Monthly Archives: December 2002

We are Finally Here

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Christmas Eve/Christmas Day
I was awakened by a cold nose on my chest at 4:30. (It was attached to a very fluffy meewy cat. Silly Finian.) I worked 8-2. My head cashier was very nice and I got out on time and was able to get some shopping done at Hobby Lobby and Walmart. By the time Jon got his done and we got home, I had 30 minutes to shower and primp for the 7:00 service. The service went well and I was the communion assistant. (I did not toss wine on anyone or trip.) When we got out of the service, Bill announced that Santa had arrived and we got presents. Mine was a REALLY cool Celtic sweatshirt and Jon’s was an illustrated book of Hours. I then called Northwest Airlines to check on our flights. I was informed that the first leg of our trip had been cancelled and we were going to be on a MUCH later flight. I convinced them that they wanted to get us out of CMH ASAP so we got booked on a flight to San Francisco through Memphis. I wasn’t happy but it was something. We went back to the church for the Christ Mass which went SPLENDIDLY. I was in high church heaven. After the service, I hurriedly printed out my flight numbers and info before going home to pack. We opened presents and I loved what I got from my wonderful mother-in-law (who is standing over my shoulder reading this). Then, Jon and I cleaned house and I packed, completely forgetting my sister-in-law’s present (which is on the floor of my study).

We left the house at 4 and drove through freezing rain to Columbus. We dropped the car at the house of Mark (our seminary present and semi-surrogate father) and he took us to CMH. When we checked in, we were told that we were being re-routed AGAIN through Detroit and we’d get in earlier. The flight to Detroit was surreal. It was dark and snowy. When we landed, we were driving through this white world with the airport looming ahead of us looking like a group of lit candles. The picture was a cross between Narnia under the reign of the White Queen and the Waltz of the Snowflakes from the Nutcracker. We got into the new terminal which was VERY nice.

When it came time to board our flight to SFO, Jon boarded ahead of me and when I finally got up there, they announced that they could not let me board the plane because I didn’t have the ticket packet with me. (Jon had it.) I explained to them that MY HUSBAND WAS ON THE FLIGHT AND I NEEDED TO BE ON THE PLANE!!!! They explained that I was on the wrong flight because my final destination was supposed to be San Jose. I explained that this was the thrid route change and THEY NEEDED TO LET ME ON THE PLANE!!!! Apparently, I was so bitchy (after being up for about 32 hours at this point and sick) and was making such a scene that the agent finally said, “Look… I don’t care. Just get on the plane.” (I want to point out that I had my ID and boarding pass and there was no reason NOT to let me on the plane.) Of course (since this was the flight from Hell), I was in a middle seat and very smushed in. (I HATE middle seats — I am super claustrophobic.) Then… we take off an hour late and they’ve banned cell phone contact while we’re on the runway being de-iced (while I was asleep) so I can’t call and let people know that we were going to be late. When I woke up and found out that we’d taken off late, I started to cry because I just could not take any more hell. The person next to me was very nice and gave me some tissue and helped me calm down. The flight was WAAAAAAAY too long for me being awake (4 1/2 hours which is fine if I sleep part of it off, but not with me being awake) and I was barely able to eat.

When we got to SFO, Sean (my twin) was waiting for me at the security checkpoint (which was good because I was fearing the response of my parents had they been circling around the check-in area) and he helped us get bags. It was wonderful to see my parents after the 50 minute drive home and it was wonderful to see the cats again. They are HUGE now and I got to meet Trail Kitty from a distance. From Mom and Dad, I got some Irish placemats and a digital camera. (HAPPY Jen!!!) We were at home for about 2 hours before we left for SJC to fly to Ontario. Our flight was delayed 30 minutes and I think love was the only reason Jon didn’t kill me during that time because I was utterly neurotic. The flight on Southwest was actually nice — they gave us mint oreos. (Mint and chocolate will make me do almost anything for you.) My father-in-law met us at the gate and I have to say — it was wonderful being in one place after having traveled about 3000 miles over the period of a day. (Yes, I know many people travel farther than that when they go home and have longer trips, but none of them were up for pretty much 2 days straight.) I fell asleep at 9:30 that night.

Today
I woke up at 8:30 and had breakfast before going to Trader Joe’s with Victoria (my mother-in-law) and Ray. It’s been a chill and catch up on time zone day for us and I’ve enjoyed having their cats around though I miss my Cat Cat and Flufferpie.

