ROAD TRIP! Volume 1

We just returned from a wonderful trip halfway across the country and back over the course of a week!  I am not going to bore with an insanely long post, so I am breaking it up over the next few days.  We were gone from Tuesday to Tuesday, for reference.  The posts will be along the lines of:
Volume 1 - Let's Get the Hard Stuff Over First

Volume 2 - Iowa Family Time
Volume 3 - St Louis

Volume 1 - Let's Get the Hard Stuff Over First

The reality is that we just put 1,748 miles on our beloved Pontiac Vibe, and rode an additional 950 or so miles in the Grand Minivan!  This is by far the longest road trip that Anny and I have taken together, by about 2,500 miles!

The decision to start with the Hard Stuff is mine and mine alone.  I tend to look at the bad before getting to the good so that in the end the focus is the good.  With that in mind...

About two hours into our drive our car broke!  Unbelievable, right?  We were driving through the mountains in Western Maryland when we heard a very loud POP!  Assuming that something had fallen off of the trucks around us we kind of ignored the noise.  Moments later we heard a very loud and low pitched "whooooooo" sound that was not going away.  We pulled over and checked under the hood, around the whole car and even on top.  We found that the rubber seal that the drivers window fits into had come undone from the car.  Completely bizarre, but also too loud to ignore for the whole trip!

I went completely ghetto/rednecky and "fixed" it by tying a grocery bag around the door frame to hold the weatherstripping as closely as it would to where it actually belonged.  Lucky for us, it lasted the whole trip, but I will admit that I found it to be ominous, as we had not left our own state and we had a long journey.  I'm glad it was not ominous, but funny in the end.

On  Tuesday night we made it to our goal destination of Columbus, Ohio!  The hotel we stayed in, though, had an out-of-order hot tub and their "heated" pool was chilly.  Our goal of playing until Abby was close to crashing to sleep failed because the water woke more than it soothed!

Abby's cousin Ada was (jokingly) bad influence. They were incredibly great together with a very few exceptions.  The bad part is that Abby has picked up some nuances from Ada, like declaring her toys to herself (again, which had dissipated since school ended) and, more cutely, claims her stuffed sheep is named Baa, just like Ada's.  I assume it will pass, but it's humorous.

That's it.  That's all of the bad, out of the whole trip!  I'm looking forward to sharing some of the other fun stuff from our travels, but that will have to wait until tomorrow or the weekend...

Getting Settled In

Just some quick notes as I look back on my office's relocation during the end of June and beginning of July to share with everyone:

It was not helpful that:

• We had to move.  We HAD to move, though, since our lease expired.
  
• I had to work Saturday. That's life, and an occasional Saturday is much better than my schedule was at Glenkirk!
• Instructions were not exactly right.  The packers expected certain things that we did not anticipate.  It happens.
  

It was essential that:

• We hired movers.  I "helped" get ONE file cabinet onto the dolly.  I can not imagine how long it would have taken without professionals.
• We asked for only essential staff on Friday and Saturday, so there were not many people in the way.
• Labels - Labels - Labels!  I was able to help someone at the new office find a box of cables that should probably have been hand carried over.

It was really helpful that:

• We moved over a weekend, whether I like it or not.  Our office was down for two days instead of four.
• I got "old office" duties, so I got to leave earlier than the folks at the new place.
• I was able to access the internet through the wireless signal at another office.  Just nice, I guess.
  

Since I have not actually arranged my book case and this is our third week in the office, I think I will tackle that first this this morning when I get to work!

And the office relocation accounts for why I have not been blogging for the last month - by the time I get home in the evening I'm doing my best to spend all of my time with my sweeties. 

Swim Class Graduate!

Abby has successfully completed the "Bubblers 1" swimming class at the same swimming pool that I took all of my swimming classes many years ago!  She was more comfortable on the first night than on the last, but all of the children were breaking down at that point!

She got check marks on all of the boxes, meaning that they think she can do all of the required things to... well to continue to cling on to mom, dad or any human available.  She is much better at being dunked and holding her breath, as well as kicking and moving her arms in a manner that could be considered swimming.  Getting all three of those things to happen at the same time will be coming in the future, but probably not this summer!

New Words Learned from the experience: Lessons, Suit Bathing (bathing suit) and Swimsuit