Well, October flew right past, didn't it? We had so much going on, it was gone practically before I realized it was here. The bed and breakfast stayed very busy, with customers every day, except about 3. Many of those bookings were multiple rooms, so I was very busy trying to keep up with that and my house. Crops were harvested without any issues, which is always a blessing. I also spent a great deal of time planning and preparing for a baby shower for Megan. :) Cindy and her girls helped a great deal. Ashley helped too. It was a group effort, and worked out very nicely. Megan and Josh received a lot of nice things for their baby. They were so happy, it made it all worth it!
We also went to Indianapolis for FFA National Convention. Wyatt received the American Degree, and we wanted to be there to watch him receive it. We drove about 6 hours to get there (we forgot about the time change, so that was interesting). The first thing we did was get checked into our hotel. We had our first experience w/valet parking-lol! This is when Wyatt informed us that he needed a ride back to the hotel he was staying at so he could get his things. The hotel is out by the airport, so Jeff got to drive in rush hour to take him to get his things. Kids! Next, we went to a nice reception that they held for the degree recipients and their families. We didn't have any of the food, because there were no places to sit and eat it, unless we held it on our laps. They had a very good speaker. He moved us both to tears several times, but also had us laughing-a lot! Next was trying to find some food. We wandered around downtown trying to find somewhere, when Jeff had the bright idea to go to Steak and Shake. I don't have anything against it, it's just that I was walking around in high heels, and haven't done that in a very, very long time. We were all dressed up to go to Steak and Shake!! Lucky for him, the line was out the door. He then saw a sign and insisted that we try the Ruth Chris's Steak House. It has to be good, because they advertise on the Country Gold Show. (Logic, according to Jeff) It was very nice, but it was a little out of our league. In my opinion, somewhere in the middle would have been fine. One extreme, or the other-that's Jeff. After we were done, we walked back to the hotel. We saw so many beggars on the streets. It broke my heart. I just wish we lived in a world where people didn't have to do that. I did give some money to one of them. Jeff said well he's probably going to go get some booze now. I said well if that's what he did, then that's his business. I told Jeff I would not feel bad for trying to be compassionate. He agreed, but I think I kind of shocked him. I usually don't do things like that. It reminded me of a time in Columbia, MO that I saw someone begging, and I went into a quick store and took them a hot dog, some chips, a cookie, and some soda. Not the most nutritious by far, but I thought if they were truly hungry, they would appreciate the effort. Funny thing is, I couldn't stop crying about it. It had me rattled for several days afterward. I'm not judging them or preaching here, I am just saying if you are able, try not to judge the people that are reduced to this, and help them if you can. I didn't change the world, but I did change the way I look at things like this. It always makes me think of the song "Don't Laugh At Me". I still can't hear that song without crying. Anyway, we finally all settled down and got some sleep. The next morning, we went to breakfast, and then to the Lucas Oil Stadium (the Indiana Colts football field), and found our seats to watch him receive his award. The whole thing was very humbling. So many kids with so much in common from all over our country. All 50 states were represented, with Missouri having the most awards, followed by California. It was very interesting. On our way back, Jeff stopped at an orchard for me, so I could can apple butter. We ended up w/a lot of apples though! I made home made apple filling, to use when I make pork chops and stuffing. It's very good. I also use this to fill crepes. In addition, I mixed ingredients for apple pies, and froze them. I have enough to make 8 apple pies. We used to have apple trees here, but a storm wiped them out, and we haven't replaced them yet. I sure miss them!
We have been having some very bizzare things happening around here. This story starts back at Labor Day. We came back from Iowa to find out that our phone didn't work. No dial tone-nothing. That means no internet, but it also means no cell phone. Because of our location, we are dependent on a thing called a "Microcell". It's a little cell phone tower that boosts our signal so we can get phone calls here. It is dependent on the dsl, so when the internet is gone, no cell phones! I had to wait until Tuesday morning to have a repairman come, and when he did, he was very stumped. He said well I've never seen this before...turns out the phone line that was originally put in, probably in the '50's, finally went bad. The worst part is that it went across Jerry's bean field, all the way over to Hwy EE. He said "This is going to take a while". GRRR!!! Jeff suggested a temporary line, which was good because it still hasn't been fixed. The bad part is that we literelly have a wire hanging from our window, across my grape arbor, through the yard outside the gate, and across the beanfield. It worked for just a bit, but a few days before we were to leave, I woke up to no phone again, and no internet. I drove to the bed and breakfast to report it, and they came to fix it. At first he thought it was a lightning hit, then later said a "critter" chewed the line. Jerry had asked them to wait until he got his beans out before they dug up the field, which is very understandable, but by this point, the beans had been out for over 2 weeks. The repairman fixed it again, and everyone was happy. That is until right before we left. I went to check my email and the internet wouldn't work. I picked up the phone to call them and report it, but it started working, so I hung up. It stopped working again. This happened several times before I figured out that the internet would only work when the phone was off the hook. Can you imagine the poor guy at tech. support when I reported this?! He was very worked up about it and said we need to hire an exorcist. I said WHAT?!! So the next morning, the repairman came once again, and didn't believe me either. It turns out there was a kink in the wire, which caused this, and it's fixed. Fast forward to yesterday...they started burying the wire, only to cut the wire to our satellite dish! Am I asking so much to just have things work here?
Well I have written a book here, so I will stop for now. We will see how November goes! I hope it will be a bit less exciting! I have some things planned that will be firsts for me, and will keep you posted.
Hugs!
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