I hate to fly

Trust me, I didn't want to have to blog about my travels this time. For once, I wanted a normal traveling experience. This was not to be.

Because I hate to fly, I think God has some fun at my expense.

I actually thought I was going to slip into normalcy when I boarded the plane from Atlanta to Houston and found myself sitting in an "A" seat! This is a row all by itself, no seat mates! Ah , heaven.

When we landed in Houston, I discovered I had one hour before my next flight departed to Seattle. Ok, I got this.

We deplaned on the tarmac, walked an unearthly long trek just to make it to the terminal. I found where terminal C is, which is where my next flight was departing from. So far, so good.

Oh wait, I should check the departure board just to make sure gates were not moved.

Uhm, where is the Seattle departure? I am seeing no Seattle departure. So I move towards the assigned gate. I check my phone real quick for any gate updates from the airlines. None.

I then proceed to gate C-18....after I take a tram to get there and then walk by 18 other gates.

Gate C-18 departing for Fort Lauderdale at 7:30 pm. Uhm, what?

I ask the gate attendant. She looks at me and says " you can find your departure on the board" and walks away.

Wait! I have less than 40 minutes before my flight leaves and it's not up there! Don't walk away! This terminal was jam packed with a kajillion people, 3 people mover trams for handicaps ( filled)and a high school group of about 200 kids. She could have cared less about my little problem.

So back to the board I go. No Seattle. Anywhere. Just to make sure I am not going insane, I ask the giant man next to me if he sees Seattle up there anywhere? No? Me neither.

Great.

Now I have to muster up the balls to go to another terminal attendant to ask them for help. Problem is, every dang counter is lined up with hoards of people! Were they all going to Seattle too?

One last look at the board in frustration.......oh, oh, there it is! It just came up! Phew!

Oh.

Not in the C terminal anymore. Moved to the B terminal.

Back to the main hub and then follow the signs to the tram that will take me to the B terminal. I take the tram and

I passed 33 more gates en route. I might be sweating at this point. Ok, I am.

Finally arrive at my gate 33..it figures.

I check in , at which point the woman tells me I have a B seat.

No bueno. Not with these girls. NO BUENO!

She tells me I can upgrade to first class for 568 dollars ( you read right) ......yeah, right! No aisle or window seats available, flight is booked. She stares at me. I stare back. She is better than me. I go sit down, defeated.

Wonderful. A 5 hour flight with squished girls. Yay for me.

At least I made it to the gate in time tho, right?

We board. I am ever so hopeful that the window seat next to me is someone like myself in flights past who never showed up for the flight. Getting to the end of the passengers......

....hope,....., hope......, hope. Gone.

Down the aisle comes a man in a plastic stetson and lime green shirt headed straight for my coveted seat. Yep. It's his. Sigh.

He situates himself and tells me " Oh I am so glad I have seatmates on this flight! On my way to Mexico, I had to sit on a row by myself!"......

Say what? I haven't had that in years!

Then for the next 2 hours I am bombarded with his life story. What is it? Why do people always talk to me?!? Why do I always get the person who smells sitting next to me? This guy smelled slightly of moth balls and tequila. Yeah. I know.

He stayed in Mexico with family for 4 weeks. I know his whole life story. He even busted out the ceramics his uncle paints and showed me every piece he got.....all this, while I am trying to stay as nonchalant as I can without seeming like a bitch. He orders a beer, while telling me his wife is not gonna be happy with that. But can he buy me one too? (seriously). No thank you I say.

He then starts to get tired. Thank you Lord.

Oh wait, I may have jumped the gun on that one. His heads slumps forward and he passes out.
YES!!!!

NO!!! He starts to snore like a banshee!!! I mean, he makes Michael sound like a baby quietly napping! NOOOO!

Wait, it gets better.

He wakes up quickly. Then speaks spanish to me. Up close and personal. I tell him I do not speak Spanish. He laughs and apologizes and then passes out. Really? With one beer?

The attendant comes by with the beverage cart. He wakes up and orders another beer. Oh please Lord, no.

He drinks one sip and passes out. Cue snoring. Wakes up 20 minutes later and gets in my face speaking spanish again. I repeat, I do not speak spanish. He asks me what channel on tv I am watching and then proceeds to change it to the same channel so he can talk to me about it now.

Law and Order. Great.

Wants to buy me a beer. No thank you I say. He passes out again. This should actually be in a series of numbered steps because he was that predictable.

1. drink

2. talk my ear off

3. pass out snoring

4. wake up 15 minutes later, speaking spanish

5. laugh and take a sip and pass out

During this flight, he managed to go to the bathroom 3 times. Remember he is in the window seat? Yeahhhh.

