Book III : Holiday Road

.... sorry it's taken so long, but for those of you anxiously awaiting the rest of the story, here we go .....



We traveled through West Virginia with NO PROBLEMS! Of course I think we were only in West Virginia for about 10 minutes, and even the Cerami Family can usually muddle through 10 minutes without too much drama.



So as we are headed into Virginia on route 81, we notice traffic slowing down, slowing down, and stopping. Yup, stopping right on the highway. Stopping like people were out of their vehicles walking around.



The first half hour was funny, we thought that there was no way that this was actually happening, and thank goodness we had made good time earlier on in the day, you know we still wanted to arrrive in Pinehurst while it was light.



It wasn't until sometime in the next hour that you could feel the tension rising in the van.



We were crawling along the highway at this point. The kind of crawling that is stay in park until the person in front of you moves 2 feet, then just put it in drive & roll forward a bit. It was at this point that Sam's back was hurting. Did I mention that he drove the whole way? If I didn't I don't know how I could have forgotten, he sure didn't let me forget... even though I offered, a lot. (and of course prayed he would say no, but he doesn't know that). But his back hurt, and he had driven the whole way. Oh and his back hurt & he had driven the whole way, but you know I felt bad for him because his back hurt and he had driven the whole way.



About 10 minutes into the next hour, everyone but me had to pee. I spoke with my dad who suggested they use an empty pop bottle, he must of forgotten that I have GIRLS, and when I suggested it to Sam, he was just insulted !



I will leave out the parts where Sammy would ask if he should try to switch lanes & if he did and someone from our old lane passed us, he would grumble & swear under his breathe. Seems he memorized every car in a mile long line around us, and could remember exactly where we "could have been" or "should have been" had he not listened to me.

ANyway, 2 1/2 hours and about a mile stretch of highway & we were finally moving :) We exicted at the next exit, ate, used the bathrooms, and as we were about to get back on rt. 81 we noticed that it was again at a stand still. Thank goodness I had the AAA map ! (stupid route Sammy had to take) so I found a way of getting to where we had to go & it was only about 1/2 inch on the map. Less than that, a 1/4 inch. I showed Sam & he agreed . Let me say that again..... HA AGREED. So off we go.

You know maps are a funny thing....

TO BE CONTINUED

Holiday Road, part B

Okay......... so we planned on leaving the house at 5:00 a.m. My Mom was gracious enough to come over that day too (she already had Mon & Tues duty) to put all the daycare kids on the bus for me, so that we could get an early start & not finish our drive when it was dark out.

.... seeing of course that we wouldn't be familiar with the territory because we had not gone that way before.... You know, the one we didn't have a trip-tick for......

So we loaded up, and off we went..... pretty uneventful until we hit Williamsport, PA. Samantha started to feel naseous, and dizzy, and had a headache, and was tired, and was hot, no cold, no hot..........
So being the attentive, doting parents we are we tried telling her she was fine. That it's just in her head, that she's just hungry.....WRONG! Apparently she gets car sick :(

We were lucky enough that she waited until we could get the door open for her to lean out it. So as we are guiltily (is that a word?) hovering around her, as the tears stream down her face & she has that "i told you so" look in her eyes, Libby starts to tell us that she is car sick too. And we.......... tell her to be quiet. And she is complaining......... and we tell her to be quiet...... so in frusteration I tell Sam, "just go see what she need". And guess what she needed?

Yup, to begin throwing up. I think Sam & I should get some kind of award don't you?

So I go to the back of the van to get something from the trunk & I open it, and the cooler FLIES out at me, lands on my foot, opens & spits all our soda's, capri sun's & ice all across the parking lot. I tell you it's a good thing I had Sam there to yell at me about how wrong I was for opening the trunk, or I would have never learned that your supposed to get at the stuff in the trunk by what? drilling a while in the roof & leaning in ??????. No fear though, a perfect stranger came over & helped me pick everything up, while Sam continued to b*t%h.

