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Guess what I did this morning?

Give up?

I’d been telling myself for the last two weeks that if our car was parked around the block the night before, and I saw a nice spot in front of our house, I would MOVE THE CAR TO THE SPOT.
Of course, each morning, I’d say, Oh, that’s not enough space, or Oh, I’m running late, and I wouldn’t do it.
Well, today, I decided to go for it.
I pulled out my “Learn to Drive a Stick Shift” instructions that I’ve had in the car for more than 3.5 years, and glanced at them real quick. I didn’t want to get too technical, or I’d stop myself from trying, but I did want to remind myself how to start the car, especially since there was a car parked directly in front of me.
I started the car in neutral and tried to move the car to reverse… Not sure I really found reverse… I did move back but then I stalled. I decided to just let the car roll back a bit, since I was on a hill. Then I started him up (his name is Susie II, Boy Named Sue), and lurched into first– I was on a hill, so it was tough. [I felt the little bagel kick at this point-- "hey, mom's driving!"]
At the stop sign, I saw a car approaching in the rear view mirror. Rather than panic and not make the turn the right way, I waved them around, and I waved another car around. I made the left turn, not as lurch-y as I started the car, and drove down Queen Lane. I contemplated getting away with just staying in 1st, but the block is long, and I did need to shift, so I went all the way to 2nd, whoo hoo. I stopped nicely at the stop sign… well, I thought it was nice, but I guess I did sort of just shift into neutral and coast there. I let a car blow through the stop sign the other way and when the coast was clear I made my left turn onto Conrad. Immediately, I shifted up to 2nd and turned left onto my street and found the large space in front of our house. I think I stalled into the space, but I was exactly where I wanted to be, so that was fine with me.

So, that was at 9:30 in a sleepy neighborhood. How am I going to get the nerve to do this in traffic?

I had my e-ticket for the 5 PM Chinatown bus from Philly to DC. The lucky thing in Philly is that our bus station IS in Chinatown, so the Chinatown bus leaves from right next to the Greyhound station. In DC, they claim that the Greyhound station is 5 blocks away, but it’s more like 10… they have some big blocks in DC.

I got on the bus at 4:30… the estimated trip time was 2.5 hours, which would mean 3 hours on a bus. I decided not to drink any beverages so I could avoid the restroom as long as possible.

The bus was packed. Many people were turned away, including a group of deaf people– maybe they were on the wrong bus in the first place since they were seated. I had a hard time getting comfortable. I don’t like to sit for more than 30 minutes at a time usually… that’s why I see so few movies in the theater. So, being trapped on a bus is no fun for me.

We got on the road at about 5 exactly, and of course, it was slow-going due to rush-hour traffic. The stop-and-go traffic made it impossible for me to read because I was feeling nauseous (not a common feeling for me), so I just stared out the window. In Delaware, we hit bad bad traffic, and then pulled off at a rest stop. Turns out the tank was low, so we had to get gas.

20 minutes and $200 later, we were back on the road.

The bus also pulled off at a Travel Center in Baltimore to drop off some folks. That was pretty odd– there were people with luggage standing on a corner, waiting for something, but apparently they weren’t waiting for us.
Then, the bus rolled on to DC. Somehow we did not go through the Ft. McHenry tunnel… not sure how they avoided that… and we ended up in stop and go traffic in DC. My left kidney was killing me, so I decided to risk the bathroom. Stop and Go Traffic is not the best time to try such a maneuver, but I successfully relieved myself enough to stop the pain. Luckily I had tissues in my pocket, because the Chinatown bus does not provide luxuries like toilet paper.

Finally, at almost 9 PM, we made it to Chinatown, and after retrieving my luggage from the very back of the luggage area (yes, 23 week pregnant me had to scurry on the floor of the luggage area to retrieve my overstuffed suitcase), my sister picked me up and we escaped DC for the suburbs, where we had a snack of Mushroom burger, fries and a Milkshake.

I think I will be taking the NOON bus tomorrow instead of the 8 PM… I hear the painting situation at home is going well, and maybe I’ll make it in time to see the Eagles game.

On Saturday, H grabbed the wheel of my automobile, and swung us down to Ideal… no, she drove us down to Ocean City, New Jersey so we could greet our “boys” at the end of the finish line of the first leg of the MS 150 City to Shore bike ride.

I was actually not looking forward to the trip– I don’t travel well. I like to have my stuff near me. All my stuff. I need to pack a lot even for little trips– like I need to bring my soap, because I’m allergic to any other soaps. I like to stay with my cats. And, there’s the Mr. Pinky Problem. We usually board him, but for a small trip like this, it costs too much, and we can’t get him back till Monday, even when we are home on Sunday… So this time, I arranged for a cat sitter, and everything went surprisingly well (I say surprisingly because I’m a worrywart). I also figured the guys would be exhausted after the ride, and wouldn’t have the energy to hang out with us. And, I was worried about spending money I don’t have (still waiting for my full-time hours to kick in).

