To Shoe Or Not To Shoe?

I have never considered asking guests to take their shoes off at the door.  However, I was watching a "Selling New York" episode on HGTV last week that featured a woman who was a real stickler for leaving shoes at the door.  They treated it as a kind of strange quirk this woman had and humored her.  But I have done some research and I have to say...take your shoes off!

Keeping your shoes off inside does keep your house cleaner...and healthier!  In a study by a University of Arizona microbiologist, various bacteria, including E. coli, were found on 96% of shoes tested!  Gross!  When I think about how much time babies spend on the floor it makes me shudder!  What is interesting to me is that 40% of people already ask guests to remove their shoes.  I used to think it was crazy that Mike's sister had a garage full of shoes because that is where her and her three boys always took them off and put them on.  There are no shoes in her closet, they are ALL in the garage.  She has been doing this for over 20 years!  And I have to say, her carpets are always clean.

The Mommy Bar

I had a conversation recently with a friend of mine who is a new mother.  Her son is just 5 months old.  She works a VERY full-time job, is still nursing and gets about 3 minutes of sleep a day.  I really stand in awe of how well she juggles everything.  So I was a bit outraged when I found out that her 5 MONTH OLD had to take Valentine's Day cards for his childcare group!  Stupid me, I asked if she ran to the store to pick up some Sponge Bob cards or something.  Wrong.

The "Mommy Bar" is set much higher these days!  She got some card stock, went to Pinterest for ideas, and custom designed Valentine's cards for each child and teacher in the class!  She was up until 3am doing this.  I told her that the "Mommy Game" had become pretty dang competitive.  And she said, with a straight and very determined face, "Yes it is, and I am going to WIN!!"  I don't doubt it.

Their Inner Chuck Norris

There has been a not-so-subtle shift in cheatin' songs in country music lately!  Just listen to the lyrics of songs like Little Big Town's "Tornado" or Carrie's "Two Black Cadillacs".  These women are fierce!  Today's women, as represented in country music, no longer sit around wondering what they are going to do "if he don't come back".  They go out and kick some cheating butt!

In Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" she completely destroys the cheating s.o.b.'s car, knowing it is the one thing he really loves.  In Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder and Lead" she waits by the door with her shotgun and a cigarette.  THAT is what I call "finding your inner Chuck Norris"!  I guess that is why Reba said Blake Shelton would be stupid to cheat on someone like Miranda Lambert.  "You ain't seen crazy yet..." are some scary words coming from a female country singer these days.

The Kindness Of Strangers

We all complain about the traffic these days.  There is, after all, a LOT of it!  But we who have called West Texas home for awhile tend to blame our new citizens who have just moved here for the problems on our roads.  I beg to differ.  We have been driving like crazy people out here for years!  We just got away with it because there were fewer people to run into on the roads.  Now there are many more cars getting in our way!

To illustrate my point about our newcomers, my friend Cathy told me a story about "the kindness of strangers".  She has a tire that has a slow leak so every couple of days she runs by Kent Kwik to air it up.  The last several times she has gone she has pulled in behind pickups from out of state.  And each time, the guy who was filling up his own tires stopped what he was doing and filled hers up for her!   And not just putting air in...using the tire gage thingie to make sure they did it right!  The first guy who did this was from California, the second was from Michigan and the third was from Iowa!  So welcome to West Texas, kindly strangers!

Dining Out

I have discovered that people fall into two categories when it comes to their food.  Those who share, and those who don't.  When we dine out with friends, we all take bites of each others meal.  It's more like a family style dinner.  However, one has to be careful about doing this.  Some people are REALLY protective of their food!

So I think it is interesting that the new trend in restaurants is "family style" service.  Bigger servings on plates that everyone shares.  Some people with very defined food boundaries are going to have some trouble with this.  That's where the before dinner cocktails come in handy!

For Your Amusement

We have become fans of "The Walking Dead" on AMC.  Our son, Adam, introduced it to us during a visit to Fort Worth last summer and we sat and watched two ENTIRE seasons!  Zombies don't freak me out like they do some people.  Our daughter in law, Lilly, hates them and refuses to watch any of it.  Adam, on the other hand, has devised an actual "Zombie Apocalypse" escape plan!  At Christmas Adam, Eric and Rachel worked out how we would defend the cabin in case of a zombie attack.  It was fascinating to see how their minds worked!  And a little scary.

We eased our way into the whole zombie thing with the movie "Zombieland" which is a really funny look at the idea of a zombie apocalypse.  "The Walking Dead" is definately advanced zombie killing.  I think the idea is to have fun with it all.  We gave Adam a "Zombie Ammo Box" for Christmas and put a great t-shirt (how to identify a zombie), some Spam and bandaids in it.  He thought it was hilarious but I'll bet it is under his bed right now, fully packed and ready to go...just in case.

What I Learned

The Family Truckster's maiden voyage is now a thing of the past...and here is what I learned: 

Two people taking showers and washing dishes can fill a grey water tank in a day.  If you don't empty that tank it will back up INTO the camper! After that we really kept an eye on that "black water" tank too!!

Everything is in miniature!  I now understand why people who choose this as a lifestyle get the biggest motorhome they can.  After standing in the shower with my foot on the toilet while I tried to shave my leg I have to say a bigger bathroom would be necessary if I had to do that for more than a week.

When I was in the back while Mike was at the wheel driving down I-20 it was like being in a small earthquake!  You are definately going to want to SIT while the vehicle is in motion.

Make sure you really like your travelling companions!  There is only ONE room.  It says it sleeps six, and it does, but you are definately going to want to plan some outings!  I tried to imagine 4 adults and 3 dogs crossing the country in July and all I could think was, "What a blast!!!"