Holy crap it’s been a while since I’ve blogged! It’s a bad habit to get into…..not blogging every day on vacation. Wednesday morning I woke up and got ready, then came down to the Mills’ room and watched the kids during their split devotional that they had and the kids and myself walked over to listen to the talk about the town we were shortly going to go visit, Arrowtown. The guy that gave the talk was very informative and had a power point presentation with pictures of the town. It used to be a mining town and was also inhabited by the Chinese. We took a bus over to Arrowtown, there was some BEAUTIFUL scenery on the way over. Upon our arrival to the town we took a walking tour of the town with many MANY photo opportunities. We saw a Catholic church that is where the first ordained Catholic woman (need to look this up b/c I know I have it wrong) grew up. The shopping area in the town is about two blocks long. We didn’t have long that day to shop and have lunch so I just shopped mostly and then had time for a bite afterwards. We saw the camps where the Chinese were settled on the other side of town, one of the sights where the Lord of the Rings was filmed on the river was in Arrowtown as well.
When we got back that afternoon some of the girls, myself, and Jen went shopping for a party they were having on Thursday night. We had a good time doing that shopping for that party together. They were very pleased with the results. I went on shopping by myself after that for a little while to look in some more of the stores and see if I couldn’t find a few more gifts and to look in some more of the stores that I hadn’t looked in yet or to go up some of the streets that I hadn’t explored yet. It was a really great afternoon.
We had dinner together that night and then had devotional as a group that night in Nathan and Jen’s room. It was just a time of singing and reading scripture. A really wonderful time to worship together with the mountains in the background!! I think after visiting for a while I went back up to my room and probably uploaded some pictures and then watched an episode of LOST.
Thursday morning I slept in a little bit and then woke up and went down to their room and watched the kiddos and got them breakfast so Nathan could go to class while Jen was finishing up teaching. So far I haven’t gotten any complaints on my breakfast (aka toast) making skills. Thank goodness!! I went back up to the room and got online and called mom and talked to her for a while. I got ready then Jen, Caleb, Ali, and myself walked to chapel which it turns out we missed so I went on my way to look around town for a bit. I knew I wanted to go up the ski lift which they call the “gondola” which is funny to me because the gondola is the boat I rode in Vegas in the Venetian. So I made my way towards the Gondola.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday into Tuesday
Monday afternoon I went down into the Mill's room and the kids were watching a video so I finished watching the video with them, I got caught up on the Pokemon world and the dinosaur was saved! Whew! Following that was reading time. I read with the boys while Ali played with Simba and Nala. Ali informed me that Simba liked to read to and put him underneath me, that was soon followed by all of her My Little Pony's and barbies. We all read Pride and Prejudice for a while. After that we went to the park which was by the lake and absolutely beautiful despite the cold weather. The sun had gone away and taken it's warmth with it. Jon David met a new friend named Anthony. I got a couple of pictures. To get a bit of warmth after that we walked around the town, went in a couple shops and then went to the school for chapel.
Following chapel we walked back to the apartments and played for a while then had dinner. Following dinner was movie night! We watched Night at the Museum II. It's so funny to watch movies with kids and see them from their perspectives and the things that are funny that you wouldn't think are funny. I love it! After the movie we had hot chocolate and green dinosaur cookies. Ms Pam came by during snack time and stayed for a visit. It doesn't seem like 3 years since I last saw her!
Tuesday morning I slept in a bit, woke up and took myself and my breakfast down to their room to watch the kids for a little bit while Nathan went to class and Jennifer was finishing up teaching her class. The kids had just woken up (as had I) so we all had breakfast together. When Jen got back I came back to my room to get ready for the day. As soon as I got back to the room I called the hot air balloon place to get that scheduled. I scheduled it for Friday morning, I'm really hoping and praying that it's a beautiful morning out! I emailed the photography place because I couldn't get their phone number to work. Mom was on facebook so I chatted with her and Nette for a little while then finished getting ready.
It was raining cats and dogs out when it was time to go to the school for chapel time so we walked by reception to pick up an umbrella for me. Thankfully the school is close by. With the cloudy day and the rain it was a bit cool out. After chapel I went venturing out into town to look through some shops and see what the town looked like. There weren't a whole ton of photo ops holding an umbrella and with the mountains being covered over by clouds. I went into some shops, had lunch at Subway. It was a good couple hours out on the town. I plan to spend more time out there and taking pictures on a sunny day.
I came back and spent time with the kiddos. The sun actually came out for a little bit so Jon David and I went out and threw his football. He would kick it to me and one time it was a bit misguided and it went on the roof so no more football. We had a delicious dinner, I watched the boys play video games for a while after dinner while Ali took turns standing on my shoulders making declarations to the world and doing my hair for me. Then we came up to my room and Ali used my bathtub (they don't have one) and we watched some Discovery Channel. The rest of the evening I've just relaxed in the room. Tomorrow we're going to a mining town to look around and learn about the town. Looking forward to that!!
Following chapel we walked back to the apartments and played for a while then had dinner. Following dinner was movie night! We watched Night at the Museum II. It's so funny to watch movies with kids and see them from their perspectives and the things that are funny that you wouldn't think are funny. I love it! After the movie we had hot chocolate and green dinosaur cookies. Ms Pam came by during snack time and stayed for a visit. It doesn't seem like 3 years since I last saw her!
Tuesday morning I slept in a bit, woke up and took myself and my breakfast down to their room to watch the kids for a little bit while Nathan went to class and Jennifer was finishing up teaching her class. The kids had just woken up (as had I) so we all had breakfast together. When Jen got back I came back to my room to get ready for the day. As soon as I got back to the room I called the hot air balloon place to get that scheduled. I scheduled it for Friday morning, I'm really hoping and praying that it's a beautiful morning out! I emailed the photography place because I couldn't get their phone number to work. Mom was on facebook so I chatted with her and Nette for a little while then finished getting ready.
It was raining cats and dogs out when it was time to go to the school for chapel time so we walked by reception to pick up an umbrella for me. Thankfully the school is close by. With the cloudy day and the rain it was a bit cool out. After chapel I went venturing out into town to look through some shops and see what the town looked like. There weren't a whole ton of photo ops holding an umbrella and with the mountains being covered over by clouds. I went into some shops, had lunch at Subway. It was a good couple hours out on the town. I plan to spend more time out there and taking pictures on a sunny day.
I came back and spent time with the kiddos. The sun actually came out for a little bit so Jon David and I went out and threw his football. He would kick it to me and one time it was a bit misguided and it went on the roof so no more football. We had a delicious dinner, I watched the boys play video games for a while after dinner while Ali took turns standing on my shoulders making declarations to the world and doing my hair for me. Then we came up to my room and Ali used my bathtub (they don't have one) and we watched some Discovery Channel. The rest of the evening I've just relaxed in the room. Tomorrow we're going to a mining town to look around and learn about the town. Looking forward to that!!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Fuses.....
Forgot to mention that this morning when trying to blow dry my hair I didn' know which voltage to put it on (it has a switch to make it higher or lower) and I of course chose the wrong one and "poof!" A little yellow spark and all the lights went out. I knew where the circuit breaker was so I went to that, and decided that with all of my knowledge of those things, being none of course, I should ask someone. So I called Jen and she said switch the one that's down back up. So I did and of course nothing happened. So I had to call the front desk and some guy came up and flipped something outside of my suite that made the lights work again. Whoops! Thankfully they have a blow dryer in the room for you!
I've Finally Arrived!!!
Prayer answered!! I slept the entire way from Auckland to Queenstown! I got on the plane and for some reason I had a WINDOW SEAT!! How the heck did that happen!?!?! Jaime+window seat does not equal a happy camper! I reminded myself that I'm an adult and would have to deal with the claustrophobic situation I was placed in (and no I was not able to choose my own seat on that flight apparently b/c I did for all the other ones) and just be okay with it. Instead I just slept. Hahaha. I woke up in time to watch us flying in over the snow covered mountains. It was beautiful! The airport in Queenstown is much smaller than I had anticipated so it didn't take me long at all to get my luggage, which all arrived, I had a free trolley to carry it all on which was insanely helpful and I made my way outside. It was really nice out. I was comfortable in my jacket, snapped a couple photos with my "purse camera," and made my way to the taxi. Ian was my taxi driver, he was very nice and was telling me a couple of things along the way. Taxi rides are NOT cheap here. Google said that The Glebe (where I'm staying) is 10 miles from the airport and it was a $38.40 ride. I was shocked at how hassle free the entire process was. I thought it would take me forever to get off the plane, get luggage, taxi and get here.
I got my room, the lady that checked me in was very nice, she called one of "the boys" to come help me with my luggage. He was really nice too (not bad to look at either). I got to my room and absolutely love it! It's the perfect size!! I knew what room Nathan, Jen and the kids were in so I went down there and they were out in the courtyard, I didn't want to call I just figured I'd see what the place looked like if they weren't there. Caleb saw me first and my heart still swells with so much love every time I see their eyes light up and they run to me! I soon had 3 kids smothering me with hugs. It was wonderful. We visited a while and then they went to the park and I came back to the room to clean up. I felt disgusting! I called mom and dad to let them know I got here in one piece. I'm actually not going through as much withdrawal as I thought I would not being able to be on my phone 24/7. It's weird.....I got my stuff "moved in" and cleaned up. I felt a ton better just being able to shower and change clothes. Granted fighting a fever, cough and runny nose in the midst is a bit of a downer but that won't slow anything down. Not here! I was thinking to myself it's too bad New Zealand isn't like LOST where they get to the island and everyone is healed. That would be nice!
I went downstairs, had dinner with them, then it was time for Sunday night devo and communion so I got to see/meet all the students that are here with them. They seem like a really great group of students. There was girl time in one of the girls rooms and I went to that for a while but I was fading quickly so I came upstairs to relax a bit and go to bed.
This morning (Monday morning) we went to the super market that's a little farther away to do some grocery shopping and there were some little shops around there that we went in. It actually snowed some on the top of the mountain and we were getting some very very light flurries down here but nothing that was sticking. It's cool here but the weather is really not that bad at all. I just made my first "meal" in my room, a grilled cheese and ham. :) I even have a little dishwasher!! Don't know what the rest of the day has in store but I'm excited to find out! Tata for now!