So, it is my pleasure to say that I had an awesome time. The ride down was quick– Ms. Squirrel treated me to Chocolate Milk (see, my lactose intolerance is counteracted by iron supplements!), and we checked in to our very expensive motel. It was so expensive because it was right next to the boardwalk, but it was not a spectacular room. We walked the Boardwalk till we found the finish line, all the while I was drooling over the signs that said Fudge and Boardwalk Fries, and even Taylor Pork Roll (I don’t even think I’ve ever had Taylor Pork Roll, but man, I was hungry). We waited and waited and finally, Joe and M arrived! Joe was so excited to have us there at the finish line. He was also pretty excited that there was no hurricane this year (he rode in the remnants (?) of Ivan last year). The “men” cleaned up and went to the dinner they earned, and Squirrel and I headed to a Greek Restaurant, where I had Avgolemono. Good, but not as good as mine or as good as South St. Souvlaki. We met up with the “guys” and explored the boardwalk– I scored 310 at Skeeball. I went on two rides that were not advisable for Pregnant women– a ferris wheel, and a merry-go-round. I figured there could be no harm on those. We satisfied our French Fry craving, and I bought a pound of the best fudge ever.

Sunday, I felt like I had been riding my bike for 150 miles. So exhausted. We said goodbye to Joe and Mike and then we had a nice OC breakfast. We headed home early-ish, and I watched, alternately, the Phillies and the Eagles win.

Joe came home and I convinced him that what he needed was a pizza and wings. I found a new favorite Wing place– Yay!

Well, we are heading downtown to attend a lecture about babies. Whoo hoo!

*
Yesterday, Joe and I went to the Pennsylvania German Festival in Kutztown. The only other time we’ve been to the Festival was in 1995, shortly after our first smooch, so this was a sort of 10 year anniversary trip. Almost as soon as we arrived, Joe says, hey that’s Nancy! Nancy is my mom’s cousin, and one of my closest relatives– she still lives on the street I grew up on. I did a sneak attack and just ran up and hugged her. We chatted a bit, and then Joe and I went off to get a snack of Chicken Pot Pie (this is said “chicken Pot pie” not “chicken pot PIE” because it is NOT A PIE, in case you didn’t know) and String Beans and Ham. The pot pie was good, but the string beans were eh. We saw a giant Pennsylvania Dutch Groundhog … I didn’t talk to him because he only spoke Pennsylvania Dutch. We wandered down to a glass-blowing demonstration, which was super cool (and hot, of course, I think it’s over 2000 degrees in that oven).

We watched an ENTIRE OX BEING ROASTED ON A SPIT but we did not partake in any.
We stopped by a small stage and saw the Sauerkraut Brass Brand perform this Elvis song that I couldn’t get out of my head for the rest of the day (still in my head after watching that video again).
We et Soft Pretzels and lemon drinka, and moseyed down to the Main stage and watched a full-out Hootenanny.

We moved over from the left side of the hall to the right side, and within a few minutes, a couple entered our row and was about to sit next to us. I take a peek at them, and HOLY CRAP, Look who it was, in MATCHING SHIRTS:

LOU AND JOAN– My DAD and his wife! (and me with a RIDICULOUS SMILE) We stayed and watched the rest of the hootenanny, and wandered around a bit, but by this time, the day was almost over, and Joe wanted to check out the Stone Masonry Restoration demonstration.

On our way to the Lime Kiln/Masonry, we ran into a man with a BOOMBA STICK!! AND HE RECRUITED ME TO PLAY IT!

We then ran into a man who wanted to teach us how to play spoons! We made a quick detour to the Lime Kiln demonstration, and came back for Spoon Playing Lessons! I liked playing wooden spoons the best.

We headed out of the festival and back to the car, and made our way back to the Deitsch Eck, and this time I had fried chicken… Well, they call it Honey Dipped Chicken, but it’s certainly fried.

I was dead tired by the end of the day, and today I’ve been recuperating from the long long day.

*Is this the guy from Dempsey’s??

When we reached Michigan last night around Midnight, we hit snow. The drive wasn’t so bad, except for the mis-communication that Joe expects me to come to Michigan again for Christmas. (uh… remember I just used ALL of my vacation?)
His parents’s house gets more and more complete each time we come here. There are beautiful bookcases made by his brother in the living room– the room that when I first came to Michigan in 1995 only consisted of a wood foundation. There is a deck in the back now, but it’s hard to see with the snow.

I am super-full from the Thanksgiving feast. I ate so much, my back hurts!
Joe’s 5 year old neice Lizzie just whooped his behind in chess. We finally met Stephanie, who’s about to turn 7 months old, and likes to giggle when things ring or beep. Lizzie ran around the dinner table making sure everyone was a Democrat. When she found out that Joe’s brother’s guest (the only non-family member there) was possibly more Republican than Democrat, she ran around screaming in despair.

About 77 miles into the 600 mile trip, I realized I forgot all my allergy medication. Luckily, Michigan is the home of Meijer, a 24 hour EVERYTHING store. And when I say EVERYTHING, I mean EVERYTHING. Liquor, Wine, Beer, Produce, Groceries, Shoes, Clothes, Garden supplies, Tools EVERYTHING. Wal mart has NOTHING on this place (at least not the Wal Marts in Penna.). So, we stopped there, and I bought some Claritin at 1 AM. It doesn’t work as well as my Zyrtec Singulair Nasonex combination, but I think I will survive till Sunday.