My Trip

What an amazing trip I had. I don’t think I could have had a better trip. The only thing I am lacking now is sleep. Precious sleep.

I made it to the airport on time on Friday and my flight left as planned. Getting into Luv Field was fine and I took a cab to Lee’s restaurant. He had no idea when I was arrive, okay, so I lied to him and told him it’d be much later. I go to the restaurant and ate lunch there. Let me just tell you those were the best chicken flautas I have ever had in my life. Seriously. The manager told Lee I was there and he couldn’t really talk so I stole his car and headed to FW to Bob and Eileen’s house.

The drive over there wasn’t half bad. I know it’s a huge area but I found everything okay. Before I left I had printed out directions to a couple of different places so I could find them okay. I got to their house and got to finally meet them. They are so nice and just wonderful! It was great to sit there and talk to them for a while. I showed them my baby book pictures and just got to know each other a little bit better.

I left their house a little before 5 to head over to pick up Lee. We were going to go out to dinner w/ Bob & Eileen and then Tabitha. Well when I got to Dallas bad storm started kicking up. Yes, the tornados and weather is totally different then what we would get in Montgomery. Tabitha and I talked and b/c of the weather we decided that I wouldn’t drive over for dinner. I would eat with Lee and wait for the storms to let up. There was a tornado a few miles from us and other places. I think 2 people died directly from the storms.

Lee and I headed over to eat dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse in Plano. The ambiance was so neat and nice and the food was delicious. Oh my gosh! I hope we get one here. I’d eat at it before Olive Garden any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I head back and take Lee to his apartment. We said our good nights and I headed back over to FW. On one of the highways I came across a horrible wreck that was going in the opposite direction. It was a police car turned around and pointing downwards on an exit. I can’t remember who I was on the phone with at the time but I told them it looked awful and probably whoever was driving was dead. The next morning I found out that the driver did die. He was only 26.

I get to the house and I got to meet Tabitha! I was so excited to see her! She is just as great in person as she is on the phone. I think I got to the house a little after 10:30. We stayed up talking until 2 or so. I was exhausted and could hardly keep my eyes open but there was so much to talk about. She does have some piercing and tattoos, but they totally match her personality. I wouldn’t have her change one thing about herself. I just can’t say how much I enjoyed sitting and talking with her.

I crawled in bed at one point and she ended up leaving for her apartment. She and Bobbi were going to meet us the next morning at the house so we could all go to the Mills at Grapevine. It’s a HUGE indoor outlet mall that I had wanted to go to. I slept in a bit on Saturday. I think I woke up at 8:40. I was freaking out because Bobbi was suppose to be there at 9 and I didn’t want to meet her looking all disheveled. Eileen told me that since Bobbi hadn’t heard from me she didn’t head over until a few moments before. I jumped in the shower and started getting ready.

I was sitting on the bed doing my makeup when there was a knock on the door. I thought it was Tab, but it was Bobbi. It was a surreal moment. It all passed rather quickly, but it was surreal just the same. I know I’ve seen pictures of her but it was just strange. I don’t know if I was expecting her to look different in person or what. I guess my entire life I just thought we looked “so much alike” that I expected to see myself but an older version. I do see some similarities as in my eyes, but I don’t know. She has full lips as I do but a different shape. I still was just glad to finally see her.

It’s not as though she had 4 heads or anything. She was just perfect. I guess it’s more or less the years of wondering and dreaming of what it would be like. I didn’t really put to much though in to what Brad looked like because I never thought or dreamed that he and I looked alike. Heck, I didn’t really ever think of him at all except to curse him through my thoughts. That was only because I thought he wasn’t a good guy for just up and leaving to go to another country while she was pregnant. Now through learning everything I know it’s not that way.

A little bit later Eileen, Bobbi, Tabitha and I headed out to the mall. First of all let me just say that Bobbi’s new car is just beautiful. It’s definitely a cool car. Second of all I believe my driving skills is partially genetic from Bobbi and then the other part is from my dad. I don’t get all of her driving skills because, well, I’m no where near her level of driving. And after Lee rode with her I told him he can never ever complain about the way I drive ever again. J

When we got to the mall the first place we came to was a restaurant called The Rainforest Café. Oh my! It was the cutest place ever. They had a great gift shop and I would have loved for Kenzie and Jackson to be there to eat with us. It was definitely an experience. Tabitha and I decided to split the hamburger. It was hysterical because both of us are selective picky eaters. We ordered a bbq bacon cheese burger with just the bread, mean, bacon and cheese with the sauce on the side. It’s nice to finally meet someone as particular as I am with food.

We went through the entire mall. All I can say is it was humongous. Huge! Massive! Tabitha and I went to a few stores to look at clothes. It was a little funny because we could both pick some of the same shirts or dresses that we liked. I didn’t really expect us to have some of the same taste in clothes. We had a good time going through the same stores together. I picked up Mackenzie some clothes at The Children’s Place b/c they were having a mega sale. I also found a ton of cute dirt cheap flip flops. It was great!

We were exhausted when we left there. My feet were killing me. I didn’t wear shoes with an arch, just stupid old flip flops. I wasn’t smart and neither was Tabitha when it came to our choice of shoes. We paid a price for it.

Bobbi, Eileen and I went to pick up Lee from his apartment. Then we headed over to Bobbi’s house to meet Andy and to see her house. While we were there Lee was going to book us a hotel room. The hotel room turned into a fiasco. Since the Nascar races were on that weekend and some other event all most everything under the sun was booked. After literally an hour or more of looking we found a place in Arlington.

