Sunday, November 21, 2010

Searched at the US Border.

My cousin, Lois & I decided that it was time for another adventure so we planned a shopping trip to Fargo, ND. Lois & I traveled to Ontario in July to visit our Olfert relatives & just had such a marvelous time. So we met this afternoon at Highways 14 & 75 & off we went. There was a heavy snowfall during the night so I  was wondering what the road conditions would be like but driving conditions on the 75 were very good. When we reached the US border, we both made sure we had taken our glasses off, tuned down the music & that I put the truck in "Park" when I stopped to talk to the nice man sitting in his little house. We answered his questions very politely after we handed him our passports. Then he kept typing & looking at his computer screen in almost disbelief & then directed me firmly, but politely to drive up to Door No. 1 to answer some random questions & our identification would then be returned to us. When Door No.1 was opened, 2 gentlemen & 1 lady were standing & waiting for us & waved for us to drive in & stop & put the truck keys on the dash. Which I did. Then we were asked where we were from & where we were going. We answered. Then I was asked if I had any cash with me I how much & where it was. I answered that some was in my purse & some was in my bag in the back seat. We were then both asked to step out of the truck with our purses & the officer got my bag out of the back seat. We were asked to put our purses on the table & asked if there were any sharp needles or objects in our bags. We said no. We were asked again where we were from & where we were going. We were asked how much cash we had & our purses were searched & the money was verified. We were then asked to open our jackets so they could confirm that we had no hidden weapons on our bodies.  I'm sure if you could have seen our faces at that point, we both showed disbelief as we are 60+ year old ladies - Mennonite & Christian - and the nice man who asked us to open our jackets - we could tell that he was almost embarrassed  to ask us to do so. Then we were asked to hand over cell phones & cameras as we had to go into a little room while they searched the truck & we would not be allowed to take pictures. So Lois & I went into the room & nearly burst into gales of laughter. The room had one way glass so we couldn't see what was happening out there but we could hear a dog barking. We hadn't been there very long when 2 tall very black young men came walking into the same room where we were  waiting followed by 3 more black guys. They were from Fargo & had been in Winnipeg for the weekend. We had a nice chat with them & then we were called & informed that we could leave. The nice man confirmed that he was returning the correct passports to us. I then very politely informed the officer that putting 60 year old ladies through something like this made us really need to use the bathroom. He very politely informed me that it also made 37 year old men needing to use the bathroom too & then he give me directions to the bathroom which we found just around the corner after we left the building.. And then we burst into laughter & have been laughing about this ever since! And so our shopping adventure begins!!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

15 & 16


I'm back to spending time in my sewing room again. First on the list for this week, was to sew 2 quilts for baby boys for the Welcome Baby Program at church. First baby moms at church, receive a baby shower & second baby & more are presented with a quilt for their baby. This is the 4th year that I have volunteered to sew these baby quilts & these are No. 15 & 16 for this year. I have made mostly rag quilts until now but I'm tired of doing those so decided to do some pieced quilts. This is also a great way to practice piecing & different quilting patterns. Now back to sewing some Christmas gifts.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Neglected & so Lonely

I'm sure my blog & readers - if I have any left - are feeling very neglected after my long absence. Yes, I have been MIA & I'm back & ready to blog on. My career as a caterer is over for now & I have  closed  the tailgate on the truck & hung up the coffee carafes after 274 meals & 2696 kilometers. I started August 16 & finished on October 22. The tiling crew are still labouring on & now due to less daylight are working shorter days & now need to bring their own noon lunch. They are just now getting back on the fields after the very heavy rains we had during the last week of October. So now in these last two weeks I've been getting caught up on medical appointments & received good reports,  my Daycare is open for 2 very special "clients" Tuesday & Thursday afternoon & Santa's quilting workshop is also creating  whenever I can find the time. Also during these last two weeks there was a fun trip with friends to Fargo, ND. & this past Friday it was "Take Your Mom To Work Day" so I had a chance to go with Chris to MacGregor to visit my mom while he visited some of his clients in the area. My plans for the next few weeks are to do some fall cleaning, sew 2 baby blankets for the church's Welcome Baby program & start decorating for Christmas. And that's more blog material!