Stupid Jet Lag!

We fly from Indy to Boston from 12:30pm to 3-ish on Friday. We were supposed to leave Boston in route to Paris at 5:20pm, but the plane was delayed two hours to start and then eventually departed about three hours late due to the de-icing process and who knows what. That meant we would be way late for our morning flight from Paris to Stuttgart, which we knew in Boston so they went ahead and booked us on the next flight to Stuttgart at noon (in place of our original 7am flight).

I must remind you that on your way TO the US from Europe you gain six hours, which is no biggie because you fly during the day, watch some movies on the plane, nap a little, then you're excited to arrive so staying up late is no big deal. Flying BACK to Europe from the US is a whole different ballgame. During our three flights, I was expected to get a full night's sleep AND lose six hours of my day.

While sleeping on a plane is typically no trouble for me, this 6 1/2-hour flight from Boston to Paris (where I was supposed to sneak in a long nap) was different.

1. I was tired when we first got on the plane, but I knew they were serving dinner about an hour after take-off AND the movie Toy Story 3 was on, so I felt compelled to stay up and watch it since I had been wanting to see that movie since it premiered. (My mistake!)

2. Then, there was a baby (later learned she was 3-ish) crying for hours a few rows back and while Alfons had fancy noise-canceling headphones on, my foam earphones were not enough to mask the terror.

3. Behind me on the plane was a big guy who every time he wanted to get up or adjust himself in his seat, he would grab my seat and use it to pull himself up! Alfons said I was too nice in not saying something to the guy, but he only did it about once an hour (coincidentally just before I was about to fall asleep), plus the guy spoke Spanish, so I wasn't sure if I should address him in English, German or body language only. I chose none of the above.

4. Finally, I know lots of people think Restless Leg Syndrome is a made-up disease, but my grandma had it, my mom has it once in a while, and I have it...but only on very rare occasions. About two or three times a year, I have this horrible feeling in my legs that is not painful, but ridiculously annoying. It's the feeling that I cannot get comfortable no matter what position I sit or lie in. My feet and legs were not really tingling or throbbing, but there was this strange sensation that kept telling my my brain, "move your legs!"

With all these distractions, sleeping on the Transatlantic flight just wasn't an option. So I slept on a cafe bench in the Paris airport for a while once we arrived.

Unfortunately, it's now Tuesday evening and last night I didn't fall asleep until 4am. I watched TV until 12:30, then tossed and turned in bed all night!!! I suppose the nap on Monday wasn't a good idea, but I'm not feeling so well and didn't have the strength to do anything else yesterday after I taught from 7:30am to noon.

Here's hoping for a good night's sleep tonight...no napping today!