Well, the last 10 days have been pretty crazy for me. I am trying to organize my thoughts so I can write about it but that is easier said than done. But I am going to try. Starting with my trip to see Sara...
Okay, so it's Tuesday November 1st and I am taking a 6:20 flight out of Pocatello to Salt Lake and then flying from Salt Lake into Seattle. Yes, it would have been much easier to fly out of Idaho Falls but the tickets are at least DOUBLE what it is to fly out of Pocatello so that is what I chose. So we head out to Pocatello, stopping by Carsten's bakery on the way out of town to pick up a cream cheese brownie for Sara. (if you have never been to Carsten's bakery I highly recommend you go) We get there with time to spare but I of course forget the brownies when I am getting all my stuff and they sit in the car for the next 4 days. But moving along...
If any of you have ever flown alone with a baby you know what it's like for me. I have Jackson, the car seat, the stroller, the diaper bag and last of all my carry on. Now let me tell you something about carry on luggage. It is only convenient to carry on your luggage if you are flying alone. But the stinking airlines charge $25 to check you bag now which I refuse to pay! So I am shlepping all my crap with me.
As a disclaimer I would like to state that I am an experienced flyer. I have flown for years. Since I was a baby and I have taken many of my children on airplanes by myself. I am great on a plane
as long as it isn't a puddle jumper that is probably like 30 years old... And we get the seat right next to the propeller. And it vibrates and shakes the whole way there. That along with the lovely turbulence and the fact that I had to change Jackson's clothes because he peed all over himself make it one heck of a 35 minute flight.
By the time we arrive in Salt Lake I am so grateful to be on the ground I wonder how I am ever going to get back on a plane to go to Seattle...which is already boarding TWO concourses over!
I get ahead of myself here.
In Pocatello they gate check all of my stuff. Which means they put a tag on it and let you check it under the plane as you are boarding. Hey Airlines- this is a dumb policy. Why can't you let me just check all this stuff when I get my ticket because you end up putting it under the plane for free anyway!! Thanks for making me carry it around the airport with me! It makes no sense- as you will see later.
Anyway, in the rush to get all of my things and make it from E concourse over to C concourse I grab the stroller and car seat and run like mad. Oh No! you're thinking. Because you realize way before me that I have left my bag. I of course don't realize this until I am almost to my gate to Seattle. By the time I start talking to the gate agent about my forgotten bag I am crying. Sobbing actually. Because I am so nauseous from the Pocatello flight and I just can't believe I would make such a stupid mistake. But it felt like I had everything because I already had half my house with me without even adding on my stupid luggage. You can tell they all feel bad for me but there is really nothing they can do since once it is in the bag handlers area the gate agents have no idea where it's gone. This is where I could go off on a tangent about why I dislike unions but I will refrain.
So... I have to board the plane with only the shirt on my back. I was out of clothes that weren't covered in pee for Jackson and I had only the formula or diapers that were in my diaper bag. Thankfully, this is where my experience in flying had paid off and I have way more stuff than I thought I would need. Thank goodness. The flight is a long 2+ hours but I get there and we survived. Barely.
Now to the good part. While in Seattle I have the most fabulous time. After all the trouble of getting there we get to Sara's house and it is pretty much identical to her home in Idaho.
Like creepy similar.
I see why she instantly liked the place. It looked like home. And once I got Jackson put to sleep then Tev made me eggs and homemade guacamole. And sitting there at their kitchen table felt like home. It felt like a sigh of relief. It's funny how life is like that. I have missed Sara so much since she left and sitting their with her at the kitchen table while Tev made us a late night snack was probably my favorite memory of the trip. Because it's exactly what it's always been like and there is comfort in the familiar. In friends who are like family. And in guacamole. :)
The next few days went by like a whirlwind. On Wednesday we took Adelaide on a hike to school. Seriously, could there be more hills?? Don't get me wrong, it's gorgeous there. Everything is green and alive and just looks like you are almost in the mountains in Colorado but I felt like I was hiking.
Then once Adelaide got home we headed to the airport to get my luggage that had arrived on a flight that morning. (Which by the way, the airline dose not charge you for. Again, all this inconvenience make me almost want to pay the stupid $25...almost) Then I change into clean clothes in the airport bathroom. There is really nothing more spectacular than clean underwear and clothes that don't smell like spit up.
Then we headed into Seattle and took a ferry out to Bainbridge Island. This was super fun and I wish we could have had all day just to explore this cute little island. We looked in the shops and we tried some fudge. Sara had her first taste of Seafoam and it was a lovely time. By the time we got back to Sara's van we were all pretty tired though because again their are like a million hills here and I am pushing a stroller. That night Sara and I went out to eat and I got some delicious lobster. It was a fun and exhausting day!!
On Thursday we had to recover from our day of fun so we pretty much hung out at the house. Sara made us delicious food for every meal and it was fun to just relax and talk. We even went to this place called Value Village that was like a Desert Industries but better! I wish I could have bought more but I found gifts for both the kids there and I only spent $9!!
We also went to Top Pot Doughnuts which if you follow the OBB Blog you will know what I am talking about!!
On Friday we went to the Pike Place Market. It is an amazingly cool place. All of the delicious food!! I just wanted to take pictures of all the beautiful fruits and vegetables!! I got to have Beecher's famous Mac and cheese and I tried a pistachio macaron at this little french bakery that was divine! It seemed like I had just gotten there and now it was time to leave.
Thankfully, the flight home was much easier than the flight there. And the best news is that I managed to get an earlier flight home from Salt Lake that put me into Idaho Falls rather than Pocatello. I was sooo grateful!!
When I got home my house was a mess and once I finally got it put back together this cold that I have been fighting off for a few weeks finally took hold. But this post is becoming incredibly long so I will try to finish up with just the important stuff I have wanted to tell someone...
* I found my first grey hair this week. It was kinda surprising. I am only 28 after all. I, of course, pulled it promptly out of my head and went to show Rod who was less than impressed.
* Thatcher said the funniest thing to Jackson the other morning. They were both sitting at the table and Jackson was jabbering quite loudly and Thatch turns to him and says "Can you keep it down so I can eat" It was hysterical!
* I hate being sick. I hate that people think I am not allowed to be sick. Sorry if I seem like I have been sick for the past several weeks but I am trying here. Really, who does it suck for? You or me? If you aren't going to be nice just leave me alone. I am really not sick that often.
Okay, I am done. Hopefully I can figure out how to upload some of my pictures of Seattle from my phone. And I hope that sort of explained what my last 10 days were like. It's been crazy.
