04.22.10

The last day in Ohio was wonderful. I got up super early to do one last final apartment run with Jessi. With great success, she found a hidden gem in the most ideal location of Lakewood. I got back to John's moms in time to help finish packing and completing some last minute tasks and then we headed off to my moms for a quick lunch and our final goodbye. Rachel surprised us by getting off work early and was able to come by as well, which was AWESOME! Jessi, my sisters and John's mom all made it. I even got to see the dogs and played with Noah for a bit. I got teary for a second, but only because everyone else was teary!
After our final goodbye at the airport curb, John and I head up to the ticket counter and began checking in. They asked us for our visas and passports... everything goes through fine. Our bags are all under 50 lbs and the line for the security gate is practically non-existent. We shovel each bag through the x-ray machine until we come to a screeching halt...at my carry on. "Ma'am, we have to check your bag." I was slightly annoyed, but figured they may have a problem with one of my airplane safe liquids. They open my suitcase right up, dig into the center and pull out a belt...with a brass knuckle buckle. I am such an idiot!
I say sorry a million times and figured they would just throw it out. To be honest, I completely forgot I even brought it. I packed all my belts and accessories so I would have lots of variety for my modeling shoots and just grabbed all my belts out of my drawer and threw them into my luggage. I didn't think to go through the tangled bundle, but then again, I wouldn't have thought twice about a brass knuckle belt either.
All of a sudden, there are about 5 or 6 TSA employees huddled around, throwing this belt between themselves like it's a hot potato. I start to get a little more worried and ask the lady what's going to happen and if I am in trouble. She can't even look me in the eye and says "I don't know, that's a pretty serious weapon, it's up to the police." Now I'm sick to my stomach and am almost positive they are going to make a HUGE hoopla out of this, send me to jail and I won't ever see a plane again! After about 15 minutes, the police come back over and tell me that after some deliberation, they decided that I had no intention of using it as a weapon and that I am fine to go ahead...BUT it is still a weapon and have to write up a report and send it to homeland security, whom will be sending me a letter in the mail. They will either fine me, or just give me a slap on the wrist, we'll see, but go figure!!!..again, I'm such an idiot!