad still drove the thing up until a year or two ago! It is now housed in my dad's large storage building.

My sister and I were heading home one day after school and the car was driving a little funny. I didn't know what was going on, and being a teenager wanting to get home after school, it didn't even cross my mind to stop and take a look at the car - I didn't know anything about cars anyway, so how was I going to fix whatever was wrong? I was focused on getting the thing home to dad; he would know how to fix it. So I continued to drive it very slowly towards home.

I know I have mentioned that I grew up in North Dakota and graduated in a class of about 45 students. The high school I attended was in an itty bitty little town in the middle of no where. This town was so small that the only things in the town were a bar and the high school and the surrounding area was all farmland. The school was about a 45 minute drive from my home.

Because I was driving so slowly, several of my fellow students, also intent on getting home, or where ever they were going, passed me. Some made some weird gestures as they did. I had no idea what they were doing until one got me to pull over and told me I had a flat tire. I had probably drove on the flat for about 5-10 miles at that point. Because I was a teenager and was still about 30 minutes from my home and my dad who could repair the flat, and because I knew nothing about flat tires other than they were a bummer, and because cell phones were not all the rage at the time I was in high school, I was still going to attempt to drive that thing home!

Fortunately for me a county sheriff was driving along and pulled over behind me. While my sister and I stood there in the brisk North Dakotan wind he changed the flat tire for us so I could drive home. I am pretty sure my little stint on the flat tire ruined the previous tire - luckily the wheel was not damaged. Dad was not impressed.

He wasn't too impressed the time I backed the Pinto into a deep ditch and over a culvert outcropping tearing a hole in the gas tank either!

I've had lots of interesting, not-so-fun forays in the orange Pinto. It kind of makes me sad to think it is now gathering dust in a storage building. M. even got a dose of the Pinto when he came to visit me in North Dakota after we had gotten together online. M. rode the Amtrak by himself (and got robbed of a couple Mountain Dews in the process) to come see me for Valentine's Day. I don't remember why, but I took the Pinto out that morning - probably to either pick something up or just to make sure I knew where the train station was so I could pick M. up later that evening. That darn Pinto blew a belt or something and left me stranded right in the middle of a busy street during the winter. I put on my emergency lights and panicked about what I was going to do.

Being the nice people they are in that North Dakota college town, no one stopped to help me. After several minutes of wondering what I was going to do, I walked up the street to a gas station and called my dad collect and asked him if I should get the car towed? He said I would have to since he was 5 hours away and there wasn't much he could do. So I had the car towed and spent all of Valentine's Day at a service station waiting for my car to be fixed. When I finally got back to my dorm room to top things off there was a message from my ex-boyfriend whom I had broken up with several months before (but he'd only recently gotten the hint). I deleted the message and then went off to pick up M. And I sure did have an interesting Valentine's Day story for him when he got off the train!

For those of you who followed my blog during my trip to North Dakota, you know my grandpa's van went up in flames. Here's a few pictures of it after it was moved to its final resting spot!

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And who knew I've had the secret to great skin in my household practically my entire life?!

She did it!

Mom got her tattoo yesterday. She decided on a cherry blossom branch with the Chinese symbol for human life. Below is a little slide show I captured during the inking.

I also found out my uncle (and godfather) is the State attorney in a murder case this summer. Testimony in the case just started today.

This will be my last full day in North Dakota. Tomorrow morning I head out early - 4:40am - for the trip back home. Not sure what our plans are for today, but tonight we are probably going to dinner with my grandfather and his wife since they cancelled on us last night...

Vacation Update

Wednesday, June 25: We took a trip to the state's capitol, Bismark. We did not get going as early as planned (mom takes longer to get ready than I think she realizes), so once we had made the 2.5 hour drive it was time to have lunch. We had tickets for the Lewis & Clark Riverboat cruise of the Missouri River (once again obtained by mom from the Wheeler Dealer radio show), so we decided to eat close to the dock at a restaurant called Captain Meriweather's.

