Monday, March 12, 2012

Silver Linings

Now, I'm going to be honest.  You know those people who try to find something positive in every situation, who are upbeat and can always find something to smile about, who are always looking for the silver lining to a huge thunderstorm of crap?  Yeah, well, I usually want to punch them in the face.


But after the absolute and utter misery of missing my flight to Spring Break and having a forced 48-hour layover at my own home, I came to the unlikely realization that things had indeed happened for a reason.  First of all, NOTHING had gone my way all day Friday - prescriptions not ready, car not ready, kids not ready, mama not ready, mid-40s, raining, South by South-who-the-fuck-are-all-these-people, no cabs available, nothing.  Everything took 10 times longer than expected.  I seriously wonder if we were not supposed to get on that plane.   And here's why:


Upside #1 - Growing up - both girls were forced to decide how to handle a really disappointing situation.  Not only did they hold my ponytail while I metaphorically barfed my tears all over the Southwest Airlines ticket counter, they handled it beautifully.  And once I put on my positive about everything demeanor, they followed along.  Really, it was remarkable -- they didn't reset to their default fighting mode until we landed in Phoenix yesterday.


Upside #2 - Sleep - all of us had been completely done in by a week's worth of TAKS, track meets, lessons, extra work, and the exhaustion that is only duplicated by the week before Christmas break.  We called it a night Friday night at about 10:30.  S woke up twelve hours later, and G slept until 11:30 the next day.  I'm just saying, Arizona would have been a much grumpier place if we'd left on Friday.


Upside #3 - LO - My very best friend in the world went back to work right when I left.  She lives way northwest.  I live way south.  We don't get to see near enough of each other.  I had updated her by text on my ill-fated first attempt to leave town, but when I called to give her the full rundown, turned out she was in the car on the way to Beaumont.  Yes, on purpose.  It was the longest uninterrupted visit we've had in ages.  We got some very exciting plans made.  And I'd have missed it if my vacation had actually started when it was supposed to.


Upside #4 - Game Night - sweet K, who had to drive us to the airport Friday night at breakneck speed, in the rain, and the traffic because I couldn't find a cab, called Saturday morning and said "what you need is a game night."  S, K, and L joined me and the girls for snacks and what has to be the most hilarious, last-minute, sorely-needed girls night ever.   We laughed until we cried.


Upside #5 - This!




Sunday!
And then suddenly, it was time to start over.  Bags were packed.  Boarding passes printed.  Blessings abound.  

And P.S. -- A shout-out to my sweet and precious husband who was the only one with no upside when we missed our flight.  He was stuck out-of-town without his family for twice as long as he planned and with no hotel reservation.  Luckily, he was able to check out and then back in again, but his weekend pretty much sucked.  At least the girls and I had each other and were home.  He's a trooper.  And a fox, too.

Arizona, here we come!


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