There's No Place Like Home

The most stressful part of the trip home was the drive to the airport.  Thankfully, we gave ourselves plenty of time because a ride that should have taken 30 minutes at most took almost 3x longer.  The team that left the night before said it took 2 hours to get through the queue.  Luckily, that wasn't the case for us.  We got through check-in and customs quickly and made it to our gate.

We had a brief stop in Amsterdam and another in London and, when I say brief, we really just got off one plane and went to the gate of the next.  This is the view I got of Amsterdam before I left:

Very quick and painless.  In all, it was about a 24 hour process.  I was able to upgrade my seat to Economy Comfort for the last leg of the flight which made a HUGE difference.  After a few hours of sleep, I vowed to remain awake so I could get myself back on EST.

The worst part of the trip home was that Mary Kate's bag got lost.  They told us (after waiting for 30 minutes or so) that it was on the next flight.  As far as I know, it still hasn't made it.  Damn it, Delta.  You were doing so well!

When I got home, I got showered up and then pampered myself a bit (mani/pedi, baby!) before picking Vincent up from school.  I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his sweet face when he saw me.  11 days of being away from this guy was NOT easy...

I challenged myself to stay up as late as I could last night.  My husband and I started watching the most recent episodes of Breaking Bad.  I made it 15 minutes in (it was about 8pm) and I started dozing off.  Of course, Michael nudged me saying "you have to watch this...it's so good!"  I think he quickly realized that wasn't going to happen.  I made it to my bed in time to fall into an 10 (or so) hour coma.  A much needed one.  

And, because life is never dull, the other thing I had to make sure I did when I got home? 

Call the Dekalb County Courthouse to see if I had to report for jury duty.  Let me give you a hint...(this was for you, Ken!)

I showed up, bright and early at 8:15.  And, after waiting for 3 hours, I was free to go...until I am summoned again (12 to 18 months from now).  Believe it or not, I ended up working a full day my first official day back. I was beat by the end of the day but, relaxing at home would have been a challenge with so much going on.  

All in all, an adventure-filled couple of weeks.  I have to say, it was definitely one of the most productive shoots I have ever been a part of.  I WAS IN AFRICA! And I got way more than a lousy t-shirt.