Whiplash

This weekend was an emotional rollercoaster.

My younger son John’s been staying at his father’s house in Cincinnati, so I haven’t seen much of him this summer. He planned to come up for the night Friday night. I was really looking forward to seeing him.

My older son Brian spent the summer in Boston and was supposed to fly home on Saturday. I haven’t seen him for 4 months. I was psyched! John planned to come with me to meet Brian’s plane. Their friend Nelson was getting married today (Sunday), and they were supposed to be ushers. On Saturday afternoon John was going to drive Brian down to Cincinnati for the rehearsal.

There was a chance Dave would be off Saturday. I was hoping the 4 of us could have lunch before the boys headed south for the wedding rehearsal.

Nothing went as I’d hoped.

When I got home Friday night I learned Dave had to work the dreaded 11a - 11p shift all weekend – so I barely got to see him. He did open his birthday gift though. That was a high point.



One of the items on his wish list is an advanced sailing course. Participants are required to wear a harness and tether so they don't get washed overboard. (The course is not for the faint of heart.)



Dave demonstrated how the harness and tether work.



If he does get washed overboad there's a rip cord he can pull that will inflate the harness. I could have knit him a harness, but probably not an inflatable harness with a rip cord.

On Friday John had to work until 6p, so he didn't get to my house until 7:30p. I took him out for Chipotle (our favorite). Then my ex called to remind John he had a dental appointment at 11a on Saturday. So the plan changed. John was going to get up early and drive to Cincinnati to see the dentist. I would meet Brian's plane at 12:30p and take him south to the wedding rehearsal (a 2 hour round trip).

On Friday night at 11:30p John got a call from a college friend who was passing through Cincinnati. John decided to drive down there right then to see his friend, because the friend will be co-oping, and John won't get another chance to see him for awhile. I didn't argue with John because I knew I was too tired to come up with a sound argument for why this was a bad idea - other than "It's late, you should go to bed." (That is not a persuasive argument to a 19 year old.) In the morning, there was a text message on my cell from John saying he'd arrived in Cincinnati safely. (That was thoughtful. Thanks, John.)

On Saturday Brian called at 7:40a to say it was bedlam at Logan, and it was unlikely he was going to make his 8:30a flight.

At 8:30a to say he had a shot at a 10:30a flight and a 12:30p flight.

At noon I called John to tell him to tell Nelson that Brian wasn't going to be able to make it to the rehearsal.

At 12:15p Brian called to say it was unlikely he was going to make the 12:30p flight but he had a shot at a flight to Baltimore at 5:30p that could get him to Dayton by 10p.

At 5p, Brian called in despair. He’d been at Logan International since 6:30a, and he was exhausted. Apparently, some plane had gotten diverted to Logan at 4:30a. All of the flights were oversold, and no one was able to get out of there. He finally got a boarding pass for Monday and managed to retrieve his luggage. Brian called Nelson and said he wasn’t going to make it back in time for the wedding. Nelson took the news better than Brian did. Brian was really bummed. He didn’t leave the airport until 7:30p. At 8:30p he finally called to say he’d had something to eat and was back at his apartment. The poor kid.

So I spent today (Sunday) home alone. To console myself I curled up with my knitting and a cup of mocha and watched Pride and Prejudice straight through for 5 hours. (Some people have comfort food. I have my own copy of Pride and Prejudice. I have a thing for Mr. Darcy.)

So far, I've completed 20 pattern repeats of Chart B on the Alpine Shawl. The pattern calls for a total of 37, but I’m going to make at least 38. We’ll see how far the yarn goes. Pictures soon.

Brian’s flight is supposed to get in at 5:30p tomorrow. I really hope tomorrow's his lucky day.