Settling in to Dallas

Hello All! I'm finally settling in here. I had my quiet time (ha!) in Florida with the family, and then my pre-step-mom time with Bill and his son for two weeks here. This last week has been all about getting caught up on the email, mail, starting the job process, getting situated, etc. So now I'm at a point where I feel I can chit chat on the blog again. :)

Joe and I had a really good time driving around the lowlands in Scotland. After a bumpy start - arriving at close to 11pm with no hotel reservation and then discovering that every hotel room in Glasgow was full (UN conference, huge concert, and Special Olympics)! - we had a great time. We drove around Ayr, the Isle of Arran, up around a couple of Lochs, and spent an afternoon in Glasgow. We decided it would be best to avoid Edinbourgh because of the UN conference and all the protesters. Besides, Joe just isn't a big city person. I wanted to see more of Glasgow, but he decided an afternoon of shopping was enough. That just gives Bill and I more to explore on our own when we go there together. :)

Coming back into the states was pretty uneventful. Joe and I had the emergency exit row with lots of leg room and and extra seat next to us. So we were pretty comfortable. The only annoying part was the security when we came into Orlando. I swear I'll never complain about the security at NJ/NY again. We had to wait forever for the one (!) agent assigned for Americans. Which I really shouldn't complain, I mean we don't have to get fingerprinted or photo'd like non-Americans do. But still, more than one agent for returning Americans should be a no brainer. Anyway, after that we had to pick up our luggage, put EVERYTHING - hand luggage, checked luggage, duty free, etc - through a HUGE xray machine and then hand it all back off. See we still had to go through the monorail system at Orlando and they didn't want us lugging all the luggage everywhere. Fine. But then, we get to the top of the stairs and have to go through another security check! With the metal detectors and x-ray machines for hand luggage. Complete with removing laptops and shoes. Okay, it's not enough that we had to go through two security checks (one normal, one for flights to the US) back in Germany - for each leg of the flight, but now we have to go through it twice AGAIN? After that long ass flight? I don't know what Orlando Int'l Airport is thinking, but it's just bad planning. And no notice either. Argh.

I had a nice three weeks with my family. The drama of the one brother who can't keep his life straight; the lovely visits, trips and excursions with the nieces and nephews; starting the wedding planning with Mom; finishing asking my bridesmaids to be my bridesmaids; seeing friends; helping get ready for the engagement party; picking Bill up from the airport and seeing him for the first time since Jan. 2nd!; taking our engagement photo; the engagement party and seeing lots and lots of friends that I haven't seen in a while. It was all fun. And frustrating. And fun.

My nieces and nephew are all growing up. Johnathan is starting to be a little man and trying to distance himself from his little sisters. And a good little worker at school. He likes math, reading, and science. :) Emilie is a little doll, but she knows it too. Reminds me a lot of me. The fact that she looks a lot like me just re-inforces the impression. :D And little Miss Kaitie is just the cutest little girl. Poor thing has a lot of respiratory problems because of her premie birth, but she just sits there and takes her medicine very patiently. She actually seems to like it. Odd.

My ride from Florida to Texas started off in a very Anna fashion. I met with one of my friends for lunch. She's a couple hours into the drive, so it was a nice easy start to the day. We sat for lunch and chit chatted and then I started off on the road for real. Around Tallahassee I decided to fill up, pulled over and discovered I left my wallet back in the restaurant. It had been a good 2.5-3 hour drive already. Fortunately I had $4 cash on me and I have a Hybrid car. I put 1.7 gallons in the car (probably bringing the total to 3 gallons) and turned the car around. With my mothers help, I eventually managed to get ahold of my friend and the restaurant. They agreed to let her pick the wallet up (it was still there!) and she agreed to meet me about an hour north of where we'd originally met. I figured I had enough gas to get that far. Up till then I'd been driving between 74-78 and getting a mpg of around 44. On the drive back, I set the cruise control at 65 mph and averaged about 56 mpg. It was perfect - I figured I had about enough gas to go another 20 miles longer, but that was pushing it. I treated my friend and her husband to dinner and thanked them profusely for meeting me there. Sigh.

I had originally planned on stopping in New Orleans for the night and exploring a little bit there, but that little adventure used up all my extra cushion time. So I leasurely drove straight through. I actually arrived in Dallas two hours earlier than I needed to, which gave me enough time to find the apartment, unload the car and relax for about 30 min before I had to go to the airport and pick Bill up. He was at training that week.

This should give you guys enough to chew on before my next entry. Maybe even with photos!

Oh - my household goods arrive tomorrow, so I'll finally have my stuff! Yea!

Posted by Jinglelady at August 20, 2005 02:14 AM | Traveling