Saturday in California

I have 5K-ed, Disneyland-ed, napped, carbo-loaded, California Adventure-ed, and maybe some other stuff. Now it's time to sleep before I get up tomorrow to wog 13.1 miles. Stay tuned ....
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Things that made today great: Finishing the 5K, touring Disneyland and California Adventure with Sam, Lynnette, and Maribeth, dinner at Downtown Disney with the family

Stuff on a Plane

Yesterday I arrived in California without incident. However, it took four hours to get here. On a plane. Which is not my preferred mode of travel.

To pass this overly long period of time, I tried to keep myself busy and not look at my watch except at certain intervals. In order to maintain spaced-out intervals between watch checks, I devised activities. To illustrate this procedure, I decided to list the things I did on my flight yesterday. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Completed easy crossword puzzle in Spirit magazine
2. Completed three out of four of the Sudokus in the Spirit Magazine
3. Composed yesterday's blog entry
4. Cat napped - wished I could sleep for hours
5. Ate peanuts - one by one
6. Ate animal crackers - one by one
7. Observed Asian lady across the aisle - why was she reading the emergency procedures card?
8. Looked out the window
9. Took pictures out the window
10. Saw plane fly next to us going in opposite direction. Have no distance/depth perception, so I have no idea how close it was. It was close enough to see it was Fed Ex. Way too close for me!
11. Wondered where we were
12. Wondered how Molly and I will get to hotel in rental car without incident
13. Wondered if flight attendants know something I don't, like we have a flat tire
14. Decided to stop wondering
15. Played Free Cell on Middle C
16. Played solitaire on Middle C
17. Listened to engine on plane - didn't hear anything I thought needed to call attention to
18. Drank flat Diet Coke - could have been dishwater for all I cared - it was a way to pass the time
19. Inspected wing of plane - everything appeared to be screwed in
20. Wished people hovering in aisle would sit down
21. Tried to identify shapes in clouds - saw a sitting camel, a mommy chased by a child, and a turtle swimming in water
22. Chewed ice in water delivered by Flight Attendant Bob
23. Observed plane as it turned to the right
24. Tried to guess the time - guessed it was 9:15 California time - actual time was 10:18 - only 40 minutes to landing!!
25. Repeated all 24 steps above in remaining 40 minutes.

Now, if I can only figure out what to do on the return flight on Monday!
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Gifts that make today special: Shopping and expo-ing with Maribeth; volunteers at expo; rest of family arriving in California

Today's Flying Lesson

First let me reiterate that I do not enjoy flying. I appreciate the fact that flying gets me places much faster than it would if I decided to drive. However, I can walk - I cannot flap my arms and fly. And I know all the statistics about how it's more likely that I'll have a car wreck than be killed in a plane. Doesn't matter. Flying in an airplane still makes me nervous. Particularly in weather that could in any way make the flight bumpy. Which according to any pilot, means just about any weather. Which leads me to today.

I am headed to Los Angeles for the weekend. Disneyland, to be exact (I know - you're shocked). It's a long flight (which for me is anything over 15 minutes). I was not exactly looking forward to it, but knew it had to be done. Yes, I could have not gone to Los Angeles this weekend, but I needed to be at Disneyland for the Disneyland Half Marathon on Sunday - we'll discuss that at another time. Anyhow, the long flight didn't excite me, even though Molly would be on my flight, although more than likely not sitting anywhere near me - another topic for discussion in the future.

Now, before I take the the skies, like DAYS before, I am a meteorologist's worst nightmare. Luckily I do not have any of them on speed dial. But I do get on the Internet and study the weather - where I plan to take off and land. Earlier in the week, today looked like a good day to flirt with danger and fly. Imagine my discontent when this morning, as I rousted myself for boot camp, heard the thunder, and saw the rain. Steve, who was flying to Newark and back, assured me that the "front" would be moving through in an hour. He lied. An hour later, as Maribeth and I were running from boot camp hell to the car, it was raining cats and dogs.

I returned to the house, showered, jumped in the car with Maribeth, picked up Molly, and headed for the airport. Traffic was heavy because of the heavy rain. Maribeth hates driving in the rain. As for me, I'd rather drive in it than fly in it. Molly and I got checked in and headed for our gate. Of course, I am watching the weather, mainly waiting for Mr. Sun to show up. He is apparently sleeping in today. At the gate next to ours, the Southwest person announces, for all of us to hear, that their pilot who is going to Houston has decided to delay boarding so that the "weather to the south" can clear up. Our pilot apparently is a thrill seeker, because he doesn't seem to wish to delay loading. I'm considering flying to Houston with Pilot Safety First.

I take a swig of my Diet Coke, wishing it were something stronger, like Regular Dr. Pepper, and board the plane. As I am boarding the aircraft, a passenger behind me asks the Pilot Thrill Seeker if "we will get to see the fires." I am disturbed because (a) it's a stupid question - does she want to fly low enough so the wheels will melt? Does she not have a tv to see "the fires", and (b) Pilot Risk-Taker needs to be checking his gadgets in the cockpit, not listening to some knucklehead. Anyhow, Molly finds her seat next to some stranger, and I amble back to find my window seat. It is still raining and cloudy. Pilot Daredevil comes on the intercom and gives us his spill, adding that we will probably experience some bumps on the takeoff due to the showers in the area. Wonderful.

