Dallas to Philly

Of course, since I decided to sleep in, this was the morning that Tom decides that he cannot dress in the bathroom and keeps traipsing through the bedroom so that the light shines through the door. Of course, I am determined to get at least one extra hour of sleep, so I turned to face the wall, pulled up the covers and hide under the pillow. That lasted until Gwen came in to ask for socks and oh, yes, to wish me a good trip. Of course I have to get up and give her a hug, wish her luck since this is her last day of exams.

After the house quiets with their departure, I realize that it is less than an hour until I need to BE at the airport which is still a good 30 minutes away if I speed, 45 minutes if I keep to the authorized speed limits. So nap time is over! I quickly throw everything into the suitcase that is sitting on the sofa at the end of the bed, thank you! Tom for being so considerate to haul it out of storage. I am down to cosmetics, toiletries and contact lens materials, so I leisurely take a shower and do the ultimate -- shave legs. Never know when I might actually meet someone interesting. After toweling off, spraying with Chanel, applying moisturizer and antiperspirant, I finish packing the toiletries and realize -- sweetpea's PalmPilot WAS NOT PACKED.

Actually, the PalmPilot was NOT found. Oops. I start thinking hard. Where did I put it? It has not been used since my screen stopped working and that was in December 1998. So, it might be in the boxes of Christmas stuff, that are in the garage. I immediately start the search with 15 minutes to go. I snagged a cup of coffee from the kitchen on the way out to the garage. Larry and Lady are a bit concerned. Usually they have the house to themselves in the morning after Tom and Gwen leave, but today, both Daniel and I are still hanging around and doing strange things! So both dogs are falling over themselves and my feet as I search through the boxes in the garage, trying not to sweat too much since that would ruin the look, to say nothing of messing with my sweater outfit.

Daniel wanders out of his office looking like a bum. I politely inquire if he is really taking me to the airport. After he replies in the affirmative I make known that I hope he intends to take a shower before he changes his clothes and that we should be gone by now since the plane leaves in less than an hour and I am packed except for the missing PalmPilot. Being a person who appreciates his free rent, he collars Larry the golden retriever and heads for his bathroom. His intentions clear, one of the record showers! I return to the box of goodies in the garage.

I manage to find my missing box of Chanel bath powder as well as my lost gold dangles for the hoop earrings, but no PalmPilot. I sadly give up when I realize that I need to get the suitcase and the box of books into the car without breaking any nails. Lady is NOT helpful!

At last the truck is loaded and I am waiting for the missing driver. Hunting him down, I find Daniel back in his office fiddling with a laptop. Now since I had no plans to take along a laptop, since hauling my briefcase and a computer case through three airports is not an appealing prospect, I am a bit dismayed at the sight, especially when he informs me that he has set up connections for each of the places that I will be staying. What is a mother to do? I smile bravely as he waits for the last download and then packs up the laptop. I know I will never get the thing to work, a statement of prophesy.

Stopping at the bank to get the cash to pay for the Amish land trip, we are now down to 45 minutes to departure. I call Tom at work and ask him to check on the flight's status as well as to ascertain the departure gate. After fielding the questions of where are you? And why did you take Delta, he promises to find out and call me back. Meanwhile, we are RACING down the Tollway towards 635. Zipping into the HOV lane, isn't it nice to have two in the car, it is 10:32am and we are only 16 miles from the airport!! With two bags to check and no idea which gate to aim for. Tom calls back with the information that the flight is scheduled for 11:50am and it is gate 14. That cannot be right! It was 10:50am, so with a bit of maneuvering in the car to get to the itinerary stuffed in the side of my briefcase, I verify the flight number and Tom agrees to call back.

We pass 35E, swerving in and out of traffic, Daniel has one eye on the traffic the other for police since he cannot get a ticket until July 31 so not to lose his judification (long story). The phone warbles, I really hate the new ring, and it is Tom to inform us that yes, it is 10:50am and the first Delta person was wrong. Along with a little ditty about why we should be using American Airlines instead of Delta. We are approaching the airport entrance by the time Tom is finished. With 10 minutes to go, we make it through the ticket booths and head for the Delta terminal. I am sweating in anticipation.

Daniel drops me off at the checkin door for gates 10 through 15 with the blasted carton of books and my huge suitcase. As if I will make it to the check-in counter without breaking a nail or snagging my outfit, but somehow I manage to make it in to the terminal. Thank goodness, there is no line. This is a miracle. American Airlines ALWAYS has lines at the check-in counters. I remember to mention this to Mr. Tom.

After the lecture by the agent, he manages to print out the baggage tags for the items, informs me that the baggage will not make it on the flight. I assure him it doesn't matter as long as it arrives in Philadelphia by Friday, I start jogging for the security gate where I meet Daniel with the computer bag. We go through security where as usual, my D&B briefcase has to be searched. You would think these guys would give me a break!!! And they better not scrap off too much of the leather on the handles, I plan on keeping that case for another 4 years at least!

Daniel is passed through with the computer case, no problem, they don’t even want him to turn it on. They ignore his two beepers and two phones as well. I note this in my memory banks as sexual discrimination but I have a plane to catch and two gates to go! So off we jog to gate 12, by the way, they changed the gate. At least it was close, unlike American who likes to change gates and terminals when modifications are needed.

The announcement for final final boarding of the flight to Cincinnati is made as I rush up to the gate. Give a hug to Daniel and a quick thanks for the ride as well as my usual apology for being a crank, uh, did I mention that I moaned and groaned the entire way to the airport? And rush down the ramp to the plane. Of course, I did not notice any cases with bag lunches, so I assume the "light lunch" will be on the plane. Silly me. Oh, well at least I had coffee.

My seat is 37C, all the way in the back past the flight attendant galley for coach, almost to the toilets and the rear engine. I do have an aisle seat, there is room for the computer under the seat in front of me and no one sitting next to me, so I have room to stretch out a bit. I get buckled in and hear the thanks for choosing Delta spiel. We are off!

As I relax a bit and discretely wipe off the sweat from my hair line and neck <G>, I notice that everyone else has the little Delta snack bags. No lunch for Sara. I sigh, find a pillow and settle down for a two hour nap. Sure that I have a hour layover in Northern Kentucky's International Airport, I dream of grabbing a quick burger while I change planes. I also think of the fun time ahead, do I have enough money, will these ladies be nice?