Dan casually mentioned that
he had a business trip coming up and he really wanted me to try to go with
him. I pretty much freaked out and
was like, “NO!” I haven’t flown in
11 years, since before 9/11. Dan
and I have only left our kids one night in 13 years. (A U2 Concert!) Dan was
understanding and said it was OK but I felt ill. I was so convicted and I felt like God said to me that He
was trying to bless me and I was making it really hard! LOL! I love being with Dan more than anyone and loved the idea of
three full days of being together.
The thought that threw me over the edge was how to manage, out of town,
the schedule of my children while we were away. We are blessed with a lot of family to help who were more
than willing. I just happen to be
a mom that loves being at my kid’s stuff.
The first thing that I shed
quite a good amount of tears about was that fact that I would miss Bonnie’s
first YouthQuake Live performance.
I was involved at the beginning with YQL and dreamed of the day one of
my children could join! Bonnie had
a lead role too! I was up in the
night, so upset about the situation and trying to figure out whether to go or
not. When I asked my kids they
were like, “Go Mom!” Bonnie said
very maturely that I would see her in many YQL’s for years to come! I was
missing Bubba’s first home game for football too and of course he caught a pass
for a touchdown. I finally had the
idea to go to the YQL dress rehearsal and at least see Bonnie in action! She was awesome. I could have never done what she did at
13 years old! I was super proud! I was wondering how she knew how to do
the psycho mom role so well though! :) My sister Vickki was in charge of
getting Bonnie to the show and I knew she would hawk over her and that all
would be well!
My mom offered to come stay
with the kids and the DOG! I knew
she really loved me because her and KC aren’t the best of friends! They have stand-offs on a regular basis.
Their disdain for each other is mutual.
My boys don’t do sleepovers well and it just made it easier for her to
stay at my house. I felt really
bad about that.
Our flight left at 7 AM on
Friday morning so mom offered to come o, at the crack of dawn, while the kids
slept. The preparation to leave almost killed me. My brain went on overdrive thinking through every detail of
all of the kid’s schedule. I typed
out a list by the hour. They go to school at different times, get picked up at different
times, Annie has swimming, Bubba football, Bonnie YQL. Maggie and Eddie were the only ones
that made it easy! I bought nice
bones for the dog so mom could bribe her.
I had to like REALLY clean the house too! I kept thinking that if I died in a crash, I didn’t want
people to see my hidden junk and judge me after my death for being such a
sorry housewife!
We got to the airport and I
had my first TSA experience. Dan said it was a really short line. It was freaky seeing all these people
somewhat undressing with belts, shoes and such and then redressing. It felt a little too intimate. We got a Starbucks and right when we
got to the gate, they started boarding.
The flight was on time and very smooth. We flew on JetBlue, which has
individual TV’s at every seat. It
was a very pleasant trip. We
caught a cab and headed to our hotel.
It was a wild ride. I sat
in the middle and stared out the front so that I wouldn’t barf in the cab! The hotel was beautiful with a very
ornate lobby. For some reason, they
upgraded us to suite and the closet in the hotel was bigger than my
kitchen! It was hotter than I
thought so I changed clothes and put on my Dad’s Boston Red Sox hat.
When Bubba was a little boy,
we went to the mountain cabin where we have gone to my whole life. My Dad loved the Red Sox and dreamed of
going to Fenway Park to see a game.
At the cabin, my Dad had left a Red Sox hat there many years ago. Bubba started wearing it and my mom
told him he could have it and take it home! Bubba has been a Red Sox fan for
years now! When I put it on, my
eyes filled with tears, wishing once again that my Dad was with us, having this
experience visiting Boston, the home of his beloved Sox!
