Becoming a Motel Connoisseur

I’m quickly learning how to pick motels.  I’m learning what “brands” I like and what amenities are higher on the priority list.  I’m learning to weigh costs/benefits such as a fridge and microwave, general neighborhood/environment, carpet or hardwood and other possible cleanliness issues that had never bothered me before (remember, there are cockroaches here!), proximity to base, pool availability, being on the first or second floor (because I have BOYS, who like to play on the railings), bed availability and hotel policies (charging for internet, charging per person, how many people can stay in a room, etc), and so many other little things that didn’t matter when I was only staying for a night and then moving on.  It’s quite interesting really.  I now have chains I like and chains I refuse to stay at.  Amazing the quirks frequent or prolonged traveling can instill.

Homeless

     I must say, as much fun as I’m having visiting family, and as grateful as I am to be able to be with Shawn on the weekends, traveling gets extremely difficult after a while.  There’s no real routine, a lot of time in a car, I have a difficult time sticking with goals (fitness goals for instance, or budget goals), tracking expenses after a while, etc.  It’s tiring too; you’re always on the go, packing or unpacking, looking for the toothbrushes, worrying about washing the clothes, or how you’re going to work out the meal plans.  Especially the food- planning meals in a motel with no fridge or even a microwave is just ridiculous.  I’m extremely grateful to be staying with family during the week. 

     Theo is my most needy child as far as routines go.  If we don’t do the same thing every time it can seriously upset his entire day.  This is a child who can throw a fit for hours over a single diaper change if you don’t have the right diapers—Huggies, with Mickey Mouse on them (which I totally spaced the other day when buying diapers…it’s gonna be a fun month).  So he’s been telling me every day that he wants to go back home now, to California.    He is not taking the news well that there is no more home in California, even though I try to get him psyched up about the new house we’ll be going to in Hawaii.  Right now, he’s just sad he doesn’t have any home at all.  (Olie is also telling me he wants a house now please, and he wants to not stay in hotels anymore!)  I feel for the kid, all of them really, even though I do get a little flustered when one of them goes around telling random people we’re homeless.