One book you’re currently reading: The Biography of Ann Frank by Melissa Muller
One book that changed your life: Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean
One book you’d want on a deserted island: The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer (sorry, couldn't just choose one book!)
One book you’ve read more than once: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
One book you’ve never been able to finish: The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
One book that made you laugh: Marley and Me by John Grogan (laughed out loud... constantly!)
One book that made you cry: The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
One book you keep rereading: Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park
One book you’ve been meaning to read: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
One book you believe everyone should read: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Grab the nearest book. Open it to page 56. Share the 5th sentence. "This was one of Phyllis's favorite phrases, along with 'Ceasar's wife is above reproach.'" - Family History by Dani Shapiro
Monday, July 27, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
My Military Adventures
I believe I've mentioned once or twice that since marrying my military helicopter pilot husband, I have lived in 4 different states.
When we got married in September of 2004 (almost 5 years ago now, wow!) Mike was living in Corpus Christi, TX, going through primary flight training for the Marine Corps. We were married in my hometown in Pennsylvania, and Mike barely made it there for the weekend. He was told the day before he left, "Sorry, you're not going to be able to make it to your wedding." You see, he had an important flight, and the military absolutely believed that flight to be more important than our wedding day. That was my first real introduction to the crazy world of the military, and it hasn't ceased to amaze me since.
Needless to say, he made it to the wedding, albeit moments before we had to sign for the marriage license which was moments before our rehearsal began. I nearly had a heart attack. But, the moment he showed up, I let all anxiety go out the window. He was there, and that was all that mattered to me.
The morning after our beautiful, amazing, perfect wedding day, my parents drove my new husband, me, and my two large suitcases filled with my most valuable posessions to the airport where I kissed them goodbye, got on an airplane and officially started my new life with Mike in Corpus Christi, TX.
The whole thing was a little bit overwhelming in a this is me begining life's crazy adventures kind of way. I had visited Mike a few times in Corpus right before we got married and we had picked out an apartment together. His mom visited him before we got married too and so kindly filled our whole apartment with couches, beds, dressers, coffee tables, dining room table. It was her wedding present to us. The only downside was that I was not able to pick out my own furniture which is another long blog story, so I will not get into that now.
Suffice it to say, when I arrived in Texas, I already had a life all set up for me. It was a crazy thing.
I loved Corpus Christi. It was my first experience living somewhere with palm trees and I was at the time still awed by them, so that in and of itself, was exciting for me. Mike's flight training only took about 3 hours out of his day, so he'd be free after that to go to the beach, take a swim in our pool complex, go out in search of a dog....
Oh yeah. We bought a dog. Almost immediately. Little Ramsey, our border collie. My sister jokes that our first big purchase as a married couple was a dog. But, that's not entirely true. Truthfully, Ramsey only cost us $100. Our real and true first big wedding purchase was a washer and dryer, but that doesn't really make for an interesting story, does it?
I lived in Corpus Christi for exactly 4 months, and those 4 months were pretty awesome. We never did go on a honeymoon (umm.. remember that he was barely allowed to leave for the wedding, so a honeymoon was clearly out of the question!), but I kind of consider those 4 months in Corpus as a 4 month honeymoon. It was a 4 month vacation in a beach locale where Mike had to go off and work for a couple hours each day. We both agree that we would love to live in Corpus Christi again if ever given the opportunity.
Then one day Mike received a phone call from the militarypowersthatbe. The news was as follows: Congratulations! You are going to be a helicopter pilot! Your Advanced Helo training will be conducted at NAS Whiting Field (Milton, Florida). You will report there in 5 days.
............Excuse me? What did you say? I didn't quite catch that? You mean that you expect us to be uprooted and moved halfway across the country in 5 days? Well, that is entirely impossible, thankyouverymuch.
Apparently, anything is possible. Because wouldn't you know it, in only 4 days time, we had emptied out of our apartment, had our cars filled to the brim, and were on the road headed for Milton, Florida (located right outside of Pensacola).
