My Christmas gift this year was rather unusual: a trip to Lincoln, Nebraska for New Years, followed by a trip to Winnipeg in January….solo! Jim (bless him!) was home with the boys for a whole week while I went on my adventure. Here’s how it all happened.

I had been planning to be in Winnipeg for my aunt’s 50th birthday in early January, so when my friend Tiffany posted on an email list that they were having a New Years party, and we were all invited, it got me thinking. I'm pretty sure Tiffany didn’t really expect any of us to come—members of this homeschooling list are found all over North America, and even beyond—and I am pretty sure she didn’t expect anyone to come from as far away as Calgary. But it seemed an intriguing possibility: I was already going to fly Calgary-Winnipeg-Calgary; how much more would be it be to go Calgary-Lincoln-Winnipeg-Calgary? The answer: not much, in either time or money.

So Monday, December 29th with a 4:00am taxi ride my journey began. I’m glad I went early as clearing customs at the Calgary airport took nearly an hour (at 4:30am!!!). The customs agent was friendly, but one of her comments rather put me off: “So how much money are you carrying?” “Canadian or American?” I asked. “Either” she said. “About $3. I am just bringing the various Canadian coins to show my friends’ kids.” “Oh,” she said in a serious tone, “I always tell people to carry at least $100 cash. You never know when there will be a natural disaster—happened to my friends on the island of Oahu last year; all power was out and their bank and credit cards didn’t work.” “Uh, thanks, I’ll remember that for next time” I said, thinking to myself: I really don’t want to be reminded about disasters, natural or otherwise, when I am about to get on a plane! :-)

The flight to Denver was not the best. The plane was freezing inside—the flight attendants were wearing ski jackets and gloves! “We can’t get the heat to come on” they informed us. Hmmm…..and this plane is supposed to fly for 2 hours to Denver…..safely???? The flight left about 6:30am, so folks were asking for pillows and blankets. “We have no pillows or blankets of any kind on board.” The seats were cramped and uncomfortable, there was drink service only but no snacks, and no movies or little TV sets on the back of the chairs. Now I know why Jim always tries to fly Westjet! (This flight was Air Canada/United).

I slept much of the way to Denver, then had to boot it across Denver airport to my connecting flight to Lincoln, making it to my gate 8 minutes before boarding time. Whew! Glad I didn’t have the kids in tow as we never would have made it.  The Lincoln flight was also cramped but better—there was heat and I sat beside a friendly older woman who had lived in the Lincoln area all her life. She educated me about Lincoln and Nebraska, and I educated her about Calgary and Canada. :-)

I got to the Lincoln airport just after lunch, and recognized Tiffany walking towards me right away. Well, ok…..I actually recognized Jack and Jessie (her kids) first! My first impressions of Lincoln were sunny and warm (it was probably only a few degrees above 0C / 32F, but Calgary had been so cold lately it was a treat). And no snow. Tiffany’s Mum was also with her, as she had been visiting over Christmas and her flight back to the UK left later than afternoon. We visited a friend of Tiffany’s who lived near the airport, dropped her Mum back off, and made our way home. We stopped at a health food store (yay! all the foods my kids would need to survive in Lincoln are available—this being pretty much soy yogurt, rice milk and almond butter for Gareth). In many ways Lincoln reminded me of a mix of Winnipeg and Calgary, both of which are positive associations for me.

It was great to sit with a proper cup of tea (one of about a billion I drank while there!) and STOP MOVING for a while. I’d forgotten that jiggly feeling you get from a full day of travel. A short while later Alicia and her kids arrived. I don’t remember much other than a whirlwind arriving, and Anna’s first words to me: “Jack threw up in the car!”

So those of you reading from the APHS list probably want some details, right? Here’s my impressions of people and places:

Tiffany’s house: homey, comfortable. I remember commenting to her that I liked that not all her furniture matched. (And I mean that in the most complimentary way!) Not that it was garage sale or student digs special—far from it. The couches in the family room were lovely and very comfy (especially the new reclining one!), the dining room table with a gazillion leaves was superb, etc. It was a wonderful, comfy home that real people lived in—not a show home or something done up on one of those real estate shows. You know? And I loved the yard—bird feeders everywhere, just like I’ve got at home!

