I did some stuff!
I had the kids for the weekend, and on Saturday I took Penny and Alex out shopping. If you didn't see my post about how fantastic Penny was this weekend, check it out, 'cause she is one amazing kid.
Matt picked the kids up on Sunday, and I loaded up my car and headed up to Jenn and Brian's, where I picked up Jenn and we headed off into the sunset, looking for rainbows.
Well, sort of. We drove off into the mountains to attend the Roanoke GLBT Pride festival. (Actually, Jenn drove the whole way, because I spent the whole weekend doped up on Good Cough Syrup. It's kind of a miracle that I made it to her place and then back home on my own.)
We got to the festival around 3:00, and hit the food vendors pretty quickly, because we'd skipped lunch in favor of snacks on the road. I took my hamburger to the condiments table and said something like, "Ooh, I can have onions -- it's not like I'll be kissing anyone today!"
"Don't be too sure of that," said a voice behind me. I looked up, and the guy running the stand grinned at me, leaned across the counter, and puckered up.
Well, what else was I going to do? I kissed him. Laughing, Jenn asked for one, too, and got it.
We wandered around looking at stuff for a bit, but unfortunately, there were about half the vendors I remember from last year, and not nearly as much fun stuff. Jenn bought some hand-spun alpaca wool yarn, and I bought a couple of chainmail bracelets for the kids (really, that was the best I could find for them; it was sad). I looked for Jesse, but didn't spot him.
Even more unfortunately, the sheer number of smokers made the air unbreathable; Jenn's asthma roared into life, so we had to leave after only about an hour, and I did not get any really fabulous pictures of drag queens or outrageous outfits.
From there, we headed further west, to Blacksburg, where we were going to stay with Jenn's Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Dave for the night.
I'm always a little uncertain about meeting people's relatives, especially older ones. The moreso because we were descending on their house. But it turned out to be fine. Better than fine. Fantastic. Aunt Jeanne was gracious and charming and oh my lord funny. She didn't censor herself at all; immediately upon our arrival, she pulled out a bottle of wine and said, "I want to get sloshed and sit up late talking!" And we did (though I only had one glass of wine; I didn't want to have a bad reaction by mixing alcohol with the Good Cough Syrup).
Uncle Dave was quieter, but just as cool. After we'd had dinner, they brought out a Cards Against Humanity deck, and we sat up until eleven or so playing, and they were just as Wrong as anyone else I know, and a good time was had by all. Aunt Jeanne decided that I should be her second-favorite niece, and there was banter about meeting her sons.
We drove home yesterday, and I spent the evening doing the chores I'd neglected over the weekend -- the grocery shopping and the laundry and paying the bills -- and catching up on YouTube.
So all in all, it was a really great couple of days.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Pictures!
As promised, I got my pictures sorted and prettied and cropped and uploaded to Flickr yesterday. The set is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizbrooks/sets/72157631152281266/.
It takes us from our departing airport...
...to the return flight...
...and everything in between!
It takes us from our departing airport...
...to the return flight...
...and everything in between!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
I'm Back!
I'm back, whoohoo!
Nope, I didn't post at all while I was gone. I tried to do a post over on the writing blog the day after we arrived (this incredibly hot guy flirted with me at the airport on our way down -- yay, cleavage shirt! -- and I thought it would make a good anecdote for that blog) but by the time I got it all written up, the resort's flaky wifi had dumped me and I lost the whole thing. After that, I lost my taste for longer writing and stuck to occasional tweets. If you missed them, you can pick them up (and the pictures I posted) at this link.
We mostly stayed at the resort -- we went to the pool every day, and down to the beach a few times, and Penny spent a lot of time doing crafts, mostly while Alex was napping. We did go to the "swim with dolphins" place, though they've changed their photo prices to be even more horrible this year. But one of the shots was nearly perfect -- the dolphin's jump out of the water perfectly framed me and the kids. It would only have been better if Alex had actually been looking at the dolphin, and if the dolphin's tail hadn't completely obscured my dad. But it's a spectacular shot, nonetheless, so I was pretty pleased to get it.
We went out for dinner every night (and a few lunches), but stuck to eateries either at the resort or available via resort shuttle, so I didn't get to eat at La Habichuela this year (sigh), and we skipped El Conquistator, too, because it doesn't have a kids' menu at all and we didn't think we'd be able to find something for Alex to eat.
The kids bickered more and more as the week wore on and they got used to the novelty and tired of sharing spaces so closely, but I got to spend plenty of time sitting beside the pool drinking margaritas and other frozen concoctions, so it worked out pretty well for me anyway.
(Next time, though -- next year, if I can afford it -- I'm going to find a way to go by myself or with a friend. I love my kids, but taking them on vacation is not as relaxing as the hits to my budget and vacation time at work imply. Maybe I can talk Matt into coordinating his visit to Chicago with me.)
We didn't get back to the house until nearly 10pm last night, so I haven't even started downloading pictures yet, but rest assured that they're coming, and I'll add them to this Flickr set and let you know when it's done.
I took more pictures with my iPhone than with my nice camera, this trip. I don't know if it's because I didn't want to deal with the weight of the camera in addition to dealing with the kids, or because we didn't really go anywhere aside from the resort, but I did find myself wishing I'd just left it at home. Whether I'll take it on my next trip remains to be seen -- I'll probably do more touristy stuff if I'm going on my own or with a friend, and the camera might be worth the effort if I'm going to see Mayan ruins or wildlife exhibits. But for lounging around the resort, the lower (but still perfectly adequate) quality of the iPhone's pictures was more than sufficient. And heck, I have an app on the iPhone for taking panoramic shots, to which the beach lends itself.
Anyway, it was (aside from bickering/sullen/tired kids) a good trip. The only real fly in the ointment was that Matt emailed me earlier this week to say that he'd noticed, on one of his trips over to the house to feed the cat, that my car door hadn't closed entirely and the interior light had drained the battery. He'd jumped it for me and it had started okay the next morning, and the following night, but then he didn't turn it over for a few days, and the alternator won't recharge the battery unless you get it up to highway speeds, so it had died again. But after we got in last night, he jumped it for me again and took over getting the kids to bed while I drove around a bit (I took the long way around to the grocery store so we could have milk and bread this morning), and he promised to be on call to pick up the kids if it was dead this morning. But it started up okay, and taking the kids up to daycare was probably enough highway-speed driving to give it some juice, so as long as I manage to get it started and drive around some every day through the weekend, it should be okay. Though I'll be watching it, as it's several years old and may not hold its charge as well as it used to.
I'm working a half-day today, just to clear out my inbox a bit and flag the critical items to tackle, and then I'm off home to do laundry, start figuring out where I want to display my souvenirs (I might need to pick a room to have a Cancun theme), go grocery shopping, and run a few other errands. And, just possibly, take a nap.
Nope, I didn't post at all while I was gone. I tried to do a post over on the writing blog the day after we arrived (this incredibly hot guy flirted with me at the airport on our way down -- yay, cleavage shirt! -- and I thought it would make a good anecdote for that blog) but by the time I got it all written up, the resort's flaky wifi had dumped me and I lost the whole thing. After that, I lost my taste for longer writing and stuck to occasional tweets. If you missed them, you can pick them up (and the pictures I posted) at this link.
We mostly stayed at the resort -- we went to the pool every day, and down to the beach a few times, and Penny spent a lot of time doing crafts, mostly while Alex was napping. We did go to the "swim with dolphins" place, though they've changed their photo prices to be even more horrible this year. But one of the shots was nearly perfect -- the dolphin's jump out of the water perfectly framed me and the kids. It would only have been better if Alex had actually been looking at the dolphin, and if the dolphin's tail hadn't completely obscured my dad. But it's a spectacular shot, nonetheless, so I was pretty pleased to get it.
We went out for dinner every night (and a few lunches), but stuck to eateries either at the resort or available via resort shuttle, so I didn't get to eat at La Habichuela this year (sigh), and we skipped El Conquistator, too, because it doesn't have a kids' menu at all and we didn't think we'd be able to find something for Alex to eat.
The kids bickered more and more as the week wore on and they got used to the novelty and tired of sharing spaces so closely, but I got to spend plenty of time sitting beside the pool drinking margaritas and other frozen concoctions, so it worked out pretty well for me anyway.
 | |
| The view from my poolside lounge chair. (This might have to be my new desktop picture.) |
(Next time, though -- next year, if I can afford it -- I'm going to find a way to go by myself or with a friend. I love my kids, but taking them on vacation is not as relaxing as the hits to my budget and vacation time at work imply. Maybe I can talk Matt into coordinating his visit to Chicago with me.)
We didn't get back to the house until nearly 10pm last night, so I haven't even started downloading pictures yet, but rest assured that they're coming, and I'll add them to this Flickr set and let you know when it's done.
I took more pictures with my iPhone than with my nice camera, this trip. I don't know if it's because I didn't want to deal with the weight of the camera in addition to dealing with the kids, or because we didn't really go anywhere aside from the resort, but I did find myself wishing I'd just left it at home. Whether I'll take it on my next trip remains to be seen -- I'll probably do more touristy stuff if I'm going on my own or with a friend, and the camera might be worth the effort if I'm going to see Mayan ruins or wildlife exhibits. But for lounging around the resort, the lower (but still perfectly adequate) quality of the iPhone's pictures was more than sufficient. And heck, I have an app on the iPhone for taking panoramic shots, to which the beach lends itself.
Anyway, it was (aside from bickering/sullen/tired kids) a good trip. The only real fly in the ointment was that Matt emailed me earlier this week to say that he'd noticed, on one of his trips over to the house to feed the cat, that my car door hadn't closed entirely and the interior light had drained the battery. He'd jumped it for me and it had started okay the next morning, and the following night, but then he didn't turn it over for a few days, and the alternator won't recharge the battery unless you get it up to highway speeds, so it had died again. But after we got in last night, he jumped it for me again and took over getting the kids to bed while I drove around a bit (I took the long way around to the grocery store so we could have milk and bread this morning), and he promised to be on call to pick up the kids if it was dead this morning. But it started up okay, and taking the kids up to daycare was probably enough highway-speed driving to give it some juice, so as long as I manage to get it started and drive around some every day through the weekend, it should be okay. Though I'll be watching it, as it's several years old and may not hold its charge as well as it used to.
