Final Preparations Lead to a Flight

Greetings!  I am writing this 35,000 feet above the state of Maine.  We're traveling at 645 mph, and the temperature outside is -61 degrees F.  We'll soon be on the Transatlantic part of this flight, and if you haven't guessed yet... I'm on my flight to London for my connection flight.  I'm on British Airways, and this is just so cozy.  When I got on the plane, my seat had a night blindfold waiting, a pair of socks, a mini-toothbrush with toothpaste, a super soft blanket, and a pair of headphones.  That's service!  I also just finished my meal, which was chicken and pasta, with a salad, a nice roll, and apple pie desert.  All of things were actually really good, rather than being cafeteria food or something.  I am pleased.

So while this flight is almost 8 hours long, and we're not even over the ocean yet... this isn't bad.  I got a seat with extra leg room, and it is only two people wide on the side.  To top it off, the seat next to me is empty, so I've got some room.  AND I'm watching Ghost on my personal retractable television.  I'd like to say that it is in dedication to Patrick Swayze, but it is honestly only for Whoopi Goldberg.  AND the cream of the crop here... I'm sitting in this airplane throne while wearing my Snuggie™.  More on that a bit later.

Anyhow, Whew!  The last four days have been, naturally, quite busy.  On Friday, I capped off my 80-hour pay period at work and turned in my keys.  On Sunday night, Matt and I went out for one last dinner at Sushi Muramoto in Madison.  We got sushi with our entrees (duck and steak).  Then went to the Sundance and saw Slumdog Millionaire, which was incredible by the way.

I certainly wasn't prepared to say goodbye to Matt the next morning, but how can you be?  We've talked about it for months, with no logical way of preparing for a goodbye.  There are just so many unanswered questions.  I then had my last lunch with my brothers Erik and Jacob in Madison, before meeting up with Lucy and Lyndsey.

I have no idea what I would do without Lyndsey, especially.  She has honestly helped me pack for every trip that I've been on since middle school.  I feel spoiled.  This time Lucy, Dan, and Lyndsey all deserve major props for helping me sort through my room and make decisions on what to bring.  We packed two suitcases (not full), my medium size luggage for carry on, and then I'm also using my laptop bag.

Yesterday (Tuesday), I spent my last day in Racine with Alex and Eric, and we went to shoot pool and had dinner at Alex's.  It was a great last night.

Now to get back to the big news:  Dan bought me a Snuggie™ for my flight!  Yes, of the As Seen On TV fame, I now own a Snuggie.  I mean, blankets are okay, but they can slip and slide.  And when you go to reach for something, your hands are trapped inside!  It even came with the book light.  :-)

Anyhow, my very last task before leaving was reducing the service on my iPhone so it can go into storage, and then scanning everything in my wallet so I'd have record of it if it gets stolen or lost.  I was feeling a bit better after getting that all done.  With that, I loaded everything into the car and headed for Chicago with my Mom, Eric, and Amanda.  I had Wendy's as my last American meal... how charming.

Either way, this is only the beginning of my flights to Cape Town.  I'll have a four hour layover in London, then a 12 hour flight to Cape Town.  Let's hope I can find another Whoopi Goldberg movie.  And that the flight attendants have wonderful British accents.