Into Fall and Beyond!

Buzz Lightyear, defending the universe (and Luke) from the nip we are starting to feel in the air around here at dark-thirty in the morning while waiting for the bus. Needless to say, when I saw it, we had to have it. Hmm, I wonder which side he prefers? (Probably not the side that I, the person who will have to treat the stains acquired on the playground, would prefer! LOL)



Currently feeling: spacey

Yosemite: Fun While It Lasted

When presenting the idea of a trip to Yosemite to my dad for his birthday, I told him that the whole point was for us to go somewhere big that he's always wanted to go, preferably somewhere he has never been. If there was somewhere else that he would prefer to go, that was fine, just let me know. After pondering the proposed Yosemite trip for a week and doing vast amounts of research, my father emailed me on Sunday asking if I was open to a change in plan.

The tours of Yosemite we were considering all had people commenting about motion sickness when traveling from site to site. You may recall how I feel about twisty hilly roads. What about the altitude? Would we be able to comfortably do all of the walking/hiking required at those elevations? We also weren't sure if there was enough to do for a week there (I think so, but it's hard to say), if Luke would get bored after a few days, and accommodations were difficult to come by without a fairly lengthy drive every day. And then there is the time difference, something I had not thought of until just a day or two before we told him about the trip. Luke routinely wakes up at 6:30-7 AM when left to his own devices. Now subtract 3 hours. Who wants to get up at 4 AM on vacation?! Or be in bed by 5-6 PM? Hmm, this is starting to sound less and less fun. Dad genuinely appreciated the thought, and I intend to make him swear to me that he *will* go to Yosemite, with or without us, in the next few years. He had been researching eastern or central time zone alternatives, and had a proposal to make.

Boston! I am ashamed to admit that Boston is not a possible destination I had considered, though I should have remembered he has never been. Plus we talked it up quite well after our own trip back in July 2003 (just a few months before I started this blog; wishing I had chronicled that trip is one of the things that lead me to actually starting blogging). I was both surprised and pleased by the suggestion. To be completely honest, the thought of traipsing around outdoors every day for a week really did not appeal to me. A few days, sure, but I'm a city girl. I know it would be very beautiful and worthwhile, but there's only so much nature I can take! But I love my dad, and I knew he would love it, and I knew I would enjoy it once we were there, so I was willing to go. But Boston? DH and I had a *blast* when we went, and there were plenty of things, even obvious things (like the Old North Church and Paul Revere's House), that we hadn't gotten to do. I was very excited for my dad to finally be going Yosemite. But *I* am excited to go back to Boston!

Look out, Beantown! The W-G Clan invades Summer 2011!

Currently feeling: ready to go!

Restaurant Killer

DH and I seem to have this very amazing ability to kill local restaurants. Restaurants that have been around for years, even decades, often shut down or change drastically shortly after we become regulars. This mostly happens with non-chain or local chain restaurants, not usually major national chain restaurants, though we have managed to shut down a McDonalds and a Taco Bell, too.



The latest casualties of our "gift" are the pizza grill and the best of the local Chinese places. Yes, we've only lived here 10 months, and we've affected two places already! The pizza grill had the *best* tomato bisque. I craved it regularly. We ate there so much, in fact, after discovering it, that DH said he was tired of it and we didn't go for 3-4 weeks. When we went back on September 2, they were closed. This was apparently a very recent and abrupt thing because, as we sat in the parking lot trying to figure out what to do, we saw two other families walk up to the door and be equally surprised that they were closed.

Then just today, we called in our regular order to our regular Chinese place. There was a new person answering the phone, but that isn't necessarily unusual. However, when DH went to pick it up, the owner was on the phone explaining to another regular customer that he had sold the business and was just staying on to show the new guy the ropes. The prices had gone up about 20%, but we hoped that was to allow them to maintain their high quality. Wrong. Quality and flavor were terrible. We probably won't be back. This is at least the third Chinese place we've managed to kill! It's so depressing. So, note to local restaurant owners, when you see us starting to frequent your restaurant, you may want to ban us.

Currently feeling: lacking options

Impatience: A Conversation With Luke

At the "game pizza place" (Stevi B's) with pizza and salad buffet, and a game room in the back.

Luke: I'm finished. Can we go play games now?
DH: Not until I've finished eating.
Luke: You're almost done!
DH: I'm going to get a salad. We'll go play games after that.
Luke: Daddy, can you please get a really short salad?

