I Did What I've Never Done Before. And I Survived. Barely.

I have been part of Jeremy's family since 1999, and I've never made the trek to Mississippi by myself. Usually on our trips to Mississippi, Jeremy drives most of the way and I find myself riding shotgun sleeping playing the part of "parent on duty" keeping Jackson entertained and the DVD player working.

I guess, if you want to get technical, I still haven't driven by myself considering that Jackson went with me. But I think that it is much more impressive to make a solo parenting trip with a 3 1/2 year old than to just say that I drove 4 1/2 hours by myself. Since Jeremy had to work this weekend, Jackson and I hit the road to Hattiesburg on Friday afternoon so that I could help host a bridal shower that we were throwing for Ben and Lacey (Jeremy's brother.)

Other than the fact that I was asked 67,293 times, "Are we there yet?" and 23,185 times was told, "You are mean" for not driving faster, the drive to Mississippi was rather uneventful.

We're not going to discuss the fact that I spilled orange Hi-C all over my floorboard. Again. I blame the stupid McDonald's cups, not operator error.

So despite my detour to mop up my mess, we made the trip rather uneventfully.

Amy and Adam were in town, so we enjoyed spending time with them, and Papa, Gigi, Ben and Lacey. We had a nice evening and finally at 10:30 we got Jackson down for the night. Saturday morning the bridal shower was really nice (pictures to come later!) and Saturday afternoon after a long nap we headed over to Adam's parent's house to go swimming. We had such a good time, and it was the perfect way to relax after a busy day.

(Hey, Chuck, Cindy, Lisa, Patrick, Lori and James! *insert bloggy wave*)

Sunday we got up and hung out with Jeremy's family. It was nice for Jackson to be able to see his Papa on Father' s Day, even if Jeremy wasn't able to be with us. We hit the road Sunday morning and the ride back was slightly more eventful than the ride to Mississippi.

• We immediately hit traffic that had us crawling for 15 minutes, only to instantly clear up with no rhyme or reason as to why we had even been stopped.
• I was literally asked 2 minutes into the ride, "Are we there yet?" and that continued for the next 5 hours.
• I stopped for gas a Chevron station that was selling regular unleaded for $2.34/gallon, when the surrounding stations were selling it for $2.59 gallon. It was worth the 10 minute wait for a pump, even with Jackson asking 4,286 times, "Can I help you pump the gas now, Mom?"
• I gave up stopping at fast food restaurants for bathroom breaks. I figured out that if you stop at places like Hampton Inn that they have very clean bathrooms and you don't have to worry as much about the skeevy germs that you know lie in wait for you at gas station and fast food restaurants.
• And I officially marked a Meridian, MS Burger King off my list of places to stop for lunch. After we got done eating I took Jackson to the potty before we left. Somehow overhearing a BK employee in the bathroom making a personal cell phone call from a stall to tell someone, "Girl, you got to come pick me up. I done messed all up in my pants" will make you truly wish that you were a blind, deaf, and mute vegetarian.

So, after 9 hours on the road this weekend, I'm exhausted. Jackson and I had a great weekend, but I'm so tired right now that I can't even think.

So with that...The End.