• Sophie is currently sleeping in her own bed. B moved her into it about an hour ago. She hasn't stirred.
• I've applied for yet another job but haven't heard anything from them yet. So freaking tired of job hunting, seriously. It's such a drag and my confidence is shot to hell. What a whip.
• .
• My mother called to inform us that she's planning to take the entire family on a vacation next spring for her anniversary. She suggested the Dominican Republic or the Bahamas or Mexico, but then said it's possible we might only be doing Bear Lake (fine by me, I love Bear Lake). B said if we do that, he wants to go across the bridge (meaning the Mackinac, of course). At that point, I told him we should lobby for a week on the island instead of Bear Lake. I've never been to Mackinac Island before and I honestly think that would make for an excellent vacation. I'm not so sure anyone else would be up for that.
• I've been working on sewing bibs, and while the first one wasn't perfect, it certainly wasn't bad. I'll have pictures up in the craft blog shortly. There are four more bibs ready to be top stitched and have a snap added, and I'm very pleased with how they're looking so far. Let's just hope my finishing techniques improve a bit.
• On top of the impetigo, Sophie now has some sort of little red bumps that have developed sometime within the past few days. She has a few on her back and one on her leg. They're not large nor are they intense red. They almost look like little flea bites, just a hair bigger.
• She's started saying "Where's Sophie Kritter" now whenever she has her head covered (when we cover her head with a towel or are getting her dressed, or when she covers her face with a book or her hands, etc.). It's one of the cutest things she does. I love it.
• Phone Scoop - Looking for a new phone or a new carrier? This site is actually very cool in that it lets people search and compare, reading other reviews and even contribute their own reviews. I wish I'd known about this when we got our last phones.
• StumbleUpon - Yes, it's another social bookmarking site, but this one is supposed to work a bit like Tivo and learn your preferences. I haven't signed up yet, but I probably will soon.

And with that, I'm off to bed... a childless (for now) bed that will allow me to snuggle under the covers with my husband without fear of one of us being kicked in the side.

Almost 14 years ago I made the trek from Minnesota to Tennessee for my grandfather's funeral. On the return flight, I discovered I had picked up a stomach bug from my aunt. Last week, we made the trek from Texas to Tennessee for my grandmother's funeral and on the drive home I felt a tell-tale tingle in my nose. This time, I actually picked up some sort of head/chest bug from my mother. B has it as well, but thankfully Sophie seems to have escaped the bug so far. I can't even begin to describe how awful I feel. Bleh.

It was great having the whole family together, even if it was under rather depressing circumstances. B got a chance to meet more of the family. I think we might actually be making a trip to Arizona some time to visit my aunt and uncle out there. If we could get my parents and my sisters to plan a trip around the same time, that would be best. For some reason, my dad wants to go in the summer. He's nuts. Texas is hot enough, thank you. I think winter would be the best time to go.

My sisters both loved the idea of us signing with Sophie so much that they have decided to use the Signing Time series as well. Tracie has been using it with Emily for long enough that she's been signing for some time now. She does amazingly well with her signs, too. Tracie took Emily up to the casket to see Grandma and Emily signed sleep. She wasn't told anything since Tracie wasn't really sure how to handle it and how much she would understand since Emily is only 13 months old. Tracie said she nearly lost it when she saw Emily sign that.

Tracie was very impressed with Sophie and her ability to echo. She said something was "amazing" and Sophie repeated it. Of course, when Tracie tried to get her to say "hilarious" Sophie was unwilling to cooperate.

Sophie had lots of fun being able to play with her little cousins. She passed out plenty of hugs and kisses. The morning after our trip home, she woke up naming off all the family. It makes me sad we live so far away and that she can't play with them all the time. Hopefully my sisters will be able to come down for a visit sometime this year. We don't plan to make another trip until January of next year when we drive up to Michigan for the auto show.

I'm sure there was something else I wanted to say, but my fever is back and I feel like last week's garbage. It's time to hit the Airborne and Tylenol again (started the Airborne too late this time, rats) and cuddle up underneath the electric blanket. Meh.

