Thursday, April 22, 2010

Top 10 - Dordogne Vacation Cancellation

I'm still working through the disappointment of not going to southwest France this week. However, there are more than ten good things that happened as a result of this change in plans.

1. I skied in a storm. It's been years since I skied in a storm. And a storm isn't bad when it's just falling snow unaccompanied by wind. The powder was pristine and it was a great day on the mountain.

2. Tori and I rode our bikes to school on Earth Day.

3. I got to know Hilarie's twin a bit, the other Leslie. She paints!

4. I discovered Fountains in Roseville, a cute outdoor mall with good restaurants (including The Counter!) that we'll be able to stop at en route to and from the mountains.

5. I became a fan of Tina Fey and Steve Carrel.

6. I got three consecutive nights of 8+ hours of sleep.

7. I am able to attend the community forum on our schools, which are in crisis due to state budget cuts.

8. I learned to Skype.

9. Paige and I had time to catch up. Really talk. About the kids and men and school and skiing and food and movies and books and travel and celebrities. We never even turned on the radio in the car. My jaw got an equal workout to my legs!

10. Paris and I were able to attend the first NCL mother-daughter meeting together. The most exciting part about this is that the philanthropies that I was most interested in, she was too!

11. I only visually consumed the caloric intake of all the ice cream Neeracha ate in France instead of actually ingesting it myself.

12. I still got to plan the trip, which is a big part of my enjoyment. I love the anticipation of an adventure and doing all the research.

As an aside, I called Delta yesterday to refund my airline tickets. The first representative I spoke with told me that the second leg was not refundable because the flight had not been canceled and may, in fact, fly as scheduled. I tried to explain to her that I never got to France because Delta canceled my hop over the pond. This was beyond her comprehension. I hung up and called Air France, the code share partner. They obliged immediately.

4 comments:

Paige said...

Catching up was the best part! I thought it was funny on the way home that we hadn't turned the radio on either, and then I started singing and started feeling sorry for you that maybe we should have.

Anonymous said...

I love how you're looking at the bright side of things. You're an inspriation!

Postcards From The Hedge said...

Have had the Delta experience too - why when there are airlines like Air France and Lufthansa is Delta such a loser? Someone should forward your blog to their customer service department...oh, wait - I am assuming they are literate. Oops.

Neeracha T. said...

You'll be happy to know that I did the weigh-in this morning and I may have possibly skated by with no weight gain. It was that damn hill that we walked 4-6 times/day that did it! But god, I do not need to eat foie gras again for a very long time...