The Great Daddy-Daughter Road Trip (longish, and this is the abbreivated version!)

This is why there were no posts last week:

So, since my trip to BEA didn't work out, I offered to drive my dad down to NC to see family. We're going in September for his birthday, but he's really been wanting to go sooner, so I sucked it up and made the offer. The original plan was that I'd drive him down, hand him off to my sister in Charlotte, and she'd take him to see the other relatives in NC & VA. We'd meet somewhere along the way & I'd take him back home. I was supposed to be relaxing & visiting high school/college friends while this was going on. Mom couldn't go with us as she started training for her new job with the Census Bureau.

Needless to say, this didn't quite happen. Audrey got a new job at the last minute and wasn't going to be free to travel. I wound up driving approximately 1800 miles in 5 days. We started with the drive down to Charlotte on Thursday. Got a later start than intended (I don't think I've done a trip in the last 5 years that started on time) thanks to being held over at work the night before and Nightshade once again channeling her inner escape artist as I was trying to pack up the car to go.

The drive down was fairly uneventful, until we got to Charlotte. Dad called Audrey to let her know we were in town and she said we should come to her house first & then my BIL would show us to the hotel where we'd be staying. It wasn't the one I had directions for (of course) and it took a few minutes and one wrong turn to get where we needed to be. Then we couldn't see any of the street numbers to find her house, so we had to call and have her come out on the porch to guide us in. (Charlotte apparently doesn't believe in street lights)

Friday: The hotel my BIL booked us into was a Holiday Inn, but it was lovely. I wish I could have spent the entire trip in that bed, but I had to get up and meet Audrey, Roy, and their oldest daughter, Shanta, for lunch before we headed to Wilmington...which took forever because I went the way my (otherwise perfect) BIL suggested and got stuck in horrendous traffic. I had forgotten the cd's I was going to bring (we have wildly differing tastes in music, but can usually compromise on blues & some jazz) so we had whatever was in the car or could be tuned in on the radio...which lead to this conversation:

Dad: What is this we're listening to?
Me: Barry Manilow
Dad: What else you got?
Me: Rob Zombie?
Dad: ...

Got to Wilmington, checked in at the hotel, called the next sister (Sandra) and met her for dinner at one of Dad's favorite seafood places. We chatted for a bit over dinner, wound up helping Sandra fix a flat tire, and called it a night. Considered killing Dad in the C-store where we stopped for his lottery tickets & snacks when he stood in the middle of the store yelling for me to come talk to Mom on his phone instead of just coming over to where I was.

Saturday: Stopped at a local bakery for junk, Books-A-Million for some magazines (and I bought a Doctor Who beach towel), and then lunch at J Michael's Philly-Deli. Dad worked there for over 25 years, and it's always been one of my favorite places to eat, so we HAD to go there. The staff fawned all over Dad, Sandra & I ate til we were about to burst, and then we headed over to Jacksonville to spend a few hours with Uncle John. (yes, I spent most of the trip driving and eating) Uncle J had mentioned that Aunt Myrtle wasn't feeling well, so we stopped and got flowers for her. He's recovered amazingly well from his strokes last fall, and while he's still a bit fragile, he looked & sounded wonderful. As we were leaving (heading for Virginia), he decided to go get Aunt Myrt some fried chicken, which is how we found out that the old coot is still driving. *facepalm* I said, sternly, "Are you supposed to be driving?" to which he replied, head hanging, "Well, they didn't say I couldn't..." Sigh. He'll be 86 on the 4th of July and even if they take his license, he'll keep driving. Stubborn old goat. Just like his little brother...speaking of whom...

...one of the things Dad wanted to do while we were in NC was stock up on country meats & (we thought) seafood. Every city we stopped in, I asked him if he wanted to go ahead and get his meat, and every time he'd say no, we'd get it later becasue he didn't want it to go bad before we got home. Mind you, I'd lugged along 2 coolers and every hotel room we'd booked was supposed to have a fridge, but he set his mind and that was that. And the fish he wanted wasn't in season (don't ask) so that was out too, until we go back for his birthday.