Are we in Seattle yet? After four episodes of Law and Order and a half of another, we are approaching Seattle! Yes! Never mind we are 45 minutes late arriving, we are finally there!

He asks me if I have a ride waiting for me? Even if I didn't , I would never tell him!

I can't get off that plane fast enough.

I hate to fly.

Wedding time!

As you all know,We have a wedding in June!

Breanne and Danny became engaged on their trip out to Alabama.

Being the parents and grandparent ( G-pa) we are, of course we were concerned for her well being, leaving family and friends and moving with Danny to Alabama.

Yes, we fit the concerned parents role quite nicely.

Danny assured me on our trip to New Hampshire at Christmas time what his intentions were and I appreciated that. But nothing says commitment like marriage.

It was during my trip to Alabama to spend time with them, that they decided to take a trip to the Opelika County Courthouse to make it official.

I really appreciated that. Just verified that what Danny said, Danny meant.

So they are married now!

But to answer some of the questions that have been coming our way~

Yes, they are married.

Because they wanted to do it the right way.

Yes, they are having a ceremony in June in Washington.

Because they deserve to opportunity to have Michael walk his little girl down the aisle to a man he knows he can trust.

Yes, it is a full blown wedding and reception.

Because they deserve the celebration coming their way on June 11th.

This is their journey and we are thrilled that they are starting it in all the right ways!

The Joys of Traveling by air.....

As often as I fly, which is really not that often,I've always wanted to write about my fellow passengers . I find them so doggone intriguing.

Before I continue, I ask you to

please remember that when I fly, I tend to get a little grouchy.

Why, you ask?

Have you seen the size of my chest? By the time I get off the plane, I am pretty sure I have one gigantic boob. And so, yes, I am grouchy. Here goes~

When I see the man in the aisle next to me with his "carry on" that is actually a Hefty garbage bag filled with clothes...I say to you...seriously?

And no, it wasn't the flex kind. Just an observation.

When I see the woman who had the horribly mismatched clothes (in color as well as genre) let her hair down and then watch in horror as a man coming back from the toilet step right onto her hair...I say to you, seriously? Did you not realize that your floor length hair would, oh, I don't know, actually touch the floor when you set it free from that hideous ponytail?

And to the gentleman who sat next to my on my flight home from Atlanta: I am sure you were a very nice soul, you seemed like it. But when you smell a little like saltines and Vienna sausage, I will be just a little distant. And when you put your tray table down so you can sleep on it but end up totally resting on my whole right side of my body, I cringe. Nothing personal.

Ok, everything personal. I am not your pillow. So, in turn, to retreat a little from you, I find myself scrunching even more to the left, thus ensuring an extremely squished boob. So very comfortable for me.

Homage to the young mother traveling with two children under two and no stroller~ You are amazing. I watched how she maintained her composure while they both cried. For at least an hour. I watched her continue in a loving manner to feed them and reassure them and lay them down to sleep on their blankets on the floor. At this point, I walked over to her and told her she was my hero and asked her that if she needed to use the bathroom, I would stay with her children.

I'll admit, just for a slight second,I was worried she was never coming back.

I watched as she bundled up the youngest one ( 6 months) like a pro in her baby carrier strapped to her chest, all the while never waking her. Tucking in her blanket like an expert who has done this a million times. Then gently waking up the 18 month old and putting a restraining harness on him and coaxing him to walk towards the plane. I offered to carry him but she declined. All I kept thinking was, if someone told me I had to travel with two children under 2 with no stroller......I would have told them absolutely not. In a million years. (Hey, I never said I was going to get "Mother of the year" award.)

She is the definition of a good mom.

To the man who sat in the section clearly marked " for our handicap clients only" and then brag about the great seat he got in the terminal.......

you're an idiot. Plain and simple.

And to the mom whose children told her she was sitting in the handicap section? To which she replied " So, they're not sitting here now, are they?" You must be married to the man above. Many happy returns.

To the businessman who kept standing up by his seat, straighten his shirt, glance at his expensive watch and casually look around.... right towards my one gigantic boob....Sit Down. Before I sit down next to you. And trust me, you're not going to want that.

And last but not least,

when I travel alone, to an airport I have never been to before, I get a little tense.

Which explains why, when I landed in Atlanta and proceeded to the baggage claim, as the signs indicated....I may have missed the tram signs to GET to the baggage claim.

So I walked. And walked. And walked. Until I noticed no one was behind me. Or on front of me.

