Saturday, February 15--Coming Home--There was a part of me that was sad to be leaving a week of fun with my sweetheart. It was a much needed time for rest, relaxation, and fun. Another part of me was excited to see my kids again. I realized that we were back in port when I woke up around 5:30 am. Chris was still sleeping, but I turned my phone on to download messages and get mail. I also have it set to vibrate since I am notoriously bad about hearing the phone ring. The phone started buzzing on my night stand. I quickly grabbed it and threw it on to the couch. That wasn't too much better. Finally I stuffed it under my pillow.
As much as I wanted to text my kids, they were still two hours behind. Chris had set an alarm for 6:45. I don't think I was so good about letting him have a sound sleep. Once I am up, I'm up and there weren't too many places to go. I did slip out onto the balcony to take some pictures though. Florida was colder than usual since there was arctic air flooding the rest of the country. I didn't stay outside too long.
Chris was not looking forward to going home. In fact, he mentioned, "I am so done with the rental." Hmmm, how to respond. "You can't be done yet. We still have two and a half months to go." I totally understood. I have hated living in the rental and have felt claustrophobic for the last ten months of my life. Not a good feeling to have.
We decided on the Windjammer for a quick breakfast so that we could disembark around 8 am. As you can imagine, we encountered lines. Lines to get off the ship, lines to pick up luggage, and lines to go through customs. It doesn't happen often for us, but we happened to pick the fastest line at customs and were out of the building in no time. But...more lines. The taxi line to get to the airport. We decided to share a taxi with our friends from Oregon, the Dentons.
Once deposited at the airport with our luggage checked, Chris was happy to see that he had been given Pre-check status. He seemed to forget that I still had to wait in the very, very long line. If he had just gone through as Priority Plus, I could have gone with him. I was a little bit perturbed. He was just coming back out to go through security again with me, when I was sent to the Pre-check line. (That was after waiting in line for half an hour though). I told Chris I was almost through and not to bother.
I stopped in a little shop to pick up some water and things when we met up. Chris had found Kevin and Laura sitting close to our gate. Laura looked tired. I'm not sure she wanted to be "on" for even a little longer. We boarded earlier than they did (their plane was late), and were able to sit in one of Chris' favorite rows--the exit row with only two seats.
Now for the long ride home. Chris booked a connecting flight through Houston just to get us home earlier in the day. It was a long day, but I was able to journal most of the previous week (which would normally take me a week or so to finish).
It worked out that Julie met us at the airport with the girls before her flight returned her to Utah. I had my camera ready to take pictures, but it was hard to get a good focus on the girls as they spied us and then raced toward us. I am pretty sure Julie was tired and worn out, but all of the girls seemed to be in good spirits. Yay for good friends.
