The Otto Train

When we were packing up and ready to come to Florida, I priced out several options.
1. Shipping Ed's Wrangler down by itself so we could drive in the Liberty together as a family.
2. Sending Ed and one of his MD buddies in the Wrangler for a road trip to Florida. Fly home so we could drive down as a family.
3. Ship both cars and fly down.

And then someone told me about the Auto Train. I'm not really sure why I'd never heard of it before. There are only 2 stations - Lorton, Virginia (just south of D.C.) and Sanford, Florida (just north of Orlando). It runs every day on the same exact schedule. It leaves the station at 4pm and arrives at the other one at 9:30am. Both northbound and southbound have the same schedule.

We got a sleeper car with a private bathroom, loaded both Jeeps onto the train, and the 3 of us cost about $900. When I priced the other options, it was going to cost more since there is no way I could drive the entire 17 hours in one stretch. And I really don't think Isabelle would have hung in there that long either. So with gas, food, lodging, a drive would have cost us a little more than $1,000, not to mention Ed & I would be in separate cars which I didn't like.

Thus, our first trip on the "Otto Train" as Izzi calls it. And let me tell you, it is a VERY fun way to get to Florida. The sleeper car is super tiny, there is not a lot of space to move around so I suggest not bringing too much stuff onto the train. Here was our schedule for our trip:

12 NOON - arrive and drop car off in front, hang out in the station reading, coloring, playing with other kids (it was raining the day we were there so we couldn't go outside but there is a decent playground for the kids, picnic tables, etc.). The shop in the station has basic snacks like you would find at the news stands in an airport (pre-made sandwiches, lunchables, granola/nuts, etc.). But you can bring your own lunch and eat it in the station or outside.

2:30 PM - Board the train. Each car has an attendant. Ours was Chris. He told us our schedule and asked if he should turn our beds down during dinner (the sleeper cars have sofa setup during the day and they convert into beds for night but the attendant has to do that switchover).

3:00 PM - Wine & Cheese welcoming party in the dining car. We hung out for about 90 minutes since the tables were spacious and other guests were hanging out too. We got complimentary wine for an hour and then bought a beer for the last 30 minutes.

4:30 PM - Went back to our private car because the 5pm dinner guests were about to arrive. We chose the 7pm Dinner Seating instead (you choose when you checkin). We got our bags situated, PJs out of our suitcase, and listened to music (the cars have radios with a few stations but we also had our iPod). When you get a sleeper car, you are allowed to bring your own food and booze if you want so Ed & I cracked open a cold beer while Izzi colored and we just chatted about our new adventure.

7:00 PM - Dinner time (included in price of tickets). I got a pasta dish and Ed chose the beef. Both were surprisingly pretty tasty. More complimentary wine so by now we had quite a buzz going on!

8:30 PM - We lingered at Dinner a bit and headed back to our sleeper car around 8:30. We got into PJs and Izzi watched a movie while Ed and I talked about what we needed to do once we got to Florida.

10:30 PM - We were all zonked out a little after 10. I only slept a few hours, woke up around 1am and couldn't fall back to sleep. Ed tossed and turned most of the night too. We had an announcement at 6am that the train was arriving early due to light traffic on the tracks overnight. We pulled into the station at 8 and it took about 90 minutes to get all the cars off the train so we pulled out of there right about 9:30 AM as scheduled.

It was a carefree, worry-free way to travel. Every minute was an adventure and Izzi just thought it was the coolest thing. She slept like a log and we had to actually wake her up when we arrived. She was so surprised to wake up and find out we 'were in Florida already!'.

A Whole New World

That whole “let’s put the house on the market and see what happens” thing? That turned into a frenetic two-month sprint of going 60mph for every waking moment. The last week might have been running at 90mph with no sleeping moments. It’s been fast and furious and we’re trying to relax enough to regain some energy but also gain some energy to keep progressing. Because we still have a LOT to do.

We settled on our house Friday, April 20th at 3pm. Everything at settlement went great, there were no surprises and everyone was really nice. Our little bungalow in the Selby-on-the-Bay neighborhood was sold to an adorable young couple with two small sons. I hope they have as much fun in the old ‘hood as we did for our 8 years there.

