Home sweet home!

We made it home. In 3 pieces (1 each, so it’s good.)

Flordia was delightful. A bit on the cool and windy side but that was OK.

So the (not really) short story of our travel day TO Florida goes a little like this:

8am- Steve calls, he’s at Pearson (flew from Ottawa) waiting for bags, so he can clear customs and catch Florida flight…things aren’t looking good for him making the flight…
8:30am – Steve calls again, he’s through, but his flight has been delayed from 9am till noon. Something about a cargo door. Frustration ensues.
9:00am – I get the brilliant idea to leave for the airport early to try and catch the same flight as Steve.
10:30am – I arrive at the airport, switch my flight, and am now feeling slightly panicked about the time, as I have to do the whole security/customs rigamarole avec infant and ALL the luggage, which I was barely managing to carry. Darren was meeting me at 11 so I could hand over the keys.
10:45am – I call Darren – he’s still at Islington, waiting for a bus.
11:00am – After being told I could leave my keys for Darren at Lost Luggage, trying to find Lost Luggage (nobody knows exactly where Lust Luggage is….isn’t that ironic) and finally giving up, a very lovely lady at the info booth lets me leave my car keys with her. You can get away with MURDER when you’re carting around a smiling baby!
11:15am –Lady at door to customs sends me back to fill out the blue form. Turning around the car seat crashes to the floor from atop my suitcase, and everyone in the Terminal turns to stare at Incompetent Mother with Child (or so it seems.)
11:20am – Customs Dude gives me a lecture (!!) about my customs form, which I filled out in Pencil because it was all that was available. He lectured me about MY RESPONSIBILITY TO CARRY A PEN WHILE TRAVELLING! Geez, I thought it was my responsibility to hide my stash really well, I forgot about the pen! (That’s a joke people, and all you internet security spies, a joke!)
11:25am – I return with my fully legal, filled out in pen form, and return Cranky Custom’s Dude’s pen to him. Off I go to the gate.
11:27am – I race past the Starbucks…a move I will later regret.
11:30am or so – I arrive at Gate Whateveritwas, the farthest possible one from where I entered the terminal (isn’t that always the way) and find my husband waiting patiently for me. Phewf!
11:35am – We board the plane, strap ourselves in, and wait for take off.

Fast Forward TWO HOURS

1:30pm – We finally pull back from the gate and prepare to take off!!! We spent two hours, crammed into a very full, sweltering hot, Starbucks free, sardine can, waiting for a pilot. You think that would be something they would have arranged BEFORE HAND! People were unhappy to say the least. Us, well, we had the cutest baby on the plane to entertain us, so we were less miserable. Except for the lack of Starbucks. I’m not a Starbucks junkie by any means, but I usually treat myself to a UberMega latte when I’m in the airport, to make up for all the punishment and demoralization that generally occurs in an airport. So the lack of Starbucks, on this day in particular, that was miserable!

And that’s my story. I think that any trip to the airport, and all the ridiculousness that inevitably ensues, will almost always be a blog-worthy event!