Holiday Update

A good time was had by all. My decorations passed inspection, as well as my separate serving areas for entrees, beverages, condiments, and desserts. My cookie table was a wow, and everyone loved having a small cookie tin to fill and take home, allegedly for the spouses :) We know how that goes.

The hit of the party were the Ritz chocolate marshmallow cookies! I had to type up the recipe and send it out as everyone wanted to make their own batch after the party. Hurrah.

My friend, whom I dropped at the airport Thursday for a flight back east--and then took back Friday to see if she could depart--finally arrived at her destination at 4 AM Saturday morning. She was given a list of excuses, including mechanical delay, traffic stacked up, weather, and rescheduled flights, which resulted in her spending over 10 hours at the Chicago airport. I guess she was actually lucky to have departed Chicago at all, judging by the canceled flights to other destinations.

However, because of the changes to her flights, her parents called a car service to drive the 90 miles to pick her up and then drive the 90 miles back to her final destination because there was no connecting final flight. The driver was supposed to pick her up at midnight, but the plane didn't land until 2 AM, so it was a long trip for everyone involved. The last time she returned from the east, the flights were rerouted and she and her family ended up at an airport 3 hours from her home in the desert--with no way to get here, her final destination. That time they rented a car and drove the rest of the way home--and sent a blistering letter to the airlines, which made them feel better but earned the same result my letters had: too bad, so sad, let's move on.

My daughter-in-law is on her way to the west coast from Canada, and the morning news warns that storms are continuing to cause hundreds of canceled/delayed/rescheduled flights.

In spite of what travelers are told by the airlines, no one cares and no accommodations are made for delays, inconvenience, stress. Once you buy a ticket, it's a crap shoot whether you will--or will not--make it to your destination, and arrival date/time are simply anyone's best guess.

My best travel advice: take a tin of home-baked cookies so when the going gets tough, the tough can enjoy a hot cup of coffee with the delicious cookies!