Winding down and winding it up

I woke up in my Atlanta hotel room about 6:00 AM. I shaved,showered and dressed for the trip home. I got my room ready to leave and then wandered down to the lobby for some coffee. There was a little Mr. Coffee in the room cupboard with some coffee packs, but I didn't feel like dealing with it.

This time there was no Dutch door shop, but a real coffee bar (like you see in airports). The guy in front of me was giving a complicated order (half-caff latte with blah, blah, blah) but when it was my turn, I said, I just want a medium black coffee. She asked if I wanted anything else and I checked out their selection (fruit cups, croissants, muffins, my beloved Danish and bagels). I decided to err on the side of common sense and asked for a croissant (I just needed something to sop up my morning meds). Back in the room, I turned on the Today Show.

I was just finishing my breakfast when the door bell rang. Figuring it was Jake and Carla, I stopped to shut off the TV, scan the room for anything I might have forgotten, zip up my suitcase, etc. The doorbell rang again, so I yelled, "Just a damn minute!" and opened the door.

There was a very short, Hispanic woman standing there, looking askance and asking me in broken English if I was checking out today. I felt like a damn fool and said, "Yes." and she went away.

Later on, Jake and Carla rang the bell. I explained (rather sheepishly) what had happened and they told me it was because I didn't put my "Do Not Disturb" sign on my outside door handle. I still felt stupid and, even now, still wish I could apologize to the poor woman.

But, we got the car and headed home. Again, we were on a road trip (albeit back home) so we didn't stop to eat breakfast. We just hit a McDonald's when we all agreed we were hungry. I don't remember what anybody else got, but I ordered a sausage and egg McMuffin, a hash brown with salt and a bottle of water.

We had one interesting stop on the way home. I said I really, REALLY had to go to the bathroom, but Jake said it was only a few minutes more to the house. I said I didn't care, I need a restroom NOW! So, he pulled in a gas station to top off his tank and I ran into the building, looking for the rest room. There was a sign saying the restrooms were outside around the back, so I went out there (moving with a "sense of urgency" as they say in the Air Force). When I got there, it said the door was locked and I had to get the key inside from the counter! DAMN!!!

But it all worked out (without any embarrassing wet pants and/or car seats) and we finally arrived home about 1:00 PM. I unpacked the little suitcase and got my big-ass suitcase ready for the ride home.

Sidebar: I must interject that Jake has this "thing" about doing laundry BEFORE you leave for home. So, while I would normally just truck all my dirty clothes back home and wash them there, I respect his opinion and did my laundry at their house during the afternoon.

For dinner, Carla decided to get take-out Mexican food. Again, being somewhat self-absorbed I suppose, I paid no attention to what they got. I do know Carla ordered something akin to "Flatulence" which seemed apropos for Mexican food, but I wouldn't swear to it. I got my usual Mexican order: Beef enchilada's de queso with beans and rice, with a hard shell taco on the side. It was delicious.

Now, here's where I have to admit I screwed up. I thought my departure time from both Michigan and from Columbia, SC, was the same time, around 5:00 PM. I do remember telling Jake that flights would be hard to come by at the last minute (when I decided to spend Christmas with them). But, it wasn't until I got my reservations confirmed that I realized the flight back home was at 5:24 AM.

So, we had a brief, but intense disagreement. My solution was for me to get a hotel at the airport Friday night and go to my flight in the early morning.His position was that he had already driven for three hours in the morning and was tired. He would rather get up early and drive me in.

He won, of course, (I really can't remember any time I ever won an argument with any one of my kids) by pointing out there was NO hotel onsite at the airport (I told you it was little). There was one a mile or so away, but that would have involved hoping I could catch a cab (they did have a shuttle, but it didn't start until 6:00 AM).

So, burping from the food, I went upstairs about 9:00 PM and took a shower. Then I went to bed and prayed his alarm would wake him up so I didn't miss my flight