Commence flaming....

You can get it all out now... flame away.


(from Wikipedia: Flaming is a hostile and insulting interaction between internet users. Flaming usually occurs in the social context of a discussion board, internet relay chat (IRC), by e-mail or on video sharing website. An Internet user typically generates a flame response to other posts or users posting on a site, and such a response is usually not constructive, does not clarify a discussion, and does not persuade others.)


You done yet? Good.


I know. I know I haven't blogged in a while. But please understand - we've been living in box hell. Surviving only on peanut butter and pumpkin pie. Proof:

So - since we've obtained internet service I've been catching up on some World of Warcraft time and have neglected the 3 of you who read this. Please accept my apologies.

Things have been going really really well. Clara's getting settled. We've done lots of shopping, unpacking, putting stuff together (God Bless Ikea), and running around. Harry (Clara's nephew) is here this week and he's been a huge help cause God KNOWS I'm not climbing up to the top of the entertainment center to put stuff up there! Dante has adjusted. We've been in the house 10 days now? He's already had a sleepover at the neighbors and been to a birthday party. The neighbor here has 4 children - a 9 year old girl and an 8 year old boy who Dante spends a lot of time with. There are ramifications to there being a 9 year old girl next door - TRUST ME. After the sleepover Dante and his new friends came knocking on the door to show us what they were up to:

I don't know. I think he looks good in a dress! The heels and the nailpolish did it for me :)


So - Clara and I will be leaving in the morning for a weekend in Vegas. WHO'S EXCITED!!?!?!??! I'M EXCITED!!!!!!!!!

Anyway - we had some fun blowing up the Steelers raft that Evelyn and Bill gave Clara when she left... (and by we I mean Clara and Dante)

Once that project was completed - we had some FUN with the Steeler raft. And by 'we' I mean Dante and I!

This is me owning Dante:

This is me lost in a Steelers raft:

And this is me being REAL classy with a wad of gum in my mouth and Dante impersonating the devil:

More from vegas! Good night ALL!

It's moving day!

We got up at 5:00am to try to pack up this disaster of a hotel room. Dante is SO excited to be doing that, let me tell you... (miserable does not even begin to describe his disposition this morning!) Anyway, the movers come at 8:00am, so I gotta haul my butt outta here. Internet/cable/phone won't be set up until sometime friday so try not to miss me too much!

Bye internet!

P.S. for the 6934 560346 people who have inquired about the 'ghetto mobile' no - the windshield has not yet been fixed. We're waiting on the insurance company to get back to us, because the one guy who looked at it said it was improper installation in the first place that caused this - so the last person to fix it should be responsible. Well, apparently insurance companies don't keep records handy that are 3+ years old.... so they have to 'research' it. Hell if they're going to pay for something that someone else may need to pay for! And the wait begins.....

As if this was not expected

Moving company just called. Truck broke down in New Mexico. Stuff won't arrive until Wednesday - possibly as late as Thursday. UGH! But, in retrospec, this is the first major hiccup we've experienced during this adventure. Guess we just have to roll with it!

The Ketchup Post

I am a bad blogger. BAD! BAD BLOGGER! GO TO YOUR ROOM!!!

It's been a busy few days and on top of that I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so I apologize profusely to the 2 of you who hang on my every word.

I am going to try to catch up here (get it? Ketchup...catch up? See what I did there?). It'll be a bit smooshed and a bit quick, but I'll try to get it all in.

Friday: Closed on the house! Clara is NO LONGER homeless!! We also took a trip down to the new house to check it out (at least from the outside).

(this is the signing at the Chicago Title Company and the kind man explaining a whole bunch of stuff Clara didn't understand)

After that we celebrated at the California Pizza Kitchen. Amazing. But that's old news - we have those on the East coast!

Our next adventure was a trip to ADOT. Yeah. That wasn't painful at all. (sarcasm intended) Dear dear ADOT. We spent several hours at Arizonas Department of Transportating making Clara and the Ghetto Mobile official residents of the state of Arizona. I also learned that a quarter can be used to remove a license plate from a vehicle. I feel like such a renegade.

