I’m back! Just barely after what was the most harrowing takeoff I’ve ever experienced out of Reno last night. I guess I should have expected that it wouldn’t be smooth sailing when the weather reports predicted up to 100 mph winds over the ridges there, but it just didn’t occur to me that it would be that bad. From the moment the wheels left the ground, we were shaking, bouncing, tipping to the side, and making stomach-dropping dips during our ascent. I thought we were going down for sure. I really did. It was either that or I was going to hurl. You could hear great swoops of air washing over the plane like waves, and after each whoosh and dip, I scooched lower and lower in my seat, holding my black puffer jacket over my face, quietly repeating “Oh God. Oh God.” into the folds. It wasn’t pretty.

Yes, everyone, I suddenly became a major wussbag. After the fact, I reminded myself of this lady sitting next to me on a flight to Vegas once. Straight away she ordered a couple of Jacks and Diet Cokes, and then sat rigidly throughout the entire flight. As we started to descend into Vegas, we hit a bit of light turbulence while making a turn, and she immediately gripped the armrest and said shrilly, “We’re plummeting…Plummeting!” Wondering if I should be alarmed, I glanced out the window, saw all was well, and said, “Na, I think we’re okay.”

Maybe I’ve just been lucky to never have experienced turbulence like last night in the past, because this was a major shocker to me. I went through a phase a couple of years ago where I didn’t like flying at all and got really nervous, but recently I’ve been so proud of how calm and fine I am during flights. I hope I can hang on to my cool now.

After the rocky start out of Reno, we continued to hit bumps until we reached Seattle. I didn’t end up getting sick, but I did return home feeling pretty queasy. That didn’t stop me from making a dash, after I retrieved my car, to the High Dive to catch Airport Cathedral. Em and I ended up arriving just after the set had started (my plane was late as well), and it was okay. Short. We ended up playing a few games of photo match to make staying up late and hoofing it down there worth our while.

Before I go on about my trip, I must tell you that the mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joes are so delicious. I do recommend.

Tahoe was lots of fun! I spent a bunch of time hanging out with Trav, which was really great, because he's pretty much the cutest baby I've ever seen. Although, he was out of sorts at first. He had a tooth coming in, was off his sleep schedule, and seemed to have issues adjusting to his new surroundings. Plus, I think he was just bored from spending so much time in the car as Molly and Joe ran around trying to find a place to live, a car to buy, etc. He got better after tons of attention and playtime with me and Grammy, and, after Mom and Rex left Sunday morning, he enrolled in Megan’s Baby Boot Camp, which he actually seemed to enjoy. In addition to continuing work on a good eating and sleep schedule, Boot Camp involved lots of playing outside, visiting the geese at the lake, practicing walking inside and out (a big undertaking, but he’s improving rapidly), climbing stairs over and over again, making Little People soup out of his little people toys, a pan and a spoon, “computing,” and dancing to Goldfrapp’s “Boys Will Be Boys” about a dozen times. He loves “Boys Will Be Boys” and gets really excited when it plays. He recognizes the song by the first few opening notes and starts waving his hands in the air. It makes me laugh.

Molly and Joe bought car, and it looks like they are going to rent a really cute house for now. I’m excited about it. The only downside is that it won’t be ready for a week or two, so they have moved into a hotel room for the time being. The hotel is cozy and rustic. Best of all, there is a computer for guest use down in the lobby, so Mols can email/IM occasionally to let me know how things are going. She got on to chat for a bit today and then had to go. Later in the day, a guy at the hotel, Javier, somehow got logged on to her IM and started talking to me. How are you? Who are you? Where are you? I told him that he was logged in to my sister’s account and needed to sign her out. He responded with, “What’s your name?” So, utilizing the powers of technology, I IM’d a text message to my sister’s phone.

Me: Dude, there is some guy named Javier talking to me at the computer at your hotel. Did you forget to sign out? I told him to log you off.

(several minutes later)

Mols: I confronted Javier

Mols: It wasn't pretty

Me: LOL! What happened?

Mols: There was an uncomf scene in the lobby

Me: Seriously? Were you like, "Dude, get off my IM."

Me: Was he still at the computer or were you walking around asking "Are you Javier? Are you Javier?"

Mols: Basically. I'll tell you about it after dinner.

I still need to get the scoop, but I would have loved seeing my sister march down to the lobby to give Javier the one-two for using her Messenger. I can picture the scene perfectly, and I’m still giggling about it now.

This has nothing to do with anything, but sometimes, especially when I’m in the car, I start thinking about everything I don’t know, and will never know, and I feel completely overwhelmed by the enormity. It's strange to think about the little sliver that is your life from this perspective.