A Train, A Cab, An Automobile

Travel. Travel. Travel. That's this week's theme at our house! Today the girls and I spent some quality time together by taking the Metra from a nearby town to Chicago. Although I picked the morning Express train, cutting down the travel time by about 25 minutes, it was still an 1 1/2 hour commute & required an early rising time of 6:45 am. {I can't imagine having to wake my little pumpkins that early in the day, or earlier, to catch a school bus!} We barely made it in enough time to purchase our tickets at the station, which I was thankful for, because otherwise that would've meant a $2 surcharge. We leisurely snacked on dry cereal, trail mix & water as we rode along. Once we arrived in the Big City, I had a mildly difficult time catching a cab from our stop. It seems like that particular station is a bit out of the way, unlike the station downtown, so there aren't a plethora of cabs to be had. If you're a suburban girl like me & you ever find yourself in need of hailing a cab, here's two pieces of advice: 1) Stand at an intersection. It increases the likelihood of cabs passing by as opposed to just the side of one street. 2) Know which direction you will need to travel to your destination. i.e. I knew {only because I asked my dad} that I was heading North, so I made sure to stand on the East side of the main street, that way the cab wouldn't have to circle around to get where I needed to go which wastes time and in this case time = $$$. I got a much needed clinical massage & a quick lunch with the girls' grandma & then we were on our way back home again. My littlest pumpkin was so tuckered out, she was asleep and drooling on the car ride home from the station. All that and it was barely 1:30 pm!!

I made sure to spend extra kid time today, because tomorrow I am going to Milwaukee with my mom for this event. She is totally into beading & jewelry making, so this is really her thing. We are staying overnight in a hotel & I am traveling kid-free. I was having a bunch of mommy-guilt about it, but am trying to just Let. It. Go. Know what I'm talking about? I am praying for rain because then hubster's work will be slower, giving him a little less to worry about. It will be so weird to just be out and about by myself. Tatiana has her big year-end dance recital this weekend, so I will be busy with that immediately upon my return. Busy. Busy. Busy.

I will be kind of glad when this weekend is over, then I can just focus on the family, the house, and my part-part-part time job. I will be scheduling another Talk About It post for tomorrow for all to enjoy while I am gone!