Until we meet again...

Only in the agony of parting do
we look into the depths of love.
~George Eliot

Agony is a good word.
I think it's the only word to describe how I felt as I watched
my parents rental car pull away from our driveway.

From the moment I saw my Mother from across the
airport, one thing was entirely clear: The countdown clock had started.
Every moment we spent together meant we were only one moment
closer to being separated. I was acutely aware of each second ticking away.

Friday night as my head finally hit the pillow, I fell apart.

I am terrible at good-byes.
It's not something I'm proud of, and the story of my life is littered with
uncomfortable endings simply because I don't have the character of strength
to look someone in the eye and say the words "Good-Bye."

On Saturday morning I put on (what I hope was) a brave face and it lasted all of
5 minutes. As soon as the luggage hit the trunk, and the kids said good-bye,
heartbreak took it's cold grip on my heart and the waterworks began.

It was almost unbearable walking my parents to their car but I smiled through it.
But watching them physically leave. Watching them drive away to the airport, removing themselves from us.

It was torturous.
It was agony.
It was Despair.

But it was also worth it.
I'd cry on ocean of tears for every
minute I get to have my Parents to myself.

Yes, it was so worth it.
I love you both so very much!

I.H.O.P

What more can be said?
My Dad took us all to I.H.O.P for a late lunch!

I love me some I.H.O.P.
More specifically, I love their Butter Pecan Syrup.
It's so delish!

No one said it, but we all knew this meal on Friday night marked the beginning of the end. My parents were leaving on Sunday morning, and we knew Saturday would be spent packing.

This was the last "Hoorah".

Mimi and Di playing a game of tic-tac-toe

Scrabble Champion of the World.

We wasted no time breaking out the scrabble board as soon as Mom came into town.
The first night we played (pictured) we had everything an Odom needs to play a decent game of ye old alphabet tiles:
Candy, popcorn, candy, drinks, candy and candy.

And it was on like Donkey Kong.




The first round we played with kids on teams, and I'm
pretty sure Dom and Di abandoned ship a few minutes in.
Brooke held out like a champ, and Mom walked away the winner.

Now, here's where it gets good.
I beat Mom THREE times.
(If I *MUST* tell the truth, she won a couple of times too but not enough claim victory!)

And, in all fairness, there were no land slide victories for either of us.
It always came down to who finished first, and the final tallies.

So to my fellow siblings: Be warned. I have a reputation to uphold now,
and I'll be honing my skills until we meet again.

My Birthday!

What better way to celebrate my 29th birthday
anniversary (also known as my 34th birthday) than with my parents??

Ed always spoils me rotten, but nothing and I mean NOTHING
compares to a birthday with your parents when you live 2000 miles apart.

I really didn't want to do anything special.
We'd already had our fun-tastic day in Pigeon Forge and I was
perfectly content to do nothing but sit at home and play scrabble!

The folks wouldn't take no for an answer and we ended up eating
out at my favorite buffet! The restuarant was practically empty, and we
were totally at our leisure! Mom and Dad SPOILED me with gifts.
Theatre gift certificates, books, clothing gift certificates AND a brand new
popcorn popper! (We blew mine up a few nights earlier)

But the real gift was just having them with us.
The gift of grandparents snuggling their grandbabies.
The gift of an extra set of hands.
The gift of conversation over the scrabble board.
The gift of the kids minding their p's and q's for the grandparents sake.

It was a wonderful birthday and
I am SO lucky to be loved as much as I am.


My Birthday roses from Ed with Papa and Di snuggling in the background.

The Titanic Museum & The Tramway to my Death

Tuesday, we spent the entire day in the Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg area.

We'd originally planned to go on Monday,
but the weather was not cooperating and
the outing was pushed back a day.

Our first stop was at the Titanic Museum.
I honestly wasn't sure what to expect, some of the "attractions" in the
Pigeon Forge / Sevierville area can be a little hokey.
We once went on an "indoor roller coaster ride" in downtown Gatlinburg thatwas nothing more than a roller coaster car in front a big screen TV
that moved slightly from side to side.
So, despite my trepidation, we decided it was worth a visit.

Driving up, the first thing you think is "This is HUGE".
I remember when they built it, and it looks bigger now than it did
whilst under construction.



Once we arrived, we cued up outside, and were given our boarding passes, as well as our boarding time. The line wasn't long at all, and I think we waited about 10 minutes to be shown in.

Speaking of the boarding passes, this is actually when I knew, I was going to love the museum. Each boarding pass has the Titanic information on the front, but on the reverse you're given the information of a real passenger that was aboard Titanic the day it made it into the history books.

My passenger's name was Marian Thayer.
"A rich socialite from Pennsylvania traveling in the prestigious first class".
Brooke also had a first class passenger, Dominick had a 3rd class passenger,
and Dad was given one of the crew members.
(I can't remember who Mom and Di had)

When it's time to board, you're given a brief intro (they also want your money at this point) and let loose into the museum. It's a self guided walking tour, and you're given the option to purchase the audio guide for an additional $10.

I can't go into all of the details of the museum,
but it's impressive and absolutely
entertaining.

Some of the highlights for me were:
- The scale models of the ship.
- The recreation of the rooms in 3rd class.
- The handwritten letters and personal effects.
- And the iceberg room, where you can dip your hands into water chilled to 28 degrees.

At the end of the tour, in the memorial room you can look up the passenger on your boarding pass and find out whether they were one of the few who survived.
Most were not so lucky.


It took us a little over 2 hours to do the walk through,
and I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it!
If you're ever in the area ... GO.

After the Museum, we had a tre' gourmet lunch at Taco Bell!
(We really know how to do it up here in TN!)

