Flying

It is exactly 24 hours from my door to Alia’s, and 16 of those were spent on a 777 from Chicago to Hong Kong. I had never been on such a long flight before, nor in such a gigantic bird. (That’s an industry term, you know — pilots call them “birds.” Wait. Do they?) On…

When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I retreat from the Internet — and lately, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. An introvert can handle only so much extroversion before she caves in, like a molten lava cake, but way less hot. Seriously, you should see how non-hot I am looking these days. I am bedraggled and dried out and…

So many things were old hat: the quick note of my parking row, the toiletries in Ziplocs, the train to concourse C, the weight of my book-laden purse. After all, this was my third trip in so many weeks; I am no stranger to Southwest Airlines and Denver International Airport. But as I boarded the…

I am spending the weekend in Boston with my dear friend Christina. Boston is one of my favorite cities, and Christina is one of my favorite friends, so in other words, everything is wonderful. Before I boarded my flight on Thursday, I got an email from Christina saying, “Hope your flight leaves on time and…

So there I was at the Denver airport, heaving my bulging black suitcase onto the conveyor belt for the x-ray machine. This was just my carry-on – my REAL bag (a behemoth red Samsonite) had already been found 6 lbs. overweight at the ticket counter, leading me to put on my boots and jacket, stuff…

“Can I put the arm rest up?” “Sure.” [spilling over into my seat]  “I’m still a big girl.  But I’ve lost over 200 lbs.” “Wow – that’s incredible!  Congratulations – what an accomplishment.” “No more seat-belt expander for me.” [high-five with a 70-year old woman, initiated by yours truly] “I’m Pat, by the way, and…

On Saturday, I flew back to Colorado.  I’ll be with my family through Christmas, and then fly back to Nashville for another week – because apparently, I enjoy being a geographical ping-pong ball. I flew Southwest (like I always do), fell asleep the minute I boarded (like I always do), and slept for the first…

At the Denver airport last night, I heaved my suitcase onto the scale at the ticket counter, and cast a furtive glance at the damage: 56 pounds. For the first time ever, I was going to incite an overweight charge. But wait!  Could this be my lucky day?  The ticket man hasn’t seen the number…

I’ve been bouncing in and out of Denver this summer – it seems like I haven’t been home for more than 3-4 days at a time before I’m packing up and heading out to the next destination.  Admittedly, I am the world’s worst packer, and always wind up packing way too much or way too…

I’ll just cut to the chase: Southwest Airlines lost my luggage this weekend. [insert me telling you how this sent me for a minor emotional tailspin, and how I was sick as a dog, and almost broke down and gave up, but soldiered on – for the children, really, and for America] Flying from Nashville…