Our road trip to Forrest City, AR was rather uneventful... until about 11:00 PM or so. Sophie woke up screaming and had a very difficult time going back to sleep. She eventually did sleep again, but only to wake up screaming. The trip to Union City, TN was much easier, though (also much shorter). She's been very social and pretty well behaved, all things considered. I have to give her lots of credit. We've had no real meltdowns other than in the car the first night and we knew that was because she was tired.

She has been quite amusing lately, especially on this trip. B and I have noticed that she's done a lot of maturing and growing within the last week or two. I'm so sad to watch my baby grow up and lose little bits of baby each day, but I'm so proud of the little girl she's becoming. She's putting more and more words together to form longer sentences every day. She's also paying very close attention to her surroundings, listening to songs on the radio or to us talking, watching what we're doing, and doing lots of imitating or commentary. Today, B was having gas issues in the bathroom and Sophie announced, "Daddy fahted." I had to chuckle, since I rarely use that word, so I know she didn't pick it up from me. While we were sitting at lunch, she leaned forward in her booster seat and let one rip (I don't believe the leaning forward was intentional, but I do believe it was a catalyst) and then announced, "Sowie fahted." I was able to stifle my giggle, but B nearly busted out laughing. No wonder she's saying things like this! I bet no one realized I married a 12 year old. ;)

It's been great seeing family. My sisters are both here and I've been able to see my nieces for the first time since last summer. Several cousins have mentioned being upset with me for deciding to stay in a hotel while we're here (makes me feel loved!) and if we didn't have a king sized bed (and a king sized jacuzzi and king sized shower), we might have decided to cancel the room for the last night, but I can't give up sleeping in a king sized bed whenever I have the chance. I just hope we get to spend a little time with the family tomorrow after the funeral.

I've made a little progress on the Boats for Cameron blanket in the car. I have one boat left to knit and then I'm done with boats! Once this panel is complete, I can finally move on to cables. It will be nice to have something different to knit, even if it's for the same blanket.

Because Union City is not exactly the restaurant mecca that is DFW, we're limited to only a few choices for food other than that of the quick service variety. Against my better judgment, we chose to eat at Crapplebee's tonight. The food was pretty good (mine was exceptionally good), but the service was horrendous, as usual. I finally broke down and sent them an email. After all the stores we've visited, tonight's visit was simply the last straw. The store wasn't busy at all and yet it still took us nearly two hours to leave the restaurant because we were continuously waiting on our server. It took nearly an hour to receive our food once we placed the order. The manager actually brought out the food because our server was nowhere to be found (oh wait, he was chatting it up with his buds in the bar). Our server came back to the table to tell us our food should be right out (hi mouth, my name is foot... perhaps we've met). We were still missing Sophie's meal, and he had to go in search of it. He came back with the excuse that he had to have the cooks drop it again (corn dog, which was EW anyhow) because they overcooked it. My guess is it sat under the heatlamp for too long. Then we had to wait nearly another full hour for our bloody check. I was pretty steamed by the time we were leaving and my stomach was actually all in knots because I was so annoyed about all of this. Narf.

I feel awful about the viewing tonight. I couldn't bring myself to go up to the casket. I know I'll have to tomorrow anyhow, so I suppose that's okay. I just wasn't ready to do it tonight. I walked into the chapel and saw the casket at the front and nearly lost it. This death has amazed me by how much it has shaken my world. I almost hope I do cry tomorrow. I haven't been able to yet, but have felt right on the edge since last Saturday.

That's pretty much all I've got for now. I think my rock is sitting at the bottom of my stomach. :(

I'll try to get pictures of the king-sized bathroom. It's astonishingly large. For now, however, I'm going to see if I can find B and Sophie sleeping in the kind sized bed. I love being able to lay in bed and not have to touch anyone! ;)

When looking for a hotel, look no further than Hotel Reservations. They are your one stop shop for all your hotel booking needs. Be careful while browsing their site as some of their links don't work in certain places (or don't work in Firefox), but I found they have air and car travel as well, which makes life so convenient. I'm not sure how they compare to Orbitz or Expedia or Travelocity, but it never hurts to shop around.

