A whole year?

Update on the Edmonton trip

I called Chloe to tell her about a promotion I'd read about at the water park at the West Edmonton Mall, when they finally get there, but her phone was off. So was her aunt's, so I figured they were at a movie, as they'd discussed.

Just called Chloe again and she answered, so I asked if they'd seen a movie: No, actually we're in Salt Lake City. So, between 11:00 and 4:00 they'd decided to get to Edmonton via Salt Lake City, had toured the city, are now looking for someplace to eat dinner, and will get to Edmonton about the time they'd be leaving from Seattle. Don't know what's happened to their luggage.

Their taxi driver got his license two weeks ago and, when asked to take them to the Mormon temple, took them to the city hall. Apparently the ability to read English is not a requirement for a taxi license. Here I sat worried that they're disappointed that they have to kill a lot of time in Seattle and that this snafu has put a damper on their already short trip. I should know better by now: Chloe is in good hands.

Yet another lesson in seizing opportunity and disregarding the first No. My sister-in-law first asked if there was anywhere else they could go and was told no and besides, everything else is booked. So she asked someone else, who said it never hurts to call, and was able to arrange this side trip.

For the next trip, does the seal stay or go?

Magical thinking

Doesn't magical thinking sound like a positive thing? Not until recently did I learn that it's a diagnosis of less than optimum mental health (thanks, Augusten Burroughs and Joan Didion).

Even though I am not overly superstitious, I wrote here (last paragraph) about the little craft-fair seal that Chloe's aunt gave her before we went to Scotland, telling her to bring it for good luck. We did and had great luck in situations where just a little bad luck would have had lasting repercussions for these travelers with little travel experience; zero outside of our country. She took it with her when we went to San Francisco for the visas and she was the only one in the group who got out of there unscathed, her paperwork stamped Completed. She took it with her to Spain and had a great year, and on her trip through southern Spain. Rather than send the now not-so-white seal home ahead of her with the rest of her stuff, she kept it so we could bring it with us on our Europe trip after her exchange. Again, good luck throughout the trip. Of course, a lot of our luck was a matter of being obsessively-compulsively overprepared, but some things can't be accounted for. I hate carrying stuff (the last day of diaper bags is one of my fondest parenting memories) and resent the sway I allow this seal to lord over my packing decisions, but it's small and weighs almost nothing, so why tempt fate?

This weekend the same aunt is taking my niece, Chloe, and another cousin to the West Edmonton Mall for my niece's birthday. Finally, Chloe will no longer have to hang her head in embarrassment that she's never been to Canada, a mere two-hour drive from here (even Alicia has been to Canada). They left last night so they could spend the night in Seattle, close to the airport, a jump start to their fun, spontaneous trip. They'd have a relaxed morning rather than having to rush early this morning to get to the airport in time, and parking would be free with the hotel stay. They're even - horrors - missing a day of school to go shopping, albeit at the "world's largest shopping and entertainment complex." Last night I dropped Chloe off and, out of nowhere, felt a stab of panic: Chloe didn't bring her seal. Oh well, time to get over that silly superstition.

Their flight left this morning at 9:50. So why is Chloe's phone number on my caller ID at 10:20? To tell me that the flight has been canceled due to mechanical difficulties. They've already checked their bags. The next one out is 9:00 tonight. The nice hotel near the airport was "terrible and dirty. There were old grapes under one of the beds." Coming home and going back to the airport means about 4-5 hours of travel/check-in time and they'd come home to do what? They are primed to be gone. They'll make the best of the day in Seattle, but it's still a disappointment.

If Chloe had brought the seal and the flight had still been canceled, we'd be able to disabuse the little beast of the powers we've ascribed to it. If the flight hadn't been canceled we wouldn't know for sure if it was the reason for their smooth flying, so we'd maintain the status quo. But now our magical thinking has been reinforced. Damn that seal and its powers.