ammogirl

You guys, jet lag is seriously kicking my ass this time around. I keep waking up wayyy too early, and then I can’t fall back asleep, and then when I do fall asleep I can’t sleep for long because who spends their vacay SLEEPING? Not this girl. So pretty much by 8pm I’m completely done and ready for bed. Life of the party, that’s me.

John and I took the girls shopping the other day. We didn’t even bother with going to an actual mall (although there are two really great ones here: Victoria Gardens and Ontario Mills.  It was just, I mean, it was the Saturday before Christmas in Southern California.  Not my cup o’ tea, crowds.  But that was okay because we went to a strip mall near my sister’s house that had both a Tilly’s (Taylor’s favorite store) and a Best Buy.  Meaning that while the girls and I shopped, John had something else to do besides asking how much longer we were going to be.  It was a lot of fun, shopping in an actual store as opposed to online.  However, by the time we were done, I was literally weak with starvation, due to the 2-hour walk my parents, my sis and bro-in-law, and I had gone on earlier.  Also, the no food I had eaten.  Fortunately, for everyone involved, there was an In-n-Out burger nearby which: YUM.  My love for In-n-Out knows no bounds.  So fucking tasty.  We ordered, and ate in the car, and I inhaled that baby in what couldn’t have been more than four minutes.  And I thought, as I was licking In-n-Out burger residue off my fingers, about how much I can’t wait to move back home.

Yesterday the girls and I got a pedicure, and today they (and my sister) are getting hair cuts, and then tonight we are going bowling.  Of course, I did voice my opinion on bowling (i.e. I hate it) but was completely overruled. 

I know a lot of you are snowed in and freezing to death and telling you this is completely unnecessary and maybe mean, but it has been in the high 60s and really beautiful here.  

Family, In-n-Out burger, and sun.  Merry Christmas, me.

Tschuss!!

Seriously, do NOT let me coordinate your day of travel.

None of us got a chance to eat before leaving for the airport, because there was no food left–you don’t leave perishables in your house for almost a month, right? Plus, as I told everyone, we were getting to the airport in PLENTY of time to eat there. No problem.

By the time we got to the airport and got checked in, AGAIN, (did you know Frankfurt airport does not accept boarding passes printed out from checking in online? Now you do.) we had considerably less time than we had originally planned. Still, plenty of time to eat. But, first, I told everyone, let’s get to the gate. Because there are TONS of restaurants there. That sit down one, remember? And that cool grab-and-go place with really yummy fresh food? We can eat there!

So we walked ninety-seven thousand miles from the check-in to gate C6, and I was wearing exactly the wrong shoes for doing this, PLUS I had on a light sweatshirt under my wool coat, which is FINE when you are OUTSIDE but not when you are TREKKING. Also, I was starving. So I might have been a little on the side of edge when everyone in my family kept pointing out really great restaurants to eat in and I kept telling them to wait. The GATE, people, we can eat THERE.

Turns out that lo and behold, the Frankfurt airport is NOT the Stansted airport, which is what I was thinking of when I was thinking of ALL the FABULOUS restaurants waiting for us in the gate area. Yes, I have been in and out of both airports several times in the past two years. No, I do not have a very good memory. However, the duty-free right there at gate C-6 has plenty of candy. In economy size bags meant for NO ONE to eat all at one sitting. So, that’s what we ate. Hey, for the record, I picked Godiva truffles, which were rolled in pure cocoa, which is high in antioxidants. Clearly a healthy pick. Unfortunately, not exactly filling, but really good at making you feel like you want to hurl after awhile.

Then, I, because I AM LAME, managed to book us directly into the worst seats for our Frankfurt to San Francisco flight. You know, the flight that was ELEVEN HOURS AND THIRTY MINUTES LONG. I don’t know what I was thinking, but for SOME reason, I had it in my head that sitting in the back seats of a section would be awesome. Even after I bragged about how awesome the seats were to John and he said, “Do you mean theeeeeee…seats that don’t lean back?” I was STILL convinced these were the seats to end all other seats.

Ahem. For the record, the seats in the back of a section do not lean back. However, the seats in FRONT of the back seats do, and the people that sit in them do NOT care that you have very poor seat-picking skills, and they prove it. Making for a very limited space to do, oh, ANYTHING on a plane. That you are sitting on for nearly one-half of an ENTIRE DAY.

We made it, though, home for the holidays and all that. It’s fabulous to be back, even though I am writing this post at 3:07 in the morning because of jet lag fun. Things I did on my first day: woke up reallllllyyyyyyy early, drank lots of coffee, and did not work out. Went to Target and bought one of everything, just because I could. Ooohed and aaahed while checking out every product on every shelf in every aisle, which my husband LOVED. Hung out with my fam. Went to Mexican food, because Mexican food is everything that is holy. Had a mango margarita, and then immediately got tired, and went to bed at 8:34 or something equally ridiculous.

Should I still sign off with Tschuss, even though I’m not in Germany right now? I’m really having a dilemma over that, but I think because I’m just VISITING from Germany and not here PERMANENTLY, Tschuss is still in order.

Tschuss!!

You guys, in less than 24 hours, I’ll be back home! I’m so excited. Do you realize this will be the longest period of time I’ll have spent in the States since 2005?

So tonight I’m doing last-minute laundry, gathering things up, making sure the Kindle and the iPod are charged, that sort of stuff. Tomorrow we fly out of Frankfurt at 2pm CET and arrive at my sister’s at 7pm Pacific. In case you weren’t aware, that’s a long-ass trip. 11 1/2 hours to San Francisco, and then another 1 1/2 hours down south. Totally worth it, though. One thing–what the hell, weather? Is it really necessary for there to be a nation-wide winter storm the exact time that I’m coming home? It should stop immediately.

Okay, I really, REALLY have other things I need to be doing right now.

Tschuss!!