Declined.

After being in Washington for a very brief weekend, we over-nighted it back to Cali to resume our daily grind. At this point, we had been down in California for almost two whole months. In the grand scheme of life, two months is not a huge amount of time. In fact, for us, we still didn't even have everything 100% setup for the warehouse, and we were still living out of suitcases in our studio hotel room.

One of the items that we had kept forgetting to pick up when we were out and about, were gloves to use in the warehouse and for cold mornings. I didn't think it was a huge deal at first, but after weeks of loading and unloading pallets, trucks, and organizing boxes, you definitely realize that protecting your hands is a very positive thing. After we got back to our studio hotel room one afternoon, I convinced Aaron that we should walk to the local Home Depot to get some gloves. I thought the walk would be a great break in the monotony of sitting in traffic and in our tiny studio hotel room.

We headed out on our little journey with tennis shoes on, and company credit card in hand. This was definitely one of those instances when I thought the store was much closer than it actually was. So, 1.5 miles later we arrived to the Home Depot 'work gloves' section. After carefully reviewing price, fit, and functionality, Aaron and I both selected a pair of gloves that we thought would be great for our warehouse routines. I was pumped! Until I went up to the counter to check out, and my company credit card was declined. No biggie I thought. I turned to Aaron thinking that he had brought his wallet, but that was not the case. Without any other options at this point, we began our journey back to the hotel. Clearly, purchasing gloves was just not meant to be.

So, three miles later, there we sat gloveless, without funds, and an excellent walk in the California sun under our belts.

All Nighter Co-Pilot

The responsibility of a co-pilot, is to assist the captain by monitoring the flight instruments, handling radio communications, watching for air traffic, and taking over the flight controls when directed by the captain. In car terminology, the responsibility of the co-pilot is to assist the captain by keeping an eye on his personal energy level, handle incoming calls/Facebook updates/text messages/emails etc., watch for speed traps, and taking over the wheel when the captain gets too drowsy. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but after making it from Pleasanton, CA to Puyallup, WA in 12.5 hours without incident, I would have to say that I am a master co-pilot.

To make the most of our time, Aaron and I decided to head back home right after we got off work on Thursday. As it so happened, 'after work' was a little later that Thursday, for the simple fact that we had an agenda. It's funny how it always seems to happen that way. The game plan was that Aaron would start our journey, I would take a brief nap once it got dark out, and then I would complete the drive once Aaron got drowsy. After a few energy drinks, stopping to get gas where it was freezing cold out, and grabbing a bite to eat at a drive-thru, Aaron was wide awake. I'm a firm believer that the minute you start to get bored while driving and zone out, is the minute you start to become very drowsy; no matter how many high fructose corn syrup energy drinks you have. And, being as that I took my job as Aaron's co-pilot very seriously, I decided we would play a little game I call 'Car-Oke'. We played 'Name That Tune' for a little while, but I can never remember who sings what, so instead I would find a song on the ipod and start singing. Before I knew it, I could have sworn that Taylor Swift was in the car with me! But when I looked over, it was someone that looked an awful lot like my husband rocking out in full falsetto to one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs!

Taylor has not graced our presence anytime recently, but I am hoping that she will make a reappearance on our next road trip :)