Monday, August 02, 2010

An Island Called Long*

*Thank you to Dan R. for the title

This past weekend Todd and I took off for a much needed get away on Long Island. It was the first time we've ever left the kids home alone and I feel it was a success because: a) they didn't kill or even maim each other; b) police and/or other emergency personnel services were never required; c) there were no arrests; d) the dog was still here and didn't appear to have suffered any; and e) the house looked much the same as it did when we left.

Our adventure started on Thursday, and I don't use the term "adventure" loosely. I've been to New York City several times since moving here four years ago and every time I'm there I declare I will NEVER drive in Manhattan. Well, guess what I did Thursday. I drove in Manhattan. From the Holland Tunnel, through Tribeca and China Town, and over the Williamsburg Bridge. I've driven in Los Angeles. I've driven in Dallas. I've driven in Philadelphia. Picnics, all, compared to the Big Apple. I would like to declare I will never drive in Manhattan EVER AGAIN. I just hope I really mean it this time.

Do you know what made driving in NYC worth it? After Todd and I got settled in the hotel we went down the street to TGIFriday's for an early dinner and I got carded! Oh yes I did! Todd even took a picture of the waiter looking at my ID, but it came out all fuzzy. So what if they have to card anyone who looks like they may possibly be younger than 75? There's just something about hearing those words, "May I please see some ID?" that thrills.

I kept telling people we were going to the Hamptons because it just sounds so chic. In reality we were just going to Long Island, but we did drive through the Hamptons on Friday. There is a two lane road that runs through the Hamptons to the tip of the South Fork where the Montauk lighthouse is. It took us a good two hours to go the 43 miles. I can say in all honesty that it was a beautiful drive and the weather couldn't have been any better. We stopped in the town of Montauk for a bite of lunch - the best fish and chips I've ever had, hands down.


And a good thing, too. For two orders of fish and chips, an iced tea and a beer we paid $55.00. While I'm sure the fish basically jumped from the ocean and into the fryer, I'm not sure that's a reasonable amount. Not only that, but I didn't even get carded!

After the gigging we took lunch we finished the drive to Montauk Point and the oldest lighthouse in the state of New York. I, of course, had Precious with me so there are pictures:






There were no sightings, and, therefore, no pictures, of a Montauk Monster. (Sorry Becky) But here's a photo I found on the internet to appease the curiousity of those who don't know what the Montauk Monster is.




From there we drove to Sag Harbor:











And then a pretty drive back to the hotel where we feasted on cheese and crackers (because we had spent our daily allowance on fish and chips) and watched free HBO.

Saturday was another gorgeous day and this time we drove up the North Fork to Orient Point and then slowly worked our way back. In a welcomed change from Friday, the traffic was minimal. Our goal had been to find lighthouses and maybe go through a winery. We saw one lighthouse in the distance and never decided on a winery to tour. But we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

I know. I'll just show you some pictures.





We stopped in at this lavender farm and bought...





...lavender! Ahhhh, heaven!



Here we were in wine country and did we get any wine? No. I'm sure our wine clubbies (Or is that clubbists? Clubbers?) will be very disappointed with us.




The same Dan R. who inadvertently gave me the title of this post texted me and told me about Greenport. Happy I am that he did!





This, my friends, is a camera. Not nearly as convenient as Precious, that's for sure.




The Frisky Oyster. What does a frisky oyster look like, I wonder.





We were going to eat in Greenport, but the wait was horrendous. Apparently everybody wanted to hang out in the quaint village on a perfect Saturday afternoon. So we got back in the car and just decided we'd stop wherever we stopped.



Linen tablecloths, a beautiful view, a delicious seafood meal, a decadent dessert - all for less than fish and chips in the Hamptons.




As we made our way back to the hotel we found a place to sit and be mesmerized by the beautiful ocean -




- and we also found LOVE, which is kind of the point of a weekend getaway, isn't it?

Labels: fun, joy, love, photography, touristy, travel, vacation, weather, weekend plans

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Thursday, January 01, 2009

Christmas Trip - Part I

We left for Palm Springs on Monday, December 22. Just like when we flew to Hawaii, we had to leave the house at 4:00 in the morning. Unlike when we flew to Hawaii, it was 14 degrees outside. In case you've never experienced 14 degrees - that's cold. REALLY cold.