So, we walk into Meriweather's and of course there is a sign asking that people 'Please Wait to Be Seated.' So we waited, and waited, and waited. No one was at the hostess stand and there was no bell to summon anyone from the back where apparently all employees were congregated (not a good idea at noon...) Finally, without apology, a lady comes out and seats us in the dining room. Now, the dining room was pretty much vacant - most people had chosen to sit on the patio, but we decided against it because of the heat and wind - and where do we get seated? At a table that was almost level with our knees. It was the shortest table in the entire dining room! I suppose we could have moved, but we made do. I suppose there are worse things that can happen than sitting at a low table; for instance what happened next.

We gave our waiter our drink orders, he brings them out. I took a sip of my soda and sucked up a small hard piece of something. I spit it out in my palm and discovered a tiny chunk of clear glass. Luckily, I did not bite down on it or swish it around in my mouth! We waited to see if the waiter would come back so we could tell him about the glass, but after waiting a few minutes, dad took the glass and my drink and went searching for someone to tell. He came back with a new drink for me. Apparently, they did not even really apologize, just said 'We don't know how that would have happened.'

Okay, glass-in-the-drink injury averted. We then ordered. We all tried out the chicken wraps. They were okay, but the lunch I had the previous day at the Pita Pit was more enjoyable. The Pita Pit was also about three times less expensive. Meriweather's will not get any kind of recommendation from me!

We then went outside to wait for boarding on the Lewis & Clark to begin. Mom and dad trekked back to the Explorer to slather on sunscreen. I decided against the greasy mess and later paid for it with lobster arms. (I can feel the heat radiating from my arms as I type this.) We then took a relaxing cruise up and down the Missouri River.

After the cruise we did some very light shopping. Mom had to return some clothing she'd purchased at Kohl's in Grand Forks (no Kohl's in Minot) and dad had to get some kind of screws for the basement footings in the house he is building for my brother.

After shopping it was a visit to my mom's parents. My mother's parents have always lived in the Bismarck area while my dad's parents lived right down the hill from us, so in that scenario where there are the 'A' grandparents and the 'B' grandparents, my mom's parents got the role of 'B.' Not because I like them any less, I just never got the opportunity to know them as well as my other grandparents.

We then made the drive home. One of the less exciting days, but I had to blog about it anyway!

Thursday, June 26: I got up this morning and took a 2 hour drive around various spots I used to haunt while growing up to see how things have changed. I drove through Burlington, the town where I attended elementary school and then up to the sleepy town of Des Lacs where I attended middle and high school. I shot some photos yesterday and today and have put them all into a slide show for you to enjoy.

Mom has her tattoo appointment this afternoon and then we have dinner with my dad's dad and his wife. More to come as my trip winds down to it's last days.

The Vacation Run Down

First, an apology to my readers who checked for a post last night. My parents have one computer and my dad had to use it last night. By the time he was done I was too tired to write a post and was off to bed.

Now, for those of you who are interested in what I've been doing in North Dakota on my vacation, here's what's happened so far. I've not taken very many pictures yet, but do plan to post some photos eventually. I won't give a time estimate since I'll probably not live up to the deadline, but they will be forthcoming.

Saturday, June 21: I spent most of the day in planes and airports. You wouldn't think it would take all day to fly approximately 1,277 miles, but with the layovers I need to take, it does. So I started my day at 5:00am and arrived in Minot, North Dakota about 4:20pm. Since my parents live outside of town in a rural community, they make the most out of trips into town. (M. and I do the same thing now that we have moved outside the city.) Because they were already in town to get me from the airport, we went and had some dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then did some shopping. Finally, we headed home where I was greeted by a very excited dog. Elle - my mom's newest baby was a rescue dog from Hurricane Katrina. She was one of the animals transported from the New Orleans area to various shelters around the US. There was a list of people who wanted to adopt Elle, but my parents' rural home with a huge yard won out and Elle is now a spoiled pooch living in my parents' house.

Sunday, June 22: We all awake early to spend about 4 hours in the car so we can drive to Grand Forks and visit my sister. My sister is an overachiever and very, very busy so it was either drive to see her, or not see her at all. Even though I had spent the entire previous day traveling, I was willing to do this to see her. (Plus, my parents really did the activity planning for this trip and I didn't have much choice in the matter! But what can you say when they shelled out almost $700 for a plane ticket?)

