No matter what Mapquest says and regardless of how many times I have taken the trip in the past, the trip from our front door to Ludington Michigan takes four hours. Period. It makes no difference to me that the trip actually takes 5, sometimes 5 and a half hours...four is all I can take driving a car and so four it is. Jill and I packed up the car with two bags of clothes, Lukes suitcase full of toys (all 36 pounds worth)Aunt Gin's gifts, various this and thats, two kids, one dog and a cooler full of juice boxes and pop. We left last friday after I got home from work, and although we wanted to get going by 6pm, we didnt hit the highway until well after 7. Good news, we missed rush hour, bad news is it took an hour and a half just to get out of Illinois regardless. But once on the road I settled in to the drive and I'm happy to say that the entire trip was uneventful, particularily with regards to my strange anxiety "attacks" I have experienced in the past. They are a real pain in the butt, and are completely comprised of the anxiety you experience hoping they dont come in the first place. Nice little psycho catch-22. Once I figured that part out, I can pretty easily shrug the urge to have one off. Strange the effects quitting smoking has on you. It will be a year in December.
We arrived in Ludington with 2 snoring kids and one freaked out dog. Charlie seemingly inherited my anxiety...or he just didnt know what to make of being in a car so long. He spent the first hour whimpering and pawing Jills lap, the rest of the way he curled up at her feet and stayed put. Both Barb and Gin were wide awake when we pulled up, not surprisingly, and we spent the better part of the next 2 hours showing off the kids. Bridget went from zero to Shirley Temple in no time flat, while Luke, now completly out of his shell and willing to engage anyone as long as they check out his Yu-Gi-Oh collection, was busy unloading his suitcase full of toys. The kid makes Carrot-top look like a piker.
We had a great stay, Luke got to shop at the Dollar store (his main objective) I got to sleep in the "Mooshigan" bed (No more comfortable or hard to get out of bed in the whole wide universe Barb, thankyouverymuch)Jill got to connect with family, albeit mine but hey, and Bridget got to spend time with her two newest fanclub members, even gracing them with a song or two. Or three. The "Girls" as they have come to be known are doing great, and like Jill said on the way home, it's good to connect with family. She gets that chance every day, 36 times some days...me notsomuch.
So if you are reading this, I love you both very much, and thanks for the love I get back, especially the way you love our kids, it means the world to all of us.
Bless you both and Happy 80th Gin, many more to come!
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