I didn't THINK I was addicted...

Several months ago, I finally caved into peer pressure (OK, Trina pressure, but she's my peer, right?) and joined Facebook. At the time I was already blogging, AND was on match.com, so I was unsure about leaping into yet another online huge pit of time-wasting doom.

But I did it.

And I thought I was OK. I thought I was in control. I thought I could handle it.

I had a few friends on, and found more as the months went by. I played word games, updated my status, and gradually added more friends (though, relatively speaking I'm still pretty much a social outcast by Facebook standards!).

But it was no big deal. I certainly didn't NEED it.

But this week, suddenly everything changed. I saw that I'd been tagged in some photoes on Trina's page, and I wanted to go see them.

I got a Page Cannot Be Displayed error. Hmmmm.

I didn't think much about it; I did briefly consider that facebook might've been added to the "blocked" list at work, but it wasn't the typical error you get when you try to access blocked sites (not that I've ever tried to access blocked sites or anything.....).

But then it happened again the next day. And the next. And Kathy was getting it too. And it kept happening, and each time, my anxiety level would increase! I wanted to update my status! I wanted to see photos! I wanted to know what my friends were doing!!!!

So, today I'm on a non-work network (as it's Saturday), and sure enough, I can get to Facebook. Looks like the internet-blockers have struck again, and I'll have to limit myself to off-hours status updates.

Sigh.....

OK, that's better

Earlier this week, my world was...well, not rocked exactly, but it wobbled a bit.

I went to my favorite, FAVORITE (sorry, Blue's Clues came up at dinner last night...) web comic, and I didn't get the strip that day. Gasp! Tragedy! Luckily, I was able to find resources to help me figure it out (though, I have to admit, it was even MORE disturbing once I did....)

But the universe has righted itself. I went back to my webcomic today (they publish on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays), and I not only got it, it was about Star Wars!!!!

Yay!!!!

Lunch Of Champions

Cheese Nips and a Propel....Yummmmmmm

I'm NOT a piler!!!!

I've been accused in the past of being a piler. And, to be fair, I do have a tendency to pile things.

One of the things I pile most often is clothes; to me, clothes have three states: clean, dirty, and inbetween. Inbetween covers the pair of shorts you throw on after work, but really only wear about 3 hours before you go to bed. They're not CLEAN, so you're not going to fold them and put them back in the dresser (because, of course, they'd contaminate the clean clothes), but they're not really dirty, either, and you'll probably wear them again in the reasonably near future (or at least before you wash clothes again). So, yeah, they don't go in the dirty clothes either, because then THEY'D be contaminated.

So they get piled on (in my case) the cedar chest at the foot of my bed!

Well, I just discovered that I am NOT a piler. I am merely making use of my chestdrobe. Which is not the same as a chiffarobe, to the best of my knowledge....

Old Folks Site

OK, first off: I used to be cool. Really, I did. In my prime (keeping in mind, of course, that it was the 80s), I was cool, and not stupid-80's parachute pants and leg warmers cool. No, I was black eyeshadow, band Tshirts, thrift store sports coat cool. Pink chucks cool. WXYC cool, man!

But, yeah, now I'm 41, I've had two kids, I work in a (more or less) normal, white collar, 9-5 boring job. I've become the man (except, yeah, still female!).

I am no longer cool.

But, I still like to pretend I'm cool, or at least feel like I could be cool if the opportunity presented itself.

The thing is, there are times when I hear references or slang, and I have NO CLUE what the people are talking about.

Like this comic, which was on one of my favorite sites, so was very disturbing when I realized I just didn't get it.

That's why I love The Urban Dictionary. This site allows me to keep in touch with my cool-side (LOL! Yeah, right!!), or at least be able to nod intelligently in a conversation with people 15-20 years younger than me. Or arch my eyebrow warningly at my son when he drifts into a comment that I find inappropriate and he doesn't realize I know the meaning of!

From The Urban Dictionary I've learned EXACTLY what that comic referred to (and, yes, I could've searched youtube or googled it, but I'm guessing the video itself would be blocked on my work server). I've learned entirely new meanings for the word Superman. I've learned so much....

