Mind-numbed

So Iowa was a great time (more on this later!), and I returned to CA last night, arriving shortly after midnight. The flights back to LAX were a maelstrom of panicking about the 50-minute delay from Cedar Rapids to Denver, the need for constant reassurance from ticket people AND flight attendants (thank you, J.P. from United flight #6660, for being so nice and helpful), and eventually sprinting through more than 50 gates at the Denver airport, suitcase and "small personal item" in tow, to make my connecting flight. Once in LAX, I inadvertently had to deal with a foul-mouthed, impolite woman in a black pleather lace-up top, very tight black pants, and 5-inch black heels (tattoos and strange earrings notwithstanding) en route to finding a restroom.

You might offer words of comfort, such as, "Well, now that you're back from the trip, you'll get some time to relax!" But this is not to be, as the family is flying to Washington State tomorrow. I will be living from the same half-sized suitcase that somehow managed to get me through Iowa without exploding (it is seriously sturdy), with pretty much the same clothes... And I'm still feeling claustrophobic. It will be fun to wake up at 6 am, get right back on to a small aircraft after waiting in a small airport, then clamber into a small rental car and drive to a house where I will likely stay in a small, windowless room (underground, no less). Add to this the fact that I lost my trusty iPod, probably on the plane from Chicago to Long Beach. It lasted exactly 4 years--from high school graduation to undergrad commencement.

So, as I noted to Erin earlier, it is a sad, sad, self-pitying day in my life. On the plus side, the trip will involve seeing Grandma (!) and going to Seattle (also !). I think I'll bring my laptop on the trip, too. And I will also write more about the fan-TAS-tic experience that was Mini Iowa Trip (Summer 2009) soon, to counteract the negativity of this post.