Home sweet home

I arrived back home last night. but not without delays going both ways. Wednesday morning my flight was to leave at 7:40. It ended up leaving 90 minutes late, so that was an extra long wait just sitting at the airport. It wasn't a full flight, so I didn't have to sit next to anyone, which was really nice. The delay didn't get me to my destination until 9:45 (an hour earlier time zone) which then I knew was going to make it really inconvenient for my boss to come and pick me up, so I told her I'd grab a taxi. That was another super long walk over to the parking garage to find where the taxi's were. It's a pretty quick drive to the office, thankfully ($32 plus tip to go 4 miles) and I was there by 10:30. Our company meeting started at 11. So, I spent the first half hour just saying hello to people and getting lots of hugs :). So many new faces I did not know. Since I'm an introvert there are times I just have to put myself out there and be more outgoing and that day was it, LOL. Some people I just walked up to and introduced myself to. I finally found my boss, haha. She was running around busy as a bee getting ready for the family party out in the parking lot, after the meeting. She looks good and has lost some weight since I last saw her. I figured out when I was last there. It was mid December 2019, just a few months before Covid hit.

The meeting was good. We are doing well business/sales wise. It ran about 90 minutes and then it was time for the family bbq/picnic type event to go on all afternoon. It was a nice high 70's sunny day. My dd got there just about as it was starting. They had catered some good food, lots of beverages, including adult type for those that wanted. We sat next at a table just as a new guy was sitting down. Poor guy had literally just started 2 days earlier, LOL. I welcomed him, introduced myself and said "you'll just be seeing me today and then probably not for another 6 months to a year, LOL" Quite a few people's family came, so it was busy. We played some cornhole and they had other games as well. Again, I had to keep on my "extrovert" hat haha. Got some time to visit with my boss, which was really nice. The afternoon went fast and after chatting with a new sales guy for awhile it suddenly seemed like quite a few had left. It was 4:30 and winding down, so dd and I decided to head up to her house. She's over 50 miles away and with all the normal traffic I figured it could take us up to 2 hours but since we could use the carpool and toll lanes we got there at 5:45.

She and her dh have been watching Stranger Things and were on the last season, which I just finished, but I watched it with them each evening so they could finish it. Neither of us were very hungry since we had eaten a lot that afternoon, so we just had sandwiches for dinner. DD worked both Thursday and Friday (from home) but she finishes up at 2:30 so we had the afternoon to do stuff. Thursday we went into her small town and visited a few antique and gift shops, which be both always enjoy doing. After we got back to her house, her dh made some salmon and watermelon for dinner, which was delicious. She's lucky he doesn't mind cooking.

Thursday morning, I was trying to sleep in. Of course that never gets to happen. At 7am my phone is ringing and it's my mom's caregiver saying she tried to get her to get ready to go down for breakfast but mom was doing her typical "oh, I'm just not feeling very well this morning". Which of course the caregiver knows she is fine, because she told me she's heard it from her before and then she'll show up at 9:30 down in the dining room, totally fine, wondering when breakfast is. But, she wasn't sure what to do to get her down there, so I said I'd call her and try. That did the trick and she got dressed and got breakfast.

Friday was more of the same. DD worked and then at 2:30 we headed out to another nearby town and went through some more antique stores. DD was trying to find a small bench she could put out at her front door, but wasn't finding anything. She did find a wooden hanging flower pot for $4 she decided to get to hang on her shed. There was a cute dog treat bakery we stopped in and she got some things for her dogs. Then we went to this large nursery a friend had told her about and got some flowers for some pots she has, as well as the hanging one she just purchased. 

For dinner we stopped and got Teriyaki to take home. My request, as I haven't had teriyaki in years and it's one of my favorites. Saturday morning the 3 of us went into their town to have breakfast and then walk through the Saturday Farmer's market going on. DD ended up getting a wood "wishing well" from a wood craftsman's booth. They have this area in their front yard from where they took out a big tree and the stump it still just under the surface. She wants to put something there and I had suggested earlier a wishing well with flowers in it would look cute, and there it was, haha. Then we were walking by this antique store that we somehow missed on Thursday, so we went in and the guy had a bunch of different sized pieces of live edge boards that looked neat. DD decided to make her own bench, so she found a piece she liked that was the perfect size and she will just buy some metal legs to put on it.

My afternoon return flight home was on time and for I didn't want to be at the airport an hour and a half or 2 hours early to just sit there. TSA app showed it was like a 10 minute pass through security. My flight left at 4:10 and got to the airport a few minutes after 3. Well the security line was much slower, not to mention I got behind this family that didn't have a clue. But I got to my gate (another long walk) at 3:30 and boarding started at 3:45, so it all was good. Landed just before 6:30, only to have to sit on the plane almost a half hour because another plane was still at our gate. Of course my mom tried to call while I was sitting on the plane waiting for it to get to the gate. I told her every time I talked to her that I was on a trip, but she never could remember. It was 97 degrees out. Then to get off the plane we had to walk through this enclosed (temporary type structure) walkway that was really long and so hot in there! That part was awful. I kind of felt sorry for the lady walking in front of me for part of it. She was older and I'm sure the long walk and heat was hard. I ended up passing by her as I was trying to get out of that area as soon as possible so I could breathe again.

DH survived, haha. He had cereal or toast for breakfast, his usual sandwich and snacks for lunch. Looks like he heated up some spaghettio's for dinner or had a sandwich and looks like he also ate the leftover pizza we had the night before I left. Last night he just waited until he picked me up and we stopped at McDonald's on the way home. He bought a replacement clutch for the quad/snow plow. He got started on that, but is still waiting for some more parts to come next week. Hopefully that will make it work a little better, but we are still considering buying a "side by side" that he can use for plowing and also would be perfect for logging road exploring the area. 

It's good to be home. I don't miss living over where my job is/dd lives. Too many people. The traffic on early Saturday afternoon to get to the airport was ridiculous. We crawled along for a good 10 miles of the trip. Not to mention the concrete walls of all the freeway system going through the major city is covered in graffiti now. Looks terrible.