Who Has A Wii Fit?

Ok, I know you do! I played on no less then 4 different Wii Fits while I was in town and talked to at least 75 other people that have one.

Here's how this is gonna go down. Once a week, on Mondays, I'll post our high scores for the Aerobic and Balance games (I can do the strength and yoga games too but those aren't nearly as fun). If you beat our score, post yours in the comments section. If you didn't beat ours still post it in the comment section. It'll be like our own little leader board. On Friday I'll put all the stats together and then you will be challenged to bet the high score over the weekend.

I know, we could just hook our Wii up the the internet...um no...tried it and just about blew up a couple of laptops...plus this is more fun! (But I'm not giving up on the internet - I wanna play Mario Cart with Justin).

Kyle says I wasn't supportive enough of his weight lose goals last night when I told him I wanted him to hurry up so we could play Mario Cart. I'm Supportive Darn It! I'll tell you the same thing I told him 'Hey Fatty-Fat-Fat, You better get on that Wii Fit and play at least 30 minutes before you get so fat you break it.'

See how supportive and loving I am?


**Note to readers - Kyle's BMI is seriously like 10% - even after a month of eating nothing but crap...

Things we did in America

...a list...

1. Went Shopping (Everyday, no really, every single day; for something - clothes, food, Wii games, books, underwear...lots of underwear...)
2. Had 5 scheduled lunches
3. Had 10 scheduled dinners
4. Went to NYC for the day
5. Saw Wicked
6. Saw Spring Awakening
   
7. Went to P&L District
8. Went to Legends (twice)
9. Went to the Boats
10. Went and saw our condo (it's cleaner and prettier then when we lived there :( )
    
11. Went to Lawrence
12. Went to Town Center
13. Went to Oak Park
    
14. Spend the day in the Overland Park Keller Williams office
15. Met with a couple investment real estate agents
16. Toured some investment properties for sale
17. Toured some investment properties not for sale
18. Worked with Bob on becoming his virtual assistant
19. Skooled everyone in Wii Fit :)
20. Played Guitar Hero and The Price is Right too
21. Test drove the Prius (yeah, totally my new car)
22. Worked on Carol's books
23. Finished up Kevin's taxes
    
