[tragic312]

Day 1 - Friday March 4

today is the big day for my trip to California. i had packed most of my stuff on wednesday and finished on thursday. i was pretty much set to go. my flight was at 3 with delta and i was flying out of JFK. we left around 1 to get to JFK at a decent time. after checking my bags with the skycap, i hugged and kissed rob good bye, told him i love him and will miss him and went inside the airport. after going through security, i went to my gate and waited to board. we boarded and took off at 3 o'clock. the view was absolutely stunning. the flight to atlanta was an hour and 49 minutes. we got there about 5 o'clock. my flight to ontario, ca was at 7:40. so, i had some burger king to tide me over for the long flight. it was a good thing i ate burger king because the food that was being sold during the flight was $8! i read a book for my social psych class during the flight and took care of the chapter summaries during the flight. i finished the book about an hour before we landed. so all i could do was cuddle up in my chair and try to get some rest. we landed safely in ontario at 8:40 pacific time. once i got off the plane, i sprinted through the terminal to get to baggage claim. i spotted my brother in law and my niece hayley waiting for me as i went down the escalator. hayley was playing shy with me but managed to give me a big hug. we got my luggage and headed to their house. hayley read a dr. seuss book to me during the trip to the house. she's 6 by the way. we got to the house and my niece sarah was hiding under a blanket only to pop up wearing a tinkerbell costume. she looked absolutely adorable in it. unforunately, my camera was packed away and i figured, she'll wear it again for me so i can take a picture. on a side note, she didn't so i didn't get a picture of her in the costume. sarah, hayley, my sister in law and i pretty much hung out in hayley's room for a while. i was so tired from the flight that i went to bed early. i called rob first before i went to bed and pretty much passed out once my head hit the pillow.

more trip report to come.....

[Dopey]

Nice start tragic. Then what happened? Did you go anywhere? Did you leave Hayley's room? Whaaaaaat?????

[dznygrl]

Aaaaaahh tragic, I can't wait for more! Not enough to feed on...

[Disneyfever]

More please! I'll bet your neice was sooooo cute in that Tinker Bell costume.

[DisneyTeacher]

Your nieces aound so sweet. Keep going, I want to hear more.

[lovemysons]

Oh, I just love it when my nieces dress up!! I can't wait to hear more!

[Erin]

This is a good start! I want to hear more more more!

[tragic312]

Saturday - March 5

I spent the day with the girls just playing games, and going to the park with them so they can get some fresh air. we also had a picnic in their garage. their dad set up a table in the garage and we had an indoor picnic. that's what the girls' wanted; they didn't want to sit on the grass, they wanted a table. we played some video games that i never saw or heard of in my life. one game system is called Xavix, which you can play bowling with a ball that interacts with the game so it simulates you playing bowling and the same goes for tennis. i don't know what else is available. we also played this eye zone game where you play games with the use of a little camera that sits on top of the tv. you see yourself in the game and every movement that you make is on the game. these things are amazing! we watched "the scorpion king" before dinner. after dinner, we pretty much hung out and then it was time for the girls' to go to bed.

[tragic312]

Sunday - March 6

sarah was having a daddy daughter day with her dad so hayley and i had aunt and niece day. the plans for the day was to go to the movies to see "Because of Winn Dixie". first, hayley wanted to go to Barnes and Noble, which i was very proud of her that she wanted to go to a book store. while there, i bought "cats for dummies" and she got a dr. seuss book and this little game called rush hour jr. which is a puzzle game. then, we went over to the theater and got our tickets for "Because of Winn Dixie." we got snacks and went to the theater room to watch the movie. this movie is so adorable. dave matthews is in it and i was thrilled to see him. he did a really good job. so now, he can add acting to his resume. after the movie, we went to subway and sat outside in the 80 degree weather having lunch. after lunch, we went back to the house, where hayley and i played the rush hour jr. game for quite some time. then, hayley wanted me to watch "catwoman" with her because i haven't seen it yet. i actually liked it. some parts were like, what does this have to do with the movie, but i enjoyed it. while watching the movie, sarah and her dad came back from their special day. sarah put on one of the land before time movies after catwoman was over. so we watched the land before time movie, something with tinyasauruses or something like that. we had dinner and the girls' had to get ready for bed after that.

more to come......