Bobbi’s house is beautiful. The neighborhood kind of reminds me of ours, except for the lack of palm tree and more wood in their homes. It has a Texas feel to it as ours has a beach feel to it. The house is so nice and has so many great features in it. Andy was so nice and it was great to meet him. He looked good to me and he looked even better than I had imagined after having the surgery.

We finally headed over to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. We were meeting Tabitha and James (her boyfriend) and Bob for dinner. The place was crazy busy but since we called ahead we got right in. The food was exceptional! I loved the atmosphere there too! Our waiter was really good and he’s even a school teacher. How sweet is that?

Lee got a chance to talk to everyone as he hadn’t met them before. He was so good and nice to everyone (not that I expected anything different). James is real quiet and I have no idea how he put up with all of us. They brought us a bag of peanuts and I made a comment about throwing them. Bobbi so hauled off a peanut and hit this guy in the back. It is soooo something I would do with friends and when I’m giddy. I later attempted to throw one but it didn’t hit my target. Gotta work on my peanut aim.

We had talked about going to downtown FW with Bobbi and Tabitha after dinner. They were both too tired to go so we headed home with Eileen and Bob to their house so I could get my stuff and the car. Bob drove us home through downtown so Lee could see where Billy Bob’s is and we could see the downtown area. It was really neat seeing all of the different places. I’m not use to a downtown area that big and that has such a nightlife .

We went and checked into our hotel room. Lee had been dying to take me to this piano bar called Pete’s Piano Bar. He had been to the one in Addison and there was one in downtown FW. I was soooo tired and I didn’t want to really go. After going back and forth about it we decided to go. I have to admit I’m glad we went. I amazingly found our way to the place. We went to go park the car in the parking lot and this guy comes up to Lee while he’s still in the car and says “Hi, I’m Carl and I’ve been off crack for two months!”. Ummm… okay, way to scare a girl. After seeing how nervous I was he showed us his ID and he is apart of a mission that helped him get clean and he watches the cars after hours for his job. I wanted to tell the guy that the best way to make friends is to not tell them you’ve been off of crack.

After me going into the wrong place we finally made it to Pete’s. I have to say it was a really neat place. Having the two pianos facing each other and the going back and forth between the 2 guys is really cool. We walked in when they were doing the Texas A&M fight song or something of another. IT was making the crowd go crazy. You see you can write down requests on a napkin and then they’ll play them or won’t. I’ve never been a real drinker and never have liked bars or clubs or whatnot. The few times I’ve gone I always just sit back and take it all in. That’s what I did. At one point I pointed out a girl to Lee and he told me that only I would notice it because I was the only sober person in the entire place. All in all I really enjoyed myself. Even the $2 coke. I guess the DD don’t drink for free any more. J

We finally made it back to the hotel and I was exhausted. While I was taking off my makeup Lee passed right out on the bed. I walk out and he’s face down sprawled over the entire place snoring. I had no problem going to sleep though. I went right to sleep.

We woke up the next morning and go ready and met Tabitha and James for lunch in Arlington at the Spaghetti Warehouse. Yeah, it’s just really good and we got a discount, that’s why we kept going back to it. Lunch was real nice. Lee left and went back to study at the hotel and Tabitha and James and I went to he mall that was next door. It was yet another huge mall.

We looked around and each got a few things at Lane Bryant but besides that just looked around. I think James was getting tired of us going in the makeup stores, etc. He was a trooper though. We dropped him off at his apartment and Tabitha and I went and got pedicures. Oh my how my feet needed that. It was so nice to relax while they messed with my feel. My toes are now pink and cute. The big toes even have flowers on them. It was a fun thing for the two of us to do together.

Oh and the reason I didn’t see Bobbi on Sunday is b/c she had to take Andy to the emergency room b/c of his head hurting from his surgery. They were there all day long. I totally understand and it’s not a big deal in the least. I just wanted to throw in the reason behind her absence.

After the pedicure we picked up Eileen and headed over to Bonnie Solecki’s house to meet her and thank her for putting us together. It was so great to finally meet her. She didn’t look like I thought she would. She is a lot taller. She’s so funny and just talked and talked. It was great fun though. It was all so nice. We went back to eileen’s and by then it was 8pm. Lee was heading over to get me so we could eat and go to the hotel.

I told Tabitha goodbye. She’s so great. I can’t wait to see her again. I think she’s a wonderful person. I’m proud that we share the same ½ of DNA. I told Bob and Eileen bye. It was hard. I know that for some many years they prayed for me and wanted to make sure I was okay. In some ways I wonder if it was harder on Eileen than Bobbi. I don’t really know. I told her I’d come back to see them at some point and I’d bring the kids out.

Lee finally arrived and we headed out. We found a great little place to eat called Pappadeaux’s. It was expensive but good. We were pooped though. We ate and headed to the hotel. I finished packing for the next morning. We got up early Monday. When we finally made it to the airport I thought for sure I’d miss my flight. The lines were crazy. I arrived at the gate at exactly 7:05 and the plane was suppose to leave at 7:05. The captain came on and said they were holding the plane b/c it was the busiest the airport had ever been and they were giving people a little extra time. So nice of them.

I got home and was soo happy to see the kids. Jackson surprised me though b/c he wasn’t as excited to see me as I thought he would be. But it’s okay. I had to get my tire fixed and we didn’t head home until 3:30.

My mom and dad were great. They are so wonderful with the kids and so nice for keeping them. I also am so blessed to have had their support for my trip. I couldn’t ask for any better parents. Instead of just one set of parents and 1 ½ sets of grandparents and a sister who love me I have so many more people now. How lucky can one girl get?