AAA

I am so thankful. To my husband. He let me escape.

Amtrak ran a deal if you traveled in January. $16 each way from TUK to PDX. “Can this count as your gift to me for Christmas?” I ask. A 34-hour getaway.

I am so thankful. For the sunrise that greeted me through the train window.

I sat in sublime peace and quiet for 4 solid hours. No metal detectors, no baggage claim, no lines, no seat assignments, no seatbelts, no bags of peanuts, no cabin pressure, and you can connect to the internet and make all the phone calls you want. I enjoyed a show or two on my kindle fire that I won from Fred Meyer. I never win anything!

The scenery was breathtaking and the company, or lack of, was delightful.

I had a cooler full of food at my feet since I am watching my calorie intake these days, and indulged whenever I wanted to. I didn’t have to stow it, put it in the overhead compartment or put my tray up at any time.

I am so thankful. For the sunshine that accompanied me throughout the afternoon.

Once I arrived, my SIL, Emily was there to pick me up and we stopped at a little café called the Flying Elephant Deli. Portland is known for their biking and vegan cuisine and I was delighted to find a vegan wrap with my name written all over it. Emily, Abby (her daughter) and I dined, chased pigeons and took in the vast beauty of 1 square block of downtown Portland.

I am so thankful. For my mother in law Martha.

She has funny little ways. (One of which is her choice of jewelry storage. Martha travels for her job and is always packing or unpacking her suitcase. One thing she does well is pack her jewelry in neat and tidy little gallon sized Ziploc bags.)

Martha keeps her closet in “survive the apocalypse” condition and so half the reason I traveled down was to organize it a bit. It’s a disorder of mine to thrive on organization. I spent 3 hours shifting, tossing, clearing, consolidating, decluttering, grouping, folding, sorting, and treasure hunting in her closet. Now she will know where her ½ ton of jewelry is in case of an emergency. I think I found 14 Ziploc bags total and dumped them all into a big box for her to look through later. That woman is going to look good well into the eternities.

I am so thankful. For newborn babies.

They are my medicine for what ails me.

I spent the evening with my sister Katelyn and her family, including her 5-week old daughter Shelby. Not mine, utter joy at that. Kate and I stayed up way past a mother’s bed time and then finally went to bed at 10pm because we are party animals like that. I streamed a movie, not realizing it was rated R and a TV show that had a sexual scene I didn’t care for and after turning off both, I decided going to sleep was probably the best entertainment anyway. Like I said, party animal!

I am so thankful. For a healthy body.

Slept in through the giggling of a niece and nephew and got up just in time to go for a light jog in the frigid air with Kate. I am a total woos. We probably went 1.2 miles before my lungs froze over and I cried “Uncle.”

Had myself my usual brown rice cereal with peanut butter and a hot shower before heading back to my MIL’s house.

I am so thankful. For sweets.

Emily and I raced off to the Portland Chocolate Fest only to head 15 minutes in the wrong direction. After finding the convention center, parking 3 blocks away and towing a 2-year old in a stroller, we arrived with 50 minutes until I had to leave for Union Station. Boo. We waited in line for tickets, we waited in line to get in and we waited in line to sample. I tried to sample, we fought the crowds with the stroller, I bought Chocolate Covered Bacon Toffee, Garlic Salt Caramels, Egg Nog Fudge and Chocolate Covered Salted Caramels.

We had to go. Time would be tight. Em waited in line for the elevator while I ran as fast as my little flats would carry me through the convention center, across the 6-lane highway, up the hill 3 blocks and through the parking garage. Picked up Em and peeled out. 25 minutes until train departure.

I am so thankful. For luck.

As we head downtown, a mere 3 miles away, we follow the iphone directions down one-way streets, over a bridge and around Union Station. We come to a fork in the road but there is no time to know which way to go. We go right. Wrong choice. We go back over the bridge right back to where we started. 15 minutes til train departure.

We head downtown again. Over the bridge again. Down all the one-ways. Take the LEFT fork in the road and it takes us to the wrong side of Union Station. We can’t get through the iron fence. 10 minutes to train departure. Commence hyperventilation.

We circle around. Drive parallel to Union Station. Emily recognizes the route as the way she came in to pick me up the day before. We hit EVERY RED LIGHT on every block. 6 minutes til departure. We get closer, I start flipping out. I have to calm myself by saying it’s not the end of the world. There is another train. But I don’t want to disappoint Rob by not getting home in time.

I don’t want to disappoint Olivia because I am supposed to come home to celebrate her 7^th birthday.

