My Day Off in New Bern

My plan was to leave at 10:00 a.m. this morning. Like any other weekday morning, I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to get Alex off to school. While he was getting ready, I started baking lemon cake for a 1st anniversary cake that will be picked up this afternoon. I also had to make some mixed berry filling so that I could make mixed berry mousse for the filling of this cake. It is now a blur as to how I spent my time, because I don't remember just frittering away the time, but I finished icing and decorating the cake at around 9:00 a.m. I thought I ought to clean the kitchen, since I got it messy with my early morning baking. The bottom line, I was driving out of the driveway at 10:01 a.m. NOT BAD!!

I called Elizabeth to tell her that I was on my way. I was at the end of Town Hall Drive at Morrisville-Carpenter when I realized that I left my camera at home. I turned around and went back for it. It cost me a total of 6 minutes. I still can't figure out how it took that long. I was just not that far from home!

Then, there was a train. Or so I thought. We waited and waited. Then, a "train track cleaner" (no kidding) came riding down the rails. It took f-o-r-e-v-e-r! It was now 10:13 a.m. and I was really on my way.

The first hour of the trip was a battle to keep my eyes open. I was so incredibly sleepy. I turned on NPR, as that has helped in the past. But, it was that older lady's show, Diane Rehm, who should have "induces somnolance" on her resume under the category Special Skills. So, I resorted to slapping my cheeks and singing out loud with the radio (Bohemian Rhapsody always a favorite). As a tribute to Amelia, I even sang "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree".

I made it to Goldsboro in 1 hour and 5 minutes. That is a record for me. My next goal was to get to Kinston. I figured I would become more alert if I stopped for gasoline (I saw it in Smithfield as low as $2.63/gallon, but it was on the other side of the road. I ended up paying $2.67.) Then, I stopped for something to eat, figuring that would wake me up too. I got a Big Mac. Bad idea. I maybe have one once every two years. It's just not as good as I remember. But the french fries were awesome!

I got to Elizabeth's house before the clock struck 12:30 p.m. Which wasn't bad considering my earlier delay and my two stops for gasoline and food.

Amelia and Elizabeth were playing in the back yard. So that is where my fun began. Amelia looked so grown up when I first saw her. She looked so tall. Maybe it was what she was wearing, too. She is talking so much....although, there are many nonsense syllables. But whereas she used to just say "gammie", now she has added the "r" and says "grammie". That is just so delightful!

Here is a little video of my first few minutes here.

Amelia and I also played with the big ball. But, I mistakenly took the video of that with the camera turned vertically. So, I won't publish it until I can download the free progam that allows me to rotate the avi file 90 degrees.

It is a known fact that Amelia does not work with you on still camera shots. I am not even sure she knows that she is subverting the photo attempts. I get a cute shot in the frame and then at the exact moment I "click", she turns away.

...to be continued...