I'm leaving on a jet plane...

Well, it’s official. I’m going to Malaysia for a week - I just booked my airline ticket (which was a feat in itself. Without sounding like a complete bigot, I officially cannot understand people with Korean accents and they cannot understand me with my southern accent. I was turned away by not one but TWO Korean Air phone reservation agents. Fan-f'in-tastic. *vent*). Anway - Kevin will be over there for about 2 months for an engineering school, and I just can’t be away from him for 2 months. I can barely stand it when he visits his parents for a week. So I’m packing a bag (or 3) and taking my non-Malaysian-speaking, doesn’t-fly-well-with-others self 10,000 miles across the Pacific to Malaysia. I’m going right in the middle of his 7 week trip, which is perfect timing because that week is his birthday. And I’m pumped. And totally nervous at the same time. This is the first international trip that I’ve (a) had to plan completely on my own and (b) had to endure the flights ALONE. For as much as I fly, I am a HORRIBLE flier. I get antsy after about an hour, I fantasize about how great it would be if I were sitting in first class, and I always get stuck sitting next to one of three kinds of people:
(1) the talker. I do not know you. I do not want to know what you do for a living (unless it somehow benefits me), and I do not want to hear about your life for the next 20 hours as we share this excruciatingly long flight together. Unless you are a cute little old person. Or unless you are famous (in which case you would be in first class or in your own plane). Otherwise a polite “excuse me” every few hours as we have to climb over each other to get to the restroom will suffice for our in-flight conversation.
(2) The head-bobbing-sleeper/snorer/drooler. To me, sleepers are the perfect neighbors to have on a flight. However, I am a head-bobbing-sleeper on planes, and having two next each other is a safety hazard as we may eventually collide. And, well, snoring and drooling are pretty self-explanatory.
(3) The stinker. For some reason, stinkers generally manage to sit in very close proximities of me on planes (and yes, I’ve checked a few times just to make sure it’s not really me). It’s just not right. Or fair.

I have another in-flight concern. I have had the luxury of flying first class on a couple of occasions and have been exposed to the wonderfulness that is first class airplane food. It looks like food, smells like food, consists of more than a cold sandwich with chips, and you get your own salt and pepper shakers (with REAL silverware!). However, the majority of my flying experiences have been in coach. And call me a food snob, but I cannot eat the food they hand out 95% of the time. Just the smell of it makes my stomach turn a little. Especially when everyone opens their mayo packets to put it on the above-mentioned sandwiches. *random fact: If you know me, you know how much I absolutely cannot stand the smell of mayo.* In summation, I generally cannot handle airplane food. Therefore I plan on raiding a vending machine before I board the plane. 20 hours living on chips and peanut butter crackers… nutritious and delicious.

So as sad as I am that Kevin leaves me next week for TWO MONTHS, knowing that I will be seeing him a few weeks after he leaves (and getting a vacation at the same time!) makes it a little less unbearable.

The Cranes take on Malaysia… this should be entertaining.

Tag!

Here's how you play: Once you've been 'tagged', you have to write a blog of 10 weird/random/ habits/goals/facts about yourself. At the end choose 10 people to be tagged , listing their names and WHY you chose them. Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them to read your blog. You can't tag the person who tagged you, since you can't tag me back - let me know when you've posted your blog so I can see your answers.


Here's the fire that was lit under my ass to start a blog. Cheryl tagged me to come up with 10 interesting/random facts/habits/whatever about myself. Read and learn, friends. Chances are, you probably already know most of them. :)


1. I am quite possibly one of the most sarcastic people walking this planet.

2. I am totally in love with my dogs. They can do no wrong. Well, that’s an exaggeration. They will jump all over you, lick you in the mouth, and possibly pee on you when you walk through the door. And they have no concept that I just spent $30 on new toys in PetSmart – their mission in life is to destroy that $30 worth of toys as soon as I take them out of the PetSmart bag. Regardless, they are my children, and I will lay you out before you have a chance to hurt them.

3. My sister and I have a relationship that only my sister and I can understand. We can look at each other and just blink a certain way and know what the other one is thinking. I consider myself very lucky to have that.

4. I love Target. I go there regularly to see if they have gotten new shoe shipments. As much as I walk around in heels, I cannot justify spending 50 or 60 bucks on every pair of heels that I own just to scuff them up and wear the heel tips down. I have a few expensive pairs of heels, but I can find shoes at Target that are just as cute for about 1/3 the price.

5. I have an elliptical machine in my study that has not been used since before my wedding – 9 months ago. I swear I’m going to dust it off this month. Or next month.

6. I am OCD about unplugging things and turning things off. I’ve been halfway to work many times and turned around because I thought I left my coffee maker on, my curling iron plugged in, or the back door unlocked. And 98% of the time, I turned the coffee maker off, unplugged my curling iron, and locked the door when I left the first time. But I feel like I HAVE to check.

7. I love those days where you can open all the house windows, crank up the radio, fire up the grill, sit back with a beer and have a patio/pool party day. Those are the best.

8. I do not feel the need to go out all the time. It doesn’t phase me a bit to not have a story that begins with “Last night, at (insert bar name), I was so drunk…”. I am just as happy to hang out at home and drink with Kevin and whoever wants to come over. I’m not a homebody, I just don’t need to be in a bar to say I had a good time – not that there’s anything wrong with you if you do.

9. I am obsessed with time. I map time out based on how long it takes to do things. For instance, I know how many minutes it takes for me to brush my teeth, do my hair and makeup, get dressed, and get my coffee ready for work. So I can sleep until the absolute last minute possible. And if I really need that one.more.snooze., I pull my hair up for the day to make up the time difference. I’m crazy, I know.

10. I am a Dance Dance Revolution machine. However, only in my living room either alone or with Cheryl and Saul. With the game set on extra-extra-beginner level. I could never EVER do it in an arcade. Those 10 year olds would put me to shame. But I bet those 10 year olds don’t have jazz hands like I do.

So that's it. 10 things about me. Chances are, you still think I'm just as crazy as you thought I was before you read them ;)

Now to tag people:
Kaci - consider it something to do when Bradly's napping

Az - because a crazy Mexican definitely has 10 interesting things to say about herself

Sabrina - because you definitely have some wild stories to tell

Vero - because I'm not sure that you'd do it, but consider this a challenge

Kevin - I know you won't do it, but I'm hoping me saying you won't do it will make you do it

Matt W - Because you like talking about yourself. And we like listening :)

Heather - Because you have a totally different perspective on life, now having a 8 month old boy

*Well, that's only 7 people. Oh well. Tag away!