July 22nd found me like this:
...sitting in the airport, waiting to board a flight to go to Scotland!!
Let me explain. :-)
Monday evening (July 21st), Nat was finishing up last minute things (and major things, like exams and packing) before flying to Scotland the next day to attend my Dad and Anna's wedding. By this time, I knew there was "no way" I could attend the wedding, so I was learning to deal with the disappointment - lol! I sat down at the computer to check my email and what do you know??? I had an email from someone who wanted to buy me a plane ticket!! It felt too much like a dream so I had to ask Caleb if it was really happening. lol. Well, that night I booked a ticket and finally got to bed around midnight. I got up at 4 the next morning, took Nat to the airport, came straight home and started packing! Caleb took the day off work so he could take me to the airport. We got to the airport around 12:30, and my flight boarded at 2:30 or so. I flew from Houston to NC, then from NC to London, and finally from London to Glasgow. (I'll omit details about delays, missed flights, and all that good stuff. :-)) I arrived in Glasgow around 5 pm on Wednesday and Nome collected me from the airport. I should have mentioned earlier that this trip was a surprise for my family--Dad, Anna and the kids knew nothing about it. I wanted to surprise Rachel as well, but when I missed my flight in London I needed to let someone know, and her phone number was the only one I had memorized!! So, I stayed the night w/ Nome (I went to bed at 6 something and slept until past 10 the next morning! I had been up for 38 hours so I was pretty tired). FINALLY, it came time to go to the wedding!!! Josh and Gerrit were standing at the doors greeting people, and when they saw me walk up they were pretty surprised. :-) Josh seated me...next to the very front pew in the Glasgow church. Eventually, Dad and Alan (the best man) walked out of the vestry and came and sat on the front row. Dad didn't see me, but he was sitting directly in front of me...so I poked him in the back. He turned around, and needless to say, he was rather surprised as well. When the bride and bridesmaids came in, Anna (my sister) saw me, but Sarah didn't; so after the ceremony, Sarah got a surprise as well. The wedding was lovely and I'm so glad I was able to be there. (I am going to post a separate entry with wedding photos but I'll include a couple here.) The reception was held at the Hilton in Glasgow -- very posh!!
After the wedding, Dad and Anna stayed the night in the Hilton and the next day they went away to Northern Ireland (in Anna's car). Meanwhile, Nat, Sarah, Josh, Anna, Gerrit and I packed into Dad's car and had a very amusing 5+ (?) hour drive to Dingwall (via Fort William, where we briefly stopped in and downsized our luggage). We finally arrived at Peter and Rachel's (Friday evening) and stayed with them until Monday morning. On Saturday Gerrit and I went boating and I learned just how uncoordinated I am, when I tried rowing with the oars!
Well, we had a lovely time, enjoyed Rachel's wonderful cooking :-), and I cried when we left. :'(
We got back to Fort William in the early afternoon, went into town for a little while, etc., got to bed around midnight, and I got up at 3 the next morning. Nat and I left at 4 am, drove Dad's car to MJ's flat and left it (Sorry, Dad! And MJ! But we had permission from both. :-)). Mrs. Freeke very kindly collected us at 6:30 and took us to the airport. Nat and I sat around, half asleep, drinking something or other from Starbuck's. I didn't eat breakfast so I was super hungry. Nat's flight left first - around 9:15. My flight left at 11 and took me to Dublin, Ireland. From there I went to PA, and then to Houston. I arrived in Houston around 10:30 and Caleb was waiting to pick me up. :-) We got home close to midnight and I was SO tired. I slept until noon the next day and then went to the chiropractor for a much-needed adjustment!
The next day, Thursday, July 31, I got up early because I was supposed to be at the college by 7:30. I had agreed to help out at the New Student Orientation, so I did - for 6 hours. It was a lot of fun. We basically just handed out folders and schedules, served pizza and drinks, gave out t-shirts and door prizes, etc. to the new students that will be attended ACC this Fall. Best of all, I got to take home 3 boxes of Domino's pizza!!
Friday, August 1, Grandpa and Grammie came over and we had a nice visit. Then I mowed the grass, which had gotten pretty tall while I was away! And then that evening we visited some friends in Houston. On our way there, we stopped at Bass Pro Shop. Wow, that store is so neat!!
On Saturday, Caleb worked on the manse. Also, we made plans to go to Freeport on Monday.
