Holy moley I have a lot to write about. Sorry for the loooong entry coming up...

I woke up this morning and packed for my weekend trip to Orlando. My mom didn't feel too keen on taking me to the airport, so I drove myself and parked here- which I've never done and wasn't too happy about. I rode the shuttle bus in and got through security and everything with no worries. I took out my license and showed it to the lady waiting to see it. Then I disassembled myself and my bag to get through the metal detectors. All good. Then I get through and assemble myself again and look for my boarding pass and license. Boarding pass, check. License.....license....oh crap, where the heck's my license?! It took me 20 minutes at least of begging the guards to look for my ID within a 20 feet radius. Just as I was about to give up, really mad that I wouldn't be able to have any drinks with my friends in Orlando cause I didn't have my ID...one of the guards popped up his head and said, "FOUND IT!!! It was stuck in between 2 pieces of metal on the belt where you took off your backpack and shoes!". How that happened, I have no idea, but I'm glad I didn't have to buy another ID.

I ate a nasty fried burger cause it was cheap, then of course stopped at my routine airport Starbucks for my drink. I tell you, I turn into my mother when I'm at Starbucks. If they screw up my drink you'll hear sighs and various noises of frustration (kinda like what Marge Simpson does). I can usually tell right away if my barista is a moron. Thankfully only about 1 out of 10 orders go this way. If I start talking and their eyes get really big or glaze over, I'm in trouble. This is how the moron barista conversations go, like it did today:

"Hi, can I get a doppio over extra in a grande cup with one Splenda over the ice before the espresso?"
"Okay ho' don...you want a WHAT now?"
::I repeat it, slower::
"Okay so you wa' like iced coffee o' suthin?"
::I repeat it, even slower:: "
Okay les' see, you waun' espresso...two shots, right?
::"yes, two shots":: ova' ice ::"extra ice":: You waun' some milk o' sumthin?
"No"
"You waun' watuh in it?"
"No"
"You waun' this thang up on da menu?
::she points to a new Starbucks special, a doppio over ice:: (see P.S. below)
"Is it 2 shots over ice?"
"Naaw, it has a little bit a' milk in it"
"Then no, I don't want that"
::Barista gets an attitude, fills the cup with ice and a splenda and pulls the shots of espresso.....then walks away and leaves my espresso out, sitting on the tray for too long while she talks to her friend and my coffee gets bitter. I'm not happy but I take it and go and deal with it::

P.S. I have been getting that drink almost every time I went to Starbucks and they have never had that drink on the menu. So if you ask me, some brilliant barista noticed my drink and told whoever is in charge of inventing new drinks and said, "This drink is perfect! You should sell it, just like this brilliant young lady who has invented it!" Or not...

I finish my drink and hop on the plane. As we board the plane I can see the outside of the aircraft that says, "U.S. Airways" with their logo. My mind went to the TV series, Lost for a few moments. If Lost ever happened in real life, those people wouldn't have known they were going to crash. What if we crash on a desert island too? Maybe I'd be part of the "U.S. Airways 6". That balding dorky guy with the glasses would probably be the electronics guru who would use a radio to contact a ship. That cute guy right there would be Jack, the hot hero doctor. That girl would be the first to go, yeah, along with that kid who won't stop crying. Aaaaad we're back to reality....

Flying used to be fun for me, but I have always flown alone wherever I go. There have been maybe 3 or 4 trips I can ever remember being with anyone else. Besides the lonely aspect of it, I've become frightened by flying. I never used to be. I'm not so much afraid of terrorists or anything, but just the idea of falling straight down out of the sky with no chance of survival if one failure from the plane happened or flock of birds fly into the engines. It used to be a surreal feeling for me- you know, you're just in this moving thing and you don't really feel like you're high up. Now when the plane quickly loses altitude and my heart flops up to my neck, and I'm gripping the seat in front of me like it's going to shelter me from the crash, I just don't like it.

Oh and I also went to my routine used book store in the Raleigh airport to pick up a new book. This time I got a Dave Barry book called Big Trouble. Dave is the man if you want to laugh your butt off. Oh, but if you want to laugh, don't get Big Trouble- it's his first fiction book and it's not really funny--but everything else I've ever read from him is hysterical.

The airport is the best place ever to people-watch. It's its' own culture. Can you say "It's its'"? There's an obnoxious man talking on his cell phone uncomfortably loud so that everyone in the terminal can hear about his dad who became a VP of his company and how he's shopping for motorcycles. Do Americans do that crap in foreign countries too? I surely hope not.

Well I finally got to Orlando after 2 flights. Alyssa picked me up and we made some wrong turns getting home so it took us a while. In the meantime, we gave Daniel (Alyssa's 2 year old son) a chocolate cause he was being really well behaved. Alyssa turned around a minute later to find Daniel had puked ALL over himself. It smelled so rank, so we pulled over and found a nearby sidewalk, stripped him of his clothes and wiped him down with babywipes. It was both disgusting and funny.

We got back to her place and I made us some Asian dinner which was a hit, even with Daniel who doesn't eat much adult food! We decided to go see a movie so I called my friends up and we met to go see Indiana Jones. It was so great to be surrounded with friends again, laughing and making them laugh. It's kinda foreign to socialize with friends actually, after being alone or with adults for over 3 months now. It's GREAT! On the way there it rained SO hard you guys! I would say that I do miss Florida thunderstorms, as flipping scary as it was. They're awesome though- Orlando has one of the most lightning strikes than anywhere in the nation, so it's a light show alright!

Anyhoo, it's great to be here.