The Longest Blog Entry Ever

I have been away for so long I just don't even know where to start!  My vacation was excellent, but all of the driving was exhausting.  I ended up driving over 2000 miles!  I am going to have to get another oil change before the month is up.

Day One: The Big Drive

The drive up to Delaware with my Mom and Gidge went very well.  Except for the incident around the halfway point of the trip.  I had been driving for a couple of hours through the great state of North Carolina.  We left around 4 AM, so at this point, the sun was barely up, and I was starting to get sleepy and spacey.

We stopped for gas, a restroom break and a short walk for Gidgey at a Pilot station, which I generally love because their bathrooms are cleaner than the rest areas.  My Mom began pumping gas and I went in to the rest room.  I must have pulled up to the slowest pump on earth, because when I got back, she was only up to like $3.50.  So I watched the pump and she went in to the bathroom.  Then she came back and, since the gas was still not done, I took Gidgey for her walk.

While I was gone, one of the workers came up and knocked on Mom's window (she had moved into the warm car because it was sooooo cold outside) to tell her that the pump was over-flowing.  Gas was flowing over the top.  It just hadn't stopped when it got full.  So, Mom stopped the pump and was planning to go in to pay, but she needed to lock up the car since Gidgey and I had not yet returned from her walk. 

But she couldn't find the keys.  And the pump worker was getting antsy.  He had to mke sure we didn't try to start the car with all that gas underneath it; we would have to push the car out of the way.  When Gidgey and I returned, she asked me for the keys and I had this foggy memory of handing her the keys before I went to the restroom.  But she didn't have them. 

I checked my purse, my jean pockets, my coat pockets, my luggage, under the seat...everywhere...."Oh, I am so sorry."

I went back to the bathroom.  I went to the cashier's counter to ask.  No keys.  I was nearly in tears by this point.  I had lost our only set of keys and we were still hours away from my grandmother's.  Oh, and it's like 6 in the morning.

We continued to search the car.  Still, there is a pump worker wandering around, spreading sand on the gas and generally wishing he didn't have to stand there with us.  Finally, Mom shifts in some way that makes her aware of something in her pocket. 

Could it be?  Yes, she had the key the entire time.  Phew.  So, eventually, we made it to Delaware.

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Day 2: Christmas

Christmas was pretty relaxing.  I think everyone really liked the gifts that I got them.  And they were all masterfully wrapped as well, if I must say so myself.  I am always thrilled with what I get, but really concerned about whether or not they like what I got them.  This was a great year because I'd spent so much time with my Mom that I felt like I really knew what to get.   And she got me a bunch of stuff to go in my apartment that just matched perfectly: a luxurious red blanket for my bed, an urn with elephants on it that will be a masterful addition to the growing elephant collection in the den, and a set of linens for my dining room.  My grandmother got me an art set with paints, pastels and pencils in it.  I cannot wait to try that out.  I really got neat stuff this year.

I was supposed to make lasagna for our Christmas dinner (my Mom is a vegetarian, so turkey or ham is out) but we ate too much candy and opted to try out my grandmother's grilled cheese maker instead.  I became completely addicted to grilled cheese sandwiches from that point on.

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Day 3: The After Christmas Sales

My grandmother gave me $100 to spend at the after Christmas sales in Dover.  I had big intentions of going to the big department stores and getting some new makeup to replenish my supply and give me some neat stuff to review for DeLush.  But no such luck.  The department stores there really didn't have the endless fields of makeup counters that our department stores do. 

However, I did find some use for that money, of course.  I found the most awesome boots at Strawbridge's, but when I took them to the salesperson, she said that the lowest size in stock was on display.  It was a 9 1/2.  I wear an 8.  So, I moped about and tried to find something worthy of my money.  As my mom was looking for a cashier to purchase a jean jacket, I spotted some boots on a mannequin that looked remarkably like the ones I wanted.  But there were people everywhere, and getting them off the mannequin so that I could see what size they were was going to be tricky.  I was trying to discreetly balance her tipped over a bit, when my grandmother came around and helped me completely turn her over so i could see the size.  There was so much after Christmas madness, no one even took notice.  And they were size 8's!!!  I took them back to the shoe department to purchase them, and was scolded a bit for stealing them off the mannequin. But who cares?  I got them in my size and they were only 23 bucks!  Aren't they awesome?

That was all I found that day, but I still went home happy!

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Day 4: After-Christmas Shopping Part II

On the second day of shopping, we went to Rehoboth Beach for some outlet shopping and yummy Grotto's pizza.  Mmm Mmm good.  I managed to spend the rest of my money on some clothes in between running from store to store to keep warm.  It was about 22 degrees and the wind was howling.  Brrrrrrr.

