Monday, August 06, 2007

Whirlwind of Wonderfulness


Turns out I hate JFK airport. I remember when I thought it was so cool to live near this international airport where I could get a flight anywhere on any airline, but I have changed my mind. We were supposed to fly out at 9:30pm on Friday for a short flight to Columbus, OH. We were already going to get in late, but much to my disgust and dismay we got to the airport only to discover that our flight was 2 hours late. Lame. Inconvenient and very annoying, but there wasn't much to be done. We got to the gate, which was at the JetBlue satellite terminal to find crowds of people and a separture screen that was splashed with orange DELAYS all over it. Of the 30 some odd flights listed, only 6 left on time. All the others were leaving 2-3 hours late. JetBlue claims it's a JFK problem of booking too many flights that they cannot accommodate. Not very good for customer satisfaction. Well, I don't know if it's a JFK thing or a JetBlue thing, but either way it left me and probably several hundred other people fuming, especially since there didn't seem anyone around who could give the customers accurate information regarding their flights. They just told us to go back to the main terminal. No way. I felt angry and frustrated for myself but even moreso for the many mothers with small children that seemed to be traveling alone. Our flight didn't leave at 11:25 as it was rescheduled, it didn't leave at 12:55 as it as re-rescheduled. It didn't leave until 3 am. That is almost 6 hours late. I could have driven to Columbus, OH in that amount of time. Luckily, it was a short flight. We got in around 4:30, and my poor sister Mallory had to come and pick us up.

Despite the horrendous travel to Columbus, the entire weekend was just wonderful. We went to the temple with Meryn and Danny for their sealing and enjoyed a day of family togetherness. Aunt Melissa put on a lovely feast in their newly remodeled backyard, and we stayed up late talking and laughing and soaking up every minute. I got to hold little Dylann (practice??), and she was beautiful and adorable. On Sunday, she was blessed at church and we had a lovely dinner at Mom and Dad's before heading out. We even spent a little time helping Mallory put together an IKEA wardrobe... only 3000 pieces and 37 steps :) We only managed half of it before heading to the parents for Sunday dinner. I hope Jared was able to finish it.

Happiness is an on-time flight home reminiscing about a wonderful weekend and feeling warm from family infusion. I loved it.

6 comments:

Rachel said...

It was so cool seeing that picture of all you kids together once again :) thanks for sharing nikki.
and i've got a request...do you have a picture of mom and dad to share? How are they doing these days??

Nate and Lalani said...

Hey Nik,
I am glad u found us. I sent an email a few days ago, but maybe got the email wrong...after all these years I am still slightly inept when it comes to computer. Anyway you guys look great and I love reading your musings. You are really a talented writer. This blog thing is really fun, and allows us all to stay in touch. I love it!
-lalani

Lindsey F. said...

Looks like such a fun weekend! (despite the airport of course...I hate delayed flights) How fun that all of you were together! I'm curious how many grandkids there are.

nikki said...

Rachel, I do have a picture of my parents... I think, probably with the wedding pictures. I will dig one up for you.

Lalani, I have changed my email to nikkipkelly@gmail.com. I don't check my other one very often, so you might have sent it there.

Lindsey, grandkids... Only 9. Margo has 4, Jared has 4, Meryn has 1. The rest of us are slow or not married.

nikki said...
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Ann said...

Oh, man--I hear you about the airport delays. I'm seriously confounded on how it is that that can happen with so many airlines and so many people and none of us ever gets compensated. We pay good money for those tickets so it seems to me that we should get what we pay for. Anyway, I'm so glad you had a good weekend after that! I bet the sealing was amazing!