M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I

Does anyone else remember chanting that spelling the day you learned it? Over and over and over?

Today, everything ended early in church, and teachers all over were struggling to maintain the attention of their classes. After doing every "enrichment" activity I could with my class, I gave in to the all-popular game of hangman.

Each kid had a turn to spell out something--preferably from the lesson. It went smoothly, then a self-proclaimed "smartie" girl in my class said she had a word that was really going to stump us. With just 2 minutes to go, I was skeptical. Aside from the kids of the spelling bee craze that has taken the nation, I would be surprised and embarrased if a 7-year-old could take me.

Several minutes later--after church was over--the class had to give in. I had absolutely NO IDEA what her word was, and figured it must be in Japanese or something (a language she says that she knows). She excitedly filled in the letters to the hangman puzzle, loudly and enthusiastically adding, "The state! See!? I knew I'd get you!"

MISS ASJUPE

SMILE!

This is the face of two people who just went to the dentist yesterday and HAD NO CAVITIES!

You might think, "Well, they just went to the dentist 9 months ago and had a lot of work done. Why would they have more cavities?"

We both had a few teeth that were on "cavity watch." (In fact, I had 4 teeth in this category.) And they aren't cavities! Yeah!!!

AND...the dentist said I really need to consider getting braces, because my gums are starting to recede on my front tooth based on the angle it is sitting. That's happy news, since I've been trying to justify them for about 5 years, and couldn't get over it being a vanity issue. Vanity issue or not, that's a lot of cash.

But at least WE DON'T HAVE ANY CAVITIES!

Eatin' Well and Then Burning It Off

My appetite for seafood led us to San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf over the weekend. Karen and I arrived early enough to even find free parking.
We found this little place right on the pier that is nationally recognized for its seafood--Scoma's Restaurant. It was the best food since the cruise.
One of the highlights of the Wharf is the Bush-Man. I snapped this shot of him in action. Karen was a victim of his tactics last year, so we (and about 40 others) took a moment to laugh at the startled reactions of others. The guy on the right could not figure out what we were all looking at, but in a split second, he understood.
A shot looking on to Alcatraz.
After some casual walking around the piers we spotted the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory. The brownie sundae with both milk and dark chocolate was delectable.Following a terrific feast the night before, Karen and I hopped on our new bikes for a beautiful two hour ride Saturday morning around the trails near home. Do bike seats come with any more cushion these days? We are both feeling it today.

Our Second Trip to Elko, Nevada

Well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do...so we decided to make the most of it. After our clutch burned out last week, we had a 15-hour drive ahead of us to rescue our car. We went all out, left on Friday, and got a motel room in Elko for $50. Livin the high life, I tell you. No, folks, we won't be going to Hawaii with Cory, Kristen, Ang, and Paul, but we really shell it out for a good Travelodge.

The Lodge was courteous enough to provide labels for the ammenities. The lounge was labeled, the room numbers were labeled, and the shampoo was labeled. Thank heavens...one of the perks of this Travelodge was that it was pet-friendly. Without the label (and based on the smell), we could only have assumed that this shampoo was not meant for humans.

We also decided to take our camera for pictures along the way. We figured there had to be something scenic. Then we remembered that we were in Nevada. The only thing scenic in Nevada is the California border. However, the airline that we took our rental car from sure thought highly of the view.

We almost went for Premium gas at this Shell...

We also immensely enjoyed passing "Boomtown" four times in the last 2 weeks.

Finally, we found joy in the simple pleasures of a road trip...like clean bathrooms at pit stops, continental breakfast, lots of time to chat, and a bag of grapes to snack on.

Good times.