Currently feeling: full

SwagBucks

I think many of you already know about this service. It's not my usual thing to talk about stuff like this, but I've had a good experience with it and want to share. My friend Leah turned me on to a site called SwagBucks. The idea is that you earn points for doing searches. You don't have to actually click on any of the results. Just typing in the keywords and doing the search earns points. You then exchange those points for "prizes," which could be physical things or gift cards. The number of points needed, of course, varies by item.

I didn't want to say anything about it until I had actually tried it for myself, including redeeming a prize. I have officially received my first Amazon gift certificate! It's only $5, but still, they add up over time. (I actually have enough for two more, but I wanted to test it first to make sure it worked.) I was just impressed that it *actually* worked the way they said it did! (Sad, I know.) I can tell you I acquire an average of about 10 points a day, and it takes a max of about 5 minutes. I typically earn 5-10 points for a search. It usually takes me 2-3 tries before points are awarded. I rarely earn points more than once a day for searching; that seems to be pretty standard. I then do the daily poll, check for any trusted surveys, and refresh my browser tool bar. Each of those activities earns 1 point each. I've only ever actually completed one survey for points because I don't usually qualify, seeing as I am *the* most typical demographic of the site! A $5 Amazon gift card currently costs 450 points, so I can earn one about every six weeks if I'm diligent about doing my searches every day (8 weeks is more typical, though, since I often forget to do it on weekends). They occasionally put out codes on Facebook, Twitter, their blog, the newsletter, or in the tool bar. There are other ways to earn points, including making purchases via affiliated sites, but these are the "points opportunities" I use most often. Be sure you read the rules! They are very diligent about banning users who break them.

If you're interested in trying it for yourself, please use this link. Full disclosure: that is my referral link. By using it, I actually earn a small percentage of your points. :-) Other than possible points from referrals, I'm not being compensated for posting this (i.e. the site won't give me points just for putting this on my blog). Anyway, just wanted to share, in case any of you were interested in it. Like I said, I have personally tried it, including redeeming points, and it really does work. I'm glad my friend used her blog to introduce me to SwagBucks, and I wanted to pass along the favor.

Currently feeling: like shopping!

Labor Day 2010 - The (Very) Long Weekend

Ah, Labor Day, the last big trip of the summer, especially now that Luke is in school. He was actually out of school on Friday, but that didn't help us much since everyone we would normally attempt to go see had to work. I took a half day off so we could try to hit the road early, for all the good it did. We left later than I wanted (::cough::DH's fault::cough::), but we were on the road by 3:15. It took nearly 2 hours to travel 45 miles. Traffic was insane! I knew Dragon*Con was in town, as it always is on Labor Day. What I didn't know was that there was a race this weekend *and* the first Georgia Tech home football game. Thank goodness the Braves were out of town! Sheesh. Traffic coming *in* to town was actually worse than going out, if you can imagine. At least we were moving, albeit slowly; they were not!

We stopped at "the camel place" (Loco's, whose logo is a moose, not a camel, though we can't seem to convince Luke otherwise) for dinner in Macon, then headed on to Vidalia. Less than 10 miles off the interstate, and we saw both a chicken running across someone's front yard and a large dead snake on the side of the road (DH: at least it was dead; Me: that doesn't make it any less BIG!). Can we go back to civilization now, please? I don't like the country. Way too much nature! LOL Neither the GPS nor Google Maps could find the hotel. We actually knew where it was, we just let Google Maps lead because we thought it's route might be shorter. Not when it sends you 15 miles up the road from where you're supposed to be! But we did eventually make it. The room was comfortable and we slept well, including Luke, who slept until 7 AM!

We spent most of the day Saturday in Vidalia visiting DH's family. We try to visit at least once a year, though we don't always manage. The last time we were there was, of course, for DH's grandfather's funeral back in December. That was the first time DH's brother had been to Vidalia in nearly 15 years (long story; don't ask). The visit went so well, BIL made plans to bring his wife and children to meet everyone this weekend. We weren't going to miss that for the world. We ended up with 14 people ranging in age from 85 to 3 months. It was a wonderful visit!


Granny Ruth with our niece M


Everybody!

