The Adventures of the Little Indian Girl

I don't think I wrote about the adventure MIL had on her flight back on Friday! I want to write this down to remember for the future.... not that any of us here will actually ever forget!

A brief backstory: MIL went to Tucson for two weeks to attend the International Gem & Jewelry show. She has a lot of interest and practices use of healing crystals and a close family friend lives there too. So, she was there for ten days. She was supposed to return Monday, Feb 8th, which would allow a week of quality time with N and I. We both had taken the week off to spend a nice week together before she headed back to Mumbai on the 13th Feb. Well, Monday came and DC metro area was submerged in 30 inches of snow. So her flight got rescheduled to Tuesday. Well, Tuesday came and the second round of snowstorm came and so her flight was rescheduled to Wednesday and then to Thursday and then finally to Friday!

By Thursday afternoon the runways at all airports were up and running! We were wondering then why they cancelled Thursday flights. I guess they didn't think they would be cleared by then. ah well. We no longer pondered on the what-ifs! We were just happy that the runways were open and mom would make it back in time! We needed to figure out how we were going to pick up her up all the way at Dulles when our car's out of order, public transport was still not up and running and the roads were still a bit messy and wondered if cabs would take us.

Friday morning, we were woken up to hear from our friend in Tucson who had dropped MIL at the airport that all was clear and the flight has taken off on time. They (he and his brother) waited at the airport till the flight took off! They didn't want to take any chances either! We were relieved and went back to sleep. I got up at 8ish and checked the flight status again and all seemed okay.

I had the TV news running in the background. I was getting tired of the whole snow reports and wasn't paying much attention when they reported that the South was also expecting snow! I saw that it was snowing in Dallas, TX. I didn't care really. I carried on with the day. Hubby was busy packing up and had to go to office for a while. 

In the afternoon, around 2:30ish I checked her flight status again and it showed "boarding" for the second segment from Atlanta to DC. phew... I was talking to N's cousin on the phone who called worried about mom's return. She heard from grandmother that she was coming through Dallas and saw it was snowing there! I got a bit nervous at first then realised that no, she is landing in DULLES International not Dallas Texas.

As I was on the phone with her, I saw the news go to a live clip of an airport covered in a bit of snow and I couldn't believe it! It was ATLANTA airport!!!!!!! NO way! This couldn't be happening I thought! I was still on the phone while I checked the flight status and saw "awaiting takeoff"!!! We both sat there and prayed that the flight take off!! I saw that the flight before and the two flights afterwards were cancelled! Oh I prayed so hard!

The status didn't change for the longest of time. So, I hung up with the cousin and then called Delta airlines. And she said that the flight was just delayed in taking off but will be landing an hour later than scheduled! Oh, if the representative was here I would have hugged and kissed her! (Later MIL shared that they were de-icing the plane and so were waiting an hour on the runway!)

So, MIL made it! phew... I was overjoyed to see her! Husband saw such a difference in me! I guess I did miss her more than I realised I did! 

The next day, we were all busy packing up. Everything looked like it was going as planned. A friend offered to drop MIL & N to the airport (N's also travelling - the same day a little later). So, I also joined to drop them off.

Goodbyes were shared, tears shared, a quick back rub given - my back was getting really sore after sitting in the car for an hour! 

MIL landed in Mumbai late Sunday night, well Monday morning (their time). When I spoke to her later, what do I find?! Her flight from Frankfurt to Mumbai was delayed by two hours because of snow!!!!! What are the chances?! really? 

I reassured her that we both can be very sure that snow will not follow her in Mumbai!! ;) 

It feels like it was all a dream. Our two week trip took us to the Southwest of the United States and across the country to Niagara Falls and a quick trip to Toronto. We saw giant sized cacti, cowboys, Billy the Kid, tasted some of the best burritos one could ever have, saw the Grand Canyon, the horizons so far and away that looks completely beyond belief, saw some ice caves in the middle of the desert, the majestic falls, some lions and cheetahs and even a few giraffe! 

It was a fabulous time with in-laws and of course hubby. This trip marked the milestone for the two of us - our two year wedding anniversary! Oh what fun it was!

We are all a bit dazed today as we commence unpacking. Wondering if we just dreamt it all! But the red dirt remaining on our sneakers remind us still that we did make that trip out!

Just 2,000 miles of driving and several hours of flying took us around!

Of course, the last two days of travel I came down with bad case of allergies. Blame the camels!! Hope everyone is well! More later...

Why do leftovers have such a bad name? I am having "leftovers" (I don't call it leftovers because I cook lunch the previous night) for lunch as my hubby is enjoying lunch at home with in-laws. Yum. And now MIL is on a quest to make sure for as long as she is here we will never have leftovers for lunch. My FIL pitched in the reason, "The food will be cooked fresh in the morning and will be still lukewarm at lunchtime." This made sense in the days when we didn't have reheating devices such as a microwave and refrigerators.

Maybe they think I don't have access to a microwave at work and think I am eating the food cold? hmmm... that just hit me. Because they do eat leftovers and are not the type who will just throw it away for whatever ideological beliefs - there are people who do that! In fact, MIL finds creative ways to make a whole new dish with leftovers. Something I want to pick up from her.

ah heck. I am not complaining. Who will complain if mother is volunteering to cook you meals everyday?! :D I am not that stupid. In fact, people say my strength is that I know when to pick my battles.