Flying Home - 8 December

I had a 2:00 pm flight out of Miami to return to Charlottesville so I took the opportunity to sleep in! There was no noise from the ship's engines, the bed didn't have a long crater running down the middle of it (from combining two twin beds), and I didn't have to get up to go to work. How scrumptious! I eventually got up to get dressed and checked out of the hotel since I had to be out of there by noon. I lugged my 200 pounds of bags to the lobby and waited for about 45 minutes for the shuttle van to finally arrive. I tried to find my Zen Zone and not care about the wait since I was HEADING HOME!

When I finally arrived at the Miami airport I checked in at the curbside counter for the airline rather. Some of the students had given me the great advice that if you think (or know) that your luggage is overweight, they don't normally weigh your bags at the outside counter because they usually don't have the scales out there. They were right! Thank God for students because otherwise I'm sure that I would have been paying an additional $100 for my luggage.

I quickly went through security and began my looonnngggg wait for the plane. Unfortunately, the Miami airport is pretty basic with no cool shops or restaurants to hang out in. Boring, to say the least. My flight was finally called and we boarded with no problem and were being pushed out of the gate when the captain announced that we were going to be pushed back into the gate because the dweebs disconnecting the tow bar from the plane broke a light on the plane and it had to be repaired. Grrrr! The only bright spot was that I had an entire row of seats to myself. One hour later, we were being pushed back from the gate again - this time successfully.

We landed in Philadelphia around 5:00 whereupon I immediately scouted out a bookstore so I could get a copy of the latest JD Robb book! I clutched my treasure to my chest and found a restaurant where I could wait out my four-hour layover in undisturbed comfort while I dived into my book. So with a pint of Smithwick's in one hand and a book in the other, the four hours flew by. Life is good : )

At 9:30 my flight was called and I boarded the plane for Charlottesville. I was so eager to finally get home that I didn't even mind putting aside my book. We landed around 10:30 which was way ahead of schedule so I didn't think my friend Beth would have arrived yet. She hadn't but that was a good thing since it took the baggage handlers about 20 minutes to get our luggage to us. Right as the luggage arrived, so did Beth. It was wonderful to see her! We dragged my luggage out to her SUV and she drove me home.

My house has never looked so wonderful! Never mind that it was 11:30 pm, it was dark, the lawn was all brown and dead and there were no leaves on the trees - it was beautiful! We heaved my luggage into the house and, after a quick hug with Beth, was alone in my castle. I just stood in my living room with the dumbest grin on my face ever and enjoyed the moment. I eventually moved myself into my bedroom and collapsed on my bed - still with a stupid grin on my face. I'm home!