We gate-checked our carry-ons and headed on to the small plane. Since it was a 2-seat row, Mom and the Kiddo got a row to themselves, and Hubby and I had a row to ourselves, and he finally got a window seat, and let me tell ya… him watching takeoff was like watching a little boy see a pony for the first time. His whole body was full of excitement and he kept looking at me with a big ol’ grin on his face, totally worth giving up the seat for him.
We landed in Chicago, where it was a balmy 11ºF, but no snow on the ground. The airport was really pretty, but very large. We had more than an hour to kill, so we started looking for food. We found a McDonald’s and backtracked to a terminal walkway where we could sit on deep window ledges and not be in the way. I scarfed down too many chicken McNuggets and just let some of the stress and airplane seat uncomfortableness melt out of my body. Once we were all full of chemicals, we pulled up the AA app to make sure our gates hadn’t changed, and SHOCKER! The Kiddo’s gate had changed, again. Thankfully, it stayed in the same terminal, but just a different gate.
Sadly, once we got to the gate, we had to leave her. We all said our goodbyes and got lots of hugs… and then a few more… and turned around and headed three terminals over to our own gate for our final flight back to warm & sunny Tampa Bay.
Before we took off, I checked text messages one more time, and saw that the Kiddo had yet ANOTHER delay, this time due to “Aircraft Failure.” I don’t have other texts from her to confirm, since she was also texting with Hubby, but I think she finally landed in Milwaukee around 7pm, and she ended up staying over at her friend’s house for the night (rather than driving all the way home). We landed in Tampa around 6pm to the most gorgeous sunset I’d seen in years, and after getting our luggage and finding our car, we dropped mom off at home by 7:30pm. After we dropped her off and got our hugs, we got back in the car and just… exhaled. It was like, fuck yeah, we made it. This massive undertaking of a family vacation, so many moving pieces, and it worked pretty much flawlessly (except for a few hiccups). I felt like I was taking off a 100-pound backpack and could just breathe again.
We hit up Long John Silver’s for dinner, because I didn’t want to have to stop halfway through the trip home. I was already getting dangerously depleted, I felt like a bathtub that was almost completely drained. I don’t remember what I ordered, but I asked for a cup for ice water, then proceeded to fill it up with soda at the machine and waited for my food. Hubby just sat there and looked at me until I realized what I did, then he went back up to the front and paid for another soda and filled it up with ice water for me. I kind of mumbled thank you as he smiled at me with this weird, affectionate smile that he has, that only comes out at certain times. He told me something next, that actually kind of threw me a little bit… He said “I like it when you’re vulnerable; I can take care you when you’re like this.” I wasn’t offended or put out, but it did make me realize that perhaps I take the “Strong, independent woman who don’t need no man” persona a bit far sometimes, and that there’s nothing wrong with allowing the man I love to help me when I need it.
Once we finished dinner, we hit up a Circle K for mass quantities of Pepsi (yes, even on top of what we got at LJS) and made the two-hour drive home. Thankfully, it was quiet and peaceful and totally uneventful (I use this word a lot…). My driveway looked amazing. My home looked inviting. My bed was fucking magical. I think I was asleep before I even rolled over.
The next morning was Recovery Day. You know the drill, unpack, put everything away. Put all the stuff you ended up not bringing with you away. Catch up on emails. All that jazz. I think we stayed in bed until 10, just snuggled up and enjoying being alone. I could have stayed there all day, but real life was kicking back in… I had to do laundry and get ready for the upcoming work week.
But for now, it’s important to notice that it’s about 2 weeks until Christmas, and there’s a buttload of things that need to be done! Decorating, cleaning, shopping, cooking… And that’s just at home! I have two meetings to set up, a Christmas Party to decorate for, and an entire week’s worth of work to catch up on before we close for Christmas.
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