I should have known something terrible would happen. The whole trip was rainy, gloomy, and foreboding from the getgo. About an hour, a measly hour, outside of Milton I watched as Mike's 1966 Mustang (which had only recently been fully restored) took a sharp left turn, spun into the grassy median, and landed on the other side of the highway heading straight into oncoming traffic. His car was then hit by two trucks before coming to a stop. I'll never forget letting out a blood curdling scream, pulling onto the shoulder, and stopping to look at my border collie who was dutifully sitting next to me in the passenger seat. At that moment, I definitely believed the worst. It seemed like forever went by, and then, Mike got out of the car. And started walking around. And I was amazed. and ohmygod I thought he was dead.
We ended up driving into Milton a day late and with one less car. But, we made it. When we pulled up to our little base housing duplex and got inside, Mike had to leave for a few hours to check in, and I sank down on a blanket with my border collie and just laid there. So this is military life, I thought to myself over and over.
Despite our flawed entrance to Florida, it turned out to be another great experience for us. Living on base was a unique experience where we lived in a huge neighborhood filled with tons of people exactly our own age going through the exact same life experiences we were. Everyone was newly or only a few years into marriage, in the military, and going through flight training. We quickly made friends with a core group of people who we hung out with every single weekend. We had poker nights that will forever go down in history in my memory. We drank and played poker and had the time of our lives and at the end of the night everyone walked home.. which was only just right down the street. Man, did we ever have it made. If I did the math, I'm sure that I would figure out that 98% of the military friends who we keep in contact with to this day, are friends we first met in Florida.
In Florida, while Mike went through his helicopter training, I worked at a private airport in town as the Dispatcher. It was a FUN job, and the really cool part about it was that I got to know and understand a lot about Mike's world of aviation.
In Florida we also survived a couple of hurricanes and tropical storms. We evacuated for Hurricane Dennis which did a number on our base housing neighborhood. And, we rode out Hurricane Katrina, which hit (obviously) West of us... and then being only an hour and a half from the center of the storm.. suffered through the fuel shortages and other madness that followed. I do remember having to wait in long lines for gas and opting out of long car trips in fear that we might not be able to find a gas station that had gas to fill us up when we ran low on fuel.
We got our 2nd dog in Florida, our husky Copper who I've had a love/notsolove relationship with every since.
Mike received those coveted wings of gold. I was so proud of him.
He put in his helicopter and destination selections with those powersthatbe. I was so anxious; I drank almost a full bottle of wine when he went in to find out what our future destination would be. The options were Japan, Hawaii, North Carolina, and San Diego. He came home and announced CH-53's - San Diego! And we laughed and hugged. And I called everyone I knew. And I turned up the music and danced around. We were so excited.
But before we could get to our final destination.. we had to make a stop in Jacksonville, North Carolina, so that Mike could be trained in the 53. We did it all again. We packed up our every posession. We filled our cars to the brim. We said our sad goodbyes to all the many friends we had made in Florida... we were on our way. I didn't realize until I got in the car to pull out of the driveway, that we were pulling out of that driveway exactly one year to the day after we had pulled into it.
North Carolina.... was.... interesting. North Carolina was a crappy apartment, no job for me, few friends, stress for Mike. But, it was also (finally) within driving distance of my family. And, oddly, only 15 minutes away from the town where my college roommate grew up and got married while we were living there. That couldn't possibly have worked out any better. We were only there for 5 months, and not a tear was shed when we had to pack it all up and head out again... for the third time in two years...
We were finally on our way to San Diego.. the promised land! Mike's parents were kind enough to make the long trip with us to ease the burden of driving. We took one car, they took the other. A long car trip across the country driving alone could possibly have been the end of my sanity. We took it slow, stopping to see the sites. We spent a day at the Grand Canyon, we stopped to see the ice cave in New Mexico, We saw the petrified forest, and the gigantic crater. We stopped in Vegas for a few days. We took pictures at the Hoover Dam. We saw the country. It was a great adventure.
