Update-tastic

I'm in Wisconsin until the 10th of January. Baby, husband and I are having a good time, but as usual there are just too many things that we've done, are doing, and will do in the next few days.

Some highlights in the past tense:

1. The flight here was... interesting. It was just Isaac and me (Shaun and Loki having flown back a week early), and the weather was not cooperating. For once, however, getting out of the village, and out of Bethel, was not even close to an issue. Clear skies and cold temperatures made for easy flying, although a recent ear infection for Isaac made me a bit nervous. In Anchorage, I was greeted by news that while my flight to Seattle was one of the few still not canceled, it was delayed by several hours, putting me on a VERY close connection schedule in Seattle. We waited. 300 people were waiting for 30 standby seats on our flight; apparently ours was the only Anchorage-Seattle flight that had flown in the past 24 hours due to bad Seattle weather and flight crews being over their hours or some such madness. Our flight boarded after several more delays. We reached a post-blustery Seattle, without further incident, approximately ten minutes after my flight had started boarding. I had to get to a different concourse; I didnt' even have time to put Isaac in his carrier. So through SEA-TAC airport I sprinted, baby under my arm like a football, infant snowsuit draped over the diaper bag, everyone pointing and laughing because Isaac is shrieking with laughter at this fun new game. We arrived just as they were about to close the door. I got on board (first class this time... hooray for mileage upgrades) just in time to... sit on the tarmac for an hour and a half while they de-iced us THREE times. Come to find out SEA-TAC airport ran out of de-icing fluid. I'm not surprised; that airplane was COATED in ice. After we finally took off, it was comfortable (if not well-appointed; they hadn't had time to stock the plane with first class edibles, but we were all so happy to be airborne, they could have fed us stale bread and water and we'd have rejoiced and asked for more) flight into Minneapolis-St. Paul, where I discovered that my luggage (a suitcase and Isaac's car seat) had not made the quick connection in Seattle. I really didn't care. The airline loaned us a car seat and home we went. Our luggage arrived just in time for Christmas via FedEx.
   
   So there you have it. We shouldn't have made it home as easily as we did. My frantic sprint through SEA-TAC was nothing compared to what most people who went through Seattle experienced. But apparently the virgin goat I sacrificed was just what the travel gods had a hankerin' for, because I was home on my originally-scheduled flight, albeit late and without luggage.
2. Grandparents have been loving on the baby. I have pictures, and will try to get 'em posted at some point
3. Everyone in the entire extended family except for Isaac and myself caught a nasty norovirus on Christmas Eve/Christmas. I credit breastfeeding for keeping Isaac from getting it too badly, but I'm not sure why I didn't get sick. It's possible that, as an elementary school teacher, I've already been exposed to this specific bug, or maybe I just have a gut of steel. Anyway, I had 12 hours of hardly-noticeable queasiness when everyone else in my family lost five pounds on the Pray to the Porcelain God diet. I also had a bunch of pickled herring on Christmas Eve... maybe that helped. Pickled herring for good health!
4. I visited Minneapolis, and got to see Katie (only briefly because she and her husband, thankfully not their baby, also got sick) and Chanda. Good times, as usual.

That's about it. Pictures to come, I hope. :D