On Friday night, we said goodbye to our Edgewater friends. On Saturday, Izzi and Jen went to an Egan girls lunch and then all of us headed out to Mom’s house for dinner and a sleepover. We had breakfast with Dad on Sunday morning and then hit the road to the Auto Train on Sunday (more on that in a future post). The train left at 4pm and we pulled into the Sanford, Florida station around 7:30am the next morning.

We aren’t official Florida residents yet, but we will be soon. And then the fun begins in earnest. Stay tuned…

Adorable Creature of Habit

We’re moving. To Florida we go. Iz came home from school yesterday, her bedroom completely empty except for a pile of play clothes. I asked her to go get changed and she did. I went back there and her uniform shoes were in one corner where her shoe corner used to be. And she put her dirty clothes in the other corner where her hamper once was. What an adorable creature of habit she is!

Everything Old is New Again

We recently went out to Mom's house to clean out my stuff from the basement and my old bedroom. Found my old Barbie's. I love that my 4yo is playing with my old Barbies and clothing circa late 1970s. She thinks the disco outfits are quite groovy. The handmade clothes from my Mom-Mom still make me smile. Wish I could post a picture but too busy packing up the house. Maybe later!

Froot is Spelled F-R-U-I-T

I’m one of those weirdoes who really enjoys going to the grocery store. It’s kind of my haven. I go during the day most times. If I don’t have time during the day but really need to get stuff on a weekday, I’ll go after Ed gets home. My favorite time of all is early on a weekend morning when I can really take my time, buy a cup of coffee, read labels, browse options, search for new products, try the samples, ask questions. The point is, I enjoy going to the food store ALONE (sans children, husband, etc.).

This week, I had a tight schedule so I ended up having to go to the food store after I picked Isabelle up from school. I bribed her with a “fancy juice” when we got there and told her she could pick out a “special treat”. The special treat is ANYTHING she wants from the Produce section (as long as it doesn’t come in a package, like the chocolate dip for strawberries or the caramel dip for apples). She was having such a hard time deciding that I let her get 4 things – strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, and oranges. Nice choices, kid!

Then we had to meander into the scary inner aisles of the store for a few items. Cereal was one of them. Since I normally don’t have the 4-year-old with me at the grocery store, I was completely unprepared to navigate the cereal aisle with her. It was never so apparent; the lethal tricks the big Marketing companies play on our unsuspecting children.

The colors! The cartoon characters! The rivers of chocolate gooiness!

She looked like a gambling addict thrown onto the Vegas strip. Eyes wide. Pupils dilated. Fingers pointing at the end of shaky hands. I was appalled and frankly, scared for our kids who are victims to that nonsense. We left with a box of Cheerios and some shredded wheat. I wish I could get all cereal out of my house for good. But for now, at least I can still convince her to make semi-healthy choices compared to most of the sugary, salty, fatty junk in that aisle.

I’m looking forward to showing Isabelle my Vegas next weekend when the Farmer’s Market opens near our house.

The colors! The farm characters! The rivers of local honey!

Our Little Addict

Isabelle had surgery on Tuesday and it was a doozie. Very long story short, we always knew she would need to have her tonsils removed one day. The ENT told us in November that it was happening now. That was scheduled for March of this year so we could get through the holidays.

Fast forward to February when Isabelle had her regular dental check-up only to find out she had 4 cavities. We went to a pediatric dentist (thanks Erin for the referral!) who took x-rays and did more exploring, only to find out that Isabelle got hosed with Ed's dental heredity. Her teeth are like swiss cheese, they have deep grooves, air pockets, poor enamel, and something called ghost lesions. Basically she needed major dental surgery to protect her little baby teeth so they didn't fall out of her mouth and rot the roots before her adult teeth decided to show up.

So we told the Dentist about her ENT surgery and we found out they could do everything at once and it would actually make the dental portion easier. Otherwise, they would have had to do the work over 4 separate visits. Yowza!

So the 2 doctors coordinated schedules and we had the double surgery at the main hospital. It was scheduled at FIVE hours which had me freaked but it only took about 3 hours. Big happy surprise for us.

