Travelling home again

Well, I'm home in Winnipeg for now. But what a day! It's never simple... but then there wouldn't be a good story to tell. As you may have guessed by now, I'm a bit of a procrastinator. I may have things all planned out in my head, but I don't do much about them until the last minute. If I'm travelling, I pack the day before I leave. Always have. Not always a good plan.

What with working almost every day, and wanting to get my laundry done before leaving, I figured my best plan was to do laundry and pack and clean the apartment all on the day I was leaving (today). Yes, and you thought I was smart! Hahaha! I bet you can guess where this story is leading...

I did one load of laundry after work last night, then headed to bed. The alarm was set for 7am. Luckily, having been on day shift since Thursday, my body was actually ready to get up before 7. So that wasn't a problem. I got up, had breakfast, started laundry, had a shower, listened to music and started cleaning the house. I was doing a bit more of a deep clean than usual. Reorganizing things, clearing anything perishable out of the fridge and wiping it out, even cleaning under the fruit/veg drawers. I reformatted my Ipod, and dug out battery chargers for electronics I was bringing. I put the dishwasher through, and left the extra dishes on the counter to be cleaned after a quick lunch. I dusted and tidied-up and gathered items to be packed. Moving fluidly from one area to another as I found things that needed new homes. Multitasking and going to a new job before finishing the old one. Making good time considering all that I wanted to get done. My flight was leaving at 1:50, and I needed to be at the airport an hour before that. I realized at noon that I was hungry and wouldn't have time to pick something up before the flight... I also realized I had dumped the last of my perishables and hadn't done my dishes yet. No problem, pull some pizza from the freezer and toss it in the microwave. I pulled it out and ate as fast as I could, while the sink filled with soapy water. I tossed the dish in to soak and made sure the apartment was vacuumed. I grabbed the last of the trash and took it out. Suddenly I noticed my time was up, I needed to call a cab! So I called as soon as I came in the apartment, grabbed my bags and locked up. The cab arrived fairly fast, and halfway to the airport (5 min drive) I realized the dishes were still in the sink.

Brainstorming, I thought I probably had time to check in, get a cab home, finish the dishes and get back in time to check in at security. So I went to the Canadian North line-up, got to the desk, and the girl there remarks, "you know the flight doesn't leave until 6:50pm, right?" Me, "no, I booked it for 1:50pm, I have a connecting flight to Winnipeg!" Her, "oh, uh, let me see here, they might have room on the first air flight..." So she goes over to the first air counter, and finds out I'm somehow already on the computer to go with them. And she tells me to head over there. So I get in line there, get to the counter, and am told that I need to get a coupon from Canadian North before they can book me on the flight, even though I'm already in the computer... even though they are literally 5 feet from each other's desks, even though Canadian North said nothing about that. So I have to take my bags, get BACK IN LINE and wait 10mins to see the rep for Canadian North, get her to look things up again and print off a ticket/coupon. Then I have to get BACK IN LINE, AGAIN! for First Air, and they finally process it, in a mad rush because they had to call security and get them to wait so my stuff will get on the plane that's leaving momentarily, as their flight always leaves a bit before Canadian North. I'm directed to head straight for the security line-up so I can get on the plane as fast as possible. Of course, the line-up was horribly slow. And then they had to do the random testing on my bag... but I made the flight. My dishes... hopefully aren't too bad and won't stink anything up.

I will say one thing about the stupidly expensive flight to Ottawa... they feed you well. Except... because I was a last minute addition to the flight, they might not have a meal for me. It's not like it was my fault!!! But what can you say, you're at their mercy! I also ended up with an aisle seat. I prefer the window. Anyways, when they came to remind me that I probably wouldn't get a meal, the girl in the aisle seat across from me heard her warn me. And a little later she pokes me and offers me her meal, as she wasn't going to eat it anyways. Looking at her, all 100pounds of her, I thought she needed it more than me... but she was adamant that she didn't want it. So I got fed well. Not only the meal with shepherds pie, salad, bun, and a gorgeous brownie, but I had a can of pop, a bottle of water, a cup of tea, and a cup of special coffee oh and a warm chocolate chip cookie. I managed to spill the coffee on my jeans, but at least it didn't stain! I was bursting by the time we landed. Couldn't even think of buying food or drinks at the airport, just had to do some laps to work off the food. My flight to Winnipeg went great, and my parents were waiting at the airport with hugs! It's good to be home!