good morning USA!

so it's 6:19am here which means that it is 7:20pm my brain's time & me, littlest & 1 are up. which is about normal for us if it was 6:19am our brain's time. so, anybody ready for a story? cause i might have one!

the korea to US flight wasn't horrible. it wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. i will tell you, however, if we were running a contest between airlines, delta would NOT win the prize for best service between US & korea. i'm very happy that we are flying Korean Air back home in 3 1/2 weeks. i've only had 2 experiences with the overseas flight & i know everyone can have an off day but just based on those experiences, i know which one i would pick.

since we were the the airport 47 hours early we got all checked in & then went to find our gate & stuff & have some food. we forgot airport food = expensive. yikes. but we sucked it up & then got on the plane. we got to get on first b/c of littlest. and we had bulkhead seats for the bassinet so more leg room...yay!

the flight attendants weren't as friendly as on last year's flight. and...let's face it...some of them were kind of dumb...and rude. we requested that they bring the bassinet after the dinner service. and then had to request it several more times before it showed up. but before it showed up, the flight attendant was all "i have to go find it...every plane is different". um, ok. so if God forbid something happens, are you going to be able to deploy escape slides since they might be different from the last plane you flew? ugh. excuses. and then she brings the darn bassinet & tells 1 "you'll have to help me do this-i don't know how!" what! you big dummy! whose job is this? argh! they get the thing stuck to the wall only to find out that littlest is not having anything to do with it. sigh. all that for nothing. and then when we wanted them to come take it back (after I took it off the wall), they wouldn't. even though littlest pushed the call button 1874 times. maybe that's why they seemed to not like us?

oh and i forgot to talk about dinner. i ordered gluten free meals for me (littlest didn't have her own seat so she didn't get one...we shared). it's just easier to order gluten free than to try to explain wheat allergy. well, apparently saltine crackers are gluten free now? i really don't think so but if so, i'm mad that someone didn't tell me b/c i love saltine crackers! anyway, they brought the food thing around & we tell them that i ordered a gluten free meal. :um, we already gave out all the special meals. you weren't tagged." um. the lady at the desk confirmed it for me. so...where's my food? they scrounge around & find my meal (apparently all airplanes are different?) & it wasn't horrible except for the whole saltine cracker thing which kind of makes me worry about what other gluten/wheat product was in there. we'll have to watch littlest's face. greaaaaaat.
and littlest. oh, littlest. littlest didn't want to sleep in the bassinet & couldn't sleep on me or 1. poor little thing kept waking up every 2 minutes b/c she wasn't comfortable. so if you were on the korea/atlanta flight yesterday & walked past the bulkhead seat & saw some crazy woman lying on the floor? that was me. i felt like an idiot but at the least the baby got some sleep. b/c we all know that a sleepy baby is a screamy baby & that is not so good on an airplane.

finally got into atlanta at about 7pm last night. i swear, it was like the friday that wouldn't end. we woke up at 7 our friday morning (after me only sleeping 3 hours-think i was excited?), finished packing & cleaning, ran a few last minute errands, hopped a bus for 2 hours, sat in the airport for 4 hours, got on a plane for 14 hours & it was STILL friday when we landed! agh! had to navigate atlanta airport to go through passport control & find our baggage. all. 5. bags. ugh. and a carseat. but the carseat never showed up! and time is ticking down to "oh, crap, we're gonna miss our connection" time. i finally asked the baggage handler guy & he points way across the baggage claim area & tells me the stupid carseat is over there. why? why would the carseat be way over there? i mean, it's pretty much in the next county! wtf? & if you must put my carseat way the heck over there, where is the sign telling me where it is? agh! this was after i had to wait 20 minutes to get my gate checked stroller. b/c apparently they put all the (7) gate checked strollers way in the back of the plane. b/c that makes sense-to put stuff people need in the back behind all the other stuff so they have to wait for all the other stuff to be pulled out before they can get their stroller. and there was this poor lady with a 3 month old all by herself waiting for her carseat (gate checked) & stroller (gate checked) & carseat base (baggage checked so, you got it, in the next county with no sign!) & 2 big bags. so we (i) was trying to help her out by pushing her buggy through customs & all b/c i felt bad for her & after all that, they didn't give her a boarding pass in korea so she had to go get that before anything else. she probably missed her flight, poor thing. finally pass through customs & no one can tell us where to dump our bags so they will get on our next flight. finally get that sorted out & then RUN through security. and did i mention that we have 2 laptops in carry ons that have to be taken out of bags to go through the scanner? and 3 other carry ons? and 3 kids? and a stroller? AND IT'S STILL FREAKIN FRIDAY! and here, let me draw you a diagram...

T.....A.....B.....C.....D.....E

that's how the concourses line up in atlanta. and, in case you didn't know, E is where the international flights come in. and we had to go to B. in like 20 minutes after the biggest landing/baggage/customs debacle that ever was. and that is 20 minutes til takeoff. and you know, they close the doors way before then! biggest kept saying it was like home alone when they are hauling butt through the airport. so we huff & we puff & we race all around & get to our gate that says the flight is going somewhere other than charleston. oh crap. we missed it. but, oh, no, we didn't miss it! says the nice fella at the gate! the flight has been moved! to T concourse! and we have 35 minutes to get there! does no one make announcements in airports anymore? to tell us where to go? and, yes, we could have looked at a monitor thing but who has time for that when their carseat is being held hostage? !%&*(%^$^@. and off we went again. and we made it. and finally took off & finally landed (yes, still on friday!) in teeny tiny charleston airport to see 3 friends, one granny & 2 grandpas (my mom is at a conference & won't be home until tonight) & 5 bags & 1 carseat. and we came to a house that has air conditioning! and granny cooked up a bunch of food & then littlest was sleepy (about 12:30 at this point...finally, saturday!) & so i laid down with her to put her to bed & woke up at about 3 when 1 came in. oops. didn't mean to be antisocial.

and i'm home! (but 1 says we aren't home, we are visiting as home is now in korea) & i'm so excited to see everybody & do stuff & EXTREMELY HAPPY that the friday that wouldn't end finally is over. but that also means we are 1 day closer to going back. and that part is sad.