Travelers

Wow I haven't written in a long time but I'm back.  And travelling a lot.

This week I cashed in a $400.00 voucher from United and some hotel points to get a free trip from Detroit to Denver to Seattle......ten hours in Seattle then Seattle to Houston and back home.  All so I could get platinum status this year.

The advantages are getting 1st class more often and additional miles for every miles travelled.  That way I can earn more cool trips like Germany which was the coolest!

I have notices that regular travelers are like Pavlov's dogs though.  You can't use electronics on board until the plane reaches 10,000 feet.  Well, as soon as the plane reaches that height you hear two soft 'dings' in the cabin.

Up until that point we frequent flyers sit there with blank looks on our drooling faces and our finger waiting to pounce on the 'on button' of our I-Pad or Kindle.  As soon as we hear 'The Sound' we click the button and come to life.

But I love the travel....it must fit in nicely with my ADHD lifestyle:-)

Jenna and the Great Necklace Caper

A few weeks ago a very controlling, pushy boy friend of Jenna gave her a necklace. It looked like a kind of costume jewelry item and she wore it around for about a week.

At that time, at the monthly roller skating bash she and the kid decided their relationship was over so she returned the necklace. He immediately gave it to another girl. She broke up with him about a week later and he gave it to yet another girl.

Fast forward to yesterday and I get home from work to find my garage blocked by a silver car. This kid and his mom were over talking to Jenna. The mom thought that Jenna stole the necklace and it turns out it was real diamonds. Very expensive.

Of course in the conversation the mom said ‘my son used to lie and steal all the time but he doesn’t do that anymore’. (No, no red flags there).

After they left I wanted to find out the truth so I had Jenna call her friends, on speaker phone, one after another so they couldn’t call each other to make up a story and sure enough they all backed up Jenna’s version of what happened.

This morning before school this kid apparently screamed a lot at Jenna and really freaked her out. She ended up calling and texting me like crazy to come and get her because he really scared her.

When I went to get her she had to file an incident report. When one of the ladies behind the desk at the office asked what the boys name was and Jenna told her, the lady said ‘Oh him, he’s guilty’. And two others in the office agreed so he must already have a great reputation.

So to wrap up loose ends I called the mom just now to let her know that I fully believe Jenna had nothing to do with stealing the necklace. She figured by now that this was the case. And when I told her that Jenna filed an incident report at school she responded ‘Really? They usually call me when he gets those’. So I’m guessing she’s got her hands full.

But Jenna can take a nice long boat ride and forget her troubles until next time she has to go to school.

…please keep in mind that this day off came after a major two day migraine bender

As usual lately Jenna was up and ready before me. I was moving slowly with the lingering remnants of a migraine that had left me whooped.

As we were leaving, I noticed the trash can was getting over the top so I had Jenna carry it down to the car. I put it on the trunk of the car so I could haul it to the dumpster on the way out.

We pulled out of the garage, crossed the street to McDonalds where I had promised Jenna she could get the Big Breakfast. Then I noticed the garbage still on the trunk. With a quick U-Turn (legal everywhere here in Texas) we crossed back over Briar Forest and up to the gate of the apartment. However that particular side gate doesn’t always open.

So there I am with the garbage bag in my hand, trying desperately to open the gate with the code or the key fob. Neither worked so I tried pulling the gate open enough to squeeze through to get to the dumpster on the other side. Finally it pulled open just enough for me to pop through which I did but then the garbage bag slipped out of my hand and was now on the other side of the locked gate which still wouldn’t open.

By now Jenna of course is sitting in the car cracking up.

Finally I pushed and pulled enough to squish the garbage bag through, put it in the dumpster, squeezed back through the gate and took off to take Jenna to McDonalds. Except that in my effort to get the gate open with the car, I had gotten too close to the pole with the key pad on it and I scraped a huge dent in the side of my car on that.

Finally at McDonalds I bought a large iced tea which I flipped over on its side while I tried putting the straw in.

That was literally the ‘final straw’. As soon as we got back in the car I called my boss and said I wasn’t coming in…….I clearly needed a day off.