Saturday: Pool time! We also did a major shopping trip at SUPER TARGET. Yes. I said 'SUPER TARGET'. Who of you knew they existed and DID NOT TELL ME??? This place is the stuff of my dreams!!! After we loaded up on about $175 in 'stuff' we traveled over to the new place and met the former owners who were very nice. Chris walked me through the yard and explained to me how the pool, the filter, the irrigation system and other stuff works. That way I could relay it to Clara who by that time of the day has a bit of a hard time getting around. I'm TOTALLY going to remember it all....right? Can I find this information online? Here's hoping!

We also hit up Home Depot and got the appliances Clara needed. Met the NICEST lady ever - Rosie. So - if you're looking for appliances and happen to be in Superstition Springs, AZ you should see Rosie. I'd be her friend if I lived here :)

Sunday: First stab at finding a new church. Ventured over to New Life church of the Nazarene. They're a small congregation - a church plant much like the church we came from. The music and the preaching was a lot more traditional than any of us were used to, but the people were super nice. In addition to that, the church is literally 3 miles from Clara's new digs....which will be a huge consideration after I abandon her in a few weeks. Spent some more quality time in the pool which is AWESOME when it's 105 degrees out.

Monday: DANTE'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! After dropping him off at the crack of dawn we went to the house to immediately turn the a/c down as far as humanly possible. I also took some photos of the new abode:

And my favorite. The conveniently placed peephole in the front door.....

After that we did some shopping and checked out the local mall which was very nice. We then travelled to the airport to pick up AJ who was able to visit for a few days and then got Dante from school. He did not kill anyone, nor did anyone kill him so BONUS! He actually had a very good day which was awesome! He's already been invited to a birthday party which is excellent. After that we hit Old Chicago for lunch - it's a local place that is AWESOME! Twice now I've had their pepperoni, mushroom and black olive calzone and it's so very good! (better the first time when i could actually TASTE it sans this awful cold i have.) Now we're back in the hotel relaxing before the next wave of craziness hits - which is in approixmately 17 hours when the moving van pulls up! Cheers!

Mastercard - for your everyday life...

7 days at LaQuinta Inns and Suites: $490

Complimentary breakfast: free

Convincing the hotel staff that Clara fell in the hallway because she was drunk at 7am (and that it was not because her legs went numb from the MS): Priceless


My kingdom for a camera at that moment! :)

I've been warned.

APPARENTLY this blog is a bit of a joint venture! I've been warned by Clara that if I don't update her following regarding some stuff going on w/ her, she's going to hijack this thing and COMPLETELY derail it! So here goes.

• The package has been delivered. We are now in possession of countless chargers and the CPAP machine. Apparently Clara also had some laundry in there, because just as this picture was snapped she uttered the line 'Eww. It smells like dirty laundry.' It's been a while since I've laughed this hard.
  

• Also - she is closing on her house today. Yay for not being homeless! It's scheduled for 10:00am Phoenix time....so what's that in Pittsburgh? Like 4pm next tuesday?

• Movers are scheduled to arrive Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. (and you thought time estimates from the cable company sucked.)

• Utilities have all be straightened out and THANK THE LORD there will be cable/internet/phone service a week from today. (Hotel interwebs SUCK)

• I am amazed at the number of e-mails and comments I've received about this topic. The windshield. Oh the blessed windshield. Here's the saga with that one. Yesterday we decided to do laundry. (Ironically it was before the bag w/ the smelly laundry and now stinky CPAP arrived.) The laundry place I located on the interwebs was, well, interesting. I guess not so much the laundromat itself - more the location of said laundromat. Anyway - I was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible while cleaning our clothes but somehow the FLAMING BLUE PAINTERS TAPE caught the eye of the laundromat attendant. Go figure - he also worked next door at the auto garage. Before I can even say 'hey, where are the dryer sheets' he's got his boss on the phone who is gonna jog over and give me an estimate on the windshield. ::sigh:: So before you know it, sketchy man #1 and 2 are poking around the car, freaking Clara out. (remember, she's in the car - i'm in the laundromat). So - sketchy man #2 says he could fix it for $125. There was a lot of spanish going back and forth - and I can't help but think shady deals were being drafted. I say thank you and we'll let him know then we GTFO. (for you non 'internet' people that's short for 'Get the F out'.) On the way back to the hotel we find a safelite auto glass place. There we meet JJ. (somehow I have a lot of information about JJ. I don't know how I got it - but I seem to have a knack for that. Maybe it's the 8 years in social work?) JJ moved here in 1992 from Virginia and fell in love with the Phoenix area. Is a big Arizona Cardinals fan which means that just based on the amount of Steeler garb on this car, our estimate is guaranteed to be marked up at least 10%. He says that it appears that the molding came out due to poor installation in the first place. And technically he cannot replace the molding without replacing the entire windshield. UGH. He gave us an assignment. Call the insurance company and find out who replaced the windshield last. If it's a national company - like safelite - it will be under warranty. If it's not national the insurance company allegedly could get some kind of referral repair deal and we can get it fixed for nothing. (as opposed to the $250 he guesses it's gonna cost to replace the whole shabang.) Worst case scenario - he said come see him on Saturday and he'll figure out a way to fix it without it costing an arm and a leg. JJ is my kinda guy. Also - I suspect that since Pittsburgh beat Arizona, JJ will be all too happy to hook us up. (Sarcasm intended)

