[sharonpdx]

{i'll be home for Christmas}

If all goes well, I'll be landing at the Orange County airport in precisely 24 hours.

Spent much of Wednesday night and Thursday morning on the phone trying to get another flight to San Diego - and, unless I wanted to shell out $900 for a first class ticket, it was clear I wasn't getting on a Friday flight to any airport in Southern California.  By Thursday morning, I'd managed to book a 9:30 p.m. Saturday flight to Orange County, just about an hour north of my parents' house.  I hear the entire family's planning to grab some Starbucks and pile into the car for the trip to pick me up - love that.  Hoping that means there'll be a latte waiting for me at the gate - hey, a girl can dream, right Mom?!

Denver Internat'l reopened at noon today, with flights departing from 3 of their 6 runways; workers, I'm certain, must have worked tirelessly to get even that far - I'm reading that snow drifts on the runways were 9 to 12 feet high.  Found this slideshow at 9news.com: DIA after the blizzard.

I'm still feeling so lucky that I wasn't among the nearly 5,000 people who spent Wednesday night at the airport - or the estimated 2,000 that were still stuck there last night.  Instead, I spent the last two days working from my hotel room - and last night, the Ted's Montana Grill across the street opened up with limited staff, and a limited "Ted's Holiday Blizzard of 2006 Menu" (burgers & steaks, that works!).  Was nice to be able edit the technical manual I've been working on over a diet coke and some real food.

This afternoon, Jerod managed to get his car out of his neighborhood and, even though traffic was insane, and what would normally have been a 30 minute drive took over an hour and a half, he drove down to the hotel, had lunch with me and drove me to SuperTarget (toiletries, laundry detergent and a latte - I'm a happy girl!).  Thanks, Jerod.

Tomorrow morning, assuming she can get out of her driveway, Jess is planning to come down and meet me for breakfast before dropping me off at the airport - we figured, as long as I'm stuck here, we might as well take advantage of the opportunity to spend a little more time together! 

They say the check in and security wait times are up to three hours long... here's hoping that my Frontier status manages to help me avoid that a little tomorrow - and that the plane manages to get off the ground.  If it does...  then, I'll really be home for Christmas.  I'm one of the lucky ones.

{stranded!}

So, the plan was, I would finish my third day of training today around 3:00 and head to the airport for my 5:40 flight to Portland... get back to my apartment, do some laundry, pack some more clothes & all the presents for my family, and head into work for a few hours Thursday before my 4:45 flight to San Diego.

The reality is a little different.

We decided to cancel the training this morning shortly after 7 a.m., and I headed to the airport.  The roads were terrible - I'm telling you, I'm not sure what my tax dollars were paying for when I was living in Colorado, but it wasn't for snowplows on I-70!  Once I finally arrived at the airport, they were cancelling all flights and focused only on rebooking passengers.  I had already resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to get out today - but you can imagine my surprise when I learned I couldn't get a flight to Portland until Saturday morning!

Made the first of what would turn out to be about 20 calls to my mom today, and decided to take a different approach and try for flight straight to San Diego from Denver, bypassing Portland altogether.  So there I am, standing in the Frontier line at DIA, on the phone with the corporate travel agency while my friend Angie up in Fort Collins, CO is on our corporate travel site frantically trying to find me a hotel.  She wasn't having any luck, and I was telling her "Ang, don't worry about it, I'm just going to stay at the airport" - but she was having none of it, and started calling hotels one by one.  Fortunately, she got me a room - and I got confirmed on a 6:00 flight Thursday night to San Diego.

Meanwhile, my friends Heidi and Jennifer from the Portland office managed a little Christmas miracle of their own - Jennifer headed to my apartment and picked up the presents for my family, some clothes and a few other things I wanted, and Heidi packed them up and overnighted them to my parents' house in San Diego.

The snow is still falling outside my hotel room window - they're predicting up to 24" by noon tomorrow, and they're saying that DIA may not reopen tomorrow... plus, I've already confirmed that there aren't any flights to San Diego on Friday.  But, man, how lucky am I to have such amazing friends coming to my rescue from so far away?

