I have never seen so much snow in my entire life. I know I'm only 23, but the weather over the last few days has been absolutely insane. And usually I love snow, especially around Christmas time, but this is a but much.
I got back from Boston late yesterday afternoon and I had a wonderful time, despite the many snow-related, stress-filled moments. But I am lucky that I even got to Boston, and I'm even luckier that my boyfriend did, too. After all, it was his family, his house and his Christmas party we were flying out for.
You already know that my flight was cancelled an entire day before I was scheduled to fly out. They put me on the 6:30am flight on Saturday morning...and then the craziness began:
Friday: The snow was slow in coming, but eventually slammed into Chicago and then made a beeline to Boston. Thanks Mother Nature. Thank goodness my flight was changed, but unfortunately my boyfriend (let's call him J), who was flying form Milwaukee to Chicago was
delayed. When he finally made it to Chicago 3 hours late (it's about a 15 minute flight) he found out that his flight to Boston was cancelled. Try as he might, he couldn't get booked on a single other flight and was told he'd have to go on standby. He ended up sleeping on a little refugee cot at O'Hare airport next to a large German man he nicknamed Haas. (On the plus side, Haas invited him to explore Michigan Avenue with him if the were both stranded. My boyfriend politely declined.)
Saturday: I got to the airport at 4:15am and found J. He was 16 on the standby list for my flight. We waited and waited, and then I had to board and leave him behind. They started letting the standby people on and went through 9 people before they closed the door. So I jetted off to Boston, while J was stranded at O'Hare. Meanwhile, the weather in Boston was getting worse by the second and my flight couldn't land right away. So we circled and circled and circled some more before they told us we would land in Hartford. But when we finally landed, we were in Boston. Odd. So I met J's parents who so kindly picked me up at the airport. I felt bad that I made it there and J didn't (he is their only child), but they were just happy I made it in safely.
So I went back to J's house and helped his parents get ready for their big family Christmas party that very night. I baked, I swept and watched the snow pour down (it was literally raining down snowballs at some points). J called to check in and couldn't get on the other 3 morning flights. We were all so nervous he wouldn't make it in. When he called to tell us he made it on the 1:45pm flight, we were ecstatic . But then it was delayed and delayed and delayed some more. And then he called to say all the flights to Boston before and after him were cancelled because of the heavy snow. Some of the people who were stranded couldn't get rebooked until December 26th...
But finally his flight took off. In the mean time, his family party started and luckily I had met most of his family before, so I felt pretty comfortable with everyone. When J finally arrived around 8:30pm and we were all so happy to see him.
Sunday: Boston Pops day. Still snowing a TON. We drove to the T to get to the city and it took us FOREVER. We saw so many spin-outs and could only go about 15 miles an hour on the highway. Nothing was plowed or salted or sanded or whatever. It was very scary. I took this from the car as we drove:
When we finally go to Boston, NOTHING was shoveled. Since I was dressed up for the night, I was wearing flats and tights (dumb, I know) and I had to wade through really deep, ice cold puddles. EVERYTHING in Boston was closed due to the weather. It was crazy. When we got to the city it was sleeting....then it poured rain...then the temperature dropped and everything froze...then it snowed again.
But we were able to get to the Pops and it was a blast. I loved it! And when we came out...it wasn't snowing anymore! Hooray!
Monday: I ran errands with J, exchanged gifts and went out to dinner with him and his parents. Oh and his parents just got a Wii, so J and I couldn't stop playing tennis, golf and bowling. I'm kind of obsessed with it now.
Tuesday: I knew Chicago was getting snow on Tuesday when I was supposed to fly, so I was a bit nervous. My flight was at 10:30am yesterday morning and seemed to be on time. So I said goodbye to J and skipped off to my gate. And then I waited and waited and waited. No plane yet. When the plane finally came, we started to board. And then we sat at the gate and waited some more. When we finally taxied out to the runway, we had to wait some more. Our pilot told us the weather was bad in Chicago...and it was. We got in about 2 hours late (not too bad at all) and the crowds at O'Hare were horrendous. I guess tons of flights were delayed up to 4 hours or cancelled altogether. My parents didn't think I'd even make it in. So I was SO glad when I did.
And guess what? It's still snowing here. But at least I had a great time and everyone made it back safe and sound.
Merry Christmas Eve everyone!
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