Metal Meredith

Here at home, 3:11pm.

You kick them, of course. (Then Vivienne adds, “Then you shoot them!")

Ok, truth? I don’t give a crap about St Patrick’s Day. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I wore something green. Much less something green on purpose. I can clearly remember not doing anything through middle school and high school. For me the non-drinker, this is about as special as Valentine’s Day is to a nun. Of course, the kids find it a little more exciting.

Our Atlanta trip was a big success. Since I am too wrapped up in stuff to give a long, fun story, I am just doing bullets of fun:

*Vivienne was so excited about her first plane ride. Well, as excited as Vivienne gets. Ask her about it now, 11 days later and I am sure she will gush.

*We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant. It was pricey. When Vivienne and I went to the bathroom, the staff re-folded our napkins. When Phil told our waitress that it was overkill, she said “It is just one of our quirks”.

*We made our way to the Georgia Aquarium and had a blast seeing all the animals/fish. Vivienne was sadly more focused on what she would buy as her ‘one thing’. (She ended up with a stuffed baby seal in a purple fabric purse - blech).

*I touched a sting ray. It felt like a cooked mushroom. A really big, slimy cooked mushroom. But, I loved it and Vivienne wouldn’t touch it. She told her whole class that I did that to a round of 6 year old “Ewwwww"s.

*It was raining when we entered the aquarium at 10am. It had snowed 2 inches when we came out. In Atlanta. In March. Hooray.

*We ate at The Varsity. My mom lived there for 5 years and I never managed to make it there. Honestly, the hot dogs weren’t all that but the fries were really pretty delicious.

*Our Hampton Inn was super nice. Vivienne had a hot chocolate every evening and sneaked bananas and apples up to the room. No fresh cookies. We were gypped.

*We stumbled upon Cirque Du Soliel, for its last night in Atlanta. Phil bought us tickets because he is a really nice man. I had so much fun and laughed so hard and loud that people sitting ahead of me turned around a few times. They were more than 4 rows up. Whoops.

*On Sunday, I spent spare moments in the hotel room checking flights and school closing for the first snowstorm in 5 years. It snowed 9.5 inches in Richmond and 2 in Atlanta. Super.

*After spending 3 days with my husband and one child, I was forced to spend the next 3 with both kids due to snow. Phil, the really nice man as mentioned above, dug his car out faster than I have ever seen anyone before, and high-tailed his ass to work.

*I would do it all again in a second.