As the boys got ready for school, Splig alternated between being happy that he was going to get prizes from Providence, and sad that he would "miss me badly." Drop-off was predictably filled with snot, tears, and great sadness - but then as I hugged him goodbye one last time, he asked if I could buy him a Darth Vader. "Get me all the little characters of Lego Star Wars and that would be great." He stopped crying as I sort-of nodded, "I'll see..." I tried to be non-committal, but even the glimpse of hope that he could have his Darth Vader made him smile brightly, "OK!" and he ran off to class.

The irony is that a bunch of packages arrived on our doorstep today. One of those packages is probably from the Lego Store, and it indeed has Darth Vader inside. But it is meant for Christmas. Another package is a basketball game that Husband intended to set up on Christmas Eve. But because the package made it perfectly clear what is inside, and because I was not home to hide away the packages as they came, the boys saw the bounty on the porch upon returning home, and saw what was meant to be The Big Gift.

CRUD.

Super-duper pooper-scooper, CRUD.

Meanwhile, I was on a plane. And I was starving. I ordered one of those little snack boxes. It was a good selection for only $5 - trail mix, chicken salad, cheese spread, crackers, dried apricots, and shortbread. But there were two "catches." First off, the box only had a knife. There was no spoon or fork with which to eat the chicken salad. So, I used the knife. Then, the cheese spread was good, but the crackers were itty-bitty, so actually spreading the cheese on them seemed really odd. I vote for a fork and bigger crackers. (The shortbread was really tasty.)

I ordered a mai-tai. The flight attendant gave me a bottle of mix, then asked whether I wanted vodka or rum. She gave me the rum, and started to go away. Um, I need a glass to combine these two bottles. During the second drink round, I ordered a Sprite, but the flight attendant ended up spilling it on my leather jacket rather than pouring it in a glass.

After a brief layover (during which time I was hit on by a random dude) I had a thankfully uneventful flight to my final destination.

Then the car rental place said I wasn't on their list. The gal looked on the computer and said I wasn't due to arrive until 11pm, but that I wasn't on her list.

Hmmm.

Thankfully she fixed it quickly and I got a car. It is cute and cobalt blue.

At the hotel, I learned that the "parking for guests!" touted on the website means "valet parking for $25/night." I still haven't gotten all the details, so will talk to the front desk tomorrow morning to make sure it isn't $25 every single time I park the car. Nonetheless, since I am here for two nights, it appears it will be at least $50 unless I magically find somewhere else to park the car as I explore tomorrow. (I could have paid more per night for a fancier hotel room in a larger hotel that has a regular parking garage.)

CRUD.

Of course I was starving again, and was going to be very sad until I saw the Pizza Pie-er menu in the hotel's "about town" book. Oh, sweet Pizza Pie-er! You were there for me all during my senior year when I alternated amongst the following meals:

- Far East garlic-olive-oil couscous and Sprite

- calamari with pepper rings (and steak, of course) at Bugaboo Creek

- Annie's Mexican mac-n-cheese

- Pizza Pie-er's walnut sauce pizza on whole wheat with asparagus and shrimp on top

Plus there were those daring days at the cafeteria where I'd stick vanilla soft-serve yogurt in a glass, fill it up with orange juice and have a creamsicle. Or chocolate + orange if I was in that sort of mood. And then there were the "take pasta and put a scoop of red sauce and a scoop of alfredo on top to create a nice creamy tomato dish" nights.

It had been twelve years since I had a Pizza Pie-er Pizza. And now I sit, having consumed three delicious slices. (After all, pizza doesn't require a fork...)

Life is Good. (Just don't mess up the house while I'm gone, and don't remind me of the whole Christmas Present Situation. Must. Enjoy. Vacation.)