Just Loungin' Around on the Couch Eating Bon-Bons ~ Take 2

I was talking with a friend today whose "baby" is the same age as my "baby."  As is the same for me, this school year marked the first time for her since becoming a mother that ALL children are in school for the WHOLE day.  That means we're home alone during the day now.  Unlike me, who [idiotically] changed my work hours at my jetBlue job to the daytime and, consequently, ruined all my "discretionary time," she is not currently employed for pay, so I guess others have taken that as the green light to stick their noses in her business and ask stupid questions.
She told me that multiple people have now started to ask her, "What do you do all day?"

What?!?

Like no one could possibly think of anything else one would do besides "punch a time card?"
(So irritating).

I'll tell you what she does:
She runs at least 5 miles a day.
She keeps her house immaculately clean!!  Like we're talkin' you could totally eat off her floors!  Seriously.  And you would NOT find dust/dirt in her window tracks, a ring around her toilet bowl, or crumbs on the kitchen counter!!!  She makes sure of it.  ;)
She shop vacs her garage regularly.  As well as her cars.
(She'll wash and wax the cars' exterior, too!)
She makes wreaths for her front door.
She volunteers in both of her elementary school-aged children's classroom once a week.
She goes on EVERY SINGLE field trip, as a chaperone, with her children's school class.
She makes dinner.  Even freezer meals for future use, when needed for unexpected company, a sick neighbor/friend, or a hectic, busy day for the family.
And she often brings my family plates of goodies......just because!
She serves in the Young Women organization of her church congregation.  (THAT takes a ton of time, I know from past experience!)
She spends a good amount of time on the phone with or at doctor offices due to her children's unique "ability" to break their legs!  ;)  And being an advocate for their care.
Did I mention she runs 5 miles a day?!?
She grows flowers.
She just did half the wedding (planning, shopping, decorating, baking, scheduling, paying for) her younger sister's wedding.
She has six people's laundry to do which includes a plethora a dance and soccer workout gear.  (And it doesn't get left undone like some people I know [me])
Her kids never look like rag-a-muffins (again like some people I know [me]) - with three girls' hair nicely coiffed and donning cute clothes.
Her car goes in and out of her driveway all day long running different errands in order to keep the pantry stocked and the household running.
She goes to the temple.

Man, I'm tired!

And these are just the things that I SEE or know about.....there's undoubtedly so much more she's doing behind the scenes that I don't see.
Oh!  And she runs 5+ miles a day - did I happen to mention that one, yet? 

I'm not doing all that - are you?  Now that I've "shed light on the situation," would people ask her that question still?!?
Probably.
They REALLY don't have any clue, do they?

Her experience reminded me of my own experience I had recently while I was getting a manicure.  (Oh, is that WHY I'm not doing everything she's doing because I spend my time at the Spa?  ;)  Actually, it is a rarity to find me there - I was finally using a gift certificate I got for my birthday, and had already had for over 6 months.)

So, back to the manicure.....the gal doing it was chatting it up with me and she found out I worked at jetBlue.  She asked me if I was full-time or part-time.  When I told her I worked 24 hrs. a week there, she then asked me, "So, what do you do with the rest of your time?"
I replied that I had a family; a husband and five children.
She kind of went, "Mmmm hmmm" and then pushed further with, "So, what do you do?", dismissing that my previous remark had anything to do with her question of how I fill my time.

Well, interestingly enough, after visiting with her throughout the rest of the manicure, I found out that she:

• Is not married.
• Has children who are from multiple different men.
• Is currently trying to get back with the father of her youngest child, but she doesn't want to move into his place because the last time she lived there, whenever they would fight (which was a lot), he'd get mad and kick them out, and then they'd have no place to live.
• Has her mom live with her, and she watches the kids while she's at work, cleans, does laundry, pays for half the home improvement costs, take the children to appointments, cooks dinner, etc.
• Bar-tends a few night a week and gets off at all hours of the morning. 
• Says she does not have good choice in men.

After that conversation, it became more obvious to me WHY she [ignorantly] asked me the question; it was rather telling that she did not know, hadn't figured it out yet, that there is a connection between TIME and Quality FAMILY life.  ;)

*********************
The first of my "Bon-Bons" posts is back HERE

Things I've Heard on the Job #10

Here's another installment of, "On the phones @ jetBlue."


*  (This first one is not something I heard the customer say....it's what she didn't say, but I still heard!)
I answered a call, and I immediately heard this swishing-swooshing CONTINUOUS noise in the background.  It was really obvious and distracting to me.  I had to try hard to concentrate on what the customer was saying instead of wondering WHAT IN THE WORLD that noise was.  Was she sawing wood during the phone call?  The caller made no mention of the noise while we were talking.  Is she pumping breast milk while she talks to me about flights?  She didn't say, "Just a minute while I move to a quieter place." or anything else like that.  Is that her washing machine going in the same room?  She didn't excuse it and she didn't seem to strain to hear over the top of it.  Is it an oxygen machine?  A ventilator?   In fact, she didn't act like she even noticed the noise at all.  Oh my word, is she performing CPR on the dummy - or a real person - during our call?  I can't believe she acted like everything was completely normal; like nothing was happening whatsoever except for her phone call with me.  Because ALL I could think about was that noise!  Does this mystery noise rank right up there with that other unmentionable noise from a few years back?


* [Customers always feel free to carry on conversations with people in the background when they're on the phone with me...]
(Someone in the background started whining/crying)
Customer: "What happened?  Did you hurt your nuts?"
Boy in background:  "No, my knee!"
 

