home again!

What a trip it was! I couldn't have driven it, but my sister-in-law did it. It took almost twice as long as it should have taken, due to bad weather. Sleet and slush and freezing rain...the tractor trailers would go by and drown us in slashings of slush. It was slippery and when it go dark out, not fun. But we still rather made it fun. Kim was doing the driving, but I was in charge of keeping her spirits up and I think I did a good job:). We thought our passengers were going to miss their flight for certain, at one point. The map on the phone was giving us a running time of our destination, and that time was standing still...and even going backwards for a while. We got them there, not knowing if they would make it through security and catch their flight...but they did! The flight was delayed an hour, yay!

So after a seven hour trip, we had to find our hotel. This was my first time in New York City, except for landing/departing at airports there. And this is about all I saw:


The Staten Island Bridge. We also went over the George Washington Bridge. We saw some buildings, and lots of lights. We entered and exited so many highways, and saw way too many cars!

By the time we got to our hotel, which we were extremely thankful we had booked ahead of time, we were almost dizzy. It was after 11 p.m., we were tired and hungry and the pool was closed. The nice guy at the desk gave us each a cookie, I think he gives everyone one. It was oatmeal/raisin/choc.chip/walnut. Mine disappeared before I could even reason with myself about it.

We found our room. It was a HUGE hotel, and our room was up in a back corner...it was like the corridors of, "The Shining"...our room was an adjoining room. The door was closed and locked between our room and our neighbors, but here were signs at the top of the door that it had been jammed open, or at least someone had tried. And there were loud voices from the other side of the wall, it sounded like a guy on the phone, or two guys talking...and I didn't like it. So....Kim bore with me, and back down to the desk we went...and asked to be changed. While we waited we heard the guy tell someone one the phone that due to high occupancy he couldn't accept the government discount rate, and the rate for the night was $179. We only paid $75. :) Anyway. We changed rooms, and were still hungry. The restaurant in the hotel was too pricey, so we had snacks....watermelon and nuts and grapes and a couple of yummy drinks I won't discuss.

I have to say, lounging in the comfy beds and watching HDTV with Kim wasn't too shabby. And in the morning, we decided not to care what anyone thought about us, and we headed to the pool, which was the focal point of the atrium, and of course...no one else was swimming.


We got on the road, and stopped in New Jersey at IHOP. I ate my eggs, bacon, and hash browns...but those blueberry pancakes...oh dear. The topping was so sweet and too sweet, and I didn't even think to add syrup until I had eaten enough of them...they simply didn't need it. Can you believe I couldn't finish them?


Anyway...I am home today. My ear hurts, my head is congested, and I am dizzy. But other than that, no complaints.

Except for this: Abigail AND Margaret are going to Norway in June...for a whole year. They both were accepted, and I am happy for them but shh, I burst into tears and had myself a good little cry when Ab texted me this morning. A year is a long time for a mom not to see her child...even if that child is 28, and her sister is 18. wah.