KirstenL4W

Last night I got the the airport fully expecting a major hassle in trying to get a boarding pass for the correct flight. I was 2nd in line when I went in, and when it was my turn it took all of 1 minute. I didn’t even get to tell my story! I just got the boarding pass for the correct flight, and was wished a happy thanksgiving by the ticket agent. Then I proceeded to the security checkpoint. There was no line, and except for the minor inconvenience of having to remove my sterling silver necklace, security was a breeze. My flight was on time, and despite boarding in zone 9, I was able to find ample overhead space for my bag, and it was even near my seat! There were at least a half dozen children on the flight, but you would never have known it, because it was so quiet except for the sound of the engines. People were polite, introducing themselves to each other. I had a middle seat but my seatmates were not oversized, and they were both well aware of what constitutes good hygiene. Except for a bit of turbulence, it was a very pleasant flight.

I got into Atlanta on time, waited for the shops to open so I could get a bottle of water and something to eat, waited for my flight, which left on time and landed in Ft. Myers on time. Except for my sister reading the boards wrong and going to the wrong concourse, all went extremely well.

I do have one thought, specifically on airplane boarding procedures. For years, airlines would board from the back to the front, which resulted in a huge bottleneck. Now they do this zone based boarding, which is allegedly totally random (I think it’s alphabetical, because I never get anything earlier than zone 7). I think they should board window seats first, then middle, then aisle. That way no one has to get up once they’ve settled into their seats.

Mia is a little doll. Sis sent some pictures awhile back, but I have no idea who that kid was because the pics do not look like Mia at all. She’s adorable! We went to Perkins for breakfast, and Mia had everyone charmed. All the waitstaff had to come over and coo at her, the manager kept coming over, even the customers around us were waving hi to her. She’s such an attention whore.

Sis is starting to cook for tomorrow, and I have a cake to cook. People are supposed to start arriving around 6:30 to help with prep for tomorrow and just hang out, bit it’s now 7:20. Is this aloha time? Wait a sec, I’m in Florida. Oh well. It’s still 4:20 by my clock. Off to cook…

The Beeb

Boyfriend has been spending a lot of time with his new girlfriend, Beeb. How strange it is to find a native Californian, with no concept of a holiday like we have in New England, eating weird foods like sushi and avocado, and yet he has such a fine appreciation for Jolly Olde England. His only caveat about watching it so much is that he is tempted more and more to just sell everything and move there. Now, I’ve been to the UK - 3 times, in fact. I love it there - LOVE it. And I don’t think I would hesitate too much if that ever became a reality. I’d just end up overthinking it - the logistics of moving overseas, the logistics of being American in a foreign country, etc. And that sort of overthinking would stress me out to no end. But it would be a good kind of stress. So, (insert British accent here) dear Boyfriend, keep spending time with Beeb, sweetie darling.

The Post Office

The post office, like all government offices, was closed today for Veteran’s Day. When I have to work, as does everyone I know, on these so-called “floater” holidays (aka bank holidays, aka if you’re lucky you get one or two of these off per year in addition to the big holidays), we tend to forget that things like the post office are closed. I had my latest mix CD to mail out for the exchange, and considering what a procrastinator I can be, I wanted to mail these out the minute I was done with them rather than let them languish in my car for a month. So after work I stopped in at the post office, and for a second I was relieved that it wasn’t crowded. Until I realized that the main post office in all of Las Vegas would never be that deserted unless it was closed. Have no fear, they have an automated postage machine that’s available 24 hours. It’s like an actual clerk without the human. I had 11 packages and no complicated questions, and I was paying with a debit or credit card, so I figured that this would be easy. Until it decides that each individual package is a separate transaction. After swiping my card, entering my pin, and taking a receipt 4 times, I decided to just buy the stamps, since I knew exactly how much they were. This nifty machine lets you buy stamps in any denomination you want. I needed 7 more stamps for $1.14 each. BUT this silly little machine only has the ability to do 5 at a time. Two more transactions later and I was done. I took my 6 receipts, stuck my postage on the packages, and dumped them in the parcel drop. Phew! Next time the post office decides to take one of their bi-weekly holidays, I’ll plan ahead and NOT TRY TO MAIL SOMETHING.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Boyfriend decided after dinner that he wanted dessert. Since we haven’t been shopping yet, we didn’t have anything dessert-like in the house. Boyfriend was asking for cookies, so I went to the store to get the rest of the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, since as far as cookies go, they are the easiest as far as I’m concerned. Now, I do realize that we’ve been trying to eat healthier by shopping at non-crap stores like Trader Joe’s, there’s only one recipe I was considering for chocolate chip cookies: the recipe found on the back of a Butter Flavor Crisco can. Oh yeah, not just lard - butter flavored lard! I just hope the darn things last until I get home from work tomorrow.

Delta Airlines & Orbitz

Waaaay back in February, I booked a ticked to Southwest Florida International Airport so that I can spend time with my sister and my newest niece, Mia, for Thanksgiving. I did my homework and instead of choosing the absolute cheapest flight I found, I took my sister’s schedule into consideration and picked a flight that would arrive and leave at times that were convenient for her, so no late night arrivals or early morning departures. In fact, I’m not even coming or going during Mia’s nap time. I was also watching the connection times. There is no such thing as a non-stop flight from Las Vegas to Ft Myers, so I knew I’d have a connection. On such a busy traveling weekend, I did not want a tight connection, so I picked an itinerary with a 3 hour connection in Atlanta. Not my first choice of airports, but whatever. 3 hours should allow for a delay and still get my on my connection.