The drive up to Virginia was long & dull. I kept second guessing myself on the directions (mentally, because if I'd voiced any of it out loud, Dad would never let me hear the end of it) but we finally got there. I sent my father into hysterics when I pointed at a field we were driving past and asked brightly "Is that tobacco?" Once he stopped laughing, he told me I was too much of a city kid and had clearly been in KY for too long if I didn't know the difference between corn (which is what it was) & tobacco.

We got to VA around midnight, called the last of the sisters (Angie & Brenda), and said we'd see them on Sunday.

Sunday: I was dead tired. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & constant travel do not mix well. Since my schedule was all out of whack, my body was not happy and let me know. Everything hurt, I was totally broken out, and so exhausted that I could barely hold my head up. It was agreed that the sisters would take Dad out for the afternoon (which meant that I got out of visiting Aunt Janey Mae & Aunt Margaret- bonus!) and I would join them later for dinner. Dinner was the only meal I actually ate that day, not counting a handful of cookies from Saturday's bakery jaunt. My BIL, JR, took us to one of their favorite seafood places- Captian George's. $32 a head, but it's an enourmous seafood buffet. This is the kind of place that hates to see our extended family coming on the rare occasions we're all together because my dad & siblings can and will eat their weight in seafood. Me, they make money on because my shellfish allergy prevents me from eating most of the dishes. Luckily there were 5 fish-only dishes and something they called prime rib (more like sliced pot roast, but it wasn't bad) and an assortment of veggies for me. The looks on the face of the servers and people around us as they watched the other 4 hoovering up crab legs like there was no tomorrow was priceless. At one point, I suggested JR just pull his chair up to the steam table where the crab legs were and the poor girl clearing the empty shells from our table cracked up.

Monday: We get to make the long drive back to Louisville. The good news is that it's all I-64. The bad news is that it's all I-64. What a tedious drive! Of course, before we left VA, we had to find a grocery store for Dad to get his country meat. Did the first store have what he wanted? Hell no. I had to ask a clerk if they knew anywhere to get old fashiond country sausage and side meat. The young guy I asked looked blankly at me for a minute, said "Let me get the old guy I work with" and came back with a guy MY age in tow. (Old, my foot) Guy 2 didn't know either, but whipped out his cell phone and called HIS father, who directed us to another store about 20 minutes away. THAT store had some of what dad wanted, but not brands he knew or the variety he was looking for. I bit my lip until it bled to keep from screaming "I told you to get it in NC!" He finally picked up a couple of likely looking packages and we were on the road.

Since I didn't want to listen to the same cd's again, I plugged in my MP3 player and hit random. Dad didn't seem to mind too much at first- he was busy scratching his lottery tickets and talking to my uncle on his cell. Then I noticed the kind of sideways "what the hell?!?" look he was giving me and realized I was singing along, at the top of my lungs, to the Ramones "The KKK Took My Baby Away." Ooops. "Boy," he said wearily, "Didn't you bring ANY normal music along?"

Then we hit construction. The screaming you may have heard around 4 p.m. was probably me. 1 lane of traffic, speed limit 55, and the idiot 2 cars up is doing 40. I looked in the rearview and there was a 3 mile long line of traffic built up behind us. I suspect we were ALL screaming. This jackhole kept it up for about 30 minutes, until the road suddenly went back to 2 lanes and we all streamed past him, honking and giving the one finger salute. Dad said he appeared to be on a cell phone when we passed him.

Stopped at Tamarack near Beckley WV for dinner. It's an artisan shop with all kinds of neat handcrafted (code for expensive) items and a decent restaurant. Mom & I love to stop there. Dad does not. We stopped anyway because I was driving. Sadly we got there in just enough time to eat dinner and leave because they were closing in 15 minutes.

Into the home stretch, and we're just outside Lexington KY when my mom calls. She tells Dad that she has treats for both of us when we get home- chinese for me & KFC for him. He says he can't eat his since he has to go do fasting labs in the morning for his doctor appt Tuesday afternoon. No food after midnight and we won't get home until about 1230. Which means he needs to eat now so his sugar doesn't go wonky overnight and we have to stop at a Waffle House. *bangs head against steering wheel*

I FINALLY got home around 130 Tuesday morning. The cats were quite pleased to see me and even happier that I didn't have the energy to chase them out of my room, so they got to sleep with me. I slept 12 hours, then had to get up, wrestle the cats into their carrier (Nightshade objected most strongly and now I have an unwanted boob piercing. You're welcome for that image in your brain) and throw more clothes into the suitcase to go to Mom's. Why? Because the geniuses who were supposed to put new siding on my house after the storms LAST year finally scheduled it- for Wednesday. One night in my own bed and then 3 days at the parental abode...but that's another story...