It's funny, because I had never been to San Diego before, but everyone who spoke of it acted as though it were paradise. It's not surprising then, that I was literally, literally expecting for San Diego to be heaven on earth. For this reason, my first impression was a bit of disappointment.
Don't get me wrong. San Diego is an amazing city. I love it here. I will shed tears of sadness when it is time for us to go. But, imagine my surprise in entering the San Diego city limits and realizing it's a city just like any other city. Cleaner, better weather, more beautiful, sure. No heaven on earth, though. No Garden of Eden or anything of the sort.
Our first month in San Diego we lived in a hotel room with our dogs. Which, oddly, wasn't such a bad experience and is actually a fun memory. When anyone new comes to visit us, I always point out the hotel and say, "And that's where we lived for a month with our 2 dogs..." I think I'll always have a tender spot in my heart for that little hotel.
Mike's parents stuck around for a couple of weeks and helped us househunt and showed me the sites. They had lived in San Diego a couple of years before when Mike was in college. He spent his summers and holidays here so was also familiar with SD.
I had a couple of interviews at schools. I got a job. We found a house, and signed the papers. And when they knew for certain we were all settled in, Mike's parents got on a plane and headed back home. I remember being scared and sad to see them go. I was thinking, They're going to leave us here? Alone? It sure was nice to have them to lean on for those weeks in a new place making new and big decisions.
But they left. And we moved into our home. And I started my job. And Mike started flying in his squadron.
3 years, 1 natural disaster, 1 career change, and 2 deployments later.... here we are still. Living in San Diego and loving (almost) every second of it.
When I first landed in Corpus Christi, TX, 5 years ago I knew that it was only the beginning of a wild adventure. I just had no idea where that adventure would take me or just how wild it would be. The truth of the matter is that it has taken me places I never could have fathomed, and it has been more wild than my wildest imaginations.
And it has been worth it. Every second.
When we got married in September of 2004 (almost 5 years ago now, wow!) Mike was living in Corpus Christi, TX, going through primary flight training for the Marine Corps. We were married in my hometown in Pennsylvania, and Mike barely made it there for the weekend. He was told the day before he left, "Sorry, you're not going to be able to make it to your wedding." You see, he had an important flight, and the military absolutely believed that flight to be more important than our wedding day. That was my first real introduction to the crazy world of the military, and it hasn't ceased to amaze me since.
Needless to say, he made it to the wedding, albeit moments before we had to sign for the marriage license which was moments before our rehearsal began. I nearly had a heart attack. But, the moment he showed up, I let all anxiety go out the window. He was there, and that was all that mattered to me.
The morning after our beautiful, amazing, perfect wedding day, my parents drove my new husband, me, and my two large suitcases filled with my most valuable posessions to the airport where I kissed them goodbye, got on an airplane and officially started my new life with Mike in Corpus Christi, TX.
The whole thing was a little bit overwhelming in a this is me begining life's crazy adventures kind of way. I had visited Mike a few times in Corpus right before we got married and we had picked out an apartment together. His mom visited him before we got married too and so kindly filled our whole apartment with couches, beds, dressers, coffee tables, dining room table. It was her wedding present to us. The only downside was that I was not able to pick out my own furniture which is another long blog story, so I will not get into that now.
Suffice it to say, when I arrived in Texas, I already had a life all set up for me. It was a crazy thing.
I loved Corpus Christi. It was my first experience living somewhere with palm trees and I was at the time still awed by them, so that in and of itself, was exciting for me. Mike's flight training only took about 3 hours out of his day, so he'd be free after that to go to the beach, take a swim in our pool complex, go out in search of a dog....
Oh yeah. We bought a dog. Almost immediately. Little Ramsey, our border collie. My sister jokes that our first big purchase as a married couple was a dog. But, that's not entirely true. Truthfully, Ramsey only cost us $100. Our real and true first big wedding purchase was a washer and dryer, but that doesn't really make for an interesting story, does it?
