Don't Worry... Be Happy!... :)

I wish I would have remembered this on vacation! Seriously!

And yet I spent a great deal of my trip being completely stressed out, about one thing or another.

PARTICULARLY WORRISOME ITEMS IN QUESTION...

My House

Worrisome Item #1: I was pretty sure that my entire house was going to collapse from the weight of the ice in my absence. Either that or flood from all the melting. I was worried that my garage door wouldn't work again and that Cheryl would have to use my broken side door to get into the house, but not before slipping on the ice rink which was in front of it first. I was afraid my old kitty would die while I was gone and that Cheryl would somehow end up having to deal with it.

In Actuality: The house was fine. The kitties were fine. Although I did end up not shutting my kitchen door tight when I left, due to all my angst, so when Cheryl first arrived after 24 hours of my being gone the door to the house was wide open.

Worrisome Item #2: When I got the email from Cheryl telling me about the door, I worried for the rest of my vacation about how exhorbitent my heating bill for the month was going to be!

In Actuality: The bill in question was less than the month before and, in retrospect, realized that realistically the door probably didn't even blow open until Cheryl opened the garage door (which worked, btw.)

The Express Overcharge Debacle

Worrisome Item #3: I felt so bad for Whitney being charged full price on a sweater she'd been so excited to find at 50% off! And since she'd paid cash there'd be no way of getting a refund unless we walked all the way back to the Fashion Show Mall at the north end of the strip! And since we'd discovered this error only minutes after returning home from that very long walk, well, the prospect of embarking on that walk again was overwhelming. And of course to take a cab would completely negate the purpose.

In Actuality: By Wednesday we were rested up and ready for another walk. It was a beautiful day and we were able to see a lot of the sites we'd missed on our first day, including the video marquee of Celine Dion outside of Caesars Palace which prompted us to sit on a bench to discuss all possibilities of seeing her, and then spying the 1/2 Price Ticket Booth right outside the entrance to the mall...

My Car

Worrisome Item #4: I knew the very second that I left my car in the parking at work in sub-zero temps that it most likely wouldn't start when I returned home at 11:00 pm the following week. I'd asked Renee if she could try to start it on the day of my return and then leave a message on my cellphone as to the prognosis. My plan, if my battery was dead, was to just take a cab straight home instead of back to work, and then deal with AAA the next day.

My Cellphone

Worrisome Item #5: Well, as I shared before, my cellphone charger was the only thing that "stayed in Vegas" and when you're traveling is really not the best time to be out of touch, especially when you're banking on an important phone call. Luckily I discoverd it prior to getting to Drigg's so we stopped at the Walmart (where I'd bought my Tracfone initially) in Rexburg to see if I could get another charger. No luck! Charger WAY out of date. So I bought another phone, which after registering it online discovered that the activation (and transference of phone number and minutes from old phone to new) would take anywhere from several hours up to 4 business days. It was Friday and I was flying home on Monday...

In Actuality: I emailed Renee and asked if she could try my car prior to noon on Monday, at which point I'd still be with Daryn (and Daryn's phone) and let me know. She did better than that. Though my battery was dead indeed, she managed to find a couple of (great) guys from work to jump my battery and drive my car around for a bit (which is when they discovered that my windshield wipers were completely inoperable as well, and so replaced THEM too!)... Meanwhile, my new phone (which I love btw!) started working just shortly before I arrived at the airport on Monday for my flight home so basically no problem.

Weather, Travel, Family Scheduling

Worrisome Items #6, 7 & 8: It's always so hard to fly out west and trying to figure out a way to see everybody, and in a way that works well for everyone. In fact, it's nearly impossible sometimes, especially when the weather doesn't cooperate, and best laid plans sometimes just need to be left to chance. And sometimes going with the flow ends up working out just fine.

In Actuality: I was able to spend a wonderful four days with Whitney and her family. Got to pick up Jade from school, visit her gymnastics class, watch her basketball practice and a rehearsal of her upcoming production of "The Wizard of Oz."

I got to play with those three little boys who are growing up SO fast!

I got to attend Whitney's Zumba class (and last through the whole thing!)

We watched alot of fun TV at night! (Including the 2-Night Special of "The Bachelor" that we missed last week and an encore presentation of "Celine's" concert!)

And "Frozen"...

Mom and Alison were able to make the trip up so we got to spend time together with them as well!

Unfortunately, due to the weekend's snowstorm on Saturday and Monday's impending one, Daryn and Jon didn't feel that they could make it to Driggs on their way back from Big Sky with any confidence we wouldn't get snowed in. So I rode to Rexburg with Mom and Alison on Sunday to visit with them at Jon's mom's house instead.

Arm scratching...

Rachel's Snowbunny...

Story Time...

Pears?...

Card Sharks...

It still fits!...

The Bachelor

Worrisome Item #9: Couldn't even believe I was going to miss it in exchange for arriving home in -4 degree weather at 11:00pm and getting up for work at 6:00am the next morning!

Drove to Idaho Falls airport with Daryn, Jon and the girls, making my flight to Salt Lake City on Monday morning as scheduled with no problems. So, on my way home I guess. *sigh*

Flight Delays

Worrisome Item #10: Because well, these are obviously NEVER fun!

In Actuality: Due to "mechanical" problems which would have caused me to miss my Grand Rapids connection in Detroit, I was put up in a complimentary hotel room in downtown SLC. Shuttle driver was super cute. Hotel room was super classy. Weather in Salt Lake City was super awesome (about 60 degrees.) Called Alison, who's insurance office was super close by and so she dropped by after work to watch "The Bachelor" and "Walking Dead" with me on a super-sized HD TV! :)

The next morning, after using the hotel's business center to alert Renee that I'd be back to Grand Rapids that afternoon (as opposed to in the middle of the night) and to ask if it would be possible for her to pick me up from the airport (she could), I helped myself to one of the finest hotel breakfasts I've ever encountered.

Things got even better when I arrived at the airport to find that seat 3B, that I had initially "worried" would be a center seat, which was in actuality in FIRST CLASS!

I think I can now liken "First Class" to getting laughing gas at the dentist's office. It makes ALL the difference in the world!

BTW, I just recieved an email from Delta thanking me profusely for my patience with the delay and giving me an additional 5,000 frequent flyer miles to be added to my account as a "thank you"..

So what did I learn from all of this? There must be an obvious lesson in all of it for sure!