My Phone is Back!!

My phone is back! For those that read my initial blog post, I gave a *hot tip*… don’t leave your phone on the plane on the first leg of your journey when you still have 20 hours to go.

So these first 2 photos are the only photos from our trip that I took with little O.

This week has been fairly quiet, so I thought I’d share about our experience traveling to Poland… Here goes:

We headed to the airport in Anchorage on a Saturday morning around 0900. Our plane was set to take off at 1100, but due to some mechanical issues, we ended up departing at 1215. This already put me into a bit of a panicked state because we only had 2 hours in Seattle to make our international connection, which just meant changing several shuttles to get to our new terminal. Thankfully, I have flown through Seattle more times than I can count, so I figured, navigating through the airport would be fairly painless. Well, what I didn’t know is that SEATAC is under construction. *sighs* …

I digress, Otis and I finally boarded the flight to Seattle, and my anxiety over flying with an incredibly strong willed, and independent wiggle worm, were quickly put at ease when the flight attendants were probably the sweetest flight attendants, I have ever encountered on Alaska Airlines. Come to find out, they were under routine observation, and the pilot and senior flight attendant who were conducting the observation were seated right in front of me. Score! Once I noticed this, I made sure to loudly announce to one particular woman that she was in fact the nicest flight attendant I had ever encountered and I thanked her for being so accommodating. I don’t know if it made any difference, but if it did, it was the least I could do for them putting up with Otis’ multiple potty trips.

We made it to Seattle, and Otis was, at this point, asleep. What a miracle! I had carefully packed up our things while he was sleeping and was certain I had organized our items for a quick exit off the aircraft. I wanted to keep him asleep, so in my hurried attempt to deplane while carrying a 35 lb. 2-year-old, a backpack, and a roller suitcase, I somehow managed to leave my phone behind. I was CERTAIN, I had put it in my jacket pocket, but alas, I had not. It wouldn’t be until I reached the Condor ticket counter, however, until I realized this unfortunate mishap.

I shuttled ourselves off the plane, and waited for our stroller so I could unload and make our way to the international terminal. All things considered, I thought I was nailing this whole solo flying (solo, as in parenting) thing. Once we made it to Condor, I had to wait in line for about 30 minutes to have them print our boarding passes. Then, the customer service agent, who was unfortunately unknowingly in for a world of hysterics, asked to see my negative Covid test… the only items I brought that were not in paper form were my test results… they were on my phone.

Needless to say, I immediately went into a spiral of panic, and was trying to figure out how in the world I was going to make it back to the old gate, get the phone, and get back in time to board, meanwhile, Otis was DONE! He was on the floor throwing a lovely little tantrum (my energy did not assist in his mood). Did I mention “strong willed?” Yeah, this is the moment when parents of adult children around the world say, “Payback.”

After realizing that I was not going to make it (although, in retrospect, totally could have, because the agent told me they were boarding in 20 minutes… those 20 minutes turned into 40 so I was a little perturbed), I settled on the fact that I would be without a phone for the rest of the trip. I was also told at the gate that my carry on was too heavy and that I would have to check it all the way through to my final destination… We had an 8-hour layover in Frankfurt so this was a little disappointing. In my frenzied state, I didn’t take a single charging cable, I figured my laptop would be too big to take on the plane, and I opted to forgo a change of clothes for myself as well.

Basically, we went old school. I had no form of communication, other than Otis’ iPad, which was at 14% battery life (no cables) and it wasn’t working anyway, so there yah go.

After I tried to calm myself down, we waited in the long line to board, and I fumbled my way on the plane feeling totally defeated, but hopeful that we would figure it all out. The bright side is, that we did figure it out! Although, once we got to Frankfurt, there were about 20 moms on board who were quite pissed to know that their strollers had been checked all the way through to baggage claim, which was contrary to what we were told when we handed them over. Considering I had an 8-hour layover, I was frustrated because this meant that if Otis fell asleep, which he did, and I had to say, use the restroom, it was just going to be less than breezy. However, because we had 8 hours, it also meant plenty of time for him to lollygag.

It ended up working out and we figured out where we needed to be, were able to eat a real meal, and Otis got some fresh clothes. We were also able to buy charging chords in Frankfurt…

I bought the wrong ones...

It’s just comical at this point, I hope you’re laughing. Otis and I made it safely to Poland, where we then had to report lost luggage and a lost stroller (still laughing?) 😉, and I was just so stupidly happy to see Alexis.

Twenty- six hours later, I truly couldn’t believe we made it, and as I recount this, it sounds so pitiful, but honestly, it’s kind of like childbirth. God gives you strength in the moments you need it most, and through His grace, we sort of “forget” all the bad parts, and would totally do it all over again.

It has taken 3 weeks for my phone to get here (which, I thought was pretty great, actually), and I feel a lot more comfortable getting out and exploring knowing I have a lifeline, but I guess phones didn’t always exist, and those before me have managed. So, cheers to more exploring, and I hope you were entertained by this story. Perspective is everything, and while I might get down by life, there is always a bright light, and thank God for his companionship!

Cheers to more adventures!

With Love from Poland,

The Clods

Some random pictures from this week... enjoying the sun, cooking with great produce, and hosting our first little dinner party with friends!