Anyway, potty break & breakfast, I re-pack the front seat & we are off again ! And I'm so so s o glad that I had thought to keep plastic bags in the front seat because sure enough, anout 45 minutes later, my poor Samantha was hurling again.

So we hit Maryland, and we can see a Wal-Mart. Just off the highway...... so we figured two birds, one stone.... we'll get gas and dramamine for our puking children. Gas first..... unfortunately in planning the layout of the state, the founders of Maryland decided that they would conspire, and hide all the gas stations from Sammy. Seriously, I think that that is what he was thinking happened. He complained so much that when we got to Wal-Mart, (still without gas) Samantha asked me "geez what did Maryland ever do to daddy?". So we get some snackies, dramamine, and use the potty.... and head out to find a gas station. Which (thank goodness) we do. Even though the (and I quote) "stupidist, stupidist thing I have ever seen, why even have signs for gas when they are this far off the highway, this is the dumbest thing i have ever seen" We fill up & off we go again!

more to come .............................

pics from North Carolina

Samantha & Fyfe .... Uncle Justin & Kelli's dog.

Libby was mad that her sister was in the first picture with her, she wanted one alone so .....

Samantha, Uncle Justin & Libby after his "make-over"

Uncle Justin getting a make-over by Libby !

Again, Libby is super happy to share the picture with her sister..... here they are on the 18th hole of Pinehurst #2, at the country club.

Holiday Road................ (part I )

Have you ever noticed that sometimes the funniest stories are ones that at one time where either a very frustrating moment, or a very embarrassing moment? Look in any woman's magazine & there is always a section every month where people write in about their embarrassing moments..... Over time the mortification fades, or the frustration & anger fades..... and it becomes funny.

Well we drove to North Carolina. And the trip down isn't funny.... yet. One day I'll genuinely laugh about it.... instead of pretending that it was comical.

The issues with the drive started about 3 weeks before we actually left. Weird huh? Sammy thought we needed to get AAA. I thought we paid every month for "roadside assistance" on our insurance so why bother...... Apparently if you have road side assistance and you break down in the middle of nowhere, they will pick you up, but will more than likely drop you off at a closed, unreputable garage that is closed, and there will be nothing around for miles & miles & miles. We would have to sleep in the cold van without food or bathroom until the convict mechanic decided to open. Little did I know.... but then again in my world people are all trustworthy, and innately good. Not in Sammy's. Or my Dad's. Or my brother's. Three to one, I was outvoted, so we now have AAA. And we were safe & able to be towed to an open, trustworthy place with lots of facilities. Luckily this never happened.....

Now my dad had gotten us a trip-tick. (a map showing us exactly what route to take). It however, took us way west before heading south, and it didn't make sense to Sammy. So I went and asked for one going through D.C. because I remember taking that route when we drove down 11 years ago....

( i know this because I decided to go take a spin down Pennsylvania Avenue while Sammy was sleeping on the way down last time..... unfortunatley the white house wasn't right off the exit, and we ended up in the slums of what I learned is apparently not the safest city in the U.S., so I had to wake Sammy up & let him know what I did & I am still, STILL, hearing about it. So much so that he didn't let me drive at all this time.)

Anyway back to the trip-tick. So here we have mapped out, minute by minute (literally) directions. They are a straight line from Rochester to Pinehurst. There was even an alternate route to cut out D.C. if we wanted too. Not only that but we personally had driven that way before....... Sammy however wants to take his Dad's directions. I will concede that his Dad & Diane have driven here & back a gazillon times, and I have no doubt that WHEN FOLLOWED their route is the best. (in case you are wondering there is a bit of foreshadowing in that last sentence). We followed Sammy's dad's directions ............... more on that to come......

I'll post a couple pics, so you know that we did end up there .... and fill you in more tomorrow!

Locks of Love

I am a super proud mom ! My girls patiently grew their hair until they had at least 10 inches to cut off, and donated it to locks of love :) Sam's hair grows back in quickly, and Libby had been growing it for all of her 6 years !

