<p>Hey, soozievt-
You got post # 7200! Congratulations to YOU!</p>
<p>^^^ Hey, well, what do you know? I had no idea anyone was counting in Sinner’s Alley.</p>
<p>I’m glad you got to be with your sons but am sorry the occasion was a sorrowful one. Again, sending thoughts to your family.</p>
<p>Rescued from page 3 ignominy!</p>
<p>busy day on the boards, pulling up from page 2.</p>
<p>Jym, sorry to hear about your loss. my condolescences to you and your family.</p>
<p>I am sorry I missed your birthday. A happy belated birthday to you. We’ll have a big celebration when things are a little less hectic (hey, I’ll even let you dance in my baskets).</p>
<p>Belated wishes to jymmie. 99! That’s really something! He must have been quite a guy.</p>
<p>Thanks soozievt, sybbie and cheers. Appreciate the sentiments. DH is still out west with his sister-- returning on the redeye Sunday morning (lucky me- I get to pick him up at the airport at 6:30 am!).</p>
<p>I promised bit more info about the snafoo at the airport. After we went through security for our first flight, DS #1 realized he couldn’t find his car keys. DH was heading back to the hotel we’d stayed at to pick up the rental car (we rented a small little futzie, so my sis in law took us to the airport in her larger car). Anyway, I called DH, who was able to find the keys in a chair cushion at the hotel. He drove that little putt-putt car as fast as it would go back to the airport. DS was waiting for him just on the other side of the security screening thing. The security guy ambled over to my husband at about as slow a pace as he could possibly go, took the keys from him and handed them to my s, but the !@#$$%^* gate agent (who knew exactly what was going on with ds’s keys and the flights) wouldn’t hold the door for my s! That !@#$%^ airline is NEVER on time except for this one time (our flights out there were 45 and 60 minutes late respectively on the first leg, and 1/2 hr late on the second leg)! Grrrr. I tried to play up the birthday thing and the funeral thing, but to no avail. They closed the door to the plane literally 3 minutes before my s got back to the gate. Gee, the gate agent was kind enough to have a replacement boarding pass already printed for my s for the next flight, 2 hrs later. Swell. I suppose we could have all skipped the first flight and waited together for the next one, but (1) we weren’t sure there were 3 seats and (2) if the airlines went back to their old ways of running late, we would have missed the very tight connections. So ds#2 and I decided to take the first flight. DS #1’s layover was a tad longer than ours, so he would be less likely to be at risk for missing his connection. </p>
<p>After he missed the flight, DS#1 called DH, who was still at the airport, waiting to hear if he made the flight. DS and DH ended up going out for a sushi lunch near the airport. DS#2 and I had a quiznos sub sandwich in the second airport between our two flights 
We decided to go the sub sandwich route as there was a martini bar right next to it, where we sat and ate our lunch and the waitress made me a <em>very good</em> birthday cosmopolitan! So, all was not lost. We greeted DS#1 at his arrival gate, I handed him what I had forgotten to give him before we had to separate at the first airport, and we all headed to our respective connecting flights. Our second flights actually boarded on time (shocker!!) but arrived 1/2 hr late to our respective cities. To add to this… DS#2 had wanted to say goodbye to his GF who was leaving the next day for a month in some really cool-sounding wilderness program. Ok-- long story short, we drove to her house, I sat outside in the hot car for 1/2 hr so he could “say goodbye”, and didn’t get home til after midnight. Did I mention I had to be up at about 6:30 am (never mind the 3 hr time difference/jetlag stuff) to be in the office early?? I earned some extra mommy points for that one (added to the points for the all night post party thing, but who’s counting? 
). Picture it. On my birthday, sitting alone after 11pm in the hot, dark car with the windows and sunroof open, seat reclined, playing my son’s favorite radio station. I guess it could be worse… The good news… found out, as DS and GF walked to the car, that GF’s family has a ski in-ski out house at Snowmass. This girl is a KEEPER!!!</p>
<p>PS-- forgot-- belated bday wishes to mommusic’s s!</p>
<p>Nobody wants to read about our airport escapades? :(</p>
<p>Sorry–just read the escapade now–great story! Yes, you win mom of the year award.</p>
<p>DS’s GF spent the weekend here–all had a great time–but flying back her flight was delayed in the worst way. Supposed to leave at 9:30 pm, finally left at 1:45! a.m. I felt so bad for her, but that’s our hometown airline monopoly hospitality for you. No names, but it begins with D and ends with A. The infuriating part is they had to have known it would be late b/c it hadn’t left Dallas yet, but the departure board only gave a 40 minute delay. We could have been home, lounging. I like the martini bar idea, but everything was closed in the terminal. They roll up the sidewalks at 8 pm, evidently. Grrrr.</p>
<p>I’ve been busy helping people plan a memorial service I have to play at on Sunday. I hate it when the deceased is younger than I am. Really really hate it. Sigh.</p>
<p>Jym—airport escapades—seems to be the sport of the month. I agree with mommusic that you’ve stocked up on mom-brownie points.</p>
<p>More airport shenanigans here…Newly-grad D arrived in Bonn, Germany yesterday, by way of Newark…to find out that her luggage was still resting comfortably in Charlotte. She called me to let me know she’d arrived OK–she borrowed a t-shirt from one girl and a sweatshirt from another girl in her group and they went out and bought her clean underwear! She called today to tell me that everything finally arrived and she’s looking forward to a great month, with all her bad karma behind her.</p>
<p>H and youngest D were supposed to be arriving home tonight from Mexico. They flew via Dallas; when they arrived, the immigration computers were down, and the Disneyland-like rope lines were completely full and the line went way down the entrance hallway. Then, their connecting flight to NC was slowly, but steadily delayed over a 3-hr period, until they cancelled it entirely. Next flight they could be scheduled on–same time tomorrow night. It’s weather delays—the airline won’t pay for a hotel. So, we were on the phone multiple times and lets just say that Astrodad was getting a BIT testy. So, I’ve got another 24 hours of quiet house before they drag in. One of those martinis (maybe one of the watermelon-flavored ones?) sounds good about now.</p>
<p>Good luck getting through the memorial service, mommusic. I guess it puts our airport whining in perspective, huh?</p>
<p>Thanks, nmommusic and astrophysicsmom! I wasn’t fishing for a compliment, but I’ll take it anyway 
Sounds like the airports and airlines have had their share of problems lately. Its starting to be front page news.
