Jet Airplanes and Space Geeks

Posted on February 6, 2010 by Ruth Marie Oliver

I am currently at SEEC a conference in Houston that I have gone to for several years. The first year I attended was 2003 just days after STS 107 and Columbia was lost on re-entry. It was an eerily somber conference that year. This year there are some similarities because of the proposed 2011 federal budget released on Monday. The Constellation program, which would take America back to the moon and on to Mars, was cut. Everyone has been instructed not to talk about the political controversy brewing in Washington DC. Most all attendees would agree, the cancellation of Constellation is a retreat for the U.S. in its preeminence in space.

The great thing about this conference is that it gives fantastic tools and experiences to teachers to improve their instruction of the next generation of leaders and explorers. The attendees get behind the scenes access to Mission Control, Building 9/Vehicle Mock-Up complex, robotics laboratory and much, much more. I get to hang out with lots of friends and learn stuff to take back to Space Camp and Aviation Challenge.  I am a firm believer that educators have more impact on our future than today’s politicians. All the experiences at SEEC help teachers motivate students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) content areas. Simply put, a teacher’s classroom becomes exponentially larger.

I have toured the flight line at Ellington Field – Home of NASA’s T-38. I love the smell of an airplane hanger! I toured the Vehicle Mock-Up building. It is so cool how our TCF or MCC at Space Camp looks so much like JSC’s training floor. While walking around the Vehicle Mock-Ups I saw Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, astronaut and Space Camp alumnus. I got to tell her personally how much I appreciated her agreeing to take up a set of Space Camp wings on her mission next month. I felt it would be fitting for our first Space Camp alumni to be an astronaut to take a set of wings when she launched. Hopefully, I will get to be at her launch!

Other than hanging out with astronauts, the best part of SEEC is seeing old friends. Taunya Sweet, one of my BFFs from Space Camp, has been traveling the country teaching robotics to little kiddies! She is here! Crazy Tony Fleury from Alpha 19 joined us at SEEC this year. Another Alpha 19 member and Oliver-Key family member, Rhonda is my roomie. There are like 100 teacher camp alumni at the conference. Even my good buddy Leesa Hubbard, fellow Squire! Our favorite female astronaut and feminist Sally Ride even joined us for a keynote address.

I love visiting Houston, but on Super Bowl weekend I would rather be glued to ESPN trying to find out what my man Peyton is doing. I enjoy my time on the road, but home is in Huntsville, Alabama!

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Counting Sheep

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Ruth Marie Oliver

Today was a glorious day at the Barn. The Barn was closed for its annual inventory. I realized how truly addicted the people of Huntsville are to the Barn and its associates. We had Cameron Drape calling for her hydrangeas she couldn’t live without any longer. True, they have been on hold for three weeks, but she had to have them the day we were closed for counting. Magnolia Garland answered the phone very politely. The guest on the phone was a bag handle!! Magnolia told her we were closed and could not help her with her phone order.  The guest barked back with, “Why did you answer the phone if you couldn’t help me?” Grumpy ole bag handle are like that, that is why they are bag handles!

The mall guests would stop by the Barn doors, press their noses up against the doors in hopes to just sniff the scent of potpourri and pillow inserts. While glued to the window, the guests would reach for their cell phones and call the Barn to ask why we were closed, all while staring at the inventory closure notice posted on the Barnyard door. Everything is urgent on the only shopping day we are closed during the year!!!

Wait, I don’t think I got to the point of my post! I haven’t told you why it was a wonderful day inside the Barn! I got to count sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens all day long. When there was a stable or pasture that was difficult to count or needed someone “thorough” they asked me and Josephine Bedding to help out. OK, that is what they told us, but I believe the Barn gods where punishing me for my blog! Or, if you don’t suck at your job you get the sucky jobs! Either theory works for why I got the crap job, but I loved each minute of the day! I especially loved it when my scanner would say “Hoorah, Your Count is in Balance!!!” By the end of the day it should have said, “Hot Damn! You Get a Cookie!”

Ok, maybe my humor is getting a little off! The point is, each year I love inventory a little more than the year before. You may think I am crazy, but I love going to work one day out of the year and counting sheep! You know you can do it in your sleep and that is the point of the day for me. I get to go to work in my grubby clothes and Sambas, eat snacks and laugh a lot. I don’t have to call a mom or dad to tell them their son or daughter has misbehaved at camp or fire a staff member for inappropriate conduct at work. I can just count sheep! Thanks Manhattan, Hudson, Heather Chenille, and the head farmer for letting me work at the Barn! I love the Barn!

