GAHS, GROANS and GOOFS!

GRATITUDES: After a very nice dinner at the French restaurant next to our hotel, I had a pretty darn good sleep in that technosavvy hotel. We did not have an early morning departure (I thought we flew out around 1:30pm-ish), so it was nice to not have to set an alarm. For some reason though, I woke up really early anyway. And, rather than rolling over, I decided to stay awake because I thought it might make it easier to doze a little on the plane. So, I languished away almost an hour and a half piddling away on email and Facebook and Find Penguins before John woke up ... shortly before 7:00am. We figured we had oodles of time and were leisurely chatting about what time we should get the shuttle. And so ... I opened my WestJet App to confirm the exact time so we could configure our scheduling for re-packing (getting the cold weather wear out and the shorts and sandals tucked away), eating breakfast and shuttling to the airport.

GOOFS: You cannot even begin to imagine the jolt of adrenalin that coursed through my veins when I looked at the the departure time and it said ... 11:20am!!!! WHATTTTT!! I think I even dropped the f-bomb. John's eyes were as big as saucers and we both scrambled out of bed as I tried to calculate our time frame backwards! But when you are in a state of extreme alarm, your pre-frontal cortex doesn't work. I was thinking ... with my heart thumping out of my chest ... we have to be at the airport by 9:20am. We have to have about 45 minutes for the shuttle. That was hard math in that moment. Okay. We have to be at the shuttle by 8:30am. Oh my gosh ... we have to be to breakfast by 7:45am. Gah!! Therefore, we have to get showered and dressed and re-packed within the next 30 minutes!!!! YIKES!!! It didn't seem possible!

GROANS: I couldn't even remember where my toothbrush was at that moment! John decided to jump in the shower. OH yeah!! Our colorful shower. I didn't think I even had time to take a shower ... but ... it was the colorful shower!! And so ... I determined to get in and get wet with a burst of some color ...at least!

GRINS: And so ... John manned the IPAD controls. FUSCHIA first. It was okay. PERIWINKLE BLUE next. Ah yes. He liked the blue on me! Perhaps it was because we were both seeing red ... and since our favorite color is purple ... it made a pleasing combo! It made no difference to me at that point. I was too rushed to consider trying on the other colors. So, I guess we will never really know what color is the most flattering on a wet 60 year old. And, that is my sad and quick end to what might have been a truly 'colorful' story. Sorry gang.

GAHS: Most surprisingly, we were so darn quick that we were at breakfast by 7:30am. And ... we were ahead of schedule for the shuttle too. And so ... I don't even want to be reminded that I probably had time to try on the other colors! I was too busy kicking myself for fouling things up! I was just grateful that we caught my error in time to get on the plane at all!

GRIMACES: And then ... it turned out that we were delayed by about 45 minutes anyway. Such are the unexpected unpredictabilities of travelling. And ... we learned that we have to disembark in Halifax ...get our luggage and go through customs there. Then, we have to put our luggage on the transfer belt ... and get back on the same plane ... same seats. But, of course, we had to go through security all over again. Arghhhh. And our departure time was 3:00pm. And, we were still standing in the line at the security counters at 2:40pm. So ... we had a little stress about missing our connection with the same aircraft we arrived on. And ... the water we bought when we got through security in Paris ended up in the trash in Halifax.

GRATITUDES: On a more positive note, just before we landed, when we broke through the clouds over Nova Scotia, we were gifted with the most beautiful display of Autumn leaves! I took a pic out the window of the plane! This was our first taste of Autumn colors! And, I have been craving a Subway sandwich for a while now ... and ... was able to snag one at the airport. I'm also looking forward to having a Tim Hortons in the morning! Oh ... and most interestingly ... back at the airport in Paris they had something I had never seen before. They have a container called a charge box. You can rent a little locker space equipped with various types of chargers ... pay your money ... and then lock it up. Brilliant for those who don't have adapters.

GOODNESS: We were scheduled to be flying for some 13 hours today so I decided to order the Internet that WestJet provides because I thought it would help me pass the time. And it did!! I was able to work on our "50 Travel Questions" about our journey! So, I typed away as we chatted and reflected on the questions. It always fun to revisit things because the conversation sparks memories that had fallen off your radar. I was really hoping to get it done before we get home and get back to work and forget too much!! I'll blog them here when I get them completed.

GAHS: Our flights were both delayed ... so there are folks who missed their connections tonight. Fortunately, for us, we got the shuttle to our hotel and are so glad we don't have to drive back tonight. So, we are staying in Calgary ... having a gourmet dinner of squished ham sandwiches that have been in our bag since Paris (17 hours ago), some Pringles (becoming a staple for us!) and some wine we grabbed at the airport. And then, we'll be taking the Red Arrow back home tomorrow!

It actually feels really good to be back in Canada. Looking forward to reconnecting soon!! But for now, good night from us ... k&j

GROANS: For some reason ... our pictures won't upload. I'll try again tomorrow! As my mothermother-in-law used to say: "Its always something!"Read more