Our Christmas Trip

Our journey begins with my cousin's husband who works for Delta. He was able to get us Buddy Passes so that we may fly to Atlanta for Christmas at a very inexpensive trip. We sent Sara, our dog, to the Doggy Hotel, reserved Super Shuttle to pick us up at 5am on Saturday 12/22, and we were off. Now, the one thing that is a given is we are flying standby both departing Tampa to Atlanta and coming back home. We arrive at the Tampa airport very excite and a little hesitant *this is Little One's first flight*.

We are dropped at the baggage check-in and the first person to ask if he can help with our bags is a gentleman dressed in normal airport attire… I figure this guy is an employee of Delta… and there is no one in line to check their bags… so I agree he can check our bags… bad move. Turns out his is a Sky Cap, and is expecting a tip…… WE HAVE NO CASH ON US. I politely say “Thank you and Merry Christmas” and turn to leave, my DH comes up to me and tells me that guy is totally ticked off and slamming our bags around and shaking his head in disgust. I ask why and DH tells me the deal, he was expecting a tip. I am totally embarrassed at my Faux Pas ( I have not flown in more than 12 years and didn’t really know what a Sky Cap looked like or even did. So, we are off to a rocky start.. we have to go into the airport to find an ATM and FAST! I don’t know what to expect to get through security. Finally we locate an ATM grab $20 and off to Starbucks to break the $20 ;-) for a tip…. Then back to the entrance we came in (where in the heck did we come in????) to find the Sky Cap and tip the man!!!! Mission Complete, whew.

Next we are onto security, I have emptied all bad things that we can not take on the plane, liquids, lighters…etc… stand in line, take off shoes(btw, I’m wearing Merry Christmas socks to spread some cheer in the line), coats, take laptop out, put all in plastic cartons and walk through metal detectors, gather belongings, through every thing back together and off to the gate…

We arrive and there are A LOT of seats left and only 15 standbys including us J … we wait until everyone w/ paid tickets board and we get called to board.. YAY!!! I walk on the plane first and low and behold it is a HUGE plane and there are 3 seats in the middle.. YAY again!! We get to sit together!!! WOW, this has been sooo easy, the flight was fantastic, we arrived about 10 minutes earlier than expected, Nana found a parking spot and was able to meet us at Baggage Claim instead of having to circle the airport over and over again waiting for us. YAY once more!!!

Drove to my Parent’s House and there waiting for us was a very Merry Christmas, Mom had decorated the house very Christmassy, had stockings for us to decorate and we even were able to do a little shopping Saturday night… Had a great meal that included Honey Baked Ham, YUMMY!!! We were tuckered out and went to bed around 11pm… Sunday Morning, I woke up w/ a horrible STUPID migraine and was out for the count until 2pm that afternoon. Didn’t do much that afternoon, just hung out with the family.

Monday, Christmas Eve – Mom had asked for us girls.. Mom, me, my Lil’ Sis, and Niece to go to get manicures,… Mom paid (THANK YOU!!) We all got our nails painted Christmas Red and had a great time! After that we headed to Kroger to grab a few items. I also picked up 2 bottles of wine and a Christmas bouquet for my Sis-In-Law, my DH, Little One and I were headed to their house for Christmas Eve Dinner and gifts… We arrived there around 5ish. We had not seen Sis-In-Law’s Family in over a year and my, my how the girls have grown, tell me how does time fly so fast???

Sis-In-Law really had a wonderful meal for us, Grilled Salmon, Beer Can Chicken, Asparagus and Garlic Roasted Potatoes. YUMMY!!! Everything was wonderful… after dinner the kids opened gifts and had a BLAST!!! We left to go back to my Parent’s house about 11pm, got there, put out Santa’s cookies and milk and put Little One to bed, with visions of Sugar Plums dancing in his head.

Christmas Morning – Little One woke up at 7am, came in to wake us and we opened gifts…way too many to list J … Had a Little One ordered breakfast.. Pigs in a Blanket, Hot Chocolate and waited for my Lil’ Sis and her family to come over to open more gifts. Next we were off to my Aunt and Uncle’s Christmas get together she has every year… but this one was different, instead at their house in Hampton, Georgia, they were house sitting for couple that were on a cruise The couple’s house is actually a beautiful, nice Log Cabin in the North Georgia Mountains in Ellijay. One word… Breathtaking!! AND THE FOOD OH MY!! We had Flank Steak, Bacon wrapped Pork, Broccoli w/ cheese sauce, Potatoes Au Gratin, Sweet Potatoes both regular and in Orange Rinds…..desserts were wonderful, (understatement!!) We had Coconut Cake, Chocolate Cake, and an awesome Pecan Pie Cheesecake. But the best of the best was the FELLOWSHIP that we had together. There is something about being with my family and enjoying them, there smiles and warm, tenderness they offer. I love them so.

Wednesday 12/26 – went to my Lil’ Sis’s house to see the awesome job she has done decorating, spend some quality girl time (although not enough time) and to let the kids hang out together. She makes a mean Peach Bellini!! Thank you Nana!! Then onto one of our favorite restaurants, Provino’s for some fine Italian food!! YUMMY! We shared wonderful food and fellowship and over to Wal-Mart to pick up a gift for one of my Nephew’s 5th Birthday. J Next, back to my Parents.. sleep time!

Thursday 12/27 – time to head back to Tampa.. L My Lil’ Sis, picks us up at my Parents house at 5am, to get to the ATL airport by 6 for our standby flight at 8…Well, the adventure began.. stood in LONG lines for security checks… got to the gate… we were already 23rd on the standby list… bumped. (thought this would happen). We headed to a different gate in a different concourse… waited only to see that we were 30th on the stand by list … bumped. Headed back to another gate different concourse (A LOT of walking, grabbing Starbucks, muffins for breakfast). Arrive at this assigned gate.. still in the 30’s on the standby list… bumped. By now it is around noon, headed over to Delta desk, found out all flights to FL were either overbooked or had massive standby lists, not looking good for us to get home today. We decided to rent a car and drive to Tampa… got the car at 2 and here we are cruising down 75 in a tiny compact Chevy.. Oh the life and times of flying during Christmas.

This was a wonderful, fantastic, whirlwind trip and I would not have traded one moment for anything in the world!! I was able to spend time with ALL of my family, hug them, love them and look into their eyes and see the joy Christmas, together celebrating the Birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the true Reason for this Season.

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