definitely not the Ritz

I went on an overnight work trip Tuesday night. I stayed at a hotel that shall remain nameless, but I wanted to share what you get in a "Junior Suite" in a "weekend resort" hotel in this town of about 120,000 people.

I give you a photo of the room:

... and the bathroom, which, by the way, had no hot water at all. This wasn't a problem with the hot water heater. This was just simply a lack thereof. For $75 a night, I believe one should be entitled to hot water. Also, there were no fancy bottles of shampoo, just soap. Four little bars of soap, just to make sure you get squeaky clean. And no hairdryer. You should have seen my 'do on day two.

Another interesting feature of the bathroom was this unusual window with security grate on the ceiling over the bathroom sink. Really creepy but at least it was frosted glass...

I wish I could tell you that the minibar was the saving grace of the hotel. I didn't open the refrigerator to see what treats might be in there because the "treats" on top of the fridge told me all I needed to know. Back row of the gourmet selection? Chicken Vienna sausages and condensed milk. What more could a girl want from a minibar?

We're going to Cartagena this weekend. Jimmy has to work so Mac and I are tagging along to play in the pool. I can only hope that the hotel where we're staying doesn't offer Vienna sausages, chicken or not, in the minibar or elsewhere for that matter....

random musings on a Monday

1. It's an American holiday and that means I don't have to work. Mac's in school and I feel a teensy bit guilty about that, but I'll remind myself of this when he's got two weeks off for Easter break and I'm working.

2. I'm making a big pot of homemade tomato soup. Tonight we'll have grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. In my mind, I can already taste it. I hope it lives up to expectations.

3. I cannot tell you how excited I was that The Amazing Race started its new season last night. I find myself in a deep state of mourning when it's not on. As you know, I really want to be on this show. But I have to tell you that jumping out of a place in Argentina from 10,000 feet does not appeal to me in the least. Jimmy would have to do that part or I'd be like that girl last night, curled up on the plane, talking to myself about not doing it.

4. We are eating Arabic today for lunch with friends and I can't wait. I think I shall load up on lunch food in case my soup and grilled cheese sandwiches don't live up to expectations.

favorite Hawaiian signage

opinions at the barbershop

This afternoon I took Mac to the barber shop for his quarterly haircut. We were really 3 days too late for the haircut because school pictures were taken on Tuesday. I didn't know that until it was too late on Monday evening to take him to the barbershop. He will be captured forever in this year's school photos as looking like a street urchin.

I miss the days when we went to get his haircut and I could instruct the stylist on exactly what to do. Those days are a distant memory. Today, I instructed the stylist to cut one way and Mac immediately said no. Then I suggested something else and Mac said no. When I suggested that the man cut more off the back, Mac demanded to have the mirror held up behind him so he could see for himself what it looked like and could determine if he wanted more cut.

The end result is that he really has a smashing haircut that we're both happy with. I'm just not so sure about this raising a child who's independent and assertive.

I'm turning into an old parent

Now that I'm working full-time and can't just jet off for the whole of Mac's summer vacation, I had to think about what to do with him for those interminable weeks.

Plans are coming together now but he's going to fly home with visiting friends in early July and spend the next few weeks shuttling between grandmothers (who live 10 minutes apart) before Jimmy and I come home for a couple weeks of vacation.

How did I get old enough to have a child old enough to leave me for a few weeks - to go to another country - and actually be happy about it???

I can see how quickly we're going from the little boy who said he'd never go off to college because he could never leave me to a young man who won't look back when the door closes on his way out. That makes me sad and regretful for all the "hurry and grow up" thoughts I ever entertained these last 9 years.

The idea of putting him in a box so he can't grow more is getting more and more appealing...

Back from the proverbial dead

Last night I spoke with the Giginator, aka my mom, for Valentine's Day. She asked why I hadn't updated the blog lately. No excuses really except that life got in the way. Now that I have this thing called a J-O-B, time is at a premium around the old homestead. How I miss the days when my only time management problem was how to play tennis and have time to shower before meeting the girls for lunch. Boy, do I miss those days.

Now if had to blog about my life, it would read something like "get up at 5:15; shower, dress and wake Mac up by 6; practice drill sergeant routine to get him dressed, fed and out the door by 6:24; go to work; make decisions that could cause a jail sentence; realize that my 2pm headache might be from lack of lunch; tell people who come into my office at 3:47 to speak fast because they have 6 minutes to talk before I have to leave to catch the shuttle; ride home on the shuttle with people who talk incessantly about their pets' bowel movements; get home by 4:45; do battle over homework that results in one of us in tears; figure out what to throw together for dinner; eat; act as drill sergeant so Mac gets into bed at the right time; collapse in chair; move to bed; collapse into fitful sleep. Rinse and repeat and do it all again."

That's the daily drill these days. With that said, all is well - if not a bit tired - on the homestead. Just not a lot of excitement to report. But I shall make a better effort to find something interesting to report, if only to the Giginator.

Now to leave you on a higher note... One of our dinner topics always, always, always revolves around what Mac had for lunch. It starts something like this:

Jimmy or Susan: so what did you have for lunch?
Mac: guess.
J/S: chicken (this is the correct answer 98% of the time)
M: what else?
J/S: carrots? (he's required to have 3 things on his plate and carrots are usually a safe bet.)
M: what else?
J/S: lime slice? (sadly, this counts as his third item more days than not.)
M: no.

(This is where last night's conversation veered from the norm).

J/S: hmmmmmm. Cucumbers?
M: no
J/S: hmmmmmm. Bread?
M: yes. Guess what kind?
J/S: baguette?
M: no
J/S: slice of sandwich bread?
M: no. Do you give?
J/S: yes.
M: croutons!!!

I am so happy that my hard-earned money is going to pay for what amounts to a very expensive school lunch (and mandatory - bagged lunches are not an option) of roasted chicken, carrots and croutons. (For the record, there are other options but my picky child, who has always thought school lunches were the best thing ever, now hates school lunch.)

Tomorrow is a new day. Will it be another Groundhog Day of the same old, same old or will there be something new to report? Stay tuned... If the suspense doesn't kill you first....