Home again, home again....

We're home now. :)

As much as I miss J and J ALREADY, I do not miss:
1. the smog; it makes a smog alert in L.A. look like blue sky : p
2. traffic; amazing what it's like when there is not bumper to bumper traffic (with everyone using their horns)
3. the noise from all the horns :)
4. msg (I can't wait to see how much body weight I'll lose from getting it out of my system! my legs are so swollen now they look disfigured, despite my getting up and walking often while on the planes)
5. dust; see #1, as I don't know if the black stuff that would come out of my nose was from the smog or the dust (or the smoke...we saw several fires burning in the hills as we were flying out)
6. getting stared at ALL the time
7. having to use the bottled water to brush my teeth (but don't get me wrong...I'm so grateful that there WAS bottled water to brush my teeth!!)

Things I learned....about me, and their life there:
1. I'm in horrible shape!
2. I don't mind being stared at if the person staring smiles and says "hello" (no matter how badly it comes out!)
3. J/J have grown a lot, and I'm really happy for them and the life they have there.
4. I like their friends, and wish we had more time to hang out.
5. I hate stairs (see #1) Going up OR down!!
6. Toilet paper is optional. You might get it in a public bathroom, but probably not. You might get it on a cafe table, instead of napkins, to use on your hands. You'll likely get it in a private bathroom, but no matter where you get it, it does NOT get flushed in the toilet!!
7. Horns are not used there in anger to say "get out of my way", and we didn't see any road rage for as crowded as the roads were. Horns are used to say "I'm here, so don't hit me".
8. The lines on the roads are optional. ALL of them. Even the ones to determine what direction you are traveling in.
9. Traffic signals are optional too....which makes it interesting.
10. Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way there....which makes #8 and #9 quite interesting.
11. Food sold on the side of the road/sidewalk is usually tasty. I don't know how they keep the grit of the road dust off of it, but it's good.
12. I love the people there...not just my kids, but the ones that only know that as home. Despite the icky things, I think I'd go back sometime...even if my kids weren't there....which surprises me....

The N Hotel at G Airport was incredible....we got a king, business class room, with a tub and a shower, for about $100 US. It seemed very luxurious in comparison to all we had seen all week long, but we were thankful to sleep in a bed (and not the airport, like on the way in). Sadly, this cold had my taste buds out of whack so I couldn't really take advantage of the buffet we ate at there, but it looked really good, and what I did eat tasted great. Someone needs to teach the C how to do desserts though....nothing is sweet enough! LOL

The plane rides were all pretty uneventful in good ways....well, we left G late (sat on the plane at the gate for an hour), and sat at XNA for 20 minutes before coming in too. We went through security points at EVERY airport (which seemed weird), and each one had their own standards (i.e.; take off shoes/leave them on, ok to bring water/ or not, etc). Thankfully, all our luggage arrived with us. That's always a good thing.

There was snow on the ground at home, but most of it had melted off, so the roads were fine (although there was still an abundance in the fields). Flying over the remnants of the storms made for a bumpy last leg of flying from Detroit to XNA....but I still slept!

I'm so tired. I took cold meds the entire time in the plane (dayquil, then nyquil) and I slept most of the fly time, but I'm still tired. This cold has me wiped out, so I'm really hoping to rebound quickly now that we're home. We'll see...

It's good to be home. There's a lot to do, but it feels good to be here. I'll always miss ALL my kids company, but there is some level of contentment to be home....wherever it happens to be.

~marina

trip photo link updated

I'm sorry, I haven't had time to get more things posted or worked on here, or the Picasa site, but there are photos there, and I've just figured out that the link was not working on one of the earlier posts.
This is the corrected link to the photo gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/MnMgo2
Continue to check back there, as I'll be working on it over the next few days. I know that some of you were wanting to see the zipline video footage...it's working there (even though the link isn't working from this site yet).

Thanks for being so patient!! 8 }

marina

YAY!

All the photos are posted on the picasa site, and video clips too!

I'm going to try to change the way this site lists the posts now, so those that have not been here before will get to start at the beginning of the journey and work though it with us, rather than find themselves at the end and have to go backwards....I don't even really know if I can do it that way, but I'll try!

It's good to be home, but still find myself in moments of our journey....the cold wind yesterday here at home was the same we felt at the falls...the smell of the food still lingers in my mind...my taste buds are still "MSG burned" and nothing tastes as good...sigh...and the hunt for the red pepper oil/sauce is still on. The vegetables are not as bright as there, and I miss so much from there (except the pollution...I'm still hacking and expect to cough up coal dust by the time this is all over!). sigh.

We get to give a presentation of our trip next Sunday, and that's exciting. Email me if you are in the area and would like to attend. We'll talk about it all....past, trip, future....going again some time I'm sure!! :) Even if the kids were back here, I think I left some of my heart there....sigh...

I wonder how many OTHER amazing places I can leave bits of my heart at?? I'm sure there are too many to count...and perhaps we WILL get to go...and I'll blog about them here as well...

~marina

Hmmm....

I keep thinking of things that I don't want to forget, but I remember them in the oddest times; driving down the road; awaking in the middle of the night; in the shower. I fear I'll just have to carry pencil and paper with me until my memory goes for good....this trip is etched on my heart.

Thanks again to those of you who have "traveled with us" on this journey! :) Your resources and support kept us safe, I'm sure.

Blessings,
m n m