Did You Miss Me?

I'm back in Ohio after a wonderful week in Austin with my sister, B, and brother-in-law, M. John and Sadie came too, of course. We had a lot of fun and there were really only a few points of annoyance.

1) I think I told you that it costs $100 each way to fly Sadie in cabin with us. However, American Air won't let you pay ahead of time. We checked in last Friday to our flight in Dayton and the ticketing agent didn't say anything about Sadie. Nor did security, or the gate agent on the first flight. Home free! $100 in my pocket, right? The only time anyone said anything about her was when the connecting flight's gate agent asked if it was a cat or a dog. We were beyond stoked that we didn't have to pay. Fast forward to our return flight. Check in at Austin was just as smooth. Again, not a soul said anything about Sadie. Well, the security guy said to keep an eye on her because the K-9 units were out. (yikes!) We get all the way to our connection in Dallas and as I hand the lady my boarding pass she says, "Can I see your pet receipt?" Effffff...... I said sure, and tried to pawn off Sadie's vet letter as the receipt. She saw right through that. She also didn't believe me when I said we didn't get a receipt. I did however, have the receipt for the $40 I had just paid to check our bags. That didn't really help me when another agent pulled up my account and didn't see any charges indicating that I had paid for Sadie. The first lady says, real snotty, "She didn't pay" to the other guy.
Prepared to part with $100 I handed over my Visa when the guy said, "If you tried to pay over the phone, it didn't take it." Then he says, "You didn't pay for her on the way here either. So that will be $200." Oh my stars! I was not a happy camper. He apologized as I signed the receipt for my two hundred clams, as if his 'sorry' will pay for all the dinners out we just ate over the past week.
Let's sum up. American Airlines did a shoddy job on my coming flight so I didn't speak up even though I knew I owed money. I made it all the way to the last possible person standing in my way and got busted. I may have been in the wrong but I'll tell you, American Airlines is now dead to me. DEAD!

I just realized I numbered this list and that was really the only annoying thing that happened. I suppose I can be happy about that, right? My week off afforded me the ability to finish 2 books, hang out with B and M and their dog Pumpkin, consume loads and loads of unnecessary calories and love every second of it, and reaffirm how sucky Dayton is.

Some more highlights:

Chuy's - MMmmmmm.....I have the recipe for their creamy jalapeno dip and I can't wait to make it. My mouth is watering as I type.

Esther's Follies - This is an improv/variety/magic/comedy show in downtown Austin. It was hilarious! Well worth the $20 ticket.

Becker Vineyards - This is in Fredericksburg, in Hill County Wine Country about 90 minutes from Austin. Their wine was really good, and the bottles survived the plane ride home in my luggage too! The only downside was the size of the tasting pours. tiny.

LC Rocks - This is an 80's cover band we saw. They were awesome! The drinks at the bar were expensive but there was no cover. The only downside was the smoke in the bar. I haven't come home smelling like that since college.


There were more good things too but a week is a long time and I think you'd get bored reading about it. I've got 2 book reviews to do as well but they'll come another day.

Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!