Tag: United States

Restaurants, Travel, Vacation Planning, Wisconsin

Eat outside at Mullin’s Drive In, Fox Lake, WI

Mandy Webster
Mullin's Drive In restaurant, Fox Lake, Wisconsin
The car hops at Mullin’s Drive In restaurant in Fox Lake, Wisconsin take your order at your picnic table and bring your food to you. No standing in line like most summer burger stands!

On our way home from Amish country Saturday, my SignifO and I decided we wanted to have lunch at some kind of small, family-owned restaurant rather than the usual boring chain. So, when we came across Mullin’s Drive In, located in Fox Lake, WI, we had to stop and eat.

Mullin’s sign boasts their car hops come to your car to take your order, but that’s not all. The property includes a large yard full of picnic tables where patrons can take a seat in the shade while car hops take their orders table-side. A car hop/waitress greeted us as we exited our vehicle and directed us to take any table we liked, and she would be right with us.

Just like at an indoor sit-down restaurant, the waitresses at Mullin’s Drive In will bring your food right to your table. Continue reading “Eat outside at Mullin’s Drive In, Fox Lake, WI” →

Communication Technologies, Parenting, Random Rants

Remember the phone book?

Mandy Webster
a phone / telephone book / directory Polski: k...
At least the phone book was right more often than not. | a phone / telephone book / directory Polski: książka telefoniczna (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you remember when we used to have to rely on the phone book to look up a phone number? Remember how much fun it was to play, “Guess what my friend, Jenny Johnson’s dad’s name is” to try to find the number that belonged to the correct Johnson in the book? I used to think it was a huge pain that the only person whose name showed up in the directory was the person who paid the bill, or at least the person who set up the phone account in the first place.

When I was a kid, I thought it totally sucked having to call down the list of Johnsons and bother a bunch of strangers until I figured out which number was Jenny’s (just kidding, I don’t really know anyone named Jenny Johnson.) But these days, I find myself longing for the days when you knew the phone number listed in the book belonged to the person who was paying the bill at that home the last time the phone book was updated. Continue reading “Remember the phone book?” →

Purple, Uncategorized

My first Quinceañera

Mandy Webster
Purple Quinceanera Favors and table decor
Quinceanera Favors

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending my very first Quinceañera. Our Puerto Rican neighbors planned a beautiful 15th birthday party for their beautiful oldest daughter, and my son was invited to be one of her attendants.

The party decorations were very pretty, with purple ribbons and Quinceañera favors to match Charlene’s amazing purple dress. I was so jealous… my 15th birthday party was nothing like this!  Continue reading “My first Quinceañera” →

Politics

Can a bully be forgiven?

Mandy Webster
Mitt Romney
Do we want a bully in the White House? | Mitt Romney (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We were all young once. I’m sure we all did things in high school that we aren’t particularly proud of. If you were a bully, you might even feel shame or horror for the pain that you caused. Or you would if you’ve grown up since and developed a sense of empathy for others.

If you were ever bullied, you may wonder if the bully remembers the things that he or she did to you. You probably hope that person is human enough that such horrors wouldn’t easily fade from his or her memory.

Mitt Romney was recently accused of bullying a gay student when he was in high school back in the 60’s. When I first heard the news, I was willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt. I mean, I wasn’t even born when this event took place, and I know I’ve changed a lot since I was in high school. Continue reading “Can a bully be forgiven?” →

Parenting

Ann Romney hasn’t ever worked a day in her life

Mandy Webster

Photo of Ann Romney at the Reagan Dinner in De...

If I had 5 housekeepers and nannies to help me raise my children, I don’t think I would dare compare myself to the average stay-at-home mom in America. Yet, when Hilary Rosen told Anderson Cooper last week that, “Ann Romney hasn’t ever worked a day in her life,” stay-at-home moms across the country took it personally.

Why? Ann Romney’s version of stay-at-home mommery in no way compares to the average American homemaker’s life. I’ve been a stay-at-home mother myself, so I would know. Maybe I’m not the average American housewife, but I’m pretty sure my story comes a lot closer to the norm than Romney’s.

