My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days

We visited my parents in Houston last week.
(More on this later.)

On Sunday our return home was delayed.


It began with a late take off from Houston, 4:45pm instead of 1:15pm. Perhaps we should have called my parents to pick us up again and rebooked our flights then, but we were assured that everything in and out of Chicago was delayed and we should still make our connection. Upon landing in Chicago, after the time we should have been landing in Syracuse according to the original schedule, we learned that our connecting flight had been cancelled altogether.

Before the last plane of the day to Syracuse took off, it was quite clear we would not be on it; we were numbers 32 and 33 on the standby list. I joined the customer service line. We finally spoke to an agent at 11:30pm. He rebooked us on a flight to Charlotte the next morning and then home in the afternoon. We took a discount rate on a hotel; the airline wouldn't cover the full cost since the delay was due to weather. I was not really satisfied with this, but even the manager gave what sounded like automated responses to our arguments.


We finally landed at 6:45pm on Monday evening, a full 24 hours late.

En Route

At this precise moment, I am soaring over the clouds, breeze in my hair, bright sun streaming past.

Well, that is putting a pleasant spin on the situation. True, I am above the clouds and sunlight is plentiful, but the wind comes from the vent overhead. I cranked it when the flight attendant decided it was getting cold. I am sitting in the 16th row, an aisle seat over the wing, in hopes of feeling as little turbulence as possible.

We are heading south a little too early this year; it is forecast to be about 100 degrees when we land. Truthfully, it hasn't seemed to be very cool yet in the place we are leaving either. A couple ridiculous trees have decided to begin changing though, a branch here and there.

I am taking a hiatus from my project queue this week. My husband returned all the library books I had yet to look at and were due in the next week, already having been renewed to the limit. I left my most recent fabric acquisitions folded atop my cutting mat and the squares already cut stacked with my sketched pattern and size calculations. Squash from the garden is stashed in the fridge; if it survives until my return, I've promised to actually eat it.

Instead I am taking up a different, thankfully shorter list of things I hope to do:

Eat Ritter's Frozen Custard and Blue Bell ice cream

Visit thrift stores with my mom

Work on the interior decorating in the dollhouse my dad and I started

Eat Mexican food and drink margaritas at Los Cucos and El Jarrito

Take my two dogs for walks and to the park

Hang out with old friends from high school

Celebrate an early Christmas with my dad's side of the family (We won't make it back later in the year)

Meet my cousin's new baby girl and give her the dress I made from this tutorial (I bet it won't fit till next year)