DH’s flight gets in at 6:30 am tomorrow and I have to pick him up. I am hoping maybe his flight will be late so I can get a little extra sleep!</p>
<p>My goodness, I’ve been away for a few days on a last little train trip with my daughter (sigh), so I missed all the airport adventures.</p>
<p>I had more luck getting b-day wishes to jym626 than to my mom (maybe I should try to get my mom into CC!). I finally caught up with her around 8 pm her time, and she was stuck, where else, in an airport! She’s still travelling on business at 70, and she was scheduled to get to her home in Florida early but took a bump and then something else went wrong and she was rerouted to Nashville and ended up getting home pretty late.</p>
<p>Mom was happy to be bumped from her original flight because she can use the free ticket to go to my other daughter’s in CO and see her new great-granddaughter (our third grandchild, a little over a week old). We’re headed there ourselves on Wednesday, so it will be a double bonus to have my mom come too. So please wish us all airport luck!!!</p>
<p>Astrophysicsmom–it’s been COLD here, so I hope your daughter was able to borrow some warm clothes until her luggage caught up to her. </p>
<p>SBmom-WOW, thanks for the “job” offer. I’ve been thinking that I need to develop some new activities now that I’ll be an empty nester, and I’ve decided to work on expanding my musical repertoire. I’ve also been doing some sewing and listened to Billy Joel a lot while I was making new draperies, so I’m inspired…I’ll be the Piano Woman! Everyone join in now, La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la…!</p>
<p>This is cool, now we have a pianist? Where were you when we were all singing the midlife blues? Oh well, glad you’re here now.</p>
<p>Our old babysitter (a college kid at the time) just sent us a birth announcement. You know when you hear that a woman is having a baby, and your whole being floods with gladness because you absolutely KNOW she will be such a GOOD mother and add to the number of good and loving humans on the planet? </p>
<p>Raise a glass to Shannon and her dear sweet new baby daughter. L’Chaim</p>
<p>Shannon, we’ll see you here in 17 years. ;)</p>
<p>Hey–welcome new baby!</p>
<p>Renee–I’ll bring the lysol so your microphone won’t smell like a beer. Now we just need one of the dads around here to be Mr. Bojangles and dance a bit for us, and we’ll be all set. Any nominations?</p>
<p>wow-- mowc is planning dau’s wedding and SBmom’s babysitter is a new mom. We are entering all these new passages in our lives! Congrats all the way around! I want to be like ReneeV’s mom-- jetsetting around at 70! </p>
<p>Airport update:
At 6:30 in the morning, Hartsfield-Jackson was an amazingly hoppin’ place. Lines down the atrium and around the corners. There was a perplexing security line that I haven’t quite figured out-- I am guessing it was an extra one to deal with the crowds. The odd thing was that it went down the walkway that is parallel to the baggage claim area (away from the regular security check-in area) and had people going through a door near the escalators that bring people from the concourses to the main terminal (where I was waiting to pick up DH). I think the door took them to an area that allowed them to go down to the trains. Not sure what that was all about, but it, like all the others, was a long line. Fortunately, the waiting area for arriving flights wasn’t very crowded (no surprise at 6:30 am). His flight was (sigh…) about an hour late, but I had a nice cup of coffee and waited for his arrival. They happened to bump him to first class (which isnt a very big deal on the airline he was on) but he got of the plane faster. But alas- we are home! Warning to anyone heading to the Airports- with the holiday week and heightened security (its now at orange) leave yourself plenty of time!</p>
<p>Pudong airport was as usual. So was SFO. Home at last:).</p>
<p>How is your China girl?</p>
<p>jym626,
Welcome home from your airport follies!</p>
<p>Thanks, momof3sons! I have no plans to be at the airport again for 2 weeks! I’ll take the breather. Good luck to all of you with upcoming air travel. Hope it will be smoothe.</p>
<p>China girl loves the place. Doesn’t mind the food which I thought would be the killer. Imagine the scene when one of my Chinese American colleagues, who speaks no Mandarin, is trying to communicate with the laundry person in the apartment complex. Up speaks the Irish girlie, in Mandarin, clarifying the situation. Huge smile on laundry person’s face. Globalization here we come.</p>
<p>I happened in here, hoping it was happy hour or something, and didn’t want to start a new thread…anyway, it looks like I’m here all alone, so, I’ll leave a note on the bulletin board, maybe someone will call me with an answer :)</p>
<p>Basically, I fell asleep last night and left candles burning (stupid, I know) - anyway, there’s wax - purple/maroon colored no less - all over the surface of my very old wooden roll-top desk. I cannot figure out how to get the wax off of, and out of, the wood. The problem is that the wood is porous, and the wax is dried on very hard. It’s really stuck. If I try to scrape it off, I’m going to scratch the wood. If I try to force the wax off in pieces, it just breaks into very small pieces but still sticks tight to the surface of the wood. And there’s a LOT of wax, it’s the remains of two large candles…plus, it’s run all over business cards, papers, etc., and that stuff is all stuck in the wax as well…</p>
<p>Any ideas? Should I try freezing it off?</p>