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No longer on the river and, again, an empty nester. Back to living on Fleming Island and making some more friends!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

A dramatic change in plans

Oh, I am so drowsy but should not complain knowing my friend, Linda, is even more tired than am I. She did not sleep well last night fearing she wouldn't hear her alarm clock or that her suitcase would be overweight....Yes, she slept in my home one more night!

Yesterday afternoon, Justin was home from work due to the heavy rains, and agreed to drive us to the airport. I was going to treat him to Longhorn since he's been hungry for it since we last ate there in January when he picked me up from the airport. Linda had stripped her bed and deposited the towels and bedding in the laundry room for me. She is a champ! Before we headed out, I decided to check her flight status to make sure all was on time. And it was a good thing I did! It turned out that her flight coming in was delayed by two hours. Oh no! If she caught that flight she would be late getting to ATL and miss her connection. There were no more flights going to MKE from ATL for her to catch.

It was pretty upsetting for her and she immediately jumped on the phone to try to reach her travel agent, Tom. He didn't answer either time she tried, not even at the office. She was getting panicky, wondering what to do so I got her the phone number for Southwest Airlines. They had a recording taking the calls which was frustrating. Meanwhile, Justin found a number where he could input Linda's phone number and the airline would call her back. 

While we waited, Tommy called her back and wasn't sure what he could do on his end. I heard him ask where I was. I was right here, trying to be a helper. The SW call beeped in on Tom's call (thanks, Justin!) so Linda hung up with him and got help from the agent on the line. The only solution was to have Linda leave this morning, so she took that. The flight was leaving around 7:00 which meant a very early morning but no sweat, I was going to get her delivered and that's it! I asked her to find out what the delay was and the agent said it was a mechanical problem on the flight coming from Chicago. Glad to know it wasn't our stupid stormy weather holding up the show. 

Once the arrangements were made, Linda calmed down. I remade her bed for her so she'd be cozy one more night as Justin served her a nice adult beverage to settle her nerves.  Linda asked if La Napolera would be open and I said I would think they would be, after our false alarm Monday night! Justin said he thought it would be a good night for Ming Moon delivery and Linda agreed with that, because the rain was still coming down quite heavily. She treated us to dinner and it was wonderful. 

We all went to bed early due to being worn out and knowing we have to get up before the sun for our airport run. We planned to leave around 4:30, probably closer to 4:40, and we were right on the dot. Linda told me she didn't sleep well because of her concerns so I suggested she sleep on the plane. I hope she can. 

I went back to bed when I got home again at 6:00 a.m. (imagine that---gone and back before 6:00!) and dozed a bit before going out for exercise class. We were free-lancing again today, 9 of us, since Marlena is gone. At least the lifeguard was there to put the music on for us. All the rain made the water temperature go down but the sun helped keep our bodies warm. What was extra fun was having a friend of Ollavan's join us for class and for lunch. It was just a delight to spend the time with her again after a year between visits! 
Me posing with Sistie

I am thinking that a nap or two might be in order for me, and I hope Linda gets a snooze in before she arrives in MKE. She has to drive back to Manty once back to her car and has a long day in front of her yet. She should get home, Lord willing, mid-afternoon today. I am sorry she had to cancel some appointments from today, and miss a breakfast with her classmates, but it sure beats sitting in the airport in ATL overnight!  Good night, all!