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Carrie Rodriguez 
Never thought I could wake up on my own, but 6:09 and I was up, letting Julie know the time and headed to the kitchen. It was fun getting the dinner together as a surprise for Andres and Adrianna. Julie then had breakfast burritos put together for us and we enjoyed the muffins and our sleeping centerpiece Isabella. It was almost time to leave. Julie asked Andres if he was going to make dinner tonight because we would not be there to make it tonight. Wisely, he said he would and if he could not he would bring dinner home. Julie smiled and asked if he did not know I had dinner in the frig and it only needed to be warmed up. This made dinner sound much simpler. Some tears for good-bye as it is all real-we are on our way home again. We ate with Diego chatting and playing the “kukle” game, I unbuckle, he buckles, I …till he was just done, wanting down and it was also time to leave. We tried to explain we were leaving and he did not need his shoes, but this was not quite sinking in. When Julie, Andres and I started out the door, it brought tears. Overall we were keeping it all together, our emotions in check. We were all glad to have been together for the past 3 weeks.
It was good we left when we did. There was some traffic which caused a little delay. But overall the time crunch came at the airport. We passed under the Bosch parking lot which spanned the freeway’s multiple lanes-huge and elevated. Too bad we could not park there; the parking was full at the airport. We found someone leaving on our second time round. Now there was lines to wait through, long lines. Finally got to the counter and paid 55euro to send back my 2nd suitcase (man- could have replaced everything in it for less…). I am sure we will buy larger bags before we head back in July so we each need only one bag checked. Andres walked us around to the other end of the airport where we would go through security. We were supposed to check in at 10:10…There was not much of a line so we hugged Andres good-bye and headed to the passport check. Julie passed right on without questions and thought we would be at the gate on time. But, hmmm, they started checking my passport again. What is on the screen that pops up when they enter my passport? We have to find out. I can only think it is my name; another Carrie Rodriguez in Tucson has a police record and it is flagged. So, where did I fly in from? Why was I in Germany? When did I come? How long was I there? Did I have my ticket for my flight in to Germany? This one through me; thankfully I had not shredded my boarding passes for our flight in the night before. I had almost tossed them while cleaning my wallet. I showed them to the agent. He looked doubtful. He checked with the agent sitting next to him. I finally got a nod and was allowed through. Do you know we made it to the gate at 10:09. We had a few minutes before they started boarding. Whew.
Our flight home was nice. We had a little more leg room and two meals. There was also lots to drink; it seemed like they did not stop serving beverages, coffee, juice, water, and wine. We had several movies including a couple we were glad we did not pay to see like The Day the Earth Stood Still and Dear John. Got to sleep a bit and filled out forms for customs. We found out we had to get our bags, go through customs and check our bags again for the flight to Tucson. We hoped we completed the forms right.
Landed in Atlanta and had thought we would have time to see something of the city. This was not to be. The process of getting our passports checked took a while and then we had to find our bags. I didn’t have trouble this time, just a nod and off I got to go. There was a little confusion on where to go when we got our luggage, but we found the customs agents and Julie headed through. I got questions about having meat or dairy but only had coffee and chocolate. I had picked up an orchid corsage on the luggage cart I was using and the agent asked about it before he allowed me to pass through with the added knowledge of the botanical name. Then it was waiting to get the bags checked in for Tucson. We took the train to the other side of the airport, got upstairs and found the gate and a place to sit-we had a couple hours! Julie found a salad to order and we looked for a less noisy place to eat. We were back in the US- people walking all over with food and drinks and using cell phones and not being very aware of those around them. When we were seated, Julie was able to get me to understand there would not be a meal served on the flight home. I found a new shop with southern food. They were out of the mac and cheese I wanted; settled on some great sweet potatoes and corn bread. Then off to sit. What? There was nothing for us to do. No Diego to play with, no Isabella to hold. No Andres or Adrianna to talk with or get a glass of water for. This was odd; we had not had this feeling for weeks. All the fun we had, all we had enjoyed, now there was just waiting to head home to see our hubbies. Our plane did not arrive till it was almost time to board. Time passed. No call to board. There was only one agent at the gate; he was busy on the phone and on the computer. He called the first class. Wait, wait. Then he called zone 1. Wait, wait. So we headed off to Tucson about an hour later than planned. It would have been nice if we could have let the guys know how late we would be so they wouldn’t be at the airport waiting like we had just waited. We did know, of all the flights, that being late this time would not result in a crisis because they would wait for us.
