It's been a while.

Wow, it sure has been sometime since I wrote last. I suppose I could update on my spring break. Here goes...

Friday, March 6 - Closed the hall, went out to dinner with SLCs, hitched a ride home with Liz.

Saturday, March 7 - Shanise and Josh's wedding! I was about 2 minutes late...sucks. But I still got to sit with my SLC friends. Yay! Shanise was beautiful, of course! It was just nice to have so many Academy people there (even some students) to celebrate with them. :)
After the reception, Liz, Randi, and I went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner...yum. It was fun to spend time with them, as usual, especially before we all left to do our own things for spring break. The rest of the day, I shopped a bit (for shorts because it's HOT in Orlando and Arkansas right now!), did laundry, and packed. Also, I hung out with my dad who had been home alone for almost a week since my mom went to Little Rock for my gma's surgery.

Sunday, March 8 - Surprisingly, I had absolutely NO problems flying down to Little Rock with a layover in Cincinnati. It's very rare for things to go so well, so I was expecting trouble later...don't worry, I'll get to that. My mom and gma picked me up from the airport and we headed home to make some shabu-shabu for dinner. Yummmm, I love Japanese food!!!!
Also, earlier, when we were driving back from the airport, I was kinda talking about the summer and my mom suggested I go to Little Rock and be my gma's helper. So around bedtime I went in my mom's room and we chatted about what she'd want me to do around my gma's house, like clean all of the rooms, start consolidating stuff around her place, get rid of things, clean up her yard...stuff like that. I'm actually REALLY excited to do this!! Haha, I know...me? Excited to clean? Well, I would get the chance to be somewhere different for about a month of summer, hang out with my awesome gma, eat Japanese food (as well as watch what my gma eats because she's diabetic and sometimes has trouble keeping her blood sugar steady...and in effect I'll be able to watch what I eat too...being an example and all), and also, I'll get to go through all of the cool stuff in my gma's house and organize it, probably take what I want, and do crafty things like make photo albums of all of her old photos and things. Oooo I'm excited!

Monday, March 9 - Got ready for the day, went to lunch at Dixie Cafe, headed back home so my mom could pack. On the way to the airport, we stopped by my grandpa's grave. I hadn't been there since his funeral nearly 13 years ago, so it was really good to go and see him. :)
Then we headed on to the airport to drop off my mom who was headed home to Indy. Baba and I stopped by Target on our way back home, and when we got back home, we made some popcorn and coffee and watched Judge Judy. That's right. My little Japanese grandma loves Judge Judy. And the whole time all she says is, "They're so stupid! Can you believe that? 19-years-old and they're buying expensive things for their boyfriend like that! So stupid!" Don't ask me why she likes it so much, but I must admit, I enjoyed myself. Haha. After Judge Judy was over, the news came on and we watched for a bit...then my gma decided to turn off the tv and just says, "What's she going to do for me?" I tried to ask her who she was talking about, but she just kept on repeating "What's she going to do for me?" as if she couldn't figure out any other words to explain what she meant. I even asked her in Japanese, but she responded with the same sentence in English. I knew we needed to check her blood sugar level. Once I finally got her to take my hand to stand up instead of just taking my hand and giving me a handshake, we found that her blood sugar was REALLY low. I ran to the kitchen to get her a coke and after a few minutes she was making sense again. It was a little scary, but I knew exactly what was happening, so it wasn't too bad. She was just so stunned that she had eaten so much at lunch and then we had popcorn (popcorn has NOTHING that's really gonna boost her blood sugar) when we got home from the airport. We had had a busy day though because we went to Target and drove around a bit in other areas of town before we got home from the airport. After all of that, she told my aunt and her neighbor that she noticed her leg shaking and her lips were feeling numb, so SHE went to check her sugar and got a coke HERSELF. It was a little frustrating that she was saying that, but I know that she probably didn't actually know what was happening during all of that and that she also doesn't want to seem dependent on others to help her. But those are the facts.
Later that night, we made gyoza and some chinese veggies for dinner. And we watched some tv before bedtime.

