Vacation - Part III

Thanks, Heather, for posting your little summary on your LJ--I'd almost forgotten the order of what happened the rest of the weekend.

Friday evening, after Heather got up, we went back to the mall. First, we went to JCPenney, where I got four sets of pajamas and two sets of long underwear. I also bought a set of pajamas for Heather.

After that, Heather bought us both pretzels and lemonade at Auntie Anne's, and we went to Zales, so that Heather could get the bi-annual cleaning done for her ring. While she was doing that, I bought a new pair of ruby studs with starter posts, since one of my original studs had gotten lost when one of my sisters borrowed them. I also bought a pair for Heather with the gem she wanted.

We went back to the pet store to coo over the puppies again--that husky was just so pretty--before we went back to her place again to watch the rest of Haibane Renmei. Then, we went to McDonald's to get some dinner, after Stephen got home from work later than usual due to a meeting.

Saturday, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for a late lunch/early dinner before Stephen went to work, and then Heather and I talked while I packed. We then went to Wal-Mart, because I needed a box to put my stuffed animals in from the fair--they wouldn't fit in my suitcase. I also bought a bunch of souvenirs, some bubble wrap, and packing tape.

After packing up the souvenirs and the stuffed animals securely in the box and putting my name and address on it in sharpie, I used Heather's computer to schedule a UPS pick-up for this afternoon. I'll get the box by next Monday at the latest.

Heather and I then went on the League of Women Voters website so that I could show her how to research the different candidates for the election and make an informed decision when she votes. We also decided which presidential candidate's ideas we liked the best, though it was kind of a tie. I can't remember whether we'd decided we liked Nader or Obama more though--we definitely didn't like McCain as much.

We were both reluctant to go to sleep, but around 12:30 I decided I'd better sleep. I woke up at 8am and got dressed, putting the last of my stuff in my luggage and carry-on before taking them both out to the car after I ate. Then I waited for Heather and Stephen to get up.

At nine, we headed to the airport. I followed Stephen and Heather in the car I'd rented, and once I returned it, they drove me to the terminal and walked in with me as far as the security gate.

The first flight was uneventful, except for the fact that we arrived in Atlanta early. Even then, I barely had time to use the restroom and get some food before boarding my next flight. I managed to finish my burger, but I was halfway through my chips (and hadn't even started on my cheesecake) before they announced they were ready to board.

I finished my dinner on the plane to Baltimore, and that flight landed early as well. I had a headache after that flight, since I hadn't bothered to chew any gum during takeoff and landing, like I did for the first flight.

Anna and Kayla met me outside security, and we went home in Anna's car. I un-packed my luggage, and had planned on balancing my checkbook and paying my bills, but I just wanted to lay down so the Excedrin would kick in, so I'm saving that for this evening.

I couldn't get to sleep until around four this morning. I took an Excedrin when I got home, but it wasn't enough, since my head was still hurting more than two hours later. So I took another one at that point. It didn't kick in until around two, but then the medicine head kept me up until at least four. I hate my head sometimes.

Vacation - Part II

We went to Red Robin for dinner on Monday.  We had some chips and dip for an appetizer, as well as a plate of fries and lime sauce--the waiter brought the fries out because the cook was taking so long with our order.

After dinner, we had a little time before the movie, so we stopped off at Borders.  I got a new game called "You've Been Sentenced," plus a couple of those mini-book things.

We did end up seeing City of Ember.  It was a good movie, and as it should have, left me wondering what happens next.

We all went to sleep at a somewhat more reasonable time then.

Tuesday, I woke up around ten in the morning, and decided to let Heather sleep until I woke her up at noon.  So while she was sleeping I got breakfast and checked my e-mail and stuff.  Heather was still sleepy though, so she went back to sleep for a couple more hours and woke up a little bit before Stephen was due back.

We went to the Arizona State Fair, and had loads of fun.  We didn't ride many rides, but we did play a bunch of games.  I won a couple of stuffed animals, and I'm hoping they'll fit in my luggage, but if they don't, I'll have to get a box and ship them to Maryland.

Wednesday morning was about the same, only I let Heather sleep until two in the afternoon before trying to wake her.  She stayed awake this time, but was still a little sleepy.  When Stephen got back from work on Wednesday, we all went to Subway for dinner and then went to Bookman's to look at the used books and stuff.  I got The Origin, a comic about how the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer was actually different from what Joss wanted it--it didn't look too different from what I remember, but it was still fun to read--plus two more novels.

Yesterday, I woke up first, and then let Heather sleep until she decided to wake up--that was much more satisfactory, even though I was awake for five hours and she wasn't.  We decided to go to the mall nearby so that she could buy some essentials at JCPenney.  Then we walked around the mall for a while.