We took a pit stop to brush our teeth before heading out to meet our families. This was prompted by arriving in Stuttgart, mentioning I needed to brush my teeth and Andres saying, “Yes, you do”. Teeth clean, we headed down the stairs to be greeted by Frank, Mia, Andreina, Victoria and Cesar. The girls drove separately because Andreina had been meeting with Mike and Ashley to plan their wedding cake and did not know how late we were coming in; Cesar did not want to be late.
There was so much to talk about from Mia and her being glad to have her mom home, Frank’s brand new car he just picked up, Andreina and the cake, Victoria and her stories of the day to day, Cesar’s memories of trip to Africa and Julie and I with an unending supply of Diegoisms and joy and conversations with Adrianna and Andres and holding baby Isabella. Needless to say there was an unending stream of conversation bouncing all over with nary a breathe to be had. Before we knew it our bags were on the belt and ready to select. I did a little better than Atlanta, there was only 1 bag picked up which was not mine. Good news, it was the couple’s waiting behind us; they were appreciative. So out to the parking lot and hugs good-bye. It was going to odd to leave my travel buddy after all this time. Andreina headed home; she had an early 3am morning at the Bakehouse. Cesar, Victoria and I spent the trip home talking and all being glad the wait to head home was over.
Asked if they wanted to wait till tomorrow to see their gifts or open them when we were home. I was at 24.5 hours up now; what would another .5 change? Should have given Victoria her book last. I am not sure she saw or heard anything else; know she likes the book of changing pages and vision challenges. She also got her hat from Andres and Adrianna from Christmas which she promptly put on with, “I love this”. This was accompanied by gummie ABC’s and a quill pen and ink. Cesar received his tee with only a small bit of writing saying Germany, his sugarfree chocolate and crackers (which we found out were savory not sweet and did NOT go over well with his palette). He also received his mug with the story of paying a deposit; bring back the mug, get your deposit back or keep the mug and get no deposit and enjoy the sweet, warm German Christmas wine. There was also a plate showing Koln and an extended postcard showing the grounds of the cathedral also. Bina would get her hat, candy, sprinkles for a cake, toy mini-cooper and German Espresso in the morning when Cesar and I go for breakfast with the gift certificate I earned for creating Paulette’s books.
Shower and time for bed. It was very good to home in our bed with clean sheets; thank you Cesar.
It was good we left when we did. There was some traffic which caused a little delay. But overall the time crunch came at the airport. We passed under the Bosch parking lot which spanned the freeway’s multiple lanes-huge and elevated. Too bad we could not park there; the parking was full at the airport. We found someone leaving on our second time round. Now there was lines to wait through, long lines. Finally got to the counter and paid 55euro to send back my 2nd suitcase (man- could have replaced everything in it for less…). I am sure we will buy larger bags before we head back in July so we each need only one bag checked. Andres walked us around to the other end of the airport where we would go through security. We were supposed to check in at 10:10…There was not much of a line so we hugged Andres good-bye and headed to the passport check. Julie passed right on without questions and thought we would be at the gate on time. But, hmmm, they started checking my passport again. What is on the screen that pops up when they enter my passport? We have to find out. I can only think it is my name; another Carrie Rodriguez in Tucson has a police record and it is flagged. So, where did I fly in from? Why was I in Germany? When did I come? How long was I there? Did I have my ticket for my flight in to Germany? This one through me; thankfully I had not shredded my boarding passes for our flight in the night before. I had almost tossed them while cleaning my wallet. I showed them to the agent. He looked doubtful. He checked with the agent sitting next to him. I finally got a nod and was allowed through. Do you know we made it to the gate at 10:09. We had a few minutes before they started boarding. Whew.
Our flight home was nice. We had a little more leg room and two meals. There was also lots to drink; it seemed like they did not stop serving beverages, coffee, juice, water, and wine. We had several movies including a couple we were glad we did not pay to see like The Day the Earth Stood Still and Dear John. Got to sleep a bit and filled out forms for customs. We found out we had to get our bags, go through customs and check our bags again for the flight to Tucson. We hoped we completed the forms right.
