From Providence to Amsterdam

After my reunion, I flew to New Orleans, where I was looking at possibly purchasing a property before visiting my grandparents in Waterproof, LA. I got to New Orleans around 8pm, picked up my rental car, and headed to my guest house in the Quarter (Lafitte's Guest House, which was actually the property I was considering buying to turn into a home for gay and lesbian teens who get thrown out of their homes with no place to go). I checked in, and looked around, got up to my bedroom and checked out the amazing view from my 3rd floor balcony that overlooked Bourbon, with downtown in the distance. I then went out to the bars, had too much fun, drank too much, danced too much, sang too much, and eventually noticed the sun was starting to come up, so had t go to bed, since I had an appointment with a realtor the later that morning... I got a couple hours of sleep (literally!) and was awoken by my wonderfully amazing friend from law school, whose wedding I attended in April, Leah, who was going to accompany me on our French Quarter property explorations. we met the realtor (who had actually helped Leah find her French Quarter condo) and set out! We viewed several properties, had lunch, and then viewed two more properties. It was nice to see inside some of the more beautiful homes in the French Quarter. at the end of the viewings, I was not particularly interested in any of the properties, so I set out in my little rental car to visit my grandparents in Waterproof, LA. I had to cross the Mississippi River from Natchez to Vidalia, and I had never seen its banks so swollen!

I made it to Waterproof without a hitch, got a good visit in with my grandparents, spent the night, and then the next morning, I had to get packed up again and drive to Shreveport, since I had a doctor's appointment and a meeting early in the afternoon, not to mention a thousand little errands that I needed to run before leaving the country for three months. I was supposed to have the booster for my Japanese encephalitis vaccination, but the travel clinic hadn't received it, so that was a wasted trip. I'll have to come back and get it in August before my trip to China and Indochina. I had some hair and personal hygiene products not available in Amsterdam that I needed to procure, so. Headed to Target and picked up shampoo, deodorant, razor blades, etc, etc. I know they have perfectly good stuff in The Netherlands, but sometimes you want the brands you are used to. At any rate, I did my shopping, then dropped off my rental car. My dad came and picked me up, and we went to our meeting, where I found out that I needed to execute a will, create a trust, and apply for life insurance immediately. Thank god I'm an attorney...

So I had dinner with my mom, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew (who, although I am slightly biased, are THE most gorgeous children on the planet), and then headed to my dad's house to write my will, create a trust in the event of my death, and by the time I was finished, it was so late, I had to go to sleep. I was going to at least begin the packing process, but I was just too tired to do it. So I went to sleep, vowing to get up early the next morning to pack... Of course, I overslept and woke up with just enough time to shower and shave before my meeting at the bank and for my physical with the nurse from the insurance company... Everything was completed, then we got my will signed, witnessed, and notarized, the. It was back to dad's for a mad scramble to get everything packed and me off to the airport. It was close, but I was able to get my bags dropped off two minutes before the cutoff. I have packed way too much, but I didn't have the time to properly go through my bags and leave what needed to be left and take what needed to be taken. I am using all three checked bags and two carry-ons that international business class tickets allow... It will be interested to see how I function once I hit Schiphol (or how I expect to get all those bags out to the taxi stand!). The flight from Shreveport was one of the scariest flights of my life. First of all, you should know that those little connecting "express" flights are in tiny prop planes. And the turbulence today was so awful. I have never been so afraid for my life, and was certain that I would die. With a will on place, but without life insurance. Of course, having to thin about all these things has had me thinking about my death for the last 24 hours, so I was not in the best frame of mind when I got on the plane... The turbulence and the five second free fall which eventually led to 3 of the 21 passengers getting sick (thankfully I wasn't one of them), didn't help my frame of mind. At any rate, we eventually landed that deathtrap, and I immediately went from terminal A to terminal E, got my passport checked and boarded the plane. No waiting at the gate -or should say - no waiting in the business class lounge...

Now I am 36000 feet above sea level, waiting for my Lunesta to kick in so I can sleep and get myself on Amsterdam time...


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Location:36000 feet over the Atlantic