what a ride

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well, where shall i start?
The Trip Out
The flight part wasn't too bad, except for some reason they'd cancelled sean's and my tickets. because they weren't purchased, but given to me, and we got there early enough, they were able to reschedule the tickets for the same flights. however, there was also a mix up with mark's parents' tickets, and they had to figure that one out too. oy. down goes southwest one notch in my estimation. LIam starte sneezing in Lost Wages, and continued to do so all the way to Portland, and ended up with a wicked sinus/headcold the entire time we were there. I did GAMBLE (something i never do) but all i put in was a buck, won $3.75, and then lost it again, lol.

Once we got to portland, we had to take the shuttle back to mark's uncle's hotel (he works for quality inns) where we ended up sitting around waiting because Dad decided it might be better to rent a car after all (and we are eternally grateful he did). we followed mark's uncle out to DePoe Bay, with a few hitches. this is supposed to be an hour and a half drive, and ended up stretching to 2 1/2 hours because of construction, etc. on top of that, the original plan had been to go to Chinook Winds Casino, and hit the buffet for lunch. however they close at 3:30, and by the time we got near, it was 4. however, everyone decided to stop anyway, except us, because we'd lost Uncle Rex in the construction mess. fortunately, i still remembered the physical address of the beach home, and we drove on there. sean and mark's mom were with his aunt Wanda, and since we didn't know where Rex was, we ended up at the beach house with no key, and the only phone was steph's (nobody else had a cell). sean ended up without his meds for 12 hours, but did well anyway.

The Stay
we had a lot of fun. they got to find out how well mark and i cook together. the plan was each family was to take one meal, and mark's folks and we had decided to pool our efforts. however, with all the mixups, supper ended up in our ball park. we made sloppy joes, which every one loved, despite the fact that we'd missed that it needed tomato paste. so i faked it with ketchup and mustard, and everybody loved them. we also made breakfast the next day, but because that ran so late, we ended up not doing our lunch, which was ok, because nobody was hungry. supper was at 630, and his uncle Dennis and aunt Jan made baked ham, roast beef (but it wasn't nebraska beef, so it didn't compare) baked beans (which we had bought for lunch), salad, and all the accompanying fixins, including chocolate cherry cake and berry cobbler (jan can cook, too!) sorry if i'm focusing on the food, i'm a foodie, what else can a girl with a culinary arts degree say? we went to the beach the next day, except liam couldn't go because he had a fever at that point. steph busted waves while we were there (the tide was coming in, and it's kind of rocky off the beach) until she went numb (the water was about 50F), and sean played in the foam, and got sunburnt again , poor little guy. we had fun.

all in all, it was a nice stay, and i got to meet mark's family. the morning we cooked breakfast, his uncle Rex tried to sneak a piece of bacon, and i told him NO! at which point, he told me, " you fit into this family already, you're already picking on me!"

i think the funniest part was everytime a kid yelled over the balcony (the beach house had a game room upstairs) Grandma! 5 different voices answered, lol! i'm so used to answering to mom, and i was the only Mom there! the boys were very well behaved on the trip out, and while we were there.

The Trip Back
we decided since we'd seen too many wild animal signs and considering how long it had taken to get there, that maybe we should go back early and stay at uncle Rex's hotel sunday night, and take the shuttle to the airport Monday morning. uncle Rex got us a suite of rooms for $39 bucks! and there was a small, outdoor heated pool. liam got mad because we wouldn't let him go swimming because of his sinuses, but we ordered in from a luxurious restaurant called Steamers. i had the seafood stew, mark had shrimp & crabcakes, liam had pan-fried oysters (which he didnt' like, cuz he's used to canned oysters, i'm gonna have to develop that boy's palate), steph had seafood fettucine, and sean had sirloin steak (the boy's not as nutty about seafood as the rest of us).

ok, now brace your self.

