"On the Road Again..."

Greetings once again blog readers!
As many of you know I travel all over the place performing at schools and libraries. I consider something an hour away as "close." With all that time in the car, one must come up with creative ways to stay awake during those early morning drives and late or slow afternoon trips home. I have come up with several ways to stay awake and I shall now share them with you.

1. For early mornings, my first defense is breakfast. I eat while driving, so as soon as I feel tired it's time to go to the nearest McDonald's drive-thru.
2. After breakfast, there is the snack food - which, 99% of the time, is pop tarts.
3. Finally, once those two options are exhausted, you can try the radio - but that depends on whether you are in the middle of nowhere.
4. Last, it's time to bring out the secret weapon that works any time of the day and any day of the week - sunflower seeds. No, not the ones that are already out of the shell, but the ones in the shell that you have to work at to get open and then you spit out the shell into a cup or empty water bottle. Yes, it will keep you awake and active. I have actually gotten full on sunflower seeds before - and it takes a lot. They come in different flavors, bar-b-que being one of my favorites, but also including sour cream and onion, original, salsa, and I'm sure there are others.

Of course, during the summer, I have my assistant and cousin, Morgan, to drive for me so that I can go to sleep - then we swap off. Although sometimes her driving makes it difficult to go to sleep - but don't tell her that - I already have!

So there you have it - yet another aspect in the life of the educational entertainer.

An extra note*** Today I was in White County performing and saw snow and several snowmen in people's yards. We here in Augusta had no accumulation, but it was nice to see some snow on the way to the show! Thankfully school was not cancelled!