Flight 55 Plus

Since losing Georgia I find myself people watching a lot more. Not really sure why, but I do love to watch people. Now travelling with little ones can be trying, that's for sure but I also try really hard to see the humour in all of the situations that we end up in. Please read this post understanding that I am not intending to make fun of older people, only trying to laugh my way through an overnight flight with two little girls.

So, yesterday we walked up to our gate in Toronto and I started to laugh as I looked around. Mike looked up a little baffled until I made a comment about Portugal being the retirement destination. He smiled as he too noticed that besides two other couples travelling with one baby each, the rest of the seats were taken up with people aged 55 and over.

When the agent announced that they would be boarding rows 32-25 only, the whole place rose to its feet and began to queue up. They did try to make an announcement asking people to please wait until their row was called but it was useless. We were seated in row 22 and we waited until they announced it. That meant that we ended up being some of the last people on the plane! Why is everybody in such a rush to get on the plane? We were going to have at least 6 hours sitting in close crammed quarters as it was! I also found it funny as I boarded to hear a couple of people making remarks about how hot they were and when was the plane going to take off anyway? Well, maybe it wouldn't take so long to board the plane if everybody actually waited their turn instead of blocking the aisles.

The plane ended up being de-iced and left approximately half an hour late. This meant that it left around 11:30 pm and the girls were already asleep. Around 1:30am the flight attendant woke me up with a desperate look on his face. He didn't know what he should do with the 'special' kid meals that been prepared for Calla and Maya. I was actually shocked that number one, he expected my children to wake up and eat mac n' cheese in the middle of the night and number 2 thought that it was definitely worth waking me up to argue about. I looked around however and realized that all of my 55 plus friends were sitting up in anticipation with their trays down waiting for their meals!

Around 2 am as I was just starting to drift off when the flight attendant again woke me up, this time to ask if I was eating and whether or not my sleeping husband would like to eat. "No thank you," I replied again as he looked at me indredulously. A few minutes later he told me that I would have to move my chair into its upright position because the man behind me was trying to enjoy his chicken dinner and it was a bit 'tight'. There were a few other people that had their chairs back including Mike and the girls but I was the only one asked. I just smiled again and told myself that one day I too will be annoyed when I try to eat my chicken dinner at 2 am and the pregnant mother sitting in front of me is trying to catch some ZZZZs. I am going to try really hard to remember what she must be thinking however! : )

Before the flight attendants could even finish delivering the meals there was a line behind them, all of the 55 plusers now had to go to the bathroom. One again, an announcement was made that they should remain seated for a few more minutes in order to allow the attendants to finish up with the service. Now, the kids in Maya's pre-school class cooperate better than the lot that was on the plane. They just lined up behind the trolley and slowly followed the flight attendants as they made their way back, annoyed looks on their faces. I just shook my head and started to giggle. At least, at over 5 months pregnant my bladder isn't quite as desperate as these poor folks.

Eventually I drifted off again. As the sun rose, the girls and Mike woke up and we all had a muffin for breakfast. In the end we arrived exhausted yet safe and are very excited about exploring this new country. It was pouring when we arrived but the sun came out this afternoon and we all went for a walk down to the grocery store and then had dinner with my parents. We were all asleep by 8:00 but now that it's almost 1:00 am here we're all awake. I am going to get the girls something to eat and then try to coax them back to bed. It really is only supper time in Winnipeg! Wish me luck!

Love to you all,

Kristen

Just One More Time

Allright, the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation has one more chance to win another $5000. It took me approximately 30 seconds to vote and I am hoping that you will take the time to do it too. It's so easy and every little bit helps in the battle against SMA. Here is what Victoria wrote on her last post:

I'm no hero. No more so than any parent fighting for their child. But, if I win the "Hero Next Door" contest, that means $5,000 more for SMA research and awareness. And so, I am asking for your vote once again.

Care2 -- the company who hosts our PetitionToCureSMA.com, who has been incredibly supportive of our cause, and who we simply love -- has teamed up with Tom's of Maine to create the Hero Next Door contest -- every day people doing more. We were nominated, along with dozens of others, and here is the neat thing -- we made it to the top 10 finalists! Now this is where you come in...

Here is the breakdown:
Voting ends February 26th.
You can only vote ONCE.
The person with the most votes wins $2,500 for their charity and $2,500 for themselves -- which, in my case, would obviously go directly to research and awareness because there is nothing more important! So that's $5,000 for SMA -- all with a simple vote.
Technically only one person can win and so "Victoria" is the name you see, but the nomination is clearly for all of us -- including Gwendolyn.
How to vote:
Go to: Hero Next Door
Click on Vote for Victoria. (It is the green button at the bottom of the page.)
Fill out the form (name, birthday, email and zip code).
Click on the animal picture (to help stop spammers).
And then hit "Vote" and that is it.
You will see a big "Thanks for voting for Victoria Strong" to let you know your vote went through.
Since you can only vote once, help spread the word by also using the "Tell a Friend" features on Facebook, email and Twitter by clicking on the icons on the right.
And again, all $5,000 will go to the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation to support SMA research and awareness! Thanks for once again supporting us and getting your voting skills out! We are all becoming pros :)

I promise that it doesn't take long. I managed to do it in between packing. We are off on holidays tomorrow afternoon. I will post more in a couple of days hopefully with some great pictures! : )

Love to you all,

Kristen