Tuesday, March 10 - My grandma had been hoping and praying to get a chance to go to The Golden Corral and use her buy-one-get-one coupon. So, we went. I drove...which was funny because I didn't know where the heck I was and I wasn't familiar with her car (even though I really like it because it's a new Camry). We finally got there, and I wanted to puke all over the place. (Oh, and they wouldn't honor her coupon because the coupon book people printed the Golden Corral coupon without asking first...so we had to pay full price for this stupidly disgusting meal.) I didn't even eat a full plate of food. I did eat a lot of pineapple though...it was freshly cut and soooo good. But being around all of the nasty, greasy stuff that had been sitting there for who knows how long...ughh. Just thinking about it now make me want to go puke up my lunch. My grandma kinda seemed like she was in heaven, but by the time she got dessert and we didn't even finish that (and we were even splitting!), she goes, "That wasn't very good, was it?" NO IT WAS NOT GOOD AT ALL!! Never again.
Then my gma and I went back home and watched some Takarazuka (look it up, it's awesome...haha). Takarazuka is my grandmother's favorite thing in the entire world. When she was younger (and still even now, I think) it was her dream to be in Takarazuka. I was so excited when I got to see it live when I was in Japan...I've grown up watching the videos with my gma for years! Anyways, we watched her favorite girl for a few hours.
Then we started making dinner...wonton soup! I've never had homemade wonton soup, and any wonton soup that I'd had before was pretty gross. But this was AMAAAAAZING. I've already made it here at the Academy in my room once, and I still have ingredients left over to make more!! It's so simple and delicious! :) So we had our wonton soup and watched lots of tv. It was fun. Then the rest of the night, I just packed up my stuff and hung out a bit more with Baba before bed.

