London calling...

We decided that is was high time for us to get little Kitty over to her Granny in Scotland.  Kitty’s 2 year old birthday is quickly approaching and sometime between 2 and 3, babies miraculously become little kids and I didn’t want Granny to never get to experience Baby Kitty. We booked the trip in February when everything is dirt cheap because who the heck wants to vacation in the North Atlantic in February? Unfortunately, Maura had to stay behind because she has chosen to go to public school and they are very persnickety about students not taking time off unless they are dying. I suppose it’s a good life lesson- choosing one option will preclude other options but that doesn’t have to be bad thing. So we waved goodbye to Maura and promised to call my parents who are ‘house sitting’ for us because Maura is far too old and worldly to need a baby sitter. ;) Fortunately. Maura owns neither any Bob Seger albums of white tube socks so we should be ok. Toddler in tow we were off….

I have suffered horrible flying anxiety for years. I’ve flown quite a bit and it has just gotten worse with every trip. It is so bad that in order to satisfy my wanderlust and avoid flying whenever possible, I bought a boat. Yeah. It really is that bad. I’ve tried self help courses, facing my fears by flying in ultralights, self hypnosis, hypnosis, visualization, breathing, mantras etc. Nothing has worked. I’ve still flown because I do not want my life to be limited by fear but every flight has been a terrifying experience for me. Not this time. This time I opted to get a prescription from my doc for Xanax. Apparently .50mg was all that was standing  between me and having a normal travel experience. I know, I know its masking my fear and not allowing me to deal with it but I have dealt with it and it has sucked. I am not a martyr, I will never fly without it. I was almost like a normal person.

Kitty was fantastic on the flight. Just happy as can be other than a 5 minute crying episode when she was over tired and having a hard time getting to sleep and then another 2-3 minute complaint as we descended and her ears started hurting her. Other wise, she was just a delightful , friendly little person. Telling everyone “hi” on the plane and asking the flight crew “what you doing?” with such a sweet inquistive smile they could not help but be charmed. Thanks Kitty, we owe you one.

We shook off our jet lag in a Starbuck's in Waterloo Station - that's a sign of civility right there. They even accepted my US Starbuck's card. No money exchanged yet, no problem!

Checked into our hotel and opted for a nap as Kitty was quickly approaching critical mass. She's still working on the jet lag and its definitely effecting what we can do but we are rolling with it.

You would think any hotel in London would have great wifi. WRONG! We have absolutely craptacular wifi here so the photos will have to wait a few days until we are in Edinburgh and hopefully we have decent wifi there. Until then, just keep an eyeball on this post as someday photos will magically appear. :)