Happy Birthday kiddo!

                                                    

Has it really been 26 years already?  Makes me sad :(

# 3 on the BUCKET LIST........

Number three on the Bucket List is to go down to the Gene Leahy mall on Thanksgiving night and actually witness the "flick" of the switch for the annual Christmas lights.  We have been saying for years that we were going to do this and even though we have seen those lights all lit up for years, we have never actually been there for the "official" lighting.  We finished the turkey early today and decided that if we didn't mark this off our list today that well.... it would be another year before we could.  The temperature outside was a brisk 39 degrees and it was nice and toasty inside.   We had full tummies but this was the year that we were going to do this.  We put on the layers and the ear muffs and off we went!    We got there waaaaaaaaaay early because after all they usually have 30,000 plus people at this annual lighting.  I was so thankful that the wind wasn't blowing because that could have been miserable, especially since we had about an hour and a half before the switch was going to be "flicked"!  It was a beautiful afternoon for November in Omaha and you gotta love Con Agra for the free hot chocolate AND WHIP CREAM!!!  It was just what we needed to wait it out!!!  An added bonus was that we met and spoke to Mayor Jim Suttle!  Too bad he didn't make the Bucket List this year so we could cross off another thing this weekend!  Sorry Mayor...maybe next years list!!!

Notice that the grass is still green in the mall and there is no snow on the ground! 

This photo was taken around 4:45 so we only had about another hour or so to wait!  I still wasn't frozen at this point in the evening! But it wasn't dark yet either AND they still hadn't "flicked"  the switch!! 

Finally....at 6:00 the switch was finally "flicked" and it was worth every single minute of the waiting!  Once again...I can't believe we had never done this in the 21 years that we've lived here!!!  We truly do take so many things about Omaha for granted!  Can't wait for the other 21 things on our Bucket List........

THE Bucket List....

well actually it is a Nebraska Bucket List!  We were talking a couple weeks ago and how sad it is that you never really take advantage of the opportunities right in your own community.  We have lived in Omaha for 21 years and there are a number of places and attractions that we have never "done" but have always thought that we would some day.  We decided that life is clipping along at such a fast rate that if we don't make a conscience effort to "do" these things that we'll never get to them.  We sat down with a piece of paper and a pencil and started making our own bucket list.  The only rule is that it had to be within a 50 mile radius of Omaha to start out with and once we get that list completed, we will expand our area on the next list.

 The first one was the Bob Kerry bridge. The bridge to no where!   The sun went behind the clouds as soon as we started the walk so it was pretty cold and windy but I can definitely say that I would go back and walk it again when the weather is warmer.  We walked half way across the bridge just so I could get a picture of the Nebraska/Iowa line on the bridge!  I'll finish that walk on a warmer day. 

   1. Bob Kerry Bridge

2.  The IMAX theatre at the Henry Doorly Zoo

I can't believe we've never been to the IMAX with all the times we've been to the zoo but we

made our first trip and marked another thing off our Bucket List!  I have a very weak stomach....very weak!  I knew if there was any flying involved in this movie that it would be all over. This would be the end of my Bucket List!  So I strapped on the Sea Bands and off we went! 

 Luckily there was no flying involved and I was fine!  The show was awesome!  And to think that this has been here for all this time and we just now took advantage of it!  I can't wait to get through the other 22 items on our Bucket List!

Happy Birthday.........

It's safe to post this picture today because the hubby never reads my blog anyway!  I love it when November 18th rolls around every year because for the next 28 days we are the SAME age!  I need to rejoice in it while I can because believe me the other 337  days of the year he is rejoicing in it!  So for now we've both made it over the hill.  In 28 days I'll be a little further over the hill but for now it's a tie!

She loves her RUNZA.....

You know what I'm talking about when I say the word "RUNZA" if you grew up in or around Nebraska.  RUNZA opened their first "Drive Inn" in Lincoln in 1949.  According to Wikipedia, a RUNZA is described as a type of pastry filled with ground beef, onion and cabbage.  And that is exactly what they are!  And they are so yummy!  Not to mention their french fries and homemade onion rings are to die for!!  Ask anybody who knows my mom and they'll tell you how addicted she is to these wonderful little RUNZA'S!  

We always have to go to Runza whenever she comes into town...always the first night she's in town!  I recently went back to surprise mom for her birthday and all she could ask me was why I didn't bring her a RUNZA!!  Yeah.....I could have packed a cooler I guess and stopped in North Platte and put it on ice until I got there but I guess I wasn't thinking.    Mom had a rough week with doctor appointments and test while I was there so I promised her that we'd get OUR RUNZA!!!  Some how...some way...we'd get it!!!

There are exactly two RUNZA Drive Inn's in Colorado.  The closest one was 55 miles away in Loveland!  We left the doctors office and drove to Loveland in 45 mile an hour winds and the temperature must have dropped 30 degrees on the drive up there.  We didn't care though...we were going to get OUR RUNZA's!  You have to understand that there is such a thing as a "good" RUNZA and a "bad" RUNZA!!!  After twenty years of eating these with mom, I know she doesn't like a "bad" RUNZA!!!   Believe me, I know!   Mom is telling me as I'm fighting the steering wheel in the 90 MPH wind gust that this had better be the  "best" RUNZA that she has ever had!  YIKES!!!  The pressure is on!  I was kind of nervous as I was ordering for us....I had a lot of pressure on me! These had to be the best ever!!   Luckily they weren't really busy and the RUNZA's were absolutely perfect!   The fries were perfect and the onion rings were to die for!!  The guys that worked there were great and actually took this photo for us!  Thanks guys.  When we were leaving they asked mom how the Runza was and she said that it was the "best " one she had ever had!  EVER!!!!  And I would have to agree! And I was so relieved!  

We laughed all the way home because it just goes to prove that we would do anything for "OUR RUNZA'S"

Looking back on this day too just makes me smile because it truly was the "best" RUNZA ever with my mom!!!  EVER!!!

Time Flies.....

Has it really been five months since I last posted? I know I've been told that it's been that long...you know who you are!   Has it really been five months since the American Idol finals?  My goodness how time flies!  It has been a crazy summer to say the least.  Hopefully things will slow down this winter and I'll be able to post a lot more often!   There now...does this count as a post??? I think it does.  I promise it won't be five months again this time!  More later!  You know who you are!

YES.....

I said at the beginning of the season that I wasn't going to watch Idol this year. NOPE....it was a waste of my time. Well that lasted a couple weeks and then I was hooked AGAIN!!! Kris was my favorite from the very beginning! Week after week.....he made it! Week after week...Tracy and I had a little show down on Wednesday mornings since she was an Adam fan from the beginning! I was nervous last night...and it's only American Idol for goodness sake!!! And remember I wasn't going to watch it? Soooooooooooooo glad I did and so glad of the outcome! But I'm not watching it next season!!!