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Training Popcorn

Posted on January 30, 2010 by Ruth Marie Oliver

Growing up I got the chance to go to Space Camp!!! It was twenty years ago and I was just like all the other kids attending Space Camp; I wanted to be an astronaut. I remember all the fun lectures on overhead projectors, the simulators, and finishing the night at IMAX. We watched Hail Columbia, Destiny in Space, and The Dream is Alive. All three IMAX movies captured the excitement and fascination with human space flight. I remember being amazed by the IMAX projector alone.

The staff training session this month had the potential to be the best ever. We had hundreds of applicants over the fall, and interviewed over 90 of them. We started the first day with 49 new staff members, all very qualified and with lots of kid experience; however, there wasn’t a space geek among them. They didn’t really get the early Space Shuttle program that I got to watch as a child. See, most all the staff we hired were born in the late 80s. This was a little troublesome since this would be a year of conversion: We were attempting to shift our focus away form Apollo history and shuttle simulations to a view of space flight history and lunar missions.

Training chugged along with tests and teach-backs. Some staff dropped while others didn’t make the cut. The level of stress was a little high when we hit the end of our second week. Things would change at the beginning of this week. We would all attend training classes led by Hoot Gibson, Space Shuttle superstar! The youngsters in the training group began to see what the early STS program looked like in the 80s and 90s. Hoot was there at the very beginning of the shuttle program. He was a member of the 1978 astronaut class, he flew the number four chase plane when STS 1 landed at Edwards in 1981 and he flew five times in space.

The ups and downs of training are just like the ups and downs of the shuttle program. With every struggle we learn something valuable. At the beginning of the week the group didn’t understand about the Challenger disaster and only had a few clues about the Columbia disaster. At the end of the week, as we all gathered in IMAX to watch Hail Columbia and The Dream is Alive, it all seemed to make sense.

I can make sense of where I am in the world. I didn’t grow up to be an astronaut, I grew up to be an educator; not in a classroom, but at Space Camp. I get to teach briefings such as LIKES, Service Standards, and others. I get to write tests and work with staff mentors. In this wild and crazy week where news articles reported the President may cut the NASA mission to return to the moon, forty something new Space Camp staff learned and grew as a team. I sent a package of Space Camp wings to an alumnus to fly on her flight aboard STS-131 and maybe, just maybe I will be there for the launch. I enjoy my place in the world.  The best part of working at Space Camp is that I get to watch IMAX movies on Friday afternoons.

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On a Roll!

Posted on January 24, 2010 by Ruth Marie Oliver

After suffering a devastating loss in the 2008 presidential election, my teams have won big! Seeing the Republicans lose miserably in 2008 my competitive spirit was saddened and almost threw in the towel all together. My Yankees didn’t make the MLB playoffs in 2008. Peyton lost in the first round of the NFL payoffs. The Mississippi State Bulldogs were demoralized in the 2008 Egg Bowl 45-0 by their arch rival Ole Miss.

Today, I enjoyed watching my old boyfriend win his second AFC Championship. As I enjoyed this glorious come from behind victory, I realized my teams have been on a roll! The Yankees won the series this past season! The Bulldogs, lead by Dan Mullen, won the Egg Bowl big! They might not have had a winning season, but that doesn’t matter if you are victorious over Ole Miss! My husband’s alma mater Alabama won the National Title and Mark Ingram won the Heisman. I am an Independent in this state’s rivalry, but I claim that victory in the name of Punkin! Less than a year after our President took office the Republicans won a big race in Massachusetts with 1982 Cosmo model Scott Brown!

See, as excited as I am, I know my teams can’t keep rolling! And that is why I am so concerned about Super Bowl XLIV. My allegiance will always be with Peyton Manning, the New York Yankees, the GOP, and the MSU Bulldogs. However, I am worried my boy Peyton will lose, thus breaking my unprecedented winning streak! So should I use the logic of pulling for the other team just to help my true team win? Should I just quit following competitive sports? Or, should I just ride the roll until it is over?

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100th Post, 100 Words

Posted on January 11, 2010 by Ruth Marie Oliver

My first journal was started in January of 1985. Wow! 25 years ago. Ironically, that was the month my younger brother died of meningitis. I only wrote in my little blue journal until early March, but it stood as a history for me as to what happened during those days. I wrote about things like who visited our family, and how I dealt with loss as a second grader.

