Oh There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays!

I SENT IN MY APPLICATION!!!

I am done and freeeeeee! Hopefully I will get in, I'll let you know.

Now, I know that everyone wants to know what it is like to be a nanny, and I will tell you, but not today. What I will say is that it affords me lots of free time, which I will be using to update my blog.

But, right now, I'm going to write a post of been thinking of for a while now: Christmas in So Cal.


I consider myself a seasoned traveller, a veterane if you will. I've had it all happen to me: plane turned around because something wasn't working, been put up in a hotel two or three times (who can keep track?), almost missed countless flights, waited outside in the rain for a bus from Newark- if it sucks and it involves public transportation it has probably happened to me. This is because hillarious mishaps follow me (the reason I started a blog) and since I have been bi-costal for going on seven years now- I fly A LOT.

Knowing all of this I approach flying and travelling in general in a very casual way. I know how long it will take me to pack, how to pack, what to pack, how to keep my bag from weighing too much and how early to leave for the airport. I'm usually that girl who is settled into her prime terminal seat, reading her book and laughing to herself.

Not this time!

I flew out of T.F. Green, which is in Providence RI, at like 7 in the morning or something ungodly like that. This would have involved getting out the door of my apartment before 4 am. Thankfully I have two beautiful friends who live quite close to Providence and they let me crash at thier place.

At 6 in the morning I got into my freezing cold car and started it, I was careful to let it warm up for a while because it had died on me the night before. Everything seemed fine so I put the car in drive and rolled out...about 5 inches. MY CAR DIED! I HAD to be at the airport in twenty minutes and my car was dead. I texted Mia: Do you know how to jump a car? Her response was to throw on some clothes and drive my idiotic ass to the airport. How awesome is she??? And she was totally nice about it, and thanked me for giving her an opportunity to see the sun rise. Mia is seriously an awesome awesome lady!

But my adventure wasn't quite over. I was still too late for a holiday flight. So I did what my experience has taught me to do. I got in the curbside check line. I paid close attention to the time and when it was 35 minutes before my flight and I was still halfway back in the line, I asked to people behind me to watch my bags and went up the one of the guys. I explained my predicament and he asked if I was a good tipper. "Of course", I replied. He motioned for me to come closer, lowered his voice and said, "Get your bags and meet me in the hallway". He checked my bags on the DL and I gave him 5 bucks.

Success! I made my flight and even got a window seat. Nice

This will be continued later. I need to go pick up Alison from school now.

Pity Party

Being single can be really good sometimes and it can really suck sometimes.

I was just reminded of one of the things I hate the most about being single: there is generally no one waiting for you at the airport when you arrive home from a trip. There have been a few times in my life when someone has been there, someone who has truly missed me while I was away and would never dream of waiting a moment longer to see me. On those occasions that person usually came up to me and gave me a huge hug and a kiss and took my bags for me and drove me home.

I lied, that hasn't only happened a few times. That is also what happens every time I fly into California- and sometimes there is even a lita (grandma) and a puppy there to greet me too, and if im really lucky there's a little man (my brother). But almost without fail my mom is there with a big smile, a hug, a kiss, a new hair cut and eventually a comment about my unwaxed eyebrows. (Remind me to be more apprecative of this on my next return to the golden state)

Today, instead of all this loveliness, I flew into Boston and was confronted with the realization that once again I forgot to ask a friend to come pick me up, my clothes are not warm enough, my bag is too heavy, my cell phone is completely dead, and I have run out of tissue to blow my damn sick ass nose with!

Thank god my work is right off the blue line (airport line) and I can access it on the weekend. So here I am, updating my blog in the hopes that claudia will call and come rescue me. If not I have a bag full of warm clothes to change into and a desk that I can burden with some of my heavier articles. Thus solving most of my problems- warmth and a lighter bag; the bacterial cold and lack of hugs, kisses and a ride home are going to take longer to solve...

by the way- Spain was great, more on that later.

¿Hola, que tal? ¡Estoy en España!

Hello everyone!

I am currently in madrid with all of my most avid blog readers: Leilani, Lindsay, Priscilla, and Carolina.

We are having a great time and acting like crazy spanish people staying up all night dancin (6 am in the clubs baby)

running out of time in the internet cafe bye

Thank you...where ever you are

I have many different things to say...especially since I spent 5 short lived days at home in sunny SoCal, but I am going to use these last few minutes of work to send a special shoutout to a kind stranger.

Yesterday I flew into Boston on a Redeye flight, not to worry, no one tried to blackmail me while I was on it- but I did get a row all to myself. Anyway, I got in at about 6 am, got my bags (one was big because I have started to really settle into Boston and I smuggled some homey goods over with me) and took public transportation all the way home.

Public Transportation from Logan to my part of The Ville: Bus to T (Subway), Blue Line to Orange Line (I sent this post to Anastasia for editing purposes and she told me I should include the part about how I broke the T, so here ya go:

Oh ya, I broke the orange line. The doors were about to close and i ran and stuck my foot between them so it would trigger the sensor and open...it did...i got in....and they stayed open......open...........open........................open.....I started to wonder if other people also thought i broke the T....but no one was looking at me.......then T guys started running back and fourth and a woman's voice kept saying "close the doors"....then nothing would happen.....then she said it again and they did close.....but then nothing happened.....then they opened them again and a few minutes later they told us to de-train because it was disabled. Then we had to wait and watch the train sit there some more and finally it left and another came...GUH....I BROKE THE T!)

, then I got off the Subway and began walking (rolling one small bag and one big one AND carrying a satchel....after years of experience I have the technique down) to look for a cab....and I walked....and I walked, and finally I got on a bus (my mother specifically gave me money for a cab because we figured the bus would be too much hassle but it was cold).

By the time I arrived home I was tired, so I left my bags downstairs and took a one hour nap before going to work. Then I got up and took the same bus back to the subway station...

Here is where my wonderful stranger comes in:

I went to swipe my "Charlie Card" to use the T and it wouldn't work, so I got in the long line to buy a token. Then people on the other side of the turnstile started to run...I knew my train was coming and being three people back in line for a token I knew I would miss it.

Then, out of nowhere, a scruffy looking middle-aged man came up to me and held a card out in his hand.
"Do you want this?” he asked.
"(Blank stare)", I replied, holding out my hand and taking the card.
"It is only good on the Subway," he said, turning around and walking away.
"Thank you," she mumbled, still unable to register the interaction.

I stumbled over to the turnstile and swiped the card...pushed the bar and walked through...Suddenly the reality of how nice the man had been, and how soon the train would leave hit me at once. I ran and barely made it in the doors before they closed.

Now granted this is only a December T pass and will expire on the first, but considering that the T is much more convenient than the bus and I can take it back and fourth to work- it is at least a $10 value for me...that man stood there and handed me ten bucks and I didn't even have my wits about me to thank him...

To the kind stranger who gave me an unsolicited present: Thank you very much, I promise I will find some way to pay the present forward (you know, like that movie, always thought it was a genuinely simple and profound idea...)