Hurricane Ida

Hurricane Ida is currently scurrying along the Gulf Coast after having ricocheted off the tip of Mexico known as Cancun. I spent most of Sunday waiting for a phone call from my younger daughter that she had safely made it out of Cancun to Atlanta. Lisa and her husband originally were to take a four day trip to Cancun, which she was awarded for successful work, six months ago; but the flu was rampant outside of the United States, and the trip was cancelled, not just for them but for all 50 or so employees. By the time the trip was rescheduled, she was almost 5 months pregnant and hesitant to go, but the ob-gyn said there was no problem so she and her husband rearranged their schedules and planned on the trip. After all, it was free!

The first complication came when her sister Laura was diagnosed with H1N1 after exposing us all to it the weekend before. Laura is currently recovering and her children had had their shots so they were fine. But Lisa had just gotten her H1N1 shot a few days earlier so it wasn't effective yet. Another call to the ob-gyn and she was carrying around a bottle of TamiFlu just in case.

The trip involved going to Cincinnati to leave their two chocolate labs with Jeremy's mom, and then flying out of Cincinati airport to Atlanta and then to Cancun. The trip down was ok, the hotel was gorgeous, but the weather was awful--lots of rain and barely 15 minutes of sunshine to walk the beach.

By the time they left on Sunday, the wind had really picked up. Fortunately, they took off with no problems, then encountered some very bumpy air in flight, but landed on time at Atlanta. First call to Mom came about 7:30 pm. I am always grateful when I know they're on land and begged for another phone call when they arrived in Cincinnatti. Second Mom call came at almost 11 pm; they were again on the ground. Now I admit I thought about asking for another phone call when they got to Jeremy's mom's house but figured I was pushing my luck. Jeremy's mom could be in charge of worrying about their trip from the airport to her home. I went to bed.

I know they were greeted by two ecstatic dogs; Lily and Daisy probably slept right between them that night. I love that Jeremy and Lisa are fearless travelers and pretty much "Have passport, will travel" is their attitute. But I was glad when Lisa said she didn't want to travel any more during her pregnancy. As a mom, I like to keep them on the ground.