I'm baaaaaaaack

Hello!

Well, I have a few days to catch up on, I guess!

Thursday

I dropped Kaylee off at school, and came home and basically worked. I still felt a little tickle in my throat, was sneezing occasionally, and a little stuffy, but not actually sick, and once I took my morning dose of medicine, I felt good the rest of the day. I got Kaylee, and hit lunch, did some work with her, ran some errands, and then we hit gymnastics. After we got through there, I checked the weather, and packed my bags, and Steve's flight was cancelled, so I knew I could make it! I packed up the Baron and headed off to Ohio, Bolton Field. It took a little longer than expected because I had a headwind all the way there (which isn't typical heading east), but I finally touched down about 20 minutes late, and there waiting for me was a van filled with friends who claimed they all clapped for me when I landed. Hey, a cheering section is always a good thing, isn't it?! lol We piled in and headed back to Heather's house for a lasagna, garlic bread and salad dinner. Followed by a shelf and freezer full of desserts, naturally. Heather's husband Todd had taken their older four children and left for the weekend, leaving the house to us girls, two tiny babies, and one cute puppy named Molly (who is only cute because it wasn't MY Cheesecake Factory cheesecake she ate), and we made the most of it! We watched a movie...houseswap movie with Jude Law and the ditzy blond from "Charlie's Angels", what is her name...anyway, and we stayed up until 2 a.m. eating, talking, and then watching a movie. I also got to spend a few hours curled up with a handsome man. He's two months old and he passed out on me, and neither one of us seemed to mind. Finally we all crashed. (And every four hours like clockwork I still took my Airborne and Zicam.) It was wonderful to see everyone again...well, almost everyone since Tiff couldn't make it.

Friday

Angie and Anita couldn't help waking up early thanks to years of conditioning and early-rising children. I managed to sleep in until 8 something, and then came down at 9. I bloodied up my finger, taking a pretty big chunk out of it. How'd I manage that? By zipping my pants. Gotta hate those newly washed jeans and a sharp zipper. *sigh* We had a long, slow, leisurely morning, with a home made waffle breakfast (I sprinkled chocolate chips on mine) and eggs with mushrooms and peppers and onions (they were GOOD, too), and by high noon were all ready to head out. We hit a fabric store, and the other ladies helped Anita come up with a pattern and fabric to make a beautiful dress for her daughter to wear in a wedding. Me not knowing satin from silk, I just tried to stay out of the way other than saying "Yes that matches" or "No it doesn't match", something I actually CAN do. :o) After finding what we needed, we headed to "Cheesecake Factory", generously bought for all of us by our hosts for the weekend. Oh man...I had an excellent crab cake sandwich, and while that was quite tasty, can you imagine dessert? HOW can a girl choose from among all of those different flavors of cheesecake?? Excuse me, I need a moment of silence to remember.....



Thank you.

Molly the puppy ate Heather's cheesecake that was left unattended for a split second, but luckily for Molly's survival, Heather had gotten two flavors to try out, so she had a spare. :) We spent the evening talking and laughing and having fun. I think we only stayed up until 1 a.m. that night. Well, I went to my room and read for awhile after everyone else went to bed, so I'm not quite sure what time I actually fell asleep.

Saturday

I heard the early birds getting up, but rather than getting up shortly after them this time, I pulled a pillow over my head. Hey, it works for me. ;) I finally got up just before 10. I was the last one in the shower this time! After we all got ready slowly, and had cinnamon rolls, we headed to Target. We had a couple of missions for the day, a few things that a couple of people really were WAY beyond needing to get. I ended up getting Kaylee a couple of dresses, which was NOT something that was needed, but I did it anyway. After leaving Target we headed to the mall. Whoo-child. :) Actually, they have a real mall there with real stores. We only visited a few of them, the ones for the most part that held what people needed. Mission accomplished, and now it was almost 4 pm, and past time for lunch. "PF Chang" won for the lunch vote, and we headed in. I had the best almond and cashew chicken and egg drop soup. That was REALLY good. Thanks to the friend who 'bought' for everybody...it was terrific! :) I got up to use the restroom, and apparently my friends conspired while I was gone. I hear Angie say "Let me grab a picture of you two!" aimed at me and Kim. We lean in, snap the photo, and suddenly behind me is a lit candle sticking out of a chocolate cake thing on a plate. Thankfully, the employees of the restaurant did not come out and sing a goofy song. Ah, the joys of a higher-class restaurant. ;) But the girls sang it for them, and yes, they got me, I didn't see that coming. lol And Oh. My. Word. That cake thing, it was AMAZING. It was like raw brownie dough inside. It beats Chocolate Thunder from Down Under. It was the most rich, amazing dessert I may have ever eaten. I need to be very thankful we don't have that restaurant in this city. I want more. Now.

One more moment of silence...


Whew.

