Three Cheers for Airplanes!

In one more day, Shawn will finally overcome the odds, vanquish his last test and stand victorious.. Okay, I have been reading WAY too much greek god fiction over the last few days, squeezed in every second that I could during my work orientation (hurrah for working again), but sadly I finished the fifth and final book today. Just another example of a series of books I wish I could reread again for the first time, another series being "The Hunger Games". But enough of my greek mythology obsession.

Let me express my love and appreciation for the wonderful invention called an airplane. They are such wonderful things that allowed me to travel the world in such an efficient manner but more importantly, they are assisting us by shaving THIRTY-SIX hours off our drive. Don't get me wrong, I am all about road-trips. In the summer, Shawn and I have all the intentions to go on a road-trip down the west-coast. The key phrase is, "In the summer...", aka no snow, no icy roads, no freak snowstorms.

My two biggest, irrational, fears in life are as followed

1) My teeth falling out:
       Case in point. After my surfing accident, which crushed my spine and eventually ended with rods and screws in my back, the first thing I did after being drug from the surf was clasp my hands to my mouth and feel my teeth, and make my friends inspect my mouth for missing/chipped teeth. Only after they assured me they were all accounted for, then I focused on the burning lava pain in my spine.
       I have dreams nightmares about losing my teeth somewhat frequently and I always wake up in a sweat, and am so glad it was just a dream. Perhaps it's due to my hatred of going to dentists and finding a cavity, or two, every single visit despite all my impeccable teeth hygiene. I hate my cursed teeth genetics. It's just a stroke of luck that Shawn is planning on being a dentist.

2) Driving on winter roads:
       Growing up in southern alberta, you think I would be used to winter roads. I was fearless once, even going off the roads on my 16th birthday with my friends and again a couple times with different drivers, never fazed. Then, somewhere along the way, something changed. I was hesitant.
       Then, came the trip that solidified my winter driving fears. I had driven, solo, to visit my sister in Washington. It was a fantastic trip, exactly what I needed at the moment, until the biggest snowstorm to hit mid-Washington in twenty years, just happened to start two days before I had to return for the start of my final nursing practicum. The university was closed, the roads were closed, and I had to get home. After three days, the storm subsided just enough so the roads were open for one day, with reports of more snowstorm on the way the next day. Leaving that day was my only hope to get home in the next week, so I gritted my teeth and headed out really early. It was HELL. You could barely see 3 ft in front of you, cars were in the ditch everywhere I looked, the traffic was barely reaching 40 km/hr on the highway and all hopes of outdriving the storm died after 8 hrs of straight icy/snowy conditions. My usual 8 hr trip stretched to a miserable 12 hr drive. I think I aged 7 yrs that day, and lost 2 lbs water weight from all the tears I cried. Somehow I made it but it left me traumatized, thank-goodness Shawn is so good about driving because when there is ice on the road, I try not, to be.

That being said. I hate driving in the winter. And the thought of driving for 28 hrs to get to Arizona, and then have to return back to Saskatoon the same way, made my blood run cold. But, all the cheap flights to Arizona were not-so-cheap, thanks to reading week pricing. Then, a miracle, named Shadolyn, happened. Somehow, her mad searching skills discovered a roundtrip flight from Missoula, MT for $250  RT in the middle of reading week, only two days ago!!!!! No-one needed to tell us twice; we booked the tickets, congratulated ourselves on saving 3 days of driving and proceeded to celebrate by lying on the couch, watching "The Illusionist" and falling asleep with a smile on our face... Life is good, and thank goodness for airplanes.  We cannot wait to get to Arizona and see Shawn's family!! 

xoxo