But, yeah, I have a sense that it's really an old folks' site...sigh.

Why must it be this way?

Have I mentioned I hate Vista?

I typically bring my personal laptop into work, and use it to connect remotely to my work desktop. Makes it easy to refer to things in meetings, and it's more comfortable for my hand and arm.

When I got back from vacation, I had a ton of trouble connecting to my work computer; turns out my personal computer was storing an old IP address somewhere.

Well, last night Vista decided I needed to apply updates to my laptop. Lo and behold, this morning, once AGAIN I not only couldn't connect to the work network initially, because some of my security settings had gotten blown away, but I was also unable to connect to my work computer by name again.

Sheesh. I HATE Vista. I miss my nice, stable XP.

My Fume??? Not Pictures of my Fume!!!!

I love spam.

Well, OK, actually I hate spam (the email type, not the meat product type. Being a good child of the 70's, I actually have fond memories of breakfasts with fried Spam). But, the spam filters on my email at work are really, REALLY good, and catch boatloads of spam.

Therefore, when I do occasionally get a spam email, I can be amused rather than annoyed. Typically, it's the surreality of the language that gets me; the more spam I read the less convinced I become that if you gave an infinite number of monkeys typewriters and let them type forever, one of them would produce the works of Shakespeare, regardless of what Douglas Adams says. Randomly stringing English words together just doesn't seem to work that way!

For example, I got a spam mail this morning, telling me that the senders were holding my baby, and wanted 50 OO (thats five-zero-oh-oh) of something to release said baby. What, exactly, they wanted five-zero-oh-oh of was indeterminate. For that matter, I don't even know what five-zero-oh-oh MEANS, unless they actually wanted fifty of something, and the two oh's were meant to represent amazement at the amount (Ooooooh!)

And just to let me know they meant business, they told me they had pictures of my fume!

OMG, I'm so embarrased. Pictures of my fume on the internet!!!!!

First Day of School!!!!

Today was the first day of school for my 5th and 3rd grader (gasp). Peter and Grace were both bemoaning the end of summer, EVEN with a final trip to the water park on Saturday (good time, and Grace rode Daredevel Drop, 70 feet of vertical craziness).

But, as is typical, when push came to shove they were very excited. There really is just something about a brand new notebook that gets the blood flowing!

We got everything packed up and ready last night, and they both more or less popped out of bed this morning, and were out at the stop with PLENTY of time to spare.

Grace has always liked getting a new outfit for the first day of school, and did again this year; Peter ordinarily doesn't, but saw a shirt he liked when we were in Target yesterday, so he actually had on a new shirt, also. And it's not even a Carolina shirt!

Here are some pictures from the bus stop (and my entryway)

Grace is ready

Peter condescends to be photographed (but he'd really rather be at the bus stop...)

At the bus stop

You're bringing who?

In the car tonight, Grace and I were playing the Picnic Game; each player takes turns saying, "I'm going to a picnic and I'm bringing...." then saying an item they will brings. The items have to go in alphabetcal order, and you have to say the entire list each time.

We've played this for years; when the kids are little it works on their memory and helps teach them the alphabet. As they get older, it gets more difficult, but also more fun; they don't limit themselves to only foodstuffs, and occasionally they'll use an adjective to get the correct letter, which makes it harder to remember. (As an aside, in fitting with my OCD Mom personality, if too many turns go without a food item I will add one, so we don't get hungry!)

So, last night Grace and I were going to a picnic, and we started out by bringing:

• an apple
• blueberry pie
• carrots
• Dunkin' Donuts (me)
• an eager monkey
• a fish named Francine (me again, and I nearly named her Wanda)
• a gargling gorilla
• hot cross buns
• an ice cream model of Mt. Rushmore (Grace)
• Johnnie cake (me, which I had to explain to G)
• ketchup
• (don't remember L)
• mashed potatoes, which G said she would put the ketchup on (I HATE that)

I forget what else we brought for awhile, but eventually we were getting close to home, so we sped the game up by only saying the new item we were adding. I wound up with both X and Z, which I think is totally unfair, but that'll teach me to play with only one other person. I chose to bring an X-Ray machine (Peter said he would've brought an X-Box) and Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Grace's comment on Mr. Brzezinski: "What is THAT???"