* Me:  "How many customer's will be traveling?"
Customer:  "One.  Just me.  I WISH I had Halle Barry to go with me!"
Later in the phone call.....
Me:  "What is your TrueBlue number?"
Customer:  "I don't know.  I'll have to ask my wife."
Hmmmm.....so he has a wife, but desires to travel with Halle Barry instead?  His wife is good for keeping track of all his pertinent information, but she's not good enough to go on vacation with?


* [A man was booking a flight for he and his wife]
Me:  "What is your wife's date of birth?"
Customer:  "Oh, I don't know.  Do we have to put that on the reservation?  Because she's going to kill me if I ask her!"
Me:  "Yes, it is required information to ticket the flight."
Customer:  "I think it's 1966, she's 47 years old."
Me:  "OK, if she's 47, that would be 1968."
Customer:  "Oh no!  Now she's really going to kill me, for making her older than she is!"


For past "Things I've heard on the job" posts, click HERE.

The First of Many More to Come and Thoughts on D-Land

I've been looking forward to and making plans for various Mother/Daughter outings that I will do with my girls [when they are old enough] for years.   Well, I think we officially started this past week.  We went on our FIRST "Girls Trip."

Matt actually had a work conference at the Grand Californian Disney Hotel - and we tagged along.  

Why not?  Hotel room paid for?  Check.  Per Diem money provided for Matt & I by his company?  Check.  Discount Disneyland tickets offered by the conference?  Check.  Private Dinner Party/Evening of Entertainment/Priority viewing of World of Color included for the entire family?  Check.  

Fly for FREE on jetBlue?  Check.

 Matt spent all day in classes - poor guy!  :)

This MAY have been a mistake to start out so BIG.  Will the girls be satisfied with "Chick Flick" night out at the movies in the future now?  ;)

Now, a list of my random thoughts:

1. If I were RICH, I would always opt to stay at a Disney property.  We were spoiled to be there by "riding on Matt's work conference coat tails."  Not only was it such a nice resort (inside & out) but it came with "privileges" like Early Entrance at 7:00 EVERY morning.  The best part, though, is that we literally walked out our hotel room door, turned two corners, and we were right IN Disney's California Adventure!  To get to Downtown Disney, we walked out the hotel the other way...with Disneyland just a bit further up the way.  SOOO convenient (but also expensive!)
2. I have to say that I have officially "graduated" from the Tea Cups ride.  No more.  I really can't handle it anymore - I lose my equilibrium.
3. I LOVE my Disney Dream Reward Dollars.  I have the Disney Visa and earned about $150 to use anywhere in the park - no need to worry about packing in food.  But, we DID use it ALL in 3 days!
4. August is NOT my favorite time to go to Disneyland.  I've been at several different times through the years, and August probably lands at the bottom of my list.  (The HEAT.  The lines.  The crowds.  Even the cast members are a bit less "on their [magical] game" having to deal with all of the above.)
5. I need to wear "hospital shoes" or some other kind of super-duper orthopedic-bionic shoes while there - my feet were KILLING ME!  Seriously, I COULD NOT WAIT to get off my feet at night.
6. Dole Whip and Frozen lemonades are like manna from heaven!  (See #3 & #4)
7. We Americans are INSANE!  The first day we were there, the line to see Elsa & Anna (from Frozen) was a three HOUR WAIT.  3 HOURS!  So, I told the girls we would come the next day for our Early Entrance.  We were lined up outside the entrance gate at 6:45 IN THE MORNING to go in - and we still weren't the first in line!  What is wrong with all of us?  Who does this?  Isn't this a vacation?  Once the gates were opened, we walked directly to the Elsa/Anna house.....and the line was already starting - we ended up waiting 1 hr. 40 min!
8. Times have CHANGED!  Now, every ride is posted with a sign stating that children under the age of 7 (Brookelle) must be accompanied with a person 14 or older (neither Haylee or Katelyn) or they couldn't ride.  And they enforced it - our girls were denied entrance once!  Which meant, if Miss B wanted to do ANYTHING & EVERYTHING, I was the ONE to go with her.  Now let's go back 34 years, when my dad took me (then age 10), my older sister (age 13) and my younger brother (age 4) to So. Cal with him once on a business trip and he just DROPPED US OFF at Disneyland for the whole day.  I'm not sure, but I think that would be grounds for getting Child Protective Services involved these days?!?  Just a hunch.  ;)  AND, on that trip, my older sister (the one in charge???) got separated from us (the 10 & 4 yr. old) for HOURS!  We spent all that time looking for her - we eventually found her later and learned that she had just kept on going on rides the whole time - after all, she didn't want to waste her day looking for us! 
9. My bum sure doesn't fit the same in some of those seats as it used to!  Dang it!
10. I think it's time Disneyland establishes a "modesty standard" of some kind.  There was WAY TOO MUCH boobage (a lot more than just cleavage), backs, bras & bum cheeks showing!  For that reason, I was glad my teenage boys were not with us to see that.  It was still a bad example for my girls, though.  If the guests don't have enough common sense to cover themselves adequately, they should be policed.  No, seriously, they could make rules.  When we were at Hershey Park last year, this "warning sign" was out in the parking lot:
    

The fact that they even have to put up a sign.....Really?!!?

Saved by My Own Stupidity

While the majority of the time I enjoy the great perk of working from home with my job at jetBlue, occasionally it is required to go into the office for team meetings, etc.

TODAY was one of those days. 

The same strict attendance/tardy policy applies for these meetings, too.  (And as a side note, I'm just one tardy away from being in SERIOUS trouble!)  It's a 30 minute drive to the office.  The meeting was at 12:30 p.m., so I planned to leave at 11:45 a.m. (just to be safe) but actually left at 11:55 a.m.  (Oooooo, cuttin' it close from the get-go).

THEN, I noticed (re-noticed actually because I'd seen it the night before, too) that the gas light was on.  Because I'm not the only driver of that car these days, thanks to a teenager, I had NO IDEA how much it had been driven, and how close the gas tank was to bone dry.