Later I would write several journals while on expedition to England and France. I loved walking though some of Paris’ notable art galleries, sketching and jotting down my thoughts. I would capture all my thoughts and feelings into a spiral bound notebook to later ponder them.

Finally, last November I started this weblog – blog. I have enjoyed every minute of composition. To date, I have written 99 entries. For my 100th blog, I give you my 100 favorite words. This process has taken almost a week. I have scribbled and erased many times but here is my final list!

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Hope you enjoy my blogs? I enjoy writing them!

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Another Benton Blog

Posted on January 10, 2010 by Ruth Marie Oliver

Saturday afternoon Chris and I saw a white F-150 truck with a blue and yellow Jeff Benton Homes tag on the front. I grimaced at my dear husband and said a few words I will not repeat in print. I expressed how frustrated I was at Jeff Benton and our legal team. Chris and I are seeking some justice in the lies told to us by Jeff Benton and his minions. We and a few fellow other homeowners are trying to find some justice through the legal system. I have found another outlet for my frustrations with Jeff Benton.

I wrote a blog in November titled, Will the Trees Stay. The Internet and Google Analytics are amazing things. This morning Chris and I were poking around seeing who has been looking at my blog site and what they have been looking at. Google’s search engine has brought people to my website and the blog entry discussing my trees and how we were mislead during the building of our home. The readers were led to my site through a tag for a subdivision currently selling homes. After reading my blog 25% of the readers left my site through a Ken McDaniel’s link and others going to Woodland Homes. Maybe, just maybe, someone will choose not to purchase a Jeff Benton Home because of my blog. It is a small victory, but a victory none the less.

Each time I meet a Jeff Benton associate out in public at the mall or the grocery store, I want to ask them if they enjoy working for an allegedly fraudulent company. Honestly, they probably don’t even know Benton’s pending legal issues. Hopefully my little blog will help. I am not just making this stuff up. Jeff Benton Homes isn’t hassle free!

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Uphill Both Ways

Posted on January 7, 2010 by Ruth Marie Oliver

Remember hearing your parents tell stories about walking barefoot to school in the snow uphill both ways? Today the adventure home seemed as treacherous as all those stories my folks told me. The snow on the roads, the crazy southern drivers, and the dumb Alabama fan waving her car flag down the icy mountain made for a true bonding experience for Chris and me. It was two hours in the TEV for a life time memory. Let me share a few stories.

This morning I forgot my phone at home. Of all days to leave my phone at home, today would not be the best day. First, my Be Ready Camp knowledge kicked in telling me this is unsafe driving in winter precipitation without a way to call for help. On top of that, Kim Dickerson got engaged last night and I didn’t get the phone call because I was left without the “Carhart”. Congrats Kim! Remember to make Alex muffins every now and then.

Chris sent me text messages throughout the morning keeping me up to date on all the road closings. Boo at home with my phone was very prepared. After a few phone calls and oh crap the southern sky is falling, Chris and I decided to leave work and head for Creekstone.  We rallied in the Space Camp parking lot. Joining forces to drive home we drove toward Governors drive. We saw lots a crazies weaving and speeding through traffic. There was a guy who had been in his truck too long and pulled off to pee. Yes, he had to pee.

We saw a dozen or so Huntsville PD zipping up and down the mountain on the opposing lane, but we were stuck behind a Ford pick up truck. There was a HEMSI unit behind us. I looked for Kendall and Ric, but I think it was another crew in the truck. I had all my survival gear in my backpack just incase we had to camp in the frozen wilderness of Hampton Cove. I had snacks, a flashlight, emergency blanket, and matches. Wait, I sound like Divot and Snapper on their drive to my house. They typically have to stop for a nap.

The craziest thing we saw was a Crimson clad car with an extremely stupid driver talking on her cell phone and waving her Alabama window flag out of her sun roof. Really? Please, do you want to die? Note: this wasn’t just when she was sitting still in traffic, but it was on the icy down slope of Highway 431. I thought to myself that this lady will not get to see Alabama’s 13th national title if she slides off the mountain because of her stupidity.

