Travelling Day!

My day started at 3:45 am this morning — or, more precisely, my day really didn’t have a start. How’s that, you ask? Well, after getting home late from dinner last night, finishing my packing, having a “pre-emptive” shower so that I could pack the rest of my toiletries, ironing my clothes, and saying the late-night goodbyes to a few friends that happen to be online as I was packing up my laptop, I didn’t actually get INTO bed until 1 am. As my usual bedtime routine includes watching the news before I fall asleep, I found that I couldn’t unwind without doing that. So, really, by the time I was actually ready to fall asleep, my mind was waking me up again.

Todd was nice enough to pick me up at 5 am this morning. What a sweetheart my brother is! He was early, and helped me down with my luggage… all the while hyping me up to awaken me from my stupor. It was a relaxing, uneventful drive to the airport, and thankfully all traffic was avoided at that hellish hour.

When I arrived at the airport, I made an error — having not travelled that often since 9-11, I didn’t realize that one couldn’t go and do “their thing” after checking in and obtaining seating arrangements with the airline desk. I was a little miffed, because Todd and I had wanted to grab breakfast before he headed to work, but I was stuck once the ticket agent gave me my boarding pass. Todd and I said our quick goodbyes, and I proceeded through customs, all the while pretending to actually be awake. I can’t imagine what the customs guy thought, looking at my bloodshot, barely open eyes. I must have been a sight!!

I boarded the plane for the first leg of my trip, and we actually took off early. It was an easy flight, which landed in Minneapolis ahead of schedule… which turned out to be unfortunate, as my connection to Dallas/Ft. Worth was apparently delayed by half an hour due to the fact that the flight crew was running behind on a different incoming plane. Lovely, I thought. No big deal… I’ll grab a quick bite to eat and call Chris to let him know about the delay. Unfortunately, that delay turned into two and a half hours, and two of those hours were spent stuck in a holding pattern on the tarmac. Dallas, it seemed, was having issues of it’s own, and all flights were being held due to extreme weather conditions. Thankfully, the time was spent talking with a really nice chick beside me — Heather. I probably yacked her ear off, as I hadn’t had much human interaction all day… but she didn’t seem to mind. Being originally from Dallas, she told me about a few restaurants and sights that I should take in while visiting the area.

So… there’s where I’m at, at the moment! Poor Chris is probably sitting in the airport lounge wondering if I’m ever going to show! I can’t express enough how excited I am about these upcoming 11 days of fun!! Even though I’ll be working 3 of the days, it’ll be fun knowing that Chris will be back from work to share the rest of the night… and the adventures that will go along with those nights!

More later!!