Escape from the "artic blast"

Packing to head to Portland/Arkansas.


Chip wants to go and then wonders if we saved room for him.

Night 3 at the hotel: Ricky hanging out in the lounge.

We are the lucky ones. We made it out!! After three days of waiting at the hotel and multiple flight cancellations, we woke up yesterday morning to a non-canceled flight. That, in itself was progress, so we showered and got ready to head out, constantly checking flight status for that dreaded cancellation message. We checked out of the hotel and caught the shuttle to the airport where the experience began...

Our CR-V (second closest) the day we caught the shuttle to the airport.



Experience 1: Shuttle Ride
So, after over a foot of snow, our hotel was still offering shuttles to/from the airport. Because our hotel is one of the closest ones to the airport, we weren't too concerned about the fact that we'd seen the same shuttle driver every time we went through the lobby in our hotel for the last three days (so we were pretty sure the other drivers were snowed at home while he was snowed in at the hotel). It was supposed to be a quick trip. Supposed to be is key...When we got on the shuttle, he informed us that we would be going by the Comfort Inn to pick up some people who were stranded because the Comfort Inn's shuttle got stuck somewhere in the snow. Sigh. Another stop, but we had plenty of time (we just got a message our flight was delayed). Just as we were about to pull out of the hotel parking lot, the driver got a radio call that he forgot someone who was scheduled to leave on our shuttle. The driver was annoyed and recklessly backed up and turned around in the foot of snow. We thought for sure he was going to slide into some of the cars (including ours) parked in the lot. After the turn-around and pick-up, we were off to the Comfort Inn.

Did I mention that our hotel was super close to the airport but the Comfort Inn was not so close AND that the Comfort Inn's shuttle got stuck in the snow between the Comfort Inn and the airport? Well, after a crazy, scary, slippery ride, we arrived at the Comfort Inn and ultimately at the airport. It was scary.

Experience 2: Airport Arrival
While we booked our flights with American Airlines, we were scheduled to leave on a code-share flight on Horizon/Alaska airlines yesterday morning. We arrived at the airport 3 hours early. The Horizon/Alaska area was SWAMPED. I have never even seen anything like it, even on a movie. The line wrapped through the typical check-in area, all the way around past the stores, to the security gate and looped back a couple times! Whoa! We found a man who was answering questions (but may have actually been on his way somewhere because he was pretty impatient) about where to go and flight status. I had my iphone and was constantly refreshing our flight status. It said delayed but not canceled. I asked the guy to double-check. He told me it was canceled. Canceled? I double-checked my phone and the monitors both said delayed, so we got in line and Ricky went to find someone else to ask. So far, flight was delayed--not canceled.

We stood in the line and met people from all over who all had stories about where they were trying to go and how long they'd been waiting (3+ days) to get there. We watched as the Southwest airline agent (that line was almost as bad as our line and was across the aisle), told everyone in line that all flights before 1pm (it was about 9am) were canceled and there would be no new flights booked until after the 28th. She was saying, "If you have a flight before 1pm, it's canceled. If you're from here, go home. If you have friends here, call them. We aren't going to be getting you out of here before the 28th." I looked at Ricky wide-eyed and scared. What if that became us? How could it not become us? We saw people waiting EVERYWHERE. About 20 minutes later, we were moving through the line pretty well. I refreshed our flight status. Canceled.

Our hearts sank. Ricky went to check with a real person, and I stepped out of line to call American Airlines. This was it, we thought. But we were at the airport, and we couldn't really go home to Eugene (notice the pictures of our car), so we might as well check. I called the 800 number and prepared for a wait (it took 35 minutes the day before to get through to an agent). Someone answered before it even rang. I was so surprised I almost didn't speak. When I did, I told her situation, and she told us we could get on a 3pm flight from Portland to Dallas and catch a 9:30 pm flight to Little Rock, arriving at 10:35pm.