However, the longer I glare out the window, the skies do seem to be clearing a bit. I personally think it would be fine to wait until there are clear skies everywhere - after all, the race isn't until Sunday. But Pilot Evil Knievel takes off anyway.

Now, here's where the lesson comes in. As we are taking off, I look out my window. All I see are white fluffy clouds and beautiful blue sky. I am one happy passenger. I look to the left and out the opposite windows, and all I see are gray skies and icky clouds. I don't like it one bit. But I hear God say, "Just look on the light side." And I do. I'm tempted to look to the left, but I don't. I just keep looking to the light side and soon we're in the air with only minor bumps.

Last night in my women's group, one of the ladies told us some advice she had heard from an uncle. He said, "Worry is just looking to the future and seeing what you don't want to happen. Why not look to the future and see what you want to happen?" I think that's an excellent idea. We all have that choice - to look to the left or the right, the light or the dark. And ultimately, we know which side will give us the peace that we want.

So I'll look to the light side as much as I can, even though I know what may be on the other side. After all, that look may only take a moment, but it's my moment, and I want it to be a good one.

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Gifts that make today special: Safe, smooth flight; killer boot camp; wheelbarrow race with Maribeth; Mimi's with Molly and Marissa; Candy Cane Inn and treats; rental car and driving to hotel

A Bottle of Tylenol? Really?

Tomorrow I am going out of town. Yes, again. So tonight I decided to make a last minute run to the grocery to put a few needed supplies in the house (I don't know why - I'm leaving tomorrow). Anyhow, my selections included cupcakes, Cheetos, chocolate milk, blister band-aids, and Tylenol, among other things.

Once I had finished with my shopping, I headed for the checkout - the self-service one. I was pretty proud of myself for having brought my CPC shopping bag, so I was feeling pretty good. I stopped at first at the "under 15 items" check-out machines, but thought I would give those up for the regular self-checkouts. I was feeling very charitable to those who only had a few items, whereas I guesstimated that I probably had 15-ish.

Anyhoo, I checked out, bagged my stuff, and headed for the door. Imagine my surprise when the security buzzers went out as I paraded past them. The Kroger SWAT team and the shopping cart lady rushed over to my cart (the local news team was probably en route as well). I was asked if I had purchased a DVD or cell phone (yep - when I need a new DVD or cell phone, I always think of Kroger first). I replied that I hadn't.

I was then questioned about any medicines that I had purchased. I dug through my bag and produced the bottle of Tylenol, and sure enough, that was the culprit. I was informed that all the medicines have an extra UPC code sticker on them. Tyeshia, the head self-checkout cashier, also informed me that when I scanned it in, a message should have appeared on the screen telling me to remove the tag (yeah, like I read the messages on the screen). Shopping Cart Lady removed the tag, and I managed to make it to my car without be tasered.

I guess I just didn't realize the value of Tylenol, although I did purchase the rapid-releasers. Wonder what would have happened if I had bought a bottle of Maalox!!

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Gifts that made today special: Women's Room Group meeting; getting stuff done; Shirley at the cleaners

The Cat Lady

Let me start at the beginning. I grew up on a farm and always had cats. They were my friends and taught me the facts of life (this was in the 60's in the South and Southern ladies did not talk about s-e-x). The first cat that my parents allowed in the house was Tinkerbell, who ended up giving me toxoplasmosis, which also caused his demise.

During our first year of marriage, Steve and I adopted Chapel Bells from our church's yard sale(hence the name). He was our first baby, whom we transported from Florida to Mississippi several times (much to his discontent). He lived through our babies.

During the next years, we had several cats. There was Whitey and Burt and Smokey and Simon, just to name a few.

Our most recent long-lived cat was Shaggy, famous for waking me up in the middle of the night. Shaggy came to our house with his sister Stewart, who ran out of her nine lives early on. They came into our lives when Maribeth was in 7th grade, so you can do the math as to his age. A few weeks ago, Shaggy went outside, never to return. I like to think that he decided to go live with Opie.

Just before Shaggy moved on, Grayson showed up and stayed. I'm still not sure to whom he really belongs, but I must assume he goes somewhere during the day. Maybe he has a day job. But he returns here at night to eat and rest up for the next day.

About a month ago, Molly adopted a cat that was found in the Sonic parking lot where she was working. It was a little kitten she named Margaret Thatcher, aka "Maggie." Unfortunately Maggie brought a colony of fleas with her, so in order to rid her house of fleas, Molly assigned custody of Maggie to us. Grayson and Maggie have become fast friends, so now we're up to two cats.

Today when I get home, I notice a cat sleeping on my front porch. It is a cat that I've seen off and on in the neighborhood. I go outside, get the cat to come up so I can pet it. Luckily it had a tag, so I know for sure it has a home. Maggie decided to check things out through the door - but it did not go so well. I guess that's good for all of us!
Anyhow, I'm not sure how my house got on the most popular house list for cats. Maybe that's where Grayson goes during the day. I am wondering if this makes my house a "cat house."

All of this isn't that important - unless a taxi shows up at your house and your cat runs out and gets in. At least you'll know where it's headed!

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Gifts that make today special: Lunch at JAlex with Molly, Sam, and Lynnette; Granddaughter news, Carol's email