I'm working a half-day today, just to clear out my inbox a bit and flag the critical items to tackle, and then I'm off home to do laundry, start figuring out where I want to display my souvenirs (I might need to pick a room to have a Cancun theme), go grocery shopping, and run a few other errands. And, just possibly, take a nap.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Potterized / Into the Blue
The Harry Potter Party! It went so very well, even though I was utterly exhausted by the end!
My friend Elizabeth came over Friday evening with a huge box full of craft supplies, and we ordered sushi delivered to the house and crafted for hours so that the house would be a sort of faux Hogwarts. Here are some of the things we did:
I decorated the door to Penny's room to make it the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. (I also put lesser decorations on the other bedrooms to make them entrances to the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff rooms.)
We turned the playroom into a Quidditch field. The hoops are flat against the wall (well, laundry closet doors) to discourage the guests from actually throwing things -- but later, when I was blowing up balloons, I found a long skinny one that I bent into a hoop, and a tiny one that would fit through it, so they did, in fact, play a sort of semi-Quidditch with balloons, which I felt were reasonable to throw around the house. Do note that there's an actual Snitch hanging from the ceiling fan (in the upper right corner of the picture).
We made "broomstick" treat bags. These were surprisingly simple to do, though I was immensely glad there were two of us when it was time to tie the tops; that would have been near-impossible without an extra set of hands.
We put a base coat of paint on some craft dowels to make them look more "wand-y" -- the kids got to further decorate the wands with pipe cleaners and glitter glue and stickers at the party.
And my favorite decoration: a set of "potion" bottles made out of... mostly random stuff and some labels I found online and printed. If you click through to the Flickr set for the party, the individual potion pictures explain where the bottles came from and what's really in them.
The day of the party, I hung streamers and balloons (in Hogwarts house colors, of course) and a felt banner outside on the porch, and I also loaded up both my laptops with different Harry Potter movies and muted them (to mimic the moving pictures in the HP universe).
Penny was thrilled with all the decorations, and her friends also seemed suitably impressed. They made their wands, they played balloon Quidditch, they went up to the "common room" and played Harry Potter. I think I can safely say it was pretty much exactly the birthday party Penny wanted; it could only have been better if the broomstick she got had actually been able to fly.
I probably won't be posting regularly for the next couple of weeks, but at least this time there's a happy reason: I'll be on vacation in Cancun, with the kids and my parents!
I'll admit to a little nervousness to start -- the flight schedule down is a smidge on the tight side, so I expect to be a mild wreck until we're actually on the plane that's meant to land in Cancun. And then I'll be in a two-bedroom apartment for eight days with four other people, two of whom are possessed of nearly limitless energy and a complete lack of comprehension of the enjoyment of "doing nothing", and there's a pretty firm limit on the amount of time we can spend at the pool in any given day without turning into crispy critters. But I'll have cards, balloons, a whole iPad's worth of movies, and their grandparents to help keep them entertained. Not to mention activities organized by the resort, and one or two planned activities.
The resort has free wifi, so it's possible that I'll post once or twice, but you probably shouldn't hold your breath. I'm more likely to do quicker, easier posts, like shooting anecdotes and camera pics to my Twitter account.
But just to hold you until I'm back, here's a few photos from last year's trip:
My friend Elizabeth came over Friday evening with a huge box full of craft supplies, and we ordered sushi delivered to the house and crafted for hours so that the house would be a sort of faux Hogwarts. Here are some of the things we did:
I decorated the door to Penny's room to make it the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. (I also put lesser decorations on the other bedrooms to make them entrances to the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff rooms.)
We turned the playroom into a Quidditch field. The hoops are flat against the wall (well, laundry closet doors) to discourage the guests from actually throwing things -- but later, when I was blowing up balloons, I found a long skinny one that I bent into a hoop, and a tiny one that would fit through it, so they did, in fact, play a sort of semi-Quidditch with balloons, which I felt were reasonable to throw around the house. Do note that there's an actual Snitch hanging from the ceiling fan (in the upper right corner of the picture).
We made "broomstick" treat bags. These were surprisingly simple to do, though I was immensely glad there were two of us when it was time to tie the tops; that would have been near-impossible without an extra set of hands.
We put a base coat of paint on some craft dowels to make them look more "wand-y" -- the kids got to further decorate the wands with pipe cleaners and glitter glue and stickers at the party.
And my favorite decoration: a set of "potion" bottles made out of... mostly random stuff and some labels I found online and printed. If you click through to the Flickr set for the party, the individual potion pictures explain where the bottles came from and what's really in them.
The day of the party, I hung streamers and balloons (in Hogwarts house colors, of course) and a felt banner outside on the porch, and I also loaded up both my laptops with different Harry Potter movies and muted them (to mimic the moving pictures in the HP universe).
Penny was thrilled with all the decorations, and her friends also seemed suitably impressed. They made their wands, they played balloon Quidditch, they went up to the "common room" and played Harry Potter. I think I can safely say it was pretty much exactly the birthday party Penny wanted; it could only have been better if the broomstick she got had actually been able to fly.
***
I probably won't be posting regularly for the next couple of weeks, but at least this time there's a happy reason: I'll be on vacation in Cancun, with the kids and my parents!
I'll admit to a little nervousness to start -- the flight schedule down is a smidge on the tight side, so I expect to be a mild wreck until we're actually on the plane that's meant to land in Cancun. And then I'll be in a two-bedroom apartment for eight days with four other people, two of whom are possessed of nearly limitless energy and a complete lack of comprehension of the enjoyment of "doing nothing", and there's a pretty firm limit on the amount of time we can spend at the pool in any given day without turning into crispy critters. But I'll have cards, balloons, a whole iPad's worth of movies, and their grandparents to help keep them entertained. Not to mention activities organized by the resort, and one or two planned activities.
The resort has free wifi, so it's possible that I'll post once or twice, but you probably shouldn't hold your breath. I'm more likely to do quicker, easier posts, like shooting anecdotes and camera pics to my Twitter account.
But just to hold you until I'm back, here's a few photos from last year's trip:
Friday, December 9, 2011
Humpty
So, the Day Job's HR/benefits department is making changes to the schedule for our holidays which essentially is going to screw us out of a day of vacation next year. (Worse, they're moving it around so that we don't get our annual holiday pool until after the Christmas holidays, which completely sucks. I liked that they'd been giving it to us just before Christmas, because it ensured that we always had that time available. It's now essentially a gigantic sandpaper dildo for people who aren't good at planning a whole year in advance.) They're also changing how much vacation we're allowed to save up, but that's much less of an issue for me since I'm barely keeping my vacation balance above water right now, anyway.
Speaking of barely keeping things above water... the schedule probably could have a few more things crammed into it, but it would take a crowbar.
Penny has a half-day today, and tonight we'll probably do our usual Friday night shindig with the Hegemony. Tomorrow, Jenn and Brian are coming into town to do some shopping and then stopping to visit with us afterward. Matt has his D&D game, so he'll probably miss some of their visit, but that'll be okay. They can help me take the kids out to dinner and then we'll figure out something to do once the kids are in bed.
Sunday, so far, has no plans. I'm hoping against hope that the Christmas cards I ordered will arrive today or Saturday so that I can spend part of Sunday signing and addressing them and they can go in the mail on Monday. And I did kind of promise Penny that I'd take her out shopping to try to find some fancy shoes to go with her Christmas dress. I'm not sure when that will happen, but I'm betting on either Saturday or Sunday this weekend.
Next week, I have two doctor appointments on the books, plus I'll probably have to schedule a bloodletting so that my GP will refill my synthyroid prescription.
Then, next weekend, I've got my book club meeting/Christmas party on Friday night, and then nothing on Saturday (except probably doing Christmas cards, if they don't arrive in time to do them this weekend, and shipping those gifts that need to be shipped -- which means we should probably get a move on the last of our gift shopping -- and a box or two of stuff to Matt's mom in advance of our trip, like some presents for the gang there, and we can fill extra space in the box with some of our bulkier clothes), and then Sunday Matt's taking Penny to a local production of The Nutcracker ballet, followed by dinner at my folks' to celebrate Alex's birthday (for which I need to acquire a cake).
And the following Wednesday, Alex and I both have appointments with the ear/nose/throat doctor at the same time that Penny has her quarterly checkup with the endocrinologist, and then she has a half-day of school. We'll spend that night and Thursday morning packing stuff, and then pretty much right after lunch that Thursday, we're off to Richmond to catch our flight to Chicago. (Which should be a hoot, as the flight was already slam-packed full when I booked it in September, and I couldn't get ANY seats together. We'll be relying on the kindness of surrounding strangers to swap around so that the kids can sit with us.)
Matt has been trying to impose some level of organization on our time in Chicago, but my impression is that he's getting a lot of, "Oh, let's just wait and see" responses, so... not so much. I'm trying to stay out of it, for the most part. I'm just chalking those 9 days up to a blur of alternating running around and trying to keep the kids from getting so bored that they wreck his mom's house, and otherwise letting the chips fall as they may.
We're coming back from Chicago on the 30th (at least our seats are all together on that flight), and then on the 31st we'll "do" a mid-day Christmas with my family and end up at the Hegemony to ring in the New Year. (I've promised Penny she can try to stay up until midnight this year. We Shall See how that goes -- and whether I manage to stay awake that late, myself.)
And then I'll have the 1st and the 2nd of January to catch up on sleep, unpack our bags, try to figure out where all the new loot fits, and start un-decorating the house.
Somewhere in all that, we need to find a time to match schedules and meet up with KT and Kevin and Jess so we can give them their presents (and I can get the stuff I ordered from KT's thirty-one show). I need to get some occasional exercise, stay on top of everything at work, finish editing the story I'm working on, and gin up a couple of promotional blurbs for my publisher. I also need to do something with an assortment of vegetables and fruits in my kitchen before they start to go bad on me, and I'd really like to try out the all-edges brownie pan that Karen sent for my birthday. (Maybe Alex will get brownies in addition to cake for his birthday. Just 'cause.)
