And The Plan Was.....??? Part III

So if you haven't been following along on the lost baggage story I've been blogging about for the last two days, you can catch up Here.

When we left off, I had just crawled into bed wearing the same sleeveless T-Shirt I had worn for the last 20+ hours when we left Canada. BTW, this shirt happened to be bright white and did I mention I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter who gets her sticky fingers on everything? I think you can pretty well imagine what that shirt looked like when I got up on Sunday morning and had to face wearing it once again. Forget the undies, they had been kicked to the curb and I was on my way to the mall with just my black yoga pants covering my fat ass. On my feet in the 80 plus degree sunshine were my socks and winter boots.

So we get over to the mall in Wailea and thank God the stores were open on a Sunday. My first priority was a pair of sandals, my feet had been jammed into those hot Winter boots and dirty socks long enough. It took about 45 minutes but I was finally able to track down a pair of fancy Crocs in the exact same style as the ones in my missing suitcase only in a different color and for about $60. Now it was time to find some undies. I went from store to store and finally found the only shop in the entire mall that sold women's underwear. I nearly choked when I was charged $27.00 for a single pair that consisted of no more than an eye patch with about 20 inches of lace (Just want to say sorry to all my family who may read this for the visual of me in a thong that is likely to put most of you off your dinner tonight!). So I pulled off the tags and wore them out of the store.

So with $87 spent, I decided I just had to ditch the formerly white T-Shirt I had been wearing since I boarded that first flight. I found a pretty blue shirt and it cost somewhere around $35 so at least I now had something to wear later that night to the potluck dinner that my step-daughter's were hosting at their own condo (BTW, these two girls and I are very close, one has two daughters close to the age of my own and the other has a baby that was just born in November we hadn't met yet). Needless to say, we were anxious to start our vacation. (In case you were wondering, yes my husband got a pair of Crocs and new shirt too, it wasn't just about me!)

Since it was still early afternoon, we decided to call United Airlines again and follow up on the baggage situation. We were hoping that my husband's suitcase had been located and wanted confirmation that mine was on the way. Made the call and were delighted to hear that both suitcases were taking the same flights we had a day earlier and would arrive in Maui around 6:00 pm that evening and be immediately shuttled to our condo at their expense. Yay! Disaster averted!

At the same time, my husband pulled out his Visa card and decided to give them a call to see if there was any Lost Luggage benefit. We had already checked our Travel Insurance and there wasn't anything there. We were stunned to find out that the credit card the airline tickets had been purchased on was offering EACH of us an additional $500. Wow! That made a total of $700 each to buy new clothes while we waited for our suitcases to arrive and after a quick highfive, we jumped into our car and back to the mall. We had only a few hours before our suitcases arrived at 6:00 pm! After all, two different United Airlines reps had said they would be arriving.......right?

Conclusion - Tomorrow

And The Plan Was.....??? Part II

So if you read yesterday's post, you know that after 15 hours of travel time and 6 time zones, my husband and daughter and I landed in Maui still in our full Winter clothing only to find that our daughter's suitcase was the only one that had made the trip with us.

WTF?!  The airline was happy to give us a pencil case with a few 50 cent toiletries in it, a Lost Baggage Form with toll-free number, assurances that my suitcase would be delivered to our rented condo shortly after 6:00 pm the following day and that they would locate my husband's suitcase. They then sent us on our way.

Okay, so we get the rental car, get ourselves and that one lonely suitcase on board and head to the condo about 30 minutes away. Once we were settled in, I couldn't wait to kick off my Winter boots and heavy socks.  I mean we had come from temperatures somewhere around 20 below to 80 above.  Hello!  I was hardly dressed for Hawaii weather and with all the restrictions they put on carry-on bags now, I didn't have one thing with me.

After we shared that one toothbrush, my husband pulled out the Lost Baggage Form and called United Airlines. The representative was lovely and offered us each $100 to replace what we needed to get by until my suitcase arrived and my husband's suitcase was located. I beg your pardon?? This is Maui for f#$% sake!!  You can't even get a damn coffee for under $15!! There is no Dollar Store here, the local shops had stores like Rolex, Tiffany, LV, BCBG just to name a few! Hello!!!  We were dressed in full Winter gear in the middle of 80 degree weather and had a family dinner to attend!  After much persuasion, the rep agreed to $200 for each of us which was the maximum allowed. Don't forget I only had to get by one day while my husband's suitcase was still missing.