______

And, just as I was about to post this, I got word that my 6:00 p.m. flight to San Diego tomorrow has been cancelled.  Made my fourth or fifth call to the corporate travel agency - I've lost count at this point - and it looks like the best I can hope for right now is a flight to San Diego or Orange County on Saturday night.  I should know more tomorrow. 

I'm so grateful to all of you who've called, emailed and messaged to check in on me, hoping I'd gotten out before the storm hit, hoping I'm not sleeping at the airport and hoping I'm safe.  The fact is, as frustrating as all of this is, thanks to the quick thinking and determination of my friend Angie and the loving advice of my mom, I've got a warm place to sleep for the next few nights.  All is well.

{once a year, network TV gets it right}

The can't-miss TV special of the season (well, aside from the animated version of the Grinch, which definitely, definitely can't be missed), A Charlie Brown Christmas, was on tonight.  Man, Linus speaking from the gospel of Luke just gets me every time.  Apparently (and unsurprisingly), the network execs didn't want that scene - praise God for Charles Shultz' insistance that, "if we don't tell the true meaning of Christmas, who will?" 

In case you missed it...

Charlie Brown: Isn’t there anyone who understands the true meaning of Christmas?!

Linus: (walks out to center stage, calls for lights) "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

That's the true meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown.

[source: http://www.worldmagblog.com/blog/archives/027831.html]
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Heading out tomorrow for a few days in Denver - three trainings, plus a few nights getting to catch up with Jess, Erin & Carolyn (Jess, Erin & I have plans to hit The Melting Pot. Yum). Then it's a quick turnaround - home Wednesday night to do laundry, repack and head to San Diego on Thursday afternoon. 

6 more shopping days remain.  And, in case you were wondering - no, my Christmas shopping isn't done.  Oh and, also, I've decided those Christmas cards I ordered are going to be Happy New Year cards, instead.  But, all that stuff's really beside the point, isn't it, Charlie Brown?

{photos! finally!}

A smattering of photos taken since I arrived, for your viewing pleasure.

My apartment building... built in 1909 and first inhabited in 1911, it's on the National Register of Historic Places.  I fell in love with it's character & charm the moment I set eyes on it.  I live in the Northwest District... across the Willamette, in Northeast, is my office building, the Liberty Center (photo by Robert Valencia, a colleague from Tucson, AZ). 

 

Dad snapped these next shots during his visit - we were so lucky to get a clear & dry weekend when he was here!  He loved the contrast of the old & new construction at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, built in 1928 as the Portland Public Theater and still referred to by some as the Paramount. 

 

One of the first things on Dad's agenda was Powell's Books...  man, that place is amazing!  It really is a city of books, with distinct neighborhoods denoted by colors - went back this weekend to get some Christmas presents, and two hours had passed before I knew it!

 

It was a wonderful visit.  We toured downtown, the Pearl district and Nob Hill, shopping and sampling some of the great bars & restaurants...  when we got cold, we wandered back to my apartment for cocoa and DVDs ... plus, Dad spent a few hours making sure my windows were secured and my outlets were grounded, hung some mirrors and figured out how to put my vacuum together (yay!). 

To celebrate my birthday, after church my dad & I headed to 23rd street for brunch at Papa Haydn's - I'd heard they were the best place in town for dessert, so we had some packed up for later and sampled it with coffee before he had to head for the airport.  Trust me, the rumors are true...  try the panna cotta, seriously.

   

 

My actual birthday the following day was a lot of fun!  The girls at work took me to lunch, and had a birthday party for me... that night my friend Ashleigh & I went met up in the Pearl District for dinner at andina - so fun!

