Shuffled Off, Shuffled Back
As I attempted to post last Friday, but LJ or my computer ate it, amateurastro and I just returned from Buffalo, where we had gone with the intention of having dinner with some friends Friday night, then picking up a U-haul truck Saturday, loading some furniture that my dad wants to get rid of, and driving right back to NJ. He would drive the truck, and I would drive the car with the kids.
After an 8 1/2 hour drive, we got as far as dinner with friends, at an old-fashioned Italian diner, where amateurastro had spaghetti with clam sauce. You guessed it, hubster was up at midnight tossin' the ol' cookies for the next six hours. Severe pain for him, no sleep for either of us, eighty dollars down the drain already between the motel and gas, with an 8 hour drive back ahead of us.
Since hubs was in no condition to drive anywhere or anything, I canceled the U-haul and we drove the hour to my dad's, who was all in a hurry because he wanted to go to his wife's grandson's birthday party at 2 pm. I was so mad, he never sees his own grandkids but he just couldn't risk offending his wife or her family by being late or just blowing it off. And he and his wife never said, "hey, why don't you join us" or something like that. What a dope. So I invited myself along, at least my kids would get to see their grandfather a bit longer. It turns out Sharon's daughter had asked her if we wanted to come, but that message was somehow never conveyed.
So we drove an hour and a half to the party, but at least it was going east, so it cut some time off the return trip. The kids had a great time, ran around, which helped because we then put them back in the car and drove 6 hours straight back. Not too long, but just a completely bogus trip.
One bright spot in the quagmire: At dad's I managed to stuff a cherry wood secretary desk in the car, I've wanted that thing for a few years now. My mother found it at a yard sale years ago, covered in thick black paint. She stripped the paint, stained it, and it's a beautiful piece. Oooohhh, I feel a smile coming... :)
After an 8 1/2 hour drive, we got as far as dinner with friends, at an old-fashioned Italian diner, where amateurastro had spaghetti with clam sauce. You guessed it, hubster was up at midnight tossin' the ol' cookies for the next six hours. Severe pain for him, no sleep for either of us, eighty dollars down the drain already between the motel and gas, with an 8 hour drive back ahead of us.
Since hubs was in no condition to drive anywhere or anything, I canceled the U-haul and we drove the hour to my dad's, who was all in a hurry because he wanted to go to his wife's grandson's birthday party at 2 pm. I was so mad, he never sees his own grandkids but he just couldn't risk offending his wife or her family by being late or just blowing it off. And he and his wife never said, "hey, why don't you join us" or something like that. What a dope. So I invited myself along, at least my kids would get to see their grandfather a bit longer. It turns out Sharon's daughter had asked her if we wanted to come, but that message was somehow never conveyed.
So we drove an hour and a half to the party, but at least it was going east, so it cut some time off the return trip. The kids had a great time, ran around, which helped because we then put them back in the car and drove 6 hours straight back. Not too long, but just a completely bogus trip.
One bright spot in the quagmire: At dad's I managed to stuff a cherry wood secretary desk in the car, I've wanted that thing for a few years now. My mother found it at a yard sale years ago, covered in thick black paint. She stripped the paint, stained it, and it's a beautiful piece. Oooohhh, I feel a smile coming... :)