can't control mother nature

We return to find our heroine heartbroken; but why, you ask? Let's go chronologically.

June: I'm chatting with my super cool new friend Stephanie (we took our childbirthing classes together), and she tells us she worked for Alaska Airlines. I feel they should seriously make a movie about her life. She was a flight attendant and met her husband, a pilot, when they both had a layover in Chicago and she wanted someone to explore the city with. They fall in love, get married, and now have a cute baby. How romantic!

Novemberish: We're talking about family and holidays, and I'm sadly explaining that my folks live in Maryland and it's tough to get there to see them often. Stephanie, duh, tells me she has buddy passes thru Alaska and could fly me to Washington, D.C. for less than $100 a person! (To put this in perspective, last time I went to Maryland I think we bought $350+ plane tickets.) I think, wow!, but dismiss it, since Shane has instituted a "no-fly" rule with the baby. We've all been on flights with unruly babies, right? And he never wanted that to be us.

Thanksgiving: We're with Shane's family and talking about what a fabulous baby Wesley is, and Shane casually lifts the no-fly rule and says we should go to Maryland for Christmas. Say what? Is there a bug in my ear? At first I think he's kidding.

Two weeks later: Shane isn't kidding. "Are we going to Maryland for Christmas, honey?," he asks. I scramble. Tickets are wildly expensive. Then I remember Stephanie.

A week later: Stephanie checks the "flight loads" for me. Buddy passes are standby, which is a little more of a hassle, but you can't beat the price. She checks how full the flights are; the more open seats the better. She tells me she usually only sends people off to fly when the flights are "wide open," since she likes to be sure they'll make it. We decide on dates.... Monday December 22 to get us to DC, Monday December 29 to get us back. She tells me she's never flown anyone at Christmas before! But in her 10 years of working for Alaska and getting friends buddy passes, everyone has been successful. She tells me to call her every day and she'll check the flight loads. I'm ecstatic because I just know I'll be her first successful Christmas traveler.

Sunday: Seattle has a huge snow storm. At first I am in denial. I still think of Wesley as a tiny newborn, and since he was born in May, it's still the summer, right? In fact, it is winter. And the storm is very yucky. Very icy. But historically, Seattle snow comes and goes. So I don't think anything more of it.

Wednesday: It's still snowy. I commute to work fine, but I'm on the bus a bit longer coming home. Shane quarantines me on Thursday and Friday because I tend to slip and slide. It's still snowing?? I'm incredulous.

Thursday: I'm researching park-and-fly locations, rental cars, and even hotel rooms and day trips (anyone up for a tour of the the Naval Academy in Annapolis?). Mom and dad are so excited. Mom tells me she has a Baby's First Christmas ornament for Wesley. I can't wait to see them.

Friday: I book our tickets. According to Stephanie, there are 25 open seats on a 9:15 am flight to DC, and 20 open seats on a 2 pm flight, both on Monday the 22. Wahoo! Lots of space! If we don't make the first, we've got a good chance to make the second. We're going to Maryland!

Saturday: Another huge storm hits. I beg Shane to take me to Babies R Us for last-minute Christmas shopping. We're in a swarm of traffic and snow madness. We make it home in one piece.

Saturday afternoon: I talk to Stephanie. The flights still look good. She says if it was her, she'd go to the airport. And she's been flying to places for 10 years.

Today: The newspaper headlines talk about insanity at the airport: flights have been delayed, travelers are frustrated, and the Christmas coming-and-going has only just begun. And now, dear readers, the foreshadowing comes to light: It hits me. I want to fly tomorrow. Insanity at the airport could totally affect me.

I call Stephanie. She checks the flight loads. Holy cow. How did one flight go from 20+ open seats to NEGATIVE THREE seats overnight?

The airport is a mess. Stephanie calls a friend and the inside scoop is that the airport is running out of de-icer. Any plane that has been sitting on the ground for a couple hours and needs to be de-iced, isn't getting it. The only planes leaving are those coming in, filing their passengers out and loading new passengers on in record time, and taking off immediately.

It turns out the 9:15 am flight to DC for today, Sunday, was very very late. It didn't leave until after 1 pm. The 2 pm flight to DC was eventually canceled.

Alaska is super nice to its paying customers and allows rescheduling for no fee for weather-related incidents. So everyone who showed up this morning and saw a 4-hour delay for their flight could reschedule for tomorrow morning, go home, and avoid the mess. And I guess they did.

This afternoon: I call Stephanie again. Alaska has halted all service from Seattle. No planes are leaving. Everything is canceled for the rest of the day. According to the flight status reports online, they've already canceled tomorrow morning's 9:15 am flight. My flight.

And so we find our heroine, calling her mom and dad with tears in her eyes. "Momma, I'm not coming. You won't get to see your grandbaby for Christmas. We'll try to come in January. Stephanie says January is a very boring travel month, so for sure we'll make it. But Christmas won't be the same. I'll miss you."

I'm bummed, yes. I realize it was risky, trying to fly standby at Christmas. But it would have worked. We were thisclose, if not for that darn Mother Nature and her idea of a White Christmas.

Tomorrow: Gotta get to a grocery store. No food in the house. We thought we were going out of town. Wesley is sleeping soundly, and I might curl up under a blanket and sigh. What a day.