The route had a two-hour layover in Phoenix and, thanks to Todd's travel schedule, we were able to hang out in the United Airlines lounge. Do you know they have free coffee and snacks there? Maybe that was a secret and you only get to know that if you're "in the club", but if that's the case they shouldn't have let me in.

The weather was lovely when we landed in Palm Springs. I think it was the upper 50's, lower 60's, and sunny. Quite a difference from that 14 degrees we'd left behind. And since we were flying East to West, it was still early in the day.

Okay. Enough of the first day. Now on to better things.

Tuesday morning I borrowed my Mother-In-Law's car and drove to It's A Grind to meet up with His Girl and Fabmama. I was so exited that I got there early, ordered my delicious brew and snatched a table for three. Then Fab walked in and I knew instantly it was her. Not just because I'd seen her picture on her blog, but because there was an air of total fabulousness about her.

The girl is hilarious. Truly. Look what she brought - just in case we had trouble actually talking.



So we're standing there, waiting for our orders, laughing at Fab's silliness, when in walks His Girl and the fun really began. Check out His Girl's shirt!



After a lot of chatting and laughing and gabbing and giggling sprinkled with a smattering of fairly deep talk of spiritual matters (seriously) we got the poor guy at the coffee house to take a picture of us. I'm the short one.



Then because we are zany we had to take these pictures of our very own personalized comment whiteboards. Check out the word verifications. That Fabmama is very clever.



Sadly our families and/or jobs wouldn't let us hang out forever. Poor Mr. Fab and the boys returned from their exploring only to have to sit in the van for what probably seemed like forever while we girls said our goodbyes. I'm sorry, Mr. Fab, but as the old adage says, parting is such complete lameness. Still, it was a great way to get the week rolling!

The only bad thing about the whole day was the fact that Todd and I didn't get to see our friends, Cathy and John. It's the first time we've ever been back to California for a visit and not seen them. We were going to try to get together that evening, but it just didn't work out. Which only means we have to go back.

Labels: friends, fun, travel, vacation

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Monday, August 04, 2008

Waipi'o Valley

Labels: photography, travel

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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Around Oahu

I think I've got the Blogger/slide show thing figured out!

As I said in my previous post, Monday we ate lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. You can't go into a Hard Rock Cafe with a camera and not take pictures of famous guitars.
Well I can't, anyway. I snapped Eric Clapton's guitar because Todd and Taylor are fans. I snapped Lenny Kravitz's guitar because I'm a fan. I snapped Lindsey Buckingham's guitar because I don't know. I never liked Fleetwood Mac.

Tuesday was the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. One cannot go there and not be moved. can't look at the pictures now and not be moved. Do you know there are still a handful of living survivors left? And those who survived the attack but have passed on have had the option of being interned with their shipmates. Their names have been added to a special place on the Memorial Wall.

The photograph titled "Tears of the Arizona" is the slick of oil that still weeps from the ship after all these many years. The flag over the memorial flies from a flagpole which is attached to the severed mainmast of the sunken battleship. In the gift shop, Taylor found and purchased the flag that was flown over the memorial on September 11, 2001.



I didn't take my honkin' camera to dinner with Cigi's family, but Katie took her cute little camera. Good thing, too, because that way we got the picture of our family and her family. Don't we look happy? Mostly because the company was great, but a little bit because we're going to eat. That always makes me happy. Cigi's husband, Les, told the waiter it was our anniversary (since the trip was kind of an anniversary celebration) and we were given a delicious coconut creme brulee.

And finally the pearls. Aren't they lovely? My pineapple pearl doesn't show up quite as blue in the photo as it really is. Gotta love the bling, though.

And that wraps up our week in Oahu. Next we fly to the Big Island.

Labels: photography, travel

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Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Week on Oahu

I had a brilliant post written about our week in Oahu to accompany the slide show. It was pure genius and I know it would have received prestigious awards and accolades and I, no doubt, would have been contacted by Conde Nast within the week, begging me to be a feature writer for their Travel magazine for a ridiculous amount of money, all travel expenses included of course. But alas, Blogger conspired against my good fortune and ate my words. Even the title of my post is missing. I guess I should be happy the slide show remained.

I wrote in the zone, but the zone is now gone so there's no telling what I'm going to end up with. Here it goes...

