Marti Reads a Book

August 2013
So there's this thing that I like to do sometimes, which most people haven't heard of or if they have, they avoid it at all costs.  In fact, in my job, I kind of get paid to do it or at least to get other people to do it.  It's called reading and I highly recommend it!

As I was pondering the eternal question of how to go on vacation with my sister in Iceland but trick my husband into thinking I was really on vacation with him in Ireland, I stumbled upon an Iceland travel book.  [READ: I grabbed every Iceland travel book out of the travel section of Barnes & Noble and sat down with a grande latte and read until they kicked me out.]  And I'm so glad that I do know how to operate those things called "books" because with them, I found the answer to life, the universe, and everything.  Ok, actually just the answer to my problem.  I know what you're thinking:  She's going to "accidentally" book tickets to Iceland instead of Ireland and then tell Mark, "Sorry, it was an unfortunate typo but we'll have to go now because the tickets are non-refundable and, oh, look, Erica's tickets are for the same dates!  Yes, I know we wanted a romantic trip alone but, really, we should just make the most of it."  

Ok, that might have worked too but, no, what I found out was that, according to the Iceland travel books, one can find fairly cheap flights from Scotland and England to Iceland...  "Yes!" I thought, "Mark will be much more likely to believe that Scotland is Ireland and by the time he's figured out that we're not in Ireland, I'll be away on my cheap flight to Iceland!"  <insert evil laugh here>

Actually, what happened next is that I raced home, after trying unsuccessfully to put back all the travel books in their correct spots but without my friend the Dewey Decimal system to help me out, really, how could I? Anyway, I got home, walked up to my husband with a big smile on my face and said, "You know where would be cooler to go than Ireland?  Scotland!  It is the land of your people afterall!"  Surprisingly, he seems to know when I'm trying to manipulate him.  I thought I'd have at least 30 years of marriage before we got to that point.

"What did your sister put you up to now?" he asked.

"Ok, look!" I said, deciding it was time for some truth. "I found out that I can get a cheap plane ticket from Scotland to Iceland.  So we could do our anniversary trip and then after a week or so, you fly home, and I fly to Iceland."  He was not looking impressed so I knew it was time to break out the big guns.  "And guess what else I found out about Scotland?  There's this mountain called Ben Nevis, which is the highest in the UK and people run it all the time.  It would be perfect for your OCR* training!"  His eyes had glazed over and I think there was a little drool so I knew it was time to go in for the kill.  "And guess what's at the bottom of the mountain, waiting for you when you come down?  A whisky distillery."

"Scotland it is!" he said.

*OCR stands for obstacle course races, which Mark is fanatical about and pretty good at too!