Christmas Eve Eve

"And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth."

Wednesday was the eve of Christmas Eve. With Terry in Washington State, I was left to spend the day in Phoenix with my cousin, Shelley. She wasn't expected to show up until about 11:00 but that still left me several hours to get some last minute things done before heading out to start our celebrating. With plans to catch a flight on Thursday, I needed to tackle the tasks I had procrastinated at. It was last minute bows and ribbons, a few groceries, a trip to the airport for another ticket and so on.

By the time my cousin showed up, I was ready to go. We started with a stop at Fry's Electronics (my favorite all-time store) and then off to lunch at On the Border. This was to be our Christmas luncheon. We hit a few more stores and walked through the mall laughing at all those folks rushing to buy the final gifts. Finally dinner time rolled around. Since we'd already had our Christmas luncheon earlier in the day, we called this our Christmas dinner. We celebrated at the Elephant's Ear Restaurant in Chandler. If you haven't been there, it's quite a place. However, since we were still carrying the remnants of lunch around, we split a meal. It was fantastic.

Christmas Eve started with my alarm going off at 4:00 AM. My tentative flight was at 7:00 but I figured the lines would be long and I'd be stuck waiting in them. By the time I was ready to go, had walked Duchess and was fleeing out the door, everything had been safely packed in it's appropriate place....or so I thought. It was only when I pulled into my prospective parking spot at the airport did I realize I had left something very important behind ... my phone. Normally, this might not be too big a problem except I expect my return flight to be quite a challenge.

My ticket had been issued on American Airlines for my flight on Southwest. It's just how we airline retirees do things. Thus, it meant I also needed to stand in line at Southwest to get my "Zed" ticket processed by that airline. My first thought was I'd get the ticket early because there wouldn't be a line and then rush back and hopefully find my phone and have enough time to zip through security and to the gate.

After a peak at the gate, I decided this wasn't the best tactic as the line was long. I'd never make it. So, back to the car, out of the parking garage and on the road. It was 5:18 AM when I sat down in the car seat to leave. It was 5:31 when I pulled in next to the motorhome. I was glad we were close. And, it was still 5:31 when I left the motorhome back to the airport. I knew I wouldn't make it. Needless to say, I was sure frustrated with myself. I needed a miracle. Whee! At 5:41 I pulled right back into the same spot that I had pulled out of 23 minutes earlier ... only one red light. All the others had been green.

The line at Southwest was long. However, since I had a "special" ticket, I moved into a totally different line ... behind only one other person. By 6:05 I was through security and waiting to board the plane along with all the other passengers. I had a miracle after all.

I love uneventful flights and this was mostly just that. I have a whole book of stories about people I've met or sat next to on the plane. Actually, it had been six months since I'd been on an airplane. That's the longest time I had ever gone without flying in the last twenty years or so. There was a time that I was on these things at least twice a week or more. It's that jet fuel fix I craved. I don't crave it so much anymore.

This plane was full of Christmas travelers and I knew the only thing Southwest would have available for me was a middle - crunch seat. Thus, my particular seat was between two guys close to the front. They weren't fat guys so I knew their body wouldn't overflow onto me. But, why is it fellows always feel the need to spread their wings and occupy both of the arm rests with elbows beyond the space allowed for them? One of my seat-mates sat the whole time watching movies on his iPod. That was great. I like people on flights to be able to entertain themselves.

The other fellow ... well, he was another story. Even before the plane was taking off he was attentively picking his nose and either flicking it in the aisle or wiping on his pants.... oh gross! The only satisfaction I had is that he used his right hand and I was on the left of him. Well, I've sat next to other nose pickers who were much worse than this fellow. At least he stopped after a while.

I'm always in awe of the beauty of Mt. Hood when flying by. This time I thought about the three hikers who recently lost their lives. I wondered why anyone would try to climb a mountain so tall and so full of snow and especially at this time of year when the weather had been so crazy. It's so sad for them and for their families.

Landing was safe and sound. I met Terry at the airport in Portland, gave him the keys, wished him Merry Christmas and then ran to get in the car with my daughter-in-law, Sabrina. Terry was flying back to Phoenix. We were just trading places. Someone has to take care of Duchess.

Portland was very foggy and icy. Bri needed to finish up a little shopping and we ate lunch at Panda Express, on to the grocery and home to see Justin and Jordan. I took Bri's picture but she won't let me post it. We went to a very nice Christmas service at her church and that brings us to the present. My son is stuck working very, very late tonight so haven't visited with him yet.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!