What I'm saying is -- if I miss a day or two of posting in the next couple of weeks, don't worry; I'm not dead, just insane. And between the 22nd and the 3rd, you probably shouldn't expect to hear from me at all, though I may manage a post or two via my phone. My twitter account is much more likely to see semi-regular posts, if you find yourself saddened by the silence here.
***
Speaking of barely keeping things above water... the schedule probably could have a few more things crammed into it, but it would take a crowbar.
Penny has a half-day today, and tonight we'll probably do our usual Friday night shindig with the Hegemony. Tomorrow, Jenn and Brian are coming into town to do some shopping and then stopping to visit with us afterward. Matt has his D&D game, so he'll probably miss some of their visit, but that'll be okay. They can help me take the kids out to dinner and then we'll figure out something to do once the kids are in bed.
Sunday, so far, has no plans. I'm hoping against hope that the Christmas cards I ordered will arrive today or Saturday so that I can spend part of Sunday signing and addressing them and they can go in the mail on Monday. And I did kind of promise Penny that I'd take her out shopping to try to find some fancy shoes to go with her Christmas dress. I'm not sure when that will happen, but I'm betting on either Saturday or Sunday this weekend.
Next week, I have two doctor appointments on the books, plus I'll probably have to schedule a bloodletting so that my GP will refill my synthyroid prescription.
Then, next weekend, I've got my book club meeting/Christmas party on Friday night, and then nothing on Saturday (except probably doing Christmas cards, if they don't arrive in time to do them this weekend, and shipping those gifts that need to be shipped -- which means we should probably get a move on the last of our gift shopping -- and a box or two of stuff to Matt's mom in advance of our trip, like some presents for the gang there, and we can fill extra space in the box with some of our bulkier clothes), and then Sunday Matt's taking Penny to a local production of The Nutcracker ballet, followed by dinner at my folks' to celebrate Alex's birthday (for which I need to acquire a cake).
And the following Wednesday, Alex and I both have appointments with the ear/nose/throat doctor at the same time that Penny has her quarterly checkup with the endocrinologist, and then she has a half-day of school. We'll spend that night and Thursday morning packing stuff, and then pretty much right after lunch that Thursday, we're off to Richmond to catch our flight to Chicago. (Which should be a hoot, as the flight was already slam-packed full when I booked it in September, and I couldn't get ANY seats together. We'll be relying on the kindness of surrounding strangers to swap around so that the kids can sit with us.)
Matt has been trying to impose some level of organization on our time in Chicago, but my impression is that he's getting a lot of, "Oh, let's just wait and see" responses, so... not so much. I'm trying to stay out of it, for the most part. I'm just chalking those 9 days up to a blur of alternating running around and trying to keep the kids from getting so bored that they wreck his mom's house, and otherwise letting the chips fall as they may.
We're coming back from Chicago on the 30th (at least our seats are all together on that flight), and then on the 31st we'll "do" a mid-day Christmas with my family and end up at the Hegemony to ring in the New Year. (I've promised Penny she can try to stay up until midnight this year. We Shall See how that goes -- and whether I manage to stay awake that late, myself.)
And then I'll have the 1st and the 2nd of January to catch up on sleep, unpack our bags, try to figure out where all the new loot fits, and start un-decorating the house.
Somewhere in all that, we need to find a time to match schedules and meet up with KT and Kevin and Jess so we can give them their presents (and I can get the stuff I ordered from KT's thirty-one show). I need to get some occasional exercise, stay on top of everything at work, finish editing the story I'm working on, and gin up a couple of promotional blurbs for my publisher. I also need to do something with an assortment of vegetables and fruits in my kitchen before they start to go bad on me, and I'd really like to try out the all-edges brownie pan that Karen sent for my birthday. (Maybe Alex will get brownies in addition to cake for his birthday. Just 'cause.)
What I'm saying is -- if I miss a day or two of posting in the next couple of weeks, don't worry; I'm not dead, just insane. And between the 22nd and the 3rd, you probably shouldn't expect to hear from me at all, though I may manage a post or two via my phone. My twitter account is much more likely to see semi-regular posts, if you find yourself saddened by the silence here.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I'm Back!
Okay, my one post from the road turned out to be my one post from the road. Thank goodness, I started sleeping in later after that!
We had a fantastic time. Penny was prone to occasional bits of grouchiness and unwarranted sadness (due largely to the fact that she was getting up at 6:30 or 7 and not going to bed until 10 or later most nights) but mostly, she was fantastic.
We didn't do a lot of stuff -- mostly just hung around the resort taking advantage of their amenities -- but we did go to a dolphin encounter thing, and we did spend time on the beach and by the pool, and we did eat at a lot of great restaurants, and we did have a fantastic time. Next time (oh yes, there will be a next time!) I want to go parasailing, and maybe we'll try to tour some ruins or pyramids.
All my pictures are up on Flickr -- this set has them in the correct order (otherwise, the ones I posted from the road show up in my standard photostream before all the ones I uploaded after we got home, regardless of when they were taken).
I don't care about swimming in the ocean or playing in the sand (though Penny enjoyed it) but that water is too beautiful to look away from. I spent hours sitting at the poolside bar/cafe, drinking frozen drinks and just staring out over the railing at the beach. I spent more hours sitting on the balcony of the timeshare doing the same (only without the frozen drinks). I wish we could have stayed the whole two weeks; I'd be there right now, watching the waves roll. Even on the day it was cloudy and rainy, the ocean was beautiful.
It was great to see Matt and Alex again -- I'd missed them a lot -- but if I could take them with me, I'd go back right now.
We had a fantastic time. Penny was prone to occasional bits of grouchiness and unwarranted sadness (due largely to the fact that she was getting up at 6:30 or 7 and not going to bed until 10 or later most nights) but mostly, she was fantastic.
We didn't do a lot of stuff -- mostly just hung around the resort taking advantage of their amenities -- but we did go to a dolphin encounter thing, and we did spend time on the beach and by the pool, and we did eat at a lot of great restaurants, and we did have a fantastic time. Next time (oh yes, there will be a next time!) I want to go parasailing, and maybe we'll try to tour some ruins or pyramids.
All my pictures are up on Flickr -- this set has them in the correct order (otherwise, the ones I posted from the road show up in my standard photostream before all the ones I uploaded after we got home, regardless of when they were taken).
I don't care about swimming in the ocean or playing in the sand (though Penny enjoyed it) but that water is too beautiful to look away from. I spent hours sitting at the poolside bar/cafe, drinking frozen drinks and just staring out over the railing at the beach. I spent more hours sitting on the balcony of the timeshare doing the same (only without the frozen drinks). I wish we could have stayed the whole two weeks; I'd be there right now, watching the waves roll. Even on the day it was cloudy and rainy, the ocean was beautiful.
It was great to see Matt and Alex again -- I'd missed them a lot -- but if I could take them with me, I'd go back right now.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
On the Road: First Day
I don't expect to post every day, but since my stupid brain woke me up at 4:15 this morning, I figured I'd pop in and let you all know that we arrived safely and with the minimum of hassle, and that Penny is having a fantastic time so far.
Don't worry, I'm not going into a blow-by-blow of the trip; I just wanted to throw out a few vignettes I found amusing.
Karen sent Penny a camera for her birthday, specifically so she'd have something a little nicer to take pictures with than my iPhone. (Which is almost as much a gift to me as to Penny, since it means I'm not turning my beloved phone over to her for the duration.) It's supposedly waterproof -- we're not sure we want to test that just yet, but it means we don't have to automatically freak if it gets splashed by the pool. It even takes videos!
Penny has been exactly as snap-happy as you might expect of someone with a brand new camera (in the most lovely color of turquoise blue, even!) -- she took minutes of footage of random people at the airports, and dozens of pictures of random bits of ground from the airplane, and valiantly attempted to capture every single palm tree, coconut, and flowering bush that lined the highway between the Cancun airport and the resort.
What she has not taken pictures of, to my knowledge: any part of the resort, the ocean, or her grandparents. You know, the stuff we came here to see.
In the shuttle from the airport: "Mom, this is great! I wish Daddy and Alex could be with us!"
"Me, too, sweetie, but Daddy didn't want to come."
She goggles at me. "Daddy didn't want to see this? When we get home, I'm going to spank him!"
My dad, in a perfect alignment of selflessness and selfishness, offered to take Penny down to the beach to look for shells while I unpacked and caught a little rest. They took a gallon-sized ziploc bag along to put their finds in.
I've been beachcombing before, even with Penny, so I was expecting them to return with maybe a couple dozen shell fragments and maybe some colorful rocks. Which they did. But much to my surprise, she also managed to find several dozen completely whole shells, mostly a pretty white, but quite a few of which have gorgeous orange-brown striations. And some really lovely and fascinating pieces of what I can only assume are bits broken off the coral reefs that are just offshore. (No, really, just offshore. If the undertow here wasn't so strong, We could go out snorkeling to look at it, even Penny, who is not the strongest swimmer.) Anyway, they managed to get that gallon bag nearly 1/4 full of shells, many of which are even worth the keeping, and they were out for less than an hour! Maybe when we get home, we'll see if Aunt Sam can help us string (some of) them into a necklace. What better souvenir than a necklace of shells you collected yourself?!
When asked last night what she wanted to do today, Penny insisted that she wanted to take all four of us down to the beach to look for more shells. I've told her there's only room in our luggage for one bag of shells.
But I might have to find a bigger bag somewhere.
Don't worry, I'm not going into a blow-by-blow of the trip; I just wanted to throw out a few vignettes I found amusing.
***
Karen sent Penny a camera for her birthday, specifically so she'd have something a little nicer to take pictures with than my iPhone. (Which is almost as much a gift to me as to Penny, since it means I'm not turning my beloved phone over to her for the duration.) It's supposedly waterproof -- we're not sure we want to test that just yet, but it means we don't have to automatically freak if it gets splashed by the pool. It even takes videos!
Penny has been exactly as snap-happy as you might expect of someone with a brand new camera (in the most lovely color of turquoise blue, even!) -- she took minutes of footage of random people at the airports, and dozens of pictures of random bits of ground from the airplane, and valiantly attempted to capture every single palm tree, coconut, and flowering bush that lined the highway between the Cancun airport and the resort.
