Common Mom

I’m finally getting around to writing about the 6-day trip I got to take with 5 members of my Mom’s family - My Mom, Grandma, and 3 aunts. It was SO much fun - and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Grandma is, afterall, 85 - although she doesn’t look or act a day over 70

Our trip started November 1st . . . after a long evening of trick or treating and trying to convince the kids they should go to bed rather than eat candy, I finally finished my packing and hopped in to bed . . . only to discover that I was WAY too excited to actually sleep. It had been a long time since I’d been anywhere without the kids. At precisely 3:30 a.m. my alarm made me jump out of bed with my heart beating a gazillion mph. A quick shower, a quick kiss for the hubby, and I was off to the airport. My flight to MSP was uneventful - thankfully since it was so friggin’ early! When I got to MSP, I had 3 hours to hang around and wait to meet the family before the next flight left. So I’m leisurely walking down the concourse toward the common area of the airport when I hear someone say “Jodie.” Surely there was ANOTHER Jodie walking down the same concourse, so I kept walking. Then louder “JODIE.” I turn around and lo and behold it’s an old college friend of mine and Dan’s! I hadn’t seen Troy for years. He asked if I’d just come from COS and I said Yup . . . he said “Well cool - I just flew you here - my first flight on the Airbus.” I of course congratulated him on the flight (all of our friends had been furlowed from the airlines after 9/11 and are JUST NOW getting hired back) and thanked him for getting me there safely. To most that might seem odd . . . to us, if we don’t see some pilot we know in pretty much any airport it’s an unusual day Anyway, off I went to hang out until my fam met me at the airport 2 hours later. BUT, surprise surprise when my phone rings and it’s my Mom, telling me they’re 10 minutes away - they all got up early and were ready, so they left. It was fun to see them earlier than planned! I handed out the t-shirts I made everyone for the trip and we had lunch together. How fun! Here’s a picture of us at the airport in our t-shirts:

From top left going clockwise . . . Aunt Arlene, Grandma, Aunt Patty, Mom, Me, Aunt Joan (my Godmother).

Go here to see the logo on the front of the shirts. On the back, I had printed a paraphrased quote from Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Vacation (had to clean it up for G’ma) along with the Trip Rules. You see, my mother, well all of us really, belong in Advanced Planners Anonymous - heck, we should start our own chapter! Last MAY my mother sent each of us an e-mail with trip information . . . really, last MAY, a full 6 months before the trip! I had to giggle because she had included trip rules, which I put word-for-word on the back of the shirts. The back of our shirts said . . .

This is no longer a vacation. It’s a quest. It’s a quest for fun.
I’m gonna have fun and you’re gonna have fun.
We’re all gonna have so much friggin’ fun
we’ll need plastic surgery to remove our smiles!

I love that my family has a sense of humor - it sure makes it more fun! We got quite a few comments on the shirts on our flight, so that made it even more fun.

Our flight to JAX was uneventful, and after stuffing all of our luggage into the tiny cargo area of a mini van, we drove straight to my Uncle Dale’s house. A little background - my Mom has 6 siblings; 4 sisters and 2 brothers. 3 of the sisters are in this photo, the 4th and youngest sister lives in NC and came to visit us in JAX, and Dale is the youngest brother (and also twin to the youngest sister). The older brother, Gary, did not make the trip. Anywho . . . we found our way to Dale’s house after taking a thorough unexpected tour of Jacksonville - through some obvioulsy not-so-good neighborhoods! But we made it at last and were ready to hang out, relax, and catch up. One thing our family can do is hang out and talk - and drink - and talk and drink

My uncle Dale is the only guy, obviously, and his wife, Mickey, is the lady with the pink shirt. What fun! After this we went to grab a bite to eat, and we all got to try alligator - yummy! It, of course, tastes like chicken. I think from now on I’m going to say everything tastes like alligator. I mean, who made up the rule that chicken was the superior food and everything tastes like it?

After yummy alligator, we headed to the hotel and got settled for a well-needed sleep after a long day of travelling.

Come back tomorrow to hear about Day 2! We took a day trip to St. Augustine, our nation’s oldest city. It sure is beautiful!

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