ARE WE THERE YET???

Hi all.....Sparkie here writing for mom....poor mom....she came  finally came home from her big trip to CT and NY.  I missed having her here so I could chase her feet, bite her toes,  and entertain her by running around the living room, climbing her quilt ladder, and  pestering her to turn on the faucet so I could have a drink.
Mom had such a terrible flight both ways on this trip.   She always likes to take the red eye from Seattle so she doesn't waste a day flying....that went pretty well.  Left  Sea-Tac just before midnite and arrived in Chicago around 6 am.   Oh, goodie.   Plenty of time to catch the plane connection......except there were a few snafus......she said the first was the gate change...ok....hike to the other gate....plane is late of course.....finally time to board.   OK......board the plane.  Buckle up, and wait to take off....oops....PLANE CANCELLED!!    Poor mom because it is way after lunch and hours after she was supposed to be in CT renting her car.   Now what???   Off the plane and off to the  customer service to get another plane.  Lines of people trying to reschedule.   Oh, my, where are mom's bags???  I hope they get to Westchester.   There are quilts in her bags, and she will not be happy if they get lost! 
Oh, gosh, calls on mom's magic phone are flying here, there, and everywhere from CT to WA. Gina was going to pick her up at 10 am in CT...cancel that.....oh, and call and cancel the rental car till tomorrow, hopefully.  Done!
Lots of people in line and each with a story of where they are going and why they have to be there.  The lady in line behind mom was trying to get to Peekskill as her mom was dying, and she really needed to get there.  Mom  told her to go ahead so she could get on her way....she got to Newark where her sister would pick her up, and  she could get to her mom.   I wish I could have been there to cheer my mom....I know she was getting mighty discouraged, and her Friday trip to Boston with Julie was slowly slipping from view.   OK...mom's turn in line to schedule a new flight.   Looks like all she can get is a flight to La Guardia in NY...better than Newark,  she figured.   OK....let's go to LaGuardia....another wait till  flight takes off....oh, boy....that one actually took off, and things are looking up.   Plane arrives in NY about 6 pm......where are mom's bags.....she had them re-scheduled for the airport in LaGuardia......oh, noooooooo......the baggage carousel is going round and round, without mom's bags.....oops...guess they went to Westchester!....how did that happen cuz mom was not on any plane to Westchester.  By now mom is getting pretty annoyed...check with baggage office...oh, yes,  a call to  Westchester verifies that the bags are there....but mom is  at La Guardia.....ah...the joys of travel....oh, well, she just needs to catch the limo to CT....oh, just so you don't think she is living large in a long black limo sipping chocolate milkshakes and watching TV....it is just a big bus called the CT Limo.   Bus scheduled....coming in 45 minutes....ok....it is 45 minutes and where is the limo.....oh, stuck in traffic.   so another 45 minutes...now it is still an hour and a half to Danubury....lucky for mom her niece works just around the corner from the hotel where the limo stops....she is on call to pick her up when the limo gets there.  Finally the limo comes and the driver is on the phone for 10 minutes arguing about something.....I think mom should write a book about this trip for sure....ok,  finally they leave for Danubury, but first stop is Norwalk, then Danbury....
Around 8:30 or so mom finally lands in CT in Danbury....NO BAGS.....so....niece Sheri picks up mom at the hotel and kindly agrees they should drive to the Westchester airport about  30 miles  away....gotta get those bags...
Mom is hungry, but now it is getting late, and no time to stop at the diner!   Gotta get those bags before they disappear....so off they go....Run into the little airport and no baggage area for missing bags....wait......a sign!   Go to gate agent for missing bags....hope is fading fast because it is very late, and gate agents are all missing, counters closed.....OH, NO!!    Hurry, mom.....I hope you can get your bags.    Oh, my....a spark of hope...there they are.....right behind the United counter along with a bunch of other  missing bags.   It must be a miracle.   No ticket agent, just a couple of TSA agents by the X-Ray machine...they are closing down.....please get mom's bags so she can get home.   Oh, no...they cannot do that.   Mom said she would crawl over the counter if she had to.....Finally after  2 tries a nice little gal comes out from the inner depths of the airport and hands mom her precious bags.   Oh, happy day....now it is after 10 pm.   It is a welcome trip home to New Milford and the comfy bed...but first a stop at the Big Y for   ICE CREAM, of course.   What else would mom  want for dinner after all that.
Addendum>>>>Oh, mom said I should tell you about all the interesting people she saw at the airport...especially, the pirate.   While waiting in Chicago, she heard a bunch of clanging and rattling only to look up and see a pirate coming into her gate area to also wait for a plane.  Oh, she said he was sooooo interesting.   He had a fabulous three sided hat on his head with gorgeous, colorful peacock feathers sticking out about a foot.   His long curly hair fell down his back and he twirled his long handlebar mustache.  He had pins and other goo gahs hanging from his KILT...a nice blue plaid kilt, and since mom is Scottish, she was impressed with that!  Oh, my...she wanted a picture so badly but didn't think it would look good to just snap a picture.   (She did sneak one of part of his outfit from across the aisle and got his feet and part of the kilt.)
He had on a leather vest and the neatest black boots with cuffs.  Mom said she would like a pair of boots like that.  My, mom was wondering why  he was dressed up like that. At least  her wait was entertaining......oh, and the girl with the half shaved head and big bunch of hair on top dyed green was interesting too.   Not to mention the man with the  shaved head and tattoos.....all on his head and neck.   You see all kinds of interesting people  at the airport.
Mom spent lots of time reading her Marie Bostwick book...more about that later....she met Marie at a booksigning later that week.
Poor mom also missed meeting  Aunt Julie and going on her trip to Boston to see a Pilgrim Roy quilt exhibit.  She was  so looking forward to meeting Julie for the first time, too.  The crazy trip  got in the way of that  road trip.  
So, anyway, after a day late, mom got started on her adventure in CT and NY......I will tell you more later.....especially about the trip home...even worse than getting there, if you can believe that!! 
Oh, I caught another mouse for mom, and left it for a present this morning....she can't believe there are mice in the house...never saw them before....she says I am a good mouser and gave me a big kiss to thank me for catching another one....hopefully that will be the last!  That's what mom said, anyway....as for me, it is sooooo much fun to catch mice and see how much mom appreciates me!
I guess I better sign off for now, and take a nap.....writing a blog takes a lot out of a little 8.5 pound cat like me.   Love,   from Sparkie and mom too.
PS....we will post some pix next time.  Dad has to put them in the computer!