In Denver at last! Jetlag included!

Sometimes you take home for granted and then sometimes it is just want it as it has always been, HOME! No matter where I live, Denver will be my home town. Katowice is my other home town and I would not know what to do if I did not live there, but there is something about my mile high city!

Getting here was a nice little adventure! The day before leaving, I woke up early to do some last minute errands and finish my packing. I left the rest of the day to clean my apartment and meet with one of my girls. My meeting was GREAT and we had a wonderful time of laughing and talking about life in the next 2 months.

I got home and saw how much more I needed to do and felt so overwhelmed, but I pulled up my sleeves and continued on. At around 7 p.m., I needed to talk to my neighbors and give them last minute instructions. I knocked on the door and as they opened up, the wonderful smell of dinner greeted me, and I knew I was in trouble. They insisted I come in and share dinner with them. I love spending time with this family. They are family to me! Well, after a few hours, I finally was able to leave (sad but necessary). I continued my cleaning quest until midnight.

Three a.m. is early when you cannot sleep and you need to leave for the airport. Romek, (the father of my neighbors) took me to the airport. He speaks very little English and at 3 a.m., let's face it, my Polish is not all that great! :) We arrived at the airport and he insisted on taking me in, getting me checked in and making sure I was okay. "You are family." He smiled. What a gift of God!

I got to Frankfurt and had breakfast and found the gate to my flight to Denver. I almost missed my flight (along with a number of other people) because they had changed gates and did not tell anyone about it. When I asked the ticket person, they said that they were not even informed about the gate changed. . . gotta love Frankfurt airport! :(

I got on the plane and a older lady sat down beside me. I could tell that she was Eastern European and wondered if we would talk any during the 10 and a half hour flight. I said "Hello" and she said, "No speak English." Oh, boy! So, I tired my Polish out on here. She smiled and started speaking a mile a minute, but I could not understand many of the words. . . I asked her to slow down and she looked at me strangely. Did I say something wrong? No, we found out that she is Ukrainian! Polish and Ukrainian are close enough that you can communicate, but there are many different words. So, for the next 10 hours we spoke and laughed and I got to see pictures of her family and heard about her life. The man in front of us (he was American) ask me what language we were speaking and I told him. He later discovered that Juria and I did not know one another before our flight and was amazed at how much we spoke. I was pleasantly surprised by how open Juria was! It was one of the most pleasant flights I have had to or from Poland!

I got off and went through customs, met my parents and was whisked off to my brother and sister-in-law's home so that I could meet my nephew, David Conrad! Words cannot describe my feelings at the sight of my nephew! What a great time it was! I was a bit overwhelmed and did not trust myself with him since I had slept only 2 hours in the last 48 so i just held him and smiled.

It is good to be home! I have broken a personal record though! 2 days and I have yet to hit a Starbucks! I know, CRAZY! It is being hit today! You betcha!