it’s our first morning in florida and i have the time to write! this is the first time i’ve felt relaxed for at least a few weeks. it’s still a little cool here this morning. perhaps 66 degrees. that’s a considerable improvement over chicago’s current temperatures, though, so it feels great to me. either way, this morning is a welcome respite after the stressful check in process at the airport last night.

the flight down itself was fairly smooth. charlet was sedated for the flight. her stoned look is a sad look. we gave her half a pill before we left the house. we had a hell of a time getting to our gate, though. we started in terminal 2 of o’hare, in the US Airways check in line. our flight was one of those weird alliances, which confused us. it was a US Airways flight operated by United. whatever that menas. while waiting in the line, i called US Airways to find out where we’re supposed to be. it turns out we were in the wrong line. we had to be in the United line! aah!

this required a transfer via train to terminal 1. tons of fun when the escalator is out and everyone else in chicago is also traveling south for christmas. so we finally make it to the united check in line and patiently zig zag back and forth until we finally find ourselves in front of one of those touch screen machines. after entering our confirmation number, we’re kicked out of the check in process with a message saying “unable to process pet request.” we flag down a united employee, who leads us to another line–the one for odd sized/kennel check ins. there were several groups of people in front of us, and time was beginning to run out. at the time, we were unaware our flight was delayed. that information might have been helpful to keep nicole relaxed. since we didn’t know that, she was on the verge of freaking out. waiting patiently is not my wife’s strongest suit.

after waiting a small eternity checking in, we had our final obstacle. security. luckily, though, things were looking up from here. we made it through the security line with a minimum of fuss. we made it to our gate with quite a bit of time to spare, thanks to the delay. a gate change, and another quarter of a sedative to calm the suddenly jumpy charlet, we finally boarded the plane. about halfway through the flight, nicole removed charlet from the carrier and held the pup in her arms hidden by a doggie blanket. charlet was shaking and nervous, and nicole felt bad. never mind the airline’s rules, i would’ve done the same thing. she’s our baby, after all.

the sedative did its job, though. charlet mostly slept or sat around peacefully. she didn’t pee, poo, or puke once at any point during the trip down here. she whined a few times, but never to a point that might’ve embarrassed us.

today charlet seems to be happy here at ‘dog camp’. she’s socializing well with the other dogs, it seems. she tends to be a bit of a chicken, since chloe can sometimes be a little cranky around her. however, she’s thriving. currently, as i type, she’s exploring the back yard. i’m sure she enjoys the freedom of not being on a leash while outside. she’s gained a bit of that freedom back at home in the new house, but our yard is a lot smaller than this one.

anyway, the gang is stirring, it’s about time for us to get something to eat. i should probably finish getting ready and get off this computer.

till next time, have a good day!

and now, as i reach this point in the post, the sun is up and the air is warmer. bring it on, ra. shine on us, freyr. warm us, surya. even today, on the winter solstice, shine. warm my cold bones.