7.27.06 Musings

Well, I'm back in Wichita. It feels nice to be home and now that I've gotten settled in the microfiber living room furniture I'm getting less exited about heading to Yellowstone on Saturday. At least I don't have to drive and maybe I can read one of the new books I got at Haslam's in Tampa, which, by the way, was a uber neat book store John and Sara introduced me to.

I should probably give a shout out to Uncle John and Aunt Sara, who were very hospitable to me while I visited them in Tampa. Sometimes when you visit people it's not always relaxing. I mean, you have a good time, but you never get fully comfortable. I am happy to say that was NOT a problem. John and Sara, I really enjoyed the two weekends we spent together.

Now for a shout out to Kristine (Hi). Last weekend, Kristine and I finally coordinated our days off - I actually didn't have the day off, but that's a long boring story - for a trip to Sanibel Island. (Here's a link for the motel where we stayed.) We had planned to do a lot of outside things like biking, canoeing, shelling, etc. while there so when it was raining Saturday morning I wondered if our plans would be thwarted. Kristine and I made it an adventure anyway. After breakfast we thought the rain had let up (and it had for about ten minutes) so we decided to go for a bike ride through a nature preserve and around the island. It was a warm rain so it didn't really bother us, but then the light rain turned into a major lightning and thunder storm so we booked it to a restaurant to get inside. After ringing out our clothes in a bathroom sink, we had a nice lunch. I ate the best Key Lime pie ever there. Seriously, ever. It had this awesome topping with raisens and dried cherries in some sort of cream cheese or stiff custard. Wow. Later the rain really did let up and we did some shelling on the beach. While on the beach I came down with a case of shell toe and Kristine was striken with foam foot (pictures to follow in some subsequent posting when I get the desire to download them off my camera).

Now, my work in Florida is officially over. Brandi said to give her a call if I ever needed a job again. Who knows if I will, but it's still comforting. As usual, the end was bittersweet. I'm glad to be back, but I certainly made friends I will miss. Who knows, the world of archaeologists is kind of like the world of Mennonites. I just might run into some of these people again on some other project or at a conference.

Speaking of Mennonites, did anyone else realize the Tour de France winner Landis is/was Mennonite? Crazy. Here's an article I read about his family and hometown, if anyone else missed it in the news. Here's another one that was in the Mennonite Weeklyhttp://www.mennoweekly.org/.

Finally, for those following the Aviators (Jeremy's football team) there is some drama and the championship game has been cancelled. He's kind of bummed about it. Here are two links for info in the Wichita Eagle [1] [2].

Right-o. I am almost positive I won't have Internet access in Yellowstone so I hope y'all enjoy the next two weeks of your lives and I will post when I return.

Caught in a Storm

Earlier today I noticed how full my pockets were while I was biking. I stopped at a bike shop to purchase a pouch that I can put stuff in. The guy who helped me wasn't very knowledgeable, but whatever, I got what I needed and headed to the Hammock State Park to ride the trail.

I started to notice the sky was getting cloudy and dark so I headed back early from the park and stopped at a health store to get some multi-vitamins. While I was in the store it started to really pour. There was lightning and roaring thunder. The lady in the store practically forced me to stay in the store and not try to head home. I waited about 40 minutes in and outside the health store and chatted with the clerk. Finally, the rain let up a little, but there was still periodic lightning. The store clerk still didn't want me to go home. She told me she was going to call her son, who works at a nearby bike shop, to see if he could take me back to the Kenilworth Lodge. Ha, ha. So it turns out the kid who sold me the bike pouch was the son of the health store clerk. That's crazy. He said business was slow today so he came to pick me and my bike up.

We had a nice little chat on the way to the motel. He told me he didn't really like selling things in the store and his specialty was fixing bikes. Basically, he was apologizing for not helping me much with the pouch. I told him I didn't like selling things either so I understood. He also told me his mom is always volunteering him to do stuff, but he doesn't mind. Last time his mom volunteered him to do something it was pumping gas for an elderly lady at a gas station. It was wonderful to run into such a nice family today.

My Lover is a Superstar

There's an article in the Wichita Eagle about Jeremy. Some of it is a bit cheesy ("cheesy mega" as Polly would say), but it's still really neat. I have not seen the actual article in print where, apparently, there is a picture of Javers in a lab coat holding a biology book and a football helmet or something (tee hee). Now y'all can say you know someone famous, even if it's only for fifteen minutes.

More Photos from FL

Paul, Dave, Lauren, some random golfer who claimed to know a bowler who went to Wichita State University, Dustin.

Quinn chopping up some garlic for a cookout.

Lauren at Vero Beach. Notice her right hand is blurry because she was moving it very quickly to cover her face. Yeah, Lauren, I finally got a decent picture.

This lizard was hanging out below a table at the motel pool. These lizards are all over the place down here. In fact, this is the kind of lizard that jumped out of the toilet paper dispenser onto my hand.

Quinn, me and Dustin with 40s. Mmmmm, nothing says lovin' like 40 ounces of $1.49 malt liquor.

Dustin trying to cover up after getting sunburned at Vero Beach.

Lizard Encounter

I was in the bathroom of a motel in Vero Beach on Saturday. When I reached for the toilet paper a lizard came shooting out of the dispenser and onto my hand and arm and then the floor. I wasn't expecting that to happen so it kind of freaked me out.

myspace.com

Okay already, I got a myspace account. You can view my profile at www.myspace.com/ambercschrag. I don't know how much I will keep up with it, but at least India, Brian and Brent can stop bugging me about having an account.

Florida Photos

Here are some photos I have taken here in FL:

Kat opening up a card on her birthday.

Lauren and Dustin (my coworkers) at the pig roast party in Athens, Georgia.

My room at the Kenilworth Lodge.




The roasted pig in GA.




Dave and Mike (coworkers) at Kat's birthday party.

The Weekend

On Saturday four of my coworkers and I attempted to witness the Discovery Shuttle Launch at Cape Canaveral. Unfortunately, the launch was cancelled about ten minutes before it was scheduled to happen. We then drove (very very very slowly due to all the traffic) to Cocoa Beach to get a motel room so we could at least enjoy the beach the next day, but they were all sold out. So we just went home. Oh well, the whole day was certainly an adventure.

On Sunday we went to Vero Beach. The ocean water was nice and warm, but it drizzled off and one during the day so it wasn't very fun to lie or walk around the beach. After we were done swimming we ate at a restaurant right on the beach. I have been trying to eat different kinds of fish while down here in Florida. Yesterday I had a Mahi Mahi sandwich. It was yummy yummy. I have also crossed Swordfish and Grouper off my list.

About a week ago a was in the elevator at the motel and I smelled old fried food. I looked around and found an onion ring in the corner. I'm not sure why, but that really cracked me up. Somebody lost a smelly onion ring in the elevator.