Landed in Atlanta and had thought we would have time to see something of the city. This was not to be. The process of getting our passports checked took a while and then we had to find our bags. I didn’t have trouble this time, just a nod and off I got to go. There was a little confusion on where to go when we got our luggage, but we found the customs agents and Julie headed through. I got questions about having meat or dairy but only had coffee and chocolate. I had picked up an orchid corsage on the luggage cart I was using and the agent asked about it before he allowed me to pass through with the added knowledge of the botanical name. Then it was waiting to get the bags checked in for Tucson. We took the train to the other side of the airport, got upstairs and found the gate and a place to sit-we had a couple hours! Julie found a salad to order and we looked for a less noisy place to eat. We were back in the US- people walking all over with food and drinks and using cell phones and not being very aware of those around them. When we were seated, Julie was able to get me to understand there would not be a meal served on the flight home. I found a new shop with southern food. They were out of the mac and cheese I wanted; settled on some great sweet potatoes and corn bread. Then off to sit. What? There was nothing for us to do. No Diego to play with, no Isabella to hold. No Andres or Adrianna to talk with or get a glass of water for. This was odd; we had not had this feeling for weeks. All the fun we had, all we had enjoyed, now there was just waiting to head home to see our hubbies. Our plane did not arrive till it was almost time to board. Time passed. No call to board. There was only one agent at the gate; he was busy on the phone and on the computer. He called the first class. Wait, wait. Then he called zone 1. Wait, wait. So we headed off to Tucson about an hour later than planned. It would have been nice if we could have let the guys know how late we would be so they wouldn’t be at the airport waiting like we had just waited. We did know, of all the flights, that being late this time would not result in a crisis because they would wait for us.
We took a pit stop to brush our teeth before heading out to meet our families. This was prompted by arriving in Stuttgart, mentioning I needed to brush my teeth and Andres saying, “Yes, you do”. Teeth clean, we headed down the stairs to be greeted by Frank, Mia, Andreina, Victoria and Cesar. The girls drove separately because Andreina had been meeting with Mike and Ashley to plan their wedding cake and did not know how late we were coming in; Cesar did not want to be late.
There was so much to talk about from Mia and her being glad to have her mom home, Frank’s brand new car he just picked up, Andreina and the cake, Victoria and her stories of the day to day, Cesar’s memories of trip to Africa and Julie and I with an unending supply of Diegoisms and joy and conversations with Adrianna and Andres and holding baby Isabella. Needless to say there was an unending stream of conversation bouncing all over with nary a breathe to be had. Before we knew it our bags were on the belt and ready to select. I did a little better than Atlanta, there was only 1 bag picked up which was not mine. Good news, it was the couple’s waiting behind us; they were appreciative. So out to the parking lot and hugs good-bye. It was going to odd to leave my travel buddy after all this time. Andreina headed home; she had an early 3am morning at the Bakehouse. Cesar, Victoria and I spent the trip home talking and all being glad the wait to head home was over.
Asked if they wanted to wait till tomorrow to see their gifts or open them when we were home. I was at 24.5 hours up now; what would another .5 change? Should have given Victoria her book last. I am not sure she saw or heard anything else; know she likes the book of changing pages and vision challenges. She also got her hat from Andres and Adrianna from Christmas which she promptly put on with, “I love this”. This was accompanied by gummie ABC’s and a quill pen and ink. Cesar received his tee with only a small bit of writing saying Germany, his sugarfree chocolate and crackers (which we found out were savory not sweet and did NOT go over well with his palette). He also received his mug with the story of paying a deposit; bring back the mug, get your deposit back or keep the mug and get no deposit and enjoy the sweet, warm German Christmas wine. There was also a plate showing Koln and an extended postcard showing the grounds of the cathedral also. Bina would get her hat, candy, sprinkles for a cake, toy mini-cooper and German Espresso in the morning when Cesar and I go for breakfast with the gift certificate I earned for creating Paulette’s books.
Shower and time for bed. It was very good to home in our bed with clean sheets; thank you Cesar.
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