Back in June, I got an email from Orbitz telling me that the airline has made a change to my itinerary. I looked over the email, and the new itinerary and old one were exactly the same, so I did nothing, as advised by Orbitz if all was acceptable. Well, today I decided to log into Orbitz to check things over, and there was a change - a big one. They changed not just the time of my flight, but my entire flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta, leaving me with - get this - a 34 minute connection. Totally unacceptable, even if I was connecting in a teeny tiny 1-room airport during the slowest of travel times. So I called Delta India, spent 20 minutes explaining to the guy why a 34 minute connection was unacceptable and I wanted to be back on the original flight I booked, put up with him as he tried to fly me out of Vegas on Wednesday night (to make my connection Wednesday morning in Atlanta), put up with him as he changed my Atlanta to Fort Myers flight, then finally got it right by putting me back on my original flight. Grrr. He emailed me a new copy of the itinerary, and I have a printout of the original flight change email, “new” itinerary, and the email from Delta India with my old new itinerary. I’m not checking any luggage, and I don’t plan on getting all pissed off, I just want to get to Ft Myers. I’ll get there early and with plenty of smiles to make sure I get on the flights I booked. Something tells me I’ll be ok getting to Florida, since most people don’t all fly on the same day going to their Thanksgiving destination. However, they all absolutely must fly home on that Sunday, so something tells me I’ll have issues while connecting in Cincinnati on my way home. I’ll let you know.

So that’s all for now. Time to start composing my post for Tuesday, in which I reveal my latest mix exchange CD.

Boyfriend and I left the house as soon as I got home from work Friday. We had already packed, and since we are getting really good at this last minute road trip stuff, we didn’t have any running around to do (well, except for food - Boyfriend didn’t really eat lunch). By the time we make it out of Las Vegas Friday afternoon rush hour traffic, it’s a bit after 5pm. Not bad at all.

We started heading up US-95 towards Reno. Now, once you get past the turnoff for Pahrump, it’s a 2-lane highway all the way to Reno. All 300 or so miles. And there’s little else. A few towns here and there, not exactly large towns either. Since I started driving, and I hate driving that kind of road in the dark, Boyfriend and I switched seats at Goldfield. But before we did that, we managed to get a great view of the road at sunset:

Last time we drove US 95, it was on the way back from San Francisco, taking the scenic route through the Sierras and Reno. It was a dark night with no moon, and the narrow, unlit, 2-lane highway was scary, for me at least. The big black void was too much for me, since I couldn’t see a damn thing beyond my headlights. And beautiful Walker Lake? At least on this most recent trip we had a nearly full moon, and I could see the water just fine.

The Reno area was a lot colder than the weather we left in Las Vegas. It was in the 30s and threatening to snow. So much so that Boyfriend was worried about our trip over the Sierras the next day. I-80 in California has this silly little thing that if there’s snow on the ground, regardless of road conditions, all vehicles must chain up. Lucky for us, the snow moved out and it all disappeared, so no chains required.

In Reno, Boyfriend made reservations at the Peppermill Reno. I don’t know what, if any, preconceived notions any of you might have about Vegas, at least those who haven’t been here. The Peppermill is Tacky Vegas personified. Mirrored ceilings in the casino, colorful neon everywhere, and a tackfully decorated room with not one but two rows of strip lights circling the room. The wallpaper was something out of a vintage 70s floral collection, and the wall behind the bed was encased in a mirror with a smoky tint to it:

Saturday saw us out on the road a bit early to drive 1 hour back towards Vegas to Fallon, so Boyfriend could do a work thingy, then back to Reno for another work thingy. The Reno one pissed him off because the person was late and kept giving Boyfriend the run around. But work stuff got done, then we were on our way to San Francisco. We stayed in the same hotel as last time, due to its proximity to both the city and the ease at which we could get out of the city. But I can’t leave the Peppermill without telling you all about one more super tacky thing we saw - a car at the valet. A Porsche at the valet. A Smurf-blue Porsche at the valet. Not really the right color for a car of that caliber. But it seemed to fit in there just fine.

We went to meet some of Boyfriend’s Silly Little Game friends for dinner. I’d met one of them before, so it was a comfortable evening - none of that awkward “OMG what if his friends don’t like me” stuff. Been there, done that. Instead, it was some awkward “what if I don’t like it” out to eat stuff. We went to the famed Benihana restaurant. We’ve all seen it in the movies - it’s the place where you sit at a table with a bunch of people you don’t know and the chef shows off while cooking your food right there at the table.

