I need a vacation from the vacation...
Okay, I wasn't really on vacation. I was at a conference in NYC, so it was nice to see family and former colleagues. It was almost like a reunion, and I was caught up on the gossip going on there for the past six and a half years. Half of the couples are divorced, the Old Guard of attendings and even the nursing staff are all gone now that there's a new medical director. I attended some really good classes at the conference, because I'm a geek that way.
It's a two day drive each way. Going there, we pushed as far as we could. The first hotel I found online looked like the scene of a horror movie murder, especially since it was right off the highway and there were no street lights. We doubled back to a pricier but safer looking one, though its brand new restaurant was really slow even though there weren't many people there and we ordered simple meals. On the second day, Nick threw up as we crossed over into NJ (an appropriate response, IMHO, lol!) There was terrible traffic across the GWB and Cross Bronx as always, and we certainly didn't miss that. We got to my inlaws, and it was great to see family again. Jason felt bad because there's some wankery on his side of the family for a change, but it's not something that directly affects us. It's more that his niece and her boyfriend are living in the basement, and my inlaws are pretty much raising their great-grandsons. While Jason and I don't want to assume anything, it does look like neither are really that concerned about getting their own place. And on top of that, my FIL wakes up early to fry an egg and sausage for the older great-grandson every morning, because he refuses to eat breakfast otherwise.
When Zach got sick with GI issues, we had to cancel lunch with my parents, but they actually drove out to us. O_O It was the first time they've met my dad, who was very nice throughout the visit. They took lots of pictures, my Dad made conversation, and apparently made mention of how he's going to be 70 in January, and really has started to appreciate things more. Glory Hallelujah! I even talked to him on the phone coming back from the city via train, and when we were almost home on the way back. Of course we got loaded down with food and clothes and vitamins and other gifts and tchotchkes, not all of which we kept, but it's their way of saying that they care. Which was nice. Usually I just get ignored or lectured to death. Maddy and the boys watched way too much TV and had dessert every night at Grandma's, and enjoyed playing with their cousins. We did have Maddy do her "homework," which was journaling every day what the events were. She had already done her math worksheets before we left for NY. She loved being there "on vacation" while I went to class. Zach intermittently had other GI upset around the time we were heading home, and even at school on Monday. Poor thing. But he did okay enough to go trick or treating like a champ.
So now we have oodles of candy, so the kids all get one piece a night instead of waiting for our usual dessert on weekends only routine. I have to say, we're definitely stricter with our kids than my SIL or niece, or even my colleagues in child psychiatry. O_O
I did do some networking and met a new friend in the field. She lives in TX and is another geek! So I'm sort of being roped into doing the same sort of thing she does. Tho honestly, coming up with book lists for kids and adolescents isn't exactly a hardship. :D
Ugh. More piles of work and messages to sort though. Most of it got done, tho!
It's a two day drive each way. Going there, we pushed as far as we could. The first hotel I found online looked like the scene of a horror movie murder, especially since it was right off the highway and there were no street lights. We doubled back to a pricier but safer looking one, though its brand new restaurant was really slow even though there weren't many people there and we ordered simple meals. On the second day, Nick threw up as we crossed over into NJ (an appropriate response, IMHO, lol!) There was terrible traffic across the GWB and Cross Bronx as always, and we certainly didn't miss that. We got to my inlaws, and it was great to see family again. Jason felt bad because there's some wankery on his side of the family for a change, but it's not something that directly affects us. It's more that his niece and her boyfriend are living in the basement, and my inlaws are pretty much raising their great-grandsons. While Jason and I don't want to assume anything, it does look like neither are really that concerned about getting their own place. And on top of that, my FIL wakes up early to fry an egg and sausage for the older great-grandson every morning, because he refuses to eat breakfast otherwise.
When Zach got sick with GI issues, we had to cancel lunch with my parents, but they actually drove out to us. O_O It was the first time they've met my dad, who was very nice throughout the visit. They took lots of pictures, my Dad made conversation, and apparently made mention of how he's going to be 70 in January, and really has started to appreciate things more. Glory Hallelujah! I even talked to him on the phone coming back from the city via train, and when we were almost home on the way back. Of course we got loaded down with food and clothes and vitamins and other gifts and tchotchkes, not all of which we kept, but it's their way of saying that they care. Which was nice. Usually I just get ignored or lectured to death. Maddy and the boys watched way too much TV and had dessert every night at Grandma's, and enjoyed playing with their cousins. We did have Maddy do her "homework," which was journaling every day what the events were. She had already done her math worksheets before we left for NY. She loved being there "on vacation" while I went to class. Zach intermittently had other GI upset around the time we were heading home, and even at school on Monday. Poor thing. But he did okay enough to go trick or treating like a champ.
So now we have oodles of candy, so the kids all get one piece a night instead of waiting for our usual dessert on weekends only routine. I have to say, we're definitely stricter with our kids than my SIL or niece, or even my colleagues in child psychiatry. O_O
I did do some networking and met a new friend in the field. She lives in TX and is another geek! So I'm sort of being roped into doing the same sort of thing she does. Tho honestly, coming up with book lists for kids and adolescents isn't exactly a hardship. :D
Ugh. More piles of work and messages to sort though. Most of it got done, tho!