“It is all about the adventure” is my motto! Chris was being the geek that he is, following the traffic reports on Twitter as we crept up the mountain. I didn’t have my phone, so I was focused wholly on driving. Glad I paid attention to my Arizona online driving school! With all the stress driving home and having to send people home from work, my conclusion is, “This is how a snow day feels as an adult!”

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Twelve and Holding

Posted on January 6, 2010 by Ruth Marie Oliver

Tonight when the University of Alabama takes to the field in the Rose Bowl they will be competing to win their 13th national title. Being declared best in the nation is based on nothing more than mathematical polls and human interest. Does this mean they are the best team in the land? Just like crowing a Miss America it is all in the eyes of the judges.

I believe that the BCS system of crowning a national champion is just like crowning a beauty queen. There is no true competition where one team is left standing as the best. There isn’t one victorious team that reigns on top of the hill after a tournament or “series” of contests. Why is it that the most lucrative college sport doesn’t have a completive method of crowning its king? The answer is MONEY!

Long ago a bunch of good ole boys decided to create bowls or regional beauty pageants for their favorite football teams to compete. Unfortunately, unlike Miss America, the winners of these pageants don’t face off in a final contest. There are several teams left claiming they are the most best and most beautiful.

The NCAA has a competition and gives a trophy to national champions in all sports with the exception of the highest level of college football. There is no comparison to the passion shown on the courts and fields of battle leading up to the Final Four or Omaha! In Division 1-AA, Bowl Subdivision, B*&% S*@$ football we are left trying to making everyone happy except the fans and alumni of the colleges they support. The fans are left crying for some type of play-off rather than just #1 versus #2.

Everyone will watch the game tonight and enjoy the commentary. If you are a Texas or Alabama fan you will find some contentment in this arrangement. But there are several other teams that could rival these teams if given a chance to compete in a tournament. I must agree with everyone other than the BCS executives; let’s have a play-off in all NCAA sports. Mr. and Mrs. BCS, you will make more money and you will make millions of fans happy.

So, until that day, Hook ‘em Tide!!! You may question my combination of words, but until there is a series of contests that looking more like a play off, we are left with a bi-curious competition similar to Miss America!

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Welcome to 2010

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Ruth Marie Oliver

Survival TrainingI started this grand and glorious year with my brother and nephews at Pilot/Co-Pilot camp, a program of Aviation Challenge. It was so much fun! Whoever runs that place is a redheaded mastermind of fun! It was great hanging out with my family at AC for the weekend! It didn’t matter that Reece, call sign Pigskin, looked like a homeless Vietnam War vet. God love the little man, but he doesn’t care how he looks. Rhett, call sign Yankee, was concerned with shooting Alvin down. We all wanted to seek revenge on someone. We are a very competitive family! Shot down everyone in the sims and won the Flag Award. We had our fire built before Cornbread came back to the Boy Scout Area with matches.

Great weekend. I think Walt and I will be remembered as the college football people (Ole Miss and Florida played in Bowl games), because everyone knows I have to keep up with Urban Meyer and his boy! Ole Miss, I was hoping, would get wrangled by the OSU Cowboys. Great weekend only leads me to believe this will be a great year!

I am looking forward to training the newbies, presenting at SEEC and Honeywell Leadership Academy, the Star Wars exhibit, another AC 12 Day camp, and who knows, maybe another trip to Prescott for Oak Creek Nut Brown Ale and a PBC Wedge, or maybe, just maybe a winning season for MSU football! This year I started a really cool five year journal. Every day for five years I will add a paragraph about the day. Quick thoughts, maybe the quote of the day or something like that. Sounds like fun!

With the new journal, I am going to make a few changes this New Year. And they are as follows:

  1. Wear more pink, “Pink is my signature color!”
  2. Watch more reality TV. I want to create a new show, “Real Housewives of the Barn.”
  3. Be more huggie! Being affectionate is the true sign of a great leader!
  4. Stop using Dixon Ticonderoga pencils. Truly, you can’t tell a difference in Dixons and the Staple’s brand.
  5. Finally, break up with Peyton; I think I am more interested in younger men now. Tim Tebow is a hottie!

Good luck and God Bless in 2010!

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2009 Year In Review

Posted on January 1, 2010 by Ruth Marie Oliver

Last year I had a lot of fun with my year in review blog. Therefore, I made an executive decision to continue the tradition this year. The year 2009 was a great year for me and my hubby Chris. We spent most of the time sleeping under the same roof which was a drastic change from the previous four years in our marriage. During the year I took an exploratory outlook on life. I returned to the Barn after a ten month break and began blogging about the misadventures of the Barn. It was a year of great highs and a few lows, but overall it was a wonderful year! Here are my top ten moments of 2009!!!

