Give Me A BREAK!

100th post! Woo! [Excitment fades back into anxiety.]

Things go from bad, to badder, to worse. Ready for a sob story? I can deliver them like no other.

As I sit in my apartment at 1:22am, anxiety ridden and clutching a hammer, I know that sleep will not come tonight. My shuttle for my new flight comes at 6:00am and I was hoping to catch a little sleep before then. I now believe that is impossible. But let me start from the beginning.

Saturday: Leaving Hopper at the vet was horribly sad and frustrating. On top of being overwhelmed with sadness of leaving her, the vet kept adding on a bunch of charges that made me lose a little bit of my mind. For the sake of my sanity, I won't rehash the details, but the jist is, I will never go back there, other than on Friday to retrieve my pup. Like Mario saving the Princess from the castle. My poor baby!

Not wanting to stay at my apartment by myself, and wanting to make it easier for my airport ride, I stayed at a friends house. I made the mistake of deciding to stay up all night. We watched movies and had a nice time. I was able to keep my mind from my sad little pup for a little while which was nice. I ended up deciding to take a power nap at 5:00, to wake up at 5;30. That all went well.

Sunday: We go to the airport and I'm surprised at how fast I get all checked in and everything. I go to my terminal, buy a bottle of water and a magazine, and put on my iPod. I hear some announcements and take off my headphones. Yes, you guessed it, my flight was delayed. 15 minutes, they said, so I put my headphones back on knowing I'd have plenty of time to make my connecting flight. Another announcement, I remove my headphones. And then they announce the worst thing ever. Flight cancelled. Not delayed. Not rerouted. Cancelled. The details get boring so I'll give you the rundown. I wait in line for close to 3 hours. It seems to be taking about 30 minutes per person. I'm in the back of the line, because they were doing it by connecting city. Since I had one of the longer layovers, Charlotte was close to last. By this point, I was exhausted. Throughout the crowd, there are various rumblings of there being no flights available until after Christmas. Mentally I prepare myself for a Christmas in LA.

Finally, finally, finally I get to the ticket counter at our terminal. The woman seems as exhausted as I, but is very nice. She finds a flight for me, for tomorrow. Ehhh. So off to home I go, still without sleep and ready to eat a house. They comp me a shuttle from the airport. The ride takes a while, but I talk to a nice guy from Switzerland who is travelling around the states for the first time. We talk about Switzerland and his impression of America so far. It was really cool to hear about his journey.

Anyway, I get home and order pizza and pass out on the couch. Completely exhausted, I sleep for four hours, waking up at 7 wide awake. I decide to continue my night on the couch, hoping to sleep more before my shuttle that is to arrive at 6. Well, the one night I'm at my apartment alone and without my dog, my doorbell rings at 12:30. Confused and a little scared, I quietly make my way to my door. I look in the peep hole and there's no one there. I get a little nervous, but keep looking. Then, after a solid minute, a man, possibly homeless, peeks his head into my view. He's looking into my peep hole, which as we all know is impossible, but it's still creepy. He then rings my bell again and disappears. I'm shaking at this point, completely freaking out. But it's silent, and I don't see him anymore. So I grab a hammer and my phone and root myself in front of the peep hole. Nothing. I hear a few sounds that could possibly be in my hall, but it's also kinda windy out so I can't be sure. I think back to other times in which I've called the police, and given their response times then, I thought I would just call the non-emergency number and ask for someone to come by. That way, at least I'd know someone was on their way. Still heard nothing, but let me tell you, sleep was the last thing on my mind at this point. Unfortunately. I keep a watch on the street and peep through the hole every now and then.

Finally, I see a police car drive up, shine its light on my building, but before I have time to be embarrassed, they pull off, obviously convinced everything was fine. That's the last I've heard of them. I heard my neighbor go outside, and went outside and talked to him. I told him what had happened, and he made me feel better, saying I'd be fine, and to just not answer my door. I told him that if he heard me hitting someone with a hammer, that it might be me attacking a homeless man and to call the police. Yeah, so anyway, at least they're home. Now it's 2:13 am and I'm still a little too scared to sleep. The one, ONE, night I'm without my dog, this happens.

Okay, tired. Might attempt to let one eye sleep. Life in the city is never boring, that's for sure.