Monday, July 24, 2006

“I don’t put pickles on my tater tots.” Or Things I Learned On My Trip to Williamsburg

We had this plan. Ann and Andy promised us dinner from a prize that Jessica won during Ann and Andy'’s move, so we decided we wanted Sonic. We could have chosen just about anywhere, but we chose Sonic. Jessica and I paid for the gas to Williamsburg and Ann and Andy paid for the food. Great plan! Little did I know what an educational experience this little trek would be.

We were cruising along I-95 south in the HOV lanes for a bit and then in the regular lanes when the HOV ended. Then we hit some traffic...oh for the love...all we want is some Sonic. We did notice this lovely place on the side of the road called Aunt Sarah'’s House of Pancakes and Steaks, to which acceptable directions to are, "Over there across the road somewhere." Please see Jessica's blog for a complete run down of that little adventure.



At one point, we pulled out the atlas in Ann'’s car to see if there was an alternate route from I-64 to Williamsburg without taking I-64. The atlas exploded in little bits and pieces all over Jessica, so she cleaned up. Oh and I learned that Andy is a rather versatile guy who can wear many hats at one time...literally. We love you, Andy, for putting up with three women all day. Admit it...you had fun, my friend.


We finally made it to Sonic. We pulled up to the menu where we could hardly contain ourselves. Ann wrote down what we wanted so Andy could order for us. He got to his order and asked for a #2 with tater tots but no pickles if you put them on there. To which Carl, the Williamsburg Sonic order taker, responded, "I don'’t put pickles on my tater tots."” It's a good thing I didn'’t already have my cherry limeade because I think it would have come out my nose. Here we are enjoying our Sonic trip #1 (there were 3 with 4 orders).

After Sonic trip #1, we walked across the parking lot to the Wal-Mart Supercenter...oh how I miss those places. Cheap groceries and you don'’t have to go to fifteen different stores. We discovered all kinds of things in Wal-Mart that we'd forgotten they had and we couldn'’t get anymore. At some point, we decided that a pit stop in the Wal-Mart ladies room would be a good idea, but Jessica and I still had our limeades in our hands, so I went in and she waited outside. Then I waited outside while she went in. To pass the time, I sat down on the bench across from the Layaway Department counter and read the Layaway guidelines. Guideline #4: Food items may not be placed on layaway. Good to know.

Jessica found two DVDs to buy in the 2 for $11 bin, so we went to the checkouts. This was unlike any other Wal-Mart Supercenter I'’ve been to. There were actually cash registers open with no waiting. Does Williamsburg have that low of a population or do they not know they have a Supercenter? I mean it was Saturday people! It was fantastic if you ask me, though. I think this is when we first thought about moving to Williamsburg...or at least cared enough to say it out loud. That is until we met the cashier. Whitney Houston'’s version of "“I Will Always Love You"” was playing on the speaker system in the store while Jessica was checking out. We made a comment about it, and the cashier informed us that this was her favorite song. She knows Dolly Parton was first, but she prefers the Whitney Houston version. So, if you happen to frequent the Williamsburg Wal-Mart Supercenter, be sure to check out near the cigarette counter and talk to the lady about her favorite song.

From Wal-Mart we went back to Sonic for trip and order #2 and ordered dessert for our lunch. I ordered a blended root beer float. The order was taking quite a bit of time, so Andy pushed the button again to ask what was taking so long. They asked again if we wanted the float regular or blended, to which we said blended. They said they had to re-make it so that'’s what was taking so long. Apparently the transition between float and blended float is not as simple as it might seem. We took our desserts and hopped back in the car and headed to the outlet mall. We got a little turned around because Ms. I Will Always Love You sent us to the ghetto outlet mall. But on the way, we did learn that senior citizens can take karate, as we passed an Antique Mall that offered karate classes.