Memo to the world

Any cool points you get from driving a convertable with the top down are immediately revoked (and in fact you probably slip into a negative balance) if you have to hold up one hand to shade your eyes while you're driving.

I'm just sayin'.....

Good vs. Bad

There truly is, apparently, good and bad in everything.

Today I actually woke up at a reasonable hour, got myself ready, and was heading off to work by 7:30 or so. Pretty amazing for me in the summer when I don't have to get my kiddies off to school.

The problem?

Now it's 10:30, I feel like I've been at work for HOURS, and I'm starving!

They do say that no good deed goes unpunished...

Man, that was more difficult than it should've been!

So, I got back from vacation yesterday, and pretty quickly got called with work problems (boo, hiss). Not a big deal, except I couldn't connect remotely to my work computer, which makes actually working significantly more difficult.

I didn't worry about it too much yesterday, even at 2:30 am (OK, I guess technically that's today), figuring my work computer had gone goofy, and I'd just reboot it this morning.

So I got into work all bright and early today, rebooted said work computer, and be damned if I still couldn't connect!

What the heck is up with that??????

I could connect to other computers, so I knew that it wasn't my laptop. I checked the remote properties on my desktop, and it still allowed connecting remotely.

Finally, a lightbulb went off, and I tried connecting by the actual IP address rather than the computer name. That worked. So, I sat and scratched my head (figuratively, anyway) for a bit; because, of course, the whole reason you give computers names is so you don't have to remember IP addresses!

Finally it occured to me that the IP address I had a week ago had probably expired, but it was very likely that my laptop, in all it's brilliant Vista knowledge, was trying to hold on to the old IP address. I flushed the DNS cache on my laptop, tried connecting again by name, and, lo, it worked.

But I did NOT need this on a post-vacation Monday after a 2:30 wakeup call!

Not Fair

I was having a dream this morning that I was still on the cruise, where they would periodically make announcements over the intercom. These announcements were preceeded by the ringing of bells to get your attention, but were NOT broadcast in the staterooms if they weren't critical.

So, in my dream, was asleep andd heard the bells ringing, but never heard the announcement. I looked around and didn't recognize my stateroom, so I switched on my light....

....and was in my bedroom at home. The ringing was the PHONE, gosh darn it; I was being called by the Help Desk at work because a server wasn't behaving nicely.

Hmph.

That's just funny

Prior to my trip to Alaska, I had seen exactly two bald eagles, one up in the mountains when I was in college, and one at Jordan Lake a decade or more ago. In Alaska, of course, I saw them by the gazillion!

I was driving to Cary this evening, and crossing Jordan Lake, I was thinking about how sad it was that I wouldn't see wildlife in the same quantities as I had.

When lo and behold, I looked out my window and saw a bald eagle!

Back Home....

Peter and Grace after landing at RDU. We're all a little sleepy....

Oh, Canada!

We’ve been sailing through Canadian waters for some time now (since 4pm Alaska time yesterday, I believe), but won’t actually set foot in Canada till about 6:00 tonight, when we dock at Victoria, Canada.

Dad and the kids and I are going on a horse-drawn trolley tour of Victoria; we only decided today to do it. We all (well, Dad and I!) wanted to see Victoria, but we’re also all feeling sort of lazy. An hour of being driven around by someone else seemed perfect!

This will probably be my last post from sea; when we get back on the boat from Victoria we’ll have to do the last-minute packing up (most of my packing is already done), then bed and tomorrow we’ll be back in Seattle!

Since my hotel in Seattle has wi-fi, though, I’m sure I’ll make one last post tomorrow describing Victoria.

Yeah, yeah, Mom, it’s an eagle

So, I’m glad I brought my kids on this cruise.

I’m glad they’re getting a chance to see things they’ve never seen before. I’m glad they’re getting to see things that may disappear in their lifetime (yep, that was a not-so-subtle global warming crack).

But, Lord, they get blasé quickly!

