Being Single Again

Somewhat sadly, but with a little smile on my face, Daniel is in Portugal. He has been temporarily hired as a personal chef to work for a family currently in Portugal. This job came together very fast. He is the substitute chef, while their current chef is taking six weeks off.

Within two days, we had to arrange his flight and accomplish as much of the heavy lifting house and garden work as possible, mostly because I am still hindered by a cast on my right hand.

Timing wasn’t great, we had a catering job, a dinner for ten celebrating the Jewish New Year, and of course, Sunday brunch for about forty to fifty the same week. It’s been a whirlwind

Living in Waitsburg has many advantages, but arranging overseas travel is not one of them. The only option we had was to drive to Seattle and leave from there. I, being the romantic, suggested we go to Seattle Friday, have a nice dinner, spend a quiet and relaxed time together, and then, conveniently and without stress, have an easy drop-off at the airport.

Daniel agreed, but not for the romance; he was ready to shop. He thought he could pack for six weeks in less than ten minutes, so obviously, things were forgotten.

Our first stop was one of the restaurants we had on our “we need to try” list. They were fully booked, but they save a few tables for walk-ins. After an easy drive, it felt like it took us an hour to find a parking spot, no doubt because we were in a rush to be the “first comers” for the walk-in tables.

We finally parked, and fortuitously, there was a cute wine, spice shop, deli, and café next to the restaurant. We drank a much-needed glass (or two) of wine, and Daniel was able to buy some teas, which was one of the items he forgot to pack.

The drive to the hotel was intense with heavy traffic, roads merging unexpectedly, creative GPS routing, leaving us no idea which lane to be in. By the time we checked into the hotel, we were not talking to each other.

The following day was smoother; we had enough time for another shopping trip to Whole Foods for organic spices, a cup of coffee, and a light breakfast. Less traffic, easier freeway negotiations, and better temperaments prevailed driving to the airport!

Unfortunately, Daniel doesn’t travel with ease. His flight to London was delayed, which meant he would probably miss the London to Portugal flight, and he did. The next available flight was also delayed. A one-hour layover became five hours.

Knowing him, I’m sure he was angry, frustrated, moody, and annoying to be around. All I can say is I’m glad I wasn’t on this trip, or we would have killed each other.

I plan to meet Daniel in Portugal when his job is finished around Thanksgiving. Then we will travel together for a few days and spend some time with his family in Italy. I’m sure by November, I will be very excited to see him. I may book my flight home on a different airline to keep the “glad to be together again” feeling a little longer.