The Dog and the Airplane

Well, as many of you know, I am now home. What many of you don't know was the adventure it took to get me here.

Getting on the plane that would take me from Paris to Washington D.C. was nothing more to me than what getting in a car would be to you. I wasn't expecting anything exciting to take place and was looking forward to some sleep. The novelty of flying has completely worn away for me.

Well, after boarding the plane and finding my seat (yess an aisle seat!!) the lady who had the seat next to me arrived on the plane. I got up so she could comfortably get herself situated. The first thing she sat down on the seat was a big tote bag with a... dog in it. Yes... a real live dog. I was thinking, "hmm... ok weird... but... no problem.... I mean... I like dogs... right?"

After getting up and down a few times so that she could be situated and to let the rest of the people in my row in I was finally settling down and aside from a slight smell from the dog I really couldn't see a problem with the situation. That was... until the flight attendant informed 'dog-lady' (i will call her that.... and it is in no way meant to be a bad name.... i promise!) that the dog had to go into a different carrier that was more sanitary and what not. Well she had the other carrier in the over-head bin so I got up once again so she could move the dog and get situated. Well, this being the fifth or sixth time I had to get up... I casually scanned the seats surrounding me to see if there were any other... seating options. The row of 4 seats behind me only had one woman in it... perfect! I was all over that! I could just envision myself stretching out and sleeping while flying over the atlantic, relaxing and enjoying some movies....

After getting all my stuff together and moving to the other seat and getting comfortable.. another person got the same idea as me and decided to crash my dreams of luxury and relaxation. I still had more room than I would have had next to the dog-lady and... no smelly dog. Okay whatever... no problem. Well... two minutes later I found myself moving seats again as an announcement came through that another flight had been diverted and we were going to take on their passengers. (We had still not taken off at this point. )

Back to sitting next to the 'dog-lady'.

Finally we take off and the first hour or so of the flight was pretty normal. I talked a bit with the 'dog-lady'
and found out that 'they' were going to her parents house in Florida. She was excited because her mom was baking a turkey for the dog. Yep. Now, don't get me wrong... she was a very nice woman... just slightly... overly-attached to her dog. I heard all about the inconveniences flying with a dog brought her. She scoffed at the idea of sedating him so he could fly like all the other dogs...in the baggage compartment. Hehe. I thought this was incredibly amusing.

Soon she had to go to the bathroom, so I got up once again. She got into the isle and turned to me and asked me to listen for the dog.. and should I hear him wake up... could I please scratch his ear? Haha. Yes-sir this flight was full of lovely surprises and could have been on an episode for a sitcom.

The rest of the flight followed suite.... and was only complemented by my seat cushion that refused to stay on the seat. It would constantly slide down and off beneath me. The flight attendant assured me this was normal. (After spending over 70 hours in an airplane in the last 4 months I can assure you... this is not normal.. but...hey, who am I to talk?)

The guy behind me was really cute and asked to use my pen twice. None of the movies were really any good... and at one point I switched it to French without knowing it and seriously doubted my sanity.

Home Again

This whole transition to being home is.... kinda hard....


I had an eventful ride home on the planes... hehe more on that in the next post....


Anyway... its 3am... im wide awake.. and eating. haha