weekend so i had to go to orlando for work on friday. flying out at 6:55 a.m., touching back down at 6 p.m.

aggh, the flight was a nightmare. not the flight, really, but getting to it.

i'm all of 10 minutes from the airport, which always causes me to be a bit cocky, timewise. the suggestion was to be there around 6:15. i was there at 6:15 - but at the parking garage, not the terminal. well, i'm used to parking in short-term parking where you pull in and bam! you find a spot. not so in long-term in the hibiscus garage. bottom floor, 2nd floor, outside garage two floors, back to inside garage, third floor, fourth floor.. not ONE open spot. i started to panic - what if i had to go back out, drive around the entire airport, and then come back into short-term? on the 5th floor, i found an open spot. at this point, i didn't even know what terminal i was outside of.. no matter, i wasn't sure which one southwest flew out of.. of course, i intended to find out on the signs as i came into the airport, but couldn't find southwest on any of them as i craned my neck in the semi-dark.

i had it in my head, for some reason, that it was terminal 3.

i came outside at terminal 2.

i huffed it over to terminal 3 in my very uncomfortable loafers. after i hopped up the stairs and ran over to some security/wheelchair-pushin' women, who tried to wave me away, i asked, "is this where southwest flies out of?" "no, girl, that's outta ONE. you're at THREE." back down the stairs and ran from terminal 3 to terminal 1. in those horrible, horrible shoes.

at this point, my flight is taking off in, oh, 15 minutes. everyone was going to be at this meeting and my ticket was bought and paid for - i could not miss this flight. but i've been denied boarding even when i WAS there at the cutoff 15 minutes preflight.

i ran to the front of security. lucky for me, they let me in. checked the laptop, checked my stuff, and handed me a kleenex. i ran to the gate and there was no one there. agggggh! i hollered down the hallway.. the.. uh.. whatchamacallit? you know, the thing that leads to the plane. luckily, a friendly voice answered, "i'm here, hold on!" and i got on the plane! with 10 minutes to spare before takeoff! my little group of folks greeted me enthusiastically (my co-workers are so nice) and my sweaty self finally got to sit down. then i called balu and said, "you are so giving me a ride next time." :D

of course, then we sat there for an hour. then had to switch planes. and sit for a while longer. ah well.. :)

the problem is that i seem to have messed up my feet from running in those horrid, never-meant-to-be-run-in shoes. (lesson for next time: buy cute, meeting-worthy sneakers.) my right foot was so sore by the time i got home that i couldn't wear my crocs. at this point, i still have some really weirdly-located muscles in my leg that ache when i walk and my right foot feels like it's recovering from a 12-hour cramp. ay de mi!

needless to say, i've been a complete lump this weekend. i'm pretty sure this is my hormone-drenched weekend of the month that causes me to be so sleepy. i slept into the p.m. hours yesterday, did nothing but read, and today have not done much either. i did spend a good three hours in the bookstore, however, listening to the beatles and m.i.a. and sara evans on my mp3 player and basking in all the free reading.

i settled on a current copy of national geographic and a book by george eliot. she'd been referenced in a book i read years ago but cracked back open named mother nature. something about her intrigues me, so i figured i'd see what her stuff was all about..

i love the bookstore so much. today i realized what i'm missing right now - some time in the wild, whether it's underwater or in the everglades.. i just want to be outside, watching critters like i like to do. but since, on a sunday afternoon, it was really too late for that, i planted myself in the 'nature' section for an hour and got teary-eyed at the amazing stuff that's out there. i'm telling you, the leaf bugs never, ever fail to amaze me. ("here are the leaf bugs that look like live leaves, here are the ones that look like dead, decomposing leaves, and the ones that look like newly fallen leaves...")

and there's a new book about the national zoo's baby panda... just pictures and captions from their webcam, i think. adorable!


you just cannot get cuter than that, can you?

i saw these books today at b&n about baby signing. i guess babies can understand and use sign language long before they can speak. i'm going to call kamille to see if she'd be interested in trying to learn with macy and, if so, i'll hunt out a book for her. i think it's such a cool idea. they can begin at around 6 months!

baby signing: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0670037516/sr=8-1/qid=1152488898/ref=sr_1_1/102-9461255-1904962?ie=UTF8\

wow, they even have a group on flickr!



hey, guess who just deleted everything when i pasted that pic's url in?!?! argh.

so i guess that's the gods telling me to go read.. or call my sister.. :)  ¶ 6:34 PM