Green Bay Pre-Game10. Trip to Wisconsin: Visiting Lambeau Field would have been great if I had seen just any game. However, our visit to Lambeau field was for the Packers vs. Vikings game; the game where Brett Favre returned to the Frozen Tundra, his former home. The best part of the road trip was sharing the adventure with my mom, dad, and Chris. The part that sucked was throwing up in the back seat of my mom’s Lincoln Navigator. All is well in the world, and Brett Favre was victorious!

9. Arizona Traffic School: This doesn’t sound like it should be a highlight of my year’s adventures. However, the recruiting trip to Prescott, Arizona is one of my favorite work assignments. During the fall, Snapper and I made our way back to Embry Riddle for the third time. On the trip into Prescott, a traffic camera caught me speeding. I am well versed in what to say to an officer when they pull me over. I was left speechless when I received a speeding ticket in the mail. One Saturday morning in December I played Mariah Carey music while I completed my online traffic school. The only thing that would have made Arizona traffic school better would have been a PBC Wedge from the Prescott Brewing Company.

8. The Plumber App: With a Twisted Taco cup in one hand and a crescent wrench in the other hand I attempted to fix my tub’s broken facet. I am not a plumber nor should I ever become one. In this attempt I broke my Motorola Razor and made way for my darling husband to purchase me, at long last, an iPhone with Plumber App. Looking back at this mini adventure and all the laughs it was well worth the mess I made in my bathroom.

7. Flaming Hookers: I am not going to tell the whole story, but the night of the Space Camp Hall of Fame a few friends and I continued the party at a local watering hole (ATO). This is where I was introduced to a Flaming Hooker. No, it isn’t a lady of the night who is being cremated. It is a drink made popular to space geeks in the book Riding Rockets. This story really isn’t the highlight but gives a great example of the fun I have had socializing with friends, astronauts, and space geeks. The top memory for me wasn’t the night of the hall of fame, but happened a few weeks later when I visited with a few members of STS-125 and Hoot Gibson. It was great sharing Story stories with Michael Massimino. Now I know how the bolt on Hubble was over torqued.

Jack Daniels (Dec 2009)6. Becoming a Squire: Last year while standing in line at Jack Daniel’s, waiting in the bitter cold to have bottles signed, Divot and I made a commitment to visit Lynchburg on a regular basis until one or both of us were Squires. In April of 2009, I received my deed to land at Jack Daniel’s making me a Tennessee Squire. Divot and I continued to visit the distillery and go to bottle signings. Visiting Lynchburg is fun, and being a Squire is a big deal to me!

5. Houston in February: Right after training dozens of new Space Camp counselors, I get away from my job by flying to Houston Texas to attended SEEC. Yes, it is a vacation to me! Learning more about space may make me a space geek, but hanging out with teachers from all over the U.S. is fun to me. Hanging out with my friend Rhonda is a plus! Last year we took a break from the conference to watch Pat Summitt win her 1,000th game as a head coach. I think Urban Meyer can learn a few things from Pat Summitt. She has 8 NCAA Championships over 35 years of coaching. Meyer has two BCS Titles in his young career. Coach Summitt, Rhonda, and NASA are all pretty dang cool!

4. Bourbon Trail: In late August I took a road trip to Kentucky. I was all by myself on this excursion. I visited Mammoth Cave and five bourbon distilleries. Along the way I learned a lot about Kentucky’s history, how to make bourbon, and why Jack Daniel’s is the best whiskey. True, you may think I am a traitor for visiting Jack competitors, but I wanted to see for myself what the difference was between Kentucky Straight Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey. If you decide to visit the Bourbon Trail, make sure you visit Maker’s Mark and Woodford Reserve. By far, those two distilleries have the best tours and a better product than the other bourbons.

Lucy's First Egg Bowl3. Lucy’s Bell: What do you get when you mix family with Mississippi State tailgating? The answer is, the best Egg Bowl ever! It was Lucy’s first Egg Bowl so she got a brand new pink bell from the Barns & Noble at State. Mississippi State gave Lucy and all their adoring fans lots of reasons to ring their cowbells this year in Starkville. Once State took the lead in the third quarter they didn’t give it up again as they pounced on Ole Miss 41-24! I know there have been bigger wins in MSU history, but for me this was the best one ever! My whole family was there for the game as we joined my aunts and uncles for pre and post game refreshments. Days and games like the Egg Bowl can show everyone outside of the South why SEC football is so near and dear to its followers!