What? I could not believe my ears. She had to be mistaken. This was an even better flight than what we were going to take that just got canceled? And it was today?! I booked it and went to AA counter to check in. We were early but had nothing else to do. We got our bags checked. I asked the agent to add us to stand-by for the earlier flights just in case. Things were being majorly delayed and we knew it wasn't likely we'd make the connection in Dallas, so it couldn't hurt to fly stand-by. The agent told us not to bother with it. There were people who were waiting for days. Stand-by wouldn't be worth it. So, we checked in, went quickly through security (because only people who were actually booked on flights could get through security) and headed to the gate. When we arrived at the gate, I promptly asked the agent to add our names to the stand-by list, and we waited. It was almost 11am, when they started boarding the 9:25am flight. The airport let some flights out at 9 and then shut down the runway. Ricky and I were comfortable and prepared to spend the day. When suddenly, "Rodriguez party of 2 please make your way to the ticket counter." What? They had seats for us on the very next flight to Dallas?! They weren't together and our checked-bags wouldnt transfer to the flight, but we didn't care. We were as close as we could be to escaping the artic blast!!



This was one of the many frozen planes sitting at the airport. (Not ours!) The luggage trucks would get stuck, making it difficult to get bags in/out of the plane.

Experience 3: On the Airplane
We had a great pilot who kept us very informed of what was happening. PDX had shut down the runway and was going to re-open it at noon. We were first on the departure list, and he wanted everyone on board and ready to go at the moment the runway opened. We were de-iced and pushed back from the gate before noon. Wait, PDX was not satisfied with the condition of the runway, so it decided to let two circling planes land and then it was going to do more work on the runway. More waiting. Our de-icer was wasted (it only lasts for about an hour), and we had to get a new coat. Finally, at 2pm, we taxied off and were in the air. Everyone cheered. I was so overwhelmed, I didn't know how to feel. We were one of only four flights to Dallas that day. Only 13 flights departed the day before (over 450 arrive/depart on a typical Sunday), and we were sure less than 25% would make it out the day we did. We made a stop in Reno to get more fuel and de-icer off, arriving in Dallas in time to make the connection to Little Rock. At 10:35 pm we were on the ground. What an amazing feeling.

The amazing view of the horizon. Words cannot express how thankful we were to have this view.

All I can say is that God answers prayers. We had lots of people praying for our travels. If you would've seen the hundreds and hundreds of people in the airport going nowhere, you would not believe we made it to Arkansas. It was so overwhelming. We were "stuck." Four days in a hotel with nowhere to go and nothing to do except wait to see if our flight would be delayed. Yet, we were canceled and made it on a better flight within a few minutes. We definitely will not be taking this visit for granted. We are so thankful to get to spend this time with family. Our hearts go out to the many families that could not be together this Christmas. We came very close to being in their shoes. You are in our prayers.

Cancelled

Well, it happened. Got the dreaded text message around noon today. Our flight for tomorrow morning no longer exists. We have a back-up flight that is scheduled to leave at 11:15 am and fly through California...we'll have to see how that goes. It's looking a little blizzard-ish outside right now. And if the snow switches to freezing rain like they're predicting...it's not going to be pretty. So, for now, we're snuggled in the hotel room wondering what tomorrow will bring. Praying that we can actually get home to AR sometime in the next few days. I'd post pictures but, at this point, they don't do the winter weather justice.

More snow & bathroom painting

We didn't quite have a snow week, but we did miss more days of school (3) than we had this week (2). The first round of snow came Sunday night and hung around through Wednesday morning, but the schools were ambitious to get at least one day in. So, everyone around us started on time on Wednesday (but allowed all absences to be counted unexcused so parents could use discretion about transporting their kids to school). Wednesday afternoon finally made it above freezing and Thursday was pretty dry. However, the snow was projected, and it came again. And it came pretty fast and furious--for Oregon valley standards.

Ricky and I met his friend Tim for dinner and a movie (the UO football team got free tickets and Tim gets the perks since he "works" for them as an Athletic Training graduate student). Due to the logistics of the ticket getting and movie times, we ended up going to a 9:40 movie...and at 11:40 when we got out, the parking lot was white with snow. The snow wasn't the problem, though. It was the previously damp ground that was now solidly frozen under the thin layer of snow--and we didn't have a "good" option home (i.e., every way we could think of involved a curvy hill or clover leaf). We took our best guess on the safest route and slid (literally) down the one place that we knew was risky--a curvy, relatively steep off-ramp. It was scary, and we watched other cars slip and slide into each other. However, we didn't get a scratch on us or the CRV.

