Laundry Days

The dryer has broke in my house and instead of loading up a basket of wet clothes, carrying it out into the cold to the laundromat for drying my bedroom has turned into a drying room. It actually works pretty handy probably since it's as dry as a desert in the upper midwest this time of year.

I think about all the energy I am saving and how much easier it is on the clothes by line drying. I can't help but day dream about the coming days of chasing after my little honduras spouts and doing very domestic things like cooking a meal without the help of some pre-cooked, pre-cut thing in a bag or box and doing laundry and very domestically hanging the laundry out to dry as nearly everyone does in Honduras.

Business Trip to Florida

I made it to Florida. My flight this morning was at 6:30am. I thought if I got to the airport by 5:30 I would be good to go. I didn't make it out of the house until 5:15! What was I thinking??? I must not have been totally awake and lacking judgement. By the time I was running through the airport parking lot to check in at ohh...5:50am I was feeling very nervous. The security check lines looked very long too. Another thing I didn't anticipate for that early.
I make it to the e check-in station. The computer cannot find me. My last name is different on my credit card than on my itinerary. I try to find my confirmation number to check in with from my printed itinerary but b/c I'm so frantic I can't see it in front of my eyes. Ugh!
I walk over to 1st class check in and bud in front of everyone and ask for help and said I was extremely late. The woman at the counter said things like "you won't make this flight", "you know there are all these other people waiting in line", "you need to check in 30 minutes ahead of time". I said, "It's 6:02 and my flight is at 6:32. I'm very sorry about this but can you check me in right now?" A few keystrokes later, I had my boarding pass and went to the long line at the security gate.
I say to the security guard, can I please go ahead b/c my flight is in 30 minutes. I was feelings very scared about missing the flight. I knew that they were starting to board my flight already from talking to my boss on the cell phone. The security check line looked like it would take at least a 1/2 hour to get through and I needed time to actually get to the gate too, which can take a few minutes. Luckily I knew the gate was only about a 3 minute walk, but I was nervous...what if I got stopped and they wanted to search my bag, which happened with my last business trip.
The security guard was a little cranky... maybe b/c he hadn't had his cup of coffee yet...I don't know. He says very frankly- "you will have to go to the end of the line and ask every single person if they mind." I am terribly embarressed by this. I swallow my pride and think about the fact that I could be fired for this single act of missing this flight. Maybe I wouldn't have been fired, but I didn't know for sure and I could see it happening. I've not been the most focused worker these days.
I swallowed my pride and asked rather loudly for all to hear, "does anyone mind if I go ahead b/c my flight is in 30 minutes?" I heard nothing and then a few people nodded as if to say "go ahead". Yes, I know it was terribly annoying. Yes, I should have gotten up at 3:30am instead of 4am. I just didn't time it right. I was the annoying person you want to yell at for being an idiot and irresponsible. I just didn't have a choice but to probably piss a lot of people off at that point.

I make it through 1/2 the line and the crabby security guard jumps in and says "ma'am, you can stop right here. You have 30 minutes and from here will give you plenty of time." Okay. I'm good with that but still a little nervous. As I walk through the metal detectors, the security man asked how I was and I said "late" and he looks at my boarding pass and he responds with, "yes you are". I gather all my stuff and bolt for the gate. I ran a little and walked fast for some of it. I walk up to the gate and they just about closed the gate after I walked in.

I was happy to find that my aisle was empty. I had all three seats to myself. I imagined laying down across all three and really having a good sleep. If my hubby was around, I know he would let me fall asleep on his shoulder or his lap. He takes good care of me that way. But today, I balled up my coat and leaned up against the window. I think when I was being checked in the gal was rushing and dropped me into an upcharge seat. I found out that my co-workers who tried to check in the night before had only a select seats to choose from unless they paid $20. Well, it worked out for me, but I would have taken a seat next to mr. gassy curry man from my previous flight a few weeks ago to save myself the humiliation I went through.

Tonight when we checked into the hotel they were out of regular rooms and so upgraded me to a suite with no extra cost. I have my own huge living room and a kitchenette. Pretty nice. Providence has been on my side today, I guess.

Flordia is cold and a bit rainy. Locals are a little nervous about their citris. Especially since the west coat freeze ruining everything.
The weather is a little dissappointing, but better than the 20 degree cold and ice I left behind. Jacksonville is a developers gold mine. I've been told the construction lacks quality though. Mostly migrant works employeed around here. You can see lots of cut corners around the construction sites if you really look. Concrete work is the worst, I'm told. My co-worker's brother moved down to FL with no previous concrete work and got a job as a concrete block forman overseeing a bunch of migrant workers. So be careful if you decide to buy down here.

Signing off from Jacksonville FL...

Private Showing - Invite only Blog

I've changed my settings so that only invited people can read my blog. This is mainly for security, but also for privacy. I created the blog so that friends and family can easily keep up with what is going on with the move and also for once we are living in Honduras.

I wanted this blog to be easy to access so people wouldn't avoid the site completely so I didn't put any restrictions on who could access the site. Now that I have, I hope this doesn't cause too much frustration for people. I'm sure it will require you to log in to access.

On another note. Steph just moved into her apartment with her 3 boys this weekend. It's going to be quiet around here. But I will also miss her. It's nice to have your sister around :O)

I've been going to the health club to try and take care of my out of shapeness- ha! I'm a nut for classes and I did a cycle class tonight for the first time. That about licked my butt. Literally ;O). I guess those skinny little seats take some getting used to. The instructor told me to avoid putting too much weight on them which was not the easiest to do with my heavy back side. But I really liked the challenge. I didn't realize how much of an all over body workout including some pretty rigorous cardio you can get on a bike if you do it right. My legs were even giving out at points which surprised me. I talked to the instructor after the class and told her about my wimpy legs, and she said I needed to increase the muscles and then that wouldn't happen as much. She said that I could have better aerobic capacity, but my leg muscles were still behind. I didn't realize how out of shape my legs are I guess. Kind of bummed me out, but also gave me a goal to reach. Toned legs- here I come!

On a Honduras note...
The trip is only a few weeks away! Should I tan? Or just go over there white as chalk and watch myself burn. I know I would burn too b/c I'm not good about re-applying sunscreen and with the warm weather...I know I'll be wearing that stuff off pretty fast. But I will be applying sunscreen to the kids a lot which will force me to remember to apply to myself. Anyone have a thought?