What the?

Airport: AMSTERDAM, NL Chicago (O'Hare), IL
Scheduled Time: 10:40 AM, Dec 21 12:25 PM, Dec 21
Actual Time: 11:03 AM, Dec 21 (Estimated) 12:10 PM, Dec 21 (Estimated)
Status: Delayed

Huh?
Guess I'll have to wait for more caffeine to kick in before I understand how arriving 15 minutes early results in a delayed status. At any rate, I am so ready.
See, even though my head knows Dan has been back from Iraq since February, until I get hands on confirmation, it won't be real for me until then. But, the pantry is stocked, the upstairs bedrooms are relatively clean, (I forgot to dust!!!) and it is no longer possible to walk through the room where the Christmas tree is due to a large amount of presents. I did manage to forget to buy Coors and Black Haus, but this can be quickly remedied. And, bless them, the Shell station and fire dept. both have Welcome Home Dan on their outside marquees. Okay, again, I KNOW he's been back, but one of the saving graces of a small town is that they truly welcome back their veterans.

I'm babbling. Sorry. But it's been a very long time since we've all been together for Christmas. No one ever knows when we can do this again, and I so want this to be our best one ever.

One quick story-
Years ago, when I was a single mom and just poorer than dirt out in Arizona, I was determined to make things as Christmas-y as possible. On a Friday night after work, I took the kids to get our tree. Bad move, it was too close to dinner time, they were tired, and hungry, the store was overcrowded and my patience was at its limits. Kate started crying in the check out line, really having a grand mal hissy, and I spanked her. Being only marginally potty trained at the time, she had an accident. I felt so horrible. Never spanked her again, either. But finally we got home, ate and got the tree up. I had zero money for many ornaments, so we took old wrapping paper, poster board, glitter and ribbon and made our own. And you know, to this day, that always stands out as the prettiest tree I'd ever seen.