Top 15 Merle Haggard songs

In honor of the Hag, I'm posting my 15 favorite Merle songs of all time.

1. Misery and Gin
2. I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink
3. Ramblin' Fever
4, Carolyn
5. The Fightin' Side of Me
6. Okie From Muskogee
7, Pancho and Lefty (w/ Willie Nelson)
8. You Take Me For Granted
9. That's the Way Love Goes
10. Today I Started Loving You Again
11. Mama Tried
12, If We Make It Through December
13. Working Man Blues
14. A Bed of Roses
15. The Bottle Let Me Down

Lonely Days

Four times I have tried singles events through Meet up. And all of those four times, I have come away terribly disappointed. I've given it every fair chance and absolutely nothing works out. The environment is so non conducive to meeting people. People show up, they find someone immediately they're comfortable with and they'll spend the rest of the night talking. If you're not one of those lucky people, then at the end of the night, you are one lonely son of a bitch. Twenty five dollars I paid, just to reinforce the fact that I am completely unappealing.

I have basically come to the conclusion that the only way that a guy can get a girl is to either be really rich, be really good looking, or be a complete smooth-talking scam artist. And I'm not any one of those three things. I guess that leaves me out in the cold.

Just had to get that off my chest.

Wrestlemania Predictions

US Championship
Kalisto vs Ryback
Prediction: Kalisto

Usos vs Dudley Boyz
Prediction: Dudley Boyz

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Prediction: Goldust, Heath Slater, Cesaro (if there is a surprise return)

Total Divas vs. BAD and Blonde
Prediction: Total Divas

New Day vs League of Nations
Prediction: League of Nations

Ladder Match for the Interncontinental Championship
Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn vs Dolph Ziggler vs Zach Ryder vs The Miz vs Stardust vs Sin Cara
Prediction: Kevin Owens

AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho
Prediction: AJ Styles

Divas Championship
Charlotte vs Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks
Prediction: Sasha Banks

No Holds Barred
Dean Ambrose vs Brock Lesnar
Prediction: Dean Ambrose

WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Triple H vs Roman Reigns
Prediction: Roman Reigns

Hell in a Cell
Shane McMahon vs the Undertaker
Prediction: Undertaker


Just did 500 free squats in 10:15. Feeling good. Guess I can go eat some more pizza now.

Six days a week

So I'm I'm a stretch where I'm working 17 of 21 days, and when I'm working, that means three hours of commuting. I find that Friday nights are becoming basically meaningless. If there's a social event happening on Friday, I'd really rather not even go. And I have been such a social butterfly in my life and now I feel like I'm stepping back from that. It's not that I'm becoming anti social, but maybe the big group just doesn't hold the appeal and excitement for me that it once did.

We finally hired a new girl. She's really cute, from Long Island, and an Italian. What's not to love about this hire! Unfortunately cnn I found out today that she moved here with her boyfriend. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I know it's not a great idea to mix business and pleasure, I personally never have, but I can't say I would have been opposed to it.

Thank God my dad sent me his new address, which I didn't even know was going on. Otherwise, I would have totally forgotten to send him something for his birthday. I'm pretty ashamed to admit that. But at least I didn't already mail a card because it would have gone to the wrong address.

I'm going to see Alonzo Bodden do stand up on Saturday night. I'm really only doing it because of the groupon, more than 50% off. He's really funny, but more and more lately, he's been going into these ultra liberal crusades, which are just annoying. I just hope I don't have to hear a monologue on why gay marriage is harmless. I don't need it or appreciate it.

A pint of Brooklyn lager for five bucks on the train ride home. Don't mind if I do.

MLB Predictions

National League
East
y-NY Mets
x-Washington
Miami
Atlanta
Philadelphia

Central
y-Chicago
St. Louis
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Milwaukee

West
y-Los Angeles
x-Arizona
San Francisco
San Diego
Colorado

American League
East
y-Toronto
x-New York
Boston
Tampa Bay
Baltimore

Central
y-Cleveland
x-Kansas City
Detroit
Chicago
Minnesota

West
y-Houston
Anaheim
Texas
Seattle
Oakland

NLCS
NY Mets over Chicago

ALCS
Toronto over Cleveland

World Series
NY Mets over Toronto

The Pudding Debacle

I have this co-worker who is really pretty, but she just comes across as being high maintenance and a little bit spoiled. She does like my cooking, she raved when I made banana pudding and roasted vegetables for two different pot luck meals.

