Married!

We’ve done it. After 18 months of engagement and planning, the wedding has finally come and gone and oh my goodness what fun it was. Let me just say this – we are so, unbelievably spoiled. In family, in friends, in generosity, in affection. At times, it kinda felt like I was in Disneyland, and there was some elaborate parade put on for us.

I so hate for it to be over but at the same time we’ve partied for five days now and I can’t wait for a full night’s sleep (hence, a super short post with little details as of yet). That’s right, it’s ended up being five days of festivities – you’d think we were Indian, doing it up for so long!

I just wanted to pop in and say “Yeay!” and to share what an unbelievably wonderful weekend we had, full of (most of) the people we most love, all together in the same place. If the attendees are to be believed, it was one of the most cryin-est weddings ever. But also one of the most fun (well, I’m judging that by the photos of certain friends streaking around the gardens at 5am!). I promise to be back soon with some photos and more details. Meanwhile, I hope this weekend, you all felt as lucky and loved as we did.

Babies and Weddings

Earlier this week, I returned home from visiting my new niece!

Wait – first an update. About the missed Zurich trip for work: supposedly my manager is going to remove it from my record, since I attempted so many flights. I’m not sure if this is technically possible, but I’m not questioning it. I just said “thank you” and crossed my fingers! We’ll see…

After my unexpected weekend home, I went to Atlanta as planned to meet my first niece. And, of course, she’s awesome. Three weeks old that day, she’s a tiny little blobby, though her features are already shaping from “blobby” to “miniature person”, which is really their most want-to-ball-them-up-and-put-them-in-my-pocket stage of cute.

Here’s what I learned – wow! Babies are more work than I even imagined. I literally don’t understand how people do it.  I only stayed for 3 nights, during which I tried to be as helpful as feasible. For me that meant taking the 5 or 6am feeding and keeping her until the ‘rents woke up. I knew that meant getting up every 2 hours or so to feed them. What I didn’t know was that new parents very possibly don’t sleep in between feedings either! If she was sleeping and had gas (of which she has much!), this would make her momentarily fussy. I would race over to be ready to sooth her if she was going to full-on cry (because I didn’t want her to wake herself up more if I could help it). But if she was fast asleep, I still didn’t sleep because I’d think, “She’s so quiet. I hope she’s ok…Maybe I should go poke her, just to make sure.” Aack! After three nights and 4 days I returned home and that night slept for 11 hours! I only wish my sister and BIL could do the same. Well done though, guys. Little Hannah is awesome. Parents of the world – I give you infinite respect just for making it through.

As a side note, I leave tomorrow for England in order to have plenty of time there for last-minute wedding stuff. It’s strange that for a year and a half I’ve had plenty of time before the wedding and saying to myself: Before you know it, it’ll be here and you’ll think ‘where did all that time go?!’ So it IS weird to now be so close and thinking, I knew it! Where in the world did that year and a half go?! You’d think that the predicting would take some of the effect out. But no.

During the next couple of weeks I will probably be able to blog a little, but if not, I promise to be back ASAP with photos! Two weeks from yesterday…Here we go!

I’m Not Supposed to be Here Right Now

I’m supposed to be in Zurich…

I would have arrived at 1am our time, taken a coma/nap and been back among the living for some hours now, thinking about dinner. Maybe I’d be at the grocery store across the street from our hotel, maybe I’d be sitting in the sun in the square behind it where there’s a market on Saturday mornings and a giant chessboard painted on the ground. Sometimes I like to watch the neighborhood’s old men gathered by the knee-high pieces, smoking and chatting while they try to trap each other’s queens. Yes, maybe that’s what I’d be doing; it was supposed to be nice today.

But I’m not there. I’m here at home, feeling guilty and poor because yesterday I missed my flight. I’m pretty particular about getting to places exactly on time, and now you know why. Because in my line of work, if you’re not there on time, you’re not there at all. Work leaves without you.

I don’t know what was going on. I left my house 5 hours prior to sign-in, as usual. I showed up for the 1am flight on another airline only to discover that on Saturdays – it doesn’t exist. Well, no sweat, I have many back-up flights. I try my company’s 1:30 – delayed an hour. I go back to the 1st company’s 2pm. I’m very relaxed (aside from the fact I’ve now gone in and out of security three times). Those company’s flights are never ever full, excepting for weather of course. And it was a plain old sleepy Saturday full of clear skies and sun. No drama expected. But the flight was full. I did not get on for the first time ever! I’m in shock but I go back and try that delayed 1:30 – full. Our 2:30 – full! Now I’m really sweating. That’s pretty much it.

You know that period of time where something bad happens and you keep thinking, Don’t panic. There’s gotta be some way out of this. There’s always a way out. This won’t really happen…? It’s because of that feeling that instead of calling work to say I wouldn’t be there and salvaging the day by visiting the Cherry Blossom Festival, I sat at the airport for another 1 1/2 hours in a desperate try for the other company’s 4:00 or our 4:10 – even though each would probably get me there 10 minutes after my departure anyway – and were oversold. Still, I waited and tried. No luck.

What was going on this plain old sunny sky Saturday? I have no freaking clue. There were a couple of other ladies who would also miss their work flight, except all they had to do was call NYC and have the manager make an announcement that their flight had become available. There are so many F/As desperate for hours to work that someone would take the shift and the DC ladies could just go home, only out some pay. But me? Well I am a French speaker. It doesn’t matter that the company probably called a non-speaker and sent him or her to Zurich in my place. They won’t let me give the trip to a non-speaker even though I’m in a bind. So because I offer the company an extra service, I’m the only one of all those missing work that’s in trouble. I get a penalty on my permanent record. (And a point towards being in serious trouble, combined with the sick calls I’ve made since returning in June because – hello! – I just had cancer and this job takes some physical adjustment yet I don’t qualify for excused absences until I’ve been back a year. It makes no sense, but that’s how it works.) Gah!

I did however go to a birthday party with my honey and, though I wasn’t in the mood, the host poured me glass after glass of champagne until I felt better. Still, I wonder who’s winning at chess.