KirstenL4W

Got home ok. The flight was uneventful, though boarding was a new experience. New security precautions went into effect while I was en route to Boston last week, so while I was able to pack my carryon in my usual way for the flight out, this was not to be on the return flight. I was half-afraid my suitcase would burst on the way home, because I could not have possibly planned for the new way of packing. Also, this was the first time I’ve ever seen military personnel working at the airport. In the past when I’ve seen military, they were traveling, but this time, MP’s were checking bags at the gate just prior to boarding. It was like one of those weird things you see on the news or travel programs about traveling to countries with political unrest or something. I certainly hope that’s not the direction we’re heading in.

Anyhoo, got into Vegas about 20 minutes early, fought the crowds for my luggage and headed out. Not much traffic tonite, which was nice but as usual there are cone zones everywhere. I emptied my overstuffed mailbox, and now I’m still trying to cool my apartment off since I turned the a/c off while I was gone. I figure the mucho savings on my electric bill will be well worth the sweaty discomfort I have to suffer for about an hour. I have a nifty little digital thermometer that records the high and low temp until you clear the memory, and the high while I was gone in my apartment was 95F. When I arrived home it was 89F. Too hot for sleeping, but it will be cool enough soon.

I’m also pretty hungry since I ate dinner around 6pm in Boston, and it’s now nearly 1am in Vegas and 4am in Boston, so that was quite some time ago. As soon as I can consider turning on the stove I’ll make myself some Ramen so I can sleep without my stomach yelling at me.

So, how did the rest of my trip go, you ask? It was pretty darn good. Let’s see, I last updated you on Monday, so let’s start with Tuesday morning. My nephew woke me up with the announcement that Amma had made chocolate chip pancakes, so I got up, ate some pancakes, and took a shower to ready for my day. I needed a bit of alone time, so I said goodbye to Messy J, since Sis was taking her home that day, and headed out. I just wanted to hit the mall and a few favorite places, so I did that. Had a great steak and cheese sub at D’Angelos, cruised the mall, then went out to a few other places. If I had a goal in mind I may have purchased something at Newbury Comics, but nothing struck me as a had-to-have. Besides, since I can purchase single songs on iTunes, I don’t buy many whole CDs anymore.

I also stopped at Friendly’s for a Fribble, which is better than a frappe (that’s a milkshake to you non-Massholes). But horror of horrors, they changed the recipe! It used to be a hard serve iced milk that they used (as opposed to a frappe that uses ice cream), but now they use *gasp!* soft serve fro-yo. I know how a Fribble should be made, I used to work at Friendly’s when I was 15. Ok, that was a long time ago, but last time I had a Fribble, which was just a few years ago, it was the old recipe. The imposter Fribble I ended up with really sucked since anything made with fro-yo sucks, and next time I’ll know to just order a black and white frappe (vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, so it’s just the right amount of chocolate. Chocolate ice cream with chocolate syrup is too chocolatey).

While I suffered through the Fribble debacle, I decided to drive through the old neighborhood. Not the area I pretty much grew up in, the house my dad bought when I was 6 and still lives in, but the old house, the one we lived in before that, near Arlington Pond. I was suprised to see that they paved our old street. It looks like they did that within the last few years. It was always dirt before. The beach where we used to feed ducks is now private with a few boat docks, and the old country store is gone. Still kinda cool to check out the hood.

Since I knew I wouldn’t have much time later, I stopped at Shaw’s, another place I used to work at, except this time it wasn’t for a summer. I had to pick up some stuff to bring home, goodies that I can’t get here. I got some Drake’s Cakes Ring Dings, which are far superior to the Hostess crap that is so abundant here. If I had a bigger suitcase or could get more on board the plane under the old security rules, I would probably have also gotten some Funny Bones and Pick M Ups (kinda like a Flaky Puff) also, but space was extremely limited. Maybe Mommy can mail me some

I stopped at Mom’s to unload the Ring Dings and show her a quick picture I took of the old house, then watched Boo for a minute while she ran an errand, then it was off to Courtney’s house. I wasn’t suprised to read that she had already posted on her blog about our visit. It was really nice to catch up with her, and I’m conviced that we would still be sitting there chatting if she hadn’t looked at the clock at 11pm. I got to meet her husband and her adorable little son, and also her cute but very energetic nephew. I got caught up on her life and her family, and caught her up on my family. She was there when my nephew was born, so hearing that he’s 13 and almost as tall as me was a shock. I shared pictures of everyone and she did the same, but we were so busy flapping our gums that we didn’t take any pictures! Don’t worry Court, there will definitely be a next time, and we won’t have to wait the better part of a decade for it. Also, Courtney agreed to help me out on some research that I want to do, but that’s all I’m going to say about that since it’s just research at this point.

Well, my apartment is cooler, my stomach is louder, and I’m supposed to be up in less than 5 hours for work tomorrow, which is both jobs, but I did call my office before I even got on the plane that I’m gonna be late. I’m no dummy, I knew this would happen so I kept my morning clear just in case I wouldn’t be able to get my ass up. The way I’m feeling, if I didn’t have to be in until dinnertime I would probably still be late, but I made sure I set my alarms so I get there before dark. I do have pictures that I took, but I’ve yet to unpack anything, including my camera, so I’m hoping to get those on my picture page this weekend, assuming I don’t have to work at Job#2. That’s still up in the air. Otherwise, I’ll get them up sometime this year.

Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Other Posts Like Me:

• Vacation Spending Report
• Back Home
• Monday Miscellany
• Home, Home Again
• My Thursday