On Wednesday evening, Giggles flew off on her own out west to visit her Laolao and Laoye for two whole weeks, at which point I’ll fly out to join them. She was “happy and ‘cited and a bit scared” as we drove into the airport parking lot and I unloaded her bags from the car. She had a backpack and a small roller suitcase, so as not to have any checked luggage since the flight would be late arriving and I didn’t want them to have to stand around waiting for luggage. Plus her stuffed horse, Moonbeam (the latest addition to the herd), for snuggling on the flight. (Saddle Black and Chocolate Socks were napping in the suitcase. They'll come out once she gets there.)
Giggles with her luggage and Moombeam, standing behind the car in the airport parkade.
We waited for a good 45 minutes in the “self-service assistance” line while one of the agents spent a copious amount of time chatting (it seemed) with a customer who didn’t seem to recognize that her loquaciousness was causing delays for everyone else in line. Thankfully, the people ahead of us were travelling with a small dog, which was in a soft-sided case where we could watch it. At one point the girl of the family opened the case and we even got to pet Bubbles. That provided some distraction.
Once we reached the check-in counter, I was given a yellow “escort card” to enable me to go through security and wait at the gate with Giggles. As soon as we got there, I knew we were in for delays, as it was but half an hour before the scheduled departure and the gate info said “Toronto.” The plane to Alberta was coming in from the east, and we were told it was still on its way. Finally the Toronto flight left, Giggles’ plane arrived and the gate info was updated. But the agent said he thought it would be late leaving, which became abundantly clear once the posted departure time came and went and they still hadn’t started boarding. It seems the delays were owing to the need to assist two people in wheelchairs (one of whom had a dog) to deplane.
Mama holding Moonbeam and waiting with Giggles at the boarding gate.
(Picture taken by Giggles.)
Finally they were ready for pre-boarding. It turns out four unaccompanied minors were on the flight. We all gathered at the gate; the agent took the information sheets (with names of the people authorized to pick the kids up), Giggles slung her backpack on her back, clutched Moonbeam to her, took the roller suitcase in the other hand, and headed down the ramp.
Yikes!!!!! There’s my big little girl, heading out on her own. I’m not ready for this!!!! (What’ll it be like in ten or twelve years, when she heads off on her own for real?!?)
I watched the plane take off, then headed back to the car – fully an hour and a quarter later than it should have been – and drove home. Once home, I called Laolao and Laoye to let them know that she was off and they should check the arrival time with the airline, as it would be late. Close to 11:00 pm their time, or 1:00 a.m. for Giggles and me. We agreed that they would call me only if there were any mishaps, but otherwise I’d check in with them the next morning.
I read for a while, then fell asleep all by myself…
Thursday morning (28 June)
I called, my mom answered. I could hear Giggles’ voice in the background. Everything went well, she was a bit grumpy on arrival but they spent a few minutes at home colouring and then brushed teeth and went to bed. Now they were enjoying breakfast before heading out for the day’s activities. That afternoon they were heading out to a small town in the camper bus to go to the rodeo. Friday is kids’ day at the rodeo, with special activities and cheaper tickets for the kids. They’ll stay Friday night, too, and come back to the city on Saturday morning.
Thursday evening
I stayed late at work to get a bit more work done before one of my colleague’s goes on holidays. Then I went to a movie: The White Planet, about the arctic world. Saw baby polar bears and caribou and musk oxen, wolves and foxes, murres, seals and walruses, bowhead and humpback whales, beluga whales, narwhals, jellyfish, geese, hares, owls, and lots of other creatures. Even some glaciers calving off Greenland. The whole time I was thinking how Giggles would really enjoy this.
Once home, cleaned up a bit by the dining room table and wandered around at loose ends. The house is far too quiet. What’ll I do for the next two weeks? Not that that’s really an issue, I’ve got a list of projects that would take two months of full-time attention, let alone fourteen evenings – well, with five weekend days thrown in. But still… it’s too quiet…
Finally I headed up to bed. Read for a while, then turned off the light. No point calling Alberta as they’ll be on the road. I’ll check back in on Saturday evening. See how many rodeo stories Giggles has for me. Whether she did indeed find cowboy boots and a cowboy hat to buy…
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