No Sad Goodbye at the Airport After All!

UPDATE, Monday a.m.: Greg was able to get a spot on a better flight, leaving at the same time but direct to Newark instead of connecting in Cleveland, with a 3 hour layover between his two flights, which is a great relief. He'll still arrive in Shannon at the same time. On my part, I woke up sick this morning! It was frustrating because Greg was still here, but I couldn't even enjoy spending time with him because I was napping, getting sick, and then staying far away from him so that hopefully he won't get sick. In any case, we blew each other kisses a few minutes ago and he's now on his way to the airport. Now it's back to bed for me so I can try to shake this bug, but I'll post again next time I have any news.


This afternoon, Greg and I went to the airport around 1:30 p.m. in preparation for his flight, which was supposed to be at 3:15ish. We had checked online just before driving there and the flight was reported to be an hour late, but we figured we'd go the airport anyway just in case, and hang out together there until it was time to go. He checked his bag, we had a romantic lunch at the airport McDonald's, and then found that the flight had been pushed back again and looked to be running an hour and a half late, which could definitely cause problems for his connection in Newark since he only had a couple hours' layover there to begin with. Worst case scenario, though, would be getting stuck in New Jersey for a night and going out to Ireland on Tuesday.

While we were waiting, we checked the departures board every 20 minutes or so to check the status of the flight. One of those times they had changed the EDD again, bumping it up to be only an hour late. The NEXT time, right before we were going to go to the concourse to say our goodbyes, Greg came back and told me that the flight was canceled!!

Well, I did not believe him at first, but yes, it was true. Apparently there was some pretty bad weather out on the east coast (we had torrential rain yesterday, so they were probably getting that plus some...I heard the wind was really strong and there was some hail). So we headed back down to the check-in counter to make alternate arrangements.

Before, Greg was going to be flying Indy to Newark, then Newark to Shannon (Ireland), arriving around 5:45ish a.m. Ireland time (which is around 1:45 a.m. Indiana time) on Monday, March 15th. He was supposed to work on Tuesday, then would have Wednesday off since St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland.

The new plan has Greg leaving Indy tomorrow, Monday, March 15th at 2-something p.m. (do you like how specific I am with the times?), flying to Cleveland, then flying from Cleveland to Newark, and then Newark to Shannon, arriving around 5:45ish a.m. Ireland time on Tuesday, March 16th. So basically he's running 24 hours behind, assuming he makes all those really difficult connections, which are each only about an hour (!!). No working for Greg on Tuesday now, I guess! It will be nice though that he'll have an extra day to adjust to the time and just start work on Thursday. The new worst case scenario would be that he's unable to get there until Wednesday; he really doesn't want to miss getting to observe St. Patrick's Day in Ireland! We are just keeping our fingers crossed that things go well tomorrow - maybe the first flight will arrive in Cleveland early and the final flight to Shannon will be a little bit delayed so he gets some more buffer room to make all his connections.

Perhaps he needs the Luck o' the Irish?

Good thing it wasn't too late at night in Ireland for Greg to make some calls to the relocation company representatives who were going to meet him at the airport in the morning to let them know about the change of plans.

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So I was all ready for a sad goodbye at the airport just before Greg went through security, like the other couples we were watching who gave lingering hugs and kisses, with the person left behind walking away while wiping tears from their eyes. But that was not to be, which is a good thing! The last couple of days have been very hectic with getting ready, but now the bags are packed, everything is ready to go, and we can relax during this surprise last evening together and just spend time together without worrying about all the things that need to get done. I still have to work tomorrow, so we'll say our goodbyes in the morning before I leave, Greg's brother will take him to the airport around lunchtime, and I'll come home at the end of the workday to an empty house, instead of driving home from the airport to an empty house, which I think will actually feel less lonely for me. :)

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If plans change yet again, you're sure to hear about it here. Otherwise, the next time I post I'll be telling you all about Greg's arrival in Ireland and everything he's told me about his experience there so far. (I've been trying to convince him to write posts for this blog himself, but so far I'm not having luck!)