Trip Home to NH

Well, our trek home to NH started on Friday night with a short trip of about 90 minutes up to my sister's house in Mandeville, LA. We had a nice dinner with the Morrison's and headed out on Saturday morning around 9am. Our day was long and after about 8 hours we ended up in Chattanooga TN where we rode the steepest train up Lookout Mountain. For those of you who have not been to Chattanooga TN, it is a beautiful place! Birthplace of our good friend Cindy Eaton! There is your plug Cindy! We regret to inform you that we did not make it to the Barbeque Place. We wished we had had time to go there though. Our wait for the train was accompanied by a youth singing group from Virginia who were exercising their vocal chords as they waited. They were good singers and very LOUD. We were glad to be on a different car then them! After our trip up we headed out for some dinner at a little rib place where you can eat peanuts and throw the shells on the floor. Julian loved that! He asked the waitress if the owners had a problem with it and she informed them that they did NOT and to go ahead and eat as many as he wanted. From there we drove on to Knoxville where we were confronted by some woman claiming to be on her last $.30 and needed some gas money. Could we spare some money. We politely told her we would like to but unfortunately we had no cash...yeah right! So off she drove with her strung out looking friends to look for a generous naive soul to give a handout. We didn't tell her that we are living on loans and every cent we have is borrowed! I was worried that she would come back and break into our car but...she didin't. So we spent a very cheap night at the Motel 6. In the AM we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. No road trip is complete without a meal at Cracker Barrel! We spent the day on the road and had dinner with our friends in Pennsylvania. Julian stretched his legs and ran around with Nala the German Shepherd and we ate dinner, spent the night and made the rest of our trip by Monday at 4:30 when we rolled into the Bernier homestead safe and sound. In the pictures you can see the track where the train brought us. The other is of Julian and Jaime in front of the sign and at the top of Lookout Mountain. And a cozy picture of Julian in the back of the car surrounded by our junk!

Common sense from my New Hampshire family by Jackie Morrison

Danielle: The following is from Jacquelyn and it is WICKED funny!

Jacquelyn: This is an English project I have to turn in tomorrow. We had to write "common sense" from a certain person or group's point of view.

Common sense from my New Hampshire family

1. The only purpose of Southern people is to make fun of them.
2. When you see a car with a New Hampshire license plate, and you are not in New Hampshire, it is completely normal to get out of your car at a red light to tap on their window and have a friendly conversation.
3. It is also completely normal to shout “OMG!!!!! YOU’RE A RED SOX FAN!!!!!” every single time you see someone with a Red Sox hat. Because it’s very rare for someone outside the Boston area to have even heard of the Red Sox, apparently.
4. Normal conversations are held in the following manner:
“I just saw this amazing movie, but I don’t remember who was in it, what it was called, or what it was about.”
“Oh, that movie with that guy and that other guy? And the house?”
“Yeah!! That one! Did you like it?”
“I… don’t remember…”
5. Jane Bernier goes by several different names: Grammy, Grandma, Ree, Reeo, and sometimes even Ray. Papa is just Papa.
6. There will come a time when the toilet gets so clogged because of toddlers’ toys and other various items, Reeo and Papa have to buy a whole new toilet. This is not a time to fret. This is a time to wrap scarves around your faces and take turns trying to plunge, all while laughing hysterically and video taping the whole ordeal.
7. Something unfortunate ALWAYS happens on the “eves” of holidays (Christmas Eve, New Years Eve, etc.). Between broken fingers and legs, toddlers crashing into doors, and babies falling down stairs, we’ve all had our fair share.
8. You know that huge tub of water, attached to the container with the blue and white levers, and when you press a lever, water comes out? That is called a “bubblah.” Everyone knows that.
9. When youngins sneak into the pantry because they are too short to activate the motion sensor, hold down the button on the “bubblah” until all the water is gone, and accidentally flood the whole room, they don’t even get yelled at. Because it’s FUNNY.
10. In fact, no one ever gets mad at anyone else. Because everything is just too FUNNY to get mad about. Why are other families so uptight? Just laugh it off, and everything will be okay.
11. Laughing about absolutely nothing is the answer to everything. Staying up too late talking always leads to uncontrollable laughing fits. You never know what kind of story is about to be told.
12. While playing card games, always suspect that Reeo is cheating. She will play dumb and say she isn’t, but we all know she is.
13. When you get confused and are talking about something completely ridiculous, just say, “It’s just haaaaaa(r)d, it’s just haaaaaa(r)d,” using your best Boston accent. We’ll know exactly what you’re referring to, and you’ll probably have to listen to everyone in the room repeat the phrase six or seven times.
14. If you’re ever wondering where Papa is, he is either working, out to dinner, or asleep in his chair in front of the TV. You are guaranteed to find him in any of those places.
15. You shouldn’t be penalized for running a red light in New Hampshire, because in Louisiana, the yellow lights are longer.
16. The only appropriate nickname for Louisiana is “Lousy-ana.”
17. There are 25 letters in the alphabet. “R” is nowhere to be found. When arriving at a pahty, pahk the cah, lock the doah, and remember how wicked awehsome you ah becahse you live in New Hampsha.

Obviously, only my crazy family and I will understand this. We are definitely a unique family. I have so much fun with them whenever I go back to New Hampshire because we find fun in the most random things. At the end of each week, we could probably compile all our hilarious stories and write a book. With the Bernier family, you never know what’ll happen next…