I knew if I ran out of gas on the freeway, it would be NOT be good for my "on-time performance" so I decided to take the first exit and find a gas station fast.  EXCEPT when I exited, there was no gas station to be found.  I first went down one main road, then turned around and went down another main road, and there wasn't a single gas pump in sight!  It wasn't a place I was familiar with, so I didn't know there wouldn't be one.  The only thing I knew about this neighborhood was that it was rumored to be kinda shoddy....so, I FOR SURE didn't want to run out of gas there!

So, I got back on the freeway (5 minutes lost).  This time, I figured I'd call Matt to tell me where the gas stations were in the Salt Lake area, so I wouldn't waste anymore time.  Well, by the time he looked anything up on the internet, I had already passed a few more major exits, and I was nervous about missing gas stations, so I got off on the next one.  And I found myself right in the middle of a
tear-up-the-road construction zone where ALL 256 cars were being diverted to one lane of traffic in each direction. 

THE CLOCK IS TICKING!

I finally make it up the street (it wasn't right by the exit) to a gas station.  I pull up to the pump - WHEW!  I'm not going to run out of gas! - open my purse, and NO WALLET.  I have a flashback of me taking my wallet up to my bedroom last night.  It must still be there!  I can't buy gas without money!  But, I have a check book - I know, one of the last people on earth.  I run inside and ask the guy if they accept checks for gas.  NOPE!

I get back in the car and drive down to another main road.  AND the railroad crossing barricades start coming down in front of me.  No, No, No!  My first instinct was literally to speed up and beat them!  You see these train/car accidents on the news sometimes, and we're all like, What idiots!  What were they doing on the train tracks?  Well, now I know!  ;)  But, I DID stop and waited.  Aware that more time was working itself off the clock.  I found another gas station and went inside and asked about if they were "check friendly."  NO GO!

You've GOT to be kiddin' me!  The clock now read 12:27 p.m.  I was about in tears!  Three minutes until my meeting started.  I was about 20 minutes away IF I drove straight there and didn't run out of gas.  BUT, we had been warned that if we were more than 15 min. late to the meeting, that we would not be admitted, and it couldn't be made up.  Maybe if I sped....?  I started to drive there, but I had a bad feeling I would run out of gas, though. 

Well, whatever I did, I figured I better call into the office and try to get a message to my supervisor BEFORE I was officially tardy (the one that might give me the AX!)  I spoke to the Supervisor on Duty and explained to her that I'd had a Series of Unfortunate Events and now I was going to be late for my team meeting. 
She asked who my supervisor was.  I told her.  She told me that the meeting was at 1:30 p.m.!!!!!  No, I told her it was at 12:30 p.m.
She said she hoped not because she was suppose to attend, and that would mean she was late, as well!  I said I hoped not because that would give me some time to get everything straightened out!
She looked at the master meeting schedule while she had me on the phone and verified that, in fact, my team meeting did not start until 1:30 p.m.  

OH!  I was SOOO relieved!!
It almost seemed like a dream - that I would wake up from, and still be late, in reality.

But, I swear, I had been told it started at 12:30, so I called home and had the girls look at our calendar for the time I had written down.....sure enough it said 1:30 p.m.  I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I GOT 12:30 IN MY MIND!

BUT, I was glad.  It turned out to be a blessing!

I then called Matt at work, asked him to leave and meet me at a 3rd gas station WITH A CREDIT CARD so we could fill the tank up with gas.  And he did (after he rescheduled a conference call that was about to begin).  I told him he was My prince to the rescue!  ;)

And then after that, my cell phone went dead.  Whew!  Another blessing - just in the nick of time.

Between the time I had to wait for Matt to drive over to meet me, and the time it took me to drive the rest of the way to the office, find a parking spot in a fuller-than-normal parking terrace, and walk in and sit down, I only had 5 minutes to spare.

BUT, I made it.  IN TIME.  Only because I [unknowingly] left my home an hour and 35 minutes before the meeting started), but I made it!  And that's what counts!  For ONCE, my mistake actually SAVED me!  Haha.  :)

Friday Funnies OR Things I've Heard on the Job #9

"Funnies"  - Did anyone else used to call the comics in the Sunday newspaper, "the funnies"?

We did in my family.

Since that's what I'm going to share with you today, AND it is a Friday, I'm calling this post, "Friday Funnies" -- and it might become a regular feature???  Who knows?

My material also comes from a customer while I was "On the phones at JetBlue."

The call was coming to a natural end and I was about to bid him farewell.....

Customer:  "WAIT!  Can I ask you one more thing?"

Based on past experience, my immediate thought was, Oh no, it's one of those guys!

(Like the foot fetish guy who asks if I'm wearing any shoes.  Like the hand fetish guy who asks how big my hands are.  Like the Perv who asks what kind of lingerie I wear.  Like the whatever psycho who asks a variety of freaky &/or inappropriate questions.)

Me:  (guarded)  "OK."

Customer:  "Where does a one-legged woman work?"

(After that question, I STILL thought he was going to turn it into something sick & wrong.  Should I disconnect the call?)

Me: (still guarded)  "Where?"

Customer:  "IHOP"

Hahahaha.  Oh, whew!  What a pleasant surprise!  It was a REAL joke!  :)

Customer:  "I've got one more for you."

Me:  (guard down this time)  "OK."

Customer:  "What did one eye say to the other eye?

Me:  "What?"

Customer:  "Don't look now, but there's something between us that smells."

Bwah ha haha.  Instead of a dirty, old man....he turned out to be a clever, delightful man!  :)

Happy Friday!  (And Valentine's Day!)

**************

Other "Things I've Heard on the Job" here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here.