Today at lunch, a bald eagle flew by the boat, and it barely got nods of recognition from Peter and Grace, even after I pointed it out! You’d’ve thought I was showing them a sparrow in our yard at home! Now granted, we were on a wildlife viewing trip yesterday where we saw TONS of eagles, and a rafting trip the day before where we saw three or four.

But still! This is a bald eagle! Before I came to Alaska I’d seen exactly two in my life; one in college and one after I moved back to North Carolina after living in New York. At that rate, I could’ve expected to see about 4 TOTAL in my life, not four in one day.

I can’t decide if this is good or bad; on the one hand I’m certainly glad I brought them, and I recognize that they’re young enough they’re not going to necessarily react as an adult would.

But sheesh!

If it’s raining…

Then we must be in port!

Alaska’s climate (or at any rate the parts we’ve been visiting) is temperate rain forest. That means it’s not hot, and it rains. A lot.

So far it’s rained every time we’ve set foot on dry (er, damp) land! We had beautiful weather in Seattle, and on our first day at sea. And it was even just cloudy in Juneau. Until, that is, we got out of the bus that had taken us up to our float trip!

It also rained in Sitka, and, yes, rained again today In Ketchikan!

We didn’t let the damp weather stop us, though (well, the kids would’ve, but their wretched mother keeps insisting that they see more of Alaska than the inside of a cruise ship!). Dad, Peter Grace and I had no shore excursions scheduled, but got off the boat anyway, and strolled through Ketchikan. We made our way up to the Totem Heritage Center, where there is a large collection of Totem Poles. Being made of wood, Totem Poles are affected by weather and age; the Center collects them when they can and either restore them or at least preserve them. They also teach Native arts in classes there. It was a neat place.

All told, the ship was in port about 6 hours; we probably spent a couple of that on shore. We did NOT wake up at 7am to be the first ashore; rather we had our oh-so-civilized room service breakfast, and then toodled ashore around 9:00 or 9:30.

One thing that is very interesting (to me, anyway) about Alaska is that it reminds me of the North Carolina mountains in the relative haphazardness of the life. Many of the houses are not so much designed as they are added-on-to; the towns we’ve visited are clustered around ports, and have spread only where there’s a need to. And, many of the residents seem to have multiple jobs; one in the summer, one in the winter, and a third (or fourth) either to make ends meet or simply because they like it. Very different than the world of suburbia that my kids at least, and I to some extent, are used to.

Just say no…

I’ve never been one to over-medicate my kids. No Benedryl for long trips, no combo cold meds, etc. But, I have to admit, I never REALLY knew if medicating them would really be a bad thing or not.

Well, now I know.

Grace had a bit of motion sickness yesterday, and Peter, while not queasy, didn’t particularly enjoy the rough ocean last night (his mother, of course, couldn’t help think of Gilligan’s Island, The Poseidan Adventure and The Perfect Storm!). Today we were scheduled for a 3 hour Sea Otter Quest, and I did NOT want to have queasy children, so I gave them each a Dramamine before we left.

Grace slept nearly the entire trip, and Peter was not far behind! They certainly dozed the first hour or so. Peter eventually woke up, and FINALLY Grace did….just in time to see the Humpback whale! I have to admit, her timing is impeccable!

The tour was great; the staff was very friendly and knowledgeable, and we saw harbor seals, sea otters (CUTE), bald eagles galore, an Alaskan black-tailed deer, and the aforementioned humpback whale. The whale even did a couple of deep dives, which meant on the way down his tail was out of the water so we could see that.

The kids woke up enough that I convinced (OK, forced) them to walk around Sitka after the sea otter tour. We got some of the BEST kabobs ever (salmon for me and Peter, steak for G), hit a drugstore for more Dramamine (non-drowsy this time), got chocolate, and saw a bit of the town.

Sadly, I didn’t get many pictures, which is a shame. But I’ve discovered that it doesn’t rain ALL the time in Alaska – just anytime my feet are touching Alaskan soil! I got a few pictures of bald eagles, but my poor camera couldn’t figure out how to focus on the sea otters, I didn’t even TRY to get the whale, and in Sitka itself I kept getting raindrops on my lens. Sigh.

