As you might have heard, Massachusetts was hit by a major blizzard Tuesday night and all day Wednesday, leading the governor to declare a state of emergency. Pretty much everyone was snowed in, with schools and most businesses closed. People all over the state spent all day Wednesday shoveling out.
Not me.
This is the view that greeted me Wednesday morning:
My flight back on Tuesday was scheduled to arrive at around 10:30 p.m. in Boston. It was cancelled. Along with, as far as I can tell, all Boston flights on Wednesday. On Tuesday it looked like the earliest I could get back home was Friday night around 10 o’clock.
So much for trying to minimize my time away from home!
I did eventually manage (my third rescheduling with the airline) to get a reservation for a flight that is scheduled to arrive in Boston just before noon tomorrow. Assuming the weather cooperates (which is a pretty big assumption, seeing as I’m going through Chicago), I’ll be getting home a few hours before the kids get home from preschool and daycare. I’m just hoping I can at least get home well before their bedtime. And time a nap would be nice, seeing as my flight to Chicago is a redeye. (Didn’t I say I didn’t want a redeye? Sigh.)
I’ve been enjoying this bonus time with my mother, sister, brother-in-law and nephews–3 extra days. Actually, I had trouble really enjoying myself on Tuesday until I got my flight plans worked out. I was distracted by trying to figure out my travel schedule and my work schedule, worrying about the impact of this on John’s work schedule, and missing John and the kids in a much more intense way than in the previous days. I had really been looking forward to getting back to them. But once I had some reservations on flights that were not likely to be cancelled (unlike the airline’s initial move of bumping me to Wednesday flights, which I knew would also be cancelled), and once I’d talked with John and the kids, I settled in to enjoy the bonus days here. (I’ve also managed to do some work–my research group is submitting a big paper in a few days, and I’d committed to doing a lot of work for that this week. After I got home. Ahem.)
In all, this has been about the best possible major travel delay. I’ve been safe and comfortable, and not stuck in an airport with crowds of cranky people, sleeping in chairs or on floors, and not having access to a shower. (Yes, I have experienced that sort of delay.) The expense to me is moderately small, limited mainly to the cost of airport parking for 3 more days. I don’t have to worry about paying for a hotel. And even better, I’ve been with people that I love. (It’s been a really great visit, by the way.)
Now I’d best get back to work!
collecting tokens 
Yes, I’ve been hit by that wall of homesickness when my arrival gets delayed. Lucky though that the kids aren’t with you since you have to work. Safe travels!
I had a similar experience trying to get back from the Bay Area to Boston after the holidays one year. I was thrilled, but then, I didn’t have a husband and kids waiting for me in Boston. As I recall, my delays weren’t due to a blizzard in Boston. In fact, my flight was cancelled for different reasons 3 days in a row. I don’t remember what the reason was on the first day (though maybe it was a blizzard?), but the second day, there was something wrong with the aircraft; the third day, a (rain/wind/thunder/lightning) storm in San Francisco basically shut down the entire airport for the whole day. On the fourth day, the nonstop SF to Boston flight didn’t exist because it was a weekend. I managed to get routed through Dallas, hoping that would make weather delays less likely. But what happened was that my first flight was late, I missed my connection, and managed to get rebooked onto the last Dallas to Boston flight of the night, which then had to make an emergency landing in Nashville because one of the passengers needed immediate medical attention. So I didn’t arrive in Boston until 2am, and I had nobody to pick me up at the airport. The T wasn’t running that late, and it was a Saturday so all the taxis were in the city (flights don’t usually arrive that late). Luckily a shared shuttle turned up.
Anyway, I’m sorry you don’t get to see your (other) family as soon as you’d expected, but glad to hear you’re getting work done and not having to shovel snow!
This is what I saw from my window: snow.
Wow. The snow storm really really help up air traffic in the region. I am sorry that you were delayed going home, yet, like you said, glad that you were able to be trapped in a place where you got to spend more time with family and not some hotel room by yourself. Enjoy the long weekend with your babies!