From Toby’s previous
post, you know that we were in Dallas for an overnight. Toby did not have any
of her sleeping accessories for that night. I didn’t have any chance of getting a white noise machine but I felt confident I could find some ear plugs. Toby had already been to the Qwik-E-Mart at the Shell gas station, and they didn’t have any ear plugs.
Since we were in an area with so many hotels, I thought that it wouldn’t be any problem to get them at a gift shop (our hotel didn’t have any). I took Max with me to walk to another hotel. It was about 9 pm local time, but 7pm body time. We walked to the closest hotel, and they didn’t have any either. The next hotel we walked to had just sold the last pair. I didn’t want to be out all night, so I thought I would go to the most likely place to have them. There was a big Marriott hotel looming over all the rest.
The Marriott was farther than the others, it appeared to me to be about a quarter mile away. But I could walk that, no problem. Max and I started off. We cut through the parking lot of one hotel, and then across a field to get to the road that led to the Marriott. We stepped over a little cable fence and were walking on the shoulder of the road. It was much farther than a quarter mile. As we were walking alongside the road, I wondered why there was no side walk. But it was Texas. Maybe they don’t have sidewalks.
Also, cars would pass us at very high speeds. I decided that Max and I would walk in the dirt next to the blacktop. Max quickly got tired of walking, and so I hoisted him on my shoulders. Cars were passing us at much too high of speeds, and when I saw the big green sign over the street, I realized I wasn’t on a street, I was on the shoulder of the freeway! But the Marriott was just a little further…
It took about 35 minutes of speed walking to get to the Marriott. We came up on the back side of the hotel, and almost immediately a security guard came up and shined his flashlight in my eyes. He said that we couldn’t use the back entrance to the hotel and I would need to go around the hotel to main entrance. I replied that I was looking for the front entrance. He seemed a bit confused by this and after a couple turns of the wheels in his head, he decided that he could escort us to the front of the hotel. As we were walking he explained that the Dallas Cowboys were staying at the hotel and the back portion of the hotel was sealed off. I didn’t really care, I was just hoping that the earplugs were here.
Praise God, the gift shop was open and had ear plugs for sale. 89 cents. After the purchase, I asked the concierge where the cab stand was. He said the cabs were right out front. I went out and didn’t see any vehicles with any markings that identified them as cabs. I went back inside and asked where the cabs were. In an exasperated voice (and a slight eyeroll) he said they were right outside the front. In fact, he said, there were 3 cabbies coming in at that moment. I asked the group if I could get a cab back to my hotel. Sure, one said, my cab is right out front. I followed him to the ‘cab’. He opened the back door of a Lincoln and motioned for me to get in. There were no signs, no markings of any kind that this Towncar was for hire. I got in and told him where I needed to go. We went a different way (not on the freeway), but the distance from the Marriott to our hotel was just under two miles. Quarter mile, hah!
That cab ride was the best $10 I spent in Dallas.

After an exciting and relaxing week in Kentucky with the Perez family (more on that
in a future post) we arrived home late last night (about 12:30 am). This morning was
cool and clear. After breakfast, with Toby and Lucy taking naps to recover from jet
lag, Max and I spent some time in the front yard. I read a
book and he played on his fort. It was a beautiful morning.

When naps were over, our family got on our bikes and headed to the beach for some
eats. We cruised along the ocean on a short bike ride and enjoyed our sunny afternoon
with temperatures in the mid-60s. I was wearing shorts.

Such a contrast to the high of 31 and low of 12 degrees we experienced on Thursday
in Kentucky!

My 33rd birthday morning began well, Matt made me a breakfast burrito, we were all packed and left on time for the airport. Our flight from Burbank to Dallas was good, the (medicated) baby got some snoozes, and Max played well with his Legos. The portable DVD player helped out some too. In Dallas, we knew we had about 50 minutes to get to our gate for our Lexington, KY flight. We walked casually, got some food, and then walked around some more, having passed our gate and seen no boarding action. We realized that it was getting pretty close to takeoff, when Miss Lucy had some stinky pants. I went to change her, and Matt took Max to the gate. I return with the baby and am HORRIFIED to see that we had missed the flight. They closed the gate at 10 min before the flight and it was about 2 minutes after that. We were ASTOUNDED to realize that all our dabbling around had made us miss the last flight to Lexington of the night. It was the craziest set of feelings – embarassed and disgusted and shocked. The agent was very kind, she set us up at a local (decent) motel with a ‘distressed passenger’ room rate. We got on the shuttle, checked into the room, and after Max and I ate a dinner of french fries and pancakes at the nearby Dennys, we all went to bed. This was probably one of the top #3 WORST nights of sleep in my life. Both kids were coughing (and trying to sleep in the same bed), I was feeling sick and did I mention we were all in our same clothes? Mmmmm – it was fun to wear those same clothes the next day, too. But – we got a very decent complimentary breakfast from the motel, and arrived in Lexington late the next morning with no further troubles. After Rob and Di were done laughing at us, they took us to their wonderful house. The kids (Samantha and Max) have settled into such a loving, fun time together – it is wonderful to watch. More details of our week here to come…

Matt scores as Maximus

After his family was murdered by the evil emperor Commodus, the great Roman general
Maximus went into hiding to avoid Commodus’s assassins. He became a gladiator, hoping
to dominate the colosseum in order to one day get the chance of killing Commodus.
Maximus is valiant, courageous, and dedicated. He wants nothing more than the chance
to avenge his family, but his temper often gets the better of him.

I don’t know about that temper part but here is my score. Lara Croft as number 4??

Maximus		83%
Indiana Jones		71%
Neo, the “One”		67%
Lara Croft		67%
El Zorro		63%
William Wallace		58%
The Amazing Spider-Man		54%
Batman, the Dark Knight		54%
James Bond, Agent 007		54%
The Terminator		50%
Captain Jack Sparrow		42%

Which Action Hero
Would You Be? v. 2.0

created with QuizFarm.com

The next couple of days are very busy for this Theule Family. On Thursday night (17 Nov 2005), we are celebrating Toby’s 33rd birthday by dining at one of Toby’s favorite restaurants, Maggiano’s
Little Italy. Friday is pack, pack, pack day. Friday night, I am helping out my
uncle by setting up a new computer for him. Saturday, we are flying out of Burbank
to Lexington, Kentucky to visit Toby’s sister, et al., The Perez Family. We will be
in Lexington for a week, spending Thanksgiving with both the Perezes and Don and Camille.
We will be back in time to do child care on Sunday at Santa Barbara Community Church.
— I just heard a statistic on the radio that I have been unable to confirm, but have
no reason to disbelieve. It is an unprecendented statistic. Fandango is
reporting that 93% of of the pre-sales tickets being sold for this weekend are for
1 movie : Harry Potter
and The Goblet of Fire. 93%!