or something like that. Isn’t that what Pennsylvania is called? Either way, I’m blogging from my sister’s house today, all the way across the country in Philadelphia. She just had an adorable new baby and I’m here to spend a few days with them. Sightseeing and eating. I mean, helping out the new mom as she recovers. While eating and sightseeing. Just kidding. Or am I?

It’s now barely eight o’clock in Cali, but in Philly it’s past 11 and everyone’s asleep… feels weird. So blogging and interent on my trusty laptop is on the menu for the evening. My sister doesn’t have TV. Can you believe it?

It’s been a while since I was on a plane and I learned a few things. I started taking notes because I didn’t want to forget.

Lessons learned while traveling all the way from one side of the country to the other:

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1.  Don’t wait until after 10pm the night before an early flight to find out that rodents have found your suitcase in the garage and eaten half of the zipper. It’s too late to do anything about it and you’ll be forced to deal with the extreme heebie jeebies you get from the thought of your clothes touching something that a rodent touched. Ew. {shudder}

2. When getting a window seat on a long flight, take small sips of your beverage. Or better yet, go thirsty… abstain from drinking if at all possible. Your body will thank you. Because inevitably, the two big dudes next to you will be asleep for most of the trip and crawling over them in the midst of your agony is… awkward.

3. Bringing cash is a good idea. Two dollars won’t buy you lunch. Or a snack. Or headphones. Or anything. The pretzels are just a teaser, the Coke adds to the aforementioned torture, and there’s no such thing as a free lunch anymore.

4. Pilots now leave the cockpit and hawk credit cards at some point during the flight. Seriously?

5. Regular headphones DO work in the jacks… but you have to actually turn the volume up to hear it. I missed an entire movie because I didn’t learn this lesson earlier.

6. There’s a good reason Philly Cheesesteaks are famous. They taste amazing. Especially when you’ve just spent your day being tortured and starved.

That said, I love traveling. I was being a little dramatic about the tortured and starved part… On the docket for tomorrow… Amish Country! I’m sure I’ll learn plenty of new things tomorrow too…

One more thing to add to this already too-long post. Happy Birthday Mom! And happy belated birthday, Shannon! Me? Yes. And Grandma too, if she was still here. I was hours away from sharing a birthday with Mom and Grandma… I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but I was spoiled by this fact because Grandma would bring an amazing cake to celebrate our birthdays and I got a beautiful cake with flowers and grass and bumblebees all magically made out of frosting,  while the sibs were lucky if they got the correct number of candles. (only kidding!) To continue the tradition, my sweet brother brought me a cake to remind me of old times. It wasn’t quite as fancy as Grandma’s, but it was delicious and thoughtful. It made me all nostalgic for those little magic moments of childhood.

And that is all for this edition of blog-a-thon. Amen.