Day 6 - Scarves and Unintended Firsts

I'm back from Birmingham, and it was a long day.  I started off by unintentionally setting off an elevator alarm for the first time.  I had my hands full, so I reached out to press the lobby button with my knuckles, and it wasn't until after I retracted my hand that I noticed the Alarm button was just below the LL button.  Lo and behold, the "help is on its way" button was flashing.  I had my camera bag in my right hand, and it had bumped the alarm button.  It was rather comforting that within about ten seconds a voice came through the speaker asking if everything was okay in the elevator.

I was hoping to get to the airport nice and early as I always do, but it wasn't to be.  I arrived just in time to board, so no breakfast in Birmingham.  That's okay, because I had an hour between flights.  Until the first flight was delayed and we had to sit out on the runway for about a half hour.  Land in Atlanta, make my way from Concourse D to Concourse B and they were boarding the flight to Boston.  No breakfast in Atlanta.  This has the potential for disaster, as my sisters and I have very sensitive moods in relation to our blood glucose levels.  Julie calls it "being in that place."  That's her euphamistic way of referring to when I haven't eaten and lose my ability to make decisions or handle any kind of stress without bugging out completely.  I usually have some sort of Clif bar or other emergency snack with me for just such an occurrence, but not on this trip.  I thought about purchasing one of the in flight snacks, but after looking at them in the Sky Magazine, I decided that I'd rather go hungry than eat that crapola, so I stuck with the peanuts they handed out, and a cranapple.

This time the small children (I always seem to have small children sitting in my vicinity these days) were on the other side of the aisle, and I was in the window seat.  This is good, as it wasn't me who was assaulted by the flying police bear.  The guy sitting in the aisle seat of our three seat grouping was leaning over, reading a magazine he had opened up on the tray table, when all of a sudden this teddy bear in a police uniform came whizzing across the aisle, both landing on his magazine and smacking him in the face.  He managed to keep his cool, which was admirable, but the mom didn't apologize nearly enough, which was not admirable.  She gave him a passing little, "Heh, sorry," and seemed more concerned about getting back the damn bear.  If that had been me and I hadn't had the saving peanut protein, the bear might have gone back in pieces.

At last we landed in Boston.  I was exhausted, having not slept well last night, and hungry, having only had a handful of nuts and a few ounces of juice, so I was highly susceptible to the pretty things that caught my eye in the shop directly across from our arrival gate at Logan.  The bright colors drew me right over, where I was pleasantly surprised to find a varied assortment of pashmina style scarves/shawls.    I've been intrigued by these things for about a year, ever since I read several articles touting their versatility for travelers.  Last fall I did purchase a similar weight shawl in my family's tartan (internet purchase from a shop in Scotland - it's the Henderson MacKendrick tartan), thinking it would be stylish and oh so practical, but it just didn't look as good as it did in my head.  Perhaps a tartan isn't as versatile as I was shooting for.  But it did keep me warm on Thanksgiving.  Plus, it's provided Julie with endless hours of entertainment.



In my sleep-deprived, glucose-starved mind, these colorful items were just the thing, so I went ahead and got a varied selection at only ten bucks per shawl.  I do believe this was my first fashion-oriented impulse purchase, and they are definitely my first pashminas, so I've gotten in my firsts for the day.



Upon arrival back home, I talked on the phone with Julie and she recommended I get some sushi, to which I rapidly agreed.  I called it in, didn't give my name, but was nonetheless told, "Okay, see you in ten minutes, Julie."  Back in the comfort zone at last.



Oh, they always call me Julie because the first time we placed a phone order, Julie placed the call.  They took the phone number and her name, and now her name is forever associated with our number in their computer system.  But that's okay, as long as I get my usual order.