.... like getting rained on as you get out of the wrong plane in the wrong location - or stepping in a huge puddle of water with your already wet feet as you get out of the incredibly expensive rental car on your desperate way to find a hotel at 1am.


So what happened is that I had to go to Puerto Rico to take a techie certification test.  After getting there and getting my rental car, I was nervously finding the test site and after an hour, I even found a parking spot in downtown San Juan.

The good part was that right next to the testing center there were stores.
Many stores.
Stores that sell shoes for kids, and clothes for adults and toys for Christmas.
(gasp)

While you may not understand the extent of this,  after living in Anguilla for about 8 months, where you cannot find/buy clothes, toys or shoes, believe me, a Payless Shoestore is monumental for me these days!!!

So after passing my incredibly difficult test (phew) I was happily shopping - and for those of you that know me, know that I don't shop happily - again, monumental event going on here.
I got shoes for the growing kids, clothes for the girls, toys for the kids and some things for the house.


Next stop was KMart that I had carefully circled on the San Juan area map the night before since I haven't been driving much on that side of Puerto Rico.

I left there with the coolest birthday present for the Logan - a tent/sleeping bag/flashlight/compass/whistle combo, all stuffed in a small backpack.  And for good measure, and since we are actually planning on camping with the kids, I got one in pink for the girls for Christmas too.



And that's when things started to go wrong.
The check-out lady didn't hand me the girl's tent and I didn't notice until I was already at the airport.
2 hours later.

Now for those of you that know San Juan, it's less than 2 miles from the Plaza de Americas to the airport, and on those 2 miles of road is when things got even worse.

See, it was Logan's birthday that day and the reason I was taking a day trip to San Juan was because it WAS his birthday.  The reason I was excited to find the tent and the spy-gear was because I would be able to arrive back in Anguilla and come home just in time to see the kids to bed, right in time to get them super excited with Logan's birthday presents.

But no such luck as there was a wreck on the highway to the airport and it took me 1.5 hours to get there.  And since I had set aside exactly 1.75 hours to make my 9pm flight, that calculation wasn't adding up.
While I didn't miss my flight, the system had already closed it - exactly 5 minutes before I got to the airline counter.

So I excused myself from the confused airline agent while I turned around and lost it.
And that, my friends makes the second time I have cried uncontrollably in public at the American Airlines counter in San Juan.  The first time was when the girls and I came to Anguilla to move here and the second was on Logan's birthday.

I was going to miss my son's birthday entirely.
Right away I started thinking of the permanent scars this would cause my poor little boy and how his world was going to be crushed and how the presents would be meaningless if I wasn't there.
But somehow through the self-pity and the tears I managed to think briefly of solutions, rather than focus on the devastating (little joke there) results.
Hmm, what's close to Anguilla that might possibly have a later flight.
AHA - St. Martin!

Somehow I managed to come up with a feasible solution and I proudly announced it to the airline agent - "one ticket to St. Martin please"...... but his head-shaking wasn't a good sign and the statement of "I'm sorry, it's sold out" stung even more.

I didn't really hear the "$159 for the flight tomorrow afternoon" solution he was suggesting as I was in tears again, thinking of my baby sitting at a therapist one day, soon from now, talking about how his Mother abandoned him on his birthday - all just to shop at a Payless in San Juan.

One more brief moment of sanity and the words "STANDBY" followed by "I'll do anything" came out.
The agent shook his head..... "I'll walk off the plane if it's full".... and finally a nod.

Good!
Not great, as that meant I'd have to come up with a solution for getting from St. Martin to Anguilla.
But first things first.

20 minutes later I'm in a plane and on the phone, asking Jonas to locate the number for a speed-boat to come pick me up from St. Martin.

One sleep-filled hour later (I haven't exactly slept much in the days before my test because of all the studying) we were in St. Martin and I eagerly de-boarded the plane.  Which is when at the exact moment my foot touched the ground, a huge downpour of rain started falling from the sky.
Nice.
So once I was sufficiently soaked but inside, I tried calling Jonas to find out how I was going to see my baby on his birthday after all.
Except there was no reception. 
Perhaps on the other side of the building.
Nope.
Sigh.
Ok, no way to communicate and all the rental car places had started to shut down since it was almost midnight by now.
Nice.

But then, a text message made it to my phone from Jonas saying that he found a speed-boat ready to come get me but that it was going to be $350.
US dollars, not EC (Eastern Caribbean Dollars).

(curse-word)
So after a quick pleading with the already closed rental car agency guy, I was on my way to get a car at least.
I now was out of money, without dry clothes or shoes and without a place to spend the night.

For the next hour I drove around the island, desperately looking for an open hotel, as St. Martin is the polar opposite to Anguilla, and it is definely NOT safe to be out alone at night.  After the fourth seedy looking hotel I was ready to give up and just park the car and sleep somewhere.
Which is when my phone rang.
Holy cow, my phone rang!
Jonas got through, although I was never able to call out and he said he'd be able to get me a hotel room for $120 on the other side of the island.
I was about as inclined to pay the $120 as I was to pay the $350 and declined, besides, those online hotels were all closed by now.

I think it was around 1am when I saw the universal sign for "you will receive help" in the form of the Swiss flag.  It was "le chateau - a Fromagerie de Suisse".  Now my day was getting better, except for the puddle I parked in, that I then promptly stepped in and soaked my already wet shoes even more.
But the promise of Swiss Cheese AND help with finding a hotel room made me care very little.
Of course the restaurant was closed (bad news), but the very nice owner did offer me some directions to a nearby hotel (good news).
And then I remembered that foreign currency collection I keep in my wallet.  Swiss, Italian..... and wouldn't you know it - EURO!
So a beer and a cigarette later (I don't really smoke or drink but it seemed appropriate at the time) I was ready to press on with my quest.   Which is when I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and for those of you that know my alcohol tolerance (or lack thereof) know that that means this hotel better be close!

I got to my $125 hotel room just a few minutes later at 130am and promptly collapsed in the bed.


I didn't make it to ferry to Anguilla until 10am the next morning, but I did end up making it home with fresh, French, chocolate filled Croissants and tons of hugs for my, surprisingly unscarred little boy.