Bordeaux to Britain, Days 6-8

Day 6, 4/28/16

After coming back to the ship from Guernsey, getting cleaned up and eating dinner, Mom & I skipped the reception line for our distinguished guest and spent a quiet evening reading, writing notes on the day (Mom) and downloading photos (me).  Thursday, April 28 was a day at sea as we moved from Guernsey to Normandy, France.

Mom and I had our usual breakfast, hung around for a bit afterwards and talked to people, and then went back to the room to get ready to face the day.  Dressed and made up and all that jazz, we headed up to the little theater to listen to a talk from our guest lecturer, David Eisenhower.  I'm sorry that link doesn't have a current picture, because he does look very much like his grandfather.  His wife, who is equally recognizable, is Julie Nixon Eisenhower.

The lecture was good, mostly about Normandy, both the history and then the events of WWII, culminating of course in D-Day.  After the lecture, we had lunch, then spent a quiet afternoon, including a nap for me.

Universal Studios Day Three: Saturday, March 19

On Saturday, we all went to the park.  Mom had us all organized and eating breakfast at 8 and on the shuttle by 8:30, even Scary Bear.  We got off the bus, hiked the mile to security and got held up because NONE of us remembered that Dad carries a Swiss Army knife.  It's just a normal part of his pocket detritus, and he's had it for 40 or so years and didn't want to lose it.  Eventually, he checked the knife with security and we were free to go on our way.

We went on the Shrek ride, which was really a 3D movie in a theater with moving seats.  The movie was so clever and funny and of course there's a happy ending.  My favorite bit was the shout-out to the Blues Brothers.  After the show, we walked over to Diagon Alley, and the girls decided they wanted to ride the Gringott's ride again, and this time Mom and I went with them.  We didn't need a locker because we had Scary Bear and Captain Crossword!

There's a "gold" statue of the founding goblin outside Gringott's, a beautiful main gallery and lots of animatronic goblins hard at work with quills, parchment and scales.  The ride was as good as the Hogwarts ride, and I see why the girls wanted to do it again.

Leftovers and unremembered dreams

Mom and Dad are leaving tomorrow for Florida, so yesterday when I was at their house, Mom gave me a bunch of perishables.  Since the sour cream absolutely had to be used up first, I started with a batch of picnic potatoes, or as Sherri named them, Potatoes of Doom:

The ham adds the protein these needed, and because I am a lazy Jammies, or perhaps because I got all the laundry done, the sheets changed and made a quick trip to the grocery store before I ran out of spoons, I didn't have a veggie.  I drank 4 oz. of grapefruit juice and called it a complete meal.

Dessert will be something I've fallen hard for:

Lemon Peeps!  This was a total surprise.  I blame their purchase on The Impulsive Buy, but they're my new addiction because they're very good.  Ordinary Peeps are far too sweet, but the lemon perfectly balances the sweetness.

I did of course take a nap today, because it's Sunday.  I woke up with a frustrating awareness of having had VERY odd dreams but not being able to recall them.  It may be because I am always unsettled when my mom is out of town.  I miss her a great deal.

Well, it's time to set up the coffee for tomorrow morning, start the dishwasher and settle in for the finale/Christmas special of Downton Abbey.

A lovely ordinary day

I woke up at 5:50, absolutely convinced that it was Monday.  As the dog was eating and the coffee was dripping, I realized that it's Sunday!

Then I got my grocery shopping done and realized my rewards card was up to 10¢ off per gallon of gas, which was presently $1.409, so I filled my tank for $1.3309 per gallon!

Then I got the laundry done by 5 p.m. and found a $10 bill in the process!

Yeah, James pretty well summed it up for me:

Somewhere, somewhen, I did something right.

Yesterday was Call Day, which is smoother now, and on my review the judge noted "great improvement" since I took charge of it in January.  So I got through that and still managed to audit and docket filings for 15 or so cases, yay me!

Last night was the office Christmas party and gift exchange.  We met at a local bar music room for a yummy buffet and the budget covered everyone's first drink.  I had a wonderful, very very spicy Bloody Mary which came with an olive, a slice of lemon, a dill pickle spear and a piece of bacon.  It was a meal in a glass, basically.

