God Bless America!

I'm safely back on American soil! After sleeping for countless hours and eating everyone out of house and home since Saturday night, I feel fully refreshed and ready to get back to my normal routine. The adventure home was one I did not think I would make it through with my sanity. Being a planner by nature, and often a worry-wart, I had planned out our schedule for Saturday morning's trek to the airport like clockwork. We would take the 6:50 a.m. bus to the airport and arrive around 7:15 which would give us exactly 2 hours before our plane took off for Charlotte. Everything went smoothly until we got to check-in at the airport. The line was wrapped around the lobby and of course we were at the very end. While standing there, I was appraoched by an attendant who checked my passport, handed me a declaration card, and asked me all of these rather insulting security questions. After about 15 minutes of slowly inching forward, an announcement comes on over the loudspeaker calling for last call for check-in to Charlotte and that our check-in service would shut down in approximately 20 minutes. Panic mode ensued. Attendants began coming around moving Charlotte travelers to the front of the line which greatly angered our fellow US Airways travelers headed to Philadelphia. After barely making check-in, I proceeded to security which was a breeze. I thought we were in the clear, besides U.S. PreClearance and made my merry way towards where the signs told me to go. Once we hit PreClearance, I had to prove that I had not borrowed or received anything from Ireland and that I was not trying to smuggle in any contraband or perishable items. After that, I hit another security checkpoint in which I thought I would just slide my bag through the X-ray once more and be done with it. No such luck. The attendant so coyly notified me that I had been selected for an additional and "random" search. And here I was thinking that I didn't look like some sort of threat to society... After going through my bag and dusting it. along with dusting my hands and taking my fingerprints, I was finally clear to head towards my gate (and with only 5 minutes to go until boarding time). When I finally made it to the tarmac, I was stopped yet again by a gentleman in a blue suit asking if I was travelling alone. I was then directed to another man in a similar suit who proceeded to ask me additional security questions before I was FINALLY clear to get on the plane and take my seat. One serious panic attack and 30 minutes later, I was still sitting on the plane not going anywhere. The pilot finally comes over the intercom saying there is a maintenance issue in the process of being repaired and that we would be delayed at least half an hour. Well with having to catch a connecting flight in Charlotte at 4:00, the panic set in once again but we finally took off at a decent time and the second we touched down in Charlotte was probably one of the most fulfilling of my life (besides some of the moments I experienced in Ireland). I had a cute boy and a Chick-fil-A sandwich with a very large sweet tea waiting for me at GSP when I arrived and before heading back to work today, I have been on the couch resting since. The jetlag has not been as unbearable coming home as it was going to Ireland and I have mainly been focused on making up for lost time with some of my favorite foods. Be looking for some picture posts in the next few days. All 500 and some odd of my pictures are uploaded onto my Facebook if you're friends with me on there. There's no way I could share all of those on here but I will certainly be sharing my favorites :)