Thursday, December 25, 2008
My Christmas Eve
Merry Christmas, everyone! I've been pretty sad the last couple of days. Not only is this the first year that I am without my girls for Christmas, but it is also only the second time I won't be with my family. The first time was when I was on bedrest, trying not to deliver Emily too early. So anyway, all in all, yesterday turned out pretty great. Judd and I woke up and took our time getting going. I wanted pancakes for breakfast, so we went out to Perkins. Then, instead of heading home, Judd started driving the other direction. He wouldn't tell me where we were going until he couldn't find the right store. His Christmas present to me was to take me shopping for more maternity clothes! It was really sweet. Surprisingly, the malls were not insanely busy. He helped me pick some stuff out, then I got really tired, so we headed home. We got home and worked on cleaning around the house. I kept getting sick, so I could only do a little at a time. Then we got to talk to my family on video chat since everyone was at my parents' house. After that, it was time to go to dinner. We had reservations at The Melting Pot. Can I just say that it was a perfect evening?? We lingered over dinner for 3 hours! Then we felt bad because we were the last ones to leave, and it was Christmas Eve. But it was so wonderful! When he made the reservations, Judd surprised me with the rose package. We had a secluded table for two, and on it was a wine glass with a red rose in it. At the end of dinner, the hostess took our picture and put it in a frame. When we got home, we watched a movie and folded laundry, then headed to bed. Could I possibly ask for a more amazing man to be my husband? I think not.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
A Day of Travel... From a Vantage Point of the Couch!
SATURDAY MORNING: Last night, the girls packed everything. They showered and put on their clothes for today. The alarm went off at 2:45. At that point, Judd said he needed to shower. My plan was for them to plan on leaving at 3, so they would get out the door by 3:30. I woke the kids up and brought them to bed with me until it was time to go. They finally left around 3:40. I went back to sleep around 5, finally.
At 7, James texted me, and woke me up, to ask if everything was on schedule. I responded with "As far as I know. They should be landing in about 45 minutes, so I will let you know when I hear from them." So I got up and checked the airline's website... Their plane hadn't even taken off yet! Judd had his phone on, so we've been texting... Apparently, the first plane that they were on had been fueled for the West coast instead of a little jump across one state(Minneapolis is about a 4 hr drive from us), so they made them switch planes... For too much fuel?? hehe Anyway, just turned his phone off about 5 minutes ago, so I'm assuming it was because they finished switching the luggage and were headed out to wait in line to take off.
So far, the flight to NY is on time. Thank God they were scheduled for an almost 3 hour layover.
I will keep updating as today progresses....
SATURDAY AFTERNOON: Ok, well, the plane that was supposed to take them to NYC was flying from Fargo, ND to Minneapolis, to NY. So... The plane got snowed-in in Fargo! It took off 2 1/2 hours late. In the meantime, they found a different plane that could fly to NY, but it didn't have a crew. So now, back to the original plane again. It will arrive in NY around 4. Hopefully things stay on this schedule now because Judd is supposed to head home at 6. BUT it is steadily snowing in Minneapolis now, and we are supposed to get another 7 inches here in WI tonight, so hopefully Judd can make it home....
SATURDAY EVENING: Ok, nope, it didn't happen that way. They got the "extra" plane ready, the one with no crew, and they waited for the other plane to come from ND so they could have that crew. So all in all, they ended up in NYC 4 1/2 hours late, at 6:30. (Judd pointed out that he could have driven to Minneapolis in the time that they sat at the 2 airports!) Judd's plane, which was scheduled for 5:55 ended up being delayed until 7:30. He had just enough time to eat some pizza, call me, and say goodbye to the kids. So he got on the plane, it left the gate, and it waited in line for an hour and a half to be de-iced! In the meantime, I am watching the progress of this plane as the delay gets longer and longer, and also watching the status of the flight from Minneapolis to Milwaukee, which still says "On Schedule."
