I Haven't Disappeared !

I have been catching some grief because I haven't posted since my return from the trip ( and the grief giver doesn't even have a blog - THANKS LB!).

Well, you see .... It's goes like this:

*Got home Saturday afternoon from being on a cruise for the last 7 days. I crashed early ... no real explanation needed.

*On what should be a day of rest (Sunday), I unpacked my suitcases and managed to get the laundry done (not put away, but done!) ADDED NOTE: The suitcases and various other things are STILL still sitting in the middle of the living room floor and it is a full week later!

*It became Monday already, and I had to go to work. I spent a good portion of the day checking the volume of email I had received the previous week. And answering dumb questions - most of which I had no real answer for because they all referenced events of the previous week and DUH I wasn't there.

*Tuesday - a little bit more productive work-wise! And this evening was the time for me to start dog/house sitting for SJ's MIL. So, I go to her place and let out and feed the dog. Next stop, meet a former co-worker and her daughters at a bank up the road then proceed to the Metro to take the subway into DC. Every year, there is a concert on the west side of the Capitol on July 4th called "A Capitol Fourth". You are probably saying to yourself "but today is only the 3rd!" That is true, you see, the general public is invited to attend the rehearsal the night before and that is where we were headed. In the years past, the company I work for was one of the sponsors of this concert and we soon found out that this is no longer the case. Hence, no more special seating for employees (right up in the front). It was a beautiful night but we came away rather disappointed. Last year, unbeknown to us as we headed up to DC, the headliner of the show was Stevie Wonder - awesome, to say the least even though it was just the rehearsal. And the year before that - Gloria Estefan. This year, not so good. The headliner, Little Richard was a no show. He had a stand-in. An older WHITE man who looked like he was a leftover from the Hippie Days! And Elliott Yamin from last year's American Idol - another no show! His stand-in was a BLACK man with dreads. Go figure .... The rest of the show was OK - those people did show up.

*Independence Day !! Got up early and ventured into Fairfax to donate blood. There were lots of people there (which is a good thing) so it took quite a while. I got a T-shirt that says "It's Hip To Give" and a Baby Blood Donor pin. And of course, one of the things I absolutely have to have, a bag of Famous Amos Chocolate Chip cookies. Back to the MIL's place to take care of the dog, then to my home to participate in a small neighborhood cook-out. On the way back, I stopped in a neighborhood close to a park and caught a glimpse of some fireworks. The National Mall in DC was evacuated earlier in the evening due to some powerful thunderstorms that rolled through, but luckily none of them found me during my travels.

*Thursday brings me back to work again. The commute from MIL's house is heavenly. Ten minutes, maybe, and that includes stopping to get the morning coffee. From my home, 45 minutes is the norm. It was a busy day at work and I left an hour late which wasn't all that good because I needed to be in Stafford at 6:45 to bowl. I am on a summer league with my sister, my son and his wife. I made it with no time to spare and bowled like crap ! We WERE in second place at the start of the evening which I'm sure is no longer the case since the entire team wasn't at it's best. Oh well, it's just a game and we have 5 more weeks to get back up there. I made a pit stop at my house on the way home, then didn't have the sense to get myself to bed any time soon once I got back to MIL's house.

*TGIF - Fridays are supposed to be easy days, but today wasn't. A co-worker is on vacation and I am her backup. Today was the day that the Big Boss decided to put priority on the co-worker's work and guess who was expected to get it all done? I worked like a busy little bee and the mission was accomplished with only having to stay an hour late. The Big Boss actually said "Thank You" which is a rarity for her.
I called MIL to see how Baby G
was doing and he has improved greatly. Took a quick trip down to my house to get some more clothes, because I packed clothes for work but nothing for slumming around on the weekend. Another late night and nothing really got accomplished at my house because I haven't been there.

*Saturday - 07/07/07 - Happy Birthday to my youngest son who turns 29 today. I called him to wish him a Happy Birthday and he was grumbling about the traffic. He and his family had been in the Outer Banks and were on the way home. Evidently, someone decided to crash their vehicle at the entrance to the Hampton Roads tunnel and their 4 1/2 hour trip turned into a nasty 8 hours !! Today, I took it easy and stayed put. I have heard horror stories about the traffic all day. MIL's neighbor invited me to go to the community pool with her, so I did. Felt good - since the temps were up in the 90's today. I actually took a nap - and went on an hour long walk later in the evening with the same MIL's neighbor. I have become a great aunt once again. Congratulations to my neice who gave birth to a 7 lb 1 oz daughter today. No one should have any trouble remembering Baby M's birthdate - 07/07/07 !! And, to my youngest brother and his wife, Welcome to Grandparenthood !!

As you can see, it has been a busy week AND I haven't really been home long enough to actually post about my vacation PLUS the pictures are still on my camera. AND I haven't even posted Part 2 from June 15th yet, either! LB, be patient .... everything will get caught up in time .... which I desparately need more of !!