Now, those who know me know that I am one of the pickiest people alive when it comes to what I’ll eat. In foreign cuisines, I’ll usually pick out one or maybe two things that I can tolerate and stick with those. I don’t do fungus, and I most definitely don’t do cold fish, especially if it’s raw. So no sushi. Just - no. Gross. I can’t even stomach the thought of uncooked seafood passing my lips. Just not gonna happen. So, I know Boyfriend, who thinks I need to open my mind when it come to cuisine, really wants me to try sushi. Too bad everyone else scarfed it down before I had a chance to muster up the courage. Ha ha you! The rest of the meal, on the other hand, was excellent. The chef was supposed to put on a fancy show out of cooking our food, but with our reservations being at 9pm, he was all out of personality by then, so we got excellent food with a lackluster show. There is so much food! Japanese onion soup, which was yummy (I waded my way around the mushrooms in it), fried rice, shrimp appetizers which were excellent even though I rarely like shrimp, then the meal. I got the Filet Mignon and lobster. OMG. Just OMG. It was that good. Top it all off with some Japanese style grilled onions and zucchini, and wow. And zucchini is another one of those things that I rarely like.

Sunday we wanted to be out at a reasonable hour, since we planned on driving down the coast before heading back. California Highway 1 has got to be one of the most scenic roads I have ever been on. A bit harrowing to drive in sections, but if you can have someone else drive while you look, it’s awesome. Thanks to my wonderful, awesome, most wicked bestest Boyfriend in all the land, I got my fill of Pacific coast scenery. We passed over the famous Bixby Bridge, took some photos, and started to head home after we got down past San Simeon somewhere. This is where the adventure truly began. But first, some scenery:

That’s the Bixby Creek Bridge taken from afar. The best pics are taken from out on the water, but we couldn’t drive there, obviously. Anyway, the adventure part. After we got out of the winding road area in Big Sur, I drove for awhile. Not very long though. Our GPS unit was going to help us get home on the quickest route possible. It routed me through a town, I missed a stop sign but didn’t get caught, and started following the directions. Until I saw a sign indicating that the next services were 84 miles away and I had a quarter tank of gas left. I didn’t recall seeing gas stations in the tiny town we just passed, so Boyfriend asked GPS where the nearest one was. That thing is pretty nifty. Except when it gets you lost. That thing led us down California Highway 229.

Now, let me tell you a few things about CA 229. It is not a highway. It is not a way at all, really. It is a one lane - ONE! - road that twists and turns its way past some ranches, until it finally opens up into a two lane road and brings you to another rural road somewhere. California wanted it to feel special so it gave the road some state money and a special number. Back where I come from these are called back roads, and they know to stay the fuck off of your road map. They know better. California highways, on the other hand, are all self-important, trying to bolster up the little guy and give it way more self-esteem than it should have. And they end up getting you lost.

The GPS had us turn off CA 229, onto some other road, then had us make a left onto some dirt road, where there was supposed to be a Texaco station on the corner. Maybe 75 years ago, but not today. Boyfriend laughed, but I was close to tears. It was so funny in a way that’s really not. Luckily, once we tore the GPS a new anoos and asked for a different gas station, it got us out of the middle of nowhere and to a gas station. Once we fueled up, the rest of the trip was long, dark, and uneventful. We arrived home at 12:30am, where I proceeded to collapse into bed, only to wake up 4 hours later for work.

An old cabin at a park in somewhere in San Mateo County:

Driving over the Golden Gate Bridge:

Touching the Pacific Ocean for the first time:

Driving home through the Sierra Nevada:

The funny thing about vacations is that although the camera may be carried around constantly (we were never without it), it’s still a conscious thought to stop and take a picture. Even then, some pictures don’t come out the way you want them to. For example, I have one picture of Lombard Street taken when we were driving down it, but as it turns out the best picture of the crookedest street in the world is not taken from the street itself, but below the street looking up, and definitely not in the car - which is where most of our photos were taken. The rest of the photos can be seen here.

Boyfriend and I went to San Francisco this past weekend. I’d been there before, but it was over 10 years ago and I had a really bad cold, which I got the day after I got there. This time was a much shorter trip, but I wasn’t dead tired from being sick. We met up with some of Boyfriend’s friends (he grew up there, and knows people) so it was nice to be social too.

Highlights:

Driving through San Mateo county and seeing the redwoods, ocean, and this place (I had some sort of weird fascination with getting my picture taken next to a sign)

Lunch in Haight-Ashbury

A bit of shopping and socializing with some of Boyfriend’s friends

Dinner in North Beach

Driving over the Golden Gate Bridge

Watching the fog roll in along the coast (and boy, does it ever roll!)

Driving through Santa Cruz, a place that Boyfriend wouldn’t mind living in if money were no object

Driving home over the Sierras

Taking lots of pictures with Boyfriend’s awesome camera that hopefully are still there because the number of photos taken seemed to go down. I sure hope that the card didn’t fill up and decide to start erasing random pictures, because we got some really great shots.

Assuming that the pictures didn’t disappear on us, I hope to be able to post some one of these years. We didn’t get back home until 2am this morning, and right now there’s a lot of caffeine in the fridge calling my name. The best thing about this impromptu trip that Boyfriend brought up was that we were so in-your-face together since we left early Friday afternoon until I went to work this morning, and we didn’t bicker at all. We talked a lot over 1500 miles of driving, and saw me out of my element as he toured his old stomping grounds and visited with old friends, and we didn’t even want to be away from each other for a minute - not even now that we are home. And that was the best part of the trip.

