Precious Memories of Home

...And old home scenes of my childhood,

In fond memory appear...

It's a show!

No, not yet.

For those of you who are wondering...(Sister Susie), I'll save you the phone call:

No, I'm not done yet!

What do you think I am, Wonder Woman?

Flashback Friday...I love this kid!

I'm takin' a ride down memory lane with

Jeremy

I'm spending the next few days...working on Jeremy and Kelly's show.
Every time I open a picture, I smile at this kid...who was born with stars in his eyes and dreams in his head. He's always full of ideas and working on projects and and his next plan. He will always be a kid at heart...rough and tough and quick to laugh, yet caring and tender with one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen.
We are proud of you, Jeremy.
And Kelly,
I'm so glad you are coming into the circle of our family!
We are blessed!

Pirates....ahoy!

Did you know?
Sept. 19 is International
"Talk like a Pirate Day"
So, aye mates...today instead of cursing the fooking pirates...
we can be one uf em.
arrr!

Directions to here:
Think I'm kidding? These people are serious!

Flashback Friday...66 in the Mercedes

SEVEN
years ago I delivered a Mercedes to California via Rt. 66.
This is one of the first shots I took in Cicero, IL. Since my current address is on Rt. 66 (for the weekend), I thought I'd share the moment my quest for "muffler men" came into existence.
The "Hot Dog" man has since been moved to Atlanta, IL as Bunyon's Hot Dog shop closed up after being in business for 50+ years.

And here's a sad update on another 60+ year old Rt. 66 south Chicago icon which housed the likes of Glen Miller and the rock band Chicago: Then:

Now:













The good news is the sign is still standing:The well is still intact (yes, there really is a well and I suppose it's seen lots of wishing):And the city seems interested in making some type of historic landmark (66 museum) on part of the property, along with commerical development, of course.

Directions to here:
Go here for more on Muffler Men
and for more on The Wishing Well Motel
and stay tuned for more about a future trip across country...to deliver another car. Those of you Lil' David called the other night from the road...know what I'm talking about!

Breaking the speed limit at ikea

IKEA in less than 45 minutes?

Step aside Susie and Sandy, meet my boss, Chris.

So, I think I may have met a speeder that is even speedier at shopping than Susie and Sandy.
Is that possible, you ask?
Well, imagine my delight when I realized that IKEA is only 11 miles away from the new store we are here to help open. So, after rolling in and checking in, I asked Chris if she wanted to go to IKEA. It was 7pm and I thought...only 2 hours, but thought, I'm here so I'll just have to see what we can see in the time we have. Chris had never been and only wanted to go because EVERYONE at the store told her "oh, you have to go." We went in, my eyes started glazing over, my mouth started watering and Chris never stopped walking forward! We made it thru the showroom and everything and were back in the car in 45 minutes!
How did she pull this off with me, you ask?
Well, she is the boss after all and the only thing that kept me from hyper-ventilating from nervous overload, was knowing that well, it is only 11 miles from where we are staying and I can go back on my own.
Actually, it was a good thing, cause now I've seen the overview of everything and I can go back to what caught my eye and look at the details on maybe, Friday.

The surprise of the day was heading toward IKEA and realizing our hotel is on the highway that's the best...Route 66!
Yep, God winked at me.
And I ate supper at a diner that is connected to a bowling alley on 66. Oh, and for my recent diner friends, Heather and Cathy, this time I ordered the Hot Beef Sandwich...with mashed potatoes.
Yum.
I needed the comfort after the sprint thru IKEA.

Chris "speedin'" Turner
seen here at the Lexington Grand Opening

Wednesday's Wonder...

Half Price Books...Chicago Style
Heading out (no pun intended) to Chicago to help with the Grand opening in Countryside, IL.
We are getting closer to Merriville!

9.11

Always remember

In the Back of the wagon..."whatta ya gonna do with that? "4

Vintage Playboys from the 60's

Why?

1. "For the articles", of course.
2. For the vintage fashion and car ads
3. Cause tan lines are retro and can't be found anywhere in today's society.
4. Because one page of each issue has the work of this famous pin-up artist:

Varga

Happy Anniversary, Tom & Carol

Spent the afternoon with my cousins and after buying ME dinner, I found out that it was the actual day of their anniversary! I pitched the argument that they really should have let me buy dinner (with no success) and they wanted to get up the road, so no time for a CURRENT anniversary picture. I warned them...it's into the archive I go...and look what I found!:

Directions to here:
Cheers to a couple that knows how to follow the winding road!
...and my cousin is a great plumber! It's still working!