We pull up, I do an army roll out of the passenger door and grab my 4 bags out of the trunk. (Too many for a 34 hour trip.) I almost forget to close the trunk as I yell “thanks” and go rocketing into the station. 2 minutes til departure.

I am so thankful. For the small size of Union Station.

For no lines.

For no metal detectors.

For no baggage claim.

For no computers to scan tickets, check availability, assign seats.

For no escalators, terminals, departure boards, confusing gates.

I run up to the counter, throw my printed ticket at them and ask what to do. They pull out of a very efficient, high-tech green piece of cardstock and write TUK on it. That’s it. I run. My bags probably weigh 50 pounds all together and I run like a cross-country sprinter with a bear on my heels.

(Come to think of it, I still don’t know what Union Station looks like. It’s a blur.)

Good: only one train so there’s no confusion. Bad: you board all the way at the VERY end. It am pretty sure it is about 2.5 miles of train cars I run past and I can hear the train hissing and puffing. I leave a trail of sweat and steam behind me as I step onto the steps of the last car.

I am so thankful. For the relief that comes after stress.

I find the nearest seat, throw myself onto the table and the doors close behind me. The train begins to lurch. I can’t tell you the weight that lifted off my shoulders at that instant. I MADE IT!! I did a little song in an opera voice and dance in my head and then melted to a slump as other people stepped over my stuff in the isle. The conductor came by and told me I was in the wrong seat. “I just ran from Eugene to get her, I am sweating, I give blood to dying children in Africa and I have no idea where my seat it yet. Can I have a minute?”

“Take all the time you need, Miss.”

As I went to find my seat, it was taken and it was a bit of an awkward confrontation but I said my apologies, he moved, I sat down and then stared at my reflection mixed with speeding trees in the window.

I am so thankful. For adult conversation.

A bit later, I grabbed my garbanzo bean salad, orange and lettuce cups and headed off to the dining car. I found the only seat left (I didn’t know about the huge dining car until later) and asked the man sitting there if I could join him. Paul turned out to be very nice. We laughed, enjoyed each others’ stories and wished each other good day. He had 6 kids, 15 grandchildren, 2 franchises and since I was such a nice person, put me into his will for part of his fortune. Well, most of that is true but it was so nice to eat, chat and enjoy a very pleasant stress free train ride home.

I am so so so thankful. For my little family.

As I neared the Seattle area, I texted back and forth with my husband and couldn’t wait to see them on the platform. As I pull up, my mini vacation slowly coasts to a close but the second I see the beaming faces of my 6 most favorite people in the whole world, I realize I am abundantly blessed and grateful for more than I realize.

I exit the train into the arms of my 2-year old daughter who looks at me like I have been gone years and a baby Hazy, with big blue eyes, that I have missed more than words. Hugs, kisses, smiles, peals of laughter and I realize that is my favorite part of the whole weekend.

I am so thankful. For Olivia.

She turned 7 on the day I left and I wasn't there for her. She was very forgiving and I pretty much got off scott free with just an angel food cake and some strawberries. She is a perfect fit for what I lack in personality.

Adventures like these are good for the soul.

36? What a lame birthday number. What can you celebrate when you turn 36? That you are pushin' 40? You are half way to 72? You can have a midlife crisis now? It's just plain worth skipping over. Right to 39 because frankly, 37 & 38 aren't going to be much better.

So, Rob's very so-not-on-top-of-things wife, put together the minimum she could muster up for his birthday week.

As you may remember, the dear threw a birthday party for me by inviting 33 of my friends to bring over cupcakes. It was a huge success in my book and I am pretty sure I still have a few of those cupcakes on my thighs to this day. I had a stroke of genius in the dentist's office when I considered doing something similar. I wrote down a list of his closest friends in our ward and emailed them to bring a candy bar to church along with a "happy birthday." When I counted up the names...you guessed it...36 on the dot! It was an omen that this was to be!!

Church started out quiet enough but half way through, his face was red, I was smiling from ear to ear and there was an accusatory finger pointed in my direction. Candy bar after candy bar arrived with a pat on the back and a real awakening as to how blessed we are with our Maple Valley friend family. He ended up with 19 different chocolate reminders that he was getting further and further from youth. (the smallest one wrapped in pink which was from Jon B is not pictured)

And then there is Adrian...Adrian likes to be the funny man with his gift of a nutrition bar:

With the day off from work on his actual birthday, we headed up to Crystal Mt Ski Resort in the beautiful snow just for scenery's sake.

After a bacon themed dinner, the traditional family gift time began. Rob will never hide the fact that he loves the quantity. He is always so stoked to see how many gifts I come up with when it really isn't out of the norm for me. He loves being spoiled.