Sheep Guarding Llama

Dominica and I slept in until almost nine this morning. By the time that we got up the roads seemed to be getting a lot better and we felt that we should be able to get back to New Jersey without too much hassle. The snow plows were not out last night so driving was perilous but today it would appear to be fine. We ate breakfast from the continental breakfast offerings in the lobby.

It was about ten when we finally got onto the road and we made good time back to Newark. Dominica got ready for work as quickly as she could and was out the door by just after one. So she managed to get a full half day of work in and is hoping to be able to make up the rest of the time throughout the week by working through her lunches which should be an option since they are short-handed this week at her office.

I got ready for work after Dominica left but did work from home in the interim as I had done early this morning and last night from the hotel. I decided that it would be best to just eat and then go into work so as not to waste any additional time once I got there. So I ran over to Food for Life for a Tuna BLT sandwich.

While I was at Food for Life a man came in to order take out that I thought looked very familiar.  We started talking and he sat down at the “bar” (FFL has a diner style breakfast bar that I normally eat at when I am alone) and we talked for a while while we were waiting for our food to be prepared.  It only took me a minute to realize that it was Cory Booker, the Mayor of Newark.  We had a really nice chat before he had to take off.  He is a busy guy.

I put in almost a half day physically in the office.  I came home and Dominica made an organic hamburger helper sort of thing that was pretty good.  Quorn as the protein it was a lasagna sort of product.  But only barely.  But it was pretty tasty.

We watched Angel and relaxed after a lot of driving and rushing around today.  Then it was time for bed.

Yup, it’s my birthday. Thirty-one years old today.

I got up with seven hours of sleep and started in on the packing again. There is just so much to do. Dominica slept in quite a bit today. She has been exhausted all weekend. The morning packing went pretty well.

A little after noon dad came over and picked us up and we went over to the Omega Grill and met Aunt Sharon and Uncle Leo, Sara and Jeremy for my birthday lunch. We had a good time hanging out. We were probably there for close to two hours.

Dad came over and hung out again at the house while the packing continued. We packed until about three thirty. At the “end of the day” our verdict is that the packing seems to be going pretty well. There really isn’t that much left to go and we are feeling very good about the progress. After next weekend we should be in really good shape with almost nothing left to worry about.

We were on the road by four thirty which was about exactly when I had wanted to be. We were a little concerned about the weather but it seemed pretty good as we left. By the time that we reached Elmira we were hitting some heavy snow fall and by the time we were halfway to Binghamton the driving was getting pretty bad and we were starting to get concerned about being able to complete the drive.

As we headed south into the Endless Mountains region the weather rapidly worsened and we needed some travel assistance. We called dad and he checked the radar and saw that Newark was at the center of the storm and that our drive was going to get worse the entire way to there. So we started looking for a hotel near Scranton. Dad found that the Comfort Inn in Clark Summit had Internet access and accepts Boston Terriers so we headed right there. By the time that dad found the hotel we were just two miles away from the exit. It worked out perfectly.

So we pulled into the hotel after eight and settled in for the night. We tried to get dinner from the Bennigans that is right next door but they closed early and wouldn’t make us food for take out even though they hadn’t technically closed yet 🙁 So we ordered our standard Dominos hotel meal and just relaxed in the hotel and watched the Food Network. Dominica called into her office’s snow line and let them know that she might not make it in tomorrow and I emailed into my team to let them know that I would be working from the hotel tomorrow. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see how the storm goes to know whether or not we can continue on to the apartment in Newark or if we have to remain in Scranton for another night as the weather is supposed to be pretty rough tomorrow as well.

For some reason I was awake this morning at a quarter till eight!  That was way too early.  Quite a bit less than five hours of sleep.  I got up and checked email, showered and got started on the packing.  Dad came over at nine and we took the PR5 over to M&R in Geneseo to get the car inspected.  Then it was back to the house to wait for Dominica to get up so that we could all go to breakfast at the Omega Grill.

After breakfast dad came over and hung out at the house most of the day while we packed.  Dominica did some light packing upstairs while I did the big stuff in the basement.  Overall we were pretty happy with the progress of the day.  There is a lot to do but we are working our way through it and the biggest deal is not in the actual packing but that we are taking the time to really go through everything and to make sure that we aren’t packing things that should really be thrown away.  We are throwing away a LOT of stuff.  Andy would be proud.

At six we drove down to Perry to see Nate and Tammy who are having a family party so that everyone in the family can meet their new baby boy Eli.  We ended up hanging out there until about nine.  Then we drove over to dad’s and sat around in the living room in front of the fireplace until it was midnight and we could declare me to officially be 31 years old.  Then it was time to get to bed.

Oreo and I were both very ready for our day home together.  But that doesn’t mean that we got time to relax.  It was a busy work day for me and I barely got any time to do anything but work all day.  I didn’t get a chance to even turn on the PS2 all day.

Dominica got home and it was time for us to pack and leave.  We were on the road pretty late because I got stuck working until eight thirty!  Not what we wanted to have happen on a travel night but what can you do?

We attempted to get dinner at Tandoor on Route 80 Exit 299 but they closed early and we couldn’t get any food there.  So we headed on and grabbed a quick dinner at the Waffle House in Clark Summit, PA.  That ended up saving us a lot of time which was definitely good in the long run.

It was about two thirty in the morning when we finally rolled into Geneseo and it was after three before I was able to finally get to bed.  Tomorrow is packing day.  Oh the fun.

Today was a very busy day for me. Just a ton of stuff going on all day long. I barely ever got a chance to relax at all. It turned out that it was the perfect day for me to come into the office instead of working from home. Busy work from home days are a waste. Not only that but one of my managers from the UK flew in to meet me (and other people) today.

Oreo was super snuggly last night as he has been the last few days. He has his moods. He was surprisingly not too tired this morning and was ready for his last day of daycare this week. Normally his day to spend with me is Thursday but his schedule is so off from this past weekend that I am pretty sure that he thinks that today is Wednesday so he is expecting to be staying home with me tomorrow.

I got into the office and pretty much had to hit the ground running the moment I arrived. It was a crazy busy day.

Chalk this up to “I just don’t understand Japanese culture” but now they have a restaurant that creates an entire “person” made out of food (presumably not made from people but as Soylent Green showed – we could be mistaken) and the people at the table eat them like cannibals. Inside the fake person are fake intestines and bleeding flesh – the whole nine yards. Everything is edible. The weirdest part about this (I guess – I mean really how can you judge relative weirdness at this level) is that they are serving a fake RAW person. I think cannibals typically cook their food. Just a hunch. I haven’t done research.

Today was quite busy all day long.  It passed very quickly as I never had a chance to relax at all.  After work I drove down to South Brunswick with some friends and we out for Indian food and drinks.  We had a really good time.  I am working from home tomorrow and as soon as Dominica gets home we are driving home to Geneseo.