Ever since watching Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil I have wanted to visit Savannah. It's quite an interesting town, from what I've read and heard. Savannah is quite unlike anything I've ever experienced before. Maybe when Sophie is older we'll take a trip out that way.

Trusted Tours and Attractions would be a place for me to start when I decide to plan a trip to Savannah. There are so many things to see and do, I don't want to chance missing something unique because I didn't do my research. I already plan to take the Walk Through Midnight tour of Savannah, but there are others I possibly would add to my list.

Even though I've been to Niagara Falls and Chicago, I would be interested in taking a guided tour of some sort in both of those places. I lived in Chicago for two years (well, north of Chicago, but spent enough time in the city to call it home) and know there are things I missed. There's so much to take in! With Niagara, once we hit the falls, that was pretty much the end of the trip. They're pretty darn impressive, but there are probably other things to see while there.

Hopefully we'll be able to do plenty of traveling once Sophie is a bit older and can appreciate such things.

Look out, here I come! ;)

You can be my personal tour guide while I travel from London to Paris to Berlin... Someday, even if it's only in my dreams. ;)

You could even be the one to tell me which is the best of the hotels in London!

Of course, I'll probably have to do my own research for hotels in Paris and hotels in Berlin, unless you've been, of course. I've been to Germany but it was a long long long time ago and I never drove there.

Speaking of driving, you can cart my bum around from country to country since you have a handy little driver's license registered in the EU and I don't.

London is at the top of my list of places to visit (I would try to take in a lot of the country while there, not just London). Paris is only a stepping stone on the way to Berlin. I long to go back to Germany someday. Perhaps when B and I are out of debt and have a year or two to save a bit, Sophie will be old enough that we can actually consider a trip such as this. I would love to take her overseas, but I want to do it when she'll remember it.

It's been a while since I've been to Orlando for a vacation (or for work, for that matter), but I would love to go back. It's one of those towns that just has so much to offer. Sure, it can be touristy, but that's the main reason anyone goes to Orlando. I want Sophie to go to Disney at least once when she's little. I didn't go until I was 17 and I only went to Epcot then. I want to experience the magic with her, to see it all through her innocent little eyes. I also want to take her to Sea World, but we can do that much closer to home.

I'm not sure if we would stay at one of the resorts or if it would be one of the many other orlando hotels. I suppose it all depends on the money we have when we take the trip. When I was there last for vacation, we stayed at our timeshare (the one in Orlando wasn't nearly as nice as the one in Tampa). I don't remember where I stayed when I was out there for work. That entire year is a blur of airports and hotels to me.

At one time, I had a friend or two who lived in Manchester. I used to dream of going overseas for a visit, knowing that I would have my own personal tour guides. I would most likely have found Manchester Accommodation instead of trying to stay with anyone, just so I wouldn't be imposing anymore than requesting the guided tours.

Someday, I would also like to travel to Edinburgh. From what I've seen, the Edinburgh Hotels are quite welcoming. I think of all the Edinburgh Accommodations, the Balmoral Hotel Edinburgh is by far my favorite. It's such a beautiful hotel! See for yourselves!


I think while across the pond I would take in a fiber and food tour, customized for me, of course. I am dying to see all the lovely sheep and yarns and spinning and weaving. The food may not be nearly as fun, but I would still love to try it.

I would love to go to Australia. It ranks pretty high on my list, above Spain and just below the UK. Sadly, I don't remember very much from when I taught about Australia when I was living in Illinois, but I do remember trying Violet Crumble (fell in love with it) and Vegemite (hated it). I know B would love to check out the car racing and we both would love the wine tasting. If we were to take Sophie, we could check out the zoo and the Wildlife Park, as well as the Botanical Gardens, and of course, stay in one of the many Adelaide Hotels. Some of the Hotels in Adelaide are so beautiful, too.

After taking in Adelaide, I think we would seek out Brisbane Accommodation to take in some more wine tasting and some sunny summer beaches. I would especially love to go dolphin spotting or to feed the dolphins. I think Sophie would just love that.

