2009 So Far So Good

I started this year with no anticipation of travel. NO real plans and only the vague “let’s try to go see the #1kid” possibility. I was in VA/DC for New Year’s Eve but it was an uneventful “daughter duty” trip and I headed home on NY’s day.

The following week the Delightful DDD was doing her After Iraq Tour and I was lucky to be one of her stops. We giggled like girls and enjoyed the visit.

February was week one of vacation so the man and I headed to FLA. Flew into MIA and a leisurely drive down to Key West. Two nights on Islamorada and a visit to a very old family friend. Neither of us had been there before. Good food, wandering in town and on beach.

Planning a trip for the second part of the week but Kid2 decided to come here for a visit. If we are lucky he will stop by to see us. We lure him with dinners out.

March brings a short visit to SFO lugging 3 bags of computer stuff to the kid. Lunch with Loupgarou on the beach. Always fun!

March also brings an ill wind of second badly broken leg for Malaikah the cat and my very first EVER sick day with the flu. Man and I see Les Misérables here in H Town. Nowhere near as good as the LON production, but another notch in his Less Miserable belt.

May Another Official Vacation Week and I make quick plans for a NC Road Trip! Flew into GSO and drove to Winston-Salem. CW Eldridge of tattooarchives.com works his magic again, then Dinner in Durham with a cousin who shared many of my childhood summers. Off to Fayetteville and dinners with DDD and several military museums. I find I can drive on my own with man as navigator.

Then the BIG TRIP to Seoul Korea. I laugh when I think of how many people actually asked me if I was going to NORTH or SOUTH Korea. Well, technically, I did visit both as we walked around the table into the North Korean side of the room at Panmunjom. This was my first trip to Asia. ( I really don’t count crossing the bridge in Istanbul) The sights and sounds and food are incredible and I loved every moment of it, including the one day of pouring rain.

June had Kid2 coming here for …was it 2 months? Did he come and go? We hardly see him while he is here so I tend to forget. :-\ I stayed put and actually earned a decent pay check.

July DDD pops in to be my date for RANCID. We are center, 3^rd from the rail. I survive the pit! *go me*. We both have a departure flight at 7PM Sunday and I head back to VA/DC for “duty” and VNV Nation show at the 9:30 Club.

August A 2 day trip to NC turns into a week as we deal with family issues. We do eat very well, having German, Jamaican, Chinese and good ole American BBQ. Dinner with friends from HS.

September Three day trip to SFO. Lunch with a friend from grade school, dinners with Kid2 and Loupgarou. Trip to the SF zoo. The tigers are lazy and the lion is watching us. Green Day’s American Idiot at the Berkeley Rep Theatre is fantastic! We meet Tony Vincent on the BART.

I started buying AFI tickets, dreading that I might not have the time off. Pittsburgh, Boston, and Houston already in my hands. I still have one more official week of vacation and the probability that my work hours will be devoured by others seeking to make more $$$.

October Well, I ended up taking the whole month off! First trip to PIT. Hook up with 3 other friends, and Menace, DDD, and I Crash Love at the Marge's home. Fantastic show, JP and DH come out after. I spent Monday trying to get home. New ink for me.

The following weekend to NC again with the man. We spend Monday trying to get home. Do i sense a pattern here?

BOS: Hang with sister, dinner with good friend, AFI. ON the side rail turns out to be THE BEST place to view. Home again on a Tuesday w/o problems.

CHI: Packing ... more later. Yes. another show. Solo this time.

Life is good. Or as good as it can be. :-)

Everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. Dr Pangloss