Flashback Friday...thanks for dancingwithnance

Seven years ago, I wrote my farewell newsletter to my faithful friends and family who had supported my mission work with their prayers and financial support for 13 years. I borrowed a phrase my good friend, Ray had invented: "dance with nance" and made it the theme of the letter...thanking my people for "dancing" with me thru all the various travels and projects that took place over the years.
In all honesty it was not an easy letter to write. Even tho I knew it was time to move on, the circumstances of me leaving were less than ideal and I was a jumble of emotions ranging from relieved, confused, hopeful, tired and a little freaked out about the unknown future. I had friends there who had the same mix of emotions going on about my departure.
Back then everyone who left got a little party, which usually consisted of a get together in the living room of the residential house that had been converted to an office. All I asked of them was to not have my going away party over lunch in the "very nice and respectable living room."

And boy did they ever out do themselves carrying out my request.

First:
We had the party at night...in the warehouse behind the office and they set it up to be like a coffee shop. That was cool.
Second:
They printed up flyers and posters with a freaky picture of me and a cool "dance with nance" logo. That was very cool.
Third:

Everyone there had submitted a song that made them think of me and they made a mix tape and played it while we mingled and ate a lot of pringles, nachos and drank cokes. Those songs were a healing balm and that was cool.

Fourth:
Rhonda tirelessly set up the old Paragon equipment and showed all the old multi-media slide shows that I had worked on over the years. Those shows made me smile and feel like I had done something worthwhile which was what I needed to know and the peace it brought was good for me.

Fifth:
They made a box and friends put cards and notes inside and they instructed me add things to it as I went along and if I missed them in the weeks to come I could open the box and re-read what was inside. That was thoughtful.
Sixth:
Joshua and a friend showed up and represented the Vandercar gang. Having family there made it even more especially cool.
Seventh:
There was a time for people to share stories and this made me laugh and cry (and as Dolly says, Laughter thru tears is my favorite emotion). And my good friends Mike and Jenny sang one of my favorite songs and Jimmy sang an incredible song about Route 66, Elvis, the ocean and roses that he had written after reading my 66 trip emails.
Hearing all these things was incredibly endearing.
Eighth:
They wanted to bow their heads and pray for me. Which was touching.
Ninth:
While they were praying for me they wheeled out an imac sitting on a cart and told me to open my eyes. I was thinking, oh, they made a show and now we're going to watch it....and then they gave me a list of names and said "all these people bought this for you...go tell your stories." That was unbelievably mind-blowing Awesome.


















After saving up some money,
I added a video camera to the mix
and that is how dance with nance was started!

I put that first imac to work right away and have had the privilege of telling your stories and in doing so, have hopefully given back a little of the joy that you all have brought to my life. I count it a tremendous honor to use whatever talents I have to show you all how much I love you and how beautiful life really is.
I'm now on my third mac (I gave the imac to Rhonda-who organized the original gift and later found herself leaving and in the same boat as I was) and just a week or so ago...my jaw dropped once again (sorry don't have a picture) when my family presented me with an early Christmas present: a projector that will make us all 10 feet tall on the wall in our next Christmas video!

You guys are great.

I love you all.

I thank you for giving me a story to tell.

Love,

Nancy

Directions to here:
The story continues! I'm on a working vacation...for the next 4 days spending time with Kelly and Jeremy. If you have good photos of them, email them to me!

Happy Birthday, Emma!

This Birthday Girl is Four!

And even tho the shirt probably doesn't fit anymore...
This Aunt still loves you!

Wednesday's Wonder

Wonder Mom
(of Wonder Twins)

Puppy update!

Puppy Hayden says:
"I can open my eyes!"

"but...I'd really rather close them and sleep!"

North to Alaska!

"North, to Alaska...

they're going north, the rush is on!"

I dropped these Haydens off at the airport on Monday and according to their itinerary they have been on the proverbial...planes....trains....and automobile route (and school buses)...making their way thru Alaska and will get on the ship tomorrow.
I took the first pic...looking forward to seeing the rest of them when they get back!

Directions to here:
If you can hear or see me...don't forget to watch out for those pirates!