So - all that to say - more info on Windshield-Gate will be available Saturday.

Okay - gotta get ready to go close on a house. Cheers!

And on the 7th day God created....

Yeah. Amazing.

I know that I've promised blogs on a few things - and it's coming! But between adjusting to a 3 hour difference, running all around kingdom come to get stuff done w/ Clara, and being talked up by some scary people at the very sketchy laundry place TomTom sent me I've been a bit distracted. Oh - and don't forget all the rays I still wanna soak up by the pool. Speaking of...

4:30am and all is well...

This time zone thing sucks.

Just some updates before I try to get some more sleep.

In regards to 'Luggage-gate' before we left Albequerque Clara checked in with the hotel in Oklahoma City and someone did turn in the bag. We think. The woman she talked to described it as 'floral?' but it's defintely more striped. They're FedEx-ing it to us, so we'll see.

And in regards to 'Flip Flop-gate' we replaced Dante's sandals with new fancy ones from Wal Mart. You don't have to worry - I didn't make him pee out the window.

More about Louis the Pug. That dog is AH-MAZ-ING. He never pooped or peed in the car or the hotels. Only 2 or 3 times did he ever bark - and that was mostly at thunder. He got out and did his business when we stopped and never complained. If I ever make this trip again I'm leaving the 8 year old behind and bringing a couple pugs. As someone who REALLY does not like dogs, I'm majorly impressed by this one, that's for sure!

Okay - I'm going to try to get some sleep. G'nite internet!

Things you learn while driving from Pittsburgh to Phoenix

• 3 people and a dog have very distinctive farts. By day 2 you knew who it was immediately and there was no sense trying to blame it on the dog.
• Cultures may change, landscapes may change, gas prices may change as you cross the states.... one thing that never changes? Wal Mart.
• Tom Tom is all knowing and all powerful. NEVER question his authority. If he says 'turn right in 2 miles', by GOD you better turn right in 2 miles.
• There is no state more BORING to drive through than Missouri. There is no state more BEAUTIFUL than Arizona. (well - if you consider the states I've driven through, that is.)
• Benadryl is NOT wrong. EVER. Especially when used on an 8 year old. It's totally a wonder drug.
• Going down a 6% grade at 85 mph is never a good idea. It's an even worse idea when the semi truck in front of you has slowed to 40mph.
• Cruise control is a blessing from God himself.
• Being in a vehicle in Arizona does not make you exempt from needing sunscreen. Holy sunburn on my face batman!

We're safe in Phoenix. Going to grab dinner then will be deluging you with posts such as:

• an open letter to LaQuinta Inns and Suites
• Meteorite Crater and the amazing natural wonder it is!!
• Forests and 6000ft elevation one hour, deserts and 1000ft elevation the next hour: the wonders of Arizona
• Why Louis the Pug is the most amazing dog EVER

Did someone ask for some drama?

The travel was pretty uneventful today. Started off by redoing the ghetto tape job:

Lets just say - there was NO flapping this leg of the trip. That sucker was sealed like no other gasket has been sealed with blue painters tape.

We checked Oklahoma off the list and entered the great state of Texas. We stopped for gas at what appeared to be a deserted Texaco station. There was this station, a handful of houses and nothing else. The pictures just don't do it justice.