So her birthday was coming up and she hinted she wanted some banana pudding. She didn't ask politely, it was more like "You're gonna make me banana pudding, right?"

I went with her game and decided to make it. Get birthday was on a Tuesday, I made the pudding Monday night. I put it in a new 13 x 9 rectangular pan that I was using for the first time. It had an attachable handle to make it easy to carry.f

So I took it on the train, had no problems. Then came the ten minute walk to the office. Not even halfway through, one of the sides comes loose. And the whole pan topples over, upside down all over canal street. Every banana, every Pepperidge Farm chessmen cookie, and almost all the pudding.

People have said I should have taken a picture. That wasn't the first thought on my mind. My thought was to get the hell out of there. I said something I shouldn't have said and kept on walking up the street.

The whole day, I went nowhere near my coworker. I was hoping maybe she'd forget all about it. Well, she said nothing that day. Next day...different story.

She came up to me on Wednesday and in a voice void of emotion, she just said "Adam, yesterday was my birthday. You didn't wish me a happy birthday and no banana pudding."

As my face was turning red as a cherry, and I began to feel completely embarrassed, I tried to explain what happened. She would have none of it and walked away.

I don't know if she cared or not. But to make this one up, I probably owe her pudding, a trip to Hawaii, and a gift car to Nordstrom

Signs of life

Well it is March. This is the time of year when the Midwest pretty much decides it's spring. We still need to wear winter jackets, but our truth aren't chattering soon as we step outside. Hats and gloves are optional.

I'll have to save a separate post for last weekend in Michigan. For now I'll say I have no desire to go back to Detroit, but Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor are cities I would definitely return to.

I'm working three straight Saturdays and I just finished number one. I'm just thankful I'm off on Good Friday, or I'd be working three straight six day work weeks.

I expect the Rangers to make the playoffs, win one series at the most, then promptly get eliminated by Washington. This team has blown so many late leads this season, which was just unthinkable in the last three or four years. The defense has completely regressed, especially Marc Staal and Dan Girardi, and most of the forward this team counted on to step up have failed. The three biggest culprits are Rick Nash, Chris Kreider, and Kevin Hayes.

In one of my ncaa brackets, I got 29 of 32 first round games correct. That's the good news. The bad news is in that bracket, I picked Michigan State to win the national championship.

Getting some notable gray hair towards the front of my head. It's not something I like. They say great hair is a sign of maturity and wisdom. I think it's just a sign of age. I think about coloring it sometimes. I don't mind some gray, but I don't want the salt to overwhelm the pepper yet! Then again, I'd much rather have a head of gray than a clean scalp.

I want to run again. I saw an ad for the shamrock shuffle in Chicago, which I ran two years ago and it gave me the itch. The issue is when can I devote the time to training. I know I can still go. The issue is simply time...and my refusal to run outside when it's below 50 degrees.

Song pick: "Full of Fire" Al Green

The ride home

Well after my Saturday shift, I didn't go for the fried chicken. Though I did walk by it. I went to Coalfire, which was voted the best pizza in Chicago. To me, the best pizzas are cooked in a coal oven. And I certainly enjoyed the smoke flavor and crunch of the crust. I like a little chew on it and unfortunately there wasn't much to chew. And though I liked their sauce, I wanted more of it. The quality of the Berkshire sausage and the spice of the calabrian chiles defined the flavor of this pizza. While the pizza tasted really good and was well made, I can't say I'd get it again. I think I still prefer Piece.

I think about my schedule at work. I devote about 60 hours every week to my job and to the commute, and that's on the days when I don't work 6 days a week. But I think of all the things that I would like to do. I want to join a small group again. I would like to join the gym again and start running races. Shoot, I would even like to date, although that one may be the most farfetched idea. But it frustrates me that I have to miss out on Yelp events and can't watch a lot of games live. Don't get me wrong, I love being able to work and I'm thankful to be making a living again. But it's tough when you have to make sacrifices and especially when sacrifice is not your choice.

Online dating. A complete bust. E-harmony failed me six years ago. Match failed me even worse this time. A three month trial for $33 turned into a year for $220. All because their website confused me and I thought I had to put in a credit card as a placeholder. It looks like I'll get the charge reversed, but I will never use match again. No chance.

