Memphis and Back in Six Hours

Yesterday tested my patience, endurance, and strength. Due to some upcoming medical tests, the little ones can't be around Ang for about a week starting tomorrow. So yesterday I flew them to Memphis to spend about 10 days with Angela's folks.

Delta, now that they have merged with Northwest, flies nonstop to Memphis from Washington-Reagan/National. In order to save any sense of sanity I have left, we chose to drive a little further to avoid having to connect through Atlanta.

Did I mention we were flying standby? Hairy, yes, but financially worth it.

This was the first time I had flown with the girls without Angela to help. It actually went well, kinda. Addy was a bit of testy one - tired, hungry, and, in her words (more like her sign language), "all done." Two hours sure beats three hours + a connection. But that's a long time for a little one to stare at the seat back in front of her.

Amelia managed to eat, read, and do stickers quietly and contentedly the entire way. That, and a quick stop in the bathroom (my one fear, though it went well). She was a champ (the perfect travel buddy).

Once we landed, the girls marched through the entire B concourse of the Memphis airport, much to the delight and smiles of numerous strangers. Amelia pulled her little suitcase the ENTIRE way, and I hauled Addy, her car seat, and her carryon most the way (Addy walked 30-40% of the way). All was well once we saw Nana and Granddad - although Addy got so excited that she ran over and hugged the legs of a TSA employee. =)

One more thing - I got the girls settled into the car and turned right back around to fly home. At least I had a good book.

One more, one more thing. Landing at DCA and being able to hop the Metro 2 stops into Alexandria is pretty sweet. Just an FYI.

Minor Miracles; Brilliant Moments

We recently joined our wonderful friends on a ski trip out to Angel Fire, New Mexico. We did this two years ago and also had just a fabulous time. But as it occurs when you travel, and when you have 15 people in a 3-bedroom cabin, interesting things can occur.

Like: Angela getting a perfect 100% while belting out "Don't Stop Believing" on Rock Band. And Danny willingly going down the moguls hill three times. But those are just fun tidbits. Three almost major miracles occurred, leading us to wonder if we should just stop and go home before meeting some ill-fated tree on the slopes.

1) The cabin we stayed in is owned by our friends' aunt and uncle. We arrived around 9:30pm and started unloading, noticing that the house seemed a bit chilly. Not unusual, as it is kept at 55 while unoccupied. But the thermometer stated a whopping 44. Yikes! Attempting to start the furnace proved futile, so we resigned ourselves to the fireplace. As other friends made it in around 12:30am, they were shocked to see us nearly invisible under seas of blankets, hoodies, and other clothing more appropriate for the outdoors.

It got up to a balmy 49 before we went to bed, again, clothed in half our ski apparel. One couple claimed to have 9 blankets on their bed. I woke up around 6:30 with the fire out, but thankfully not much colder - 47. Within a few hours, the sun, fire, and body heat (and bathroom heaters!) warmed us up to 51, then 55...it was almost beachlike. The minor miracle occurred after about 5 hours of the heater guy trying to fix it, when he managed to get it to turn on. Albeit, it wouldn't always cycle back on if we turned it off, so we turned to thermostat to 90 and let it run for 3 days straight. The weekend was salvaged.

2) The third day of skiing was not as well-attended as the first two - only three of us were going to ski, and MH was going to try his hand (or butt!) at snowboarding. His lesson was at 9, and the other three of us (SH and JM) were more than happy to hit the slopes as soon as the lifts opened. We were clothed, fed, and heading out the door to a warm car, when somehow - silly Jeep - the car locked its own doors. Leaving the Jeep running, both keys inside, and totally locked. I immediately headed to Google the solution, while others attempted a more hands-on approach. About ten minutes later, I hear a "It's open, let's GO!" - TW had found a slight opening in the weatherstripping, allowing a coathanger to nudge open the lock - thankfully the locks didn't recede all the way into the door.

3) With MH fully on his way to snowboarding school, the three of us went to pick up our boots which we had left (for the first time EVER) overnight with the locker folks. One bin was full of our stuff; the other was empty. SH's tiny little ski boots (seriously, they're miniature) were missing. The staff at the lockers could have cared less, and they even let us rifle through all the other bins without much oversight. They couldn't figure out where they would have been put. I started walking through the aisles of boots, even though we had not rented from this place. Finally, after about 45 minutes of pacing, questioning, and "needle-in-a-haystack'ing" - we found them sitting on the floor, a lone pair of boots with a bar code that didn't match any of the others. Major crisis averted.

All in all - it was an incredible time of food, fellowship, fun, and - of course - excellent skiing. I've been attempting ever since we got home to format/upload a video I took of two of our runs; but it's been nothing but a frustrating attempt so far (it was taken vertically, and I can't get a video to rotate permanently).

One final thought - another miracle of sorts also occurred on the trip - the second day in we found out that our friends had become aunts and uncles for the first time that morning - a joyous occasion to be sure, although slight sadness being 9+ hours away. On that same day, another couple lost their grandfather - a stalwart in their family, church, and community. So it was a day of sadness and rejoicing, in many more ways than just one. And we are grateful to have such great friends, even though we've only known some of them for a few days.