Cali to Man - day four We're here!!

I neglected to mention that Eric has a mistress.

Her name is Harriet.  She is much like Harriet Olsen from Little House on the Prairie.

Annoying, thinks she’s always right and she somehow has captured the heart of my husband.

I am a GPS widow.

At least I got to name her.

(I didn’t exactly get to - I just did.)

He bought one at Costco before we left.  I’m not sure exactly why as we have done this trip many a time.  Apparently it is extremely useful in Ecuador, so says a friend.

I wanted to get one of those little thingies that you can plug into your lap top and have internet wherever you are.  Then I could be blogging live!  Just think!

But no, we don’t have the money for that - but we do have the money for the new lady in his life.  Bitter.

Actually both are a bit of a waste (not completely, by any means), as far as I am concerned unless you are loaded with cash.  We are not loaded with cash.

About two hours into our trip, we made a new declaration:

Today was “Have Two Handfuls of M&Ms Before Lunch Day”.

Since Eric and I were sneaking M&Ms while driving (at 11:30 a.m.) and got caught, we let the kids have some too.  After Lucy devoured her two handfuls, she asked what time it was and then asked why they got treats before lunch - something that pretty much never, ever happens at our house.

I told her, looking at her like she was a little ignorant, “Well, because it is June 24th, sweetheart.” oh so matter-of-factly, “June 24th is M&Ms Before Lunch Day.”

She promptly asked if she then could have more.  So I rephrased:

“Actually, it is “Have Two Handfuls of M&Ms Before Lunch Day”.

So there you have it - an Ackermann family holiday.

Sure hope I remember for next year..... 

We have seen a lot of water in North Dakota.  There are a few areas like this where they have dammed up the water off the freeway.  You can tell that several farms have not been able to be planted yet because of the water.

We saw these guys and I love how it represents where I am from.

And we saw another crop duster.  Remember my thing for them?  Loved watching that.

We got stopped at the Canadian boarder - car inspection and everything.  Maybe they don’t like missionaries from Ecuador.  Or maybe they thought we were smuggling baking soda into the country.  Oh, I guess that would be the other way around.....  The lady officer reminded me that I really should get the kids’ Canadian citizenship stuff taken care of.  She’s right.  I’ve actually made two attempts at doing just that and I never quite get it finished.  

I suggested that she email me once a week to get on me about it.

She just laughed.

I was serious.

As I write this, we are only about 20 minutes from my home.  Pretty darn excited.  Part of the reason I am so excited is that Eric is doing a kilometer count-down along with Harriet (although currently she is not as vocal as he is). He was counting down each tenth of a kilo. to our next highway turn.  Cade asked why he was so excited about turning.  My question exactly.  He’s getting a little weird.   It will be nice when he stops doing that.....arrival might be my only hope.  

Can I just tell you how very much I love where I am from?

I do.  Even though I really haven’t lived here since I was 17 (except for one year), my heart is here.  Something changes in me when I see the endless fields and know I am almost in Steinbach “The Automobile City” (every po-dunk town needs a claim to fame).

(We are about 7 minutes away and the smell of pig manure is scenting the air.

That part I don’t miss so much.)

Now, as I am finishing this up, we are here!
It is so good to be with my family.  In spite of how I mock them and harass them (it is my job as the "baby of the family" isn't it?), I sure do love them a lot.

And the final license plate tally.