My trip home so far...
Okay, so I came home for the holidays this year (mom's home, not dad's) and I took the greyhound to do it because I did not want to drive six hours in holiday traffic and risk getting into an accident and things went SO downhill from there.
I arrived at the bus station and I realized I'd left my confirmation page at home and the lady was being SO unhelpful so I'm there panicing and just as the bus gets there, I manage to bring up the email on my phone (Thank you Blackberry!) and give her the con number. Then she's like "You're number 18, see if there's any space for you." (I am thankful that I DID get a seat)
So, then she doesn't print out a claim ticket for my bag and just makes out a hand-written on hastilly and I don't have time to check it because the bus is about to leave. So I run and barely catch it and the only space left is next to a lady who didn't want me to sit with her because I was travelling with my pet mice. So the bus driver was yelling at me to sit down and someone was nice enough to trade seats with me so that we can get going. (I am thankful for people like him)
Now, the bus is so crowded that I don't feel right about (nor have I the room to pull out and begin) eating my lunch, so I wait the hour and fifteen minutes to get to the station where I change busses in San Antonio. So we get there and it's CHAOS! I had originally planned to grab my own checked bag and take it to the other bus, but there were so many people milling around that the attendant was like "Go to your bus and we'll take care of it. We need everyone to clear the area." And like a good girl, I go and do just that. (I am thankful that I managed to make it onto my connecting bus and not get left behind in the chaos)
Well... I'm on the second bus, eating my lunch and I have a sinking feeling... and sure enough, my bag did not arrive. (I am thankful that I, myself, did arrive safely)
I keep checking and NO ONE knows where my bag is. I blame the rude lady at the San Marcos station who just flung the tag at me and rolled her eyes when I asked her for a tag to check my bag.
Now, I have to fill out an itemized form at the bus station and not only were the gifts I'd bought in San Fran for my family there, but also my LAPTOP and the stuff for my mice (food, exercise wheel, water bottle, running balls and litter). I didn't have anything other than the tank and a food dish here at mom's and I wasn't going to keep them in their travel carrier for DAYS! (I am thankful I had a place to put my mice here at Mom's)
Yes. My luggage is lost right now and no one can do anything.
Also today, I burned my hand while helping my sis do our part of the potluck.
We turned on the oven because we needed to put the ham in and so we finished adding stuff to the ham and then we opened the oven and saw that it wouldn't fit with both racks in so I pulled one out and set it on the counter, next to the stove. So then, jen is carrying the ham and can't stretch out enough to put it IN the oven (it's heavy) without my pulling out the second rack first. If she dried, it would have toppled over. So I tried to brace myself on the counter as I leaned down to pull the second rack with one oven-mitted hand, because the bottom one is harder to pull out. So where I lay my hand on what I think is the counter, I lay it on the rack that I pulled out that was still very much hot. I moved my hand, finished pulling out the bottom rack, let jen take care of pushing the rack back in, and then went to run my hand under hot water. (I am thankful I remembered the hot water thing)
....stupid, I know.
Luckilly, mom had some burn spray which I applied a few times to get rid of the ouchness, and I'm fine now... but I have a very pink line on my hand
And, since I was smart enough to run it under warm/hot water, I don't have the nasty burn bubble that people get when they do something silly like put ice, butter, or cold water on a burn
So, left hand is fully functional, ouchless, though a bit tender if I put too much pressure on it. (I am thankful I heal well)
Then we went to my Aunt's house for dinner. There were THREE types of turkey ('adobado,' fried in peanut oil, and "traditional" stuffed and baked with the stuffing inside it), a ham (which my sis, Jenny, made with cloves, pineapples, cherries and brown sugar), green rice (using serrano pepper), Chicken fetuccine alfredo (mine!), a cold green macaroni salad (Again with some sort of green-pepper dressing), cranberry sauce, croissants, stuffing (it was meaty and nutty), apple pie, and chocolate/marshmallow/cookie pilgrim hats (mine and Jen's). (I am thankful for all the food we had to eat)
We ate and mingled and then had coffee and pie. We brought home leftovers and I shall be a happy camper in the morning when I get to eat leftovers. (I am thankful for yummy leftovers. It means I don't have to cook tomorrow)
I'm also VERY happy that I was able to back out of going to the midnight-8AM shopping special event at the outlet malls tonight. (I am thankful for that reprieve)
I'm tired and cranky and at least this Thanksgiving, I didn't end up with a cast on my foot. (I'm thankful I don't have to do that again!)
Until next year!
I hope everyone had a less painful Thanksgiving than I. I have a lot of things to be thankful for that I didn't get to mention like family, relative good health, and all the good things in my life... for example, I am thankful that you are all my friends.
