Say, I'm still in Houston.
Sunday, 01/30/05 - 7:45 pm.

Well, huh. I'm still in Houston. Because I wasn't allowed to go on the plane, hardy, har-har. I couldn't help grinning when the lady at the airport said the flight of the day was full. But as John Lennon says: more on this later.

I woke up all sore, because of yesterday's back-breaking experience, and dedicated most of my morning to finish packing. We also took time to throw my nephew's sky-diver from the roof, while my sister in law went out to buy a big suitcase. They gave me a TV-VCR (they have two, plus another TV) and I didn't really have a way to take it with me. We ended up packing it in a big box, stuffing old clothes on the sides.

I had to be at the airport at 11, it's what I was told. But we stopped to have breakfast, exchange my wooden model (I found it broken, I don't know who did it) and for my niece, who wanted to get me a plush. It's very cute, it's some sort of purple potato-shaped monkey that looks like Stimpy.

We got to the airport at almost 1 o'clock, and we didn't think it'd be that big of a deal. But it was. It was too late. There was still a long line and the flight was overbooked, which wasn't hard to tell. I was almost scared to get on -aside from the usual anxiety I get-, so many suitcases and huge boxes.

My sister in law, niece and nephew waited in line with us (my other nephew and I) for maybe an hour, to reschedule. When it was our turn to check the schedule, the counter lady told us it didn't matter if we'd made it on time. Our tickets were gotten on discount, through an employee of the airline (a neighbor), so since we paid less, we weren't a priority on an overbooked flight. It's highly likely that tomorrow's flight won't be full, though.

For a while we juggled with the idea of sending my nephew on his own (he starts classes on the 2nd), and me staying for a few more days, like until mid-february or so. Unlike what this guy on the phone had said, it was possible that he traveled alone. But both our tickets expire on february 1st, so I couldn't stay unless I bought a new ticket back home.

So I'm staying one more night in Houston, tomorrow we'll be at the airport at 11:30, and if the flight isn't overbooked, we'll go home. It's pretty odd, being still here. Of course when we came back to the house and the kids started to fight verbally and physically, I wasn't happy to be still here. But it passed. My nephew and I watched I love the 90s; it's great watching TV with him, especially the commercials.

Oh, I also got to see my brother, anyway. He's back from Mexico (he went to give conferences about his experiments), with all these stories about their rich culture and the delicious food, and how everybody is so fun and friendly. He'll be the one to take us (my nephew and I) to the airport tomorrow.

I'll say goodbye to the kids in the morning, before they go to school. It always wrecks my heart, but it's easier to say goodbye at home than at the airport. It's the atmosphere, I guess. It's emotionally safer.

Now, maybe next entry (tomorrow?) will actually be written on my own computer, with the accents and the s. It was great, though. I'd never missed a flight before. And you know, it's not like I wanted to leave this place.

Farewell for now.

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