Stuck on a Plane

I've been listening to country music more and more lately and one of my current favorites is 'Drunk on a Plane'.  A guy who's wedding didn't happen getting blotto-ed on the flight to his honeymoon destination - alone.  It's amusing.

I was stuck on a plane for hours yesterday and would have appreciated being buzzed - but no drinks were offered.

I finished the day yesterday strong(er) all things considered.  Hail Mary money remain totally untouched AND I ended up with a little more to help replace some of the prior days losses.

The shuttle for the airport left at 4PM - it was snowing.  Our 5:20 departure was delayed - only we were all sitting on the plane.  First, it was too much snow - so we waited.  Then, we pushed back from the gate and waited some more.  Then there was a system issue and they couldn't restart the engines to get back to the gate - so we had to wait for a 'tow'.  But first we had to wait for the snow plow to make a path for the tow to get to us and connect.  Towed back to the gate and they brought up the jet-way.  We waited some more.  They were able to restart the system that wouldn't reset - but by then, a ton of people who were taking connecting flights out of Oakland had missed their connection - so they offered the option of 'if you have a place to stay in Reno tonight, you may want to deplane and try again tomorrow'.  A ton of people got off the plane...that took forever.  Finally, we were pushing back from the gate and then had to wait for deicing - and that took a long time 'cuz guess what?  We were now 3 hours past our departure time and we had A LOT of snow on the plane.  Ground was completely covered with snow and it was starting to fall fast again.

The de-icer was done and the next thing we knew, the captain was RUNNING down the aisle of the plane - all the way to the back and all the way back as fast as he could.  There was some concern among the passengers but he quickly exclaimed when back in the cockpit 'That's what you call a cabin check, folks - fast!'.  And we were off.  The flight was so bumpy, the Captain ordered the flight attendants to remain seated the entire flight.  I was nervous but kept thinking 'it's only 30 minutes in the air.  It's only 30 minutes of bumps'.

Made it home and then waited 40 minutes for our bags - with J. circling the airport.  We were home just after 11PM.

I decided I would keep my planned day off today 'cuz I'm tired.  And sore.  I carried my backpack with both computer and iPad a good part of the way (why are airport gates so far away?) and finally put it on my back - but standing at the baggage carousel forever really hurt my neck and shoulders.  I ended up paying $5 for a cart - and I needed it for less than 1/2 an hour but it was worth every penny to get that pack off my body.

And a sweet elderly lady was outside smoking with bags and bags of stuff and asked 'are you keeping your cart'?  and I said 'no, would you like it?  I'm glad someone else can use it for a bit longer'.  She was grateful 'cuz she would be going back in to stay warm while she waited for her ride.

Today, J. is doing our annual 'raise some cash'.  We are cash flow poor at the moment - loaned B. a deposit for his new car; need to advance H. some funds for school until his stock sale is settled; other stuff outstanding that will eventually resolve.  Cash reserves are at an all time low - so we are doing our annual retirement fund withdrawal a couple months earlier than usual.  We are taking out less than we planned with the hopes we will be able to cover taxes in April out of my retro check and/or our regular monthly savings.

I want a nap so badly but don't want to risk not sleeping tonight - would far prefer a very early bedtime this evening and a sound night's sleep vs. a nap which will likely leave me groggy and dazed.
My boss' baby is due any minute and he will be off for a couple weeks once s/he arrives.  I'm sort of grateful for his time off 'cuz it's far fewer meetings - and every minute I can spend working through the paperwork for the settlement is a blessing and less time I will be at work on the weekends.

My next time off is the cruise in March - can't wait for that.  Am a little nervous about the cruise - the close quarters with my best beloved (wherein I will sleep very little); a ship on the open ocean; will it be fun?  Relaxing?  Hope so.  It will be an experience for sure.

Happy 26th Birthday to B. today - I honestly can't believe I have a son who is officially 'approaching 30'.  He said 'I don't want to think about that'.

I didn't get married until I was close to 30 and had my first child (B!) before I turned 31 - so in my book?  He's right on schedule.

H. started another semester today and we have fingers crossed this will be a better experience than last semester.  We are going to try to do a Wednesday Night family dinner so we have a specific time to be sure we are all sitting down and talking through how it's going.  He failed (or was withdrawn by the instructor before failing) every single class last semester.  Still not quite sure what was going on with him - but he's on a different anxiety/depression medication and it seems to be helping.