We walked to the mall and
ate and then went to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts! It was a longer walk than we thought. Poor Dan only brought flip-flops! After we left the museum, we decided to
walk back a different way. Low and
behold, I looked up and was on Fenway road. I texted the picture to Bubba! We walked along this beautiful road and I was amazed at the
beautiful architecture and all the beautiful window boxes full of flowers! It was just so peaceful and
wonderful! I glanced through some
trees and couldn’t believe my eyes. I saw Fenway Park in the distance! Once again, tears sprung to my eyes not
believing that I was really there! Thank God for Siri! I am like indebted to her after this
trip! She guided us and found
stuff from restaurants to Walgreens to historical sites! We would map ourselves and
walk and follow the little dot on my phone to our destination!
The first night we met with
all of Dan’s business associates.
We jumped in another cab and headed to our restaurant. Dan was cracking up in the back seat at
me. I sat up front and pretty much
knew the whole cab drivers life story in our 7-minute ride! We came swinging around the corner and
there was Fenway! I quickly
snapped some pictures and was so excited! Bubba told me to wear one of his
jerseys and Dan and I for once, actually matched! I was in heaven.
We ate dinner and headed into the park when the skies opened with sideways rain and delayed
the game. It was kind of nice. We
got to walk around on the concourses and look at memorabilia. I bought Bubba a 100-year,
Fenway baseball and waited until the rainstorm passed. I met a cute couple on their honeymoon
and Dan’s co-workers were laughing at me taking pictures of them! One co-worker told me I was sweet!
Finally, the rain stopped
and the staff went to work getting ready for the game! They rolled back the
tarp over the field, brought in sand for the puddles and swept the field! It was so very exciting! I took videos and pictures and kept
texting Bubba! I felt a little guilty being there instead of him! Dan promised me he would plan a trip
one day with Bubba! I bought some
peanuts and had fun just throwing the shells on the ground! The Red Sox didn’t play that great but
it was just incredible to see a player hit a ball over the green monster! It was getting late and we were loosing
but we stayed until the whole park belted out “Take Me Out to the Ballgame!”
and all swayed together! It was perfect (besides the score!) 
The next day I slept until
9:30 in my pitch-black hotel room.
It was awesome! Dan hopped up and quickly ran across the street and got
me coffee and breakfast! I sat in
my bed and relaxed and it was pretty close to heaven! We headed out and Dan suggested we go to the Boston Library
across the street. We were blown
away at the beauty! It was like a
palace inside! We also went into
Trinity Church!
We got on a Duck Tour! It was the coolest idea! In WW II, they
invented amphibious vehicles called DUKW. They were boats that you could
drive up on land that were pivotal in the D-Day invasion during the War. They use those vehicles for tours of
the city and of the Harbah (harbor!)
We had a crazy tour guy that made it so fun! It was quite amazing when our tour guide drove right down into the Charles River. That night Dan’s business associates insisted on taking us
out for Lobstah! (Lobster)
The next day, we headed out and got presents for the kids. I somewhat had shut down mentally by then. I couldn’t even pick out t-shirts. Dan finally made some choices. It had been so many years where I wasn’t racking my brain to keep up our family schedule that to just be free of responsibility was like an out of body experience! I could hardly order a meal too! I think that trip did more for me mentally than I will ever know! I think it was healthy to only be responsible for myself. I felt like a real person again and not just a mom. My brain was mush and was having a hard time making decisions.
We took a cab to Faneuil Hall,
which is a Historical Market with all kinds of stores and vendors. We saw the site of the Boston Massacre
and walked along the Harbor to the Tea Party site! We stopped at the Granary Cemetery where many American heroes are
buried like Paul Revere and Benjamin Franklin. We went in the most beautiful park, Boston Common and sat and
enjoyed a pretzel and people watched. It was the first park in America with so much beautiful flowers and people of all ages enjoying the beautiful sunny day! We ate a great meal and headed to the airport for our flight home!
I am very thankful for our family who managed the Wog Tribe and made this experience possible! Even KC got a good report (except for her tearing up a diaper and the trash incident) I am so grateful that I went on this trip and didn’t miss this time with Dan and this time to rest my mind! It was so peaceful, it shocked me! I didn’t’ hustle, rush, hurry! I just wondered around a great, historic city with my best friend of 20 years!
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