Friday, April 18, 2014

Think Out Loud [48] Spring Break Good Times!

I'm still catching up after my trip to Colorado for spring break, but here a few stories from my trip...

We're on the plane getting settled for the flight. I chose my sister and Will to sit in front of me so I could referee...I mean help my sister if she needs it. John sat next to me bouncing around and putting the tray table down every time I looked away. Then I heard Shan tell Will to be quiet. "Sh! I'm trying to pay attention!" I leaned forward. "Stop, Will. I'm following along. Quit. I have to watch!" I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Shannon was freaking out about following along with the pre-flight safety instructions. We've been flying since we were little kids. Heck, every summer the two of us flew alone from Guam to Iowa. Then I looked up to see a hipster type flight attendant doing the typical hand gestures until the woman on the PA system said, "In case of an emergency landing..." and he did a plane going down gesture with his hand. He even whistled as it went down. Shan was frantically flipping through the laminated instructions, batting away Will's pestering hand, and trying to figure out where they were. I covered my mouth but I still snorted. It was a total flight attendants behaving badly moment. He did the gesture 2 or 3 more times. I figured he was looking to collect unemployment for his spring break vacation.
We had one concrete family outing planned, to go tubing on Copper Mountain. None of us had ever been. So we went. Okay, tubing is all of the things you hear about, Fun! Exciting! Whatever else! For me it was dang scary! It's so fast, I grabbed onto the handles for dear life and tried to remember that I love the rush of ... not sure. I couldn't remember what exactly I loved about going fast down a snow packed pipe because I'd never done it before. I did love going up the sides, now I squealed and not screamed at those parts. So after the first time down, I was determined to find the rush, the good, "I love this shit!" kind of thing. The staffer at the top who holds the strap to your tube until you're clear to go down always asks, "Straight or spin." I always said straight. Of course. Then one time he expressed his opinion on that, "Straight? Come on." That's all he said. That's how little baiting I required. Sad. "On my last run, you can spin me." I was shaking my head as I said it because I was totally lying and that's how I lie. He wasn't paying attention to my nonverbal communication at all! So on the last run, "Straight or spin." "Straight?" "What? But you said..." "Well-" He just looked at me. Come on, I'm a grown up. I don't fall for that kind of peer pressure, plus he's not really a peer! "Well, okay, a little spin." "Okay, I'll just spin you a little." Well you can guess I could read into that right quick. My first reaction was "Oh-" Then the cute butthead staffer spun me for all he was worth and Oh...turned into shiiiiiiiiiiit all the way down until I stopped and rolled out of the tube. The whole dang mountain heard me. 
Last story, my awesome friend Bookworm Brandee happens to live 30 minutes away from my dad, so we made a couple plans, breakfast one morning where she'd be the one to pick me up and then the next day I'd drive the boys to her place. One little thing, I didn't have a car. My dad is a very frugal man and boy would he not be happy if I rented a car. The other little thing is I've never asked my dad to drive me anywhere, not when I was a kid, not as an adult. Oh, last thing, I've NEVER driven my dad's car. I was so nervous about this little glitch in the plan, the driving there part, that I talked it over with Brandee. We went back and forth with our options, then I just said, "I'll ask him. I'm a grown up. I'll ask to borrow his car. And I'll call you." I waited until we went to visit my dad's little brother. My Uncle Matt is such a cool guy and my dad just adores him, he couldn't have been in a better mood! And it worked. He hesitated only a second, but the guys were talking skiing and the smiles were all so big. So yay! I snuck away and called Brandee. "It worked. I'm driving my dad's car." "I feel like we're in high school." "I know. Me too. Oh, gotta go!"

You all know about Think Out Loud, how it's an awesome "post anything you want" meme. We'd love for you to join us. It's addictive!

I hope to have another LGBT Month post up next week and at some point I just have to share my thoughts on the Dean Koontz novel Odd Thomas. What a story! So do stop back by, comment, hang out.

10 comments:

  1. I love that you shared these stories, Robyn! And I didn't hear about the hipster flight attendant. Omigosh - I would have been snorting myself! :) I'm so glad that you shared a part of your spring break with me. And that I got to meet those charming little men of yours. ;) Oh, and the infamous Shan, too. I still have to download those pictures from our snowball fight and get them to you. Sorry I haven't done that yet.

