Oregon and Florida

I got home from Vegas around 5 PM on Sunday. I would estimate that in Vegas I got 5 hours of sleep the first night and close to 3 hours the next night. I was shocked I didn't crash on Sunday night. On Tuesday I got up 4 AM which ironically was one hour before the time I went to bed in Vegas. I had to catch the plane to Oregon for a three day meeting for work. Normally we have our meetings at the work site but this time we stayed in Cannon Beach, OR. I am covering for my boss while he is off for 8 weeks and this was a big staff meeting. There are about 10 guys on the staff and one woman. So I am the second woman on staff for the next 8 weeks. I rode from the airport to the beach with the other woman, Julie. We also shared a suite because it was more cost effective. The meeting was pretty boring I must say. Very administrative which is a necessary evil for staffs. After several hours of this, we all went to dinner together and it was OK. I spent time in my room after that preparing for a big presentation to a VP that I had to give over the phone the next morning. That presentation went fine and then the rest of the staff meeting was again, really boring. In a way, I think I still had a Vegas hangover, meaning I went from all that excitement to something very boring. It picked up a little when we all went to this place on the beach and did a little hiking. It was really cold and invigorating. After this little excursion, Julie and I went to a nice restaurant and split appetizers and had wine. The wine got us very relaxed and we joked about meeting up with the guys saying "The Boobies are here!"

Julie did get a call from some of the other guys and they were at a brew pub so we joined them. We got a little silly and said a bunch of things you don't typically say to your co-workers but we were laughing so hard... we decided that we needed to build a bonfire on the beach so three of us went to the liquor store to get a few bottles of wine. We got back to the hotel, rounded up the other people and spent a while on the beach drinking, laughing and being stupid. This may not sound like a big deal but this group had seemed like the biggest group of stuffy nerds ever and our work environment is so politically correct that everyone acts so bland and boring. It was great to see everyone cutting loose and having a great time. The next day at the end of the meeting, one of the guys says "This was the best meeting ever! (referring to getting crazy the night before) and also says, "We DO need more diversity on this staff."

I got back Thursday night and got ready to fly to Florida very early Saturday morning with Jack. Brian and I decided that for trips to visit our respective families, it might be easier for one of us to travel with one of the kids versus all four of us traveling. So this was an experiment for us. This trip was to Port St. Lucie, Florida to visit my 87 year old grandmother. I brought my laptop with extended battery for Jack to watch DVD's. I didn't bring a whole lot else in our carry-ons because that is really all he cares about when we travel. We had a connecting flight in Atlanta and just as we were about to touch the ground in Atlanta, Jack said he had to go potty. Well, everyone knows you cannot get up when the plane is landing so I gave him a bunch of gummy bears to hopefully distract him. It worked for about 2 minutes and then he said he REALLY had to go. By then he had pretty much peed a gallon all over himself and the seat. Since he is potty trained, I hadn't brought any extra clothes for him. I was completely stressed out because I didn't know what he was going to wear and we had a layover and another hour and a half to fly. The flight attendant gave drink tickets to a couple who had a kid in exchange for a diaper. Then she managed to find a men's Hanes white T-shirt. So that is what Jack wore around the airport like a dress. He really didn't seem to care, even though everyone was looking at us very strangely. He even managed to flirt with some 20-something girls in the waiting area by the gate. So on the flight from Atlanta to Port St. Lucie, Jack said he had to go to the bathroom. This time we could get up but he went poop and I didn't realize that the man sized T-shirt was hanging down the back and that got covered in poop. Now I was panicked again because I still had nothing for Jack to wear and he couldn't wear a poop covered shirt. So I ended up putting my zippered hoodie on him. My parents had driven down from South Carolina the week before and took a cruise and picked us up at the airport. We had a 45 minute drive to my grandmother's. On the way down, Jack said he felt sick. Dad didn't pull over in time and Jack puked all over himself and the car seat. I couldn't believe it. At this point, we just took all his clothes off and he rode the rest of the way naked. The air conditioner had gone out in the car so he was warm enough. The moral of the story is to always pack extra clothes for kids, no matter what their age.

We were only at my grandmother's from Saturday afternoon until Tuesday around noon. My grandmother loved seeing Jack and she introduced him to chocolate milk. Jack thought that was pretty cool. We went to the beach one day when it was just gorgeous weather and blue water. But we didn't bring our swimsuits because usually it's cloudy and brown, rough and windy. So we went back the next day with our suits and sure enough, it was cloudy, brown, rough and windy. Oh, well. I did find out that my grandmother, who is very healthy and very slim, lives on Krispy Kreme doughnuts, pie and cookies. I'm contemplating this diet for myself.

We weren't there for long but it was the right amount of time because although Jack was in a pretty mood the whole time, he was a little clingy. I mean, he only saw my grandmother one time when he was 6 months old and then he only sees my parents a couple times a year... I guess it was like being in a house full of strangers to some extent. He didn't like for me to be out of his sight.

I packed just about all his clothes in a carry on for the trip back but of course nothing happened. It was good to get home. Brian is going to attempt a similar trip to Portland with Ty to see his mother. I think a man traveling with a 23 month old by himself will get a lot of positive attention. OK, this gets me to the first of May. More to come.