Slumber Party!

When you're a pre-teen, all you need for a slumber party is a sleeping bag, pillow, and fun friends. When you're in your twenties, a good slumber party consists of fun friends, a good bottle of wine, and a spare bedroom. This is true, unless of course, you are working for your family in California.

After moving to Room #3 at the Dublin, Extended Stay, Brian came back up from a weekend of fun. Since our move, it had been decided by the 'higher-ups' that Brian would not be provided his own room. He could either stay with us in our studio hotel room, or he could stay in the guest bedroom at the co-owners' home. Seeing as that Brian didn't know the co-owners all that well, we decided that he would stay with us.

When I'm at my own house, I try to be the hostess with the mostest. If you are a guest, I make sure that you have a comfy bed, fresh towels, and access to whatever else you might need. Since this mentality is part of who I am, I tried to think of how I could best accommodate Brian in our studio hotel room that had a queen sized bed, table, two stools, and one small recliner. I remembered my grandmother having a cot in her small apartment when I was younger, and asked Aaron to go to the front desk and borrow one from the hotel. Apparently, cots are a thing of the past. When Aaron asked the teenager working the front desk for a cot, he looked at him blank and said, 'You mean, like, sheets?' Seriously!?! At least he was headed in the right direction.

After spending a night on the floor, Aaron & Brian picked up a twin sized blow-up mattress from the local Wal-Mart, and for the next week, Brian slept between the end of our queen sized bed and the dresser/TV stand. Thank goodness those are two of the cleanest boys I know, because three adults in a studio hotel room, with one bathroom, can send even the easiest going person to their breaking point.

Six Minutes and Not a Kernel to Show For It...

After only five days of staying at the wonderful Extended Stay in Alameda, the company had priced out, and selected a different location they wanted us to stay at. Because I like routine, and was just getting used to Room #1, I wasn't super excited. They wanted us to switch hotels on a Friday, and still work that day as well. As most people know, hotels usually like guests to check out before 11am, and for new guests to check in sometime in the afternoon. Let's think about this... I just went grocery shopping approximately two days ago, I have my dog, and that lag time just isn't accommodating for my situation. Checking out before 11am, no problemo. Now what do I do!?! I decided to go to the new hotel to see if they could at least put my groceries in their refrigerator or possibly check me in early. First, a very dirty room was available, but I would at least be able to refrigerate, then she noticed a room on the screen that was all ready to go. I was SO excited and relieved. Refrigerator for food, check. A place for Sugar to stay cool all day, check. I ran upstairs, dropped off the necessities, and left to work for the day.

After staying there for a night, we realized that California is not like Washington. Many public facilities allow smoking indoors, and we just so happen to be on the smoking floor. As the next few days continued, we also realized that our room didn't have a coffee pot (not OK for Starbucks fanatics), silverware, plates, or a garbage can, one of the light fixtures wasn't connected, in a way that could definitely cause an electrical fire, and to top it off, I put a bag of popcorn in the microwave for six minutes to not even have it result in the bag being warm. Did I mention that they reserved this room for us for the next 30 days?

Aaron and I both tried to remain positive and upbeat about the situation, and moving into a studio hotel room from a five bedroom house had put us both into ultra considerate mode. We didn't want to stress the other one out, but after the popcorn situation, it was decided that Aaron, because of my lacking a desire for confrontation, requested that we switch rooms. So... 10 days and three moves since we had arrived in California later, we were on a non-smoking floor, with a working microwave.

Uncorking... The Old Fashioned Way...

After leaving WA, I had no idea that I would be living in a hotel for nearly 90 days. The first Extended Stay that we lived in was awesome! It was newly renovated, had an amazing view, and Aaron's cousin Brian lived right down the hall. Putting in 12 hour work days during the week, and then coming back to the hotel for some R&R was great. Going out to eat every day, for every meal, not so much. A couple days into our stay, we decided to go to the grocery store and pick up some necessities; ice cream, milk, bagels, cream cheese, beer, pizza bagels, etc. When two stove top burners and a microwave is all you have to work with, you have to get creative.

One particular night, we decided to go all out. We had tortellini pasta with garlic toast (from the toaster), and a nice glass of white wine. After looking through the mini-kitchen for a bottle opener and coming up short, I decided to ask the front desk if they possibly had one. No luck. Back at the room with a frown on my face, Aaron and Brian devised a plan. As I put the meal together, Aaron found a screw, and began to twist it into the wine bottle cork. Brian held the bottle down, as Aaron tried to pull out the cork with his fingers... That didn't feel too good, and the cork wasn't budging. So, the boys moved on to Plan B. Aaron left the room and came back with pliers and a huge smile. Brian held the bottle, and Aaron yanked the cork out with nothing but a screw, and a pair of pliers. Talk about 'where there's a will, there's a way.' I love those boys!

How it all began... Rushed.

On a day off from being a banker, my husband convinces me that it would be great to have a 'take your wife to work day.' His family was considering expanding their business into Nor Cal, and all needed to see if I could hack it in the dried fruit, nuts, and trail mix industry. I agreed to ride along for the day. In and out of stores, lifting boxes, filling nut bins, learning the ropes. A little tired, but all in all, no biggie. We got back to the office that afternoon, and I was told to put in my two weeks notice. Just like that, I am capable of lifting 25 lb. boxes and filling nut bins, so bye bye banking, here we come Nor Cal.

Original EDT (Estimated Departure Time) was early Sunday morning. I would be mobbing the civic down to Nor Cal, while Aaron would be driving the not so speedy work truck. After packing and organizing the house all day Saturday, Aaron decides that we should just start driving. Little did I know, this was going to be an indication of how things were going to be from then on out. Needless to say, right then, we began our decent to Northern California.

I paced myself with Aaron up all the hills, like a good driving companion would do, but then, being my ever so patient self, I decided that waiting for Aaron to make it up each and every hill between Puyallup and mid-Oregon just wasn't all that much fun. Instead of pacing myself with him, I entertained myself by 'meeting' other drivers... And then passing them :) I just let my mind go, and drove. After a couple of hours, and communications by cell phone, we decided that we should call it a night. We selected a city that we would stay in, and decided to meet there. Anyone that knows me, also knows that I hate showing up at a hotel without a reservation. And, because I decided to be Ms. Speedracer, I arrived at the city, while Aaron was still 30 minutes out. Wow. Patience is a virtue that I clearly lack at times, but there I was, waiting in the Taco Bell parking lot. Why? Not because I was hungry, but because there was no reservation. I hate confrontation, and therefore I lack negotiating skills when it comes to bargaining a good price at these second rate hotels. I am a planner, and when things are not planned out, I experience mild anxieties. But really, I'm a grown up, so when we get right down to it, I was sitting in the Taco Bell parking lot, because I am at times, a bratty five year old stuck in a 25 year old body.

Needless to say, Aaron made it, and we proceeded to sneak our little Westie, Sugar, into the Shiloh Inn...