tibits from the trip home

-I wish I lived closer to my folks
-I have lived more years away from this house than in this house at this point in my life
-although it's currently an office I still love the purple paint in my old bedroom
-Danbury meh still would not want to live here
-did enjoy seeing some old friends I wish we could get togther more often
-I really want an old english sheepdog as our next dog, so does C & David is amenable to the idea
-we need a larger house before that happens
-it's is colder up here than I remember
-not a trip to CT without some kind of adventure this time it was baatery & connection problems with our car, fingers crossed that is completely fixed
-bagels are better up here
-buying long grain rice I had one option but the choice of pastas at the grocery store is ridiculous some I don't think I had even heard of before

am I really going to bring dirty laundry home with me

we in fact yes this time I am workimg two jobs over the holiday season has left me with little time for anything let alone road trip prepping. My father gives both myself & SIL grief because we do our laundry at the house when visiting but come on why wouldn't we? who wants to bring dirty clothes home from vacation??? and I might add I did see him do several loads of his laundry at my house last time they visited...so anywho he teases that we bring dirty laundry with us and this time well I am in fact traveling a couple of dirty sweaters & shirts that I do not dry because I would rather travel with dirty clothes rather than wet clothes.

I was so busy turning into to my mother

I might have missed the traits of my father that I seem to have picked up too. The whole travel at Christmas thing I am not a fan I want it to all be at my house. Growing up we NEVER went anywhere for Christmas it was always at home anyone & everyone was welcome but my father was not going anywhere for the holiday. I think that tradition started the first year my folks were married and there were issues about whose family they spent the holiday with. Now don't get me wrong I love my family & I hate not to be with them in CT for the holiday but quite frankly I was fussy about driving less than 5 miles to go to MIL's house for Christmas dinner.
We were suppose to go to CT for the holidays this year but did not not due to lack of vacation time and then David's illness would have thrown a wrench into all plans and the blizzard would have really thrown a wrench into things so our not going happened to have worked out. Don't' get me wrong I would have really rather been with my family but I can tell you the travel would have had me grumbling!

GPS

wonderful for road trips especially in larger cities that we are unfamiliar with and yet I am very much my mother's daughter carrying my atlas with me on any and all road trips we take

whirlwind weekend in the Windy City

road tripping

OMG I still detest long car rides and am dreading the one just days away..ugh trapped like a sardine for hour and hours upon end...loathe!!! I am on the flip side really looking forward to seeing most of my family this weekend and grateful my mother will have her kids & grandkids with her on mother's day this year!

happy belated birthday

well to me actually! David and I are headed to Atlanta for the weekend and there a million reasons why we should not go the weeekend before Christmas but we are and I am looking forward to it!

welcome to 42

had a birthday yesterday and this morning I go in for an ultrasound to take a looksie at my gallbladder....and I thought 40 was the new 30 not the new 60
and health issues aside I had a lovely birthday weekend, busy but lovely and I am so looking forward to the weekend in Atlanta with David!

going to have to be honest here

while I miss my parents terribly and hate living 800+ miles away from them and hate not being able to spend most holidays with them quite frankly I am grateful not to be shoved into a car for 12+ hours today on the return trip from CT. I hate that trip with a passion I am not a fan of the road trip or rather any road trip that lasts longer than well to be honest more than 4 hours...any much more than that and I would rather poke sticks in my eye
that being said I would happily have packed the car & headed to spend the holiday with them..it sucks living this far from my folks

heading towards the finale..

the latest Top Chef season is drawing to a close and what with Project Runway having finished this past week I am about to enter a reality/competition conundrum!
Eli my favorite chef to start out with was eliminated just this week and his former boss and former Top Chef-er Richard Blais wrote a really great blog about him. I still really want to try out ENO and will hopefully get the chance in the not too distant future. As the season has progressed my loyalties did change and I have been a devoted fan of Kevin Gillespie whose restaurant I will be dining at as part of my birthday weekend in Atlanta and hopefully again when the girls road trip again in the new year!

once again

the Atlanta road trip with the ladies this time with photo highlights

more can be found here

real housewives Knoxville head to the ATL

headed to Atlanta with my girls for a weekend!

