Did I ever tell you about the time...

...I shook this guy's hand?
No?
Well, I made a fool of myself.
I was a gibbering idiot.
I was an embarrassment to all present and former citizens of Arizona.

My in-laws were in town and we were visiting an Idaho senator's office and on our way out we passed by John's (that's right I call him John) office and then as we continued down the hall we saw him coming toward us. I would have just walked past him, but that is NOT my mother-in-law's style. She asked him if she could shake his hand and then was telling him they were from Idaho (by the way she totally voted for Barrack and would never vote for John), and he said that it was a great state and then I blurt out, "I lived in Arizona!". Just like that, out of the blue, like a mad woman.
I am sure he was honored to meet me.

By the way, do NOT feel free to post political views in the comments.
This blog is a registered independent, it agrees with no one.

WasHapnin?!

Here is a collection of pictures from some of our recent activities.

It's some pretty exciting stuff so hold on to your seats!

We went down to the Potomac to rent a canoe and the guy told me they didn't have any canoes to rent even though there were canoes piled up all around the joint. What a pain! But we just waded in the water and had a picnic instead. By the time we left, Trum was so covered in mud we had to strip him down to his skivies!

Trumie and I went to the zoo one day, it was hotter than Hades and there were a million class trips there that day. But we had fun. The highlights were seeing a cheetah, a baby gorilla and an adult gorilla eating poo (the last was a big hit with all of the kindergartners there including Trum.).

Jack's parents came for a visit. They rode all the way from Utah on a train to visit us. I think they actually enjoyed that experience! I hope they had a good time with us and we didn't wear them out too much!

Watch out for those Rowe Boys!

Truman got a free ticket to a Frederick Keys (local minor league team) game and so we all went out for the game. It was pretty chilly that day and I was wishing for a blanket from out of the trunk of our car. But my laziness won out over my chilliness and I just toughed it out.

We discovered that Truman did not inherit the gene for fear of large furry mascots. Jack and I both have memories of being afraid of these characters, but Trum just went up to "Keyote" and shook his paw.

Jack's older sister, Trina, and our niece Sydnee came out for a visit as well. We had so much fun with them. Truman and I both loved having someone new for him to pester and Sydnee was a good sport about it.

As you can see I ran them all over town.

Trina's feet were hurting so much that she just took off her boots and walked around in her stocking feet, until she found a Payless and bought some flats!

She's Baaaack!

You may now cease your weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Wash off the ashes and put away your sack-cloth. I will now be able to blog again!!!!

Our stinkin' hard drive crashed or fried or something terrible! All I can say is learn from our mistake and back up anything you want to keep. We are still searching for an "affordable" way to retrieve our data. Any way, in the mean time I have lots to blather on about on this site. Jack's parents visited, I planted a garden, Truman started losing teeth, as well as other fascinating events. I am sure you are all on the edge of your seats overcome with excitement and anticipation!

Truman, PW & Me (& I)

Let me just start this post by saying that if you are not a follower of The Pioneer Woman website, you will think I am a lunatic. Even if you do follow the website, you may think I am a lunatic after you read this post.
So Pioneer Woman (aka Ree Drummond, here after referred to as PW) posted some new locations for her book-signing tour a few weeks ago on her site. And to my great joy she had a scheduled stop in Fairfax, VA. And it wasn't on a Sunday (I have missed some of my favorite authors in the past because the signing was during church)!!! I SO had to go. I tried to find a friend to accompany me, but one ditched out (her name rhymes with Yessica) and everyone else had complications. I had a complication as well, in the form of Jack having Uzbek class and Truman having no supervision.

But did I let that stop me? Heck no!
So last Tuesday after I picked Trum up at school and we made a stop at home for snacks and to use the facilities. I told Trum it was time to get in the car so we could go to a book signing, whereupon Truman starts crying and begging me not to make him go. But did I let that stop me? No way! I promptly bribed him with promises of soda or Slurpee's and he decided to comply.
So after another quick stop for gas and the promised sugary pay-off we hit the road to Virginia. Along the way we encountered some super DC style traffic, and eventually I got lost and I knew we were going to miss the talk.