Someday, perhaps, we'll be able to enjoy a trip like this, but I don't think it will be any time soon.

I'm sure many of you know my extreme love for New England. I enjoyed living in Massachusetts about as much as I loved living in Illinois, but for different reasons. Of all the places I've lived, those are the two I miss most. I don't miss Michigan quite as much, except for the fact that my family is there.

New England has some of the best color this time of year (although it's probably all gone, now). I honestly don't remember ever seeing colors as beautiful as when I lived in Massachusetts and was driving back and forth between Worcester and New Brookfield on my commute to and from work. That is what I see in my mind's eye every time I think of fall. I miss it.

I have always considered the Cape or Martha's Vineyard to be summer vacationing spots, but I was thinking today that it would be pretty cool to see if we could find some off season Martha's Vineyard vacation rentals and see all the colors of autumn, with hopefully fewer tourists. I think it's definitely something to consider. Maybe I can find a vacation spot up there in the winter (not near the ski resorts, of course) so we can take in a Maine snowfall and all the pine trees.

New England is calling me home, and since B doesn't want to live there (ever), a vacation is as good as it's going to get.

I hate that my family lives so far from me. It's such a hassle for everyone to figure out the best times to visit. I'm open to just about anything, but trying to get people to come down here isn't easy. My parents are coming down in December, but I don't think either of my sisters will be down any time soon. Perhaps I can get them to come down near the end of winter early next year. They'll be tired of snow by then I'm sure and it's likely we'll be having wonderful sunny warm weather by then.

It's possible they'll even be able to find cheap flights through Air Values. We're constantly trying to look for the best flight costs for them just to entice them to come down. I've told my youngest sister I learned the best time to buy an airline ticket was Wednesday mornings. I'm not sure if it matters on Air Values or not, but it's something to keep in mind.

I really don't want to fly up north anytime soon. I'm hoping to hold out until at least next winter, perhaps January, so B can hit the auto show in Detroit. I just want to take a year from flying since we did it twice this year. I would much rather drive, but B doesn't want to do that at all. By the time Sophie hits two, however, we'll be paying for her tickets as well. Ah, the joys of living so far from family.

I'm so jealous. B will be going to New York City in December for training for work. I would love to go with him and explore the city while he's in training, but it would be silly, really. He's going to be studying and doing homework every night he's there except for Friday night, so I'll just have to wait until another night to join him out there. I hope they give him a laptop as a loaner for the class so we can at least chat.

I would love to go out there when we have time to do a proper New York tour. I've never been to the city itself and am dying to take in all the sites, try and do a little restaurant hopping and a little trendy shopping. Someday, right?

As far as international travel goes, I've only ever been to Germany (well, and Canada, but I don't count that since I lived so close). I've often dreamed of traveling around Europe. I think I mentioned a while back (not sure how far back, though) that I've started taking trips on paper because I don't think I'm ever going to be able to see any of these places now. The latest trip is to Madrid.

I have been poking around looking at hotels in Madrid. Some of the older buildings are just so beautiful. This is probably one of the biggest reasons I want to visit Europe. Of course, you all know me and my love for blogs, and I found one loaded with hotel news.

I would love to see the countryside and tour the old buildings and such. I especially want to try the foods. Maybe I'll dig around for some authentic recipes and start a little travel night every now and then. Once Sophie gets older, that could be a load of fun, and she might even learn a little. I could even try to make the meals coincide with what she's learning in school. She'll probably hate me for it, but I'm sure if I don't do it, she'll hate me for something else.

Okay, time to come back to Texas and get my house cleaned... after I check to see if there is a feed for the hotel news blog. ;)

I know I have mentioned before that B and I still haven't had a honeymoon. We'll be hitting our second anniversary in December and we won't even be able to go then. I think we can save and plan to go for our fifth anniversary, though. I can think of lots of places I would love to go with him, all of them beautiful and sunny and loaded with amazing beaches and lots of blue water.

I was poking around today and found some All Inclusive Cancun vacations. I've never been to Mexico before but have heard it's amazingly breathtaking. I know he's been before, but it was years ago when he was still a child.