Wednesday, March 11 - Wednesday, I got up early, showered, and finished packing up. Baba made me eggs and bacon so that I wouldn't be too hungry and have to buy too much over-priced food in the airports. Then we headed out to the airport. My flight was scheduled to leave Little Rock at noon, land in Atlanta at 2:31pm, then leave Atlanta at 5:50pm (that's right, a 3.5 hour layover in Atlanta...) and then land in Orlando at 7:22pm. WELL. Here's what actually happened.... my grandma dropped me off, I said bye and that I'd call her, yada yada. I get to my gate, and everything looks great. I sat and read my Princess Diaries a little bit, then a bit later, I glance over at the gate info and it turns out my flight had been delayed an hour! Ugh. Well, at least I had that 3.5 hour layover in Atlanta to work with. Obviously, I had a little while to wait still so I went and bought a new book (The Dante Club....I actually couldn't get into it at all which is very disappointing since it sounded so interesting...and it cost me $15!) because I was about to finish my Princess Diaries book. And I got some Starbucks. :D Then, I headed back over to my gate and read a bit more. Finished Princess Diaries and checked the gate info again...guess what. Another hour and a half delay. GREAT. Now it was cutting it close in Atlanta. Because Atlanta (so I'd heard, until I got to experience it myself) is HUMONGOUS. I'd only have an hour between my landing and departure at this point. Luckily, there were no more delays in Little Rock after that. Sadly, I was pretty darn bored though because my book sucked.
My flight from Little Rock to Atlanta was full of a ton of people flipping out about their connections and all that. Grrrreat. I had my music though, so that was nice. Well, we land in Atlanta at 5:10pm. My flight was leaving at 5:50pm. We landed in terminal D. My flight was leaving from terminal A. Now listen to me...the Atlanta airport really is HUMONGOUS. They have an underground shuttle/train thingy, like a subway really, to take you to each separate terminal. Luckily the airport is pretty easy to navigate, so I actually got to my gate in 10 minutes. But they were ALREADY boarding! I walked right onto the plane. So much for my 3.5 hour layover in Atlanta. Hi Atlanta! Bye, Atlanta!
My flight to Orlando was alright except that it was a huge, packed plane. But whatever. I had a window seat. And the man sitting next to me was super nice...he's from just outside of Orlando, so he gave me the tip about the shuttle launch that was supposed to happen the next night. I was so excited, but it turned out they rescheduled it for Sunday night. :( Sad! So, my flight was smooth sailing...we even landed 10 minutes early! Yes, yes, everything was fine on this flight...that is, until we finally landed and the little boy sitting in the row in front of me and about an aisle and 2 seats over THREW UP. The poor poor thing. It actually looked pretty serious...my new plane friend was extra concerned about him. It didn't help that it stunk up the entire cabin too...and we were in back, so it took a while for us to exit this massive airplane. Ugh, gross. But poor, cute little boy. :(
After we got off the plane, my plane friend and I hung out all the way to baggage claim. We chatted on the tram thinger and then walked to the claim station together. But, for the first time EVER, my bag was like the second bag out of the conveyor belt thing! So I walked right up, grabbed it, and said, "Well, that was short and painless." He was shocked too. Then I stepped back and called my mom and grandma to let them know that I'd finally made it to Orlando. Then it got crowded, and I didn't want to be the creepy weirdo that hangs out at baggage claim when I already have my bag, so I left. I never got to say bye to my cool airplane friend...who actually kinda looked like an actor that I can't think of his name!!! One day I'll think of it...
Soooooo...I'm in Orlando, right? Yay! Final destination has been reached! Well, Erika couldn't pick me up until after her shift at work. She finished work at 9:45...and would probably be at the airport around 10:15ish. So, I claimed a seat at the bar in the airport's Macaroni Grill, had some bruschetta, house salad, and a couple beers. It was great watching people, listening into conversations, chatting with the bartender...and I got a chance to call a few friends while I waited for 10:00 to roll around.
Finally, Erika came and we listened to a song from the Princess Diaries soundtrack over and over and over again while we drove home. (CRAZY how we're so alike that while I'd been reading the Princess Diaries book, she'd been listening to the soundtrack...AND we're obsessed with the same song from the soundtrack! Oh, kindreds back together again.) Then when we got home, we really didn't do much. Probably watched some tivo'd tv or started watching the last season of Biggest Loser on her computer. Then finally, it was bedtime and I really was finally THERE.

Thursday, March 12 - Let me think...Thursday Erika and I slept in, ordered a pizza, and sat around in our pjs all day watching Biggest Loser. Yup, we ate pizza and watched Biggest Loser. We're awesome. Then that night she and I went out to this awesome karaoke place with some of her friends from Guest Relations. :) SO FUN! Too bad none of our group was able to get up on stage and perform before they closed though. :( Next time!! This place was AWESOME too...two floors of audience seating, a live band, backup singers, fog machines...the works! It was so much fun!

Friday, March 13 - BEACH DAY! I was sooooooo excited to go to the beach! We stopped by Publix to get some lunch and some beachy snacks! Then we drove out to Cocoa Beach! (Yeah! I Dream of Jeannie!) It was GORGEOUS out...perfect temperature and soo sunny! I was in love with the entire day. I wore my sunscreen, but seemed to have missed a couple of spots because now instead of an untanned X on my back...it's a burned X. I moved my straps and forgot to put sunscreen on the X. Oops. I also got a little burnt on my chest and cheeks...but otherwise, I got a pretty nice tan for a day in the sun! It was a little sandy for Erika's taste...but I love the beach! It was a really good day. :D

Saturday, March 14 - Shopping day! Erika and I got up and got some sandwiches at Publix then headed to the outlet mall! It was really fun...pretty tiring though. Haha...I didn't anything except some more body mist from GAP, but it was still fun looking around with Erika. :) Yay! Then Erika had to go to work at 4:45, so I hung out and watched the rest of the season of Biggest Loser, then showered and packed. I was in bed by 12:30 and Erika got home from work at about 12:45. We chatted a bit and then went to sleep, because we had to leave by 5:00am...which meant I got up at 4:20am. Yup.