I got my room, the lady that checked me in was very nice, she called one of "the boys" to come help me with my luggage. He was really nice too (not bad to look at either). I got to my room and absolutely love it! It's the perfect size!! I knew what room Nathan, Jen and the kids were in so I went down there and they were out in the courtyard, I didn't want to call I just figured I'd see what the place looked like if they weren't there. Caleb saw me first and my heart still swells with so much love every time I see their eyes light up and they run to me! I soon had 3 kids smothering me with hugs. It was wonderful. We visited a while and then they went to the park and I came back to the room to clean up. I felt disgusting! I called mom and dad to let them know I got here in one piece. I'm actually not going through as much withdrawal as I thought I would not being able to be on my phone 24/7. It's weird.....I got my stuff "moved in" and cleaned up. I felt a ton better just being able to shower and change clothes. Granted fighting a fever, cough and runny nose in the midst is a bit of a downer but that won't slow anything down. Not here! I was thinking to myself it's too bad New Zealand isn't like LOST where they get to the island and everyone is healed. That would be nice!
I went downstairs, had dinner with them, then it was time for Sunday night devo and communion so I got to see/meet all the students that are here with them. They seem like a really great group of students. There was girl time in one of the girls rooms and I went to that for a while but I was fading quickly so I came upstairs to relax a bit and go to bed.
This morning (Monday morning) we went to the super market that's a little farther away to do some grocery shopping and there were some little shops around there that we went in. It actually snowed some on the top of the mountain and we were getting some very very light flurries down here but nothing that was sticking. It's cool here but the weather is really not that bad at all. I just made my first "meal" in my room, a grilled cheese and ham. :) I even have a little dishwasher!! Don't know what the rest of the day has in store but I'm excited to find out! Tata for now!
LAX to Auckland Baby!
Well getting seated next to the bathrooms wasn’t near as bad as I thought it would be. They were facing in towards each other and not out towards the isles for smells to waft. I had high hopes of sleeping most of the flight like I did on the one to Sydney in 2007. That was a fail. Granted there was an empty seat in between myself and the person by the window on that flight so there was a little more stretching out space. Although I’m not complaining as I was able to stretch my legs out on the flight. I started out watching Twilight: Eclipse. Of course I’m going to watch the movie that hasn’t even been released yet and that I can watch “for free.” I have to admit, they did an impeccable job with their food! No wonder they got voted the #1 airline last year. For dinner they had the “special eaters” options if you’re vegan or vegetarian, etc. Then they had either a light salad, beef casserole or chicken penne pasta. I chose the chicken penne pasta, figured you probably couldn’t mess that one up too badly. The food was warm, tasty, fresh, and the staff were extremely nice and polite. They were constantly walking around offering water through the night. For breakfast you could choose from a fruit assortment or a cheese omelet. The omelet was even served with fresh fruit, yogurt, orange juice, and they walked around with other assortments of juices, coffee, tea, etc. I was very impressed.
I was only able to sleep about 3 hours on the plane. And let me tell you the other 10 hours didn’t exactly fly by (yes…pun intended) but it wasn’t horrible until the end. After that 3 hour sleep I tried to get a movie put on as did the woman sitting next to me. We would select a movie but it wouldn’t play. It took us right back to the beginning. So I tried it for several different movies and same thing. She turned hers off first. (Does that mean I’m more stubborn?) Finally I took my headphones off and she said she couldn’t get hers to work which I had obviously observed. I put on the call light; we had way too much of that flight left to not have a functioning movie machine. So they restarted our TVs and all was well again. I ended up watching this movie called Cyrus after my sleep time and it was pretty dumb. I mean I get the point of it and everything but it was just not moving or enlightening. I tried to sleep again and that proved unsuccessful, so I put on Notes on a Scandal. After that I tried sleeping once again with no luck so I put on Letters to Juliet. I wasn’t in the mood to pay attention enough to watch something I’d never seen before. Plus the selection will be the same when I fly back I’m sure.
That pulled me through to morning breakfast, at which point I began to acutely feel like more crap. I’ve gone through 2 of those small “purse size” Kleenex packs so far. I felt bad for everyone who had to listen to me blow my nose. I don’t know if that’s better or worse than a screaming kid (who now that I think about it is the one who woke me up from my whole 3 hour blissful nap). I started to feel flushed and warm again so I downed some more Tylenol hoping to avoid further fever if I had one which I probably did. Boooooo. Not only that but I think the wear and tear of being on the plane for that long was also catching up with me. I felt like crap, couldn’t move, and my tummy was not feeling well. Of course the meds I brought (yay good friend Zofran) got checked in my carry on bag.
So anyways, the plane landed (finally!!) and I got off, went straight to the bathroom, and then went to the passport line. It wasn’t a super long line like it had been in Australia…that line was horribly long! I of course chose the lady who was like a drill sergeant when she asked you questions. I felt bad for the 2 girls in front of me who didn’t have some piece of information and looked a bit frazzled. All she asked me was what I wanted to do in Queenstown and where else I was going and I felt like I needed to salute and say “no ma’am, yes ma’am.” Next up was the getting of the luggage. That’s my favorite part. It’s always a coin toss (in my opinion) if my luggage is going to be there or not. I always plan on it not being there that way when it is I’m delightfully surprised! Thankfully my luggage was there, and they have luggage carts for FREE (so did Australia) but then I heard a little man (he seriously was a little man, like probably no more than 4 feet) call them “trollies,” so I had a “trolley” for my luggage. It was quite handy. I actually didn’t get lost at all, I’m terribly impressed!!
Next was the line where they get to look through all your crap if they want to. I had everything prepared in see through zip lock baggies to make the process easier but they asked me what was in my bags and took my word for it. So I didn’t have to wait or explain that I brought grape jelly all the way to New Zealand because I couldn’t find ANY when I was in Australia and that was just unfathomable to me. While I was in that line I was getting something out of my purse and these sneaky old people cut me in line! They didn’t even look around to see if they were imposing they just stepped right on in line. It’s not like my “trolley” and I were invisible. But whatever, let the old people get a 2 minute head start, I don’t care.
I found my domestic flight area all by myself reading the signs (go me!) and they took BOTH of my bags without any question! I didn’t have to explain to them that I came from an international flight and could have two bags, etc. It was so nice! So much smoother than last time! Last time everyone seemed like a jerk, this time they’re all nice. It’s just the getting cut in line twice that wasn’t so polite.
To get to the domestic terminal you could either take a bus or tram or you could walk about 10 minutes to get there. I decided to walk since I’d just spent the last 13 hours on a plane and it was nice outside. What I didn’t think about however was how crappy that cool wind was going to feel on my throat, fail! But it was a nice little jaunt. They have a blue line that you just follow and it takes you where you need to go! If EVERYWHERE could do that I would never get lost! Okay never is a bit extreme, however, it would definitely aide in my efforts.
I looked and found my gate and it didn’t look like there was much past security for lunch so I asked a woman in the book store if there was anywhere to grab a bite inside the gates and that was a big negative. Glad I asked! There was a pretty narrow selection, and if you know me you know that I hate McDonalds. Guess where I ended up eating? Yep…….unfortunately McD’s was the best choice. There was “Noodles” the sushi restaurant or a salad place that looked like it would give me the runs if I ate there. So I got some chicken nuggets (supposedly its real chicken) and picked off the fried top. It was okay, but they had coke icee’s and that made it okay. I had sat down and was eating and this girl at the next table over asked me if I would watch her luggage. I said sure, I guess I look trustworthy enough or she didn’t care about her belongings because she sure did just walk away and go get in line at McDonalds and was gone for like 10 minutes getting her food. Then I got through security, found my gate, and found a bathroom.
The men’s bathroom was being cleaned so I was like okay Jaime, you have enough time to go before that dude (pretty sure it was a dude) starts to clean the women’s bathroom. NOPE! I come out of the stall and there’s that dude refilling the soap dispenser which was just weird because I was the only other one in the bathroom. So I just left and called it good with some lots of hand sanitizer. I thought it would be awkward to have small talk at the sink with a dude in a girl’s bathroom. Hmmmmm……so anyways I’m just waiting on my plane to take me to Queenstown now! Super excited for that, and praying that I can sleep on the plane for a little bit.
I was only able to sleep about 3 hours on the plane. And let me tell you the other 10 hours didn’t exactly fly by (yes…pun intended) but it wasn’t horrible until the end. After that 3 hour sleep I tried to get a movie put on as did the woman sitting next to me. We would select a movie but it wouldn’t play. It took us right back to the beginning. So I tried it for several different movies and same thing. She turned hers off first. (Does that mean I’m more stubborn?) Finally I took my headphones off and she said she couldn’t get hers to work which I had obviously observed. I put on the call light; we had way too much of that flight left to not have a functioning movie machine. So they restarted our TVs and all was well again. I ended up watching this movie called Cyrus after my sleep time and it was pretty dumb. I mean I get the point of it and everything but it was just not moving or enlightening. I tried to sleep again and that proved unsuccessful, so I put on Notes on a Scandal. After that I tried sleeping once again with no luck so I put on Letters to Juliet. I wasn’t in the mood to pay attention enough to watch something I’d never seen before. Plus the selection will be the same when I fly back I’m sure.
That pulled me through to morning breakfast, at which point I began to acutely feel like more crap. I’ve gone through 2 of those small “purse size” Kleenex packs so far. I felt bad for everyone who had to listen to me blow my nose. I don’t know if that’s better or worse than a screaming kid (who now that I think about it is the one who woke me up from my whole 3 hour blissful nap). I started to feel flushed and warm again so I downed some more Tylenol hoping to avoid further fever if I had one which I probably did. Boooooo. Not only that but I think the wear and tear of being on the plane for that long was also catching up with me. I felt like crap, couldn’t move, and my tummy was not feeling well. Of course the meds I brought (yay good friend Zofran) got checked in my carry on bag.
So anyways, the plane landed (finally!!) and I got off, went straight to the bathroom, and then went to the passport line. It wasn’t a super long line like it had been in Australia…that line was horribly long! I of course chose the lady who was like a drill sergeant when she asked you questions. I felt bad for the 2 girls in front of me who didn’t have some piece of information and looked a bit frazzled. All she asked me was what I wanted to do in Queenstown and where else I was going and I felt like I needed to salute and say “no ma’am, yes ma’am.” Next up was the getting of the luggage. That’s my favorite part. It’s always a coin toss (in my opinion) if my luggage is going to be there or not. I always plan on it not being there that way when it is I’m delightfully surprised! Thankfully my luggage was there, and they have luggage carts for FREE (so did Australia) but then I heard a little man (he seriously was a little man, like probably no more than 4 feet) call them “trollies,” so I had a “trolley” for my luggage. It was quite handy. I actually didn’t get lost at all, I’m terribly impressed!!