When I was putting Libby's hair in french braids yesterday morning, I was a bit welled up thinking that it may be a long time before I could do her hair again........

We were talking about it, and saying how even though it may take awhile to grow back in, at least she could grow it in, and that some children didn't have that option. That's when she asked if she would look funny without any hair. I didn't catch her meaning at first, and then realized that she thought she had to get it all taken off...... And she was willing to do it to help out another child.

Then I cried ......

Cake

Last Thursday I had cake for breakfast. There is a multitude of reasons why I shouldn't have cake for breakfast, or at anytime for that matter, and it got me thinking.....


Remember when you were little & everything seemed so tough? Of course now we know it wasn't. Being a grown-up is tough. I mean adolescence wasn't a walk in the park, but I'm talking about responsibilities.

There are so many responsibilities that come along with age. And if you are a parent, triple those responsibilites.

I have to take care of two (I would say three, but I fear Sammy might read this) little human beings. Granted they are both more self-sufficient than when they first arrived, but I am responsible.

For clean clothes, .. for even having clothes, for their meals, and lunch money, and homework done, and getting to dance class or soccer, or any school function on time. Does Samantha have her flute? Did Libby wear purple like she was supposed too? Did they brush their teeth, wash behind their ears? Change their underwear ? (okay that last one Sammy does on his own.... tee hee hee) Take a vitamin? Wearing a helmet? Wearing her deodorant ? Are they getting bullied? Are they bullying? Did they read all their minutes this week? Should they have more responsibilities at this age? or less?

Did I pay RG&E ? Did I budget for the nine million birthday parties we have this month? Should we get AAA before we go to NC ? Are the dishes in the machine clean or dirty? Is the litter box clean? Are we out of Parmesan cheese? Does anyone need a doctor's appointment? Is the van due for an oil change? Did I send out that birthday card, or that thank you card? Did I remember to get eggs?

See what I mean? I could go on & on & on & on, but I won't.

Being a grown-up is hard.

But I can have cake for breakfast.

11 & 5/8

One of my guilty pleasures is watching "American Dad" on Fox. It's a cartoon, and it's for adults, and its brash, and often times outright rude. But it's funny. The season premiere started with the teenage boy announcing that he had hit puberty. This immediately caused flashbacks for his parents of when their daughter had gone through puberty. They then packed their bags & planned on running away until it was over. They were scared.

I can relate.

I know what it is. The problem with puberty. It's the crying.

Not the silent tears running down her cheeks, and a slight sniffle. Not the crocodile tears like when she couldn't get what she wanted. Not the scared cry, not the hurt cry.

It's a cry that I am pretty sure comes from her toes.

It's a cry that sounds like she has just lost her best friend, and cat, all at once.

In fact if you heard it, it would break your heart. It's quite pitiful. Because it's not mean spirited. It's not a temper tantrum. She is sad.

Today she cried for about 10 minutes. Inconsolably (not that I was trying to console her, I wasn't). But before you judge her, let me tell you, the cause was very serious in nature. You see, she wanted rigatoni for lunch. She got PBJ.

I know, it's tragic beyond words, and I fully understand why this act in & of itself truly made her believe that I do not love her. That although there are children starving, the fact that she had PBJ instead of rigatoni was the biggest betrayal that I could have ever inflicted on her.

The thing is, is that she used to be reasonable. She's a good girl, don't get me wrong. But at some point in September all sense of logic & reason went out the window.

Sometimes it's going to dance class, sometimes it's not being able to go on the computer, sometimes it's rigatoni. And her world shatters.

Now bear in mind, I'm not completely ignorant, our family had a very rough summer, a lot of very serious health situations with our loved ones. I know that took a toll. But she soildered through. She went to sleep away camp for the first time for a week. Loved it wants to go for two weeks next year. Middle school started. Lots of responsibility, and independence.

I get it.

And I have expected terrible outbursts, and tantrums, and rebellion.

I got crying. And despair.

But then it's over. Forgotten. But not regretted. She feels justified in being that sad.

It's rigatoni.

What does it symbolize to her I wonder?