Planet Amy Jo

Here's the weird thing that happened: I had a four-hour layover in Houston, so I walked through the terminals looking for just the right place to eat dinner and kill some time catching up on Entertainment Weekly and InTouch magazines. I had a painful headache caused by no coffee (so I wouldn't have to use an airplane lavatory, gross me out) and no Tylenol, so I went into one of those magazine/candy/everything stores to get what would probably be a $9 pack of six pills. A woman was standing in front of the medicine display, so I waited patiently for a moment, looking at her cute boy standing with her. Dang, I thought, that kid sure looks like my nephew. And dang, that woman sure looks like my sister. They turned around, I grinned, and there I was standing in an airport in Texas in front of my sister and nephew. It was really strange. Becky was confused and thought that I had planned the whole thing and that it was a funny airport surprise to run into me in the everything store. I had no idea they were flying through Houston, and what in the world were the chances that I was in the same place as them at that moment? Once I convinced her that I wasn't playing a funny surprise, we laughed and hugged and said, "Weird. Weird, right?" and my nephew accepted that his aunt was indeed the lady kissing his cheeks. We had a nice catch-up for an hour until they had to board their plane and I had to head to my two-hour dinner with the People magazine Becky passed off to me. Gawd, I love a magazine. I can't wait to see Becky and Co. back at their house.

All I want is a bath these days. The house I live in doesn't have a tub upstairs in my "suite," and all I want is a simple, restorative bath. I finally got to Becky's house and dug up some salt and bubbles and a goodly splash of wine. It was a fine bath, and I am now ready to try and meet my sleeping goal of 12 hours.

I have been waiting for this bath and this sleep for a month. I am a new teacher and tired into the middle of my bones.