Day 269: Long day of travel... but home at last

Back home again, and by home home I mean my parent's house.

But getting there wasn't easy, in fact it ended up being a really long day.

I woke up and planned to finish packing, but instead I was surprisingly faced with a pile of dirty dishes in the sink.

I say surprisingly, but its not like they showed up overnight. I don't know how I didn't see them last night when I was getting ready.

But it doesn't matter, I can't leave dirty dishes when I have people coming over to medicate my cat, so I quickly washed them and hoped I would have enough time to finish packing and get to work on time.

Well, I was wrong, which is no shocker. I never have enough time add in traveling and forget it.

After working 7 hours it was off to the airport, and time to get down to the business of traveling.

My flight was delayed slightly, when I called home to make sure my mom knew she said there were thunderstorms moving in so she wasn't surprised.

For me, flying is strategic. If I don't get a good boarding pass number (yes we're talking Southwest) I start to get a little nervous and that's what happened this time.

My trip is really short, so I didn't want to check my bag, that seemed silly, so now I'm stuck looking for an open slot in an overhead bin.

I always take my first open spot, instead of taking my chances with no spaces in the back of the plane and today was no different.

I zeroed in on a spot and quickly threw my bag in there without even looking to see if there was a seat.

I quickly surveyed the territory and landed on a middle seat between two ladies. It proved to be a good move, because all of us were relatively small so we all had plenty of room.

That actually sparked a conversation with the lady next to me. She was happy to have me in the row instead of a large sweaty man who would overtake the arm rests and crowd the people in the outsides seats.

We congratulated each other on great seating choices as if we deserved an award for all being smaller people and choosing to sit in the same row.

Bonding with strangers on a plane is always a little weird. We continued talking for most of the flight, mostly talking about crocheting, which I have absolutely no knowledge about, and quite frankly no desire to know but I was happy to indulge her because she was a nice lady and you can never have too much knowledge.

After 3 1/2 hours of flying, crocheting, and cat conversations, we landed, and someone on the plane said we missed the tornado warnings by an hour.

For those of you who didn't grow up in tornado ally, a warning means a tornado has been spotted.... and it just so happens my parents live 1 hour away from the airport.

Great.. I think to myself. My parents just drove through tornados to pick me up.

And yes, I know they drove through tornados without even talking to them because that's what they do... they are tough and don't back down from much.

As we taxied to the gate the rain came down in buckets... great... now we have to drive an hour home in this weather.

A long day just got longer, but it was all worth it because I get to spend the weekend with my parents.

The drive was slow going, as my mom adjusted the speed to suit the weather. We drove through a lot of rain, while lightning bolts chased each other through the black sky.

We made it home safe and sound ate a quick snack and it was off to bed.

I'm always amazed at all the treats my parents have around the house. There's always some sort of pie, cake or cookies waiting when I get home.

Tonight was no different, my mom had made a batch of Monster cookies (basically a mix of every cookie imaginable... chocolate chip, oatmeal, m&m, etc.) for a church bake sale at the annual gathering at the county fairgrounds.

I chowed down and headed off to bed to get a good nights sleep and get ready for the day that was ahead of me.

The comforts of home just can' be beat.