Road Trip

For the first time in a very long time my sister and I are going on a road trip. The truth is I don't know that we have ever gone somewhere - just the two of us - ever. There is usually one of my nephews or my niece or our mom or a friend. I haven't looked forward to something this much in a very long time.

It's only a day trip - but it is to an outlet mall about 3 1/2 hours away. The funny thing is that neither one of us are big shoppers, but this is something she wanted to do, so we are going to do it. She's been struggling a little bit lately and wanted something to look forward to. When I asked her what she wanted to do, she said, "Go to the outlet mall."

So...early on the 31st, we'll head out with no agenda, a full tank of gas and our tunes. We'll end up back in her town that night because being sisters, we have the same outlook - we would rather spend money on beer than on a hotel room! We'll go to her favorite little bar, play darts and drink beer. She'll have her Bud Light, I'll have my Miller Light and we'll play darts until we close the place down.

I know there will be LOTS of laughing. I can honestly say that no one can make me laugh like my sister can. Now - don't get me wrong - I have a lot of people that can make me laugh hard, but there is just something about a sister.

We both need to get away from it all - and this is going to be a perfect day!

Wheat...

My nephew Wheat has a blog. I wanted to comment on his first story and realized I had to sign in to my account first. It was then that I realized I still have a blog. It's been a VERY long time since I have written anything. I was using this as a diary of sorts but after reading Wheat's story, I'm wondering if I can work on my writing skills by telling stories - true stories of my past. Stories that make me happy, stories that make me mad (still) and stories that make me sad...I think I will do that.

The Story of Wheat...

My oldest nephew's name is NOT Wheat. Not even close. His name is Justin yet I call him Wheat. I have called him Wheat for 22 years. How does one get Wheat from Justin? Let me tell you....

When Wheat was born, my dad for some reason called him Jason. My sister would get so mad at him, "Dad, his name is Justin NOT Jason!" So, after a while my dad started calling him Buckwheat. "Let's go Buckwheat," was the common phrase heard from my dad in the years that Wheat was growing up. I decided to start calling him Wheat. When Wheat was about 5 we were just hanging out. Out of the blue he asked me, "Are you always going to call me Wheat?" He looked up at me with those big blue eyes. "Yes, I will always call you Wheat." I answered trying not to smile. I could tell that this was a very serious conversation that we were having.

"Will you call me Wheat when I get big?" he asked. "Yes, I will." I replied.

"Will you call me Wheat when I play sports?" he asked. "Yes, I will." I replied.

He thought about it for a minute and then made the following statement. "I will be playing football and you will yell 'Go Wheat' and people will wonder 'Who the hell is Wheat?'" At that point I busted out laughing. "Oh honey," I explained, "people will know who Wheat is."

In the past 22 years I have cheered him on in various sports and I have yelled, "Go Wheat" on numerous occasions and EVERYONE has always known who Wheat is. No one else calls him that but me. Well, actually, that's not true. Most (if not all) of my friends call him Wheat because that is all that they have heard me call him. Some don't even know his real name.

I love my Wheat - he is the person that first made me "Aunt Ginny"