But did I let that stop me? Uh, no!
When we got there we were greeted by a sea of woman, milling around waiting for their chance to line up to wait to meet PW. We dutifully waited to wait as well and then we got in line to do the actual waiting. The line was long, my kid was hungry and people were dropping like flies (from their place in line that is)!

But did I let that stop me? Freak no!
Eventually, we did make it. Along the way some kind woman bought some burgers and fries to share and she gave one to Truman (that's right I let him eat food from a stranger, whatever), and as long as we were in the Kid Section he was entertained. When we finally got to meet her I wasn't nervous but the pressure of all of the people behind me in line, made me want to hurry. So I don't think PW got a chance to realise that we should be Best Friends. She did ask me if my name was from The Lord of the Rings and since I was distracted by Truman wandering away I said, "Uh, huh.". Even though LOTR had nothing to do with my being named Merry. I am telling you I was tired by this point! I wasn't thinking clearly! The pressure of the line of people behind me made me lose my head! I was not my usual enchanting charismatic self!

Oh-boy did PW miss out!

Food From a Stranger!

BFF's!!!

Just One More thing,

Then I will be done posting about our road-trip!

The FOOD!!

AAAAAAAHHHHHH!

It was crazy, or we were crazy to eat it. After every meal I thought I might die of a heart attack! So I thought I would share all of our new southern culinary experiences with you.( Note: when I describe something as fried, I mean dipped in batter and deep fried in oil. I made the mistake of thinking fried corn on the cob meant pan fried or grilled, but soon learned the true meaning when it arrived in all of it's glory at our table.)
Jack got a list of restaurants and foods to try from a friend of his that used to live in Memphis. Here are some of the things we ate...

Fried Pickles

Fried Sweet Potato Fries (aka Pig Sticks)

Fried Corn on the Cob

Fried Hamburgers (& I mean fried, as in deep fried!)

BBQ Pork (mmmmm)

Red Beans and Rice

Okra

Banana Pudding

I don't want to cause you to have heart burn from reading this so I will just leave it at that!

If you look closely you can see the fried corn on the cob.

Deep fried burgers, fried in grease that is 150 years old! I am not kidding!

What??

What's that you say?
You want to see more pictures from our son-of-a-gun-good-time road trip?
What? No one said that?
Too bad, I want to post some more anyway!

Riding the steepest train ride in the US to the top of Lookout Mt. In Chattanooga, TN!

Sign that is posted over the side of a cliff showing you that you could fall off the cliff. I just thought that by the time you are down there it is probably too late for the warning.

We camped in the smokey mountains and got absolutely no sleep. I am going to invest in a foam mattress to sleep on when we camp. Still we were cheerful in the morning before our hike up to a waterfall.

That's right! Those are mules pulling that plow!

Rowe Road Trip: Southern Style!

One of Jack's dreams has finally come true!

He has been to Memphis Tennessee!

We LOVE road trips in our family. It brings us great joy to load up our car with luggage and snacks and to hit the road. This year we decided to take a southern route, with most of our time spent in Memphis, visiting all of Elvis' hangouts. We had such a terrific time and in the process we added six new states to our list of states we have visited. It is our goal to visit all of the lower 48. I also fell in love with Tupelo, Mississippi (birthplace of Elvis). I seriously could move there tomorrow and spend the rest of my days hangin' out at the hardware store (where Elvis bought his first guitar)! So here are some pictures of our trip. I hope you especially enjoy the pictures of us impersonating Elvis.

Beale Street Baby!

The Ducks that live at The Peabody Hotel. It is a gorgeous hotel and the ducks ride the elevator down to the lobby every day!

We visited Graceland and we took lots of pictures but we are forbidden from publishing them in any way so you will have to visit us to view all of the 1960-70's splendor!

Here we are in Sun Studios doing some fine impersonations!

Mississippi looks like Idaho!

Tupelo Hardware store, notice the fine selection of signs for sale.

There are mountains in the east!