somehow, i am home.

the trip home was a blur.

the night before, i found myself totally unable to fall asleep. i guess that after 2 full days in bed my body just finally decided it had rested enough and didn't need any more shut-eye. stupid body. i was going a little mad that night, willing myself to fall asleep. i finished a fantastic book (which i hope to tell you about in my next post), i wrote a few emails, and i stared at the ceiling. i finally drifted off around 3am, and woke up when roxi did before 7.

when i got out of bed i discovered that i was now dealing with a tender GI tract, unbelievable exhaustion and -surprise!- a new head cold. i'd been unable to keep up with the airborne regimen while i'd been, uh, expelling, so the cold finally grabbed hold when it got the opportunity.

so, yes, the flight home was pure misery. a gurgling stomach (i thought choosing apple juice on the plane would be a good idea, but instead it left me with incredibly painful, constant gas), a dripping nose (the woman sitting next to me on the plane looked horrified when i took a monolithic stack of kleenex out of my pocket) and a complete inability to fall asleep sitting up. utter torture.

something odd happened that kept my mind mildly occupied, though. i discovered a group of three college-age kids who had the exact same flight schedule as mine. i'd noticed them last thurdsday as i walked the gangplank (i don't think that's the right word) to board my first flight. they were two guys and a girl, all attractive, and one was talking about avoiding capital gains taxes on a house he'd bought then recently sold. i make mental note of interesting conversations like that, so i recognized them when i saw them board the second leg of my flight from detroit to denver. funny coincidence. they were going to the same place i was.

but when i arrived at my gate yesterday, ready to come home, i saw the three of them again, waiting to board the flight to minneapolis. how bizarre. part of me wondered whether i was hallucinating, i was so tired. even more odd was the fact that the three of them were seated directly across the aisle from me. (had i been less of a bleary, disgusting creature i would have definitely said something to them about the coincidence, but i felt like crap on toast and i just closed my eyes and listened to my ipod.) i saw them board ahead of me on the final leg home to RDU, then i lost them after that.

by the way, have you been to the minneapolis airport? they might as well call it the mall of america and save the tourists the bus ride. there are clothing stores, makeup stores, CD stores... it's a little disorienting. honestly you have to find your way through the commerce to get to the airplanes.

so, anyway, yeah. i'm home now. and it should be no surprise that i've called in sick to work. i hope to spend the day sleeping, making sensible food choices, and catching up on tivo.

oh, and i'll be watching this video as often as possible. (4.7 MB .mov) i swear, this will forever be known as the vacation of glasses and gasses.

Posted by xta at March 15, 2006 08:59 AM | TrackBack