the case of pooh. or pooh in the globe in the case...

last weekend was a whirlwind...i blinked and it was over! i left for katy, tx on saturday morning, as they were having a baby shower for one of my dear friends. i was looking forward to an easy flight... i had originally planned to check a bag, but decided last minute that if i could fit everything into a carryon, that would be the new plan. and so it was.

unfortunately, as i was going through tsa and they pulled my bag off the conveyor, i remembered WHY i was going to check my bag!! ugh. so i watched her open it, and unfortunately the gift was wrapped. she was trying so meticulously to get the tape off, and to not tear anything, so i told her, "look, don't worry, just rip it off, at this point i'd rather just re-wrap it, but i need to to get down to the counter to check it and back up through security..." basically i kept looking at my clock and hoping she'd get the hint.

the most frustrating part of it all is that i had just read a story on fb about a couple that had to throw their snowglobe away because it was too big and they didn't have time to get down to check it -it had their pictures for an adopted grandchild, etc and a lady saw the whole thing, fished the snowglobe out and found them a month later to return it to them... all the feels...

(i'm thankful i got my tsa pre!) but seriously, c'mon, now tsa...a freakin' winnie the pooh snowglobe? this seems like overkill to me...

finally when this tsa lady was done, she walked me out and i took monorail to the terminal and the elevator down to the ticket counter to check my bag. as i got off the elevator, i realized that my phone stylus was missing! ugh. i use it a lot!

no time to back track, i got my bag checked and made my way back through security, and remembered that my phone had fallen while i was waiting for the tsa person. i breathed a sigh of relief when i went back to that table and the stylus was there near a power cord! yay, me!

fairly uneventful flight, the dallas layover was short, and when i got to the houston airport, i went to pick up the rental car. as i pulled around to exit, the lady asked for my license. i couldn't find it, so i backed out and went through EVERYTHING! purse (small) pocket by pocket, card by card, backpack-same, no dice. after about 10 minutes of looking and re-looking, i drove back to the parking lot (she had already called the front desk to make sure they hadn't accidentally forgotten to give it back). i was getting frustrated, as i was going to need that to fly home! so i parked the car back in the lot and got out of the car, and i think i must be the luckiest person alive, as it was on the ground behind the car next to me...whew!

so now i'd wasted about 30 minutes, and felt rather silly being frustrated, thinking in the back of my mind that the id was at the front desk and they just couldn't find it... so i was off. i'd been craving whataburger pretty much since i moved to florida, so i had planned to make that stop once i got to katy. and it was worth it!

then i remembered that i had to stop for gift-wrap! once i found some, let the wrapping games begin! i purchased a small exacto knife instead of scissors-cheaper, but not necessarily as brilliant... so i cut the first piece, which was plenty large, but sitting in the car gave me some difficulty-and it was looked pretty rough. i had to rip tape off, because i cut my finger with the exacto knife (a tiny cut, but it bled, nonetheless!) so i taped my finger to avoid messing up more paper, and cut off another large piece...this time, i pulled up a video i had seen of a really cool wrapping job, and tried that-on the trunk of the car. this was difficult, as it was breezy out, and the sun was bright, making it difficult to see what the guy in the video was doing...and then i realized the paper was not quite large enough...not about to do a patch-job! so i cut off one more large piece, and used the tried and true wrapping format. at one point someone pulled up nearby and i thought the kids might be filming the crazy lady wrapping gifts in the parking lot, struggling.

i don't recommend trying to wrap in a car

impromptu-make-do bandage

originally i was supposed to have plenty of time. such was not the case. i was a little late. boo. but i arrived and got to meet some of the family and friends, and stayed for a bit to chit chat afterward. i love seeing friends, and especially on such a joyous occasion! she was certainly showered with love!

but this little girl was there!!

i'd share pictures of the shower, but i forgot to ask for permission, but it was super sweet!

i traveled home the sunday, and it went much better than the previous day!

this was the only downer....i asked for the panini, and they gave me cibatta..ugh. if i'm going to have bread, at least give me the kind i like!!

 fortunately all was on time, and i got home at a decent hour and there was time for shea and me to go out and find a few more caches to add to our geocache tally!! more about that in the next posting, because it was pretty cool!!

great day!
julie

tsa-the bane of my existence...balanced out by the rest of the week

ok, so i have a little time to spare, here in ICT, waiting for my colleagues, alicia and joyce, who are hanging out in ORD, waiting for their delayed flight...curses, chicago, how dare you! anyhoo, perfect time to finish what i started!

