April 8, 2011

• RWOTD {Truck} & Fabulous Friday Give-A-Way

  This post may be a little scattered…as my thoughts on trucks are somewhat scattered and various.
  
  Actually, that’s maybe my brain in general I am talking about.
  
  Wait a minute…
  
  What was my random word of the day?  
  
  I got side-tracked for a minute there.
  
  Oh, truck.

  This post may be a little scattered…as my thoughts on trucks are somewhat scattered and various.
  
  Actually, that’s maybe my brain in general I am talking about.
  
  Wait a minute…
  
  What was my random word of the day?  
  
  I got side-tracked for a minute there.
  
  Oh, truck.

   

  
  
  Well, first off, I have long held on to a romanticized notion about trucks and truck driving.
  
  My Dad was a truck driver in the 70’s.
  
  In fact, he was out on the truck when I was born, which is how I came to be called the “Transport City Girl.” That’s where he was when I was born. Transport City. Georgia, I think.
  
  Wish my Mom would have been there too.
  
  Because that would mean that I would have been born in Georgia and most probably lived there during my growing up years.
  
  Which would have been a WHOLE LOT warmer than Wisconsin.  And then we’d already live there, instead of us having this conversation every year about how we REALLY want to move to someplace warmer.
  
  Can you tell I’m still a little bitter about this very, very long winter we’ve had? (I wish you could hear the tone of voice that is in my head. It would make these last 5 lines SO much more interesting!)
  
  Dad used to tell us all of these trucking stories and I would listen with rapt attention. I was so fascinated. Life on the road.  How cool would that be?
  
  For a long time I thought that once I got married, my husband and I would become a husband/wife team and drive a big rig.

  
  
  Couple of problems here…
  
  #1 – If you know me AT ALL, you would know that I will probably never be capable of driving a “big rig.” Heck, I can barely drive a stick-shift Sunfire.  See what I mean?
  
  #2 – Where to leave the kids during all of our trips?
  
  #3 – By now, I realize that the job is probably not nearly as fun as I made it out to be in my mind.
  
  Needless to say, that little dream never materialized.  But I did hang on to that one for probably at least 5 years.
  
  Traveling is in my blood.  I guess I probably get that from my Dad.  Sometimes…I just need to hit the open highway and go somewhere…it doesn’t really matter where.
  
  I guess they call that “wanderlust.”
  
  I still have a fascination with big trucks.  When we are traveling, especially at night, and we see this chromed-out truck, all lit up with those rows of lights along the trailer and the truck, nothing else comes to my mind to say except “Wow! That’s purty.”  And Jeremy can’t help but agree.

   

  
  
  Jeremy and I used to play this game when we were traveling where Jeremy would call out the makes of all the semi trucks as we would meet them, and I would keep a ledger with columns for each make.  (Um…yeah, this was pre-kids.  Totally.)
  
  Mack, Kenworth, Peterbilt, Western Star, Freightliner, Volvo, International…
  
  I don’t remember which one usually won, but I am guessing it was either Freightliner or Kenworth.
  
  I always had a special spot in my heart for the Kenworth anyway, because that is what my Dad drove.
  
  
  And now, switching gears (no pun intended), but still on the subject of trucks…
  
  Let’s talk about the pick up truck.
  
  When I met Jeremy, he drove a Dodge two tone (greenish/blue and silver) pick up.
  Later, just before we got married, we bought a very sexy black Dodge.
  Then we had the red Chevy.
  Now we’ve got the green Chevy.

   

  
  
  That is our family history of pick ups. We’ve always had one.
  A guy’s got to have himself a pick up.  At least my guy does.
  
  But…the vehicle with which the majority of my “truck” memories are associated is the one that Jeremy drove when we met.
  
  Not only did we travel to North Dakota in that truck…which was when our romance really began in earnest…we also did a LOT of dating in that truck.
  