[tragic312]

Monday - March 7

the girls are off to school so i got to sleep in. donna and i went to this store called mervin's to return something that she bought. while we were there, we browsed around to kill some time. then we went over to the mall across the street in ontario to eat at a place called ruby's. it's like a 50's diner, which was really cool. after lunch, we went over to the girls' school to pick up hayley. donna dropped us off at baskin robbins to get ice cream while she went to get sarah. the two get out of school an hour apart from each other. hayley had rainbow sherbert and i had bubble gum ice cream. donna came back with sarah and they got ice cream. after we all had ice cream, by the way, the weather was about 80 degrees, we went back to the house for hayley to get ready for softball game. she looked absolutely adorable in her uniform. we went to her game. it was adorable to see 5 and 6 year olds playing softball. just too cute!! after the game, we went back to the house and had dinner. then the girls went to bed after they took their showers. i stayed up a bit and did some reading for my literacy class. then i went to bed.

[tragic312]

Tuesday - March 8

the girls' went to school and i slept in. later that morning, donna and i went to get the girls' lunch at quizno's. we went to their school to drop it off. i sat with hayley when she had lunch and then i sat with sarah when she had lunch. while i was having lunch with sarah, hayley was with her class having recess. but when they came back, i spotted donna with her and went over to them as sarah was finishing lunch. hayley was crying. i asked donna what happened and she said that hayley couldn't find me. she thought i left. i told her i was having lunch with sarah like i had lunch with her. hayley wanted to go home so donna asked the teacher if it was ok. she let hayley go.
we went to old navy, that was my suggestion on what i wanted to do while the girls' were in school, and did some shopping. it was a lot of fun shopping with hayley. we tried on clothes and i bought some clothes. i bought those bermuda shorts they advertise on tv. they are so comfortable and just perfect for me in lenght. then we went to payless. i wanted to get sneakers. they didn't have anything i liked so we went to famous footwear and i bought my first pair of sketchers.
then we went back to get sarah from school. we took them home and got them ready for their showcase. it's this little drama club at their local church and they were both putting on skits. this show was absolutely precious. hayley and her group did a 50's thing. they were wearing poodle skirts and danced to some 50's music. sarah was dressed as a flapper and danced to different songs from different decades. the show overall was very enjoyable. it was so cute and so much fun.
we went home and had a late dinner. while the girls were in bed, i got to watch "house", one of my favorite shows. then after the show, i did some reading and then went to bed.

[tragic312]

Wednesday - March 9

today the girls had a half of day at school. i got to do my observation at their school for my literacy class. i observed hayley's class. in the office there was this parrot named einstein that took a liking to me. he went on my finger and walked up my arm to my shoulder. he sat there and just talked my ear off. it was so cute. he wouldn't get off my shoulder. one of the secretary's took the bird and let me go to hayley's class.
i had a lot of fun observing the class. hayley was so excited that i was there in her class. i even got to help out by helping the kids with their reading. that was just wonderful to listen to them read. i had a wonderful time and learned a lot.
after class was over, i went back to the office to sign out and einstein was back on my shoulder swacking in my ear. the secretary took him off my shoulder again and freed me from him.
we went to the mall in ontario to go to build a bear for my birthday. though my birthday is on the 12 and i was leaving on the 10, the girls' wanted to do something for my birthday. we had lunch at the food court and then headed for build a bear. i chose to build an orange cat. i got it stuffed and went through the whole process. i named her tinkerbell and got the tinkerbell costume to go with the kitty.
after build a bear, we went back home to get hayley for softball practice. we went to the practice which lasted an hour. during practice, sarah sat with me and kept telling me she didn't want the day to end. then she kept telling me she loved me. isn't that heartbreaking?
after practice, we went back home for the girls' to change. donna took us out for dinner at this place called islands, which reminded me very much of the polynesian. very hawaiian and tropical. good burgers!! after dinner, we went back home and just hung out. we took showers and i finished packing. i hugged the girls' good night and fought back the tears really hard. they were pretty calm and i guess they thought they would see me in the morning when in reality, they weren't. my flight was at 7:05 am and they didn't know that. i went to bed early to get up at 4:30 to leave.