When everyone had eaten, the judge stood by the stage and thanked us all for coming and then started the gift exchange.  This is our third year of doing a White Elephant/Steal the Present and it's a lot of fun.  My gift to the exchange was the cowboy boot-shaped shot glasses I got at the 2013 party, and a growler of my brother's Buttface Amber Ale.  My office-mate originally got it, but had it stolen from her by one of our investigators.  I originally opened a gift bag with a "bathroom book" 52 Things to Do While You Poo plus a travel-sized assortment of Poo-Pourri products.

Gifts ran the gamut from beer (mine and a mini-keg of Heineken) to light-up yard decorations (a dachshund in a Santa suit) to assorted Christmas decor both tacky and classy, and cookware and such.  Our chief magistrate was delighted with a set of decorate-your-own gingerbread men and our judicial attorney threatened repercussions if anyone stole her Christmas lights.  Luckily for me, I was not stuck with my poo-related present and was able to steal the gift that made my night and my year, hand-painted by one of our marriage license clerks.

I try to avoid names, but this particular co-worker is young, incredibly nice, an artist, a skilled baker and apparently, she also paints pottery!

Behold, a mug I will love for a long time:

My Friday the 13th

started out thirteeny, as I looked out from the kitchen window and saw my recyclable can on its side and all of my recyclables in the driveway, both ditches and generally higgledy-piggledy.  Then as I drove to work, the dog at the towing place was sleeping on his back with his feet up in the air and I worried that he was dead.  I worry about that dog anyway, wondering if he gets pats and love as well as food and a doghouse. :-(

Then I got to work and it was all guardian's accounts and getting ready for Call Day and then it was 1:30 and I was being a bailiff and we had the fewest cases and the largest number of people we've had all year, and Magistrate H and I worked really well together.  Then it was 2:30, only 90 minutes of work left and I got to make one of my co-workers do a happy dance when I told him yes, my mom will bring back some of my brother's beer for him.

Then I went home and the headache hit, so I took a nap, ate dinner, loafed online and then went back to bed.

Today was much better.  My head only hurt a little bit, I got the presents for Texas all wrapped and out to Mom & Dad's for delivery.  Plus, Mom made an amazing turkey dinner because I will be alone on Thanksgiving, and then sent me home with pounds and pounds of leftovers, PLUS snack mix.

Tomorrow is going to be dedicated to laundry, cleaning another quarter of the breezeway, and moving more houseplants inside from the garage.

NYC Day 4, Sunday October 11

Once again, there was a possibility of sleeping in but none actually occurred, at least not for Mom & I.  Mom and Margo and Bookworm were planning a day of walking around the city and trying different nibbles, and I had a brunch date with my friend Abigail, recently returned from Dublin to live and work in NYC.

Abigail was surprised to find me waiting for her and hoped she hadn't gotten the time wrong, but I told her quite honestly that I tend to be early anyway, plus I was so excited to see her that I was ready early.  I bought a subway pass and we took a short ride to Gramercy park and had a swoon-worthy brunch at Friend of a Farmer.  Abigail had pumpkin pancakes, I had Eggs Benedict with corned beef instead of ham, and we both had some complimentary applesauce.  Everything was amazingly good.

After brunch, we stopped at a drugstore so I could buy nail polish (cue chorus of "Of course!") and then went to Strand Books, which is of course a New York landmark.  We talked a bit about independent bookstores which have lost faith in the differences which make them special, which includes both Strand Books and The Book Loft in Columbus.

I was feeling a bit tired and after a phone call to Mom, we agreed to walk only as far as Union Square to meet them.  I will be honest and say that I spent most of the walk complaining that I was fine and that my family was cosseting me, and Abigail was good enough to listen to me vent and to go back to the restaurant when I realized I left my glasses on the table.  She was also worried that she was making me sicker by getting me to come out and walk around in the fresh air!  I told her then and am reiterating now that our brunch and walk could not possibly have made me sick.

Abigail was prepared to spend an afternoon with my family, but by the time we reached them and I made introductions, I discovered that Margo had blisters on her blisters and was ready to go back to the hotel.  Since by then I was coughing, I said I'd go with her, so Abigail headed home, Margo and I headed for the subway, and Mom and Bookworm went walking.  I did finally get a pretzel on the way home, and gave my subway card with a little bit of money left to a young lady who was either coming from or going to a yoga class, and absolutely collapsed on the bed when I got back to the room.

