1999 january 29

fly away

i have 64,578 frequent flyer miles burning a hole in my suitcase. every quarter when the little envelope comes from northwest airlines, i get the itch to use some of those miles to fly, fly away. good thing they don't send it monthly. i can't quite believe i've racked up this many miles either; i have a tendency to use them as soon as i earn them but for whatever reason, i now have a surplus.

for less than $1000, gene and i can fly to europe, twice: once to the west, once to the east. that means paris and then athens. or copenhagen and then ankara, rome and st petersburg, london and prague. of course it wouldn't cover the lodging and the food but i can scrimp on those things; i don't really mind where i sleep if there are a lot of things to see and do whilst i am awake. and both trips must be completed before april 23rd which is a little problematic with regards to time off from the daily grind.

and gene doesn't have a passport so that throws yet another wrench into the works.

i've had a passport since i was five years old. it amazes me when i meet people who don't have one, and that amazement inevitably then turns to chagrin when i once again realize what a privileged life i have had in many ways. we didn't have much money, didn't live in fancy houses or have a lot of things, but we did see a lot of places. gene hasn't ever been out of the country, not even canada or mexico.

there are so many places i want to show him, to share with him, a whole world to explore together.

things to do in february:

get gene's passport

if i can get the boy to have his picture taken

file my taxes

i think i may get a refund this year, vacation money!

plan vacations

a short one this spring, a medium one this summer and a long one over christmas

make a decision about the fate of peter parker

i don't know who i think i'm fooling, it's obvious we are now cat owners

stop writing such smarmy entries

i want to get away, i want to fly away, claire