Home on the Range

I went home to Texas- God's country, for the weekend.

Alright, so maybe when I say "range" I'm not talking so much the open prairie as the driving range. Or the golf course, for those of you who don't keep up with Tiger. There ARE however, cattle visible from the driving range near my parents' house... make no mistake. This is still Texas we're talking about here.

My parents were hosting a party on the porch at their new house, and once I was told that Salt Lick barbeque would be involved, I booked my flight to Dallas. I really don't mind traveling so much, as long as I don't have to wait on a long security line, my flight doesn't get delayed, I make my connecting flights without having to run 'Home Alone' style through airports in arbitrary cities, and I don't get stuck on the runway.

I don't think that's too much to ask... I'm actually just thankful I'm not one of the people whose flights were cancelled altogether this past weekend. No barbeque for them.

There was actually no barbeque for me, either, because by the time I had made the rounds and talked to my parents friends and friends parents, it was time for me to split and head to Dallas to meet up with friends on Saturday night. It was strange to drive, especially since we hardly ever use transportation in the city that our Metrocard or feet do not cover.

Once I had gotten to my friends SR nd MK's apartment in Dallas and found out that they had been doing laundry and watching Lifetime movies earlier in the evening, we all decided to slowly sink into the couch, chat, eat chocolate oatmeal cookies and have coffee the rest of the night. My friend AG regaled us with the story of one of the teachers she works with who had a blind date over spring break and claims to have fallen in love. These are the exciting lives of 23-year-olds.

After dropping off my friend CC at her house, I made it back home by about 2:45 AM. I blame it on the coffee.

I am in a general state of caffeine-induced frenzy when I go home because my parents have the best coffee maker of all time. Even my brother, a recent coffee-convert after experiencing college life with 8 AM classes will come home and drink espresso from a tiny white cup. And he's not the tiny white-cup type whatsoever- the coffee is just that good.

It was great to see my family and also my friends. I've decided that even though weekend trips are short, they're worth it. Since good airfares are hard to come by these days, I try to take advantage of them where I can.

Making everything easier this trip was the fact that KR and I were on the same flight home. She had been in Houston to watch her brother play baseball, and so I flew from Dallas to Houston and met up with her at the airport.

Fortunately, we got to sit next to each other. Unfortunately we were in a row with a guy who got up about six times during our flight for various reasons unbeknownst to us. All we know is that he was traveling with models and none of them ate anything other than raw almonds. We, on the other hand, were quite the pair with a frappucino and a huge box of popcorn. The pickings were slim in terminal C, alright?

It made traveling easier, having a friend with you, except for the fact that KR got a bad sunburn on the tops of her legs and arms Saturday and was uncomfortable for most of the flight. We passed the time by watching about half of 'Fever Pitch' until KR's portable DVD player battery died, then could only wonder why the movie chosen for our in-flight entertainment had been 'Money Talks' of all things. I also had to wonder why so many people were actually buying headphones to watch it- did they know the premise of the movie? Did they not? I concluded that people will do anything to avoid reading, even if it means watching a really pointless movie.

Waiting for her bag at the airport, I wish I would've had my camera on hand for the moment when KR was standing there, sunburned and tired, watching as a huge box labeled "human blood: keep at room temperature" passed her on the baggage claim.

Priceless.

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
-Leonardo Da Vinci