We arrived late Saturday night and collapsed into bed as we had all been up a good 24 hours. You can imagine our delight Sunday morning when we woke to views of Diamond Head, the ocean and the pool from our balcony. We used that day to get over our jet lag and explore the resort. What a surprise it was to see penguins on the grounds. Somewhere around 6:00 we had a delicious dinner at Benihana, stuffing ourselves silly and then retiring to the room where I think we were probably asleep by 8:30. It was 2:30 Philadelphia time, after all.

Monday we took a taxi to the Hard Rock Cafe (pictures tomorrow) and figured out our week. Usually I know exactly what we're going to do before we ever get to where we're going, but the family wanted a kicked backed and relaxed week. So I held myself back and decided to wing it. There were really only two or three things I absolutely wanted to do and one would involve a rental car. We stopped at the Hertz kiosk on the way back to our room to reserve a car for Thursday, but nobody was there so we decided to call later. We forgot.

Tuesday morning we got up early - but it was pretty easy because we were still somewhat on Eastern Standard Time - and caught a tour to Pearl Harbor. (pictures tomorrow) Wow. Or to quote Todd - what a somber experience. The Arizona Memorial was at the top of my list of what I wanted to do on Oahu and I'm so glad we did it. If you've never been and you ever have the opportunity, it's not to be missed. But take tissue.

We intended to stop at the Hertz kiosk again, but the line was humongous so we thought we'd just call from the room later. Again, we forgot.

On Sunday whilst unpacking Todd realized he'd left his diabetes medicine at home. He thought he could go two weeks without it, but by Tuesday he realized that wasn't going to happen. We had reservations for a catamaran ride (on the Mai Tai) and walked the mile or so down the beach to catch it. Todd decided (and rightfully so) he needed to get his medicine situation taken care of. So the kids and I stayed for the catamaran and he walked back to the hotel, called his doctor, walked a couple miles the opposite direction to the pharmacy and back again - all before the rest of us returned.

I had taken the battery out of my camera to charge after Pearl Harbor and told myself not to forget it before the catamaran ride. I even looked at it as I was packing up stuff for the ride. As the catamaran came into shore from the previous trip I aimed for a picture. But the camera wouldn't do anything. At all. Then it hit me. The battery was still in the charger. DRAT! It was nearly as bad as the trip to Hilton Head/Savannah without the camera. Oh, the photos I could have stunned and amazed you with. Turned out to be a good thing, though. I wrapped the camera in Taylor's t-shirt once we got on the boat and tucked it away. Then I was able to totally enjoy the ride and the sea spray without worrying about the love of my life getting ruined and thus hurtling me into the depths of despair, casting a terrible blight on my vacation. Just believe me when I say the view was breathtaking.

Wednesday was a day of chilling. We had four loungers, two umbrellas and two intertubes and hung out at the beach. Remember a few posts ago when I was talking about stubbornness? Before we went down I asked Todd if he wanted me to lather him up with sunscreen. He didn't think so because he was planning on staying under the umbrella and he'd put some on his shoulders and head before he went out to the water. He fried his tummy. I would love to tell you I was the picture of demure femininity, but that would be a lie. I was smug and, though I don't think I actually said, "I told you so," I know he and everyone else knew I was thinking it.

Todd finally tried calling Hertz and we were told there were no cars available for Thursday. That was pretty disappointing to me because the only other thing I really wanted to do was explore Diamond Head and drive around to the North Shore. I should say really, really.

That evening we met up with my friend, Cigi, and 2/3 of her delightful family. They treated us to a delicious and fun dinner and her husband proved to be a great tour guide of Honolulu afterwards. Her daughter made us more wonderful leis and we felt like royalty. They dropped us off at our hotel around 10:30 and we had to laugh because it was the latest we'd been up all week.

Thursday we grabbed a taxi to a shopping center with a guitar store - Taylor can only go so long without a guitar - and then walked from there to a really nice shopping mall. There were actually a few things we needed to get there and the food court was pretty amazing. When we returned to the resort we went swimming and then ate at one of the pool cafes and listened to a live band. Good stuff.

