Seasonal Depression Sucks. It’s called S.A.D. Yes, it is sad. It’s depression. It’s not happy.  For me, it hits in January to the end of  February. By March, the sun starts to come out , and the weather gets warmer.

Don’t tell me to snap out of it. Um, you don’t snap out of depression. You are not cured overnight. It’s a process. I know that depression is a part of me, and I refuse to be in a constant battle with it. Life is way too short to be at war, fighting your inner demons, all the time.  I acknowledge the depression, give myself a break, and then slowly start using my coping devices to work my way out of the funk. Yes, it’s sometimes chocolate.

Don’t tell me how to get over my depression. Don’t give me any advice. I’ve had depression long enough to know what it is and when it hits. I know what to do. But there’s the rub. When I’m depressed, it’s hard to get out of it because I’m depressed with a huge weight sitting on me. It’s a slow process. I have the tools, but  when it’s hitting me, it’s hard to get off the couch and go for that run. It takes baby steps. There is no snapping out of it and no overnight cure. If anyone tells you that there’s an overnight cure, that’s not depression.

Let me take my baby steps. Do not pressure me. Writing is part of the baby steps I take. I am acknowledging the depression, accepting it. Once I accept it, then I can start taking my steps. Of course, working out is another baby step, including working out outside even when it’s cold. Who wants to get out in the cold? Getting my light box out is another step. I know I need to get that light box out of the drawer, so I will. I’m taking those baby steps to climb out of the hole.

Don’t judge me. I advise you not to judge me or anyone else for your own sanity because of the simple rule of karma. If you don’t know what karma is, then look it up. I’ve had karma kick me in the butt so many times when I have judged that my booty is really sore. And karma is a hard kick in the ass. Of course, karma can come in a good way, too.  That’s what you want to focus on–karma returning good experiences to you.

I can only speak about myself because I have been dealing with depression pretty much since high school, and I’m way out of high school now.  I’ve had years and years and years of therapy and still am in therapy. It’s a process. I’m fine, and I have the tools.

Most people are like me when they are dealing with Seasonal Depression and maybe even their own depression. If they have lived with it all their lives, then they know when that depression raises its ugly head; they know what to do. However, some people have no clue about it. If you happen to find someone who is struggling and cannot figure out why, then suggest help for them. You’ll  know it because you’ll feel those red flags in your gut. However if you encounter someone like me and notice that my personality has become darker than what it usually is, and my personality is pretty dark and dry, then know that I’m good. Yes, I will appear as a bitch until March, but then the sun will come out, and all will be right with the world again, well, maybe not the world.

Here is the last installment of our journey with Spirit Airlines. Oh, I am so happy to be home.

Thursday, January 4^th

Remember when that Spirit employee asked us on January 2^nd if we wanted that January 4^th American flight directly to Dallas? We were so regretting not saying yes, especially when we had to wake up at four in the morning to catch the 6 a.m. American flight to Charlotte. Checking intro American Airlines was slightly scary because my daughter and I did not have assigned seats. In fact, the ticket attendant told us that we would have to get our seats at the gate because Spirit is notorious for placing their passengers on American flights that are already full. I was shocked and very worried that we would not get back to Dallas because we didn’t have seats on our first flight to Charlotte, but luck was on our side. For our seat assignments, Anya and I had the coveted emergency exit seats. We had so much room that we stretched our legs and fell asleep even before the plane took off. In Charlotte, all my family had seats that were in different places on the plane to Dallas, so I asked if Anya and I could have seats together since she was a minor. Luck was on our side again or maybe because it was American, but the ticket attendant gave us seats on the last row of the plane, which was fine with us. We had to wait an extra hour due to de-icing on a plane coming in from Orlando. American was upfront about the delay and kept us informed, unlike Spirit where we had to figure out what was happening. When we did board the plane to Dallas, we had plenty of room and an empty seat between us. We stretched out and enjoyed the flight, which actually included free drinks and snacks, and we could upload a movie. These added benefits felt amazing, especially after flying Spirit.