Work Woes

It hasn't exactly been a breeze at work for Matt & I lately.

MATT:
It all started on Christmas Eve.....

When THIS GUY walked into Matt's work (a Credit Union).

And THEN he proceeded to ROB one of their tellers!  He just verbally told him, "This is a robbery.  Give me all your money."  The teller looked at him like he was kidding, to which the robber clarified, "This is FOR REAL."  So, the teller complied.

(And got away before law enforcement arrived - within minutes!)

The president was out that day, so Matt spent a lot of time searching the security camera footage and prepare it for the cops and going through all the other procedural steps for robberies.  Never pleasant.

In the News:  This same guy went on to rob two other financial institutions over the course of the same week!!  Story HERE.

THEN, on Monday, just 13 days after the 1st robbery, they got robbed AGAIN.  (Different robber, same teller!!!)  We couldn't believe it!

He imitated he had a weapon, but one was never seen.

AGAIN, the president of the credit union was still out, so Matt went through the whole "recovery process" that day, as well - LIKE HE DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE HE NEEDS TO DO!  HA!
This time the FBI was there with their masks on, collecting fibers, and the whole nine yards!
Understandably, some of his employees were VERY distraught and shook up.  They kept the outside door locked the rest of the afternoon.

Why do these thugs think they can just commit such crimes...which involve REAL PEOPLE????  (It's an epidemic - like 24 bank robberies in the last two months in our state!)  And cause all kinds of [mental & financial] damage along the way.  

ME:
My hopes to start the New Year off "low-key" at work were completely dashed THANKS TO THIS:

The first winter storm of the year has arrived bringing with it significant snowfall, strong winds and extremely frigid temperatures to the Northeast. Going into it we knew this was going to be a challenge, but boy, were we unpleasantly surprised for how big it actually got.

It caused us to deal with THIS:

Which resulted in a TON of THIS:

Which meant a "Code Red" was issued on NEW YEAR'S DAY.  A "code red" is when it is mandatory for everyone to work a certain number of overtime hours that day.  (In addition to your regularly scheduled work shifts.)
The CODE RED was still in effect for January 2.
And then another CODE RED was issued for January 3.
And another on January 4.
And on January 5.
And January 6.
And even on January 7.

But, to look on the bright side....{cue ABBA's song, "Money, Money, Money"}  I'll probably make more money in this one week time period, than I did in the last 2 months!

Finally, for the 8th, overtime will no longer be mandatory, but it is still being asked of us, on a volunteer basis, because there are still so many [sometimes irate] customers calling trying to either get a better/earlier/different flight, or get their money refunded/adjusted.  Or to just complain, cancel, compliment, cross-examine, cuss at, or confuse us!

But, we tried to MAKE THE MOST OF IT:

Good thing my friends gave me a case of this:

And this:

;)

To cope, Matt also took me away, out on a date Friday night to a steakhouse we have been wanting to try for years, and then another day I got together with The Girls for a sort of "bridge club."

Friday will be my first day off work in 11 days!  I am looking forward to it!

Cougar Town OR Things I've Heard on the Job: #8

During one of my travels, I meandered into a cute little gift shop/boutique that had SO MANY signs with really clever/inspirational/delightful/relateable sayings on them.  I found numerous that tickled my fancy - that described me - and that I wanted to buy for myself.  Except I didn't, because then it would overpower everything else in my home.

One of my favorites was this one:

Because as you know (or don't know?) I am older than my husband!

By how much?  Well, that's debatable.

He says 8 months.

I say 9 months.

You decide.  

I was born Sept. 14th of one year, and he was born June 8th of the following year.

9 MONTHS.  No?

ANYWAY.  Our kids have a hay day with it....whenever we do things in "age order" there is always a big "discussion" whether Matt or I should go first.  The kids want to be all technical about it, Matt just thinks he should go first because.....he's the dad!  :)

But, the whole thing that got me thinking of "Cougars" again was a call I had recently while "On the phones @ jetBlue."

I was assisting an older couple (I know because they have to give my their DOB) from Southern California who were both on the phone with me while booking their flight reservations.  I'm not sure if they were married or not because they had different last names, but they were traveling together.  (If not, Friends?  Lovers?  Brother/Sister?)

She was a 76 yr. old woman named, Helga.

Me:  "Where on the plane would you like to sit?"

Helga:  "Make sure to seat me by a nice, YOUNG man.  And seat a good-looking one in front of me...and behind me, too.  A YOUNG one.  Ya got that?"

Me:  [giggle]

Him:  "You gotta watch out for these "Newport Cougars!"

Me:  [chuckle]

Helga:  "Hey, I'm a German Cougar!"

Me:  "Let's hope for the best."  ;)

(If she IS his wife/girlfriend, he was pretty liberal, accepting her extra-curricular relationship explorations, and all!)  ;)

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

That describes how we spent the last 6+ days......

The main purpose for our trip was for our bro-in-law's medical school graduation in Hershey, PA, but we wanted to make a trip out of it by going a couple days early and staying a couple days later in NYC.

I had actually tried to cancel our trip due to Matt's knee and related limitations, but he insisted we still go - he was ready to start "living again!"

Since jetBlue doesn't fly into Hershey, we decided, along with one of Matt's brothers and his wife (Mike & Mandy), to fly into New York's JFK, rent a car, and drive to PA from there (a *short* 3 hrs., esp. without kids.)

Well........

Prior to starting our trip, Mandy drove her CAR up to Idaho to drop off her kids to be tended at family's place.

She then rode a SHUTTLE back, leaving her CAR up there since she would make the same trip after we got back, so she didn't have to endure so much driving all in one day.  (how ironic that thought would become later on!) 