What she has not taken pictures of, to my knowledge: any part of the resort, the ocean, or her grandparents. You know, the stuff we came here to see.
***
In the shuttle from the airport: "Mom, this is great! I wish Daddy and Alex could be with us!"
"Me, too, sweetie, but Daddy didn't want to come."
She goggles at me. "Daddy didn't want to see this? When we get home, I'm going to spank him!"
***
My dad, in a perfect alignment of selflessness and selfishness, offered to take Penny down to the beach to look for shells while I unpacked and caught a little rest. They took a gallon-sized ziploc bag along to put their finds in.
I've been beachcombing before, even with Penny, so I was expecting them to return with maybe a couple dozen shell fragments and maybe some colorful rocks. Which they did. But much to my surprise, she also managed to find several dozen completely whole shells, mostly a pretty white, but quite a few of which have gorgeous orange-brown striations. And some really lovely and fascinating pieces of what I can only assume are bits broken off the coral reefs that are just offshore. (No, really, just offshore. If the undertow here wasn't so strong, We could go out snorkeling to look at it, even Penny, who is not the strongest swimmer.) Anyway, they managed to get that gallon bag nearly 1/4 full of shells, many of which are even worth the keeping, and they were out for less than an hour! Maybe when we get home, we'll see if Aunt Sam can help us string (some of) them into a necklace. What better souvenir than a necklace of shells you collected yourself?!
When asked last night what she wanted to do today, Penny insisted that she wanted to take all four of us down to the beach to look for more shells. I've told her there's only room in our luggage for one bag of shells.
But I might have to find a bigger bag somewhere.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Departing
This is it! Vacation is almost upon me!
After work today, I have a massage appointment, after which I'll swing by the Chick-fil-A on that side of town that's doing a fundraiser for the JDRF and pick up dinner. After the kids are in bed, I'll make cupcakes for Penny's (and Adin's) birthday. And also wrap Penny's presents.
Tomorrow I'm running errands (grocery shopping for Matt and Alex's Bachelor Week) and doing some last-minute laundry and packing.
It will also be Penny's birthday (and Adin's). My little girl will be eight, for pity's sake. *sniff* We're going to Wasabi (Penny's favorite restaurant) for dinner, and having our cupcakes for dessert. (I have a plan for them. I hope it works the way I see it in my head, because if it does, it will be awesome.) There are presents aplenty, and a little bird emailed me this morning to suggest that she might not be having to use my iPhone's camera on this trip after all, assuming the delivery estimate is correct.
Once the kids are in bed, I'll load most of our luggage in the car, because I'm pretty sure I'm not going to want to deal with it Saturday morning.
And then at OMFG-it's-early on Saturday (better known as 3:30 or 4 in the morning) Penny and I will get up and get dressed, give Matt hugs and kisses, and then be on our way! I'm so excited, I'm vibrating.
Alas, the weather report could be better:
I hope all those "Isolated T-Storms" are really isolated and that the "partly cloudy" that goes with it offers plenty of sunshine in between. (Also, note to self: Monday is probably the best day to try to do the pyramid.) Oh, well. There's lots of stuff to do indoors, too (crafts! aquariums! museums! shopping!) so even if the weather turns yucky, we'll still have loads of fun -- the pictures just won't be quite so stunning.
Clouds or no clouds, in exactly two days, I'll be here:
I'll be with my parents and my favorite girl in all the world, and we'll be having a blast. I can't wait!
After work today, I have a massage appointment, after which I'll swing by the Chick-fil-A on that side of town that's doing a fundraiser for the JDRF and pick up dinner. After the kids are in bed, I'll make cupcakes for Penny's (and Adin's) birthday. And also wrap Penny's presents.
Tomorrow I'm running errands (grocery shopping for Matt and Alex's Bachelor Week) and doing some last-minute laundry and packing.
It will also be Penny's birthday (and Adin's). My little girl will be eight, for pity's sake. *sniff* We're going to Wasabi (Penny's favorite restaurant) for dinner, and having our cupcakes for dessert. (I have a plan for them. I hope it works the way I see it in my head, because if it does, it will be awesome.) There are presents aplenty, and a little bird emailed me this morning to suggest that she might not be having to use my iPhone's camera on this trip after all, assuming the delivery estimate is correct.
Once the kids are in bed, I'll load most of our luggage in the car, because I'm pretty sure I'm not going to want to deal with it Saturday morning.
And then at OMFG-it's-early on Saturday (better known as 3:30 or 4 in the morning) Penny and I will get up and get dressed, give Matt hugs and kisses, and then be on our way! I'm so excited, I'm vibrating.
Alas, the weather report could be better:
I hope all those "Isolated T-Storms" are really isolated and that the "partly cloudy" that goes with it offers plenty of sunshine in between. (Also, note to self: Monday is probably the best day to try to do the pyramid.) Oh, well. There's lots of stuff to do indoors, too (crafts! aquariums! museums! shopping!) so even if the weather turns yucky, we'll still have loads of fun -- the pictures just won't be quite so stunning.
Clouds or no clouds, in exactly two days, I'll be here:
I'll be with my parents and my favorite girl in all the world, and we'll be having a blast. I can't wait!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
ID 10 T
I looked at the suitcases in our closet, trying to figure out which one to use for my trip.
My back has been giving me some problems lately. I want a suitcase with wheels. That seems to be a reasonable requirement, right?
The only suitcase we have with wheels is Matt's enormous (and I mean enormous -- I could fit inside if I lost another twenty pounds) green softsider.
Now, I'm going to Mexico. To a resort at the beach. Everything there is casual; no dress-up stuff required. There are laundry facilities, so I'll only have to take about 5 days' worth of shorts and t-shirts. And a couple of swimsuits. Yes, there's more -- toiletry kit, some support doodads for my electronics, maybe a book to have by the pool (the iPad screen being LCD and therefore more or less impossible to see in sunlight). A couple of pairs of shoes. But really, not all that much. Even allowing extra space to bring home souvenirs, Matt's big green suitcase is kind of overkill.
What I need, I thought, is a carryon bag like Penny's. Even though I'll probably have to check it (on the way back if not on the way down, because I intend to bring back tequila and honey and vanilla, and the airline goes into full flailex over liquids in your carryon) but that size is probably perfect.
So I went to Target yesterday and I bought a bag. It was a kids' bag, but I eyeballed it as being just about the same size as Penny's (though this was a "boy" design -- which I liked because then when we're doing the family trip at Christmas, it can be Alex's suitcase).
Only when I got it home? It was tiny. Much, much tinier than Penny's suitcase.
Well. Maybe it was still usable. I got out the toiletry kit bag and put it in the new suitcase. It took up a third of the space. No exaggeration. There was no way I was going to fit five days' worth of shorts and shirts and bras and shoes in what was left.
Matt laughed at me. He didn't even pretend to be nice about it. But I guess I kind of deserved it.
So I guess I'm back to the enormous green bag. At least I'll be able to pack all our stuff together. Plus a roll of bubble wrap to keep our souvenirs safe. I'd hate to get home and get Matt's ginormous green bag off the baggage belt only to discover that it's scented with tequila and honey and vanilla.
On the plus side...
Three days to vacation, and four days to Cancun!
My back has been giving me some problems lately. I want a suitcase with wheels. That seems to be a reasonable requirement, right?
The only suitcase we have with wheels is Matt's enormous (and I mean enormous -- I could fit inside if I lost another twenty pounds) green softsider.
Now, I'm going to Mexico. To a resort at the beach. Everything there is casual; no dress-up stuff required. There are laundry facilities, so I'll only have to take about 5 days' worth of shorts and t-shirts. And a couple of swimsuits. Yes, there's more -- toiletry kit, some support doodads for my electronics, maybe a book to have by the pool (the iPad screen being LCD and therefore more or less impossible to see in sunlight). A couple of pairs of shoes. But really, not all that much. Even allowing extra space to bring home souvenirs, Matt's big green suitcase is kind of overkill.
What I need, I thought, is a carryon bag like Penny's. Even though I'll probably have to check it (on the way back if not on the way down, because I intend to bring back tequila and honey and vanilla, and the airline goes into full flailex over liquids in your carryon) but that size is probably perfect.
So I went to Target yesterday and I bought a bag. It was a kids' bag, but I eyeballed it as being just about the same size as Penny's (though this was a "boy" design -- which I liked because then when we're doing the family trip at Christmas, it can be Alex's suitcase).
Only when I got it home? It was tiny. Much, much tinier than Penny's suitcase.
Well. Maybe it was still usable. I got out the toiletry kit bag and put it in the new suitcase. It took up a third of the space. No exaggeration. There was no way I was going to fit five days' worth of shorts and shirts and bras and shoes in what was left.
Matt laughed at me. He didn't even pretend to be nice about it. But I guess I kind of deserved it.
So I guess I'm back to the enormous green bag. At least I'll be able to pack all our stuff together. Plus a roll of bubble wrap to keep our souvenirs safe. I'd hate to get home and get Matt's ginormous green bag off the baggage belt only to discover that it's scented with tequila and honey and vanilla.
On the plus side...
Three days to vacation, and four days to Cancun!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Sick of It
Weekend report: We had a nice evening with Braz and Adin and crew on Friday, after which I took the kids home and Matt went on to Vicki's birthday party. The next morning, Matt took Penny to a birthday party down at Chuck-E-Cheese, and I packed Alex into the car and went to the bank (to get our passports out of the safe deposit box and some cash for the trip) and then we went over to Target. I'd completely forgotten to get Penny's school supply list, but thanks to the miracle of the smartphone, I was able to find it pretty easily on the school's website. So Penny's all set to go back to school next month.
(Earbud headphones. Why the hell do third graders need earbuds?)
Alex went down for his nap before Matt and Penny got home, and I enjoyed a quiet hour reading. (I'm trying to re-read the whole Song of Ice and Fire series, since the fifth book just came out a couple of weeks ago.)
Matt and I had been idly bandying about possibilities for dinner, but we hadn't decided anything yet when Alex finally woke up from his nap. Matt went upstairs to get him, and Alex promptly threw up.
