Midnight Train to Georgia

I hope you all had an excellent holiday weekend.  Mine was jam packed with multiple personalities, train stations, emergency rooms, four hour delays, and a wedding.  Sounds like a movie (Four Weddings and a Funeral) but sadly this is just my life.

Friday

6:55am -  my family and I board a train to Georgia for my cousin's wedding.  So far, so good.  No hiccups.  We have a two hour layover in Penn Station where we have Tim Horton's for breakfast and the kids get to experience the hustle and bustle of New York City.  Our train is on-time and we all find seats around each other and settle in for the long ride.  Somewhere around Virginia we pick up Creepy McCreepo who is high as a kite and carries a duffle full of vending machine items.  He tries multiple times to pass off candy and other goods from his bag to my nine year old sister, each time with us politely declining.  Sometime after dinner the train stops briefly to allow another train to pass.  McCreepo gets into a heated argument with one of the train attendants about needing a smoke.  Because we were not at a platform he was not permitted to leave the train and was told if he couldn't behave himself he would be ejected at the next stop (one could only hope...)  He proceeds to kick the door and mumbles obscenities and such directed at the attendant who has since left the car.  And it only gets worse.  Come 9pm it's as if a switch has flipped and he now has a direct channel to Satan.  He is having obscenity laced arguments with himself, turrets-like outbursts, grunting, and seemingly uncontrollable jitters in his arms and legs.  He proceeds to tell me my sister is his "buddy" and "she's in trouble".  Needless to say, I don't get to sleep the entire ride for fear he'll try something on one of us.  Instead I proceed to read "The Help" with one hand in my purse on a bottle of mase.

Saturday

6:55am - we detrain in Jacksonville, FL.  My Uncle is already waiting for us and takes us to the hotel  in Kingsland GA which has agreed to check us in early free of charge.  We all cycle through showers, iron the wrinkles out of our packed dress attire, and then head to Cracker Barrel for brunch.  The wedding is at two o'clock and goes off with out a hitch.  Shannon and Joel are husband and wife in less than an hour's time and every one heads to the reception hall which is beautifully decorated.  After all is said and done, the family decides to meet at a local bar/restaurant afterward to continue the party.  Unfortunately my Grandmother takes a spill off the median in the parking lot and spends the next four hours in the ER (side note: she is fine aside from some bumps and bruises and a split lip).  The Bride and Groom, of all people, end up driving her there because she refused an ambulance.  I must say, Joel (the groom) is a really good kid.  In the moments following Grandma's slip up he managed to grab napkins for the blood and draped sweaters over each of our shoulders to keep the chill off.  He's really too nice for our family. 

Sunday

After sleeping off the excitement from the day before, we check out of the hotel and chillax at my Uncle's house until it's time to head to the train station for the return trip.  Our train is scheduled to leave at 5:00pm and arrive in Albany no later than 3:30pm Monday which happens to be my two year wedding anniversary.  Well, we end up delayed 4.5 hours in the Jacksonville train station due to a fatality on the tracks.  The girls keep occupied playing skip-bo and other assorted card games that they packed.  The train does not pull out of Jacksonville until 9:30pm.  Fortunately there were no creepy passengers keeping us awake for this leg of the trip.  Upon arriving in Penn Station I quickly exchange out our tickets since we've long since missed the connection we were scheduled for.  The only train they can get us on for the return trip to Albany is the 3:15pm, so we hustle to find our gate and are excited to be only 2.5 hours away from home.  However, between Hudson and the Albany station we are stopped again for 1.5 hours due to an "obstruction" on the tracks (lord help me if another body is found on the tracks...)  We don't arrive in Albany until 7:30pm and meet my husband for a less than romantic (although delicious) pizza dinner by 8:30pm. Justin surprised me with flowers which provided a nice ending to an otherwise miserable day of traveling.  I must say, it was nice to finally be home with my boys.

How was your Holiday weekend?  Do you have any horrible travel stories to share?  Misery loves company...

Furry Friday: Well Traveled

I have reported before that Riley loves the occasional car ride.  He has a harness that works with the seat belt system and a travel duffel with mesh ends for breathability.  Unfortunately Riley is such a well traveled dog that his travel duffel has worn out over the past four years. The zipper along its bottom likes to unzip itself which could be problematic in the event that we are carrying Riley in it.  Truth be told, Riley may in fact be a little heavy for the duffel. He has come a long way from his 5lb puppy days. 

In deciding upon the purchase of a new travel bag for the Rye-guy a few things were quite important (especially since these things are not cheap): durability, construction, intended uses, comfort, and airline acceptance.  We went with the IGo2 Traveler because its base is solidly constructed (no zipper to come undone), it doubles as a carseat and/or backpack, it has expandable sides, it also has wheels and a telescoping handle much like luggage nowadays.  It's also accepted by most US airlines, a plus if we ever decide to fly with him.

I was a little nervous that he would not go in it because its slightly different than his duffel, but he's a smart little guy.  It didn't phase him one bit. He did have a slight challenge hopping enough to clear his back legs (remember he is a dacshund with 3 inch legs after all) but a few practice tries and he is now a pro.  I love this little guy.

Right, Wrong or Indifferent

I was reading "My Way is the Right Way" over at On the Edge, a Times Union blog kept by Kristi Gustafson Barlette.  I must say I was intrigued by the topic.  Kristi is newly married and sorting out nuances with the husband (i.e. which way the toilet paper goes).  It got me thinking of things Justin and I do differently and whether these things are right, wrong, or indifferent they can be frustrating at times.  

Toilet Paper.  I believe the roll should be installed so that the paper pulls from the top ("over") and Justin couldn't really care which way it rolls as long as their is toilet paper available when he needs it.  This have never been a heated item of contention in our household.  On the rare occasion the paper is installed wrong, I simply turn it back the right way. 

Socks & Undies.  My husband folds neither of these items and yet he insists on doing the laundry in our house.  I affectionately call him the Laundry Nazi because once he learned how to use the machines, he finds every excuse possible to run a load of laundry.  I'm one of those folks who folds the socks over and tucks them into one another, he leaves them loose which makes for a messy drawer.  He does put his laundry away though, so that's a plus.  Now if only he could slow down on the laundry cycle so I had less of my own to put away...

Cooking & Cleaning.  My husband and I have two different styles for each of these.  Justin likes to cook everything on high which doesn't always work out too well.  Justin also waits to clean up until after the meal.  I'm a fuss pot who puts everything away whilst I'm cooking.  When it comes to cleaning house, similar to his cooking style he does everything as quickly as possible, not necessarily as thorough as possible.  But he does help keep a tidy house, so I take what I can get.  I'm in charge of cleaning the bathroom and he helps with the floors and dusting.  It's a good trade off.

How to Make a Bed.  I was always one of those people who had to have the perfectly tucked sheets.  Justin would rather they not be. We have compromised and only the end gets tucked, the sides are left wide open.  I have converted to the comfortableness of loose sheets.