Tuesday Tidbits

Mount Vernon District - Baltimore

I've got plenty more pictures to post from Baltimore but they're going to have to keep for awhile longer - along with those of Fort Adams - as the next couple days are sure to be busy.  Oh heck, the next couple of weeks are sure to be busy but I don't want to panic myself so will stick with the concept of just "the next couple of days" for now.

First and foremost, Jamie has arrived safely back in New England and is happily ensconced over in her brother's house in Rhode Island until after the end of the month.  My fears of her getting lost in the Philadelphia airport were for naught as when she went to check in for her flight in Tampa they asked her if she'd like to arrive in Providence earlier and take a flight through Washington DC instead.  She said that she would and for that, she ended up flying FIRST CLASS into Providence and arrived at 11:24 rather than 2:29.  I guess you can't beat that with a stick!  Luckily her brother was able to get out of work early and meet her at the airport when she arrived.

I'm meeting my good friend Rhonda for our once-a-month luncheon later today and then after that I hope to get over to Rhode Island to visit with Jamie for a bit and take stock of what she did - and didn't - bring up from Florida with her.  My son says she had one suitcase with basically just crap in it so it seems that we are starting over from scratch with her.  Why am I not surprised?  The same thing seemed to happen to Amanda back in October of 2005 if I remember correctly. Grrrr ...

Wednesday will find myself, Amanda, and our friend Paula heading down to New York City to attend a taping of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire followed by yet another attempt to pass the quiz to get into the contestant pool.  Fourth time's charm, maybe?  This time, though, Amanda is also old enough to take the test so maybe she'll have better luck than I and then she could get on the show and make enough to pay for the next three years of college on her own!   A mom can dream, can't she?

I've not decided whether to drive into the city yet or drive part-way and then take the Metro North Railroad the rest of the way in.  Right now I'm leaning towards driving as it would be a lot more economical plus it would give us more time to do a couple other things while we were in Manhattan.  I guess I'll need to make up my mind soon or just play it by ear come Wednesday morning.

Baltimore School for the Arts

This coming Saturday evening after putting in some overtime at work, I'll be heading over to Hope Valley, Rhode Island (which is right down the road from Wyoming, Rhode Island where my son lives) to take some family portraits for one of the ladies I work with along with her son's Senior Class pictures.  Keep your fingers crossed for me that I do a good job!  Following the family photo-shoot the girls and I will be hanging out for a cookout which sounds like fun and means I don't have to worry about what's for dinner!  Before coming back to Connecticut I'll drop Jamie back off at Michael's house as things are going to be real busy around here the following week.

Next week is going to come up and go by probably way too quickly as I poke and prod Amanda to get the rest of her things together for college as she'll be going up for Orientation Weekend on the 29th.  I was a bit concerned whether or not my car was going to be big enough to fit all of the things she needs to take up with her but I need not worry as my good friend and handyman, Andrew, has offered to help us move her things up there being that he has a truck and because "that's what friends are for".  The guy is a true gem, he really is!

Following the probably-not-tearful-but-perhaps-wistful parting at Montserrat I'm going to be heading towards Tewksbury to meet up with my cruise cabin companion and blogging buddy Barb who will be here in the nawth visiting her Sisterdears.   But I won't be doing that before I swing by Lexington/Concord in search of a few pictures near Minute Man Park.  I've got my fingers crossed for good weather which would be a first as every time I've gone up to Montserrat it's been rainy and I've had to skip going to Concord.

Anyhow, that's it for now, I'm not sure how much I'll be around the blogosphere between now and the end of the month but I'll do my best to pop in here and there so I don't get too far behind and lose track of everyone!  With any luck, I can squeeze in another Baltimore post or two also - ya never know!