Le sigh.
It's the first time Alex has been sick for quite a while. Long enough that he doesn't remember the last time. Long enough for the whole experience to be not only unpleasant but also frightening. He felt hot, too, and the thermometer agreed, at 101.6. Poor little guy. (Unlike Penny, though, who when she's feverish just wants to cuddle on someone's lap, Alex didn't want anyone to touch him. He commandeered Matt's seat on the couch and refused to relinquish it.)
So he spent the rest of the evening sitting with a big plastic bowl on his lap, and while the rest of us were having Chick-fil-A for dinner, he got... some bread.
Which he threw up an hour later. I've got to hand it to him, though: he'd done a pretty scary cough, so Matt had him sitting in the bathroom so he'd be close to the toilet. I took over for a while, and he seemed to have perked up a lot, so I told him we could go back to sitting on the couch with his bowl. He followed me over to the couch, frowned, and turned around and headed right back to the bathroom. "You okay, honey? You going to throw up again?" He nodded yes and then grabbed onto the toilet seat and yakked. So while it was unfun, I have to give him credit for listening to his body.
Naturally, we put the trash can by his bed and I wedged a towel around it, but he made it through the night without a mishap. Sunday morning, he was much perkier, and his temp was down below 100. We still made him eat gingerly, and in small amounts spread out. Plain bread, crackers, oatmeal. Water to drink. He complained somewhat of being hungry, but seemed to understand when I explained why we were being careful about his meals.
He was definitely doing better, though, so after he went down for his nap, Penny and I left without guilt to go meet Adin and Ripley for our pedicures. I'd been thinking of getting Penny and me pedicures as a pre-vacation treat, and then Adin had suggested she and Penny get them as a birthday treat (the two of them have the same birthday) so obviously it was meant to be and we all went together.
Adin's usual nail parlor was closed, but that turned out to be a good thing, because the place we wound up at had a special section just for younger kids. It was so adorable I wanted to just eat it up!
And though I had expected Penny to waffle forever over her color choice, she grabbed a sparkly blue polish within seconds of walking through the door. Both girls really enjoyed the experience, and Adin and I had fun watching them. And of course, all our toes look fabulous now!
After that was done, I took Penny over to Coldstone to use her birthday ice cream coupon. Mmm, ice cream!
When we got home, Alex was just waking up from his nap and his temperature was back down to normal, so we went over to Braz and Adin's and I made chicken fried rice for us all for dinner with lots of extra veggies. Yum! (Though it needed a smidge more soy sauce. Note to self for next time, I guess.)
Overall, a pretty good weekend, except for poor Alex's bug -- but at least that was a quick turnaround!
And now it's only 4 days until my vacation starts, and 5 days until I'm in Cancun! WHOO!
(Earbud headphones. Why the hell do third graders need earbuds?)
Alex went down for his nap before Matt and Penny got home, and I enjoyed a quiet hour reading. (I'm trying to re-read the whole Song of Ice and Fire series, since the fifth book just came out a couple of weeks ago.)
Matt and I had been idly bandying about possibilities for dinner, but we hadn't decided anything yet when Alex finally woke up from his nap. Matt went upstairs to get him, and Alex promptly threw up.
Le sigh.
It's the first time Alex has been sick for quite a while. Long enough that he doesn't remember the last time. Long enough for the whole experience to be not only unpleasant but also frightening. He felt hot, too, and the thermometer agreed, at 101.6. Poor little guy. (Unlike Penny, though, who when she's feverish just wants to cuddle on someone's lap, Alex didn't want anyone to touch him. He commandeered Matt's seat on the couch and refused to relinquish it.)
So he spent the rest of the evening sitting with a big plastic bowl on his lap, and while the rest of us were having Chick-fil-A for dinner, he got... some bread.
Which he threw up an hour later. I've got to hand it to him, though: he'd done a pretty scary cough, so Matt had him sitting in the bathroom so he'd be close to the toilet. I took over for a while, and he seemed to have perked up a lot, so I told him we could go back to sitting on the couch with his bowl. He followed me over to the couch, frowned, and turned around and headed right back to the bathroom. "You okay, honey? You going to throw up again?" He nodded yes and then grabbed onto the toilet seat and yakked. So while it was unfun, I have to give him credit for listening to his body.
Naturally, we put the trash can by his bed and I wedged a towel around it, but he made it through the night without a mishap. Sunday morning, he was much perkier, and his temp was down below 100. We still made him eat gingerly, and in small amounts spread out. Plain bread, crackers, oatmeal. Water to drink. He complained somewhat of being hungry, but seemed to understand when I explained why we were being careful about his meals.
He was definitely doing better, though, so after he went down for his nap, Penny and I left without guilt to go meet Adin and Ripley for our pedicures. I'd been thinking of getting Penny and me pedicures as a pre-vacation treat, and then Adin had suggested she and Penny get them as a birthday treat (the two of them have the same birthday) so obviously it was meant to be and we all went together.
Adin's usual nail parlor was closed, but that turned out to be a good thing, because the place we wound up at had a special section just for younger kids. It was so adorable I wanted to just eat it up!
And though I had expected Penny to waffle forever over her color choice, she grabbed a sparkly blue polish within seconds of walking through the door. Both girls really enjoyed the experience, and Adin and I had fun watching them. And of course, all our toes look fabulous now!
After that was done, I took Penny over to Coldstone to use her birthday ice cream coupon. Mmm, ice cream!
When we got home, Alex was just waking up from his nap and his temperature was back down to normal, so we went over to Braz and Adin's and I made chicken fried rice for us all for dinner with lots of extra veggies. Yum! (Though it needed a smidge more soy sauce. Note to self for next time, I guess.)
Overall, a pretty good weekend, except for poor Alex's bug -- but at least that was a quick turnaround!
And now it's only 4 days until my vacation starts, and 5 days until I'm in Cancun! WHOO!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Counting Down
We have ants in the kitchen. They're not looking for food. Not forming lines or swarming. I think they're just trying to get out of the heat.
My vacation starts in two weeks. I'm excited beyond all belief. But you knew that already. What's leading up to that?
More for Penny than for me, really. She was told that she could have a sleepover at Braz and Adin's new place this weekend, so I expect that'll happen. We have haircut appointments at 8:30 Saturday morning, though, so either she'll need to be ready to go by 8, or that'll have to be Saturday night.
Next week, I'll be talking to my boss about moving me to a part time schedule. Because I'd rather just take the pay cut than continually hemorrhage vacation time, and because if a day off every two weeks is built into my schedule, then I won't feel as guilty about using it to write.
And I have book club. For a book I haven't read yet. Oops. Guess I should look into that today...
Next Saturday, Penny will go to a friend's birthday party in the morning, then spend the afternoon having her own birthday celebration. (The current plan is for her and Adin and I to go get pedicures and then meet up with everyone else for a movie. None of that is solid yet, though.) Whatever the actual events, I expect she'll have a great day.
Nothing much is planned for the week after that, but I've told her she can choose whether she wants to go to daycare/summer camp on her birthday, or stay home with me. She's still pondering.
My vacation starts in two weeks. I'm excited beyond all belief. But you knew that already. What's leading up to that?
More for Penny than for me, really. She was told that she could have a sleepover at Braz and Adin's new place this weekend, so I expect that'll happen. We have haircut appointments at 8:30 Saturday morning, though, so either she'll need to be ready to go by 8, or that'll have to be Saturday night.
Next week, I'll be talking to my boss about moving me to a part time schedule. Because I'd rather just take the pay cut than continually hemorrhage vacation time, and because if a day off every two weeks is built into my schedule, then I won't feel as guilty about using it to write.
And I have book club. For a book I haven't read yet. Oops. Guess I should look into that today...
Next Saturday, Penny will go to a friend's birthday party in the morning, then spend the afternoon having her own birthday celebration. (The current plan is for her and Adin and I to go get pedicures and then meet up with everyone else for a movie. None of that is solid yet, though.) Whatever the actual events, I expect she'll have a great day.
Nothing much is planned for the week after that, but I've told her she can choose whether she wants to go to daycare/summer camp on her birthday, or stay home with me. She's still pondering.
 |
| Two weeks... |
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Packing Panic
Still more than two weeks to go until my vacation starts, and I'm already starting in with the packing panic.
Okay, "panic" may be overstating things a bit, but I do get a little tense when I'm packing for a trip. I soothe my jitters by making lists, and lists of lists. It's what I do.
So I currently have a two-page-long list of things to pack for Cancun. It's organized by container -- things to go in my suitcase, things to go in Penny's suitcase, things to go in carryon, etc. And each item is categorized by its importance, where importance is determined by how big a hassle it would be if the item were forgotten or lost. For example, a comb is a 4 -- it is very easily and cheaply replaced by a quick trip to the resort's grocery store. As items go up in either expense/hassle to replace or necessity, they go up the scale from there, but most items got capped at a level 2. Even clothes (there's a freaking WalMart in downtown Cancun; replacing several days' worth of clothes would be slightly spendy, but perfectly do-able) and my camera. Category 1 is reserved for the stuff that we really can not afford to lose, for one reason or another: our passports, Penny's diabetes supplies, my credit card.
So I was feeling pretty cool about this whole packing thing (you know -- for me) until this morning, when I thought I'd plug the kids' phone into the solar recharger in the car so it could juice up a little on my drive to work. And I couldn't find the cable.
There's the car charger cable that plugs into the cigarette lighter. There's the cable that runs from the tapedeck to the iPhone so I can play music through the car's speakers. There's another cable that I don't even know WHAT it does... but not the cable that plugs into the solar recharger. Which is a proprietary cable and I can't just pick one up at Target. Which I don't think I've ever taken out of the car, so where the hell is it?
Boom. Panic.
Over a freaking cable? That if I can't find it just means I'll have to be a little more careful about device recharging while we're gone, and otherwise means I've wasted most of the $40 I spent on the recharger?
It's possible that I need to. You know. Get a grip. Just a bit.
Deep breath... In... Out...
Okay. I feel better now.
But I'm going to go look under the car seats just one more time.