Next was the line where they get to look through all your crap if they want to. I had everything prepared in see through zip lock baggies to make the process easier but they asked me what was in my bags and took my word for it. So I didn’t have to wait or explain that I brought grape jelly all the way to New Zealand because I couldn’t find ANY when I was in Australia and that was just unfathomable to me. While I was in that line I was getting something out of my purse and these sneaky old people cut me in line! They didn’t even look around to see if they were imposing they just stepped right on in line. It’s not like my “trolley” and I were invisible. But whatever, let the old people get a 2 minute head start, I don’t care.
I found my domestic flight area all by myself reading the signs (go me!) and they took BOTH of my bags without any question! I didn’t have to explain to them that I came from an international flight and could have two bags, etc. It was so nice! So much smoother than last time! Last time everyone seemed like a jerk, this time they’re all nice. It’s just the getting cut in line twice that wasn’t so polite.
To get to the domestic terminal you could either take a bus or tram or you could walk about 10 minutes to get there. I decided to walk since I’d just spent the last 13 hours on a plane and it was nice outside. What I didn’t think about however was how crappy that cool wind was going to feel on my throat, fail! But it was a nice little jaunt. They have a blue line that you just follow and it takes you where you need to go! If EVERYWHERE could do that I would never get lost! Okay never is a bit extreme, however, it would definitely aide in my efforts.
I looked and found my gate and it didn’t look like there was much past security for lunch so I asked a woman in the book store if there was anywhere to grab a bite inside the gates and that was a big negative. Glad I asked! There was a pretty narrow selection, and if you know me you know that I hate McDonalds. Guess where I ended up eating? Yep…….unfortunately McD’s was the best choice. There was “Noodles” the sushi restaurant or a salad place that looked like it would give me the runs if I ate there. So I got some chicken nuggets (supposedly its real chicken) and picked off the fried top. It was okay, but they had coke icee’s and that made it okay. I had sat down and was eating and this girl at the next table over asked me if I would watch her luggage. I said sure, I guess I look trustworthy enough or she didn’t care about her belongings because she sure did just walk away and go get in line at McDonalds and was gone for like 10 minutes getting her food. Then I got through security, found my gate, and found a bathroom.
The men’s bathroom was being cleaned so I was like okay Jaime, you have enough time to go before that dude (pretty sure it was a dude) starts to clean the women’s bathroom. NOPE! I come out of the stall and there’s that dude refilling the soap dispenser which was just weird because I was the only other one in the bathroom. So I just left and called it good with some lots of hand sanitizer. I thought it would be awkward to have small talk at the sink with a dude in a girl’s bathroom. Hmmmmm……so anyways I’m just waiting on my plane to take me to Queenstown now! Super excited for that, and praying that I can sleep on the plane for a little bit.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Trying to Get Out!
I have to start off by saying that I'm a bit impressed by myself for this trip. I planned way in advance, had lists, made several trips to the store and tried to narrow it down to what I would really need. I ended up (hopefully) not packing a lot of excess and leaving enough room to bring back all the goodies I'll find! As nature would have it I ended up getting sick before hand so that's been a bit of a downer but I will not let it defeat me! Oh no! Not this stubborn girl. I had most of my things packed last week since I knew I'd be working the weekend and into the week which turned out to be a very wise decision on my part.
I had a wonderful departure dinner with my parents at Chili's (yum yum!!) and off to the airport we went. Both of my bags were under 50lbs and I wasn't holding my breath while they were being weighed either which is also new for me. I then proceeded to ask the United gentleman if I would need a visa for New Zealand (NZ) becuase the last time I went to Australia (yes I realize they're two different countries) I held up a plane in Denver waiting on a man to slowly type me out one. It was an anxiety driving disaster!! He then proceeds to freak out ( and become a total jerk, thank goodness I don't feel well otherwise I might have retaliated a bit) and explain that I absolutely need a visa and that I shouldn't have been able to check in without one, and that I would have to pay $50 for an electronic one but that this should've been done before hand. I continued to explain to him, rather calmly for me I might add, that no where in my buying or checking in process did it say anything about a visa AND I "googled the crap out of it" (yes I actually said that) and found that I don't need one for NZ. He then paused and said in a calm tone "Oh no, you don't need one for NZ." I said well that's where I'm going......he proceeds to explain that you only need one in Australia, China and like Brazil or something like that. He thought I had a layover in Australia. I reiterated to him that the visa was an issue WHEN I went to Australia last time. He then became a nice calm United employee and wished me well and on my way. Grrrrrrr, at least we parted on good terms I suppose.
Going through security was harmless, I was about to have to walk through that stupid xray machine that can see EVERYTHING on you for the third time in a row and I was almost in when the lady stopped me and let me go through the regular one. God bless you lady for not letting someone else look at me via x-ray vision. I mean not that ted-hose stockings to prevent blood clots aren't sexy and all......haha.
Bording the plane to Denver they wanted to check all of our carry-on luggage once all the 1,2,3 groups had borded (I was in 4 of course). So when he asked my destination I told him "Queestown, NZ." And as soon as international went through his head they made room on the plane for my carry-on which made me very happy. Not too keen on leaving my lappy and camera. That's why I carry them on with me - duh. The flight there was uneventful, I rested but was unable to actually sleep which was a little annoying but tis life I suppose.
Of course as soon as the tires hit the runway in Denver I turned my phone on, had to get texting and facebooking as soon as possible you know. I checked my facebook and saw that one of our family friends Dave Fincher had updated his status and that he too was in Denver's airport. What are the odds!?!!? We played facebook tag and in the meantime I got off the plane, was walking to find my gate and saw a store (ding ding #1) and then I saw a black long sleeve breast cancer shirt (ding ding #2) AND some of the proceeds went for breast cancer (ding ding #3!). So naturally I had to stop and buy it. But of course since my layover wasn't 3 hours like it usually is there I had ......will update more later!!
Well, turns out I got delayed, so the story continues......so the shirt was originally $14.99 but was crossed out and said $9.50. SCORE! You know I love a good sale! So I take it up to the register and she rings it up and gives me the price of $16. I politely showed her the $9.50 and then showed her my credit card and she called someone on the phone and said they were on there way to put the sale price in the computer (apparently you have to be special to do that). So I waited....and watied....in the meantime Dave came down to the store and we got to say hi and that was about all we had time for unfortunately but it was good to see him regardless of how long! Finally the manager comes (apparently she walks the speed of a snail) and rings the shirt up, I relay to her that I'm in a bit of a hurry at this point since buying a shirt doesn't usually take 20 minutes. She then proceeds to take time to scratch the sticker off.....really?? Apparently this sale is not supposed to happen because she then goes and grabs the entire stack of shirts and tries to go through them finding which one will scan "correctly." THEN she tells me she'll have to call someone to get the sale approved and will I wait? Okay, first of all if you're the manager aren't you deamed worthy to ring in the clearly marked (on every shirt btw) sale price? And secondly, I already told you I'm in a bit of a hurry, I mean it's not like it's an airport and people literally have places to go. So I told her to forget it I'd just pay the full price. Now while you may be thinking I'm a moron for paying the full price I would like to back myself up by saying that I am a hard core supporter of breast cancer, I love black shirts, and I HAD TO GO. So the decision was simple really.
After that little debacle I of course speed walk to my gate and wait. But who was to know that? Bording the flight to LAX from Denver I ran into the same carry on space issue. I tried to make my roller bag fit in the overhead bin in the center isle (yes the plane was that big) but it wouldn't work either way I tried. And the part that I liked the best was that since my bag is so heavy it was falling on my face and not one person got up and tried to help my face out. JERKS. So then the flight attendants told me and this other guy who couldn't find room to go all the way down to the end and look for space...fail. So then they were going to check it, again until I told them my "international destination." So they magically made space for it in a closet on the plane. Good grief people. That was way harder than it needed to be. That flight was uneventful, couldn't really sleep which was annoying. Played some scrabble on the ipod, listened to some in flight music, it was grand.
Upon arrival to LAX I of course looked to see where my next gate would be and everything was listed in the 70's EXCEPT the flight to Aukland, it was "TERM2." And of course there wasn't a map I could find that told me where "TERM2" was located. So I walked around looking for a bit, ran across a Starbucks and made a little stop... :D I finally asked someone and they told me where to go. But me being me got lost after the first turn and asked someone else who helped me out. So I proceeded in the direction I was pointed, past the baggage claim, outside, asked someone else where I could look for the "A" bus and was again pointed to walk more. I came to my waiting area and waited....waited..... When the "A" bus finally came I looked around at my surrounding peers (some of whom had been on the same flight as me) and they all had big luggage and I just had small carry-on luggage. So I go "CRAP! Was I supposed to get my luggage!?!?!" I'm sure I looked like a genuine genius at that point. So I go booking it to the baggage claims. Not only have I doodled around getting starbucks and looking for maps (I'm thinking to myself) but it didn't even cross my pea-brain to check and see if I had to pick up my stupid luggage! What a MORON!!!! So I get to the baggage carousels and of course no luggage for Jaime.....so I ask the luggage lady and she's like "I've not looked on there yet, you go look." Thanks a lot lady. I still see no luggage. So I go to a United kiosk where apparently you can check the status of your baggage - GENIUS! So I enter all 3 numbers I had and they all said that my luggage was forwarded (or whatever) to my final destination. WHEW! I wasn't as big of an idiot as I thought! (I'm sure I'll redeem myself later) So I take a picture of that message as evidence in case I am luggage-less in NZ.
I then made my way back out (with no directions necessary thank you very much) to wait for my "A" bus. I got on my bus, got off on the correct terminal, and proceeded to get in line to go through more security. Finally through I found a place to eat. I got a panini and a drink for the low low airport price of $14.03. It was food though. Then I just walked around, got a passion fruit lemonade for the throat and shopped a bit. Then decided to find a plug and charge the computer, phone, and ipod. I had no more plugged everything in and they call overhead "If you're flying Air New Zealand and you purchased your ticket through anyone other than Air New Zealand please come to the desk and get a new ticket." Really? So I had to pack everything back up to go get one of their tickets. AND a lady cut me in line. Oh well, didn't crap my pants about it. Wouldn't do me any good. I then went back to my hold and plug to facebook and blog. That's been my evening so far.
They then announced that if your carry-on is more than 14 lbs you have to check it, which of course mine is. 14 lbs is the size of a 6 mo. Give me a break! So I got some stuff out of my carry-on that I had packed to just take out during the flight to have handy. But I didn't put my computer plug in there b/c you can't charge computers on a plane. Well I didn't anticipate being delayed so I sure could use that stupid computer plug right now! Oh well. Crap happens. Before realizing that I sat down next to a plug that was also by a trash can, BAD idea. Mega fail. It smells really bad. And now it's boarding time. Talk to ya'll from New Zealand!!
