Look Familiar Hamblin Kids?

I frequent the local library book sale. Every month they add new books. They are either books that were donated to be sold or excess and old copies of the libraries. Either way, it is really great. Hard cover books are a $1 and paper backs are 25 cents. NICE! I have gotten many a treasure there. The latest treasure is on for the record, and I had to share it. I got a little joke book. It has the silliest, laughy taffy type jokes in it. BUT, the coolest part about this book is that I OWNED IT AS A CHILD. Yes, this exact same book. Coolio huh! I recognized it immediately and had to make it mine. I wanted to see if any of my siblings recognized this little gem. For some reason, I keep on thinking that this book originally belonged to Bryan. So, perhaps he will remember it. How about you Mom? Emmers? Holly? Bubber? Ben?

The cover art! Oh so beautiful. What a unique and creative name . . . The Joke Book.

One of the picture I remembered and such a great joke!

A couple weeks before I found this book, I was trying to think of any jokes that I knew. A joke from this page came to my head. I remembered the picture and the joke almost word for word. Awesome.

The most memorable page. I could see this in my minds eye before I even looked at the page. I must have a photo graphic memory or something. I am just pretty much awesome and this book is the same RIGHT!

Why No Pictures

The huge, and beautiful tree at the Holiday Inn in Cheyenne Wyoming.

A little bit of Christmas confection. Chocolate covered pretzels and popcorn. Delicious and beautiful in Great-Grandmother's bowl.

My camera isn't really working well right now. I put a bottle of pop in my purse when the camera was in there. I was sure to screw the lid on tight so there would be no chance of a leak. But, apparently I am very weak and it leaked. So pop got all over the camera and into the battery and memory card cartridge. I tried to let it dry out and I was praying that it would work when it was dry. But, alas, it only partially recovered. It will turn on and take pictures, but it is VERY hard to use. All of the internal workings are messed up and it is a pain the bum. Anyway, the whole reason for this explanation is tell you why I haven't posted any new photos lately. Sorry about that, I know my blog is boring and just full of lengthy stories with lots of words and no pictures. Even I have a hard time reading books with no pictures in them, so I apologize that I put you all through that. So here I have posted an old picture that has never been posted but is worth a look I guess. They are both from Christmas. So, this is for all of you who are sad that the holidays are over.

New Boot

Since my life is not so exciting, and I have no cute children to post pictures of, I am posting a picture of my new boots. They are cute huh, and they deserved to be posted. I got them on sale, of course. I also want to say that I got to have all you can eat spaghetti @ Hy-Vee for $1 buck. NICE!!!! It was mediocre, but worth the buck I paid for it. I really loved the garlic bread and I ate a lot. That is all I have to say tonight. Peace OUT!

Crying Solves Eveything: Part 2

Bryce got into the car with a little, confused smirk on his face. He relayed to me what had just happened. Since we really had no other option, we counted two house down from the gas station and parked our broken down car in front of it. It was just a house. No signs that a mechanic lived there at all.

"What do you think?" Bryce said to me. "Should we let this guy touch our car?"

"What else are we going to do." I said, nearly panicked now.

"Okay." And he headed off for the infamous front door. He knocked on the door and waited and not one came so he proceeded to walk to the back of the house to the garage. As he disappeared behind the house I watched as an old man opened the door and looked out. I could tell in an instant that he was without his sight. I was in the car, but I jumped out the greet the man at the door who looked so confused and lost.

"Hello," I called as I approached the front steps. "I hear that you can help us with our car. We are trying to get to Ekalaka and our car keeps overheating."

The old man replied, "Well, I might be able to help. What kinda car you got."

Bryce must have heard us from the back of the house and walked around the corner at this moment. He was very cordial and introduced me and himself to the man. His name was Dean.

"I hear you are the mechanic in town," Bryce said.

"What's left of him," Dean replied.

I will shorten the rest of the story for you. I would like to repeat the whole of the conversation we had with Dean, of Reed Point Montana. But, my post here would get pretty lengthy and I know you all want to know how this story ends.

Dean instructed Bryce to move the car to the back of the house and he would have a try at it. We got to the back and popped the hood. Bryce told him he thought the problem might be the thermostat just needed changed. Since that really was the only direction that we had, we went for it. Bryce had, luckily, bought a new thermostat on our way out of Idaho. Bryce didn't know exactly where it was and how to replace it. So, Dean put out his hands and felt around in our hot engine for the thermostat. He eventually found where it goes and got the tools out of his pocket to remove it. Between Dean relaying how to do things, and Bryce's eyes helping him, they got a new thermostat on the engine. Then they filled the car up with anti-freeze and we were on our way.

Since I have shortened the story considerably, you have missed out on some interesting conversation. Here is a little taste of what was spoke.

Bryce - "Dean, how long have you been doing mechanic work?."
Dean - "Too **** long."
Bryce - "Do you live alone?"
Dean - "Yeah, then those **** women can't be movin' the furniture all around."

Dean - "This engine's so hot it doesn't take me fingers long to see their way around."

Bryce - "We're headed to Ekalaka, do you know where that is."
Dean - "He** yeah. My Mother used to teach school there."
Natali - "Wow, how long ago was that."
Dean - "Ah he**, too long ago."

As we headed off on the road, we were happy to see that the temperature gauge was staying close to mid range and we couldn't smell the antifreeze smell too strongly. Dean, the blind mechanic, must have been an angel because he fixed our car and got us on our way safely. Then again, maybe not.

