Topic: The States
On Jan. 6, my parents took me and Ryan to LAX for our flight to Orlando. I was in the security area, where you go through the metal detectors and have all your junk inspected. There was a big African American security man with a loud voice who kept repeating, "Not now, but right now..." (make sure all your belongings... etc. etc.) What got me was how he kept saying, "Not now, but right now..." It sounded so strange! I wanted to say to everyone else around, "Is anyone else hearing this???" The man was making the announcement in the sort of way one who doesn't think anyone is really paying attention does. I couldn't help but wonder if he was choosing that phrasing to see if anyone would notice (which would tell me either he's got twisted sense of humor, or is really bored), OR if he was completely serious. For the longest time I had it stuck in my head: "Not now, but right now..." It had a distinct cadence to it. The funny thing (or sad, depending on how you look at it) is, I don't remember a thing he said after that. I know it had something to do with carry on luggage, but obviously that's not what stuck out in my mind!
Unfortunately, Ryan didn't get to sleep until 1am! I know I've mentioned it in my last two Stateside catch-up posts, but Ryan really reached the end of his rope somewhere in Vegas, and things didn't much improve until we'd been back in the UK for about three weeks!
The next day we got off to a pleasantly late start. Paula brewed a pot of some wonderfully expensive coffee by the name of "Bad Ass Coffee," complete with a drawing of a donkey on the bag!
Once we got ourselves together, Paula, Olivia, Ryan, and I drove to Daytona to meet a good friend, and colleague of Paula's, Gillian. Gillian is a lovely, worldy lady from the UK. I met her and instantly liked her! We all went to Daytona Beach, where Ryan and Olivia had a wonderful time splashing in the water. We were blessed with a warm, sunny day, and the water happened to be decently warm. Hitting the beach in January! Gotta love it!
After a while, Ryan started turning blue, so we decided to dry off the kiddos and head back to Gillian's. We had a very relaxing, enjoyable time drinking tea and chatting while Olivia and Ryan played.
After our visit with Gillian, we hit a SuperTarget on the way home. I'd never been to one before! It was amazing! It's things like SuperTargets that blow my mind after spending an extended amount of time overseas. I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed. Unfortunately I had a mildly annoying experience with the cashier. I was buying a bottle of wine. The man ringing me up (who definitely looked older than I am), took a look at the wine, then a pointed look at me, then continued to ring up my purchases without saying a word. It wasn't the fact that he didn't card me that I found vaguely offensive, it was the way he looked at me - lacking in any subtlety or tact whatsoever. Oh well.
The next day, we had another leisurely start. (Isn't that what vacations are all about?) We went to the Daytona International Speedway, where Robert works. It was fun to look around the actual track, and to browse the gift shops. I got Ryan an adorable sweater.
Afterwards, we went shopping for roller skates at the Sport Authority. (Paula is involved with roller derby.) We went to Barnes & Noble, but Ryan decided to be loud and obnoxious, so I had to take him outside. He managed to calm down and we were able to take a spin through World Market, an interesting store I'd never been to before.
That day I managed to finish my first sudoku puzzle! For some reason, I'd had a mental block with those before. I really think part of it was the book of puzzles I'd been trying to work. They were really hard! It was such a relief to finally be able to complete a puzzle, and enjoy the sudoku craze.
My last full day there, Paula indulged me and took me to a place I'd been curious about, Casadega. It's a colony of various new age, spiritualist type people. My hat is really off to Paula on this one. I didn't realize it at the time, but those sorts of places are well and truly not her cup of tea. So the fact that she put that aside for me really means a lot! We perused the bookstore, and drove around the small enclave. I really enjoyed our visit. (Unfortunately I don't think I can say the same for Paula!)
Next, we went on a holy quest for a particular item to keep Ryan busy on our flight to the UK. There was a Dora the Explorer magna doodle type toy in the car that Ryan really took a shine to. I thought it would be great for him to have on the plane. Unfortunately it took visits to two different WalMarts to find one. After that, we had dinner at the Cracker Barrel, one of my favorite restaurants. (They don't have them in CA that I'm aware of. They're more of a southern thing.) On our way out, we hit a geocache located in front of the restaurant. (Apparently there are caches at all the Cracker Barrels.)
During our stay at Paula and Robert's, Robert and Ryan had a little game they would play. It started out innocently. Ryan usurped Olivia's booster seat at the dining table. Ryan was trying to get down out of the seat, when Robert said, "You need some help?" For some reason, Ryan got back in the seat. From then on, every time Ryan would make to get out of the seat and Robert would say,"You need some help?" Ryan would get back in his seat and start laughing.
Also while we were there, Paula cooked some yummy food. One of the things Paula is famous for among family and friends, is her pumpkin rolls. These are rolls made with pumpkin bread and cream cheese. Paula walked me through making them, and I wound up carrying one on the plane! It actually survived all the way back to Harrogate.
On Jan. 10, Paula took me and Ryan to the airport. Luckily, my flight was later in the afternoon, so we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn like last time. On the way to the airport, Paula asked me what all we have in England that we have in the States. Here's a list off the top of my head:
Borders, IKEA, Toys'r'us, KFC, McDonald's, Domino's, Pizza Hut, TGIFriday's, Blockbuster, Woolworth's, Starbucks (of course!). I know there's a lot more, but that's all I can think of at the moment.
We discovered at the airport that friends can sometimes get gate passes, at the discretion of the individual airlines, for friends to help passengers. There wasn't really time for us to go back and get one for Paula, but it's definitely good to know for the next time.
I was sad to leave. I had such a great time with family and friends in the States. I was also enjoying the wonderful weather we'd had in CA, NV, and FL!
We had a short flight to Atlanta, and of course Ryan only really slept during that short flight! From there it was straight on 'til morning, literally.
We landed in Manchester to high winds and rain. Ugh. Welcome back to the UK. Things didn't go all that well once on the ground. First, I discovered that Ryan's stroller had been sent to baggage claim, instead of being brought to the gate. The reason? They didn't want it to get wet. Hmm. Let me think here. This is ENGLAND. It RAINS a lot here. You would think they would have come up with a system of getting people's strollers to them at the gate without getting them wet. Oh well. So this means I have to somehow get Ryan, the car seat, and two pieces of carry-on luggage the very long trek to the baggage claim. Next I'd discovered that I hadn't filled out enough landing cards (to get into the US, you just need one for the whole family, while in the UK each person has to have one). So I get through customs, only to find that the elevators down to baggage claim aren't working. Luckily, some kind strangers helped me down the stairs with all my stuff. I finally get the stroller and a cart for all my luggage. I've got everything together, and exit the baggage area out into the passenger pickup area. Larry is nowhere to be seen! I actually laughed out loud - quite mirthlessly - because that was just in line with how the rest of my return to England had been going. I guessed - correctly - that Larry had simply heeded a call of nature, and he appeared about five minutes after we had.
It was weird to be back. I had no idea it would take Ryan so long to readjust. However, we're fine now. Since Larry is going to be gone so long, people have asked me if I'm going back to the States. Hell no! :) The next time I'm going back to the States, it's going to be for good. The transitions are just too hard, both for me and Ryan.
I will miss living overseas when our time here is done (which will probably be sometime in early December). However, it will be great to be back on the same continent with most of my family and friends!