So, this post is waaaaay overdue. I really should do a better job at keeping at this (I was going to say that I have to be in the mood but that's really not an excuse). Anyway, I wanted to recap the Anniversary party - mainly because I'll forget the details if I don't (if I haven't already). You already know pretty much all of this so I'll try to fill in some details.
Deb and I had been thinking about what we (the family) should do for your upcoming 50th anniversary and we were having a tough time coming up with something that made logistical sense. The main ideas were either a cruise or renting a beach house. The cruise sounded fun but the expense would eliminate many people from being able to come (including probably us) and the beach house thing seemed like it would be difficult to really manage as well. We rubbed heads with Carolyn and decided a simple party in Portsmouth would be easiest - which sounds like it was a cop-out but really, all the fancy ideas seemed just too complicated. We figured we couldn't make it a surprise party so Carolyn called to tell you what we were thinking and to get a list of the people you'd like to invite. When she called after she talked to you, she said that you were flabbergasted that we would do this - almost to the point of tears! That surprised me actually. I was feeling bad that all we could come up with was a party in your apartment building after fantasizing about cruises and beach houses.
Anyway, the plans started rolling. Carolyn negotiated with the Caterer - who had to be brought down to Earth a bit - and I got the list of invitees - on paper. Yes, after years of working with Dad to get all his contacts managed online and electronically organized, I got about thirty sheets of paper - printouts from the address book. Sigh... I took one look at how many email addresses I was going to have to type in and said "This aint happening". So I hacked into Dad's email account (OK, not really. He knows I know his password) and exported his contacts into an Excel spreadsheet, weeded out all the duplicates, and fed the list into an Evite web-based party invitation system. For the people without email addresses (can you imagine!?), Deb sent cards.
It was kinda worrisome waiting for the responses to come in. Lots of people had already made other plans or couldn't make for one reason or another and I was worried that we had started too late. Slowly though, the list started filling up and we got in the car for the trip to VA. Let me rephrase that - the 12 freaking hour long trip to VA! The only good thing about the trip was that I had just gotten a transponder that you place in the window that, being tied directly to your checking account, lets you zip through toll booths in the "Fast Lane (tm)" without stopping and scrambling for coins under the seat. It's such cool technology that it was almost fun paying $3.25 to drive across a bridge. So, we got there not too much worse for the wear.
I don't really remember much of what we did on Saturday. Oh yeah, we went out to Walmart to get balloons and plants for the table. Yeah, so I entered WalMart into the GPS and said "take me there". Well, when it finally said "Arriving at Wale Mart, on left", all that was there was some large building that looked like it might have been a Walmart some time ago. Super. There was anther Walmart on the GPS so we said "take us there" but again, when we "arrived", there was not a WalMart in sight. We kept driving around this Mall area and the GPS kept "Re*calculating*" in that "why must you keep bothering me voice that it has", but finding nothing. We finally decided to head for a Target we had seen sign for. As we were pulling up to Target, in the distance, the familiar blue of a WalMart superstore appeared out of the mist (OK, 98% humidity) to a chorus of angels singing. So we got the plants, balloons, helium, ribbon, etc. and headed back to decorate and work off the computer questions punchlist.
We had a nice birthday party for Franmommie and then the party started on Sunday. Of course, you know all that happened at the party. It did seem to go pretty well - Deb and Carolyn were like a well-oiled machine and really did a great job. Everyone seemed to like the food, the singing, the slide show, and of course, seeing you and Dad and paying tribute to your wonderful life together. Photos from the party are here.
I've also got the slideshow uploaded to YouTube. It's a lower quality but still fun to look at.
Did I tell you about the drive home? No? Well, on Sunday, I had noticed that the transmission in the car seemed to be slipping a little (you know where this is going don't you). I think we were in New Jersey when, after getting off the highway for some lunch, the car decided it didn't really like shifting gears and taking us forward. It worked fine once we got it up to speed but it didn't like starting out - kinda like the VW bus in Little Miss Sunshine. So we get to New York and the GPS takes us over the George Washington bridge into congested NYC area - stop and go traffic. We get through that and then, in CT, the highway status signs say "Delay, next 26 miles". I think there was a smirking Smiley face icon on the sign as well. I punched "Detour" on the GPS and it took us off the highway, through some residential neighborhoods and onto...tada! the Merritt Parkway. I had actually tried to find this road another time and couldn't. It's a no-trucks, limited access road that was very scenic and flowing pretty well. As the miles rolled on however, the car got worse and worse. We made it home but it was touch and go. The next morning, on my way to work, the car just stopped going and I coasted into a parking lot in town. I did what I should have done earlier and checked the transmission fluid. It was bone dry. Did I tell you that I had just had my transmission fluid flushed and filled before the trip? I called Deb to come get me, and I went to the local gas station and bought a few bottles of transmission fluid. That was enough to make the car move and I drove it to the Jiffy Lube that had done the flush and informed them that I was not happy with the work they had done...
They fixed a leak but I think I've done permanent damage to the tranny. It just doesn't seem the same. Oh well. It just adds to the aura of the camry and gives yet another reason for the kids to cringe when they have to be seen riding in it.
