Home

I was able to go home a couple of days last week and it was so nice! I totally surprised my family. Leslie was the only one who knew I was coming. It was such a hard secret to keep, but i did it and it paid off wonderfully. For two weeks prior I had been taking pictures of my stuft dog Spatchual "traveling" in my parks. He went to China Town in Sanfransisco, rode the Subway in New York City and all sorts of things like that. Then I let them know he was home by sending them a picture of him in Perkins. It was so much fun.

It was so nice to be home, in my own bed (which was my very nice 20th birthday present), sitting on my seat on the couch, and just doing the normal everyday stuff with my family. It was great. I woke up each morning and before I opened my eyes i smiled a little and thought to myself, "It's so nice to be home."

I have a little over a month left here in Florida which is both exciting and sad for me. I've loved this experience and don't wanna turn in my IDs, but I'm ready to be back with the people who love me the most. I also miss doing some of the more creative things that i did on a regular basis at Home. Making videos and things like that. I picked up a guitar while I was home too, and I've been playing a lot since I've gotten back. (I brought my guitar with me to Florida.)

The Flight home was an interesting experience. I've never had to spend the night in an airport before, but that one thing I can add to the things I've done list. My flight from Dallas to Orlando was supposed to leave at 8:30, first it was delayed until 10:35.

"Okay, inconvenient but I'll still get back. I'll go buy a book."

Then 11:15. "Ugh. I'm tired of this game. 6 chapters into Marley and Me. I'll call home and let them know what's going on."

Then (about 11:00PM) "Ladies and Gentlemen we're sorry for the inconvenience, we are try to get you out of here tonight and we're hoping nothing bad happens, so just be patient and we'll get back with you shortly." What?!? "Nothing bad happens? Is that you're way of telling us we're not leaving tonight...or that you hope we don't crash once we've taken off?"

5 mins later:"Ladies and Gentlemen, we're sorry about this but your flight has been cancelled the FFA only allows our crews to fly a certain number of hours at a time and the entire crew has reached the limit. Usually we have stand-by crews on hand just in case, but all our stand by crews have been used this evening. Again, your flight has been cancelled."

:-(

:-( :'-(

I waited in the long line to get re booked and was able to get on a 7:10 flight out the next morning. It would get me home in time for work but would make staying in a hotel for the night a very slim possibility. Thus Spatchual and I found a cot and blanket and shivered it out for the night.

You know those messages you hear in the airports every 10-15 mins? "Don't leave you bags unattended." "If you see anything suspicious you should report it." etc? well, they don't turn them off at night. Nor do they dim the lights, or turn off or down the TVs. It was very cold, and I was traveling without luggage so i had nothing to layer with, and my backpack made for a very poor pillow.

Needless to say I didn't sleep much. I actually spent most of the night on the floor under a row of chairs with my cot propped up against them to create a little dimmer area. It also helped me not feel quite so weird about falling asleep in plain view of about 40-50 people I had never met before. I got up around 6 because I wasn't sleeping anyway and we very VERY cold. Spatchual decided he needed some hot chocolate and a doughnut to make himself feel better...so I obliged and by 7:10 we were headed back to Florida. I slept for about 3 hours then headed to work for a late shift. Came home and crashed. :-)

Even though it was rough getting back...I'm so glad I got to go home. I loved the time I got to spend with my family and the friends I got so see while I was there. :-)