Blastastorm, Spirit Airlines Nightmare and Baldo Visits

I seem to blog more on days where we are getting slammed with bad weather. Today's bad weather = 50 mile per hour winds and moody black and sky blue skies that stretch and dance furiously along to the tune of the wind whipping through the trees. Some trees fly over and crash through electric wires to make things more interesting. Others just do the wave and pretend that they are at a good baseball game. Wooooo!

In our neck of the woods things have been lively and interesting this winter. Why haven't I blogged in a month?! It doesn't seem right to do a blast-blog showing everything that's happened so I'll highlight the top five then blog on my dad's visit.

Top five interesting things to happen since my last blog:

1. The cats slept and ate and slept some more. They are healthy and I'm glad.

My legs are their new favorite napping spot.

Two for one

And Tea for Two

Fatty's cover picture for his Autobiography called "I Napped Through it All"

 2.  I went on the March for Life with friends from our parish. It was cold and encouraging to be out there walking to stand for the dignity of life and the right for all to have life. Lots of hot chocolate was sipped at the end. It was my first time marching and felt a little ridiculous as prayer can be more effective than marching. But the experience of going and praying the rosary in a group was special. 

Praying for unborn souls.

3. I visited a favorite friend and the day was sunny and warm and we sat on the roots of a great big tree and drank coffee and decided to give up office life to live on a tree.

4. I cooked a few new things, one of them being Mexican Mole from Oaxaca that I bought at an authentic Mexican grocery store called Amazon.com. Delicious.

Chicken Mole with beans and Naan!

My secret cornbread (the secret is in the maple syrup for sweetening!)

5. We had a sad night on the side of the road with a deer that alive after getting it's hind legs broken by a car. I sat next to it in my car protecting it from passing cars till the police came. I was really hoping for a happy ending for the deer as it buckled many times trying to get up and leave. The office told me what happens to deers who can't walk and the deer looked at us both with agony. I left quickly with a knot in  my throat knowing it would be put to death and sat in silence the next day at work....

Goodbye sweet deer...

Then my dad came to visit the US. I was excited to go to Seattle to see him so booked a flight with a great deal on Spirit Airlines awed at their super low price of $175 round trip! Who could resist such a great deal? I felt so smart booking it till the Chef said that any airline called Spirit sounds like its doomed to death and a co-worker quickly informed me that Spirit had just flushed a pet hamster down the toilet. "Pesimists!" I thought! And I continued joyfully booking a bed and breakfast in the San Juan Islands, looking for Orca tours and looking up churches for mass to make sure my soul was well-fed.

The day of my flight arrived and I happily toted my carry-on luggage to the car...but it started to snow...just a drop of snow. We drove to the airport slipping and sliding and I felt this was a very bad idea. I got through airport security and confirmed my sense of joy seeing how fast I was able to take my shoes off and put them on. This would be a great trip after all! Going through security in a clunky way just makes the whole trip bad, but getting through security quickly means that it is off to a great start! As I got to my gate I smelled kitchen gas. And I saw big serious men looking menacingly around, undercover police officers for sure. Three firetrucks arrived and the passengers waiting to get on the plane were quickly told to board.

We boarded the plane and I proceeded to settle in for the long 6 hour flight out west. My shoes were taken off, snacks and book pulled out, polite smile given to the seatmates (who were so chatty and nervous). Finally we left the gate, passed the firetrucks and went to stand in line to take off.

The plane stood for three hours. Their was no AC. People went to the bathroom to discover their was no running water. It smelled. The hostess didn't give any water. The pilot came on an announced that we only  had enough fuel to arrive to Portland Oregon. After another hour the plane made a U-turn and parked with the hostess telling everyone to exit the aircraft and to take their things. The flight was cancelled as we got back out into the same terminal and everyone was refunded with the opportunity to re-purchase their ticket if they wanted to leave the next day.

Spirit Airlines....never again! I bet they would flush a hamster after making 200 people sit on an aircraft with no running water or air....Even if we had left it would have been very uncomfortable. Top Spirit complaints (apart from my experience)

• The seats don't recline
• There is no tray table
• You  have to pay to check in, for your seat and for a small carry-on luggage. Added up it equals the same as flying with a reputable company!

I returned home bedraggled and decided to stay home. Fatty had decided eating wasn't for him anymore and a cat refusing food is sitting on his grave! The next day my dad decided to hop on decent and professional Delta Airlines and fly out east.

It was the best choice as I love being hostess and the weather was supposed to be really nice in Maryland. I hadn't seen him in a few years so it was great seeing him a little older, funnier and quieter than I remember.

I fed him hearty breakfasts.

Homemade cornbread, sunny side up eggs, bacon and burnt toast (not everything can be perfect!)

My family knows how to eat!

Went to our favorite places together:

Annapolis

An Annapolis brick engulfed by the root of a tree. I love how strong nature prevails.

The botanic gardens

Baldo and the Turtle

Baldo the Butterfly. I see a reoccurring theme for children's stories here.

The Smithsonian National Gallery of Art

The Adoration of the Magi by Fra Angelico was his favorite and he knew right were to go.

Long lost relative.

Ellicott City's antique row

I could use this spice rack in my life. 

The National Portrait Gallery

He loved the JFK presidential portrait

Then he got back on the plane and went back to Seattle easy peasy. It was so much easier than planning a road trip in Washington. My lesson learned was to plan stay-cations as much as possible. There is no place like home and I felt really sad thinking of traveling without the Chef or the furballs. I have a long list of places I would like to visit but maybe I need to fine-tune that to seasons. Here are a few of my tips for hosting though, even if it's family:

Set up the guest bedroom ahead of any visit so it's not hard to throw together at the last minute.

The cat approved

Clean and simple

Items needed:

• 2 fresh towels
• 2-3 books (keep the topics lite. Cat books are good)
• 2-3 magazines (Nat Geo is good)
• A few bottles of water
• An extra chair in the corner for unpacking
• An extra blanket
• Soft tissues
• Slippers (everyone likes slippers)
• Make sure the room is comfy for sleeping by trying it out ahead of time. Ventilate the room before your guest arrives and put on fresh sheets. Make sure they feel comfortable and check to see if they need anything. Offer your laundry services if they need to wash clothes. Its always nicer to return home with clean laundry. I find that treating even family like guests makes them feel more welcome. Then feed them well and avoid weird or uncomfortable topics. Be pleasant. So, how is your cat doing? Etc.