Dear folks, I am once again in South Carolina. After an arduous Monday (ugh!) that didn't end until the airport shuttle driver called me 15 minutes earlier than expected to announce he was at my door did I officially end said Monday. I raced around the house shutting things off (which I had plotted out carefully to be done over the next 15 minutes...minutes I no longer had) and gathering my luggage, etc.
After all was said and done, it worked out well enough, although I'd have preferred having a nap that afternoon. The flight to Atlanta was not the best ever....first class simply isn't what it used to be. This was one of the smaller Delta cross-country planes and it was jampacked and more...and the accommodations were a bit squeezed. I was in semi-comfort, although the seat left much to be desired both in the upright and reclining positions. I pray the flight back will be in a larger, more affable and comfortable aircraft.
Service was stingy, too. I got two -- count 'em 2 -- small cups of Ginger Ale during my entire flight. That and two small packets of dry roasted peanuts. I tell you here and now that I'll never again allow a first-class experience to upset me as much as this one did. I'm going to speak up and speak out...and I'm going to instruct the stewpersons to "bring the can" the next time I order a Ginger Ale.
I was here at my mother's house by noon today. We had a nice lunch of stew (brunswick variety) and cornbread (man, can my mother ever make a pan of cornbread!!!). By 1 p.m., I was unable to hold my head up so sleepy was I (and not having more than nodded off at any point during my cross-country flight...and by snoozing about 15 minutes on the connecting flight). I went to bed at 1 and got up at 5:40 p.m. I'm still sleepy, but will stay up as late as possible to ensure I get a good night's rest.
Speaking of which, my sleep the past week or so has been fitful, at best. Too much anxiety, topped with some car ailments which perplexed and unnerved me (alternator issues now being attended to by a trusted mechanic), led me to having anxiety attacks at the oddest moments...most often when I'd awaken in the middle of the night.
Today, I slept the sleep of the dead. It is amazingly comforting to sleep and not worry about anything. My mom is recovering from a bout with pneumonia that erupted about two weeks ago. She spent two nights in hospital but has been home two weeks (tomorrow) recovering. She's feeling much better, but I've told her to do nothing, feel no obligations to decorate, etc. I have a small tree to decorate tomorrow.
On the plus side, my mom fried me some chicken for supper and it was amazing. We also had lima beans and a corn-and-tomato casserole (one of my, and her, favorites). Golly but that fried chicken was sweet and tasty. My momma can fry some chicken! She soaks it in buttermilk first (usually overnight). She coats it with Bisquick and then fries it in an iron skillet (or electric fry pan). The key, however, is the size of the chicken. She doesn't use any bird over 2.5 pounds. The smaller the chicken, the tastier.
There's a rum cake and a fruit cake, both made by her a month ago, awaiting my taste buds. I have not yet sampled either.
Ah, home. Home. And I have my own room. And I know all the faces I see.
Oh, gosh...there's no place like home.
