Day 188

Finally! Tears of joy!!! They came after various frustrations, but the point is...they came.

My wake up call, was of course, the screaming going on downstairs. I rolled over, feeling like there was no way it was time to get up. My eyes were sore, and I was still exhausted. I just managed to pick up my phone, and squint just enough to see the numbers. 6:30! You've got to be kidding me!! I put my phone back down, noticed how sunny it was outside, smiled about it, and debated going back to sleep. I was EXTREMELY excited about my Dad arriving, and was happy that it was sunny. But I was also sooo tired, and knew I had to drive to Peterborough later. As soon as that thought entered my mind, closing my eyes was justified. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, and started letting different things run through my brain. I soon cut off all thoughts, and fell into a deep sleep. This "deep" sleep however, would only last until the next screaming session which came at 8:30. Fine! I'm up!

I got myself ready. Showered, American Idol, packed, cleaned, breakfast, American Idol, and some music too. I wrapped my Dad's birthday gift up, and had ventured downstairs at certain points as well. On one trip down, I was told the Beast had a flat tire. "That's awesome!" - I thought. Heloise told me she had asked Tim if she should take the car to the garage, and he told her to wait til he got back from Football, and he'd take a look at it. The frustration is what kept me in my room most of the morning.

I had heard from my Uncle when he arrived at the airport to pick my Dad up, and was waiting to hear back when I went down to make a salad. I was sitting there eating it, and watching Josh play with Lego, and the other 2 watch TV, when Heloise came down and said she had been talking to her dad, and I should leave in a minute. My plans of picking up a Starbucks for the 2 of us went out the window. I was supposed to get a 20 minute warning, but oh well. I grabbed all of my things, chugged my juice in the process, and headed out the door. The foot pump was in the trunk in case the tire deflated again. I was told to keep checking it, and to make sure the pressure was always at 32. I set off on my journey.

I got to the Stansted roundabout no problem. This is however, one of the most complicated roundabout's around! Heloise gets confused each time she's on it. I was told to meet them at the Services. Well, I passed a few different services signs, and when I went on the roundabout, I was busy thinking about whether the last one I passed was really the one I wanted. I thought I'd follow the most recent sign that said it, but I turned too early. I took the turn off before, but as I was turning off, I noticed, and it was too late to get out of the lane. The thing that had me overly frustrated was the fact that whether you realized your mistake right away or not, there was nowhere to correct it! I had to drive at least 10 miles before there was a turn off. Luckily I had figured out which way to go to get back before anyone called to see where I was. It wasn't long after I turned around though, that I got a phone call from my Uncle. He wanted to know if everything was ok. I told him I took the wrong turn off, and he asked where I was. Being too worried about the fact that I was speaking on my cell phone while driving, I didn't think about it and told him I wasn't sure how to explain it, but knew I'd be there shortly. We hung up, and soon enough, I was in the right place. I drove around the services once. Then as I came around again, I pulled into the gas station to make a phone call. I asked my Uncle where they were sitting, and once I hung up, I drove towards the parking lot they were waiting in. As I approached them, I was so happy but so frustrated - as I think driving to Heathrow would have been much easier - I saw a spot, and was backing in, nervous because everyone was watching me. I normally do a very good job of reversing into a spot. But this time I had to pull in and out about 3 times. When I finally had the vehicle in park, and had motioned to my Dad to get out of the way so I didn't hit him...I jumped out of the car and gave him a huge hug. I didn't want to let go. It was a bear hug, and I could hardly get any words out as the tears rolled down my cheeks. I was SO happy to be in my Daddy's arms after 4 months of not seeing him! That is far too long. I managed to tell him how much I'd been missing him. Then I had to go into the washroom so that we could head off straight away.

My Uncle had told us part of the Highway we needed, was blocked off and traffic was being diverted. My Dad and I set out, and began by following the diversion signs. It was after sitting in very backed up traffic that we decided we wouldn't go the same way as EVERYONE else, but we'd take a scenic, less congested route. It was nice. I didn't even need music on the drive. I was perfectly content just having my dad there. Whether there was a brief silence, or we were caught up in conversation, it didn't matter. I was happy.

Eventually we got to Peterborough. We drove past the church and the cemetery, and parked at my Nan's. We went in to see my Nan, cousin, Aunt and Uncle, and then we all came to my Aunt and Uncle's place where we had tea, good conversations, fish and chips, and looked at pictures. I was falling asleep very early on, so when my Dad said he was heading to bed, I decided I should too. I washed my hair first, now I'm writing this, speaking to a couple of people, and will be asleep in minutes. Good Night xx