Mom woke me when it was time to get dressed and go to dinner.  By then I was coughing pretty hard and didn't have much appetite.  Still, the four of us had a nice dinner at Cellini, and I was sure that a good night's sleep would make things better.  When we got back to the room, Mom turned on the tv, and we watched the last hour or so of Pitch Perfect.  It amused me no end that the woman who is incredibly squeamish about blood had no problems with the barfing scene, but while I can read horror novels and not think anything of it, I had to close my eyes and put my fingers in my ears!

I was in bed by 9:30, sad that the weekend in NYC was almost over but looking forward to going home.

NYC Day 2, Friday, October 9

Friday was our tourist day, wherein we were scheduled for a 6 hour tour by bus and by boat.  We got up early and stopped at the coffee shop espresso bar in the hotel for our complimentary coffee and pastries and then started walking.  I had a tougher time than I thought I would walking 30 minutes at a smart pace and I was realizing that although my water walking is exercise it is not the best practice for city walking.  A. I don't sweat in the water and B. my body is partially supported.  But with the patience of my family and one stop to rest, I made it and we all got to the tour departure on time.

There was standing in line, and then I spotted a penny stretcher machine, so I paid my 51¢ for one with the Statue of Liberty on it, then it was time to get in the bus and leave.  The "bus" was in fact a pretty nice 14-passenger job, and there was a four-passenger seat across the back that was just right for us as long as two someones were willing to sit with their feet up over the wheels (we took turns).  We had a tour-by-bus of Times Square, then drove along the Hudson to the Riverside Church.

The Riverside Church was intended to be non-denominational, but as I said to Bookworm, I don't imagine it was particularly appealing to old-school Scots Presbyterians of the time what with all the Gothic details and fancy touches like a wood revolving door.  The guide made a point of mentioning the stained-glass windows, and of course Mom and I have been reading about Clara Driscoll of the Tiffany Co., so we wondered if the windows were Tiffany.  Nope, some of them were from a contemporary, Harry Wright Goodhue, and many were 16th century Flemish windows brought over by Rockefeller.

Across the street is Grant's Tomb, and I did not climb the stairs, but stayed outside and watched a woman walk a cinnamon-colored chow-shepherd mix who reminded me of Littlefoot and told my sisters-in-law that it was Julia Grant's insistence on leaving-right-now-thank-you-I'm-sick-of-Washington that saved her husband from dying with the president.

We got back on the bus and resumed the tour, stopping for lunch in (what's left of) Little Italy, where I had some very yummy penne alla vodka followed by a beeeeeg cup of coffee from the place across the street.  Margo grabbed some gifts for her boys and I got a pretty scarf and then we went on to the part of the tour I didn't want to do, the World Trade Center.

The pools are beautiful, the atmosphere is reflective and reverential and the whole thing is too damn raw for me to handle, even after 14 years.

Afterwards we walked to the Winter Garden Atrium (big fancy shopping mall) and then got on a ferry/tour boat with an obnoxious, probably sloshed announcer/guide who inspired my new mantra, "Please just shut up and let me look".  We did see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Brooklyn Bridge.  I am especially proud of my picture of the cables of the bridge after reading the incredible story in The Great Bridge.

Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a six-hour tour actually took seven hours, which meant that none of us had time for a shower before we dressed up for dinner and went to Carnegie Hall.  Dinner at Etcetera Etcetera was lovely, and all kudos to Anabel for making three great reservations for our dinners in NYC.  After dinner we went to Carnegie Hall for a New York Pops concert of Rogers & Hammerstein music.  I wish they hadn't ended with songs from The Sound of Music, because I loathe the whole thing, but the conductor was a blast.  Mom is fairly convinced that Mr. Reineke was trained by Erich Kunzel, because he was up there dancing while conducting.  After that, we headed back to the hotel and I think all of us were asleep pretty quickly.

NYC Day 1, Thursday, October 8

NYC was wonderful.  Mom and I arrived at 8:30 and had coffee and a bagel while we waited for Bookworm Mathgeek and Lady Margo. LaGuardia airport has the cutest fences made of apples!

After waiting for American Airlines personnel to figure out how to open the cargo door on Bookworm's plane, we all had our luggage and grabbed a cab to the hotel.  The Lombardy was quite lovely, and I don't think any of us had any complaints.

