Wake up - Ugh. Why is there snow here? I guess everyone else was happy about a White Christmas. The novelty is lost on me.
Jazzercise - Mom and I went to one more class. This turned out to be a good thing since I missed Zumba for the day and ran at 730pm in the dark and snow and cold. At least I got a good workout here. This brings me to my first new favorite song of the day:
Wisin Y Yandel - Follow the Leader ft Jennifer Lopez. There's a great jazzercise routine which would only be improved by adding more Zumba moves to the thing.
Skyline - Per protocol, we hit Skyline on the way to the airport. Yes, I do schedule my flights so I can get Skyline for lunch before I head out.
Flight change - My friends at Delta have a [somewhat] new system for getting volunteers to give up their seats on flights. When I check in online, I'm given the option of giving up my seat for a flight voucher of $25, $50, $100, or I can enter my own value. I said I'd give up my seat for a $400 flight voucher, which is about what the round trip ticket cost my parents. Those of you who fly will realize this system is like legalized gambling. You have to pick a value high enough that it's worth it, but low enough the airlines might accept your offer. I just always enter a value that I would accept and wouldn't feel screwed by, and then don't care if they pick someone who said they'd get bumped for less. I have an advantage that I fly alone and I typically fly direct, so it's one seat on one flight which is appealing to the gate agents who have to change my tickets. As you can probably tell by that long explanation, Delta accepted my offer and bumped me from a 325 flight to a 505 flight so I had a little bit of time to spend at the airport.
How to spend time at the airport - There are so many options. I explored concourse B and was somewhat surprised to find an indoor smoking section.
I guess we are in Kentucky. I also browsed the selection of food, since I had a $6 meal voucher. Only people from Cincinnati understand the Chili here. I wound up at the candy store since I'd had Skyline for lunch. Then I listened to lots of music, including
Love is a Four Letter Word where all of the songs seem to be written just for me. New favorites include
93 Million Miles which I imagine my Dad saying to me;
The Woman I Love;
Frank D Fixer; and
Living in the Moment which I've loved for some time and is always relevant.
Flying - The flight was basically fine. It was a little bumpy to begin with but smoothed out nicely. I got to watch a fairly spectacular sunset out of my window. I had an exit row seat and found myself taking that responsibility very seriously. I read the card in my seat back pocket and everything. Also, sitting by the emergency door is cold and drafty which I found partially impossible and slightly alarming.
(Isn't this Tin Can pressurized?)
Minneapolis airport - I'm able to laugh about the landing now. The landing was actually fine; it was just that first turn off the main runway that was a little exciting.
Who's ever felt a plane fish-tail? We were on the tarmac for what felt like forever. There must've been some delays here for de-icing of the snow because the planes were lined up to take off.
Home Yea for my Pooky Bear who came and picked me up. The change in flights knocked my original ground transportation plans out of whack. I thought I'd be nice and have her get my upstairs.
Surely everyone has checked in by now for their evening flights. That was my mistake. Sorry. I obviously missed Zumba
(sad) but still did my run in the fresh snow. I put on Yak Trax but don't really think I needed them. The sidewalks were obviously clear under the powder. I also stopped to take one last picture of Christmas lights, although they're not as impressive as the Happy Birthday Jesus house.
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