I was up at 8:45, and showered and packed by 9:15.
We left the house at about 9:55, stopped by the Barnes & Noble at which Katherine works, where we had a little breakfast at the attached Starbucks. I had a small coffee and a bagel.
Katherine shared her protest letter to the NFL about Michael Vick, and the discussion centered around that event and animal abuse.
Irene and Susan dropped me off at American Airlines at about 11:10, and though the lines were long for both the check-in and security, they moved fairly quickly.
I got to the gate at about 11:35 for my noon flight, and I could see them boarding as I turned into the gate area as my gate was close by. To my right was the Salt Lick concession. I got in line, and grabbed a Smoked Sausage Sandwich to go, and then boarded.
I can’t remember a time that I saw more drama about some seating than I did on this flight. One seat was doubled booked, but one of the people who was supposed to be in the double-booked seat really wanted that seat because it was next to a friend. So, the other person said they’d take another seat, further up, which was unfortunate because people were still coming down the aisle to get seats further back. Think salmon at spawn time.
Seconds later, after swimming upstream, the person who volunteered to move up, came back saying, “Oh that seat is next to a baby; I don’t want to sit there.” More shuffling. Someone further back leaned forward over two people and said, “She can have my seat, and pointed to the one next to me.” More shuffling.
Not unlike my 3-hour non-stop flight out, but this time two rows back to the right instead of two rows up to the right, another crying baby exercising its, evidently, cavernous lungs the entire flight. Fortunately, this time I couldn’t see the derelict parent with it.
We had the most incredible timing ever for a pick-up at the airport. I waited to call Robert to tell him I was in until I had my bag and was walking outside. When I called him, he was just approaching Terminal C for the first time, and he zipped right in to whisk me away. Thank you, sweet man!
Dancing was fun tonight—it was good to be back at it. I drank a little too much, but hopefully, I didn’t get too obnoxious.