Life as it happens with our three beautiful and adopted children, Shayla, Yamira and Manuel: I hate when I get so behind here, but I don't have a laptop!

After Bill got out of work early on Friday, we headed to Vermont for the long weekend. We hit terrible traffic, so it took us over 4 hours to get there. It was rainy and very foggy too! We checked in at the Mountaintop Inn and Resort. We threw our bags in our over heated room and went to dinner at the Tavern they have there. We had a quick dinner and headed back to the room to unpack and to wind down. The room was unbearably hot. It was uncomfortable and I couldn't breath. It was a nice room, but I was dying and Bill wasn't comfortable either. We had called the front desk twice and asked how to shut off the radiator since it didn't seem to be working for us, but didn't get a good answer as the heat raged on all night. There was a Pack and Play in the room. That was great because I asked for one for Olivia when I made the reservation. However, I called and told them it wasn't necessary. It was nice they had it, but it made me a little sad too. We opened the three windows and literally jacked open the door to the hallway to get a cross breeze. Nothing like sleeping with the door and windows open!!!! I slept on top of the bed just to try and stay cool. I wondered if someone was going to see me in the room with just a long tee on, but I was too hot to really care!!!!!

Saturday we got up and had breakfast which was included in our stay. We then got directions to two craft fairs we wanted to go to. We headed down to the reservoir they have on the property and took a Pontoon boat ride that I had reserved prior to getting there. I figured that Ping would have a wonderful time doing a boat ride since she loves boats. She has seen a cruise ship though. Enough said there! Anyway, the ride was great, but it was dark and dreary and really frigid out. Ping's brand new hair bow popped off her head and into the water. That was disappointing. We were glad to get back to the "island" as Ping called it. We just wanted to get in the truck and warm up. We headed into Rutland and then over to Woodstock to walk around the craft fairs. We got Ping kettle corn. She loves the stuff, so once she saw it, she basically demanded that we get some. We stopped at a couple of other gift shops and then had dinner at Fire Stones. We ate there years ago when Maura was living in Vermont. The food was good, but the electricity wasn't so much. They lost power right before we finished eating. It took us 30 minutes or so before our waitress could write up a bill and poor Ping had to use the ladies room. The entire town was out. We headed back to the Inn and put Ping to bed. I watched a movie once Bill passed out and I could steal the remote.

When we woke up on Sunday, we didn't have a plan. At breakfast we decided we would head to Stowe. It was two hours away, but I really wanted to see the Trapp Family Lodge. We thought we would take Ping to Ben and Jerry's ice cream headquarters too. So after eating, we got directions and set off on our journey. Poor Ping had a terrible bloody nose from being so dried out in the room due to the heat. In addition to that, the poor girl had a bureau jump in front of her when she was rushing into the room. So she hit herself right under her eye. She could have gotten her eye. She was lucky. However, she was left with a bruise. The poor thing. Anyway, we had to stop occasionally on the way to Stowe to fix the DVD she was watching or to get her nose cleaned up. We stopped at a few stores on the way as well. We found a huge craft fair that cost $16.00 to gain admittance. I thought that was terribly expensive. Spend the money on the crafters as they are the ones that have to pay a high fee to get a spot. Well we walked through the entire fair in one hour and then headed to the Trapp Family Lodge. We walked around a little, but it was really chilly and Bill didn't want to walk around anymore. So I grabbed a few photos and off we went. We stopped for dinner on the way home. It took forever to find a restaurant and poor Ping was starving. We were too and we weren't eating kettle corn by the handfuls!!! Once back to the room, we put Ping to bed and I watched the finales of my two TV shows on Lifetime. We never did get to Ben and Jerry's.

