Day 57

Ok where to begin.

First a shout out to my hubby in Middle East land - Happy One Year Anniversary! I thawed the cake topper, but I think I am going to hit the bakery and get something a little fresher. The thought of eating year old cake makes me a little uneasy and I have a hankering for carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. While this isn’t how I would prefer to spend my first anniversary I’m trying to make the best of it – it’s really all I can do.

I would like to say I’ve handled today with poise and grace and this would be true if my day had ended at 10:30 AM – that’s the time the flower delivery guy came. It’s been pretty rough since them. While I should have just gone home today and had my moments in private, I’ve stuck it out and I worked through the tears – Literally worked through the tears. Puffy eyes and tear streaked cheeks are no match for this master query writer. Although I wish I could turn off that English major part brain that managed to add extra symbolism to the 6 red roses that arrived – Thanks to my warped inner voice each red rose represents 1000 miles.

I guess all I can do is take solace in knowing that tomorrow this will all just feel like a little road bump.

So moving on… I need to share the highlights of the Pennsylvania vacation. It started off not good. The day before I was supposed to leave, Bagley got sick. So in the midst of packing and getting ready to travel - I had to take him to the vet for a bladder infection. He was supposed to stay with the neighbors, but instead I had to take him to the vet/boarding suites. I felt like a bad mom - ditching my sick kid so I could go have some fun.

The flight to PHL was delayed so it provided time for Amy and I to have some cocktails before takeoff. I was very relaxed when it came time to board the plane :) Driving sucked. We made it 7 whole miles on the freeway in our first hour in the car.

Saturday we saw the Liberty Bell, a bunch of old buildings, and downtown Philly – we stopped for beers and cheese steak. We also checked out the Shops at the Market Street terminal – which was really neat. It was kind of a cross between a farmers market and the food court at them mall.

Sunday we made it to the Sweetwater Farms B & B via a route through west Philly... Yeah – the GPS people need to add a route options of ‘Naive Minnesotan’. I was reading a magazine when we started the trip, and I don’t know why I stopped, but I started looking around the neighborhood we were in and “rough” would be a major understatement… But the B & B was a totally awesome place. They had horses and sheep and fainting goats. Aaron and the rest of my travel companions got to meet Grr – the first of my adopted little brothers. Grr proved to be an enigma and made quite the impression and also landed himself an invite for the coveted BWCA trips. Much Merriment and drinking was had. I learned two things about PA on Sunday that I really liked – 1.) They sell booze on Sunday. All types. No limitations. And 2.) They have BYOB restaurants – nothing is more stupendous than bringing your own booze to a restaurant.

Monday we went to the Chaddfords Winery and it was like being a college again – I was drinking and learning :) I learned all about the east coast grape growing and wine vintages. They also had some really good reds, so I will most likely ordering some wines from them to add to my collection.

Tuesday we visited the Longwood Gardens. They had 1000+ acres of flowers, plants, shrubs, trees, fountains, etc. It was amazing – even if their tree house exhibit left a little to be desired. Then it was time to go home. Which was bad. I’m not a fan of saying goodbye, so I’ve never learned to do it well. We ended with a couple of hugs and drove back to Philly to catch the plane back to MN in the morning...

343 days to go.