Then...Sabbath night we got a phone call saying that there was a tropical storm in the Gulf which was due to hit Freeport Monday afternoon as a Category 1 hurricane. However, Monday started out with beautiful sunshine so Caleb checked the weather and it looked like the tropical storm was moving in a different direction. Weather.com said to expect storms around 3 pm. So Caleb and I decided to go to Freeport anyway and just leave as soon as it started looking stormy. We arrived in Freeport at 11:18--and oh, I forgot to mention that we took Shannon with us. Anyway, I found an amazing shovel buried in the sand and discovered that it's quite fun to dig holes...in fact, so fun that by the time we left, Caleb diagnosed me as having ODD -- Obsessive Digging Disorder.
At 1:18 we got a phone call from someone at Caleb's job saying that work had been cancelled for the next day (because of the approaching storm). Then we got a call saying that Alvin College had closed down until Wednesday. Well, 5 o'clock rolled around and we were still at the beach and it was still beautiful weather! The storm ended up landing near LA and all we got was probably 1 in of rain.
Since work was cancelled for Tuesday (this was still before the storm made landfall), Caleb and I decided to visit the Verner-Hogg Plantation in West Columbia. It took roughly 45 minutes to get there...only to discover that it was closed. And I only managed to get one photo before my phone battery died.
That evening (which was last night), Caleb, Nat and I went to On the Border for supper (a Mexican restaurant in Pearland). It was great. I got a raspberry Margarita, which Nat decided to try (without my permission!!):
And then today (far less exciting), I scheduled my last vaccine, bought some of my textbooks for nursing school (2 books and one program, which totaled nearly $300), and had a TERRIBLE time trying to install the program on my PDA. Last night I bought a memory card for my PDA and now it's saying READ ONLY and won't let me put anything on it. Arrgh. I have a lot more programs to buy and install and I have a feeling that by the time I'm finished I will need some type of therapy.
Okay, I guess I better get off here.....
Monday evening (July 21st), Nat was finishing up last minute things (and major things, like exams and packing) before flying to Scotland the next day to attend my Dad and Anna's wedding. By this time, I knew there was "no way" I could attend the wedding, so I was learning to deal with the disappointment - lol! I sat down at the computer to check my email and what do you know??? I had an email from someone who wanted to buy me a plane ticket!! It felt too much like a dream so I had to ask Caleb if it was really happening. lol. Well, that night I booked a ticket and finally got to bed around midnight. I got up at 4 the next morning, took Nat to the airport, came straight home and started packing! Caleb took the day off work so he could take me to the airport. We got to the airport around 12:30, and my flight boarded at 2:30 or so. I flew from Houston to NC, then from NC to London, and finally from London to Glasgow. (I'll omit details about delays, missed flights, and all that good stuff. :-)) I arrived in Glasgow around 5 pm on Wednesday and Nome collected me from the airport. I should have mentioned earlier that this trip was a surprise for my family--Dad, Anna and the kids knew nothing about it. I wanted to surprise Rachel as well, but when I missed my flight in London I needed to let someone know, and her phone number was the only one I had memorized!! So, I stayed the night w/ Nome (I went to bed at 6 something and slept until past 10 the next morning! I had been up for 38 hours so I was pretty tired). FINALLY, it came time to go to the wedding!!! Josh and Gerrit were standing at the doors greeting people, and when they saw me walk up they were pretty surprised. :-) Josh seated me...next to the very front pew in the Glasgow church. Eventually, Dad and Alan (the best man) walked out of the vestry and came and sat on the front row. Dad didn't see me, but he was sitting directly in front of me...so I poked him in the back. He turned around, and needless to say, he was rather surprised as well. When the bride and bridesmaids came in, Anna (my sister) saw me, but Sarah didn't; so after the ceremony, Sarah got a surprise as well. The wedding was lovely and I'm so glad I was able to be there. (I am going to post a separate entry with wedding photos but I'll include a couple here.) The reception was held at the Hilton in Glasgow -- very posh!!
