Okay, so yeah. Home again. Yeyness~ Thankfully, I arrived only 2 hours later than I should have. You know. Instead of 14 hours. Blech.

Still, I hate the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. Next time, direct flights. D:

Anyway, will tell all about my visit to the actual city of Chicago which occurred Saturday tomorrow after work or something. I have to go to Wyly Tower to print out something anyway |D

Let me just say this for now:

♥ SO MUCH LOVE FOR MR. TROLLEY-MAN! ♥

Besides that. Yeah. Home again.

Chicago was so much fun, and it really help put a lot of things into perspective for me, so now that I'm home again, it's time to buckle down a bit more.

So yeah. More on all of this tomorrow. Just gonna chillax for now and watch some of the anime Heather gave me >.>;;;. I work from 11AM till 2PM tomorrow, so... yeah. Funness. Back to the old routine with a new mindset--CHAOS AND ZANINESS ENSUES! |DDD
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Anyway, yeah. Just wanted everyone to know that I did finally get some sleep and my eyes aren't dead from wearing my contacts for over... 32 hours straight. Got 9 hours of sleep without my contacts in and... omg. I almost didn't wake up this morning, but I did because whenever I wake up and get out of bed, I usually am awake for the day. So... yeah. I had to get out of bed to charge my cellphone. L-lolz.

My body felt so heavy... waaah. And the bed I slept on wasn't too soft or too hard and teh pillow was so comfy and--and--! :< I lurve teh Heather for it, really. It was the best sleep I've ever gotten. Could be because I went without sleep for 24 hours the day before but meh...

So yeah. Kelly-person is an awsum person. O: She and I should totally be like new bbfs or something XDDD Or I need to move up here and totally hang out with Heather and Pixie and Kelly more. They're awsum peeps, yo. And Pixie is actually original and doesn't go, "Like from the Matrix?" when she thinks about my name. Instead, she calls me "Trini. Like the Yellow Ranger!" XDDD

Anyway, we're going to take off and go... somewhere. I might poke Heather into getting us into the city so I can actually say I went there rather than stayed in the suburbs all the trip and whatnot. XDD And I also need to poke her so she'll poke her dad to see if we can't reschedule my return flights to Sunday afternoon instead of Saturday. Because there's no way in hell I'm going through that mess after only two nights of proper sleep.

So yeah. Awsumness abounds~

Oh, and I dunno if my edit in my last post made sense because ahahaha... I was so out of it~ But yeah, Heather got me that arm band things like Suzumiya Haruhi has because I'm the president of the Louisiana Tech University anime club and I get to have the armband which names me as leader! YOOOOOSH!

... I love these peeps. :<

NEXT YEAR I SO TOTALLY NEED TO GO TO ACEN. IOWA PEOPLE, I WANT TO MEET YOU TOO! :<
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Well, things were indeed quite hectic.

Okay, Heather's probably mentioned in her LJ how much of a mess my trip was. Well, let me go a bit more in dept.

Wednesday. I wake up at around 6AM. I go to work at 9AM. I work until 2:30-ishPM. Then I head out with Derek and get a shower, gather my stuff, check on things, and then went to get my paycheck at 4PM. Cashed paycheck and then went on to the Shreveport airport... only to find that my flight to Dallas had been canceled.

Beautiful, right? Anyway, so. They put me on another flight--one that had been delayed since 4PM. It was around 6PM by the time I got to the airport, so... yeah. Poor people. And poor me, too. It turns out that our flight wouldn't take off until 9:30PM. And because of this, I had to suffer through the dizziness of being in the air at night with horrible turbulence while lightning was flashing in some ominous clouds off in the horizon... and then find out that my flight from Dallas to Chicago had either left without me or was canceled. I'm thinking it was the latter.

So I went to a woman doing the work to get people on a Chicago flight and asked her what I should do. She snapped at me that 200 people--some who had been at the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport over-night--were waiting for a chance to get on a plane to Chicago and, so sorry, not going to bump up lil ol' me just because I'm terrified and lost and have never done anything like this before. She told me to go see a ticket teller.

