Home!!

Lord, but it is so good to be home. I'm so glad I didn't spend a week trying to get a space-a flight. There is a lot to be said for having an itinerary.

I was bubbling over when I got off the plane in Orlando... I all but ran once I got off the tram between the terminals and the main part of the air port. I did run once I caught sight of my mom, and then we both cried. I'm pretty sure I surprised her, 'cause I don't think she saw me until right beforeI slammed into her and wrapped my arms around her neck. I missed my momma so much!

Once we got outside the airport, the humidity wa like a solid wall. It was wonderful. And I never thought I would be so damn happy to see a palm tree! I said that so many times yesterday. It's the little things like that that I really missed, and that made me so glad to be home. Like my mom, with her little travel thermos of water that she ALWAYS has with her. This one is new, I'd never seen it before, but it didn't matter. It was Momma Blue, and it's her water cup. And on the way home, we had to stop at an auto parts store so Wade could get what he needed to tune up mom's Malibu. A seemingly tedious detail, but that's Wade. A normal part of the life and reality that I more or less left behind when we moved to Germany.

I got my smoothie yesterday...Very Blueberry. And I got to go to Valentino's, my very first day back!! I went with Mom, Aunt Monica, Merryn, Alanna, Gramma and Veronica. (Good grief, but that baby was being grumpy last night, but even that was cute!) Next on the agenda is El Leoncito's. I'd thought I would drive over ans see Daddy and Gramma today, but I think I'm going with Monica and Merryn to Universal Orlando...woohoo! I've never been to Islands of Adventure before, and I'm super excited. They're running this special for Florida teachers, so Monica will be able to get me in for $40, about half of normal admission. And, it's a park hopper pass, so we'll get to do Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I just hope I don't lose steam too early in the day.

Tomorrow is Alanna and Veronica's joint birthday party. It looks like I'll be surprising Daddy there. Then I'll drive over to see Gramma Honey on Sunday. Hopefully, since Bran will be gettting in from Virginia today, he'll go with me. No biggie if he doesn't, though. I know he's been gone a month longer than I have.

I've already started taking lots of pictures. I'll try to keep up with posting them to photobucket. I'll have to, since I know I'll be running out of room on my memory card. So, keep an eye out for great pics!

space-a nightmare

Except that it wasn't night at all, but 3 long, grueling days of sitting in a hot, overcrowded air terminal in horridly uncomfortable chairs, with the sounds of screaming children incessantly battering my eardrums.

Ok, I dramatized a little, but really, only a little. The concept is a good one, a really good one. And I could see that it would be great, in the fall or spring, to save some money and fly back home for free. It's a large air terminal, with a lot there to help make things easier on people. There's a Subway right there in the terminal, and a kid's play area, and a family play area for parents with very small children, and a USO with snacks and computers and stuff... But the chairs are still uncomfortable, and it was still devilishly hot.

And, since school just let out only a few weeks ago, there is a mass exodus of people trying to get back to the States. Most of them are the spouses of soldiers down range, who want to spend the summer at home with their families instead of staying alone in Germany with the kids. Who can blame them? And, who can blame them for not wanting to have to purchase air fare for themselves, and each of their children? And almost all of them had at least two, most had 3 or 4. But the end result was a madhouse of grumpy people waiting in a stuffy room for a chance to get on a flight that may or may not come.

It was not pleasant.

When I got there, I found that some of the people waiting had been waiting for a week, sometimes more. There were a pair of girls that had been waiting 9 days. I was there for three days, and about lost it. In that time, I'd only gone from the middle of the bottom half of the third page of the waiting list, to the middle of the top half of the third page. Why? Because anyone with higher priority than me--and that was pretty much everyone--got plugged into the list ahead of me, and got called to board ahead of me. And that's how it should be. An active duty soldier with only 9 days of leave should get to go first. The same goes for someone who has had a death in the family, or any other emergency. But it still sucked for those of who simply stayed at the bottom of the list.