The purpose of the trip was twofold - give me a chance to visit with my sister and give dad and my brother the opportunity to fix sister's dryer which was overheating and install some shelving in the garage of her townhouse. We arrived about lunchtime. My brother and one of his friends were at my sister's already - they had drove down the day before to attend a concert. So we met up with sister, brother, and brother's friend to discuss the game plan for the day. It was decided we would all go to lunch, but first had to wait for sister's friend who would come over to help install the garage shelving. Sister felt since he was volunteering to help out, it would be nice to invite him to lunch too. I was on this trip to visit with my family, so I was not exactly thrilled about going to lunch with brother's friend and sister's friend, but again, what can you do when you're not the activity director and the entire trip is being financed by your parents?

Sister's friend pulls up on a scooter and we all pile into two vehicles to go have some lunch at Boston's. Not my favorite place to eat, but sister is very picky about where she eats and she chose. (I know it sounds like all I am doing up to this point is complaining, but really it has been a good trip so far! I just like to give commentary on my interior thoughts...)

After lunch it is decided mom and I will go shopping since there are stores in Grand Forks that are not available in Minot. Sister, brother, and dad are all going to stay at the townhouse to do home repairs. Sister's friend motors off on his scooter right after lunch saying he has something he has to do and is never seen again. Good thing my parents bought him lunch in exchange for help with those shelves... Mom and I putter around department stores for two and a half hours (my shopping limit is probably half an hour to an hour...) and then we return to sister's townhouse where we find brother and sister playing Bubble Bobble (ah, flashback!) and dad and brother's friend watching them. Brother has spent the entire time we were gone in sister's attic finding a dryer clog and dad installed the garage shelving san sister's friend. So we hang out at sister's townhouse for awhile visiting and playing with her cats then make the approximately 4 hour drive home, have some pizza, and head to bed.

Monday, June 23: I went to the same hair stylist all through high school. My mom still goes to this stylist, so she made me a surprise appointment for a haircut. But I didn't know and had my hair cut last Wednesday before traveling. Because my hair was already shorter than I really wanted it, I couldn't take the haircut and instead got caramel-colored highlights. We then headed back home for some lunch and relaxed around the house.

Late Monday afternoon one of my parents' neighbors knocked on the door. She said she was coming home from work and saw thick black smoke rising in the air near my grandfather's home (my parents live in a community on top a hill - grandpa lives below the hill). The neighbor said she couldn't see what exactly was on fire and traffic was stopped and backed up. She told mom and dad she'd feel a lot better if they went and checked it out (there is a private back road down the hill to grandpa's place). So mom, dad, the dog, and I hopped in the Explorer and took the back way down.

My grandfather is retired from working at the local airport. He now runs his own business selling products of his own design - windsocks with lights that can swivel 360 degrees, roadway markers, a device that thaws sewer vents in the winter. Grandpa has a large shop and that is where the back road leads to, so we parked near the shop and grandpa came out and was irate. Apparently, grandpa's wife (not my grandmother who passed away when I was five) was on her way into town. She got to the end of the driveway and was about to turn onto the highway when the van she was driving made a popping, whooshing noise and then went up in flames. Grandpa's wife got out and was not injured, but it took the fire department half an hour to make it out to the blaze and by the time it the fire was out (and we were all down there staring at it), the van was a complete loss. The interior was completing burnt, the front end was practically unrecognizable and melted into the pavement. The only salvageable part of the vehicle was the rear tires. Not only was grandpa irate about losing a vehicle he had just recently cancelled insurance on, but he had also donated $200 to the fire department of Burlington and they didn't even come out. It was Minot Rural that responded. I am sure the Burlington Fire Department will be hearing from my grandfather with a request for his $200 back...