There are a few kinds of young women and almost all of them I meet fall into one of these categories: a catch who's taken, the free ones who have no interest in anyone, a free one who has one guy in her crosshairs and is waiting for him to make his move, while she ignores every other guy, and free ones who won't get much attention, and is shocked when she gets any from some hapless dude. The process is so frustrating and I wish I could not think about it and focus on something else. Hell, my 70 year old former therapist just got remarried. I'm less than half her age and all I've dated for more than a month are women who I settled for. I promised myself I won't settle again. Now I don't even have prospects who I'd put in the "settle" category. Maybe I should just be single and learn to be totally content with it. But if that was true, then I shouldn't have a desire to be in love, right?

I feel like I'm going right against the Valentine's Day post I wrote a few weeks ago. But that's the thing about love. It lures you, enthralls you, excites you, scares you, devastates you.

Straight work

Well, I just finished a run where I worked 12 out of 13 days. Even on Saturday, I worked 7 hours without a break. Plus, you have to factor in 3 total hours of commuting a day. After being without full time work for 18 months, it's amazing how work seems to have taken over such a large section of my life. I'm not feeling burned out or anything, but there were a few moments during the last week when I would go half a day and just feel like I was an auto-pilot. I was still working hard, but I was not in the mood to be interrupted or inconvenienced by anybody.

And I thought for the entire six day week that I would have a 3-day weekend just because President's Day is Monday, tomorrow. Only to find out that last Friday that we were not celebrating President's Day on Monday, but rather on the following Friday. So, with almost no notice, I had to tell mom that we can't go into Evanston, like we had planned for Monday. It sucks that the change was made so suddenly.

Let's move on. The Well in Geneva, IL seems like a church I could myself sticking with. It's certainly not large, but it's young, it's progressive, it focuses on community, and they're really focused on making a difference in the world. I've met quite a few people already and I'm thinking I'm going to explore this place. Maybe it will become my new church home.

I'm thinking next Saturday, after I finish my shift at work, I'll try Gus' Fried Chicken.

Valentine's Day

When I was a kid, I thought you were really corny. You seem like a holiday invented by women so that men would spend their money on them. Once high school came around though, I started to wish I could experience you more. Now here I am. I am 34 years old and I can truly say I do not have one memorable Valentine's Day date in my life.

You bother me now. You bother a lot of people, to be honest. You show up every year, not too long after Christmas. You sell your rings and other jewelry on TV and I'm tired of getting all the emails from three different flower companies.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't like love or that I want to avoid love. I love love; it's probably the best thing that can happen to a person. But somewhere along the way, I brought into this lie that says if I'm not in love, then I'm not really alive. I brought the lie that says if I love someone, but then they stopped loving me or if they started loving somebody else, then I must not have much worth or value.

If I continue to believe that lie, it's going to create such a level of inadequacy, create a hole in me so large, that nobody else could ever even begin to approach filling it. I've tried filling it with material things, with work, with food, with crushes, with drinks, with music, and none of it works.

I think there have been too many times in the last 20 years where I mixed up girls for God. It seems that I'm always my most comfortable when I have initial interest in a girl and begin to learn about her. That was the place I always seemed to have as a young man, and in reality, I haven't escaped it. Even though I am more confident person than I used to be, I have looked too much to women for validation of my self worth. But to think of the unfair pressure that must put on a girl. It's not fair to her. Lord knows no matter who I meet, she will have her own flaws and her own issues and her own baggage and I know I am not qualified to fix her up.

I'm sure in two weeks, I will be tempted to ignore you. It will be a Sunday without football, the week after the Super Bowl. I'm sure I will see one Facebook post after another about how wonderful love is and how some happy somebody is in their current relationship. And my first instinct will be to curse my fate and play a sad song about unrequited love.

You know what, I don't want to do that. There are so many other kinds of love that are so important in this world. I have a small family, but I have a family that cares about me. I have many acquaintances who care and a few friends, who I know really do care about me and are interested in how I'm doing. Just because I'm not taking a girl out to dinner, buying roses, and ending the night with a deep kiss on my lips, does not mean that I don't have self worth. It does not mean that my life cannot be meaningful, wonderful, and exciting.

I have placed too much importance on you and what you represent. I resolve to not do that anymore. It's not that I don't care. It's just that you don't own me.