I had a wonderful departure dinner with my parents at Chili's (yum yum!!) and off to the airport we went. Both of my bags were under 50lbs and I wasn't holding my breath while they were being weighed either which is also new for me. I then proceeded to ask the United gentleman if I would need a visa for New Zealand (NZ) becuase the last time I went to Australia (yes I realize they're two different countries) I held up a plane in Denver waiting on a man to slowly type me out one. It was an anxiety driving disaster!! He then proceeds to freak out ( and become a total jerk, thank goodness I don't feel well otherwise I might have retaliated a bit) and explain that I absolutely need a visa and that I shouldn't have been able to check in without one, and that I would have to pay $50 for an electronic one but that this should've been done before hand. I continued to explain to him, rather calmly for me I might add, that no where in my buying or checking in process did it say anything about a visa AND I "googled the crap out of it" (yes I actually said that) and found that I don't need one for NZ. He then paused and said in a calm tone "Oh no, you don't need one for NZ." I said well that's where I'm going......he proceeds to explain that you only need one in Australia, China and like Brazil or something like that. He thought I had a layover in Australia. I reiterated to him that the visa was an issue WHEN I went to Australia last time. He then became a nice calm United employee and wished me well and on my way. Grrrrrrr, at least we parted on good terms I suppose.
Going through security was harmless, I was about to have to walk through that stupid xray machine that can see EVERYTHING on you for the third time in a row and I was almost in when the lady stopped me and let me go through the regular one. God bless you lady for not letting someone else look at me via x-ray vision. I mean not that ted-hose stockings to prevent blood clots aren't sexy and all......haha.
Bording the plane to Denver they wanted to check all of our carry-on luggage once all the 1,2,3 groups had borded (I was in 4 of course). So when he asked my destination I told him "Queestown, NZ." And as soon as international went through his head they made room on the plane for my carry-on which made me very happy. Not too keen on leaving my lappy and camera. That's why I carry them on with me - duh. The flight there was uneventful, I rested but was unable to actually sleep which was a little annoying but tis life I suppose.
Of course as soon as the tires hit the runway in Denver I turned my phone on, had to get texting and facebooking as soon as possible you know. I checked my facebook and saw that one of our family friends Dave Fincher had updated his status and that he too was in Denver's airport. What are the odds!?!!? We played facebook tag and in the meantime I got off the plane, was walking to find my gate and saw a store (ding ding #1) and then I saw a black long sleeve breast cancer shirt (ding ding #2) AND some of the proceeds went for breast cancer (ding ding #3!). So naturally I had to stop and buy it. But of course since my layover wasn't 3 hours like it usually is there I had ......will update more later!!
Well, turns out I got delayed, so the story continues......so the shirt was originally $14.99 but was crossed out and said $9.50. SCORE! You know I love a good sale! So I take it up to the register and she rings it up and gives me the price of $16. I politely showed her the $9.50 and then showed her my credit card and she called someone on the phone and said they were on there way to put the sale price in the computer (apparently you have to be special to do that). So I waited....and watied....in the meantime Dave came down to the store and we got to say hi and that was about all we had time for unfortunately but it was good to see him regardless of how long! Finally the manager comes (apparently she walks the speed of a snail) and rings the shirt up, I relay to her that I'm in a bit of a hurry at this point since buying a shirt doesn't usually take 20 minutes. She then proceeds to take time to scratch the sticker off.....really?? Apparently this sale is not supposed to happen because she then goes and grabs the entire stack of shirts and tries to go through them finding which one will scan "correctly." THEN she tells me she'll have to call someone to get the sale approved and will I wait? Okay, first of all if you're the manager aren't you deamed worthy to ring in the clearly marked (on every shirt btw) sale price? And secondly, I already told you I'm in a bit of a hurry, I mean it's not like it's an airport and people literally have places to go. So I told her to forget it I'd just pay the full price. Now while you may be thinking I'm a moron for paying the full price I would like to back myself up by saying that I am a hard core supporter of breast cancer, I love black shirts, and I HAD TO GO. So the decision was simple really.
After that little debacle I of course speed walk to my gate and wait. But who was to know that? Bording the flight to LAX from Denver I ran into the same carry on space issue. I tried to make my roller bag fit in the overhead bin in the center isle (yes the plane was that big) but it wouldn't work either way I tried. And the part that I liked the best was that since my bag is so heavy it was falling on my face and not one person got up and tried to help my face out. JERKS. So then the flight attendants told me and this other guy who couldn't find room to go all the way down to the end and look for space...fail. So then they were going to check it, again until I told them my "international destination." So they magically made space for it in a closet on the plane. Good grief people. That was way harder than it needed to be. That flight was uneventful, couldn't really sleep which was annoying. Played some scrabble on the ipod, listened to some in flight music, it was grand.
Upon arrival to LAX I of course looked to see where my next gate would be and everything was listed in the 70's EXCEPT the flight to Aukland, it was "TERM2." And of course there wasn't a map I could find that told me where "TERM2" was located. So I walked around looking for a bit, ran across a Starbucks and made a little stop... :D I finally asked someone and they told me where to go. But me being me got lost after the first turn and asked someone else who helped me out. So I proceeded in the direction I was pointed, past the baggage claim, outside, asked someone else where I could look for the "A" bus and was again pointed to walk more. I came to my waiting area and waited....waited..... When the "A" bus finally came I looked around at my surrounding peers (some of whom had been on the same flight as me) and they all had big luggage and I just had small carry-on luggage. So I go "CRAP! Was I supposed to get my luggage!?!?!" I'm sure I looked like a genuine genius at that point. So I go booking it to the baggage claims. Not only have I doodled around getting starbucks and looking for maps (I'm thinking to myself) but it didn't even cross my pea-brain to check and see if I had to pick up my stupid luggage! What a MORON!!!! So I get to the baggage carousels and of course no luggage for Jaime.....so I ask the luggage lady and she's like "I've not looked on there yet, you go look." Thanks a lot lady. I still see no luggage. So I go to a United kiosk where apparently you can check the status of your baggage - GENIUS! So I enter all 3 numbers I had and they all said that my luggage was forwarded (or whatever) to my final destination. WHEW! I wasn't as big of an idiot as I thought! (I'm sure I'll redeem myself later) So I take a picture of that message as evidence in case I am luggage-less in NZ.
I then made my way back out (with no directions necessary thank you very much) to wait for my "A" bus. I got on my bus, got off on the correct terminal, and proceeded to get in line to go through more security. Finally through I found a place to eat. I got a panini and a drink for the low low airport price of $14.03. It was food though. Then I just walked around, got a passion fruit lemonade for the throat and shopped a bit. Then decided to find a plug and charge the computer, phone, and ipod. I had no more plugged everything in and they call overhead "If you're flying Air New Zealand and you purchased your ticket through anyone other than Air New Zealand please come to the desk and get a new ticket." Really? So I had to pack everything back up to go get one of their tickets. AND a lady cut me in line. Oh well, didn't crap my pants about it. Wouldn't do me any good. I then went back to my hold and plug to facebook and blog. That's been my evening so far.
They then announced that if your carry-on is more than 14 lbs you have to check it, which of course mine is. 14 lbs is the size of a 6 mo. Give me a break! So I got some stuff out of my carry-on that I had packed to just take out during the flight to have handy. But I didn't put my computer plug in there b/c you can't charge computers on a plane. Well I didn't anticipate being delayed so I sure could use that stupid computer plug right now! Oh well. Crap happens. Before realizing that I sat down next to a plug that was also by a trash can, BAD idea. Mega fail. It smells really bad. And now it's boarding time. Talk to ya'll from New Zealand!!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Gas? What Gas?
Thursday June 10th one of my good friends Tom graduated from Lincoln Fire and Rescue. So I drove to Waverly to my friend Anne's house and we went to his graduation in Lincoln. It was a wonderful time. Tom is so deserving of getting on Lincoln and his family and some friends were there so it was a really special time for him. After his graduation Anne and I went to this fabulous Greek resturant in Lincoln (it was right by a Target so why wouldn't it be spectacular?). We had such a good time just girl gabbing and eating Greek food...it was my first time eating Greek and it was wonderful! Oopah! Anyways, after that we drove around Lincoln for a little while and she showed me where she grew up and then we went back to her place and as I was leaving I remembered I needed to get gas. So I left Waverly and stopped in Ashland to get gas. As I was pulling into the gas station Anne called me to see if Shutter Island (the movie) was any good because she was looking at movies to rent. So I was talking to her and putting my credit card in the slot and getting the gas set up (not pumping of course) and I got off the phone, got the gas pumping and started emptying the trash out of my car. When I got done emptying the trash out of my car I looked up and the gas was done pumping in and my total was $30. I thought that was a crazy weird coincidence. I don't like odd numbers and it landed on a perfectly even number!! What a lucky happenstance! So I got back on the road, called my mom to let her know I was on my way back, earlier than planned and I mentioned that I had just gone to get gas and I looked down at my gas gage and it was on "E!" So naturally I made this discovery verbally and loud. I couldn't figure it out....the nozzle was in the gas tank, I set it to pump, I emptied the trash out of my car, looked up and had my perfect total.....so either my gage was broken....or I didn't get gas. Upon reflection I really was focused on emptying the trash from my car.....thankfully I was near another exit in which I could get some gas. So I stopped at the next exit, focused solely on getting the gas into my gas tank, and made sure my gage was on "F" before leaving. I then proceeded to get back on the interstate and declare myself one of the biggest idiots I know...........
Monday, April 12, 2010
Grandma's 80 and Danielle Came South
We left on Wednesday morning for Texas. I slept pretty much the entire way which was awesome! I woke up and suddenly we were already there! We didn't tell grandma we were coming down because we knew she'd do a ton of cleaning and cooking and we wanted her to rest. So we got there and surprised her, we had planned on going Friday but I didn't to work the rest of the week. I went to church with my aunt that night, got to see some people I knew and visit with them and that was great. I didn't think I'd sleep that night since I slept all day in the car but I sure was in bed by 11:15 which is insanely early for me and woke up at 7:30!! Which is insanely early for me too!!! Those are not vacation hours! We made breakfast and then started cleaning. We cleaned EVERYTHING! Thank goodness it was a group effort so it didn't take that long. Dad and I went to El Gordo's for lunch, then to Hastings to check our email/facebook, etc. After that we went to see Granny, an old family friend who lives close by. It was good to see her, mom and I got to see her a month ago when we were down there. She keeps her grandson's horse in her backyard (she lives in the country) so I took the opportunity to photograph the horse (don't know it's name) and got some decent pictures that I was pleased with. He came right to the fence for me which was wonderful! I had a great time! After leaving there we went back to grandma's, just hung out and had dinner, played some cards and watched some tv.
