August 04, 2003 - 9:34 a.m.

Glitches

This weekend was the weekend of glitches. And obnoxious people. Luckily there were some very fun bits in between that kept us from having a bad time.

My travel to Baltimore went quite uneventfully until I landed in Baltimore. It took 40 minutes from the time I walked off the plane to get my bag. Ugh. I couldn't stay too aggravated, though, since Bafley drove up just as I walked out to the curb. We drove to the hotel where Sam and I would be staying and hung out there for a bit. It was good to catch up in person and great to see Jamie, who is growing really quickly and showing some serious smarts. :)

Meanwhile Sam was first stuck in traffic and then stuck following an inaccurate set of mapquest directions which got him closer to Annapolis than Baltimore, poor guy. So Barbara and I decided to go to dinner at the nearby Applebee's. Finally Baf needed to get home, so I watched the Red Sox lose to the Orioles on TV while waiting for Sam to arrive.

Saturday was a much better day. We drove into downtown Baltimore and found a cheap parking lot right next to the ballpark. We left the car there and headed to the Inner Harbor. We spent the day wandering the shopping areas and piers and visiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The Aquarium visit was probably the best part of the day. We got to see the cool seahorse exhibit, the dolphin show, and feeding time for the rays, some sharks, and the three flippered sea turtle named Calypso. We even managed to find a dress for me to wear to the wedding in two weeks. Yay!

We eagerly headed to the baseball game in the evening. Baltimore took an early lead, but the Sox came back with a home run to take the lead 2-1. Alas, the lead did not last. The Orioles got a series of cheap hits and things just fell apart from there. The final score was 11-2 - so embarrassing. But Camden Yards is a nice ballpark, and I can't expect the Red Sox to win every game I go to, so I am glad we went anwyay.

On Sunday, the first glitch occurred when I got out of the shower and could not get the hot water spigot to turn off. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that the drain stayed plugged unless you held down the little lever in the tub. We finally had to call the front desk, and they eventually sent maintenance people out to turn the water off, but not before the entire room was steamy enough from all the hot water to set the smoke alarm off!

After that, we set off hoping to find a good place to have brunch, preferably a buffet. We struck out on that quest despite asking for recommendations at two separate hotels. Plus, we had a parking space stolen from right beneath our noses. Sam had pulled ahead of the space and put the car in reverse when another car pulled up behind us and parked in the spot! Luckily we found another space just a block further on. Still very aggravating.

After a while spent wandering the streets looking for a brunch buffet, we were both getting tired, hungry, and cranky. Finally I suggested just going to the Cheesecake Factory, since I knew they serve brunch items and it was nearby. There was a huge wait for tables, but we were able to get seated in the bar area immediately. We ordered the strawberry french toast napoleon and a sort of farmer's scramble with spinach, chicken sausage, mushrooms, and onions and shared them. The food was delicious, but the people at the neighboring table were obnoxious. They wanted the waitress' s complete attention, and every time she came to the table they had a new request or complaint. The poor waitress was amazingly patient with them.

By then it was time to head back to the car so Sam could drive me to the airport. First I had to wait in a long line at security as they wanded everyone and looked into every bag. There was a woman throwing a fit that she had to wait like the rest of us and trying to cut ahead in line and convince the security personnel that she should be exempt from the screenings so she could go meet her child. My plane was a bit late getting to the gate, so we were a bit late boarding. As we were getting ready to taxi to the runway it began to pour outside. We got about halfway to the runway before air traffic control shut down pretty much the entire corridor up the east coast due to some nasty thunderstorms. The crew shut down the engines and we sat in the plane for more than an hour and a half. During this time, some moron decided to smike a cigarette in the plane's bathroom. Worse yet, he initially refused to tell the flight attendant where he had put the cigarette butt! Finally we took off, and some lucky passengers got dripped on from all the condensation that had built up from the airconditioning in the plane as we sat on the tarmac. I did get to see a lovely rainbow from the air, though. I was very glad to arrive in Boston, and even more glad that I hadn't checked any bags this time, so I could head home right away.

Despite all the problems and mix-ups and the disastrous ball game, I had a good time. Sam and I are alike in that we hardly ever let things like that get us down for long. So we made the most of the weekend. And it was, as always, just nice to be able to talk in person, to hug, and cuddle, and laugh together. And we will get to see each other again in less than two weeks!

This morning, after dragging myself out of bed, I got the kids off for their first day of camp. It is B's first time to be in a full-day program of any sort, so we are all a bit concerned about how he'll do. All three were pretty excited, so I hope the thunderstorm that moved through a bit ago didn't dampen their spirits. :) For now I am catching up on email and diaries and may take a little nap. Then I plan to go to the gym and possibly the pool if the weather clears up. It is so weird to have most of the day to do with as I please! I don't even have to pick the kids up until 3:45! And by the time I get them home, feed them a snack, and bathe them the day will be pretty much over. This is the life! :)

today's project: filling the hours while the kids are at camp

musing about: whether the rain will clear away so I can have some pool time today

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