With our bellies filled, we made the beautiful drive from
Pigeon Forge into Gatlinburg.

I've always wanted to take the Aerial Tramway from Gatlinburg proper
to the little ski attraction called Ober Gatlinburg.
(You might remember Ober Gatlinburg from THIS post).
But, Ed is absolutely terrified resistant to heights, so we've never had the
opportunity to try it. Well, we have now!!! We waited in line for about 20 mintues and then they packed us in like sardines and UP we went.
I have never, ever thought of myself as being afraid of heights, but each time we passed a tower (holding up the cables) and the gondola dipped in space.... My stomach took on it's own gravitational pull and I gripped Dominick's shirt as though that might in some small way help if we came crashing down to our death's.



At the top, I'd remembered Ober Gatlinburg as being a bit more lively, and I'll blame the horrid ski conditions this winter for the lack luster scene that awaited us. Most of the shops looked closed or uninteresting, but we watched the ice skaters, looked around outside for a few minutes before deciding to take the tram back down. (Plus, Dad was starting to come down with a cold and I could tell he was ready for a rest).


Brooke and Mimi by the ice skating rink.

Here are a few shots from the gondola on the way down:




Once down, we wandered a bit, but decided we'd best head back to Pigeon Forge before the traffic got too bad. We needn't have worried. The traffic was already bad.
A rock slide earlier in the day had traffic stopped. Not crawling, not inching... STOPPED. So for 45 mintues we sat in the Suburban with the windows down (the weather was amazing) and talked and laughed and that was that.

It was an absolutely perfect day.

That's Craft-tastic!

There is magic that happens when Grandparents come to visit.

And it's called: Crafts.

I too do crafts with my kids.
And it usually ends with one of them slinging paint
in the others face, someone breaking the others popsicle sticks
and almost always someone gluing their fingers together. (Usually me)

But when MIMIs do crafts, it's happy-magic-peaceful-time.
You can practically hear Snow White singing off in the distance as the
kids do EXACTLY as Mimi instructs.
(This is when I ran to my room and read 6 chapters of a book I've been neglecting)

Loose Lips Sink Ships

For months I've been keeping a secret.

Which is kind of a miracle.

Secrets haven't always been my forte'.
As a child, if I knew it.. I told it.
As a teenager, if I was told it, I squealed it.
So, thank the Gods, that I've finally learned to keep these big lips shut!

I'm glad I've mastered some self control (at least in the secret keeping department) because the million white lies I've told to make this happen were SO worth it!!

So what was this secret of epic proportions??

THE GRANDPARENTS WERE COMING!

You need to keep in mind it's been over 2 years since my kids have
had the pleasure of basking in their grandparents glow. It was a BIG deal.

Big enough that I knew I'd need a decoy visitor.
How else would I explain the painting, cleaning, redecorating and
sleepless nights that happen when important company comes to call?

So I used an old friend. (Totally unbeknownst to her by the way!)
I chose someone who is important to me, but would make absolutely
no difference to the kids. And it worked!!

For weeks leading up to my parents arrival,
I blamed everything that needed being done on my Girlfriend.
Painting the guestroom and basement: Blame it on her.
Cleaning every square inch of everything: Blame it on her.
Making them wash extra hard behind the ears: Blame it on her.

I think maybe they hated her for the extra labor I forced on them.
_______

Despite months of preparation, white lies, and clandestine phone calls, I hadn't really given too much thought to the big reveal. But I knew we'd come up with something!

After picking up my Mom in Knoxville, we grabbed dinner and planned our big surprise. We agreed that we'd drive back to Morristown and surprise Brooke at her ballet class and then take the Littles by storm at the house.
That plan was kaboshed when Ed called to say that Brooke's class had been cancelled.

Thinking quick, Mom and I came up with a new plan!
I'm not saying I stuck with that plan, because as soon as we put the plan into effect,
I forgot it! Which makes what happened next kind of funny.

Ed arrived a few minutes ahead of us, and made sure the kids were inside.
Mom and I pulled up moments later and put our brilliant, albeit entirely forgettable, plan into action.

Here is what I was supposed to do: I was supposed to go inside the house and act as though my friends flight had been delayed and I'd be going back to Knoxville later to pick her up. And then I was supposed to say "Oh, and by the way, why is Dad selling my scooter?" To which the kids would jump up in protest and say "WHAT??" I'd then explain that a woman had just pulled up to the house to check it out, and by the way, she's in the garage right now trying to buy it! The kids and I love my scooter, and I KNEW this would be alarming enough to make them run to garage to prevent Ed from selling it and then VOILA... MIMI!!!

But I was REALLY excited (The kind of excited where you want to bite down on something to keep it all in!) and the bonds keeping my uber secret were strained to the max, so I blundered it a teeny bit.

Here's how it went down:
Kids: "Hi Mom, where's your friend?"
Me : SHE DIDN'T SHOW UP!! AND GUESS WHAT?
I BOUGHT A TON OF GROCERIES AND NOW YOU MUST
GET OUT THERE AND HELP ME UNLOAD THEM!

The kids, in their PJ's, stumbled out into the garage to find a
stranger talking to their Dad. And they walked RIGHT past her.
If it hadn't been for my idiotic grin and the fact that I was practically
jumping out of my skin, I'm not sure the kids would have ever caught on.
First, Diana sucked in her breath, then Dominick looked from me to her to me to her and finally Brooke walked up to her and tapped her on the back and practically hugged the life out of her.

AND VOILA... MIMI!

It was perfect.
But it would have been more perfect if I'd remembered to grab the camera.

STAY TUNED FOR POSTS ABOUT THE REST OF THEIR VISIT!!!