Picture not mine - I found it on the internet somewhere. 

…will add an air of sophistication…

I found a cool new tool to add to my template over at BlogU. It allows the pullquote formatting that you see in this post. I’m always looking for easy ways to format my blog to make it even better, and this pullquote stuff will add an air of sophistication to my posts. But don’t worry, I won’t overuse them by putting them in every single post. That’s just annoying.

Where in the world have you been? My travels in the past decade have not been as extensive as I would like them to be, but I couldn’t live with either one of my parents forever (as much as my mom would like that!). I checked off every state and country I have ever set foot in, so while to some of you these figures are artificially inflated, it works for me.

That’s right folks, in just 8 hours I will be on Runway 25 Right at McCarran International Airport, hopefully inside a Boeing 757, ready to take off for New Hampshire, where my new car awaits me. I’ve got my boarding passes printed out, but since I’ve been sooooo busy with work and being a social butterfly, I still have much to do in the next 8 hours.

I’ve already done laundry, but I still need to pack. I’m running the dishwasher, now that it’s fixed, so that I won’t have dirty dishes sitting while I’m gone. I’m currently ripping CDs into iTunes so that I can update my iPod, and I’m also searching for other tunes I want so I can upload those too. Then there’s the blog updating, apartment cleaning, taking out trash, double and triple checking that I have everthing, catching up on blogs, and perhaps sleep if there is time. With the schedule I’ve been keeping lately, I somehow doubt I’ll get to sleep before it’s time to go to the airport, which is fine with me. I am very good at sleeping on airplanes, and whether I get a decent amount of sleep or not, I do plan on sleeping in flight.

My cast has a decent amount of graffiti on it now. Here’s a sampling:

• “Oops” - from my new boss
• “Hope u get better” - VegasRic
• “Get off my arm fast!!!” - Russ, the other half of the A/V crew at church
• “Crash + Burn ♥” - a teen at church
• a picture of a donut - new boss’s son
• - AJ
• “Kirsten, I enjoy dancing with you in Vegas - Love, Valentino” - Assistant Shoe Boss (whose name is not Valentino, and who I have never danced with)

I’m sure I’ll get more graffiti on it during my trip, so I’ll take a picture of it later for you. And yes, even though I’m not packed yet, my camera is on top of my still-empty bag.

I have had a busy few days. I got home Saturday morning from VegasRic’s house a bit after 7, slept for about 4 hours, showered, ran an errand then went to my friend’s office to help him organize a bunch of papers. Boy, there were tons of papers just thrown about in piles. I got a lot done, got free lunch and some money (always a bonus), then another friend picked me up around 8 for a Halloween party. That was a blast, and I even got bitten by a vampire! It didn’t break the skin, unfortunately, but it was a great bring-me-to-my-knees bite on the back of my neck. What fun! I got home from that around 2? Not sure exactly with the time change, but I did manage to get a few hours of sleep before church this morning.

I couldn’t stay for both services at church this morning, since I had to go into the store earlier than I am available. I agreed to that because today is the only day all week that I am working, so extra hours are good, plus I was scheduled to work with AJ, whom I haven’t seen in too long. We were laughing because Ashes quit, but the manner in which she turned in her notice was different, to say the least. Yesterday, Shoe Boss called Ashes about something, perhaps her schedule (I wasn’t made clear on the purpose of the call), and her voice mail picked up. It went something like this: “Hi, this is Ashes, I can’t take your call, leave a message. Oh, and if this is the job, I quit!” Yeah. Anyway, AJ and I worked for about 4 hours together today and had great fun talking about computers and catching up on life in general (in between selling shoes of course).

Now, I don’t think I will have much chance to get online over the next week or so while I am driving cross country, so please, don’t panic!!! I am still here, and I will be taking many notes to be able to have one heckuva post for you when I return. I’ll be taking pictures, visiting friends, listening to music, and spending a lot of time on the open road, in addition to a little visit with my family. I’m really looking forward to this. Of course, once I get back, I will be starting my new job and getting back to super busy and all that jazz. But I’ll still blog. Just not for the next week.

See you all when I get back.

Ok, here it is. I’ve finally compiled all my receipts, notes and other various scraps of paper to get my spending report for you. This encompasses the time from when I left my house to go to the airport to the time I arrived back at my house. Spending since then will be updated later.

Wednesday, August 9:
$2 - tip shuttle driver
$2.79 - Whopper Jr with Cheese at the airport. I was hungry, what can I say?

Thursday, August 10:
$2.76 at Airport Dunkin Donuts. Couldn’t wait!
$1.25 for T (subway) pass
$12.95 for comfy shirt at LL Bean outlet when I went out with Aunt Bird and Uncle N Period.