I'm getting excited just thinking about it! I'm almost sad we can't go this year!!

I can't wait until Sophie is old enough for us to take vacations she will appreciate instead of just going to Michigan for a few weeks here and there. This isn't to say I don't love going to Michigan, but I want to be able to show her so many other things as well. I want to take her to see the mountains and beaches and sand dunes and caves. I want to take her to marine parks and amusement parks, and yes, I want to take her to Disney. There is something so magical about the Disney theme parks that just is so amazing to a child. I wish I had the opportunity to go while I was young, but even as an adult I was swept away by the magic.

I know the ex and I still have a timeshare in Florida somewhere. I know, I need to get that taken care of, but I just hate dealing with him any more. Since he's been paying for it after we split, I don't really care very much. That's all for another post. Since I haven't been paying for it, however, I won't be able to use it. I'll have to actually hunt for decent hotels in orlando. This can be quite a daunting task, especially considering the luck I have had in the past with hotels in Florida. I would love to stay in one of the resorts, but I don't know if we would be able to afford it. Then again, it is still years off and a lot can change between now and then.

While I am still struggling with wanting her to stay so little and adorable and dependent, I really can't wait to be able to explore the world with our little girl. :)

I used to travel for work and grew very tired of it. However, since I stopped traveling for work, I have realized just how much I miss getting to see new places. I love to plan exotic little trips to crazy places I never even knew existed and simple vacations close to home. Most of these are planned to allow me to learn about the location, since it's unlikely I'll ever be able to take most of the trips that enter my head.

I found a site based in the UK that will help plan exotic vacations. They have flights to Goa India, Greece, Turkey, Canary Islands, and much more. I'm almost sad I don't live in the UK to be able to take advantage of such a site, but I'm sure I'll be able to find something that works for me as well as this. Then again, I could always fly to England first and then continue on whatever exotic vacation I plan...

I have been to Canada before (countless times, actually), but have never had to fly into the country. I usually wind up driving, crossing either at the Blue River Bridge or the Ambassador Bridge (and then somewhere again in Niagara.. the Rainbow Bridge, perhaps?). Now that I'm living in Texas, however, it's possible that some day I might actually want to fly to Canada.

DialAFlight is perfect to use when searching for flights to Canada. I would especially be interested in flights to Toronto. Toronto is such a nifty city. There's so much to see and do! I've been to Toronto only once and didn't spend nearly enough time there.

Of course, DialAFlight is really only for people from the UK right now, but perhaps that will change. I suppose it would still be a useful site for planning a trip to Canada, even if I might have to convert the currency. The one especially nice feature of this site is the option to call for advice or information. Apparently, operators are standing by.

I don't think I would be terribly interested in flying to Quebec in general, but perhaps Montreal might be interesting. I know I would love to fly to Niagara, but that's close enough to Toronto that I wouldn't care which airport I hit. I would love to go back to the falls. It is truly an impressive sight to see.

This is probably one of the coolest sites I've seen in a long time. If I were traveling to the UK anytime soon, this would be one of the sites I use most to plan my trip and all the places I want to visit. I love this concept! I wish there was something like this stateside! The members of the community can give their opinions on London restaurants, and even restaurants (or other places) in the entire UK. London is a place I've always wanted to visit and a site like Trusted Places is just the perfect tool for a foreigner. Now, if someone would just rate the hotels for me, I'd be all set!

I wouldn't go so far as to consider myself a hotel snob, but I am a little picky. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just as long as it's not a total roach infested hole. I try to stick to hotels I know, since they tend to be pretty good across the country. Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express, and Fairfield Inn seem to be in a price range we can handle and pretty reliable when it comes to cleanliness and various amenities. I don't care to spend an arm and a leg on a fancy hotel (unless it's for a special occasion) but I also don't want a pay-by-the-hour dive.

Sometimes, especially when we're driving from DFW to Detroit, I like to check out sites like Hotel Reservations for hotels that are along the way. Sites like these sometimes have deals, too, which is always nice, since I no longer have my platinum elite status from all the mounds of travel I used to do. The nice thing about Hotel Reservations is that it can search for hotels in other countries, even. Of course, I don't see us traveling to another country any time soon other than perhaps Mexico or Canada, but even those are unlikely.