I lived in Corpus Christi for exactly 4 months, and those 4 months were pretty awesome. We never did go on a honeymoon (umm.. remember that he was barely allowed to leave for the wedding, so a honeymoon was clearly out of the question!), but I kind of consider those 4 months in Corpus as a 4 month honeymoon. It was a 4 month vacation in a beach locale where Mike had to go off and work for a couple hours each day. We both agree that we would love to live in Corpus Christi again if ever given the opportunity.
Then one day Mike received a phone call from the militarypowersthatbe. The news was as follows: Congratulations! You are going to be a helicopter pilot! Your Advanced Helo training will be conducted at NAS Whiting Field (Milton, Florida). You will report there in 5 days.
............Excuse me? What did you say? I didn't quite catch that? You mean that you expect us to be uprooted and moved halfway across the country in 5 days? Well, that is entirely impossible, thankyouverymuch.
Apparently, anything is possible. Because wouldn't you know it, in only 4 days time, we had emptied out of our apartment, had our cars filled to the brim, and were on the road headed for Milton, Florida (located right outside of Pensacola).
I should have known something terrible would happen. The whole trip was rainy, gloomy, and foreboding from the getgo. About an hour, a measly hour, outside of Milton I watched as Mike's 1966 Mustang (which had only recently been fully restored) took a sharp left turn, spun into the grassy median, and landed on the other side of the highway heading straight into oncoming traffic. His car was then hit by two trucks before coming to a stop. I'll never forget letting out a blood curdling scream, pulling onto the shoulder, and stopping to look at my border collie who was dutifully sitting next to me in the passenger seat. At that moment, I definitely believed the worst. It seemed like forever went by, and then, Mike got out of the car. And started walking around. And I was amazed. and ohmygod I thought he was dead.
We ended up driving into Milton a day late and with one less car. But, we made it. When we pulled up to our little base housing duplex and got inside, Mike had to leave for a few hours to check in, and I sank down on a blanket with my border collie and just laid there. So this is military life, I thought to myself over and over.
Despite our flawed entrance to Florida, it turned out to be another great experience for us. Living on base was a unique experience where we lived in a huge neighborhood filled with tons of people exactly our own age going through the exact same life experiences we were. Everyone was newly or only a few years into marriage, in the military, and going through flight training. We quickly made friends with a core group of people who we hung out with every single weekend. We had poker nights that will forever go down in history in my memory. We drank and played poker and had the time of our lives and at the end of the night everyone walked home.. which was only just right down the street. Man, did we ever have it made. If I did the math, I'm sure that I would figure out that 98% of the military friends who we keep in contact with to this day, are friends we first met in Florida.
In Florida, while Mike went through his helicopter training, I worked at a private airport in town as the Dispatcher. It was a FUN job, and the really cool part about it was that I got to know and understand a lot about Mike's world of aviation.
In Florida we also survived a couple of hurricanes and tropical storms. We evacuated for Hurricane Dennis which did a number on our base housing neighborhood. And, we rode out Hurricane Katrina, which hit (obviously) West of us... and then being only an hour and a half from the center of the storm.. suffered through the fuel shortages and other madness that followed. I do remember having to wait in long lines for gas and opting out of long car trips in fear that we might not be able to find a gas station that had gas to fill us up when we ran low on fuel.
We got our 2nd dog in Florida, our husky Copper who I've had a love/notsolove relationship with every since.
Mike received those coveted wings of gold. I was so proud of him.
He put in his helicopter and destination selections with those powersthatbe. I was so anxious; I drank almost a full bottle of wine when he went in to find out what our future destination would be. The options were Japan, Hawaii, North Carolina, and San Diego. He came home and announced CH-53's - San Diego! And we laughed and hugged. And I called everyone I knew. And I turned up the music and danced around. We were so excited.
