I Gotta Get Back to Hogwarts!
Sitting through work the week before I left was really hard. But some neat things happened that you guys don't know about, I don't think. Some of you know that I worked for a company where I was an employment verification specialist. And the work wasn't hard. But the management was incessant. So my mom had gotten a job at another company close to home (literally 3 minutes from the house by car) and really wanted me to apply. I wasn't sure, because I didn't want to work in another call center. But she kept wearing on me.
So I agreed to at least apply. I was going to wait until June to get my vacation pay, having worked at the other company for almost a year. I would've gotten $1,000 when I left in vacation pay. (I was going to bank it toward another trip in the future.)
Well, that day I got a text from the guy I was working with at the staffing agency. The new company specifically asked for me to interview. So if I was willing, I could interview THAT WEEK. Guys, it was two days away. I interviewed for that job the week before I left for my trip. And I found out that I got the job the Monday I left for the trip. (I left on a Wednesday.)
The staffing agency was excited. But they wanted me to take the drug test. I told them that I had a very limited window until I came back. But they were like 'No big deal. Just take it in Orlando.'
And so that was a big stress mess for my trip. Because I was seriously considering trying to find somewhere to take that test. But there was just no time.
All is fine now. I've been working there for about a month now. When I came back from the trip, the company that I was originally working with (I gave my notice the day I came back and left that week) decided to start monitoring internet activity and was firing people. I'm SURE I was on the radar. I spent a lot of time on Disboards.
Okay. So.
April 26th, I sat through several hours of 'work', by which I mean I tried to work. But it didn't really matter, since I was leaving at noon. I was more focused about if I would get the passport to take the drug test. And I also was not fully packed. And I was shipping a box down to Orlando full of surprises and decorations. (That box was not cheap, yo.) So from 12pm when I left until 3:30pm, I was freaking out trying to get everything done.
Meanwhile: my sister and I had discussed getting Chipotle the day I was leaving as a kind of 'break fast' from no-carbing it. So I persuaded my dad to go pick up our online order. And instead of being grateful about the food, she threw a GIANT FIT because some small part of it was wrong. I can't really remember, and it doesn't matter, but the point is that the food was cold by the time I got to it. And she told me she hoped I had a terrible trip.
Dun Dun Dun.
After losing several surprises and having to unpack and repack almost all of my luggage before we finally were packed up enough to go pick up my mom to take us to the airport, I was mentally a wreck. But I was excited. We were headed to Orlando! It was my first 'on my own' adult trip with my best friend. And I couldn't wait to show her Universal (and Disney) for the first time.
The night before the trip, I gave her the shirt as a present. We actually made those shirts. Well, kind of. I bought the shirts on
Amazon and then we cut the letters out of vinyl and put them on the shirts. So I didn't 'make' the shirt. Anyway. I figured it would be cool to have matching shirts for this girl trip.
So I was late to pick up my mom, who was taking us to the airport, by about fifteen minutes. We still had to drive 40 minutes to pick up my friend where she worked. So we were fine in the car almost the entire way. We talked about being excited and ate princess cereal. (Cereal in a princess box.) And Riley, my dog, was hanging out in the back seat. He likes to drop me off at the airport. We finally got to A's work (behind schedule, obviously), and mom asked me to help get her to a specific part of the road.
Here's the thing. Beyond using Googlemaps or Maps on my iPhone, I am useless at directions. She KNOWS that I am useless at directions. But instead of being rational and googling where she wanted us to go (as we had never taken that route before), she decided to scream at me in the car.
So we missed a turn we needed and ended up driving from Greensburg to Moon Township to hit the Pittsburgh International Airport. Here's the thing. Our Southwest flight was the last flight of the night. If we missed our flight, we'd have had to stay at the airport overnight (or go home and come back in the morning) and catch the 5am flight. And I really didn't want to do that.
With all the screaming, crying, and my mother praying behind the front wheel that all the cars in front of us would get out of the way, we managed to make it to the airport with like..an hour to spare. We booked it to security only to find out that that section of security closes at 6pm. So we had to book it BACK to where we started and all the way downstairs to stand in another long line.
Something my mom kept praying for while we were in the car was that the cars in front of us would decide they needed cheeseburgers and get off of the exits so we would have a clearer path. A and I might have prayed a little that the people in front of us in security would want cheeseburgers so we could make it to our gate in time.
We got through security, hopped the train to our gate, and booked it down the hall to our gate. They were JUST starting to board when we got there. I had enough time to buy us water before we had to get onto the plane. And we were on our way to Chicago.
When we got to Chicago, I forgot about the time change. The entire time on the plane, I couldn't figure out how it would only take 30 minutes from Pittsburgh to Chicago. But we got there and ambled our way through the food court. We ate at Manny's (I think), and I had a pizza sub thing. We grabbed ice cream from Ben and Jerry's. And booked it (again) to our gate, where I sloshed melting ice cream all over my hand. Thankfully, I cleaned up pretty easily, tossed that ice cream, and we got on the plane.
I had planned a present for A full of silly plane distractions. Star Wars stickers, coloring books, etc, but there was so little time and so little room on the plane, it just didn't happen.
We watched Tangled on the plane from Chicago Midway to Orlando International. But I admit that I kept falling asleep.
When we finally got to Orlando, we were exhausted. It was like..1:00AM by the time we got off of the plane and to the baggage claim. Fortunately, we didn't have to fight with a taxi or an Uber. A's friend, C, picked us up at the airport. Which was really nice of her. We were first subjected to the insanity of baggage claim at 1AM. There were people standing on top of the luggage mover things. People crowding everywhere. Kids screaming (but that's normal). But when I say people were climbing all over the luggage rack things, I mean it. The metal part, not the moving part, was full of people standing on top of them walking down the rows to find their luggage. And then they'd jump down as if it was what you were meant to do.
My luggage took forever. I thought they'd lost it. But they didn't.
We headed for the car garage. But C forgot where she parked. So we walked back and forth for at least 20 minutes. I was toting a gigantic Mickey Mouse backpack (stuffed to the gills with crap), a very full overhead-bin-approved carry on suitcase, and a checked-but-under-50-pounds suitcase. And we kept dragging our stuff back and forth until we finally found her car. It was on a different floor. :|
By the time we got to Royal Pacific Resort, it was 3AM. We checked in behind a family that took at least 15 minutes because there was only one person at the front desk.
Our room was not far. If you're looking at the check-in desk, you turn left toward the gift shop, and then turn right past the bellhop station. We were down that hall about 3/4s of the way.
The entire time we were traveling, A kept worrying about where she put her PJs. She was so stressed out about where they were in her luggage. And I kept saying 'It'll be okay. It'll all work out.' But she was still really stressed.
When we got to the room, I told her that I had surprises for her. I'd give her one that night, but the rest the next morning. Because we were both exhausted.
Every good Hufflepuff needs a pair of house PJs. So with that, I set the thermostat to as low as it would go, set the phone to wake us up at like..8am, and we crawled into bed and went to sleep.
Like said, it just wasn't what I had expected. And A and I are only very loosely friends now, I'd say. Things are very weird. But I'll explain that later.
Luckily I was by myself.
I'd never bring my brother to Orlando it would be a nightmare! 
