The Return

Our final, final day in Germany. Sad day in the neighborhood. Kelley was going to take us to the airport once again. Did we not do this before? Take 2.Woke up quite early to get ready and be packed with the goal of departing Kelley’s apartment at 7:00 a.m. Can we do it? Yes we can! Pft, mildly fail but not too horribly. Plus we had to make a pit stop at a bakery for some pastries, which of course was a necessity. We got caught in some mild traffic and we still had to stop at Katriona’s apartment to grab our luggage that we left before we went to Greece. We ascended the 130 stairs and descended the 130 with our ginormous bags that weighs about a bagillion pounds. Then we were off to the airport where Andrew and I still needed to re-pack our bags. I claimed that we were not late, we were right on time. We almost became late because we took a zillion years to sort everything and shove it all back into our luggage. I was sprawled out on the airport floor with my bag open and going through all my possessions. But that time was worth it (for me) cause after some re-packing, my bag was not over weight! Hooray! We once again said our goodbyes and started the first installment of security. Never in my life have I beeped going through those detector thing a majigs... But I did. Sigh. First time for everything I suppose. The lady had to extensively pat me down which I have to admit was mildly awkward. I was being frisked. But that was not as awkward as turning around to see this middle aged woman with her pants down. What in the world is this lady doing? But obviously nothing was wrong because no guards were tackling her or anything of that sort. Hmmm. Well at least I didn’t have to take my pants off….. I woulda mooned everyone! My feelings about leaving Germany were neutral. When in Greece and traveling back to Germany, I was definitely ready to return home. But during our last few days, I fell in love with it all over again. I was pondering these thoughts as we had to go through several other metal detectors and check points… I now realize why they want you go be there 3 hours prior to departure if you are going to the United States. I did find out why I beeped the first time. I had a bobbypin in my pocket. But when the first lady “hand metal detectored” me, she didn’t find it. The second time I went through the detectors, it did not beep, but everybody is hand mental detectored and she found the bobby pin… I believe there are some kinks in those systems. They probably just have them to irritate people. We made it to our gate just as they were boarding. Phew! Perfect timing.

We boarded the plane where I had an aisle seat and no one sitting to my left so I was able to stretch out which was fabulous. The best part about these international flights.. MOVIES! I first started Couple’s Retreat and Andrew started the Blind Side. Within 20 minutes of his movie, he tapped my shoulder and said he could have actually cried it he wanted to. I giggled. I finished my movie and started a second but then my tiredness hit me. I am not sure how long I slept but it must have been for quite some time. When I woke up, it hit me that we had really left Germany. I then started to watch the Blind Side. BAD IDEA. Man! That movie is really good but I too could have cried during the beginning! I was already semi-emotional because of the whole leaving Germany thing. I was mad because I was a bit emotional, which made me more emotional because deep down I’m a tad bit emotional when I’m angry. Emotional. Emotional. Emotional. I despise crying, and if I do… it makes me mad.. which makes me cry harder. Sigh. That movie was like adding gasoline to the fire. If I wanted to bawl in that airplane, I could have. But fortunately, I haven’t bawled for a very, very, very long time. Luckily, under normal circumstances, I can control these things so no mental breakdown occurred.. but it made me more tired. We began our descent which meant the movies turned off so I never got to finish my movie. It torked me off which just added to my brew of emotions. I tend to get very motion sickness and this was the worst episode I have ever had on an airplane. I began to feel the beads of sweat pouring and I became nauseous. I then had to start stripping my layers off. A few days before, I had watched the movie French Kiss. Meg Ryan is on a train and she ate a metric ton of cheese but she is lactose intolerant. Now, I realize that I am not lactose intolerant but the point is...we were both nauseous. In the movie, she starts screaming “MUCUS! MUCUS! It’s here. The mucus is coating the intestinal wall. Spasm! Spasm! Not the cow! I just ate that cow!” Off all the things, that is the only part of the movie I could think about. Which made ME think about MY mucus, which made me even more nauseous. Oohhhh boy. Andrew looked over and said, “Baby cuz are you ok?” That would be a negative. I leaned forward and rested my head on the hard screen. My eyes were squeezed shut to block out all the motion… I had to remind myself to breath. Alright its final, I really didn’t want to leave Germany. We landed in Philadelphia and did the whole customs thing. Yah! No longer a fugitive. All of those lines took 20 lifetimes and to top it off, our flight to Seattle was delayed cause they had to fix a seat, or that is what they claim they were doing. We were suppose to arrive in Seattle at 9:02 and Andrew and I still had to catch a flight from Seattle to Spokane. If I miss this flipping flight I am NOT going to be a happy camper. I do not know what is wrong with Philadelphia, but there airport is smoking hot! Holy cow! It’s the 21st century people.. AIR CONDITIONING! I was still nauseous, hot and irritated. After many moons of waiting we were finally able to board. This flight was PACKED. There was no more room so our carry-ons had to be stored with the other baggage. While sitting in my designated spot, I whipped out my German People and Place’s book and started the first part of my final. Productive with an attitude. The plane was late in boarding and it apparently was “rush hour” and we were 15th in line. Rush hour? This isn’t the city peoples, its an AIRPORT! I passed out and didn’t even stir during take off. I awoke, chatted with the gentlemen next to me, finished the first part of my final and was anxious to land in Washington. This flight was one of the longest flights of my life. I didn’t think we were ever going to land.