24. Ate Jose Pepper's OF COURSE - about 4 times
25. Played Apples to Apples
26. Ate at PF Changs (x4), Cheesecake Factory (x3), Outback, Legal's Seafood, Applebee's (x2), Planet Sub, Taco Johns, Fazolis (x2), Celebrities, Krispy Creme (x2), Subway (x1,000, it was in the food court at the mall in NY), Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut and Papa Johns...and the list goes on

~~~And Kyle did a couple things too~~~

It was an absolute sprint from beginning to end. So, if we didn't get to see you or only got to see you once I'M SORRY!

Now back to my regularly scheduled life.

I Heart Ranch Dressing!

So, there I was, minding my own business, walking through Barnes & Nobles - and this book struck me as AWESOME!

I Heart Ranch Dressing and Other Stuff White Midwestereners Like, written by Cara Freie, (similar to 'Home Improvement') makes me laugh hysterically because it hits so close to home.

The neat thing about this book is that Cara is living in KC as a lawyer/comedy writer and it was published by Andrews McMeel Publishing (I used to do their tax returns back in the day).

So, I'm extending a little challenge. Below are the 86 top things white midwesterners like. I wasn't able to get first hand pictures of all of these while I was home so I would like you to do that for me! If/when I get picture emailed to me I'll post them here under their category. Sometime before I come back we'll have a vote for the best picture and I will bring home a price for the winner (don't worry - it will be eatable).

And GO!

1. Ranch Dressing
2. Bob Evans
3. Easily Discernible Luggage
4. Cul-De-Sacs
5. "Foreign Food"
6. Dockers
7. Make Up
8. Novelty Sweaters
9. Diet Cherry Coke
10. Covered Dish Suppers
11. Huge Christian Churches
12. Lawn Care
13. White Wicker
14. Craft Stores
15. Jesus
16. Homeschooling
17. Shotgun Weddings
18. Being the only people on earth who know how to cook a steak
19. Mall/Bumper Bangs
20. Beige
21. White Zinfandel
22. Small Market Baseball Teams
23. Dressing Down When Traveling
24. Bill O'Reilly
25. Track Suits
26. Child One-Upmanship Car Art
27. RVs
28. Retiring in Florida
29. Acrylic Nails with French Manicures
30. Fighting Over Whether It's POP or SODA
31. College Rivalries
32. Theme Bars
33. Finished Basements
34. Wood Paneling
35. White Castle
36. MLMs (multi-level marketing) company
37. Dressy Sweats
38. Fake Martinis
39. Pleather
40. Home Shopping
41. Above Ground Pools
42. Illegal Fireworks
43. Indoor Waterparks
44. State and County Fairs
45. 4-H
46. The Weather Channel
47. Talking About the Weather
    
48. Casey's General Store
49. Food
50. Goatees
51. Consumer Reports
52. Tornados
    
53. Pickup Trucks
54. Affordable Houses
55. Knowing About Farming (or at least more then you)
56. Wal-Mart
57. Cracker Barrel
58. Sun Tea
59. Token Ethnic Friends
60. Good State Colleges
61. Branson, MO
62. Antique Malls
63. Theme Parks
64. Old Timey Photos
65. Sun Flowers
66. Free Refills
67. Nikes
68. Christmas Letters
69. Fake Flowers
70. Wedding Receptions at the VFW
71. Timeshares
72. Buffets
73. Schwan's Frozen Food
74. Pantyhose
75. Crab Rangoon
76. Precious Moments Chapel
77. Pottery Barn
78. Hallmark Collectable Ornaments
79. Theme Bathrooms
80. Suburbs
81. Cinnamon Scented Rooms
82. Floral Wallpaper
83. Asian Nail Parlors
84. Wholesale Clubs
85. Festivals
86. Book Clubs

Remember - Creativity Counts. Photography lovers unite!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Ey, ye, ye! What a trip home!

I got up at 4am to make our 8:40 flight. We had to leave the house at 6am to get there by 7. Our plane first flew to Milwaukee before going on to LaGuardia (luckily we didn't have to get off). Once at LaGuardia we had to collect our 8 bags and hail a cab to take us to JFK. Luckily it was only a $40 cab ride.

Once at JFK we went to the Air France desk to check me in and drop off half of the luggage. Then, 4 terminals over to the Swiss Air desk to check Kyle in and drop off the other half of the luggage. The lady at the Swiss desk was NOT HELPFUL. Our carry on bag of books was a little over the weight limit...like 25 lbs too heavy. Once we 'worked it out' we still had about 8 hours before my flight took off.

Kyle had access to the Swiss Lounge (you know, the place where the rich people go to get away from us slummies...) and we begged my way in. We sat in there and read for a loooooong time, ate some of their snacks, drank some of their drinks, and bummed their internet for a while. About an hour and a half before Kyle's flight took off we went to find some real dinner.

We found a table in the crazy busy international terminal food court. I sat down and Kyle went to get the pizza (yum, processed cheese!). While Kyle was gone a older blind, deaf gentleman tried to sell me a pen. I gave him all the money I had - which added up to a whopping $1.58 (I gave all my money to Kyle to pay for the cab).

A couple of slices of pizza later it was time for Kyle to get on his plane...And the pixies and sugar plums whisked Kyle away on his bed of clouds.

I still had a couple of hours to kill before my 11pm flight took off. I took the airport train back to my terminal and then found my way to my gate. I waited and read, I waited and did crosswords, I waited and listened to my ipod...about the time we were supposed to start boarding they announced that the plane was going to be 30 minutes late...so I waited some more.

Once I got on the plane the lady in front of me immediately laid back her seat and then scooted over the the empty seat next to her - whatever lady. I got to watch half of 'Get Smart' and 'The Other Bolyn Girl' (I dozed through the other half of each movie.) When I got to Paris 15 minutes early, I had to RUN to catch my next flight. While running I kept thinking 'there's no way my luggage is going to make it!'

First of all, my plane from Paris to Zurich was about thisbig. It was so small they took our boarding passes and then shuffled us onto a bus where they made is stand for like 20 minutes before they drove the bus out to BFE to get on this little puddle jumper.

Once I got on the plane (it's now pouring btw) I was looking out the window wondering where my luggage was and there it was! MY LUGGAGE. Laying face down on the pavement in the pouring rain - but at least it made it on my plane. Once everyone got on the plane and seated I notice that there was a full row of people then 4 empty rows and then another full row, etc. etc. Once everyone got seated I moved up a row so I could have to row to myself. Well, of course someone moved into the seat right in front of me and laid back...

Finally, back in Zurich, after 32 hours of being awake, I am on the ground for good. I collect my luggage first (there's one good thing about my luggage almost not making the plane, it was one top) and stroll through passport control and customs. There's Kyle ready to take my bags from me!

45 minutes on the train later (after a couple small detours), up a (not so) big hill and I'm home! I may never leave my house again!

So Long, Fairwell

Auf Wiedersehen, Good Bye.

We're sitting in the airport getting ready to board the plane 'home'. I promise to update on our adventures once we get back and settled (not that we really did anything all that exciting).

I'm trying to gear myself up for the next 24 hours of travel on 5 hours of sleep...we've been up since 4 am.

See you on the flip side!