*sigh* It was just one frustration after another, really. I hit a nasty patch of traffic on my way to Ramstein AFB, extending a 2 hour drive into one that took 3 hours. When I did get there, it was only to be informed that all flights to the States for that day had been canceled. So I got the info on the area hotels, and called to book a room. But of course the one on RAFB was full, so I had to drive to one of the others back in Kaiserslautern. One that happened to be so convoluted and confusing, that you had to have a map just to get off the base. But before I even got the chance to be boggled by that, they shut down all exits to RAFB for a good 30 or 40 minutes, so I got to sit, gridlocked in the traffic trying to get off base, for that period of time. Luckily I found my way to Vogelwey (the other base) easily enough, and was able to follow the signs to the Inn.

It was simple, definitely old, but it was just what I needed: a bed, a bathroom, and a shower. The main frustration there was that my room, the only one available, was on the 4th floor. And there are no elevators. So I got to haul all of my luggage up 4 flights of stairs that night (and back down again the next morning). Luckily for me, I was able to get a room on RAFB last night, and it was only on the 3rd floor, instead of the 4th. And, there was plenty of choices of food for me on base, so that wasn't a problem either. Enough for variety, even.

As for my time at the airport itself, it was a mixed experience. I'd brought a lot of stuff along to keep me occupied. In the time that I was there, I crochet a scarf start to finish, read 2 books, and made a new friend. Andrea is a little older than me, kind of soft spoken, and very sweet. She had her 10 month old daughter there with her, and that child is just as cute as can be. We chatted a little Monday, and I helped her keep her speed-crawling youngster from escaping the area. Today, she came and sat by me, which I thought was really cool. We spent the day talking, taking turns with babysitting the luggage, and with entertaining the baby. Anja (An-ya) is the sweetest little baby. She's petite, with big hazel eyes, long eyelashes, and a head full of golden brown hair. She took right to me, and I loved it. She might do that with everyone, but still, it made me feel special. I don;t know if I'll see them again, but I gave Andrea my e-mail address, so hopefully she will drop me a line.

And....I have spent sooooooo much more time on this than I had intended to. Really, I was just going to say, "summer space-a sucks" and leave it at that, but then, I can never be succinct, can I? So yeah, I'm going to bed.

Oh, did I mention that I bought round trip airfare to go back home, and that I'm leaving in the morning? Well, I did. Hooray for an itinerary!!

flying out

Ok, I'm finally headed out to Ramstein today. I got up early so that I could drive out there bright and early, but when I called to get the day's flight schedule, there's nothing useful leaving until this afternoon. So, I figure I might as well wait at home, and be comfortable, instead of waiting there. Now I'm planning to leave around noon. Wouldn't it be awesome if I could get on the flight this evening? Wish me luck!

(Oh, and by the by, the picture thing didn't work out the way I'd hoped. I only got one pic, and I can't find the cord to upload it, so....pics will have to wait.)

I'm a lazy bum...

...for not posting, like a good little blogger. :)

My Fire Mountain order FINALLY came in last night, so I have lots of new necklaces and such to bring with me. I think I'll ask my lovely co-workers model them for me, so I can post pictures of them later. "And here is Mrs. Kelly Sarles, sporting an elegant shades-of-gray pearl necklace from Designs by Adie International. Beautiful, Kelly!" hehe.

Ok, back to the real world. I am supposed to be leaving for the States tomorrow, and I am super excited. BUT I still have so much that I need to do before I go, because I spent all night making jewelry instead of taking care of those things that I need to do. So, since I am going space-a and have no set schedule, I might push it back to Sunday. After all, I might as well take advantage of the fact that my itinerary is flexible, right? I hate to wait a day, but I think I will be less likely to lose my mind if I do.

Stay tuned for lots of cool pictures to follow!