Friday, August 11:
$13 - haircut by Belching Biker Babe
$1.25 - soda at mall
$21 at Build-a-Bear for Messy J’s birthday present
$19.99 at Best Buy for Bubba’s birthday present
$6.95 for greeting cards (had to get Bubba a talking one)
$1.50 at supermarket for soda to drink since Mom doesn’t buy diet, and so I could get more cash

Saturday, August 12:
$3.99 - soda for Dad since Mom didn’t buy stuff everyone likes
$2.82 for gift wrapping supplies for kids
$.97 for travel sized mousse (I ran out)
$1.88 for socks because I didn’t pack well enough

Sunday, August 13:
$5 - offering at church
$3.97 - paintballs on clearance for Bubba

Monday, August 14:
$20 - gas for gas hog Mustang Dad gave me to drive (no complaints, though - it rides much better than my dinky Kia)
$9 - movie admission for me and Bubba
$27.22 - food at movies for me and Bubba, includes tip
$1.99 - gift wrap for Gram to wrap present I bought a long time ago and brought with me
$14.48 - at bookstore, magazine for me and sticker kit for Messy J

Tuesday, August 15:
$6.67 - lunch at mall
$4.49 - Drake’s Ring Dings to bring home
$4.31 - crappy new recipe Fribble at Friendly’s

Wednesday, August 16:
$.97 - Donut for me and Boo
$5 - gas to make it those last few miles
$4.59 - awesome roast beef sandwich
$1.25 - T pass
$8.90 - dinner at inflated airport prices
$2.61 - snack at inflated airport prices
$47 - parking fee for the week
$2.00 - tip shuttle driver

I love shopping in tax free New Hampshire (as opposed to our 7.75% here in Las Vegas). I hate inflated captive audience airport prices. And I love love love my family and friends who fed me and entertained me and unwittingly saved me money in the process. Thank you!

Got home ok. The flight was uneventful, though boarding was a new experience. New security precautions went into effect while I was en route to Boston last week, so while I was able to pack my carryon in my usual way for the flight out, this was not to be on the return flight. I was half-afraid my suitcase would burst on the way home, because I could not have possibly planned for the new way of packing. Also, this was the first time I’ve ever seen military personnel working at the airport. In the past when I’ve seen military, they were traveling, but this time, MP’s were checking bags at the gate just prior to boarding. It was like one of those weird things you see on the news or travel programs about traveling to countries with political unrest or something. I certainly hope that’s not the direction we’re heading in.

Anyhoo, got into Vegas about 20 minutes early, fought the crowds for my luggage and headed out. Not much traffic tonite, which was nice but as usual there are cone zones everywhere. I emptied my overstuffed mailbox, and now I’m still trying to cool my apartment off since I turned the a/c off while I was gone. I figure the mucho savings on my electric bill will be well worth the sweaty discomfort I have to suffer for about an hour. I have a nifty little digital thermometer that records the high and low temp until you clear the memory, and the high while I was gone in my apartment was 95F. When I arrived home it was 89F. Too hot for sleeping, but it will be cool enough soon.

I’m also pretty hungry since I ate dinner around 6pm in Boston, and it’s now nearly 1am in Vegas and 4am in Boston, so that was quite some time ago. As soon as I can consider turning on the stove I’ll make myself some Ramen so I can sleep without my stomach yelling at me.

So, how did the rest of my trip go, you ask? It was pretty darn good. Let’s see, I last updated you on Monday, so let’s start with Tuesday morning. My nephew woke me up with the announcement that Amma had made chocolate chip pancakes, so I got up, ate some pancakes, and took a shower to ready for my day. I needed a bit of alone time, so I said goodbye to Messy J, since Sis was taking her home that day, and headed out. I just wanted to hit the mall and a few favorite places, so I did that. Had a great steak and cheese sub at D’Angelos, cruised the mall, then went out to a few other places. If I had a goal in mind I may have purchased something at Newbury Comics, but nothing struck me as a had-to-have. Besides, since I can purchase single songs on iTunes, I don’t buy many whole CDs anymore.

I also stopped at Friendly’s for a Fribble, which is better than a frappe (that’s a milkshake to you non-Massholes). But horror of horrors, they changed the recipe! It used to be a hard serve iced milk that they used (as opposed to a frappe that uses ice cream), but now they use *gasp!* soft serve fro-yo. I know how a Fribble should be made, I used to work at Friendly’s when I was 15. Ok, that was a long time ago, but last time I had a Fribble, which was just a few years ago, it was the old recipe. The imposter Fribble I ended up with really sucked since anything made with fro-yo sucks, and next time I’ll know to just order a black and white frappe (vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, so it’s just the right amount of chocolate. Chocolate ice cream with chocolate syrup is too chocolatey).

While I suffered through the Fribble debacle, I decided to drive through the old neighborhood. Not the area I pretty much grew up in, the house my dad bought when I was 6 and still lives in, but the old house, the one we lived in before that, near Arlington Pond. I was suprised to see that they paved our old street. It looks like they did that within the last few years. It was always dirt before. The beach where we used to feed ducks is now private with a few boat docks, and the old country store is gone. Still kinda cool to check out the hood.

