Home and Renewed

A late lunch with a Maui Wowie and fries at Spokane's O'Doherty's seemed like a nice punctuation point as two weary women ended a memorable 32-hour adventure. 

So, that's what Debbie and I did yesterday. 

We hadn't had much sleep because the trip from the Tacoma Dome to our motel at Sea-Tac took two hours after we had left the Michelle Obama book event around 10:15 p.m. Sunday evening. 

We learned yesterday that 18,000 people had attended the event, which meant that traffic from the area moved at a snail's pace.

Three Love's at Sea-Tac, Annie, Debbie and Mama Love:  taken by Annie, the Selfie Aficionado.

We did get some snoozing, maybe four hours at the most.  When we learned that Annie was flying in from Arizona and arriving at Sea-Tac an hour or so before our flight, we scrambled to turn in the rental car and head to the airport. 

It looked like we'd have smooth sailing because our airline tickets said TSA Pre-Check. 

Shoes stayed on, laptop remained in backpack, belt and glasses could remain on my body, so we sent stuff through the conveyor, expecting a quick run through security. 

Nope. 

Random passenger B-6. 

I think that's what they named me as the TSA agent told me to step aside. 

Thoughts of a similar and wearisome experience a couple of years ago in Dublin, where our trip through security involved about 15 minutes more of checking me from stem to stern. 

Yesterday wasn't so bad.  Just electronics, and that went fast, so Random B-6 got sent on through. 

We ended up taking the train over to Annie's gate and five minutes later, she was walking into the terminal from her flight.  We traded a Michelle Obama shirt for some peanut patties Annie had purchased for her dad. 

Those are always an essential for Bill if anyone travels to the south country. 

We also met Annie's lackey friends from Seattle's Groundspeak, Inc. who had accompanied her on a geocaching adventure in the desert around Tucson and Phoenix. 

After saying good bye's, we headed back to our gate, which took three train rides.  Then, it was "wait and stay awake" mode.  Once on the plane, we had another delay as a light bulb needed changing. 

Apparently, only one maintenance person was needed to fix the light bulb. 

Eventually we were in the air and since I got stuck in the middle between two men who appeared non-talkative, I was happy to go into snooze mode.  

Debbie, who hasn't had much sleep in the past week, didn't have it so easy.

She, too, had to sit in the middle and one of her seat partners wanted to talk. 

So, it was nice, once we arrived in Spokane, to sit down and reflect over a hot and delicious lunch at one of our favorite Irish pubs. 

Both of us have enjoyed reflecting on our experience.  Our zany moments along the way were, of course, fun, but we both agreed that attending the book event will go down as a major life experience. 

The evening of discussion by Michelle Obama renewed our basic belief systems about what's really most important in this life.  

The facts and figures and resumes and tangible, recognized achievements of life are important motivators, but how we treat others and the world around us on each given day matters so much more. 

Granted, it's not easy some times to measure up in the latter category, and I found it refreshing to read in Michelle's book "Becoming" that she and Barack do fight.  

She admits that she is a yeller and a screamer and maybe even falls into a good rage scene from time to time while her husband remains relatively quiet in family arguments. 

I asked Bill if that sounded a bit familiar.  In his customary way, he nodded and smiled. 

We all have our moments, and all through life, we do our best to avoid being our ugly selves. 

That said, we also have our opportunities to let our caring, generous, thoughtful and polite selves shine through to uplift others. 

She presented a simple message through all of her humorous and poignant anecdotes.  

In doing so, her message came across as extremely profound and worthy of continued reflection. 

As one of my Facebook friends who also attended the event noted, Michelle Obama is known all around the world, yet she is so down to earth. 

Her story is unique, just as are those of every single person on this planet. 

Each of us, as we live our own stories, has something fruitful to offer and to inspire others. 

Debbie and I came home renewed and determined to continue to do our best in our unique surroundings. 

Plus, we have a new collection of funny and meaningful memories to savor forever. 

Now, it's time to get back to work, both mundane and meaningful. 

Happy Tuesday.