So, a little while back, I went on vacation. Two glorious weeks away from work that were packed with other events—so much so that I'm going to bust them up into two posts, and you'll hear about the Young Prince's 15 minutes of geek fame next week.
The first week of vacation was great. It started leisurely, with me picking up my ribbons from the fair and being surprised to learn there were cash prizes attached! (I won a whopping $5 -- $3 for the jelly and $2 for the lemon bars.) I did laundry. I did yard work. The YP and I watched some movies. On Wednesday, I got up sort of early to get the car serviced and was treated to the waiting room vision of a woman across from me kicking off her shoes and propping her bare feet up on the seat next to her, about 2 feet from another woman, who gave one sort of WTF? look and then ignored her. I think I would have moved.
Around 6 that night we headed out for Illinois, and drove all night. Somewhere around West Virginia we realized we'd forgotten our tickets. It didn't end up mattering; we were able to print them out again, but the OMIGOD moment was equal parts funny and irritating. We arrived about 7 a.m., and Not Your Average Blogger went to bed in our usual barn office digs while the YP and I futzed around until it was apparent my mom was up in the main house and then we went and visited with my parents.
Around lunchtime, NYAB and I ran an errand to WalMart and while we were there, he got an email from his agent that she had a buyer for his book -- so he sold his book at WalMart. (Well, I thought it was funny. It didn't turn out to be true -- another publisher offered a better deal.) And there was much rejoicing. It'll be out next fall and you'll hear more about it when it's closer to being relevant to people besides us.
We had dinner with my parents and grandparents that night, and had many long and enjoyable chats with the old folks while the kid monopolized my dad's time.
That Friday, NYAB and I took off for Kansas City. We had a lovely evening, although I wouldn't recommend Hereford House to people looking for a big fancy night out. On Saturday, we took a tour of Independence, Mo., and saw Truman's house, the Trails museum and the train depot museum. We also popped in to the Mormon Visitor Center, where we were assiduously courted by two earnest young women. NYAB did a good job of ignoring, deflecting, and keeping on the history track, but the woman who attached herself to me was not so easily deterred. She asked about my relationship with God ("Well, I wouldn't call it a first-name basis thing. I figure I'm the cockroach to his human,") and telling me all about Joseph Smith and his pillars of light ("Like Albert Speer?!" -- I didn't give voice to that thought,) and living a good life (Well, that's hard to argue with.) When we were walking back out to the car, NYAB had the good sense to look sheepish and agree that he owed me. I settled for a milkshake at the soda shoppe where Truman had his first job.
When we'd exhausted all that Independence had to offer, we went back to the hotel, where I was surprised with anniversary roses that were apparently supposed to have shown up at dinner the night before. They were lovely. Then we changed into Nats gear and sauntered across the overpass to the ballpark, where we had a great night in our front-row seats and the Nats won. (And apparently we got on TV -- a friend said so on Facebook and added, "You looked great, but I certainly was surprised to see you there!")
Next day we drove back to Illinois, had another visit with my grandparents, then dinner with my parents, and then we hied our way to Indianapolis, where we stopped for the night, and drove the rest of the way home Monday. It was probably one of the more whirlwhind trips we've made to the Midwest, and it didn't feel long enough, but I reckon they'd had enough of us, so it was all for the best.
The kid and I were home Tuesday and Wednesday -- just long enough to do laundry, mow the yard, go to the doctor, and buy a low-maintenance costume for him -- and then the two of us set out for Atlanta and DragonCon. Look for details of horrific traffic and hilarious encounters in next week's post.
Comments