I am a veteran of the United States Air Force who decided to separate from the military and stay at home with my first new baby 13 years ago. I spent about the first whole year at home with each of my children, partly because I didn’t want to miss out on those first months of their lives, and partly because my economic situation at the time dictated that I do so. Continue reading “Ann Romney hasn’t ever worked a day in her life” →

Education, Mount Mary College, Sigma Tau Delta, Uncategorized, Writing Programs

2012 Sigma Tau Delta induction

Mandy Webster
Sigma Tau Delta
Sigma Tau Delta (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yesterday, I officially joined the International English Honor Society at the 2012 Sigma Tau Delta induction ceremony which took place in the beautiful Caroline Hall student lounge at Mount Mary College.

According to the Sigma Tau Delta website, “Candidates for graduate membership must be enrolled in a graduate program in English, or one of its specializations, have completed six semester hours of graduate work or the equivalent, and have a minimum grade point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale.”

I lured my children to the induction ceremony with the promise of food, and they were actually very well behaved throughout the ceremony. Perhaps it was the promise of a slice of the huge cake sitting on a back table that kept them in line. My boyfriend came along as well to keep an eye on the kids and man the video camera (he kept the camera trained on me for pretty much the entire video!) Continue reading “2012 Sigma Tau Delta induction” →

Education, Essays, Written Communication

My Dream Career: A 5-paragraph essay

Mandy Webster
English: Hands collaborating in co-writing or ...
Could I survive on writing alone? Or would I get too bored? | Image via Wikipedia

Earlier this morning, I wrote a post on teaching the 5-paragraph essay. In that post, I promised to share the essay I wrote for my Written Communication students this week. So, here it is…

My Dream Career

If you could have any job, what would you do? This is a typical first date question, job interview question, or composition class free writing topic, one whose answer may provide a great deal of insight into the life of the respondent. If you were to ask this question of me, my answer would surely provide insight into my psyche simply because the way I would answer is far different than the average American. Continue reading “My Dream Career: A 5-paragraph essay” →

Politics, Religion

Separation of Church and State

Mandy Webster
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
Image via Wikipedia

I have a confession to make. I have a 2-foot stack of back issues of National Geographic and Smithsonian magazine that I have never read. I am working my way through them slowly, but I finally let my subscriptions expire this year because I was feeling really guilty about just how large my stack had grown. Anyway, I just finished reading the October 2010 issue of Smithsonian in which I found a very timeless article that I would love to share with you now. The full story is available online for your perusal.  Continue reading “Separation of Church and State” →

Domestic Violence, Random Rants

Lying is futile

Mandy Webster
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Staff Sgt. s...
Image via Wikipedia

I don’t get liars, never have. What’s the point? The truth always comes out in the end, no matter how hard you try to cover it up. Truth is afraid of the dark. It doesn’t like to be hidden under a brown paper bag, and it always finds a way to escape.

Back when I was in basic training in the Air Force, our TI’s (short for training instructor, that’s what we called them in the Air Force, as opposed to a drill sergeant in the Army) put us through long, excruciating exercises in paying attention and following instructions. One day, we spent several hours putting our laundry marks in every item of military clothing we’d been issued. Continue reading “Lying is futile” →

Uncategorized

Taste of Soda on Poetry Friday

Mandy Webster
Example of an American grocery store aisle.
Image via Wikipedia

My poem for today’s Poetry Friday is a commentary on the state of the American welfare system. As I was searching for related articles to share at the bottom, I found that Newt Gingrich has apparently made some interesting comments lately about people on foodstamps. Just to let you know, I just now learned of this and have not yet had the time to read what was said and develop an educated opinion. But I am interested in hearing what others have to say on the matter. So, please feel free to share your comments below.

With that said, here is my offering for today’s Poetry Friday:

Taste of Soda

When Mom and
Dad split,
we got food stamps
to feed our
newly-formed
family of three. Continue reading “Taste of Soda on Poetry Friday” →