Commentary on Life in Nebraska

1.  There is a big, beautiful, old house on the corner of our street, about 3 blocks down.  The corner of the lot is on a busy street, and I wanted to put a sign up advertising piano lessons.  There was a man in the yard one day, and I assumed he lived there, so I went up and introduced myself.  He told me he lives across the street, and when he build that house 45 years ago, his house was as far south as Lincoln went.  (It goes south for at least another 7 miles now...)  Anyway, he also told me "the little old lady that lives in this house [the big beautiful old one] is all by herself, so i [the man] come over and help her out with the yard once in a while."  I eventually met the lady in there - she's not that old - and she's super sweet!  Well, nearly every time I drive by, that man is sitting in her yard, on a bucket.  And he has another bucket beside him (and his dog) and he's picking up twigs, leaves, acorns, i don't know!  how sweet.  maybe they're life-long friends. the romantic in me thinks he loves her.

2.  Not too far down from that house I mentioned above, there is another house.  with a lot of dogs.  well, 3 to be exact.  small, medium, and large.  [baby bear, mama bear, and papa  bear size, if you will... haha i crack myself up.]  anyway, they are sad lookin' dogs.  for some reason, one of the dogs reminds me from the dog from The Fox and the Hound.  [does anyone remember that disney movie??]  They mosey around the yard.  One has funny lumps.  They don't bark.  Not sure what to think about these dogs.  It seems fitting that there are lots of "chatchkies" on the porch and in the yard.  [chatchkies... you know, lawn gnomes, random glass decor, pots with no flowers, etc...]

3. i love an attached garage.  seriously.  when it's raining, i don't get wet.  when i go grocery shopping, i just walk from the car right into my kitchen with the grocery bags. at heart, i love the city.  particularly Chicago.  :) but i can definitely adjust to life with an attached garage.

4. it costs me about $10 less (on average) to fill up my gas tank here in Lincoln than when we were living in the city (Chicago).  if i fill up once a week, that's $40/ month... $520/ year.  If I put that money into a college savings account (for the kids I don't have yet) at 5%, I'd have about $21,000 to contribute towards college.  Just from the difference in gas price between Lincoln and downtown Chicago.  However, I am charging about $7 less that I could charge in Chicago for private lessons.  So... that makes up for it.  and, who knows where we'll live when Ben is done with school.  but, i'm just saying.

5.  There is no Marshall's or Homegoods store here.  Good for my wallet.  Sad for my shopping.  (There is a poorly stocked TJ Maxx that I like to stop by...)

6a.  People get really excited about Husker football.  I have to admit, it's kinda contagious.  I didn't grow up watching a ton of football, although the Bears games were on every sunday.  My mom is a huge Bears fan.  My uncle always jokes she's the biggest Bears fan in our family.   She knows every player, all the rules of the game.  So, Sundays in the Pierce house, you will find her blaring the Bears game so she can hear it from the kitchen where she's making a yummy dinner.  And every so often, she'll walk into the living room to see a great play :)  Anyway, Husker Football.  Like I said, it's contagious.  Now I married into husker football, so I really had no choice but to become a fan.  But it's more fun to be a fan in Lincoln than it was in Chicago.  Because everybody is.  The grocery stores have big "N" flags in the window. 

The whole downtown has these signs:

6b. Every other house has some sort of Nebraska "paraphenalia" displayed - door signs, giant corn, flags.  [Side story - I was seeing all sorts of Wooden "N's" on people's doors... they looked like monograms.  like, i might put a C on my front door for Cook.  and i thought to myself, a lot of people have a last name that starts with N.  Well, I quickly caught on... NEBRASKA!]  Every store has Nebraska gear for sale - shirts, hats, jackets, sweatshirts.  And they're on the front display.  Of course! Where else would they be?

6c.Wives that didn't grow up loving football seem to have 2 options - sulk because you think football season steals your husband & talk about it with your girlfriends OR embrace it.  :)  I'm embracing it :)  GO BIG RED!!  Plus, I like football.  Fun to watch, cozy fall weekend afternoons, an excuse to get together with friends and yummy snack food.  what's not to love? 

7.  That's all for now.


Signing off from Nebraska,
Ren