After we'd stowed our bags in the one of our rooms that was open, we left the hotel and had lunch at a deli, where I had a mozzarella, tomato and spinach sandwich on the best bread I had on the trip.  It was a dark bread loaded with sesame seeds, and absolutely the star of the sandwich.  Then we walked to the library.  I was tired, having gotten up at 4 that morning and sweaty thanks to the walking, so although I wanted to take the tour, I elected to sit outside and wait for my family.  I felt bad about missing the tour, so I called Mallie and after she cheered me up, I had an enjoyable hour people-watching.  I was especially pleased by the number of people who took advantage of the free art supplies.  When the tour was done, Mom offered to buy me a coffee, and then we looked at the library store.  Mom didn't buy anything, but I got two tote bags and a gorgeous black and white scarf.

After a quick stop at the hotel to freshen up, we tried to get a cab outside our hotel.  When that didn't work, we tried on Park Ave. and when that didn't work, we kept walking until we found a hotel with a helpful doorman and he got us a cab.  After some confusion on the cabdriver's part, we made it to the right street, only to go past the address.  The driver made a (probably illegal) U-turn and dropped us off on the opposite side of the street.  We jay-walked across, and started looking for the address.  When we couldn't find it, Mom called cousin Newsprint.  He told her he could see us, so the four of us started spinning around until he told Mom to look up.  When we did, there he was, in a very large window above a drug store!  It turns out that 110 Whatever Street's door is actually on the side street.

Cousins Newsprint and Newsprintska are both former journalists who now teach at Columbia, and they had quite a selection of nibbles ready for us as well as red wine or an old-fashioned.  I had the red wine but the old-fashioned made me smile because that was my grandfather's drink.  I should mention that Cousin Newsprint is my dad's cousin, and their fathers were brothers.  Clearly, Great Uncle Newsprint loved old-fashioneds as well, and taught his son to make them.  Newsprint and Newsprintska took us to an Italian restaurant three blocks from their condo and we had a wonderful dinner and great conversation.  Afterwards, we took a cab back to the hotel and went to sleep.

I have kick-ass co-workers

When I got to work this morning, my desk was all decorated, both with pre-made 50 decorations and streamers and with office-made signs that said things like "Fifty is the new fabulous."  The one that made me laugh out loud even though it hurt was the one that said, "It Took 50 Years to Look this Good."

One of our investigators was hanging out with my accounts colleague, and she said something that was to become a familiar refrain through the day, "Happy Birth--what on earth happened?"  No one I talked to wanted to believe that I'd fought off a black bear that attacked my parents in a parking lot, so I went with "Walked into a bathroom doorframe".

There was a surprise birthday lunch for me and two of my colleagues, one of whom is also 50 and the other of whom is literally half that.  Someone made the Italian green bean salad that I love and was surprised at how many people asked for the recipe.  I didn't, because it is my favorite summer salad, but I did compliment her on it and notice the basil she put in.

My lip and my eye still look awful, but what hurts is the chest muscle I pulled.  I have to give a shout-out to Mallie, who was the one who talked me into spending money on bras that actually support my boobs, because when I woke up this morning, the pain was so bad I nearly barfed, and I hate to think what it would have been like if I'd gone through the day with inadequate infrastructure.  As it was, I was still in a lot of pain at four o'clock, but I made it home without crying.

Speaking of crying, there was a card in yesterday's mail that was all about what's good about turning 50, and while my niece would dismiss it as "Sappy!"  it made me tear up because it was from my 80 year old uncle.

Family, friends, food and fun.  I could get used to this 50 thing.

So far, 50 sucks

Mom and Dad and I had a very nice dinner last night at a local high-end steakhouse.  I had tomato and mozzarella salad with balsamic vinegar,  half a pretzel breadstick, a NY strip steak with brown sauce and black peppercorns, fries and a slice of flourless chocolate cake, courtesy of the management because Mom had told them we were celebrating Dad's birthday and mine.  I'd probably have been fine if I also hadn't had two Lemon Drop martinis, which hit me hard about a 40 minutes after I got home.  I fell once in the kitchen while I was trying to set up the coffee and then walked into the bathroom door frame while trying to go lie down.

Gross stuff after the jump:

Food, family, fireworks and fun!