[tragic312]

Thursday - March 10

i didn't get a good night sleep at all. i would sleep for an hour or two, had a bizarre dream that sent me to the bathroom, came back to bed, had serious butterflies in my stomach, fall asleep and had bizarre dreams..... pretty much this happened all ngiht long. i was up sometime after 4 just laying in bed with butterflies. donna came to the room and "woke" me up. i got up and went to the bathroom again. i went downstairs and told donna how a terrible night sleep i had. i asked for crackers to settle my stomach. i had a few and had a cup of tea. after i finished my tea, i got ready. i put the last minute items in my bags and dragged the bags to the top of the stairs. donna took them down for me and i went to the girls' door and blew kisses at them while fighting back tears. we loaded the luggage in the car and left for the airport at 5:15.
there was some fog in the air but we made it to the airport ok. i checked in and went through security and all that good stuff. got on the plane, got in my seat and was ready for take off. 2 hours later, we're still at the gate waiting for the fog to lift!!!! i sat on the plane and read for a while. they played "after the sunset" to kill some time. sometime after 9:30 am, california time, we finally took off. i cried when the plane was off the ground. i watched the world pass by as we flew over mountains and flew out of california. an hour into the flight, they served breakfast. i was starving at that point. a little while later, they played "finding neverland" as a treat for us. i was so thrilled to see it because i've been wanting to. so, what happens during the movie, i fall asleep!! i wasn't bored with the movie; i was exhausted already. i woke up just in time for the ending. i was so upset.
during the flight, the pilot announced that those who had connecting flights were booked on the next flight. we landed in atlanta sometime after 4. i called rob and told him we landed. once i found out that my next flight was at 8, i called him again with the info. so, i went to my gate for my flight home and told the lady at the counter what happened. she checked me in and asked me what seat i wanted. i told her a window seat. she typed some more and called a lady over. the two of them were whispering and i was getting scared. all i caught in the conversation was "what do i do?" "just put her there." so, i ask do i have a seat? and the lady said i do have a seat. just come back at 7 and they'll print me a new boarding pass.
so, i had some ben and jerry's to tide me over, read a little bit, made some phone calls just to kill the time. 7 o'clock came and i went to get my ticket. the ticket was printed and i went to sit down. i looked at the ticket to see where i was seated. it said 4D zone 1. i was like, wow zone 1. i'll be the first to board. cool. then i just happened to look at the other end of the ticket and there was a big F: first class. i got a seat in first class!!!! i pulled the ticket out of the envelop and said out loud, "i'm in first class!!!" there was this elderly couple sitting next to me that chuckled as i squealed with joy over my seat. i called up rob with the good news and was thrilled beyond belief. we boarded at 7:40 and was just bouncing in my seat. there was a blanket, a pillow, a headset and a bottle of water at my seat. the best part was that my seat was the last row so i got to recline my seat without someone behind me. we took off at 8:11 on our way to JFK. i got my cranberry apple juice in a glass, not a plastic cup and that added more to my excitement. after i finished my drink, i reclined my seat, listened to music and tried to get some sleep.
we landed in JFK safely at 10:15. i got off the plane and rushed to baggage claim. i waited, along with everyone else, for 15 minutes to get my bags. once i got my bags, i found rob waiting for me. we greeted each other with a hug and kiss and loaded the luggage in the car. our friend brian was with us to guide us out of JFK. we went to TGI Friday's to get something to eat. during dinner, i was falling asleep at the table. so, we hurried up and left to go home. we dropped brian off and went home. i picked up my kitties and hugged and kissed them to death. i changed into my pj's and crashed to bed.


so, that's my trip report to california. i know it wasn't much but it was something to me. i hope you all enjoyed it as much as i enjoyed typing it and reliving it in my head.

[Dana]

I am so glad that you got to spend some time with your neices. That "is" something to me too. Your departure day made my eyes well up. Leaving is so hard when it's someone you love and rarely get to see. Thank you for sharing your trip with us. I enjoyed it very much.

[Erin]

Awwwwww!!!!!!!! This was such a wonderful trip report to read!

I love how much you love your neices! I bet they can't wait for you to come visit! How special!!!!

I'll say it again - you have got to be the sweetest person in the world!! I just feel so happy after I read your posts!!!!!!!!!!!