So off I went to see a teller. Said teller just pointed me to the end of a very, very long line. 500+ people maybe were ahead of me. I about nearly cried and, instead, called home to mom and dad and vented at them and whatnot only to have them snerk and go, "You should try international flights!"

This was all happening around 11PM. It wasn't until 1:45AM that I finally got help. I had the choice of getting a flight to Des Moines and then transfer to Chicago, or be put on a waiting list with 47 other people, which I would be #43 on. Easy to guess which one I chose, right?

So they gave me my new itinerary, and at this point, I'm running on 20 hours of no sleep, was lost and confused and angry and frustrated, and to top it all off, I had no fucking clue where the hell my luggage went. So yeah. Was not a happy camper.

Heather, however, kept me company via cellphone and I got to meet several people in similar predicaments. Let's just say that American Airlines dropped the ball more than once with this one. Around 3AM, I told her to go to bed and we said our goodbyes and I waited until 4AM when I could get my actual boarding passes.

It was right before 4AM that I looked at the arrivals and departures and saw "Des Moines CANCELED". Needless to say, my reaction was a solid, "Oh, HELL no."

As soon as the tellers returned to their desks around 4:30AM (because they closed the booths around 2AM), I jumped at a chance to ask about this... and basically bit off the teller's head without really wanting, too. I was running on 22 hours of no sleep, I was hungry, my feet were tired, I was angry and frustrated... but I shouldn't have taken it out on the poor teller.

Turned out that my flight wasn't canceled and would be taking off at 9:45AM.

So yeah, I sat around by my terminal, got some food and some drinks, slept as much as I could since I didn't have my contact solution or container with me (now that I know contact solution is allowed on planes, I will not be without it ever again).

Things ran smoothly after that. Flight was delayed until 10AM, but that was okay. We took off fairly quickly and I ended up falling asleep at some point during the flight. Then I woke up just as we were descending and voila. Des Moines.

We arrived around 12:15PM and my next flight was 12:40PM for Chicago. I figured it would be an hour delay at least. Wrong. We were loaded up at 12:35 and off the ground by 12:55. We landed in Chicago about an hour later and I walked into O'Hare airport around 2PM.

And thus ends the tale of the planes and begins the hunting for Heather, her father, and my luggage. Hilarious, really. The three of us were such dorks. But we found each other and then went to look for my luggage. Took the better part of an hour, maybe, but definitely managed to find my luggage. Huzzah.

First thing I did when I got my luggage was take out my contacts and put them away.

Ah, relief.

So. Yeah. Hectic. Tired as all fuck, too, but still running. I got 3 hours of sleep or there-about thanks to all the naps I took, but yeah. I've been having fun with Heather and her friend Pixie. We got to go to Mitsuwa and hang out some, buying manga and eating ramen. Now that it's about 10PM, Heather's friend Kelly's coming over and we're going to watch old-day anime. During which, I will probably conk out like nobody's business. Ahahahaha...

Sotiiiired...

But over all, I'm loving this trip. Wouldn't trade it for the world.


EDIT: Oh, and Heather gave me gift! Since I'm the new anime club president, she got me an arm band with "団長"! Because she is awsum, yes. :D

So long everyone! I take off to get my paycheck cashed and then off to Shreveport to catch my 7:20 flight! I'll miss you all! Until I get to Heather's and check my LJ maybe once per day? XD;;;

So, while I'm gone, have fun, spam my LJ... whatever--TELL ME STORIES! :D!

Also, link any important posts or questions or comments here so I'll get to them ASAP. Yeah. So...

I'm gone! :D!
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I went to bed early last night. Early for me and early for a lot of people on my f-list.

I crawled into bed around 10:30 or 11PM last night.

And I was asleep almost immediately, too. Huh.

