Amarillo, TX

What a difference a good night's sleep makes.  Today was easy-peasy!  I need to resist the pull to power through with as few stops as possible, perversely the trip seems to go faster when I stop more often!  Of course, downing lots of diet coke means more potty breaks.  My hotel is two doors down from a Denny's so I left Dumble in the room and had dinner.  I came back and he insisted on another walkies (he stared meaningfully at the dresser where I stashed his leash (out of sight, but he obviously knew it was there) and then actually barked at me (which he hardly ever does), so we went back out.)  Funny dog.  He's on my calves as I type on the laptop, chewing on his lamby.

I've been chatting with Blair as I drive and he's been following me on google maps as we chat.  He was "with" me as I got off the highway in a small town in Oklahoma and tried to find the Sonic that was supposed to be there somewhere according to a sign on the exit ramp.  As I exited, I had to pay a toll, and the toll booth attendant admired Dumble and asked if he could have a treat - he loved it!  (The lady at the Burger King drive-thru this morning offered him some bacon, but we declined).  It turned out the Sonic was just off the main drag on a side street and I missed it the first pass through town.  I'm exclaiming to Blair on the speaker phone "There's no more town!"  A nice man on a motor cycle at a gas station pointed me in the right direction.

Dumble was a comfy as can be in his car seat.  He spent most of the day curled up, uninterested in the scenery.  He perks up when I leave the highway, then settles back down if I get out of the car.  When I use the keyless entry, his head pops up because he knows I'm coming.  Tonight after I checked into the hotel, I  came back out of the lobby and he was watching the door for me.  A man unloading his car asked if he was mine and commented on how patiently Dumble was waiting for me to come back.  He's such a mellow fellow.

Lebanon, MO

After an interminable day, filled with much diet coke and many bathroom stops, I arrived at my hotel.  It's a dinky Best Western, with a restaurant that's closed.  Thankfully, the nearby Domino's delivers.  I had the pasta bowl and it was delicious.

It was pretty darn cool seeing the St Louis arch from the highway as crossed the river and into MO.  Other than that the scenery was the same mile after mile after mile.  There are kids in the room next door and they are pretty rambunctious.  But it's only 7, so hopefully they'll settle down soon.  Since the hotel is pretty empty, I'm not sure why they have us next to each other.  I'm trying to scrounge up the energy to take a shower since it's still pretty early to go to bed.

Dumble is lying on my calves and he looks really comfortable.  (another reason not to get up and shower right this minute.)  I've been stuffy all afternoon; I really hope it's allergies and not that I'm catching a cold.  On the bright side, that thing I tried with my Ipod last night worked and I spent the entire day listening to Pride and Prejudice (and it's not finished yet!).  But it's been hard to resist speaking with a British accent when I've interacted with people!

Tossing and Turning

Another crummy night's sleep.  It felt like I had to turn over every half hour from 11 til 2:30 (and I wasn't falling asleep in between) and here I am awake at 5AM.  Blech.  At least Dumble's been quiet.  I'm going to go through a lot of diet coke today!

Family Portrait

One of the many benefits of being married to Blair Satter is his wonderful family.  And one of the many benefits of his wonderful family is having our family pictures taken by his Dad (a professional photographer).  Since Alex was able to come down for Thanksgiving, we stole away from my parents' long enough to have a photos taken of the four of us (it's been a couple of years.)  As usual, there are so many great shots, that it's hard to choose!

I found a suggestion here and I have high hopes that Jane Austen will be audible tomorrow!

One Day Down - Four to Go

I am comfortably ensconced in a DoubleTree in outside of Columbus, OH, with a lovely Salad Caprese settling nicely in my tummy.  It was a very long day with stops in NJ for gas (a good 30 cents cheaper per gallon than home), PA for Chili's (at, I swear, the same Chili's I got lunch from on the way to MN) and later for more gas, and in OH for Dairy Queen.  Note to self, finger food is good for eating while driving, spoon food not so much.  It's a good thing I had lots of napkins. 

Dumble had short walkies each time we stopped.  I offered him water each time, but he wasn't interested.  As soon as I put the dish down in the hotel he drank.  Go figure.  He's such good company, napping most of the day in his car seat.  (He has one of these.)  He sits in the passenger seat in easy reach for ear scritching and back rubbing, and where he can look at me if he's wondering what's going on (he can tell when I disengage the cruise control or slow down). 

It was warm in the car when the sun was shining, and I ran the fan with no noticable cooling.  After a couple of hours, I finally thought to check if the car was on recirc - duh.  He did not like it when I opened his window a little to let some air in, the sound of the air rushing in scared him a bit.  I'm glad I got that figured out.  (I'm also really glad I got the a/c fixed, Dad was saying it should be quite warm when I hit Arizona.)

I tried to listen to an audiobook of Pride and Prejudice on my Ipod through the car radio, but even with the volume all the way up on the radio, I had trouble hearing it.  I'm bummed.  I need to poke around with google to see if there's anything I can do.

I listened to the "Traffic Report" on the XM Highway.  That's alway fun, but I hardly ever catch it since they stopped playing it on Wednesday afternoons.  Then I listened to all the Sugarland music on my Ipod, followed by The Pulse (XM 26) and Laugh USA (XM 131?).  Oh and a little Holly (a Christmas music station on XM).  I don't think I could bear the driving without the XM and the Ipod!

I had nice chats with my sweeties, my Dad and my Auntie via my bluetooth headset - also a great way to kill some miles painlessly.

Some cool town names - Blairstown, PA, and DuBois, PA (hi, sis!)

I'm for bed - I hope I sleep better than last night!

Whoo Hoo!

 I have once again rejoined the ranks of the gainfully employed.  I've got a 4-6 month gig in southern California.  I'll be leaving right after Thanksgiving.  It's such a relief.

New Bead Projects

Black and gold caterpillar bracelet (kit here).

Earrings for a friend

Daniel's Stewie pumpkin on Halloween evening

Halloween Funny

Last night the kid says "I'm going to my happy place" and sticks his head into his bag of Halloween candy.