The futility of dating

It really is both amazing me and scaring me how many people I know are getting engaged, married, and having kids. There are so many times I see a girl is hooked up with a guy and all I can think to myself is "How the hell did he manage to snag her?" And then, I inevitable ask myself the same damn question. "What's wrong with me?!"

I know it's a dangerous question and one that I should not be asking myself. However, I can't help think what was wrong with me compared to this other fellow. No, this not a soliloquy about a desire to get married, or have a family. I don't need that to be fulfilled. And it's not fair to ask any other person to fulfill you and meet all those unmet needs and to clean your crap up.

The thing is I feel really conflicted. Some days, I tell myself that I'm not going to think about dating for a long time. Yet I can't deny that I'd like to date and then settle down with the right one. And God knows I'm not getting any younger, my physical peak is probably behind me. But I've come to this conclusion. I suck at chasing and pursuing women I'm interested in. I've never even had Date 1 with a woman who I've chased. The connection, and I use that word loosely, just is there; it can't be manufactured. That said, what is the deal with women when they are single? They say they want men to pursue them and be open about how they feel. Then, when we do pursue, we immediately get shot down. Maybe, most of them just have their eye on one guy and are waiting for him, while the rest of us just get to hope for a chance, but that hope is all in vain. The few women who may have looked at me that way, well, I settled for them because I had no other prospects. At least I didn't marry any of them!

And I have been rejected so many times, that I may as well be the reject king. And women have these rehearsed lines that they pull out and use on us guys. Every woman who looks halfway decent or has something close to a personality has a full arsenal of reject lines. Guys, we know the lines. Here are a few of my favorites, along with the translations of what they really mean:

1) "I appreciate you asking me, but..." (I wish you hadn't opened your mouth.) This was used on me by a girl I have liked for years. When I finally had the nerve to do something about it, this is what I got.

2) "My life is too complicated." (There are too many other guys spending their money on me and there ain't no room for you in the schedule, bub.)

3) "I have a boyfriend." (My cat and pints of Ben and Jerry's.)

4) "I'm focusing on my career." (My boring 8 hours per day with my annoying co-workers and jerk of a boss is still better than dating you.)

5) "I'm not interested in dating right now" (The right guy just hasn't come along for her yet.)

6) Probably the most usual deal now is not responding to texts and calls anymore. (Get out of my life!)

Oh and I'm typing this six hours before I have my second speed dating event tonight! Who knows if something might actually happen.

Six months from my mid-30's...

Hopefully, nobody I know is reading this. But when you really have no other place to express yourself, well, I guess that's one reason why blogging and journaling exist.

As I approach 35 years old, a milestone that I will reach in exactly 6 months and 1 day, it strikes me how I am changing. Physically, I'm noticing changes, My hair is not as full on my head as it used to be. There's a bit of gray in there too. I find myself dealing with aches and pains that just decided to show up from out of nowhere. That's in spite of me doing DDP yoga several days a week.

Socially, it feels like I'm starting over, which I have had to do so many times. I just don't feel like I fit at Willow Creek church, in terms of the focus on young adults. I'm certainly not a fit in my old section. I've considered going to new churches, and I have dropped into a couple of new ones since I left my job at Gino's East a month ago. But even at some of the ones that I used to go to, I feel like a stranger. Now, some may say that I need to be assertive and introduce myself to someone. Maybe there's a small part of me that wants to be noticed and valued.

But my mental state is the part that I'm thinking about. I look at the changes over the last six months are so and it's startling. My confidence is higher, I have a job that may turn into something that I can invest in over the long run, and I think I have a pretty good group of friends. Yet I struggle with some old demons that I don't know if I will ever conquer. My anger, my fear of rejection, and beating myself up over crap that really isn't even worth thinking about anymore. Some of it can be from years ago, it doesn't matter. It goes hour by hour. I can feel so good and confident about where I'm going. Then something small can go wrong at work and I feel so unworthy of even one of the gifts I've been given by God. There's one lyric in the song "In Christ Alone" that I cannot bear to sing. "No guilt in life, no fear in death." I still cannot sing that first part. If I did, I would be lying to myself.

And with the work issues I've dealt with over the last couple of years, I understand why I make such a big deal out of the slightest thing not going perfectly at work. I've been on unemployment twice now and been denied it once as well. In a 3 year span between 2013 and 2015, I had a full time job for 12 months and I loathed it. Yet, when I lost that job, it was one of the two or three most devastating moments of my life. Ranks right up there with my dad leaving us when I was a teenager.

