Flying me crazy

I probably spend just as much time in the air these days as I do on the ground. And when I am on the ground, a chunk of that time is spent waiting at O'Hare for an inevitably delayed flight to somewhere. I fly so much that I dream about frequent flyer miles. In my dreams American Airlines accidentally credits me 50,000 miles instead of 500 for my last trip to D.C. That means two roundtrip tickets to White Plains to visit the fam. Score! Too bad it never happens and I continue to slowly accumulate, one mile at a time. But with weddings, wedding showers and bachelorette parties to go to, and a wedding of my own to plan, such is life. I fly on.

According to a report in the Chicago Tribune today, there is a 30% chance that a flight out of O'Hare is going to be delayed. Seems to me like that number is closer to 99.9%. Not to mention there is a 100% chance that the delay is going to occur when I really need to get somewhere. For example, when I need to get to Los Angeles to attend my friend's wedding rehearsal! My 11 am flight, having departed many hours after the scheduled time, caused me to miss AS's rehearsal and make a less than glamorous entrance to the hotel lobby just as everyone was arriving in their cute rehearsal dinner clothes. No worries though. After a few glasses of Pinot I was in all my glory with my best friends, toasting the happy couple. A mutual friend of the groom and my fiance recited a touching quote: "May the best of your past be the worst of your future." I asked him to say the same thing at my wedding...

Tomorrow after work I head back to O'Hare. I pray to the airline gods that my 6:30 flight to White Plains really truly takes off at 6:30. US Weekly, New York Magazine and the Penn Gazette are all in my carry on, just in case extra reading material is required. However, i'm hoping that by the time I finish my McDonald's asian grilled chicken salad with lowfat ginger dressing (the best somewhat healthy dinner option at O'Hare) and tear out a few pages in Instyle Weddings, i'll be flying over Martha Stewart's Bedford estate and coming in for a landing.