Trip

Well, I'm writing from South Carolina, literally across the continent from my home in the PacNW. I flew out to be with SisJ for the university graduation here.

DH has traveled enough for business in the last few years to earn a free flight, so I got to come out for graduation. I'm so glad I got well in time to travel; I was worried that I was going to have to miss the trip because of being so sick with mono. But I'm here.

Some lessons learned on the trip: always double-check to see that you have a fully-charged cell phone, some cash, several dollars in quarters for phone calls, a working debit card (and that you know the PIN if your husband set it up with a different PIN than usual), and the phone number and address of the place where you'll be staying (stored somewhere other than your cell phone, in case the battery goes dead). Oh, and a complete outfit and some pajamas in your carry-on in case your luggage gets lost or delayed. Thankfully, my sister's clothes fit me.

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I also forgot to double-check whether any of the flight information had changed between booking the trip and the actual date of travel. My flight got in an hour earlier than the itinerary said, and I had a shorter layover in Atlanta than I'd thought. Thankfully, I did barely make the second flight, just as they were about to shut the doors. One of my suitcases wasn't so lucky.

I actually had packed an outfit in my carry-on, but I forgot a slip and the hose I packed had a run in them. At least I did make sure to put my toiletries, my ibuprofen, and some food in the carry-on. My cell phone died at the beginning of the trip, and I had the charger packed in the suitcase that didn't make the flight. I did have food, which was a good thing since I'm still avoiding cow's milk and gluten and limiting sugar.

SisJ doesn't have a car and thought I was getting in on Wednesday, so I had to scramble around trying to figure out how to make phone calls and figure out how I was getting to her apartment. Thankfully she did find a friend with a car who was willing to drive out and pick me up.

On the flight from the West coast to Atlanta, I sat next to a guy who looked quite a bit like Bill Murray in What About Bob? It felt really strange to be traveling without DH and the kids. I read a book, dozed off, and enjoyed the luxury of being the only person I had to entertain. Long plane flights are much less tiring when you don't have to spend all your energy keeping young children quiet and occupied in a cramped space for hours.

Today J has exams, and I'm hoping to attend the meeting of the Greek letter society I belonged to when I was a student here, Sigma Kappa Rho. (Sigma--Kappa--ROSES! Yeah!) [Every student here belongs to a society--you chose which one to join as a freshman.] I'm also planning to look up some of my favorite teachers, and a few people who were students here when I was attending and are still in the area.

It's been 10 years since I've been in the South, and 11 years since I was a student here. It's really fun to be back again.

I hope DH and the kids don't miss me too much . . . I've certainly never been away from the kids this long before. They begged me not to go, but I know that they'll be fine with their Daddy. I never have to worry about how he'll do handling the kids by himself.

I got my hair cut yesterday . . . ahoulder-length is so much easier to take care of than waist-length, especially as thick as my hair is. I'll have to post before and after pictures when I get home.

Ebee did end up apparently having a stomach virus. She had a fever and diarrhea for a couple of days, but was starting to recover by Sunday. Hopefully nobody else will catch it. I'm praying that I don't get sick while traveling.

J has internet access in her apartment, so if I have time I'll try to check in again later.