But before we could get to our final destination.. we had to make a stop in Jacksonville, North Carolina, so that Mike could be trained in the 53. We did it all again. We packed up our every posession. We filled our cars to the brim. We said our sad goodbyes to all the many friends we had made in Florida... we were on our way. I didn't realize until I got in the car to pull out of the driveway, that we were pulling out of that driveway exactly one year to the day after we had pulled into it.
North Carolina.... was.... interesting. North Carolina was a crappy apartment, no job for me, few friends, stress for Mike. But, it was also (finally) within driving distance of my family. And, oddly, only 15 minutes away from the town where my college roommate grew up and got married while we were living there. That couldn't possibly have worked out any better. We were only there for 5 months, and not a tear was shed when we had to pack it all up and head out again... for the third time in two years...
We were finally on our way to San Diego.. the promised land! Mike's parents were kind enough to make the long trip with us to ease the burden of driving. We took one car, they took the other. A long car trip across the country driving alone could possibly have been the end of my sanity. We took it slow, stopping to see the sites. We spent a day at the Grand Canyon, we stopped to see the ice cave in New Mexico, We saw the petrified forest, and the gigantic crater. We stopped in Vegas for a few days. We took pictures at the Hoover Dam. We saw the country. It was a great adventure.
It's funny, because I had never been to San Diego before, but everyone who spoke of it acted as though it were paradise. It's not surprising then, that I was literally, literally expecting for San Diego to be heaven on earth. For this reason, my first impression was a bit of disappointment.
Don't get me wrong. San Diego is an amazing city. I love it here. I will shed tears of sadness when it is time for us to go. But, imagine my surprise in entering the San Diego city limits and realizing it's a city just like any other city. Cleaner, better weather, more beautiful, sure. No heaven on earth, though. No Garden of Eden or anything of the sort.
Our first month in San Diego we lived in a hotel room with our dogs. Which, oddly, wasn't such a bad experience and is actually a fun memory. When anyone new comes to visit us, I always point out the hotel and say, "And that's where we lived for a month with our 2 dogs..." I think I'll always have a tender spot in my heart for that little hotel.
Mike's parents stuck around for a couple of weeks and helped us househunt and showed me the sites. They had lived in San Diego a couple of years before when Mike was in college. He spent his summers and holidays here so was also familiar with SD.
I had a couple of interviews at schools. I got a job. We found a house, and signed the papers. And when they knew for certain we were all settled in, Mike's parents got on a plane and headed back home. I remember being scared and sad to see them go. I was thinking, They're going to leave us here? Alone? It sure was nice to have them to lean on for those weeks in a new place making new and big decisions.
But they left. And we moved into our home. And I started my job. And Mike started flying in his squadron.
3 years, 1 natural disaster, 1 career change, and 2 deployments later.... here we are still. Living in San Diego and loving (almost) every second of it.
When I first landed in Corpus Christi, TX, 5 years ago I knew that it was only the beginning of a wild adventure. I just had no idea where that adventure would take me or just how wild it would be. The truth of the matter is that it has taken me places I never could have fathomed, and it has been more wild than my wildest imaginations.
And it has been worth it. Every second.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
husky vs. border collie
I recently decided that for my next life I'd like to come back as a Siberian Husky(left).
Because people will stop and admire my beauty everywhere I go, and I will get to sleep 99% of my life away.
Or, I suppose I could come back as a border collie (right).
I've often said that if my border collie were a human he would be an olympic athlete, and I think being an Olympic athlete would be pretty sweet.
It's just that I'd rather be admired for my beauty and sleep all the time. Call me crazy.
It's just that I'd rather be admired for my beauty and sleep all the time. Call me crazy.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thanks, Sis!
I swear to you that I am not paying my sister to promote my blog. I also am not blackmailing her or holding a gun to her head. I promise.
All of the shameless plugging she has been doing lately has been completely of her own accord.
I'm sure that her new mission to get people reading my blog has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I've mentioned my lack of readership once... or twice... or possibly a couple hundred times in my recent blog posts.
True to history, she has taken it upon herself to be my number one cheerleader. And, I love her to death for it.
