Skip to main content

Day 14

I was up to watch the sun rise...and on a Monday morning, nogal! I Skyped with the kids before they left for school, finished packing, sipped some tea while watching the butterflies playing in the garden and even caught some Test cricket (eek!) before the day had really begun.

Saying farewell to Dan and Tim in Norfolk was short 'n sweet. Uncle Ed drove like the wind to get me across to London Heathrow by 2.45pm. We even enjoyed soup bowl sized coffee at Costa before I hugged them goodbye and walked through to the first round of security checks. By the time I'd collected all of my things, the board signalled that my boarding gate was CLOSING!

You know when you're running...and you're thinking..."I should not be running - mostly because it's not one of my strengths"...but you know you just have to run...so you run...and then when you get to where you need to be, you stop and your lungs feel as though they're going to explode right out of your chest????

To top it off, I was about no.134 in the queue at my boarding gate - so that gate wasn't going to close any time soon.

The first leg of the trip was lovely - warm sunshine streaming through from outside, good flight entertainment, a window seat, some friendly neighbours, a decent meal, a quick time lapse et al. As soon as we started to prepare for our landing in Dubai though, I knew I was about to break into yet another sprint.

With just 40 minutes between my flight touching down and my connecting flight heading off to Cape Town, I had to ensure that I got out of the plane and across the airport really quickly. I head off at my fastest transit pace, using my best middle of the night manners to squeeze past sleepy passengers taking a leisurely stroll (obviously, on one of those in-9hours'time-connections). All the halls looked the same and without clear instruction... and I started to panic.

Then, I heard a voice up ahead "Connecting... Cape Town...Anyone connecting to Cape Town?..." and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. In their wisdom, Emirates had sent young ground staff steward, Kareem, down to our gate, to personally escort us across terminals - to ensure that we found our way in time. Well done, Emirates and thank you God!

As promised, once I'd settled into my new seat - in the middle (bleh) - I prepared for a snooze. I could  finally relax. But now my legs were tired of being bent at a 90 degree angle and started to cramp up. My bare arms quickly recognised the airplane aircon and my dry throat begged for a cup of warm tea - even thought it was 3.30am in the morning.

I just needed to get through the next 9 hours and then I'd find my Dear Husband on the other side...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The week that has been...

"Life as we see it", right? My time so far at the cycle tour office is reminding me of just how demanding life in this age can be - a time seeking instant solution and gratification: We want it now! We won't wait! This is what makes a relaxing, easy going activity seem so rewarding! We've always been fortunate enough to cook with pleasure - obviously more for mine! And since returning from BA, we've also found great enjoyment from leisurely strolls in the neighbourhood or at Sea Point promenade. Take time for this! Here's what we've been a part of this past week: We were encouraged to see a group of students from Bishops come out (even in the rain) and join with the FBC team in painting a mural on the school's new diningroom and kitchen wall. For news and updates visit: http://www.fbcschool.org.za/ We joined over 15 000 walkers in a quest to feed the hungry children in the Western Cape, by participaing in the Blisters for Bread walk on Sunday. We tackl...

That's so amazing about Grace

Scrolling through some photos this afternoon, I came across one of our friend Tarrin-Rae and her new baby girl, Isla, born last Thursday 31 October 2013. Isla Grace Graham I struggled to contain my own emotions as I observed this special moment in Tarrin's life (and new Isla's too) and thought back to my own experiences. I immediately asked Tarrin if I may use this to share a bit more of what I some times feel as a Mom... At first glance, I see relief . She's finally here! We can see her face in real life and we can say out loud "I am a Mommy!" Like my own kids, Isla was in no hurry to be born and labour was induced. What's worse than having to wait 40 weeks to meet your newest family member?? Having to wait longer still! I must confess, that this feeling was mixed with a fair dose of disbelief  on my part too - when I sat quietly resting between visitors and feeds, I had to pinch my literal self and realise - the baby was here. Then I see comfort ....

A home-made birthday

Due to the fact that we celebrated Jorja's birthday with the Weber and Wilcox families in the UK last year - over a few days and in various styles - we were a bit out of practice. In fact, if Jorja had not brought it to my attention with just two weeks to spare, I must confess that I would not have expected it to arrive for another few more weeks! But Moms could never let that seem to be the case, so we got cracking on 5th birthday celebration arrangements... On the night before, I set out every baking ingredient, apparatus and accessory that I could find and hoped that we would make it work! Aunty Robyn and Aunty Ilana arrived just in time to help us bake off the first round of vanilla cake pops and cookies with sprinkles. At this point, there was no turning back, our kitchen was already in a state of bake! The biscuit batch baked beautifully (and bountifully) and Jorja was well pleased with her assisted effort. As she head to bed on the eve of her birthday, I popped the...