Okay, "panic" may be overstating things a bit, but I do get a little tense when I'm packing for a trip. I soothe my jitters by making lists, and lists of lists. It's what I do.
So I currently have a two-page-long list of things to pack for Cancun. It's organized by container -- things to go in my suitcase, things to go in Penny's suitcase, things to go in carryon, etc. And each item is categorized by its importance, where importance is determined by how big a hassle it would be if the item were forgotten or lost. For example, a comb is a 4 -- it is very easily and cheaply replaced by a quick trip to the resort's grocery store. As items go up in either expense/hassle to replace or necessity, they go up the scale from there, but most items got capped at a level 2. Even clothes (there's a freaking WalMart in downtown Cancun; replacing several days' worth of clothes would be slightly spendy, but perfectly do-able) and my camera. Category 1 is reserved for the stuff that we really can not afford to lose, for one reason or another: our passports, Penny's diabetes supplies, my credit card.
So I was feeling pretty cool about this whole packing thing (you know -- for me) until this morning, when I thought I'd plug the kids' phone into the solar recharger in the car so it could juice up a little on my drive to work. And I couldn't find the cable.
There's the car charger cable that plugs into the cigarette lighter. There's the cable that runs from the tapedeck to the iPhone so I can play music through the car's speakers. There's another cable that I don't even know WHAT it does... but not the cable that plugs into the solar recharger. Which is a proprietary cable and I can't just pick one up at Target. Which I don't think I've ever taken out of the car, so where the hell is it?
Boom. Panic.
Over a freaking cable? That if I can't find it just means I'll have to be a little more careful about device recharging while we're gone, and otherwise means I've wasted most of the $40 I spent on the recharger?
It's possible that I need to. You know. Get a grip. Just a bit.
Deep breath... In... Out...
Okay. I feel better now.
But I'm going to go look under the car seats just one more time.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Heatwave
We spent a goodly chunk of the weekend helping Braz and Adin move into their new place. Or more precisely, Matt helped them move stuff, and I kept an eye on all the kids so they wouldn't be underfoot. The house is fantastic; I totally have house envy, now. Penny and Alex agree; Penny spent the weekend raving about how awesome the house is, and every time Alex turned around, he was demanding to know when we were going to go visit "the new house".
It was a bad weekend for moving, though. The weather has been not just hot lately, but stupidhot, with highs in the upper 90s and heat indexes well over 105.
I didn't get a single lick of writing done, but I did manage to do some administrative/publicity stuff done. And one of my favorite authors mentioned on the mailing list that she'd read Safe Harbor and loved it and (teasingly) demanded to know when there would be sequels. Which made me squeal like a little girl with excitement. And also to start trying to think more seriously about the few sequel ideas I'd had!
There was a huge storm last night that passed right over top of us; the thunder crashed so hard that it kept setting off Penny's little bedroom doorbell from the vibrations in the walls. And then, hours after it had finally passed and we were asleep, the power went out. I know because at about 1:30, the smoke detectors started chirping at me about their low batteries. I stumbled downstairs and found my cell phone and used it as a flashlight to find the power bill and call the customer service number so I could report the outage. That done, I went back to bed and tried to sleep, but my brain wouldn't shut up. I finally dozed off and woke back up around 3, when the power came back on. I'm a little groggy this morning.
Lest there be any doubt whatsoever about Penny's feeling for our Cancun trip -- I offered last night to show her a few pictures from my previous trip, because I'd been trying to describe the resort and the beach to her, and words just weren't cutting it. Now, I know looking at someone else's vacation pictures can be pretty danged tedious, so I really planned to just show her a handful of pictures so she could have a mental image to work from -- but I'll be damned if she wasn't completely fascinated. She sat with me while I scrolled through each of something like 300 photos, asking questions and exclaiming with excitement.
Eighteen days and counting.
Her blood sugar leveled off over the weekend, too. After running high for most of the last month and us having to fight tooth and nail to get her back down into range any time we ate out -- we ate out three times this weekend, and she only had one high blood sugar, which was probably the result of my underestimating the carbs. It was fantastic, and her mood was noticeably improved, too.
It was a bad weekend for moving, though. The weather has been not just hot lately, but stupidhot, with highs in the upper 90s and heat indexes well over 105.
***
I didn't get a single lick of writing done, but I did manage to do some administrative/publicity stuff done. And one of my favorite authors mentioned on the mailing list that she'd read Safe Harbor and loved it and (teasingly) demanded to know when there would be sequels. Which made me squeal like a little girl with excitement. And also to start trying to think more seriously about the few sequel ideas I'd had!
***
There was a huge storm last night that passed right over top of us; the thunder crashed so hard that it kept setting off Penny's little bedroom doorbell from the vibrations in the walls. And then, hours after it had finally passed and we were asleep, the power went out. I know because at about 1:30, the smoke detectors started chirping at me about their low batteries. I stumbled downstairs and found my cell phone and used it as a flashlight to find the power bill and call the customer service number so I could report the outage. That done, I went back to bed and tried to sleep, but my brain wouldn't shut up. I finally dozed off and woke back up around 3, when the power came back on. I'm a little groggy this morning.
***
Lest there be any doubt whatsoever about Penny's feeling for our Cancun trip -- I offered last night to show her a few pictures from my previous trip, because I'd been trying to describe the resort and the beach to her, and words just weren't cutting it. Now, I know looking at someone else's vacation pictures can be pretty danged tedious, so I really planned to just show her a handful of pictures so she could have a mental image to work from -- but I'll be damned if she wasn't completely fascinated. She sat with me while I scrolled through each of something like 300 photos, asking questions and exclaiming with excitement.
Eighteen days and counting.
***
Her blood sugar leveled off over the weekend, too. After running high for most of the last month and us having to fight tooth and nail to get her back down into range any time we ate out -- we ate out three times this weekend, and she only had one high blood sugar, which was probably the result of my underestimating the carbs. It was fantastic, and her mood was noticeably improved, too.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Planning Ahead
In which I very carefully click on the correct blog-posting link, so that I don't post my morning babble to my authorial website that hasn't been announced because it's still kind of in development. You know, like I did yesterday, after which I sort of rolled my eyes at a friend who asked if I was going to post anything today, because I'd just posted. You know. To the wrong blog. That she didn't know about. *bonks self on head*
I ordered birthday presents for Penny yesterday, so we're pretty much good to go there. I'd been considering buying her an inexpensive digital camera to take along to Cancun, but the problem I kept running into while shopping was... well, in a nutshell: you get what you pay for. Every camera I looked at had some combination of problems in their reviews -- short battery life, no swappable memory cards, shoddy construction, crappy flash...
I finally decided that, since I'm going to be taking the old iPhone along so she can watch movies and play games anyway, she can use the camera on that. Granted, the iPhone has some of the same problems (no swappable memory and no flash, namely) -- but we already own that. And I'll be bringing the recharge cable for it anyway, and the resort has free wifi now, so if she fills it up, I can just mail pictures home and then delete them. And that's one less gadget to tote along, so that's a bonus, too.
(We might, however, splurge on a single-use underwater camera and take silly pictures of ourselves in the pool and/or ocean.)
I really should start planning our packing. What to take, how much gear to pack, what goes in the checked bag and what goes in carryon, diabetes supplies...
(Any of my D readers done a big vacation before? How many extra strips/syringes should I bring, given that we'll be partying it up and probably eating significantly less healthily than usual? I'm guessing at least 1-2 extra shots a day to keep up with the food, and 2-3 extra BG checks a day to stay ahead of lows caused by more activity than usual. Most of it will go in carryon, of course, but I want at least 3 days' supplies in carryon in case our luggage gets lost. We've flown domestically with her supplies before, but never left the country -- anyone ever have trouble with that?)
Penny and I worked it out in the car this morning: 23 days remaining until her birthday, and 24 until we head for Cancun. Let the countdown begin!
I ordered birthday presents for Penny yesterday, so we're pretty much good to go there. I'd been considering buying her an inexpensive digital camera to take along to Cancun, but the problem I kept running into while shopping was... well, in a nutshell: you get what you pay for. Every camera I looked at had some combination of problems in their reviews -- short battery life, no swappable memory cards, shoddy construction, crappy flash...
I finally decided that, since I'm going to be taking the old iPhone along so she can watch movies and play games anyway, she can use the camera on that. Granted, the iPhone has some of the same problems (no swappable memory and no flash, namely) -- but we already own that. And I'll be bringing the recharge cable for it anyway, and the resort has free wifi now, so if she fills it up, I can just mail pictures home and then delete them. And that's one less gadget to tote along, so that's a bonus, too.
(We might, however, splurge on a single-use underwater camera and take silly pictures of ourselves in the pool and/or ocean.)
I really should start planning our packing. What to take, how much gear to pack, what goes in the checked bag and what goes in carryon, diabetes supplies...
(Any of my D readers done a big vacation before? How many extra strips/syringes should I bring, given that we'll be partying it up and probably eating significantly less healthily than usual? I'm guessing at least 1-2 extra shots a day to keep up with the food, and 2-3 extra BG checks a day to stay ahead of lows caused by more activity than usual. Most of it will go in carryon, of course, but I want at least 3 days' supplies in carryon in case our luggage gets lost. We've flown domestically with her supplies before, but never left the country -- anyone ever have trouble with that?)
Penny and I worked it out in the car this morning: 23 days remaining until her birthday, and 24 until we head for Cancun. Let the countdown begin!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
It's On!
So KT and I are going to have a writing weekend at the end of May. Memorial Day weekend, in fact, which is helpful because it gives us the Monday holiday to catch up on stuff we usually do on the weekends.
Just yesterday, she got permission for us to use her dad and stepmom's beach house, which is about two blocks from VA Beach, and sits right next to some outlet of the river. There is no wifi available, which is, actually, exactly what we want, since then we will not be tempted to log in "just for a minute". (I'll have my phone with me, but hopefully I'll be able to avoid that temptation.)