We went to the airport to catch our flight - which somehow had sold a lot of "day of" seats and did not have nearly enough availability for us to feel confident about getting on.  When they called the standby customers' names who were able to get on the PLANE, ours were not called.

Did I mention the time was 11:30 p.m.?

We had to make a decision.  We could either come back the next night, same time and have a better chance of getting on that flight.  OR we could go down to Vegas and fly out of that airport which has 5 flights a day and a low number of standby customers.

The only thing was:  if we were going to do the Vegas option, we would want to rent a car, so our own car wouldn't be stuck in Vegas, forcing us to return to Vegas after the trip was done.

So.....we walked over to the Hertz (a company where Matt worked 12 yrs. ago) rental car counter, and low and behold, the manager on duty was a guy Matt had worked with way back then.....so, of course, he had to treat us right and waive the "one-way drop off fee" & such!  ;)  We were just getting price quotes on cars & mini vans, asking a lot of questions, but not making a decision.  It was late, and our brains were not working fast.  We were standing there trying to determine if all our luggage would fit into a car trunk, and calculate the cost of gas on top of the rental, then divide it by the two couples, and estimate our time of arrival compared to the flight departure, factoring in the time zone change, and adding up the hours of sleep we might be able to get if we stopped to "crash" at my parent's in St. George.  And then, of course, there was still the option of bagging the Vegas idea, returning to our homes that night, and trying the SLC flight again tomorrow - which wasn't guaranteed we'd get on!  WHAT SHOULD WE DO?  We COULDN'T think!  (Especially when we thought about all the traveling Mandy had already done that day (6 hours), and the traveling time ahead of us:  drive to Vegas, flight to JFK, drive to Hershey.)  WHAT WAS THE BEST OPTION?  We were literally standing around just staring at each other, not that we were trying to "barter" with the prices, we were waiting for our brains to figure it out - and it wasn't happening!  And THEN, the next thing we know, Matt's former Hertz co-worker announces he's going to give us a mini-van for $53 TOTAL (taxes & fees incl.) just to "get us out of here."  DONE DEAL!  :)

I feel like I'm dragging this story out a little too long, and truthfully, how do you top an unsolicited $53 mini van rental?

So, I'm thinking I'll resort to that old gimmick from the 80's television and movies: The Working Montage.

(Remember those scenes where they would compress several hours of the story into just a few minutes --  all before the next commercial?)


Without further ado, here is the Planes, Trains, & Automobiles working montage:

The scene opens on Mike, Mandy, & I rolling our suitcases out to the Hertz garage.  The time now is 12:30 a.m.

Next, the camera pulls back to reveal a meandering Matt coming along behind on his straight leg brace and one crutch.

We get in our RENTAL CAR, Matt behind the wheel, and we get on the road.

Mike is hungry.  We stop at In 'n' Out burger in Draper, where we are accosted by a couple shamelessly making out in the vehicle next to us.....they eventually came inside and continued their "lip-locking" in their booth between bites of burgers.

Matt continues driving down the Interstate, while some or all of the passengers drift in and out of sleep.

I'm awakened by the sound of our CAR driving over the washboard-like treads ("wake up bumps") and I sit up in my seat and yell, "Matt!  Matt!" -- this happens multiple times!

Mandy takes over the driving since Matt demonstrated he was not "alert" enough for the job.  Again, I'm awakened by the sound of our CAR on the bumps, and I sit up and yell, "Matt!  Matt!" to which I'm informed Matt is not even driving.  I explain my "confusion" by saying, "Well, that was a 'Matt move'!"

Mike takes over the driving after an hour and a half and we stop in St. George at my parent's.  It is 5:30 a.m.

We crash for 3 hrs., get up and get ready.  Never even seeing my sleeping Mom.

We get back into the CAR and drive.

Mike is hungry.  We go through a McDonald's drive thru in Mesquite.

Continue on to the Las Vegas airport.  We arrive.

Turn in the RENTAL CAR.

Check in for the flight.

Hear our names being called to the gate counter - followed by a "warning" that if we don't get there in 3 minutes, our seats will be given to the next standby customers!  I bee-line it to the counter and the agent asks where my party of 4 is.

The camera relocates to the others:  Mandy is in the store across the hall admiring a dress she wants to buy.  Matt is still in his seat, moving at his incapacitated, post-surgery, straight leg brace w/ crutch speed -  trying to get his backpack on so he can join me.  The agent IS NOT impressed with us!

We get on the PLANE -- all separated from one another -- all middle seats.  But, it's jetBlue, which has more legroom than your average airplanes, so we manage.

A 5hrs. 9 min. flight.

We ride the AIRTRAIN at JFK airport to Federal Circle, the shuttle pick up area.

We ride the Alamo SHUTTLE to the rental car lot.

We get in the CAR, a premium Taurus that was given to us an economy rate again, and we're on our way, trusting Mandy's iPhone's GPS to lead us there.

Mike is hungry.  He wants Popeye's Chicken.  We tell him we want to get down the road a bit first, and we'll get off in a couple of freeway exits.

The GPS leads us down this road and then over on that road and back on another road - never getting us onto a freeway.

We drive through Jamaica, NY.

We drive through Flushing, NY.

WE FIND OURSELVES IN BROOKLYN, NY!!!

We see a couple of Popeye Chicken's, but do not dare stop.

We drive through Manhatten....and finally enter the Holland Tunnel over to New Jersey.

The camera shows a thought bubble above our heads, "WHERE THE HECK IS THE FREEWAY?"

We opt to now follow Matt's smartphone's Google maps app and we get on the freeway.

We get stuck in multiple areas of congestion & slowing [stopping] due to construction work -- the only problem was:  THERE WERE NO CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN SIGHT!

The rest of Matt's siblings are texting us from our rental house in Pennsylvania asking WHERE WE ARE!??!

