Merry Christmas Eve!

I got the "dreaded call" on Tuesday evening, assigning me to a 3-day trip starting on Wednesday. That meant that I would not be home for Christmas Eve (again) and most of Christmas Day. I felt sorry for myself for awhile, and then decided to make the best of it.

I found out that I knew one of my fellow flight attendants, and she's really nice, so I was excited that I'd be around a friendly face during the holidays! Yay! Then I met the other flight attendant, and she's a hoot! It was going to be okay.

Yesterday afternoon our first flight was delayed due to weather (snow) and de-icing. So, of course, people weren't happy. This time we were heading from Denver to Las Vegas...I'm not sure what was going on in Vegas, but half the plane was filled with Hispanic people - none of whom spoke English. That, added to the fact that there were a zillion kids, made for an interesting flight. This was unlike any other Vegas flight I have ever worked...usually everyone is excited and happy. This time they were annoyed and grumpy. But I plugged along, wearing my Christmas lights light-up necklace and Santa hat, trying to spread Christmas cheer!

Next, we flew from Vegas to Milwaukee. We boarded the plane as fast as we could so that we could get to Milwaukee as fast as we could. The people were such that I had to make an impromptu announcement as I stood in the middle of the plane, "If you aren't going to be in a good mood, you need to get off the plane right now." I don't think I was taken seriously.

One man had an oversized bag that he was putting in the overhead - I told him that it was too large. He about threw a fit. He said that this would be the last time that he flew Midwest Express (to which I wanted to reply "HALLELUIAH!"), and that he would only fly Southwest in the future. But later in the flight, as we served warm chocolate chip cookies, this guy was singing a different tune. I reminded him that Southwest doesn't serve warm chocolate chip cookies...

We finally got to the hotel at around 2AM, after having to take a taxi to the hotel - there was a huge delay in van services. On the way to the hotel, we passed one rollover accident and one Jeep which was off the road. I'd say that the roads were a bit icy...

Today, we deadhead (we sit as passengers) back to Denver, sit in the crewroom for a couple hours, then we work the flight to Portland, OR, where we'll be spending Christmas Eve. The thing I'm not crazy about is that the Portland hotel is probably one of the worst ones that we stay at...there's a swimming pool in the lobby. Can you say "tacky?"

Anyway, it's time to shower and dress - and get ready to take a nap on the flight back to Denver. Merry Christmas Eve!!!