My mom solves all my problems

It's been way too long (Christmas) since I've seen my family. The adults can handle it, we text and talk and communicate over social media. I get extremely concerned about my nephew forgetting who I am, though he does regularly gain access to my sister's phone and text me. Still, it's not enough, and I don't trust FaceTime, because who knows if he understands that I'm an actual person?

Plus, the majority of our FT takes place in the bath, where he is understandably distracted.

Additionally, cooking and caring for myself gets old, and it's well worth a 400 mile trip to let my mom take over those duties.

Finally, there's a big wedding coming up (my sister's) and it's time to shop for some jewelry and dresses for the events (shower, bachelorette, rehearsal). You know how shopping can really grate on your self esteem when things don't look like what you imagine they will look like on you? So annoying. Luckily I'm just helping shop for my sister, not me, so that's actually really fun, because everything looks great on her.

I was really concerned about doing the 7 hour drive each way solo. Eric didn't want to shop for all that stuff with us and go to yoga... weird, right? Flights are suddenly crazy expensive I get really tired driving and usually rely on mainlining caffeine the entire time. In the interest of not falling asleep at the wheel, I cut out all caffeine last Tuesday so that I'd have a cushion in case I needed a little extra this weekend.

Because I'm already sick of the mommy police, who are out in full force, let's break this down mathematically and hope no one annoys me. Since coffee and I severed our relationship on February 1st (yes, I clearly remember the date, it was a significant breakup in my life), here's what's been going on.

Daily pregnancy recommendation: 200mg
My usual daily intake: one chai tea OR one soda if I need it, between 50-100mg maximum, some days nothing

Since my consumption was so drastically reduced (pre-pregnancy it was more like 800 mg or more.... yeah), I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to cut it out, but I suffered greatly. All in the name of staying awake on the road and seeing Harrison. But I was still nervous.

As usual, my mom fixed the whole issue with a genius idea. Did you know trains go to Rochester, NY? That's probably meaningless unless you have been there, and then you get it. Well, they do, and taking one doesn't cost much more than the gas. Granted, it takes nearly 11 hours instead of 7, but I'll gladly sit and relax on a train for four more hours than stress over driving. Even better, trains have WiFi, so instead of scrambling this week to do all my grad work and report cards before I leave, I'm sitting here watching Modern Family reruns and writing this blog post.

The advantages don't stop there. I have a two hour layover in NYC, so, NYC bagel, here I come (hopefully).

I booked my ticket. Then hid my phone from myself so I could work on my grad project, because I am horrible at motivation and self discipline. When I check it again, I had an email from Amtrak that my trip was canceled and my money refunded, with no explanation.

Then my mom called and explained she'd canceled my reservation in order to upgrade me to business class!

My first response was "you mean anyone can just cancel another person's train reservation at any time?". Yup. So if you need revenge on someone who is an avid Amtrak rider, there you go.

That quickly transitioned to extreme excitement and gratitude. When I went into teaching, I accepted I would never experience business class on anything, and when I married another teacher, that was the final nail in the coffin. So this will be a new and wonderful experience.

I got some excellent comments yesterday in my #motherrunner post. I also got some advice not to gain 60 pounds. Seems solid. I'm definitely all over that.

Let's just say, the bag did not give me six servings as it claimed.

What's your favorite type of caffeine?

Have you taken a train? Thoughts?