Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

07/04/2005, 06:10 AM

(This was written in a journal when I was on the plane to Italy.)
Who knew I would ever actually write in here. But since I am on a plane, I cant get online to my blog. WHAT A DAY!!! We started off good. Left the hotel around 11am and started driving to Detroit. The car we got was awesome. Leather seats, sun roof, duel climate control! Then we hit the Michigan state line. Now we knew it would take us about 4.5 hours and planned to get there around 5pm. But upon entering MI, a huge sign said "Welcome to the Eastern Time Zone"!!!! No one told us about a time switch. Now we lost an hour? Not to mention the highway is now down to one lane! Not to fear, or so we think.

We arrive at the Detroit airport at 530pm EST. Yeah!!! we say thinking we have 2 hours until our plane takes off. Well, it takes until 7pm getting thru security and check in at which time we hear "Flight 54 to Rome, final boarding" What??? So now I have to run to our gate and tell them to hold the plane. Sweaty and out of breathe, we make it on, only to find out that 2 passengers sitting ahead of us are allergic to cats. ( Did I mention we are bringing one of our four cats in the cabin with us) So now, Bammy our cat cant sit with us! Its ok though. She not only gets a first class seat, but an awesome flight attendant to check in on here every once and a while. ( her cat just died so she was definitely willing to look after our cat.) Now we have to push out and taxi on the runway. This is where I breakdown. No, I am not scared to fly, it was just all the stress from the past few months deciding that now was the perfect time to come out. But after 10 minutes of crying and I was all better.

We got a delicious dinner on board. Pasta! go figure, right? It came with a side salad, a nice soft roll with butter, crackers and cheese, and a wonderful lemon crumb cake with coffee to follow. *Now the cabin lights are turned off* No problem. I have a book light and 2 books. Now we are currently up to date.

Daylight is beginning to break over the Atlantic as I finish my book, and my mother continues to watch the on flight movie. "Hitch" This is her 10th or so time seeing it. And she still loves it. ( We ordered it at one of the many hotels we were staying at in MN and she had to buy it when it came out) Hey, whatever makes her happy. So as we fly over the ocean, (did I mention I am scared to fly over water?) I write in here and am preparing to read yet another book. We have about...*checks watch* 4 hours left of the flight and then back to the hustle and bustle of an airport. This time where nobody speaks English. We have a service meeting us at the airport with a sign saying our last name. Just like you see in the movies. They are going to drive us to a car rental place where we are renting a big car, (4 cats, 4 suitcases, 2 carry-ons, 2 laptops and a big huge box). From there we will drive to Perugia where we are staying. From there??? Who knows. Its an adventure waiting to be written.