so I've been sitting at my computer for the last 20 minutes with my typepad "compose a new post" page up, listening to Wicked, swooning / swaying / melting into the music and mentally & physically unable to do anything else. {sigh} It was fabulous. But we'll get to that later.
This weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to spend some time away with my mom (our annual mother/daughter getaway), and my dad & brother Mason. With HUGE thanks to my amazing husband for sending me off with a smile, tackling the kids for 4 days, and many other heroic feats including shoe shopping for Anna. Also thanks to Valerie (Scott's mom) for visiting for 2 of those days, ensuring that I didn't come home to a completely insane husband.
And now for the adventure. And oh my, it definitely began as an adventure.
Here's me in the Seattle airport with my little friend, Swedish Fish. You might be asking yourself a couple quesions at this point.
- Why is she posing for a picture with a fish-shaped candy?
- Why the heck is she in the Seattle Airport? Wasn't she headed to LA?
Ahh, well I have answers for both of those questions.
- Lots of time on my hands. Ohhhh, about 7 extra hours on my hands. Plus, they're just so tasty & friendly.
- Mechanical problems led to flight cancellation & some major re-routing (courtesy of my heroic husband). Yes.
Thursday, I arrived at the airport just before 6am for my 7:30am flight to San Francisco -- a connection would take me to Bakersfield arriving at my destination at 1:40pm. My brother lives there, my parents were planning to drive to their house, have a BBQ, Sam was going to do a little photo shoot with me, and we would head to LA the next morning (just 1.5 hours away). I got on the plane, they informed us of a mechanical problem, and at 8am the flight was officially cancelled. So we all piled off the plane and were handed numbers to make the re-booking process orderly. My number was 82. And there were exactly 2 agents at the gate to help all 135 of us. Nice, huh. After an hour they were on number 7.
This is where Scott got on the phone (while working from home) and worked his magic, chewing out a few supervisors in the process. No way around it, Bakersfield was not going to happen for me that day - sad. :( I was really looking forward to seeing Sam & Heidi. Instead I got on a 1:30 flight to Seattle, then a 6pm flight to LAX which arrived just after 9pm. 15 hours spent in the airport or on an airplane that day. The only thing that saved me from insanity was my book - which I started & finished. My parents met me at the airport and we stayed in a hotel that Scott booked for us.
Let's just say it all gets better from here on out.
FRIDAY. Sam, Heidi, Carlee, & Preston were so awesome and they actually came down to LA bright and early for a fun family day at . . . .
Here's the family (click to enlarge) . . . .
The last time I was here was a week or two before Scott and I were married. My family had taken "one last family vacation" together down to San Diego. Not too much had changed in 9 years. Although, I did get a little thrill to see Wisteria Lane, and the destruction scene from War of the Worlds (where the 747 crashed in a neighborhood) was pretty amazing. It was a fun day.
We had a good time all together. Carlee and Preston were great -- Carlee was loving running through the water fountains. I was so happy to get to see Sam & Heidi after plans went sour the day before.
SATURDAY. Shopping at Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, the boys off doing their own thing, a new Easter dress, new jeans, lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, perfect!
Here's an observation. My mom and I are similar in some things, and in some things well, we're not. We were both shopping for shoes. See if you can determine which 2 shoes were my choices and which 2 were hers. :) Pointy heels vs. rounded flats.
Okay, now on to the really good stuff. Wicked was awesome. Just plain phenomenal. I'm already trying to figure out how I can see it again someday and this time get Scott to go with me. It was just so fun to watch, witty, clever, the singing was amazing. Elphaba has one powerful voice -- Defying Gravity was just crazy. Had you jumping to your feet. Galinda/Glinda was a total ham and played up every little bit of her character. What I loved was how so many details of The Wizard of Oz were weaved into the play in very subtle, yet surprising ways. It was a great story and as Kent says, "The wicked witch was just misunderstood."
Thanks for the wonderful weekend! Thanks to dad for not killing us on the LA freeways. Thanks to Mason for the great idea to see Wicked! Happy 18th birthday! And thanks to mom for your love, support, always being my biggest fan, and a tradition that keeps on going!