Home Again...Tucker Style

The plan was to get home last night so that I could spend some time with Jeff on my birthday, but I guess it just wasn't to be.

Due to bad weather, DFW airport closed up shop last night (they pulled out the cots and everything). As a result, AA (American Airlines, not Alcoholics Anonymous)got me a "deal" at the Hotel Elegante Formal (I'm not making up the name--that's really what it's called). Well, it was raining so hard that it took the driver 45 minutes to pick us up at the airport, and then we began the long trek back to the hotel.

Since we were experiencing a major downpour/lightning storm, there was about zero visibility. Accordingly, the driver took it slow at 35 mph. Every once in a while, we noticed the van meandering back and forth across the road. This swaying action was accompanied by an incoherent high pitched squeal from the driver. The poor guy had a death grip on the wheel. At this point, one of my stranger-friends-in-crisis in the shuttle offered to start passing out meds to the other passengers. We all laughed nervously as we plodded along to the outer reaches of Dallas. The same aforementioned stranger-friend-in-crisis then remarked on how excited she was to see all the adult entertainment venues in that particular neighborhood. Luckily, just minutes later, we pulled up to our hotel. I gave the poor driver a tip and said, "Good driving!" As I entered the hotel, I noticed a huge stone slab with the ten commandments engraven upon it (my guesss was that it was intended to combat the evils of the neighborhood).

The hotel was surprisingly nice and comfortable, so much so, in fact, that I stayed up until the wee hours watching Little People Big World and the like (though briefly taking a break to go downstairs to order room service since my phone wasn't working).

After about four hours of sleep, I was ready to get back to the excitement of the airport. As I checked out, I overheard someone say that the other hotel shuttle had gotten stuck in mud the night before and had to be pulled out. Needless to say, that driver was also traumatized.

Well, to make a long story just a bit shorter (not much), I had another flight cancelled, went through four gate changes, got "disqualified" for standby on another flight (since I had a carry on, and the plane was already over weight), & got motion sick in the plane (that never happens to me).

Well, the point of this story is that I have never been so happy to see my husband before, and my birthday is now complete. The end.