Free Week

Brandon is gone for the week, so I have all of my time this week to myself. Not that this is a good thing. I've gotten so spoiled, having him around all the time for so long. Right now it just feels like he's gone to work, like he does every Monday, but he won;t be coming home tonight. I think that's when I'm going to start to miss him. I love our time together in the evenings... It's a good thing that I have work to keep me busy, or I'd be nutso by the time he gets back on Friday.

So anyway, I'm catching up on some girl time this week. I'm going shopping with Jennifer this afternoon (Yay! Emily and Eva time!) and then I'll be getting together with Sarah and Peguy for some Sex in the City. You see, I've never seen a single episode, and both feel that this is complete sacrilege and must be rectified immediately. Especially if I am going to see the movie with them. I've been kind of neglecting them, shame on me!, so it's good that I'm getting a chance to spend some time with them. I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, and speaking of movies, we saw the new Indiana Jones flick Saturday night, and it is AWESOME! Totally in keeping with the tone set by the previous movies. And Harrison Ford stepped right back into the character as if it had been only 2 years instead of 20. Wonderful! Even Brandon said that he would pay to go and see it in theaters again, and from him, that is the highest honor available. So, if you haven't seen it, then you need to!

PS: I'm in a much better mood now. :)

*growl*

I am in an utterly vile mood. I'm not sure exactly what my deal is, but I have been full of nothing but spit and vinegar for the last day or two. And, believe it or not, I'm in a better mood now than I was last night.

I got off work at 4:30 to go and get Brandon, and it took me an hour and fifteen minutes to get home. That's an hour longer than it usually takes me to get home. Apparently, as soon as a single drop of rain hits the ground around here, everything simply stops. I was crawling along the Autobahn. Sure, I could have left the Autobahn, and tried my luck going through town, but what if it was even worse there? So I just kept crawling. And, when I did get home, I just took long enough to heat up some hot pockets and then it was straight back to Patch to try to catch Indiana Jones with some friends. The return trip took only about 25 min, but we were still late enough that the movie sold out before we could get our tickets. Even better, there were only 3 people ahead of us when it cut off. And, to top it all off, Bran decided to rub in my face that we should have just canceled to begin with.

I went to bed as soon as I got home, after an apology to Brandon for being so snipey. I didn't even want to be around myself, I was feeling so nasty. It wasn't just the frustration of the afternoon, though that certainly didn't help. Like I said earlier, I've just been in a rotten mood. But, today is a new day, and I'm hoping that it will be better than the last.

Strassbourg

So, after an amazing afternoon spent picnicking in the Black Forest, what could Brandon possibly do to top it? Why, he could take me to France, that's what!!

Since yesterday was a holiday for both of us, we took the opportunity to drive to Strassbourg. It's only about an hour and a half away, just over the French border, and perfect for a day trip. We got there right around lunch time, so the first order of business was to find something to eat. We had no idea where we were going, or what we were doing--we just put "Strassbourg" into the GPS and went--so at first we were well away from the touristy part of the city. We ended up in this tiny little Cantonese restaurant. Our waitress spoke only French with very little exception. And of course the menu was in French. We asked her what was good, and she pointed at something and said "specialty" so thats what we both got. It was pretty good, actually. There was a deep-fried shrimp, a meat pocket, a hush puppy, a stuffed noodle thing, and a very small chilled yellow pepper salad. It was a perfect portion for me, but little better than an appetizer for Brandon. At least it took the edge off for him, anyway.

After that we drove around until we could see the cathedral spire, and then headed for that. We were able to get a parking place right there next to the church, which turned out to be pretty central to the tourist section. The Cathedrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg, or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg, was amazing... It was begun in the late twelfth century, and took almost 200 years to complete. Do you know what they were building the the US in the twelfth century? Tepees. (Not to diminish Native American history and accomplishments, but you know what I mean.) It was a humbling experience to be there, standing in building that had been built nearly a thousand years prior, to place my feet in grooves created over 800 years worth of use. I lit a candle there, for my grandfather, and for Brandon's Grandmama. I don't know why, but it seemed appropriate. I took a lot of pictures, but none of them could really capture the essence of the place. I was....in awe.