So we had a total allowance of $400 to shop with. I was worried about my husband not getting his suitcase at all and offered him the balance of my allowance once I had purchased a pair of sandals.  I knew I could get by with the sleeveless shirt and yoga pants for one day.

So after traveling for more than a full day, I wore my dirty sleeveless shirt to bed hoping that the local shops would be open on a Sunday so I could pick up some footwear and a pair of undies until my suitcase arrived the next evening somewhere around 6:00 pm. That's what the rep said, it would be shuttled to me quickly once it arrived in Maui, the rep wouldn't lie about something that important....... right?

to be cont'd....

And The Plan Was.....???

So after traveling for 15 hours and through six different time zones, we finally arrived in Maui at 5:30 pm Hawaii time on a Saturday evening.  Yes, they still starve you on the planes so....

This Was The Plan

I had put a bit of thought into the clothes I wore on the plane. I had on a pair of black yoga pants, a sleeveless t-shirt covered with a fleece zip-up hoodie, socks and zip up winter boots. Just had to ditch the hoodie and trade my boots and socks for the high-heeled Crocs I had carefully packed on top of the clothes in my suitcase and I would be perfectly dressed for the humid Hawaii evening. We would then head to the nearest restaurant for a quick meal, then off to the rented condo for a quick shower, a change into my new light-weight cotton pajamas and then into bed.

Here's What Happened

When we got off the plane, our daughter was sleeping so my husband headed to the baggage area to pick up our suitcases while I walked across the room to sit by the open door while holding our daughter so she could continue her nap. After a few minutes my husband made his way over to us with her suitcase and then headed back to the baggage area to retrieve our suitcases. We each had packed only one.

After what seemed like an hour, my husband made his way back to us but instead of our suitcases, he was holding a black pencil case. I asked what that was and he replied "This is our luggage." I'm sure my jaw hit the floor when he told me that my luggage had missed our first connection and was still only an hour away from our home back in Canada. It was scheduled to arrive in Maui the following day at 6:00 pm where it would be quickly scooped up and delivered to our condo. My husband's suitcase hadn't been located yet. In the meantime, they had provided us with a pouch that contained:

1 short-handled blue toothbrush with bristles so stiff they should have been on a toilet bowl brush
1 cheap men's hair comb that would have better suited a Barbie Doll
1 tiny men's deodorant that was about the size of a lip gloss pot
1 test tube of clear blue body wash
1 test tube of clear blue shampoo
1 test tube of clear blue conditioner
(each of these was about 1/4c and the color of that blue crap you put in toilets to make the water blue)
1 flimsy men's disposable razor
A form with a phone number where we could contact the airline to get updates concerning our luggage

(to be continued...)

It Takes How Long To Get There?!!

If there is one thing that I hate, it's flying. I am so nervous and have so much anxiety every time I board an airplane, it's a wonder I travel at all. Somehow I manage to sit quietly, smiling at everyone while drawing on every bit of self control I have to keep from screaming and running through the plane trying to get the doors open so I can jump.

I think I already mentioned that we spent 17 hours traveling to get to Maui so that's a heck of a lot of time for my mind to run through the details of every single plane crash I've seen on Mayday (this is a television show where airplane crashes are recreated and the causes discovered). Well, as much as I like to stay focused on my own unfounded fears about flying, all it takes is a problem with my 3 1/2 year old to snap me around to forget my own panic.

Coming back home took about 15 hours but my thoughts of all those crashes quickly faded during our take off. Imagine how panicked I became when my 3 1/2 year old grabbed her ears and started screaming hysterically. It must have been that short runway over the water that caused the pilot to climb so quickly and steeply that my daughter had no time to clear her ears. She had been in such good humor before the take off so I knew the problem had nothing to do with being cranky. My husband and I tried everything we could think of to calm her down and get her to swallow or yawn or anything to clear her ears but she was so hysterical, there was nothing we could do but wait it out which takes a long time when you are taking off at sea level.