We did make it home and picked up our animals, but we had to board both the two cats and the dog for two extra days. It was more added cost. Thank God for my neighbor, Katie, who handled our animals and other appointments that I missed since I could not make direct calls because we were out of the country.  We will not fly Spirit again. I think Spirit is good for a direct flight in the United States, but when you have connections and international flights, it is not worth money that you save. I am so happy to be home, and thus our journey ended.

This installment is Part Two  of our adventure on Spirit Airlines. Perhaps “adventure” is not the correct word, but “nightmare” would certainly fit the description.

Wednesday, January 3^rd

With smiles and stinky clothes, we hoped that Spirit would have it together, and we would be back to Dallas. We were wrong. When we arrived at the airport in Bogota again, we checked in with little problem and received our connecting flight information. We would fly to Fort Lauderdale, and we had plenty of time to go through security to get to our connecting flight. We waited. Plane was delayed until 1:00. We waited again. My daughter and I knew all the shops in the airport now. There is only so much you can do in an airport. We waited some more. Flight was delayed until 3:30. We had been at the airport since seven in the morning. Once again, Spirit never told us why the delays. Finally, we were ready to board the plane, which had been sitting at the same gate with our luggage since yesterday. However, we first had to board those dreaded buses and travel the long journey to the actual plane. Three buses pulled up to our plane, but the doors would not open. They left us on those buses without anywhere to sit for 45 minutes. Yes, 45 minutes. The few seats, at least on our bus, went to the mothers with the small children and the older passengers. We sat and stood and stared at the plane.

At one point, the captain came out of the airplane and started yelling to see what the problem was. He looked very agitated, and we applauded because at least it was something to entertain us.  Finally, we were able to board the plane, and we found out that Spirit was waiting for a flight attendant, who was coming in from the 3:30 flight. The only reason we actually found out why the flight was delayed was because the flight attendant told us. When we asked him why the flight was delayed, he said, “It was because of me.” That was the first honest answer that we had received from anyone at Spirit. No one could be mad at him because he was the only one who was completely transparent about any delays. When we arrived in the States, I think some of the passengers started crying. Even the captain come on the microphone and commented that we were finally in the United States. The passengers applauded when the plane landed, and I think all the passengers were so hopeful that perhaps we would make our connections even though our flight was delayed eight hours. We did not have a chance at all.  Like ants or more like zombies, all of us on that plane went through immigration. We had our passports stamped again. We waited for our luggage. We waited a long time. Ticktock. Ticktock. Ticktock.

At this point, after our family finally picked up our luggage, we said our goodbyes with a shake of the head in the universal “unbelievable” sign to the rest of the passengers, and they shook their heads with the same response. They had their own own road to travel with Spirit, and I wished them good luck.  Our family (Gabe, Anya, Michael, and myself) headed out to the next part of our journey: the connecting flight back to Dallas. We were so hopeful that we actually could make the flight back to Dallas until we hit security. Not a chance. After security, we raced to our gate to Dallas, and it closed right before when we got there. Spirit could not have waited five minutes, knowing that people (our family, as well as others) on that Colombian flight were trying to make that connection to Dallas. My guess was the flight was already sold out, and there probably were not any seats for us anyway. I would not put it past Spirit. We were devastated. We were still in our stinky clothes that were two days old, and it was late in the night, and we were exhausted. Our luggage was on that flight to Dallas. The thought of staying in another hotel in the same clothes again was just insane.  I was worried about our luggage landing in Dallas without us and walking away without us. With buried heads, we headed back to the Spirit ticket counter.

