I'm sorry you've missed me so much (I just know you have). But, I had a very exciting trip to take. You see, my mother had brain surgery in Omaha, and I thought I'd be the nice daughter and trek 6 hours each way in the midst of winter, just before Christmas, whilst juggling the busiest work time of the year (yea for Blackberries and free Internet in the "hotel" room), and volunteering at my kids' school. And of course, all while battling an irritating cold and nasty all-day sickness (yup, I forgot my magic pills). I mean, I had nothing else to do, so I thought it would be a fun trip to take!
Seriously though (well, I was serious about all the crap I have going on), I was glad to go and be there as a moral supporter for both of my parents. The drive, however, was less than exciting, as one may easily imagine! I took a few notes so that you would know what I was thinking on this long, flat drive south and west.
First off, I had lots to do on Monday, and I wasn't finished working til about 7pm, so I wasn't on the road until about 7:30. Not good. I was so exhausted that I decided I would just make it as far as Norwalk, stay at my parents' house (they were gone to Omaha already) and then leave as early as possible in the morning. I got there at about 11, and noticed the lovely holiday decorations adorning the highway through Lakewood/Echo Valley and Norwalk. I had a REALLY hard time figuring out what a few of them were supposed to be, however. They were lit up, but the shape wasn't recognizable in a couple of them. Whatever happened to bells? Trees? Angels? Wreaths? Holly? Snowflakes? I don't think ANY of those shapes existed in these new street lights! If anyone drives by them somewhat frequently and knows what I'm talking about (or can help me decipher), that would be swell.
The next day, I woke up feeling pukey. Oh joy, I forgot my Zofran! I guess I will just have to be pukey. And, I was. Oh well. I got going, and stopped at one of the 27 gas stations in the Norwalk vicinity. I was in the midst of fueling up, when I saw a familiar face. This older guy, Wes Garlock, drives all around town keeping an eye on what everyone is up to. I guess I hadn't realized he was still alive, actually! He saw me, gave me the thumb's up, and left me wondering if he actually remembered who I am. I have this weird thing, where I don't think anyone will remember me, even though I remember everyone else. I guess it's because I feel so far removed since I've been gone for so long, but I guess I am kinda weird.
One other thing I noticed, is that I had to stop at every traffic light in Norwalk! The traffic has changed so much since I permanently moved away 10+ years ago. I barely remember ever stopping at one of the highway lights, and if I did, there was maybe 2 cars sitting there with me. It was actually semi-busy (for a small town)!
As I pulled onto the freeway, I suddenly remembered the Caramel Santas that my dad requested I bring with me to Omaha. Along with the other stuff they bought from Sam for her dance fund raiser, I had put everything away, but left that out to take along. But, where had I put it? I was absolutely convinced that I'd left it on top of the trunk or something, and ran it over as I left their driveway. (P.S. I found them as I pulled into the Nebraska Medical Center, under my piles of directions I'd printed off--hooray!)
Still in the Des Moines area, I searched high and low for the "all Christmas, all the time" music station. I couldn't find it for like 15 minutes! Finally I found it on 104.1. Oh yeah, and I'll have you know that by the end of this 12 hour trek, I was sick and tired of Christmas music, if you can believe it. Though I did find it kind of weird that there was only 1 such radio station there that had the all-time holiday tunes.
I heard a commercial on the radio, where there's this insurance company that must be religion-based. They claim that if you get in an accident while going to or from a church activity that the deductible is waived. Now *that* is interesting! I mean, how much research would they actually do to see if you were just at the church to make sure the door was locked, or at someone's house for a "bible study"? I found it to be very strange, and easily manipulated. I suppose they are banking on the fact that no church-going folks would be conniving liars. Ha ha! As if! Tammy Faye and Jim. Ted Haggard. Many, many Catholic priests. Anyway, it just kind of seems funny to me!