Friday morning was baking time! Those early mornings were quite an adjustment for me! After getting quite a bit of baking done we headed over to the church building to finish some of the food and keep it there for the party on Saturday. Dad set up the tables and we put the table cloths on and Aunt Martha suggested that I go look in a back room for some decorations and mom had some that she bought. So I went into one of the back rooms that had a lot of decorations and some of the chairs were broken, I saw some flowers on teh top shelf that I wanted so I took one of the chairs that didn't look broken to stand on to get to the flowers on the top shelf. Well.........I sure did step up on that chair and apparently it was broken. Because the padding on that chair sure did fall right out and I hit my leg on the frame of the chair. After I recovered from that little incident I went limping into the kitchen to announce that someone else could try and retrieve the flowers. I looked at my leg and I already had a baseball size bruise forming with a nice little lump underneath.
After we got done setting up at the building we went home and Grandma's brother and his wife had come early to visit. So we had lunch with them, and then mom and I got ready because it was time to go pick up Danielle from the airport in Oklahoma City almost! Well, in the process of getting ready I managed to burn my finger with my straightner. Note to self: do not try to multitask with a 450 degree straightner. So I went to the house aloe plant and put some of that one there, finished getting ready and off to the air port we went. Naturally I slept the entire way there.
We got there early and eagerly anticipated the arrival of Danielle!! We were all jumping with joy when we saw her. Oh! How could I forget the fantastic toilets that were at the airport! We went to the restroom when we got there and they had this crazy little contraption on them....it was an automatic toilet seat cover dispenser! It was fantastic in theory because none of the 3 that I tried actually worked. It was so disappointing!! I even had my camera on the toilet trying to record it in all of it's greatness! True disappointment. But back to Danielle -- we went to dinner at On the Border. It was scrumptious! We don't have one of those here so it was a treat to dine there. Mmmmmmmmm.
We ended up getting to grandmas later that evening and then they went to the hotel and I stayed with grandma and grandpa. Saturday morning started early (again) and it was Grandma's 80th birthday and Danielle's 25th. Happy Birthday guys! Mom, Dad, and Danielle came over and we opened Danielle's presents, she LOVED her presents! I took Danielle and we went to Walmart to get a couple things for the party, then we went through Starbucks because really....what is a birthday without Starbucks?? Then I surprised her with a mani/pedi and it was wonderful!
Friday morning was baking time! Those early mornings were quite an adjustment for me! After getting quite a bit of baking done we headed over to the church building to finish some of the food and keep it there for the party on Saturday. Dad set up the tables and we put the table cloths on and Aunt Martha suggested that I go look in a back room for some decorations and mom had some that she bought. So I went into one of the back rooms that had a lot of decorations and some of the chairs were broken, I saw some flowers on teh top shelf that I wanted so I took one of the chairs that didn't look broken to stand on to get to the flowers on the top shelf. Well.........I sure did step up on that chair and apparently it was broken. Because the padding on that chair sure did fall right out and I hit my leg on the frame of the chair. After I recovered from that little incident I went limping into the kitchen to announce that someone else could try and retrieve the flowers. I looked at my leg and I already had a baseball size bruise forming with a nice little lump underneath.
After we got done setting up at the building we went home and Grandma's brother and his wife had come early to visit. So we had lunch with them, and then mom and I got ready because it was time to go pick up Danielle from the airport in Oklahoma City almost! Well, in the process of getting ready I managed to burn my finger with my straightner. Note to self: do not try to multitask with a 450 degree straightner. So I went to the house aloe plant and put some of that one there, finished getting ready and off to the air port we went. Naturally I slept the entire way there.
We got there early and eagerly anticipated the arrival of Danielle!! We were all jumping with joy when we saw her. Oh! How could I forget the fantastic toilets that were at the airport! We went to the restroom when we got there and they had this crazy little contraption on them....it was an automatic toilet seat cover dispenser! It was fantastic in theory because none of the 3 that I tried actually worked. It was so disappointing!! I even had my camera on the toilet trying to record it in all of it's greatness! True disappointment. But back to Danielle -- we went to dinner at On the Border. It was scrumptious! We don't have one of those here so it was a treat to dine there. Mmmmmmmmm.
We ended up getting to grandmas later that evening and then they went to the hotel and I stayed with grandma and grandpa. Saturday morning started early (again) and it was Grandma's 80th birthday and Danielle's 25th. Happy Birthday guys! Mom, Dad, and Danielle came over and we opened Danielle's presents, she LOVED her presents! I took Danielle and we went to Walmart to get a couple things for the party, then we went through Starbucks because really....what is a birthday without Starbucks?? Then I surprised her with a mani/pedi and it was wonderful!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Texas in March
Well, I'm a bit of a slacker. I am waiting until the morning that I'm going back to Texas to blog about my last trip to Texas. I'll just hit the highlights. Mom and I went down there in early March right before our birthdays and we had an okay time staying awake on the ride down there.....the way back was a different story. We pretty much switched off sleeping and driving. On the way down there we did pretty good on time. I had AT LEAST 2 hours or more in between each bathroom stop (which if you know me well that's phenomenal for me, I usually dehydrate myself for trips). We didn't leave until about 1 in the afternoon that day so we pulled into Braums in Oklahoma City late that evening for a bathroom and ice cream stop because Braums has some amazing ice cream! And it was my turn to drive so we switched out and we're exiting the parking lot, I'm behind these people, they put their brakes on to start pulling into this parking spot and so I had some room so I went to the right to go around them to exit the parking lot.....seemed like an okay thing to do, people do it all the time right?? Wrong! Those morons couldn't pull their stoopid car into the parking spot correctly the first time so they start backing out as I'm going around them and I slam on the horn, didn't have enough time to check behind me to make sure there wasn't someone behind me, and they lightly tapped the car. So I'm laying on my horn, mom's yelling at them (and me too probably but I've blocked that) and we get out of the car to look and see if there's any damage. We're looking at the car, and an appropriate 10 seconds has passed and I'm waiting to hear "Oh I'm so sorry did we do any damage to your car?" But did I hear that? NOPE! Those rednecks (and no I don't feel bad calling them rednecks because if I was anywhere in the world I would still call them rednecks) get out of their car, and go to walk into Braums! Are you kidding me! That's insane! So I look carefully at the car and I can't see any damage and I'm looking hard because I really want to rush in there and get them out of the resturant to come look at the paint scratch they've doomed upon the car. But alas there was no scratch or anything so they ate in peace while we steamed about it the rest of the way to Texas. Unbelievable!! Prior to that mom ran over a big piece of tire in the road that you couldn't see until you had already run over it. Poor car. Then there was the big black truck that was swerving a bit in the road and I knew they weren't going to come over into our lane so I stayed calm while mom freaked at me for driving past when they could've run us off the road. Oy. So that was Saturday.
Sunday was uneventful for the most part. Monday grandma was supposed to have her surgery but it got cancelled (naturally since we drove down there so we could help out after the surgery) because some of the lights burned out in one OR and there were several critical surgeries.....so we had some extra good days with grandma pre-surgery. We went out to have lunch at one of mom's favorite mexican resturants and this guy was inches away from getting hit by a car....it was crazy! I could've needed therapy for a LONG time. (no comments necessary, really)
My 91 1/2 y/o grandpa had me outside in his backyard cutting and "pruning" some bush bases or something....idk. I was taking pictures outside and he wanted me to take his picture next to his peach tree. It was super cute. A couple days later he had my aunt Martha and myself digging in the dirt. They had some sewage problems and behind their fence was a hole big and deep enough for a coffin and the backyard had all this hard dirt that was unevenly dispersed and it was driving him nuts because then the grass wouldn't grow evenly. So I wore his overalls and plaid shirt and dug in the hard Texas dirt to make it more even with my aunt, grandpa helped out too. Sure enough an hour later the guys who were supposed to have come and done it a couple days prior showed up to finish up what we didn't get finished....boooooo.
Grandma had her surgery EARLY on Wednesday morning, it all went well. We had to wake up earlier than 6, I just can't bear to write how early it was. I fell asleep in the waiting room (shocker). She did really well and it was interesting to be on the other side of the pt/family member thing. Later that afternoon I went to Hastings and picked up my cousins and we went and ate at Whataburger, it was yummy! We made a Starbucks run before church that night.
My aunt got a new little puppy the day we showed up and he is soooooo cute! He's tiny and white and he has a little bite. I liked having a little puppy around, I want one now! Mom and I headed home on Friday, it was our birthday. We had a good day in the car together despite being tired and switching off driving. We had a great dinner with dad at Texas Roadhouse when we got back and did presents and relaxed. It was a great trip. And I'd better get packing because I'm heading back there in just a couple hours!!
Sunday was uneventful for the most part. Monday grandma was supposed to have her surgery but it got cancelled (naturally since we drove down there so we could help out after the surgery) because some of the lights burned out in one OR and there were several critical surgeries.....so we had some extra good days with grandma pre-surgery. We went out to have lunch at one of mom's favorite mexican resturants and this guy was inches away from getting hit by a car....it was crazy! I could've needed therapy for a LONG time. (no comments necessary, really)
My 91 1/2 y/o grandpa had me outside in his backyard cutting and "pruning" some bush bases or something....idk. I was taking pictures outside and he wanted me to take his picture next to his peach tree. It was super cute. A couple days later he had my aunt Martha and myself digging in the dirt. They had some sewage problems and behind their fence was a hole big and deep enough for a coffin and the backyard had all this hard dirt that was unevenly dispersed and it was driving him nuts because then the grass wouldn't grow evenly. So I wore his overalls and plaid shirt and dug in the hard Texas dirt to make it more even with my aunt, grandpa helped out too. Sure enough an hour later the guys who were supposed to have come and done it a couple days prior showed up to finish up what we didn't get finished....boooooo.
Grandma had her surgery EARLY on Wednesday morning, it all went well. We had to wake up earlier than 6, I just can't bear to write how early it was. I fell asleep in the waiting room (shocker). She did really well and it was interesting to be on the other side of the pt/family member thing. Later that afternoon I went to Hastings and picked up my cousins and we went and ate at Whataburger, it was yummy! We made a Starbucks run before church that night.
