Happy Birthday to Me!

WARNING WARNING: LONG STORY BUT PRETTY ENTERTAINING

So yesterday was my birthday, yep, I turned the Big 24. Another year has now come and gone. My birthday was a pretty eventful one I guess.

On Friday, Heather and I were scheduled to return back to our homes from Utah. We had the same flight schedule from Salt Lake City to Houston, and then in Houston we would go our separate ways. Well our flight day started off with a pretty good start, but didnt end so well. They boarded us up in Salt Lake and were trying to get us out early to Houston by 20 minutes or so. So we took off early and all was well....or so we thought. Apparently they were trying to get us off early b/c there was a huge storm system moving through Houston and they were attempting to get us there before it hit, but the luck ran out as we drew nearer to Houston. We got to where we started descending to Houston when the airport itself got totally shut down. B/c we didnt have enough fuel to cirlce the aiport forever, they decided to land us in San Antonio, TX where we sat out on the tarmac for 2 1/2 hours!! Yeah, sitting there with a kid on your lap is not so fun. Though, suprisingly Addison handle the trip very well. I was getting comments from other passengers about how good she was being.

So after our 2 1/2 hours of sitting, they finally opened the airport back up, it was closed due to heavy rain, lightening, thunder, and tornado warnings which kind of made me grateful that we were on the ground in San Antonio not attempting to land in that. But we finally made it to Houston around 7:30 (after our original time of arrival was supposed to be 4:55). So we get there and luckily they had re-booked Addison and I on a 9:00 flight to Nashville...so we head to the plane that would finally be getting us home (so we thought). 9:00 comes, still no boarding, 9:15 no boarding, finally 9:30 comes and they boarded us all up on the plane. After sitting on the plane for about a 1/2 hour wondering when the heck are we going to go.....the gate agent comes on the plane and announces that our flight had been cancelled due to the flight crew's TIMING OUT (which means they can no longer fly until they have so many hours to rest b/c they have met the max time they can be flying in the air). Yeah, I wasnt very happy, I was tired, my 19 month old was tired, neither of us have eaten anything...it was not turning out to be a good day.

So we head back off the plane and wait in a big long line of stranded passengers to find out our next fate. While in line, I found out there was an 11:00 flight heading out to Nashville that night...so I grabbed Addison and ran to this gate to see if I could get on it...got to the gate to find out that there was a gate change and this 11:00 flight was leaving out of a totally different terminal (AHHHH) so again, I grabbed Addison and ran to this other gate only to find out it was full. By then my dad had called me b/c he called Continental Reservations for me, when he told me that every flight had filled up and the soonest I could get out was Sunday morning..by then I just started crying...this poor flight attendant saw that I was upset and asked me what she could do...I told her I would work for her on the flight if it meant I could just get home (considering my child was tired, hungry, and it was my birthday the next day). So after finding out my fate, I started for Baggage Claim to TRY to find out where the heck my bag has ended in this whole mess of things when I get a phone call from my sister Heather to find out the best news of the night.....that she, too, was now stranded in Houston for the night b/c she was on her plane headed for New Orleans and her flight crew had also timed out (what a bunch of crap). So YAY!! I was so excited that she was stranded with me (not for her but for me it was great).

I met up with Heather, headed down to Baggage Claim to find out that our bags were in some kind of "so called" holding area and that all the bag retreiver dudes were gone (bunch of crap, there were planes still going and arriving). I was just like screw it, if it gets lost then get my stupid $15 bucks back that I had to pay just to check my ONE flippin' bag. So Heath, Addie, and I finally got to our hotel at 1:00 in the morning...we were tired, stinky, exhausted, and had no bags with fresh clothes. The next morning though, things FINALLY got a little better (thank goodness). We called the airline to see if it was even possible for us to get out that day....I told the lady there has to be somthing and that she should have some pity for me b/c it was my birthday (hahaha) It must of worked though b/c she said that there was a 10:20 am flight to Nashville and if I hurried I could be on it! HALLEJUAH!!!!! All of us jumped out of bed, put our stinky clothes back on and hurried to the airport. We made our flight, and made it home 3:00 in the afternoon. Heather also made it out yesterday on a 2:00pm flight.

We are SO GLAD to be home....it was a LONG, TIRING weekend, but the best birthday gift I received was the news that I got on that 10:20am flight...thank you Reservations lady, wherever you may be, thank you for the best gift this year. I am so proud of my little girl, she handled this trip so well...I couldnt ask for a better little girl. She was awesome!! Heather, thank you for dealing with my crap and for helping us to our gate yesterday morning. As you can see above, I came home to a very excited husband who got me some flowers and Reeses' Cup Pie. As I said in the title...what a HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME...it was quite the 2 days.