Short trip to Babysit

This trip started early! We had a 6:35 AM flight to Nashville, where we will watch four of Shelley’s grandchildren while the parents relax in Cabo. They were supposed to leave yesterday, and his mother watched the children until we arrived today. Shelley’s daughter and her husband received a message that their Saturday 6 AM flight was delayed by 90 minutes. Yet when they arrived at the airport, they were told the flight wasn't delayed and that they had missed it! I saw the text message that it was late, and this was a terrible situation caused by a Southwest Airlines flight. They managed to get on a flight this morning, so they'll be a day late!

I was nervous about sleeping too late and missing the flight. So, when I woke up at 3:00 AM, I stayed awake. Shelley was up by 4:15 AM since my sister was picking us up at 5:00 AM. The trip to the airport was smooth, but once we arrived, I was shocked to see that departures were backed up a quarter mile. I have never seen departures this busy in decades. I assume the final holiday rush caused it, and most people were heading home on Sunday.

We were fortunate that I had upgraded us to first class as a Christmas gift to Shelley. This let us take a short line to check her bag and reach the gate 30 minutes early. If she had to wait in the regular line, it would have been close.

The flight was full. When I boarded, I noticed that about 75 percent of the passengers were Montana State fans heading to Nashville for the FCS National Championship. I wanted to attend that game, but No. 1 seed North Dakota State lost its first-round game to Illinois State, which is in the Championship. I really hope Montana State wins because their coach is a great person, and it would be well-deserved. In the last two championships, 12021 and 2024, North Dakota State beat them in the final game. The only other time they won was in 1984.

We landed just after 9:00 AM, and everything went smoothly. Shelley ordered an Uber. There’s no mass transit to Brentwood, so for $85, it was our only option. Crazy the cost for the 13-mile, 25-minute trip, but there’s no other option.

When we arrived, the children and Grandma Sue were playing left, right, and center. This is a dice game they love! That was followed by Bingo, which took us to lunch. After lunch, Shelley took Maeve to basketball, and I played outside with Vera, Faye, and Jack. When Shelley returned, I cleaned the kitchen. At 3:15 PM, we headed to the Factory for donuts and ice cream. Faye and Jack said they wanted donuts, while the rest stood in the long line for ice cream. Since there was no ice cream flavor I liked, I also had a donut. Unfortunately, we finished the donuts before Shelley ordered ice cream, and she gave in when Faye and Jack said they wanted it, too. To fix the situation, Maeve and Vera each got a bag of their favorite chips from Daddy’s Dogs, and Jack and Faye needed to share one.

That didn't go over well. Jack threw a tantrum and created a scene because he wanted his own chips. I picked him up and told him he couldn't get his way by crying. After I threw him over my shoulder, they held him up by the ankle behind me, and he seemed to forget about the chips.

We arrived home at 4:45 PM. Shelley stayed to make dinner with Jack, Maeve, and Faye while I took Vera to basketball practice. Once practice was over, Shelley got the four kids to bed while I cleaned up the kitchen. We were both so tired as it was, and with an early start, we were happy to relax at 9:30 PM.  We both need a great night's sleep.

Carry on my friends, carry on!