Nuthin’ but an H thang, Baybay…

My job has been crazy. Actually, it’s been getting better but it’s still crazy. The good news is that my business is building more and more everyday. I’ve been all over the place – St. Cloud to Albert Lea – setting up new dealers. As they send me business, it presents a whole new person to the mix of my daily craziness. I keep telling myself that I can handle it, because I know that I can. It’s just a matter of time before it’s totally under control, right?

To add to this, Adam and I have been trying to sell his house. We’ve just started to get some real interest, so hopefully it’ll go this week! In three weeks, we close on the new one. We’re so excited, we took Adam V and Dena over to the new place to peek in the windows last night before we went to dinner. They’re looking forward to having us in their neighborhood (as are we!). Truth be told, we haven’t even started packing yet but that’s soon to come. I can’t believe I’m moving again. Ugh.

Any volunteers? Didn’t think so…

Somebody emailed this to me awhile ago and I still giggle at it:

1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hairdryer at passing cars. Watch as they slam on the brakes.

2. Page yourself over the company intercom. Don’t disguise your voice.

3. Everytime someone asks you to do something, ask them if they want fries with that.

4. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it “IN”.

5. Put decaf in the office coffee-maker for 3 weeks. Then switch to espresso.

6. In the memo field of all your checks, write “for sexual favors”.

7. Finish all of your sentences with “in accordance with the prophecy”.

8 DONT use any punctuation marks

9. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.

10. Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.

11. When at a drive-thru, ask if you can “get that to go“.

12. Sing along at the opera.

13. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems dont rhyme.

14. Put mosquito netting around your work area. Play a tape of jungle sounds all day.

15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you cant attend their party because youre not in the mood.

16. Have your co-workers address you by your wrestling name: “Rock Hard Heather”.

17. When the cash comes out of the ATM, scream “I won! I won!! Third time this week!!”

18. When leaving a zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling, “Run for your lives! Theyre LOOSE!!”

19. Tell your children over dinner, “Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go…”

20. Send this email to everyone in your address book, even if they sent it to you or asked you not to send them stuff like this…

The way we are now…

The way we were then…

I finally made it up to The Cabin and so did Adam.

We woke early on Saturday morning, picked up my mom and hit the road. Just a few miles later, we encountered my Uncle Tom and Aunt Carol on 35E. We followed them to Barnum (a dinky little town off the freeway) and had a very nice breakfast together.

“The Cabin” I refer to was built in 1976 by my grandparents, uncles and aunts. They completed the small building in just two days! The Cabin itself is very rustic: no running water or electricity, or insulation. My Uncle Matt took ownership of it after my Grandpa died and he’s graciously kept it open for anyone to stay. Despite the small size, it always has plenty of room for plenty of people. The Cabin is located on a little tiny lake that has only around 7 total cabins residing on it (including my Uncle Tom and Aunt Carol’s place). My Aunt Bon and Uncle Doug’s cabin is on a larger lake only a couple short miles away.

When I was small (about 5 or so) my grandparents would take me there for a week or two at a time in the summer. My Grandma loved to tell the story about how I would stand on the “hump” between the back seats in the car on the way up north and exclaim, “I’m so haa-ppy!” They truly gave me a love for the north woods. My Mom would send me up there with pretty, “frilly” clothes, as my Grandma described them. When we arrived at The Cabin, my Grandma would put me in jeans, a sweatshirt and a bandana on my head. We’d trounce around the woods, picking my beloved berries and flowers. My Grandma or my aunties would cut off the bottom of a milk carton and tie a string through it to hang around my neck. The crude device became known as my “berry picker.” My Grandma especially loved to remind me how I’d pick one berry for my mouth and then one for my “picker.”

Now, my Grandpa would get the itch to go roaming about the endless dirt roads around the area in his low-riding Toyota. We would explore them together, listening to “Blueberry Hill” by Fats Domino as he’d drive over these treacherous muddy ruts separated by a hump of tall grass in the middle. Sometimes we’d get stuck, though he always managed to get us out. I had no fear riding around with him in these desolate and naturally beautiful settings. He was usually on a mission to locate this lake or that lake. And he always knew just exactly where we were…I think.

Anyway, back to current-day! Several of my uncles, aunts and cousins came up for Labor Day weekend. Saturday was great: we rode down to Aunt Bon’s place to use her dock for swimming in the afternoon. They’ve recently built a gorgeous mansion-cabin in the place where their old one stood. We got to see how beautiful it’s turning out and spend a little quality time with Aunt Bon. Later that night, most of us had a wonderful home cooked dinner together. We ate, drank, made a huge bonfire, listened to music and laughed a lot.

Sunday morning at about 4am, it stormed. We were all awakened by the thunder-and-lightening show. My Mom and Adam made the sleepy-eyed crowd a delicious breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, toast, etc. It continued to be cloudy and rainy for the most of the day. We made the best of it though: we played darts and cards while the uncles fished. In the afternoon, I took Adam on a Grandpa-like tour of the area by car. Later in the evening, we went to “The Inn,” which is the local watering hole, for burgers. My Mom was disappointed that the burgers weren’t as great as they used to be. Her dismay was quelled by winning the after-dinner session of “Count Your Cards.”

On Monday morning, we hung around ’til 11:30 and then had to say goodbyes. Leaving up north is the worst part, I think. Watching the trees go by, knowing I won’t be back until next year – it’s sad. Up North is really a special, magical place.