Judd finally takes off, and is estimated to arrive in MN around 11:30, a full hour after his other flight is supposed to leave, at 10:29. So at 10:24, I hit the refresh button once again, and WHAT? The plane is delayed! It's only until 10:50, but it give me hope that my prayers are working. Maybe if I keep praying, the delay will stretch out.....At 10:54, the estimated departure time changes to 11:20!! C'mon... Just 15 more minutes!!!
On that website, it will tell you when the plane leaves the gate, and when it actually takes off. So I keep refreshing the page, waiting and waiting to hear from Judd. I also text Judd, telling him to tell someone his plane is about to leave the gate so that maybe someone will have a heart and radio in to tell them to wait a couple more minutes. At 10:28, Judd texted me that he was on the ground. He tried to talk to the flight crew, but no one would help him. At 10:29 the other plane pulled away from the gate. Judd jumped off the plane, ran for the gate, COULD SEE THE PLANE OUT THE WINDOW, but the nasty lady at the desk yelled at him, "The plane left the gate and is gone!" (among other things)!!!
SUNDAY, WEE MORNING HOURS: The next flight to Milwaukee that had any available seats was at 10:30... Sunday night! So Judd starts looking around for a comfy place to settle in when he hears, "Flight...to Madison now boarding at gate..."!!!! So he asks someone if there is room on that plane and is told yes, so he jumped on!! YAAAAYYY! The car is in Milwaukee but we'll deal with that tomorrow. After all the de-icing, flying, then getting a cab from the airport, at a little past 2AM, Judd arrived home more than 22 hours after leaving. 15 minutes later, Bernie called to say that Madison had just arrived in Rutland. (It was snowing, a lot, in NE last night)
SUNDAY MORNING: Judd left a little bit ago to catch a bus back to Milwaukee. I wanted to go with him, but it was $20/person, and he didn't think the extra money was worth it. The bus leaves at 9:40 and arrives at the airport at 11:55. Then it's about a 2 hour drive back home again. Man, does my head hurt! But at least I know my family is safe. Yesterday was a very trying day for me, and I wasn't even the one going through it!
At 7, James texted me, and woke me up, to ask if everything was on schedule. I responded with "As far as I know. They should be landing in about 45 minutes, so I will let you know when I hear from them." So I got up and checked the airline's website... Their plane hadn't even taken off yet! Judd had his phone on, so we've been texting... Apparently, the first plane that they were on had been fueled for the West coast instead of a little jump across one state(Minneapolis is about a 4 hr drive from us), so they made them switch planes... For too much fuel?? hehe Anyway, just turned his phone off about 5 minutes ago, so I'm assuming it was because they finished switching the luggage and were headed out to wait in line to take off.
So far, the flight to NY is on time. Thank God they were scheduled for an almost 3 hour layover.
I will keep updating as today progresses....
SATURDAY AFTERNOON: Ok, well, the plane that was supposed to take them to NYC was flying from Fargo, ND to Minneapolis, to NY. So... The plane got snowed-in in Fargo! It took off 2 1/2 hours late. In the meantime, they found a different plane that could fly to NY, but it didn't have a crew. So now, back to the original plane again. It will arrive in NY around 4. Hopefully things stay on this schedule now because Judd is supposed to head home at 6. BUT it is steadily snowing in Minneapolis now, and we are supposed to get another 7 inches here in WI tonight, so hopefully Judd can make it home....
SATURDAY EVENING: Ok, nope, it didn't happen that way. They got the "extra" plane ready, the one with no crew, and they waited for the other plane to come from ND so they could have that crew. So all in all, they ended up in NYC 4 1/2 hours late, at 6:30. (Judd pointed out that he could have driven to Minneapolis in the time that they sat at the 2 airports!) Judd's plane, which was scheduled for 5:55 ended up being delayed until 7:30. He had just enough time to eat some pizza, call me, and say goodbye to the kids. So he got on the plane, it left the gate, and it waited in line for an hour and a half to be de-iced! In the meantime, I am watching the progress of this plane as the delay gets longer and longer, and also watching the status of the flight from Minneapolis to Milwaukee, which still says "On Schedule."
