The Weekend of Leave

Before I left for work this past Friday, I tore another link off of the chain. Week 53 was done. Only 52 more to go, one year. It seemed like a lot, it is a lot, but time is passing. That's what is important.

After work, I drove to Indiana to see Jason. He had leave this weekend. I knew I would be tired from driving six hours, so I didn't plan on doing much. The weekend was laid-back, easy and quite delightful.

Saturday was shopping day. We went shopping at the outlet mall in Edinburgh. We picked up some clothes at Rue 21 and Ann Taylor Loft, but the best finds were in Le Gourmet Chef. We found this amazing raspberry wasabi dipping mustard (mmm!) and a picnic backpack that was half-price. We also Mapquested a movie theatre and checked out Iron Man.

Sunday was race day...well, not exactly. It was race-qualifying day. It was the last day for racers who wanted to be in the Indy 500. We got to the track in the morning. It was colder than we thought it would be, but we trekked on. Earplugs - check, sunscreen - check, umbrella hat - check. Yeah, you know you're jealous. Ha! We knew we were cool, but we didn't fully appreciate the greatness of the umbrella hats until we heard a loud, excited whisper, "Mommy! Where did they get those hats?!"

As it turns out, Jason and I aren't much for racing. To pass the time, we walked around and observed all the military displays. It was Armed Forces Day. Jason showed off his athleticism by doing 11 (and a half) pull-ups. He beat the Marine that was sitting there. If you get a chance, you should ask him about it...Anyway, we continued to a grassy hill where I joined other children in rolling down one side of it. Then we ate steak at Longhorn.

Monday we went to the zoo. Indianapolis has a neat zoo! We saw a dolphin show inside an ampitheatre, a giant walrus who stood on its tail, and penguins who bray like donkeys. AND I pet a shark! How cool is that?! We also fed the ducks and lemurs my leftover breadstick. Shh! Don't tell the zookeeper! Later we went to see the new Narnia movie...after we stopped for ice cream, of course.

After we checked out Tuesday, we spent the rest of the morning getting lost. Jason Mapquested the directions to a Barnes and Noble so we could pick up a set of the Narnia books. We stayed on one road that changed names three times and discovered that even though the addresses are on the same stretch of road, if there's a change in county, more than likely your numbering system will not make sense. We finally made it after much discussion and silence. Take home message: if you really love us, remember that those navigation systems are great for every gift-giving occasion. Mandie-Mandie does a good job, but she can only do so much!

Surprisingly, the good-bye wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I expected to be crying for at least part of the trip back, but the tears dried soon after I left Camp Atterbury. I travelled all the way back to Missouri with Flat Jason riding shotgun and Real Jason checking in with me to make sure I wasn't getting too sleepy.