Unfortunately, our flight came in right before a  big storm  in the north was about to slam into New York and all the surrounding areas, and the Spirit ticket area was filled with lots of angry Northerners. The endless lines of angry people looked like one of Dante’s circle of Hell, where those who can never get flights are forever punished trying to get flights. The whole atmosphere was filled with chaos and yelling.  It was terrible, and I finally lost my cool. There was no way I was waiting in another long line again when Spirit had royally just screwed us over by closing that door to our Dallas flight with our luggage already on the flight. Yes, I lost my cool.  I went up to one of the employees, who was directing the traffic of angry people, and told her what happened and asked for her to help us. Yes, there were tears. Sometimes, hysterics are appropriate. She moved us to the front of the line. We were placed on flights not to Dallas, but to Charlotte and then to Dallas. Those flights were tomorrow, and they were on American. What was really irritating was that they did not place us on flight to directly to Dallas. We had to fly to Charlotte first and then to Dallas. Ridiculous. They gave us hotel vouchers again. Thank God that Gabe’s father lived in Fort Lauderdale. His family took us in around midnight, and they gave us pajamas. We showered, washed our clothes, and ate the best arepas I have ever had. I also had some whiskey, which was much needed. We had to wake up at four in the morning to catch a 6 a.m. flight to Charlotte. At least, we did not stink.

Part Three/The Conclusion will appear in the next installment. It will be a happy ending.

As promised, here is our Spirit Airlines Saga: Part One

“So happy to be back at home,” is the phrase I keep repeating to myself over and over again, but I am still having nightmares over what happened at Spirit Airlines. It’s like a post-traumatic stress syndrome from flying Spirit Airlines. We have flown Spirit Airlines about six times, including an international trip with connections, and we have not had any problems whatsoever until now. What could go wrong for this trip? All we had to do was board a plane, fly to Fort Lauderdale, and then make a connection back to Dallas. And thus the nightmare begins . . .

Tuesday, January 2^nd

We should have known something was up when we were waiting in line to check in for our flight. We got to the airport in Bogota around 11 a.m. to check into the flight, which was supposed to leave at 3 p.m. The ticket attendants were asking people to give up their seats because they overbooked the flight. When finally made it to the ticket counter, Spirit wanted to know if we wanted to take the January 4^th flight on American, straight trip to Dallas. We should have taken them up on that offer. We said, “No,” because we were already packed and ready to get back home to see our animals and eat some Tex-Mex. We received our tickets and settled into the long wait for the 3 p.m. flight. We did not board the plane until 7 p.m. We were exhausted after spending four extra hours in the airport. My daughter and I made good use of the time figuring out the mark-up of the Colombian jewelry in the airport shops vs. the little shops downtown. It’s a 100% markup.

When our flight was finally ready, we had to take buses from the gate to the plane, which was at least a ten-minute ride. I felt very bad for the older passengers and those passengers who had small children because there were not many seats on any of the buses. Finally, we boarded the plane, but something was a little off with at least one of the flight attendants. He was hostile to everyone as if he had been waiting for hours for the flight; however, he did not have to take it out on us. We finally headed out on the runway and then stopped. The captain came on with the announcement that he had to turn the plane around, and we would have to get off the plane with instructions when we got off the plane. That’s not a good situation. We were told that our plane would leave at 8 a.m. in the morning, and our luggage would stay in the plane. Yes, our luggage was held hostage, and we would be flying in the same clothes. We still did not know why the plane turned around, but someone said that it was a union rule that the flight crew had too many hours and had to rest. I think the passengers would have felt better if we knew why, but transparency is not a trademark of Spirit.

After getting off the plane, we were clueless on where to go and had to ask American officials. We stood in another line with all the other passengers for a bus. It took several buses and lots of waiting to finally arrive at the hotel, where we were met with another long line, a 45 minute to an hour wait to get a room. Surprisingly, everyone possessed a great deal of patience. The hotel staff gave us grilled cheese sandwiches, which were really good because were very hungry. The hotel staff was very calm, considering the employees were scrambling to find tooth brushes for all the passengers who requested them, including our family. Unfortunately, Spirit did not pay for the tooth brushes. We were then told via email that instead of eight in the morning, our flight would leave at nine in the morning, and we should get to the airport early to check in and to make sure we had our connecting flights. We went to bed with hopes of going back to the States the next morning.

And the nightmare continued. Part Two is coming in the next installment.