Home at last

Fourth flight rescheduling was a charm, so we are finally home. I will say that enduring a red-eye flight, battling jetlag and a daylight savings conversion and only having one functional shovel isn't the best combination for efficiently digging out a driveway of three feet of packed snow. But we prevailed and even made a game of seeing who could fling snow the highest on our neighbor's smurf blue house (I lost).

I barely slept on the red-eye because of my coughing, sneezing seatmate (not Phil), but the Charlotte to Cleveland flight was better, and I enjoyed serving as concierge for the business travelers sitting nearby who asked about dining suggestions. I'm enough of a geek to have Lola and Dante on my speed dial.

My reunion with Ava was just like the movies: I burst in the house calling her name and she ran down the steps meowing in return and jumped in my arms.

Picked up Zip in Hudson this evening (my, what a tail wagger) and stopped at my brother's in Twinsburg to visit my nephew, GP3, who's walking up a storm. He was very excited to see us and gave us bunches of hugs. GP3 sports a hilarious hairdo: business in the front and party in the back with his wild curls.

My sister-in-law is due April 16 and is ready to pop. I gave her a onesie I bought for my niece-to-be at David & Goliath in the Venetian -- "Does this diaper make my butt look fat?"

Back to life as usual tomorrow. Here are my lessons learned from this trip:

1. Spread the love with spare keys to family and friends nearby for emergencies

2. Travel agents rule and are well worth the extra fee when you're in dire need

3. Sign up for a snow plow contract

4. Never play Blackjack