They are not joking when they talk about how flat and desolate the country side is out here. You can't understand it until you see it, that's for sure. We did, however, see the 'Largest cross on the Western Hemisphere.' I think they're full of it because I am sure the one we saw in Indiana (Illinois? Ohio?) was larger...but who am I to argue?

I realize that you have no point of reference to know how large this thing is - but if you look to the left of it a little bit - there is a Wal Mart semi truck there. It was large. Trust me.

We stopped in Amarillo, Tx for lunch. Again, we made an effort to find a place that served the local fare so that we could say we experienced Texas to it's fullest....

In our defense, we were going to go to TEXAS Roadhouse Steakhouse, but it was closed until 4pm. (I felt like yelling in the window that according to us it was AFTER 4!! But no one wanted to hear it.)

Anyway - we arrived in Albuquerque, NM at 8pm local time and got our hotel. As we were pulling bags out I realized that Clara's carry on bag that she had in Oklahoma was no longer with us. Panic ensued. In this bag, along w/ every cell phone charger/nintendo DS charger/iPod charger that she owned was her CPAP machine. For someone with severe sleep apnea, this is bad news batman. The first thing we did was call the last hotel we were at and 'sorry ma'am, we haven't had anything turned in.' Well, guess we can count that bag as gone. So Clara spent the next 2 hours making phone calls to doctors, insurance companies, clinics, etc to find a machine. Hopefully by the time we reach Phoenix today they will have a fax w/ a prescription from her doctor and she can go purchase one cause you KNOW UPMC will not be paying for another one.

On top of all this - Dante has lost his flip flops. We think at the pool, but really, who knows. I told him that he's now SOL and will have to stay in the car all day and pee out the window when he has to go. I'm pretty sure he's actually excited about that possibility.

Time to hit the road. Catch you all in Phoenix! Stay tuned then for my open letter to LaQuinta Inns and Suites.

Oookkkllllaaaahhhoooommmmaaaa...where we get blown off the road....

Holy crap you should have seen the storms we drove through yesterday. It was practically constant during our 10 hours on the road. ABSOLUTE CRAZINESS. I am usually a pretty laid back relaxed driver with the exception of when I'm driving in snow. Well - lets add 'rainstorms from the pits of hell' to the list of driving obstacles that make me a wee bit nervous.

Our most memorable stop would have been at the ranch/gas station. It was pretty funny to pull in to fill up the gas tank a stones throw from some buffalo. Only in Missouri.

The one thing I will say is that we really saw some of the most amazing skies I have ever seen. Seeing those storm clouds sweep across the sky in front of us (or on top of us!) and then break and clear up - was so very cool. It was difficult to catch on camera while moving along at 80mph, but that didn't stop Clara from trying. (Dana, you would have been so proud!)

To give you an idea - all those pictures were taken around 3pm. It got as dark as night. There was one point going through Tulsa where the rain was so torrential I literally couldn't see a thing. More frightening was the pooling of water that was happening causing tons and tons of hydroplaning. We pulled off as quickly as possible and parked in this, um, quaint(?) little no-tell motel parking lot and played some pretty epic games of Mad Libs. Fun times. Fun times.

As bad as the storms are out here - I would totally put up with them in order to enjoy the 75 mph speed limits. It is unbelieveable! This is the life!

We got into Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at about 8pm local time (9pm boston/pgh time) and grabbed some dinner. One of the things we like to do while traveling across the country is to seek out these little holes in the wall that allow us to experience the local cuisine. This one was a great find.

Leaving in a bit - saying goodbye to Oklahoma City - and saying hello to Albequerque - hopefully not ridiculously late. And hopefully with a more stable atmosphere and internet connection! Cheers!

Be careful what you wish for.

No foolin'.

It was a LOOOONNNG day. We did not actually see a tornado - but we saw storms the likes of which I had never seen. Had to stop a few times because we literally couldn't see the car in front of us - not to mention the massive pooling of water on the interstate. Will make a complete post in the morning but as a teaser know that it will involve:

Buffalos.

Yee haw! Git along little doggie! Night internet!

HOWDY from Nowhere Missouri!