  I best not go into a lot of detail.  There may be small children reading this.  Or people who know me who would be happy for the gossip about my life as a young dating girl.  Or people who would be disappointed in me.
  
  Let’s just say that we took a lot of road trips in that truck and we also spent a lot of evenings driving (and parking) on the backroads around our area.
  
  If we wanted to be alone and not at his house or mine, the truck was our hide-out.  And it had wheels, so it could take us wherever we needed to go.
  
  Ahhh…good memories.  Young love.  Excitement.  Just driving around. No where to be and nothing we had to do.
  
  That seems like a really, really long time ago.
  
  And I guess it kind of was.  12 ½ years.  Dang, I’m gettin’ old!
  
  Anyway…that pretty much concludes my ramblings about trucks.
  
  What do some of your favorite truck memories consist of?

   

   

   

  **Once again, I will draw a random winner from the list of everyone who leaves a comment on my blog today…this Fabulous Friday!

   

  Tomorrow when I post, I will announce the winner and you will receive the book of your choice from the list below, along with a little something extra.

   

  Thanks for commenting…

   

  Book List:

   

  Inspirations for a Mother’s Soul (Mostly verses by category…New Living Translation)
  Standing on the Promises – Susan Wales (Taken by a previous winner)
  Too Much of a Good Thing – Dan Kindlon
  7 Secrets of Successful Families – Jimmy Evans
  A Hand to Guide Me – Denzel Washington
  The Yada Yada Prayer Group – Neta Jackson
  Even God Rested – Kim Thomas
  The Heart of a Woman – Maya Angelou
  Meditations on Proverbs for Couples – Les and Leslie Parrott
  Esther…A Story of Courage – Trudy J. Morgan-Cole (Taken by a previous winner)
  The Wedding – Nicholas Sparks
  Putting Family First – William Doherty and Barbara Carlson
  From Baghdad, With Love – Colonel Jay Kopelman
  The Complete Household Organizer from Good Housekeeping (Taken by a previous winner)
  Sharing His Secrets – Vickey Banks
  Forgiving the Unforgivable – David Stoop
  Dinner with a Perfect Stranger – David Gregory
  Wake up Laughing – (Upbeat Devotions for the “Unconventional” Woman) – Rachel St. John-Gilbert
  Hugs for those in Love – Ron and Lyn Rose
  A Nickel’s Worth of Hope – Dr. Andre Vandenberg
  Dancing through the Shadows – Theresa Tomlinson
  Following Christ – Joseph Stowell
  The Calling – Brother Andrew
  John’s Story (The Last Eyewitness)  Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins
  What Happens When Women Pray – Evelyn Christenson
  It’s All About Him – Denise Jackson
  Story of a Soul – The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux
  The Thinking Chair – Audrey Brown
  Soul Talk – Larry Crabb
  Have a New Husband by Friday – Dr. Kevin Leman (Taken by a previous winner)
  The Partner – John Grisham
  Message in a Bottle – Nicholas Sparks
  The Letter – Richard Paul Evans
  Only Love is Real – Brian Weiss
  Cream and Bread – Janet Martin and Allen Todnem
  Dear John – Nicholas Sparks
  Broken on the Back Row – Sandi Patty
  Living Faith – Jimmy Carter
  The 5 Love Needs of Men and Women – Dr. Gary and Barbara Rosberg
  Simplifying Your Life – Mac Hammond
  Your Child Wonderfully Made – Larry Burkett and Rick Osborne
  Applause of Heaven – Max Lucado
  My Utmost for His Highest – Oswald Chambers daily devotional
  Capture his Heart – Lysa Terkeurst
  Letters to Karen – Charlie Shedd
  Men, Women, and Relationships – John Gray
  Official Rules of Card Games
  The Memory Keeper’s Daughter – Kim Edwards
  Tramp for the Lord – Corrie ten Boom
  To Love and Be Loved – Sam Keen

  
   

  • 8:28 am
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