oh and the vacation from hell

you really don't want the exorcist type details so lets leave it at the highlights:
stomach flu for both C and myself and some sort of arthritic knee thing for David. total suckage of a vacation I so want a do-over but have no vacation hours left or maybe 3.87 vacation hours left as I could only manage a glance at my pay stub in disgust at the lack of vacation hours at my disposal.
On a slight positive note I did get to spend some time with my folks, my brother and his family, my cousin & her husband and one of my uncles so in all fairness it was not a complete and total failure of a vacation(just mostly)

vacations

as much as I desperately want to take a real vacation some place touristy that does not involve visiting family there is just no place like home! I am happy to be here in the house I mostly grew up in visiting with my parents and watching my son trail around after his grandfather like a puppy dog asking ninety million questions a minute.

the kid loves his grandparents

the absolute only ever ever time C is alert and ready and raring to go in the morning is those mornings we are headed up to see my folks

vacation mode

I'm in it thank you very much. I also a bit whiny about the whole thing if truth be told. I hate car travel hate it with a passion I would rather poke sticks in my eyes than sit in a car for more than an hour at a time but seeing as we can not afford multiple plane tickets we are trapped in the car for like a million hours. No really it is a million at least. And I will whine and complain and dread the whole damn ordeal all of this week plus do massive amounts of laundry, pack, get my hair cut, maybe color it as well, hopefully find time for a pedicure, drop the dog at sleep away camp, buy snacks & drinks for the car trip, charge all electrical type gadgets that need it so C survives the trip without me tossing him it the trunk.
On the plus side I am looking forward to escaping Kville & work for a week, seeing my folks & some family and getting together with some very old and dear friends. Debating back and forth in my head about going to NYC for a day and taking C to the Museum of Natural History. It will be fun but we aren't even there for a full week I don't know...my decision was no yesterday but this morning I got train schedules so we'll see I suppose.

hate long car trips

I do I hate them with a passion. Generally speaking I am in charge of collecting all of the pertinent snacks & drinks, gum, entertainment etc. Not fun I really detest the whole process and then sitting in a car endlessly with nothing to do because yes if I read in the car I get car sick...
Blah oh well at least we have garmin to navigate the trip. I never thought we needed one till we had the use of one no I am wondering if I can even make it around town without it. Luckily the car trip today was not so terrible even though I started the day feeling dizzy and light headed due to a lack of sleep..sucks getting older kids.

lots to do this weekend

lots and lots my friends!
-I have a lab assignment due tonight by midnight, another one due tomorrow by midnight and a third one due by Tuesday at midnight. Plus I have to study for the lab practical on Tuesday and start organizing my notes to start work on the unknowns. I am kind of looking forward to that one we will get a test tube with 2 organisms and we will have to do all sorts of tests to figure out what microorganisms they are. Cool huh?
-Let's see school related I also have to write a short paper that is not due till the 14th but I would really rather not have to write a paper while we are in Chicago
-have to get ready to travel to Chicago
-work today & tomorrow
-would love to get a hair cut & a pedicure
-NEED to color my hair at the very least
-laundry because we always have a ton of it..where does it all come from
-Bourdain tomorrow evening!!! I am looking forward to a night out with friends
-and I am sure there are at least 1/2 a dozen things I have to do that I have not even thought about yet....

blog geek

it's what David is calling me lately, well today and it's because I am heading to Nashville very last minute, spur of the moment with Missy to attend Blissdom tomorrow! he thinks I'm a geek now can't wait till I broach the subject of attending Blogher next summer

back home

officially that is-stopped at Sam & Andy's and I had a vol burger for lunch this afternoon. Made me feel really home.
C and I in fact arrived back in K-town last night only about 1 hour late which considering at one point the pilot turned an engine off, parked the plane, told us we could turn on cell phones, games etc because we were 38th in line to take off an hour not so hard to take.
We stopped at MIL's on the way home to check on family as our niece who is 6 months pregnant had been a car accident this week. Just a fender bender but she started labour, dilated etc hmmm now why does that seem so very familiar??? She only got stuck at hospital one night but is at home resting taking some medication that makes both her & the baby jumpy, normal supposedly but she does not feel very rested. A goes back to the doctor Monday and hopefully things will progress normally over the next few months.
I had planned on working this afternoon but quite frankly I am tired that is not going to happen oh well now I can dread Monday morning just a little more. The boy & I did take advantage of the tax-free weekend and did some clothes shopping and picked up some school supplies. Considering we were out mid-afternoon I was pleasantly surprised that Turkey Creek was not any crazier than it was.
The boy is clamoring for dinner except I have not been to the grocery store yet so I am not exactly sure what I can whip up might just be a call for pizza...