So it's 12:00ish on Monday and we're just about to hit the road but decided to stop for lunch. Has been raining for a while and I realized that the one thing I want to do that I didn't put on my list was see a tornado. That would make my week! (Of course, I don't necessarily want to see it ::close:: but I would like to see it!)

Before we hit the road we'll be getting gas at Sinclair.. Rawr.

Props to Drury Inn for free Wifi. If I come this way again, I'll surely stay in your sketchy motel.

Sure. 5 hours of sleep is TOTALLY enough.

Why? WHY? Why at 8am was I wide awake, unable to fall back asleep? I didn't get to sleep until about 3am after the wireless interwebs here in the luxury resort failed me. So one would think that I would sleep in since I didn't really have to be up at any particular time. Yeah. Not so much. Anyway - everyones getting ready for the day. Gonna grab some breakfast at some 5 star establishment (aka Denny's) and then have a shopping spree at a high class top of the line botique (aka WalMart) before we take the luxury sedan (aka Mitsubishi Montero with a windshield secured by blue painters tape) back on the road again. Just a few thoughts before then:

1) still not completely sure of the time. with the way technology is these days, I'm not entirely sure my pc and phone haven't 'auto updated' based on space satellites and I don't own a watch, so I'm just suspicious of the actual time right now. Bet there's something on the internet that can solve this mystery but frankly - I'm too tired.

2) if you've never traveled with an 8 year old for an extended period of time you totally should. I will not elaborate beyond that at this time.

3) i have underestimatated the ability of Clara's dog to be well behaved.

4) i need to apologize to the great people of Pocohontas, Oh if there is such a place. I was wrong. We were in Pocohontas, Illinois. (Tunar/Moir - if this is ANYWHERE near where you live, I'm totally coming to visit you. That place is where dreams are born.)

5) bathtubs that sit 1 - 1.5 feet higher than the bathroom floor are TREACHEROUS! but i'm sure it would have made for some HILARIOUS footage on Americas Funniest Home Videos.

6) cheese products do not travel well if not in a cooler. I think that last string cheese was a bad idea last night.

7) It is possible for one person to talk for 10 hours straight and not repeat a story. (love you Clara!)

Okay - shopping awaits. Catch you later internet!

Dear God take me now....

Yes. It's 1:28am and I'm just posting. (Wait...is it 12:28am? Have we crossed a time zone yet? Why are there not signs on the side of the road indicating such things?) We've just arrived at a LaQuinta outside of St. Louis and all I'm going to say is THANK THE LORD CHECK OUT ISN'T UNTIL NOON. We left Pittsburgh around 12:45pm amidst many hugs and tears. That made my final tally of hours spent in Pittsburgh less than 19. Wow.


We set off and nearly side swipe AJ pulling out of the driveway (totally his fault.) Now - no trip is complete without the obligatory Starbucks stop. Order my usual - caramel macchiato w/ extra caramel and vanilla. Here's what the guy hands me:

Dude. It's 9billion degrees out. It's totally NOT my fault you can't read my mind and make it iced. DUUUHHHH. So - i sweet talk my way out of that near DISASTER and get what it is I truly crave....

Mmmmm. Caramel. So now all is right with the world and we hit the road. By 1:50pm we're in state #3 - WOOT!!! Let's go OHIO lets go! I'm feeling good - in a groove - totally moving along and suddenly I hear this wooshing sound like someone opened a window. And I hear flapping. FLAPPING? And suddenly I SEE flapping....the gasket around the window. Totally not where it should be...

So I fire up my TomTom and hit HELP ME. It brings up car repair places w/in 2 miles of where we are and there is 'Kirkwood Auto Glass.' PERFECT. I call the number that TomTom so thoughtfully provides and a man answers with 'hello'. Normally not a big issue, except that I'm supposed to be calling a business. So I ask - 'is this Kirkwood Auto Glass?' He says, 'uhhh, yeah.' I proceed to tell him my sob story about moving from Pittsburgh to Phoenix and suddenly our WINDSHIELD IS FALLING IN ON US!!!!! He says that we've actually reached him at his home because the office is closed - and that we should be okay until we reach our destination. He hears the hesitation in my voice and asks 'would you like to stop by and let me check it out just to make sure you're safe to travel?' I tell him 'Oh yes! Please!' So - we travel 2 miles past the corn fields, take a left at the big round rock and travel on 3 stones past the creek that Jim Bob is fishing in... NO JOKE. We pull into the guys driveway and he meets us outside w/ his kids and dog and he is totally the nicest guy ever. He explains that he has a lot of things he's doing and would totally fix it if he could, but will get us set till we get to Phoenix. Suddenly - with a wave of his magic wand we are transformed into the most Ghetto Road Trip Vehicle Ever. For real.