The kids have decided they could live in Alaska; I keep reminding them of the 19 hours of darkness in the winter, and we found out today that if Peter played ball in Sitka, rather than taking an activity bus for away games, he’d take an airplane! It’s been enlightening…..

The Hubbard Glacier, and Grace’s Excitement

Today was our second day spent totally at sea; we were to cruise by the Hubbard Glacier. We arrived in view of the glacier around 10:30 am, and spent several hours within sight of it, eventually getting close enough to get some excellent pictures, and see the glacier calving (indidentally, we’d see the ice fall before we’d hear the rumble or splash, thus showing that light really DOES travel faster than sound, just in case anyone was wondering).
Sadly, Grace had a bit of motion sickness. So, she and Peter and I spent most of the afternoon in the cabin; she’s not exactly in quarantine, but the medical staff would prefer if she’d stay away from others till she’s “symptom free”. Hopefully that will be tomorrow; unfortunately the ocean is significantly rougher right now than it has been.

The town that no one’s from

James McMurtry had a song a decade or two ago titled “I’m not from here (I just live here)”. That, I think, could be used to accurately describe Juneau, Alaska.
We were in Juneau today for our first port-of-call on the cruise. The kids and I took a rafting trip; our first bus drive r was from Baton Rouge, our raft guide was from Philadelphia, and our second bus driver was from Missouri.

So who the heck is from Juneau?

Brrrrrr!!!!!

Today Peter, Grace and I went on the Mendenhall River Float trip. Sounded like a good idea when we booked it in warm and sunny North Carolina, and it WAS fun.
But boy, oh, boy, it was COLD. The high in Juneau today didn’t make it out of the high 50’s, and it was rainy. The float trip started in the Mendenhall lake, which has real live actual icebergs floating in it from the Mendenhall glacier. The water temperature there is about 34 degrees, which means the icebergs stay around long enough for the tourists to photograph them, but also makes for a cold trip across the lake. Plus, it’s windy! But we survived, and made it across.

And then the fun began! The Mendenhall river is a fairly calm river, but there are a couple of places where there are class 2 rapids; not enough to flip the raft, but enough to get the people in the front of the raft (or the sides) wet. We were wearing rain gear, and looked a bit like rejects from Deadliest Catch, but it was still cold. Peter and Grace were in the front of the raft, so they got splashed a lot, and I was on the right side behind them, and got my fair share of dampness myself!

The trip was fun, though. Our guide was very good, and really knew the river well. We saw 3 bald eagles, and some salmon(two live and swimming, one dead and headless). No bears, though our guide said he had seen some. Once we were past the rapids, the guide let anyone who wanted to row; Grace did, Peter did not. Grace really enjoyed the paddling, and actually took two turns at it. Once we were through the rapids, it was another 30 or 45 very cold minutes, then we were to the lower end, where we got off the river, and had hot apple cider, venison sausage, and cheese and crackers.

We warmed up a bit as we were eating, and then had a bus ride back into Juneau. It was cold and raining still, so we did get off for a bit of shopping (against Peter and Grace’s will!), but didn’t really get a chance to go into town. Then it was back to the boat for warm showers and hot cocoa; on the walk down the gangway we were strafed by yet ANOTHER bald eagle!

A fun, but cold, day.

WE JUST SAW AN ICEBERG!

We just saw an ice berg!!!!!! How cool (no pun intended) is that!!!!!

Are you SURE that’s Not-A-Cosmo?

Peter has become a Mock-aholic (isn’t that what you call someone addicted to mock alcoholic drinks?). He’s discovered mock-tails on this cruise, and his favorite is the Not A Cosmo at the Ocean Bar. It’s basically cranberry, grapefruit, and some other fruit juices with Sprite, served in a chilled martini glass so it looks just like a Cosmo.

He LOVES them! Last night he made me take him to the Ocean Bar to get one so he could have it for the Captain’s Toast!
I’m expecting serious withdrawal when we get back home….

Alaska, Day Three

Sunday was our first Day at Sea. I woke up WAY too early (there’s just something unconscionable about a 4:20 sunrise…..), finally got my eye mask about 5:00, then promptly fell asleep without realizing it, so when Peter got up around 7:30 I asked him what in the world he was doing awake at 5 am! Needless to say, he found that hysterical.

