Help Us! It's Vacation Time!

I know I posted something like this last year but it’s time to do it again. Dani, Barbara and I haven’t been on a vacation together for a long while and we plan on going somewhere this summer. My thoughts are that we’ll stay in the states; Disneyworld & DisneyLand are out because they’ve been to theme recently. I asked the girls to come up with a short list of places they’d think were neat to go. They could be cities, national parks, anything.

Now it’s your turn: what suggestions do you have for a 4-6 day vacation. We could fly or drive (I think I’d rather drive if it’d be within 400 miles or so. Help me out, where would you go with a sophomore in college, a sixth grader, and an attractive, well read, man-about-town?

Happy 5oth Anniversary Mom & Dad !!!

It’s celebration time coming up for my parents. On June 7th they will be celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. They made it about 39 years longer than I did.

For their anniversary my brother, sister and I wanted to do something special for them. They usually don’t like a big fuss to be made over them but come on, man, it’s their 50th!

We decided to create a menu of gifts for them to make a selection from. On the menu was listed five different gifts and they were told to select one of them. The gifts were things like a trip to Hawaii, a party for 50 of their closest friends, a marriage ceremony to re-new their vows, a cruise, or the last item was Dealer’s Choice where they could chose a trip to anywhere they’d like to go. After a lot of prodding, (I thought they would take the party) they finally decided to take a cruise. This will be a first for them since they have never taken a cruise.

Another treat for them is that my cousin and her husband (they are close to my parents age) decided to go with them. (I thought they’d take the party) They all get along great, she is retired and he a retired Navy officer (used to fly those fighter jets) and they have been on many cruises. My folks will be in good hands.

They’ll be leaving from Tampa and going to the Cayman Islands, some island in Mexico, Belize and the Honduras (what’s wrong with a party?). I was over at their house to book the flight the other night and it was very entertaining. My folks don’t fly too often and it’s been a while since Dad has been on a plane. He wanted a window seat but he also wanted a seat in the exit row for more leg room. The window seat in the exit row looks out over the wing. He doesn’t want to look out over the wing. But he wanted the longer leg room (they should have taken the party). After a few hours of intense decision-making we bought the flights and printed the tickets.

Now we are having discussions like this: “ I saw online that there are a lot of robberies and kidnappings where we’re going”. “Mom, stay with the cruise excursions and you’ll be fine”. “I really have never liked the water, we’ll probably get seasick”. “Mom, we’ll get the wristbands and the Dramamine from your doctor before you go and you’ll be fine”. “What if they won’t let us sunbath on the deck in the nude?” “Dad, leave me alone, I must go and throw up.” (Take the damn party!)

I’m sure they’ll have a wonderful time and want to take another cruise the week after they get back. I am just delighted that they beat they odds and have spent 50 wonderful married years. My kids are lucky; chances are they won’t have to get me anything for a 50th anniversary. But if, by some strange chance I do get remarried and end up celebrating a 50th anniversary….I’ll take the party.

That's How I Roll

Well, I finally bought a new car. If you remember, my Sebring died about three weeks ago and the engine was kaput. They wanted 6 grand to fix it. I decided to head to Carmax and look at some other sedans. I liked the Chevy Impala and thought that I was going to purchase one but then Ron & Trish strongly suggested that I look into a Hyundai. I found a 2006 Santa Fe with 20,000 and really liked the look but then Dani saw a Ford Escape and we took it out. Did I tell you I hate car shopping? Within an hour I was writing a check and within two hours I was the proud owner of new vehicle. I really like the SUV and it is pretty loaded. I usually but a car with hardly and accessories but this one was hard to pass up. Wish it a long life since I drive them til they're dead!

Tears, Nats and a Dead Car

This has been a long week. I started off the weekend saying goodbye to Barbara at the airport as she flew to Orlando to finish out the school year. The good part is that she has decided that she’ll be coming back home at the end of May and will be going to school here next year. I can’t wait!

On Sunday Doug Osborn and I had tickets to the National’s season opener and the grand opening of the new stadium. We got to the park around 4:00 for an 8:05 start. The stadium looks great, plenty of good food and extras. The made a huge whoop-di-doo about the opening ceremonies with fireworks, a fighter jet fly-over and President Bush throwing out the first pitch. He’s got a pretty good arm. The game ended with Zimmerman hitting a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs for the win. What a great way to start the season ion a new stadium!

I do have a few suggestions for improvement. By game time the concession lines were extremely long and the filed out into the walkway. They need the zig-zag lines so there won’t be bottlenecks throughout the stadium. I’d also suggest that they make the menus larger and better lit. You can’t see what they’re serving at each booth until you get close the front of the line.

I worked Monday night and Tuesday night and had Wednesday evening off. Unfortunately I screwed up my back and was in a heck of a lot of pain on Wednesday night and had to see the doctor Thursday morning for medication. It’s getting better but there’s still a good bit of pain. It only hurts when I breathe.

Tonight I am seeing an old great friend of mine. David Badzik (he now goes by Van but he’s Dave to me) is back in town from Bainbridge Island, WA. He brought his two boys with him and we’re all going to meet at his sister’s place for a cookout. Good times, good times.

I have a memorial service to sing at tomorrow afternoon at my church and I think that Doug O and I will head to the Arlington Cinema Draft House tomorrow night. Good times, good times.

Oh yeah, one small thing, my car DIED! I was driving down 95 south and the engine just stopped while I was going about 70mph. I was able to get it over to the exit ramp where a man in a pick up truck pulled over and said he was a AAA driver and he’d go get his tow-truck. An hour later thee car was in the garage back in Springfield and the “good news” came. The antifreeze had leaked through the head gasket and it mixed with the oil and screwed up the pistons. To make it simple it needs an entirely new engine for the low cost of over $6,000. Congratulations Purple Heart, you just got yourself a donation! My parents have been extremely kind to let me drive one of their three cars while I shop for a new one. So when you see some hot lookin’ guy cruisin’ around in a dark green Camero, give a wave because that’s me, at least for a little while longer. Good times, good times.