Tiffany: she really is Gorgeous. Fun, bubbly, made you feel welcome right away. Makes a mean cup of tea, and introduced me to the joys of butterscotch schnapps in hot chocolate. Pretty fair Wii and Pictionary player too. Great sense of humour, and threw a fun New Years party. Does it get any better than playing Pictionary with kids at 3:00am??? :-)

Rex: I really liked Rex. He reminded me so much of my Uncle Dave in Winnipeg, who I adore. I like that the first thing he said to me was: “So let me get the ground rules straight. Vegan? –”Yup”—And you don’t like okra?” LOL! I do straight-forward just fine. He was very helpful to all of us, he stayed up yapping with us long into the night that first night, he took me on a drive and walk to the local lake to see the area (I have a thing about wildlife and landscapes) and drove me to the airport way early in the morning on the day I left for Winnipeg. As they’d say on Red Dwarf, “What a guy!”

Alicia: friendly, smart, down-to earth. A little frazzled (long car trip with 4 young kids, one of whom puked!), and much more petite than I expected physically. A very kind and patient person, and amazing to watch with kids. There were a few times I watched her diffuse situations between kids, and I sat there thinking, “Yeah….I gotta learn how to do that cuz losing it and yelling at my kids just isn’t working!” But, um, not perfect. <VBG> That was also a relief to see!

Victoria: lovely, sensible, responsible, down-to-earth girl. Very intelligent, and a pleasure to talk to. And a great eater—the girl gulped down at least seconds of everything I cooked. I’ve got some curry spice packets headed your way, Victoria!

Jessie: very sweet, kind girl. I got lots of hugs from her and others while I was there, which made missing my own kids a lot easier. She has a similar oldest-child responsible energy to her like Victoria. She took me and the other girls on a walk to the local park, and made a great tour guide. I learned about “rattlers” (honey locust tree pods), which we don’t have in Alberta. I also saw lots of oriole nests in the bare trees. 

Anna: funny, charismatic, a bit of a ham. Has a real gift for drama—she did some Kid Charades for Alicia and me on New Years Eve, and was awesome at them. Drew several pictures for me. Collects bottle caps. I'm saving some from a local Canadian brewery to send her way.

Jack (Tiffany’s): gave me a BIG hug at the airport. Spent a lot of time watching movies, playing Wii (which he seemed to LOVE), and playing with the other Jack. He is pretty big for 6—he must have a few inches and 10+ pounds on Daegan. Kept wanting to drink the rice milk which I bought to put on cereal; next time I know to buy two!

Jack (Alicia’s): Was busy on computer or Wii much of the time, so I didn’t talk to him much one-on-one. Did well playing Pictionary with us New Years Eve, and I do remember his reaction to seeing a short video I brought of my two boys: “Can you bring them next time? I want to play with them!” I also remember him getting rather frustrated at one point and Alicia totally being able to calm and diffuse. Reminded me of Daegan in this way.

Alex: looked like a little Jack (they are both VERY blond) and was always busy, as toddlers are. Rather enjoyed playing with the water in the dog’s dish (and after repeated attempts to remove him, we pretty much decided “not life-threatening, not morally threatening….let him be” <g>). Could not get enough of the Green Iguana song on youtube.

So here’s some pics. I didn’t take as many as I should have—too busy yapping! :-)

The two Jack’s playing together:

Here’s Tiffany cutting Victoria a piece of Christmas cake (with rock hard royal icing on top). The cake was awesome though—a fruitcake I actually liked:

Tiffany also has 3 wonderful dogs, which I took for a few walks (sometimes with kids, sometimes without). They are CALM and hence a refreshing change from our own neurotic mutt:

And here’s the gang getting all dolled up for the New Year’s party:

Between this trip and the one to Winnipeg, I could not have asked for a better Christmas gift. Getting to meet new people, getting to just take care of me for a week….bliss. Thanks again, Jim!