We made it home slowly and carefully about an hour later (the drive is usually about 10 minutes but we had to go a longer way home to avoid hills/clover leaves as much as possible and we never drove faster than 30mph). I must say, I have never been so relieved to see our little house. If you know me, you know that I am not a "risk taker" but instead tend to play it on the safe side, especially when it comes to things like venturing out in bad weather. But, sometimes life happens...

It snowed really hard last night and early this morning, and I took new snow pictures this morning. Keep in mind all the snow from the previous pictures was totally melted when the new snow came. It was pretty, but luckily, it warmed above freezing today and much of the snow melted about as quickly as it came. So, in a last-minute decision, we decided to pack up this morning and head to Portland late this afternoon in hopes of catching the "calm between the storms" (another is heading for us tomorrow morning) for the drive. We did. The interstate was clear and even dry for much of our trip to Portland. We made it in time to have dinner at one of my favorite restaurants--Noodles & Company and work on some last-minute Christmas shopping at one of the nice malls in Portland.

So, I write this from the comfiness of my hotel room. We've watched snow showers off and on tonight, and there's now a pretty layer of snow covering the cars in the parking lot out our window. We have tomorrow to spend either lazing around our hotel room or venturing to the shopping near by instead of having to fight the weather and possible hazardous driving conditions getting here. We should be able to physically make it to the airport Sunday morning (since we can see it if we squint when looking out the window)--now we just need the weather to be clear enough for our flight to take off. Keep our safe travels in your prayers.

Enjoy the new snow pictures, and for Laura, the pictures of our newly painted bathroom. :)



Our house.

Our dogs enjoying the second good snow of the week.


Re-painted bathroom. The picture below is closer to the actual darkish brown color--Ricky says it has to do with the white balance in the camera setting...

Winter Wonderland

The weatherman was bold--he predicted several inches of snow and very coooold weather. Ricky got his hopes up that it would snow (initial projection was for late Friday night). We went to bed Friday and woke up to some flurries mixed with rain on Saturday but nothing special. The projection on Saturday was for snow overnight. We woke up on Sunday to flurries, went to church, and spent the afternoon working on some Christmas shopping while the sun shone beautifully. At 9am it was supposed to be here by noon, and at noon, well, we gave up hope and the weatherman's prediction became a joke... "Be careful in that snow," Ricky teased as I walked to check the mail from the previous day. Ricky was disappointed. He really wanted a snow day because he had already put in to take Tuesday off and head to Portland with me for a job/internship interview. He was banking on a 4-day weekend.

By 9pm Sunday it was snowing and by 11pm we knew school would at least be delayed 2 hours. Ricky and I made hot chocolate and put in a movie. We stayed up late and enjoyed the time together. We went to bed at 2am with the snow still coming down--Ricky was excited to (potentially) have a snow day.

Monday morning we woke up early and checked the news. Bethel school district--closed. Snow day! We were lazy around the house most of the day, eventually made it to the hardware store for new bathroom paint (the previous paint wasn't for high moisture areas) and supplies. We drove cautiously to Target and browsed around before coming home to make dinner. We primed and painted the bathroom and got ready for bed. The high temperature never broke the freezing mark. Our street was a solid sheet of ice and most of the highways weren't much better.

Well, that brings me to today. Snow day #2. This day is sad because we couldn't make the trip to Portland. The roads were just too dangerous, so I had to reschedule my interview. Looks like it's going to be on 1/2 the morning after we get back from AR. We'll stay the night in Portland and then go to my interview before driving back to Eugene. It works ok, but isn't as fun. I was looking forward to spending today in Portland with my husband and to getting the interview out of the way. Hopefully, in a few weeks, I'll have a job lined up for fall. That would be great.

It's not supposed to get above 28 degrees today (it's 18 at 10:20), so it's likely we'll have another snow day tomorrow. The ice doesn't seem to be in a hurry to melt, and the weatherman is calling for more snow/freezing rain tomorrow and snow on Thursday. It's possible we may be experiencing a snow week. Keep your fingers crossed and prayers for us to have a safe trip to Portland Saturday night and safe flights on Sunday back to AR.