Back on the right track, we headed to the Prime Outlet Mall where Jessica nearly had a coronary just reading all the shoe and clothing store names. We made a plan to meet back at the car at 6pm. It was 3:15 at that point. Jessica and I started at one end and walked around the entire thing and made it back to the car at 6:02pm. We headed back to Sonic for trip #3 and orders #3 and #4. Jessica and I had coney dogs and cherry limeades, but when I was ordering I asked for Jessica's to be a route 64 instead of a route 44. Unfortunately, Sonic maxs out at 44. Bummer. Our sweet car hop, Klara delivered our dinner and Jessica asked her for some mints. Klara looked at her kind of weird, but went to get some anyway. Apparently no one asks for the mints in Williamsburg so we got a whole handful. Thanks, Klara. For dessert, we ordered Sonic blasts and then headed back to Wal-Mart for our final trip.

We bought two coolers and filled them with various amounts of fantastic, only at Wal-Mart Supercenter food (since you can'’t put it on layaway) and ice, dropped them in the car, and headed home with full tummies from eating too much, cheeks that hurt from smiling too much, and heads that hurt from laughing too much. The fun didn'’t end there, though.

On the way home, I learned one more thing: you really can get a pink Barbie convertible.










We never set foot in Colonial Williamsburg or took a spin on any Busch Gardens rides, but my first trip to Williamsburg was educational, historic, adventurous, and thrilling.

Monday, July 10, 2006

On A Clear Day You Can See Forever

This morning when I woke up, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and in the distance you could hear the sounds of the Monday Night Football theme playing (ok so it was just a commercial on ESPN). :)
  • 3 weeks until Colts Training Camp Starts
  • 26 days until Troy Aikman is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
  • 1 month until the Colts' 1st preseason game (on my birthday)
  • 76 days until the Colts vs the Jaguars in Indianapolis (viewed from my and Jessica's seats on the 11th row of the end zone)

So bring on the stormy weather because in my world today is bright and sunny with a light ever so clear at the end of the tunnel.

P.S. For those of you who watched the race yesterday: bump drafting, scraping, whatever you wanna call it...rubbin' is always racin'...not cheating. Get over it, and Go 24!!

Thursday, July 6, 2006

Update on Baby Joey -- Keep Praying

Chris and I brought Joseph home yesterday -- very fitting that it was Independence Day! He seemed to tolerate his first round of chemotherapy well. He had to have a blood transfusion to increase his red blood cells, but the doctors said that we could expect that to happen during the course of treatment. Unfortunately, his increased blood supply/energy kicked in right around 11pm when I was on hospital duty...needless to say, I was not a happy camper at 1am when he was still full of energy!

Joseph is on a 42 week treatment schedule. The one thing Chris and I are both learning throughout this entire process is that we cannot plan anything. However, for the most part, his treatment schedule will be as follows -- he received a big round of treatment this past Friday, meaning that he received three chemo drugs which required him to stay in the hospital for a few days. He will receive a smaller dose of chemo this Friday and next Friday, and then he will receive a very large chemo treatment the following Friday which will require us to be in the hospital for at least five to six days. For the most part, we can plan on being in the hospital for at least eight days each month. We are discussing possible surgery in about 12 weeks, and then he will continue chemo after that. However, so much of this is dependent on how Joseph tolerates the drugs. So far, he has done great, so we just hope and pray that that will continue.

Chris and I are starting to feel like honorary nurses with the shots that we provide him and the flushing of his lines, so I think we will be asking for hospital scrubs for Christmas!! For the most part, we will not be straying far from home throughout the next 11 months. We are able to take Joseph outside and to a few places, but since there will be times that he will be completely unable to fight infection, we really do have to limit where we go and who we expose him to.

At this point, we really need the continued prayers and support. Chris and I are both truly grateful for the kind words, encouraging messages and tremendous generosity we have received thus far. We try to stay optimistic about this entire process, and it makes it much easier knowing we have such an unbelievable support system. Joseph is truly a fighter, so if he can muster up the strength to fight this, we can to.

Once again, thank you for everything. We will continue to keep you all posted with any information. Chris is working on setting up a website that will provide regular updates.

Much love,
Meghan