My aunt got a new little puppy the day we showed up and he is soooooo cute! He's tiny and white and he has a little bite. I liked having a little puppy around, I want one now! Mom and I headed home on Friday, it was our birthday. We had a good day in the car together despite being tired and switching off driving. We had a great dinner with dad at Texas Roadhouse when we got back and did presents and relaxed. It was a great trip. And I'd better get packing because I'm heading back there in just a couple hours!!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
"Fly Back to the Cold" Day
Wednesday was fly back to the cold day. My flight out of San Francisco was at 1:55. I woke up early to say goodbye to Danielle and went back to bed for a little while. And of course I waited until that morning to pack my suitcases to go. Mike took me to the BART station. Thankfully there was no homeless man talking to me the entire time to get me sick. I slept most of the hour trip to the airport on BART. I walked right up to get my ticket printed and my bags checked. And seeing as how I've been to that airport three times in the last six months I knew they didn't have anything I wanted for lunch so I stopped and got lunch outside of the security check point and took it to go. It didn't take long to get through security, there was a guy that was hollaring for everyone to "take your belts off, coats off, take your laptops out of your cases....." And there were still morons asking, "Do I need to take my laptop all the way out of my case?" Seriously people?? I wore my new rain boots because they were the heaviest shoe I had and the lady behind me in line liked them. They are pretty spectacular rain boots if I do say so myself.
I made it through security and made my way to the departure monitor and "Phoenix 1:55 flight..... NOW 2:40." Perfect! Oh well, I wasn't surprised at all. So I went to my gate and ate my lunch. I overheard someone on their cell phone saying that they changed the time to 2:15 now. So that was better. I ate my lunch and went to the two shops that there were, that I've been in many many times. When I got back all of the seats were taken so I sat on the floor and there were two men on the phone that were pacing back and forth, back and forth just blabbering away about work stuff. I just read my book and waited for the plane to arrive. I think it only ended up being about 30 minutes delayed in the end. And of course as we were getting on the plane with the intention of getting going as soon as possible people were taking forever! A couple people in front of me couldn't decide where to sit, or they couldn't find a place for their luggage...it was rediculous!
I slept the entire plane ride to Phoenix. When I got to Phoenix I walked around to 3 of the different terminals after I found my gate. I had an hour and a half to burn so might as well see where there was to shop right?? I found a Starbucks so I could get an Arizona coffee cup. I try and collect those from the different places I go. My flight going into Omaha wasn't technically delayed but we were about 15 minutes late loading and leaving the runway. I slept that entire plane ride too. When I was waiting in line for that flight there were these two scurvy looking guys who just looked like they needed to shower. As I observed one of them more closely I noticed that with his short hair-do (if you could call it a hair-so, it was more like hair chaos) he had a small long braid behind his right hear. It looked so weird! He looked like he belonged in Lord of the Rings and just got lost in a different time period. My goal for that flight: not to get stuck sitting next to the scurvy looking guys. I am happy to report I met that goal.
Let me tell you arriving home was a bit different temperature wise than California was! But it's always good to be home. My next definate trip is in July to St. Louis. Thanks for reading! I had a fantastic visit to San Francisco!!
I made it through security and made my way to the departure monitor and "Phoenix 1:55 flight..... NOW 2:40." Perfect! Oh well, I wasn't surprised at all. So I went to my gate and ate my lunch. I overheard someone on their cell phone saying that they changed the time to 2:15 now. So that was better. I ate my lunch and went to the two shops that there were, that I've been in many many times. When I got back all of the seats were taken so I sat on the floor and there were two men on the phone that were pacing back and forth, back and forth just blabbering away about work stuff. I just read my book and waited for the plane to arrive. I think it only ended up being about 30 minutes delayed in the end. And of course as we were getting on the plane with the intention of getting going as soon as possible people were taking forever! A couple people in front of me couldn't decide where to sit, or they couldn't find a place for their luggage...it was rediculous!
I slept the entire plane ride to Phoenix. When I got to Phoenix I walked around to 3 of the different terminals after I found my gate. I had an hour and a half to burn so might as well see where there was to shop right?? I found a Starbucks so I could get an Arizona coffee cup. I try and collect those from the different places I go. My flight going into Omaha wasn't technically delayed but we were about 15 minutes late loading and leaving the runway. I slept that entire plane ride too. When I was waiting in line for that flight there were these two scurvy looking guys who just looked like they needed to shower. As I observed one of them more closely I noticed that with his short hair-do (if you could call it a hair-so, it was more like hair chaos) he had a small long braid behind his right hear. It looked so weird! He looked like he belonged in Lord of the Rings and just got lost in a different time period. My goal for that flight: not to get stuck sitting next to the scurvy looking guys. I am happy to report I met that goal.
Let me tell you arriving home was a bit different temperature wise than California was! But it's always good to be home. My next definate trip is in July to St. Louis. Thanks for reading! I had a fantastic visit to San Francisco!!
Tuesdays Turmoils and Travels
Well no one can ever accuse me of being boring. I woke up Tuesday morning to drive with Danielle to BART to drop her off. On the way there she told me that the other day I left the lights on and she showed me where to turn them off so I made a mental not of it. So she went to BART, and I went back to the house to sleep for a little while. I got up a while later, got ready, went to go start the car to head the BART station and go into the city only the car wouldn't start. It wasn't even turning over at all. So I put the key in a different way.....sat there for a minute....tried the key again. After about 10 minutes or so I called Danielle and asked her if there was a "special" way to start the car (I'm a moron I know). She's like ummmm....no. So she recommended moving the wheel some to make sure it wasn't stuck, which made sense, my Vibe does that sometimes. So I did that and it wasn't working. So she called Mike and woke him up, I didn't want her to. I figured it was something obvious and stupid and that he would find the problem right away and I'd feel stupid. So Mike comes outside, sits in the car, tries to start it, looks around and it turns out that I moved the lights dimmer switch not the "off/on" switch for the lights. I killed the car. So Mike had to go buy jumper cables (have I mentioned yet that he's the best brother-in-law ever??) and we jumped the truck from the Malibu. I felt SOOOOO bad but he was so gracious about it. So I took the Malibu to BART and was on my way to the city.
I got to the city and went to the Westfield Shopping Plaza. I had some lunch and walked around the mall. I had been debating going and seeing Dear John, there was a theater on the 5th floor. It was 12:28 and the movie started at 12:30 and I was on the fourth floor. So the big debate began in my mind. Do I see it or do I wait and just walk around? (I'm terrible at making decisions) So I decided to go up and see how much it would be. (They had two times of showings, one was an XD screen that was more expensive.) I got up there and the girl goes "It'll be $6." Okay! I can do $6!! Apparently their first showing of the day is always $6. I like that policy. So I saw Dear John. I liked it. It's probably not my favorite Nicholas Sparks movie they've done, but I thought it was really good. I think it's not my absolute favorite one because it didn't go exactly how I wanted it to.
Now the weather channel said that Tuesday was going to be rainy so I put my new rainboots on and planned to do indoor things for the day. I came out of the movie and the sun sure was shining brightly! I went downstairs, got some Haagen Dazs ice cream - I've never had any before and I decided this was a good time. On my way there I was stopped by one of the vendors in the middle of the mall and he asked me if he could ask me a question about what he was selling and I politely said, "No thank you." Then he asked where I was from so I said, "Omaha." He goes, "Where's that?" I told him it was in Nebraska. He goes, "Oh.....okay......" He had no clue! Any other questions sucka?? After that I went outside. I'm pretty sure I was the only one outside eating ice cream. The temperature was probably in the low 50's with the wind was a bit cool but compared to the Nebraska weather I came from it felt pretty darn nice out!
So I set off with my camera out at Union Square and started taking pictures. I had two and a half hours until I needed to be back on BART so I just walked around and took pictueres. Later on I told Danielle I didn't really go into any stores. She asked what I did the entire time and looked baffeled when I told her just walked around and took pictures. After I was done walking around and taking pictures I went back to the mall and just sat down for a little while. I was sitting in the food court and on my phone when this lady asks me if this backpack on the ground is mine. I said no so she went to a security guard and told him that someone forgot their backpack. So he comes over and puts on black gloves to pick up the backpack. I'm like crap.......why is he putting on black gloves to pick up this backpack.
After that I got back on BART, met Danielle and we rode into town, and met Mike and we went and had dinner at BJ's. It was super appetizing! We had their chicken BBQ pizza. Then we went back to the house, finished watching Amelia (spoiler: she dies) and just relaxed and visited. It was a good visit, other than me killing one of their vehicles of course.
I got to the city and went to the Westfield Shopping Plaza. I had some lunch and walked around the mall. I had been debating going and seeing Dear John, there was a theater on the 5th floor. It was 12:28 and the movie started at 12:30 and I was on the fourth floor. So the big debate began in my mind. Do I see it or do I wait and just walk around? (I'm terrible at making decisions) So I decided to go up and see how much it would be. (They had two times of showings, one was an XD screen that was more expensive.) I got up there and the girl goes "It'll be $6." Okay! I can do $6!! Apparently their first showing of the day is always $6. I like that policy. So I saw Dear John. I liked it. It's probably not my favorite Nicholas Sparks movie they've done, but I thought it was really good. I think it's not my absolute favorite one because it didn't go exactly how I wanted it to.
Now the weather channel said that Tuesday was going to be rainy so I put my new rainboots on and planned to do indoor things for the day. I came out of the movie and the sun sure was shining brightly! I went downstairs, got some Haagen Dazs ice cream - I've never had any before and I decided this was a good time. On my way there I was stopped by one of the vendors in the middle of the mall and he asked me if he could ask me a question about what he was selling and I politely said, "No thank you." Then he asked where I was from so I said, "Omaha." He goes, "Where's that?" I told him it was in Nebraska. He goes, "Oh.....okay......" He had no clue! Any other questions sucka?? After that I went outside. I'm pretty sure I was the only one outside eating ice cream. The temperature was probably in the low 50's with the wind was a bit cool but compared to the Nebraska weather I came from it felt pretty darn nice out!
So I set off with my camera out at Union Square and started taking pictures. I had two and a half hours until I needed to be back on BART so I just walked around and took pictueres. Later on I told Danielle I didn't really go into any stores. She asked what I did the entire time and looked baffeled when I told her just walked around and took pictures. After I was done walking around and taking pictures I went back to the mall and just sat down for a little while. I was sitting in the food court and on my phone when this lady asks me if this backpack on the ground is mine. I said no so she went to a security guard and told him that someone forgot their backpack. So he comes over and puts on black gloves to pick up the backpack. I'm like crap.......why is he putting on black gloves to pick up this backpack.
After that I got back on BART, met Danielle and we rode into town, and met Mike and we went and had dinner at BJ's. It was super appetizing! We had their chicken BBQ pizza. Then we went back to the house, finished watching Amelia (spoiler: she dies) and just relaxed and visited. It was a good visit, other than me killing one of their vehicles of course.
