"Just one more thing..."

"Time waits for no one." My mother would say. Truth.

I had lists. This trip was no surprise. We've known for months. Yet I was not ready to launch when we started our journey toward Logan Airport.   There is always "just one more thing..."

I ran thru my list of things I didn't do as the familiar exits on route 3 passed. I didn't contact everyone I'm working with to let them know my vacation plan. I forgot to get the mail. I'm not sure I packed warm enough. I forget to "poison" the cat (flea and tick stuff").I never read the three page note my husband left for our friend whose living at our house with the Blondes. Who knows what he wrote!

Time ran out. At some point it becomes clear, the plane won't wait while you finish up you "just one more thing"...

We are sitting at Legal Seafoods Test Kitchen and I am listing my failures to my husband of the things that got away from me...he's so easily "on vacation". I take a little time to adjust.

She was vibrant. Big eyes amplified by her glasses. She smiled and brought his beer my "Anna's Cod" quickly.   Mark remarked "wow, your fast!" She smiled and said..."it's the Airport, you've got to be fast,"

She is Masedonian. She is married to a Bulgarian. She is stunning. Flawless skin, high cheak bones, radiant smile and an accent that makes taking our order sound like poetry. Mark is flirting. He's funny.

She tells us about time in her world. "Legals" fills up in waves based on incoming and outgoing flights. Everyone's anxious or relieved when they sit.   Some patrons are fun but most are distracted.   We were fun. She tells of how time waits for no one in her business. Calamari will not make you miss your plane.

She is animated, beautiful and courteous. To us, she lights up when she stops by to check on us...anticipating another beer for him, cole slaw for me. We watch her move about the restaurant and she is not as joyful with others as with us.

The business man who never looks up and orders by pointing to the menu item while still talking on his cell.   He gets a "no smile-no conversation" waitress.

The family traveling with car seats and strollers which they use to baracade their small table get the "patient gymnastic waitress" who has to serve their food while reaching over the baracade and while listening to the screaming of tired young travelers.

We get the waitress who tells us of Masedonia and Bulgaria. Why she came to this land of opportunity. How she and her husband go back home every 2 years. She speaks of multiple jobs and putting her money away... Then she's gone to deliver scallops and a Bloody Mary.

Mark says "nice kid, great work ethic." As she leaves.

She brings us more water, extra napkins and tells us of recent trip she took to New York.   Her perspective of what we know NYC to be is refreshing.

And then she is gone again. A new batch of patrons flooding in and time still waits for no one.

I forget the things I didn't accomplish before we left. Vacation mode starts to kick in.

She brings us the bill and says in her sweet accent..."do not worry, they have everything you need in Ansterdam. If you've forgotten something -they have it there...now is the time to have fun."

We hug and smile and race to our gate forgetting to get international cell service, write those last few emails, change my voice mail message. Time is running out. It's not waiting for me.

Seated in our designated seats I say to Mark "she was a nice girl, did you get her name?"

"No, he said but boy did she have beautiful eyes,"

She could write a psychological thesis on travelers and time. A study on behaviors of people on their way to or from their "just one more thing".

I hear her say..."let it go, have a great Time...deal with it when you get back,they have toothpaste in Amsterdam, don't worry..."

I smile as I look out the plane window...she's wise beyond her years...