Since I knew I wouldn’t have much time later, I stopped at Shaw’s, another place I used to work at, except this time it wasn’t for a summer. I had to pick up some stuff to bring home, goodies that I can’t get here. I got some Drake’s Cakes Ring Dings, which are far superior to the Hostess crap that is so abundant here. If I had a bigger suitcase or could get more on board the plane under the old security rules, I would probably have also gotten some Funny Bones and Pick M Ups (kinda like a Flaky Puff) also, but space was extremely limited. Maybe Mommy can mail me some

I stopped at Mom’s to unload the Ring Dings and show her a quick picture I took of the old house, then watched Boo for a minute while she ran an errand, then it was off to Courtney’s house. I wasn’t suprised to read that she had already posted on her blog about our visit. It was really nice to catch up with her, and I’m conviced that we would still be sitting there chatting if she hadn’t looked at the clock at 11pm. I got to meet her husband and her adorable little son, and also her cute but very energetic nephew. I got caught up on her life and her family, and caught her up on my family. She was there when my nephew was born, so hearing that he’s 13 and almost as tall as me was a shock. I shared pictures of everyone and she did the same, but we were so busy flapping our gums that we didn’t take any pictures! Don’t worry Court, there will definitely be a next time, and we won’t have to wait the better part of a decade for it. Also, Courtney agreed to help me out on some research that I want to do, but that’s all I’m going to say about that since it’s just research at this point.

Well, my apartment is cooler, my stomach is louder, and I’m supposed to be up in less than 5 hours for work tomorrow, which is both jobs, but I did call my office before I even got on the plane that I’m gonna be late. I’m no dummy, I knew this would happen so I kept my morning clear just in case I wouldn’t be able to get my ass up. The way I’m feeling, if I didn’t have to be in until dinnertime I would probably still be late, but I made sure I set my alarms so I get there before dark. I do have pictures that I took, but I’ve yet to unpack anything, including my camera, so I’m hoping to get those on my picture page this weekend, assuming I don’t have to work at Job#2. That’s still up in the air. Otherwise, I’ll get them up sometime this year.

Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Man I wish my mom had a wrist rest for her keyboard like I do. But she learned to type normally whereas I learned on a computer, so she doesn’t need one.

Anyway, let’s see. Yesterday I took Bubba to the movies to see Talladega Nights at Chunky’s. It’s a cinema pub, and they have pretty good food. We couldn’t decide what to eat so we ended up with the appetizer sampler platter, aka the Clueless Platter, Episode 2. All their menu items are named after movies and actors. The movie itself was pretty good, but other Will Ferrell movies are better, IMO. Bubba enjoyed it. After the movie we stopped in at my dad’s garage, since it’s right across the street from Chunky’s, and hung out for a little bit. Bubba didn’t want to go to football practice, because since his mom and me are both in town he wants a total vacation from life. So it ended up that he will go to practice on Tuesday instead, but that meant that my dad had to tell the wicked stepmonster that the plans have changed, so a minor war broke out over that. But we got more time with Bubba, so that’s cool. After we left the garage we went to my Gram’s house. Her birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and I had a present for her that I wanted to give her. We spent a couple hours there before heading off to dinner - my stepdad wanted to have the whole family go out to dinner. I had plans with Belching Biker Babe, but since I’ve known her for just about 20 years now (OMG!!!! I’m getting old!) he said it was cool that she came along. So all of us piled into the Olive Garden for a nice family dinner.

After dinner I wanted to stop into the bookstore, but Messy J wanted to come home with me so I took her to the bookstore. I let her look around the kid’s section at her leisure and she finally selected a Disney Princess sticker book and stickers, and it all comes in its own handy carrying case. Not as educational as I would have liked, but she liked it. I just got a magazine because it was getting late and I didn’t want to bore her silly while I looked at grown-up books. Then it was home, tv, bed, blah blah blah.

I’m not sure what’s in store for today, I might just do a little shopping or something. Definitely gotta fit Newbury Comics in there somehow. Tonite I’m going to my friend’s house to catch up and meet her family (her new family - I already know her parents, sisters and a few others). Tomorrow begins the running around of dropping off borrowed cars and saying goodbye.

Time to get in the shower now and head out for the day.

I’m still at my mom’s house trying to figure out how I’m gonna get to spend time with everyone before I leave and of course eat all the awesome food that I can’t get back in Vegas. The food might have to wait, unless I want to gain 20lbs on this trip, and to my friends and family, if I can’t get to you all, don’t worry, there will be a next time.

Yesterday we had the party for the kids, which was pretty good. Bubba and Messy J liked the stuff they got, and we watched Benchwarmers after everyone left. It was funnier than I thought it would be.

This morning Boo woke me up early and of course my mom said I should have just left him there, but I was sleeping in the same room and I can’t sleep with him looking over at me and laughing. So I got him up, changed his diaper and put his slippers on. Then we went over to see if Bubba was awake yet, which Boo had to test by sticking his fingers up Bubba’s nose. Bubba wasn’t awake, so we went downstairs and had some juice. Boo watched age appropriate television while I read the Sunday paper - only the good parts, of course. Then I got ready for church, and since my mom suddenly decided to go, we had to wait for her, which meant that we were late because my mom is never on time. My uncle said he has never been on time going to church with my mom. So we were late, but we made it so I got most of the important parts of the service, then got to catch up with my old Pastor and some old friends at church. Mom had to take the scenic route home (what she calls a “shortcut” but it involves more twists and turns than the shortest, most direct route).

