The Friday 15

Today's Friday 15 - those 15 items I get rid of each week - is mostly a list and not photos. Before we headed out of town I sent a bunch of things on their way without taking photos.

To my daughter went two pair of pants, one sweatshirt, two Christmas ornaments from upcoming tutorials, four stuffed fabric pumpkins and one candy corn trick or treat bag from the tutorials earlier this month, and one rope toy for her dog. That's 11.

To our neighbor went a fidget mat that I made. These mats help soothe the anxiousness that comes from patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s. They also are helpful for kids with autism.

A tutorial for this will be coming up on November 6.

That makes 12.

And three little sweeties had to go back to Simply Cats. I've been fostering another bunch of baby kitties for them. Goodbye to Pink, Christina, and Maya.

And that makes 15.

Want to know more about fostering cats? Check out the video I made for Simply Cats this summer.

First Day in Rome

First of all, let me just say...A 12 hour non-stop flight is just too dang long for us. Cerebral palsy boy and rheumatoid arthritis girl just can't do it. We flew Delta from Boise to LAX. Then Delta partnered with KLM who partnered with Air Alitalia. So it wound up being an Air Alitalia plane for the 12 hour LAX to Rome overnight flight. Those seats are tight and close with no legroom! Add in the two folks who sat in front of us reclining their seats all the way back the entire time and it was a miserable trip. The guy sitting in front of me must have had a seat that was a little off because when he reclined his it smashed into my knees. I could not move my legs at all. Ever. And in the reclining position the top of his seat came within just a few inches of my face. Seriously. Maybe six or seven inches away from my head. The whole flippin' flight. Along with hubby being squished by the person in front of him, his TV screen wouldn't turn off so he had a glow in his face all night.

Then there was the baby who was crying. And the restroom I wound up in with no toilet paper. Oh, yeah, and the flight attendant who was gruff and stern and downright rude to passengers (not to us, thank goodness), raising her voice, pointing her finger. Then there was the one who kept coughing in his hand as he was pouring beverages, including my water. I'm going on record right now - if I get sick it is because of him.

And shall we talk about the wheelchair assistance issues at both LAX and Rome? We won't, but we had problems both places.

All those things rolled into one day made us come to a decision.

Never again. Never again will we take an overnight flight. Never again will we take a long flight. Our bodies can't do it. The amount of physical pain the last 24 hours has caused? Unbearable. So we won't be attending that wedding in India. We won't be visiting Australia. And Norway just got taken off our must-see list.

But we're in Rome. Not sure it was worth what we endured, but maybe after the Tylenol PM kicks in and the morning comes we will have a bit more clarity. After taking the Terravision Bus (only 5.30 Euros when you buy the ticket ahead of time -  a great bargain) to the Termini Station we I dragged the suitcase across all those darn cobblestones to get to our hotel. In a drenching rain. In fact, it's been nothing but drenching downpours since we arrived.

A rainy bus ride

We're wet, our clothes are wet, inside the backpack is wet, and the suitcase is in pretty darn wet as well. Clothes are stripped and we have our pjs on - at 3:30 in the afternoon.

Rainy view out our hotel window

We did collect a stash of snacks from the plane (it was too uncomfortable to eat much) along with our two protein bars so we have a boring, mostly unhealthy dinner.

First night's dinner in Rome.

We are desperately in need of some rest. We'll regroup tomorrow and hope to make a better day of it.