Moving On

I usually need a vacation from my vacation when we visit Connecticut – and this time was no different…

We arrived Wednesday night after an eventful five-hour ride. It all started when we were crossing the Commodore Barry Bridge ten minutes into our trip. A guy was standing on the other side, preparing to jump. A ton of policemen were simply standing there looking at him. The newspaper said he was there at 1:30pm with a water bottle. We passed him around 5:15pm. I would have felt bad for him except he was wanted in two states for crimes against minors. David told me this because the guy was admitted to the local hospital’s Psychiatric unit – D’s current rotation. Then we passed two accidents in New Jersey and had to take the Lincoln Tunnel to avoid the 90-minute backup on the George Washington Bridge in New York. All on a Wednesday night. We arrived safely, thank you Lord, around 10:00pm.

I didn’t stay up too much later because I had a 8am doctor appointment followed by a 10:30 dentist appointment followed by a 12:00 hair appointment. Mom took me to the hair appointment and we got our nails done after that. I had just enough time to go home and say hi to David before heading out to Pizzeria Uno’s for dinner with one of my friend’s from church. Two and a half hours later it was back home to visit with some friends over a cup of nice, warm tea.

The next morning, I was up bright and early to go food shopping with Dad. It’s a ritual we inadvertently started a few years ago. We love going to the food store together: discussing prices, looking for the best deals, discussing healthy foods, and getting a treat or two along the way.We always have a good time. Later that morning, Mom and I went to my friend’s kindergarten classroom in West Hartford. We were able to see her teach and we enjoyed visiting with her kids. It was nice to be able to leave, though, since it was my day off and I didn’t have to be in a classroom. From there, Mom and I went into Hartford to have lunch with my Auntie. This is another ritual that was inadvertently started a while ago. This time we went to a Japanese restaurant, which was a big deal for my eats-only-five-types-of-meals mother. We started off with Miso soup, a delicious blend of tofu, seaweed, and scallions. We all got the same, lone recognizable menu item: the Chicken Teryaki Lunchbox. It was good: chicken with broccoli, rice, veggie rolls that looked like sushi, shrimp paste wrapped in rice paper, and a little mixed salad. I liked how there were small portions and a large variety. Mom was a trooper, although Auntie and I did get a few items from her plate. Speaking of Auntie, she was the only one who used those chopsticks, go Auntie! After lunch, we got coffee (well, hot chocolate for me) at Dunkin' Donuts and chatted for a while. It was so relaxing, so different from my everyday life!

That night, Nick and Kristina took us to the Dawg House for these delicious hot dogs. There is an ongoing debate in our family as to whether the hot dogs from Capital Lunch are better than the ones from the Dawg House. Not having tasted them side by side, I reserve the right to offer my opinion. Later that evening, Mom and I went over to Ryan’s girlfriend’s house for an impromptu Ladies Night. We had tea and brownies and a late-night pizza snack. Yana’s mom was there, so it started off as the four of us and Kristina joined us a while later. We watched this really sad movie, so sad in fact, that I guess I blocked it out of my mind because I can’t recall the title! We finally left around 12:30am…I’ve never been out that late with my mom before. It’s a very different experience, fun, but different. Different, probably, because everyone is usually at our house so we don’t have to be anywhere late.

Well that’s part 1 of our trip. Part 2 to follow!