My dismal attempt at a vacation

I had a wonderful host and hostess, but my weekend vacation was a dismal failure - all because of me and my wretched anxiety issues. I guess I'm really finally going to have to take some serious steps to address the issue, but I'm not sure where to begin.

Anyway, about the vacation. I had decided to finally go and visit my best friend, Dorothy, who has lived in Ohio for the past 25 years! She's come here practically every year for the past 5 or 6 years - ever since her kids got older, but I was never brave enough to take the plunge and go see her. I finally decided this would be the year I went. I got a great deal for airline tickets though some online company - Hotwire, I think. Only $133 for round trip airfare from Omaha to Cleveland, how could I resist? I left on Friday morning and came back today.

Before I go any further, let me just say that the doctor and nurses at Akron General Hospital in whatever little burb I was in closest to Cuyahoga Falls, were great! Seriously, you ladies were the best. And the Ativan was just the icing on the cake - ha ha ha...

Friday when I got to Cleveland, Dorothy picked me up at the airport. I have to admit that I was chomping at the bit then because I had had a layover in Milwaukee for 3 hours. Yeah. That's a little bit of hell on earth, let me tell you! Boooooooring! I had 2 carry on bags, and didn't want to have to deal with security again, so I never went to the main terminal where the shops are. I read, listened to my 'pod, watched TV, did crossword puzzles... It was one of those mornings that seemed like it was about 2 weeks long. Anyway, finally got to Cleveland and on the road to Dorothy's house and it was okay.

Friday night we ate at a great restaurant called Luigi's. Marvelous French cuisine... Ha ha! Seriously, it was fantastic pizza and salad, although I only had 1 piece of pizza and a small helping of salad, it was more like mozzarella cheese with a little lettuce, but it was quite good! I'd eat there again. That is, if I were ever planning on going back. Which I'm not.

Saturday we went to see the house in Cleveland where the movie "The Christmas Story" was filmed. You know, the kid who wants the Red Ryder BB gun with the compass in the stock? It was so cool. I really had a good time there. Mom is a huge fan of that movie, so I got some souvenirs to bring back home. I found out later that my sister is also a huge fan, who woulda thunk it? I got an autographed picture for mom from the guy who was the delivery man of the "Major Award". Too bad she wasn't there, he was telling stories from the making of the movie and his experiences, it was fun and we had a good time. I took quite a few pictures too, which I'll probably forget to post later... I'll try to remember. Just in case you're a fan.

Next, we went to a store called B.A. Sweetie. It's a wholesale candy store that's open to the public. Over 12,000 square feet of every kind of candy you can imagine! I brought home a lot, but I didn't eat anything but a couple giant Pixie Stix and some chewy SweeTarts. No chocolate for me! They have all kinds of retro candy too, like those little wax bottles full of colored fruity tasting water, candy dots, candy cigarettes, wax lips, all kinds of old stuff like that, along with new kinds of candy and a lot of bulk stuff. It would be a great place if you were doing a gingerbread house for Christmas... Which I'm not, but I'm just sayin'. I got candy for Christmas stockings this year.

After we left there, we went to an old retro kind of toy store. I think it was called Big Fun. I could get lost in that place. They had all kinds of old refurbished toys, along with some cool new stuff. I got Steve an old slinky dog. (Yes, we're weird, so?) They had old stuff like Atari video systems and the games, Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, and they were all the real stuff, not the 2000 versions. They had all kinds of other odd little toys in there too, that was great fun.
By the time we left there, it was getting pretty late and we hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we went to The Winking Lizard sports bar. Yummy! The only problem was it was a sports bar and the Ohio State game was on... Loud. Very, very loud. But the food was good, and the game ended shortly after we got there.

Saturday night John's parents came over and we played dominoes, so it was great fun. They're the nicest people... They'd fit right in here in Omaha. I'd have to get my bigger set of dominoes out though! lol!

Then came Sunday... Yeah. Anxiety is my name. Let it suffice to say that I ended up in the hospital with EKG electrodes stuck on my chest. Anxiety was the official diagnosis. Sunday was a total waste. I'm so glad that Dorothy is such a good friend and totally understands me, and loves me in spite of my, um, well idiosyncrasies... That's why I love my best friend. I really miss having her live here, even after 25 years I miss her. I never really got to know her husband, but I got to know him this weekend. He's almost as funny as me. Almost... LOL!I've almost forgiven him for marrying her and taking her so far away, but not quite.

So, that was my weekend in a nutshell. Thankfully I got home today with no more "anxiety" issues, but at this point, I'm thinking I'm never going to go anywhere again. I'll just stay in my little house in my little town and live happily ever after....

G'night.