I'm home after two lovely days at the lake.  Things did not start well, because at 6:20 Monday morning when I tried to re-settle the carafe in the coffee maker, I wound up splashing boiling water and coffee grounds all over my right hand, the counter, the coffee maker and the floor.  When I got that cleaned up and the car packed, dropping Little Miss Piggie Pie off for boarding was easy, and I grabbed a quick and expensive cup of coffee at Bruegger's before starting out.

My trip was exactly 100 miles in 100 minutes, yay me and yay Edgar.  Mom met me at the Dollar General closest to Lakeside because she was out riding her bike in traffic when I arrived, and gave me her credit card to buy my ticket and car pass and then we headed to the house.

My nieces and nephews are turning out to be really great people, smart and kind and funny.  At the advanced age of 15, The Awesome Nacho still lets his youngest cousin beat on him with a pillow.  Super Doughnut was so afraid he'd miss the golf cart ride to get doughnuts this morning that when I opened the garage door at 6:30 to go outside for a smoke he came barreling down the stairs and stuck his head out the door pleading for me not to leave without him.  I told him to go back to bed, it would be a while.  Princess Mathgeek cheerfully peeled potatoes, went to East Harbor with the joy of a swallow returning to Capistrano, and displayed the snarkasm that is the hallmark and birthright of my family.  Princess Minnie is bright and affectionate and totally and completely addicted to chocolate.

I met three gorgeous dogs--two Golden Retrievers whose owner called them "English Cream Retrievers" and a very sweet, very old, very shy Siberian Husky.  I am totally bragging when I say the latter took to me to such a degree that I heard her owners talking about it as they walked away.

I helped Mom delete the zillion text messages from Verizon on her phone, took the nieces and nephews to the Cheese Haven, read two books and ate several wonderful meals, including an early birthday Bastille Day dinner of beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, port wine & shallot sauce, roasted green beans and cake.  I took at least four golf cart rides, driving three times, and discovered that Jeeves and I have a fear of heights in common.  Dad set off two fireworks and when the power went out he took the coffee maker out to the garage and ran it off the golf cart battery.

Today I went to The Patio for doughnuts, one dozen for the famdamily, two dozen for work, then got packed up and left Lakeside.  I dropped off the doughnuts, picked up the dog, who was clean and very fluffy after her complimentary bath, came home and took some Benadrool (my eyes have been itching non-stop) and took a nap.  Then I collected the three boxes from my porch--one from Ulta, one from Bath & Body Works and one from someone named Keith in Augusta, Maine.  I haz a puzzled about that last...

As always, I'm glad I went and happy to be home.

Free day!

My phone buzzed as I pulled into the parking garage yesterday morning.  The power was out at work and I should go home and wait for instructions.  So I went home, and at noon got a text message that the probate court would be closed all day.  I said a quick hurrah and went to the craft store for photo frames and then came home and changed clothes.  I baked a lemon pound cake to take to work today, got caught up on some chores and took a nap.

The frames are for my great-grandparents' teaching certificates and their wedding picture:

If the former looks familiar, it's because it looks exactly like the one Laura Ingalls gets at the end of Little Town on the Prairie.  I figured it would go nicely with the map.  Now I just need to drag Dad over here to hang the map!

I'm inclined to say it was ducky.

Both of my nieces and the younger of my nephews are visiting my parents this week, and yesterday I took the day off work and Mom and the kids and I headed to Pittsburgh for the day.  Our drive was largely uneventful, barring a wee bit of a spat towards the end where Mom listened to the end of the directions rather than the whole thing and missed the middle bit, we were parked across the street from Station Square at 11:00 a.m.

We walked through the square and the kids looked at the river for a bit, then walked all the way down it, out the other side and across the street to the Monongahela Incline.  I'd ridden the Dusquene incline in my childhood, but not this one.  Mom of course, had ridden both as a Pittsburgh native.  Super Doughnut was a little nervous for some reason, but everyone enjoyed the ride to the top and the view from Mount Washington.  Then we had a discussion of which three rivers meet in Pittsburgh which ended with me asking the fare-taker if the third was the Allegheny or the Susquehanna.  For the record, the rivers are the Ohio, the Monongahela and the Allegheny.  Then we rode back down, had a nice lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then lined up for our tour.

The weather was absolutely perfect--warm and sunny but with a nice breeze.  We had an interesting and loud tour through the city, then hit the water.  Literally hit the water, because we took a Just Ducky amphibious tour!  For me, being on the water was the best part, water-loving critter that I am.  I think it was also my niece's best part, because she was one of the kids asked to steer the boat while the guide took a break and the captain talked.  Because she had purple rhinestones on her t-shirt, the captain called her "Captain Sparkle".