I got us pretzels at Auntie Anne's, and we looked in a few stores including Bath & Body Works.  We also looked at stuff in game stop, plus two other stores.  One was a music box/clock/glass figurine shop, and the other was an Asian-themed store where they sold anything from little Buddha statues to rice-eating sets with chopsticks to Japanese swords.

We finally decided to have dinner, so we went to Villa Pizza.  Heather had two slices of cheese pizza, and I had Chicken Marsala with a side of potatoes and a side of steamed vegetables.  Yummy.

After dinner, we headed over to Master Cuts, so that Heather could get her hair cut.  We wanted to go back to JCPenney so I could get some new shirts and such, but they were closed, so we went back to Heather & Stephen's place.

We finally played my new game--it was pretty fun--and then Stephen went to sleep.  Heather and I stayed up for a couple more hours, watching Haibane Renmei, an anime series that's kind of corny, but cute, and gets a little more interesting as you go.

After the first two disks, we decided we were both sleepy and went to our respective rooms, but I wanted to watch the bonus features on Heather's copy of Serenity, since my copy has none.  I had no idea they would take so long--I didn't get to sleep until after five this morning!

But for some reason, I was still not able to sleep any later than eleven.  And I had a weird dream too--something about werewolves and this interesting-looking building which might've been a cross between a log cabin and an airport.

Good Times

I went bowling on Thursday with a whole bunch of people. Kimba and Anna had invited me, Kayla and Cassie to go bowling with them at Terrace Lanes. The bowling alley has Dollar Days from Sunday through Thursday, 9:30pm-midnight ($1 for shoe rental, $1 per game/per person), so I figured heck, I wanna go bowling!

I took a whole bunch of pictures, but only ten of them turned out even remotely okay. The rest were either too blurry or too dark to make out.

There were so many people in our group, we took up four lanes. I was on a lane with Anna (for the first three games), Cassie, and this guy Eric who I remembered from high school. Kayla didn't actually bowl whole games, but took over for Eric on a few frames.

I don't know how the scores went on the other three lanes, but I managed to get a printout for the lane I was at. Anna made us all have names that were for our opposite gender. We played four games total, before midnight, and here are the scores:

Game One
George (Anna): 90
LeeAnne (Eric): 103
Phil (Me): 78
Nathan (Cassie): 66

Game Two
George: 79
LeeAnne: 84
Phil: 85
Nathan: 89

Game Three
George: 90 (for a grand total of 259 at our lane)
LeeAnne: 96
Phil: 63
Nathan: 83

(Right before the last frame of game three, I broke my right thumbnail down to the quick, but it was still hanging on at one side, so I tried bowling left-handed. My turn was up, so I didn't have time to pull the nail off the rest of the way until the beginning of the next game. So, for the last frame of game three, I had two gutter balls.)

Game Four
(Anna was playing on two lanes, so she took her name off of ours so we'd have time to finish the game before closing.)
LeeAnne: 140 (Grand Total: 423)
Phil: 90 (Grand Total: 316)
Nathan: 106 (Grand Total: 344)

From Cassie's turn in frame 2 of game 3 until Eric's turn on frame 4, we had a streak of strikes. Cassie got one, then Eric, then me, then Cassie again, then Eric again, but then I only got a spare (but the spare was all ten pins in the second round of the frame, so it would've been a spare if I hadn't have gotten a gutter ball first).

Over all, it was a fun time. I completely missed Smallville though--and forgot to set the DVD-R to record it for me.

Friday was boring. 'Nuff said.

Today, I got up at about 11 (I meant to get up by 10), took a shower, and then paid the bills. Once that was done, I headed out to the Red Cross office on Thomas Johnson Drive to make a donation.

It was like the 6th time I've ever donated, so I knew the drill. But this time, it just kept stopping. The nurse said that it probably clotted, because she kept moving the needle (which was slightly unpleasant, but nothing I couldn't handle with a bit of distraction--such as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), and it wouldn't just GO. So I didn't get to give a full pint, but it was mostly there.

After the obligatory stay in the cantina, I headed over to Mom & Dad's to pick up Jason for the library. He was at his friend Stephanie's house down the road, so I got his library books and his wallet from his room and picked him up there.

He checked out a few more books, and we went back to Mom & Dad's for lunch. While I ate, I watched Smallville from Thursday on the TiVo. Gotta love those season passes!

Once the show was over, I left to run my errands: Costco for gas, JCPenney for a couple necessities, and Wal*Mart for a few groceries.

Then I came back here to put everything away, and copied my pictures from my digital camera so that I could share them here (since Heather requested that I take them).