Friday was our last day at the resort. Todd and Taylor took ukulele lessons and Katie and I took care of some business (buying stamps, mailing post cards, etc.) and browsed around the shops for a little while. After the lessons we were to meet up and go for a late lunch/early dinner. Instead the boys wanted to go down to a shop where they'd eyed some ukuleles earlier in the week. We had to pass a Pearl Factory and Katie and I stopped to look at the pretty jewelry. When we caught up to the guys they were in their own little stringed instrument world so I told Todd Katie and I were going back to the Pearl Factory and were going to each buy an oyster. He asked about buying a ukulele and I said, "Sure. But then I get to have my pearl set here." (Do I know how to work a deal or what?)

Katie and I went back to the Pearl Factory, chose our oysters and then excitedly watched as she opened them up. First Katie's and it was a beautiful, good sized, white pearl. Then she opened my oyster. We all gasped as she pulled out a gorgeous blue pearl. Todd and Taylor had shown up by then so I got Todd's permission for the setting I really wanted - it was for our 20th anniversary, after all. It's a diamond pineapple in white gold. (pictures tomorrow) Katie got a very pretty white gold plumeria necklace just for being my daughter and riding on my coat tails.

Because we'd spent over a certain amount we got to choose another oyster for free. So I chose it and when she opened it up it held another blue pearl. Instead of having it set, however, I brought it home. I'm going to wait until we can afford the ring I want and trust me when I say it's not going to be cheap!

Then all of a sudden it was Saturday and we were leaving for the Big Island. You'll just have to come back for that week.

Labels: travel

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Monday, July 28, 2008

Travel to Hawaii

I know you all are waiting to see pictures of Hawaii, but being the nonlinear thinker I am I have to start at the beginning. So this is a little slide show of the trip to Hawaii. As you will see (if you stick around long enough) I love clouds. They fascinate me and I find them incredibly beautiful.

Also, it was kind of weird flying into L.A. and not leaving the airport. I've never done that there before. I did get to see my beach and had a glimpse of Catalina Island. It made me a little sad. But then I remembered I was going to Hawaii and I got over it.



Alright. I'm on my way back to Flicker for the next slide show.

Labels: photography, travel

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Sunday, July 27, 2008

ALOHA!!

We're back on the mainland and I have made an astounding, life changing discovery. Fat arms look much better with a tan.

I have so much to tell you and tons of pictures -

I'm going to make a slide show and it will be like when you go to visit your Uncle Herman and Aunt Edwina and are forced to sit through their vacation slides on the faded and torn screen with the wobbly stand. Except I don't have any pictures of an old hairy man in a Speedo. But I digress.

That will all have to wait, though. I'm still dealing with major jet lag and am a little numb in the head. More than usual. Today I will share the insignificant things I remember.

I packed 11 books. Todd was displeased, but not stupid. He never once suggested I leave some of them here. We had to shift them around to other pieces of luggage so mine came in under 50 pounds. I only read half of them, but it was nice to have the different options available to me.

As the plane took off from Philly Todd asked where my compression sleeve was. Crikey! I totally forgot it and prayed the entire way there and back I wouldn't end up with lymphedema. I don't know if it was my imagination or reality, but I swear I could feel the change in the cabin pressure in my arm. Sort of a slightly painful tension and tingling. But I'm extremely pleased (and not just a little relieved) to report my left arm is no larger than my right arm.

We were greeted at the airport by my friend, Cigi, and her youngest daughter. They lavished us with gifts and beautiful leis that made our hotel room smell heavenly. She gave me the first "In Death" book by J.D. Robb - I've been avoiding this series for years because there are so many books - and a Harlan Coben book for Todd. Beach bags, t-shirts, sunscreen, a plethora of macadamia nuts... She really knows how to make a family feel welcome!

There was much we missed out on due to: A) Lack of time; B) Lack of planning; and/or C) lack of funds, however, we had a great and relaxing time. Todd just has to take me back, that's all. I'm going to start sending postcards to LIVE! With Regis and Kelly and try to win a trip to Turtle Bay. I think it's a solid plan.

