Hello from South Carolina!!

Ok so I'm home now but I did write a very long and lengthy entry about my trip while I was there on my moms computer and upon spellchecking I lost it all. Don't ask me how....I don't know...It was just gone. So I'm going to attempt to recreate it and catch the very excitement I was feeling at that time. So here it goes......

Hello From South Carolina!! I can't tell you how great it is to be here and see my mom. Its been way to long. This has been a great trip.

Friday
our flight was at 4:30pm, so we were up half the night cleaning getting things together and making sure the pets were taken care of. We made a deal with the roomies daughter and so she is going to take care of sofie, buster and the fish while were gone. So that's good. At 1:30 the limo came and were off to the airport. Once we got to the airport it was really fast. We checked in (no line) got our boarding passes and still had an hour to kill before our flight, so we got McDonald and enjoyed a meal while we waited. We had a stop in Atlanta but we weren't supposed to change planes. However there was an "equiptment change" and was told that we had to board another plane which was located in another terminal about an hour away from where we were. Not a happy camper. They never told us how much time we had but to "just go" so we went. In our travels I happen to notice the departure board and spotted our flight which was set to leave at 8:21pm. I looked at my watch it was 8:30. So were running and there where other people with us so I was feeling confident that these people know what they are doing and they know that were on our way etc, etc....We finally get there about 10 min later and they were just boarding our flight. I noticed the board and it said 9:00pm. phew!!

so we board. Now the only thing keeping us is the other plane in front of us with a kitchen fire so we had to wait for that situation to get under control before we could leave. It only delayed us about a half hour. We finally get to myrtle beach and there is my mom waiting at the gate like a little puppy seeing its owner and wanting to run but can't because the gate says you can't go any further and she was standing there jumping up and down waiting for us. It was sooooo great to see her again. I've missed her so much. She met Sarah for the first time and I was home again.

we go to baggage claim and to no avail......Our bags didn't make the trip with us. So we had to file a claim and they will deliver them when they get there. Been there done that...No biggie. Were driving to my moms house and I'm looking around. It was dark out but I could still see some things...Like palm trees and tropical plants all around. The weather was cool but not like Chicago so that was nice, it was just really nice. The house was gorgeous and big and new (she just moved in about a month ago) her roommate wasn't there so we got the grand tour, mom made us something to eat and we basically went to bed. It was about midnight and we were tired.

Saturday - Christmas Day
our luggage arrived. It was a rough night for me. We were sleeping on a futon which was comfy enough but my legs kept cramping up. charlie horsed all night long. Even my feet. I'm thinking all the running we did at the airport got the best of me but it was ok. I'm also getting sick. I've got this tickle in my throat that won't go away and I can't stop coughing. I felt bad cuz I was thinking I was keeping everyone up so I had a pretty restless night. When I got up my mom had coffee and breakfast ready and then we ventured out for a little while. My moms roommate was having her family over so we were cooking most of the day but my mom needed help clearing out her place at the resort she was staying at before she moved so we helped her gather a few boxes to bring home. It was pretty chilly out. The weather has not been at all nice.
when we got home we basically cooked all the food and was noshing on finger foods, cheese and crackers appetizer and stuff while we waited. We made ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (which never made it out) stuffed mushrooms, bread, salads, gravy, veggies, more veggies and I'm sure some other stuff I'm not remembering at this time. It was alllll gooood!!! Oh and I almost forgot about the wine that we consumed. Lots of wine. A merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Sunday
we finally had our day of shopping. We started out going to wal-mart of course. My mom LOVES walmart. One of her gifts was her very own walmart holiday shirt which she loves and wore this day as we went to shop. She needed some furniture. Computer desk, night stand and a dresser, she got a rug and some other little things. Me I bought some halls and cold medicine. My cold was getting worse and I sounded horrible. This tickle was not so funny. So she spent about 400 bucks in walmart and enjoy the discount I get and was pretty satisfied. It was pouring down rain when we left and cold. Nasty cold weather. After we dropped off the furniture it was back to the resort to get the rest of her stuff and move her out of that place. This was her last official day there and needed to clear out her stuff. So we did and got that done and went back home. We haven't eaten all day and was talking about hot open roast beef sandwiches and ice cream when we get home and so we did. It was sooo good. Probably cause we were so damn hungry and working so hard that anything would have tasted good at that point but you know how leftovers go. Always better the next day and they were.

after dinner we started putting her furniture together and getting her organized. I got the night stand done first and then tackled the computer desk. It was about midnight when I got most of the desk done and then moms went to bed and I got on the computer to write this entry that I lost and went to bed around 1am.

Monday
today was another day of shopping and sushi. Whenever I see my mom we have sushi. So we went to some shops and I picked up some souvenirs for my friends and off we go to have some sushi. It was all good. The place was small and quaint and poor Sarah was a trooper. She doesn't like it and so she ordered the tempora chicken. I figured that that would be close enough to something she would eat and she did. She ate the rice too but it wasn't enough to really satisfy her so I told her that we would stop at subway and she can get a sandwich and that made her happy. I'm quite proud of her. She tried a lot of things she would never eat and granted didn't like most of it but I'm proud of her for trying. She enjoyed her sandwich a lot. After that we came home and I finished putting the dresser together and we got my mom all set. She went through some stuff, old pictures that she gave me, memories all around me. It was such a nice feeling.

Tuesday
our flight was at 1:30pm so we basically had a nice lunch and got everything together and off to the airport we went. Saying goodbye was hard. I was getting sicker than ever. My cough was getting worse and all I wanted to do was lay in bed and have my mommy take care of me. So we said our good byes and checked in and waited for our flight.

I'm checking out this plane and its one of those propeller planes and I'm thinking....No freaking way". I was really scared. But it wasn't as bad as I thought and all was good. We had another connecting flight in Atlanta and this time we had an hour before our next flight so we took our time getting to the other end of the terminal and actually had time to pick up something to eat and we go to the gate and see they are starting to board and Sarah says......I don't' have my purse. she left her purse on the plane. Technically I never gave it to her. It was in the overhead and I didn't know it and so I only pulled out our coats thinking she had her bag like she always does but this time she didn't. So we had them call the other gate and they had her purse but our connecting flight was boarding and we couldn't miss it so we had to get the information to lost and found and god I hope this works out. Her wallet was in there but there was no money in it. She cancelled her bank card and that was the only major thing in there. Everything else can be replaced. But still. Pain. In. The. Ass. So yes she was upset but not enough to miss the flight so we boarded. We get to Chicago and again....Waiting for our bags which are no where to be found and again we file a claim for our bags and the limo is waiting and off we go.....Home sweet home.

it was around 7pm I guess and buster was just too happy to see us. He missed us for sure. Around 8:30 we got a call saying that our luggage had arrived and will be delivered that night. I thought great. So we waited upstairs around 10 thinking it would take about 2 hours to get here from the airport and 11, midnight, 2am...No bags. I fell asleep on the couch and Sarah woke me up at 5 and I went to bed.

I called in this morning to let them know that I wouldn't be in cuz I didn't have my luggage and well....All my pants were in there so I don't have any pants to wear, they understood and frankly.....I was glad to stay home cuz my cold was kicking today and I needed the rest. The tickle is gone but I'm still congested and my sinuses are bothering me now. Anyway.....They finally showed up this afternoon and now I'm just waiting for Sarah to come home from work.

all in all the trip was great, seeing my mom again was great, and south Carolina was really nice. Really nice. So its back to work tomorrow, it will be nice to see everyone again....I sure did miss them too and now its back to the bump and grind.

Hugs, Jeannine