After the tour, we walked through the old train station which is now a fancy restaurant, and I forgot to ask Mom if it was still a station when she was a kid.  After some more not-fun with the GPS, we made it back to Mom and Dad's and then I headed home.

By some twist of luck, the first Just Ducky video I found features the same guide we had yesterday, so here's Carol:

Multiculturism at its best

...was what middle liddle brother said when I told him that I, an American female of mostly British descent and a German last name, was celebrating a French holiday with a day off and a Greek sandwich. :-)

Yesterday was my birthday, but since I'm *gasp* aging, I've decided to celebrate Bastille Day instead.  I did my nails up all fancy, and I got lots of neat presents from The Jay and The Sherri, and Mom and I went shopping.  I found five big grapefruit-scented candles for $1 each, plus birthday presents for my nieces, plus four new tops for me.  Then we went and had lunch at a local chain, and I had a wonderful gyro, followed by coming home to take a nap, and then getting up to feed the dog, eat dinner and make two loaves of dill bread to take to work.  Then I returned middle liddle brother's phone call and then called Mom and Dad picked up to say Happy Birthday Bastille Day.   Plus, Mira Grant's newest Rising short story was released, so I downloaded that.

Good food, presents, books, family and friends--what a perfect day!

Oh, and the dog didn't leave me any dead mice as presents, either. ;-)

Busy day

Since today was the only day in all of July & August Mom & I could work together, I was at her house and working on accountings at 8 a.m.  I also took my laundry, because my dryer has had it, and the eggs and coconut to make macaroons.  Mom & I worked steadily until 11, then I took a break to bake.  Unfortunately, Mom was out of sugar, so I had to run up to the grocery store, but I still got 4 dozen macaroons done in time for a late lunch.  Then I went back to my computer and got the forms done for her to take in and file tomorrow.  Then I ran out of energy, loaded up the car and came home and took a nap.

The macaroons are for a Probate Court tradition--each person brings treats for everyone else on his or her birthday.  It's certainly practical, because no one person gets stuck repeatedly baking cakes or cookies or buying bagels.  Mom says it's just like hobbits giving presents to others.  Since the judge is allergic to wheat, macaroons are perfect.  Any vegans in the office can just suck it, however. :P

My dryer is 47 years old, and despite a nagging feeling of disloyalty, my sheets were so hot when I took them out last week that I finally decided to bite the bullet and just replace it.  It's had at least two new motors, several full clean-outs, and two years ago, Dad removed the drum and re-painted the inside.  So it's time.  I got a no-frills dryer from Lowe's, and they're going to call me about delivery.

Both of my brothers called to wish me a happy birthday, and that just put the cap on my day.  Now I'm going to go take a cool shower and read the book Mom loaned me.

Disney Adventure Day 1, December 21, 2012 (Akron and points south)

Like a good little traveler, I was up and moving early.  I had my two cups of coffee, brushed my hair & teeth, put my toothbrush and meds in my carryon, put the coffeepot in the dishwasher and started it, and headed out the door. 

Because it was so cold that morning, I wore black cargo pants, fuzzy socks, fuzzy black & white leg warmers from Sock Dreams, a black t-shirt, a white cotton shirt, a black jersey cardigan and my navy “spring” windbreaker.  It was very cold and very dark when I left at 6:15, and the roads were icy.  I was lucky in the first half of my trip, because I was right behind a salt truck, but once I got on 77 South, I was on my own.  Thankfully, traffic was light, so I did a steady 60 mph, and only had one scary moment.  Somebody thought I wasn’t going fast enough, so he or she passed me on the right and then zipped back into the middle lane, cutting me off.  My only thought as I tapped the brakes was “If I die, I hope my family goes on the cruise.”

Clearly, I didn’t die, and I made it to the airport in time to park and take a shuttle in and go through security and get to my gate just as they were boarding. J We took off a little late after de-icing, and arrived in Charlotte at 9:30 instead of 8:40, but the flight to Orlando wasn’t leaving until 11:25, so I had time to walk the entire length of the airport, buy a yogurt on the verge of sentience and what I thought was a bottle of water but which turned out to be Sprite. 

