Pooped Out

Whew. We survived our 8 day stint away from home, and I am SO glad to be back!!! We left the 25th and headed to Orlando to get a room for our lovely 5am trip to the airport. Of course we hit a minor snag on the way. Since we were going to be gone for a week, I had emptied the refrigerator of anything that would spoil, and so no food in the house. Top that off with us getting hungry for dinner on the way there, and nothing open on Christmas Day except....Denny's.

Oh geeze.

I have never been to a Denny's to my knowledge, but I didn't figure it would be so bad, right? And plus it was packed (obviously because nowhere else but the Chinese buffet beside it was open). So we got there and got a table and it was.....yikes. There was definitely a special breed of people in there, and those that actually looked civilized looked just as weirded out as we probably did.

Promptly at 6pm, some random waiter comes over and says that he wants to let us know that for "safety precautions", all blinds must be raised at 6pm. WTH???? Yeah, I don't get that one either, and I was scared to ask why. The guy that let us know about it was almost as scary as the thought of something bad happening every night at 6pm so we just let our mind wander to many different possibilities as to why they do this, including assassians from the outside, and cars coming warp speed through the front glass. C'mon, we were tired and hungry and wanting to stay occupied so cut me some slack ;)

The flight was as to be expected- a normal flight for people who like that sort of thing, and terrible for people like me. The flight back was actually not as great and I was somewhat nauseated, but I survived to see the ground again and that obviously matters the most! Whew, I am glad I don't have to do that again for a lonnnnng time, if ever!!

In between said terrorizing flights, we spent 4 days doing 4 different Christmases, 3 big family meals, too many kids presents, and the ever popular family guilt trips for living so far away. Ahhhhh family :)

In spite of an entirely-too-grouchy cousin, daughter had a nice birthday trip to Disney and a few other parks. We just got back today and I am shuddering at the thought of all of the toys that will soon be mailed here, and all of the laundry that needs washed before hand. ughhh..

New Years Eve was spent at our hotel (Nickelodeon), where at midnight a huge bucket of slime was dropped onto the crowd. I came across some decent tasting (and free!) champagne, which was a welcome change. The only other time in my life I had had champagne was 6 years ago to that very day, and found myself puking shortly there after. Eeek. The kids had "Slime Champagne", and after that we crashed into bed and started snoring before our eyes were even shut, just like the 6 nights before that ;)

I gave up long ago on making New Years resolutions, but if I ever had to, then these would be the ones I make (and yes I will attempt to do them, but I make no promises!).

Ahem..

#1- Be more motivated- I need to get into gear and get things done and be on the ball instead of dragging behind and being lazy (or as lazy as can be expected with 2 kids, which isn't too lazy)

#2- Fine tune and perfect my routine- Son is on a great routine- or was until this extended trip. However when summer rolls around I will most likely be insane while here with both of them. Daughter bores quickly and I don't want a house full of kids all summer either. I hope to go to the beach at least 3x a week and anyone with kids know that this takes a lot of planning, packing, and what not.

#3- Diet..no, make that exercise. haha sorry. I love food too much to diet, and I am far too picky of an eater at that. However, mother in law did get us a Wii Fit for Christmas and I am hoping the mere sight of it propped up against the big screen will motivate me to work myself out at least 5x a week. No wait, make that 4x. Ha.

#4- Be nice. Yeah, I think I could stand to be a bit nicer to pretty much the general population. I am not foreign at all, but I think I could easily act in a movie as an Italian (if I could lose the hick accent and the extremely white skin of course) since I am so loud. So if I were ever to resolve, I would resolve to not be so loud all the time at people and the kids. I've tried to be a nicer driver and a nicer person in general, but you know there are times where it's just not in me to do so. Again, I make no promises.

#5- Socialize if it kills me. Yep. You know, I just hate that whole unfamiliar feeling of walking into a room where you know no one, and trying to make friends. I have found this to be especially true in FL where I almost feel like I have to justify myself as a person in order to make friends (if that makes sense).In other words, people are not particularly friendly. I am a member of a playgroup online forum, but have yet to get the nerve to make it to a meeting. So I will make ways to make friends even if it makes me uncomfortable enough to almost pee my pants.



So I am sure that if I thought about it I could come up with more, but I'm going to credit myself for setting the bar pretty high with those 5. And hey, this is all hypothetical anyhow so I will resolve to not waste so much time resolving, and go do something else now, like sleep. Mama is tired from a loooot of traveling! ;)