Sunday, March 15 - Soooooo....turns out I didn't estimate the correct amount of time to get to the airport. My flight was at 6:30. I arrived at the airport at 5:45 and there was a MONSTROUS line at the check-in area. By the time I got up and tried to check in, they said that they couldn't check my bag in anymore. So, that meant that I had to rebook on a different flight. Super. So I headed over to a different desk, waited in line for a while, then had to rebook for a 7:30 flight. She said that my flight would still get in on time for me to catch my connection in Atlanta, so that was good news! Unfortunately, it cost me $50 to rebook. (I almost started crying when I thought it was going to cost me $200 or something.) So, I got my new ticket and checked my stupid bag and got on the tram thingy over to the terminal. They finally boarded and, oh lucky me, I got the middle seat in the middle of the plane. (Before, I had selected a window seat, but with the rebooking, it was the luck of the draw.) Then! Oh, it gets SOOO much better...just you wait! THEN, once everyone was buckled in and tray tables were in their upright position, the pilot comes on over the PA system and says that because of some reason or another we wouldn't be taking off for another HOUR AND A HALF (unless for whatever reason they got the go ahead before then..nope, didn't happen). And, they couldn't clear out the plane...so I got to sit there, in the middle of a hot, gross plane, at 7:30 in the morning, after I'd been up for 3 hours. I cried for a while (I didn't care if the folks around me noticed me crying...this situation SUCKED), and I called my mom and told her the story and that I was going to miss my connection. I knew they'd automatically put me on another flight to Indy, but who knows when that would be...probably at 7:00 at night or something! But there was no way to know. So my mom just told me to call her when we were finally officially leaving, and she said she'd call Delta Airlines and get it all worked out. So I did.
This time I didn't make friends with my neighbors really...well, kinda the guy sitting next to me. He was kind enough to offer to find my connection on his blackberry when we landed, but I was on the phone, listening to the voicemail my mom had left. She had called Delta and they had put me on a 3:45 flight (we landed around 10:30ish, I believe), but she was online and noticed another flight to Indy at 12:20 or so, so she asked about that...and they were able to get me on it! Thanks, mom! She gave me the gate and flight number. Then all I had to do was get my new boarding pass and I'd be set.
I got to the gate (again, it was across the airport, but I had more time this time around), and I went to go get my new boarding pass. Turns out it was still too early for them to have access to that flight, so she told me to come back around 11:20. So I got a Starbucks, listened to music, and watched people. She also mentioned that my gate might change, so I should pay attention to that. Guess what....my gate changed. So I headed on over to the other gate (still in the same terminal, luckily!) and I tried to get my new boarding pass. Nope, not yet. So I sat and listened and watched again. Finally, i got my new boarding pass! And from there it was smooth sailing all the way to Indy! FINALLY!
Phew! When I got home, the only thing I was worried about was my luggage, but it was like specially delivered to the baggage office or something, so I didn't even have to wait for my bag! Yay! Goodbye, airport!!
Man, I was starving by the time I got home...it was about 2:00 or so, maybe...I'm not sure, but something like that. So my parents took me to Macaroni Grill. Yum! Plus, a friend that I hadn't seen in a couple years almost was our server! And I had missed him SO MUCH! It was sooooo soooo SOOO great to see him! It made my day (LITERALLY!) and just really topped off my crazy busy spring break week.

So that's the update! Later that day, I went back to work...and it was so refreshing to get back here. Spring break felt like it was just as long as winter break was! So it was so nice to get back and see the students and all of my coworkers. I love it. :D Yay!

(OK LIZZY, YOU HAPPY NOW?! DIDN'T FALL ASLEEP DID YOU??!?!) :)