Painters tape holding the windshield on. Totally not going to fall in on us - right? So - if you're ever in Hebron, Ohio and have a windshield disaster - this is your guy:

Well - we continue on and no major disaters after that. I mean, except for the dustbowl town we stopped to get gas in. 9 teeth total in the building. 4 people. I have now experienced the place where midwest stereotypes were born. Pocohontas, Oh. Totally pro.

Off to bed. Goal tomorrow is Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. And yes - I have to exert physical restraint to prevent myself from breaking into song everytime someone says Oklahoma.

OOOOOKKKKKKKKKKLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAHHHHOOOOOMMMMMAAAAA....where the wind comes sweepin down the plain!!!

Anyway - it's late. Or early. Whatever.

Night!

And it begins...

After a nice nights sleep day 1 (or 2 depending on how you look at it) of the saga begins. Church is next - seeing people I love that I haven't seen since Christmas! Then we embark. Goal tonight is a LaQuinta outside of the St. Louis MO airport. 593 miles, 9 hours 23 minutes according to Google Maps. Lets hope TomTom and Google Maps are on the same page. Maybe more from the road - maybe not. Depends on how we move along. Cheers!

Logan airport - behind the times?

Logan Airport does not have free wifi. Dude - McfreakingDonalds is rocking the free interwebs. How can I not get interwebs in one of the busiest airports in the USA? BLAH.

This is to explain why my last post - which was actually typed up at 3:30pm - was not posted until after 9:00pm. Apparently dial up is the last hope at Logan - and I'm just not willing to stoop that low.

So - as of now I'm in Pittsburgh. Had a great dinner w/ the Irwins to celebrate Skips b-day - and it was great to see everyone. Church in the AM and then we hit the road! St. Louis is our first destination - bit of a overshoot I think given how late we're leaving, but we'll see what happens!

Time for rest. Cheers!

This is not a good sign

Well, if the trip to the airport is any indication of how this trip will be, this is not good. I got very few of my errands ran, which meh - whatever. It's not like those stores don't exist in Pittsburgh or Phoenix. I got everything together and actually got out the door with Donna and the babies on time (12:45pm) - which in and of itself was a complete miracle. We started up the street and by the time we got to the intersection of Sea St. and Wollaston Beach BAM! Bumper to bumper traffic. What the heck!! So - we figured maybe there was an accident or something - we'll just suck it up and wait. Timewise we'll be cutting it close by we should still be fine. So we mosied our way up the street and turned onto Southern Artery and viola! Traffic is gone. We decided on a quick pit stop at CVS - Donna forgot sunblock for the babies (we were taking the water shuttle to the airport) and I really needed a memory card for my camera that I decided to bring last minute. I run into CVS, grab the sunblock and head to the photo counter. They have none of the 1gb cards that were $20. So the photolab guy suggests that I get the one that is on sale for $10.00 mroe and is 4gb. It says SDHC - which i usually just get SD cards for my camera. I ask the guy how they are different. He assures me that only the very first cameras sold on the market wouldn't read the HC cards and that I'll be fine - it's a great deal. He then says if it doesn't work, I can just return it - but it will surely work - the only cameras that can't read it probably don't even work anymore themselves. So whatever - I buy the card. We get in the car and head to theshuttle and I put the card in my camera and guess what? Doesn't work. So now I not only am out a memory card - but now i've had a photolab guy essentially tell me I'm a loser in the camera department. Awesome. I strike a deal with Donna - you take the card and the receipt and give me $30.00 now and save me a load of stress. Guess what? I'm sitting at the airport right now and I have neither the card nor the $30.00. Who's surprised?

