My Vacation Begins

The moral of the past week is not to try and play the procrastination game with yourself. While I never consciously decided to see how good I was at putting things off until the last minute, I somehow found myself still awake at 1:30am on Wednesday morning (though to me it still felt like Tuesday as I had not slept yet), doing dishes, packing my suitcase and baking cookies because what better way to amuse myself than drive my mind insane and drive my soul into a panic attack.

However, there is not better feeling than the proud moment when you realize that you got EVERYTHING done and that when you go home to find your boyfriend waiting to take you to the airport, there is nothing you had to give up doing because you didn't have time. I managed to complete the cookies, cram what was probably three months worth of stuff into one suitcase (because I am a notorious overpacker), return the movies to Blockbuster, pick up my prescription, Christmas shop, pay my bills, run about six other errands and finish 3/4 of the list of work things to do in a manner of 48 hours. I did it on about four hours of sleep, but needless to say, I did it.

Four hours of sleep does not bode well on one's demeanor when trying to navigate an airport during the holiday season. The very nice gentleman who checked my bag in at curbside did. I told him that I was worried my bag was going to be too heavy and he said I was about a pound over but he wasn't going to charge me as a Christmas present. I guess that goes to show that smiling and being patient are a virtue. I always try to remember that when dealing with anyone who has to provide some kind of service to me - you catch more flies with honey than vineagar, as they say.

Security was fast but I had to take off almost everything - my jacket, my sweater, my shoes. I asked the lady if she wanted me to take my shirt off too. She just laughed. She didn't realize I wasn't joking. The terminal was crowded as hell but I just parked my ass in a seat and started reading my Chronicles of Narnia book. My flight, as it turned out, was full and that thoroughly sucked.

I know people are in a hurry but seriously, when the airlines call you to board by zone do you Zone 8 people all have to crowd around the door so that us Zone 4 people have to squeeze and elbow through you when we're called. Just because you're standing RIGHT THERE doesn't mean you going to get there any quicker.

It's the same theory when we land. Do you people in the back of the plane have to stand up RIGHT AWAY? All you're going to end up doing is standing in the aisle, holding all your stuff and keeping me from even getting into the overhead compartments to pull my bag out and sit back down until the aisle is a bit more clear for me to go.

And why did Delta decide to move the gate for my FULL connecting flight from Atlanta to Charleston to a terminal in east bumblefuck that probably should have had a maximum capacity of fifty people but had three flights worth of people mulling around? The only clear spot I could find to stand was right in front of the elevator button so I wound up having to push that for about fifteen different people. And this was before I found out that I should have been on the other side of the room as I was going to Charleston and not Cleveland.

And why did the man sitting next to me on the flight to Charleston feel the need to chitcat with me even when I made it obviously clear I wanted to read my book? Of course, the nice person in me couldn't be 100% rude, so I said as little as I could. You can't exactly ignore someone who is pretty much sitting on your lap because the plane was so freaking small. Even worse is that he hit on me like six times, once in the form of telling me that I did not look like I was any older than 20 or 21. It made it even weirder that he was obviously old enough to be my father as he had owned his own home in New York City for 35 years. I could not get off that plane fast enough.

Baggage claim was a riot. It's fun to send my brother over to fetch my luggage by telling him to look for a black suitcase with my name on it. I can't tell you how many suitcases we watched him pick up and toss back and we found it absolutely hilarious that he made friends with the woman standing next to him waiting for her luggage. My brother will make friends with anyone.

There's nothing like walking out of the airport three days before Christmas and seeing palm trees. It was chilly here and I needed a jacket, but the visual sight of those trees can trick your mind into anything. And the South is absolutely wonderful because before we went home, we hit up a 24-hour Wal-Mart to get food for the next morning and I just stood in the liquor section for about two minutes reveling at the fact that it was 11:30 at night, I was in Wal-Mart and if I wanted to, I could buy a six-pack of beer at that very moment (for those of you who don't get why this amazes me, look up PA liquor laws and you'll see why).

I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I got up for about an hour this morning, ate a bowl of Chex and took a shower, then laid back down in bed and slept until 2pm. I haven't slept that late in years but it felt wonderful. It was such a deep and heavy sleep that I knew I needed it.

The first day was a lazy day and I was entitled to it. After sleeping all afternoon, I got up and made some homemade quesadillas (quick, easy and so yummy) then worked on some crafty time-wasting things I've been doing. My parents came home and we ordered pizza and watched The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Spanglish. And now I am sitting on the bottom bunk of my littlest brothers bed in the darkness because everyone else is sleeping and I am on the Internet. Let me tell you, wireless Internet and laptops are fabulous when you want to be completely connected but comfortable.

We have a lot of plans. Tomorrow we're going shopping, having dinner and going to the Festival of Lights. Christmas Eve we're going to church, which I'm really excited about because I haven't been to our church in years. And we're supposed to drive to North Carolina for a few days next week to see my cousins and my dad and grandparents. New Year's Eve I'll spend with friends, obviously, but for now, I am enjoying being with my family and being on vacation. My mind, my body and my soul just needed a break.

I just don't like the flying part because crowds make me anxious and the way people act these days just pisses me off at times. It's the holidays everyone, be happy or cheerful even if you hate the world. At least for your own sake, if not mine.

I'll be around this week. Not much else to do and that's what makes vacation enjoyable - nothing to do but waste time!