We had a great week in Disneyland with Tony in October to celebrate Annie's 4th birthday--simply wonderful, and all of our dreams came true. This could be a post in and of itself, but a couple of photos will have to suffice.
Unfortunately, there were also a few not so joyful moments recently.
As many readers may know, my grandmother, Marg, died the week before Christmas. We are all going to miss her very very much, but her passing occured peacefully, without lengthy suffering, and with all of her children at her side. We are thankful for that, and her legacy of optimism, tolerance, and unconditional love will live in us all. Beautiful confirmation that there is dignity in dying when we trust in God.
As we began making calls on Monday to attend the funeral that Friday, we entered into a week of travel H-E-double toothpicks. Annie and I had tickets to travel to Indianapolis that same Friday to celebrate Christmas with my brother and his family. We enlisted the help of my brother's travel agent (actually, about 5 of us enlisted his services!) to see if we could divert to Alabama to attend the funeral before heading to Indy. No luck. I should have known then....
After weeks filled with putting up a tree (had to do this twice because the first one I purchased was too big), attending holiday events, purchasing gifts, wrapping gifts, shipping gifts, packing suitcases, and (oh yeah) working (you can throw in a few family birthdays as well, AND making arrangements for Annie who was out of school for 2 weeks), Annie and I headed to the airport as originally planned on the Friday before Christmas with plenty of time for parking, transferring luggage from one place to another, security, coffee, and boarding with our wits about us. Indeed, other than forgetting to put even $3 in my wallet for a cart to transport the massive amounts of luggage a mom and 4 year old need for a 5 day trip over Christmas, the morning went off without a hitch. We miraculously found a lone, free cart 2o feet from the mountain of luggage that I needed to move (in return for this good fortune, I was sure to leave one when we arrived home for someone else in need). We breezed through security, and we wandered the halls of the airport shopping, having breakfast, and even saw Santa riding around on a cart. Lots of fun. Until....
I had purchased the tickets months ago with the many many miles we have accumulated on Delta throughout the years. We don't travel enough to benefit from miles often. I had to use double miles to purchase these tickets because it was holiday time, so I also had to purchase $300 worth of miles from Tony's account to transfer over so I had enough. I was able to select seats for every leg of the trip except Seattle to Cincinnati. When it came time to board, we still didn't have seats. 8 of us were slated to be bumped because Delta overbooked. After multiple attempts, Delta only got 2 volunteers. No doubt, it was because although the compensation for volunteering was the customary voucher, the next flight out to Cincinnati was a day and a half later on a red-eye. As we later found out--that was about the only next flight out of Seattle to anywhere. After hours of trying to be nice and then turning not-so-nice, I was able to accomplish nothing better with Delta. We were put on the red-eye and got nothing more than the volunteers. What annoyed me most was that there was NO effort at treating our situation with any special care, concern, or sense of urgency. We had purchased a ticket, were involuntarily bumped, and just got what we got. ARGH! And to top it off--they sent our luggage anyway which in this case, included Annie's car seat (and of course all of those essential personal care liquids which we can no longer take through security).
At Annie's request and upon receiving a loaner car seat from Delta (which I'm holding hostage until they give me another voucher), we had dinner at her and Tony's favorite restaurant, Canyons, near our old apartment in Redmond. Our waitress and the manager spread some good will and didn't charge us for some of our dinner to help make up for our miserable day. Merry Christmas.
We enjoyed the day together on Sat. running errands and a stop by the Seattle Acquarium (thanks to two free passes from my sister which expired on the 31st) before heading back to the airport for our 11:00 pm flight. Annie was a peach through all of this. She was so patient, so polite, and so cooperative--I recognized it then, and am still awed at her agreeableness as I look back on those few days. Even more considering the fact that it came after a week of experiencing my sadness over the loss of my grandmother, and the chaos that preceded our departure. She is amazing.
Anyway, it was a long flight during which Annie slept and I didn't. As we were nearing landing in Cincinnati, Annie woke up and the turbulance were terrible. I was tired, not feeling well, and couldn't take my eyes off the "safety card in the seat pocket in front of me." I looked down at Annie and she looked up with a sleepy smile and said, "I like this plane ride--it's fun!" We landed, phew!
The visit with my brother's family was too short, but lots of fun and definitely worth the effort to get there. Our return home was on time and uneventful. After a few more days of coming and going to celebrate the holidays with Tony's family and my sister here in Seattle, the busy-ness subsided, but the spirit remained. Annie and I decided to leave Christmas up in the house until Tony gets home (he's given me permission to take it down if I can't stand it that long), and we continue to light the tree, flip the switch on the fire, open up the Christmas cards that are trickling in, turn on the Christmas music (which Annie LOVES to sing along with), and cozie up under a blanket to read all of the wonderful books Annie got for Christmas.
After weeks filled with putting up a tree (had to do this twice because the first one I purchased was too big), attending holiday events, purchasing gifts, wrapping gifts, shipping gifts, packing suitcases, and (oh yeah) working (you can throw in a few family birthdays as well, AND making arrangements for Annie who was out of school for 2 weeks), Annie and I headed to the airport as originally planned on the Friday before Christmas with plenty of time for parking, transferring luggage from one place to another, security, coffee, and boarding with our wits about us. Indeed, other than forgetting to put even $3 in my wallet for a cart to transport the massive amounts of luggage a mom and 4 year old need for a 5 day trip over Christmas, the morning went off without a hitch. We miraculously found a lone, free cart 2o feet from the mountain of luggage that I needed to move (in return for this good fortune, I was sure to leave one when we arrived home for someone else in need). We breezed through security, and we wandered the halls of the airport shopping, having breakfast, and even saw Santa riding around on a cart. Lots of fun. Until....
