Monday Mishmash 6/13/16: Hazmat situation, jet lag and more

We’re baaaaaaack! Tom and I are back from the US and had a great trip full of sun, shopping, family and more.

Let’s get to this edition of Monday Mishmash!

 

Monday Mishmash 6/13/16

The flight to the US was longggg. We boarded and then sat on the runway for over two hours due to weather delays before takeoff. Then flew for 9 hours. It was hard to sleep since it was a day flight and just dragged on and on. The good news is I watched Deadpool before trying to rest and it was fantastic. So funny. If you like irreverent humor and/or Ryan Reynolds, watch it. I don’t even like superhero movies that much and loved it.

On the way back, aside from a little girl kicking my seat the entire time and the mom not caring, the flight was much easier (night flight), no delays and I watched Room before dinner. The focus was more on the story and the relationship between the mother and son — nothing overly graphic. Really enjoyed that one too.

What about jet lag? Well, no jetlag on the return but on after arriving in Florida, I must have woken up around 4:30 am for 4 days and I never have issues like that. I always stay awake until at least 9:30/10pm on the day of arrival and usually that’s all I need to get used to the new time zone, but I think after the rough flight I was all out of whack. Anyway…

I’m a little behind on replying to blog comments so just know I’m doing my best and even if I haven’t replied, I saw it come through. Thank you all for being such a wonderful group. I enjoy your comments so much!

So about the trip…

Highlights

• Seeing my family! I told you this was one of the things I was looking forward to the most and they did not disappoint. We hung out with my parents every day and even my brother and sister-in-law were able to take off work so we could spend the weekend together.
• The shopping. In the post linked above, I told you how much we were looking forward to this. We hit up outlets, malls and even Super Target. That place is heaven! The choices…. just wow! Tom has new sneakers and shorts and hoodies and I picked up a few things as well. But Tom is the official shopaholic in this family! Even Dagny got a new harness and some special treats as a souvenir. 😉
• Swimming in the pool, ocean and river. We took dips up in West Palm Beach, at my brother and parents’ pools and up with the manatees in Crystal River. They’re protected and the boating laws are rightfully strict. We saw about 4 manatees while out on the water.
• Fun activities like our Segway tour, day on a pontoon boat, karting and more.
• Coming home to a clean kitchen and beautiful yard. Tom’s parents watched Dagny for us and they spent the day before we arrived at our house. Tom’s dad mowed the lawn and did some landscaping and his mom surprised us with a spiffy kitchen. I’m so grateful for my in-laws. Although we sometimes don’t agree and have issues like any family, I love and respect them like my own parents. They’re so hard-working and generous, and taking care of things around the house for us was a very welcome surprise.

Low points

• Smashing the corner of my laptop before takeoff. Yup, I’m a total spaz. I had my carry-on open because we were checking in at the Air France counter and had my bag resting on the little waist-height ledge in front of the desk. When I moved to look at something behind the counter, my bag tumbled over and made a horrible noise when the laptop frame cracked on the floor. I didn’t realize anything was wrong until I tried to use it an hour later and it crunched. I’ve repaired the corner w/tape and everything seems to be functioning fine but no clue for how long. That was a great start to our trip.
• Hazmat traffic situation. Anyone from Florida will tell you to avoid the Florida Turnpike at all costs because this major highway is known for traffic. Mid-week when we drove north to visit family up in Crystal River, we were completely stopped for over 2 hours when both the north and southbound sides were closed off to traffic due to a really weird hazmat situation. It involved a mother and daughter dying in their Porsche Cayenne from some unidentified substance and then crashing into a guardrail. Anyway, you can read more about that mess here. No one knew anything at the time and we were all using the app Waze to communicate out in the sweltering heat. A 3.5-hour drive turned into a 6-hour one that day.
• Leaving. This is always the hardest part. While I don’t miss the Florida heat (love the A/C though) which hovered at around 90 F or higher during the day, I miss being there. I am not a Florida native but I am American and being “home” refreshes and recharges me. The energy back home was a welcome change. I didn’t want it to end — and of course I miss my family.

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See ya next time!