I’m finally in Germany! Mom and I headed to Nashville International Airport on Thursday afternoon. I was able to take Tori and Snickers with me, but was a nervous wreck throughout the trip.

When I was headed onto the first plane (Nashville to Washington, D.C.), the flight attendant gave me the cats’ cards from their cages (they’re supposed to do this to let me know they have been loaded onto the plane). Regardless, I can’t help but feel nervous on their behalf. I’m trying to imagine how I felt on my first flight, every noise putting me on edge. But, when considering Tori and Snickers, they have ho idea what is going on. It made me so nervous and on edge. I’m a little angry, due to the $454 I had to shell out to get them on the plane (I had to check them with my luggage rather than taking them on). Ironically, the seat next to me was empty.

The plane is quite small, only three seats in each row. We were told that the flight may be rough, and my stomach dropped at the thought of turbulence. Again, the concern is more for my pets than for me. We had a bit of turbulence on takeoff, but soon it settled down, and I could almost imagine that it feeling like riding along in a car on a bumpy road.

The plane landed about 20 minutes later than it should’ve. Luckily, I made it to the connecting flight with time to spare. But, in the back of my mind, I kept thinking, “the cats aren’t with me, the cats aren’t with me!” For the past 2 1/2 hours I had experienced nausea, cold sweats, tightness in my chest, and the feeling that at any minute now I won’t be able to breathe. If this is anything close to what it feels like to worry about your own children, then I’m not ready for parenthood. I had already predicted my impending collapse Friday afternoon… it won’t be from exhaustion, but from stress.

I took a look in the seat pocket in front of me and noticed the Sky Mall magazine, and I’m immediately reminded of Michael Swope’s addiction to these magazines. By the way, congrats Michael! Heard about you and Kate getting engaged. For those of you on Facebook, check out their photos — Michael had such a great proposal idea!

Another sidenote: I’ve been reading Broken Music, a book written by Sting. It’s a memoir solely by him and a very enjoyable read. There is a section in which he discusses the early days of the Police. On their first U.S. tour, the audience ranged from 6 to 600. When the audience was on the small side, Sting would invite everyone to the front row and introduce the band. Then, he’d ask the audience to introduce themselves, and he’d shake everyone’s hands. The band would then proceed to give the audience their money’s worth, playing as many encores as requested. The band then invited the audience backstage! Ah, to be a Police fan during the 70s… that sounds like such a great experience.

I finally made it to Frankfurt, and one of Mat’s coworkers was there to pick me up. He drove me back to Mannheim and onto BFV (Benjamin Franklin Village) to the temporary housing the army had arranged. Upon arriving, all I can say is it had damn well better be temporary. I did a lot of cleaning, but there’s still this old “lack of use” smell, and dust was on everything. Around 3pm I collapsed on the couch while Bridget Jones’s Diary was playing, and I think it cycled three times before I actually awoke. Some friends of Mat’s are watching Tori and Snickers, and it was their visit that finally woke me up enough to take a shower and get something to eat.

I did a lot of walking yesterday, found the PX and Commissary (for you non-military people, the PX is basically a Wal-Mart, and the commissary is a grocery store), and almost visited the Class 6 (liquor store) but decided against it; in a day or two, I’ll be sampling the best beer Belgium has to offer.

So, that’s all for now. G’night everyone!