Another story...

Here is another luggage story. When my "twin" sister landed in Seattle a couple hours after me, not all of her luggage made it. Luckily their sprouts "L" luggage made it, but the piece that had her and her husbands clothes in it did not make it. Keep in mind she is 7 months pregnant. VERY Pregnant. So they fill out the paperwork and were told someone would be calling them with the status of the luggage. This was Wed. afternoon/early evening local time.

Thursday morning she calls the number given to her and of course they have not located it yet. We do some sightseeing and stuff for the day. My sister "Red" apparently has some class work to do, so she needs to find a library for on online connection, we all agree to go. I check out my work email and pass the buck on a few things and my twin checks her work email and then we wait for "red" to finish up then head back for dinner. On the way back my twin calls the number again and gets no where, and her hormones are starting to kick in. Apparently the lady on the other end told her that she could get $25 for clothes, that went over well....NOT. The lady said that someone would be calling her in reference to the status of the lost clothes and she said when, because she is the only one that has been doing the calling. Finally, my sister asked the lady where she was located, and she said Dallas. My sister says then how do you know that my luggage is not sitting in Seattle somewhere, and hangs up. Side note: my sister did fly through Dallas on the way to Seattle. Now as we are grabbing some groceries on our way back to the house for dinner, my mom is reading the papers that they gave my sister and she can get up to $2800 per ticket passenger, that is nice to hear since $25 would not cover a maternity outfit for her.

So, after dinner she decides to head to the airport to ruffle some feathers, talk to this nice guy there. It was about 9:30pm when she was at the airport talking to this guy about her luggage. After seeing her being very pregnant he made it his mission to find that luggage and said he would call he later. Yeah right was what she was thinking. Well, around midnight or so they did get a call and he found it, and it would be delivered in the morning. Someone called around 8am to either get directions or confirm something anyways they said it would be here between 0 and 4hrs. Luckily we were just going to go downtown and shop for the day, so we waited for our host to get back from a dr. apt. and we took off. Someone had to be there to sign for it. It arrived around 2pm. Apparently the regional airport they started out at used those tags with the elastic bands on them. Well I think the tag came off during the "careful" handing of the luggage in Chicago. So the piece did not make it past Chicago. Luckily Alaska air flies from Chicago so it got a direct flight to Seattle after being discovered somehow. We all speculate that route because the guy told them that Alaska air had it, but they apparently do not share that info with anyone else you have to march down to there little corner of the airport and ask them. And the reason they think it was stuck in Chicago was because their clothes were damp and it was down pouring in Chicago when they got there. SO after a couple of days things were back to being stress free for the rest of the week. They did pack a couple of outfits in their carry on just in case that would happen.

Funny Story from Vacation!!

Now that I am finally caught up at work, and have a few minutes before ending the work week I thought I would share a story or two from vacation.

Five of us were flying together to Seattle with one short lay over on the way there. My younger sister, "Red" who I do not get along with very well, and her daughter "E", me and my two sprouts "M" and "K". We were all checking in one piece of luggage each and carrying on one piece each. With a 12yr and my 6yr and 4yr I was not in the mood to take care of luggage as well. So, We get to the airport early and check in at the counter, she takes our luggage one piece at a time, according to the "3 foot sticker" label that comes dispensing out of the computer. "K" my youngest at 4yr watches as the lady puts the label on each piece of luggage and places on the conveyor behind her, then it is "K" turn, I put the luggage on the counter and the lady puts the label on it, an places it on the conveyor as she did with the rest of our luggage. We gather up our carry ons and head for the gate. Now the tears start flowing because "K" is sure the luggage is not going to Seattle with us, and wants it back. We finally convince her that it will be in Seattle when we get there. So we are off and headed for an hour layover in Cincinnati. When we land "K" is upset again because the luggage is not with us again. We convince her one more time that all is ok, and head to Seattle. Now, all I can think of is I hope that at least her piece of luggage makes it other wise life as we know it is going to be over.

Well, we finally landed after about a 4hour flight, of which the sprouts did great on. My niece is looking out the window and says there is my luggage. That was almost a comfort. We make our way to baggage claim where my parents are waiting for us, because they have one of the cars for the week, and know how to get were we are going since they arrived a day earlier. Yes, ALL of our luggage made it and "K" was very happy now.

On a side note, "K" was not that worried about it going home. LOL.

Here's an Idea....

Let me recap for you all....Starting on June 18th I head to Mississippi to do some training at the two plants our company has there, then I head to Kentucky on Tuesday afternoon that we to do the same training there. After two days in Kentucky I head home on Friday. I have the weekend to get things ready for my vacation with the sprouts and the rest of my family. I have to be at work on Monday and Tuesday to catch up on the stuff that came in while I was in the south, since I do not have a back up person at work for my job. I am up most of the night Tuesday night finishing packing for vacation because we have to leave the house at 4am to catch at 6:30am flight to Seattle. I am on vacation until the following Wed. July 5th of which I am up most of the night PST because we have to leave at 4am to catch a 6:30am flight again out of Seattle. I have to be to work on Thursday. My mom calls me Thursday morning and says that she is coming down to start getting one of the sprouts rooms ready to paint this weekend. Because everyone has a great idea that this would be the perfect weekend to do the painting. GREAT!!! All I have to do is get wallpaper off the bottom half of one wall and get the rest of my crap out of the other room, and move everything to the center of the room so it can be painted.

