Thanksgiving in Ohio

I didn't start packing for this trip until Tuesday night. I left on Wednesday morning. Had I really been thinking, I would have skipped Dutch class on Tuesday, packed and chilled on the couch with F. Instead, when I heard that we weren't having choir rehearsal on Tuesday, and knowing I wouldn't be in class on Thursday, I offered to go to class on Tuesday. Whatever. I'm here now.

My flight was forever. It was literally twelve hours. Eight to Detroit, with a delay on the tarmac and then another hour to Cincinnati. Fortunately I started on my voyage prepared with lots of things to do. I did sudoku until I realized that I my brain wasn't firing on all pistons. Then I switched to inflight games - solotaire with cards and with those little Chinese blocks. It was fabulous - and I was in economy. This is international Northwest for those taking notes. They also had a selection of inflight movies. I had a little trouble choosing between Hustle and Flow and Junebug, but I went with the latter. I enjoyed it. It had quite a few parallels to how I imagine things going when I bring F to Texas. It's mostly the juxtaposition of the two cultures/ways of living. My mother is not a bleach blonde chain-smoker, but there are similarities.

The problem with flying is that everything coming to the US has to go through triple security checks. I was given this bit of information by the counterwoman at Schiphol. Then I lived it. It's just a matter of being scanned and being questioned. Interesting the way they ask questions. This is an exaggeration, but it went something like this:

"How many electronic devices do you have with you?"

"Two. An electronic toothbrush and an ipod."

"Which of these are explosive?"

"Uhm...none."

It wasn't that direct, but it was a question where they are looking for a number and the only correct number is zero. Like terrorists are not smart enough to listen. Like they'll say, "The tootbrush...Wait! Damn! You tricked me!"

So I arrived last night. Patty and Grace were there to greet me. So good to see Patty. Grace is a little standoff-ish, but she'll warm up to me, I hope.

I woke up at 4:30 with, I could tell, no hope of returning to sleep. I looked through a few things, got organized. A couple of things exploded during the flight. One was a bag of drop and one was shampoo (yes, I still use shampoo) Then I looked at a few things I'd bought and had sent here and listened to my ipod. I can entertain myself.

Oh. During the flight, after Junebug, I listened to Shopgirl, read by Steve Martin. I enjoyed it. I want to listen to it again. I thought his story telling style was a little strange, not sure why. But I liked the story.

Cathy's up. That's Patty's mother. I should help her with the turkey. It's like 24 pounds.