Cheeeze Steak, ummmm. No thanks.

Sandy has flown. Sandy took AirTran and lemme tell ya, I would have been better off, met a higher class o' people, on the Chinatown bus. I left earlier than I really needed to to get to the airport, arrived with plenty of time so checked in- but to get to the AirTran check in you have to walk to East Jesus PA, go down an escalater walk another mile. Once you check in for the boarding pass the guy can't take your bags there, you have to haul it over across the room and slide it under a rope barrier to another guy who takes it to the x-ray machine...and leaves it there with a nod that it's OK to go now. I doubted I would ever see it again. I usually don't check anything but didn't want them to take my especially purchased travel sized toothpaste and deoderant and hair gel if they weren't in 3 oz bottles- yes they were confiscating 3.5 oz bottles and could have opened a drug store with the piles of cologne and gels and ointments and cremes they had amassed- can just see the fights behind the screening scenes as to who gets what at the end of the shift?

OK, so what does one DO when one arrives home with bag intact (unbelievably), opens it up and finds a plastic 'Hello Kitty' wallet full of pictures of cute Chinese babies? Not mine. I get nervous and scurry through to see what the magpie took in exchange but it seems to be a bonus thank-you present someone has tucked in for me. Collage fodder, because the only written info is a blank sheet of notepaper from a hospital in Philly, making it imp[ossible to return. Thanksgod and AirTran it wasn't a real baby.

Oh and another thing, about AirTran's crack flight crew. They had 3 flight attendants on board, one was a woman maybe a few years younger than I am, bleached hair and too much makeup still in her hey-day 80's colors. She seemed nice enough, but was pretty much a no-nonsense old broad who had seen a bit too much and didn't give a damn. The second crew member was the required black gay guy, maybe mid-30's and full of attitude over something he didn't share with me. And the third guy, introduced to us on the PA as Fred, who mostly remained behind the $40-to-upgrade curtain where the elite folks got ice in their cokes, peeked out a few times and finally pulled the curtain back and WHAMMO- I swear it was Jim Backus (if he isn't dead yet.) The guy had serious jowl-age, and he had to be over 70. His entire job seemed to be passing the bowl of pretzel packages. Anyway, DO NOT fly AirTran, henceforth known to just 'us' as ScareTran. But the point of this was to tell you that my 2 hour lee-way at the Philadelphia airport resulted in 15 minutes of free time before they boarded us- took an hour and a half to go through security. No kidding. Oh, and the guy who was talking us through the machine called me over and wanted to know iof Iw as wearing HAIR BALLS around my neck- I had on my chi chi embroidered felted ball necklace from Peru, for godssake, not some cat's coughed up yuck. Hair balls indeed.

Got some cool stuff at the Craft Show, more of Valerie Hector's beads to go on the necklace I have been growing for over a year now, a pair of Thomas Mann earrings that I have always wanted AND that glow in the dark, and a ring stamped from a measuring tape- OK<>



Finally we got to Meg's to collect her and Jake for dinner, then we also indulged in a little Sasha Cohen marathon on HBO for a short time until I rolled off the couch and tried to fall asleep on the cold wood floor. What I didn't take into consideration was that I was dealing with PRO shoppers here, and I just couldn't keep up. But I think they would both tell you I put up a valiant fight.

This morning after amazing gouda and croissants I finally bit the bullet and ripped out the third little sweater I have been making- I got the count all screwed up over Sasha Cohen last night and couldn't retrieve my place, now will start over. Again. I did manage to get some sparkly place markers at the yarn shop, very fancy. At the same time I bought the equivalent of granny-panty place markers too, for those days when no one will actually SEE me working.

Aye yi yi, I gotta go find my book and my bed.