I suppose I am generally a lucky person. Until yesterday, I’d never been one of those unfortunate folks who had had to stay overnight in a city due to a flight being canceled. Sure, I’ve had more than my share of delayed flights and miss placed luggage-sometimes it has taken all day to get somewhere that should have taken two hours. However, when we found out that the final leg of our Paris flight- the short flight from Chicago to St Louis-was canceled and we couldn’t be rebooked until noon the following day, I had a mini breakdown in the food court. There may have been tears, and I generally don’t cry in public.

It was a combination of the exhaustion from traveling but also the fact that I’ve been traveling with a cold and had run out of medicine on the flight. My nose was (and still is) red and cracked and honestly I’m still pretty sore from slipping down about 5 marble steps at the Museum of Erotic Art. Yeah, maybe Toms and old, worn down marble steps are not the best combination.

But we made the best of it. I suppose this is simply the continuation of our adventure. We were offered a ride in a rental car with a couple of businessmen but figured we were too tired and I was too germy to take them up on it. We did manage to see a good friend of ours and his family for a short period of time, even though we were probably pretty lousy company!

So here we sit in the airport. Again. And hopefully this flight will be on time!

Oh, and through it all I would have appreciated some sense from the agents that this was an inconvenience but we were treated as if it was absolute no big deal to have our travel delayed by 20 hours. No big deal. I think that grinds my gears the most. And our meal vouchers weren’t nearly enough. Thanks American Airlines!

We finished our last dinner in Paris just a short while ago. I’m sad to leave. I could definitely stay a few more days. Chris has been gone longer and is ready to get home. I will tell you all about my trip over the next few weeks. It was wonderful. We ate great food, drank amazing wines, had loads of cheese, navigated the metro system, saw tons of museums, learned so much about the art and history of Paris and France, and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company. We will remember this trip forever!

Sometimes I blog just to post pictures or talk to myself on the internet.

It’s easy to feel like life is just a series of bad events strung together with a few good things happening in between.  Yesterday was one of those bad events—my grandmother was in an accident and I am awaiting word on how she is doing.  Sometimes it’s hard being so far away from family.

To distract myself from worrying and kill a little time before my next appointment, here are some pictures from my phone that I haven’t shared with you yet.

Ninja socks!  I wore these to the gym on Monday.  Nobody even SAW me.  (Actually not true.   I got a lot of stares.  More than the usual due to my good looks 😉 )

The school I teach at has a new snazzy brochure (and website)! It looks really great, and has some pictures taken by none other than Sarah Crowder on the inside.  We are all working hard to make the school an awesome place to take lessons.

One of my students brought me an amazing gift—a wallet made out of duct tape.  I was so delighted!  If I gave grades in violin, she would totally be getting an “A”.  (Okay, she’d be getting one anyway because she works hard, but still, if gift-giving affected grades, and if I gave grades…what I’m saying is that her thoughtfulness helped me feel a little better on a bad day.)

If you haven’t read my post from yesterday about the Symphony’s European Tour, you should, it’s a good one.

And please keep my grandmother and my family in your thoughts and prayers.