Well I'm back....sort of.
You know what's worse than being sick?
Being sick and going on a trip.
Hubs, #2 son and I had promised to go to my brother's house in VA for 5 days at Easter.
I woke up 2 days before we were suppose to go with sinus problems. At that point unless I was hanging over the toilet bowl or unable to stand up we had to go. That and the fact that I had promised to bring my Sis-in-Law's Christmas present to her.....the pepper relish she dearly loves that I had canned. I dare not mail those glass canning jars so she had been waiting patiently for it to arrive.
So I sucked it up and we went to VA.....and tried to keep my whining and moaning to a bare minimum.
We left Thursday morning and stopped in Dover Delaware so I could go to the grocery store.
Yes, we stopped at a Safeway grocery store on the way to Virginia.
Why?
Because I had a $25 Safeway gift card to spend and there was a Safeway along the route we took.
It's totally logical, right?
Since there was nothing on sale that week that I had coupons for and that I wanted/needed, I bought 4 12 packs of soda(on sale), 2 packages of Smithfield country ham(for breakfast biscuits)and some snacks for #2 son to eat/drink on the trip.
$40 worth of regular retail put on the gift card and $1.49 OOP in cash put on my food spending for April.
I'm ok with that....
Since we made such good time, we stopped at the outlets in Delaware also. #2 son has never been with us before when we've stopped there. This outlet has a VANS store. #2 son "hearts" Vans. $130 later, we also hit the Converse and Easy Spirit outlets. Again, the Easy Spirit outlet had nothing in my size......the last 2 times I've found nothing. *sigh*
We stopped here for a late lunch......
It had a big gift shop with many inappropriate and suggestive t-shirts. We had to drag #2 son out of the gift shop....
The bar was called the "Bimbo lounge".
#2 son posed outside the lounge with one of the local bimbos.....
I think he coped a feel.
Oh, how fast they grow up.....
We got into Chesapeake at my brother's house around 8pm and had a late dinner and hit the bed around 10pm.
On Friday morning Hubs took #2 son to the skatepark. This was his first time at a real live skatepark with half pipes and such. He was thrilled yet bummed since he was clueless about how to "drop in" and ride a half pipe. Some 30+ year old guy was there showboating and having his kids take pictures of him riding. That made #2 son feel even more lousy in front of all the other kids there. Eventually, the showboat guy gave #2 some pointers and helped him figure out the half pipe.
Hubs, #2 and I hit the Dollar Store for a couple of supplies then off to "Cici's" for the pizza buffet.
It was me and Hubs' first time at a "Cici's".
I was Not impressed! Cheap is good but the place should be called "Dough".
It's not pizza, it's a big piece of dough with some sauce, cheese and toppings on the 3" diameter in the center of the pizza shell.
I think I took a 3 hour nap after leaving there. Still not sure if that was due to the "meal" or the prescription drugs I was on.
#2 did some skating out in front of the house.
My sis-in-law's 5 yr. old grandson has some homemade ramps at the house he let #2 use. Then he joined #2 son on his little board.
*This is about the time my camera went missing. No one seemed able to find it for the duration of the trip, so I'll have to 'borrow' other photos to illustrate the rest of this travelogue.
Oh, the camera did turn up late Sunday....in the car right where I told Hubs it was. ;-)
On Saturday Hubs and I took a little drive alone in the morning. It was ridiculously hot for April, even for southern VA! All I can say is I "heart" a/c....
We had 'cue for lunch.....really good 'cue at a hole-in-the-wall little joint.
(I used this photo just for Mark. I know he will have something to say about that.lol)
Saturday afternoon Hubs took #2 back to the skatepark and I took some more drugs and napped.
My SIL spent days cooking for Sunday. She also cooked breakfast for us each morning and dinner.
She can't help it....that's what she does.
She can not NOT make vats of food.
Even when she is sick and exhausted....which she often is.
I helped a little when I could on Saturday but I wasn't feeling my best either.
Luckily I remembered to go to Rite-Aid to spend the last of my expiring +Ups.
By the time I got out of bed on Sunday, the circus had come to town.
Or at least, that's what it felt and looked like.
Sort of like this, but without the Elvis impersonators....
A bit of this but without the mosh pit.....
But more like this.....
I slept right though the Easter Bunny's visit though and the ensuing egg hunt. This happened way early for me!
It was full out Chocolate/Sugar induced Pandimonium by the time I got to the party.
Colorful plastic eggs and candy wrappers strewn everywhere, wet bathing suit clad kids streaking through the house on the way out back to the homemade slip-and-slide and adults with beverages in hand milling about.....
I am still trying to figure out the familial structure on this side of my family.
Neither of my brothers ever had kids.
This remaining brother remarried the year my mother died to a woman who was previously married and had two kids. By the time my brother married this wife(a big improvement over the previous wife I'd like to mention), her kids were grown.
Sis-in-law's 30 yr old was married and divorced. He remarried about a year ago. His new wife just had a baby 2 months ago. She also had 2 kids from her previous marriage.
Sis-in-law's 28 yr old is married(though her husband pops in and out of their lives)and has a 5 yr old son. She is not "self-sufficient" and let's just leave it at that. Currently she & her son are living with my brother and her mother(sis-in-law), though she had been staying with her husband's grandmother in a nearby town...sometimes with her son, sometimes without.
Oh, and Sis-in-law's invalid mother also lives at my brother's house with them.
So imagine the Easter Dinner roster when we eventually sat down to eat....
Me
Hubs
#2 son
My Brother
My Sis-in-law
SIL's mother
SIL's son
SIL's DIL
SIL's DIL's Oldest kid
SIL's DIL's Middle kid
SIL's son & DIL's Baby
SIL's daughter
SIL's daughter's son
My deceased brother's next door neighbor
My deceased brother's next door neighbor's SO
And a contingent of 5 cats....some inside and some feral outside one.
The only thing missing was a pack of hounds sleeping on the front porch...
We packed up and bugged out early on Monday morning in order to miss evening rush out traffic around Philly.
Why is it that it takes as many days as you've been away to get back into your routine?lol
I am finally feeling a little better.
Luckily I was able to get on my SIL's computer quickly to check comments and post 1 short thing on the blog in those 5 days.
Mission accomplished.......Pepper Relish delivered, Familial Obligation completed and Onward to the Next Adventure in what passes for my life.
So we should be back to what passes for normal around here soon.
I hope everyone of y'all had a nice holiday!
Sluggy