I take her sudden interest in my blog as a great compliment; because, while often taking the role as lead cheerleader in my life, she is also that special person in my life who I can count on to regularly tell me what I am not doing right. For example, she never bats an eye in telling me that the way I'm wearing my shirt makes my hips look bigger than they need to or that she absolutely is disgusted by the green nail polish I chose at my last pedicure. And, truth be told, I love her to death for that, too.
So, thanks, SmilingMama, for caring enough to tell me when I'm doing something right and for being honest enough to tell me when I'm not quite on track.
In my humble opinion, every girl needs someone like you in her life.
All of the shameless plugging she has been doing lately has been completely of her own accord.
I'm sure that her new mission to get people reading my blog has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I've mentioned my lack of readership once... or twice... or possibly a couple hundred times in my recent blog posts.
True to history, she has taken it upon herself to be my number one cheerleader. And, I love her to death for it.
I take her sudden interest in my blog as a great compliment; because, while often taking the role as lead cheerleader in my life, she is also that special person in my life who I can count on to regularly tell me what I am not doing right. For example, she never bats an eye in telling me that the way I'm wearing my shirt makes my hips look bigger than they need to or that she absolutely is disgusted by the green nail polish I chose at my last pedicure. And, truth be told, I love her to death for that, too.
So, thanks, SmilingMama, for caring enough to tell me when I'm doing something right and for being honest enough to tell me when I'm not quite on track.
In my humble opinion, every girl needs someone like you in her life.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Am I Cut Out For This Job?
I'm not sure that I'm quite cut out to be a mother.
You see, I just got back from spending 2 weeks with my 3-year-old nephew and am still reeling from the experience.
I know everyone says this, but I know for a fact that I am not biased. I just have an exceptionally amazing nephew. Anyone who has ever met him will attest to this fact.
How could they not? I mean, from the very instant that they meet him they are generally amazed. Because meeting him means that he has approached you, said hello, introduced himself and also introduced whatever parent/grandparent/aunt/uncle or friend who happens to be with him at the time. It's quite remarkable.
The problem is that most other little kids don't quite have the social skills that my nephew Lucas is privy to. So, trips to the park or the pool can sometimes be rather heartbreaking. Not for Lucas. For me.
There was one day in particular that we went to the pool where the kids were especially UNsociable and UNfriendly. The parents smiled and laughed in awe when Lucas approached them with his introductions. Their children, on the other hand, looked at him as though he were an alien with 3 heads and went on with their lives. Without fail, Lucas approached each child at the pool, introduced himself, and asked said child if he or she would like to play with him.
Unfortunately for him, he had no luck, and was forced to play with his Grammy and Aunt Sarah instead. He had fun with us, but we were certainly not his first choice of playmates.
Now, I'm sure that the whole experience was something that wasn't so much as a blip on Lucas's radar. I'm sure that he will not grow up and find himself to be tortured by the rejection he experienced at the pool that day. I, on the other hand, am scarred.
And he's not even MY son! My heart developed a brand new crack with each rejection he received at the pool that day, and by the end of it, I found myself fast forwarding to a lifetime of rejections my future children are sure to receive and finding myself unable to cope with the tragedy of it all.
I just don't understand how anyone manages to get out of parenthood alive and with their hearts completely in tact. I'm not sure I can manage either of these feats, myself.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Destination: Reality
In case you didn't notice, I've been out of circulation lately. For the past 2 weeks, I've been on the East Coast with the humidity and the bugs... and my awesome family. I spent a week with them at the beach which was totally awesome and a week in Pennsylvania with my parents and nephew. I'm sure I will post more in depth about these 2 weeks later, but for now, we'll suffice it to say that (in the words of my nephew) it was AWESOME!
Tonight, though, I'm leaving on a jet plane and heading back to my hubby, my doggies, and a much colder ocean. But back to the beautiful weather of So Cal, as well. Last year I took a visit to the East Coast around this time, and I will probably never forget stepping out of the airport when I got back to San Diego. It was literally like taking a breath of fresh air.