    I hope you're enjoying the weekend, girl!!

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    1. I love it when the flight attendants are funny! On the way back the pilot said, "It's raining in Seattle, folks. The rainy season lasts from August to June." Funny guy.

      I was so lucky to get to spend time with you and with your family. You all took us in and what a time it was! I can't wait to see the pics, but first for you, reading, then more reading. I guess I can wait, but I'll do a little dance when I see them.

      I hope your weekend is grand too!

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  2. It looks like you had fun! I have family in Colorado so we try to get there every other year at least. This was a year we aren't planning on going.
    Here is my Think Out Loud: http://shutupandreadgroup.blogspot.com/2014/04/think-out-loud-14.html

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    1. It was a lot of fun. Each time we have a new adventure. Last year I skied for the first time (I sucked so bad). Next year, I want to ... sheesh, not sure, go to Denver and check out places I've read in books.

      Great TOL post, Sheri! I love TWD!

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  3. How fun!!! You really had yourself a great time. And I'm super glad you got to hang out with a fellow blogger~ Brandee is just awesome!

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    1. Brandee is just awesome isn't she?! I think about your big Europe trip sometimes and how exciting and new all that will be. What are your summer plans? See, I'm already jumping past spring to summer. You're already jumping to September probably. Thanks for stopping by, Ki!! I hope you have a great week. Has the snow let up on you at all?

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    2. LOL Summer is finally coming! Though it's a cool Spring this time of year but at least the snow is finally gone. And yes, I have jumped ahead to September! I have planned everything down mentally and on a list s couple of times. I even practiced packing my stuff to see how they'll all fit in my suitcase. Everyone thought I was crazy. But now I'm thinking about adding or removing items (clothes) I won't need for the trip. See, it was a good thing to practice packing, now I can what things I really need and don't need.

      But for this weekend I'm going to the Barbara Vey luncheon event! Or more like a luncheon with 50+ authors! It's going to be great!

      Hope your week and weekend will be filled with lots of warmth and fun too.

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  4. Well, this post is so "smiley" like vacations should be. You know I love your stories, Robyn, and this one about tubing is already my favorite. I keep picturing the scene with the staffer. He must have been very disappointed! hahaha. You should have gone with the spinning choice! I've done tubing but like a water sport. It's so freaking good!

    It's so great that you met with Brandee and your conversation about the car is priceless! hehe. There is always a first time of everything, right? It was your time to drive that car! :)

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  5. Your photos are gorgeous! Postcard perfect. You have no idea how much I WISH I could've been there to see that hipster flight attendant. Omigod, I just about snorted pop out of my nose reading about your sister frantically trying to listen while he's making the gesture of a plane crashing WITH sound effects.

    The tubing story. All the cool interesting things happen to you, Robyn. I knew, just knew when you told him a little he was gonna spin you a lot. I just knew it. Tubing is a lot of fun. I went a couple years ago with my friends from high school. That first time down was scary! The last time we went down, the three of us tied our tubes together (wait a minute, that didn't come out right *snort*) and we FLEW down the mountain and hit the wall of snow at the end that prevents you from flying out into the parking lot. I totally thought one of us was gonna break a bone or something. We're daredevils. ;)

    I'm a bit jealous you've gotten to meet up with Brandee, lol. ;) I want to meet both of you in person. That would be so cool! :D

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    1. I'm so glad you cracked up at the hipster flight attendant. The sight of Shan flipping out and arguing with Will and trying to read the emergency instructions was so damn funny. I still laugh about it. She is not a relaxed person in the first place.

      I saw people tying their tubes together (hehe) and I wasn't even the tiniest bit tempted you crazy daredevil!! No way. Huh-uh. I'm so confused by this because I thought I was a total rush kind of girl, but it occurs to me that the rushes I loved were incidents like massive turbulence, I love that! And almost falling off a trail and holding on to twigs to keep from falling all the way down. That was awesome! But putting myself through all that on purpose? Like roller coasters? Ack! A wall of show at the end that prevents you from flying out into the parking lot? Craziness!!

      We'll hang out one day, for sure! I know it. You can't keep a girl in Tacoma forever. No way. Ohio and Texas are high on the list!

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