So much to say, the condensed version

My good friend, Chris, is my go-to guy for all anything computer. He is my own technical support, and I love him for it. He broke the news to me yesterday that my less-than-six-months-old hard drive has died. He tried to fix it, but it has gone into hard drive failure and unable to be brought back. Luckily, it is still under warranty so Chris has sent off for a replacement and will soon have my computer back to me.

So, what's been happening?

* Per advice from Health Law, I am working on getting more detailed recommendation letters from doctors for the feeding program and resubmitting vs. appeal.

* I have 2nd and 3rd opinions set up next week at Duke and a dyspagia center in Raleigh.

* I still have not heard from the school regarding Ethan's official placement yet, which is beginning to pi** me off. It seems as though the kids that they told me would be worth moving the classroom across the county for are not there and the classroom may only have one other child in it. I can tell you right now that if that turns out to be the case, be prepared to be hearing about my stomp on into the EC Director's office.

* My friend, Amber, from high school came out to North Carolina for a week with her girlfriend to visit family and drove up to visit with us for the day!!! Amber and I hadn't seen each other in close to 16 years! I am the dork and did not get any pics, but she did. As soon as she posts them, I will steal them and post. LOL! It was so great to spend the time with her! Our day went by way too fast...

* My friend, Bethany, was on her way to Hilton Head, SC for vacay with her family and stopped in Raleigh, so we headed over to have dinner. We ended up staying (THANK YOU KYLE!!!) and I was able to step into the crazed world of a NKOTB fanatic as we watched a show via webcast!!! =)

* After leaving friends in Raleigh, we were headed to DC because my sister, Kim, was in town for a romance writers convention. We had time to kill, so we just kept driving and ended up in the Outer Banks at Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills. We have lived in NC for almost 6 years and had never made it over to OBX. Along the way, we passed the most disturbing billboard for Dirty Dick's Crab House that read: I got my crabs from Dirty Dick's. And then, we passed another billboard that read: Try My Nuts. Nasty.

We had Ethan's swimwear, so we took him to the beach. The water was pretty cold and Ethan wanted to eat handfuls of sand. Ugh. The kid won't eat a cheerio, but sand looks great! *eye roll*

We stayed with our friends, Dennis & Eleanor (Computer Guru Chris' parents), in Virginia outside of DC. WHAT A HUGE BLESSING!!!

* We met Kim at the hotel in DC by 10am. We navigated through DC without any major map and found our way down to the monuments. We got super close parking thanks to Ethan's handicap placard and proceeded to check out some bits of history. After checking out Abe, we walked down to the WWII memorial--oh my, BEAUTIFUL. Ok, real quick though- the reflection pool is NASTY!!! My previous desire to jump in it was quickly dissipated as soon as I saw foam and slime all over it. Blech. Then, we walked the wrong way because if we would have walked to the left, we would have passed the Vietnam wall on our way to the WWII memorial, but instead we took the LOOOONG way. Due to time constraints, we drove by Jefferson and tried to do a drive-by of the White House, but it wasn't happening. We did see the President's helicopter fly over though. Woot woot. Drive-by tourism is awesome, I highly recommend it. HAHA. We had a great lunch with Kim and I tried to embarrass her all I could by posing as papparazzi. What are sisters for, right!!??!

* Dropped Kim off at airport and then proceeded to miss the sign for the highway we wanted. Ended up in Maryland, half way to Delaware. Took 2 hours to still be in DC. Kristen & Scott end up beginning to be very ugly to each other due to fatigue and aggrivation. Ethan is, surprisingly, wonderful.

* We opt for a more scenic drive home than I95 and end up at James Madison's home, Montpelier. We contemplate crashing the private garden party that we suddenly became a part of, but opt for just seeing the home for free. =) Beautiful place!
Until I have my computer back, you can see the pictures from the trip here.

* We miss our exit in Charlottesville to stop for dinner so we continue on. Next stop: Lynchburg. It is after 8pm when we pull into the parking lot at Cracker Barrel. I am exhausted and WAY grumpy. Ethan is tired, irritable, and HUNGRY. YAY for pancakes. Ethan {hearts} pancakes. While feeding Ethan, a sweet woman approaches our table. She says that she thinks that Ethan is adorable and that he reminds her of her son who recently passed away. We had a lovely and touching conversation. Her husband couldn't come over- it was too hard and too soon, but we did exchange info. Their little boy, Charlie, passed away on his 6th birthday due to a pharmaceutical error. Double check your kids' medication- pharmacists make mistakes too! I told Scott that the reason we took the wrong turn, spent 2 hours stuck in traffic, missed our exit for meal option #1 all because we were meant to meet this family. Suddenly, I wasn't so grumpy anymore.

* Bethany and fam came back through Raleigh on Saturday. Ethan and I went to have dinner, meet up with other Downsyn friends, and head to a Durham Bulls baseball game. Ethan was pretty good, except he wouldn't walk into the stadium, so I had to carry him and it was HOT. Especially hot because of the fleece blanket I was also carrying in case he didn't want to sit in his seat. We almost didn't make this trip, but thankfully Bethany talked me into it. We had a great time (sad that Nika was not feeling well, though!)!

* We are hoping to get together with Ms. Mary and Gracie (Ethan's favorite girl from school last year) sometime this week!!!

That's all...I think. And, that WAS the condensed version!!! LOL!