For now, enjoy the pictures of our back yard. And...I'll keep ya posted. ;)

Little Abby

It's hard to explain the emotion I feel today, December 12, 2008. It's Abigail Katherine Shachmut's birth day. She was born this morning and is happy and healthy--an answered prayer. I am so very excited and happy for Kyle and Laura. I know they are going to be the best parents ever, and I'm so very proud to be Abby's godmommy. I know she has an amazing life in front of her, and I can't wait to share in it with her. I am so blessed that I can be a part of it.

As I write this, my eyes are filling with tears...it's so crazy. It's so very much like the day I found out Laura was pregnant...as if it were happening to me (but different at the same time). I know I must have spent as much time those first few days thinking about it as she did. I know my thoughts were different in scope from hers but, still, it never left my mind. And today, while I'm so excited, I just wish I were there. I know there are other of their family members who feel the same way; I just hate being all the way across the country on such a life-changing day (literally!). I think that's why I'm not totally sure how to describe my emotions. Because I'm so proud and happy, but it's bittersweet to be so far away when my friends experience this amazing day.

I called the gift store at the hospital where they are staying to order a baby gift, and I was just sad and excited all over again. I wanted to be there to pick it out--no, I don't want the cheesy one that says "born at st. elizabeth's hospital." I want the perfect one--that's cuddly and soft and just says "Abby." The girl picked one out for me, and I'm sure it was great (kyle sent me a picture later)...But the point was...I wanted to pick it out. Well, I guess it's moments like this when you learn just how close you are to someone and just how much they mean to you. Kyle and Laura are two of my favorite people in the world, and I am so happy for them. I can't wait to meet Abby, and I can only look forward to the day that we are next door neighbors..dropping the kids off with the daddies and mommies going shopping. ;-)

Welcome, Abby. Happy Birth Day. We've been waiting for you, and you are so very loved. Great work Kyle (and especially Laura). She's beautiful, and I am so very excited to meet her.

Labor & delivery

It's been a good week. I'm making progress on my "to do" list and even got a cool new application added to my iphone that let's me check things off (and turn them green) when they're done! I have spent much of the week running from school to school and training people to collect data for me on their laptops. I have an amazing group of people who have been super willing to support me. There's no way I'd ever get this done without the great group of teachers, administrators, and peers/colleagues that are a part of my life. It's going better than I expected. Yay! But tonight...tonight I'm anxious.

Because my bestest friend, Laura, is having a baby. Yep, and she's all the way in Boston, which stinks! So, even if she were to have Abby in the next two hours, Abby's birthday will be tomorrow (12/12) even though it's still 12/11 for two more hours here. Weird! Thank goodness for Kyle. He's a technology guy, and I get email updates every few hours. I can't wait for the news of a healthy, beautiful baby Abby and a healthy, happy mom. Laura is the first preggy person I've known well enough to ask lots of details about pregnancy, so I've kind of gotten to live this one vicarously through her (without actually having to deal with the day-to-day side effects like not being able to bend over or lay on my stomach).

This time is even more exciting because Kyle & Laura have asked Ricky & me to be Abby's godparents. We are super excited to play this role and feel very honored that they would chose us for this. I'm already looking forward to having a little play buddy, and Ricky is suggesting we should get to working on a boy so we can set him up with Abby to be sweethearts! ;)

I'm attaching a few pictures of our Hawaii vacation with Kyle and Laura because I love them so much and want to document and share our amazing vacation!

Surviving Monday

Today was Monday. It went much better than I anticipated, considering the stress I felt yesterday. That's not to say it wasn't busy! Let me just give you a quick breakdown of the schedule--just in case you wonder what any given Monday could be like when you're finishing your 4th year of graduate school.