I get home from work on Thursday and she has a small portion of the paper off the walls, I help her for a bit then we grab a bit to eat and I took the sprouts swimming, because I promised them I would and I was not breaking that promise. Afterwards we finish moving the furniture to the center of the room and get the rest of the paper off the walls. Now it is 1am and I get to finally call it a day, because I have to be back to work in the morning.

Friday, I drag myself to work of which by now I do not want to be at because I have so much stuff to catch up on from vacation and my house is now a disaster as well. My sister and her husband were coming down to do the painting and were going to be there early afternoon. My mom was going to be there in the morning to wash the walls and get the paint that I had picked out and marked which room each color was for. I get home from work and he has not started to even prime the walls yet. THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!! I am thinking that this is never going to get done, I could have had it done by now I think. We ordered dinner and he finally started to paint something. My mom and sister took her sprout back to moms house and he finally finished painting just shy of 2am. I worked on preparing the other room to be painted on Saturday. It did not need primed, it just needed to have my "stuff" out of there and the furniture moved to the middle of the room.

After a couple hours of sleep I get up around 8am and gander up stairs to peek at the room. Now, I am thinking that the wrong color was applied. I could not find the paint chips I picked out, and assumed that my mom took up the correct color of paint since that was the only room ready to paint at that time. Yep, guess were assuming got me. I called mom to see when they were coming over and confirmed that the wrong color was used. Luckily we did not have to re-prime it because the colors were very close together. One is a light pink and the other is a light purple, same base, one just has a touch of red added and the other a touch of blue added to it. SO, he repaints the room with the correct color, and I finish prepping the other room while another gallon of paint is needed because there is not enough left to do the room. We start tapping the room off and I help him paint the second room. At 10pm Saturday night both rooms are painted, and my house has two pathways through it, to get around on. I was so tired that I called it an evening then as well.

I did make a stop at the fire station, Saturday morning, to drop off some "stuff" to the former spouse that I found in the house and really did not want it, and did not feel comfortable throwing it out. I handed him the box of stuff that I had and got back in my car. He acted kind of surprised that I was not going to stay and chat for a bit. I have nothing to chat about. I ended up making another trip later that evening to give more "stuff" that I came across as well. Again I just gave him the stuff and got back in the car. No chit chat. I am glad because now I know there is nothing else in the house that belongs to him, and it was a pleasant exchange.

I managed to get up in time to make it to church, and made it through the service. I went to mom and dads afterwards to do some stuff at their house, but they did not have all the stuff I needed so mom and I grabbed lunch then headed back to my house to put the two rooms back together. Dad came down later to help out as well. We grabbed dinner and finished up a couple of things left to do and the upstairs was complete and it was 9pm and I called it an evening.

I am ready for another vacation now which I have one planned in a couple of weeks but that is not soon enough....LOL. I did managed to fight my way through work today and get caught up finally.

Hopefully, this week I can relax a bit now.

Another Reason I Need A Vacation Again.....

I got home just after 5pm on Wed. dead tired, and the kids ready to play. Finally I get them to sleep around midnight, I fall asleep around then as well. I am around 6:30am because I have to be to work on Thursday. I get the sprouts off to daycare and go to work. My mom calls me and says she is coming down to get the sprouts rooms ready to be painted. Mind up one of them has wallpaper on it covering the bottom four feet or so all the way around the room. I was not in a hurry to tackle this project but my brother in law is going to paint it and since they have the rest of the week off they thought that would be a good time to paint. So she has part of the room down when I get off work at 5pm. I pick up the sprouts and we head for home and work in the room some more, than go grab a bite to eat and head to the Y to go swimming because I had promised them I would go swimming before my mom had this brain storm. Mom dropped us off to go swimming and she went and picked up some more supplies and we head back to finish the wallpaper removal. At 1am the paper was all off and the stuff moved to the center of the room.

I again have to be up for work this morning and have to take the sprouts to daycare, along with getting their stuff packed to spend the weekend at their dads as well. I finally get up and get ready and get them up and out the door. Needless to say I got up a bit late but finally did make it to work. One room should be done today, and tonight after work we will finish getting the other room ready to paint tomorrow. At least the other room has no wallpaper on it, just have to move stuff away from the walls, and set up a scaffolding for the stairway part of the room. The rooms should not take very long to paint.

The kids are excited about it, and they helped out as well last night. I am kind of looking forward to it as well, but the timing sucks. It is now or wait awhile, this is the last trip my sister can make down to here because she is nearing the end of her pregnancy.