The times are still fuzzy, but I expect we'll head down Friday afternoon or evening (depending on how early I can get away from work) and come back Sunday afternoon. Which gives us Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning to write. We'll plan our meals and bring our own food with us to avoid too many diet temptations (though I expect we'll eat out once, in celebration). We'll walk on the beach when we need to stretch and get some exercise. But otherwise, we'll act like reclusive shut-ins, staying in the cabin and writing. Or on the porch, I suppose, if the weather's good.
I can't even convey how excited both of us are about this. Mind you, KT and I get pretty excited any time we're going to get to spend time together -- we don't see each other nearly often enough. But we've been such good writing partners for each other in the past, we're both really hopeful that this will help both of us get into gear on our various projects.
I'd love to make it a regular thing. Maybe not the whole weekend -- maybe just one day a month or every other month where we find a space that we can work and not be interrupted or disturb anyone else, sort of like we used to do for scrapbooking events. Only quieter and not nearly as messy.
In the meantime, this is a possibly weird but absolutely perfect little mini-vacation for both of us, and we're thrilled to the point of having to suppress our squees.
We're also insanely grateful to have such awesome and supportive husbands. Just putting that out there, because way, way too many guys would balk at taking on single parent duty voluntarily.
My calendar is marked, and I'm counting down the days!
Just yesterday, she got permission for us to use her dad and stepmom's beach house, which is about two blocks from VA Beach, and sits right next to some outlet of the river. There is no wifi available, which is, actually, exactly what we want, since then we will not be tempted to log in "just for a minute". (I'll have my phone with me, but hopefully I'll be able to avoid that temptation.)
The times are still fuzzy, but I expect we'll head down Friday afternoon or evening (depending on how early I can get away from work) and come back Sunday afternoon. Which gives us Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning to write. We'll plan our meals and bring our own food with us to avoid too many diet temptations (though I expect we'll eat out once, in celebration). We'll walk on the beach when we need to stretch and get some exercise. But otherwise, we'll act like reclusive shut-ins, staying in the cabin and writing. Or on the porch, I suppose, if the weather's good.
I can't even convey how excited both of us are about this. Mind you, KT and I get pretty excited any time we're going to get to spend time together -- we don't see each other nearly often enough. But we've been such good writing partners for each other in the past, we're both really hopeful that this will help both of us get into gear on our various projects.
I'd love to make it a regular thing. Maybe not the whole weekend -- maybe just one day a month or every other month where we find a space that we can work and not be interrupted or disturb anyone else, sort of like we used to do for scrapbooking events. Only quieter and not nearly as messy.
In the meantime, this is a possibly weird but absolutely perfect little mini-vacation for both of us, and we're thrilled to the point of having to suppress our squees.
We're also insanely grateful to have such awesome and supportive husbands. Just putting that out there, because way, way too many guys would balk at taking on single parent duty voluntarily.
My calendar is marked, and I'm counting down the days!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Atlantean
Super-short version: AWESOME trip, and I wish it could've been longer.
Short version: Penny was incredibly well-behaved, for a six-year-old in a strange place, surrounded by family she doesn't remember meeting before, and having her schedule completely mucked with. She was less-than-thrilled about hanging out at the nursing home with my grandmother, but let's be honest -- so was I, really. And I have an entire childhood's worth of good memories to bolster me over the rough patches. And that was only an hour or so each day. For fun, we went to the Georgia Aquarium and to Zoo Atlanta, as well as a couple of different parks and some restaurants. I had at least as much fun as she did, and she had plenty. I definitely want to go back sometime, hopefully with the whole family.
And now I'm going to go into the longer version, with pictures.
The remnants of Hurricane Ida (I think?) were sweeping through on Thursday, and I was really afraid that our flight would be delayed or even canceled. (The good news is that school was canceled -- and canceled again on Friday -- so it turns out that Penny didn't actually miss any school for this trip.) But though it was very wet at the airport, our flight left right on time. And the winds were blowing hard enough to give us an extra push, and our flight landed a good twenty minutes early. We'd managed to squeak through without having to check any bags (yay, packing light!) so we breezed right on down and called my Aunt Sharon to come pick us up.
Sharon greeted us with balloons -- a pretty purple balloon for Penny, and a shiny "Happy Birthday" balloon for me, which was fun and sweet. Penny and Sharon took to each other right away, which made the whole visit much smoother, I'm sure.
When we got back to the house, Penny showed Sharon and my Uncle Bill the pictures I'd printed out for them (I'd ordered some prints a while back, but apparently they got lost in the mail, so I printed out a bunch on the printer at work).
After we'd unpacked and relaxed a little, we decided to go visit Grandmom for a bit before dinner. It was nearly time for Penny's snack, so we decided to pack the makings for "ants on a log" (celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins) and take it along with us. We even got Grandmom to eat one, which is good, because she's not eating much these days.
Penny wasn't too keen on the nursing home residents (and since they kept staring and touching her without permission, I can't say that I blame her too much), but she understood that Grandmom was special to me, and seemed to make an effort. She drew a picture of herself and me and Grandmom, and we left it on Grandmom's little refrigerator for her.
After our visit, we went back to Bill and Sharon's, and Penny helped Sharon make dinner, and even set the table (with a little help). Dinner was later than Penny's used to eating, but she was really patient. Being Sharon's helper gave her something to keep her occupied, at least. We didn't finish eating until fairly late, so we called Matt and talked to him a bit, then I got her tucked into bed close to 9:30.
The next day was Friday, and we decided we'd go to the aquarium in the morning. Uncle Bill, who was fighting a head cold, begged off, so Sharon and Penny and I headed over around mid-morning, close to opening time. The aquarium was fantastic. Touch tanks and gorgeous displays, lots of wonderful things to look at.
We went through most of the exhibits in about two hours or so, then paused for lunch. (The aquarium doesn't allow outside food or drinks, but their cafeteria's food was not too bad.) When that was done, we headed for the final exhibit: the ocean tank. That was simply amazing. It started with a clear tunnel that went under the tank, so you could see things swimming all around, and then emptied out into the main viewing room. The main viewing room was the size of a college lecture hall, and an entire wall -- two stories high and almost twice as wide -- was glassed over for viewing. As we came in, there were divers in the tank, even, as part of a brief show.
Aunt Sharon and I told Penny that it was up to her how long we stayed in there to watch the fish (the two of us could happily have spent the rest of the day!) but she barely budged for at least an hour. We had laminated cards to help us identify the various species, and she spent a while gleefully locating fish on it and reading their names for us. (We are sneakily educational.)
She was most excited about the whale sharks, though -- mostly, I suspect, because there was a Go, Diego, Go episode with a whale shark in it, so she remembered it from that, and was excited to be able to see a real one. The aquarium had four of them, and they were all really magnificent.
Eventually, we headed for the gift shop, where Penny agonized over the toys. I found her a little whale shark, but somewhat to my surprise, she rejected it in favor of a little pink-and-green seahorse. I got some t-shirts for Matt and Alex, and we headed back to the house to rest a little.
Once she'd had a snack, Penny was revived and ready for more fun, so all four of us went to a little park/playground that was just a couple of streets over. The place was swarming with kids, and Penny had a great time running around and climbing on things. She even got me to play with her some.
We went over to visit Grandmom after dinner, which was a short visit, because both Grandmom and we were pretty tired.
Penny was up bright and early Saturday morning, and ready to go to the zoo! Unfortunately for her, the zoo didn't open until 9:30, so she had to wait. But we were there within minutes of it opening!
The zoo was fantastic, too. It was very clean and bright, and the animals all seemed quite healthy and content. We were a little disappointed that the male lions didn't seem to want to come out of their den, but we could hear them roaring, which was a thrilling sound, and Penny was happy to see the mother lion sunning on her rock.
I could've watched the gorillas and the orangutans for an hour, but Penny wasn't quite that patient. Still we took things nice and easy, and got to see almost everything. The pandas were adorable, even if the cubs were nearly full-grown and not nearly so cub-ish anymore. We spent lots of time in the reptile house, where Penny was thrilled by the snakes and turtles. She was slightly dubious about the petting zoo, but once she'd started, she got a lot more enthusiastic.
We breezed past the tail end of the Australia exhibit, since I'd made a late lunch date with my cousin who lives in Atlanta, and we didn't want to be late. But it was probably just as well, since Penny was showing signs of getting tired by then.
Penny and I went solo to meet my cousin and her boyfriend for lunch. I haven't seen her for years, so Penny didn't remember her, but we had a nice time and ate some really wonderful food at a little cafe just across the street from their apartment building. When we'd eaten, we went to a huge park that was across the road from both, where Penny was enthusiastic about the ducks on the lake, and then ran around like crazy on one of the playgrounds. She even talked my cousin into sitting opposite her on the see-saw.
That evening, we went with Uncle Bill and Aunt Sharon over to visit Grandmom, and decided to take her out for dinner. We wound up at Ruby Tuesdays, which wasn't very exciting, but they were patient with our slow eating.
The next day was Sunday, time to travel home. Penny watched a movie on their house theater (seriously: projector and movie screen) while I packed, and then we all headed over to Grandmom's again to have lunch and say goodbye. When she figured out we were leaving, she asked to accompany us to the airport, so we squeezed into the car so she could ride along -- and were happy to do so, because it meant she was feeling stronger and a little more alert.
It was a really wonderful trip, and there were so many wonderful things to do in Atlanta that we just didn't have time for; I really can't wait to go back!
Short version: Penny was incredibly well-behaved, for a six-year-old in a strange place, surrounded by family she doesn't remember meeting before, and having her schedule completely mucked with. She was less-than-thrilled about hanging out at the nursing home with my grandmother, but let's be honest -- so was I, really. And I have an entire childhood's worth of good memories to bolster me over the rough patches. And that was only an hour or so each day. For fun, we went to the Georgia Aquarium and to Zoo Atlanta, as well as a couple of different parks and some restaurants. I had at least as much fun as she did, and she had plenty. I definitely want to go back sometime, hopefully with the whole family.
And now I'm going to go into the longer version, with pictures.
The remnants of Hurricane Ida (I think?) were sweeping through on Thursday, and I was really afraid that our flight would be delayed or even canceled. (The good news is that school was canceled -- and canceled again on Friday -- so it turns out that Penny didn't actually miss any school for this trip.) But though it was very wet at the airport, our flight left right on time. And the winds were blowing hard enough to give us an extra push, and our flight landed a good twenty minutes early. We'd managed to squeak through without having to check any bags (yay, packing light!) so we breezed right on down and called my Aunt Sharon to come pick us up.
