My life has turned into a series of bulleted lists.

My trip to Columbus, GA:

Friday, January 12, 2007
• Caught a cab from work at 1pm
• Raining
• Checked in and ready for my 4:30 flight to Detroit by 1:35, brilliant
• Option to volunteer my seat for $300, but falls through
• Celebrity sightings: Question Mark Man that does the infomercials—he was wearing a bright red suit covered in yellow question marks, I wonder if this man has any normal clothing; Senator Debbie Stabenow (yes, I had to look her up) from Michigan
• Landed with ten minutes to get to my next flight; all well and good, except when you land at gate 5 and you take off from gate 49; grabbed an eight-dollar turkey sandwich on the way
• Flight to the ATL
• I need a drink; Bloody Mary mix: 83% of your daily sodium allowance
• Celebrity sightings: Bizarre from Eminem’s D12 on the flight to Atlanta with his posse…and their Louis Vuitton luggage…they sat ten rows behind me in Coach
• Couldn’t find the shuttle station at the airport; after a couple futile calls, got in touch with Nancy and she walked me through the directions
• Loading the shuttle van, one guy forgot to duck before boarding the van; I’m sure he may have gotten a concussion…and I really did try to hide my laughter
• 2 hour drive to Columbus with strangers
• Sigur Ros’ Taak album and somehow making it the soundtrack to my life
• Getting a big hug from Nancy when we pulled into the shuttle lot at Midnight; I’d have arrived an hour earlier had I driven down instead of flown.

Saturday, January 13, 2007
• Woke up and went to what seemed to be the World’s Longest Strip Mall
• Atlanta Bread Company for coffee and pastries (I had an apple danish….mmmm a Danish…like Hamlet)
• Stopped by AC Moore for some yarn and knitting needles; Nancy is my Guru
• Drove to Ft. Benning and got the tour; stopped at the PX and gawked at the cheapness
• Went to Boo’s Package store and bought some Abita beer (Abita Amber is one of my FAVORITES) and some Negra Modelo...along with some Blue Moon, Blue Springs (Atlanta local beer), Abita Purple Haze, and a few others I’ve forgotten
• Publix fried chicken and eating it on Nan’s back deck
• Spent the afternoon learning to knit and relaxing with one of my best friends
• Met up with some of Nan’s friends at Houlihan’s restaurant in downtown Columbus; long wait and a messed up order means free dinner and three free rounds of drinks; plus I’ve never laughed so much with strangers in my entire life…unless you count that one time at Mardi Gras—ha
• Playing Scene-It with the gang back at the house and drinking the previously purchased beer

Sunday, January 14, 2007
• Cup of tea in the morning
• Went to Ft. Benning again; drove through the Airborne school’s towers, etc.
• Had Sonic for lunch; first time at Sonic in four years: CHERRY LIMEADE and Cheddar Peppers, AND tots
• Took a nap after all that Sonic; Cherry limeades are another reason I should move back to the South
• Starbucks run and The Boondock Saints, which I had never seen—yeah, I know
• Trivial Pursuit and Mythbusters

Monday, January 15, 2007
• Leftover fried chicken and an Abita beer before I head to the airport
• Packed shuttle bus and Nancy waving goodbye
• Atlanta security/TSA lines are insane
• Trading flirtatious glances with fellow travelers
• Flight to Detroit delayed over an hour; have to rebook my flight to National (they still make me fly through Detroit)
• Watching CNN and wondering if the ice storm that’s sweeping the Midwest will mess up anything else that afternoon
• I need a drink; Cape Codder it is (Vodka and Cranberry)
• Get to Detroit in enough time to call my parents and realize that my plane was boarding
• Last flight to DC from Detroit
• Turbulent flight; you get that same feeling in your gut that you get doing jumps when you mountain bike…although landing’s different…and then you wonder if your parents and friends know what you want done when you die
• I need a drink; Bailey’s and Coffee—Flight Attendant: “That smells SO good…”
• Was on the Virginia-side of the plane when we landed
• Annoying woman panicking that she and her husband were at the wrong baggage claim (there are only two in our terminal) even though we’re all standing at the Northwest carousel and we’re all from the same flight
• $35 cab ride home
• And crash; up early for work the next day



When you spend the weekend with an old friend, you have nothing to prove, you don’t always have to be doing something, and you can just relax because you enjoy their company more than anything else.