Judd finally takes off, and is estimated to arrive in MN around 11:30, a full hour after his other flight is supposed to leave, at 10:29. So at 10:24, I hit the refresh button once again, and WHAT? The plane is delayed! It's only until 10:50, but it give me hope that my prayers are working. Maybe if I keep praying, the delay will stretch out.....At 10:54, the estimated departure time changes to 11:20!! C'mon... Just 15 more minutes!!!
On that website, it will tell you when the plane leaves the gate, and when it actually takes off. So I keep refreshing the page, waiting and waiting to hear from Judd. I also text Judd, telling him to tell someone his plane is about to leave the gate so that maybe someone will have a heart and radio in to tell them to wait a couple more minutes. At 10:28, Judd texted me that he was on the ground. He tried to talk to the flight crew, but no one would help him. At 10:29 the other plane pulled away from the gate. Judd jumped off the plane, ran for the gate, COULD SEE THE PLANE OUT THE WINDOW, but the nasty lady at the desk yelled at him, "The plane left the gate and is gone!" (among other things)!!!
SUNDAY, WEE MORNING HOURS: The next flight to Milwaukee that had any available seats was at 10:30... Sunday night! So Judd starts looking around for a comfy place to settle in when he hears, "Flight...to Madison now boarding at gate..."!!!! So he asks someone if there is room on that plane and is told yes, so he jumped on!! YAAAAYYY! The car is in Milwaukee but we'll deal with that tomorrow. After all the de-icing, flying, then getting a cab from the airport, at a little past 2AM, Judd arrived home more than 22 hours after leaving. 15 minutes later, Bernie called to say that Madison had just arrived in Rutland. (It was snowing, a lot, in NE last night)
SUNDAY MORNING: Judd left a little bit ago to catch a bus back to Milwaukee. I wanted to go with him, but it was $20/person, and he didn't think the extra money was worth it. The bus leaves at 9:40 and arrives at the airport at 11:55. Then it's about a 2 hour drive back home again. Man, does my head hurt! But at least I know my family is safe. Yesterday was a very trying day for me, and I wasn't even the one going through it!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Snow, a Plane Trip, and More Snow
Hi All! Well, last night we got about 10 more inches of snow. The wind was so bad this morning that visibility was less than 1/4 of a mile. Schools were closed, which meant I had off too. The girls and I spent a low-key day at home while Judd headed to school for his last final of the semester. I am now vigilantly watching weather.com as Madison, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis are all still under Winter Storm Watches through the weekend. NYC is under a Winter Weather Advisory, but I believe that will end at midnight tonight. And NE is getting about 2 inches/hour. Yep, just in time for the girls to be heading to VT tomorrow. Judd and the girls will be leaving Madison at 3 tomorrow morning to get to Milwaukee in time for a 6:30 flight. They will have a layover in Minneapolis from 7:50 until 10:30. From there, they will fly to NY, where Em's dad will be picking them up. Judd gets to hang out in the airport for 4 hours before getting back on a plane to head home, via the same route. Only trouble is, another storm is supposed to move through tomorrow evening, so he may end up stuck in Minneapolis. We are expecting another 5-7 inches tomorrow night into Sunday. Judd's plane doesn't come in until 10:30, so we're praying that the storm runs a little late. There is another Wind Chill Advisory for Sunday and Monday, so we will be expecting the temperature to feel like about -20 again. At -30, they issue a wind chill warning, and everything shuts down. It all sounds like a wonderful way to start the holiday week! The girls, and Judd's parents, fly into Milwaukee next Saturday, so we will be celebrating Christmas a little late.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Funny Winter Stories...
These are all about Emily and have all happened within the last 24 hrs....
1. We went out and bought long underwear for the girls. But the boys' sets were $5 cheaper than the girls' sets, for no apparent reason, so we bought those. So last night, Em is standing in the kitchen in her long underwear and was holding chapstick. She asked where she should put it, and I (on purpose) told her in her pocket. Well, what she took for her pocket was the boy hole in the pants, and the chapstick fell down to her foot! We then had to explain to her why that opening was there!
2. This morning, the girls were getting all bundled up to go out in the snow when Em realized she had a big itch on her leg. Instead of trying to figure out how to scratch it through her layers, including snow pants, she kicked herself. It was a big, wind-up kind of kick, and she ended up kicking her leg right out from under herself and falling down!! How could I help but laugh at that one?!