After dinner, Heather made one more stop at Target to pick up an Easter dress for her daughter, while I lay in my seat pretty much wrung out in a good way. I don't think I've ever spent most of a day shopping before, ever! I appreciate some of them trying to help me learn new skills. ;) We had a great time, really. The only times I've ever had fun shopping were a few times with Kaylee because she gets so excited about it, and this time with friends, because you can't help but have fun with a group of goofy old friends no matter what you're doing!

We came home, I cut hair for a couple of the girls, and as far as I know it doesn't look terrible, and we all did our nails. Yes, I said we all did our nails. Yes, I have nails, and yes, I did them. With nail polish and everything. They are pretty, too. Actually Heather did them for me, which is why they look nice. It was definitely the most estrogen-filled weekend I may have ever had, and we all loved it. :) We didn't quite want to go to bed this time, because we knew in the morning Anita had to go home first, early, and then Kim and I were next. So we stayed up too late, goofing off, talking, and enjoying each other's company. Finally we called it, because we had to get up early.

Sunday

Too Early. I heard Anita leave at 6:30 a.m., and I laid there until almost 7, before I dragged myself up and took a shower. We left the house by 8 am and dropped Kim off at the big airport in Columbus. It was depressing, the break-up of the group. Heather and Angie and I headed off to Bolton next, to drop me off. I'd called ahead of time to get the plane pulled out of the hanger, get 40 gallons of gas put in, etc. I got there, and to make a long story short, was there almost an hour and a half before they were ready for me. Fuel truck was broken down, computer was broken down, yadda yadda yadda. The good news in all this? Heather and Angie and I had a bit of extra time to read some good stories and talk, I wasn't in a huge hurry and fortunately neither were they, and I ended up getting the Baron hangered for three nights for only the cost of one. Since it's not my plane, I wanted it locked and inside a hanger. They took one night cost off for me because I bought gas, and they took another night off when it took them so long to get me on my way when I'd called ahead of time to have it all ready to go. So I got three nights for the price of one. Now THAT is handy, there. Thank you very much!

Heather took Baby Ben out to feed him, and Angie came out to the plane with me for a quick photo. Finally I took off and headed back to Kokomo. It was a blue, clear day, an easy flight. I put the tunes, the mellow tunes, and just relaxed for the trip home.

I got back to Kokomo, and the Cheyenne was parked in the middle of the hanger...so I fearfully started that tug and pushed it back just enough for me to get the Baron in without hitting anything. Filled up with gas, stopped at Steak & Shake for lunch for everybody, came home, and found the most amazing cake I've ever seen in my house. It was bristling with candles. As I found out later, with 35 lit candles. It looked like a torch! Kaylee and Steve had set up a birthday party for me and sang, and we had cake and hats and party blowers. It was very cute, and I didn't even get a chance to take my coat off first! We had our cake, then did lunch, which is really the way life should be, and then I crawled into bed where I promptly passed out cold, jeans and all. Steve woke me up sometime later, and we took Kaylee and headed out to Kokomo Airport, where Steve flew the Baron for a couple of hours to prep for a checkride. We ended up in Muncie, hungry, only to find the restaurant closed on Sundays and the vending machines and even coke machines at the FBO removed. NADA. Ty came and got us in the Saratoga, and we headed back to Kokomo. Put planes away, headed off to Wendy's for supper, came home, got Kaylee ready for bed, and here I am, catching up on several days worth of email and blog!

It was a great weekend, so refreshing. It's nice to be around people who knew you when you were who you half wished you could still be. Silly, young, care-free, goofy. We are all SO different from each other, and yet somehow we work, all of us, even as a group. How often does THAT happen?? No competition, no hen pecking, no gossiping, no back-biting, no "favorites" or mini-groups in the group. Different financial setups, different lifestyles, different temperaments, different areas of the country, and yet one unit. We're pretty lucky-and we know it. We also all married pretty great guys. Todd takes four kids and moves out of the house for 3 days so we can have some quality time. Matt takes on three children and work. Steve takes on Kaylee for me so I can go. Kevin takes on three children. And Curt wins the father prize of the year by taking on Seven Children and a farm. So, thanks to the dads, because we couldn't get together without your help. :)

Now I'm *really* tired again, and I'm going to hit the hay. Tomorrow is Monday, and you know what that means...busy day! I'm not even going to re-read this, because I'm pooped and it's long. So whatever I am forgetting, I will try to add tomorrow!

Oh, I do have some photos up of my birthday you can see, along with two cell phone photos I took and one I stole off of Heather's blog, and as soon as Angie gets home, she will email me the rest of the photos from our girls' weekend, since I walked out of the house AND FORGOT MY CAMERA. The mortal horror of it all. Uuuuuggggghhhh. Can you believe that?? Thankfully Angie and Heather had their cameras, so we took photos that way. :) Anyway, I'll let you know when the rest of the photos are up, and I'm headed to bed!

One last thing. I Never Got Sick. I quit taking the Airborne and the Zicam Saturday, and I've been just fine. Hallelujah!!!!!!!!! Thank you, preventative medicines, I am officially sold on their effectiveness...