Back From Vacation

Well I'm back from visiting my sister in MI, and it's taken me this long to get my head back together and be ready to seriously type again! For those not interested in the gory details, I had a blast and would gladly go again! DBF called 2-3 times a day and was always very upbeat, positive and genuinely missing me, but not nagging or bugging me about coming home. For those of you who've seen me on the phone with XH, you'll all know what a great blessing this is!

Now the gory details! I left here early Wednesday morning and flew to Houston for a 2.5 hour layover. This was not a problem, since I don't mind layovers as long as they are long enough to allow me time to go outside security or wherever to find the smoke pit. It was hot and humid htere, but I didn't melt. Then I got on another plane which took me to Chicago! By the time I'd gotten to baggage claim, met up with J and had a smoke, my luggage was already off the carousel waiting for me! I was shocked, since I've never seen baggage come off a plane that quickly!

Once we got out of the airport, we headed up towards J's place, which was 3 hours away! I was already exhausted, but I was so excited to be there, that I couldn't rest! We stopped about halfway home and had some dinner, lunch for me. I was grateful to be eating something more substantial than they had fed us on the plane and to simply have a half an hour to sit somewhere that wasn't moving!

Once we got to J's, I met her DD and we ordered pizza for dinner! After dinner we all talked and stitched for a couple of hours before finally calling it a night!

Thursday, J had a meeting and I slept through most of it, then her DD had skating and that was really cool to watch. We continued to visit and stitch every minute that we had all week!

Friday, we drove 2 hours north in the morning so that J could attend a breakfast meeting that I was included in. It was great fun and the food was good too. I enjoyed meeting her friends and participating in the meeting, since my opinion was requested! After that we drove back to her place to pick her DD up from school and decided to head back north for dinner! Another great meal and some shopping, it took 2 malls and several stores to find the baseball cap DBF wanted, but I found it and then we stopped at Baskin Robbins for ice cream!

Saturday was our shop-hop and we started at the sticks and bricks shop for Stitching Bits and Bobs. Unfortunately, the shop was closed so I didn't get to meet Bobbie, or spend my money there. So we went to the other LNS and I got J a chart that looks like license plates from selected states. I showed my ego a little and purchased the one that had Arizona in it, so she'd have something to remember my trip by! She loved it, and we're both going to do bell pulls with these "plates" from each state that our friends that we've met live in. It's a really cool idea, but I can't describe it very well, so I'll have to post a picture of mine once I get it started! J's DD got a chart with a figure skater on it, which I'm sure she's started by now, since I did kit it up for her, and I got a Dragon Fire Designs chart. After that we grabbed lunch and decided to head down to the beach, so that I could dip my toes in Lake Michigan. However it was raining down there really badly, so we went grocery shopping instead! The rain found us while we were in the store and that started the cold part of my trip. I gave up the shorts and t-shirts for sweatshirts and jeans even then I was still shivering!

Sunday, J had to work, so I hung out with her DD and watched movies and played games and stitched. I did complete all 3 ornies that I had from the Ornie RR and made a ton of progress on Allie's UFO! I can't wait until it's time to pass it on and show off my progress on it! Which reminds me, I need to find the drivers for my digi-cam to load on this computer so I can post pics again! After J got home from work we went and bought the souveniers for my kids and DBF, then we went out for dinner. We decided to try a place called Texas Roadhouse, which is a new restaurant for them. The food was fantastic and more than we could eat, so we took it home as leftovers for Monday.

Monday morning after J's DD went to school, J & I got in the car and drove to Indiana to meet a friend for a late breakfast/early lunch. This was a ton of fun, since I was meeting another stitcher that I'd never met before! We met a Cracker Barrel (my favorite place to eat when I drive 2-3 hours, even though there's one 4 miles from home) and we talked and laughed and showed off our stuff until we had to leave. When we got back to J's, we took her DD to her skating lesson and then came home to eat leftovers. I decided that I wanted to sleep before I ate, since I knew I was going to have a very long day on Tuesday, since I was flying out early in the morning. So I took a nap and then got up to eat and do my last minute packing before heading back to Chicago to fly home. We got to Chicago about 1 in the morning, and J dropped me off and said she'd call me on her drive home once she hit the line where she needed someone to talk to so she'd be safe driving. Until she called, I talked to DBF, who I missed horribly and was ready to come home and see, even though I wasn't ready to leave J and her DD! So I spent several hours hanging out in the airport and I was exhausted. Finally it was late enough that I decided to head through security and find my gate. I was so tired that once I plugged my cell phone in to charge, I lay down and took a little nap. I almost missed my flight, because I was so sound asleep! I got on the plane, we took off and I promptly fell asleep again!

When I got into Houston, I managed to stay awake through my layover, but the second I got on the plane, I fell back asleep. I didn't even stay awake for takeoff, once we were up in the air and they made the announcement that portable electronics were OK to use, I woke up and thought we were still on the ground! Once I got my bearings and figured out what happened, I ate the little lunch they provided and slept back to Phoenix!

I collected my baggage and got in my car and came home and was able to spend a few minutes with DBF before he had to go to work. Then I promptly crawled back into bed and slept for most of the rest of the day! I think it took me 3-4 days of sleeping all sorts of hours before I was ready to even admit I was home to anyone, which is why this has taken me so long to write! I had a blast though and given the opportunity, I would do it again in a heartbeat!