Sharon greeted us with balloons -- a pretty purple balloon for Penny, and a shiny "Happy Birthday" balloon for me, which was fun and sweet. Penny and Sharon took to each other right away, which made the whole visit much smoother, I'm sure.
When we got back to the house, Penny showed Sharon and my Uncle Bill the pictures I'd printed out for them (I'd ordered some prints a while back, but apparently they got lost in the mail, so I printed out a bunch on the printer at work).After we'd unpacked and relaxed a little, we decided to go visit Grandmom for a bit before dinner. It was nearly time for Penny's snack, so we decided to pack the makings for "ants on a log" (celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins) and take it along with us. We even got Grandmom to eat one, which is good, because she's not eating much these days.
Penny wasn't too keen on the nursing home residents (and since they kept staring and touching her without permission, I can't say that I blame her too much), but she understood that Grandmom was special to me, and seemed to make an effort. She drew a picture of herself and me and Grandmom, and we left it on Grandmom's little refrigerator for her.After our visit, we went back to Bill and Sharon's, and Penny helped Sharon make dinner, and even set the table (with a little help). Dinner was later than Penny's used to eating, but she was really patient. Being Sharon's helper gave her something to keep her occupied, at least. We didn't finish eating until fairly late, so we called Matt and talked to him a bit, then I got her tucked into bed close to 9:30.
The next day was Friday, and we decided we'd go to the aquarium in the morning. Uncle Bill, who was fighting a head cold, begged off, so Sharon and Penny and I headed over around mid-morning, close to opening time. The aquarium was fantastic. Touch tanks and gorgeous displays, lots of wonderful things to look at.We went through most of the exhibits in about two hours or so, then paused for lunch. (The aquarium doesn't allow outside food or drinks, but their cafeteria's food was not too bad.) When that was done, we headed for the final exhibit: the ocean tank. That was simply amazing. It started with a clear tunnel that went under the tank, so you could see things swimming all around, and then emptied out into the main viewing room. The main viewing room was the size of a college lecture hall, and an entire wall -- two stories high and almost twice as wide -- was glassed over for viewing. As we came in, there were divers in the tank, even, as part of a brief show.
Aunt Sharon and I told Penny that it was up to her how long we stayed in there to watch the fish (the two of us could happily have spent the rest of the day!) but she barely budged for at least an hour. We had laminated cards to help us identify the various species, and she spent a while gleefully locating fish on it and reading their names for us. (We are sneakily educational.)
She was most excited about the whale sharks, though -- mostly, I suspect, because there was a Go, Diego, Go episode with a whale shark in it, so she remembered it from that, and was excited to be able to see a real one. The aquarium had four of them, and they were all really magnificent.Eventually, we headed for the gift shop, where Penny agonized over the toys. I found her a little whale shark, but somewhat to my surprise, she rejected it in favor of a little pink-and-green seahorse. I got some t-shirts for Matt and Alex, and we headed back to the house to rest a little.
Once she'd had a snack, Penny was revived and ready for more fun, so all four of us went to a little park/playground that was just a couple of streets over. The place was swarming with kids, and Penny had a great time running around and climbing on things. She even got me to play with her some.We went over to visit Grandmom after dinner, which was a short visit, because both Grandmom and we were pretty tired.
Penny was up bright and early Saturday morning, and ready to go to the zoo! Unfortunately for her, the zoo didn't open until 9:30, so she had to wait. But we were there within minutes of it opening!
The zoo was fantastic, too. It was very clean and bright, and the animals all seemed quite healthy and content. We were a little disappointed that the male lions didn't seem to want to come out of their den, but we could hear them roaring, which was a thrilling sound, and Penny was happy to see the mother lion sunning on her rock.I could've watched the gorillas and the orangutans for an hour, but Penny wasn't quite that patient. Still we took things nice and easy, and got to see almost everything. The pandas were adorable, even if the cubs were nearly full-grown and not nearly so cub-ish anymore. We spent lots of time in the reptile house, where Penny was thrilled by the snakes and turtles. She was slightly dubious about the petting zoo, but once she'd started, she got a lot more enthusiastic.
We breezed past the tail end of the Australia exhibit, since I'd made a late lunch date with my cousin who lives in Atlanta, and we didn't want to be late. But it was probably just as well, since Penny was showing signs of getting tired by then.
Penny and I went solo to meet my cousin and her boyfriend for lunch. I haven't seen her for years, so Penny didn't remember her, but we had a nice time and ate some really wonderful food at a little cafe just across the street from their apartment building. When we'd eaten, we went to a huge park that was across the road from both, where Penny was enthusiastic about the ducks on the lake, and then ran around like crazy on one of the playgrounds. She even talked my cousin into sitting opposite her on the see-saw.That evening, we went with Uncle Bill and Aunt Sharon over to visit Grandmom, and decided to take her out for dinner. We wound up at Ruby Tuesdays, which wasn't very exciting, but they were patient with our slow eating.
The next day was Sunday, time to travel home. Penny watched a movie on their house theater (seriously: projector and movie screen) while I packed, and then we all headed over to Grandmom's again to have lunch and say goodbye. When she figured out we were leaving, she asked to accompany us to the airport, so we squeezed into the car so she could ride along -- and were happy to do so, because it meant she was feeling stronger and a little more alert.
It was a really wonderful trip, and there were so many wonderful things to do in Atlanta that we just didn't have time for; I really can't wait to go back!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Home of the Brave
That was a good weekend.
We had our Fourth of July celebration with my parents and my brother. (Sam's in Montana visiting her family, so John was on his own.) BLTs, corn on the cob, and watermelon FTW! I ate obscene amounts of food, though not quite as much as I'd expected to, actually: Two open-faced sandwiches, two cobs of corn, a largish serving of green beans, and a big slice of watermelon. Plus an extra slice or two of tomato and few extra strips of bacon. Mmm, bacon.
Saturday, Matt took Penny to the library to turn in her books and get some new ones, and then in the afternoon, we dropped Alex off with my parents and took her to see WALL-E. She was weirdly reluctant to go, at first, but we lured her in with the promise of popcorn.
We really enjoyed it -- it was cute and funny. Penny didn't talk too much, at least not until near the end, when she was getting restless. And she actually paid attention to the story more than she has in the past -- she spent the rest of the weekend asking me questions about various parts of the movie, instead of just locking in on a particular scene from the beginning.
(Doing her BG check and insulin dose in a dark theater was, on the other hand, not oodles of fun. I'll be glad when she's older and we can dose her before she eats.)
Sunday was a bit calmer; Penny spent most of the afternoon playing with Ray either at our house or at his. It was nice how they're willing to play with each other more than insisting on parental participation. Maybe by next summer, they'll be able to play without immediate parental supervision, too. (Actually, I'd be okay with the kids doing their own thing while they're inside -- I'm still not sold on their safety skills for playing outside solo. But one of Ray's folks always comes with him when he comes over -- he's only just four, so I can't blame them for wanting to keep closer tabs on him. But it means that when Penny goes over to his house, Matt or I go with her just so they don't have to do all the supervision.)
Alex was mildly fussy all day Sunday, and taking lots of naps. We suspect he might be teething again. The timing seems about right; it's been six weeks or so since his first two teeth broke through. Matt tried smearing some Anbesol Jr. on his gums, though, and it didn't seem to help his mood. (We did get some amusement out of the faces he was making, at least.)
We had our Fourth of July celebration with my parents and my brother. (Sam's in Montana visiting her family, so John was on his own.) BLTs, corn on the cob, and watermelon FTW! I ate obscene amounts of food, though not quite as much as I'd expected to, actually: Two open-faced sandwiches, two cobs of corn, a largish serving of green beans, and a big slice of watermelon. Plus an extra slice or two of tomato and few extra strips of bacon. Mmm, bacon.
Saturday, Matt took Penny to the library to turn in her books and get some new ones, and then in the afternoon, we dropped Alex off with my parents and took her to see WALL-E. She was weirdly reluctant to go, at first, but we lured her in with the promise of popcorn.
We really enjoyed it -- it was cute and funny. Penny didn't talk too much, at least not until near the end, when she was getting restless. And she actually paid attention to the story more than she has in the past -- she spent the rest of the weekend asking me questions about various parts of the movie, instead of just locking in on a particular scene from the beginning.
(Doing her BG check and insulin dose in a dark theater was, on the other hand, not oodles of fun. I'll be glad when she's older and we can dose her before she eats.)
Sunday was a bit calmer; Penny spent most of the afternoon playing with Ray either at our house or at his. It was nice how they're willing to play with each other more than insisting on parental participation. Maybe by next summer, they'll be able to play without immediate parental supervision, too. (Actually, I'd be okay with the kids doing their own thing while they're inside -- I'm still not sold on their safety skills for playing outside solo. But one of Ray's folks always comes with him when he comes over -- he's only just four, so I can't blame them for wanting to keep closer tabs on him. But it means that when Penny goes over to his house, Matt or I go with her just so they don't have to do all the supervision.)
Alex was mildly fussy all day Sunday, and taking lots of naps. We suspect he might be teething again. The timing seems about right; it's been six weeks or so since his first two teeth broke through. Matt tried smearing some Anbesol Jr. on his gums, though, and it didn't seem to help his mood. (We did get some amusement out of the faces he was making, at least.)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Time for a Vacation
James Lileks took his family to DisneyWorld on a more or less spur-of-the-moment vacation. He's still in the process of describing the trip, but so far this is the bit that caught my attention:
I really quite like the idea of that -- just deciding it's time for a trip to DisneyWorld, booking it, and going. I can't wait until the kids are old enough to take them there.
This isn’t an attempt to redo that great last May, but a simple reaction to craptastic weather in Minnesota in May. Two weeks ago I looked at the long-range forecast and said "we’re leaving." So here we are.
I really quite like the idea of that -- just deciding it's time for a trip to DisneyWorld, booking it, and going. I can't wait until the kids are old enough to take them there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)