Made it to NJ in really great time. It’s so great to see Aunt Cathrine and Uncle Bob. We spent the afternoon and evening getting the grand tour and catching up on pretty much all the things. They seem so happy in their new place and I don’t blame them. This place is pretty awesome! They rented us the little guest apartment that is right next to theirs and it is really so very nice. I’m truly exhausted, though, and glad for some quiet time before going to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day – and hopefully not too wet. Please?
Tag: travel
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March 14
It was a pretty smooth drive to Virginia today, but oh so long and boring. It was nice to arrive before dinner time so we had time to relax a little before heading back out. I’m loving my new car, which welcomed us to every state we drove through and only needed 1 1/4 tanks of gas to go 500 miles. Not too shabby, little car.
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January 24
We scratched off another card and took a kayaking tour on the river near Rock Springs in Apopka. It was beautiful! The kids were not interested in the least, although Robin did say on the way back that it was peaceful, which I think was positive. Our tour guide, Nigel, was great. I feel like I’ve been paddling enough times at this point that I should be better at steering, but apparently not. I’m glad we had the day free to do it and that the weather was so perfect.
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January 22
I got as much done at work as I could before hitting the road for Christina’s dance competition. I’m at least mostly ready for the first day of training. There is still so much to do after that. Trying to disengage for the weekend and accept that whatever happens, it’ll still better than the last few classes. Traffic was amazing tonight and we made it in almost an hour less time than usual. I know the ride back will be different, but I love it on these rare occasions when I can make the whole trip without having to crawl. Our room is pretty nice. We all, individually, announced the presence of a truck in the parking lot with the competition logo on it. Clearly our observation skills are good. Listening? Not as much.
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September 23
Another long, exhausting day. I’m spending a lot of time meeting with people in different roles, getting a lot of new perspective on what I do and how it fits into the larger organization. Even though not directly tied to what I’m doing, it’s been hugely beneficial, so a worthwhile trip. Went to dinner with the leadership team, which was nice but long. By then I was exhausted and just wanted to talk to my family and go to bed. Which I will do now.
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September 22
First day in the office in about a year, and it went pretty well. It was nice seeing some familiar faces. Went to dinner with Sarah and Q, which was great. The day was so exhausting, though. I fell sleep at 8:30pm and woke up at 10:40 with headphones on. Two more days!
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September 1
I’m a little sad after our trip. I wish I felt closer to Rob and his family. I felt comfortable with them all weekend, more than I expected, but since coming home, all I can think of is them talking about me and how fucked up my kids and I are. I can’t help comparing myself to him and feeling like I don’t measure up. He has money and a beautiful wife and happy children and the passion to follow an impossible dream with unending confidence. I don’t know what it is that I think I have to prove to him or anyone, or why I should feel ashamed of my Jimi Hendrix muscle shirt or the fucking fact that I wear glasses. (Seriously, this is something I felt was a defect he’d judge.) It comes from an old hurt I’ve felt for many, many years. I never felt I compared to Rob. He always had friends and made funnier movies than me and told better stories. People always just liked him better. But I love this picture, and I love him whether he appreciates it or not. I backed away from Mom out of fear and I live with that regret every day. I do not want the same regrets with Rob. I guess he’s stuck with me and my Hendrix shirt and my kids who won’t talk to him and my couch with three legs and the Maltese who shits in the house. He could do worse.
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August 30
More than a year after they moved here, I finally managed to come up and see Rob and Danielle. It was a long drive through more than a hundred miles of relentlessly pouring, torrential rain, but it was so good to see them today, and Bobby and Hailey. They are adorable. Looking forward to the rest of this weekend.
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August 7
We had a great time these last few days with Sonal, Esha, and Arjun. The resort was fantastic. I never wanted to leave the water. I’m completely exhausted now. It was a long, long, long drive home with so much traffic. If we had pulled over to the side of the road and parked for an hour and 15 minutes with no other traffic, we would have gotten home at the same time we did tonight. I’m thankful for Billy, who very graciously picked up my favorite pizza for me (I mean us) so it’d be ready for us when we got home. And it was delicious. Now back to reality.
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August 6
The beach on the island was beautiful. The water was perfect. We sat in the water watching a storm roll in for hours and almost made it back to the mainland before the skies opened up on us. We ended up spending the afternoon in our room, but we did manage to have some s’mores by the fire pit before it started raining again. I am so glad Billy talked me into saying yes to this trip. I only wish he was here with us too. He’s been having kind of a shitty week… every football practice this week has been ruined by lightning and they have yet to get on the field. Pretty soon we’ll be back to commiserate. But until then, pool and turquoise water it will have to be.
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August 5
Made it to Bonita Springs and the resort is beautiful. Met up with Sonal and it was like we’d just seen each other last week. Man, I miss my NY peeps. Not enough to move back to NY (no offense), but pretty damn close. We hung out at the pool for hours, went down waterslides, floated on the lazy river (some of us lazier than others), sat at the fire pit… I truly can’t afford this little jaunt, but fuck it, I’m going to enjoy it anyway! (And I’m doing a pretty good job of it, at that!)
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July 4
We made it through Atlanta without getting stuck in any traffic, which is a July 4 miracle. This, just as we were saying we’d never travel over the Fourth of July again because everything is closed on the Fourth of July. There was a yarn shop and a chocolatier we wanted to stop at before leaving Nashville, but both were closed for the holiday. So be it, here we are, just south of Atlanta, where Christina just beat Billy’s and my butts at Five Crowns and we made our trip official by watching a Harry Potter movie on the hotel TV. I’m looking forward to getting back to the dogs tomorrow, food shopping, and about 200 loads of laundry. But it was a good trip. Good to get away.
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July 3
We literally did EVERYTHING today. We walked over the pedestrian bridge, went into a honky tonk, bought cowboy boots, visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and RCA Studio B, went into the Parthenon, had authentic barbecue, and ate the best ice cream sandwiches made from homemade cookies and ice cream. When you have one day in Nashville, you do it all or bust. We may have done both.
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July 2
We had to get some Kentucky bourbon before we left and found a place that distills Mammoth Cave bourbon on the way to Nashville, so we made a stop. It was really cool – a small family-run distillery. The owner gave us a tour and tasting, introduced us to his horses and his dad. They gave us tips for visiting Nashville, and it was generally great. Much better than going to Maker’s Mark or another big distillery. After getting to Nashville, we were exhausted, and ended up spending most of the day sleeping, but not until after much-needed showers.
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July 1
We went on another cave your this morning. It was unlike any other I’d done – the cave was wide open and, well, cavernous. It was really cool. It rained most of the morning, but after lunch we went for a short hike. It was somewhat drama-filled since there were varying levels of enthusiasm for the hike, most of which were barely registering. I may have screamed at everyone in the middle of the forest. The day got better, though. We played Uno No Mercy and got ice cream. We made pork chops and potatoes for dinner and then kicked Billy’s ass twice at Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza. Billy made the biggest campfire ever, using almost an entire package of firewood. It was, shall we say, MAMMOTH. As fun as it’s been, I think most of us are ready to go in the morning.
