Killing time

Yesterday, I took the kids to downtown Spokane.  Jack needed a haircut and school clothes, but he forgot his phone, which meant I had to stay with him, as our first attempt at meeting somewhere at a specific time failed miserably. Fourteen year-old boys have their own specific listening skill sets.  He ended up buying nothing, because anything you buy with your mom at your side will instantly make you look like a loser. To try to salvage the afternoon, I took the kids on a Skyride over Spokane Falls, which, in my day was called a gondola ride and they were just rickety enough to be terrifying to a little girl.  Now they have newer, fancier boxes to ride in, and my kids were pretty underwhelmed, although I believe Jack was able to catch a few ZZZs, exhausted as he was from all that heavy sighing he was doing in the shops. 

I'm starting to get my itinerary for our cross-country trip together, and I am a little bit freaked out.  You know how every summer, the media latches onto what they deem is the latest Terror that Will Probably Kill You (shark attacks, swine flu, etc.)?  This summer the TTWPKY is bed bugs, specifically, bed bugs in hotels.  Now, I have a bit of an unnatural aversion to things like this.  I'm the mom who doesn't let her kids use handrails in public places because my fear of germs is greater than my fear of kids falling down an escalator.  I'm working out a plan to case the numerous hotel rooms we will be staying in before we unload our belongings.  Thanks, internet, for telling me how to check for bedbugs!  And, thanks for telling me that just one tiny bedbug can actually ruin my life.  I've also discovered that there is a Bed Bug Registry, which is not a place where engaged bedbugs go to pick out china patterns.  So, as soon as I find a hotel that allows dogs, I cross-check it with hotels that are listed on the Bed Bug Registry, then I check to make sure it has a pool.  Isn't Mitch a lucky man to have me to do all this Important Stuff That Will Basically Save Our Lives?

For those about to rock, Olivia salutes you.