Friday the 13th

We had plans to leave for our Florida vacation today, Friday, June 13th.  We didn't think much of it being Friday the 13th when we booked our vacation.  We just thought of the best flight times for the maximum amount of vacation time.  Superstition versus vacation?  Vacation wins.  And so it was done.  Our flight was to leave early evening and arrive in Tampa just after Kate's bed time.

But earlier today Brian received a text from our airline saying our flight was delayed til much later.  This kind of was a blessing in disguise because I have been fighting a nasty cold that has literally had me so congested that I can't even swallow.  My entire nasal track is clogged.  So, with our flight being delayed, this allowed me to run into a Minute Clinic and see if there was anything I could do that I haven't been doing.

Low and behold, after said clinic visit, I walked out with a prescription for an antibiotic and ear drops because I had an ear infection.  Excuse me?!  An ear infection??  I haven't had an ear infection since the third grade and now I have one right before our vacation?  [Sigh.]  At least we were able to address this before we leave for Florida.

Our original flight ended up leaving tonight around 11:30 pm which will put it in Tampa, FL sometime around 1:30 pm.  We decided it would be best to swap our flight to tomorrow rather than mess all of our schedules up so much.  So, that we did.   (THANK YOU, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES!  WE HEART YOU!)  Our flight leaves midday tomorrow and puts us in Tampa in the early afternoon.

The next time we decide to book anything on Friday the 13th, superstition may win.  We learned our lesson today.  After a severely delayed flight AND an ear infection, we are now superstitious.  Take it from us, don't mess with Friday the 13th.

UPDATE
Our flight the next day was nothing short of crazy despite it being Saturday the 14th.  I still wasn't feeling the greatest but we decided to press on.  I sat in a window seat with Kate, Brian sat in the middle seat, and a young woman, maybe in her mid-twenties, sat in the aisle seat.  She looked evidently stressed and opened up to us that she has a real fear of flying and asked Brian to talk to her about something, ANYTHING, to keep her mind off of flying.  Brian, being the good sport that he is, did his best.

We were able to manage easily on take-off.  Landing was a different story.

I was experiencing excruciating pain in my ears from the ear infection for the entire descent.  And, folks, if you know airplanes, you know the descent is MUCH LONGER than the ascent.  On one side of Brian sat me and Kate.  Kate playing happily and me with tears streaming down my face from the pain.  On the other side of Brian sat the young woman who was still asking Brian to talk to her about ANYTHING.

We made it to Tampa.  Kate was so good, Brian was a trooper, and I stopped crying, but it would take another day and a half for my ears to pop and for my hearing to return fully...

This little excursion taught us two things: 1. Don't book vacation plans on Friday the 13th, and 2. Never fly with an ear infection.  Hopefully we won't be repeating either of these mistakes in the future...