Coolest Cake I Never Had

Best kids ever!!! So on my birthday this year I was scheduled to be in Little Rock Arkansas for a project working a long, long day. I had already planned on being bummed and miserable that day being there alone on my birthday.

I was talking to Pattye on the phone today and she said ‘Wait, you’re not in Little Rock this week?’ and I told her no, that the timeline had changed so I didn’t have to be and I’d be in Houston.

Then she asks me if I knew ‘Kelly Caldwell’ a guy who works at Little Rock. Weird!!!! It turns out that her and Eric had been planning for awhile now to surprise me with a cake delivered to the company there for my birthday. Pattye had called the OpCo and they hooked her up with Kelly who is the Director of Profit Management there, and he’s the person that the lady at the switchboard hooked Pattye up with.

Just the thought of the surprise really made my day!!!! That right there was the coolest thing for me.

Fortunately because of the change in schedule I’ll get to come home to Detroit for a long weekend in a couple of weeks and see my cool kids face to face!

Crisis at the Airport

Jenna and I got to the security line at the airport. I always let her go first so I can keep an eye on her. Last night being the exciting New Year's party she was really tired since we left for the airport pretty early. And she was stressed and maybe a little 'hormonal'.

So, when the TSA agent had to pull her aside with her purse and go through it, it just added to the tension. Inside he found that she had forgotten to gate check two bottles of pretty scented stuff from Bath and Body Works. They were pretty big, probably 8 oz each, clearly unopened, but, thanks to the freaks who try and mess with us, he felt he had to take them away.

Yes, I'm grateful for the security cause I like to have my plane trips without incident but I was not prepared for poor Jenna, sobbing her little heart out saying 'But my mommy gave me those for Christmas'. She cried and cried and I felt terrible.

The poor TSA agent was trying to be so nice but the other agents around him were very Hitlerian. Although yes, Jenna has travelled enough that she knows better it was an honest mistake. And it wasn't the money involved, it was the mommy involved that made it so painful.

So, after she slept almost the whole trip, on our way home from the airport we stopped at Bath and Body Works and replaced her items and she's happy.

Thanksgiving and best water pressure ever

Jen and I enjoyed Thanksgiving in San Antonio right next to the Alamo. If you go left out of our hotel is the Alamo and on the right is a Mall so we're all set.

For our Thanksgiving dinner we ate at the Food Court-mmmm.

Then we walked around the River Walk. Jenna absolutely loved the Mariachi Band here which makes me think she somehow inherited my love of off the chart music.

The Menger Hotel where we are staying was bulit in 1859 and is allegedly haunted. Jenna has been really hoping to see a ghost while we're here although the other day she stayed in the room while I went to get an Iced Tea and she heard a noise in the bathroom and called me in a horrible panic. I thought it might be the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt but it was just the shower curtain that fell.

Today we're going to see 'Haunted Castle 3D' at the IMAX next door.

Showering here is a real treat-the water pressure is just a tad higher than a fire hose. Blasted any dirt right off of me and into the next county.

Not as great as being at home for Thanksgiving but all in all a pretty good second!

Back to blogging

Finally, after a few months off due to working a ton of hours here in Houston I was able this evening to catch up on Eric and Linda's blogs. Sorry Annie, I'll catch up on yours this week! Looks like I've been missing a lot of excitement.

I also have been scrapbooking my little heart out here in Texas so lotta new stuff to see when I get back up North.

Which is a sore subject by the way since me and Jenna aren't going home for Thanksgiving this year.....not enough time. I can't take Jenna out of school and I don't want to fly home during the incredibly crazy travel times. So I end up homesick. But that's OK, I'll make up for it by being crabby at work:-)

Well I'm sure I'll blog with pix when Jenna and I go to San Antonio for Thanksgiving. We're going to the Haunted Menger Hotel and we have tickets for the Haunted San Antonio tour on Saturday. So we'll give a shout out to the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt which appears frequently at the bar at the Menger Hotel. (According to Ghost Hunters on TV as well as drunk patrons who apprently see him more the more they drink.)