Sunday

We all have weird passions and hobbies, right? Right?? I mean, there are ones we readily admit to: reading, listening to music, doing art, looking at art, fly fishing, sports -- all kinds of sports, you name it, we're proud to do them, watch them, follow them. These are all what you would regard as normal leisure time activities.

Then there are ones that are just off the wall nuts and still, we love them! Ed, wanting to learn farming comes close to this. But I'm thinking of one that I have had, ever since I was old enough to grab an AAA book (and later Frommers, and Lonely Planet, and still later internet sites too numerous to mention): I love to search out places to stay for forthcoming trips. 

I just love doing it and frankly, I don't know why. I used to be the wee one in the back seat during family roadtrips thumbing through AAA guides until I would get so car sick that my head would spin and my stomach would churn and still, I kept at it. There's a good motel within our price range in about forty miles and they say it has a pool! It's supposed to be "charming! And "attractively furnished!"

Of course, I learned early on that such searches are often futile and result in crashes and disappointments. I used to put in requests in the mail for brochures ahead of a big trip. Well now, glossy brochures can be... misleading. I refined my search skills and learned how to be discriminating in what I read. Words like "nearby" became red flags. Give it to me in kilometers, buddy! "With a view" was laughable. If it has a window, it has a view. And if one room has a lovely view, it doesn't mean that you're going to get it. Unless you begged. I begged.

When the Internet become the common source of information, I juggled descriptions, readers comments, blog accounts, tourist platforms -- all of it. And still, sometimes the place didn't feel exactly right. [One reason why I always stay in the same hotel in Paris is because if I started searching again, I'd go through all the incumbent angst that comes with these searches. Am I missing something? With my sweet Parisian place, I know everything about it first hand. Search no longer needed.]

Ed says I just like reading about hotels, which I know sounds really weird. But he is only partly right. I dont especially like doing searches for other travelers, in much the same way that I didn't really love cooking at a restaurant. Too big a responsibility to figure out the preferences and peccadillos of others. I once remember picking an especially nice room in a hotel for my mom and she complained that the AC blew air right onto her bed all night. You just cant tell when you'll fail to please. You may want the view, another may not give a hoot about the view but will die if the room has inadequate circulation. 

All this to say that we had a very very cold night, but that was then, because today the sun came out and we are slowly starting to warm up, which means I should go for a walk with Ed, but no! I don't do that. I stay inside most of the day looking for a hotel for a trip I will be taking sometime next year.

Bizarre.

Yes, yes, I took care of animals in the morning.

So, I got ten minutes worth of fresh air and for the rest of the day my watch kept pinging to remind me to stand up and I ignored it all. I sat and clicked through countless pages and read endless comments and in the end narrowed things down, but I'm not done yet! 

There, I've admitted to my looney hobby. What's yours?

In the evening the young family is here for dinner. That is one welcome break from my screen time!

We're all in great pre-holiday moods. No one is sick at the moment (except for Ed who is still sounding like he has double pneumonia, but he assures me he is feeling almost great). The stress level, when compared to last year or the year before at this time, is significantly lower. We're all good!

(she finds my bags of hearts moons and stars....)

(he loves ice cream!)

Yep, we're all good.