Their flight has been delayed by 1.5 hours. They should have time to make their connection in Brussels. If not, I might just have to call my friend, Cindy, in Germany and have her go get them!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Exhausted
That's me. Completely exhausted. And so ready to be home. It's been the trip of a lifetime, and meeting our precious son is worth every ounce of tired that I've got in me (and I've got quite a few ounces of tired, believe me!), but all that doesn't make me any less tired today. In this moment.
I am staying up, waiting for confirmation that the Hub and son are getting on the plane. I assume they will, as tonight they breezed through check-in and through security and made it to their gate 3 hours early! They've just been hanging out there ever since. But I'm not banking on my assumptions. Today there was a dust storm in the area, so for all we know, their plane will be delayed.
Tom and I leave for the airport at 10:30 a.m., which is in about 9 hours. I would love to get lots of good sleep, but who knows if I will or not. I have a feeling that it will be fitful sleep, as I will be too nervous about missing our plane to sleep very soundly. But the bed is calling my name right now. One more hour, Hoffbeauty---you can make it!
The Embassy.....it was wonderful. That's all I'm gonna say for now. The details will have to wait. We got Tom's visa in hand less than 2 hours after arriving! And the things I was "worried" about never even crossed my mind once we were there. (That's not saying much, since my mind was pretty much on autopilot after having stayed up all night.)
We got back to the hotel at about 11:45 a.m., and I slept on and off for the next 5 hours or so. Have I mentioned that I'm exhausted?
But as I look at my son, there is such joy, pride, love, and undying affection....praising God tonight for the gift of our Tom--and for my whole family! Can't wait to be reunited!"
As it turns out, they were delayed. Next, I wrote this post...
"Their flight has been delayed by 1.5 hours. They should have time to make their connection in Brussels. If not, I might just have to call my friend, Cindy, in Germany and have her go get them!"
They did not make their connection, and before I could finally go to sleep that night, I had to again communicate with our awesome travel agent, this time so that she could rearrange their flights home. They had originally been booked for Brussels to Chicago; the new plan was Brussels to New York and then one more flight, this one directly home to Milwaukee.
Their travel excitement didn't end there, though. When they arrived the next day in New York, their plane would land in Newark, where they were told that their plane to Milwaukee was departing from JFK and that they were be driven there in a black car. Problem is that they only had an hour between flights, and the drive was 45 minutes. Somewhere on the drive, Hoffbeast realized there was a good chance they would miss this flight, too, but thankfully, that plane was late in arriving, so they made it...phew!
I am staying up, waiting for confirmation that the Hub and son are getting on the plane. I assume they will, as tonight they breezed through check-in and through security and made it to their gate 3 hours early! They've just been hanging out there ever since. But I'm not banking on my assumptions. Today there was a dust storm in the area, so for all we know, their plane will be delayed.
Tom and I leave for the airport at 10:30 a.m., which is in about 9 hours. I would love to get lots of good sleep, but who knows if I will or not. I have a feeling that it will be fitful sleep, as I will be too nervous about missing our plane to sleep very soundly. But the bed is calling my name right now. One more hour, Hoffbeauty---you can make it!
The Embassy.....it was wonderful. That's all I'm gonna say for now. The details will have to wait. We got Tom's visa in hand less than 2 hours after arriving! And the things I was "worried" about never even crossed my mind once we were there. (That's not saying much, since my mind was pretty much on autopilot after having stayed up all night.)
We got back to the hotel at about 11:45 a.m., and I slept on and off for the next 5 hours or so. Have I mentioned that I'm exhausted?
But as I look at my son, there is such joy, pride, love, and undying affection....praising God tonight for the gift of our Tom--and for my whole family! Can't wait to be reunited!"
As it turns out, they were delayed. Next, I wrote this post...
"Their flight has been delayed by 1.5 hours. They should have time to make their connection in Brussels. If not, I might just have to call my friend, Cindy, in Germany and have her go get them!"
They did not make their connection, and before I could finally go to sleep that night, I had to again communicate with our awesome travel agent, this time so that she could rearrange their flights home. They had originally been booked for Brussels to Chicago; the new plan was Brussels to New York and then one more flight, this one directly home to Milwaukee.
Their travel excitement didn't end there, though. When they arrived the next day in New York, their plane would land in Newark, where they were told that their plane to Milwaukee was departing from JFK and that they were be driven there in a black car. Problem is that they only had an hour between flights, and the drive was 45 minutes. Somewhere on the drive, Hoffbeast realized there was a good chance they would miss this flight, too, but thankfully, that plane was late in arriving, so they made it...phew!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Three hours 'til Embassy appointment...
