I can't breef! | Meet the Ayala's Satruday

I know, I know. I'm behind.  I guess writing my last blog wasn't going to be as easy as I imagined, and it took longer than anticipated.  Glad I got it over with though, and through my journey, I hope somewhere along the way I can inspire others.  Life isn't exactly easy, but its the truth, and like the good 'ol Bible says, "the truth shall set you free." ...


[[Saturday's is all about the many and mini adventures of the Ayala's. Something is ALWAYS happening to us. ALWAYS. This, however makes life exciting.  A life of "excitement" my husband never had until he put a ring on it. HA!]]




Flying.
Before April of this year, I hadn't been on a plane since the sandbox ages, in which I hurled my most recent meal into a paper bag.  I don't remember this, but my mother sure does.

April 2010.
I went to NC.
On a plane.
By myself. (yes I'm 24 yrs old, but who's counting???)

[[Took a picture of my napkin.]]

The early morning of my flight out to RDU, my dad and hubby dropped me off. Yes, all the way to the security gate.  (don't laugh.)  I was deathly scared of getting on the wrong flight (of course if I landed in Hawaii or somewhere tropical, that'd be a different story).

First off, I had to UNpack everything I had JUST packed ever so neatly in my little carry on. UGH.
Seriously.  And then I HAD to take off my shoes and walk barefoot on that shanasty cold floor??? Are you kidding me??? GROSS!  Okay...better than getting arrested, I guess. I waved goodbye, and fought the tears. (yes, I was THIS emotional)

I found my gate, and sat down.
All while waiting to board my flight, I wondered if I was even at the RIGHT gate, even after checking and double checking, and triple checking, making sure my weary eyes were not deceiving me and that I DID indeed know how to read numbers correctly.  I looked at my pass, then looked at the gate, then looked at the monitor. And repeated this, I dunno how many times...

And then I got my first taste at how crazy the airport REALLY is...
They announced a lost item practically every 20 min (I was sitting there for almost 2 hours). And then, get this... And then, the mother whom was sitting behind me, actually asked me if I could watch her child while she ran to do whatever she had to do "real quick".  Ummm.... Either she's crazy, or I just looked sweet enough to not kidnap her kid.

Book in hand. After reading and re-reading the SAME page a gazillion times (concentration was no where to be found), it was finally boarding time.  Finally? Errrr.... ::queasy stomach::

I got in line after the "A" folks were called....
again, frantic about making sure I got my OWN seat, because I am indeed claustrophobic, and I HAD to have a window seat sitting on the wing (I researched this right after I booked my flight online. Not only that, but I always like to SEE what's coming. I wanna know if I'm about to die, not be out of the loop because I sat in an aisle seat).

Marking my territory, my eyes burned a hole in MY seat as I shimmied down that aisle. I sat down, and took the deepest breath evarrrr.

"Ohh," I thought, "YAY! They actually have a mini safety brochure!" :: opens and begins to read ::  Concentrate. Concentrate. NOPE.  Couldn't find it in me.  I was much too nervous about what was about to come... Take off. "Great. So if the plane crashes, I'm dead, simply because I can't seem to concentrate on the survival guide. Perfect."

The flight attendant came down the aisle and reminded everyone to put all carry-on's under the seat. This literally took me 10 minutes to figure this out... don't ask.


::DING DING::

It was time.
The flight attendants took their, I would assume, regular positions, and began to go over what I was trying so desperately to read in the survival guide.  "YES!!" I thought, "This is perfect for my overtly visual-self."

WRONG.

They went over everything so fast, it looked like they were doing a new and "improved" version of the Macarena.  I had NO idea where they were pointing, or what the heck they were saying. -- THIS was because I didn't realize I was getting blasted in the face by the mini AC bulb right above me. IT took me FOREVER to find this stupid thing, and then it took me FOREVER to figure out WHY the heck it was taking my breath away.  I was too scared to touch anything above me, because I had no idea what button was for what operation. With my luck, I'd push a button and start a fire. Who knows?!?! 
 For those that really and truly know me, I overreact A LOT, and I always assume the worst (and most bizarre situation).  I was too scared to ask, because I mean c'mon what 24 year has NEVER flown a plane?? I'm sure I'm not the only one, but after only 5 minutes, it was pretty clear to me that I was the ONLY first time flyer on THAT plane.


I heard the engines, and all of a sudden, we actually began to move.  Backwards at that.  At this point, I was kicking myself in the butt, because I sat on the WRONG side of the plane. Because we left at dawn, the sun was literally blinding me, and my window was drenched in dew, so any visual confirmation was literally out the window. Go figure.

I said a little prayer, and asked God to fly the plane, and to get me safely to Tampa.

Faster and faster the plane barreled down the run way, and faster and faster my heart began to beat out of my chest. I gripped my arm rest, dug my feet into the floor, and engraved my back to the seat.  I couldn't believe the time had actually come.


And just like that, I was flying.


Phew. Okay.
Alive? Check.
Raising pulse? Check.
Sanity? Check.

I looked over and saw the lady across from me sleeping like she was at home, relaxed in her king size bed.
"Whaaaa??? How can people sleep so comfortably on a PLANE of all places???" For various reasons, I pondered this question... and then after a good chunk of time went by without us be hijacked, losing a wing, or the burnout of a engine, I figured I'd take a mini snooze myself...