Woke up around 6:15AM and have not been able to sleep since. I blame the fact that I'm overly nervous about the whole trip thing and how it will work out. I'm sure everything will work out fine, but I'm all, "Wait, Sara doesn't need to go to work until 5PM, so she'll be at home, which means that as soon as I get off from work at 2PM, I can just head back to the apartment to get in a shower and then get dressed and then just toss my booksack into the trunk with my luggage and off we go?"

Yeah. I only get concerned about details when it's time for things to start moving. I'm weird like that. And disorganized. But meh...

Do they allow pens onboard the flight, btw? If not, how 'bout mechanical pencils? I need to have something to write with just in case because I DO NOT want to be so bored on the flight (even though I have a couple of Stephen King books I could read instead, but I don't know yet if I get air sick from that kind of thing or not--I know I sometimes get car sick from reading...).

And uh... yeah, I think I'm good to go. I hope I'm good to go. >.>;;; Things are getting kind of... interesting now, ne?

Heather~ Can't wait to see you around midnight tonight or so~ |D
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I could swear Sara asked if I could work from 9 till 2 today but then again, that might have changed. And if it did and I am supposed to come in at 11, I'll be mad at myself for getting up when I didn't have to.

Sleep. I want more sleep.

Not going to even begin to think about how on Wednesday, I'm working 9 till 2 and then have to hope and pray my paycheck comes in on time or earlier so I can cash it before running off to the airport. Will not be a good thing if it's late. Very, very bad thing.

Also am not going to think about how it's Monday today.

So tired.

Too tired to really stress or freak out.

I think I'm going to pester Sara or Andrea to give me a ride to Subway.


EDIT: Okay, so I'm working 10 till 2 today.

... *headdesks*

I'm too tired to go back to sleep. ... if that makes any sense at all.

Hopefully I'll wake up before then.
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4 more days until I take off for Chicago. S-so scary to think about it~

Besides that, however, am so close to finishing Princess Tutu and uwaaaaaaaaaaah. *flails* It gets so good!

Um...!

I really suck at making my infamous long!posts whenever I'm hyper or excited and flailing, so...

*goes back to watching Princess Tutu* UWAAAH!
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So yeah. I have today, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off from work. Don't ask me why my manager scheduled me like this when I can't work next Thursday till next Sunday. *shrugs*

So yeah, I've been reading books and stuff. So far I've gotten through 3 books in two days. Because I'm that awsum, yo.

And uh... I haven't been updating because there's not a whole lot to talk about, really. But you know I'll be back with like 3 posts everyday come August 27th. Because, yeah. I'll be back in the dorms and ready for band camp by then. Totally awsum, yo.

Speaking of next week, though: socchan, have you figured out who's coming with ya or if you're still coming or where we'll meet? Really need to work on the details.

Oh, and rasgos_76, you know how you asked me what foods I liked so you can tell your parents? Well, I've been thinking and I can give you a list of things I don't like? It's a fairly small list, but it might help us avoid awkwardness >.>;;; Besides that, anything else we need to discuss before I fly outta here next week, or are we pretty much set?

Gah... going to Chicago. Flying to Chicago. Never been to Chicago. Never flown on a plane.

... I just go all out of these sort of things, don't I?

For everyone else: *waves* Sorry I've been dead lately, but if anything major's happened in your life or you think I'd want to know about a post of yours or something, drop a link here. Because... uh... I fail at getting online these days. I'll get better once my computer decides to like the interwebs again. >.>;;

Anyway, that's all for now! Ja!
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So, I'm about to head out to work for around three hours. And I've got no energy to speak of.

... I blame my watching Kyou Kara Maou for the second time until 3AM, but eh...

It was getting to the good parts again :<

In other news: HEY, SOCCHAN! HEATHER SAID IT WAS TOTALLY COOL IF YOU CAME AND HUNG OUT WITH US! WE'RE GONNA BE THERE ON THURSDAY. WE CAN MAKE IT A CELEBRATION FOR YOU GETTING INTO CFUD! ... A TWO-WEEK LATE CELEBRATION, BUT HEY, WHO REALLY CARES?

