Moments in time....

Time passes in a whirl and I come back here to realize how many moments I have not documented. I regret that but I won't dwell on it. I will document the ones I can now because I love remembering how I felt in those moments.

My trips to the DR have increased. In 2 weeks I will leave for what will be my 5th trip in 4 years. Four years seems like such a long time but in my heart it is a blip! My Facebook status last night said "Two weeks from today I will be on a plane to the place where my heart is happier, where I breathe deeper, smile wider and work harder than anywhere else. I simply cannot wait to get back to those people & that place. ♥" This is the absolute truth. I feel as though I am at home there as much as in my own where I have spent most of my 35 (eek) years.

I spent last weekend in Boynton Beach, FL for girls' weekend to celebrate my dear friend's 40th birthday. She turned 40 last year but also had a baby so we celebrated this year! :) There were 8 girls in her parent's lovely home and we had a fabulous time. No drama, no tears - just lots of laughter, sharing of secrets of love, marriage and babies, and fun all around. We sat at the pool, the beach, the bar chatting and laughing and relaxing.

The porch where I read every morning before everyone was up....






So much laughing.....












It was the most relaxing, stress-free time I've had in a long time. Most of the women were young mothers with little ones at home. In the beginning there was some guilt, but by the end we all agreed that time away is important to rejuvenate, recharge, and refresh!!!!

What can I say? Bathing beauties.....full of life....

We're so fancy - Blackberries and cash in a Ziploc bag.....nice!

Nothing says happy like wine and smiles!

Leavin'

Tomorrow I leave for my trip. I discovered something today. On Weather.com (sorry no link here) they have an option to see the weather predictions for the major airports in the U.S.. It's pretty cool because I can look at airport predictions for tomorrow morning. That's great - if only my airport wasn't the only one with a RED plane on it. Oh yes, my airport says there is a "HIGH" probablity of delays while all the others are "MEDIUM" and "LOW."
Oh well. We may spend several hours in the airport tomorrow, but we will get to our GIRLS' weekend and I may get some knitting done in the airport. ;)
See you in a few days!

The scenic route....with a few bumps ;)

This is what my day consisted of yesterday…….


It’s an all day trip from the East Coast to a small airport in WI. As the agent said to me when I checked my bags, “You’re taking the scenic route huh?” There are only two airlines that fly into this airport so I didn’t have much choice, but……

I like to travel and for the most part, (if time is on my side), I don’t care how long it takes me. I love to people watch and I could do it for hours. Although security at the airport is increased, I was able to arrive at 11am for a noon flight (I always check-in online). Security was easy-peasy, no line (although my bag did have to be hand checked – probably my knitting ;)) and my express bus ride to the airport was EARLY! I love when things go right (because prior to that – the morning was not going so well as I ALMOST missed the bus).

Like I said with all the changes, the airport is sometimes a hectic place to be….I love that they have put these all along several hallways. It is so peaceful and quiet and allows you to just relax in all the hustle and bustle. I had time to sit for a few minutes today.

It turns out the rushing this morning was silly…..my flight was delayed more than 1 ½ hours. I rarely have this problem on the more “fun” airlines – Southwest, JetBlue etc….but with the bigger, older airlines – it seems there’s always a delay. Lucky for me – it doesn’t stress me out. I’ve had many airline adventures (including sharing a hotel room in NJ with an old woman from India – but that’s another post). It turned out that it was a fortunate twist of fate that the flight was delayed. I would have missed my connection to Chicago in DC so they rebooked me on a direct flight to Chicago!! Wooo-hoo!!!

I was early into Chicago and my flight to WI was delayed. I played on the computer and people watched (no knitters though, hmm.....), but I was hungry. Nothing in the airport appealed to me and I had had JUNK airport food for lunch. I finally landed in WI and I have NEVER seen such a small airport. We walked down 10 stairs and there were our bags coming off the only baggage claim in the place. I turned left and there was my rental car company. I stood there signing forms while I watched for bag on the belt! :)

Unfortunately, my bags were not there. I knew this was a real possibility when I started out because my itinerary was changed around so much. I asked the Hertz lady where to go if my bags were missing - she pointed me to a counter across the way. A woman there told me to ring the bell, but if they didn't come right away, it might be because they were just finishing up unloading their plane. A guy came out and took my info. He told me it should arrive on the 9:30pm flight and that it would be brought to my hotel.....BY HIM. Really I think he was the person who singlehandedly ran the airline in this airport. I was amused, having come from such a large and busy airport.

All in all, it was a long day with no major problems. My hotel is lovely, right on the Mississipi River I think (based on what I can see from the window **Ooops I stand corrected - it's the Black river)! I ate alone in their restaurant, which I don't do very often. It was almost empty, save two other tables, so I was very obvious. I had salmon because I was starving for a real meal and it did not disappoint. I should have brought my knitting or a book, but it seemed rude. Rude to whom I don't know. It's just a weird feeling to eat in public like that with no one to talk to. Travelling alone, no problem. Love it. Eating alone, still working on that one. ;)

Today I'm off on a little adventure to visit an old college friend whom I haven't seen in 9 years and meet her children. Tomorrow - the wedding! :)