3. The snow is about knee deep on Emily right now (and still falling). I just called them to come in, and Em started running towards me, only to do a belly flop in the snow! Luckily she managed to keep her head up, or it wouldn't have been so funny.
1. We went out and bought long underwear for the girls. But the boys' sets were $5 cheaper than the girls' sets, for no apparent reason, so we bought those. So last night, Em is standing in the kitchen in her long underwear and was holding chapstick. She asked where she should put it, and I (on purpose) told her in her pocket. Well, what she took for her pocket was the boy hole in the pants, and the chapstick fell down to her foot! We then had to explain to her why that opening was there!
2. This morning, the girls were getting all bundled up to go out in the snow when Em realized she had a big itch on her leg. Instead of trying to figure out how to scratch it through her layers, including snow pants, she kicked herself. It was a big, wind-up kind of kick, and she ended up kicking her leg right out from under herself and falling down!! How could I help but laugh at that one?!
3. The snow is about knee deep on Emily right now (and still falling). I just called them to come in, and Em started running towards me, only to do a belly flop in the snow! Luckily she managed to keep her head up, or it wouldn't have been so funny.
Winter Wonderland
Hi everyone!
Over the last couple of weeks, we have gotten about 10 inches of snow, but just a couple of inches at a time. Unlike PA, though, it rarely gets warm enough to melt. In fact, this whole week, the temps are predicted to be in the mid to low teens, with wind chills in the single digits. I've taken a few pictures of the girls out in the snow, but not a ton yet. I'm thinking that after today there may be more.... School is closed for our first snow day! Normally it would have taken about 15 inches of snow overnight to shut us down, but we got a layer of ice, with 6 inches on top of it, and the winter storm warning continues until 6 tomorrow morning. We are expecting another 6 inches before noon today.
One of the nice things is that if Madison schools close, so does my job. Makes it rather convenient not to have to find a sitter at the last minute. The not-so-nice part is that we have to use our own vacation time to get paid. Luckily I don't have any yet b/c I would prefer to just not get paid, rather than use my time. I can make up some of the hours during the rest of the week. It's really funny though... I'm the one who is wide awake and excited about the day off, and Judson had to tell me to be quiet before I wake the kids up! It doesn't help that I had to get up, check the news, then call my clients and tell them. Plus I'm a "morning person" anyway.
On Sunday we started making Christmas cookies. So my plan is to finish that project today. I would also like to get some cleaning done. And the kids, I'm sure, will want to play outside! I will have to take more pictures. I also have tons of catching up to do in the picture department. Eventually it will all get done. Love to all. We miss you!
Over the last couple of weeks, we have gotten about 10 inches of snow, but just a couple of inches at a time. Unlike PA, though, it rarely gets warm enough to melt. In fact, this whole week, the temps are predicted to be in the mid to low teens, with wind chills in the single digits. I've taken a few pictures of the girls out in the snow, but not a ton yet. I'm thinking that after today there may be more.... School is closed for our first snow day! Normally it would have taken about 15 inches of snow overnight to shut us down, but we got a layer of ice, with 6 inches on top of it, and the winter storm warning continues until 6 tomorrow morning. We are expecting another 6 inches before noon today.
One of the nice things is that if Madison schools close, so does my job. Makes it rather convenient not to have to find a sitter at the last minute. The not-so-nice part is that we have to use our own vacation time to get paid. Luckily I don't have any yet b/c I would prefer to just not get paid, rather than use my time. I can make up some of the hours during the rest of the week. It's really funny though... I'm the one who is wide awake and excited about the day off, and Judson had to tell me to be quiet before I wake the kids up! It doesn't help that I had to get up, check the news, then call my clients and tell them. Plus I'm a "morning person" anyway.
On Sunday we started making Christmas cookies. So my plan is to finish that project today. I would also like to get some cleaning done. And the kids, I'm sure, will want to play outside! I will have to take more pictures. I also have tons of catching up to do in the picture department. Eventually it will all get done. Love to all. We miss you!
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