To the woman with the long, light brown hair hidden under her baseball cap who flew from Maui to Calgary last Friday evening, I want to say the biggest "Thank You" ever. This fellow mom jumped up out of her seat the minute that seatbelt light went out and ran over to us with a candy lollipop that she keeps on hand when traveling with her children. This 25 cent lollipop was all that our daughter needed to clear her ears and within a few moments, she was able to settle down and finally fall asleep.

Later on when I found this mom to thank her for her kindness, she happily handed me a bag of lollipops when I told her we had two more flights to get through. I promised her on the spot that I would never again travel without enough lollipops for every child on the plane and I plan to keep my word on this long after my daughter no longer needs them. I had always relied on a drink with a straw but in this extreme circumstance, the straw couldn't do the trick.

To the flight attendants on that same flight who I asked for advice or assistance, thanks a lot for the plastic cups with hot water towels that you told me would NOT help. What a total waste of f#$%ing time. Learn something here and spring for a $2 bag of lollipops and keep them on the plane for f@#$% sake! You travel for a living, have you not noticed a pattern with some children and their ears??!!

To the employees at the screening station in the Calgary airport, I want to offer my sincere apology for the vomit left behind by our daughter in one of your plastic x-ray trays. She had a rough six hours out of Maui and had an upset tummy after her ordeal. By the way, I would have loved it if she had spewed on the Canada Customs Agent instead. Might just do a blog post about my thoughts on them one of these days.

Thankfully, the other two flights were fine for her although I didn't know that at the time so instead of bracing for the crash, I worried about how her ears would be during every take off and landing all the way home. Personally, I think worrying about her was a lot more distressing than worrying about crashing Lol.

So that pretty much sums up the air travel time. After all that traveling, I can tell you with complete honesty, as beautiful and warm as Maui is, there is just no place like home!

Vacation!

First, I want to apologize for not having the time to read and comment nearly as much as I would have loved to this past week. Getting things organized and packing for this trip has taken up a heck of a lot of my time. With that finally taken care of it's:

Time to get out of the snow belt and head to the Sunshine for three weeks!

See you at the beginning of February!

Menopausal New Mom has left the building!

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Not So Wordless Wednesday This Old House

Before I get into this, I wanted to thank everyone who posted on the comments yesterday. I am overwhelmed at the kindness and support that was offered. So many of you took the time to not only read such a long post but to comment about your own experiences offering so much wisdom and insight on such a delicate topic. Because of all your wonderful support, I feel much more equipped and empowered to accept having my stepdaughter with us for those 6 days. Thank you all again for sharing and yes, I will be posting about it when I get back. Thank You, Thank You.

Now getting on to the "Not So Wordless Wednesday"

In December, I showed both the kitchen and open dining area in our old house that was built in 1891 and then remodeled by us for 8 months before we moved in.

Today is a trip around the family room.  This room is located on the back side of the fireplace that was photographed in the dining room post.

Let me start by saying this is not a huge family room.  It measures roughly 18' x 19' with 10 foot ceilings.  Part of that 19' is made up of a 4' sunroom that was added to the home during the 1930's as a place for those suffering from TB to take advantage of the sun. This sunroom was two stories high, however, we removed the four-foot addition on the second floor as it ruined the look of that side of the home by cutting through the original roof line.

Getting back to the family room pictured here, it's hard to imagine that when we bought the house, this 18' x 19' space housed:

1 bedroom
4 closets
1 hallway
1 full bath with tub
1 separate half bath with laundry and
3 ceilings

We tore everything out to the bare bones and had to replace the floor since there had been a combination of old hardwoods and linoleum going in both directions.  Here is the finished room.

This is the view standing beside the fireplace on the kitchen side.  That little pink cottage in the corner has been a big hit with our 3 1/2 year old.  She just received it for Christmas and spends hours playing in it.

