January 17, 2009 Back in the UK

Here we are safe and sound in Swavesey after a more flexible travel experience than we were hoping for. :) We now have the phone numbers for 3 major airlines programmed into our cell phones. The poor British Airways agent that we were finally able to talk to in person (the desk didn't open until 2pm and we had to wait until then after checking out from our hotel) couldn't seem to get our tickets sorted because of all the crazyness, and it took her a good half an hour I think to do it. But that was fine with me- I was just happy to get on the plane. :) I felt a little less happy when I got seated next to an older gentleman from India who was humming the same tune VERY loudly for at least the first hour of our flight. Aside from the humming he pretty much never acknowledged by presence though I sat next to him for 7 hours. There was at least one ill behaved toddler, and one ill behaved 4 year old who were noisy during various parts of the flight. I have to say that whining kids of any age really push my buttons- everyone has their pet peeves, and whining kids in public places is mine. :) I happen to have quite a few friends with very well behaved children, so I know that it isn't impossible. :)

We landed safely at Heathrow's now infamous new Terminal 5 (T5 as it's known by here) but the kinks of the system seem to be worked out- we got through passport control in record time because they set up a special line for UK residents. What an unexpected bonus! We pretty much shot right through, grabbed our bags, and were out of the airport in like 30 or 40 minutes. Our flight landed at 6:30am and by 10 we were getting off the train in Cambridge. I love traveling Saturday morning- it's so much more peaceful. :) We made it to the cattery by 11 to pick up Nelly, who has developed some new skills in avoiding being put into the cat carrier- she's got a new technique of sprawling her back legs in a particular way so as to not have to go in it. But Lisa the wonderful cattery person (whom Nelly loves by the way) managed to get her in after all. Nelly is happily resettled here at home in her favorite chair.

We did take a nap this afternoon- I know it's against the cardinal rule of getting over jet lag, but it does seem to have helped us be able to stay awake longer. We're running out of things to do now- the mail is all sorted, we've unpacked, and now we need to stay awake for another 4 hours or so. :) I hope you are all well in Michigan!