2. Epic Return to the Barn: I left work at the Barn in the spring of 2008 just shy of five years with the store. I didn’t think I would return, but in March of this year I did. I was surprised after returning that I love working at the Barn more now than ever before! There is something about it. It is like when I left I was simply a Barnyard Hand in Training. Now, I feel like a Barn Ninja. And on top of all the fun I have working at the Barn, when I get home I can write about working at the Barn. It is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Working with characters (boy, are they characters) such as Hudson, Manhattan, Josephine Bedding and all the others is fun and enjoyable. Isn’t that what we should want in any job?

Red Bull stew1. Chief Reunion: In late July Chris and I visited Camp of the Rising Son for its 30 year reunion. Wow, CRS has been around for 30 years! I enjoyed visiting the camp that gave me my start as a camper and my first job as a camp counselor. It was wonderful visiting with old friends, I mean Chiefs. The whole process was a blessing as I reconnected with so many people. One of the highlights for me was my team winning the Camp Stew Cook Off! The secret is in the bacon! Unfortunately for me, some stories of the past did surface. I would like to tell everyone reading, I am truly sorry for tossing a bucket of water on a past Chief. And yes, the bucket had a few frogs in it. As a camp manager, I have learned that pranks are bad for camp.

Camp is my life! It has molded me into who I am today. I am a rambunctious, redhead who isn’t afraid of adventure. I love my family more than camp, but it is good going to a job you love every single day. My job has given me a lot of the experience listed above. I am lucky to have a great life surrounded by people I love, and who I think love me, or at least they don’t dislike me. So I am looking forward to the adventures of next year, and the next decade. I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

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Great Deep South World Tour

Posted on December 27, 2009 by Ruth Marie Oliver

Tour MapEach Christmas Chris and I venture across the state line several times to visit family. Chris calls this journey the Great Deep South World Tour 2009! I call it crisscrossing the Southeast in hopes to find sanity at the end of the trip, or somewhere in between. Don’t get me wrong, I love it! However, it is a little crazy if you break it down. Try and follow along.

Wednesday 5:05pm I complete a shift at the Barn. Chris, Boo and I drive feverishly to Winona, Mississippi 4.5 hours away. We unload the vehicle share a few stories and off to bed. We wake up at my parent’s house and prepare for a day of celebrating my father’s and sister-in-law’s birthday along with our Oliver family Christmas. Mom is not feeling well so we placed her on injured reserve for the day. Walter and Christy led the food prep team as Chris entertained the little ones and helped out where needed.

After we finished a wonderful meal of meats and carbohydrates, Daddy read Luke 2 from an English Standard Version of the Bible. He threw in a few thee’s, thou’s, and a goeth here and there to be reminiscent of the King James Version. Unfortunately, there was a Bible misplaced during set up for the day. No worries, we made it through the day! We made out like a bandits with Mississippi State Cheese, silverware, and a really cool flash light; all useful gifts. The night ended early because Santa was nearing North America in record speed. Did you know that you can track Santa on Google Maps? Very useful in getting kids to go to bed!

Boo the Traveling Dog!Christmas morning started at 5:30am with several, “I don’t want to get up” and a few “really do I have to?” Chris and I did have enough time to empty our stockings Santa had left for us before we hit the road heading for Hoover, Alabama and the Land of Houndstooth! We stopped by my brother’s house to check out the damage Santa and the reindeer caused to the roof of their house. By the way things looked under the tree, Santa landed well over his weigh limit, dislodging a few shingles in the process. We were back on US 82 at 7:20am an in Hoover, Alabama by 10:03am.

There is a great contrast between Chris’ family and my family. Chris would describe my family as loud and I would describe his family as quiet, reserved, almost boring. His family’s house feels like a very sterile place. His family has moved all over the US following their father’s career in the coal mining industry. So their home doesn’t really have the same lived in feel that the farm has. My parents still live in the home they built just before I was born. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when the new grandparents placed plastic under the 10 month old granddaughter’s high chair. This is the best comparison I can give. I am sure there are still hidden green beans in my childhood room from when I was stubborn and wouldn’t eat them; meanwhile Chris’ parents are a little worried about macaroni and cheese on their Persian rug.

