It's Bon Voyage!

Today's the day! In a few hours, we head to NYC and from there, to Nice, France. And I'm looking forward to a real bon voyage. I'm not kidding. I may be a white knuckle flyer, but I really AM looking forward to this trip, and I'm sure it WILL be a good one. I'm nervous about the flight, but so far have not found any reason to weasle out of it. The flights to Nice and back still have about a gazillion open seats on them, and there's nothing I have to do back here that's so important it can't wait until four days from now. So. I guess I'm now the jet-setter I never had any desire to become. But who knows? I may get hooked on flying and start accompanying my husband on his trips all the time--stranger things have happened, I suppose.

I'm trying to think only of the positive aspects of the trip: how beautiful Nice is (my husband has been there before and says I'll love it); how lucky I am to be able to make a trip like this, without spending a penny on airfare or hotels; how proud I'm going to be, sitting in the back knowing that MY HUSBAND IS FLYING THE PLANE!; and how much fun I'm going to have (fun being a relative term) if I get to sit up in business class, which it looks like I'm going to be able to do. My #2 son was here last night, having his belated Thanksgiving dinner with us, and he was regaling me with stories about sitting up front on his trip to Rome a couple of summers ago. In business class on overseas flights, you have a great big reclining chair that's practically a bed, and a personal television set right in front of you--with a list of movies and T.V. shows to choose from, so that you can watch anything your little heart desires. They feed you dinner, snacks, and breakfast. You want for nothing up there. (If that's true, I think the coffee is going to be flowing like wine!) My son told me I'm going to love it, and I'm sure I will (love being a relative term). It's definitely better than having to sit in the back for seven hours, that's for sure. Have you ever seen comedian Brian Regan? He does this comedy bit about the difference between the snooty people up in first class and the riff-raff relegated to the cheap seats behind the curtain that is absolutely hilarious. (If you've never seen Brian Regan, you really must! His comedy is not only clean, but LOL funny.)

My husband has told me that I'd be surprised how many people are afraid of flying, just like me. From time to time during the boarding process, a passenger will look at him and tell him how nervous they are, and ask for reassurances that he and the plane are in good shape for the trip. Or when deplaning, every now and then a relieved passenger will thank him for getting everyone there safely. My husband has a stock reply for these people: he'll smile and say, "Hey, the father of my children is on this plane."

That just made me think about how much I adore our children (and our grandchildren!), so I'm going to post some pictures of the people my husband thinks about when he's flying passengers across the Atlantic.

Here are our four younger sons:

Awww. What a cute bunch they are. And here's our oldest, with his wife and twin daughters:

Cuteness abounds in this picture, too. Sigh...these are the people I'll be thinking about on this Friday, Friday, while I'm kickin' it with my frands up in business class. (Sorry, that won't happen again--I promise. I just can't get that ridiculous YouTube song out of my head!)