All was good.
Until of course, the turbulence took a slight dive, and startled me.
I looked out the window, and I saw a blanket of pure white clouds...
I looked a little deeper, and focused and re-focused my eyes... Land is green, brown, and sometimes yellow... why was THIS ground dark blue??? OH EM GEE. We're flying over the WATER???? THE OCEAN??? The ocean that's full of sharks deadlier than Jaws himself??? I tried to think back at what the flight attendant said about using the life vest... AHHH! I couldn't remember.  Then I began to think of how good I used to be at treading water back when I swam in high school... okay... I can survive endurance wise, at least until help arrived. Then I thought of every stupid movie that viciously tortured its viewers with deadly shark attacks scenes.

And right then and there... AHHH what a VIEW!!!
Got my camera out, and WOW.  I haven't seen water this blue, EVARRRR!
Tampa Bay was GORGEOUS!
THIS was the peace I needed, and it came at the perfect time.
I was mesmerized by the depths of the ocean... the dark blue, the light blue, the yachts, the curve of the Bay...
it was great!

 [[Tampa Bay, Florida.]]

After circling Tampa Bay for a good forever, we landed, and thanks to Tampa's small airport, I was at my next gate, across the other side of the airport in less than 5 min. It was a good day...so far.

Boarded my flight to RDU, and we were off.  Believe, it or not, flying over the ocean was my peace of mind.

And then it began.
Turbulence. The worst turbulence evarrrrrrr!
I seriously thought I was either going to hurl, or pass out.
I looked out the window, and it was like I was on the world's my traumatic see-saw.

Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
Grounddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd.
Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
Grounddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd.

Then we took what I thought was a serious nose-dive, and I dove right into the back seat of the little old lady in front of me. I hit/grabbed her seat so hard, I could have given her a heart attack! I popped up, and everyone seemed to be okay, yet here I was freaking out like we were diving straight to our death.  I turned around to reassure the 15 year old behind me that I was okay, and it was just my first flight ever. (why he needed to know this information is beyond me, but to save my idiocy, I felt the need to tell SOMEBODY)

What.a.loser.


We finally boarded and I burnt out of that airport so fast!


Time spent in NC was nice. I always love to go.  Its just a different lifestyle than here in Houston. Different pace of life.  Def a breath of fresh air. And photographic possibilities everywhere you turn! Love it!  (unfortunately, I was too scurred to bring my DSLR, so I brought my point and shoot instead. boo.)


The time had to come to return home. I sat at my gate, and waited to board my flight to Orlando aka "House of the Mouse."  OOHHH! This should be fun!
Not really.
I had somehow met my match of frantic flyers...

An 8 or 9 year old little girl.



First off, this time, I was in the "B" flyers, and I promise you, there were at least 50 billion "A" flyers.  I boarded the plane, and couldn't find a SINGLE window seat left.  I kept walking and walking, and before I knew it, I was at the VERY back of the plane.
Hmmm, sit next to THIS couple, or sit next to this seemingly potential chatter box (who ended up to be just that)?  Ehh, that's what headphones are for.  I'll just stuff those in my ears, and close my eyes, and pretend to sleep, so I won't be bothered.  At least, they'll be a seat of "breathable air" beside of me, and THAT is what's most important.

Then all of a sudden, a mother with her daughter came scooting down the aisle...
There was no room for the two of them to sit together. There was however an empty seat between me and Ms. Chatter Box.
The little girl walked up to me with puppy dog eyes, and asked very politely if she could sit in my seat so she could be directly across the aisle from her mother.

Um. Okay, let me try and explain.  Sitting by the window is safe for me, because even though there is a window separating me from the outside world, at least I can SEE the outside world...because duh, the earth is like a HUGE oxygen tank. So claustrophobia wasn't going to be an issue. However, when I'm sitting in an aisle seat, I'm surround by the 4 walls of this tiny plane, plus the zillions of people already on the plane.  THAT permits a problem.

So you bet your buns, I told that little girl, in my most polite and sweet voice, "NO."  Yes, I said no. And I apologized.  Sorry kiddo, my sanity is much more important than your crying tears. K. Thanks.

This girl cried a river...not wait, she cried an ocean.  I tried talking to her, and telling her how it was my first time flying, and that I have a child of my own, and that we would stick together...
Girlfriend did not care.
 Mother saw this, and quickly went to get the flight attendant to see if he could arrange something else. So OF COURSE, right before take off, when EVERYBODY had already sat down and got comfortable, I, ME, of ALL the 50 billion people on that plane, was called out, and asked to move.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? SERIOUSLY????  UGH. This little brat!!!!! I wanted to trip her AND her mom! I sucked it up, swallowed the lump in my throat, and sat down next to the couple I hesitated to sit with before.

After about an hour, I looked over at the girl, and she was STILL crying.
My heart began to ache for her, so much that her tears were ALMOST contagious. All I could think was what if that was Aislynn?  (although I'm almost positive Aislynn would have the time of her life)  I felt horrible that I had been that way towards her.  We finally landed, and she was still in a frantic daze.  I bet she couldn't wait to get off that plane...just as I did first when landing in RDU.  Poor baby. Bless her heart. And bless mine for being such a meanie sour puss.


Next time, I fly, I know the precautions to take.
And hopefully, next time I fly, I'll have somebody to chat it up with to keep me occupied.
I can't imagine flying to Hawaii or Spain. Goodness. How in the world does someone stay on a plane for 10+ hours??? Brave souls, I tell ya.

Maybe one day that will be me...

Sharks, tears, and HUGE LOVE!
XoXo
-Casey <3