leavin' on a jet plane (and then on a puddle jumper)

I'm off to South Dakota for a few days. I planned this trip a couple of weeks ago and the timing seems to be right. Last week my mom fell and broke her pelvic bone so she's been on bed rest for the most part but has recently been able to spend some time in her wheelchair.

I know she's going to be disappointed that we can't go out so we'll just have to make some fun at the nursing home. She loves to go to the mall, see a movie or go out for dinner. I'm afraid this time the options are very limited. Of course, that doesn't mean that I can't bring things to her. Dairy Queen and Taco John's are high on my our list! I know we'll have a lot of time just chatting. I finally received our vacation photos so I'll take those and plan to dig up some photos from my childhood as well and we can reminisce together.

Funny how when I was young, I always thought the town where my mom currently lives was SO big because compared to my hometown it's HUGE. We would go there for back-to-school shopping, the orthodontist (and no, I won't be packing photos of me with my perm AND braces--those days are better forgotten) and sometimes even stop at McDonald's (of course after getting my braces tightened it was difficult to even eat french fries). In high school it was exciting if you went on a date there...it somehow took the relationship to a new level because the boy was able to drive 42 miles for a date. That's a long way of saying...the town where my mom lives isn't really that big. In fact, the airport has one gate. I don't even think it's Gate 1...it's the only one. Flights have been cut back and there are very few options for arriving/departing flights. I'm grateful there's an airport at all. That's a very long way of saying...

I'm leaving for the airport at 4:45am tomorrow--as in morning. I'll fly to Minneapolis and then get on a small plane for the second flight to SD. My favorite thing about these flights? When we're getting ready to go, the pilot says, "Cindy, we're about to take off, please take your seat." (I've yet to see a male flight attendant on these flights--and often it seems the flight attendant is named Cindy.) It always makes me smile.

I'm certain I'll sleep like a newborn tonight and wake up every couple of hours. Instead of needing to eat (although I won't rule that out), I'll check the clock, count the few hours of night remaining and then fall into a restless sleep for a bit longer. At least that's the good scenario...the other scenario is that I wake up at 6am...oh, let's not go there at all. My mom called on Sunday night to ask if I was packed yet...