Ah, to be home. Ohio tried its darndest to keep us there--I went to the airport on the 23rd and our plane came in with 2 flat tires. The poor woman from American Air got on a mike and said that our plane would be delayed because they didn't have enough tires available. I went into a huge line and then was told that the flight was cancelled. I laughed. When I finally got to the woman who looked like she had been gang beaten, she told me the soonest I could get home was by taking a 7:15 a.m. flight to Chicago and then home to Utah. My children, meanwhile, ran through the waiting area and made themselves nuisances. I tried to pretend they weren't mine, but then Topher came up to me and loudly told me that he needed to poo and ran off with a hand on his bum. The man behind me bemusedly told me he would hold my place in line. Bless the woman who later distracted my hoodlums with her French bulldog puppy for a few blessed minutes.
The airline put us up in a hotel and served us pepperoni pizza in our room and at 4:30 a.m. I woke the kids up and herded them to the airport shuttle. Topher didn't stop crying all morning. I put him on top of the wheeled luggage so I could pull him along, and he fell asleep and fell off the side onto his head. Have I mentioned I don't like flying? It makes me sick and after 3 hours I start to feel claustrophobic, I start hyperventilating, and I grip the armrests until my knuckles go white. When it gets really bad, I find myself mumbling a prayer with my head resting on the seat in front of me.
When we landed and I stumbled off the plane, I ran to the baggage area hoping that the kids were keeping up (they were.) When we saw my mom and dad, they all subsequently dropped any and all luggage they were holding for me.
To sum the summer up, (and really any summer where we do sales) I liken it to the story of Persephone. You know, the lady who ate the pomegranate seeds and had to live for 4 months in hell so she could go home for the other 8? That's me.
Being home is wonderful. The mountains are like sentinels and the heat doesn't feel like I have stepped out into someone's open mouth. Sure I have mice who have taken up residence in my cabinets and fireplace and have outsmarted my traps (I heard one set it off in the fireplace, struggle, and then saw that it had run off with my cracker-bait)and sure one of the mice is running through the cabinets with a trap STILL ATTACHED, but I got one of the little suckers and have now declared war on Mickey and all his kinfolk. The good news is that there are no bears living in the basement and nothing has carried off any of the kids during the night. Phew.
I got my hair cut and dyed (ah) and even tried out eyelash extensions today and then realized, to my chagrin, that I am allergic to the glue and went to have them removed the same day. FYI--if you have to get extensions removed, the solution that takes them off stings like crazy and it has to sit on your lashes for 10-20 minutes. Of course, with my luck it was 20. I could hear in my mother's tone of voice that she really wanted to say, "Vanity, thy name is woman," but she didn't and I love her for it.
When Steve gets here, it will be home again.