The woman Mom had hired to cover the phones had tried to call both of us,  but since I was the one who turned my phone back on first, I was the one who got to tell her that if she was sick, she should go home.  Eventually, Mom called me, and I told her that, then asked if the Jeeves-Margo family were in fact flying from Charlotte to Orlando with me.  She said yes, but their plane was landing around 11.  :o

Thus I spent the next 90 minutes both worrying and wondering why my carryon bag was so darned heavy.  I finished one book and started another, and was in the last group to board the plane.  I was chatting with my seatmate and worrying, and they were just about to close the door when I saw my family heading down the aisle.  Yaaaaay!  They were all flushed and a little breathless, because they had run from the same terminal at which my flight had arrived (reserved for “small airports” like Columbus) after being late owing to de-icing.

After that, the 90 minute flight to Orlando was a piece of cake, and we arrived only about 30 minutes late.  The Crossword-Mathgeek family was at baggage claim 5, and the shuttle was going to pick up their party and then come to baggage claim 20 and get us.  There was a joyful reunion and then a 1 hour trip to our hotel in Cape Canaveral.   During the trip, there were several different conversations going on.  At one of those natural pauses when everyone was quiet at once, the driver drifted over some rumble strips, and little Princess Minnie yelled “Road farts!”  This is one of the many lovely sayings passed on to the next generation from Grampa Scary Bear.

Mom met us in the lobby, we all got check in and dumped our bags in our rooms and then gathered in Mom & Dad’s room for snacks.  After some discussion, we decided on an early dinner, which we had at a decent tourist trap called Fishlips.  At dinner, Captain Crossword announced that Bookworm Mathgeek had gotten the highest possible grades in her two MBA courses for that semester, so we all raised our glasses to her. Then we went back to the hotel and celebrated Super Doughnut’s birthday in Mom and Dad’s room.  Mom had gotten vanilla ice cream and a personalized cake, and because we were in a residence hotel, there were plates and forks in the room.  Captain Crossword did a killer dance to “Ice Cream and Cake” and then was begged to repeat it 3 times until he was captured on video.  Even though it’s been 20 years since show choir, my little brother still has the moves.

After ice cream and cake, Mom took me on a drugstore run, as I was constipated and painfully bloated.  She came to my room to pick up some bills I'd brought for her, and that was when I discovered that my carry-on was so heavy because I'd brought the two pounds of mixed nuts that arrived at the house after Mom and Dad left!  I happily handed over the nuts and took some OTC meds and read in my room for a while, then just happened to visit the fire pit for a cigarette at the same time Annabel, Captain Crossword and all four kids were visiting.  It was a gas fire in a huge stone surround, and while pretty, it wasn’t really something that encouraged sitting around it.  Plus, we’d apparently brought some chilly Ohio weather with us, as it was 57º F when we landed and kept dropping.  I went to bed early, after taking a long hot shower and watching 2 episodes of Say Yes To The Bridesmaid’s Dress. *blush*  

...and then the princess turned back into a troll

Tuesday night was really lovely.  I got out, met new people, got my hair done and a goodie bag, ate lovely food and talked nail polish and techie toys, and just felt like a princess all evening.

Sadly, I woke up Wednesday morning at 3 a.m. with a migraine, too far advanced for me to keep anything down, including meds or coffee.   I relied on a hot shower followed by an ice pack until it was time to get dressed and go to work.  I had, I thought, brought home a bunch of documents that needed to be filed, so I headed for downtown Akron.  At the very end of my drive, a turnoff I needed to take was closed, so I wound up in an unfamiliar area and missed the detour.  Once I was done with a long trip the wrong way and back, I parked the car and went to put my wallet and car keys in the envelope folder where the documents were.  Ohshit.  I had picked up the wrong folder, and everything I needed to file was at Mom's house, 30 minutes away.

Head still hurting, I tried to do the rest of my errands.  I went to the bank, forgot to go to Office Max, went to drop off my vacuum at the repair shop only to find out that they didn't open until 10, and got lost trying to find the paper recycling dropoff.  So I went to the office, only to find myself in the middle of a shrill squabble between a nursing home and a ward's family.  By the time I left, driving home in the sunshine was miserable.

But at least after the Monday from Hell and before the Wednesday from Hell, I had a few hours of fun, and now I have a whole weekend under my bridge to nest and read and play before I have to go back out in the scary world, and I am thankful for that.

