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Needless to say, I didn’t get very much sleep last night! After taking 2 Tylenol PM I was able to fall asleep around 12:30. I had my alarm set for 5:40, but I woke up at 4:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep. Just what I needed… to make a long day even longer
I decided to try and rearrange my packing so I could fit more in my carry on. Around 6:45 mom and dad arrived with Kim and her luggage. Jon Cole was laying in my bed watching cartoons and drinking chocolate milk when they drove up. I told him they were here (so he could greet them at the door) and he hopped out of bed, still in his pajamas, ran past me and casually said “bye”! He was ready to go with them to Millbrook!! I explained that they weren’t ready to leave with him yet and that they were staying until our ride to the airport arrived.
We arrived at the Atlanta airport around 10:30 for our 12:30 flight. There wasn’t a long line to check bags, but each person took forever. They finally got to us and the time came to weigh our bags……… the first was 80 lbs!!! We had one exactly 50 lb’s, 73 lbs, 75 lbs and 68 lbs !! The weight limit on Ethiopian air is 70 lbs per bag, but for the United flight to Washington it was only 50lbs. I’m not a stranger to having to pay a fee for my over weight bag but it is usually $25. She was charging $50 per bag!! Fortunately for us we got the employee who had had her morning coffee and she only charged me for 2.
The flight to Washington was only an hour and a half and was uneventful, other that the rough spot of turbulence. There was a beautiful 8 month old baby one row in front of us and we played with her and we got even more excited about seeing our girls!!
Once we arrived in Washington we couldn’t find any listing of our flight ( we were to early for it to even be posted on the board yet) so we found a place to get some food! We were hungry, and if you’ve ever spent much time with anyone from the Mikell family, you know how important it is for us to get food when our bodies indicate that it’s time. It can get pretty ugly!! We enjoyed our lunch, had smiles on our faces, and headed of to find Ethiopian Airlines.
When we made it to the counter there was only 2 people in front of us, but it took quite a while. We had to check in and get our boarding passes and also got passes to the British Air Lounge where we currently are. There was a beautiful little Ethiopian boy in a stoller about 1-2 years old and we kept playing with him while his mom was having issues with the ticket guy. It made me long for my girls!!! Only a few more hours… The time in the lounge has passed pretty quickly. We have snacked, done some reading, enjoyed listening to the other conversations in the room (currently the Canadian Ambassador is giving travel advice and must see sites to a group of senior citizens on a tour together…we are taking notes) and watching CNN. I can’t remember the last time I sat for this long, and I’m sure it will be a LONG time before I get the chance again, so I’m trying to enjoy it. We have about an hour left before we head to begin boarding our flight to Addis Ababa !! We plan on taking our Lunesta, passing out and waking up in Ethiopia !! Until we are there….
Please Keep Us In Your Prayers!!