I am supposed to be in Sunny California right now but instead..

itscc2u · #1 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 07:54 AM

I am in snowy Virginia/Washigton DC because they canceled my 9 am flight at noon yesterday !!

The Conference is still happening for our Breakthrough Series Collaborative on Reunifying Children in Foster Care.. whether the team from Fairfax County VA makes it is another story, they re-booked us for a 6 pm flight which is going to mean we get to California at what would be almost midnight our time, I am sure I will be hurting big-time.

If they cancel that flight the next choice I hear is a 6 am flight tomorrow morning which will make us late for the conference start. I am really looking forward to this because they are taking us to a night at Disney !!!! but who knows if we will even get there now.

I am bummed

cjfrugal · #2 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 11:51 AM

we are suppose to get rain today

itscc2u · #3 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 01:10 PM

Thank you for telling me about the rain I cant find my umbrella.

We lost electricity at the house, so we headed to the airport and the main roads aren't too bad side ones pretty bad still. It got awful cold in the house and its much warmer here I don't mind waiting several hours I have plenty to do like crocheting , surfing the web, books and some tax updates to read so I can make 5 hours go really fast, plus hubby, son and our neighbor are here with me until I go to the checkpoint.

The power company said it could be several days before they restore our electricity !! I hope not it gets mighty cold in the house and our neighbor is with us because she has no heat as her furnace died and she has no money and no job and we have to wait for the county to help her and they are taking their sweet time.

jm19 · #4 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 01:11 PM

GOOD LUCK!
The last time I was in "sunny" California, it rained the whole time!!!

itscc2u · #5 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 10:05 AM

We got her 5 minutes early ! The flight was bumpy but the landing was awesome ! I haven't flown in 18 years and this was so much better than the last time I flew and it was ironically here to LA for Wrestlemania 7.

We got to the hotel at 10:00 pm and when you get into Anaheim/Garden Grove its beautiful ! The lights the Palm Trees everything was gorgeous and we saw Disneyland as we came in.

The hotel is beautiful and if I could pack the bed and the pillows and take them home I would the are comfy. We are at the Orange County Hyatt and I cannot describe it, the driveway has patterns on it, the staff was attentive just wonderful.

I was worried about going through the checkpoint at the Airport, but they were wonderful because I use a cane they put me in a family/disabled line and helped me along the way and I can walk a bit without it its just long distances get me. This nice security man held my arm and walked me through the detector and to get my cane and my bag and laptop backpack. I was very impressed. I did good for my first time flying in 18 yrs except I got a little sick to me stomach and had to take some zofran. Other than that it was good there was no-one in the seat next to me , but a very nice girl was in the window seat and she helped me get my bag out when we landed, I can do for myself I am very independent, but this shows me that there are still some very nice people in the world who accept and are willing to help someone who has a disability.

So one trip down, back home and 3 more trips for this project over the next 18 months I should be a pretty seasoned traveler by then.

read52 · #6 (**permalink**) 03-03-2009, 05:08 PM

I am glad to see that they helped you at the airport. When we fly, we get on early because of my husband's disability. It is so much better to get seated before it gets crowded.

itscc2u · #7 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by read52

I am glad to see that they helped you at the airport. When we fly, we get on early because of my husband's disability. It is so much better to get seated before it gets crowded.

I was fully expecting to hear them do the priority seating at the gate for the First Class and then those with children and disabilities and then by rows. American Airlines does not do that. They did the first class and then some kind of "premium" members. Then our tickets show us a group number and they load you by group number, which we figured out loaded you from the back of the plane to the front.

I had no problems finding a seat in the terminal, but I was more amazed at how its like a little city in there, they had re-charging stations for your electronic equipment, free wi-fi etc.

Last night we got a van and went to Huntington Beach and ate at Dukes and we happened to catch a Street Festival/Farmers Market that they have every Tuesday. We walked down the Pier or in my case I waddled and one of the group stayed with me and I keep telling them I am fine if someone tries to grab me I would beat them up with my cane. I hurt from head to toe even with being sure I took all my regular medications on time and took my breakthrough medication pro-actively before the pain started, but it could be worse.

Tonight we are going to Downtown Disney for dinner and some shopping and they have gotten a scooter for me so I don't have to walk. They are going to see if the sponsors of these Learning Sessions will pay for renting it or if for future sessions they will pay to ship my personal scooter with us so I don't have to walk so much, but can enjoy everything to its fullest without hurting and pooping out at 8 pm !

I will say i am very impressed with Casey Family Programs, the work they do, the work they are encouraging us to improve on and how they treat the youth representatives and parents representatives like equal partners who have a voice in how to re-unify children in foster care quicker, treat the families with respect and as partners in the process and to prevent children from going into care. The goal is to reduce children in foster care by 50% by 2020 across the United States and if we pro-actively prioritize our issues we can do it. I am proud to have been selected to be the parent representative and to lend my voice and be heard and most importantly be treated as an equal partner.

They are going to make us fat, they fed us breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, then a evening reception and there was break in there to get something to drink and it all starts over again today at 7:30 am and me I am up as usual at 5 am and I can't wait to see what the day brings !

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