I am home! I finally arrived in Indianapolis on Wednesday night at 9:15. This was later than orginally planned. It seems that O'Hare is the Bermuda Triangle for me. I left O'Hare late flying out for Ireland and I couldn't get out of there on Wednesday to get back to Indy. Finally, the planets aligned and I made it out of Chi-Town. Praise the Lord.

I guess I have to go back to the beginning of the whole story, starting on Wednesday morning. The owner of the hostel graciously took me back to the airport, which saved me 20 euro. I had to share the van with this guy from Chicago who was a know it all. I was about ready to knock him out because the night before he was all over me about not knowing how many cups were in a pint. Yes, I teach third grade, but I don't memorize that stuff, plus I was on vacation. I was told there would be no math! Anyhow, I wanted to knock him out because he was on me about using my calculator on my cell phone to figure out the temperature in Madrid. You see, I was watching CNN and they were telling the temperatures in different places and the temperature in Madrid was 39 degress centigrade. Well, I knew the formula to change temperatures from one measure to another. I told the dork the answer and he just couldn't seem to grasp the fact that I had the answer and he just kept badgering me about it. Get over it dork, I know the answer and I used my calculator!

When we got to the airport, I got away from him as soon as possible. I soon found out that the line to check in for Aer Lingus was very long. It seems that everyone in Ireland was leaving on Wednesday. Yes, the line was at least a mile long and I am not joking. This made me glad that I got there two hours before the flight. It took me 30 minutes to get through the line to check in, no joke. When I got to the counter, they asked me if I would be willing to give up my seat on the plane for compensation. Are you kidding me? No merci! I love Ireland, but I wanted to go home. They offered me 620 Euro to stay an extra day. That's a lot of US dollars! I bet I could have gotten first class out of them, but I knew if I called my mom and said I wasn't coming home, she would have come through the phone and strangled me, thus making the 620 euro worthless. I declined their offer. I was ready to go home!

I made it through customs and even had time to shop in the Duty Free Store before I left. I was absolutely giddy about going home. If I could have done a cartwheel, I swear, I would have! That's how excited I was! I was skipping through customs saying "I'm going home! I'm going home!" The man in the terminal told me I was home. I was in the US. I told him, "Gee, it doesn't look like the US and I don't remember the 7 hour flight!" He said I was in US territory, but not back in the US yet. Darn, I was hoping I had slept through the whole flight.

Sleeping through the whole flight was not an option. The people next to me almost didn't make the flight because she was too busy buying Belleek and Waterford at Duty Free. But, they made it only because the airlines was still looking for people to give up their seats. It was their lucky day! Anyhow, they sat down and introduced themselves as Steve and Mary from Chicago. It turned out that Mary was a teacher, too. Steve is a fireman. They travel each summer for a few weeks with some other family members. Anyhow, Mary had the gift of gab. I think she had kissed the blarney stone a few times. She talked to me the whole flight. Yes, all 7 hours. In a way, it was a good thing because it made the time go quickly. In a way it was a bad thing because I could have used the sleep.

I was so happy when we touched down in Chicago. I pulled my cell phone out and was so happy to have service! I called my mom and told her I was back in the US! She was so happy to have her baby home! She really missed me while I was gone. She was worried that something would happen when I was gone. Plus, she is not real keen on flights out of the US. I understand.

Then, began the Chicago journey. Like I said, O'Hare is the Bermuda Triangle. I knew I had a long lay-over, 4 hours and 45 minutes, but I also knew I would need to get my luggage through customs and get from the International Gate to the Main Gate. That took me an hour because the plane was so big and there was so much luggage. Plus, I had to recheck my bags with United. So, that time went quickly.

That's when the waiting began. I got to my gate, which turned out to be a mile from the main gate, (Thanks be to God for moving sidewalks.) my flight wasn't posted yet because it was still early. I sat and waited, reading some magazines and watching CNN. Then, came the not so good news. My flight was delayed until 8:09. Okay, I can handle that. But, then the gate was changed and I found out that the flight wasn't leaving until 8:45, the time the plane was supposed to land in Indy. Aghhhh, don't these people know I want to go home?

So, finally, I got in the air at 8:45. The flight from Chicago to Indianapolis is 35 minutes, so about the time you hit cruising altitude, you turn around and start your descent. I was never so happy to hear the captain say "Welcome to Indianapolis." I ran through the terminal looking for my mom, talking to her on the cell phone trying to find her. She went to the wrong gate. I finally found her at the escalator and when I saw her, I cried because I was so happy to see her and know that I was home. She told me I wasn't leaving the country again! I think I can agree to that for a little while!

By the time I got some American food thanks to Applebee's and got home I had been awake for 23 hours! I was way beyond tired, I was insane. I couldn't believe I was home. It was so surreal! I was never so happy to see the Eastside! I was happy to be back in the 'Hood!

Well, after unloading the bags and saying good-bye to my mom, I finally got a shower in my own bathtub and climbed into my own bed. It felt like heaven. I had a great time in Ireland, but I can honestly say, there's no place like home!