We exchanged gifts at his parent’s, which is contrasting from Christmas on the farm. In Hoover, we all unwrap gifts at the same time. If we chose this method with my parent’s we would lose track of who gave what to whom. Did I mention we are loud on the farm? I got bath gear and Chris received three or four flash lights. I am not sure what message this sends, but useful gifts, so bonus points for both families this year. Great gifts given to me by my quiet mother-in-law… a THONG! Yes, thong! However, it wasn’t what you would think; it was a “Book Thong” bookmark. Why name it a book thong? I don’t know, but it is funny!

We left Hoover at 1:34pm headed north to Huntsville, Alabama and back home for Christmas on the creek! Chris and I chose to exchange gifts at home; this hopefully starting a new tradition for us. We enjoyed leftovers and hanging out in the peace and comfort of our own home. But wait; the weekend is still not over! I worked at the Barn the day after Christmas to find out that everyone visiting the Barn wanted items we didn’t have. We were out things which we had been sold out of weeks ago. I ended my Barn session at 8:00pm on Saturday.

Christmas Game of TossThe last leg of our journey was back to Mississippi to visit my mom’s side of the family. The Land clan gathered in Ridgeland, Mississippi to visit and share gifts. My cousins and my brother reminisced about epic backyard football games of our childhood as we tossed the football back and forth with the next generation. Things like that make zig-zagging across Mississippi and Alabama all worth it!

We ended our trip at 10:09pm Sunday night (just a few minutes ago) traveling 1,290 miles visit all of our families. We stopped for gas five times along the way. Boo peed on seventeen trees and lost tons of hair during the stressful trip (most of which seems to have landed in the vehicle). We passed Tuscaloosa’s Chipotle twice, stopping to eat only once. We crossed the state line four times and traveled through four area codes. However you slice it or dice it, Chris and I love our families and we enjoy visiting them. We shared homemade Kahlua with the reserved Key family. This would be the play of the entire tour! The combined trip time of nineteen hours in the TEV was worth the time spent with family! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

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Top 10 Ways to Be Annoying at Christmas

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Ruth Marie Oliver

Everyone loves lists. Since 1985, David Lettermen has regularly given a top ten list. People also love Casey Kasem’s Top 40. I loved it when my mother gave me a list to go grocery shopping. Well, this blog entry will stand as my Barn year in review as I list the ten things you shouldn’t visit the Barn for during the holidays. All these have actually happened and the workers have the scars to prove it.

10.  Making out on a Pearce Sectional.

9.  Opening a Bridal Registry on Black Friday… or the weekend before Christmas.

8.  Returning merchandise purchased after closing… anytime, but especially returning merchandise on Black Friday purchased after closing the night before Thanksgiving.

7.  Lounging with your BFF on a Barn bed while Hudson is standing in the room.

6.  After weeks of being sold out and still having CO-OP call us for a Sleigh Bell pillow by asking for just one “Golf Delta” bell pillow (Golf Delta is code for cursing… remember this is a PG blog!).

5.  This one is complex… Calling the Barn to ask for the contents of boxes which were delivered to your lake house when your wife is at the lake house but won’t open the boxes or bring them inside out of the rain.  [Editor’s note: Really?!]

4.  Taking a running leap on to a bed during rush hour the weekend before Christmas.

3.  Asking Barn management to play more Christmas music than necessary… I am talking about you Faux Snow, but I still love you!

2.  Simply being Cameron Drape with Turkey Plates in tow, Cowbell, Bella Beer Mug, Baja Glassware, Napoleon, or my darling Denim Divas will get you kicked out without much fuss.

1.  People who get mad, pitching a fit, throwing hands up in the air angry that we are sold out of merchandise the week before Christmas. Two things for these people, first if we had the product we would sell it to them. Secondly, if they wanted to shop in a Barn that has lots of merchandise, live in Atlanta, Houston, New York or San Fran, not Huntsville. [Editor: Amazing how Christmas always sneaks up on you]

This has been a great year for me at the Barn. I have enjoyed every single minute of work, if you can call it work! Hudson, Manhattan, Heather Chenille, and the head farmer make the Barn a great place. I wish everyone inside and outside the Barn a very Merry Christmas! And I will leave you with this sentiment: don’t leave your “Barn door” open!!

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