After the wedding, Dad and Anna stayed the night in the Hilton and the next day they went away to Northern Ireland (in Anna's car). Meanwhile, Nat, Sarah, Josh, Anna, Gerrit and I packed into Dad's car and had a very amusing 5+ (?) hour drive to Dingwall (via Fort William, where we briefly stopped in and downsized our luggage). We finally arrived at Peter and Rachel's (Friday evening) and stayed with them until Monday morning. On Saturday Gerrit and I went boating and I learned just how uncoordinated I am, when I tried rowing with the oars!Well, we had a lovely time, enjoyed Rachel's wonderful cooking :-), and I cried when we left. :'(
We got back to Fort William in the early afternoon, went into town for a little while, etc., got to bed around midnight, and I got up at 3 the next morning. Nat and I left at 4 am, drove Dad's car to MJ's flat and left it (Sorry, Dad! And MJ! But we had permission from both. :-)). Mrs. Freeke very kindly collected us at 6:30 and took us to the airport. Nat and I sat around, half asleep, drinking something or other from Starbuck's. I didn't eat breakfast so I was super hungry. Nat's flight left first - around 9:15. My flight left at 11 and took me to Dublin, Ireland. From there I went to PA, and then to Houston. I arrived in Houston around 10:30 and Caleb was waiting to pick me up. :-) We got home close to midnight and I was SO tired. I slept until noon the next day and then went to the chiropractor for a much-needed adjustment!
The next day, Thursday, July 31, I got up early because I was supposed to be at the college by 7:30. I had agreed to help out at the New Student Orientation, so I did - for 6 hours. It was a lot of fun. We basically just handed out folders and schedules, served pizza and drinks, gave out t-shirts and door prizes, etc. to the new students that will be attended ACC this Fall. Best of all, I got to take home 3 boxes of Domino's pizza!!
Friday, August 1, Grandpa and Grammie came over and we had a nice visit. Then I mowed the grass, which had gotten pretty tall while I was away! And then that evening we visited some friends in Houston. On our way there, we stopped at Bass Pro Shop. Wow, that store is so neat!!
On Saturday, Caleb worked on the manse. Also, we made plans to go to Freeport on Monday.
Then...Sabbath night we got a phone call saying that there was a tropical storm in the Gulf which was due to hit Freeport Monday afternoon as a Category 1 hurricane. However, Monday started out with beautiful sunshine so Caleb checked the weather and it looked like the tropical storm was moving in a different direction. Weather.com said to expect storms around 3 pm. So Caleb and I decided to go to Freeport anyway and just leave as soon as it started looking stormy. We arrived in Freeport at 11:18--and oh, I forgot to mention that we took Shannon with us. Anyway, I found an amazing shovel buried in the sand and discovered that it's quite fun to dig holes...in fact, so fun that by the time we left, Caleb diagnosed me as having ODD -- Obsessive Digging Disorder.
At 1:18 we got a phone call from someone at Caleb's job saying that work had been cancelled for the next day (because of the approaching storm). Then we got a call saying that Alvin College had closed down until Wednesday. Well, 5 o'clock rolled around and we were still at the beach and it was still beautiful weather! The storm ended up landing near LA and all we got was probably 1 in of rain.
Since work was cancelled for Tuesday (this was still before the storm made landfall), Caleb and I decided to visit the Verner-Hogg Plantation in West Columbia. It took roughly 45 minutes to get there...only to discover that it was closed. And I only managed to get one photo before my phone battery died.
That evening (which was last night), Caleb, Nat and I went to On the Border for supper (a Mexican restaurant in Pearland). It was great. I got a raspberry Margarita, which Nat decided to try (without my permission!!):
And then today (far less exciting), I scheduled my last vaccine, bought some of my textbooks for nursing school (2 books and one program, which totaled nearly $300), and had a TERRIBLE time trying to install the program on my PDA. Last night I bought a memory card for my PDA and now it's saying READ ONLY and won't let me put anything on it. Arrgh. I have a lot more programs to buy and install and I have a feeling that by the time I'm finished I will need some type of therapy.
Okay, I guess I better get off here.....
3 comments:
I really enjoyed reading this update, but I had to make a couple of comments...first of all, do you really watch the clock that closely, that you know that you arrived at the beach at exactly 11:18? And that you got a phone call at 1:18? :p just had to ask. Also, I liked all the pictures, but Caleb looks kind of upset in the picture of him!
I'm really glad that you got to go to your Dad's wedding and see all your siblings--I liked the picture of all of you together.
Hi Sharon,
LOL! Yes, I actually do watch the clock pretty closely. But most of the time, I rely on the "calls received/missed calls/calls made" thing on my phone. For instance, I know I called my brother when we arrived at the beach, so when I was writing my blog I looked through the "calls made" on my phone to see what time that was. And I also checked to see what time we got a call from one of Caleb's coworkers. So, hopefully that answers your question. :-)
Regarding the photo of Caleb, he was intently reading the menu!! :-) That photo was taken before the other two.
Hey, Mark and I ate at that On the Border in Pearland! The food was pretty good :)
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