I had purchased the tickets months ago with the many many miles we have accumulated on Delta throughout the years. We don't travel enough to benefit from miles often. I had to use double miles to purchase these tickets because it was holiday time, so I also had to purchase $300 worth of miles from Tony's account to transfer over so I had enough. I was able to select seats for every leg of the trip except Seattle to Cincinnati. When it came time to board, we still didn't have seats. 8 of us were slated to be bumped because Delta overbooked. After multiple attempts, Delta only got 2 volunteers. No doubt, it was because although the compensation for volunteering was the customary voucher, the next flight out to Cincinnati was a day and a half later on a red-eye. As we later found out--that was about the only next flight out of Seattle to anywhere. After hours of trying to be nice and then turning not-so-nice, I was able to accomplish nothing better with Delta. We were put on the red-eye and got nothing more than the volunteers. What annoyed me most was that there was NO effort at treating our situation with any special care, concern, or sense of urgency. We had purchased a ticket, were involuntarily bumped, and just got what we got. ARGH! And to top it off--they sent our luggage anyway which in this case, included Annie's car seat (and of course all of those essential personal care liquids which we can no longer take through security).
At Annie's request and upon receiving a loaner car seat from Delta (which I'm holding hostage until they give me another voucher), we had dinner at her and Tony's favorite restaurant, Canyons, near our old apartment in Redmond. Our waitress and the manager spread some good will and didn't charge us for some of our dinner to help make up for our miserable day. Merry Christmas.
We enjoyed the day together on Sat. running errands and a stop by the Seattle Acquarium (thanks to two free passes from my sister which expired on the 31st) before heading back to the airport for our 11:00 pm flight. Annie was a peach through all of this. She was so patient, so polite, and so cooperative--I recognized it then, and am still awed at her agreeableness as I look back on those few days. Even more considering the fact that it came after a week of experiencing my sadness over the loss of my grandmother, and the chaos that preceded our departure. She is amazing.
Anyway, it was a long flight during which Annie slept and I didn't. As we were nearing landing in Cincinnati, Annie woke up and the turbulance were terrible. I was tired, not feeling well, and couldn't take my eyes off the "safety card in the seat pocket in front of me." I looked down at Annie and she looked up with a sleepy smile and said, "I like this plane ride--it's fun!" We landed, phew!
The visit with my brother's family was too short, but lots of fun and definitely worth the effort to get there. Our return home was on time and uneventful. After a few more days of coming and going to celebrate the holidays with Tony's family and my sister here in Seattle, the busy-ness subsided, but the spirit remained. Annie and I decided to leave Christmas up in the house until Tony gets home (he's given me permission to take it down if I can't stand it that long), and we continue to light the tree, flip the switch on the fire, open up the Christmas cards that are trickling in, turn on the Christmas music (which Annie LOVES to sing along with), and cozie up under a blanket to read all of the wonderful books Annie got for Christmas.
And now I get to the reason that finally prompted me to post... One of the many online purchases I made during the fall and winter months of family birthdays and Christmas was sent to me in duplicate. I figured I had hit the "submit" button twice and wasn't surprised given all of the things I was juggling. It was easy enough to return, and I chalked up the $6 or so that I'd lose for the return shipment to the gas and parking fees I saved shopping "live." I was able to send off the return before getting back on the plane, and a few days later found a full refund (including the shipping charges) in my account. Yesterday, I got a letter in the mail from Sundance, the vendor. It was the most refreshing consumer correspondence I have ever received. It quite frankly and literally said, we were working too fast and we made a mistake--we're sorry. We gave you a full refund AND are enclosing a $50 gift card for use in our stores or online (no expiration date, no minimum purchase, no strings!) Happy New Year!So, exercising my first amendment right and the power of the declining US dollar (God Bless America), I'm giving a thumbs up to Sundance and the Redmond Canyons for their Christmas good will, and a thumbs down to Delta for their lack of it. Spread the news.
All in all, I think I'm near recovery--I have 10 pounds to lose (ok, more, but I'm being realistic), and sleep to catch up on, but I emerge thankful for the help of family and friends who have carried me through not only these last few months, but this last year without Tony. We look forward to his return later this month!
The Burj Dubai
Notice the black circle in the corner above our bed in the suite.
A view looking toward Dubai Creek of the The Palm Jumeirah, one of 
This is a look the other way down Jumeirah Beach. Buildings throughout Dubai seem to be mostly of two exteriors, glass or this tan colored material. The tan buildings in the foreground are part of Le Royal Meridien. 
Alas, the beautiful oasis filled grounds of our resort with the Persian Gulf in the distance. The palms look and are dusty due likely to the constant construction and the obvious indigenous sands that blow, and the lack of rain to fall and wash them off. That's it! I can make my fortune in Dubai by developing and marketing a palm tree washer!