We missed Sookie something fierce. Every bird, every dolphin, every animal - alive or stuffed - and even Taylor when he huffed just right reminded us of her. We still haven't seen her and won't get to until tomorrow evening. *sigh*

This past Friday afternoon we arrived at the Kona Airport around 1:30 p.m. or so. After a three hour wait we boarded a plane for Honolulu. We hung out there for quite some time and finally caught our plane to Salt Lake City at 9:30 p.m. Hawaii time and landed around 7:30 a.m. Mountain Time. I spent most of that flight playing poker on the in-flight game system which meant I was bone tired when we landed. Katie came off the plane talking. And talking. And talking some more. We found our next gate, sat down to wait and she was still talking. Todd and Taylor had that glazed look and I reached my breaking point. I turned to her while she was telling us something about school and a teacher and some kid and a book and raising fat babies in the sun or some such thing and snapped, "How can you be talking so much!?" All three of them looked at me like I'd pulled the pin from a grenade or something. "I'm serious! Where are the words coming from? I can't even think coherently right now, let alone talk. You make me tired!" And then we all started laughing, almost hysterically so. But it didn't keep her from finishing her story and several others.

And that is where I'll leave things so I can download my pictures. Until next time...

Labels: travel, vacation

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Monday, May 26, 2008

ROAD TRIP!

I'm not back to stay, but seeing as today was a holiday I decided to tell you about my weekend. I have checked a few things off the list, though I still have quite a bit left. Still, I probably will be hanging around a little bit more. (Thanks to those of you who sent me such nice emails and made me want to say, "You like me. You really like me.")

Katie and I left the house at 5:30 Thursday morning to drive to Hilton Head, South Carolina for Ben's wedding. As you see, there was an obvious lack of male influence. Let's just say Taylor couldn't afford to miss two days of school and leave it at that. So it was a girls' road trip. The car was stocked with all kinds of consumables in the event we found ourselves faint for lack of sustenance. We had cheese and crackers and frosted animal cookies and candy and water and Starbuck's bottled frappuccinos… We also wanted to see if we could go through my entire iPod song list of 499 songs.

I don't think we were even through Philadelphia when I thought about my new camera nestled with care in my new camera case and the beautiful pictures I was going to be able to take on our trip. Unfortunately, it was still sitting on the dining room table where I had packed it all away the day before. Katie forgot her camera, too. You must know how sad this made me. There was a split second when I considered turning around, but good sense won out.

The trip down was pretty uneventful. Good weather, bad traffic through Baltimore and DC, but after that it was smooth sailing. We did get to see the Washington Monument and the Capitol dome from the freeway so that was kind of exciting. [Insert imaginary photo.]

While there are Cracker Barrels here in PA, there isn't one very close to us. That's as Arkansan as Sonic so I treated Katie to lunch at a CB in Virginia. When we hit North Carolina we started seeing these big billboards – tons of them - for Pedro's South of the Border. They touted restaurants, mini-golf, convenience store, gift shop, leather goods, hotel, petting zoo, and every other type of roadside tourist trap imaginable. [*Mom & Dad – kind of like "The Thing" on I-10*] As soon as we passed into South Carolina there it was. Pedro's South of the Border. Funny stuff! [Insert imaginary photo.]

I-95 through South Carolina looks a lot like Arkansas. A couple of times I forgot where I was. Finally we turned off and headed for the island. We made it to the hotel between 7:30 and 8:00. After unloading the car we went looking for dinner. The hotel had a pool and also a pond. Katie said something about being afraid of alligators and I just sort of blew her off. Especially when she started looking up at the trees looking for tree-climbing-ninja-gators.

We finally landed at a restaurant called "Skillets" with an Elvis impersonator crooning to the outdoor diners. The waiter talked us into ordering an appetizer of fried green tomatoes – Katie's first – and they were delicious! Served over Creole marinara with bubbly melted mozzarella on top. The best fried green tomatoes I've ever had! She ordered shepherd's pie and I had a chicken stir fry. [Insert imaginary photo.]

Friday morning we woke up when we woke up, showered, dressed, and ate breakfast at the complimentary breakfast bar. That's where we found out there were a bunch of college kids from Ohio staying at the same place. It wasn't until later that night when we found out they were a bunch of obnoxious college kids from Ohio, but I'm not to that part yet.

We spent the late morning and early afternoon exploring the island and finding great places to shop. Neither Katie nor I could get the thought of those extraordinary fried green tomatoes out of our heads. So we went back to Skillets for lunch. Unfortunately our cravings weren't quenched because the appetizers weren't on the lunch menu. No complaining about the food, though. I had the vegetable crepes – crepes with a wonderful egg, cheese and spinach filling – and rosemary skillet potatoes. Katie had the shepherd's pie again.

