A is also for...

That would be Austin, for anyone not familiar with the skyline. :) Rick starts his new job next week, so we thought we'd take our free time and spend a few days here. I'd say that we wanted to escape the Chicago cold... except at the moment, the weather here is almost exactly the same as the weather there. A few random odds and ends:

We got bumped up to first class on the flight up. I love it when that happens. Not only because the seats are bigger and there's more legroom and if you're reeeeaaaally lucky they feed you (nuts and a chocolate chip cookie this time -- but it's better than nothing, I suppose...), but also because first class is so close to the bathroom. I have a weird sort of phobia about walking past fifty rows of tightly packed passengers to get to the bathroom in the back of the plane. I always feel like everyone is staring at me... although I'm sure that must not be the case, because I never give anyone a second look when they're walking to the bathroom. But still, every time I stand up on a plane, I can't help but feel like I'm in a packed theater and the audience is waiting for my performance. It's unnerving. (And yes, I'm also good with the LAST row of a plane, because it, too, is so close to the bathroom... man, I'm weird...)

Speaking of weird hang-ups -- we were talking about food aversions at dinner tonight. Like how Eric hates mayonnaise and I hate fish... and ground up meat... and food with little seeds... and carrots. And we were wondering if Eric has ALWAYS hated mayonnaise, or if there was a certain point in time when he finally decided he'd had enough of that repulsive egg/oil emulsion. I, for instance, actually used to eat fish all the time when I was a kid. I ate fish sticks, and we used to get fish and chips at a place called Arthur Treacher's in Buffalo. And I ate tuna fish well into my 20s... but at some point, the smell and taste of ANY fish became completely unappetizing to me. So maybe in ten or twenty years I'll LIKE fish again? And maybe Eric will love mayonnaise... I'm going to keep sneaking it into his sandwiches until he likes it again...

Speaking of Eric... he's cat-sitting for us while we're gone, because he's awesome. (Thanks, Eric!! I'll refrain from sneaking any mayo into your sandwiches for at LEAST another week or so... ;))

I'm off to watch some TV with my mom and then maybe head to bed early... flying always seems to drain my energy... maybe it's all that worrying about walking past the audience to the bathroom... :)