We dozed a bit, blogged a bit (OK, so that was me), and finally had breakfast on the Lido Deck (SO Love Boat) around 9. After that, Dad walked on the Promenade deck, while the kids and I explored the ship. We showed Grace the back of the ship off the Promenade deck where you can see the wake of the ship, and checked out the big navigation map with the ship’s position, where we’ve been, where we’re going, sunrise and set info, air temperature, and water temperature of both the ocean (cold) and the pools (warm!)

We eventually and eventually wound our way up to the Sports Deck, where there was a football toss. If you could throw a football and hit certain parts of a basketball backboard, you could earn “Dam” Dollars, which can be redeemed in Ketchikan for ship’s merchandist (I badly want a shirt that says “Dam Ships”). Unfortunately, the kids could participate, but not earn Dam Dollars. Bummer, because Peter did really well! I hit a corner of the backboard a couple of times, though, and earned 6 DDs.
After that we mainly piddled around. The kids, Dad and Trina went to a high tea, which they enjoyed, then last night was one of our formal nights, so we all got dressed up for dinner. Lots of fun, and the kids and I went to a portrait sitting while we were all in our finery, and then, of course, there was the Captain’s Toast!

Water, water everywhere, and showering at sea

Today is our day at sea, and they DO mean at sea! We woke up this morning and there is NO land in sight! Anywhere!!!

Peter was very excited this morning to be on the ship. He yelled out at one point,”I’m showering on a shIp!!!”

My daughter the Party Queen.

Grace went to the Club HAL Sail Away party tonight, from 8 to 10. She discovered that, even being 7 ¾ , she had to be in the younger group (3-7 year olds) rather than the “tween” group (8-12 year olds). She was bummed, till she realized that would make her one of the older kids. She’s NEVER been an older kid!

So, she went to the sail away party, and when I went to pick her up, she was playing Freeze Dance with two little boys, laughing like a fiend, and was very bummed when I told her that she probably would NOT be able to go to the Alien Night tomorrow, as it’s a formal night and we’ll be dining late!

Cruisin’…..

On a Friday afternoon!

We had reasonably uneventful flights on Friday; we did have to get up at the crack of dawn to get to the airport for our flight out of Raleigh; we had good flights, though, and no trouble making connections. We finally got to Seattle around 1:30, and were at our hotel and checked in by 2:30 or so.

Once we checked in, we got a quick bite to eat at an Italian place recommended by the concierge; GREAT gnocchi that Peter and I split, Kathy got a really nice Bolognese sauce with fettucine, Grace got minestrone, and Dad and Adrianne got salads. We also got free bruschetta because we were from out of town! It was all really tasty.

After lunch, we walked from the hotel to the Space Needle. I love tower thingies, and try to go in them whenever I can. I even got my agoraphobic siblings to go up in the Stratosphere in Vegas! The Space Needle was fun; there were no rides on the top the way there are at the Strastosphere, but in my mind that simply shows good sense!

After that we went back to the hotel, then met up with Dick and Trina for dinner; tapas in the restaurant at our hotel. We then went upstairs to Kathy and Adrianne’s room, where they surprised us with matching shirts for the first day of the cruise! Yes, we’ve become one of “those” families!!!!

Today we were up reasonably early, had the world’s slowest breakfast at the hotel, but made it to the pier by 11. We got checked in, and were able to board by about 11:30 am; we stowed our luggage and went to the buffet on the Lido Deck (isn’t that just SO LoveBoat?) for lunch. We were able to check into our stateroom by about 1:30, and have spent the rest of the day exploring the ship, scheduling massages, and watching the water go by.

And so begins the grand Craddock-Cohen-Patnaude-Chow vacation of 2008

On the way to AK

Boarding

I'm not waiting on a lady...

I'm just waitin on a gate... waiting for a gate in Phoenix

It's got to get better from here, right?

I'm supposed to be going on vacation tomorrow with the whole family, and when I say the whole family I MEAN the WHOLE family: Dad, Me and the kids, Kathy and A, Dick and Trina.

I have never had such trouble going on vacation.