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Day 5: The Family Reunion

I was hoping for a Christmas miracle.  Perhaps if I had sent out my Christmas cards on time, it would have actually happened as I envisioned it.  Some of the members of my family have been on the outs for several years and it really bothers me and I don't even live up there.  It bothers some of my close family even more, so I wrote a very short blurb in my Christmas cards about family and forgiveness, hoping that I could give everyone the necessary nudge to get back together.  I have no idea what happened to cause the great divide.  Everytime anyone starts talking about it, I just stop listening and go into my own little world.  I just want everyone to get over it and start talking again.  So I mailed the cards on Tuesday I think, but I guess with all the winter storms, they didn't get delivered until the Monday after Christmas.  Tuesday we got a call, and for dinner that night the entire family went out to dinner for the first time in maybe seven years.  I don't pretend to think that everything is back to normal, but it gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling that everyone is ready to make an effort.  Yay!

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Day Six:  The Big Drive Back and More Shopping

The drive back went much more smoothly, and we were back in Florence by a little after lunch.  I had not slept much the night before, but I was magically filled with energy and drove the majority of the trip.  I don't know what happened to me.  (Perhaps the excitement of knowing I was leaving to go on my ski trip the next day.)

When we got back, I was starved, but I really wanted a grilled cheese sandwich like the ones we made at my grandmother's house.  Mom and I decided to go to Target to see if we could find a dandwich maker like the one we got her, but we were crushed to find that NO ONE carried it anymore.  We ended up buying a ton of sale candy (Toblerone and Lindsor Truffles) and eating that as we rode around town looking for the sandwich maker.  We finally found one at Lowe's of all places.  The good news is that now I can make them whenever I want!

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Day Seven: The Party Begins

On Thursday, I woke up early and drove to my friend B's house in Raleigh where we would depart for Boone, NC.  It is awesome to see someone for the first time in ages and to just be able to be yourself and talk to each other as if no time had passed at all.  We had a great lunch whre she told me that the party had expanded a bit, from one house to two, and from 8 people to around 16 or 17.  (It actually turned out to by 19 by Saturday.)   After lunch we went to the grocery and then headed out for the mountains.  The trip seemed to fly by to me because I had already been on so many long trips.

We weren't the last to arrive, but the party was definitely on when we got there.  I am not really supposed to drink because of some medication that I am on, but I was pounding the red bulls and adding a little splash of this and that so that I felt like I was my old self.

Before dinner, B and I decided to drop off one of our cars at our house down the street so that we would only have one car to drive back in the dark on the windy roads.  I was the designated driver for the drive home, but she drove back to the party house since we took her car and as she was backing out the driveway, we realized that without any street lights, it was very difficult to figure out if we were on the driveway or not.  And it was very steep.

I looked out my window and it looked very black, but it felt solid, so I was really hoping that we were going to make it by the skin of our teeth.  Turns out we very nearly went into the ditch.  Before we realized it, she had gone off the driveway on the right about a foot, and now the front wheel was no longer on the ground.  And it is a front wheel drive car.  THANK GOD someone saw us and pulled us out as I sat in the passenger seat looking at the ditch and praying that we stayed upright.  Ugh.  Glad we didn't try any of this drunk.

B has the most awesome friends, and I felt like I bonded with all of the girls immediately.  It's been a long time since I've been in a group of girls and it felt great to interact with smart, funny girls my age.

So of course, I stayed up way too late talking to everyone.

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Day Eight:  New Year's Eve

Most of our house started with Bloody Marys before noon.  I decided that I was going to drink that night no matter what, but I thought it would be best not to overdo it, and so I stayed sober and hung out on the sofa all day, eating all the delicious food everyone was making and watching movies.  After noon, we decided to go to the lodge and watch people try to ski and snowboard in the slush.  It was almost 50 degrees, so there was no way I was going to attempt to snowboard. 

The party started that night around 5.  Everyone had brought their favorite wines and champagne, and I started tasting stuff probably too soon in the evening since we didn't eat until around 8.

After dinner I started on the bottle of Moet & Chandon White Star that I brought because I loooove it and by midnight was definitely tipsy.  But so was everyone else. 

I told the girls about DeLush and they were super excited, which always makes me excited again. 

I was bubbly and hyper for most of the evening, but it's been ages since I had that much alcohol and by 2 AM, I was done for the night.  I went back to the mellow house and watched Garden State. (Ahh)

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Day Eight: The Party Never Ends

I didn't leave my room on Saturday until mid-afternoon.  That night was the final party night, and it was supposed to be at our house, so I actually did take a shower and try to look presentable.  I would have thought everyone was hung over, but the party that night was just as wild as the nights before.  Simultaneously, there was a poker game going with some loud tunes playing, a spirited game of caps, and a showing of the worst movie ever made - Troll 2.  I participated in the movie watching since it required the least amount of effort.  I felt like a slug, but I was so out of practice for a 3 day party.

I passed out around midnight, before the festivities really got cranked up apparently.  When I asked B about it the next day, she was like "Did you take a sleeping pill or what?"

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Day 9: The Long Haul Back

Even though I had nothing to drink on Saturday and went to bed relatively early, I was exhausted for the drive back, and nothing makes you feel peppier than an 8 hour drive back when you know you have to go to work the next day. 

I got lost, there were a ton of accidents...it was bad.  The drive was gorgeous, don't get me wrong.  Just long.

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So that's it.  You're all caught up.