Our busy kids!

This was one of those marathon weekends we have occasionally.  Daniel had his regional swim meet on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Clare had a volleyball tournament all day Sunday.  

Daniel's meet went well.  He was disappointed with a couple of his events (the 100 butterfly in particular), but overall was pretty satisfied with the results.  He made it to the finals in the 200 butterfly and the 400 IM, which meant we had to stay until the evening.  These were LONG days - getting up at 5 (me) or 5:30 (Daniel) a.m. is NOT fun for anyone, but we do what we have to do.  :)  I must add that Daniel had a cold going into this meet and ended up having to use his inhaler several times throughout. I'm a worried mother for sure.  It amazes me how well he does even with a decrease in lung capacity!  We're so proud of him and the effort he puts into all he does!

Clare's volleyball tournament was filled with drama and excitement.  No joke!  They came in sleepy and flat and lost the first game pretty bad.  They won the second game, but ended up losing the match in the 3rd.  They woke up after that and won the next 2 matches.  We thought we had won our pool and would be in the gold bracket for the playoffs, but the idiot man running the tournament messed up and put us in the silver bracket.  This is pretty serious, as it would mess up the team's regional ranking.  They started the playoff matches anyway and the parents continued to fight for the girls to be put in the correct bracket.  Finally, after the first game of the playoffs, our team was put into the gold bracket.  They ended up winning the tournament!!  Clare was put into the libero position after the 2nd match and played very well. We are sooo proud of how she and the rest of the girls dug deep and played well to the end!  It was an exhausting day!

Happy 16th Birthday, Clare!

We asked Clare what she wanted to do for her BIG 16th birthday - a party? go somewhere?  She said a party made her anxious (she has friends at all the area high schools and it would be difficult to manage the whole situation - too many personalities.)  So, I took her and her BFF, Monica, to D.C.  We had so much fun!

We got to the hotel in the morning and dropped off our bags and the van and headed out on foot.  First, we went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.  What fun!  I never would have guessed it would be such a fun place to go.  Here are a few ton of the pictures we took.  (I couldn't decide on the ones to post!  They're all good!) Notice the girls' facial expressions - priceless!

Crossing the Potomac with George.

Clare meets T.J.

Abe and Monica at Ford's theater.

Clare staring down General Lee at Appomattox with Grant standing watch.

Hanging out with FDR.

Clare and Rosa.

Clare as one of the Kennedy's.

The girls dress up to meet Jackie and Jack.  (Notice the fur coats.  :))

Sharing the dream with Dr. King.

My main man.

Jimmy and me.  (He's my favorite!)

Clare and Hillary hit it off.

Monica and Bill (get it??)

The girls met up with the Obamas.

Monica got used to sitting at the desk in the Oval Office. (One day??)

What do you think Clare would say here?

Angelina and Brad

All the single ladies.

Clare and Brittany.

Singing the National Anthem with Whitney.

Clare gives Tiger some excellent advice.

It's all good with Colbert! (I really wish it had been Jon Stewart instead!!)

When we finished at the wax museum and went back to the hotel, this is what what we found!  How sweet!!

We had a wonderful dinner of sushi and Thai in Georgetown.

 Then we headed down to Georgetown Cupcakes (a.k.a. D.C. Cupcakes on TLC) to stand in line for an hour.  I warned the girls beforehand that the ratings for the cupcakes weren't great (only 3 out of 5 stars), so they shouldn't get their hopes up.  They were too excited and insisted on staying.  We froze our patooties off!!  In the end, they agreed it wasn't worth all the hype.  

 The next day, we went to the mall and shopped.  Those girls have sooo much energy when it comes to buying clothes.  Fortunately, they head for the sales racks first!  They love a deal.  :)  It was a terrific time.

Pet Peeve

I've been working as a travel agent for about 1 1/2 years now and really love it.  It's a great job for someone who loves planning travel (me) and having a lot of flexibility (something I need with a busy household.)  However, there are a couple of things I don't like about this job.  One, people expect me to be at their beck and call 24/7.  I don't mind most of the time, but don't call me on a Friday at 5 p.m. and expect me to figure out how much a trip to Europe will cost by Saturday morning.  This doesn't happen much and most people are very understanding when I say I can't get back to them until Monday because I will be at a swim meet or volleyball tournament all weekend.

My biggest pet peeve, though, is when people (friends, usually) call and ask me to look up a vacation for them - for example, a weeklong trip to the Bahamas.  They give me all the details, budget, etc., and I go at it for a few hours looking up the best itinerary for them.  When I give them my results to my research, they say, "Thanks!  I'll let you know what hubby says!" and I never hear from them again.  Grrrr!  I really do need to get a backbone and charge the $50 research fee every agent I know says I need to charge.  This is not an extra charge, just a fee that will go towards the booking once you book.  It keeps deal searchers away.  I'm not the one to look for the deals (though I am looking for the best bang for your buck!!)  I am the quality searcher.  I will make sure everything is covered for your vacation and be there if anything goes wrong.

Enough of that vent!  :)  I really do love this job!!  I love living vicariously through my clients and can't wait for them to have a great time (though it does stress me out a little when they leave for their trip - I can't help praying everything will go like clockwork!)  I have learned SO MUCH!  You have no idea how much is involved in being an agent!  The biggest plus?  The people who work in this industry.  I love them!  I have met the nicest agents at the conferences and classes I've attended.  They have made the little pet peeves so much more bearable.

Check out this site:  101 Reasons to Use a Travel Agent

I'm back!

So, it's been a few years!  I know I really should have posted more recently, but Facebook had taken over.  I've given up FB for Lent (and possibly for longer depending on how much I miss it!)  Life sure has been crazy the past few years.  I'm not going to even try to summarize it thoroughly.

And here we are.  I'm now a travel agent (a.k.a. independent travel consultant), Tom is busier than ever in his 16th year at YHB, Clare just turned 16 and is busy with school and travel volleyball.  Daniel is 13, almost 14, and loves swimming and soccer.  They really are such different kids.  Clare is reserved and not very affectionate (could be that teenage girl thing.)  And Daniel is bubbly and cuddly.  I think he must be this way because Clare is so NOT this way!  :)

That's it for now.  I think I'll be more focused next post.  Now, I need to finish watching Pride and Prejudice (the Colin Firth version, of course.)