Saturday Shopping

We were to pick up my cousin from the airport around noon on Saturday. He will be staying with us for a bit, and then head off to various parts of Australia before heading further on in his round the world trip. He will be spending Christmas with us... which is great, as we dont seem to ever get family staying with us at Christmas.. any other times of the year, we might get the call that family is coming for a visit, but never for xmas!

Due to unmentionables, lets just say the airport pickup wasnt at noon as planned. We knew his plane would not be arriving at the scheduled time, but we continued to head down the highway of happy travellers at our expected departure time anyway. We wanted to stop by the new hotel at the airport and be nosy.. so we had plenty of time to wander and be curious!

The highway was full of people, boats, campers, and everything in between. As we drove my camper after camper with drivers looking so unhappy, all I could think, was no friggin way... give me a hotel anyday! Im not sure what it is about the holidays where people convince themselves they NEED to be doing such activities... and still look so miserable. My feeling: if your not happy doing it, dont. Man, I couldnt find one group of people in a vehicle that looked happy to be on their way to holiday mode. The guy has a camper attached to his truck which is more than a few years of my salary combined, and a loan.. and he looks miserable. Oh the xmas joy was spreading quickly! So, whats a girl to do.. turn the IPOD on, and do a jig in the car... before we knew it, we were singing, dancing, laughing... and Im sure the other drivers thought we were on medication... didnt matter, we were in good spirits!

Bah Humbug to you Mr Grumpy pants with the kids all loaded, half of your house loaded into the camper, and the ice melting down the back seat...

Anyway, so of course, as Murphy's Law goes... we didnt have to be at the airport at any specific time, and guess what... we got the best run on the highway and it only took an hour to get there.. .and we werent even speeding! Of course, if we had to be at the arrivals gate at an allocated time, we would have run into traffic chaos and probably been delayed for our guests! Oh well!

We stopped by the new airport hotel.. nice! Spendy.. but nice! Then onto the Factory Outlet Stores to bid some time. Well, time & dollars later at my favorite store.. hello FILA! and then at the hair store (certain friends think Im opening my own hair supply store)! It was wonderful to be able to just browse in the shops and not be rushed. I never take the time to just go and look... and it was perfect time to not be on a schedule, at least for a few hours.

So, shopping done, lunch done, and we wander to the airport. Theres a slim possbility that my cousin is on the 2:15 plane, probably not, unless luck went his way (which clearly wasnt happening) but we went just in case. We watched the line of people dwindle, and then pick back up, and then dwindle, and then pick back up. What creates that long lull in the getting of the airplane? It was really neat to see 2 kids arrive off the plane with an attendant, and they walk over to their dad where he signs off on the kids and hugs them. We find out the kids are visiting him for a month. He looks thrilled & the kids look happy. As we turn the corner, I see the man wiping his eyes from tears... neat moment to see.

Anyway, my cousin arrived on the 3:15 plane, and it was great to see him! I always remembered him being taller.. so either I have had a growing spurt or he is shrinking. Neither one wants to admit those options.. so I cant really give you an answer there! Its been great catching up and showing him a few sights, and just having family around again. Feels nice!

Well, big day of appts tomorrow... chiro and then CT Scan on my hips, which may or may not give some answers to the knee issues. WHo knows.. all I know is I have to somehow figure out where the damn place is, as Miss Secret on the phone didnt know the address of where she works and therefore couldnt give me exacts. And, wouldnt you know it that the paper the doctor wrote the details on is an old pad, and the 'new' office is not listed. Oh the fun of tomorrow!

I will write tomorrow about our lunch at the French Restaurant.. yummy!