I need a vacation from my vacation

I have to confess, I am feeling a tad overwhelmed today. I just got back from a three day trip. The night before I left for work, I had just gotten back from Virginia where I had spent five days with my boyfriend and his two kids. It was crazy busy and fun - we went to Shenandoah National Park where the deer are so friendly they literally walk right up to you, and in Liam's case, try to lick off the dried ice cream on your shoe! Chris and I went to a wine tasting and brought back five bottles of various vintages (I cannot wait to try!) and he surprised me last night with a lovely wine holder in our living room. We also went to Staunton for dinner one night (Chris turned 40) with his parents and uncle. Staunton is a gorgeous college berg that just brims with small town vigor. Coffee shops abound the hilly tree lined streets, along with boutiques, wine shops, and art galleries as well as old fashioned cinemas showing indie movies.

It was like Stars Hollow, only better.

Anyway, we got back around 8:30 Sunday night and I had to do laundry and get packed for work. My flight was at 7:40am the next morning so I barely had time to catch some sleep. I got home late last night and today I am cleaning. My house is just a mess (not really but it needs a good spring cleaning). I've been working on the bathrooms and I think today I am finally going to hang the mirror in my bedroom - I've only lived here for a year and a half! It's been leaning against the wall the whole time.

Tomorrow, we are picking the kids up and keeping them for the weekend. Then I go back to work on Sunday and I'm flying for six days. And with any luck at all, I'll get down to Dallas for a day or two to see my new nephew - I feel like a bad aunt. I'm the one who can fly and I haven't been down to see him yet. I specifically took vacation this month because I knew he was coming and all of these other things came up that I just didn't factor in, not to mention that this particular vacation was unpaid so I have to make up the hours. I complete ten years in September (YAY!) and then I get three weeks of paid vacation and a few other nice perks, but in the meantime, I gotta work. What's that phrase about poor planning on your part is not a crisis on my part?

Today, if I have any leftover time, I'm going to plant some flowers - I planted some sweetpeas last week, but it looks sorta like something has been at them. :( I wonder what kind of animal would eat sweetpea seeds? I want to get some evening primroses - Chris' mom has a beautiful border of them around her house in the backyard. They were in bloom last June and I just kinda fell in love with them. I also got some daisies, morning glory, basil, and mint to put in my garden. I need more pots! Also, Chris and I are going to get some patio furniture.

Hopefully, this weekend will be nice and we can take the kids hiking or to the zoo. Maybe they'll help us clean out the garage and take the recycling out? So much to do.

Birth Days and Birthdays

On March 27th, I became an aunt! My brother's wife Catherine, after excercising for 45 minutes on the elliptical, decided a few hours later that it was time to go to the hospital where she gave birth to my nephew Scott Robert. Who is adorable.

In other news, it was my dad's and Chris' brithday on Monday. In celebration of my father's grandfatherhood, I put together a photo album of the newest member of our family along with other pictures of his adult children. The photo album had a really interesting 3D presentation so when it is opened some pictures are raised up sort of like a pop-up book. It's pretty neat if I do say so myself.

For Chris, I got him a new digital camera that he seemed completely delighted with. My parents gave him a grilling cookbook. I also wanted to get him some lottery tickets (Chris' dream is to win the lottery so that he can do nothing all day long for the rest of his life, much like the main character in the movie Office Space. I don't think this is such a terrible thing to aspire to.).

So I went into this low-rent looking beverage and lottery place across from the Mitsubishi dealership. The scratch-off lottery tickets were all placed in boxes with numbers on them. So I told the lady behind the counter that I'd take a number 31, 24, and 36. She looked at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. Then a guy walked in behind me and told me I should get the 31's. Then the woman grumbled that she didn't like it when customers told other customers what to buy. And I started to lose patience - I was like, GIVE ME THE LOTTERY TICKETS YOU MORON. But of course I just smiled and didn't say anything. Then I forked over my debit card and she informed me that they NEVER take debit/credit cards for lottery tickets - you know, in that tone of voice that implies I should have known this, moron!

I apologized for not having cash, asked if they had an ATM machine (no) and then got fed up with the whole process and left. I did not get Chris any lottery tickets and I felt kind of bad about this.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Dad and Chris, and Happy Birth Day to my nephew Scott! Can't wait to meet you!