Join Me in Snarkville

Now, I’m late on the special, tear-jerking, overly sweet Christmas post, sue me. You see, I’ve been a wee bit quiet lately — because I’ve been away!!! I’ve been hesitant to mention my travel plans for Christmas, lest it not be totally secret — much like a covert operation to have the President in Iraq for a photo-op.

You see it began with the plane tickets, IN AUGUST!! Hello, I kept my huge trap shut since August. This should be written down and circled in RED as the accomplishment of the year. Well, I searched; the Queen Mum searched; and we found the bestest tickets ever — two solid weeks away from home for Duke and me. Prince was unsure of his plans, so his tickets were purchased much later. So, much like the other members of royal families, we did not travel together.

Duke and I returned today, Prince arrived a whole 6 hours before us (at a different airport — did I mention it was a completely covert operation?) So, while I sat on a plane with sleeping boy feet in my lap, I came up with my short list of what happiness is based on my last two weeks.

Happiness is…

• A son, at age three, is a better traveler than most adults. He helps at the security lines, takes off his shoes, waits his turn with out complaint, and charmed all security folks he crossed. In a way, I guess I should say he is a better traveler than even me.
• Arriving after 14 billion hours on a plane, having nothing more than a bagel, a snack box ($4 thankyouverymuch) and a few drinks, to a Queen Mum with a cart to take my heavy load and a Queen Dad with a lunch box over flowing with goodies from bananas to apricots to bottles of water — mind you I was a little disappointed as a popped a dried apricot into my mouth and was shocked to find out it wasn’t the shrimp I was expecting.
• Hearing the sheer joy in my son’s voice when he finds his “Lightning ‘Queen” sheets on his bed.
• Enjoying some of the best dinners in a long time, even the ones we were “snacking” both because of the food AND the company.
• Learning I make really bad Cosmos, but a heck of a good Cranberry and Vodka!
• Sharing how good my little traveler is with the Queen Mum as we took a special sidetrip — just the three of us.
• First ‘carasoap’ rides.
• A fresh pot of coffee every morning, even a second one when I came back with Prince off his red-eye flight.
• Being flexible with gifts because Duke was too tired after Church on Christmas Eve.
• SPRINKLES. (Don’t ask, let’s just leave it as a sugar high.)
• Learning my father’s very special, very good spagetti sauce recipe. I was allowed to write it down, but not to re-publish — it is so secret even HE wears a blindfold. Actually, we had a blast mixing, browning, tasting around his stove.
• Having Duke not let me down by showing off his basic knowledge of left/right/most of his letters/ and counting abilities (well, if you are ok with them still being out of order.
• Getting the great news that a sling got thrown away the day after Christmas.
• Teaching Duke to blow out candles and enjoying his joy as he pointed out all the candles he blew out.
• Singing lulabyes, even after being told he prefers the Queen Mum’s to mine.
• Having two MUCH needed tenderloin sandwiches to eat on the plane ride home (plus a special container of Marshmellows for Duke).
• Stopping in the terminal to “call Daddy” and having Duke scream at the top of his lungs “Daddy, Daddy, Where are you??” (Yep, that floored most of those around us.)
• And finally, unpacking a suitcase and not having a single piece of laundry to do.