Various degrees of frustration, joking, orneriness, light-heartedness, sleepiness, laughing, accusations, apologies, playful mocking, headaches, and delirious giggling ensue.

Mike is [still] hungry.  We stop at a Wendy's drive thru when we finally clear the congestion.

We arrive at the [200 yr. old] house in Pennsylvania at 2:30 a.m.

Nothing like a "3 hour drive" turning into a 5 hour drive, while driving through all the boroughs of New York!

This arrival time was exactly 27 hours after we first left our home...and about 7 hours earlier than we WOULD HAVE arrived had we just waited for and made it on the next evening's flight out of SLC.  BUT, flexibility is the #1 attribute needed for standby travel!

Again, we crash for the second night in a row.

Saturday was spent at Hershey Park riding ROLLER COASTERS.  (Me, not Matt - that darn knee!)

Luckily, the CAR drive over was mere minutes!

For the graduation, wouldn't ya know it, we had to board a BUS to take us from the parking lot to the Coliseum where the ceremony was held.

 

{Congratulations Trey AND Michelle!}

{And Happy Birthday, Nicole!}

We drove around the charming town of Hershey in our CAR for the rest of the festivities related to graduation.

It was time to leave PA.  Mike is hungry.  We stop at a Wendy's before we get on the road.

We drove our CAR back to our hotel in New York (this time closer to the 3 hr. expected travel time) in and out of sleep, talking, singing - add in an "unfortunate event" at a gas station bathroom.

Mandy & I get out and check us into our hotel rooms.

Mike & Matt take the rental car back with the intention of riding the car rental SHUTTLE back to the airport, then catching our hotel SHUTTLE from there back to us.  Matt, being fed up with all the traveling, asks the rental car manager if the shuttle driver can just drop him at the nearby hotel instead of back to the airport.  The manager came up with an even better solution:  he advised one of his workers to get back in the car they had just returned and to chauffeur them to our airport.  Score!

We were suppose to meet Chris & Cheryl (another bro & sis in law) in Times Square for dinner....

So, we took a TAXI to the right subway station.  (He drove us through all the back streets & alleys!)

We got on the E TRAIN subway into the city.

The four of us WALKED [Matt hobbled] several blocks to John's Pizzeria for dinner.

After an evening in Times Square & at Rockefeller Center,

we took the SUBWAY back, transferred to the AIRTRAIN, which took us to Federal Circle to catch the SHUTTLE back to our hotel.

Camera zooms in on just Mandy's situation, who had decided she didn't want to leave things to "chance" with the flying on Buddy Passes anymore, so she actually booked & bought a confirmed flight on a different airline to leave early the next morning.  She took the hotel SHUTTLE back to the airport, got on her PLANE, had a connection in Phoenix, and flew the rest of the way into SLC.  She caught the SHUTTLE to take her back to Idaho....which had a tire blow out on the way.  She gets to her sister's house in Idaho, spends the night, and drives her children back in her CAR the next day.

Camera zooms in on the situation in Farmington.  Intermixed in this, my dad, staying at my home, drove Mandy's car keys, that had been left at my home when we first started this trip, up to her house in Kaysville......where a friend retrieved them and drove them out to the airport to give to Mandy, so she'd have them when she got to Idaho.

Camera returns to the happenings in New York.  Again, we take the hotel SHUTTLE, AIRTRAIN, & SUBWAY back to the city to meet Chris & Cheryl at the 9/11 Memorial,

 then to Battery Park,

and finally out to lunch before we say "Good Bye" to them.

We take the SUBWAY, AIRTRAIN, & SHUTTLE back to the hotel where our baggage is being stored, tell the shuttle driver we are just getting our back and to please wait.

We ride the SHUTTLE back to the airport.

Check in for our flight.

Again, due to last minute bookings, the plane is almost completely full.  (What's up with all these people & their late purchases?  It's like 4X the cost at that point!)  We've all pretty much accepted that we will NOT get on the flight, but we have to stay just to go through the motions, and then get "rolled over" to the next day.  Much to our surprise, our name is called!  They have only ONE seat left, so we send Mike and Matt & I stay behind.  He gets on the PLANE and flies home, no incidents, arriving according to our original itinerary.

Matt & I discover ALL of our luggage went ON the PLANE with Mike.....we now were left with ONLY the clothes on our backs!  We had to resort to the ol' wash-your-underwear-in-the-sink-and-hang-it-out-to-dry for the next day trick!

Matt & I use HOTWIRE to book a hotel - Matt didn't think sleeping in the JFK airport in his condition very fun.  Since HOTWIRE picks the hotel for you, unfortunately, we got one without a hotel shuttle.  When we called the front desk, we were told we'd have to take a TAXI -- so we did.

Then next day, we shopped, and toured, and ate (at Popeye's Chicken, in honor of Mike!) in Jamaica, NY - ON FOOT.  The song from Sesame Street, "Which of these things is not like the other" was running through our minds, that's for sure.  Us white tourists stuck out like a sore thumb!

After examining Google maps, Matt discovered there IS a subway station within walking distance!  (What were the hotel staff thinking?)  So, we took the AIRTRAIN back to the airport.

After waiting in the airport, our names were called, and we got on the PLANE!  In the EVEN MORE SPACE rows, but separated again.

We sat in the PLANE on the tarmac for 1 1/2 hrs., then they announced there was a back up due to weather conditions and congestion.  They got approval to be rerouted up through CANADA, but that they would need to return to the gate to re-fuel for that flight.

To be humane, they let those who wanted to get off for a rest and for food, to do so while we were re-fueling.

When everyone had re-boarded, we got to the end of the line for take off.....and waited another hour in the PLANE for ATC clearance!

