At Long Last

They say "Home is Where the Heart is". I've considered Virginia my home for years, but part of my heart is still in Arizona where I grew up. It's been two years since I've been back to visit, but the dry spell is about to come to an end. Yippee!

It's kind of funny because at this point in my life I've lived away from Arizona quite a bit longer than I ever lived there - 9 years, to be exact. That's how long I lived there. And while I was there I wanted nothing more than to move away. Yet even while I was gone I craved to go home to Arizona. To this day when asked where I'm from it's Arizona I claim.

One might wonder why we're making the trek out there now. We being the girls and I. After all, it's not the holidays and school is in session. I've kind of boycotted traveling for Christmas. And summers in Arizona don't agree with me. Yes, it's a dry heat which isn't as oppressive as the 90 degrees with 80% humidity we see here, but 115 degrees and more is just miserable. I'm just saying.

Back to my point - this is the last year before Sweet Cheeks is in school. Next year when she goes to Kindergarten life will never be the same. So I'm taking full advantage. Even if she will miss 2 weeks of preschool.

Truth be told, that is only half the reason. The real reason for going when we're going is RAGNAR: 12 people racing 200 miles in 24-ish hours. The reason we're staying two weeks is because we found a really (I mean R-E-A-L-L-Y) good deal on tickets that just happened to go up significantly if I chose different dates. It's meant to be.

So, Ragnar: My sister Rebecca works for an oral surgeon who is sponsoring a team for the race. Never ones to be left out of a fun race, Lester and I campaigned for a spot on the team. Really they were short a few people, so we were accepted as two warm bodies to complete the required 12 team members.

The oh-so fun part - other than the endorphin kick from the pain of running the equivalent of 3 10Ks and not sleeping in 24 hours - is the three of us will be together in a van that two of our other sisters will be driving. Five of the 7 of us together! In one van! It's going to be so much fun! I kind of feel bad for the other runners in our van.

And this trip gets even better. The last time the seven sisters were together was the last time I was in Arizona. It's looking very hopeful that we'll be together again while I'm in town. Everyone has crazy schedules, so we may have only one day with everyone in Arizona at the same time. But if all goes as planned we'll be together. And that's all that matters.

In mind of keeping things real - it's not all going to be fun and games. It will be for me, but not so much for Otterpop. He will be left at home - alone and abandoned to fend for himself while forced to bankroll our expedition. Well, maybe it will be fun for him too. Alone time is rare, so this just might be good for him. Except...

The really unfortunate part is that he's traveling for work the first two weeks of February, and we're traveling the last two. Anyone for a month without really seeing their spouse and family? Poor Otter. Luckily he'll be in the care of his sister and grandma who will make sure he doesn't go hungry. Sweet Cheeks said "Daddy's going to be spending a lot of time at our cousins house when we're gone." She knows him well. He is and will be sorely missed.

p.s. I cut bangs. Really short bangs. Think something along the lines of this:

Maybe a little shorter. Otter thinks I look like my mom, and one of my friends said I look like a little girl. I'll let you decide for yourself, but I like it. I don't have a good picture right now, but I'll post later.

Toodles.

An Affair to Remember

Monday I returned from a FAB weekend with my oh so cute sisters. I find that I feel pretty melancholy following visits with my family. This week I'm definitely going through it. You might think I would be on a high from seeing them, which I was. But, like anything good that comes in concentrated doses, you crash once it ends. Otterpop doesn't understand, but I think it's probably because his family is near by. Plus I think it's just different with sisters.

This weekend really was fabulous. What made it more special was that when we were in high school we talked about a fabulous, exotic adventure to NYC with just the three of us. Life kind of got in the way and that trip never did happen. Fast forward 15 years and there we were together for the weekend.

Of course there are several things that happened that could be a blog post on their own. Oh, the difficulty of editing. I suppose I'll leave it up to the pictures to show our adventure.

Although, there wasn't a camera available to catch my crash landing at Urban Outfitters in D.C. Chinatown while I waited to catch my bus. I decided to lug my suitcase, over-stuffed purse, and freshly purchased Chipotle up the stairs to check out the sale racks. And unfortunately I have a habit of tripping over my feet. It happens ALL the time. On this occasion the loud laughter of an employee brought my blunder to the attention of the entire store. Need I say more?

I'll also leave the fabulous food we ate for another time. The Afghan food we ate in the East Village is definitely worthy of a post of its own.

In the mean time - here are some trip highlights in pics:

Leaving on the ferry for Governor's Island

Us with Curtis, the bike rental employee who decided to give us a tour around the island. It was quite funny, and we were really glad we didn't have to pedal by ourselves.

Lesler and Labetta eating oh so good Afghani food in the East Village

Leslie and Labetta waiting for the Apples in Stereo show to start. By the way, they are much better on my iPod than live. The pic also doesn't capture how exhausted Labetta was. She was falling asleep standing from being up all day after taking a red-eye. We were all too tired to go 80's dancing afterword like we had planned. At least that's my excuse. 11pm is just too late for us old farts ;)

Us at Long Beach. Cute pic, except for the blueberry in my teeth.

This pic just doesn't show the chaos involved with the bus. There were people trying to get off, while these people were pushing each other to get on. It was mayhem. And I almost was left in the 30 seconds it took me to turn around and give my sisters a hug good bye.

Oh...and another thing - NYC really is a different place without kids. I do love that city, even if it has lost some of it's mystique.

Leaving on a Bolt Bus...

Tomorrow I leave for a long weekend trip to New York City...sans children and husband. This isn't something I do very often. In fact, pretty much never.

We make fairly frequent trips up to NYC as a family, but only because that's where Auntie Lesler lives. Otherwise I think we're basically too cheap to fork out the cash to get a hotel. But I digress.

I haven't been away from my husband and/or kids over night since a short stay in the hospital last year. Which of course doesn't count because, well, I don't need to explain.

So, my sister Labetta got a free ticket to NYC this weekend for acting as chaperon to a friend's kid who is visiting her grandparents that happen to live in NYC. I know...hard to follow. Of course since she lives in Arizona and is rarely on this side of the country I had to make a trip to see her. The question was just with or without family. Without won.

Truthfully, NYC has kind of lost its glamour in my eyes. Don't get my wrong, I love NYC. But it isn't as...mysterious(?) as it once was. Partially because we go there a couple times a year, but more than likely it's because we always go with kids. We always do at least something exciting while we're there, but it's almost always kid-friendly.

Since Labetta has only been to NYC once (I think) the weekend will definitely be filled with fun and exciting activities. All done on the cheap.

Among other things on the agenda are a run in Central Park Friday evening (or maybe we'll visit MoMA since Friday nights are free) a free Apples in Stereo concert Saturday evening (love them. if you don't know them, here's a video), and 80's dancing.

NYC of course has fabulous food, and many GF options. So many that it's kind of overwhelming. Just look here if you're interested.

I did find a GF bakery called Tu-Lu's that I might try out while I'm waiting for my sister to get off work tomorrow. I tried Babycakes a couple years ago and wasn't overly impressed, thou it was still good. So we'll see what happens.

One thing is certain - it will be a cram-packed weekend. Better yet that it's with SISTERS!!! YIPPEE!!

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One more thing, if your interested. I did find a pretty good Kale recipe. Now I don't have too feel guilty about the Kale in my fridge going bad.