After church I headed out to visit with my friend Officer Friend. Haven’t seen him in a year, so that was nice. We’ve known each other for 14 years now, way too long. He’s got a 2 year old! His kid is so big, and really really cute too. He also has Dad’s receeding hairline. Mommy stayed with the kid and Officer Friend and I went to Vinnie T’s for some awesome fettucine alfredo. We called my mom and teased her about it, but I brought her some leftovers. And the garlic and bread - mmmmmmm! A whole head of soft, sweet roasted garlic that can be spread on fresh focaccia bread. Oh the love. After we stuffed ourselves silly on ‘fredo, we checked out the mall, which Officer Friend criticized up and down. He used to be maintenance director there, and since he left things are so not up to his standards. We shopped a little bit, and I found some paintballs in the sports store that were on sale so I picked those up for Bubba, since he’s really into paintballing. After the shopping we went to the movies and saw World Trade Center. I thought it was done really well, just a very human story that focused on the confusion of that day and the hope that everyone had coping with the unknown. After we left the mall I got to drive Officer Friend’s new Outback that is definitely not standard issue. He’s got it so tricked out, I got it up to 90 on the highway without any effort at all, and you can barely feel it. My little car, on the other hand, starts to cry when I get it up that high. After that I got into the Mustang that Dad let me drive during my visit and took a bit of a scenic route back to my mom’s, checking out all the changes along the way.

So now I’m back, Bubba really liked his paintballs, Messy J is just about to go to bed, Boo is in bed already, and Mom and Sis are watching Blue Collar Comedy. I’m not really feeling like that sort of thing right now, so I’ll probably hang out down here by the computer for a little while longer then go to bed. I think I’m finally on Eastern Time, thanks to Boo getting me up at 6:15 this morning.

Tomorrow I’m taking Bubba to see the Ballad of Ricky Bobby, then going out with Belching Biker Babe in the evening sometime. Tuesday I don’t have plans yet for during the day, but I am going to visit a very good friend that I kinda lost touch with over the years. We talked for about an hour last night, which was really nice. We were really close friends in high school and college, then life happened and we fell out of touch. But my mom ran into her one day and gave her my email address, and we have been slowly catching up since then. She got a blog, so keeping up was easier, then I got a blog, and thanks to the internet we’re getting back there. So Tuesday night will be dinner to catch up, meet her husband and of course her handsome little man, whom I’ve seen so many pictures of on her blog. I can’t wait. Then Wednesday I’ll head home, without any liquids or gels in my carryon bag. That ought to be interesting - I just hope I can get my chapstick on board.

So, where was I? Oh yes. Had dinner last night with Aunt Bird and Uncle N Period. Mom made some kick-ass ribs that were so tender a straw was needed to eat them. I also presented Aunt Bird with her present. It was a talking parrot keychain, but it says really rude things. “Polly wants a fucking cracker! Polly wants a fucking cracker! Give Polly a fucking cracker NOW!!!!” It was hilarious. Her birds don’t talk, but if they hear that keychain that’s probably going to be what they say. Aunt Bird’s mother will come over and one of the birds will greet her with, “Show us your tits!” She’ll be appalled, while Uncle N Period is in the other room laughing like a teenage boy. Anyway, it was a lovely evening and we all watched some television and staggered off to bed. I slept pretty well, too, which was a refreshing change of pace.

This morning I got up, had some juice, sat around talking to my aunt and uncle while my little bro Boo was running around. Then went up to take a shower, which was also refreshing since I didn’t shower yesterday (took the red eye flight and never got a chance to cleanse). Aunt Bird and Uncle N. left while I was in the shower, so Mom and I took Boo to get a haircut. I also needed a haircut and of course had to put in an appearance with one of my bestest friends, Belching Biker Babe. She cut Boo’s hair even though he kept moving his head and was really fussy because he was hungry, then she cut my hair and made a big announcement every time she found a grey one. Yes, I’m in my 30’s. It’s inevitable that my hairs will one by one turn grey and no, I’m not going to dye my hair. Once you start, you can’t stop, so I’m not gonna start. I have better things to spend my money on. Anyhoo, since Belching Biker Babe was working we made plans for Monday and Mom, Boo and I went off to have lunch. Boo was ready for a nap so he was really fussy, but it was 2:00 and I didn’t even have breakfast, so I was pretty starving. We had a decent meal and came back to the house, then I took off for the mall while Mom put Boo down for a nap. I had some presents to buy.

Since I know that Bubba and Messy J don’t read my blog, I’ll spill about what I bought. Messy J was a bit easier, since she just got a Builder Bear (aka Build-a-Bear) for her birthday. She wanted the red wig, since she wants Peppermint to have the same color hair as her, and I also got her a new outfit and shoes. I also have a few other things for Messy J that I’ve been saving up over the past few months, so she’ll get those tomorrow too.

Bubba is a bit harder to shop for since he’s hitting that all-important age: 13. That means he’s a fussy teenager who only likes to play video games and hang with his friends. Well, Aunty don’t play that. I prefer something a bit educational, or at least something the rest of the family can enjoy. I know he loves Napoleon Dynamite, so I got him some ND lip balm, and the $1 gift I found the other day was the ND talking keychain. I’m pretty sure he already has the movie, since he knows it by heart, so I got another movie I know he likes: Benchwarmers. He’s never actually told me he likes this movie, but since it’s his theme on his AIM, I figured it’s safe to say he’ll enjoy this gift. I’m also taking him to the movies on Monday to see Talladega Nights, which I think we’ll both enjoy.