Not sure it is that obvious in the photo but behind that red sofa is the desk with computer where I just happen to be typing this post! And that window behind the little pink cottage is where I tried like hell to get a picture of the Olympic Torch going by the front of the house.

Here is the view looking into the family room if you are standing on the other side of the fireplace.

This is the view when looking from the back corner of the family room towards the kitchen.  My husband picked out these antique schoolroom light fixtures. My choice was pot lights. The dropped part of the ceiling that has been painted the same red as the kitchen houses plumbing and ductwork from a ventilation system. We had some of the antique tin ceiling left over from the kitchen so it was used to cap off the bottom of this dropped section.

And this last photo shows the view if you are in the corner of the family room looking towards the dining room side of the fireplace. The large dark grey square beside the cabinet (which is there temporarily) is a water feature that we use to humidify the house and above it is a glass window that is in the main floor half bath since it does not have natural light. That's probably the next room I'll photograph.

And that concludes our little trip around this once studio apartment that has been converted into our much used family room. Is it just me or are there orbs all over the place?!

If Anyone is Curious...

Today I've reposted my first blog entry for anyone who is at all curious about how I became a Menopausal New Mom.  Back in April when it was first published, I had no followers but really needed a place to vent not only my frustration but to journal my confusion somewhere, anywhere.  So here is a condensed version:

It came in the form of a phone call.  The nurse from my doctor's office where I had recently had my annual check-up. "Did you get the results of my hormone tests?" I asked, anxious to find out why my periods had been so inconsistent lately believing it was my bodies way of trying to readjust after my recent pregnancy.

"Oh yes." she replied "You have the hormone levels of a post-menopausal woman, you're in menopause.  Nothing to worry about, you're normal, we'll see you next year for your check-up. Bye."  click.

What did she just say!!  Was that it?  I stared into the phone and then looked over at my daughter sitting in her highchair eating cereal. This can't be right, or is it? I'm 47 now. Maybe this is normal or is it?  Do I have to figure this out at the same time I'm trying to adjust to being a first-time mom?!!

The only difference I had noticed was my periods had become inconsistent. Surely my recent pregnancy had triggered that, not menopause. How could this happen now when I needed every bit of energy I had left in my body to raise this child? I couldn't be sidetracked with the challenge of facing menopause too! At least not yet!

Life was finally getting back to being somewhat normal. We had moved twice in the last two years and I was making the difficult transition from career woman, to new wife, to stay-at-home mom and now this! I couldn't help but wonder, "Who the Hell am I now?"

Before all these changes, I had worked in the insurance industry, every position from reception right up to traveling on the road doing sales and service. More than 20 years of building up a rewarding career that had allowed me to buy a home, travel, do whatever I felt like.

I hadn't married or lived common-law. I was one of those women who could enter any room full of men and walk out with the only one who was unemployed, drank too much, already had a girlfriend, and was  living in his mother's basement. I was a magnet for this type. My friends at work used to joke about how my life could be any "movie of the week". Most of them were living the traditional life of being married to a nice guy and raising a family. Not me,  but at least at that time I had a clear perception of who I was.

I couldn't help but wonder "What the Hell was I thinking?!!" At the age of 44,  I had married a nice, self-employed older man who already had four children, either in university or on their own. Life was going to be good, just the two of us other than the occasional short visit from one of his kids. What I didn't know at that time was how much my husband missed raising children now that his were finally out of the house.

During my single years, I had lots of time on my hands to read and I had seen those articles about how difficult it was to become pregnant in your late 30's and nearly impossible once you reached the age of  40. The odds of becoming pregnant now were extremely low, probably impossible even if I did seek medical intervention, which I wasn't going to do. My own eggs?  Impossible at this age.

So there I was, 44 years old and well aware of how remote my chances of becoming pregnant without medical intervention were. They must be somewhere in the negative numbers by now I remember thinking. No problem. I'd stop taking birth control. I probably didn't need them anyway and it would satisfy my husband who wanted to make sure that if there could be a child in our future, at least we were allowing nature to take its course.

So there you have it, me pregnant within a month of getting married and then right into menopause two years later! A definite Menopausal New Mom and thanks to being able to blog it out, I'm finally at peace with it all!!