*hugs you all*
<3
I arrived at the bus station and I realized I'd left my confirmation page at home and the lady was being SO unhelpful so I'm there panicing and just as the bus gets there, I manage to bring up the email on my phone (Thank you Blackberry!) and give her the con number. Then she's like "You're number 18, see if there's any space for you." (I am thankful that I DID get a seat)
So, then she doesn't print out a claim ticket for my bag and just makes out a hand-written on hastilly and I don't have time to check it because the bus is about to leave. So I run and barely catch it and the only space left is next to a lady who didn't want me to sit with her because I was travelling with my pet mice. So the bus driver was yelling at me to sit down and someone was nice enough to trade seats with me so that we can get going. (I am thankful for people like him)
Now, the bus is so crowded that I don't feel right about (nor have I the room to pull out and begin) eating my lunch, so I wait the hour and fifteen minutes to get to the station where I change busses in San Antonio. So we get there and it's CHAOS! I had originally planned to grab my own checked bag and take it to the other bus, but there were so many people milling around that the attendant was like "Go to your bus and we'll take care of it. We need everyone to clear the area." And like a good girl, I go and do just that. (I am thankful that I managed to make it onto my connecting bus and not get left behind in the chaos)
Well... I'm on the second bus, eating my lunch and I have a sinking feeling... and sure enough, my bag did not arrive. (I am thankful that I, myself, did arrive safely)
I keep checking and NO ONE knows where my bag is. I blame the rude lady at the San Marcos station who just flung the tag at me and rolled her eyes when I asked her for a tag to check my bag.
Now, I have to fill out an itemized form at the bus station and not only were the gifts I'd bought in San Fran for my family there, but also my LAPTOP and the stuff for my mice (food, exercise wheel, water bottle, running balls and litter). I didn't have anything other than the tank and a food dish here at mom's and I wasn't going to keep them in their travel carrier for DAYS! (I am thankful I had a place to put my mice here at Mom's)
Yes. My luggage is lost right now and no one can do anything.
Also today, I burned my hand while helping my sis do our part of the potluck.
We turned on the oven because we needed to put the ham in and so we finished adding stuff to the ham and then we opened the oven and saw that it wouldn't fit with both racks in so I pulled one out and set it on the counter, next to the stove. So then, jen is carrying the ham and can't stretch out enough to put it IN the oven (it's heavy) without my pulling out the second rack first. If she dried, it would have toppled over. So I tried to brace myself on the counter as I leaned down to pull the second rack with one oven-mitted hand, because the bottom one is harder to pull out. So where I lay my hand on what I think is the counter, I lay it on the rack that I pulled out that was still very much hot. I moved my hand, finished pulling out the bottom rack, let jen take care of pushing the rack back in, and then went to run my hand under hot water. (I am thankful I remembered the hot water thing)
....stupid, I know.
Luckilly, mom had some burn spray which I applied a few times to get rid of the ouchness, and I'm fine now... but I have a very pink line on my hand
And, since I was smart enough to run it under warm/hot water, I don't have the nasty burn bubble that people get when they do something silly like put ice, butter, or cold water on a burn
So, left hand is fully functional, ouchless, though a bit tender if I put too much pressure on it. (I am thankful I heal well)
Then we went to my Aunt's house for dinner. There were THREE types of turkey ('adobado,' fried in peanut oil, and "traditional" stuffed and baked with the stuffing inside it), a ham (which my sis, Jenny, made with cloves, pineapples, cherries and brown sugar), green rice (using serrano pepper), Chicken fetuccine alfredo (mine!), a cold green macaroni salad (Again with some sort of green-pepper dressing), cranberry sauce, croissants, stuffing (it was meaty and nutty), apple pie, and chocolate/marshmallow/cookie pilgrim hats (mine and Jen's). (I am thankful for all the food we had to eat)
We ate and mingled and then had coffee and pie. We brought home leftovers and I shall be a happy camper in the morning when I get to eat leftovers. (I am thankful for yummy leftovers. It means I don't have to cook tomorrow)
I'm also VERY happy that I was able to back out of going to the midnight-8AM shopping special event at the outlet malls tonight. (I am thankful for that reprieve)
I'm tired and cranky and at least this Thanksgiving, I didn't end up with a cast on my foot. (I'm thankful I don't have to do that again!)
Until next year!
I hope everyone had a less painful Thanksgiving than I. I have a lot of things to be thankful for that I didn't get to mention like family, relative good health, and all the good things in my life... for example, I am thankful that you are all my friends.
*hugs you all*
<3