Vacation from vacation

We packed a whole lot into this past week and a half. A road trip with our little family where we stopped at a greasy spoon somewhere in Nevada and Atti drank my hot chocolate.

A family reunion with a lot of great family and Atti got to hang with his favorite cousin Kai. Kai is the definition of cool in Atti’s eyes.

I performed in a storytelling series and got a surprise from one of my very best friends who flew out to support me.

And another surprise came when a last minute ticket came available to the EVO blogging conference and I changed all my plans to hang out with bloggers and take pictures with Minnie Mouse.

I got a lot of good work in, I saw so many of my most favorite people, I learned a ton and made great connections, and I made it home in one piece.

Although I nearly didn’t. My last day in town I was supposed to turn the rental car in a few hours before my plane left. I decided to extend my rental so I could take my time packing and cleaning up the place I was staying, and maybe even take a nap. I woke up an hour before my plane left.

I sprinted out of the apartment, raced to the airport as fast as I could, turned in the rental car and lugged my enormous luggage swollen with conference swag up to the gate. My luggage was overweight, but I had no time to try to come up with a solution, so I paid the extra fee, then got in line at security, sweating like crazy and stressed about getting to the gate on time. Just as I got through the metal detector I heard a final boarding call announced over the loudspeakers, so with my purse around my neck and my laptop bag banging against my knees, I sprinted through the concourse.

I got to the gate and everything was shut up tight. Nobody in a uniform was anywhere near me. I was screwed. And having an asthma attack from running while weighed down and at high altitude.

Then I checked my phone and found an email from the airline informing me that the gate had been changed. I took off running again, collapsing at the customer service desk as I panted, “Oakland? Did I make it?” The two blond ladies just looked at me quizzically and said, “Your plane isn’t even here yet.”

Apparently that wasn’t my Oakland flight they were calling.

I was panting and sweating and gasping for air, and laughing at myself and my ridiculousness, but all of that was way better than missing my flight. I’ve spent all day snuggling Atti after being away from him for a week, unpacking suitcases, going through photos, and so much more trying to get caught up and back to life. I think it will take me a week.

My vacation wasn’t exactly restful, but it was a nice contrast to the rest of my life. Today, normality seems like the vacation.