What I learned on Vaca

1) Recently I went to the land of my birth for a sabbatical. It was the 2nd time in 2 weeks and I am getting quite proficient at packing for 5 days in just a carry on. One thing I’ve noticed is how much I sleep there. Last time I attributed it to time zone difference, previous lack of sleep and exertion (due to crafting). Without fail, I was able to take 2 hour naps and still get great sleep at night. But this time I know exactly what it is, the lack of oxygen at that high altitude. It must be at 30,000 feet or something because I get really tired. There’s really no oxygen and I don’t know how people live there. Truth accompanied me on this little sabbatical and the same thing happened to her as well. We went for a speed walk and I HAD to slow down. How ridiculous is that? But now I know, so next time I can plan my naps accordingly.

2) I talked to my cousin who was on the Biggest Loser and she confirmed the most joyous new ever. Bob, the blue trainer, is as wonderful as I imagined him to be. She said that he really does love his team members and that is preferences were just as I thought that they would be. I still love him….maybe even more now.

3) My Aunt M is the best crafter I’ve ever seen! She can make anything. She made a teddy bear and knitted booties and made cards. She does it all. Her basement is a crafting palace. Over 3 rooms stuffed for your crafting pleasure. Plus, she is so much fun. She came to see me on the mish, so we have a special bond.

4) Maestro’s is the best gelato place I’ve had in America and I strongly urge anyone in the vicinity to try a sample of its deliciousness. It’s on Center St in P-town. Plus the brother of the owner is uber sweet to look at.

5) Carrying hand guns is apparently common in the land of my birth. I was at dinner with someone (name will not be mentioned because this person has vain aspirations for status on my blog). But a guy walks in with his 2 daughters and his 1 hand gun on his belt. It wasn’t concealed and the guy didn’t look like a cop at all. I sort of freak out, because where I’m from people don’t normally carry guns around like that. So I point this out to Vain Aspiration Friend and Vain Aspiration Friend starts with the whole “there is a right to bear arms” blah blah blah. What was that guy thinking? Vain Aspirations Friend got a great picture of me pretending to take the gun from the guy from behind. He didn’t even know I was there.

6) Shopping isn’t my favorite thing. (I actually knew that before) Truth and Aunt M took me shopping and Truth knows that I have a strong dislike of the shopping, but I wanted to spend time with them. When I get tired and/or hungry during shopping expeditions, I just get really quite because I don’t want to say anything mean. This inhibits my ability to speak up and tell people that I’m done shopping, so they just keep shopping. I get more annoyed and hungry. Thank goodness Truth knows and feeds me. Who knows what could’ve happened. Thank goodness I wasn’t carrying a hand gun either. I still can’t believe that.

7) I have a great family. I got to see so many aunts, uncles, cousins and cousin’s children. Some I haven’t seen in years, some I haven’t ever met. We had a big birthday party for some and it was so much fun. I love them. They’re so nice and inclusive. We shot hoops and watched as my second cousin, a 2 year old, obsessed about cleaning and vacuuming. It was hilarious. I’m really excited to run my next half marathon with my 3 cousins and Truth.

8) I actually like the place of my birth. I used to knock it for a very long time, but every time that I go, I love it more and more. I get to see so much family and so many friends. I have to realize that being on vacation there is completely different than living there; I’d rarely see all my family and friends. But I don’t do snow, so I would have to move every 6 months. I really don’t do snow. Or cold weather for that matter. I’ve never driven in snow. I’ll probably delete this item after proof reading the blog. I can’t have any evidence that I said this.

9) I can handle children. Being childless and having lots of childless friends, I don’t get the opportunity to be around kids. I used to baby-sit all the time, but haven’t done that in years. Being in proximity to the babies was at first a little overwhelming, not knowing what to do, how they would react to strangers. But my innate ability to charm them soon kicked in and they were easily deceived into thinking that I was ok.

10) Why all the kids fly on Delta to the land of my birth; there’s a direct flight instead of having layovers and taking way too long to get there. The 50 buck difference isn’t worth the time wasted. My flight was an hour and a half late coming back. Good thing my homework was sort of done.

11) I love to read. I finished a 700 page book in 2.5 days. Helps that I had a lay over. Reminds me of the days when I would get paid to read and would stay up all night reading just to earn some Slurpy money. But this time it was all for my pleasure. I got a good recommendation to read Atlas Shrugged from my cousin’s husband. Has anyone read this? Let me know what you think. Aunt M has a bumper sticker that says “Who is John Galt?” If you’ve read the book, you’d know. I need to read more non-textbook books in my life. I think I would be happier.

12) Snow is really fascinating to me. I haven’t been around it much and so I’m extremely intrigued at its characteristics. Aunt M lives on the mountain and there was lots of snow. Every time I got a chance, I would make a big snowball and peg Truth. She still can’t move very fast from her slicing and dicing, so she’s an easy target.