We finally did land, late as expected. We had 1 ½ hour to get our baggage, go check in, re-check in our baggage, go through security, and get to our plane. Now my mother told me to print my itinerary and I did like an obedient daughter. To bad I did not have the faintest idea as to where it was located. I tore apart my backpack and luggage with no luck. Oh man…. Nicole was NOT a happy camper. All I knew was that we were flying Delta. While I was riffling through my bag, I asked Andrew to go wait in line. As he was standing there, this lady asked him if she put him in that line and he said no. She said he would have to get out because her job is to place people in that line. She was quite nice about it but Andrew had an attitude and responded with a snide comment... which she didn't appreciate.  I just looked at him and almost said something.. but he eventually apologized to the lady and she attempted to help us. After a big, she said she was sorry but we had to get in the line she took us out of. Grrreat. We had to wait in line for what seemed like hours and the clock was ticking. During that wait in line Andrew kept complaining about the rule of 50 pounds in your baggage and I blew up. Yes, I did make a scene in an airport. And yes, people were staring. I was annoyed and wanted him to shut up. During our whole time in Europe we’ve had many minor hissy fits and one minor argument, but nothing ever huge. I had never complained about his crying and moaning about things, but that streak came to an end. Ooo this one was real. We were screaming at each other. I told Andrew to stop talking and he responded with he will say whatever he wanted to say. I then proceeded to tell him he can go talk over there (my finger was pointed to a place, far, far, away.) After more words were exchanged over the next few minutes, and as more people began to stare, Andrew basically told me to calm down and stop making a scene. I quietly told him that I was sorry (kind of), to please shut up, and I turned around with no intention of turning back. Silence.. thank the Lord! My nauseousness was coming back. I wanted to cry.. I did cry. Tears were streaming down my cheek. My face was red and I could feel my eyes beginning to puff. The lady (customer) in front of us at the counter heard the whole thing turned around and smiled at me, giving me a reassuring look. That was helpful.. I knew I was right.

After all that waiting it was finally our turn and we were told we had to go Alaskan Airlines. You’ve GOT to be kidding me. We then got there, and the attendant was like “You are going on the 11:00 p.m. flight!” Yes I know we are late, thank you captain obvious. She was not very nice. In the beginning she made it sound like she wasn’t going to let us board the plane. She decided to but said out baggage wouldn’t make it there until the following day. Fine with me, I just wanted to get to Spokane. Andrew’s bag was over weight by a couple pounds and he had an “episode”. Oh man that really torked her off. He made the argument that the same weight would be on the plane, whether or not he moved some stuff to his carry-on. She then told him that it the bag was over 50 pounds, 2 men would have to pick up the bag. He looked her in the eye, and picked up his bag with one hand. That was it, she started shaking her head at us, telling us she didn’t deserve this and she didn’t have to let us on the plane. For a second, I honestly thought she wasn’t going to let us get on. She just kept repeating that she didn't have to let us on while she fervently typed on her computer. I wanted to pretend like I didn’t know him but he was part of my ticket so I had to claim him. It's a good thing we had last names or else she probably would have thought we were married. He had to pay $50 extra dollars which made matters even worse. I was SOOO mad at him. I apologized for him and it turns out my bag was a couple of pounds over but she told ME she would let it slide. Haha. That is what you get for being NICE! I could have killed Andrew. I could feel the tears welling up but this time, I refused to let them loose. She told us we would have to run to catch the plane. Step 2: That went fairly quickly and then I sprinted to D7. I wasn’t going to wait for Andrew so I left him in my dust. Keep in mind that through security and looking for my itinerary, I tore apart all of my carry-ons and it was one big mess. The flight attendant wouldn’t let me board without fixing my stuff and combining it to "2 carry-ons". I tried to explain why it was a big mess and said it really did all fit but that was a no-go. That is where I lost it. I was out in the hall outside of the plane cramming my stuff back into my bag. I had some speck of thought that the plane would still leave me while I was standing right next to it. Andrew came and was nice enough to help and put some stuff in his laptop case. We don’t have to like each other but we still love each other. I then boarded the plane while giving a flight attendant a nasty look and showing him my TWO  Our seats had been next to each other but a couple wanted to sit by one another so Andrew sat in a different seat, which was probably good. Unfortunately, on the plane I lost my bearings and began to cry for the fourth time. Why? I do not know. I was on the plane heading to Spokane. All was well. My eyes turned to fountains. BLASTED! I freaking hate crying. Yes, hate is a strong word. Not only do I hate it, I entirely loathe it. The lady felt bad for taking his seat but I turned to her and said “Its ok, he is my cousin and I did NOT want to sit next to him.” Our 50 minute flight was a breeze compared to the rest of our trip and we landed in Spokane, Washington with my dad, mom, and aunty Deb outside the gate with their cameras. Once the hugs were exchanged Andrew gave me a hand-hug. All was well.