Author: deckofcards4

Welcome to First Class. I thought to myself, “Hmmm, this is a far cry from my childhood memory of an Arby’s coupon for 5 sandwiches for $5, and no thank you for drinks because we have a 2 liter Coke at home.” I decided to book this leg of the trip 1^st class because of our long journey. It would give Dad the best opportunity to start our trip well rested and well stretched. It is roomy to say the least. Everyone had their own cubical of space – I would imagine that people who work in cubicles for a living would put these in their work’s suggestion box for the next work space make over. Crazy. Crazy good. If you are able, this is worth doing at least once.

When we got off of this flight, I told our traveling companions (our friends – family of 6 – traveled economy), “The perks of being with a senior!” Initially we had thought about only getting Dad and one other person a 1^st class and then business plane ticket, but then I thought that it may be nice to switch out keeping an eye out / helping Dad with navigating all of the newfangled gadgets (positioning the chair, the seat belt with a cross body strap, helping be another set of ears if he could not hear or understand the flight attendant, pointing out where the restrooms were, helping with stowing his carry on, etc.). However, the more my husband and I talked about it, the more we thought it would be easier to all stick together. When I presented this idea to Dad, he only became comfortable with it when he knew that the 4 of us would be traveling in the same class. He didn’t want any one person getting preferential treatment – so thoughtful.

I know some of you are curious about meals and such. Whelp, it was no Arby’s beef and cheddar (however, I do like to have one of those from time to time). I had some kind of salad – Greek goddess bla, bla, bla. It had quinoa, peas, sweet potato chunks, broccoli, and a green dressing. I tried the white mystery food ? – nope not for me, and the cream cheese stuffed pepper – it was okay, but I was full from the salad and it was not tasty enough to devour despite a full stomach. The cheese cake was very good. It had a lemony flavor.

I like to refer to them as character building moments:

Dad got stung by wasps on Wednesday. He is allergic – like EPI-PEN allergic. He calmly texts me, “I got stung by 2 or 3 wasps building a nest that I hadn’t noticed. I smashed their nest off with a broom before I came to the house and put triple antibiotic ointment on the red places.” I drive over to his house and take a look. Initially the spots seem okay. I start him on the “soak it with epsom salt,” take 2 benadryl before bed, and 1 clariton in the morning regimen. On Friday, his arm is twice as big as the day before and redness is moving up his arm. Praise the Lord, we were able to get in to see his primary physician before noon (they close at noon on Friday’s). We leave the clinic with a steroid pack, prescription for antibiotics – in case the redness worsens, and an updated prescription for an EPI-PEN. Thankfully, today Dad’s arm is MUCH better. Silver lining…we tell Dad’s primary physician about our trip to the Philippines and he writes us a script for a daily preventive for Malaria for the 4 of us.

TS, the mom of the other family going with us, broke her toe on Tuesday. Doctor’s orders: walking boot, no running, and minimal walking for 4-6 weeks. Hmmmmm, how is that going to work? She is actually not wearing her shoe because it started to aggravate her heel, so she got some heel lifts / cushions for her shoes and seems to be doing okay now.

My husband’s and my heel have been having empathy pains…no real source, just spontaneous discomfort. We were given some stretching exercises for plantar fasciitis. These have been quite helpful for me. My husband’s heel is still quite bothersome.

The family traveling with us lost electricity the morning of our flight out and had to drive into town to print off their boarding passes.

Irregardless of these incidentals… these inconveniences… usually things that we have no control over, we do have the opportunity to control our minds / our perspectives about these occurrences. When these things occur, I am trying to rest in the promises of Jesus. Only with the help of His Holy Spirit can I do so. I find it humbling that He is so patient with me as a hobble along, and I pray that with each incidental that I grow and mature a little more to reflect the fruits of His Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

I had gone over to JB’s house to trim the hedges. He asked me how long the flights were. In particular, he asked about the length of the flight from Los Angeles to Manila. I told him that it was about 14 hours. He said, “Do they have a gym on that plane? That’s a LONG time!” Made me chuckle.

I had gone over to JW’s house to mow on Friday. He said, “Are you here to mow today?” I told him that I was. He said, “It’s pretty wet out there.” I told him that if I didn’t mow today it wouldn’t be until 2 and ½ weeks from today. He grinned as he looked out the window, “It’s pretty dry out there,” and laughed. I did too.