Travel Tales

This will be the last post for 10 days or so.

Tomorrow I am doing a "trial" day at a nearby doctor's office for a position as a "front desk person." I'm not sure what a front desk person does, but I'll find out soon enough. It'll be nice, I think. I'll still have "patient contact" but it will be limited to the phone and behind a desk and it fully meets my wish list of "nots." In other words, I will NOT be in a position to get puked on. I will NOT get blood on my shoes. I will NOT be in a place where I will get hit, slapped, scratched, punched, bitten or otherwise mauled. And, since this doctor specializes in Rehab Medicine, I will NOT be routinely exposed to things like meningitis, chicken pox, SARS, Bird Flu or any other exotic disease of the week. Nothing will be on fire, nothing will be underground, no one will shoot at me, no one will pull a knife on me, there will be no cars about to fall on my face, nothing will be underwater, nothing will be 40 feet above ground, no one will die in my arms, no baby will try to come out to greet me feet first in someone's dirty bathroom, and (mundane, I know, but) best of all - nothing will drag me out of bed on the weekend, on a holiday or in the middle of the night!!!! As an added bonus, as if all those things were not enough, this doctor actually offers health insurance after 6 months, vacation time, bonus money, AND a pension plan to add to my already vested previous employment....AND (I love this) I only have to work 3 eight hour days and 2 three hour days in order to collect all this good stuff. What's not to love?

And then, on Wednesday morning, we are off to Oregon for a whole honking week!!! My middle son is getting married on Saturday. YAY!!! He and his soon-to-be-wife have been planning this wedding for over a year now. All by themselves, since both of their families live far far away. It's a big job for two young kids and I'm extremely proud of both of them. I can't wait to see them. I've not set eyes on them for over 2 years now and I can't tell you how much I miss them. Dan and I will get there late Wed. night and then my youngest son, his girlfriend, my oldest son and his wife will all arrive together late Thursday evening. I have not seen any of them in months, either, so it'll be a grand reunion as well as a grand wedding. My mother, unfortunately, is old and ill and cannot make it but I've promised lots of pictures and a full retelling of the events. My ex-husband has not been invited, but they've asked Dan to stand in as family and we are both extremely touched by the thought and the gesture. It's not always easy to blend families, especially when part of the "family" is not legally hitched. Some people are funny about things like that--fortunately my children do not seem to be judgmental. Maybe that's a fringe benefit I didn't plan on when I tried raising them to be openminded and accepting of people and their differences. It worked, and I benefited. YAY accidental parenting bonuses!!!

So that's my story....and I'm sticking to it.

You all have a great week and I'll post pictures when I return.