Trip 1 - Day 1

Even though my brain is still pretty foggy, I wanted to start sharing our trip with our friends and family (before I forget!).

After weeks and days of preparation, Wednesday, March 9th finally arrived, whether we were ready for it or not.  All arrangements had been made for the girls, my parents had been prepped, bags had been packed, the house was spotless, and it was time to go.  Papa came to the house to stay with Little Bit for the afternoon and we loaded the car with our luggage and headed for San Francisco International Airport.

Up until this point, I was so busy with everything that had to be done for the trip that I didn't really have a chance to get too emotional (except for the meltdown a few weeks prior).  After a quick stop at Goodwill Express, the bank, and Carl's Jr., we were on our way and quite suddenly the HUGENESS of it all hit me and I was trying to figure out how we could back out of this deal.  My chest started to tighten, completely involuntarily, and the tears started to flow.  Christ in (deep breath in)...Peace out (slow breath out).  Christ in (deep breath in)...Peace out (slow breath out).  I was surprised at how many times I had to repeat this on the way to San Francisco (Thanks for the tip, Friend!).

No.  Really.  I needed to back out.  What was I thinking?  I can't leave my girls for a WEEK!  I can't go to AFRICA!!  I can't fly on a plane for 16 HOURS...TWICE IN ONE WEEK!!!  I can't go to DUBAI!!  No.  Really.  Clearly I had not thought this through when I begged and pleaded God to change Daddy's heart and make him say "yes" to this.  (Please read this last paragraph in the panicked voice of Melman from DreamWorks' film Madagascar.)

I'm sure us talking about how it was going to be around 36 hours before we reached our destination added to the stress just a wee bit.

James Bond and his "assistants"

We found the parking lot in which we had reserved a spot and the shuttle was on top of us before we knew it!  Luckily we were ready to go because the driver didn't give us much of an option.  Checking in went incredibly well and we were more than encouraged when we saw the entourage that would be flying our plane approach the check-in counter.  As Daddy tells it, our plane was flown by a handful of James Bond look-alikes.  The pilots were well over six feet tall, square-jawed, muscular, and oozed confidence.  Very reassuring.  Not to be outdone, the flight attendants were all super modelesque, gorgeous, and dressed to a T in tan skirts, tan suit jackets, and hats with a piece of fabric that swept from the side of the hat, under the chin, and to the collar of the jacket.

Boarding the plane was a piece of cake, but I have to say that other than maybe one person, we were THE ONLY people on the plane who were not Indian or Arabic.  This was obviously unusual for us, living in the area that we do, and boy was I glad that we were on an Arabic airline.  (Ahem)

Not long after we were seated, a flight attendant came around with a lemon scented refreshing towelette.  Nice!  Unfortunately, not long after that was when I had my second little panic attack.  Daddy was going on and on about how awesome this airline was and I was slowly losing control.  My chest was tight, my space in the cabin was getting smaller and smaller, I couldn't imagine leaving my girls for a week, I couldn't imagine going to Africa, and I was certain that there was no way I could spend 16 hours on this plane.  Christ in...peace out.  Christ in...peace out.

Yay for sockies and eye masks!

Obviously, I had to pull myself together.  And I did.  Mostly.  We reached cruising speed and I was doing alright.  The in-flight entertainment was amazing.  They passed out cute little packages with sockies, an eye mask, and a toothbrush.  Pretty fancy-shmancy.  Shortly after that they passed out our dinner menu - WOW!






Appetizer:
Potato salad marined with Thousand Island dressing, served with tomato and black olive.

Main Course:
Barbeque Beef - classic marinated beef with a smoky barbeque sauce, sauteed fresh green beans and roasted potato wedges. (This is what we chose over Yoghurt Chicken and Aloo Methi.)

Dessert:
Mango Mousse topped with whipped cream and roasted coconut

Cheese and biscuits, tea or coffee, chocolates.

For Kevin.

It really was almost as good as it sounds.  Oh, and Daddy's favorite part - "complimented by the finest beverages from a selection of wines, spirits, beers, and liqueurs."  AND it was served with real flatware!!






After dinner it was lights out on the plane and little stars shone through the ceiling.  All would have been well were it not for Mr. Tuberculosis on the other side of the plane and the fact that we were ready to get off...and it was only four hours into our 16 hour flight!!