November 27, 2013: Happy Fifth Birthday Liesl Lee

Five years ago we changed from being a couple into being a family 🙂  Five years seems like such a landmark age.  I just can’t believe that my little Liesl is now five years old.  She is officially school age now.

I went to work normal time today, there was nothing for me to do if I got in early so I decided that a little extra sleep, after being up so late last night, would be ideal.

Work ended up being very short today.  Just after noon we were given the all clear to head home and enjoy the holiday!  That was awesome.  The weather is not great, it has been raining downstate since yesterday around noon, and it has been snowing back home since last night.  Getting most of the drive done in daylight will help a lot.

We were worried about the snow coming down up north and looked into train options but there was nothing good.

I had some work to do so I could not actually leave super early but I was out at two.  I had forgotten to pack my CPAP so had to run back to Peekskill to deal with that.  It was just before three when I pulled out of Peekskill to drive the little Chevy Spark up to Frankfort.

Luckily it was only a light rain coming down in our area, although we had been under flash flood warnings all morning.  It was warm hitting fifty today.

The drive went pretty well.  Traffic wasn’t horrible and the rain wasn’t a problem.

I stopped at the first New York State Thruway rest stop and grabbed some dinner at Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips which I can’t remember the last time that I had that.  We used to have one of those in Batavia and we used to go there a lot when I was about Liesl’s age.  I can’t remember when it closed there but so long ago that I can’t even remember exactly where it was.  It was awesome getting it again and I couldn’t help but think of mom putting vinegar on her fish and chips there.  It was at Arthur Treacher’s that she taught me to do that.  Although I still use tartar sauce and ketchup myself.

As I got farther north the snow started about forty miles south of Albany but it was not coming down too hard.  The real issue was the wind that picked up.  I was having a really hard time controlling the car for much of the drive as I was being blown all over the road.  New York does such an amazing job of keeping the road clear of snow, though, that the Thruway was not a problem.

I didn’t have to deal with snowy roads until I got off at the Herkimer exit and hopped onto 5s.  That was a slow crawl for the last few miles.

It was eight when I pulled into Frankfort, way ahead of our original schedule.  Originally we thought that I would be leaving Peekskill around six thirty not three.  So more than three hours early. Dominica didn’t tell the girls that I was coming early so that I could surprise them.

I got in the door and the birthday girl almost exploded with excitement.  She came running to hug me at the door.

I got to spend several hours with the girls tonight.  We had a nice time.  It’s rough being apart for a few days.

We are celebrating Liesl’s birthday tomorrow rather than today.  But I am very thankful that we did not have to be apart on her birthday and I made it to Frankfort only half an hour later than if I had just been coming home from work on a normal night.

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