There are also links for flights and cars at Hotel Reservations. It's nice to have a one stop shop set up for all of our traveling needs. It's possible to even select vacation packages there. Someday, when we're out of debt again and can actually afford going on a trip, I'll probably start here. Perhaps we can even find a nice package that would be great for Sophie as well.

Actually, we'll probably wind up using this site in the not too terribly distant future (within the next couple of years). My sisters and I have been talking about find a vacation rental near Traverse City and there is a handy dandy little tool to help search for vacation rentals on the site. It would be pretty cool to find something that could accommodate all of us.

I would love to travel to Australia. I have many friends scattered throughout the country and would love to be able to visit them and see where they live. Of course, while there, I would want to do a little touring.

I was browsing tonight for Sydney Hotels and found Cheaper Than Hotels to be a great resource. While poking around, I found Hotels in Darling Harbour. Of course, I had to search for Melbourne Hotels after that.

I dream of these trips every now and again, and Australia is one that tends to stay at the top of the list. I would love to see first hand all the wildlife in its natural habitat and not in a zoo. I would love to experience the Great Barrier Reef. I just want to be able to explore and soak it all in. I'm also betting the seafood is probably pretty good there.

Ahh... and now back to reality. Sophie is awake and talking in bed. I need to go join her. Maybe someday...

I love to travel. I hate to fly. Go figure. I have all these wonderful dreams of traveling overseas again. I have been to Germany and would love to go back. B and I have talked about going to England among other places. I'm not sure we'll ever go because flights are so long. Also, I only speak English. I might know a little German and a little sign language, but not enough of either to get me very far anywhere.

Still, I like to dream. Every so often I get a little bug about traveling around the world. I do a little research, learn a bit about what's to see and do. Tonight, I'm traveling to France. Of course, I'm looking up hotels and the hotels in Paris are listed in Euros, which I suppose makes things easier over there (Euros were not used when I went to Germany). Some of the pictures of these hotels are absolutely amazing!

I think I might want to choose a hotel in France away from the city. I want to be able to see the countryside and soak it all up. I would love to visit places such as the Louvre as well, but I think the countryside is really what's calling me right now. I've been dreaming of doing this in so many different countries. I would just rather avoid the big cities altogether.

This site for hotels in France is pretty handy from what I can tell. They have information and pictures for most of the hotels listed (if not all). They also have deal searches, links for group rates, and links for auto rental.

Hmm... maybe someday. :)

I am still up north visiting family. The current plan is to fly out on Wednesday but the weather isn't forecasted to be too wonderful in Detroit or Dallas on Wednesday so I might push it to Thursday instead. While I love visiting my family and all, I really miss my husband. I'm sure I will miss the sun when I get back to Fort Worth, but probably not as much as I miss B right now.

For anyone who cares, I will be leaving for Detroit in the morning with the critter and will be there until at least the end of the month.

Those of you interested in getting together should already have my contact information, but if I forgot to send it to you (and I probably did), just reply to this post since I'll have access to email.

My sister and her husband were supposed to be moving to Hawaii for a few years due to the nature of Steven's work. Unfortunately, this isn't going to happen, but Steven will be in Hawaii for several months this year. I am quite jealous. Hawaii is probably one of the best places I was able to visit while working at Aloha and I was looking forward to planning some Hawaii trips.

I found an excellent little site for Hawaii trips tonight called Hawaiian Beach Rentals. I had such dreams of going to Hawaii to visit Anna, Steven, and Madeline while they were living in Hawaii, but that's not going to be happening now. Once the Critter is older, however, we might make a trip to Hawaii so she can experience it. I was only able to hit Honolulu and I still thought it was breathtakingly beautiful.

Hawaiian Beach Rentals even has a toll-free number for assistance. Maybe Steven can use this site to find a place to stay while living in Hawaii for the next few months.

