Sometimes you gotta just smile, right? Our travel home from babysitting our grandson on Tuesday was a little bit frustrating but we met it (mostly) with trying to just see the lighthearted side of things.

First up – great Lyft ride from Jersey City to LaGuardia to catch our flight. We got there in record time and had a couple hours in the fabulous new Delta Sky Club where we had breakfast and endless coffee. It was a far cry from our trip out of LaGuardia in 2015 for Micah’s graduation from Columbia. That post, which I read and laughed out loud when I re-read it, was aptly titled Always Pack Spare Underwear. If you need a laugh click on that link.

We loaded on the plane and sat till everyone boarded. Then I heard a banging sound, turned around and saw the pilot trying to close the bin above seat 4. Unsuccessfully I might add. Repeated attempts which no good results. He leaves and eventually comes on the intercom to announce that he has called maintenance to come repair it which will hopefully be quick but we will be delayed. The real issue is that for some reason the electric went out and the jet bridges can’t move so we are stuck. 20 minutes later maintainance shows up, tries to fix the bin, leaves, comes back with TAPE and tapes it shut. Seriously. I could have done that. Pilot comes back on and power is back so we are on our way an hour late.

We specifically chose to fly out of Charlotte so we could have a direct flight and not have to worry about things with travel being so flaky these days. Well guess what? Travel got flaky. The airport is under renovations so it is kind of a maze to get to baggage claim for Delta but we found it and one lone bag was circling around the carousel –Chris picked his bag up and we waited for mine. And waited. And waited. There were absolutely no bags coming down. Fortunately the Delta luggage information spot was right there so we checked in with Yvonne to see what she could tell us. She checked the tracking number, said it had been unloaded and made some calls. No one could find it. She started a claim and I must admit I felt sorry for her. People get really mad when things happen to their luggage and it is certainly not her fault. So we were kind and really –since I was going home and didn’t have to have anything that was really in the suitcase I wasn’t too upset. They would get it to me when they found it.

So we got on the bus to get to our car and on the way she called with the message it was located and she had it so we stayed on the bus and went right back. Problem solved.

Once we got to our car we were ready to get on the road for the 2 1/2 hour drive home. Guess what? The battery in my car remote was dead. YES! Fortunately on a Subaru it has a key that you can take out of the remote to physically unlock the door. Which Chris did. And then the horn started blowing. Non stop. We were THOSE people. Oh my gosh. Of course there is no key hole to insert a key inside the car to start it but if you hold the remote close to the push button it will start and it eventually did. Score! Horn stopped honking and we were on our way.

We stopped for gas on the way home and got the car restarted, hit up ChikFilA for some quick food and made our way home.

Are you tired now? Let me tell you, I am, but it was worth every single moment of frustration just to see that sweet boy and spend time with him. Totally worth all the aggravation and honestly— it wasn’t that bad because we were together and could crack jokes about it.

So one word of advice if you plan to travel —take your sense of humor and remember to pack an extra pair of underwear. You might need it.