The Subdivision of Redundancy.

[sunshine_queen]

I'm home!

 

See, I would've LJed yesterday, but I was waiting for Nica to write up the big post of our

vacation together so I could link to it, like she did the last time we got together. Only

she totally didn't write it up. So I guess I'm going to have to do a sloppy version and wait

for her to do a nice, pretty, polished one.

 

Okay:

 

 

On Saturday, I left for the airport. We had to go pick up Mel on the way from a birthday

party, and that's when I started getting misty. I'd never left my family all alone before-

it had always been with close, close family friends and always with my sister. So I got a bit teary.

 

We got my tickets okay, but then my luggage was five pounds overweight. Mind you, I had the biggest suitcase of LIFE. I had more clothes in there than I could've ever possibly needed.

And yet I had brought it.

 

We wound up taking out the pink Barbie bag with all my purses in it- and then it was still

0.25 pounds over, but the woman couldn't charge me $30 for that- though she wanted to.

 

So, we waited for my dad to show up from paking the car and dawdled about- my mom was OBSESSED with taking pictures of me, like I was going off to war and going to die.

 

At 3:00, I finally told my parents that I really had to leave, because they were convinced

that I had plenty of time before 3:30. Mom got misty, so I got misty again, and I went to stand in line with these two European ladies who had been, like, hiking in South America who distracted me, kindly, from being miserable about leaving. I went through and everything was fine, and Mom, Dad and Mel were standing forlornly behind me, waving.

 

I started through the terminal and called Mom. "Are you crying?" I asked. "Yes!" she

exclaimed, and lo, she was.

 

Waited in the terminal for a while, and then was seated. First class has big, comfy seats.

They give you drinks and good snacks. I did, however, find it impossible to sleep on it.

 

Got to Charlotte. I called my mom, called Nica's dad, and found my gate. Then I had to get up again a pee. And then I got a cinnamon roll and forgot to get a fork and napkin, so after

I finished said morsel of delight I had to pour water from my water bottle over my hands and wash it there because there was no way in hell that I was going to schlepp all my stuff back to the bathroom. Called my mom again, because I was bored.

 

She was chattering away, and then the third leg of the Triple Crown started. She exclaims, (I assume over some horse,) "There he is!" as I look up and see Nica. "There she is!" I exclaim to Mommy, and hang up.

 

Eee, it's Nica, with a giant pink duffle bag of doom and entertainment and the cute little

purse she'd wanted.

 

We chatter happily until the guy at the desk calls Nica to the desk and says she's been

downgraded to coach. Which sucks. She calls her Dad, and I beg to be able to bitch at the

guy. Because, honestly? How lame.

 

We both wound up sitting in coach, with three seats for the two of us. We took some pictures and talked, and then we wound up watching the first half hour of the commentaried "Almost Thirty Years."

 

We landed, found her Dad, got our luggage. On the way home we stopped and ordered pizza from the Pizza Hut bistro and then we all went home.

 

Nica's mom is just so nice and sweet. I love Terri.

 

Gave my hostess the hostess present, and then FINALLY gave Nica her birthday present. And her graduation present. Woohoo.

 

After we ate, I think Nica and I watched TV. You will see that this was a common theme in most of our days.

 

The next day we... watched TV... and then Nica went to Baccalaureate with Annie, and I

followed her parents soon after. That lasted two hours, but I got to see her school, and

Nica got chocolate all over her white gown and cap. Hee.

 

After that we went home and got Chelsea and went to dinner at Red Robin, and then Nica and I went to see "Mr and Mrs Smith" which ROCKED THE HELL ON. It was so, so very cool. After that, we stopped by her friend Laura's house for her graduation and I got to meet most of Nica's friends. Virginia kids are very, very different from Miami kids. They're much nicer. And more civilized. Her friends were super nice, too.

 

After that, we probably went home to watch TV.

 

We got up early the next morning to go to Busch Gardens. We only got lost once, and it was only a little lost. We rode on like, every ride but one and I learned that I absolutely love roller coasters. I got a wicked sunburn and my lips got burnt- yeah, I know, the odds, right?- but we had a great time.

 

That night we went to bed- no joke- at 10:30. TEN-THIRTY. Nica had to get up early to go practice for graduation, so I slept until ten. I showered and went to eat breakfast. Have I mentioned how much I talked with Terri? I chatted with her for hours during the trip. Then Nica called me and came to pick me up so we could go to lunch at Chili's with her friends.

