Ice Fishing and Gas Station Restrooms

This weekend my hubby and I got to get away for ice fishing with some friends of ours up at Lake of the Woods. That's what we do in Minnesota in the winter. We drill holes in frozen lakes, drop a line, and sit there staring at it for hours on end until a fish finally bites. It's fun if you have a lil' Captain in you and/or are catching fish. I’ve only been ice fishing twice and on smaller lakes, but this time we drove nearly 10 miles out onto the lake. On ice. Pure ice. When we got there it was midnight and it took us a half hour to get to the ice house…which was thirty minutes of nail biting, hair raising, pure anxiety for me. I just about kissed the ground when we finally got there, but remembered that we were still on ice. Pure ice.

Anyway, over the course of the 34 hours we were there we caught 17 fish. I caught one. On accident. {Go me!} The boys were saying that fishing is usually a whole lot better. In fact, they were just up two weekends before and caught fish nonstop. This time they had the rattle reel lines down throughout the night trying to catch fish {to me it’s interesting, for lack of a better word, that a man can get up in a heartbeat for a rattle reel yet sleeps through children awakening in the middle of the night...let’s just say my wheels have been turning as far as socks, underwear, or even headgear with rattles on them for the girls to wear so I could get a full night’s sleep once in a while} with no such luck. It was still a good getaway, even if I had some of the most traumatic public restroom experiences of my life {begin rant}...

Here are a few tips suggestions thoughts pleas for gas station owners regarding their restrooms:

1.       Please do NOT hang a sign that reads, “Medical Examinations Available for Sexual Assault Victims in _____ County”. HELLO!!! I am in this county, right now, on a rural highway and you are the first gas station in 42 miles. I have no choice but to pee in your restroom which has a door that doesn’t close all the way and looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since Bret Michaels’ hair was real. It’s like something out of a bad movie.

2.       If your own employee refuses to use the restroom, you have an issue. And I hope you are paying for their medical bills when they wind up with a kidney infection caused by holding “it” for so long…or at least providing them with a hole in the back to use {because that would be better than your slimy bathroom anyway}.

3.       Invest in one of those cute little air fresheners. They can’t be more than a few dollars, and you probably have them marked up in your store anyway. This will prevent travelers from gagging and running out with their hands over their mouths and they might actually stop and buy something in your store.

4.       If your faucet has deteriorated to the point where you can see where the water comes from, you should probably replace it.

5.       For the love of God grant us enough toilet paper to smother the seat, even though most people will still use the hover technique anyway {burning thighs, shaky calves, and completely off balance beats the thought risk of obtaining a new unprecedented disease any day… it should be an Olympic sport, really}.

I’m thisclose to creating my own toilet system when on the road. I had better luck squatting on the ice in -3 degree weather than stopping at a gas station.

Ok I got sidetracked there. Back to the weekend. My favorite part was having B’s arms wrapped around me when she got home. That is the most amazing feeling in the entire universe. I missed her goofy antics, her big blue eyes, her mischievous grin, her snuggles…oh, and her a cappella rendition of Justin Bieber’s “Baby”. Yes, I missed that tune. She's catching up on the bridge rap by Ludacris and it's the cutest thing in the whole world. She has no idea what Starbucks even is but says that line with such authority you would think she's a daily customer. {Who is drinking Starbucks at 13 anyway?}

As far as my goals this last week:

I obviously spent a lot of time with my hubby {which I honestly enjoyed thoroughly, even the six hour drive each way}, continued with Scrapbook Sunday AND I have a 29-day Scrapbook Challenge in the works to post February 1st {check back!}. I broke up with my diet for the weekend and gained 2lbs, but that’s nothing to sweat over. Actually, I am going to challenge myself to take time to work out in February, even if I only complete three days I will give myself a pat-on-the-back. So hopefully I sweat. At work I was trained in another departments process so that not only extends my knowledge, but gets me closer to 40 hours a week with the additional work.

January is nearly over…how did you do on your New Year’s Resolutions/Goals?