we got to the airport at 5:10, because they had told us an hour check in. the line was so long, that it was 45 minutes before we even got to the counter. on top of that, there was a missionary group there, and thepastor who was monitoring all the plane tickets was at the back of their line, and had to keep stopping and handing out tickets, instructions, etc. they couldn't even keep their frigging luggage straight. the counter person told us that our luggage may not make the flight because the security people were backlogged on screening baggage. and that we may just miss the flight anyway, because we hadn't even gotten through the people screening, and there was 10 minutes left til the flight left. somehow, we got through the screening faster than they thought, and steph got through first, so she took off her shoes, and ran for the gate (we had gate c16, and they went sequentially from 1, sigh) she told them we were coming, but they acted like we were idiots, and would dawdle. yeah right, i wanna spend 4 hours in portland's airport waiting for the next flight. mark and the boys and i didnt' even bother putting our shoes back on, and ran all the way. we made it barely in time. we got on the plane, sat down, and they shut the doors and pulled away from the gate. and then i discovered that i'd dropped one of my shoes somewhere along the way. and that we were unable to sit next to any of us including sean. sean's behavior was atrocious. he kept agravating everyone in line while we were waiting to check in, and 3 people ended up moving because he couldn't/wouldn't control himself. and in vegas he wandered off. he had been standing with steph in line, and when he found out she diddn't have enough $ for both of them to get a snack, he took off when she wasn't looking, and walked all the way down the concourse to me, and asked me for money. i told him no and to sit his fanny down, because he shouldn't be wandering around by himself! mark came around the corner at that point with fire in his eyes, and chewed on sean some more himself.

sean ended up getting 20 sentences for his behavior in line in portland, and no tv for a week for his behavior on the plane, and no video games for a week for his escapade in vegas.

liam is going to get rewarded for his excellent behavior, but we havent' decided waht yet.

sean had a bad 2 days in general. monday night, when i tried to get him to sit down and write his sentences, he lost it. he cried, and yelled, and screamed, and refused to write his sentences. finally, he asked if he could talk to mark, which i fortunately was able to get mark to wake up (mark ended up sick for 2 days) and i took the boys over, and mark talked to sean and he calmed down. yesterday, however, was the capper.

sean got mad at me yesterday because i gave him sentences for almsot making us late because he woldn't move as i asked him to, so when we walked into daycare, he said, "maybe i should just commit suicide." i k new he was saying it to hurt me, but i told the therapist las tnight anyway. she wrote up a safety contract, that he would promise not to hurt himself, ans ean refused to sign it. we ended up at hte local mental health facility (hospital emergency) for 4 1/2 hours. he came home wiht me, but i had to call sean's medication doctor, and get thing sstraightened back out again. needless to say, i wa sworn out this morning. so i took 2 hours FMLA, and got a bit caught up on my sleep.

so the last week ahs been a wild ride.

Knitting
i did finish PFH2. i finished it on the plane just as we pulled into the gate to deplane in portland, and wore it off hte plane. the flight attendants were stunned. i love doing that. in fact, i got several compliments about it from mark's family as well. it seems that mark's grandmother had made all teh daughters and granddaughters broomstick lace ponchos years ago, and seeing my poncho broght alot of the memories back.

i did start a dishcloth baby afghan for AC4C, but i've decided since then to do something else.

Crocheting
i'm making a star afghan with the yarn from the aforementioned afghan, and it's red, white and blue. i'll post pics as soon as i retrieve myc amera from steph. she dl'ed alot of the pics we took this weekend on her puter so she could send them to her friends.

so, now i'm hopelessly behind on patterns and rednecks, so here we go

you might be a redneck if you stare at a can of frozen orange juice because it says "concentrate."
. . . you can count to 11 on your fingers.
. . . the place wehre you vacationed last year won't allow you to come back this year.
. . . you work without your shirt on and so does your husband.
. . . you spray cheez whiz directly into your mouth.
. . . you lost money betting on the Lingerie Bowl.

Patterns
Swirling Sun Hat. this looks cute, and is definitely doable for a charity pattern.
Heat Wave Bra Top. i don't think so.
Diana's Trail Socks. these look like great socks for me (i have odd feet)
Teddies for Tragedies. this is an ongoing charity project where doctors in 3rd world countries give these to children they treat, because it's been proven that children who have something to cuddle heal faster. i might do this.

What i'm reading now:
Knit One, Kill Two. this has been a fascinating read. thank you secret pal!
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. sounds slightly Jr high, but it's cute so far.
Drums of Autumn. a continously read book, i've never stopped reading the series.

Have a good day!