Looking straight up in the mall
My Rocky Road Dazzler from Haagen Dazs
Looking across the street at some of the shops
Trolley going through Union Square, still haven't ridden
one of those yet
Looking up one of the streets (Victorias Secret on the left)
A heart in the park
Looking up one of the streets, and yes I stood
in the street to get this picture
These were the people that were going to ask me questions
about the Superbowl only I didn't watch it......
The "park" right outside of Macy's
This man has lived in San Francisco for 1 year on Feb 11, 2010
Congratulations random man whose conversation I overheard!
Coach, I don't need to say anymore
Approaching China Town
Looking into China Town
Starbucks!! They were on almost every corner!!
Homeless looking man taking a nap (I hope) with a Starbucks
cup by his hand for change
The shopping center
This goes to one of the BART stations, by Gap
and Forever 21
One of the Muni's going through Union Square
Here comes BART
Monday Madness
My Monday started out at 5:50 AM! Can you believe I woke up at 5:50 am!?!?! I still can't believe it! I wanted to have a good early start to my day as the forecast for the next two days was partly cloudy on Monday and rainy on Tuesday. I rode into the city with Danielle, got off at the same BART station she did so I could go see the building she worked at. She showed me where she worked, and wouldn't let me go much farther because we had already gone around one corner and she didn't want me getting lost and to not be able to find my way back to BART. I assured her that I'd be able to find my way back just fine, BUT she is my sister and knows me too well. So I said good by, did a turnabout and captured a few shots on my walk back to BART. I still had to get back on and go to the Embarcadero station. I was very pleased with some of the pictures I got with the early morning sun still coming up. I guess that's "maybe" one advantage to being up so early. So back to BART I went, got off at the Embarcadero station and set out. I actually knew where I was going for the first leg of my trip. My plan for the day was to go to the Golden Gate Bridge (GGB), Golden Gate Park, then come back to Fishermans Wharf for lunch, do my Bay Cruise and go back up to Ghiraradelli Square. All those reasons are why I woke up so early, I had a lot to accomplish by 5pm. I walked down Embarcadero to Pier 1, the Bay Bridge was covered over with clouds and the sun was just barely peaking around them. It was beautiful. I tried to capture it with my pictures but didn't do it justice. There were people sitting on the back of the pier reading, some were working building things, others arriving from a boat. It was kind of surreal to see, like out of a movie. So different than what I'm used to.
I walked from Pier 1 to the Muni station just down the street, paid my $2 and rode that down through the Wharf and just about to Ghiraradelli Square. I asked the guy driving where to go from there to get to the Muni I would need to get to the GGB because last time I ended up walking all the way to where the interstate started and that was A LONG way. So after about 3 or 4 more Muni bus changes I was at the GGB. I could see the entire bridge this time! It was so great! Last time I was so frusterated after I had practically walked all that way to see it and could only see the bottom 1/3 of it. It was still partly cloudy, I would've loved for it to be "all sunny" because those are my favorite photographs to take, not a huge fan of cloudy day photographs. I started to walk along the bridge again, I took one look down over the bridge, got a photo looking down and immediately turned around. I didn't even get onto where the bridge really starts. That day just did not feel like the day to conquor my fear of heights.
I went back to where the Muni had dropped me off and started waiting for the next Muni to come so I could make my way to the Golden Gate Park (GGP). Last time I remembered waiting for a while, so I sat and just did the old person thing and people watched. A muni came by and I asked if it would get me to the GGP and they said no, you need the Daly City Muni. (There were 2 Muni's coming through there). So I thanked the gentleman, went back to my bench to wait and awaited the next Muni. The next Muni to come through wasn't the Daly City one either. So I continuted to wait. Before I got to the bench there was a middle-aged Asian woman sitting there. I don't know where her final destination was but she needed the same Muni that I did. Well after 2 Muni's went by she got a little peeved. So she gave that second driver a piece of her mind. They told her to call and complain and that their bus was on time, sorry lady! I just sat there and chuckled. Calling and complaining wasn't going to get another bus there any faster so I didn't crap my pants about it. It was funnier to watch her crap her pants about it. So she gets on the phone and calls them and gives them another piece of her mind. Her head was kind of shaking or tremoring a little. I didn't know if it was because she was irritation and mad or if she had Parkinsons or something. I think it's because she was irritatied. So after a little while a 3rd Muni comes by. And this one (in all it's glory) says "Daly City"!! So that little woman goes and gets on that bus and I (thankfully) asked the lady driver if this bus would get me to the GGP. And she says "Oh no, this one won't honey. I just changed my sign. This is the nineteenth street one." So I thanked her and told her that the little Asian lady who was just talking to her (and telling her that she had to wait so long and was not happy) needed to get off this bus also. So she told her and off comes the cranky lady. So I (once again) took my place on the bench. By this time I'd been sitting on the bench so long that four black birds with yellow eyes were just chilling around me. Two of them were about one foot away from me.
FINALLY the fourth Muni was ours. It was a beautiful moment. That little lady sure did have a lot to tell the driver of that bus though. So we get on the bus, and she sits down in the middle of the bus and I sat down at the front, and she starts telling the passengers how she had to wait almost an hour. Then this fat red headed guy missing all his top teeth starts (loudly) complaining about how half the drivers never show up for work, and how everything going on is a bunch of crap and how she needs to go to the meeting that is being held on Tuesday night to voice her opinion. Basically they had a big gripe fest. Then this little old lady goes "can't we all just have peace?" She was way too adorable! Well chubster would have none of the peace talk. He just kept on yapping and so did irritated tremor lady. But that little old lady threw out her "peace" line a couple more times. If that wasn't annoying enough to listen to for about 15 minutes later on this other guy gets on and starts complaining about the people who were voted and elected to certain positions and just fuels that conversation. I was SO glad to get off that bus. I was with little old peace lady.
I got off and went to the GGP. I planned to go to the King Tut Museum that is there since I didn't go in it when I was there in August. I had walked around the park and gone into the Japanese Tea Garden in August as well so I didn't do that this time. Figure that not as much would be blossoming. I'm right at the doors to go into the museum and this worker asks me if I'm with a school group (really? Do I look like I'm 8?) because there were several school groups there. I told him no and he said the museum was closed for the day. Okay, how are you going to close an entire museum for a day for school trips? That's just messed up. What about the gazillions of tourists that come through all year around and are there on a specific day to go into the museum. It took me a long time to get there and I wasn't just able to "swing by" again the next day. So that was a bit disappointing, but I wiped my tears and continued on (just kidding, I didn't cry).
I found my way through a couple more Muni's (always asking which one to get off and on at) and got to the Daly City BART to start over again at the Embarcadero BART. As I was riding the Muni to the Daly City BART this little old Asian lady sat next to me and started talking about where she was going and how she couldn't drive anymore with all the people that were in California now. And how there's just no way she could live in Southern California, it's just way too populated. She was really kind. Then she was talking to me about how when she started riding the Muni it was 5 cents, and then it went up to 25 cents, then 50, then to $1, and now $2. And she said "You can't even buy Starbucks with $2." I was cracking up! She said that Starbucks is too strong for her anyways though.
Finally I was at the Muni station I had started at that morning. When I got on the Muni the lady on there told me I almost got "bum-ditched." Apparently there's someone that sits there all day and they just saw one person there and assumed it was them. I'm hoping that I don't look like the bum that sits there all day. That would be tragic news for me! I got off at Fisherman's Wharf and went and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, I was hungry! After that I went to find where my Bay Cruise was going to be. All I knew was that it was at Pier 43.5. So I walked for a while and finally found it (after holding my breath walking through the smells of all the fresh crab and lobster they were selling on the street).
A little side note here. I would like to say that at certain points of my life I have envied men. And I had an envying moment on this day. I wanted to use the bathroom before I went on the cruise so I went into the Boudin bread store looking for one and there was a sign saying it was outside. So I follow the signs to a public bathroom gazeebo looking thing. I walked into that bathroom and was appauled! It was disgusting!! I used four of those toilet-tissue/sanitary things on the toilet seat and then I looked at the toilet paper dispenser and was just downright shocked. It was even nastier than the toilet seat! Thank goodness I had packed some kleenex in my purse! Gross, that's all I can say....gross.
The cruise was good, I had to get a headset and a little box to carry around and it told me all about the things that we were seeing as we went along. I did fine with the motion on the boat until we slowed down as we were coming up to the GGB. And ugh....I did not feel so good. It was really funny though to listed to everyone scream and laugh as the boat went up and down, up and down, at the very front due to the waves. I was extremely relieved when we picked up speed again though. It was really cool to see the bridge from the underneath and to get some pictures that I would never get otherwise. It also took us around Alcatraz. That is one tour that I have yet to do. I think that is on the list for my summer trip out there. They explained that 14 people tried to escape Alcatraz, only 3 actually did. They were brothers and they used spoons to pry open the bars and they escaped off the island but no one knows if they made it to land or if they drowned. They were never seen or heard of again. Families of guards actually lived on Alcatraz and the children would go into the city every day by boat. There was one guard assigned to every three prisioners. It was really cool to see. I can't wait to go on the island soon!
After the crusie I walked up to Ghirardelli Square, it was pretty overcast by this point. I went into the Ghirardelli store and got a sundae, I had a request from a friend to get one so I just had to right? So I got Ghirardelli chocolate ice cream with hot fudge. It was perfection. Loved it! After that I made my way up to Kara's cupcakes to get their Chocolate Velvet cupcakes to go for us to have at the house for dessert later. These cupcakes are seriously the best cupcakes EVER. The frosting is so amazing, it feels like silk on your tongue. I don't know how they get it so smoothe. It's remarkable. So I step out of Kara's and it starts sprinkling. I also looked in my wallet to see that I only had a $1 and I needed to have $2 for the Muni and I was NOT going to walk all the way back like I did last time. So I asked a couple people in different shops for change and many didn't have ones or they needed to keep them. Then this very kind man in Cold Stone had ones in his wallet, I was so grateful! I was still walking in the rain, didn't have an umbrella because the rain was supposed to be on Tuesday. So I felt like a wet dog. Gross.
As I was walking to find the Muni there was this "homeless" guy sitting on the street and he was a white guy dressed like he was Jamaican and had dreads. His sign said "all for weed." And as I was walking by looking at him he says, "It's all for weed man, it's all for weed." I just laughed and kept walking. I appreciated his honesty. And he looked pretty well groomed so I dont' think he was homeless, probably just needed money for pot.