Hold up....is that a tram with people on it? Where might THAT take you? Our trams at SEATAC take you to other terminals, so I was not about to hop on one of those, let me tell you!

So I walked. A kajillion miles ( absolutely no exageration at all here) to baggage claim.

Carrying my Samsonite carry on that weighed a ton, I started to sweat and possibly worry about where I was going to end up. All by myself. In an airport I have never been to.

Eventually I got there right when the tram doors opened up and people poured out in swarms.

I overheard someone say " did she just walk to baggage?" in a hushed tone.

Why yes, yes I did. Is not the sweat pouring down my face a dead giveaway?

Welcome to traveling in my world.

I have officially been to the "South"!

It's always fun to travel to new places, take in your surroundings,

marvel at tree houses not quite built to spec.

Welcome to Alabama and Georgia Colleen!

How was it? I had a blast~ I didn't have to see the bigger attractions/cities to enjoy myself.

If you look around you, there is always something to be fascinated about.

My favorite shake your head in amazement/can't look away/ are we coming up on it yet? was, yep, the "tree house".

Oh My. I know you love us all Lord, but where were these people when you were handing out common sense?

"Ima gonna cut that tree down in the front yard. You know, the one up aginst the driveway? Then I am gonna paint it white with blue and pink polka dots, make it purty. Then Ima gonna put a piece of plywood ( I'm sure it's waterproof) ontopa it. Hand me that little tykes doll house, will ya? Up she goes! Tah Dah! Oh, hold up, I need a ladder for the stairs. There. Good to go."

True story folks. I found myself looking for it every time we drove by,kinda like an accident.

You don't want to look, you just have to.

Secretly, I wanted to see kids climbing up the ladder....

Now I have been in military installations for the first 18 years of my life and I have never seen one as big as Fort Benning. It was pretty cool. I especially loved the military museum that is there.

Danny was telling me there was an IMax theatre inside of it...I thought he was trying to see if I would believe that. He was right. ( he was right a lot of this trip....hate that) And a restaurant upstairs. But I loved how they showcased the wars with memorabilia from those times. In the center of it, in glass room,( this place was huge) they showcased medal of honor recipients.

Yeah, I read every placard inside that glass walk in display. I found it very moving to read of the heroics and sacrifices these men made. Made me cry. But, history with details ( mens names make it personal to me, I don't know why) always puts me "there", and the tears always follow.

(I don't think my face was ever dry when I was in Normandy ,France , at the American Cemetery.)

After hearing all the amenities this base provides, I want to speak to someone at Fort Lewis and ask them why they don't offer the same things~Not like they don't have the land, sheesh.

I discovered football in the south is a whole nother animal. Another watch in amazement moment. Now, remember, I grew up moving around but when we settled, we settled here. In the Northwest. That being said.....

I have never seen so much football paraphernalia in my life! On cars, homes, mailboxes, clothing, cars, homes, mailboxes, clothing....it is a religion. Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to imply that it's wrong.

Not at all. I am just not used to seeing it all the time, every day, in such abundance. I was thinking at first it was because I was in ( or close to) Auburn country, but no, I don't think so.

These people are serious about their football! I kinda like it. Camaraderie is great!

Next stop: The wildlife Safari~

It was about 40 minutes away from where Danny and Breanne live. But you have to look for this place, it is not easily identifiable and/or marked. If I owned it, I would have gigantic signs on the freeway telling you not to miss it!

Because it was a blast. We rented a zebra striped van they provide ( where else would I find one?) because you just don't want these animals freely rushing your vehicle.

And rush your vehicle, they do. Continually.

Which I loved. I mean, come one, how many times does an elk ( a "tirty point buck") stick his head into your car? Or a zebra? Or a Bison?

You wouldn't think it, but these guys have it down to a fine art, sticking their heads in as far as they can for that tasty pellet you have to offer! We bought two big bags of food pellets. I thought we might need only a large cup per person. Wrong. ( another "you were right" moment for Danny and Breanne)

We had two bags, four bags each inside those, filled with food. These pellets were about the size of your thumb. So, do the math....500 animals to feed, with Breanne and Colleen in the car. Yeah, your on the right track...EVERY animal must get some! No favorites! Feed them all!

Wait! There's a deer back there, who's pellet bounced off his head, he still needs one!!!!

So...deer, zebra, bison, elk, longhorn cattle ( very impressive rack...yeah, I said it) pigs, emus, ostriches, rheas ( look it up) mules, assorted cattle/gnu like beasts all wanting to be fed.