The PLANE takes off and flew the long way home, in & out of sleep, reading, talking to my neighbors, landing in SLC at 1:00 a.m.

My dad picks us up in our MINI VAN and we drive home.  We arrived home at 1:30 a.m.  I crashed in my own bed at 2:00 a.m.

--------------------

But, Matt says it was all worth it, in spite of it all.  He was tired of not being able to do anything for the last 9 weeks, so this was his first BIG ADVENTURE since that fateful day of the church ball accident.  As far as "adventure" goes, I seem to have that down pat!  Even though it may be a distorted interpretation of "adventure." ;)

This Weekend:

We weren't even expecting to be home at all this weekend due to that cruise WE WERE SUPPOSE TO BE ON, so our calendar was actually clear.  (Weird!)  We came up with new plans....

* Went to Ryan's basketball game.  (they lost)  

One player (who was really"ON") had 34 pts., Ryan got 15 points, 

and the whole rest of the team combined got 6 pts.

(No wonder they lost?)

*Hurried out of there and drove up to Layton.  

Date Night with Matt and our friends, the Waters', at Boston's.

The place was full when we got there....We stayed long after our food was gone, visiting. 

Only a few tables remained when we left!  So fun.  

The men joked that they could go catch a game somewhere and leave Mandy & I there to talk longer!  ;)

*Decided to continue our "Valentine's Weekend Rom-Com Movie Marathon" when we got home

(We began it by watching, "The Notebook" the night before on V-Day)

and put in "My Best Friend's Wedding."  I fell asleep at the Karaoke scene - 

what, is that like only 20 min. into the movie, or something?  I'm pathetic - and OLD! 

*Made it to watch the last half of our ward's Elder's Quorum (adult men in our church) basketball game

Saturday morning - where Matt AND Ryan were playing, due to a shortage of players.

(they lost, too.  Bad bball weekend for our FAM!)

*SATURDAY JOBS

*When it got to be 12:00 noon, ONLY Matt & I were done with our jobs, 

(as in, ALL of our jobs, done right) 

so we were the ONLY ones who earned the reward to go to"Arctic Circle."  

{The car leaves each Saturday at noon and those who are done may go.}

We actually don't care much about Arctic Circle, so we ate lunch

at Cafe Zupas instead.  But the kids think we went to A.C. {smile}

* Ran errands like taking all our newspapers/magazines to the recycle bin, 

picked up books from the library, filled the car up with gas, 

bought $36 "lettuce" at the grocery store for a salad I had to make for Sunday dinner.

I have not-able-to-buy-just-ONE-thing-at-the-store-itis!

* Sent Ryan off on his Valentine's Dance date.

I really don't like being the mom of the boy for boys' choice dances.

I NEVER GET TO SEE THEM AS A COUPLE!

Or get any pictures.  I asked if I could show up at their day activity  (making their shirts below)

or at the restaurant to take pictures.  Ryan informed me I would be the ONLY parent there.....

and warned me, Just Don't Embarrass Me, OK Mom!?

{I guess that was a, "No"?}

I just had to sit at home ('til 1:30AM) and wonder what his date looked like,
what they're doing, if they're having fun, how their homemade shirts turned out, etc.

{"Viva la Mustache, Sweethearts 2013"}

* I had a cute idea for my Sunday lesson to make a handout using the "Now & Later" candy.

[While waiting for Ryan on his date] I went on a quest to find them.

Do you know it is VERY HARD to find them!  Does anyone know WHY?

Did the company go out of business???

I went to.....count 'em.....SIX stores, and Matt went to THREE looking for them!

It proved to be impossible!  

I had to come up with something else.  :-(

* I READ.  

I had actually packed FIVE books to take on the [non] Cruise.

so I was determined to take some time to 

finish at least one of them - gosh dang it!

I did!  woo hoo!

* I taught this lesson to the 12-15 yr. old Young Women at church.

(we combined classes because we were missing quite a few due to the holiday weekend)

Most of the lesson was taken from President Monson's talk, "The Three R's of Choice" 

which was so excellent.  

The talk was originally given to the Priesthood (Men) of the church, 

but it is so pertinent for us women, too.  I love him!

* Took a one hour nap in between making a salad and our Home Teachers coming to visit.
As a side note:  the girl Ryan took to the Dance on Saturday night happens
to be the younger sister of our Home Teacher, so we got the
"full report" during the visit!  :)

* Went to the Brenchley's for [3rd Sunday] dinner and FHE.  

(Thus, the reason for my salad.)

* Slept in on Monday, President's Day, morning 

and called in our "Breakfast in Bed" order again to the kids.

They got creative making a "fruit flower" for us this time!

*I had to go out to the JetBlue offices for a meeting.

* It was Haylee's turn for her DATE with Mom & Dad.

She chose to go to KFC for lunch, the "Wreck It Ralph" movie, 

and then to Pretzelmaker for a treat.

The only problem was when we got to the Kaysville Theatre

20 min. before showtime, EVERYBODY & THEIR DOG was there, too!

Seriously, the traffic was slowed to a STOP on the road directly in front of the theatre.

The line came out the front doors to the sidewalk, turned down the sidewalk half a block 

to the corner, then wrapped around that corner half-way down that block - 

and that's where we got in line.  Many others came after us and made the line even longer!

Needless to say, after standing in line for 20 min., one of the theatre workers came

down the sidewalk yelling that the movie had SOLD OUT.

{WHAT IS IT WITH US and things being "sold out"?}

Afterward, we thought that WAS pretty silly of us to try to go to

the "dollar theatre" on a school holiday and a day parents have OFF work --

and expect to get in!

Matt found another movie at a different theater to go to.....

I came home and they went to "The Rise of the Guardians" and thought is was awesome!