Monday morning came and so we packed up, had breakfast, had the bill fixed since it was wrong and headed off down the street. We wanted to stop at a few shops before heading home. The first stop looked like it would have a lot of interesting stuff. It did, but the most interesting "item" were the owners!!!!! Grab a bowl of popcorn or something because this story is quite interesting. We enter the store and it's jam packed with stuff. The first thing that Ping and I see are these cool magnets. Their bodies are the magnet, but their head and feet bob due to springs. If I could find them online, I would be so happy, but I can't, so I can't even show you a picture. Anyway, they are as cute and fun as they can be. So I pick up a ladybug. Ping picks one up and shows it to me. She asks me what it is. I can't figure it out because it's just the head. I asked her to put it back and I walk away. As I walked away, Bill walked over to Ping. A few minutes later, Bill brought the magnet to me and told me that the lady that owns the store said that Ping broke it. I told him that she didn't and it was already that way because she showed it to me. A few minutes later, I realized the woman is following me. Something drops through no fault of us and I sigh. I say to Bill that we should leave as it's not a safe store to get around in. The woman storms over to me and says "You know that those magnets are not toys and shouldn't be played with." I tell her that they may not be toys, but they sure invite you in as they are a lot of fun and I don't know how kids couldn't be attracted to them because I was and I am 40. So she proceeds to tell me that there is a lot of stuff in her store that shouldn't be played with. Whatever lady. So I politely say to her "My husband said that you told him that my daughter broke a magnet? She said "Yeah, she did. " I said "Maybe it looks like she did because you couldn't see, but she showed me the head of the magnet and it was already broken. Maybe another customer broke it and just put it back on the magnetic board." She said "Your daughter was pulling a bunch off and then took that magnet and ripped it's head off." Not for nothing, but I can't even see Ping doing that. Not that she doesn't touch stuff she shouldn't, but I don't see her ripping the head off. Plus I was right there and she didn't do it. She was never unsupervised near the magnets. So I gravitate towards another area and tell Bill we need to go. So I go to pay for the magnet and she tells me it will be $9 and some change. So I say "The magnet is $4.99." So she says to me, "You need to pay for the magnet your daughter broke." So I get out a $20 while I am processing this and trying to figure out what to do. I say "Oh, I have a smaller bill and take back the $20. She then starts saying that kids shouldn't be touching stuff in her store and that parents should look after their children better. Then she gives a few examples of how she handles her relatives in the store. I thought I was going to blow a gasket. She was really making me angry. Bill who never gets angry says "Nice" and takes Ping and walks out. So I tell her that we are all set and that we need to go. I leave the magnet on the counter. The woman jumps out behind the desk and slams the door, blocks it and starts screaming at me. She says "You aren't going anywhere!!!!" All of a sudden, I realize I am in a bad situation and Bill is outside. So I say to her "You need to move, you can not keep me here in the store against my will." Again, she starts screaming that I need to pay for the damn magnet. Now not for nothing, but she isn't getting a freaking penny out of me!!!!!! So I tell her that until I see a videotape of Ping literally breaking the magnet, I am not paying her and I want to see this proof. She says "Oh I will show you proof" and proceeds to make a call on her cell. Just then she opens the door for her male partner. I am still stuck in the store. She says "This white trash won't pay for the magnet that her kid broke and she is not leaving." EXCUSE ME?????? White Trash??????????????? Are you flipping kidding me?????? So the man says "Get the stupid bitch out of here" and opened the door. I walked out and went to the car. Bill was waiting on me. He had no clue this was all going on. So this woman and man follow me out to the car and yell at us to get off their property and that we are white trash and shouldn't be parents and no wonder this little girl is a rotten child because she can't learn anything from people like this. So I said "That is it, I am calling the police, shut your mouth." So I called. They wouldn't stop barraging us. I got 911 on the line and finally after 3o minutes of them yelling at us and such, a woman state police officer came showed up. I told her that I apologized that I called over a stupid magnet, but that this woman held me against my will and wouldn't stop verbally abusing me. The officer went in and spoke to them after she told them to leave where they were. Another state police officer arrives and asks us what happened. He was fantastic. We told him what happened. I apologized for the imposition, but said that nobody should ever be held against their will and that this woman was crazy and just wouldn't leave us alone. He said "Even if you daughter broke the magnet, it's the cost of doing business! If you have friends that visit VT, tell them not to stop here, that is the best you can do." He was just really down to earth. So the woman officer comes out and says that the only thing they can do is let us go on our merry way. I wouldn't have pressed charges, but thought she would at least ask me if I would be wanting too. She also asked if we had the broken magnet because they said that we had it. I told her that we didn't and she was welcome to search the car. She didn't. Anyway, we drove away. I was so angry about this for hours. I asked Bill if he was mad that I called the police. He wasn't. There was a point where Bill and the guy got a little too close for my comfort, but I stepped between them and told Bill to get into the car so that Shayla would be safe and comfortable. She didn't know what was going on because I was out of the car. Craziness. I am sure some people would have just paid for the magnet and be done with it, but I am big on principle and nobody is going to accuse my child of doing something that she didn't. If someone said she did something and I wasn't there to witness, well then I wouldn't have a choice in the matter, but I was there and saw the whole thing. The place is in Mendon, VT and is called Vermont Gift and Garden. If you would like to call on my behalf and tell her that I am not white trash, I would very much appreciate it!:) Oh and when we cleaned out the car, we found the broken magnet. All I could do was laugh. Bill said he put it on the counter and I thought he did. Guess we were both wrong. Boy that would have looked great if the police searched the car.

We stopped a few more times and then headed home. Traffic was horrendous. We jumped off the highway that we were on to have dinner. We then got back on and hoped it would be better, but it wasn't at all. Route 93 was closed due to a severe car accident. So that made things a nightmare. Regardless, we got home and all is safe.

Vermont was lovely. We had a nice time. We aren't going back anytime soon though. Onwards and upwards. I still want to hurt that woman though. I am getting better with each day. I keep telling myself to let it go. It's hard though. Don't assume I am white trash just because I am heavy and I can almost say with certainty that the reason why she came up with that was because of my weight.

Yesterday I had a dentist appointment at noon. So after a quick trip for kitty food and Ping's Halloween costume, we were off to the dentist. I took Ping skating at 4:40. Bill didn't meet us. He tries to come weekly, but he actually had an appointment at his dentist too. So it was a busy day.

Today I dropped Ping off at school. Came home to unload the dishwasher and then drove all the way to Framingham for a $6.99 mask to go with her costume. The only store they had it in was in Framingham and I hate Route 9. Had to get the girl her mask though! So off I went and then I picked up Ping at school. We have been home all day. It's been wonderful. I have been able to make a lot of calls and catch up on some stuff here including this blog. I knew it would take me some time!!!! Anyway, off to post pictures of our trip.

Mama Out!!!!!!