So, the trip started out pretty good. No traffic on the way to the airport. Easy check in. Plus, when we reached baggage claim, our one piece of luggage was already on the conveyor belt.
I think we used up our good trip karma for a while.
First, finding the rental car shuttle took a while. You’d think it would be obvious. Eh, not so much. Then, oh, the traffic getting out of Chicago. You’d think everyone was leaving for a long holiday or something.
When we cleared Chicago, naturally we hit some construction. The drive took much longer than expected, but at last we made it. I was checking in at the hotel desk when I asked Andrew to get our luggage.
He returned a moment later with the news:
It wasn’t in the car.
Minus the items in our carry-on bags, that one piece of luggage had everything: swimsuits, clothes for the book signing, underwear.
I’d been so busy getting Kyra’s booster seat situated and checking out the car, that I assumed Andrew (who’d been lugging the suitcase all along) had put it in the back. He thought I had.
So, we drove away without it.
The good news is it’s still at the rental car place. Bad news? We have to go get it if we want it before Monday.
Fortunately, Danville has a Wal-Mart. While I prefer Target, I’m not sure I would’ve ended up with my new wowza six dollar book signing “ensemble” from them. Yes, I picked something that was on the rack outside the store.
Because I’m crazy that way.
Darcy met us at Wal-Mart. She and Kyra bonded while selecting fashions in the girls’ section. Andrew found some nice cargo shorts and shirt to wear. Plus, we got some essentials: toothpaste and underwear, swimsuits and sandals.
So, all in all, it could be worse. Miss B is swimming in her new Sponge Bob swimsuit. Despite the fact I made a special shopping trip to the mall, armed with gift cards, I’m highly amused I’ll be wearing a six dollar Wal-Mart clearance rack special to my book launch signing.
Plus, I got to see Darcy last night, who showered my kids with gifts and attention.
Plus, the kids were pretty good through the whole thing (and Andrew felt so awful about not loading the bag).
And … on the really cool Geek Girl news front, we got an awesome quote from Elizabeth Scott.
She read Geek Girl’s Guide and saw in the acknowledgements that we share an editor. So the other day, she sent our editor this quote:
“Sweet, funny, and heart-warming, The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading truly makes you want to cheer!”
Both Darcy and I were beyond stunned. Every time I think about it, I get a big grin–even with the missing luggage.
Writing Wrongs 