* I made Quinoa Chili + scones for dinner = Navajo Tacos.  It was super good!  

Another recipe out of our ward cookbook.  Maybe I'll post it another time. 

(No one even noticed the quinoa, I don't think, not a word about it!) :-)

* We had a Family Game Night.

We played Apples to Apples (Ryan won)

and

Mille Bornes (Matt won) 

but then we re-read the rules and realized we did it a little wrong, 

so he really shouldn't have won - we'll have to do a re-match soon!  ;)

Now it's really Tuesday, but since it's our first day back to school & work after the [long] weekend, I keep thinking it is Monday -- anyone else confused, too?

This Weekend:

*I dug right in and made one of the recipes on my New Year's Resolutions
for Friday night "dinner"!   
^CHECK!^
 (Technically it's an "appetizer", but hey, it has meat in it, so it works, right!)

It did NOT disappoint.

In case you want to indulge, too:

"FAMOUS DIP"

1 lb. Italian sausage

3 tomatoes, diced

2 onions, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped

8 oz. cream cheese

16 oz. sour cream

1 can diced green chilies

Cook sausage and onions, then add peppers, tomatoes and green chilies.
When peppers and onions are cooked, add cream cheese and sour cream and
simmer for about 10 minutes.  Keep warm and serve with tortilla chips.

(I didn't have enough tomatoes or peppers on hand, so I used less, and it was STILL DELISH!)

*Went to Ryan's {first} Jr. Jazz basketball game

(the "official" 1st game got cancelled last Friday due to the snow storm and school closures)

I talked most of the time to a delightful young lady who came to watch Ryan & the boys.
It turns out she is the daughter of one of MY High School classmates -
 from all those years ago at good ol' BHS.

{Small World}

*I worked most the day on Saturday -- 9 HOURS!!

(I traded a lot of crewmembers for a [hopeful] upcoming vacation!)

*DATE NIGHT here. 

We thought we'd try it out since it was new to our area -- AND we had a coupon.

It was one of those "Mystery coupons" where you don't know the value 

(anywhere between $5.00-$100.00) until your waitress "reveals" it.

Of course, ours was just $5.00.

The food was good, but their "side" of fries was WAY TOO SMALL.

It was also a bit of stimuli overload.
In our little section of the restaurant (about 9 tables), there were 10 TV's -
 all different sizes, all playing a different station.

*We also went to Dollar Tree to do a little shopping.  (VERY romantic part of date night - haha!)

I specifically wanted to get more CREAMY PETROLEUM JELLY,
and I've only seen it at this location.....and I bought the last 4 tubes off the shelf! 

It's working great on all of our dry skin/hands this Winter.

And, of course, we ended up with about a dozen other random things in our cart, too.

Hey, it's ALL a dollar!  :)

*And because it was soooo COLD outside, ice cream was NOT a good dessert option,
so we went for doughnuts at Bowman's instead.
They are half-price after 7 or 8 'o clock every night.  SCORE!

*Went to CHURCH on Sunday

We are on the new 9:00a.m. schedule for 2013 which has become my favorite time!

My Mia Maid Advisor gave a great lesson to our Young Women about
getting to KNOW Heavenly Father through prayer,
referencing THIS TALK from Elder Richard G. Scott and showing THIS VIDEO.

It. Was. Fabulous.

{and heartfelt}

I think with the new curriculum for youth, "Come Follow Me", we will have more opportunities
to feel The Spirit in our Sunday classes as we share & testify together.  I am excited.

*Meetings after church

* Made School Lunch Peanut Butter Fingers 

for dessert to take to my In-Laws for [3rd Sunday] Dinner & FHE.

Matt said this recipe was SPOT ON to what he remembers from his school days......

and that I should ditch my other recipes I HAD BEEN making the last 19 years!  ;)

*I had time for a 50 minute nap!

*Went to Grandma & Grandpa Brenchley's with 3 other families of cousins!

{We hardly see the children}

*MONDAY = MLK Day

No school.  No Work.

*I slept in....until 7:30ish - how sad!!  Since WHEN did THAT become "sleeping in"?

*I called from my cell phone in my bedroom down to the kids on the home phone
and ordered "breakfast in bed."  This has become kind of a tradition on "Days Off."

They brought us eggs with bacon bits, L'il Smokies, Peanut Butter Crunch (for Matt), & Sunny D.

They wanted to do scones, too, but Matt didn't trust them
on that "high danger" type of cooking...

so he made them for us later as "brunch."

*Went to lunch with Matt at Cafe Rio

then went clearance shopping at T.J.Maxx & Shopko next door.

{the signs on their windows and ads lured us in!}

*Took the whole family Bowling.

I definitely SUCKED IT UP!
BUT after EIGHT straight 0's, I rolled a STRIKE to end the game!

Matt finished first, Katelyn second.

Ryan blamed his performance on a sprained thumb (from a church ball "incident".)
Kyle blamed his on a bum knee (from crawling up the stairs pretending to be a gorilla!)

Our good friends, the Knudsen's, showed up at the same bowling alley right after us -
totally UNplanned - but we got to hang with them a bit, so it was fun.

*Went to dinner at Wendy's afterwards.  (Kid's Choice, obviously)

The newly remodeled/renovated Wendy's has this big, turbo drink machine
that makes like 60 different kinds of drinks!  

It's all touch-screen, too.  I push SPRITE, for example, and THEN,
I not only have the choice of SPRITE,
but also Peach Sprite, Grape Sprite, Cherry Sprite, Raspberry Sprite, Orange Sprite, etc. etc....
and the same for SPRITE ZERO!  All with the touch of an "app."  

WOW.  We think we'll go on a date there just to get drinks one time
and then sit by the fireplace on their new couches and sip our 142 different concoctions --
then be UP all night peeing!  :)