Back from Marysia's

We arrived in once piece! Madeline and I got home from our visit with Marysia late Saturday afternoon. Despite Mama-Dirtyfoot's cold and Madeline's recovery set-back, we really did have a great time and actually considered extending our trip another day (for more shopping, of course). But, even though it was a wonderful time (Marysia and her family are always so hospitable) it also felt good to be home, knowing that David, Madeline and I would have a full family day on Sunday.

For those of you that have followed my blog and the ongoing saga of "last tag" with a few goofy trinkets from my mom's house, you will know that it was inevitable that at least one of the trinkets would get passed back. I was completely at an advantage because Marysia was stuck with the two larger items (the ceramic clown bank and the plastic stuffed kitty). I only had the anchor in my possession and knew that I could easily hide that anywhere. In fact, even before my arrival at Marysia's I decided where I would plant that anchor.

A day or so before I left Marysia's I planted the anchor inside a ceramic pitcher that is in her guest room (see photo above). I giggled as I took a picture of the pitcher. In fact, my original plan was to pre-write a blog entry and have it timed to post to my blog while I was mid-flight and instructing Marysia to look in the pitcher. However, I never got around to creating that post.

After four nights at Marysia's it took me a while to gather up all Madeline's toys and pack for our flight. I double checked to make sure that the anchor wasn't discovered and that it was still in the pitcher where I planted it - and it was. I got about 95% packed and lunch was ready (Mike made up some chicken wings on the grill.....yummy!) Once we ate lunch, crunch time was on and it was a mad dash to get the rest of the things gathered up, packed and ready to go. Marysia was kind enough to pack up my mini lunch box sized cooler (I brought yummy fresh kielbasa with me. You can't get anything like it anywhere other than Buffalo. But it worked out that I had the mini-cooler because one of Madeline's medicines needed to be refrigerated). And as I brought things downstairs, my brother-in-law, Mike, and my nieces, Lauren and Julie, were kind enough to load our suitcases into their van. Like I said it was crunch-time to get to the airport for our flight.

The first part of our one-hour flight was smooth however the last part, before landing, was extremely bumpy....so much so that the flight attendant was on her knees going down the isle, cleaning up the cabin before landing.Yep, I was not thrilled with that. Although Madeline thought it was a fun amusement park ride!

We got home, and even though I had my own car at the airport, David met us there to greet us and to help me with the luggage. That was awesome. He was also very proud to show off a "While You Were Out" home improvement that he did to Madeline's room. It looks great but I forgot to take a picture of it before Madeline went to bed so I'll post more information on that tomorrow.

Immediately, I started unpacking to show David my shopping purchases. I was happy to see that my mini-cooler which I placed in my suitcase after Marysia packed it did not leak all over every thing. So, I immediately unpacked the cooler. And what did I find at the bottom?....the plastic stuffed kitty! Thanks for being so "helpful" Marysia!!!

I wasn't even done unpacking but I *had to* call Marysia to call her a jerk. Of course she thought it was pretty funny. In response, my come back was basically......"Oh yeah, you have the anchor in the pitcher". To which her response was, "No, I don't". That's right, her girls waited until everything was out of the room to steal the anchor and plant it in one of the bags that they were "so kind" to be helping with.

UGH!!!!! I so totally did NOT see that coming. In fact, I was confident that I had the upper hand. Good thing I didn't write and pre-post that gloating blog entry! So, a recap for those keeping track....I am stuck with the anchor and the kitty while Marysia is stuck still stuck with the ceramic clown. Don't worry, Maryisa, they WILL find their way back to you!