I found my way to the Muni and we were all crammed in there like sardines. But darn it, I protected those cupcakes for my sister and they got home unharmed and standing upright. I took BART back to the station Danielle would be getting on at and met her there and we rode back together. She failed to tell me that between the humid and the rain my hair (that had been straightened and tamed at the beginning of the day) was now frizzy and had grown about three times it's original volume. We decided on our way home that we would go get a manicure and pedicure, that sounded wonderful after walking all day! So we went by Starbucks on our way to the nail salon (we had to get cash first, they don't take credit card....that's so weird to me) and got our coffees to enjoy while we pampered ourselves. It was great. And as usual I got nice and relaxed and dozed off a little while my legs were getting massaged. I woke up with the warm towel hit my legs and Danielle and the workers laughed at me. Oh well, I'm used to it.
I walked from Pier 1 to the Muni station just down the street, paid my $2 and rode that down through the Wharf and just about to Ghiraradelli Square. I asked the guy driving where to go from there to get to the Muni I would need to get to the GGB because last time I ended up walking all the way to where the interstate started and that was A LONG way. So after about 3 or 4 more Muni bus changes I was at the GGB. I could see the entire bridge this time! It was so great! Last time I was so frusterated after I had practically walked all that way to see it and could only see the bottom 1/3 of it. It was still partly cloudy, I would've loved for it to be "all sunny" because those are my favorite photographs to take, not a huge fan of cloudy day photographs. I started to walk along the bridge again, I took one look down over the bridge, got a photo looking down and immediately turned around. I didn't even get onto where the bridge really starts. That day just did not feel like the day to conquor my fear of heights.
I went back to where the Muni had dropped me off and started waiting for the next Muni to come so I could make my way to the Golden Gate Park (GGP). Last time I remembered waiting for a while, so I sat and just did the old person thing and people watched. A muni came by and I asked if it would get me to the GGP and they said no, you need the Daly City Muni. (There were 2 Muni's coming through there). So I thanked the gentleman, went back to my bench to wait and awaited the next Muni. The next Muni to come through wasn't the Daly City one either. So I continuted to wait. Before I got to the bench there was a middle-aged Asian woman sitting there. I don't know where her final destination was but she needed the same Muni that I did. Well after 2 Muni's went by she got a little peeved. So she gave that second driver a piece of her mind. They told her to call and complain and that their bus was on time, sorry lady! I just sat there and chuckled. Calling and complaining wasn't going to get another bus there any faster so I didn't crap my pants about it. It was funnier to watch her crap her pants about it. So she gets on the phone and calls them and gives them another piece of her mind. Her head was kind of shaking or tremoring a little. I didn't know if it was because she was irritation and mad or if she had Parkinsons or something. I think it's because she was irritatied. So after a little while a 3rd Muni comes by. And this one (in all it's glory) says "Daly City"!! So that little woman goes and gets on that bus and I (thankfully) asked the lady driver if this bus would get me to the GGP. And she says "Oh no, this one won't honey. I just changed my sign. This is the nineteenth street one." So I thanked her and told her that the little Asian lady who was just talking to her (and telling her that she had to wait so long and was not happy) needed to get off this bus also. So she told her and off comes the cranky lady. So I (once again) took my place on the bench. By this time I'd been sitting on the bench so long that four black birds with yellow eyes were just chilling around me. Two of them were about one foot away from me.
FINALLY the fourth Muni was ours. It was a beautiful moment. That little lady sure did have a lot to tell the driver of that bus though. So we get on the bus, and she sits down in the middle of the bus and I sat down at the front, and she starts telling the passengers how she had to wait almost an hour. Then this fat red headed guy missing all his top teeth starts (loudly) complaining about how half the drivers never show up for work, and how everything going on is a bunch of crap and how she needs to go to the meeting that is being held on Tuesday night to voice her opinion. Basically they had a big gripe fest. Then this little old lady goes "can't we all just have peace?" She was way too adorable! Well chubster would have none of the peace talk. He just kept on yapping and so did irritated tremor lady. But that little old lady threw out her "peace" line a couple more times. If that wasn't annoying enough to listen to for about 15 minutes later on this other guy gets on and starts complaining about the people who were voted and elected to certain positions and just fuels that conversation. I was SO glad to get off that bus. I was with little old peace lady.
I got off and went to the GGP. I planned to go to the King Tut Museum that is there since I didn't go in it when I was there in August. I had walked around the park and gone into the Japanese Tea Garden in August as well so I didn't do that this time. Figure that not as much would be blossoming. I'm right at the doors to go into the museum and this worker asks me if I'm with a school group (really? Do I look like I'm 8?) because there were several school groups there. I told him no and he said the museum was closed for the day. Okay, how are you going to close an entire museum for a day for school trips? That's just messed up. What about the gazillions of tourists that come through all year around and are there on a specific day to go into the museum. It took me a long time to get there and I wasn't just able to "swing by" again the next day. So that was a bit disappointing, but I wiped my tears and continued on (just kidding, I didn't cry).
I found my way through a couple more Muni's (always asking which one to get off and on at) and got to the Daly City BART to start over again at the Embarcadero BART. As I was riding the Muni to the Daly City BART this little old Asian lady sat next to me and started talking about where she was going and how she couldn't drive anymore with all the people that were in California now. And how there's just no way she could live in Southern California, it's just way too populated. She was really kind. Then she was talking to me about how when she started riding the Muni it was 5 cents, and then it went up to 25 cents, then 50, then to $1, and now $2. And she said "You can't even buy Starbucks with $2." I was cracking up! She said that Starbucks is too strong for her anyways though.
Finally I was at the Muni station I had started at that morning. When I got on the Muni the lady on there told me I almost got "bum-ditched." Apparently there's someone that sits there all day and they just saw one person there and assumed it was them. I'm hoping that I don't look like the bum that sits there all day. That would be tragic news for me! I got off at Fisherman's Wharf and went and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, I was hungry! After that I went to find where my Bay Cruise was going to be. All I knew was that it was at Pier 43.5. So I walked for a while and finally found it (after holding my breath walking through the smells of all the fresh crab and lobster they were selling on the street).
A little side note here. I would like to say that at certain points of my life I have envied men. And I had an envying moment on this day. I wanted to use the bathroom before I went on the cruise so I went into the Boudin bread store looking for one and there was a sign saying it was outside. So I follow the signs to a public bathroom gazeebo looking thing. I walked into that bathroom and was appauled! It was disgusting!! I used four of those toilet-tissue/sanitary things on the toilet seat and then I looked at the toilet paper dispenser and was just downright shocked. It was even nastier than the toilet seat! Thank goodness I had packed some kleenex in my purse! Gross, that's all I can say....gross.
The cruise was good, I had to get a headset and a little box to carry around and it told me all about the things that we were seeing as we went along. I did fine with the motion on the boat until we slowed down as we were coming up to the GGB. And ugh....I did not feel so good. It was really funny though to listed to everyone scream and laugh as the boat went up and down, up and down, at the very front due to the waves. I was extremely relieved when we picked up speed again though. It was really cool to see the bridge from the underneath and to get some pictures that I would never get otherwise. It also took us around Alcatraz. That is one tour that I have yet to do. I think that is on the list for my summer trip out there. They explained that 14 people tried to escape Alcatraz, only 3 actually did. They were brothers and they used spoons to pry open the bars and they escaped off the island but no one knows if they made it to land or if they drowned. They were never seen or heard of again. Families of guards actually lived on Alcatraz and the children would go into the city every day by boat. There was one guard assigned to every three prisioners. It was really cool to see. I can't wait to go on the island soon!
After the crusie I walked up to Ghirardelli Square, it was pretty overcast by this point. I went into the Ghirardelli store and got a sundae, I had a request from a friend to get one so I just had to right? So I got Ghirardelli chocolate ice cream with hot fudge. It was perfection. Loved it! After that I made my way up to Kara's cupcakes to get their Chocolate Velvet cupcakes to go for us to have at the house for dessert later. These cupcakes are seriously the best cupcakes EVER. The frosting is so amazing, it feels like silk on your tongue. I don't know how they get it so smoothe. It's remarkable. So I step out of Kara's and it starts sprinkling. I also looked in my wallet to see that I only had a $1 and I needed to have $2 for the Muni and I was NOT going to walk all the way back like I did last time. So I asked a couple people in different shops for change and many didn't have ones or they needed to keep them. Then this very kind man in Cold Stone had ones in his wallet, I was so grateful! I was still walking in the rain, didn't have an umbrella because the rain was supposed to be on Tuesday. So I felt like a wet dog. Gross.
As I was walking to find the Muni there was this "homeless" guy sitting on the street and he was a white guy dressed like he was Jamaican and had dreads. His sign said "all for weed." And as I was walking by looking at him he says, "It's all for weed man, it's all for weed." I just laughed and kept walking. I appreciated his honesty. And he looked pretty well groomed so I dont' think he was homeless, probably just needed money for pot.
I found my way to the Muni and we were all crammed in there like sardines. But darn it, I protected those cupcakes for my sister and they got home unharmed and standing upright. I took BART back to the station Danielle would be getting on at and met her there and we rode back together. She failed to tell me that between the humid and the rain my hair (that had been straightened and tamed at the beginning of the day) was now frizzy and had grown about three times it's original volume. We decided on our way home that we would go get a manicure and pedicure, that sounded wonderful after walking all day! So we went by Starbucks on our way to the nail salon (we had to get cash first, they don't take credit card....that's so weird to me) and got our coffees to enjoy while we pampered ourselves. It was great. And as usual I got nice and relaxed and dozed off a little while my legs were getting massaged. I woke up with the warm towel hit my legs and Danielle and the workers laughed at me. Oh well, I'm used to it.
Danielle going to work
Walking to work, that's the building she works in
The morning sun
Pier 1
The Bay Bridge in the morning
So I was walking and saw this man wearing this great red
jacket and just had to take a picture
It's the Golden Gate Bridge!! The whole thing!
Close up they had
Another part of the bridge
Walking out onto it
Crazy little black bird who waiting for the Muni with me
The science center in the Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park
At Boudin Bakery in the Wharf, he made the break to look
like lobsters, turtles, etc.
The boat for my Bay Cruise
Submarine in the bay, the Pampanito
A ship to which its importance I can't remember
check out how steep this street is!
Art Institute, isn't it beautiful!
This fort was built in the late 1800s and they used to ignite
cannons out the windows
A look at the bridge from the cruise
Coming up on Alcatraz
Looking up at Ghirardelli Square
Inside the Ghirardelli shop, Mmmmmmmmm
Me in the store eating my ice cream, had to get at least
one self-portrait in here
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