They sent us home with pain killers and an anti-nausea medicine to counteract the pain meds. The pain med was hydrocodone-acetaminophen. It has an addiction possibility. Of course, that's for long term usage. Not for our little girl who would only be on a short term dose.

Today is Friday, just 3 days after surgery. She has not been complaining of any pain so when she woke up this morning, I thought I'd wait to see how long she could go before she needed some pain meds. She had her breakfast and was totally fine. And then, in one moment of complete insanity, she turned into something of another world. She had a complete meltdown, crying about a broken toy we had to throw out a few weeks ago, about how much she missed her Daddy (who was just home with her for 2 days prior but had gone to work this day), how much she missed her (insert FAMILY-MEMBER here), how she had to take a nap because she couldn't stand up anymore.

I started to get a little scared because she was acting completely manic. She was lying down in her bedroom, still nursing the post-crying heavy-breathing phenomenon that little kids get. I quickly googled the drug name and found that if if quit too suddenly, it can absolutely cause withdrawal symptoms. Yet, it had only been THREE DAYS?!?! The w/d stuff was for the long-term users. But everything in my child this morning was complete withdrawal and it was scary.

I hate giving my kid drugs, I don't even like taking them myself. And now seeing THIS I really hated this stupid medication. But, I also was not going to risk her going crazy and getting hurt (she's still only 3-days post tonsillectomy and you cannot let the kids get too rambunctious b/c you don't want them to blow a scab and bleed, etc.). So for now, we're going to wean her off slowly. She was on a 1-teaspoon dose every 4 hours. Now she's getting 3/4 tsp every 12 hours. On Monday we'll go back to 1/2 teaspoon for a few days. And then hopefully we'll have our sweet little girl back.

Maybe we got a sneak peek at the teenage years. Not sure, but if they are anything like this morning, I don't think I'll survive them.

What the F?

It’s been a slow start this year. I started to blog for a Ravens fan site and so my January was busy with that. Then I went into depression mode post-playoff-loss and then we flew to Tampa on February 10th to have a nice long visit with Mom-Mom SuSu and Pop-Pop Bill. We’re still here until the 27th, 2.5 weeks escaping winter (even if it’s been a mild one thus far, we’re still missing a little wintry slop this weekend from what I hear).

Right before we left Maryland, my laptop crashed. Literally. I was putting it down on the table and it slipped at the last second, bumped the table and got physical damage in the hard drive. I sat in our corporate IT warehouse for 2 hours watching them try to recover my data with no luck. I had lost everything. And I hadn’t done a backup in a really long time (lesson learned!!!). I had started a few blog posts for WWOI that were mid-stream and now they are gone, so I have a blank slate for 2012 and will have to collect fresh ideas as they occur.

This story has already gained some traction since we’ve been telling it since we got here. My dad drove us to the airport last Friday night and on our way up 97, Isabelle was yammering in the backseat as always. Sometimes she’s talking to us, sometimes to her make-believe peeps, and sometimes she’s just uttering non-sense words. She thinks non-sense words are the best. It doesn’t require a reply from us, so I’m kind of a fan too.

So on our drive to the airport, it was non-sense that won out. Until she busted out a loud “Oh FAWK it”! Ummmm, what? My Dad and I started to laugh, sitting in the front seat. Ed explained very sternly that she is NOT to use that word, it’s a bad word, etc. She told Ed very matter-of-factly, “but, Mommy says it”. Yes, yes I do but if people would learn how the F to drive, I wouldn’t need to say the F’n word!!!

Our flight was uneventful, no cuss words busted out during the bumpy flight. When we arrived in Tampa, it was late, about 11:30pm. So the airport was a ghost town – lights dimmed, stores closed, restaurants dark, seats empty. As we walk from the tunnel into the airport, Isabelle stops. She puts her hands on her hips and looks around. She gets a serious demeanor and says, “Guys? What the HELL is going on here?”

I went into a brisk jog just to get enough ahead of her that she wouldn’t hear me busting out laughing. Ed took care of the discipline, again. Since we all now know, that she probably learned that one from Mommy too.