I am digging up my photos from Hawaii that have been edited. I would love to edit the rest someday, but it's not likely ever to happen. Maybe when we take Sophie to Hawaii (I'm hoping Hawaiian Beach Rentals will have a better search in place by that time) I'll take more (and better) photos and I'll actually edit them and upload them in a timely manner.

( Hawaii photos behind the cut )

I leave for Detroit tomorrow, flying standby and hoping to arrive by 4:15 PM. Anna, Sophie, and I will be stopping at Tracie's to see my first niece before heading on to my parents' house. I'm excited to see my family, but not really looking forward to traveling with a baby who's only seven and a half months old. I'm checking two rather large bags and taking a carry-on along with the diaper bag and will be gate-checking the stroller. Thank heavens my mother-in-law and Anna will both be helping me tomorrow. I don't know if I could manage on my own.

I'm sad to be leaving B here, but I'll be busy with the baby and my family so it will probably be easier for me than for him. I'll miss him most at night when I'm lying in bed trying to fall asleep, I'm sure. I suppose he can throw himself into his work and possibly meet the deadline that looms before Christmas. It would be nice if he could make it to the big family Christmas dinner on December 23.

I can't wait to see my family. I miss living near them. I miss it a lot. If it weren't for B, I think I'd have given up on Texas a year ago. I've been here for over six years now and can honestly say I've lived in better places. It's amazing the things people do for love (he's done so much more for me than I have for him, too).

I can't believe Christmas is almost here! Time sure flies!!!

Tomorrow is the first day of my vacation and I'm so excited. Granted, I get to spend the morning at the doctor's office, but that's ok. It's all good. I think I might treat myself to a stop at the yarn store and then probably the nail salon. I suppose I ought to find a pattern for a shrug before I go to the store since I'll want to pick up yarn while I’m there and take it on the trip to Tennessee. I'm considering I Do from Knitty, but I think it's a little more complicated than I can handle right now.

I can't wait to see my family, or most of my family, especially my Aunt XL (yes, that's really her name) and her kids and grandkids, and my Aunt Elaine. I'm sad my Uncle Homer and Uncle Bob won't be there, and I'm sure that part won't be easy, but it will be good to see everyone else.

I hope the trees have fall color!!

My stomach is in knots already and my flight isn't until 6:00 pm. I do believe I'll be having a little wine with dinner tonight.

I do not miss traveling by air at all.

I fly out Wednesday evening on AA and return Sunday morning on AA.

First class.

All for the low, low price of $80.00.

I have to thank Iberalodiant and all the hellacious traveling I did for them for this trip. I do love my job now, but I'm so glad I had the chance to build up miles for this trip.

The only things that kept this day from truly sucking hardcore is the fact that I got to talk to B and a nice little package from my Secret Pal (more on that later, when I can give it the attention it deserves - I love it!) waiting for me when I got home. Both of those things made me smile.

I suppose it's good news that my schedule changes to 8am-5pm, and I made lunch plans for tomorrow with two good people. Those things didn't suck.

Unfortunately, what sucks actually sucks so bad that it overshadows everything else.

This morning (while at work), I learned that my uncle passed away. I'm sad about this for so many reasons, and mad at myself because I haven't been good about visiting. I kept telling myself I'd get up to see him. I wanted B to meet him in the worst way. Out of all of the family on my father's side, he was by far my favorite relative. This man lived an incredible life, one I would never want to live, and he remained the sweetest man through it all (or maybe grew incredibly kind because of it?). The world has lost one of the good ones today. Our entire family is feeling it.

For reasons beyond our control, B will most likely be unable to accompany me to Indiana. It would have been a crappy way to introduce him to my father's family, but they would have loved him and accepted him as one of the gang, I'm sure.

To top off my day (which isn't finished yet, so I ought to be careful here), the dog scratched me (purely by accident) pretty badly. I would trim his nails, but I'm afraid of hurting him. That's B's job.

I need to go find my Kleenex.

Another one skeezed from </a></b></a>violakat03: Bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now...

( States - and DC )

I think I've covered them all. I have a nifty little map here as well. Most of the states I've been to were because of work, or just driving through. I don't count Arizona since I've only been to the airport in Phoenix. I can't remember if I've been to Delaware or not.