I Made It

Flying was an adventure both going and coming. Mostly going because my flight out of Green Bay left almost 2 hours late, cutting my 3-hour layover in Chicago to about 45 minutes. We landed at Gate G-18 and I had to hurry to Gate L-8 to make my connecting flight. I don't know when I've moved that fast because those gates are far apart but I made it with a few minutes to spare. My flight to Lexington took off on time and landed 20 minutes early!

 

Christmas was a lovely day. DD picked me up at my hotel and we went to her in-laws for breakfast, presents, and an afternoon of various appetizers. No real food was harmed in the preparation of the Christmas afternoon offerings. I got a lovely art set and pad of paper from DD's in-laws, an amazing t-shirt and brush washer from DD, SIL1, and IT.

 

One of the things we had to eat were these Christmas Candle Salads. Um, they don't really look like candles, do they? The funniest part is that SIL1's parents and grandparents made them for years and didn't see the humor in them. 

On the 26th we drove to Newport, KY to visit the aquarium where we saw this gigantic green moray eel, a giant Pacific octopus, and the tiniest seahorses I've ever seen. And they weren't babies, they were just itty bitty.

On Dec. 27th IT spent the day with his grandparents so that DD and I got to spend the day together alone. It was a rainy day so we spent most of it in my hotel suite knitting and chatting but we went to lunch at a very nice cafe. We met the rest of the family at a BBQ place a ways out of town for supper. I had ribs. They were wonderful. And I didn't get any sauce on my shirt. A triumph!

Yesterday on the 28th DD and IT came over to my hotel to swim in the afternoon. We had a rollicking time in the pool splashing and swimming and laughing. IT wanted to hang with Daddy instead of going to supper with us so we went to Oasis, a Mediterranean restaurant. We ordered falafel for an appetizer which was so good. I ordered Chicken Shawarma and rice which I ate and ate on and it didn't seem to get any less. It came with some good lentil or chickpea soup which I only ate a little of and I still didn't have room for all of my supper and there was no way either of us had room for dessert. We also had a pretty little glass of tea with our meals.

My flight today wasn't until 3:20pm so we went to brunch and I ordered a Dutch Baby which is kind of a pancakey thing and it was so delicious. It had fresh blackberries in it and some kind of whipped butter/cream stuff dolloped around. Divine! DD and IT had pancakes; they were outstanding too. DD shared a bite with me. I got to the airport way early so I sat around for a couple hours and during that time a wind and rain storm blew in. The time to board came and went and the time to depart came and went too. I was getting antsy because I only had 45 minutes in Chicago on the way home and was afraid I'd have a long way to go but fortunately the pilot made up some time in the air and I only had to walk from Gate L-8 to Gate L-4. That sounds easy but there were other numbered gates in between that didn't belong there. It was confusing but I made it. We landed in Green Bay right on time and I was disappointed to find no taxis at the taxi stand. I tried calling for one but they "weren't accepting calls at this time." What??? So I downloaded the Uber app and luckily a driver had just dropped a fare off at the casino across the street from the airport so I only had to wait a minute for my ride home.

I had a great time in Lexington with DD and her family. I liked the place I stayed; it was very comfortable and fairly reasonable. There was a Trader Joe's across the street so I walked over there for lunch when DD was busy with IT whose patience for eating out had reached an end. I couldn't blame him. What 7-year-old wants to drive around with his grandmother when he's got a pile of new toys to play with at home? Anyway, I'm home safe and happy to be back in my own house with my own bed and my own bathroom. As nice as it was to be with DD, etc. it's nice to be home.

--Barbara