We headed out after dinner for our next destination of Waycross. That was actually not as bad as I expected, since there us a US Highway that pretty much runs directly between the two. Much better than trying to do it via interstate, which would have more than doubled the trip time. We rolled into the hotel parking lot at 9:30. Mom and Dad were dutifully impressed with the new car. We hadn't told anyone we got it, so that was fun.

Luke was positively unconscious in the back seat. In his entire life, he has always woken up when we tried to get him out of the car and into the house/hotel, no matter how tired or asleep he was. He would insist on walking in, or even if carried, would still be slightly awake enough to demand to be changed into pajamas or something. This time, he tried valiantly but could *not* open his eyes, and when we laid him on one side of the bed to pull back the covers, he curled up and was dead asleep again before we had the bed ready. We left him in his clothes, dragged him over to the pillow, and tucked him in. He *never* woke up. He even asked the next morning "Daddy, how we got here while I was sleeping?" He had absolutely no memory of getting out of the car and into the hotel. Never in his life has that happened! It was so bizarre.

Sunday morning was our photo shoot with my grandfather. Having family portraits made with him is one of those things I've been meaning to do for a few years now. I am so sorry we never managed it with Pa-Paw and Granny after Luke was born, and now Granny is gone. With Pa-Paw's stroke, that scared me into action. With his new mobility issues, we figured it was best to bring the photographer to him. We didn't necessarily want full blown professional portraits, just some really good family photos. But by the same token, it would take a lot longer and be much more tedious if we had to keep running back and forth to a tripod. The son of someone my mom works with is an avid amateur photographer. I don't think he had any prior portrait experience, but he knew his way around a camera. He agreed to meet us out there and take the pictures for us. With a 5-year-old involved, having *everyone* looking at the camera at the same time was a bit tricky, but we managed some good shots. Thank you, Grayson, for helping us!



Luke, being a ham for the camera.


He's loved these rocks since he was a toddler. Here are some comparison shots between March 2006 and now.

Squatting/Kneeling:


Standing:


After lunch with Pa-Paw, we headed back to my parents house. Normally, that would have been by way of my MIL's, but she was out of town, so it was straight to Brunswick for us. Our next family activity was Dad's birthday. Normally, non-child birthdays are not a huge deal in my family anymore. A phone call, a card, maybe a gift certificate. That's about it. So I know my father was getting suspicious why he was getting a cake this year, particularly as it is his 59th birthday this year. He might understand if it were his 60th, but this year? ::insert evil laugh here::

What we were giving him for his 59th birthday was his 60th birthday gift. I hatched a plan over 2 years ago that we were going to do something big and fun for his 60th birthday. After kicking around several ideas, we settled on taking him to Yosemite. Dad has always been a big national parks guy, and I know Yosemite and Yellowstone have always been high on his list. I think Luke needs to be a little older for Yellowstone, so we went with Yosemite. We'll need to do the trip in the summer of 2011, before school starts back for both Dad and Luke. The original plan was to get the trip all planned and then tell him about the trip in like March or April. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted him to be involved in the planning to make sure we were doing the things *he* wants to do. Plus, he's like me; planning the trip is part of the fun! So we decided to present him with the trip at this birthday so we can start planning, even though the actual trip is in honor of his 60th. Let me tell you, it is terribly hard to surprise my father, but the look on his face when I announced "we're taking you to Yosemite" was priceless! (And I forgot to have my camera ready, boo!) He's been researching things to do and places to stay ever since! LOL



We still had to eat dinner, and I really wanted to take Luke to the beach if at all possible. Labor Day is really our last opportunity to do so in a given calendar year, and I didn't want to waste it. We all put on our beach clothes, dined at Grandy's, then headed to Jekyll Island. It was perfect! The tide was just starting to go out, it was not hot but not cool, the sand wasn't hot, there were no bugs. I didn't even need sunscreen since it was after 6 PM! Other than a whole bunch of people being out there (still not what most people would consider busy, though I prefer it empty!), it could not have been better. The perfect end to a busy weekend.



After a good night's sleep, a pancake breakfast, and lunch of local shrimp, we headed back home. There were more cars than I have ever seen on I-16 at any time (other than a hurricane evacuation), but traffic more or less moved well. A couple of slow patches in Macon and near Tanger, but we made excellent time. We arrived with just enough time remaining to eat dinner, have a complete child meltdown, and tuck said child in bed. Tomorrow, it's back to the grind.

