Vacation travels

I've been wanting to start blogging about vacation before I Have a chance to forget all the good stuff that happens, but I have been so busy since I got home I haven't really had a chance to write anything.

I can't really start at the beginning and write it all, but I did want to tell a tale of our trip to Silver dollar City.

When I was a kid, SDC wasn't that exciting. It was OK, but I don't remember it so much for the rides as I remember it for exhibits. But, my goodness, I liked it now. The food was everywhere and it smelled fantastic. Unfortunately, I only had about $15 so I couldn't eat everything I wanted to eat. That and we were with my mom who never buys park food, and my brother and his wife and kids who had plenty of snacks from home. We didn't need the food, but I wanted it ALL. We were going to dinner that night and it would be plenty, but boy it was hard to skip it all. I only got 1 container of homemade potato chips and a funnel cake in addition to dinner, and Maggie and I shared with all the kids so we didn't pig out too much.

I haven't had much of a chance to be around my nephews and niece and they were all a lot of fun. Travis is 7 and in the 2nd grade. Reagan is 5 and in Kindergarten and Truman is almost 2. Truman ate all day long...when I got the funnel cake at the end of the day he followed me down the aisle (we were in a show) wanting funnel cake. I think he liked it as much as I did. He also liked his brother and sister's smoothies too. He's such a cute little mooch...who could care! Reagan took to Maggie right away and Maggie seemed to enjoy the younger kids more than I would have expected. They took turns riding with her on rides and it was fun for her to be the older, popular kid after spending part of the summer being the little kid.

At one point in the day I got off a ride and Cindy, my sister-in-law told me that Truman had asked to ride on a ride with me. It was so cute, I was so impressed that his verbal skills were that well developed. Mostly, he pointed at the balloons (bawoon or baba) and me (awa) We had a great time. He's such a cutie! And for once Maggie didn't act jealous. Cindy doesn't ride many rides as she gets motion sickness, but she enjoys the hanging out. Truman reached a milestone on this day. HE was finally 36 inches and big enough to ride almost all the tamer rides with supervision and the kiddy rides alone.

The biggest laugh of the day came from Travis. He wanted us to ride a ride called Splashdown. We had ridden some other rides and my mom had told me the kids sometimes get wet and brought us a towell so I knew that dampness was out there. I wans't all that worried about it b/c it was a warm, but not hot day and I figured getting wet would be fun as it usually is. The other rides we had ridden didn't get me very wet and this was the last water ride. I asked Travis if I was going to get wet and they said that it depended on where I sat in the raft. I didn't see the ride going in, so I didn't have a clue what the ride was like. My brother suggested I leave my cell phone with my mom, but I had been doing that on all the wet rides, so that was no big deal. We got up to the top of the ride and I saw that the ride didn't sport cars or boats, but rafts...like the kind you find in the water park, not at the amusement park. At that moment, I thought (now, remember, I'm blonde) "How will I NOT get wet?" I asked Travis again and he told me that it depended on where I sat in the raft. I got in the raft and they sent us on our way (Maggie, Reagan and I were in the raft together) I didn't make it to the first time and I was soaked down to my underwear. I was wetter than I had been at Ocean's of fun on Monday before after going in the swimming pool. I was totally soaked. Travis had a huge laugh and told me that it's not where you sit in the raft it's if you're in the raft you'll get wet. Evidently the time before they had tried to get my mom in the raft and she didn't want to do it b/c she hates to get wet. Then after she saw how wet they all were she wouldn't do it again, so he finally got to play his trick on me. I was so wet that I still had damp clothes when we got home at 8pm.

The photo at the top is last year's photo of my brother and his family.

I caught my dinner, how about you?

These are the words my daughter said to me today when I spoke to her at dinner time. She is in Nantucket visiting her grandparents on her dad's side of the family. His family is strange and complicated, so technically, they are not blood grandparents, but she is having a great time with people who love her and in the end, I think that's all that matters.

We got home from our Missouri trip on Monday at about 4pm. I washed her clothes (the few that were dirty--Mom let me wash most of them at her house on the weekend which was a huge help) and repacked them and then on Tuesday morning her dad picked her up to take her to the airport for Nantucket. Originally, he was supposed to go to Nantucket with her, but he changed jobs earlier this summer and was at the last minute unable to go with her. So, Meg and Lori paid her unaccompanied minor fee and she went on her own. As much as she wanted to go to Nantucket, she didn't really want to travel alone or be away from a parent. She's been in a weird spot all summer with wanting to be away from us, but the tickets were purchased and I fairly made her go. Shawn took her to the airport b/c I knew she wouldn't melt down if he took her and I wasn't sure she wouldn't if I took her.

She spent this morning on the beach with Lori while Meg worked and then they all went out on the boat this afternoon. Meg and Lori have a new dog, Buster, who is a schnoodle. Maggie says that schnoodles are the best dogs ever and if we ever need a new dog we should get one. Buster evidently slept with her part of last night which has sealed her love for him. As for the title of this blog, this is what she said to me when I spoke to her around supper. They went out on the boat and dropped anchor and caught mussels, which Lori cooked in wine and then served in a garlic butter sauce...wish I were in Nantucket.

Tomorrow is my first day at my new job. I'm a little nervous, but I think I'll be OK. I lost the client whose mother was giving me a good time...good riddance as far as I'm concerned.

Birthday lists...

Ok, this is a shameless note posted for all my family who may want to birthday shop for me (not that they do, but here it is anyway) I have an amazon.com wishlist and no one ever buys me anything from it.