Of course, I am as always, thankful for my family, my friends, my dogs and my health, and I wish all of my US friends and family a very happy Thanksgiving.

Eventful!

The family schedule for June and July:

June 16th: my parents' 50th wedding anniversary
June 17th: Father's Day
July 4th through the 9th: Jammiesfest
July 13th through the 22nd: My nephews staying with Mom and Dad
July 25th: My father's birthday
July 28th through August 4th: My nieces staying with Mom and Dad

August 4th through August 12th: Most of the whole famdamily staying at Lakeside.

*whew*

Some highlights:

Jay, Sherri and Zeus the Wonder Poodle came for Jammiesfest and rearranged my living room, cleaned all the glassware and alphabetized the books.  Yes, I'm a little embarrassed by letting my friends see the cobwebby corners and work on their vacations, but I'm also thrilled at having a living room I can actually live in!  And I did take them out for Thai food and make yummy lemon pound cake...

On my birthday, I woke up to a dog who looked like a losing prizefighter.  Mr. Mouse had gotten stung or bitten and his right eye was swollen shut.  Two vet visits, two weeks in the Collar of Shame, two steroids, two antibiotics and close to two hundred dollars later and he is fine.

The Awesome Nacho remembered that I like lavender and got me a lovely lavender soap for my birthday, and SuperDoughnut got me an adorable birdhouse.

Thanks to the new working arrangements, I got to see my nephews every day they were here.

For his birthday, I took my retro Dad to RetroDog, which was fun.  My hot dog was good, Dad's onion rings looked superb and Dad liked it so much he and Mom took the girls there.

I got to see Bookworm Mathgeek for a couple of hours on the 28th, which was my only chance to spend some time with her before December, as she's not going up to the lake (and I'm only going for one day this year). 

The girls had a tea party and invited Vegan Lawyer, her granddaughter and her stepgranddaughter.  Cupcakes were decorated and frosted and eaten, fancy dresses were worn, t-shirts and hats and birdhouses were painted and a good time was had by all.

Mom took my nieces and I to the Natatorium, and Princess Mathgeek rode the water slide at least 10 times.  Tinkerbelle climbed all the way to the top of the stairs, only to be told she was too short. :(  So I went up with her and basically bullied the lifeguard into letting her go down once with me.  Then they both jumped off the diving board multiple times and swam with me in the current pool.  Mom took pictures and said the water was too cold.  The next day, Mom took the girls to the outdoor water park and Tinkerbelle was tall enough to ride two of the four waterslides.

My father was so excited about his new tablet that he backed into my car and tore the driver's side mirror loose. 

Despite all this, Mom and I managed to complete and send out three notary subpoenas, many letters, and 270 pages of responses to interrogatories.  Today I am doing laundry and making a half-hearted effort to clean, and then tomorrow I will drive up to the lake for a few hours, spend some time with Captain Crossword and Jeeves, and then drive home.

Ouch on several levels

My feet, my calves and my wallet!  After a long week at work, Mom and I had nice dinner out and then went shopping.  We went to two shoe stores with no success, then Burlington Coat Factory, Big Lots and Gabriel Brothers with a great deal of success.  Mom got red, white and blue pillows for the lake house, several cute tops, a pair of capris and a pair of shoes.  I got light summer dresses for wearing around the house, a pair of cute oxfords, three shirts, two pairs of pants, a grapefruit-scented candle, three Godiva chocolate bars and three new cushions for the wicker chairs on the breezeway.

The best moment was probably when I had found the two pairs of pants at Gabe's--one light aqua and one medium purple, both linen-look, for $3 and $8.  Mom said "I need some tan capris" and I reached over, looked at a tag, said, "Size 10?" and Mom said yes, so I handed them to her--$3!  She was thrilled, and called me this morning to tell me they fit. :)  She also liked her early Mother's Day gift, a necklace and earrings I made with nail polish:

The set is based on a lovely spring jacket of Mom's, which is white with pink and orange flowers, but it would also go with the orange shirt she got last night!

On the way home, we discussed our bargains and what new clothing we were going to wear with clothing we already had.  Mom helped me bring in all my bags of loot and then headed home, and I took a quick bath and collapsed into bed.  This morning, I tried everything on and it all fits, and now I have leftover Mongolian beef to have for lunch.