The Traveling Circus....Moving: Military Style

I would love to say that our flights were uneventful...and everything was relaxing and enjoyable.  Hours spent with a book, card games, sudoku, conversation, meeting people...  That would have been so wonderful!  Oh how I wish I could say that about our 20 hours in the air.  But....I can't.

The first flight out of the Great White North was in a tin can that got shot out by a rubber band.  My worst nightmare.  Having been plagued with motion sickness ALL my life, I had taken every precaution before the flight.  Knowing that I would be in the air for SO LONG, I didn't want to start it puking my guts out.  Thanks to winter turbulence, my wish was not granted.

Four Flights!  I had to survive and be a functioning mom through four flights!  As I turned greener and greener, I realized that it was going to be a very, very long 20+ hours.  Our Angel had settled in and was playing happily.  She flirted with everyone on the flight.  She was the best little traveler you could ask for.  While some childless, kid haters glared at us when we boarded the plane, a few of them commented to us at the end of the flight that she was wonderful!  Having filled a few barf bags on the flight, all I could do was mumble "thanks" as we disembarked at our next connection.

We were able to check our luggage all the way through to the Orient.  However, we had to shlep our baby, cat, carseat, stroller, and 6 carry ons through the International terminal.  Two adults...plus all that "stuff"...  I really want you to close your eyes and try to picture that image for a second.  Now add having to run from domestic to international with a close connection!  We were a freakin' traveling circus!!!

Whenever I think about all the connections that we had to make, circus music goes off in my head.  Our daughter was a peach.  Nutmeg???  Not a peep.  However, my engineer and I were rapidly wearing thin.  After finally making it through the International check in, we settled in for a wait...which was scary short.  Being so tired and weak from the last flight, I had a hard time thinking of positive perspectives at this point.  Boarding our second flight, with Nutmeg miraculously stowed under the seat in front of me, we settle in for a very, very long international flight.

Even though our flight took off in the late afternoon and was traveling East, I was never able to close my eyes and get any sleep.  Our little girl was so confused as to why she wasn't allowed to sleep in a bed, not just her bed...but any bed.  Knowing that it was rough on her, I spent that entire night holding her hand, trying to let her know that it was ok and she could go to sleep.  Across the aisle...my engineer was sawing logs.  It was about 4am when I finally gave up and just let my eyes glaze over.  I sat and stared at the little plane on the monitor as it made its way across the Atlantic.  Boy, did she take her time!  The sun was rising as we made our descent into Europe.  Looking out the window past my daughter, I saw the water ways, fields, and barren landscapes of a European winter reflecting in the moonlight of pre-dawn.

Upon landing at our stop, we rushed to find our next connection.  Looking outside, we saw, with very heavy hearts, a barren frozen landscape outside.  My engineer and I discussed, with great concern, how we were going to get Nutmeg in the cabin with us.  Thus far, we had been lucky...very lucky.  Her weight had not been questioned at all.  Now, in the stricter flying regulationed EU, we weren't too sure on how we were going to pull it off.  Finding our gate and setting our baggage down, my engineer went off to find out if we were going to make this next leg with or without her.

The wait for him to get back felt like an eternity.  Sitting there, with my fussy little girl, I watched the sun break the night, revealing everything that I dreaded.  The world outside was, indeed, frozen and foreboding.  Closing my eyes, I prayed that things would turn out well in the end.  At that moment, completely sleep deprived, it was hard to see anything clearly.  The tiredness that I felt was physically painful.

When my engineer returned, with Nutmeg in hand, there was a serious look of triumph on his face!  With a broad smile, he announced that he was successful.  Evidently, he had stood and watched the clerks for a while, trying to determine who might be a subversive.  Finally, after thinking he knew who happily bent the rules, he approached the counter, batted his beautiful brown eyes, and flirted with the clerk.  Not only was she a rebel, but she was a cat lover as well and loved Nutmeg at first sight.  Determined not to separate an attractive man from the cat he clearly loved, she passed Nutmeg as being under 8 pounds.  I chuckle when I think that what works for women, works for men as well.

By the time we finally boarded our next flight, we were tired out of our minds.  My poor engineer was so exhausted that the flight attendants immediately decided that alcohol was NOT going to be offered to him.  He wasn't nasty, but he was pretty short at this point.  That being the case, I handled our Angel, Nutmeg, and whatever I could carry on my back.  When we collapsed into our seats, my Angel and I instantly went to sleep.  I don't remember that flight AT ALL!  For three blessed hours, she and I slept...and slept hard.  When we landed, I felt like it was way too soon.  But upon looking out the window, I saw a world that was so different from any I had ever lived in.  We were on the final leg...

We were ALMOST home.