While walking around the shopping center after lunch we ran into some friends from church, Kevin and Terri. We chatted with them for a little bit and they mentioned the alligator in the hotel pond. THE ALLIGATOR IN THE HOTEL POND! You know, the "alligator" that Katie was freaked out about? The one I told her didn't exist? Yeah. That one. Apparently it did exist.

Katie and I decided to get some disposable cameras and what better place to make that kind of purchase than the local Piggly Wiggly? Besides, she'd never been in a Piggly Wiggly before and I feel like one should have that experience when the opportunity arises. Because how much fun is it to say, "I went to the Piggly Wiggly"?

After that we walked across the street to the beach to see the ocean and then back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding later that evening. The wedding was simply beautiful. Vans shuttled us to the beach house where the wedding and reception were to take place. The ceremony was under a flower laden arbor on the beach with a cellist and violinist accompanying. I was snapping pictures with our Piggly Wiggly disposable cameras and chatting with Terri and Kevin and Mandy and Alex and Amanda, not paying any attention to the noise the film advancing mechanism made. Until the wedding started and everyone stopped talking. Then I had Terri cough or Katie sneeze to mask the sound or I just advanced it one tiny click at a time. And it made us giggle.

Our former youth minister, Matt Silver (he and his family moved to Maryland a few weeks ago), officiated and it was great to see him. Another transplanted friend, Leland, was in the wedding so it was fun to see him, too. All the CCV people sat at the same table for the reception and had a blast! The DJ knew all the right songs to play and we had a great time cutting the rug and just having fun. Ben and Katie (his Katie, not mine) sure know how to entertain!

Remember those Ohio college kids I mentioned earlier? The hotel was infested with them. And while I hate generalizations and would never say they were all horrible - I'm sure there were some nice, unhorrible students there - there were a lot of rude, obnoxious and over-indulgent kids there. And apparently 2:30 to 4:00 in the morning is the best time for playing frisbee, drinking beer and catching up on the day's events in the hotel hallway.

Saturday morning Katie and I got up and drove to Savannah with the express intention of eating at The Lady and Sons, Paula Dean's restaurant. Sadly, they were full for both lunch and dinner so we only saw the outside. Not a huge deal, though. We just have to go back, that's all. We ended up eating cheesy hot spinach dip and cheese pizza at a place on the Riverfront called Spanky's.

We really wanted to get a picture of the statue in the movie, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", but it turns out it's in a museum. We'd even considered going to the museum but we ran out of time. We did go on a house tour, though. [Insert imaginary picture] The house of the people who own the statue, actually. Savannah is a beautiful city – very Pirates of the Caribbeanish. There are "squares" every few blocks which are wonderful when you've been walking a lot. Katie and I would figure out where we were going to go next and then walk from square to square, resting on a park bench before moving onto the next one. It was a pretty warm day so our last stop was at a Starbuck's for some sort of frozen concoction. Just as we were leaving to get back to the car only a few blocks away there was a sudden flash of lightening and a loud boom immediately following. The rain hadn't started yet so we high tailed it for the parking lot. Half way there it started to sprinkle with more flashes and more booms. And then the sky opened up about a block from the car. I yelled, "Run!", which Katie took literally. Unfortunately I'm not much of a runner so I told her, "Save yourself!" Except for that I didn't unlock the car until I got right there. We scrambled inside, laughing the whole time, and realized there was hail mixed in with the rain. Once it slowed down we left and drove back to Hilton Head.

Hungry for dinner when we returned, can you guess where we ate? Skillets!! Can you guess what we had for an appetizer? Fried green tomatoes!! Can you guess what Katie had for dinner? Shepherd's pie!! So sad that we only ate at one restaurant the entire time we were on the island. But oh so good!

Sunday morning we woke up at 5:00, got dressed, packed the car and were on the road by 5:30. The ride home was even more uneventful than the ride there. Except the GPS took us THROUGH Washington instead of around it. That took us forever! But we did get to see the Pentagon and the Jefferson monument this time.

We pulled into the garage about 6:30. I soaked in a hot bubble bath and read a little bit, then went to bed around 9:00. The trip was a lot of fun – Katie and I ate well and laughed a lot – but it sure was good to be home and sleep in my own bed.