A big truck pulled to the side of us and a lady pokes her whole upper half out of the truck and yells to us that our car was smoking. We pulled over, and sure enough, over heating again. We poured some more water into the car and prayed that we could get to the next town in one whole piece. We also prayed that the mechanic in the town ahead was someone who could see our problem and fix it quickly.

This is when the tears started edging their way for the ends of my lashes. I was quite upset over the whole unfortunate situation and I was cold. I wanted so much to be strong and keep my eyes dry, but it was proving difficult. And, after a short while, big droplets of wet dripped down my cheeks and smear my make-up horrendously.

We pulled off in Columbus, Montana and found a mechanic. Anther mechanic. And this particular mechanic didn't have a sight impediment. So, four or five hours later, and after many tears had fallen from my eyes, we had a fixed car. We hoped.

I can't imagine that my crying helped the mechanics or Bryce fix my car any faster, or cause the car to miraculously heal itself. But, one thing can be said for my red puffy eyes, and salty face. I sure felt better. This is a phenomenon that men will never fully understand. Why do women cry? It will never totally sink into their brains that this act of emotion is an extremely relieving outlet of built up . . . anything. I cry at some of the smallest things, but I often feel much better having let it all out.

Ladies, I have come a realization. The longer you hold it in, the harder it falls. Let those tears roll and let them flow freely. You can do it where the men never have to witness it, but just do it. I know that those tears that fell on the road to Montana were my way of solving the crisis. I couldn't fix the car, I couldn't do a dang thing actually. But, I could cry.

And, believe me, I did.

Crying Solves Everything: Part 1

What can you learn from a broke down car, a blind mechanic, and a exhausting 40+ hour trip in winter over icy roads? I could probably make something inspiring up, for I do have quite the imagination. Alas, I really don't know for sure. At least, I can't pinpoint just one thing that can be learned from those three things. Maybe patience, humility, and gratitude. But, the lesson that we all must learn and accept at some point in our lives is this . . . crying solves everything!

We had quite the adventurous holiday this year. I know you are all clambering to hear it and I am in desperation to tell you. Here it is, the short version.

It all started out like any Christmas trip. We loaded up the car with snacks, books on CD, blankets, and all the necessities. Which I assure you were many. Thus, the car was packed, jam packed. I actually really enjoy a good road trip. I like the time I get to spend one on one with my husband and it gives us a chance to just sit and talk. Even though Bryce would preferr a good book on CD, he indulges my love of conversation occasionally. We were headed to Idaho for Christmas to spend it with the Jolley Family. Then, on to Montana for New Years. The beginning of our trip went so perfect, it couldn't have gone better. We got to Idaho in high spirits and ready for some merriment. Idaho was wonderful and we both had a tremendous Christmas. Then, on our way to Montana. There seemed to be no reason why this trip shouldn't be just as peachy as the first. Oh me, oh my, were we wrong.

We had been experiencing some trouble with the heat in our car. Winter isn't a good time for someone to experience some trouble with the hear it the car. I don't have to tell you why, you all know. But, we passed it off as a small problem and opted to fill the car with new anti-freeze and be off. So, we were off. 6:30 a.m. we were loaded, again, and out on the open road. Again.

Idaho received quite the amount of snow this year and it was in love with the roads. It stuck to it like flies to a horse. It was packed to the pavement from constant use and ICE was what we were driving on. Still, we had planned on some poor road conditions and traveling a little slower than normal isn't the end of the world. The roads continued to be icy for most of our trip to Montana. We had just gotten into Bozeman Montana when I smelled something peculiar. I asked Bryce what the smell could be and he said that it smelled a little like anti-freeze. A short while later we were stopped at the side of the road, our car overheating, pouring water in the coolant resevoir.

Now, one thing we can say about the people in Montana. You don't have to be stopped for very long before someone, or two or three someones, is stopping to ask if you need any help. However, the car seemed to cool down and we went on our way. Not twenty miles down the road, and we were over heating again. We poured the last of our water into the resevoir and then started to worry. Two trucks stopped to offer assistance this time and we were hoping to just get to the nearest town without blowing up. We made it. A small town called Reed Point.

Now, the expression "small town" may not mean much to some of you who are from the cities. You may think a small town is a town with maybe one Wal-Mart, a half dozen fast food restaurants and a few nice quiet subdivisions. And that may be the case somewhere other than Montana. In Montana, a small town, an actual small town, consists usually of a gas station, a bar, a school, a church, and some houses. Anywhere from 200-500 occupants is norm. And Reed Point was luckily, so we thought, on the 500 side of the population scale. There has to be a mechanic here right? RIGHT!

The gas station attendant told Bryce, "Sure, the mechanic lives just two houses down." Pointing down the road in some direction. "His name is Dean. Just knock on his door. If he doesn't answer, he is out back in he shop."
Bryce readily thanked her. But, she continued to speak.
"He really knows his stuff," she exclaimed. "But, he is blind."

To Be Coninued . . .

OOPS!

Sorry to all those who tried to watch the video I posted and couldn't. I messed something up with my photobucket account and it really shook things up. It isn't fixed yet either, but I at least can get around the problem with a little extra steps. Anyway, so here are my slideshow and my video's redone and posted again. I hope they work now. They had better or I might scream.

Jolley Christmas Take 2

Memories Take 3