In this day and age....

Why can't ALL hotels just have wireless internet access? I'm in a luxury Mariott hotel in Chicago (hardly the boonies) and not only do I have to cough up $12.95/day for high speed internet, but I also have to park my ass in the chair at the desk because it's WIRED!!!! Oh, I had visions of lounging about in bed as I watched whatever dumb TV is on Sat night in the summer as I surfed the net. Instead, I'm sitting fairly uncomfortably at the desk/table since that's as far as the computer can go. I suppose there are many things that could be worse, but I'm looking for little things to make this long and irritating weekend pass quickly! The exam really isn't so bad- the examiners are pretty helpful, unlike the computers... and most of it is done now. It's just the sitting and waiting for HOURS (literally) in a cold room with nothing to do, surrounded by a bunch of podiatrists....that HAS to be one of the circles of hell :) I did manage to catch up with a few people from school who I haven't seen since school and that was nice. I just hope that I pass this so I don't have to do it again. But to come next year for moral support for George..that would be niiiiice...maybe I could get downtown and actually SEE Chicago (I can't believe that this is my 3rd time here and other than Dawn's house, I've only seen the airport!).

It seems that George and the kids are doing just fine without me...Anya had a bday party today for Brandon- one of the kids at her babysitter. Daddy took her and sounds happy to not be the only daddy there. Just like her mommy, Anya has ended up with a close-knit group of friends, all of whom are boys. The funny thing is that her closest friend, Carter, gets brave only when Anya is next to him. Alone or with any other kids, he's a scaredy-cat(?) but when Anya is there, he'll try anything. Although I know time and circumstances will probably take them apart, I so hope that she and Carter will remain friends for a long time. Since she went to Antonio's party a week or two ago, Anya has been infatuated with face painting (as seen in the pic). She's had Nana, Dada, and even Colleen, pretend to paint her face with several different characters. Well, they had a face-painting clown at the party today and Anya insisted to George that she wanted her face painted like Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. Hmmmm...what are the chances that the painter even knows what she looks like, let alone the thought of my baby painted up like a dead rag doll.....thankfully, George convinced her to ask for Sally the car from the Cars movie, since there were many pictures to use and Anya was happy. Supposedly, Maureen has a pic, so I'll post that when I see it.

It sounds like Sebastian has done very well without mommy today....he slept like a champ last night (it figures.....) and went down well tonight, except for his thigh getting caught in the slats. I swear that he must slide towards his feet as he sleeps for the number of times his legs get caught! Actually, if he's not standing up when I get him after a nap, he's usually sitting with his legs dangling over the side of the crib through the slats...must be his thing....He did the cutest thing yesterday as they were driving me to the airport....he was super tired since he had only gotten one nap and I was mentioning this to George. I said "Baz is sleepy"...that little monkey heard me and squeezed his eyes closed tight and had the biggest grin on his face. I thought it was a coincidence, so I said it again and once again, he looked at me, squeezed his eyes shut and laughed!!! OMG is this kid a kidder!! He's always sooooo happy, but he just loves to laugh.

So I'm going to lounge in my big bed all along and see what's to watch tonight....I really wish they could consolidate things a little better so this exam would be shorter....it really isn't that painful except the waiting...and waiting....and waiting..... Plus I'll be waiting tomorrow at the airport...they told us that the exam could go until 12noon, so don't book a flight earlier than 3pm. I complied and booked a 4pm flight, getting in at 7:50- thank you, time change....and it looks like I'll be done by 10:50 am. SO I called to see if I could change my flight to one of the earlier ones and they said that there appears to be plenty of room on those flights- yay! My next question was the price difference.....$117 to change!!!!! That's about as much as I paid for the whole round trip ticket!!! Are you kidding me? So it appears that I will be hanging out at the airport for a good portion of the day (thank goodness they have bars there!) and hopefully the IL's can pick me up so George doesn't have to pack the kids up that late.