Amazing Race Trial Run

The Amazing Race has always intrigued me; though I have zero sense of direction. That is why it would be key to partner with my good friend Christa. She is quite worldly!

On Friday, September 6th, after working 12 hours saving lives and stamping out disease; mind you, I rushed home from work to finish packing to head south for a surprise visit with my family in South Carolina. Everyone knew except my brother. I do so enjoy surprising that boy.

My flight was at 11:00 which seemed like way too large of a gap of time after getting off work at 0730. Back it up an hour for the pre-hour arrival. In order to not pay for parking, I was planning to take the train to the airport which would consume 50 minutes and I wanted to shower, eat, and finish packing. So when I got home at 0815 I felt a bit of a crunch as I needed to catch the 0900 train which is a 10-15 minute walk from my house. All was in order til I got behind a moderate walker. He was not going slow enough to pass that I could sustain my lead, yet he was cramping my style at my current pace. So when I arrived at the train station a bit behind schedule, I knew another train was coming at 0911. So I jumped on the train in front of me and comfort set in til I heard the conductor say "This train is headed to Cromwell." My sphincter tightened and I looked online to see that the trains headed to the BWI airport were the 0900 and 0935 trains. Arriving at BWI at 1030 for an 1100 flight was not going to be good. I immediately started formulating 22 different ways in my head that were not going to work to get me there in a timely manner. My only option that was feasible was a plan that myself and 2 good samaritans on the train came up with; which was to hop off the train in two stops and walk/run to Penn Station and get a taxi. They really make Penn Station sound close to that stop. My conjuring good samaritan gentleman and I both got off together and he told me to head in the direction he was pointing and turn left at the second street and then turn left when it ended. So I ran ahead and was ready to turn left though I noticed the street name that he mentioned and what the street sign said clearly said; did not match.  Sweating and very out of breath I turned around to check his cues and he was two feet behind me. I clarified the directions again and when we got the crosswalk I sprinted to the next crosswalk which was two blocks. I again turned to verify his cues because I had no time for a mistake and by the time I was cleared to cross, he crossed with me. 'Why I am I running?" Idiot!

Okay, I finally reached Penn Station and now I am dripping with sweat and out of breath and I jumped in a car with a foreign stranger. Sounds like a great idea! He was my only option to get to the airport on time, so cost was really not an issue here. The few times I have ridden in a taxi alone; I always feel like I am paying someone to drive me into the middle of nowhere and kill me so nobody will ever find me.  Am I the only one that has that random terrible thought? He was a very nice guy though. After he asked me the obligatory "How are you today?" and I filled him in for a couple minutes, I realized he understood about 5% of my story because he spoke very little English. Epic fail. Needless to say, I made it to the airport on time and had no other major glitches.

It was awesome, I flew into Greenville/Spartanburg, SC where my awesome sister-in-law and my favorite munchkins picked me up. My brother beat us home and I let the family go in the house prior to me. I knocked on the front door and got to see the expression of surprise on my brother's face. I'm pretty sure after this surprise he is never going to believe me when I say I am working.

I had a great weekend with the Roddy's and my mom! I got to play games, bike ride, sit around a campfire two nights in a row, make Smore's with some of my favorite people, tell ghost stories, and enjoy a zoo owned by a friend I met in Maine while biking. If you are ever in South Carolina, Hollywild is worth a visit. Lots of their animals have been in movies and commercials; hence the name. A very interesting setup. Their bears are pretty much the happiest bears I have ever seen in captivity. Their animals were not pacing and didn't look sad. It was a neat experience. A quick but awesome weekend! I love my family and always have a great time with them.

On the job front: Hopkins is treating me well. The people are very nice and they treat their nurses very well. I will not expand in order to keep friendships with my Christ coworkers. :-) I just today extended my assignment for another 13 weeks after this assignment. So I will ride the holidays out here; though I negotiated to be off for Christmas.