I Can't Complain- Elinor Lipman

I like essay collections. This was my first experience with Elinor Lipman and now I'm going to try her novels. This collection contains essays on every subject from birth to death and in between.

Food Issues- or- The Picky Eater

Despite appearances, I am a somewhat picky eater and have been for my entire life. My mother was honestly was afraid that I'd grow up to be one of those people who only eats a handful of foods. She recalls, all too vividly, the first trip we took to Iowa. 3 year old me refused most of the goodies offered to me for breakfast, insisting I wanted grits (bless my little Southern soul) and forcing the family to call 20 grocery stores within a 75 mile radius until they found the *1* store that had some and necessitating a 90 minute roundtrip drive to get them.

I was the kid who wouldn't touch bologna. (still won't- UGH) Salami, I would eat until it came out of my ears, but something about bologna was/is just gross to me. I also wouldn't eat jello, drink kool-aid, or eat eggs. All those things still hold true. I also will only eat chicken drumsticks & breasts.

More oddities- I don't like yellow cheeses. I won't eat the processed cheez-fud (spelled intentionally) that passes for cheese on most fast food burgers. It has a weird mouthfeel, tastes awful, and is too salty to boot. I'll occasionally eat the ones with 'swiss' cheese, but not often.

I don't like a lot of crap on my burgers. The standard version for me is mustard, ketchup, pickle, and onion. Steak sauce (A1 or HP) is acceptable in the place of ketchup. Bacon & mushrooms are also acceptable toppings, but that's pretty much it.

Hot dogs & macaroni cheese? Yuck. We had some lean years when I was younger and ate a lot of both. Now they gag me. Reading The Jungle didn't help with the hot dog thing. Before you ask, yes, I know salami is made in a similar fashion to hot dogs, but as long as I don't look at the ingredient list or think too hard about it, I'm ok.

I like flavorful foods, but I don't like to mix flavored items. My mother can dip ranch doritos in salsa and it tastes fine to her. Yuck. Plain chips & salsa, yes! Ranch chips on their own, yum! Just don't ask me to mix them.

What are your food likes/dislikes?

The Ghost & Lady Alice- Marion Chesney

This was a fun little romp with a few screwball elements. Alice is a scullery maid on a ducal estate, mistreated, and desperately wanting a better life. She ventures upstairs one night after everyone has gone to bed and sees a portrait of her employer's ancestor- a man who was a known rake & libertine, but who treated his servants fairly and with kindness. The nearly broken Alice wishes out loud that he could come bck and take her away from her miserable existance.

Gervase, the 8th Duke, is quite startled to find himself summoned back into existance after his death nearly a century before. He is amused by the little scullery maid who has unwittingly brought him back and decides to help her. It takes a while to put his plan into motion, but he eventually spirits Alice the scullery maid away and manages to bring her into society as Alice the French Countess.

The plan is to find Alice a titled husband and give her the secure life she'd dreamed of. Of course things NEVER go according to plan...after a disastrous series of engagements, Alice and her Ghostly Duke realize they've fallen in love. Now how do they get their happily ever after?

Closet Confessions

So, I've been trying to get the clutter in the house under control again. I weeded a lot of stuff out of my wardrobe last year, but there's still way more clothing than I need scattered around my house.

Like most people, I hate doing laundry. If I manage to wash & dry a load, it rarely gets folded/hung and put away. As a result, I often find myself getting dressed in the utility room. Much to the amusement of the neighbor behind me, if I've forgotten to lower the blind out there.

It also creates a spending issue. I have more socks & underwear than anybody needs. Why? Because I get frustrated trying to root through the piles of clean laundry to find either item so I find myself buying more on a trip to Walmart. And when the hell did the price of underwear double?!? I bought some last year for $6.97. Looked at the same package over the weekend and it was $11.97. But I digress...