Anyway - we get onto the road that leads to the shuttle (Washington St? I can't remember these roads in Quincy anymore.) We are literally 8 car lengths from the entrance to the water shuttle and traffic is stopped. Not slowed. Stopped. Blinking in front of us is the message of doom. 'Extended Bridge Opening. Delays until 1:40pm' The fricken shuttle comes at 1:20pm. THIS IS NOT GOOD. So we think maybe we need to start letting the kids down easy about not getting to go on the really fun boat ride to the airport, which they had been talking about all morning, blah blah blah. On top of all this there is the MOST.ANNOYING.MAN.EVER in the car next to us. He's a tourist. Worse - he's a tourist from Texas and is insisting on yelling to everyone who he passes in the other lane of traffic. THANK THE LORD we aren't permenantly beside him - but regardless his annoyance eminated to even cars several car lengths from him. YOU SIR ARE THE REASON WHY WE CANNOT GET PEOPLE TO VOTE REPUBLICAN. YOU FULFILL EVERY BAD STEREOTYPE EVER THOUGHT OF ABOUT RED STATERS - ESPECIALLY THOSE FROM TEXAS.

Anyway - at 1:40pm traffic starts moving - we are LITERALLY in the lot with bags out of the car and walking into the shuttle building at 1:47. We decide to wing it and grab the 2:00pm shuttle and to our pleasant surprise run into very good friends Donna and Sandy (SHOUT OUT!!). They too are taking the shuttle in tow and we luckily get to spend a little time with them.

So - on the boat - not fun. AT ALL. I mean I enjoyed it. I love boats. The kids? Not one ounce. Poor Donna who is still on the ride from hell back to Quincy. At least she's $30.00 richer.

I'm still freaking out about flying jetBlue. We're about to board. Here goes nothing.

OMG

It's 11:30am and I've JUST returned home from 'errand running' in which I got almost zero errands ran....

BLAST YOU COFFEE BREAK CAFE AND THE TIME SUCK YOU ARE!

Okay...pack. NOW.

YIKES! It begins...

Okay. Things I want to do/not do this trip:

• I would like to NOT receive any type of traffic violation. At all. That would be TRAGIC.
• I would like to see Las Vegas
• I would like to NOT go broke or get married in Las Vegas
• I would like to complete 2 good books
• I would like to come back with a tan
• I would like to come back! At least right now I would. Check w/ me in a week.

Alrighty. I've heard that lists are a great starting place, so at least now I feel a bit more organized. Speaking of organized, it's definitely 8:04 am. My flight leaves Logan Airport at 4:10pm. I am taking the 1:30 pm water shuttle out of Quincy to the airport. I AM NOT PACKED. Not only am I not packed, but I have 3 stores I need to hit up and I need to meet my big sis to pick up my renegade bathing suit that seems to always be NOT where I need it to be (including when I'm wearing it. Not pretty.)

What is exciting is some random member of the Irwin/Scheller clan will be picking me up at the airport, and it appears that I'll be crashing some sort of birthday celebration for some old man - which means I'll get to see many people I wasn't expecting to see in my very brief stay in Pittsburgh. (about 20 hours.) YAY FOR OLD MAN!

However, between me and that exciting event stands a very daunting task. I am a creature of habit. I do very well when encountering things I know. I KNOW USAir. Love them or hate them, I know them. I know terminal B in Logan Airport, I know how to have everything ready to board, I know the seating order, etc. I do well when travelling USAir. I do NOT know Jet Blue. Yes. I know they have little TV's for every individual seat. I know they have leather seats that are comfy. But the only other thing I know is a news story stored in the back of my memory from a few Christmases ago when they stranded people on the tarmac in their planes for like 43 days or something ridiculous. I UNDERSTAND that it was a weather issue that should not be a consideration in the middle of August. That still does not make me slightly suspicious of Jet Blue and their 'trap travelers like prisoners and make them work on the tarmac repaving it in some kind of scary labor prision deal'. True story. Those people SLAVED to make that runway perfect before the almighty JetBlueians released them to the hostage negotiators. I read it on Drudge.

Anyway - guess I should consider packing or some other type of tomfoolery. What I'm positive of is that I will probably post at least one more time before leaving for the airport because the one thing I'm good at? PROCRASTINATING!

Must go wander aimlessly through laundry. Cheers!