Sleep in until 8:45. Shower, get ready for work. Realize the wireless internet isn't working, reset router and get breakfast (poptart) in the toaster, head out the door (poptart in hand).
1. Observe at local HS (about 8 min from my house) for another student's dissertation from 9:45-10:55.
Travel to next school (10:55-11:10)
2. Observe 4th grade student who's struggling in reading & social behavior at PMtn school from 11:15-11:50.
Travel to next school (11:50-12:20)
3. Progress monitor 20ish first graders in pre-literacy skills (12:25-2:05) at RV school; don't have time to finish the last class or enter the data online b/c I am going to be late for another meeting.
Travel back to PMtn (2:05-2:40)
4. Attend behavior support meeting at PMtn for k-4 students (2:40-3:30). I'm late but get there for most of the meeting. I then need to check in with the counselor (3:40-3:50) and the principal (3:50-3:55).
5. Stop by grocery store to pick up soft drinks for friends who are learning to be data collectors for my dissertation.
6. Arrive home (4:10) and let dogs out. Order pizza for friends who are coming over to practice data collection. Jessica arrives early because she missed the last training (4:30) and others arrive at 5:00.
7. Practice data collection watching videos of small group reading instruction--super painful b/c I'm the teacher in the video from several summers ago! Eat pizza, practice data collection, and socialize a bit with friends (5:00-7:45).
8. Check/respond to work-related emails, update my calendar for the next two weeks, and watch videos of first-year students interviewing teachers for the intro to consultation class I'm helping teach and provide feedback for them, summarize feedback for my supervisor (8:00-10:45).
9. Update blog, catch local news, and hang out with hubby before crashing (10:45-11:30).

Phew. What a day. And that's just a sample. Each day is different, but many look something like this. That's what I love about what I do, though. I like the challenges and excitement that come with being involved in so many people's lives. I like being out and about and not stuck in an office somewhere. I like that if I need to keep a day open, and know far enough in advance, I can often do that. I like that I get to work with a ton of neat people. I love being in schools. But I'm tired tonight and ready to love my hubby. So, I'm out. I just want to say thanks for reading and supporting me. Thanks for your prayers that this all gets done over the next few months! I'll post some new pictures soon for fun.

End of quarter stress

Well, it's Sunday. I like Sundays, especially now that Ricky and I have a church that we enjoy attending. But this particular Sunday, I feel stressed. It's more than the end of quarter stress that usually comes along with finals week. This time it's "getting a dissertation up and running, working out logistics, planning lots of details, and training people to help me" stress.

I really want to enjoy this experience. This dissertation will be the only thing that I finish graduate school with that is purely mine. It has been mine from the beginning, and the final product is all mine. Honestly, it doesn't even really matter what the data look like. The study just has to get done the way I proposed to do it, and I'll be eligible for a PhD. But it's still stressful. If you know me, you know I like to do things well or not do it at all... It's that side of me that's competitive, not super competitive but just the fighter. So, as I sit here preparing to plan for the last two weeks before the Christmas break to get all the logistics of my dissertation worked out, I'm stressed. For my sake and the sake of my husband, say your prayers. I need to let go a little and just enjoy it, and I don't think I can do it on my own.

I want to say how thankful I am for Ricky. I love that he's worked hard to help me have a good weekend, despite my stress. He took me to see some pretty Christmas lights last night and to the Four Christmases movie today. Both helped me to enjoy the spirit of this time of year and relax. Now, on to tackling dissertation to dos.

Here goes nothing...

Well, here we go. As a little girl, I loved journals (I called them "diaries" back then). I must have owned at least 15 different ones over the course of my late elementary and junior high years--sparkly ones, fluorescent colored ones, ones with locks, one with a special pen. I enjoyed writing in them, but after a few weeks...well, you can probably guess.

But I've been reading Laura's blog for almost a year now, and I've decided to give this a shot. I mean, how hard can it be? I'm a much quicker typer than writer, and I will have an opportunity to share with friends and family... And, I must mention Ricky finally got brave and started his own blog, so as you know, I can't let him show me up!

I'm actually excited about getting a chance to chronicle things that happen in my life, especially the small ones that can so quickly slip by and be gone forever. I'm also excited just to have a regular chance to unwind this way (hence the title). So, for my readers, I'm going to lay some ground rules...because I'm a firm beliver in teaching expectations to prevent future problems! (Thanks, UO SPSY program!)

1. This is my space. All readers all welcome, but I'm not promising to always say "the right thing."

2. This should be fun for me. So, I'm not going to write technically. You might find typos, spelling errors, funky punctuation, and super long or incomplete sentences. Too bad (unless Candy will volunteer to come along and edit). :)

3. I would like blogging to happen regularly, but I also know habits take a while to form, so if you're following this and you haven't seen a post for a few days...let me know you want to hear from me! You can help me develop my habit.

4. I'm a big believer in praise and positive feedback, so keep the negative thoughts to a minimum. ;)

Umm... I think that's it for expectations. Let's get to unwinding.