Tomorrow my mom his hosting a birthday party for both Bubba and Messy J, with special appearances by Aunty and Mom. Yes, my sister just flew into town this evening. She’s preggers, so she used this to her advantage to get priority boarding. Her belly isn’t quite that big yet, since she still has about 4 months to go, but my goodness, my tiny twig of a sister has got herself some amazing B00Bs! Too bad they’ll turn back into deflated balloons after the baby is born and she stops nursing.

When Mom and I went to pick up Sis at the airport, we decided to play a little joke on Mom. Sis and I went potty and when we were heading back to baggage claim, I got the idea to call Mom on her cell and freak her out. This was even funnier because the airport here isn’t that large. I called her and kept asking her where the heck she was, trying to make it sound like I was all panicky because she was lost. The whole time I could see her because I wasn’t that far away, hiding behind the information booth. The lady at the info booth was cracking up watching this. Mom was asking me if I could see the lady with the Mickey ears, and I was like, “What Mickey ears? Mom, did you get on a plane again? We’re not going anywhere, we are here to pick Sis up!” It was hilarious.

Anyway, tomorrow is the cookout, then afterwards my cousin and I are supposed to go out. I can’t wait to see his vagina gut. See, he’s a stunt motorcycle rider and he had a bit of an accident - something about 80mph, bike on top of him and road rash. He ended up with a wound that the doctors couldn’t or wouldn’t close and the nurse had to come to his house twice a day to clean it. I’ve seen pictures of it. All I can say is GROSS. At least he didn’t hit his head.

I’m not posting my spending right now, but I’m kinda keeping track. I’ll try and post an update when I get home and I’m entering stuff into Quicken. In the meantime, I’ll try and keep track of it all, at least the cash part.

Time to get going now. I should probably go see what stupid movie my nephew picked out to watch. Later, y’all.

Well, I finally made it to my mom’s house. The flight was uneventful, but according to my seatmate (my very w_i_d_e seatmate), we flew throught a thunderstorm. I didn’t notice, because I was asleep. I’m glad I can sleep on a plane. Anyhoo, got into Boston a half hour earlier than I originally thought, which was nice because I made the 7:19 train out. And of course I had my beloved Dunkin Donuts, before I even left the airport. The selection was overwhelming.

My dad picked me up at the train station - they moved it down the street and built a big garage and platform. It looks respectable now, and people actually park there. Bubba was playing his Gameboy and had a nice case of bedhead. For someone who was so excited to see me, he barely looked up from his game. When he was 6 he was the same way and ended up dropping the thing in the toilet because he couldn’t put it down long enough to pee.

Anyhoo, I’d write more but my mom is hollering to come eat dinner, which I ought to do because I napped right through lunch. More later.

As if I don’t have enough to do, (most of which is getting ignored), I have to sit down and blog. I want to be out of the house in an hour and I’m sitting here with no pants on and all my toiletries still to pack. Such is the way when preparing to be gone for a week.

I stopped at War-Mart to try and pick up a decongestant, but there was a huge line (3 people and a scooter) at the pharmacy so I walked out without getting what I wanted. Then I went to Tarjay and got a new pair of jeans, because 1 is just not enough. I also got a bunch of trial sized toiletries because I have a whole big drawerful in my bathroom and that is also not enough. And of course I bought a micro-meal because I didn’t feel like cooking tonite. I also stopped at the 7-11 to pick up a liter of water (since I have a habit of leaving things on the plane and I don’t want to lose my nice water bottle). I totally got hit on by the guy behind the counter - he said I had nice skin. Unusual compliment, but he was going on and on about my creamy white skin and beautiful complexion.

Anyhoo, I got home, started throwing clothes into my suitcase and took a quick shower. I originally wanted to take a complete shower, but now I just don’t feel like it. I just wanted to stop feeling all sweaty, which worked for about 10 minutes. Now I’m starting to get sweaty again, which will be complete after I haul my luggage to my car.

I talked to Bubba on AIM and he is going to make sure he’s there when my dad picks me up in the morning. He can’t wait to see me, and I can’t wait to see him. It’s been a whole year since I saw him last, and in less than 2 weeks he is going to be a TEENAGER!!!!! What happened to my little Bubba-Loo? He’s almost as tall as I am!

So, quick spending update:

$21.50 - jeans that fit
$1.87 - micro-meal for dinner
$1.79 - big bottle of water for the plane
$4.73 - drugs to help with ear pressure on the plane
$3.22 - disposable razors because I needed them anyway
$4.30- new small cosmetics bag to replace the zip-loc one I used for feminine hygiene products
$3.20 - travel-sized stuff

And yesterday - $21.12 on a new purse that I’ve really been wanting since we got it in. It finally got marked down to 60% off, plus my 30% employee discount made it a decent deal. I don’t like to spend more on a purse than I’m ever gonna carry in it. Plus, this one is bigger than my old one without being too bulky, and it zips closed which will come in really handy on the plane.

Anyway, I just gotta pack all my toiletries, my carryon bag, water the plants, take the trash out, turn the lights out, turn the a/c off, shut my computer down, double check and make sure I have everything including my tickets, and oh yeah, put some pants on. All in less than an hour. Time to fly!