I'm thinking it's b/c no one knows about it, so I thought I'd post it here.

It has books for me and sometimes books for Maggie. I have no books on their for peter. I made the wish list b/c people are always telling me about books I want to read and I always forget them. So, it seemed like a good way to keep up with books I want to read rather than having to write them down somewhere. The ones on the first page are more recent, but all of them are things I wouldn't mind having in my library.

Annyoing people

A quick blurb to vent about people who mess with my schedule!

I'm a music/massage therapist and I see lots of people. Earlier in the summer, I nailed down my fall schedule. I have one parent who seems to want to make life difficult for me. She keeps changing things around. I nailed a time down with her and told her I needed that time, called dibs, etc. She said no problem...then she gave another therapist the time slot she had promised me. This is after she said I could see him at school during the day and then changed her mind on that.

To be fair, I don't know this lady at all. I only know our interactions. She has not been easy to work with at all. I feel like she is trying to make things difficult for me. Every time I talk about a time being convenient or what will or won't work, she gets weird. IT's like she doesn't want it to be convenient. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I really feel like this lady is yanking my chain.

Home from my trip

I feel like one of those cars we used to play with as kids where you rev the back wheels and then set it down and it takes off running. My heart is racing and I'm swamped with work to be done today. I needed this week to be a slug, get my ducks in line, redecorate Maggie's room, take care of me before her school started. Instead, I'm spending it working my new job at Springtown ISD and generally feeling overwhelmed. It's hard not to be tired when you're used to NOT working and suddenly ARE working.

I want to write tales of my trip, but they will have to wait. I'm off and running in a matter of minutes, seeing clients and just generally being busy.

Last Day of Vacation

A lengthy post about my fun yesterday at Silver Dollar City will be coming once I get home, but not today. It will have to wait until I can really think about what to say b/c there are some really good stories to tell from my trip and I want to do them all justice. Today, I'm just tired and ready to be home. I haven't seen my horses for over 10 days. I haven't seen my husband in almost as long, or the dogs. Of the bunch the husband will be the most welcome sight, with horses and dogs lagging not far behind.

The worst part is that when we get back, Maggie has to turn around and leave almost immediately. Cat and I had plans to redecorate her room while she's gone. I don't know if we'll accomplish that or not, but I want to do something to that end. I figured I could at least get the pink, lower part of her wood painted to a nice green color while she's gone. IF it's not too hard I'll even get some of the wallpaper peeled, but I just don't know.

It hasn't been very restful on vacation. I have job interviews for 3 districts this week while I'm working on the people I have scheduled already. I have riding lessons to teach and I need to trim feet. I will definitely have to hit the ground running when I get home. One of the school districts holds my interest in particular, but I can't say more about it till I have the interviews. I can't believe I almost let my music therapy certification go last year and now I'm about to go back to work in the field.

This should be a lucrative financial year. It's my plan to pile up a bunch of cash and then pay off a bill or at least be able to quit worrying about what if the car breaks down or we need a new one. I'm planning to save about every dime (save tithing and some personal money) for a better future. I really want to pay off debt, but something tells me I may need a little extra cash in my immediate future, so I'm making a plan to do that first. Dave Ramsey says that you're better off piling up the cash and doing one thing at a time, and if you think there is something coming up in the future, better to pile up the cash first. I'd like to get one credit card paid off by Christmas, but piling up the cash may prove to be a better move in the short term...more on that later.

Today we went to church with my mom and then she made lunch. Now Maggie and the older cousins are playing, we watched The Incredible Journey (which always makes me cry) and I came in here to check on my maps, and write something...didn't mean to linger so long so I will go for now. More tomorrow.

Another day on vacation

Another day in our vacation...

Today we went to breakfast and then my dad took Maggie and I to a couple of colleges. He had heard from friends in the community that there was a need for college professors in the equestrian department b/c many of the folks who teach riding don't have Masters or PHD's. I didn't know if it was true, but I was willing to check it out as he was so insistent...well, it wasn't true. Steven's college is a small college in Columbia and they might eventually need help, but William Woods University in Fulton positively didn't need any staff. They must be a great place to work as they have only had one new teacher hired in the last 2-3 years with the reaminder of the staff having been there since the 80's. Both places were nice and took my resume, but I'm sure there isn't anything for me to do in either location.

On the way there I saw a sign for Mexico, MO and said something to my dad about some friends that he and mom had out that way. I can't remember their name, but I thought it was Curtis or something like that.I remember that they had a pony and once in a snow storm we tried to get on and off the pony and I feel off the other side into the snow. I don't think we ever did ride b/c none of us could get on. She was a gregarious, patient thing, but I didn't get to ride that day. I know they had a girl around my age, but I can't remember her name. Anyway, my dad says he's never known anyone in Mexico, MO, so now it's really bugging me. I'm going to have to ask my mom to see if it was somewhere else in the state. I just really thought it was Mexico b/c I thought we had joked about driving to Mexico. He thinks I dreamed it, but I know I didn't...just don't know who the people are.

Now we're back at dad's. He had to go to his bank for a couple hours. Shirley is eating lunch. Maggie is playing on my computer. I'm not really sure what you're supposed to do when you're at a parent's house with no "entertainment" I'm happy to read my book or surf, but it seems like I'm supposed to be interacting or doing something. I don't really travel enough to have good ettiquette in this department I guess.

Back to my book, the comfortable chair calls.