Over the long weekend we were in 7 states and the District of Columbia. I've decided my next writing will be Jenster's Guide to Highway/Interstate Driving.

Labels: food, friends, fun, holidays, reading, touristy, traffic, travel, vacation

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Saturday, May 03, 2008

My Week In Arkansas, Part One

While I'm not even close to being a linear thinker, I do believe stories are best when started at the beginning. So here it goes.

Wednesday, April 23:

Todd and I stopped at the local Wawa on our way to the Philadelphia airport for gas and coffee. In that order. Gas for the car. Coffee for me. I don't think we'd even made it to the freeway when I'd spilt coffee on my pristine white tee-shirt.

I've only ever flown Delta out of Philly and the Delta terminal is horrible. Old, dirty, nothing good to eat... This time, however, I flew out of the US Airways terminal and it was much better. So much better that I wish I would have foregone the Wawa coffee. Next time I'll know better.

I had a two-and-a-half hour layover in Charlotte, North Carolina. Now that's a nice airport! Just look.




A pretty Wright Brothersesque Biplane.






A really cool clock mobile in the middle of the main terminal

And because Brian Jones (our pastor) hates is such a fan of NASCAR I snapped these shots just for him.

The sign says Charlotte, NC - June 19, 1949: The first NASCAR strictly stock race. Who knew an airport could be so edumacational?

I arrived at the Little Rock airport about 30 minutes before Michele did. By then it was time for dinner so we ate at Ruby Tuesday just a few minutes from my parents' house. We then proceeded to stay up way too late.

Thursday, April 24:

We all woke up. And this would be where things started going downhill. Do you remember the following paragraph when I was talking about removing wallpaper?

Bad idea. It was put directly onto the wallboard except for a few places where they had Spackled something - the spots we tried. So we made three times more work for ourselves than we would have had we just primed the wallpaper first and then painted.

You did remember it? Why didn't you remind me!?!? It was a major case of deja vu, except Rhonda wasn't there to relieve some of the blame! Oh, it all started out okay. In fact it was pretty fun. Pulling off wallpaper and watching it come away without a hitch. And then... and then... I can't even bring myself to say it. Just see for yourselves.





The brown is where the wallboard ripped.


This is where I was sweating profusely, thinking what have I done? Surely they're going to disown me after this! While on the outside I was reassuring them that I knew what I was doing and it would all turn out fine.

My mother even told Todd that if the kitchen wasn't finished the following Tuesday she was taking my ticket and flying to Philly until I got it fixed. I think he was kind of excited because he said, "Great! Then we'll get dinners cooked and a clean house and washed and ironed clothes..." and I can't remember the long list.

In my defense, there was a spider in the garage and Michele drowned it in Raid. But it wasn't just your everyday, average spider. No. Not this one. Take a look:



That's right, folks. It was a bonafied Black Widow. Between the shock of finding a lethal arachnid only a door away from the kitchen and the fumes from the aerosol poison I wasn't thinking clearly and, ergo, the kitchen wallpaper debacle.

** Side note: If you haven't noticed, my talent for procrastination is only superseded by my gift of rationalization. **

Terri wasn't coming in until the next day and when she called, my mom told her what I did. She said, "Doesn't she read her own blog?" Shelli hadn't read it and I was all, "What? What did I write?" So Michele and I went to read it and when we got to that paragraph there were serious tears and crossed legs and red faces and trouble breathing.

** Both my sisters left comments on that particular post and I just want to say for the record, those comments are erroneous at best, bald faced lies at worst. And I don't think it's fair when two people gang up against one helpless, defenseless, much younger person **

That evening I went to dinner with three of my good friends, Teresa, Rhonda and Beth. Rhonda couldn't believe what I'd done because, well, I'm pretty sure I swore I'd never do it again after the office fiasco. But my memory is faulty so... Anyway, it was fun catching up. The waitress took our picture and I'd thought about posting it, but I haven't figured out Photoshop/air brushing yet so no such luck.

***

Stay tuned for the next riveting installment of My Week In Arkansas.

Labels: blog, domestic failure, family, friends, home improvement, laughter, travel

Mused by Jenster :: 7:38 PM :: 18 People musing:

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