....and I am finally off the phone (Eventually, I figured out how to skype AA which saved us money....wish I would've figured that out before.), and my boys are finally on their way back to the hotel. Luggage took forever to get back, then security wouldn't let them leave the airport. Then once they got out, they had no money for a cab. What a travel nightmare. Will we laugh about it someday? I hope so...
If I go to sleep, I will miss our appointment, so I will shower, eat something, spend some time in the Word, and get the little guy up and dressed. After the appointment, hopefully The Hub will be rested enough that it will be my turn for sleeping.
What a night!
If I go to sleep, I will miss our appointment, so I will shower, eat something, spend some time in the Word, and get the little guy up and dressed. After the appointment, hopefully The Hub will be rested enough that it will be my turn for sleeping.
What a night!
4:18 a.m.
That's the time on the clock....and I'm on the phone with American Airlines trying to figure out my family's new plane reservations. I wonder how expensive this call is? Never did I have a clue that I would be pulling an all-nighter the night before our Embassy appointment.
I'm feeling for my husband and son...they must be exhausted, and their journey isn't over.
I'm feeling for my husband and son...they must be exhausted, and their journey isn't over.
Missed Flight
Well, this is yet another unexpected turn of events. Hoffbeast and Rex have missed their flight out of Delhi. Just goes to show you that getting to the airport more than 3 hours early doesn't guarantee that you'll make your international flight.
I'm still not sure what all happened, but it sounds like they ended up not having the necessary boarding passes once they finally made it to the front of the security line.
I am Facebook chatting with our travel agent now, trying to figure out what to do. As you read this, please pray. They are sad but are doing okay.
For my part, I have prayed that if, for some reason, the Daddy needs to be at the Embassy appointment, that he would be. So I know that God is at work. Not sure whether they will get rebooked for a new flight tonight or just end up waiting 'til tomorrow, same time. Thanks for your prayers...
I'm still not sure what all happened, but it sounds like they ended up not having the necessary boarding passes once they finally made it to the front of the security line.
I am Facebook chatting with our travel agent now, trying to figure out what to do. As you read this, please pray. They are sad but are doing okay.
For my part, I have prayed that if, for some reason, the Daddy needs to be at the Embassy appointment, that he would be. So I know that God is at work. Not sure whether they will get rebooked for a new flight tonight or just end up waiting 'til tomorrow, same time. Thanks for your prayers...
Memorial Day in India
Tom and I had some good bonding time today...good thing, since Daddy (otherwise known as "the clingee") is gone now. Hoffbeast and Rex left a couple of hours ago for the airport, where they are currently trying to get their e-ticket printed out so that they can get through security. I probably knew that they needed it at some point, but if I did, that little detail completely slipped my mind.
They will fly from here to Belgium, then on to Chicago, where our fabulous intern, Noel, will pick them up and drive them home! Tonight, they will get to see Neil again after being gone from him for 2 1/2 weeks! I'm so excited for them!
As for me and Tom, we have the all-important Embassy appointment tomorrow morning, and we are hoping to hang around the Embassy area until his visa is issued. It would be great if it didn't take very long, but we'll have to wait and see. They will just be coming off of a long weekend, so who knows how many visas will need to processed in front of ours.
Today we moved to a new hotel (Have I mentioned what beautiful hotels we've stayed in in Delhi?! And our hotel in Bhubaneswar was great, too!) so that Tom and I can be with our travel partners since The Hub won't be with me anymore. We loved our last hotel, but this one is fantastic, too! I feel like a queen staying at these nice places...this is NOT normal life in America! Another added mercy....it has been great to be able to be physically comfortable while being taxed so much emotionally.
So after arriving at our new hotel, Daddy and Rex rested while Tom and I explored the hotel and grabbed some grub. Let me just say....the kid can eat! And I got all sorts of smiles from him!
Beautiful day, beautiful boy! :)
Sunday, May 29, 2011
A Visit to the Taj Mahal
Having said that, the day wasn't all swell. Have you ever been to one of those timeshare presentations? I sort of feel like our day was the Indian version of that. That's all I'll say for now. A very good cultural experience that was also.......interesting.
Then we came back for dinner and a swim in our hotel's gorgeous pool! A great way to end the day!