Yearly Excursion!

Denise and I set off for our yearly excursion to Ohio. It's different every time and we always have a blast. We learn lots whether we attend classes or not. : )

(Which this year, we did!!)
We were on a tighter "budget" than usual, so that made for some interesting times! I tried my damnedest to win a stinking Tuscan dinner and she sat around forever to get the chance to play "Corn Hole" with a Longaberger weaver in order to get a Wordworks cutting board, didn't happen & didn't happen!!

We also seemed to miss the free cake after the "Cake Walk" that we didn't even catch a glimpse of.

We didn't win a single giveaway in the Nation Wide Arena (practically pulled a muscle to get the Bee Boys attention for a free t-shirt!!) and the only reason I scored a Longaberger Family Signing card was because someone in the company store gave one to me!

It seems I am the first person to tour the Longaberger "Handles" Department, TWICE. You see, no one wants to tour that building even ONCE. The poor guys beg you to get off the bus when it pulls up. I made Denise get off to take the tour because I felt bad for them and we have done everything else numerous times. We take the tour and there is a game at the end. If you win, you leave with a HUGE Longaberger handle. I'm not kidding, it's huge. It fits the street basket, it's engraved and I think it's nice. Well, Denise walked out with a handle and yours truly DID NOT. Like the only child that I am, I rode that bus right back to the Handles Department, got off the bus and the guys thought they were having heat stroke!! I explained to them that I was back, I was making my best friend miserable and I wasn't leaving without a handle!! They were shocked that I was willing to take the entire tour AGAIN and they were cracking up! The second time through, I got to use some of the machinery used in making the handles, that was cool and where they have you sign your name on a wall, they had me take an orange marker and write "X 2" next to my name. Too funny. In the end, I "played" the game (they totally let me cheat!) and I left with a cool huge solid maple handle!! Denise and I then continued to attract A LOT of attention for the rest of the day, carrying around these handles and having to explain how we acquired them!! It was interesting getting them home on an airplane and mine will soon be proudly displayed on top of my china cabinet with a nice berry vine. : )

We had LOTS of laughs, stayed in the best hotels, ate the most awesome Belgian waffles in the WORLD, totally used our free drinks cards each night, had lunch in Popeye's including "One Bites" for desert, once again had our yearly picture taken in front of the "big basket" in Dresden and THANK GOD for Rice Krispy Treats!!!

Looking forward to sharing "what's new" with everyone at our Open House and of course, looking forward to next year!!

Jenni