My favorite things

Travelling for work can be tedious, but it also has some nice benefits, like staying in great hotels. Beautiful, old hotel in Charleston had a credenza at the foot of the bed, out of which popped a television. That was cool. Then there was the place in Whistler, British Columbia with the amazing view of a mountain out the window of my room. Santa Fe has a hotel with really old woodwork that felt comforting and homey. But the way to really capture my heart is to have an amazing bathtub.

I'm a shower girl for the most part. We've been in our house 9 years and I've taken exactly 2 baths. There are times when a tub just calls to you. One of those was in Lake Tahoe at Caesar's Palace. The hottub was nearly as big as the bed, which was in the same room. I filled that bad boy to the brim, which took quite a while, added bubbles, and then turned on the jets, ever so slightly. It was amazing. Definitely too big for one, but that's the drawback of travelling alone. The other drawback was the sound of bubbles popping, and popping, and popping while I was trying to go to sleep.

My brother-in-law's house has a great tub. It's your standard inhouse bubble tub, but there's a fire place involved. That room was so toasty warm it soaked right into my bones. Yum.

My all time favorite is the hotel at the Vancouver Airport. It's been my privilege to stay there twice, and I'd love to go again. Something about marble walls surrounding a nicely proportioned tub from which you can see the television, control the lights in the room, and have the world's most amazing towels and robe available, well it's a winner with me.

If I ever build a house I might try to recreate that one. Except I'd have to clean it. Might lose some of it's appeal...

Drive-thru Nerding

My boss needed 5 minutes out of the office so I agreed to ride along while she picked up lunch. She headed straight to my favorite Chinese restaurant so I had to get a little something. I decided on wings, you know the ones that come as a dinner with rice and that yummy sauce.

We place our order and wait at the drive-up window. One bag and a beverage arrive and we wait for the next one, which never comes. He finally noticed us and went to get another guy, who speaks English to ask us what we were waiting for. I explained that we only got one bag, only one styrofoam box. He said that was all we ordered. Shrimp with Lobster Sauce and wings.

I opened the bag to find the Shrimp, just as expected, and this pathetic little bag of fried chicken wings. He insisted that's we had ordered. Okay, whatever.

Karen and I totally got the giggles at this point. Lesson learned: it's called Braised Chicken Wings, not fried. That sounds better anyway.

Who?

I called my sister-in-law yesterday to talk about plans for the upcoming week. My 5 year old nephew answered. He doesn't talk on the phone much so I introduced myself as 'Aunt Kris from Lincoln.' He seemed satisfied and went on to share what he'd had for breakfast, plans for the afternoon, and that they were going to watch a professional soccer match that night. After he ran out of things to share I asked if I could speak to his mom. He laid down the phone and yelled, "Hey Mom, it's Abraham Lincoln on the phone."

Maybe we should get togther with them more often.

All settled in

The move went fine. Princess called Saturday afternoon to inquire where one might get hot water from, the gas company or the electric company. That all depends, I informed her. Seems they weren't informed to call the gas company so didn't have service, therefore, no hot water. Guess that will keep 3 girls moving quickly through the one bathroom! All else seems good in Kearney. Football started today so she's already busy in the training room.

Good idea? not so much

Our youngest is packing up the SUV and heading back to college tomorrow. Yes, it's early. She is an athletic trainer so has to be there when fall sports start.

She's also a planner, to the nth degree. She's been carrying a day-timer since 8th grade. When she began making the lists and checking them twice for this move, she made arrangements with her boyfriend to share a trailer. They would split the cost of the U-Haul trailer and move on the same day. Her stuff would go in first, his second so that his could be unloaded first. It's a well thought plan except for one thing. They're just irritating the stuffing out of each other.

About two weeks ago I suggested that she let him make his own arrangements and she could share transportation with her roomie. After all they're moving to the same location. That notion was soundly rejected. She informed me that she'd already made a commitment. Well okay then. When things go badly don't be surprised. I know I won't.

The Name Game

At a baby shower when the discussion came up about what the grandparents would be called. There are so many options in the world. I like the notion of letting the child work out a moniker on their own, but that can be perilous. A friend shared that she was 'guh' for a long time after having worked so hard to encourage 'grandma'. My girls decided I should be 'grammy' to Easton. I quickly informed them I would prefer to be 'G-ma' which they found only slightly amusing.

Jeff and I are just not 'Nana' and 'Popo' kind of people. Easton is fortunate to have not only 3 sets of grandparents, but multiple sets of great-grandparents. How the poor little thing will sort all this out is anyone's guess.

I'm just going on record as saying that 'grammy' is not it!

The Test

Most everything in life should be measured by this simple query: "Does that sound stupid to you?"

When someone's life has gone awry and they give you their rationale you should be allowed to look at them and ask: "Does that sound stupid to you?" Nothing else really needs to be said. Think about it, this could work.

Unfortunately polite society doesn't allow that much reality. Pity.