I am back...

....And ready for another vacation! Three weeks ago I was on a business trip to Mississippi. Nothing like Mississippi in the middle of June to keep your blood boiling. :) Mid 90's everyday. Luckily I was only there Sunday night thru Tuesday afternoon. The company I work for had manufacturing plants in Mississippi and I had to conduct training classes for about 10 people. Anyways the training went well, and I even got hooked up with a laptop to do my office work as well since I do not have a backup person to help me out. That was nice not having to go back to a weeks worth of work waiting for me.

My mom rode with me, which was nice. It took 13 hours of driving on Sunday to get to Mississippi, so that I could be at the plant first thing Monday Morning. This trip seem like an adventure for a working "potty". Apparently the one in our hotel did not work well, at least for my mom, I had to use a different one because the one was not working. Let me tell you it was a long 40 miles to the plant one morning, I was not to keen on a gas station when it was dark out in the morning still, and I was by myself at that time. We managed though, then Tuesday afternoon we were off for out Kentucky plant, which was an 8 hour drive, and I have never been there before. Nothing like trying to find a place in the dark with no directions on paper, just find a pizza place in the shape of a "hut" then I will find the hotel. Half hour later the red "hut" illuminated sign is spotted and all is well. We end up on the second floor, but can get a first floor room in the morning. Fine that will work. Except now this toilet doesn't flush at all. The chain came off of the handle, so I fix it and all is fine. After the morning training session, I went back to the hotel to switch to the downstairs room, this bathroom actually worked the entire two days we were there. It was a nice week, hot but nice. Nothing like getting to experience the hottest day of the summer so far in Kentucky were I was at. I SO miss winter... :)

After 2 days at work to catch up on everything else, the sprouts and I and the rest of my family headed to Seattle for a family vacation for a week. We stayed with some relatives there. I absolutely hate traveling, my vacation starts when I get to my destination and with my luggage if I am flying, considering I was flying with my sister whom I do not get along with very well, and her daughter. We were civil to each other and all went well. I had been up all night finishing packing and stuff. We had to leave the house by 4am to catch a 6:30am flight, that was fun with a 4 and 6yr as well, but that went better than expected.

The 4yr watch us all check in our luggage, we all had one piece we were checking and one carry on. Then it was the 4yrs turn to put the piece of luggage up to be tagged, the tears started flowing when it was not returned back to carry onto the plane. We had to change planes and the tears started flowing again because we did not have our luggage with us again. When we arrived in Seattle all I could think of was that piece better be here or I will never hear the end of it for awhile. All pieces arrived and we were officially on vacation at 10:30 PST by now I am dragging, and can really use a nap. Luckily nothing was planned for the day, since my other sister was coming in later in the afternoon, so I napped and the kids played. My sister finally arrived, minus the piece of luggage that her and her spouses clothes in it. She did pack a couple of outfits for them in the carry on, but she is 7 months pregnant not like she wants to go out and buy clothes for a week. The luggage finally arrived two days later, after she went back to the airport the next night and chatted with a guy who I think did not want to see the hormones come out in full force. He made it his mission to find it and did so in about two hours after she had been on the phone all day with people that were not even in Seattle telling her they still have not located it. All worked out finally.

We had a great time, we toured Boeing, and spent one day on one of the islands in the sound, watched the tide while we were there and the kids search for sea shells and had a blast. Went down town and shopped at Pike Place Market, watched them throw fish. My Twin sister and her husband and I took our kids and went to the aquarium for the rest of the day and they had a blast. The kids loved the touching pond, they got to touch different star fish and coral and lots of other stuff as well.

My twin sister and I bored a plane to head to Reno to bowl. That was a hard goodbye for everyone but we would be back late the next day. My mom was giving me instructions on how I should not be separated from my pregnant sister while in Reno. I told her that there may be a chance that she could be at one end of the bowling alley and me at the other end to bowl and there would not be anything I could do about it. I thought that was funny but she did not think it was. We both had a nice two days in Reno, but could not wait to get back to Seattle. We both bowled well in the team event, and I did well in the doubles and singles event, she struggled through doubles and singles, but we had fun. The flight back I could have done with out, but finally it landed and life was good again. :)

Grandma and Granpa took the kids to the zoo and the childrens museum while we were gone. They did not get that much time at the zoo, because my other sister, the one I do not get along with, HAD to send some stuff off by email that was not going to take her long, after about 3 hours she was done, and she wanted to go to the zoo so they had to wait for her so the kids only got about an hour and a half there before it closed. My twin sister and I along with her husband took the kids back to the zoo after we got back from Reno and saw all the stuff they missed, they had a great time, and it was a very nice day, not hot at all.

The kids watched the fireworks, and we left early that morning again for the airport. All traveled well going home. I thought it was going to be an interesting trip because my sister was in a mood and since I usually am in a mood traveling, I thought for sure we would be having words before we made it home, but we didn't.