so, at the airport in albuquerque, we went to security and the jokers went through tsa pre, while i stood in line with the rest of the world of non-travelers. my bag was flagged in security, so i was pulled to the side, they swabbed my bag and the coffee alerted them (note to self, just going to have to deal with the wretched hotel coffee...or rely thoroughly on 'the bucks'). anyhoo, this made them have to go through each of my other bags, and a pat down; "do you want a private room?" the girl asked, and i just looked at her, "ain't no one got time for that! i'm a little less modest than i used to be, and it should probably be more embarrassing for you than me, fondling a grown-a-woman in public, but go ahead, don't care.." and that was that. did i really say it? ok, some of it...so that happened, then i sat there waiting for them to finish, and something else set off the alarm...so they had to re-run my phone and the ipad...and this whole time, i'm sitting there, without my boots on, mind you, thinking, "i'm missing out on precious 'goodbye' breakfast-time" (insert grumpy-cat face) i was ok at the very beginning of this process, but as they started sucking time away from my life, that i'll never get back, i started to get more and more irritated, and i couldn't even use my phone to text the girls, because it was being run through security...ugh. by the time they brought everything back and determined that i didn't have an organic coffee explosive, i had text from sabrina, and julie was just calling at that moment, so i told her i was in security still, and was going to have to go to the bathroom before meeting them. grr...

upon release, i went to the bathroom, washed my face, grabbed a sip of water and made my way to the restaurant...when i got there, i thought i was good, until they asked what happened, and a couple tears of frustration rolled down my face and mama-bear (sabrina stood up, as did ju, and just gave me the hug i needed at that moment to let it go) then julie k made a suggestion that i took her up on, which i'm sure she regretted a moment after. but kudos to her for being so brave, so early in the morning! alas, our time was up, and sabrina made her way to her flight and we parted ways toward ours, later to find that sabrina's was once again delayed (it had also been delayed on the flight in, due to a lightbulb, of all things-i've seen pettier delay pretenses before)...

i know i didn't mention it before, but there was a lady at the restaurant, sitting behind me, and she had called a server over and asked him to speak to a manager, something about waiting, and ice tea...idk, julie k heard better than i did, but the thing about it, is that she sounded like a man one of the goats from the three-billy-goats-gruff. anyhoo, guess who was at our gate area? you betcha! fortunately for us, we'd chosen a little spot by the window with just two chairs. unfortunately, that little spot smelled like wet, sweaty socks. we tried our best to ignore it, but that smell! you can only hold that gagging for so long, so we moved toward the line for boarding, and we laughed at some of the people who were edging closer and closer-even one lady who literally just went around the who group like one of my fourth graders to get to the front, and i could imagine her raising her hand, waving it and yelling, "FIRST!!!!!!" and we giggled.

upon arrival, we had a goodbye ritual, and then i took off. on the way home, i was driving by cabell, and decided it was time to stop in. i've been meaning to for quite some time, so this was the perfect opportunity to see the remodel, and catch up with friends at the end of the day! ciane and jeri took me around to see everything, and at a couple of instances, i may have actually seen tears in eyes-they miss me so much (feel free to insert a little light-hearted sarcasm here)...but seriously, it was great to see cabell friends...it's always so out-of-sight-out-of-mind. i later got a text from veronica, asking if i was free to do dinner with her and maite, so we made that happen at twisted root that evening, shortly after i ran over to joanne's to pick up the boys. it was good to sit with both of them and catch up!

then on friday afternoon, after i had finished with everything, namely working on my expense report and watching some more webinars, i had gotten a text from nicolette, asking if i was in dallas...and if so, hang out? so i took her up on that, as i had to run to target, so we did that and washed her car (she'd made the mistake of parking on the empty street, where others fear to tread, and she payed the ultimate price...revenge of the birds! and not even the rain could wash that shtuff away!) then we had a lovely dinner salad with a great wine, and walked the neighbor's dog, as she was out of town. good practice in responsibility!! then i left, with the understanding that we were going to go to get our oil changed the next morning.

come saturday morning, i got the text suggesting breakfast first-which i am always up for! so we did a little four corners, as they have great coffee and some solid meals.

and as soon as breakfast was over, we went to get the oil changed, and from there a quick stop at the pet store, to check on doggie-travel-meds...for her dogs. and that was a morning for me, i had to get home to do laundry and get the boys ready to go to joanne's for the next few days. 

it was a week full of blessings, but i am still dying to get my tsa-pre-check! soon, patience, soon.

julie