Monday is a blur. We woke up at 4:45 and got home in the USA after midnight. We had a great visit with Banana, the Dude’s sister, at the Washington DC airport.
Oh, here’s a quick and dirty story about our return. On the flight to DC from Bogota, the Little Mermaid spilled a full cup of orange juice all over herself. We had checked the bags in Manizales so we wouldn’t have to deal with them on the way back home. This means that we had no clothes for the poor Little Mermaid to wear. I gave her my huge (even on me!) Juan Valdez hoodie. Yes, his face is TOTALLY on the front. It was a big sacrifice on my part. But, as Ned Kelly said, such is life.
When we got to DC, after going through customs, getting our bags and re-checking them, going through security and walking to the ENTIRE other end of the dang airport, we were able to look for new clothes for the Little Mermaid. Why didn’t you just get some clothes out of the bag once you picked them up – you ask? Well, the baggage guys in their infinite wisdom zip corded our bags shut. We didn’t have any scissors and were unable to open them! ARGH!
So, we were looking for clothes. Did you know that there is an entire men’s suit store in the DC airport? Look in the B gates, like B 40 something. BUT there is not 1 article of clothing for the lower half for ANYONE else in the ENTIRE FREAKIN’ AIRPORT. I know. I looked. Thank goodness I have mad skills when it comes to clothing design. My mom would say that I have mad skills at rigging myself up, but I disagree. It’s art Mom. Art. I looked for the cheapest t-shirt I could find. $9.99 at a newsstand. Yup, I bought it and asked the cashier if she had any scissors. She asked the manager and the manager went back into the secret room where they scan your retina to make sure can you be trusted with scissors in the airport and then came back with a pair for me to use. What I’m going to tell you next is shocking – at least to the ladies at the register. I unfolded that bad boy and cut across the body of the shirt, just under the armpits. Then I cut a strip off the raw edge of that newly cut tube. I snipped the strip so that I had 1 long strip and a tube of shirt. I shoved the cropped off top in my shopping bag. Then I cut a little hole in the hemmed bottom of the t-shirt tube. I threaded the strip through that already turned over and hemmed bottom, flipped it upside down and viola! The Little Mermaid had a skirt! TA-DA. Then I got her a shirt and she was ready to take off that screaming hot Juan Valdez sweatshirt hoodie.
The Little Mermaid was very happy with her new ensemble and modeled it all over the airport. You would have thought she was wearing Versace!
On to my birthday…
On the drive home from the airport, the kiddies were asleep and the Dude and I sang Happy Birthday to me. We quickly crashed and slept until late the next morning. I woke up to the sweet smell of Colombian coffee. Then we went to our local pizza place, the Mellow Mushroom for lunch. Ah, so good! AND there is a new frozen custard shop on 4th street! So of course we hit that. Did you know that frozen custard has half the fat of ice cream? It tastes so much better too!
The Dude surprised me with a trip to Greensboro! UNC-Greensboro! I got information on starting towards my Master’s in History. As of today, my application is in and my transcript has been ordered!!! I’m a college girl again! Check it out. The school colours are blue and gold, like my first high school, and the mascot is the Spartans, like my graduating high school. See, it was meant to be.
Then we went to this super cool bike shop and got a chariot for my bike. This way I can stick it to the man and ride my bike with the kids to the grocery store instead of driving and buying gas. SCREW THE MAN!
PLUS, I got both Barack Obama books on CD, read by Grammy winner and Future President Obama himself. And the Dude got me the Netflix attachment so we can watch the free Netflix movies on our TV instead of crowding around our laptop! CHA! SEE?!?!? THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER! Plus a Lemon Charlotte Royal cake from Whole Foods. It tasted like a combination of cake and Lemon custard. AHhhhh! AND pink champagne!
I didn’t even care that we had a major storm that knocked over tons of trees blocking street access all across Winston Salem! Or that our power was out until the next morning! I had the best dang birthday ever!
Neener neener.
Oh, here’s a quick and dirty story about our return. On the flight to DC from Bogota, the Little Mermaid spilled a full cup of orange juice all over herself. We had checked the bags in Manizales so we wouldn’t have to deal with them on the way back home. This means that we had no clothes for the poor Little Mermaid to wear. I gave her my huge (even on me!) Juan Valdez hoodie. Yes, his face is TOTALLY on the front. It was a big sacrifice on my part. But, as Ned Kelly said, such is life.
When we got to DC, after going through customs, getting our bags and re-checking them, going through security and walking to the ENTIRE other end of the dang airport, we were able to look for new clothes for the Little Mermaid. Why didn’t you just get some clothes out of the bag once you picked them up – you ask? Well, the baggage guys in their infinite wisdom zip corded our bags shut. We didn’t have any scissors and were unable to open them! ARGH!
So, we were looking for clothes. Did you know that there is an entire men’s suit store in the DC airport? Look in the B gates, like B 40 something. BUT there is not 1 article of clothing for the lower half for ANYONE else in the ENTIRE FREAKIN’ AIRPORT. I know. I looked. Thank goodness I have mad skills when it comes to clothing design. My mom would say that I have mad skills at rigging myself up, but I disagree. It’s art Mom. Art. I looked for the cheapest t-shirt I could find. $9.99 at a newsstand. Yup, I bought it and asked the cashier if she had any scissors. She asked the manager and the manager went back into the secret room where they scan your retina to make sure can you be trusted with scissors in the airport and then came back with a pair for me to use. What I’m going to tell you next is shocking – at least to the ladies at the register. I unfolded that bad boy and cut across the body of the shirt, just under the armpits. Then I cut a strip off the raw edge of that newly cut tube. I snipped the strip so that I had 1 long strip and a tube of shirt. I shoved the cropped off top in my shopping bag. Then I cut a little hole in the hemmed bottom of the t-shirt tube. I threaded the strip through that already turned over and hemmed bottom, flipped it upside down and viola! The Little Mermaid had a skirt! TA-DA. Then I got her a shirt and she was ready to take off that screaming hot Juan Valdez sweatshirt hoodie.
The Little Mermaid was very happy with her new ensemble and modeled it all over the airport. You would have thought she was wearing Versace!
On to my birthday…
On the drive home from the airport, the kiddies were asleep and the Dude and I sang Happy Birthday to me. We quickly crashed and slept until late the next morning. I woke up to the sweet smell of Colombian coffee. Then we went to our local pizza place, the Mellow Mushroom for lunch. Ah, so good! AND there is a new frozen custard shop on 4th street! So of course we hit that. Did you know that frozen custard has half the fat of ice cream? It tastes so much better too!
The Dude surprised me with a trip to Greensboro! UNC-Greensboro! I got information on starting towards my Master’s in History. As of today, my application is in and my transcript has been ordered!!! I’m a college girl again! Check it out. The school colours are blue and gold, like my first high school, and the mascot is the Spartans, like my graduating high school. See, it was meant to be.
Then we went to this super cool bike shop and got a chariot for my bike. This way I can stick it to the man and ride my bike with the kids to the grocery store instead of driving and buying gas. SCREW THE MAN!
PLUS, I got both Barack Obama books on CD, read by Grammy winner and Future President Obama himself. And the Dude got me the Netflix attachment so we can watch the free Netflix movies on our TV instead of crowding around our laptop! CHA! SEE?!?!? THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER! Plus a Lemon Charlotte Royal cake from Whole Foods. It tasted like a combination of cake and Lemon custard. AHhhhh! AND pink champagne!
I didn’t even care that we had a major storm that knocked over tons of trees blocking street access all across Winston Salem! Or that our power was out until the next morning! I had the best dang birthday ever!
Neener neener.