ALSO, EXPLANATION FOR MY COMMENT IN CFO: YOU KNOW WHY! *CRIES* FIVE ATTEMPTS ALREADY AND ONLY ONE HAS COME CLOSE, WRRRRRY! *goes to emo in a corner*

But no, I am REALLY REALLY HAPPY FOR YOU, CHICKA! AND ZOMG, YOU GOT A DC CHARACTER IN. I COULD GLOMP YOU WITH LOVE, YO.

Yeah... this helped to pick up my energy some, but still... 3 hours of work during lunch rush. Oi vey. It's never that much fun. *siiiighs*

And off I go. Gehhh...

So not a morning person.


EDIT: Candy, I think you can come, too, if you want to drive 8 hours to get there. Ah heh... *loves and hugs?*
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W-well, apparently, Heather's dad got the ticket. And, uh. Looks like I'm heading to Chicago on the evening of the 27th. So um... yeah. Wow.

If Heather's dad got the same departures and such that I was eyeing, then I'll have a lay-over in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I'll be at the airport for about an hour or so, waiting for the real flight from there to Chicago. So... any of you in that area who want to hang out, just come baring a sign that says "JEVA JEVA BOHEVA BANANA FANA FOHEVA ME MY MOHEVA--JEVA!" or something... um. We can hang out? >.>;;;

Anyway, more details on all of that later. I'm still... in a bit of a shock because... well, to be honest, I've come to learn that not everything will work out well for me in the end--in fact, quite the opposite. Like last year, I wanted so much to go to New York, but didn't have enough money. And then there was Akon and I ended up having a falling out with my grandmother and falling off that horse. And then I wasn't able to go to Otakon...

But now I'm actually going somewhere when someone said, "ZOMG, YOU HAVE TO COME, JEVA!" and w-well... it's weird. I'm not used to it. I'm... actually kind of terrified about what all that means.

I dunno. I guess I'm so used to defeat and uh... failure that I've mostly been expecting it? S-so when things actually work out, it scares me to no end because... w-well, the whole fear of success thing, what that all entails. I'm worried about jinxing it now, really.

But hopefully things will continue to work out okay?

Anyway, point of this post...

I've never flown on a plane before.

I've done quite a bit of traveling when I was a kid, but it was always by car--that's right, that one summer before my 6th grade year when my mom and Shorty and Foon/Shiz and our dog Willy and I traveled around the southwest of the US (Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, the Four Corners, Arizona and all the way back), we went by car. So...

... I don't really know what I should do to prep myself for air travel. Especially with all this security stuff that's been around since 9/11. Like... what can and can't I bring aboard a plane? How big can my carry-on luggage be? I can bring my own snacks? What about my laptop? Can I bring it with me and maybe write stuff to make myself feel better? And cellphones? We can use them on planes, right? Or should I just stick with pen and paper and forget about the cellphone? Also, do they serve meals for evening flights? If they do, do you have to pay for it or was it paid for by the ticket? What does it feel like when take-off and landing occurs? What should I do to keep myself calm, do you think?

Just... a lot of stuff I don't know and... well. Please also take into account that I've lived out in rural areas for a long, long time. My whole life, really. I don't understand any of this stuff and this sort of technology thing and stuff kind of makes me scared because I don't understand any of it because I'm not used to being around it and stuff. Also, I'm terrified of accidentally missing my flights because I don't know how they announce stuff and stuff in an airport. Should I just stick next to those people at the desks near the terminal I need to board or something?

Y-yeah. I'm... wanting to know all of this because... well, only less than three weeks till I head for Chicago?

I'm sure Sara and Andrea can help me out since they've flown on planes plenty of times, but if any of you guys can help me with that, too, that would be omega awsum. No, really.

And um. I think I should stop babbling now.

Thanks for any help in advance!
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Okay, so. End of the month should be good for me. I can afford maybe $100 to $200 (if I'm lucky) to get a ticket, so...

I'll look up some prices as we go, so yeah.
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