The Big Reveal?

I know some of you are dying to hear all about where the surprise vacation took us this year, so...

*dramatic clearing of the throat*

...we flew to Moscow on the 14th and ate black bread and borscht with Anastasia, the disputed daughter of the former Czar. This was after the KGB tried to recruit our entire family to work for them since we're all fluent in Russian (and who would suspect cute little Delaney of espionage?) but unfortunately I dropped my camera into the Black Sea during the cruise portion of the trip so you'll all just have to believe me that it was the best vacation ever!

*Ahem*

Okay, the truth is...

...we haven't gone yet. (Thus the question mark in this post's title.)

Another truth is that Delaney's passport has not arrived yet. Rong Aid really screwed things up by supplying us with crummy photos for our expensive and highly official documents. That drug store bungle pushed us back a couple of weeks or more, thus we wait. However, Jeff will vouch for me that I'm surprisingly calm about our youngest's lack of a passport even as our day of departure edges ever closer.

What means this inexplicable sense of serenity and quiescence in a woman who frets over lost 45 cent coupons?

Well, it could mean that our passport-applying-trip to the PO was simply an elaborate hoax that I cooked up with a very cooperative gal who works there.

Or it could mean something else.

In the meantime, I'm loving this opportunity to mess with Jeff's head. He doesn't know which way is up, poor-soon-to-be-vacationing-schmuck. (Yes, he was familiar with my sadistic side prior to proposing that we spend the rest of our lives together. He's okay with it, really.)

In other news:
The kids both have great roles in another theatrical production. :) It's a simplified version of Alice in Wonderland and all the players are 18 or younger.

Tobias will be playing the Mad Hatter...

...and Delaney is preparing for the part of Tweedle-Dee.


I can hardly wait to see their costumes. :)

Both kids have several lines and some solo parts in a couple of songs, so it's all quite fun. They're both enjoying themselves considerably except for that Tobias fears some of the choreography brings his orientation into question.

I told him, "Hey, at least you're not pirouetting while donning leggings like you did in Camelot." (Small comfort for a 15 year old boy, I'm afraid.)

The whole production is shaping up quite nicely. Some of the shows they've been in, I've been able to highly recommend and others I've realistically regarded as enjoyable because my babies are in it and for little else. This one looks like it will be in the former category, so if any of you who have kids want info then please contact me privately. (I don't like to publish specifics like city names or even our last name in such a public forum.)

Speaking of anonymous cities:
A few days ago we drove to a restaurant to sample their pizza. We had heard it touted as the best ever and that got Jeff salivating, so we all hopped into the car. Our drive took us to a scary looking dive in the ghetto.

But not just any ghetto, Friends.

This ghetto was the one and only ghetto in which my beloved husband grew up!

The kids and I were treated to a personal tour as we cruised the streets.

"That's the alley where I got hit by a car."

"That's where I got punched in the throat."

"That's the corner where I got offered drugs for the first time."

"That's the park where some guy chased me 'cause he wanted to steal my bike."

"That's the hill I stood on and B.A.ed all the cars on the freeway."

"Right in front of that church is where some guy punched me and ran off with my skateboard."

I didn't know whether to cry or laugh, but Jeff was relaying all the information in a rather cheerful manner, so I opted for laughter. I'm just so thankful he survived his childhood in the 'hood. It sounds like it was rather touch and go for a while there.

Back to the topic that seems to be constantly niggling some of you poor souls:
Keep checking back because it won't be too long before the genuine big reveal occurs. I'm actually a bit worried that all this build up will result in a bit of a flop in everyone's minds. The real vacation might seem a bit anti-climactic, so I apologize profusely in advance. For those of you who want to be surprised, leave this site now. For those of you who just can't take it anymore, scroll down to be put out of your misery...
































Did you really fall for that?

*Abundant scoffs and tsks*