First, it was a crazy day at work. For any number of reasons, I didn't get done with work till 6:15; the only good thing was I was working from home (because Peter was sick, which added a whole-nother level of stress), so I'd been able to get a few things done. Finally threw the last few things in the suitcases, and we were off.

We'd planned on staying at a hotel near the airport that offered parking, shuttle service, etc. We actually wound up getting there before happy hour ended (yay, free wine), and then decided to go to Cracker Barrel for dinner, which was fine. After dinner, there was a minor meltdown on Graces part, because she didn't get to finish a game of Checkers, but it resolved itself.

I had to make a Barnes and Noble run to get a book for the flight, and it was on the way back to the hotel that the real traumas started. You have to understand, I always forget something on vacation. Always. Sometimes big things, sometimes little things, but I ALWAYS forget something.

This time, it was my contacts. Yep, that's big. I had the ones in my eyes, obviously, but no extras.

So, I dropped Dad, Kathy and the kids off at the hotel, and schlepped back to Chapel Hill to pick up my contacts.

I ran by Kathy's to get a book for her, then headed BACK to the airport.

And that was when the real trauma started.

Buddy, who's been around longer than Peter has, was supposed to go along on this trip, but got forgotten. Buddy has gone on nearly every trip since, oh, forever. Poor Peter tried his best to be brave and deal with the no-Buddy-ness, and did....OK. Until it was bed time.

Inconsolable does not even begin to describe this boy.

It got so bad, that Granddaddy finally agreed to drive Peter BACK to Chapel Hill to get Buddy. So, yeah, another hour long trip BACK to Chapel Hill.

But Buddy and Peter were re-united (cue the Peaches and Herb).

It's got to get better than this, right?

At Cracker Barrel

Eating at Cracker Barrel at the beginning of vacation!

Fun with Travel Types

My family is getting ready to go on a vacation together. Not just me and the kids, mind you, but the WHOLE family: Dad, me and mine, Kathy and Adrianne, Dick and Trina. My Dad turns 75 in November, so in honor of him we're cruising to Alaska.

When we tell people we're going on a family-cruise, we typically get one of two reactions: People either think we're CRAZY to spend so much time together, or they are amazed that we will, willingly, spend so much time together. I know we're not unique (Trina's family is, if anything, even crazier than we are!), but it does seem that in most families once the kids are grown they basically get together when they have to.

Which is sad. Sure, I love my brother and sister partially because of biological/chronological reasons: they're my siblings, and they've been around my entire life. But those are not the ONLY reasons, and more to the point, I LIKE them for a variety of reasons: they're good, fun, intelligent, funny people. Oh, and exactly like me (grin). And, yes, for the record, we've already divvied up the physical part of my Dad's stuff (furniture, pictures, etc), and we STILL like each other!

But, yeah, travelling with others is funny. I'm realizing that there are many travel types in my family.

Dad: Dad loves to travel, but it used to, not stress him out exactly, but he got very focused leading up to the trip, as he planned, made lists, etc. I think this whole retirement center living has gotten to him, though; he's abdicated all responsibility and is letting others tell him where to be, when to be there, and what to wear (he still practices packing, though)!

Kathy: Kathy is Queen o'Travel. She's been planning excursions for 9 months, hotels for 6, and her clothes for 3. She has documents, lists, and lists of lists to help her in this process. And she's a demon on convoluted web sites -- I was trying to figure out if the boat had hair dryers; it took me an hour before I declared defeat. Kathy found it in 10 minutes.

Dick and I are a little more.....well, laid back would be one way of saying it. Slack would be another! I do get everything done, I just have a tendency to leave it till the last minute. And, yeah, I ask Kathy a LOT of questions, because I know she'll know the answers! I did some commando shopping this weekend, and turns out Dick and Trina did too! I'll have everything I need (probably WAY more), but to be very honest, I have no idea yet EXACTLY what I'm packing, just a general idea of the types of things I'm bringing.

But, we manage to get along, even with our differing travel styles. Should be a fun trip.

Green Pants Day

So far, three people in my office are wearing green pants.

And, two people in my cube are wearing green pants and white shirts!

Only one of us have green toenails, though.......