Things, for the most part, are going well here.  I'm settling into my apartment - Ashleigh lent me a desk she'd had in storage, so I was able to get my computer set up and my scrapbook supplies unpacked.  I'm getting used to walking everywhere ... I swear I've walked more in the past three weeks than I did in the last 6 months.  I absolutely love working at the corporate office - my colleagues on the 11th floor have become fast friends, and I've been able to reconnect with some friends I used to work with at the KLC offices in Genesee, Colorado, which has been wonderful.  Still adjusting to this living alone thing - it's growing on me. 

I will admit, after three weeks I'm finding the fact that every single thing is new to me - new people, new routines, new places {plus the fact that I very frequently don't know exactly where I'm at or how to get where I want to, and I lack any reference to the landmark or street someone's telling me about} - kind of ... exhausting.  I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow's trip to Phoenix because, at the very least, I'll know where I'm at for a few days.

And with that, I'm off to pack.

{proof}

a short post tonight... I know I have a lot to report - photos of my time with Dad in Portland, the dish about my 28th birthday earlier this week and more - but tonight, this is what I want to tell you.

just finished watching an amazing movie:  {proof}.  seriously - wow.  I'm a huge fan of Gwyneth Paltrow's films, so when I saw it in the video store this I snatched it up.  the guy who scanned my DVDs told me I'd made a good choice.  turns out, he was right.

I'm not really that good with movies - it's rare that I can actually sit through an entire DVD.  I always find myself doing something else - usually, it's writing a list (I'm entirely too distracted by everything that's in my head), or folding laundry, or reading a magazine, or playing online.  used to drive Jerod absolutely crazy, let me tell you.

this one... well, I'll admit, I didn't watch this film all in one sitting, either.  but it wasn't for any of the typical reasons.  no, in fact, i was completely transfixed by it... so much so that I almost (and I know this is going to sound odd) - I almost couldn't handle it.  it was delicious.  I was almost - overwhelmed.  this happens to me when I'm reading sometimes - it's just somehow too good, like a rich dessert that I shouldn't eat all in one sitting.  gluttonous, maybe, to allow myself - so I pull away, force myself to stop and reflect on what I've just consumed.

found myself with a free night tonight, and decided to indulge in the rest of it (well, that and, it's due back tomorrow).  if I haven't convinced you to rush out and rent it... well, that's ok.  I might not get it back on time actually, for you to check it out, anyway - I'm going to watch it again, tonight. 

{it's official!}

I'm an Oregonian, and I have the Oregon driver's license to prove it!  My Colorado DL was expiring in three days - which, considering I don't have a car here, probably doesn't sound like much of a problem.  However, TSA won't let you fly with an expired ID (trust me, they are bastards about it at the Phoenix airport... every time I fly there, they keep warning me that my license is about to expire.  They've been telling me this for the past 6 months.  And wouldn't you know, I travel to Phoenix in a week.)  On top of that, I'm renting a car when I'm in Colorado to do some training later this month. 

All I kept hearing from everyone out here was how tough the knowledge test is - and how many people who recently relo'd here didn't pass on their first try.  Now typically, all that would mean is that I was out $5 and had to wait a day before taking it again - but because of that 12/4/06 expiration date, I wasn't taking any chances that they'd make me take the driving test, too.  (That wouldn't have been good news for anyone.  Seriously.) Downloaded the 120-page DMV manual last night and crammed like I was back in college - and this morning, I surrendered my Colorado DL for an Oregon one.   {which was kind of a bummer, frankly - the Colorado ones are prettier, plus I liked the photo better... think it's worth the $5 to go take a new photo?}

__________

And, in a few hours, this newly-minted Oregonian will be heading down the elevator from her 11th floor office to meet a long-time Californian in the lobby: my Dad is coming to visit for the weekend!  I'm super excited!  He hasn't had a chance to see my apartment, and he intends to make sure it's safe & secure - all those good Dad things that make me so damn lucky to have him.  The only thing else on his must-do agenda: a trip to Powell's Books.  Love that place.  They're predicting a (relatively) warm and dry weekend, and I'm looking forward to showing him all the things I love about living in Portland. 

Hope you are spending your weekend with loved ones, too.