Airport Security

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Upon reading this (courtesy of my surrogate big brother and part time viking Brian), I thought I might want to tell the story of flying from Ontario International Airport to LAX. (It was a 15 minute flight and a waste of gas. There is a reason why United is going bankrupt.)

After spending a few days with my in-laws, I was flying up to San Jose ahead of my then-fiancé Jon to work on some wedding prep with my mom. We got to the Ontario airport about 90 minutes before my flight (which was almost too late) and when I went to the ticket counter, they informed me that I was going to be the one to have my suitcase randomly checked. This alarmed me somewhat because I had the following in my suitcase:
-2 vaccuum-sealed packages of Turkish coffee with the writing being about 75% Arabic and 25% French. (It was from a Lebanese shop.)
-my hijab from the Islam class I’d taken with the pins in place for easy fastening
-a few copies of the Qur’an
-some Arabic picture books that they gave us at one of the mosques
-a few other books from my Islam class

This is of course post-9/11 and I was mentally trying to figure out how to explain all of it since saying “I am a seminary student” could easily be misinterpreted. Thankfully my screener was from a Muslim country in Africa and had a sense of humor, teasing me about all of it as he was going through my suitcase. (“Ohhh… is this Turkish coffee any good?” “Nope… haven’t tried it but it smells weird.” “You know… you can get a better version of the Qur’an than this.” “Yeah… but my Arabic isn’t that great.” “If you’re a seminary student, shouldn’t you be a nun?” “NOOOOOO!!!!! I’m Lutheran.”)

When I got upstairs, the metal detector went off and they wanded me and put my shoes through the machine. (Oooooooh… steel-toed hiking boots from Lands’ End…) Then, they informed me that they would have to wand me, pat me down, and search my carry-on bags at the gate. When I got to the gate, my checker was the one-armed gate agent who had checked me in. Getting patted down by him was an interesting experience though I would have preferred a woman do it. (It’s kind of strange to feel someone’s stump [in place of an arm and hand] patting down your chest.) I got on my nice little 15 minute flight to LAX and had an easy time once I got there.

Some Happiness

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Bri’s Wedding
Congratulations to Brianna and Michael on their wedding today! May God bless their marriage richly!
It feels like only yesterday that I was begging Bri for details about her first date with Mike. ::sniffs:: My little hostee is growing up…

My First Blogger Meetup
Ellen (of Stranger in a Strange Land) and Jon and I got together in Columbus today. We drank caffeinated beverages (Ellen: mocha Jen: COKE Jon:Sprite) and talked about things related to Bosnia, travel, seminary, Anglicanism, and other things. Surprisingly, U2 did not come up! We then went to Chipotle for lunch as it is a craving that Ellen and I share. She brought me a džezva and some chocolate (a VERY good thing) for winning the contest on her page. We amused ourselves for a little while trying to read the various languages on the chocolate package. Between us we had: Bosnian (Ellen), Slovak (Jon), French (me), Croatian (Ellen), German (Jon), and English (all of us). (OK… so it was minor but I found that utterly amusing.) I wished we could have met for longer but Jon and I had to get back up to Newark so Jon could help with worship and I could take the MBTE II and Enneagram.

Linguistic Survey
Some students at Harvard are doing a really interesting linguistic survey and I recommend reading the article on it. If you want to contribute to the findings, the link for the survey is at the bottom of the page with the article.

Job Positives
-I only have to deal with my head cashier for a total of 8 hours this week (2 on Monday and 6 on Tuesday).
-I have an interview with the library on Monday night.
-I should (God willing!) be paid on Monday.

Requiem Aeternum

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I got word today from Margaret (my choir director at ECA) that Ann Redman, the wife of Nolan (the pastor who married Jon and I and was at ECA from 1986 until this last summer), died last night. She was terminally ill with cancer and decided to forgo chemo because it just wasn’t going to help her. She made the decision about 2 weeks ago with Nolan and all of her children present and I think her decision was really a good one. Chemo really takes everything from you and dying in a hospital bed connected to machines and life support apparatus is not how I want to die. She was able to die with her family there. I was really praying that she’d hang on for another 7 days because the 26th is their wedding anniversary but… God did not will that to be.

Please pray for Nolan and their family and please pray for ECA as I KNOW that they are mourning the loss of the one who helped to hold things together for 16 years.