Currently, my mind is racing. It has been a little bit over a month since school let out and I officially declared myself free of stress and any kind of schedule. I guess a month is my limit on laziness because all I can think about right now are all of the hundreds of things I want to do/feel like I need to do when I get back home.
I have exactly 2 weeks to accomplish my long list of to-dos, though, because in early August Mike's parents and sister will be arriving at our house for a visit and only 2 days after they leave my sister and her fam will be arriving to take their place in our guest room. Shortly after that, school will start back up and my own personal Shangrila (did I spell that right? I'm much too lazy to check) will officially be down the drain.
I really work best with a deadline, though, so I figure having 2 weeks to get done everything I want to do this summer is just about right.
For now, though, I must go and cherish my last few hours with the fam before I get on that jet plane and fly back to reality.
Ciao.
Tonight, though, I'm leaving on a jet plane and heading back to my hubby, my doggies, and a much colder ocean. But back to the beautiful weather of So Cal, as well. Last year I took a visit to the East Coast around this time, and I will probably never forget stepping out of the airport when I got back to San Diego. It was literally like taking a breath of fresh air.
Currently, my mind is racing. It has been a little bit over a month since school let out and I officially declared myself free of stress and any kind of schedule. I guess a month is my limit on laziness because all I can think about right now are all of the hundreds of things I want to do/feel like I need to do when I get back home.
I have exactly 2 weeks to accomplish my long list of to-dos, though, because in early August Mike's parents and sister will be arriving at our house for a visit and only 2 days after they leave my sister and her fam will be arriving to take their place in our guest room. Shortly after that, school will start back up and my own personal Shangrila (did I spell that right? I'm much too lazy to check) will officially be down the drain.
I really work best with a deadline, though, so I figure having 2 weeks to get done everything I want to do this summer is just about right.
For now, though, I must go and cherish my last few hours with the fam before I get on that jet plane and fly back to reality.
Ciao.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Kind of a Big Deal
This is my dad on his last day before retirement as our town's Recreation Director. He chose to go out in style, as you can see, by taking a ride down a slide he put in at the local pool. He had never ridden down the slide in all the many years it had been there. When it first went in, it was kind of a big deal. To me, he's kind of a big deal, too.
Tomorrow night I'll be leaving the West Coast on a jet plane and landing in Washington, DC early in the am on July 4. From there, my parents wil pick Mike and me up, and we will drive with them down to North Carolina for a much needed week at the beach with the family. This trip is also kind of a big deal because it's my dad's official retirement celebration, and it's one of the very few "real" family vacations my family has ever taken together.
(I know you probably stopped reading and for the last several minutes have been sitting in utter confusion wondering why in the world we would possibly choose to FLY to DC and DRIVE to NC when we could have simply FLOWN to NC to begin with. The answer to that is that would have made WAY too much sense. But, to be truthful, it was a lot cheaper to fly into DC, and saving $50 dollars here and there somehow becomes important when booking hundreds of dollars worth of plane tickets. $50 is not so very important when spending a day at the fair, going out to dinner, or taking a shopping trip to Target, but for some reason saving that $50 on my plane ticket was absolutely IMPERATIVE. And, truth be told, spending 7 hours in the car with my parents who I rarely get to see is not such a bad thing.)
Long story short. I'm leaving. On a jet plane. To the East Coast. And I won't be back for two weeks.
And, I am not at all together the way my wonderfully organized sister is, so I have not thought ahead enough to schedule anything to post over those two weeks. Not that it really matters, anyway, since 99% of my readership will be at the beach with me.
There are a couple things I am really looking forward to about this trip: *Giving my dad a hard time (I absolutely LOVE teasing my dad!), *Seeing my NEPHEW who literally ups his cuteness factor every single day by huge percentages, *Spending time with my pregnant sister, and *Possibly, just possibly, getting a smidgen of a suntan.. (which is NOT easy for me to do!)
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