The Week in Review
I have been back to the States for almost a week and even though it doesn’t seem like I have been that busy, I have barely had time to sit down long enough to write. But since I just know that all five of my readers are dying to know what I have been doing, here is a quick run-down:
Tuesday: I had a long, if uneventful, plane ride from Munich to Philadelphia. I then had about an hour and a half layover in Philly and by the time that I got through Immigration, re-checked my luggage, went through security for the fourth or fifth time, and caught a shuttle bus to my terminal, I would have just made it before boarding began.
However, the plane to Kansas City ended up being delayed for about an hour because we didn’t have a crew! I thought about offering to fly the plane, but since I don’t know how and I know they don’t take that sort of talk lightly anymore, I thought it might be wiser if I didn’t. 
My mom, step-dad, and aunt met me at the airport and then I had an approximate three-hour car ride to Small Town, Iowa. By the time I made it to bed at 12:30 am Iowa time I had been up for a little over 24 hours. I actually got my second wind about that time and probably could have stayed up for a while, but I decided to go to bed and as soon as I hit the pillow I was out like a light!
Wednesday: Even though I didn’t feel jet-lagged I took it easy on Wednesday and spent the day recovering.
I did run around town and do some errands, and while I was out and about I ran into a bunch of people that I know. As a result, these errands that would have normally taken me twenty minutes ended up taking me over an hour and a half as we stood around and caught up.
On Wednesday evening I substituted for my sister on my mom’s volleyball team. (Apparently my brother-in-law doesn’t think my sister needs to be playing volleyball at eight and a half months pregnant.) Playing volleyball was fun: I hadn’t played since high school and by the time the third game came around, I was finally remembering the rules!
Thursday: I was going to write an entry in my blog on Thursday, but when I sat down at Mom’s computer I discovered she badly needed some security updates. Because Mom is still on a modem, I then spent ALL of Thursday afternoon updating and cleaning up Mom’s machine. By the time I was finished it was time to go out to supper with my sister and niece (I have an interesting entry to write about lunch/dinner/supper in the coming days) and so I didn’t get around to writing an entry after all.
Friday: Mom was off work on Friday so we went shopping in the afternoon. I tried not to buy too much, but I ended up with a pillow, a couple of shirts, and some miscellaneous cross stitch supplies anyway.
Friday evening Mom drug me to her annual Opera House meeting. At the turn of the 20th century, my small town had an “opera” house (I think there were a lot of vaudeville shows and such performed there) and my mom is on its restoration committee. I knew that if I went to this meeting I would get volunteered for something (they are having a fund-raising chili cook-off next week) and I did. However, dinner was provided at the meeting and we had steak, so I couldn’t resist.
Saturday: Saturday afternoon I cross stitched and then went out to dinner with my dad, step-mom, and step-sister. My sister wasn’t feeling too well because the baby is really making her stomach hurt right now, so I offered to take my niece with me to dinner and she gratefully accepted. I thought that Dad would take us to little diner for dinner, but instead we went to a pretty nice restaurant and ended up having to wait for over an hour for a table. I was really worried that my niece (who is almost 6) would act up, but she was really good. I had a steak and onion rings for dinner and we finally made it back home around 10:30 pm.
Sunday: Today I have plans to visit my uncle and then later this afternoon my step-dad is going to take me Harley riding! The weather is really nice here for January (it is supposed to be around 50 degrees Fahrenheit today) and so we are getting out the Harley just so that I can say that I have taken a January ride on a Harley Davidson in Iowa!
In fact, since I have to get all dressed up in Mom’s leathers so that I won’t be cold while I am on the bike, I guess I better be off now.