Currently feeling: running all over

Labor Day 2010 - The Tweets I Couldn't Tweet

I know it's silly, but I try not to tweet things that indicate we are out of town. Not that I think people are really stalking me in order to figure that out, but better safe that sorry I suppose. Then again, I think it becomes pretty obvious that when I'm barely tweeting, then I'm not home! Not necessarily, I guess, since I tend to tweet much less on the weekends. Who knows! Anyway, I thought tracking the tweets I really wanted to send might be interesting, so here they are (times are approximate):

* Dear ATL: Please refrain from having Dragon*Con, a NASCAR race, & GT college football opener all on the same weekend. Traffic is horrid! (Friday, Sept 3, 2010; 3:45 PM)
* Love Loco's in Macon. Now if only we can teach L that the mascot is a moose, NOT a camel! ::sigh:: (Friday, Sept 3, 2010; 5:15 PM)
* Less than 10 miles off the interstate, and just saw a chicken run across someone's front yard. Can we go back to civilization now? (Friday, Sept 3, 2010; 6 PM)
* First a chicken, now a huge snake on the side of the road. Easily 6 feet long and as big as my forearm. I yelped out loud. (Friday, Sept 3, 2010; 6:30 PM)
* DH says "at least it was d-e-a-d." (Spelling to avoid little ears.) I said "that doesn't make it any less B-I-G!!" (Friday, Sept 3, 2010; 6:31 PM)
* No idea what kind of snake, other than large and patterned. Rattlesnake Roundup is held nearby. Likely not coincidence. (Friday, Sept 3, 2010; 6:35 PM)
* Apparently, our hotel does not exist. GPS thinks there is no such address & Google Maps thinks the Hampton Inn is now a gas station. (Friday, Sept 3, 2010; 7:15 PM)
* Hotel is right where we thought it was, 15 miles from where Google Maps said. So much for modern technology! (Friday, Sept 3, 7:40 PM)
* One thing about staying in same hotel room as L: have to go to bed when he does, so should be easier to wake (early!) with him. (Friday, Sept 3, 9:40 PM)

* L is laughing in his sleep. He used to do that all the time when he was little, but has mostly grown out of it. (Saturday, Sept 4, 6:05 AM)
* Ah, fresh waffles for breakfast! We only get them at hotels. Thinking I really should get a waffle maker for home. (Saturday, Sept 4, 8:00 AM)
* Why can he not understand that stomping on our hotel room floor is the same as stomping on someone else's ceiling?! (Saturday, Sept 4, 8:55 AM)
* Big family reunion today. Will be fun to watch BIL see people he hasn't seen in 15 years! (Saturday, Sept 4, 10:30 AM)
* Great afternoon with DH's family. So good to see everyone! Now on to our next destination. Have photo shoot with grandfather at 10 AM. (Saturday, Sept 4, 8:00 PM)
* Picked L up out of car, took him up to hotel room, & put him in bed without him waking at all. He's never done that in his entire life! (Saturday, Sept 4, 9:45 PM)
* Parents loved the new car. Only person left to surprise with it is my brother, who we will see tomorrow. (Saturday, Sept 4, 9:50 PM)

* Completely different hotel chain, but same waffle iron and mix brand. Yay! (Sunday, Sept 5, 7:45 AM)
* Perfect weather for our photo shoot today. We all look so cute in our navy shirts. I think these will be great. (Sunday, Sept 5, 10:10 AM)
* Photos and lunch with grandfather complete. Now on to my parents' house for Dad's birthday party. (Sunday, Sept 5, 12:30 PM)
* Very rare to be able to surprise my father, but we just did it. Taking him to Yosemite in Summer 2011 in honor of his 60th birthday. (Sunday, Sept 5, 3:45 PM)
* Chocolate iced cake for the grown-ups, vanilla iced cupcakes for the child. Win-win! (Sunday, Sept 5, 3:47 PM)
* Beach was perfect after dinner. Daylight but not hot and sunny, light breeze, high tide, no bugs, no sunscreen! (Sunday, Sept 5, 7:15 PM)
* Love that Mom has taken up beading. I get lots of new sparklies! New clear iridescent, silver leaves, blue hearts, and malachite bracelets. (Sunday, Sept 5, 9:45 PM)
* Back on the road, headed for home. More traffic on I-16 than I've ever seen except hurricane evac. Hope we get home today! (Monday, Sept 6, 2:45 PM)

Currently feeling: twitterific