The rest of our time there was trivial, by comparison. Not that it wasn't fun, or memorable. We got something more to eat in a cafe near the cathedral. I was still pretty full from my Cantonese meal, so I just got an order of creme brulee, which was delicious. Brandon got an escargot appetizer, because it was there for the trying. I tried one too, and though Brandon liked it, I just couldn't get past the texture. I literally had to choke the thing down, and to be honest, I barely even chewed it. Afterward, I was delighted to go back to my creme brulee. Bran was less satisfied with his main course... He got a local dish, with sausage ans sauerkraut. What he didn't know, is that he would be served a mountain of sauerkraut; everything else was basically just an after thought. Oh well, at least he tried it, right?

While we were sitting there, he noticed that there were people all the way at the top of the cathedral. So we wandered back over there, to try to figure out how to get up to the top ourselves. There was already a group up there, so while we were waiting, we went back to a street vendor and bought some gelatto ice cream cones. (oh, by the way, gelatto is YUM! I might not be a fan of American ice cream, but I just can't say no to Italian ice cream.) We finished them just as they opened the doors to allow more people to come up.

We hadn't gotten far before I decided that maybe that wasn't the best of ideas... It was 66 meters up to the top...better that 300 steep and uneven steps to get there. I felt so out of shape! My legs and lungs both were burning with the strain, and I was gasping for breath long before we got there. It was sad. I didn't hear Bran huffing and puffing at all. Of course, that might have been because I couldn't hear much at all over the sound of my own labored breathing, but I digress. It was worth it after all, once we got to the top. The panoramic view of the city was amazing. And, Brandon noticed that all of the stone blocks had been engraved with people's names and dates. I found myself wishing for a rubbing kit... It was crazy! One in particular stuck in my memory... "Johann Daniel (something) May 1196 Strasbvrg" I know that I don't remember it exactly, but I also know that I'm close. And no, the "v" is not a typo. Thats how it was written.

Crazy, right? Anyway, going back down was a lot easier than going up. At the bottom, there was a tram tour just about to leave, so we jumped on it. It was interesting, and quite informative. There is such history there... I hadn't appreciated just how much until I started listening to the tour narration. She noted the 4 remaining towers of the original Roman fortress, a civic building that was erected in the 1980's, and literally everything in between. Renaissance, Gothic, medieval, everything! All of it layered there together in one place, each building with its own unique story to tell. The sad part, to me, was her frequent reference to the things that had been lost in the WWII bombings there. Most of the destroyed historic buildings had been re-built in the old style, but it's not the same. Part of me wants to be disgusted, but then again...WWII is just as much a part of history as the rest of it. It is reasonable to expect that it would leave its mark on the world, just as much as the rest of it.

The whole trip served to give me a new perspective on the passage of time, and the lives that pass within time. Each life is so fleeting, so finite....yet the decisions we make, the things that we do can have an undeniably lasting impression on the face of the human race. It is strange to think of these things, to think beyond the realities of my day to day life. When I think of the future, I'm more often concerned with when I will next be able to see my family, when we will be able to start a family of our own, where the military will lead us next. Never do I think of what will remain when I am gone. What have the people of our age contributed to the historic landscape of the world? What will I, personally, contribute? My art? My writing? My children? Which will be the most important? Which will be the most lasting? My life stretches before me, and time stretches infinitely beyond that. My life feels insignificant by comparison.

I know I am certainly not the first to think of these things. I suppose that the grand scheme isn't so important, really. Life--and time--will continue to roll on regardless of what I think of. I can't help but to feel that it's the little things, and what I choose to do with them, that are important. The rest will follow on its own.

Sigh. I didn't mean to wax so philosophical... But I write what's in my head, you know? Heck, I often don't know what's in my head until I do write it. But, there it is.

As a side note, they ended up not needing those curtains that I made. Fantastic, right?