Day One of Ireland Trip!

Today is the day! We woke up in Milwaukee (after a six hour drive yesterday) at my Mother-in-Law's house. We scrambled to freshen up and hop in the car by 7am. Picked up my hubby's aunt at her house - and we were on our way to Chicago! It was a cold, gray, rainy morning... We figured it must be foreshadowing of weather in Ireland.

On the way to Chicago, my sister Emily called from Pittsburgh to wish us a good trip - it was so fun to talk to her! She said that even my niece, Finley, was sticking her tongue out at Auntie Meg to wish me well... I stuck my tongue out too.

We got to our Park-and-Jet parking lot pretty uneventfully. Parked the car and rode with our comedian driver to the airport - he was silly. He pulled pranks on his co-workers all the time, because "you have to laugh, right?!" Needless to say, I liked him.

Once in the airport, we checked in, got bags checked and headed to security. Mike and I took off our shoes and belt, put our bags on the conveyor belt and quickly got through... Only to see that Mom-in-Law and Aunt-in-Law were way behind... MIL has two artificial knees and was awaiting her scan. And Annie, Mike's aunt was having her bags searched! Apparently, she forgot you can't bring in bottled water... She had to leave the secure area, dump out the water, and re-enter security - going through all the scans all over again. Not a good start to the morning. She was all upset! We re-assured her that all was well... and began the walk to our gate.

Once at the gate, we had two hours to kill. We ate McDonald's and watched planes come in. I called my dear friend Amanda and chatted for a bit. She made me promise to give her picture and phone number to any young Irish man who was nice and had good teeth! Ha ha ha. I'll see what I can do...

Once on our flight to Atlanta, the day was pretty uneventful. We had just enough time in Atlanta for a yummy mexican dinner before boarding the plane to Dublin.

Then, on the plane to Dublin... it was a matter of trying as hard as we could to sleep! Between watching "The Secret Life of Bees" and all the filght attendants' offering of food and drinks... and then my hubby's inability to get comfortable... I had to fight really hard to get any shut eye. But with the aid of my sexy, red eye mask, ear plugs, a pillow, and a blanket... I was able to eventually doze for a couple of hours. It felt like the flight would NEVER end! I think it ended up being about 7 hours.

(Ha ha ha - Mike modeling the lovely sleepware provided by the airline!)

So technically, the end of day one.

Things I am thankful for today:

1. 8.5 hours of sleep last night.
2. An easy-going attitude.
3. Our funny driver at the parking lot - lots of teasing, "cuz ya gotta have fun, right?"
4. Being well-packed and organized - makes security very easy.
5. Got to talk to Amanda this morning - miss her!
6. Mom-in-law in a good mood.
7. Aunt Annie is a little sick - not quite as hyper and talkative as usual.
8. The headache I've had all day is finally going away.
9. Emily and Finley called this morning to tell me to "have fun and stay safe!"
10. So fun to travel with Mike by my side.