So now I look ahead and I know some more changes must happen. This year, I want to establish my own residence. Especially with Maggie gone, I'm not needed in the house that I live in now. And I've been here 12 years, but I would be fine with walking away. I also want to learn more about nutrition and continue to modify my diet. I don't know if it's realistic, but I haven't seen my 6-pack since I was in third grade and I'd like to change that by the end of 2016. I have a 32 or 33 inch waist, and I've had that for a while so it's not a ton of excess to drop, but I'm going to have get that food thing down. And working 12 hours a day, 5 to 6 days a week, working out is one of the toughest things to get into my schedule. So it'll take some sacrifice and discipline. And I want to get back into reading the Bible. I haven't been a regular reader of it in maybe 15 years. Maybe 3-4 days a week for 15 minutes.

Random inspiration

"I gave my all, but I think my all may have been too much."

Wow. Those words were penned and recorded in the song "Just Once" in 1981, the year I was born. How did I not discover them until tonight?

Three tips to great chicken parmesan.

• Pound the chicken breast flat; 
• Use panko bread crumbs;
• Broil it layering it as fried chicken breast, parmesan, marinara, and fresh mozzarella.

"Button Off of My Shirt" Ronnie Milsap. I cannot hear that song enough.

It feels so good to have a friend with whom you can be real and vulnerable and not fear their reaction.

I feel part of me is dead without my iPod. Why Apple stopped making the classic model, it makes no sense at all. I need my music on the go.

I'm playing volleyball tomorrow for the first time in a while, I hope I can still dive like used to,

Inconsistent

It is true that suffering breeds creativity. Joy can inspire as well. But let's be honest, for those like me who find writing therapeutic, people might think we're the most miserable group walking God's green earth. Hey, it's not the worst way to express yourself.

I don't even want to go into detail about how the Jets choked away an ideal opportunity at the playoffs in a Week 17 meltdown in Buffalo. I won't go into detail about my disappointment in the Mets poor off-season to this point. That said, sign Yoenis. The Rangers have been horrific for six weeks, but after getting five of six points against Dallas, Washington, and Boston, things may be turning around. They have the Islanders on Thursday night and they better win it.

But January is in full force. We're barely hitting 15 degrees. The snow comes down several days a week. It's frigid and bitter. And I feel like I'm absolutely losing myself and I hate myself for it. In the span of a week, I've lost my ipod and my cell phone case. Only $250 to replace them. I don't know how I can live without my music. It calms me, it motivates me, it drives me, it levels me.

I tried speed dating last Saturday. Why? Because I'm a fool, that's why. Nine men, six women. Some decent ones, but...nothing exciting. Maybe two of the six would get a B grade. Yet, I selected three women who I thought were at least okay. And 72 hours later, I have zero matches. Waste of 30 bucks.

And today at work. It's just defining to me what a mess life is sometimes. I helped at the student affairs desk for three hours, per my boss's request. I never got out of my chair. I greeted dozens of students, I offered them information about everything from tutors to the CTA, to student employment, to rape counseling. I met the entire career services department as they walked past. I felt pretty good about my role and that I mattered.

Then, an hour before the end of my shift, I take a short break. My freaking boss catches me on my phone and gets upset. Ten minutes later, a co-worker gets mad at me because I didn't handle one of her students the way she thought I should. I had to go away. I walked away for ten minutes before returning to my desk and immediately leaving for the day, fill of frustration and self doubt.

I'm so mad at myself that I'm having a Brooklyn lager on the train. A pint for five bucks. I was hoping to be by myself, but of course, right after the train leaves the station, some 60 year old dude comes along and sits next to me on a car that was half empty. Is it bad that I want to stab in the throat with a pencil? I just want to forget the world sometimes.

I have a new bed at least, I upgraded to a queen. It's visibly better than that old hammock I used to have. My old bed dipped down straight in the middle, so I'd always sleep on my side and on one corner or another. What a difference it is to have a cross piece in the middle of the frame.

On these cold days where so much goes wrong, I just have to wonder what it will take to be content and relaxed.

