I woke up this morning in Wisconsin. Stranger still, I woke up in a hotel. I can honestly say that apart from family weddings and some crazy nights when I was much younger, I have not stayed in a hotel near my hometown before. I am here on business, and sadly will be leaving in just over 24 hours. I was hoping that the next time I was here, that I would have a chance to visit lots of friends and family. Not going to happen this time, but I will still have a chance to see most of my kinfolk. They are always up for a good time. I am near giddy with excitement to see them.

So today I will be in business meetings and seeing a side of Appleton that I rarely do. Tonight I will be back in my native comfort zone. My only concern is that I am traveling with a coworker and this is his first time in Wisconsin. I don’t think we prepared him well for the local customs that he will need to take part in this evening. And then there is the language. His New Jersey ears may not be able to translate well. That could change though after both he and the locals drink a few old fashioneds. For a novice, they can be magical.

I am still a little worried that as the night goes on, the confusion may rise. My coworker is tall, black, and bald, and could be confused with The Bad Man. I may need to keep all knives and forks away from Elizabeth and Mom. I would like to avoid explaining why there is an ER visit on our expense report. “I have NO idea how he was stabbed multiple times with a fork in Appleton. It must have been a gang fight. Really, the streets are tough. It was a gang. I swear I didn’t know ANY of the attackers. Although, I think I heard them scream something about Buttons.”

I still need to find time to locate a bag or two of cheese curds. I don’t think that Michael will let me back across the state border without them. Yum…cheese.