I was reminded, as I drove past farm upon farm, of times when my brother and I used to count how many of those blue silos we'd pass. I know they are supposed to be the "best" silos ever, but why did we care? I'm assuming it was something our parents put us up to, to keep us from fighting or whatever. Anyway, what WAS supposed to be so special about those blue silos that was different from the regular ones? One may never know. Kind of like how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop. Although I did just look it up, and found a non-interesting (depending on who you are) link here.
This morning I read one of my daily emails about the baby's development. Apparently now the baby's ears have developed enough where he/she will be able to hear when I speak or sing. I'm wondering if the fact that I sang at the top of my lungs for almost 12 hours during a 48 hour period of time would render my baby deaf? Or perhaps he/she was hitting and kicking at me with such force to get me to shut the hell up, that now they are in a 3-day 24-hour sleep fest to catch up on its rest.
I had to crack up when I entered the Omaha city limits. Or, maybe it was just entering Nebraska period. Either the city or the state claims to be the "Home of Arbor Day". Don't ask me why it seemed funny, but it reminded me of the Corn Palace, or the home of the largest ball of twine or something like that. Isn't there something else to put on the largest sign as you enter the city or state? And, haven't all states adopted Arbor Day? I see it on almost all calendars. But, now we all know. Arbor Day must have begun in Omaha...or Nebraska.
Once I got to the hospital, and we spent some time hanging out in the waiting room, we found out that my mom's surgery went really well. My dad and I schlepped back to our room (we had a suite at the hospital, which was super-nice), and we both rested for a while. It was then that I got really irritated with my socks. This particular pair acted as though they belonged to Damon. I swore they were about his size, since they kept falling down and scooting off my heel. ARGH! Of course, I've worn them for a year, and will continue to wear them, and swear each and every time, til I finally grow sick of them and just GIVE them to Damon. And then he'll just throw them away since he refuses to wear girl socks.
On the way home, I was well aware of the huge line of awful weather that was following close on my heels. I drove 75% of the way home in rain, with temperatures hovering around 31-33 degrees. I made it home in one piece! My mother's surgery went well, she went home after 1 night in the hospital, and she was feeling quite spunky. Despite wondering what a battle of the bands would be like between the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller, the trip was all-in-all exceptionally boring. I highly recommend it to anyone who really has nothing better to do.
Oh, how Great Exuma is trying to lure me back! And, we had such a great time that it would be an easy task to get me to go back. If only it were inexpensive. 'Cuz DANG is it ever uber-'spensive there!! 
food was very good and interesting. Breakfast was another story. $75 or so, and it was average at best. It was ridiculous, including our $700 (negotiated) per night rate at the hotel. We didn't mind. But it's because we didn't have to pay for the majority of it! 
ad a remote island all to ourselves and over-indulged on virtually everything while we were there, for an entire day! The Four Seasons packed this amazing picnic basket, including lobster tail, steak, gourmet cheeses and crackers, pineapple tarts, fruit, a bottle of wine, bottle of rum, several local brews (Kalik--yum!), bottled water, sodas, etc. It was amazing and perfect. We snorkled around the island, and saw no fish, but really tried! Kevin saw a baby shark before we got out of the boat, and wisely chose not to tell me until *after* we'd snorkled. I think I would have been FREAKED out if I'd known before we ventured into the water for an hour! 
have him pick us up a little early for some additional snorkeling elsewhere. WOW, did he ever deliver!! He took us to this amazing spot where there were tons of fish. It was the best snorkeling ever! Next, he took us to a spot where some things had sunk, so there were some cool fish there too, including an Eagle Ray. Finally, our third spot was a place with these huge starfish! They were so cool. I didn't take pics with the digital camera, but we did with the hotel-provided underwater camera. We really need to develop those. The starfish were amazing!
Even though Kevin's luggage was missing for the first day, and he had buy over-priced swim shorts and flip-flops, everything else went off without a hitch. We were lost in each other during those 4 days, and we really enjoyed being stress-free and just plain, old "together". It had been a long time, we deserved it (says me) and we loved it! 
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