I'm Home!!!

I'm so glad to be back in Texas. Finally! After months of patiently riding Metro trains and trying to avoid the occasionally off-colour comments of the resident homeless man of Mass Ave. and 2nd, I'm finally able to sit in a quiet kitchen surrounded by my dogs and breathe cool (not cold) fresh Texas air. Maybe it's just me, but I do think that Texas smells better.

Anyway, traveling yesterday was quite an adventure. My flight left DC over 45 minutes late for no apparent reason. I was a little worried, because I only had a short amount of time between my two flights. I flew from DC to Chicago, then Chicago to Austin. Well, anyway, like I was saying, I was already in a time crunch, and here these guys were leaving the airport 45 minutes late! After several beseeching prayers that I would make my second flight, I settled down to read my book (Sea of Glory by Nathaniel Philbrick, a fantastic book about the US Exploring Expedition, read it some time!).

The girl sitting beside me was quite entertaining. It was only her second time to fly in a plane, and she kept asking questions like, what do I do with my carry-on bag? Well, you put it under the seat in front of you. Can I listen to my iPod during take-off? No, they tell you when you can though.

My favorite part was watching her raptly study every movement of the flight attendants as they mimicked what to do in an emergency. "Place the mask over your mouth and nose. Pull the tabs to tighten. Even though the bag may not inflate, it is still delivering Oxygen. If you are traveling with small children, put on your mask first, then assist the child." I don't think I've watched one of those flight attendant schpiels (sp?) since the age of 12, after I got over my fear that the plane was somehow going to explode mid-flight and I was going to be sucked out into the frigid air, with an eternity to freak out before I finally hit the ground thousands of feet below. I was a weird kid.

So, anyway, my flight was late. My plane for Austin was leaving Chicago at 7:05. My plane didn't get to Chicago until 6:59. Crap. Of course, I was stuck in the middle of the plane helplessly watching people take their sweet time as they removed carry-on items from the bins overhead. With prayers still being shot towards the sky, I barrelled up the ramp to the councours to find the monitors to tell me which way I needed to run. It was 7:10.

Close behind me were 4 other people from my flight who were also going to Austin. We were quite the motley crew as we sprinted from gate B4 to B21, me in my A&M Maroon Out t-shirt, an obviously wealthy woman in fancy clothes, two teenage boys, and some older guy in business casual. Half-way to the gate we heard them say "Last Call" over the intercom. We were now full-out sprinting down the moving sidewalks to get to the gate. Luckily, the woman was in heels, so everyone within 100 yards could hear us flying down the walkway and get out of our way.

Somehow, we made it in time. We were the last ones on the plane. As we walked on, huffing and puffing and looking extremely triumphant, people muttered things like "where the heck did they come from?" and "calm down, you made it!" Flushed and panting I finally found a seat. The aisle seat at the very back of the plane... yes, right next to the toilet. Good times. I really didn't care, I was going home.

I finally made it to Austin, and I was positive that my bags were going to be sitting somewhere in the Chicago-Midway airport, waiting for me to show up and claim them. There was just no way they would have made it from the DC flight. So, again, the prayers were shot to the heavens. At this point, I was practically begging that the Lord twitch his pinkie finger and send my bags flying from Chicago to Austin, to land at my feet at the baggage claim. Who knows, maybe he did, because when I walked up to the baggage claim, almost sure that my bags would be nowhere to be seen, my bag was one of the first to pop out of the chute! The second big miracle of the day!

Dad picked me up in a suburban full of dogs. He had brought Bertie, Maggie, and Turbeaux to see me! We opened the tail-gate window thing to put my bags in, and, immediately, all three of their heads popped out to say hello. They were so happy to see me! As I type this at the kitchen counter, Bertie, the golden retriever, is curled up at my feet with his chin tucked under his foot. He's precious.

Anyway, now I'm off to Alvin to go to Fallon & Big Steve's wedding! Very exciting, I hope I can get there in time to make the rehearsal! Anyway, y'all have a great day!