GETTING READY FOR THE NEXT RV ADVENTURE

I spent part of today getting the 5th wheel ready for our next adventure. We'll be traveling again in November back to Brookings. Part of the trip will be for fun and the other for business. We're still looking for investments in this neck of the woods. With the real estate market headed downward this just might be the trip to seal the deal that I've been looking for.

Traveling with the fifth wheel is something that I always look forward to and enjoy. It will be wonderful to get back to the style of living even though it's for a short period of time.

Here you can see that I've loaded the trailer's refrigerator. I put drinks for Candace in the refrigerator too. She drinks Diet Coke.

This is my good buddy and friend, Alicia. Alicia is the Office Manager for Apple Blossom School in the Twin Hills School District.

A group of friends are getting together to celebrate Alicia's birthday in November. We will definitely be there for the celebration. On the invitation it says, "No children, please". YES! I can be assured that there will not be any kids double dipping at the snack table.

Alicia's eye is okay. It just wasn't working in this picture. It does work. Must have been the dozen or more drinks we had.

There was a lot of stress in our jobs. It's the nature of being in the school business. I read that laughter was a good cure for stress, especially belly laughter. One day when the business as usual was business in the toilet and very stressful I said to Alicia, "Time for a belly laugh!" She looked at me like I was nuts. So I started my "stupid laughing" - you know, kind of a laugh but fake. After I finished fake but almost real belly laughing I glanced over at Alicia who still had that "Are you nuts?" expression on her face and said, "Look, you need a belly laugh. Start laughing!" She did.

From that day on and when you could cut the stress in the office with a knife, one of us would say, "Time for a belly laugh!" Years later when we talk on the phone, one of us always has to say, "I need a belly laugh" and that starts the laughing all over again.

Here's another dear friend, Carol. Carol and I go way back in the teaching world. We were partners in a grade level. Which ever parents I couldn't stand, she would take. Which ever parents she couldn't stand, I'd take. It was the same for the kids. I loved teaching with Carol. She will be at Alicia's party, too.

"Back in the day" open classrooms were the thing. Carol's class was in the second half of our side of a four classroom building. I could see Carol teaching, Carol could see me teaching. Everything I said Carol could usually hear. And likewise.

When we got bored we threw things at each other. Things like erasers, wads of paper, pencils or whatever we could get our hands on were tossed from one room to another. Some role models we were. But the kids took it in stride, laughed and knew better not to do the same.

One day after school I was picking up my classroom, readying it for the next day. It was a habit to pick up pencils, erasers or what have you before the custodian vacuuming because he'd would suck up anything in the path of his hose regardless of what it was. If I didn't pick up stray pencils on the floor I would have never had enough pencils the next school day.

I love Junior Mints. On this particular day, I spotted what looked like a Junior Mint on the floor. Carol knew me well and realized that if she threw a Junior Mint into my classroom I'd eat it even though it had been on the floor.

I picked it up and looked at this black, flat object that was shaped like a Junior Mint. It really didn't look like an exact copy of one so I yelled over to Carol, "Are you throwing Junior Mints at me now?!"

Short pause.

"Why?"

"Well, I've got something here that looks like a Junior Mint but I wanted to make sure that it was before I ate it."

Longer pause.

"Ah, I don't have any Junior Mints to throw at you."

I took what I found over to Carol to look at. After closer examination we both started laughing, laughing and laughing. One of us had to have peed their pants it was so funny. What I had been examining, thinking all the while it was a Junior Mint, and what I had almost eaten was . . .

A small little turd.

I swear, if I had to have bet my life that it was a Junior Mint, I would have bet my life on it. Geeze it looked real. Whew, that was a close one.

I should add Junior Mints and belly laughs to my resume under "Things Bob Can Do Or Things He Knows A Lot About".