My trip home

I flew home from Jacksonville, Fl today. It feels like I have been there for about three months. I am not sure why this trip hasn't been enjoyable, but I look forward to coming home more than usual each week. Today I was lucky enough (so I thought) to catch an earlier flight home. Little did I know that sitting behind me on the plane would be little Tyler and his sister Satan. I have three kids myself, so I like to think that I am fairly tolerant of kids acting up in public. Its much harder to say "If I were his parents he wouldn't be doing that!" when you have little ones of your own. You have a better understanding of what their parents or this case grandma is going through.

It all started immediately after I sat down. Satan repeatedly slammed the tray table into the back of my seat. Now, I am what some people would call a stout individual. To have a 30 pound girl hit the back of the seat hard enough to move me is saying something. Shortly after this Tyler began screaming at the top of his lungs. I still don't know why! Even when they were just talking, they were screaming. After hearing the grandma tell them that people don't like it when you scream, I had enough. Please understand I have a beautiful little daughter. When it comes to screaming, she is like a Corvette. She can go from zero to cry in about 3.2 seconds. Also, because of the unfreezing process, she has trouble controlling the volume of her voice. Let me say, that Mia has nothing on these two. I kissed her twice as much when I got home.

Luckily for me, I have a PSP loaded with music and a set of very nice Bose headphones. I turned up the music extra loud. The headphones used every ounce of their noise canceling beings, but they couldn't drown out the shrieks from the dynamic duo.

Finally little Tyler fell asleep just before we started the decent. No doubt dreaming of torturing kittens. Grandma had time to catch a few Z's herself. Although she let out a pretty loud snore, it wasn't at an octave that made you think you were stabbing yourself in the eardrum with a steak knife.

In the end, I made it home. Grandma gets to spend the next month with Tyler and Satan.

Ten Things Tuesday

I thought about this yesterday, does that count? I was going to do this last night, but I had a date with the PSP last night.

1 I am thankful for my PSP. Portable video games, can you get any lazier?
2 I am thankful that Mia has an endless supply of the word Daddy. I know at some point I won't hear it as often.
3 I am thankful to hear the kids running around the house. There is a line in an Alan Jackson song "The sound of little feet, was the music we danced to week to week." I am ready for a new house, but I am going to miss that sound.
4 I am thankful that Owen likes me to retrieve his ball from under the entertainment center and then throw it right back under.
5 I am thankful for Jackson's sense of humor. I love watching laugh at something on TV to the point he is almost out of breath.
6 I am thankful that Jackson is an outgoing person, I just hope he gets a better understanding of personal space.
7 I love to hear Mia sing.
8 I am thankful that I am the only one in the office today. (I may sneek home a little early).
9 I am thankful that I had a chance to mow the yard last night before the rain. It would've been a jungle by the time I could get to again.
10 I am thankful that my boss is letting me fly to Portland next week so I can be at the platinum level on American Airlines. I am also sad because that is important to me.

Run over to XBOX Wife to join in.

Finally made it

Well, we finally made it to Maryland. It turns out that the plane was delayed coming in because of the weather we were having. On the way in it was struck by LIGHTNING! They had to replace the cone of the airplane. They finally determined they could not do it, and they gave us another plane. Once we were on board, we could not take off because the ground crew went to lunch before they loaded our baggage. All in all we landed in Dulles about 5 hours late. We didn't even make it to the office, needless to say. Today feels like Monday. Oh well, what are you going to do, it is the nature of the beast. No need to lose sleep over it! The important thing is that I made it safe.

Stuck in the Airport

Scheduled to leave at 8:40 am. Now boarding tentatively scheduled for 11:00 am. Will arrive at the Maryland office around 4:00 pm. Leave for hotel at 5:00 pm.

Super Bowl

I heard the Super Bowl was played this past Sunday. I didn't see very much of it. I wasn't all that interested, not even the commercials. I can probably watch those on the internet anyway. Thanks to the hosts of our small groups, and thanks for letting us stay a little late to watch the game. You guys did a great job, even though you tried to poison us with tainted cups.

I spent the first three quarters or so making paper airplanes for the kids (I'm available for birthday parties). Jackson brought a book that has 73 different airplane patterns. These aren't your father's paper airplanes. Gone are the days of the simple triangle. Kids today want the space shuttle (I'm not kidding). You almost need a welding torch to complete some of them. It was well worth the time, the kids seemed to enjoy them. The babies loved them even more. If the planes were left on the floor those guys would pounce on them and crush them like king kong.

Even though I didn't see much of the game, I saw the most exciting part. I really had a good time, and I think the rest of the family did too. There were a few complaints about bedtime, but the kids were to exhausted to really put up much of a fight.