We're home

Didn't you like that great play by play I gave you of our trip? Boy that didn't work out as planned! We had virtually no cell reception, and even less Internet access. I am determined to do it, though! Once I get everything unpacked, I'm going to start typing up every day of our trip so you can feel like you were there because I know a trip to TX & KS is what you're dreaming about! We really had a wonderful time and are actually calling this trip a vacation. I missed all of you, though!

P.S. Once you have over 1000 unread blogs in your Google reader, Google just says you have 1000+. I'm sure there are amazing deals that I missed out on and funny posts from BooMama that would have had me in stitches, but unfortunately I must click "mark all as read" for all of them. I'm starting over. If Google doesn't think it's worth the time to keep counting them, then I need to take a hint and not read them.

Heading Out...

So we leave for vacation tomorrow (actually, later today since it's 1:30 in the morning). I never can sleep the night before a big trip, and I have had the car packed up for hours. A month ago I wasn't looking forward to this trip at all, but as it has approached my mind has totally changed. I am so excited! And so is Timothy. Tonight he asked me why I was taking his cars from his room. I told him it was to pack them in our car for our big trip. His eyes got huge, and he said, "Because it's almost FRIDAY?" Oh he is SO cute sometimes.

He is happy for the same reasons I am happy. We are about to see a lot of people we care about. Tons of family (not just immediate family, but as far out as 3rd cousins). We're also seeing family from New Hampshire that we LOVE and haven't seen in 4 years. And as if that weren't enough, we get to see 3 dear friends of mine: Sheila, Tonya, and Christi. Oh, I can't wait.

So I'm making a commitment to have a daily summary of the next 16 days. You don't want to miss how exciting of a drive it is through AZ, NM, and West TX, do you? I may not get to a computer every day in order to upload it, but I'll write the old fashioned way and then post 2-3 days worth if I have to.

Texas or Bust!

CATS

My roomie was in town last weekend on business, so I had the brilliant idea to go see the musical CATS. I now feel like it is my responsibility to stop people from going. It was awful, and how in the world that beautiful song "Memories" is in it is beyond me. I commented out loud to Gindi that the worst part of the musical is this word they keep using "jellicle". So there's my warning to avoid CATS. Go see "Les Mis" or "Wicked" instead.

Now the fun part of the night was being giggly with my roomie from college!!! For those of you who know Gindi, you know she is WAY more proper than I am (being a prestigious lawyer and all). Outside the theater there were 2 "cats" that everyone could get their picture taken with. When Gindi flatly denied my request to get our picture taken with them, I kept trying to get their picture. Unfortunately, person after person kept stepping in, and I didn't want a picture of total strangers (except the cats of course). I was about to give in and let G take one of just me with the cats (I was in a particularly silly mood) when my hero "Troy" stepped in...

"Why don't I take a picture of both of you with the CATS?"

I don't know if he had heard all our banter or not, but he saved the day! I gave him my camera quickly, and G had no option but to acquiesce. But as you can see by the picture, she wasn't happy about it...


Because the musical was not the theatrical experience we were hoping for, we got a little loopy during intermission. I even pulled the whole "stick my arm out straight and take an unfocused picture of ourselves" bit. We kind of look like we belong back in college, don't we?


And I even caught her doing this. Some day when she is running for office, these pictures will resurface I'm sure.


And we got one normal picture before the night was over. We have known each other for 17 years! I'm so glad she's my friend.

Traveling with CF

I'm 3 days late typing my monthly CF post! We are going on a 2 week trip to TX & KS, so I thought I would post about traveling & CF:

1. Nebulizer & Allergy medication-This is part of her daily routine, but will be a little more critical as we travel. We will be traveling to places with new allergens that could cause a flare up. Also, we will be in different humidity levels. San Diego is more humid than AZ (we're going to the Grand Canyon on our way back), but much less humid than TX.

2. Gatorade-We live where it's 80 degrees is a hot day, and in TX and KS right now that would be a relief. Those with Cystic Fibrosis lose salt quickly and therefore get dehydrated quickly. Have you tasted Gatorade? Yuck. But we have to have plenty on hand and make sure Samantha is getting plenty in her! Yes we call it juice.

3. Enzymes-This is probably the trickiest part of traveling. Right now we have an easy routine. She takes her enzymes with yogurt. For those who don't know, we dump the contents of 3 capsules into her yogurt to eat before each meal or snack. Only the food she gets for the 1st hour after her enzymes actually benefits her. She is finally doing great with weight, and we don't want this trip to set us back. We've purchased a ton of applesauce containers (since they don't have to be cold). We've also scheduled sit down meals instead of eating on the road. This way she'll be good and hungry (not that she's not always hungry) when it's meal time.

On an food note (completely unrelated to CF), we will have no crackers in the car the whole trip! This is going to be quite radical for us, so please pray for all these details!

Update: Steph & Natasha both asked me good questions that I want to address. No crackers in the car because they are just so entirely messy. I want to get to TX with a semi-clean car and that's my best chance. Our plan is fresh fruit each day (which even convenient stores carry now!) Samantha will love this as she is a fruit FREAK, but she is normally supposed to eat things with higher fat content. In Timothy's limited diet, he'll eat bananas and he has taken bites of grapes, oranges, and apples.

Smoke is a continual concern with Samantha. This is another area we feel blessed here in San Diego because California is a smoke-free state (indoors, that is). The one ironic thing I find is that employee smoke areas are always at the doors entering places (grocery stores especially), so often we have to walk through the smoke to get inside. I digress. The major cities we're traveling to are smoke-free, and most of the small towns we're going to...okay, I just realized I haven't thought about Podunk, New Mexico! I had been thinking about our destinations with family, but not the small towns on the road trip. We may just have to buy the fast food, and then go find a park to eat it in. We've done that in the past when we travelled here with our dog. Thank you, Steph, for helping me think about that!

Graduation Day

I can't believe it's been 10 days since I blogged! I have been so busy both having fun (I'll blog on that later) and getting things squared away before we leave for our trip this Friday that blogging has just been last on my list! I haven't even been able to read blogs-only one or two a few days ago!

We just got home from Timothy's preschool graduation, which was a little more emotional than I thought it would be. And on the subject of school, I got a call this morning from my first elementary school choice, and Timothy has been officially enrolled. I can't believe we're starting kindergarten in 3 months! He and Samantha will be going to a Christian preschool this summer for 2 mornings a week. Yes, it's pretty much for my sanity, but it will be great for Timothy. And Samantha is such a sponge-I can't wait to see what all she will soak up in her first school setting.