Now that the season seems to be trying to change, I need to sort the cold weather clothes out and store them. First I need to find them all...which means excavating Laundry Mountain. My first stab at this revealed a mound of pajama bottoms (another vice), 5000 unmatched socks, the bra I've been looking for for at least 6 weeks, most of my tie-dyed t-shirt collection, and the blanket I thought I'd given to my dad. Then I unearthed a treasure trove of underwear, the old cat bed, 2 tennis balls, and a pair of jeans I haven't worn in ages.

Sadly, all of that was just the top layer. The pile was almost as tall as me, so there's quite a way to go. I realized that it wouldn't do any good to sort it out if I didn't have anywhere to put it all, so I stopped there and went to look at my closet & dresser. Oy. I have a drawer full of paired socks. And a huge bag of socks to be mated, not counting the ones I just rediscovered. Many of them have holes- I'm tough on socks for some reason- but I hang onto them anyway. Why? Because I'm nuts. So, off to ruthlessly weed out the holey socks, and for that matter the underwear with no elastic and more holes than there should be. We won't even go into the bra drawer.

Lost interest in that project after 1 CD. (That's how I make myself get things done. I put a CD on and tell myself I have to do whatever the job is until it ends) So I started poking through the closet. Anybody want a pair of denim overalls that create a stunning camel-toe effect? How about a Duran Duran t-shirt I bought on Ebay that turned out to be a cheap rag that the seller ironed a bad transfer on so you can't tell who's who? Why do I still own 7 black lace tops? And what am I going to do with a blue satin ballgown skirt I got for $2 at Goodwill? (It does fit, though)

Will someone call the crew at Hoarders for me, please? I think I need more help...

Miranda Hart- Is It Just Me?

Miranda is a British comedy star whose work I have never seen. I need to remedy this, becasue the book was outright funny. We have several things in common- like me, she's over 6ft tall, still single after 35, and constantly feeling awkward. Unlike me, she gets paid big money to be herself. The book is a look at her views on various aspects of everyday life, complete with personal anecdotes and a running debate with her 18 year old self. Quite funny and worth reading if you can snag a copy.

Financial Disaster and the Rest of My Life

I have a love/hate relationship with money. I love having it and spending it, but I hate keeping track of what I've blown. Consequently, I have manged to send myself into overdraft not once, but twice in the last 6 weeks. The only thing worse than the overdrafts? Having to beg my parents for money to cover them. They were every nice about it, but at this point, I am old enough to know better than to go spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave.

Actually, the second overdraft wasn't entirely due to overspending. It was caused by my dyslexia- I recorded the payment for my monthly meds incorrectly (reversed a couple of digits) and therefore thought I had more money than I did. Oops.

So, as a result of my idiocy & dyslexia, my spending has been extremely curtailed. This is actually a sort of good thing- I own a ton of junk already, so don't really need more. I need to use the stuff in my freezer & pantry instead of letting it go to waste.  So I've been forcing myself to cook and/or eating sandwiches instead of grabbing fast food. At least it's helping me lose weight- down 3 lbs. this week! (I made sure I bought the cats their food & litter before I used what was left of the loan from my parents on food for me)

Why don't I cook more often? Well, part of the problem is that I still tend to cook like I'm feeding a pack of hungry wrestlers or gamers. Since it's just me these days, I get sick of eating leftovers after a day or two. And once stuff makes it into my freezer, it rarely makes it back out. Also, depending on how my back & knees are feeling, standing at the stove is iffy. Maybe I need to get a bar stool?

Anyway, I'm working on the issue. Last year I cancelled all my credit cards and am slowly paying them off. I've been trying to cut down on my utilities and auto expenses. Not much I can do about my rent unless I move in with the parents and that isn't happening. I've got to start cutting back on eating out. And I have to remind myself that I don't need to buy every book/CD/DVD/cross stitch item I want, just because I want it. Also need to start using coupons again- I stopped because I got so annoyed with Bitchzilla at Kroger acting like they were coming out of her pocket, but screw her! If they didn't want people to use them, they wouldn't distribute them.

So, there's this week's confession. Tune in next Monday for more random babble.