I've lost that loving feeling.

So, first the plane is almost 2 hours late taking off. Supposed to leave at 3:45 and left at 6:30 because of a broken wheel. Coming in for a landing above Chicago was like flying over a circuit board. Went from a gorgeous patchwork quilt of greens, yellows and browns above Ireland and Southern England to a circuit board. It felt less like flying over my homeland than did flying over the UK. Plus, upon landing the girl in front of me had to use her vomit bag. Frequently. Juicily. Welcome home.

Ugh

So I got off the plane and there are pieces of paper taped to a wall just after the walkway from the plane. One of the papers has my name on it...inside is an apology for making me "miss my flight" and a voucher for a hotel room. My thoughts went immediately to the dogs. I have to get back to them tonight. I'm NOT missing my flight! It's 7:50, my flight leaves at 9:15. I rush to customs, where there is a massive line. I get through the huge line and the two checkpoints and asked the last checkpoint guard if I could still make a 9:15 flight. She looked at me like I was crazy and said "if you run". So I dropped off my suitcase and ran to the commuter train. Which took for stinking ever. At this point it is 8:35. So then I get to my terminal, and I had to run like a mile to get to the security gate. At which point I discovered that the security gate was closed and I had to run the whole way back to the other side only to realize I didn't have a boarding pass. I was only able to print one for London, and was supposed to get the Syracuse one in Chicago. But there is not a single ticket open and the self serve kiosk doesn't accept my booking number. Finally I find a person with American Airlines. She tells me she can't print my boarding pass because the flight is in final boarding. I ask her if she can try. She gets into computer and has to override stuff, and she is able to print pass, but says "you probably won't make it". A bunch of quitters. So I go again to security and I'm putting my shoes back on when my carry on bag gets taken off the line because it contains "liquids". The guy tells me I can't take the ginger preserves or pickle that I got at the duty free in Heathrow because they are "liquids". Ok, glass is one thing and yes, they are glass jars of preserves. But they are also sealed containers from duty free which made it safely on a 7 hour plane ride from London and I have a 1 hour flight to Syracuse and they get confiscated. I understand the whole needing to be vigilant against terrorism, but seriously. Sealed. Jam. Receipts. Not liquids. Not bombs. And they took my dang pickle! Then he started to tell me that "once you leave the airport you can't get back in with liquids" and I was like "I never left the airport!". Then I realized that arguing with an inflexible security guard was a huge waste of time. So I was like "great thanks" and grabbed my un-confiscated stuff and kept running. At this point it is 8:50 and my flight leaves at 9:15. Leaves. As in in the air. I run and turn the corner for my gate, which is G16. To my dismay, I round the corner to gate G1. Sixteen gates may not sound like a lot, but try it after traveling for 13 plus hours, carrying a bunch of extra weight in the form of carry on luggage and with an untied shoe lace. I squeaked into the departure gate as they were announcing the final boarding for Syracuse. Finally someone in this hell hole of an airport was friendly to me (after his coworker barked "Syracuse? Hurry up!") and for what it's worth, he gave me a first class seat...though this is a mini plane with no real class differentiation. But I was right up front, second one off the plane. The tears started to well up at security but I resolutely held back. They started to well up again when I sat in my seat, sweating profusely, and realized there will be no one to comfort me with a hug and welcome me home when I touchdown! But I can't wait to see my dogs they and they were the compelling force behind me high tailing it through my least favorite airport in the world.

Saw a lightening storm on the plane. The ground and sky were clear outside my window and I could even see the big dipper, but there was a major storm in the distance. Very cool.

After gathering my bags and finding my dad's car which he left for me, I headed for home. About 5 minutes away from house, I see the red lights behind. Yup. Got pulled over. Apparently I'd driven for the past 25 miles without my lights on! Oops! The officer took pity on me though and sent me off with a warning.

When I finally made it home, Colby and Arrow were besides themselves in their delight to see me. They gave me a warm welcome and snuggled up to me, licked me profusely and generally wiggled and wagged. A nice welcome home after a long and stressful day.