Vacation Daydreams

As I wait out the last few teacher-days of school (we have to work through Friday, but our last student day was Monday), I find myself daydreaming about summer vacation trips.

Next year I have a trip in July to Orlando, so maybe we visit Mickey and Harry Potter and then venture down to the Everglades and Key West? I'm also researching costs and ideas for a dream vacation touring France.

But we have a dream vacation planned for this August, already. I'm terribly excited about it while also feeling like it's this unreal, amorphous thing that's out there on the horizon, never to actually be achieved. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here you go:


That's the plan.

Three weeks of tent-camping road-trip including eight state parks and numerous National Parks and Monuments (Gateway Arch, Rocky Mountain, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Devil's Tower, Badlands, Mount Rushmore). Over 5,000 miles of driving.

I hope we get to see a grizzly bear or a mountain goat/sheep. I expect to see antelope, mule deer, prairie dogs, buffalo.

It's a trip of a lifetime, folks. Expect to be inundated with pictures, Forsquare checkins, anecdotes, Instagrams, etc.

Now to relax and enjoy the hunk of summer leading up to the trip.

Ready to Be Finished

I am so very ready for this school year to end. It's hard to concentrate on anything else. I feel as though I have been running and running since last September.

We have plans this summer that will keep us rather steadily busy ... but (by-and-large) in activities of a more relaxing and recharging nature than during the academic year.

This weekend is our performance in the local Fantasy/Ren Faire. After school lets out (the 27th is my last day), I'm traveling to Denver for a week with the NJEA. Then we host friends for several days. Then we ramp up into Spamalot. Then we travel out west for three weeks.

Then we go back to school.

*sigh*

--End--

Week in Review

So .... let's see. Busy week.

We recovered from our housewarming party and basically did no chores, laundry or home improvement projects all week. Yeah, now we really need to pick up our slack.

We hosted friends for a yummy fried dinner -- wings and doughnuts.

I spent almost every night at the theatre preparing for the Kids Club end-of-the-year "Really Big Show" on June 14, and Spamalot, which opens in July. I also met with the Play-Reading Committee for our 2015 season, and chaired the Public Relations Committee meeting.

I joined my trivia team at Applebee's for our collective ass-whoopin' (this time we got whooped, which is unusual ... way too many sports-related questions this time around).

Joe made an amazing Chicago-style deep dish pizaa and an equally impressive lasagna.

We failed to remember Emily's orthodontist appointment on Friday.

We swam in our increasingly-warm-and-lovely pool. The dog is not amused by our attempts to get her into the water.

Emily marched in a parade on the Wildwood Boardwalk, ate lunch on the beach and then rode rides until she dropped. (Her Sunday was spent vegging on the couch binge-watching ST:TNG. She also read four chapters of A Farewell to Arms.

Matthew vegged out on Saturday and on Sunday accompanied Joe and I to the NJ Ren Faire. We frolicked and garbed and ate and were entertained most pleasantly. It was a joy to hang out with friends there all weekend (Joe and I went sans-kiddos on Saturday, as well). We worked the Mystic Realms tent, but had plenty of time to gambol about, enjoying the faire.

Upcoming this week: more rehearsals, the kids' end-of-the-year piano recital, the aforementioned "Really Big Show," several more delicious dinners by Joe, hopefully some more pool time, another Play Reading Committee meeting, and at some point I have to review my script for the upcoming local Fantasy Faire. I also need to do some sewing/crafting of costumey bits prior to the Faire. We also have our first CSA pickup of the season. (Wooo!)

Warmed

We had over 60 people at our housewarming party on Saturday. The weather was glorious, the food delicious and the company delightful. Joe gave tours of the house again and again and I flitted around, refilling chips bowls and veggie trays and keeping drinks well stocked. The kids splashed around in the pool with all the other kids.

Everyone seemed to have a good time, but we look forward to a future more intimate gathering wherein we can actually sit and socialize with people a bit more.

The result of the wonderfulness and busy-ness ... no pictures at all. Ah, well, memories still count.

Looking forward to many, many more gatherings at our Alleghator Den.

Finally Some Payoff

We bought a new house about a month ago. Anyone who knows us already knows this.

In the sale of our old house and purchase of this new one, there have been some roadblocks, some disappointments and some rude awakenings. I accept that this is undoubtedly true in any such transaction, but it hit me rather hard that what we thought was our dream home has turned out to have some rather substantial flaws, requiring repairs and compromises.

We've been able to have a few people over since moving in, but finally this weekend -- some payoff. We hosted two families for Memorial Day. The weather was glorious. We grilled various meats (as one does), hung out in the yard and the kids all splashed in the pool. The menfolks played some pool and the kids played Xbox. We all had a terrific time. The other families had fun, too.

Finally, the house has paid off -- just what we thought we were buying -- a great place to hang out with friends, entertain everyone, have a relaxing and wonderful time together. This is what we wanted.

And, despite its flaws, despite the extra money we're spending -- this house is going to be wonderful after all.

Spring has Sprung

In fact, based on how stuffy and humid our bedroom has been the last few nights ... we may be into early summer before we know it!

Yesterday I counted ten different kinds of flowers blooming in the new yard. I don't even know what they all are.

At the very least, I have lilacs, some later-blooming dogwood, two different varieties of columbine, irises, wisteria, blue-eyed grass,* something that may or may not be a viburnum,** clematis, vinca and one or two others that I don't even have good enough pictures of to try to look up.

I love that the yard has a series of perennials with staggered blooming seasons. We should have plenty of flowers throughout the summer.

The front yard is the land of annuals, however. Yesterday I got just what I wanted for Mother's Day -- the family planted all the impatiens and begonias I bought on Saturday. Sidewalks and driveway are lined. Window boxes are planted (except for a few that need some repair work). Drip lines are operational. Looks like it's going to be a gorgeously floral summer!

I only hope some of the flowers turn out to be appropriate for cutting and bringing into the house.

*I had to look that one up.
** This one, too, but much less successfully.

Weekend in Atlantic City

Let me splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

On Sunday and Monday I competed with my team, Mac N Cheese, in the World Tavern Trivia National Championships in Atlantic City. Love and hugs to Bryan Irrera, Paul "Pab" Sungenis and Michelle Andrews.

We entered the competition ranked 13th in the nation and wound up coming in 11th in the championships. We were as high as 4th for awhile, but kind of tanked in the last two rounds. Ah, well.

Some highlights of this much-needed vacation include:

Walking the Boardwalk dressed in full-on historically accurate pirate regalia
Singing "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" in front of a casino ballroom full of people
Meeting Stephen of the team "Where the F%#@ is Ted?"
Possessing several answers  for my team -- felt like I held up my end of the bargain
The gorgeous ocean view from our 24th floor room
Winning $65+ on the Avatar slot machine game (pretty good return for a fifty-cent game)

Not so much a highlight, but certainly memorable is the apparent presence of an (invisible to me) "Please Hit On Me, Drunk Men" sign I must have been wearing.

A good time all around, and I'm already looking forward to next year's event.