 

For one thing, I loved her friend Caitlin. She was fun to tease. She also had her own out-of-state friend there, named Sam. At lunch we also met with Annie, and then Vanland! (Vanessa.) We had a nice lunch... and then we went home and watched TV until it was time to get ready for graduation.

 

We gave Annie a ride and drove down to the Siegel center, which was far away but really big and nice.

 

The graduation itself was very nice- none of the speeches were ridiculously long, and most of the student speeches were really cute. The rows of kids looked really good- the boys were all in red, and the girls in white, and they alternated, so it looked really pretty.

 

Afterwards we went outside to see her friends and take pictures and give flowers and the

whole event was really nice.

 

We went back home, and Nica and I got changed, because her friends wanted to go out. First, we went to this ice cream place called Maggie Moo's, but we got there at, like, 9:40 and it closed at 9:30. Nica's friends Laura and Stefanie were there, so we all conferred on where to go. After discussing it, they all decided on a Wendy's nearby, and called the rest of the people to meet them there. Then we formed a caravan and drove over to Wendy's, which was also closed. We could've done the drive-through, but we decided instead to go to Friendly's.

 

The Friendly's was practically empty, because it was almost time for it to close, but we

kept it open. We all had a really good time, because everyone is super nice and Nica and I

pretty much had a good time no matter what we were doing.

 

After that, we probably went home and watched more TV.

 

The next morning we got up early and went with her dad to D.C. We watched "The Box" pt. 1 and 2 in the car, and I have to say that I was totally psyched to be in D.C. I've only been there once and it's so pretty.

 

We went to the International Spy Museum, which was SO cool. They had exhibits on tradecraft, supplies, history of spying, codes and cryptology, costumes, spying in war, famous spies, women spies- it was so awesome. Nica and I bought matching shirts and rubber band bracelets from there. We had lunch at the Spy Cafe.

 

After that we drove around- we found the FBI building! The one they always show on XF! It was very exciting. I saw various monuments and things, and then we went to the Smithsonian of American culture. I saw the original Kermit and one of Judy Garland's pairs of the ruby slippers- and there was an exhibit on Celia Cruz! Oh, that was exciting. I was very homesick for Cubanness so I was excited to see that.

 

After that we got ice cream and I got a water and we started the drive home. After finishing "The Box pt. 2," we watched two episodes of XF- "Never Again" and... the one where Dana is dying of cancer. Poor Dana. She's very snuggable.

 

We stopped at a rest station and there were a million little American bulldog puppies. They were SO cute. They also got my new white pants absolutely filthy.

 

We got home and chilled and watched more TV until it was time for dinner, and then we went to Nica's friend Becca's graduation/birthday getty- another very civilized event with really good food. And lots of it. It was mildly depressing.

 

On the way home, we stopped at the Walgreens where we had dropped off a roll of film, and the girl working there asked Nica, "Are you two best friends?" to which Nica replied, "Yes."

 

We went home, and then the kittens came! Nica and her family are kitten sitting for the next three weeks and they were SO adorable. We spent most of the night playing with them and I made friends with Chelsea, who said I looked like Jen Garner, although that might not be a compliment coming from her. She's not much of a fan.

 

Terri gave me a beautiful necklace with an 'M' on it, a bracelet with an 'M' to take home

for Mel, peanut paraphenelia to take home for my parents, and a Virginia frame to put a

picture of me and Nica in. Because it's not like they fed and sheltered me for five days,

not to mention refused to let me PAY FOR ANYTHING.

 

Anyway, we had to get up early so I could get to the plane at 10, and we were caught in

traffic for an hour, listening to the iPod and being miserable that I was leaving. My

suitcase, by the way? WEIGHED EXACTLY 50.0 pounds. On the DOT. It was amazing.

 

Then we sat down for a minute and I called my Dad and Greg talked to him and I talked to my Ma and then we went to go through security and I look at Nica and she's all teary. Mind you, Nica doesn't cry, so I was not letting myself cry, and there she was, all teary. I was like, NICA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? and the she's like, I'm going to make you cry, too! And I got all choked up and was really bitter.

 

They watched me through security and I called her on the other side and various other times throughout the day.