Good times. Altho, they did ask you not to feed the horses and ostriches/emus/rheas. Said they were aggressive. Which we had no doubt of ,when one gave Danny the evil eye at a slow trot past the van, very up close and personal. He got it in video.

In the back of my mind, I kept holding onto this thought: "Headlines! Couple mauled at safari park!" Danny would be feeding an extra large elk, whose whole face was blocking out Danny's. While Breanne was marveling at this, a zebra stuck his whole head in on her side of the van wanting to know where his food was. These things are BIG and it was a little scary at first.

But we got over it.

So if your ever in the area...go there. Experience the fun!

Real estate: A lot of inexpensive smaller homes, in the area where we were. Found myself wondering what the price was on a couple of them! I noticed a majority of the homes do not have garages. The newer built ones do. But not many, unless your in a development. Lots of brick homes, which I love. But more importantly, land. Lots of land. The "I need a riding lawnmower" kind of yards.

Weather: I never want to hear another Pacific Northwester complain about rain again.

Our rain is gentle ( with the exception of the occasional storms) and constant.

Their rain is......brutal and continual for a day. Then it stops. And then, like in a movie, the birds come out and sing, the skies are blue and clear. And all signs of the gulleywasher the night before are gone. The small creek in Breannes front yard was about 4 feet across, at it's widest. When it rained, it grew to about 25-30 feet across. After the rain stopped, the water receded and all that's left is a beach. Woohoo, beach front property Breanne!!

Vultures: hmmm, they SAY they have them...I never saw one. They SAY their always around the roadkill....I never saw one.

Ponds: Lots of them! Everywhere~ Some folks have a pond for their front yard, complete with dock and chairs. ( Are there alligators in Alabama?)

I recall Cint's father telling us we talked fast and to slow it done a tad when we got to the South. So I tried to remember that when we were shopping and around employees. Sometimes I forgot to and would get caught up in a conversation with Breanne and then notice the person at the cash register looking at us in, well......, looking at us. For the most part, I don't think I weirded too many people out with my hundred mile an hour speech impediment. But I did find it extremely easy to speak with a twang...even when I wasn't even hearing it! What's up with that?

Summing it up, I leave you with these choice words to explain my trip:

Treehouse, vultures, bar-be-que, Cracker Barrel , carports, Opelika, Fort Benning, 73 degrees, RAIN!, football, Big lots ( complete with furniture!) Wedding registry, dining out, safari, Chatahoochee river, the dam, BMW, areas largest bridal store, UFC on pay for view, superbowl and good food. Especially Rogers Bar-be-que in Hogansville, GA (Do not miss that store!)

And yes, I am looking forward to going back!!

Like a crow, I tell you!

Sometimes, just sometimes....I get distracted.

(Don't start with me~ )

I think I'm really a crow in human form.

Seems I am on the path with a great directive and then, BAM!

"Oooh, what's that over there?" Something shiny? Ooooooo.....

Yeah, pretty much sums it up.

I have come down with the crud/cough that Mitch brought into my home.

Thank you Mitchell.

I am prone to bronchitis. BUT, I have been bronchitis free for about 2 years now.

It might have something to do with taking Gueyafenisun for my Fibromyalgia. What the heck it that you ask? Pretty much Mucinex.( The side effects tend to block pain.)

Until your body catches on and one day, says, Nu..uh..no more.

Which is where I am at. So I am leaving to visit Breanne and Danny in 4 days and I do not want this crud to go with me.

So I am racking my brain trying to figure out how in the heck I have avoided colds for the past few. And, like a crow, I have gotten so distracted with other things, I can't see the zebra from the horses!

Until, one shining moment this afternoon, I remembered!

* angels singing Tahhhhh dahhhhhhere*

Peroxide!

I swear by this. I had done so much research into this that I am pretty sure I have a grant somewhere.

Anyway...peroxide.

Blogs and articles have spoken about how the peroxide, once poured into your ears, travels thru the canals and attack the cold bugs ( for lack of medical term) and end your cold misery.One guy said his mom started when he was a wee lad and as an adult, he has continued once a week. And to this day, has never had a cold/bronchitis, strep etc

.

When you pour it in, you must have your head laying flat.

Then you will hear a fire crackling sound...this means it is working. Stay lying down for 10 minutes. Switch sides, apply same.

So, by this time tomorrow, I anticipate being MUCH better than I feel right now.

If I could, I would send locusts to plague Mitchell for bringing this into our home. But since I live here, that might not be the best answer.

To top it off, I recall Danny having a coughy cold thing for forever and all this time, I could have corralled him and put peroxide in his ears and he would be better! Watch out son, I am coming to Alabama and I WILL put peroxide in your ears if Apollo and Breanne have to hold you down!