After the fire incident, we had a hurried dinner and then went into town to see a movie. My mom listens to a radio show called Wheeler Dealer and gets discount certificates from the program. Several of our activities, including Monday night's movie, were based around what she had certificates for. We saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall at the discount theater. (Not a movie I had any ambition to see, but our options were limited since it was a discount theater and only had three shows playing - two of which I had already viewed.) Now the movie was not terrible, but if I had known we were going to see Jason Segel in full frontal nudity several times (not just a few times, but several times) I might not have seen this movie with my mom and dad. Not that movie nudity bothers me, even if viewed with the parents, but this was not just quick flashes of the male anatomy, and there really wasn't any reason for us to see Mr. Segel's little soldier flopping around... In any case, the movie was not what we expected. We got home late and headed off to bed.

Tuesday, June 24: Tuesday was a day out and about with my mom. We did some light shopping (much better than the marathon shopping expedition in Grand Forks), had lunch at a place call The Pita Pit (yummy!), mom tried to donate blood, and then we got hydro massages (my first professional massage ever).

The shops we checked out were little locally owned businesses selling gift items. I bought some ice tea mix and some cornnut-like things for M. I also bought a little cat figurine to add to my small collection of cat-related items at home. We also visited a used bookstore. I love browsing through old books, even if I don't purchase anything. Mom bought me a couple books, which is good since I am almost done with the two books I brought with me! I've added them to my Book Bag on the right side of the blog...

After lunch we tried to check out a tattoo place. Mom has a coupon for a tattoo. I found out she has always wanted one. I never knew that about my mom and it's a little shocking. Mom just doesn't seem like the tattoo kind of person. I briefly thought about getting a tattoo when I heard she was getting one, but I don't have a life-long desire for a tattoo, plus M. absolutely abhors tattoos, so I decided not to do something that I did not have a strong desire to do. (But, just so M. knows, if I did really, really want a tattoo, I would get one despite his objections.) Mom had decided on a cherry blossom design for her ankle and we were going to go by the place to talk to the artist about the design and find out how long it would take, but the place was locked up tight. No posted hours. Mom called the number and left a message with her phone number and we went off to the blood bank.

Mom was going to give blood because once she is tattooed, she can't give blood for a year. I dug into my book while waiting for them to test her blood levels. (I can't give blood, it makes me woozy - I can watch vomiting, gut-tearing, etc., but suck blood out of my arm and I am likely going to faint.) During my wait my cell phone rang. The blood bank is not a noisy place and I did not realize the ringer on my cell phone was turned all the way up - so embarrassment ensued while I dug furiously through my purse to get the phone and get it out of it's case while everyone in the waiting room looked at me like, "Are you going to answer that noisy thing?!"

I eventually did get the phone popped open and up to my ear. It was a gal from work letting me know my friend received her referral from Russia! I had hoped it would happen while I was home so I could be in the office when she came in, but I am so excited for her! S., if you are reading this, I saw a picture and I could not be happier for you!! Please don't feel you can't call me because I'm on vacation. I would love to hear from you!

During this exciting call Mom came out and indicated she couldn't give blood - iron levels were too low. So we did some quick shopping and then got our massages. I've never had a professional massage of any kind, so that was a nice treat. I will have to look for somewhere back home where I can get a hydro massage.

The tattoo expedition was a lost cause yesterday since the place was apparently closed and the artist never returned mom's call. Oh, and I don't think I mentioned that dad has not a clue that mom is getting a tattoo or that she even wants one, so that's going to be some surprise for him when she comes home with an inked ankle. I hope she will be able to get it done while I am here.

Last night was a quiet night at home with my parents. One of my aunts (dad has five sisters and no brothers!) also stopped by to visit. Aunt B. is my favorite of my dad's sisters and is also my godmother, so it was nice to see her again. The rest of the aunts, I don't really care to see. My mom is the oldest of ten children, but most of them live about 2 hours south of here in the Bismark area. We didn't see them a lot growing up, so I don't really know them.

And that brings me up to this morning. Mom and dad are out walking Elle and I have spent a good portion of my day so far on the internet checking email and writing this post. This afternoon we will be trekking down to Bismark to take a riverboat cruise and see my mom's parents. I can't promise another post today, maybe not even tomorrow, but I will be back at some point to give everyone an update.

North Dakota - A vacation spot?

It is when you grew up here! I arrived Saturday afternoon and will be visiting until this coming Saturday. So far it's been an interesting trip. I plan to do a more 'fully featured' post this evening, so stay tuned.