Cruising, part 7

I got back on the ship and practically floated up to the seventh deck. I promptly ordered a pina colada, a real one with rum this time. After doing the Jets chant from the ship's deck, I took a few minutes to unwind. I stood on the upper deck and snapped photos of the bright orange sunset, the white sailboats floating on the sparkling blue water, and the large crowd of people gathering on the pier. I headed back to my room and changed into a green Jets polo shirt. In the bar, I passed one young guy in a Patriots jersey. All I could do was laugh. We chatted for a minute and I tried to be respectful. My last words to him were "I hope we see you in the playoffs." I played trivia, but bombed it. I guess I should have known sake was made from rice, the pasta whose name means "little turnips" is ravioli, and tennis balls have no stiches.

 

Dinner was a little sad. Half our group didn't show up, so it felt a little empty. I enjoyed my arancini, tiger shrimp, and New York strip steak though. I tried a sugar free strawberries Romanoff...and I will never eat a sugar free dessert again.

 

From there, it was back to the large theater for one more show, called Boogie Wonderland. It was more dancing and 70s music, mostly R&B. A lot of Commodores, Abba, and Marvin Gaye. After that was over Carlos, the tour director, had a presentation to thank the entire cruise staff. He also did a countdown: the top ten questions asked on tour. There were such gems as "Is this island completely surrounded by water?" and "Does the ship generate its own electricity?"

 

There wasn't a whole lot going on for the final evening, so I headed next door into schooner to watch the Giants and Vikings Sunday night game. Never mind the Giants were already done because...you can't spell eliminated without E-L-I.

 

They also did Michael Jackson trivia in that bar, which I'm glad I didn't do. Of the 14 songs, I would have known maybe 5. As I listened to the song clips it struck me how creative and weird a lot of his music sounded! After that, I went back to the lobby area for the finale disco party. I watched above from the stairs but couldn't really dance with my injury. The male staff dressed like the Village People, which was pretty funny. After that was over, I decided I had enough and I just went into my room for the night and packed my bags. I could have gone to see the same comedian, but just didn't have interest.

 

None of my devices charged overnight. We had two outlets in the whole room and they were positioned right on top of each other, right above the light switch. So when I plugged my larger portable charger in, it would usually turn the lights on! It just shows how antiquated the ship is getting. Oh and when our bill arrived, we got a $35 mini bar charge. And we didn't use a single item! So now we have to work on getting that reversed.

 

Immigration went pretty smoothly. We caught a cab for $27 back to the airport. The Miami airport makes Chicago look easy. It's packed, the drop off area gets totally congested because people can park and wait. We made our first flight, though the plane was delayed an hour because we didn't have enough snack packs. No, seriously. Then, we had our three and a half hour flight to Chicago. And everything seemed to be going pretty smoothly. They announced our baggage claim, asked the flight attendants to prepare for landing, and all of that.

 

All the sudden, they stopped making announcements. A few minutes later, the pilot comes on and explains that the runways are iced in Chicago and they can't clear them. So they were going to put us in a holding pattern and if they couldn't get the runway clear, they would have to reroute us. So after about 30 minutes, we wound up getting rerouted to Minneapolis/St. Paul.

 

We landed in Minnesota and were told this would only take about 30 minutes it was a fuel and go. So they asked nobody to leave the plane because the terminal was not equipped to handle all the people that were on the airplane. We had about 170 passengers and there were 7 people in each row with two aisles. So this was a pretty large plane. Eventually some people did get off. And I noticed for a while that there wasn't any fuel going on the plane and that the people who had left including my mother, weren't coming back on. It turns out that they would not allow the passengers to reboard from the terminal.

 

Eventually they had two supervisors come on board and make sure everybody was sitting in the same spot where they had been And we wound up staying in Minneapolis for about 3 hours. There's a small window where we could get it to Chicago so we left. Now I knew the flight from Chicago to Minneapolis takes about an hour. But this flight was taking a little bit longer. However, we did land in Chicago. They announced afterwards that they nearly had to reroute us a second time, but this was going to be to St. Louis. But we had landed so we figured everything was good.

 

Then we sat on the runway, because there wasn't a gate that could handle our sized aircraft. That turned into two more hours of waiting. Finally we got a gate. Of course, we had to wait another 15 mins for the jet bridge to be driven to us. After getting our luggage and car, we got home about 11 pm, over eight hours later than expected.

 

We went from 85 degrees and sunny to 30 degrees, cloudy and windy. Nice to be home...I think.