Unless, I continue on in my crow vein and become distracted once again.....

Adapt, Adaptable, Adapting

The dictionary tells me the definition of the word

Adapt is:

"to make suitable to, fit for a specific situation".

Welcome to my world.
I am all about adapting, conforming, accommodating, adjusting, fitting, altering, changing, varying and reconciling.

How's that for a word of the day? Or I should say "words".

Either way. they are all verbs.

And like it or not, they are me right now. I am those verbs.

I used to think that John Lennon's quote "life is what happens when you make plans" was a good one.

Now I AM that quote.

When I gave birth to my children, I had dreams for them.

Grand dreams. Wonderful lives filled with no strife, no pain and no worries.

And then they grew up. And became owners of their own dreams.

How does that happen? What do you mean I am no longer in control of such?

When did I become a verb?

When I became a mother of adult children, that's when.

So now their lives are in their hands and their futures are for them to plan and nurture.

I am learning to adapt. To adjust to stepping to the side and watching these things happen and not make them happen anymore.

It has been a sad transition, but more importantly, it is filled with possibilities and hope for them.

Because it really is "all about them" now.

This is their time.

A time for marriage, a time for relocating, a time for adventure.

So I am changing how I look at things and reconciling myself to the fact that I can still be a part of those adventures, just not the key player.

And that's ok.

Because it means I am gaining a son-in-law whom I love, a daughter who has joy, a son who I will live vicariously thru in his European travels and life beginning adventures and possibilities of grandchildren to spoil and adore.

So maybe change is not such a bad thing after all.

And I can only say this because I have had my pity party.

Decorated with tears and ugly crying, as Misty calls it. But, that party was a dud.

And I am ready to get better invites to much better parties now.

Bring it.

Road Trip!

December 12th 10 am~ I left on a cross country trip for a LeBlanc Christmas with Danny and Breanne. Destination: New Hampshire.

Let the fun begin~Danny and I took turns driving. Don't even ask why Breanne didn't drive, that might be a sore subject. Just sayin....

So we started the drive down into Oregon to avoid the snow that was sweeping our mountains. It was all clear and good until I hit the fog from Hell. Danny was sleeping in the backseat while Breanne was listening to me slightly freak out. I could only go about 40 mph and could not see the lights directly in front of me. It was hairy. Then I would come out of it, breathe and BAM! It would hit again. Sheesh. I thought Oregon would never end. From there we entered Idaho, Wyoming and then to Nebraska to pick up Zailey, Danny's daughter. We got there Monday night at 9 pm.

We left Tuesday morning and drove thru Iowa, Illinois and Indiana towards Ohio. And then we picked up Cindy, Danny's sister on Wednesday. By the way, I want it known that Danny may possibly be a traveling nazi. So many, ( well, maybe not THAT many) places I would loved to have pulled over to see or take pictures of, but we were on a mission to get to New Hampshire by Friday. Some of those long stretches of road were just traveling behind a semi, passing him in the left hand lane and then pulling back into the right lane to travel behind another semi. Repeat as neccesary. Loooonng stretches. Where we saw antelope, cool mesa's, sang Christmas songs to the top of our lungs, pulled into truckers pit stops to run to the bathroom and or eat.

I loved it. All of it. The conversations, the singing, the staring at landscapes while Danny drove.

I have never been to the East coast with the exception of waaayyy down there Florida.

Now I have.

New Hampshire was pretty. Danny did his best impersonation of a tour guide and hit all the spots. There was snow everywhere BUT the roads. (What? How cool is that? )The roads were totally clear. Now, THAT is a great way to have snow!

And I discovered that when it snows.....they call it "spitting". We call it snowing. Go figure.

No schools closure, no traffic snarls. What, with clean roads....they have it made.

Celebrating Christmas and meeting all Danny's brothers, sisters, Mother and all the nieces, nephews, cousins and friends made for a busy schedule every day.Different cities and restaurants and gift shops galore!

And each day ended in our hotel rooms playing Uno for money ( try it before you judge) and a game called Encore.

Turns out that when you are pressured to remember a song......you can't. Fun and frustrating game.

Out trip ended with a delay at the Boston airport for our flight home. We voluntarily got ourselves bumped and in return, were rewarded with a 500 dollar voucher, an overnight at the Embassy Suites and food vouchers, and first class to Seattle the next morning!

A good ending to a wonderful 12 days! As soon as I figure out how to upload pics from my camera, I will post the pictures!