 

I found my gate and sat and ate a nasty cinnamon roll and called Nica. And then I boarded my plane, which was really small and we had to walk outside to get to it. The flight was okay.

 

I had to walk FOREVER AND A DAY to get to my gate in Charlotte. Like, it was really easy to follow the signs and all, but it was just so insanely far. I took about twenty moving walkways and passed ninety bathrooms and ten food places. I stopped and bought the novelization of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" which was some 200-pages of enjoyability. Then I had a two hour layover.

 

Which wound up being two and a half.

 

There were several funny things:

 

- the two southern girls. A lot of people were going on cruises, but one of these girls

said, and I kid you not, "I'm scared to be goin' on this cruise, y'all." and it was SO

southern that I nearly died. I wish I could've recorded it.

 

- there was this stepford couple sitting ahead of me. I mean, the guy looked like Jen

Garner's hockey-playing boyfriend in "13 going on 30" and the wife was all blonde and

frosted and suddenly this polo'd man comes over and introduces himself and says that they're all sitting over there. Stepford couple #1 gets there stuff and goes over- and I turn around to see the residents of Arcadia Falls, Liberty Village and Stepford all sitting in matching pairs.

 

Yes. It was horrifying.

 

- Our flight crew never showed up. So we had to get a whole new crew. And then we were pushed back in take-off order, so we were, like, an hour and a half behind.

 

I got home in one piece. I found my parents and sister, and talked to Greg on the phone.

Then we got my luggage and my dad had lost the car. So we had to wander around trying to find it. On the upside, we found the moving walkway where Mia Maestro filmed the scene from the Marianela movie, which was exciting.

 

I talked to Nica in the parking garage, and then we went home!

 

Then I had about a hundred years of LJing to catch up on, and new fics and icons and Fugging to catch up on, but it was fun!

 

It was so awesome being with Nica. I mean, the last time I saw her we had under two days together. This time we spent five full days together, and it was amazing.

 

We honestly are the exact same person. Her parents said so, her friends said so. We listen

and can sing along to the same music. We would say the same things at the same time. We make the same jokes. We find the same things funny. At Friendly's we both wound up crying laughing over something stupid- and her friends were just appalled that we had the same sense of humour. Truly, it's like she's the quieter version of me, and I'm the louder version of her.

 

I had so much fun being with her. My favorite parts were driving together in the car, me

fiddling with the iPod so we could sing to loud songs we both knew the words to. She

mentioned the giggle fit she had when we were trying to find the evil key finder (that I

wound up killing.) I'm now in on the Caitlin jokes, and I spent a whole five days in the

Subdivision of Redundancy.

 

Nica might come and visit Florida in July/August. I will SO go and meet her.

 

The weirdest thing was being alone again. I mean, seriously, for five days it had been

Monicaandmadeline and suddenly it was Monica and Madeline and now it's Monica               

                          and                             Madeline.

 

Nica, I hope you had as good of a time as I did. And if I forgot something, put it on your

post.

 

Comments

[puggywuggy.livejournal.com]

EEEEEEEEEEE!

If you give me a little longer, I will definitely have my version written.

At Friendly's we both wound up crying laughing over something stupid- and her friends were just appalled that we had the same sense of humour.

I so remember laughing, I just have no idea WTF was so funny. :P

And the whole being alone thing is WEIRD. Especially when I'm driving places, I swear.

And everyone misses you. My mom randomly says to me, "I still miss Madeline!" and I'm like, SNIFFLES, "Me, too!"


Dude. Best. Week. Ever. :P

[sunshine-queen.livejournal.com]

I'm so lonely, dude! This is all your fault. You had the brilliant idea of spending five together and NOW WE'RE APART.

I miss your family, too. I miss Harley.

[cryssa.livejournal.com]

Aww. It sounds like so much. :) And did you take pictures of her digital camera for me, huh huh?

(Psst. How'd you like Busch Gardens? And what part of VA does she live in?)

[sunshine-queen.livejournal.com]

At Nica's LJ are the pictures puggywuggy.

I LOVED Busch Gardens. I literally had not been on a roller coaster (or any ride, for that matter) in two years, so I was totally freaked out- and then I went on and had a blast.

[cryssa.livejournal.com]

Her journal is friend's only. *sniffs*

It's so much fun! Except Apollo's Chariot scares the bejesus outta me.